The next day.
When the sky just dimmed, the women in Haojia Village had already gotten up and got busy.
The women were divided into two teams. One team went to clean the traces of last night's battlefield, and the other team went to fetch water and light the fire for cooking.
The men worked harder. They hoisted the captured horses to the top of the mountain overnight, took off the clothes and shoes from the corpses, disinfected them with hot water, and moved the corpses to the Blackwater Pond overnight for disposal.
Although Wei Cheng asked them to deal with it this morning, Hao Dadao knew that Wei Cheng liked to be clean. In order for Wei Cheng to see a clean village when he got up, he asked the men to move overnight.
Although they didn't sleep all night, the men in Haojiacun were in good spirits.
The amount of supplies seized this time was greater than the previous two combined.
Today's 'racecourse' really looks like a racecourse, with a total of 117 horses. It is estimated that all the horses in Hujiabao are here.
Mute seemed to like the work of raising horses very much. He took the little macaques down the mountain to get water early in the morning. They went back and forth several times and fed the horses well, which finally calmed their restless emotions.
The children in the village were also ignorant. The battle of blood and fire last night gave them nightmares. But after they got up after a good sleep, they ran to the racecourse and played hide and seek like normal people.
Probably children of this age are more adaptable.
The older girls even dared to help deal with the blood stains on the battlefield. You know, after last night's 'Molotov cocktail' offensive, the traces on the battlefield were still disgusting. The burnt flesh and blood and clothes were stuck to the stones, and they couldn't be buttoned no matter what. If you can't buckle it off, you can only shovel it off with an iron tool.
Xiao'e is very sensible. She knows that all of this is caused by her lazy father. For this reason, she seems to be particularly diligent, for fear that if she works slowly, she will be criticized by the villagers.
But she was really worried. The villagers didn't blame her at all, nor did they blame Hao Laoliu. If they were to blame, they could only blame the people in Hujiabao for committing suicide.
When Wei Cheng got up, Hao Niang had already prepared steamed buns and noodle soup.
Cai Yan also got up early. Although they worked very late last night, they actually went to bed around eight or nine in the evening.
Wei Cheng rushed back from the restaurant at around six o'clock, and it was only around seven o'clock when he arrived at the battlefield. It was less than an hour and a half until Hu Biao surrendered, so they went to bed relatively early and woke up at five or six in the morning. .
Hao Niang is even earlier. She usually wakes up at around four o'clock in the morning and starts her busy day.
"Early to bed and early to rise are good for good health."
Wei Cheng was doing stretching exercises outside the yard. He turned around and saw Aning walking out in a daze. He said with a smile, "Why, you haven't woken up yet."
Little Aning rubbed his eyes and said with aggrieved expression: "Brother Wei, I dreamed that the village was on fire. The fire was so big. I, I..."
Wei Cheng looked at her distressedly. He wanted to comfort her a few words, but suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Aning, you, did you wet the bed?"
Aning's pink little face turned red instantly. She covered her eyes with her hands and ran into the yard humming. She threw herself into Hao Niang's arms: "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, I won't pay attention to Brother Wei anymore."
Hao Niang was stunned, maybe because she touched the little girl's wet skirt, she looked at Wei Cheng in a funny way. Wei Cheng quickly put her hands together and made an apology gesture, indicating that she just blurted out the words unintentionally.
In the bedroom, Cai Yan came out with a clean little skirt. Hearing Aning's crying voice, he gave Wei Qing an angry look, patiently comforted little Aning and put her into clean clothes.
We had breakfast in such a noisy and crying atmosphere.
Wei Teng took a walk to eat while thinking about how to deal with Hu Biao and his party.
When we arrived at the village, the smell of burning plant ash was still lingering in the air. The women in the village distributed the cooked food to each family. When Wei Cheng arrived, they warmly invited Wei Cheng to eat some together.
Wei Cheng declined and found Hao Dadao and Weng Tou.
Wei Cheng expressed his two thoughts.
One is to ask Cheng to make a first trip to the Wei family. It would be better to leave the follow-up to the Hujiapu matter to the Wei family.
The second is to reward based on merit. Many villagers were injured last night. Taking this opportunity, Wei Cheng wants to gain a wave of hearts.
This may be a bit realistic, but Wei Cheng really thinks so. If you want the horse to run fast, you need the horse to eat more grass.
Only in this way can we cultivate a force that is truly loyal to ourselves.
"Reward based on merit?" Hao Dadao and Chengtou looked confused.
They have never read books and do not quite understand the meaning of these four words. They usually work for the master's family. It is their duty to do it well. If they do not do it well, they will inevitably be beaten and cursed. Have they ever received any rewards? ?
So when Wei Cheng finished explaining that he was going to distribute various good things to them, both men gasped in disbelief.
"Sir, will you give us those invulnerable clothes as well?" Chengtou immediately thought of the stab-proof clothing he wore last night.
Wei Cheng looked at the two of them and said funny: "That's called stab-proof clothing. Yes, as long as there is merit, I will give a stab-proof suit as a reward, especially for the head weighing. You and Hu Biao were together last night." If you don't fall behind, you will definitely have a stab-proof suit."
Zhengtou grinned with joy, his tongue slipped out, and he started to laugh silly at the side.
Hao Dadao asked: "What is the specific method of reward based on merit?"
Wei Cheng gave a rough explanation of the manuscript. In short, those who made outstanding contributions in the offensive and defensive battle last night, especially those who got heads, directly followed the army's practice, and one head was counted as a credit.
When I heard about the title, I was surprised. He was not the one who killed the most people, but the guest Da Niu. He quickly said: "How can that be done? Da Niu is not from our Haojia Village. We can't reward him too." Bar."
Wei Cheng was very interested in that big man. When he learned that he was Hao Sanzhu's son-in-law, he said with a smile: "Anyway, he is also the son-in-law of our Haojia Village. He is not a villager, so he will be rewarded."
The head looks delicious.
Wei Cheng added: "Of course, because he doesn't live in Haojia Village often, he doesn't have a share of some special items, such as stab-proof clothing. At most, I can give him a few more goodies as compensation."
Only then did Zhengtou feel a little more mentally balanced. He knew that the good things Wei Cheng meant were good objects. The word "thing" was not widely used until the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Now it is generally called an object or directly called a "thing".
"Okay, let's do it like this. Uncle Da Dao went to gather all the people in the village and gathered in front of the gate of the humble house. Especially the meritorious people just mentioned. They must be present. I will go back and prepare. Ready and waiting for everyone to come!”
···
Wei Cheng's plan to reward everyone based on their merits was soon publicized by Hao Dadao and Chengtou.
Everyone who had made a contribution last night had been notified, and other villagers who had not made any contribution were also curious.
About half an hour later, the hillside in front of the shack was filled with people. There were more than 300 people in the village. Except for a few who were seriously injured last night, everyone else was basically present.
Hao Dadao and several other older villagers standing at the front looked impatient, because women kept asking them about what rewards were based on merit. They could only explain over and over again, and finally just kept silent.
The women who actually contributed last night seemed a lot more reserved. For example, Aunt Manhua, who usually spoke the loudest, seemed a little embarrassed when she learned that Wei Cheng was going to reward her with many good things.
The same goes for the women who formed the patrol team with her last night. They did not expect that there would be benefits from their hot-headed move last night. They were all secretly glad for their decision at that time.
Not long after, Wei Cheng and Cai Yan came to the courtyard gate.
Behind them were siblings Hao Niang and Hao Zhao, as well as Hu Tou, Gou Zi and other young men who came to help. Their faces were red and they lowered their heads to discuss something. When they talked about their happiness, they were all very happy.
Wei Cheng pressed his hands forward, and the scene instantly became quiet.
There is no nonsense. Everyone knows that they were called here because they wanted to reward those who had merit for what happened last night.
Wei Cheng looked at Cai Yan aside and saw that she was holding a piece of silk paper with words written on it.
"Next, the person whose name was called came forward to receive the reward. The person whose name was not called watched quietly and listened. Think about why others got the reward but you didn't. Don't make trouble, otherwise... …snort."
Wei Cheng glanced at the crowd, and a few of the more jumping women in the crowd instantly seemed like deflated rubber balls.
Cai Yan pursed her lips and smiled. She thought Wei Cheng's form was quite interesting, so she took the initiative to participate. And took the initiative to take on the work of recording and preaching. It can be regarded as a little fun of the husband and wife working together to make a difference.
"Madam, you can start now." After Wei Cheng finished speaking, he pulled out a futon and sat down cross-legged.
Cai Yan nodded, and his gentle expression turned serious instantly.
"Next, the people whose names I read will come forward to receive their rewards. Please line up in an orderly manner. Don't be crowded. Otherwise, all rewards will be cancelled. Do you understand?"
"I know!" The villagers were very cooperative. They all stared at the silk cloth in her hand, their eyes full of curiosity and expectation.
Cai Yan nodded slightly with satisfaction, then looked at the silk cloth and read: "The first group, headed by Wang Manhua, consists of a patrol of 21 women. The rewards are as follows: five pieces of brocade, five kilograms of cotton, and five millimeters of polished rice. Stones, five cans of salt, a box of various seasonings, and a pair of mille-feather-soled cloth shoes for each person.”
"Oh my god, with five pieces of brocade, how many winter coats can we make?"
"Mian, his eldest sister, what is Mian?"
"What's the polished rice? There are also five cans of salt. This is a lot of money. I won't have to worry about running out of salt for several years. It's great."
"What are mille-layer cloth shoes?"
The villagers on the slope were talking a lot, and they were unfamiliar with many of these things. Except for Jin and Yan, no one else had heard or seen them before, and they had no idea at all.
Fortunately, Wei Cheng was prepared.
He clapped his hands, and Hao Zhao and his team, who had been prepared long ago, began to move things out.
The first is brocade. Everyone is familiar with this brocade. Cai Yan had distributed it to the elderly in the village before, but it was only a few feet per person. They could only make a few winter clothes. Such a whole piece of brocade was their first time. See you once.
Then came the cotton. Wei Qing specially bought a few cotton-padded jackets as samples. The leader, Aunt Manhua, took the cotton-padded jacket and touched it, and was stunned instantly.
Cai Yan said: "These clothes are only warm in winter. These clothes are stuffed with cotton. Later, you can follow its pattern and make one yourself out of brocade and cotton. If you don't understand, you can ask me." "
Aunt Manhua nodded repeatedly and touched the warm big cotton-padded jacket. She knew that this winter would definitely be much better.
Then, Hao Zhao and others brought out five more large sacks.
Cai Yan picked up the prepared scissors, cut a small opening, and grabbed a handful of shelled rice from inside.
"This is polished rice!" someone asked curiously.
"Yes, this is rice that has been shelled. My darling, it is all shelled." A knowledgeable person shouted, "In the past, the young masters and ladies in the village only ate rice like this. We peeled them off one by one with our hands."
"One tael of shelled rice like this in the county can be exchanged for three pounds of mutton." Someone popularized the market price of polished rice.
A woman next to her said in amusement: "Those five bags are full of polished rice. Wouldn't that be able to eat mutton for a whole year?"
At this moment, Hao Zhao and others brought up another box.
Cai Yan smiled slightly, opened the lid of the box, and took out a pair of old Beijing cloth shoes. Even her eyes flashed with desire.
Manhua was even more stunned. She looked at the straw sandals on her feet, her dirty big toes, and then at the cloth shoes. She hid her feet in her skirt in shame.
"Aunt Manhua, this pair is for you. You can try it to see if it fits. The other aunts will also try it. If it doesn't fit, you can change it now."
"Are you going to give us such good shoes?" Aunt Manhua couldn't believe that such a good thing would happen to her.
Cai Yan said with a smile: "If you don't believe me, there's nothing you can do about it. Can you still give it up?"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately shouted: "Give it to me if you don't want it, Manhua, your feet are so big, I guess you can't wear them, give it to me."
Aunt Manhua responded angrily: "I can't wear it. You can wear it for my pillar. Who said I don't want it anymore? I'm so precious."
As she spoke, she took the cloth shoes and looked left and right. Needless to say, she was really reluctant to wear them. She glanced at her dirty feet and felt that she had given up on such good shoes.
Hao Niang was still sensible. She brought a basin of water and a rag and said, "Aunts, please wash your feet and try again."
Seeing this, several women stopped being coy, washed their feet in front of everyone, and put on new shoes. Some of the sizes were too small, so they changed to shoes of a larger size on the spot, put them on and walked away. A few steps, tiptoeing, for fear of getting the shoes dirty.
Aunt Manhua's feet are relatively large, but fortunately Wei Cheng bought a pair of full sizes and gave her a pair of size 43. Although the uppers were a little deformed when worn, they still fit her feet. No matter how big they were, they would easily fall off.
Seeing them put on their new shoes, other women in the village were disgusted and annoyed. They regretted why they didn't take the initiative to join the patrol last night and why they hid behind the man. Otherwise, wouldn’t I be able to wear new shoes now?
At this time, the men in the village quit.
Especially when the men saw their mothers-in-law wearing new shoes, they all asked Chengtou and Hao Dadao if the men's rewards included shoes.
How could Cheng Tou and Hao Dadao know that they also liked those shoes, but it was Wei Cheng who had the final say as to what to reward. They could only look at Wei Cheng eagerly, thinking in their hearts, they would rather come without stab-proof clothing. Such a pair of shoes, how elegant they look when worn out!
