"Follow you?"
Xia Quan was their leader and asked the first question.
"Mr. Zhao, your family doesn't have any land. You Yunman's apprentice is enough for hunting."
"Why are we following you?"
"protect me."
Zhao Ping said: "Ma Jiu threatened to ask me to wash my neck and wait for him to slaughter it."
"As you can see, my family has too few hands to deal with Ma Jiu, so I want to ask for your help."
Zhao Ping told the story of offending the Feng family again.
He continued: "The Feng family is an official. If you are afraid, you can leave directly and pretend that I have never said this."
"Afraid of a ball!"
Liu Muyun was the first to jump out.
"To be honest, I have wanted to deal with Ma Jiu for a long time."
"If Village Chief Xia hadn't stopped me, I would have rushed to Ma Jiu's lair with a knife and cut him into pieces."
Xia Yang also agreed, "Senior brother is right, and I have exactly what I mean."
"Brother Ping, you may not know yet, but our master and Ma Jiu have a sworn hatred."
"I wanted to kill him a long time ago."
"As for the Feng family you mentioned, although he is an official, he is only an official and has no real power. Even if we kill Ma Jiu, there is nothing he can do to us."
The two veterans didn't speak, but looked at Xia Quan, waiting for him to express his stance.
Xia Quan's fists clenched loudly.
But in the end, reason defeated his anger. He turned around and said, "Brother Zhixue, Brother Meng, and Xia Yang and Liu Muyun, please go back."
"This is a grudge between Mr. Zhao and I and Ma Jiu. It's inconvenient for you to get involved."
"What's the meaning?"
Xia Zhixue was dissatisfied, "Quanzi, when I went to serve as a soldier, my family relied on your parents to take care of me."
"It's just that the village chief stopped us from taking revenge. Otherwise, I would have killed Ma Jiu's family."
"Now that I have the opportunity, you let me leave."
"I do not go."
"We're not leaving either."
Xia Yang and Liu Muyun also followed suit.
Then everyone looked at Gao Meng, "Why are you looking at me?"
"There is no spring. I don't know where to drink the northwest wind now."
"Quanzi took me in."
"Now that I am alone, I am not afraid of being implicated."
"The worst case scenario is that people will die and birds will fly to the sky."
"Okay, now that you have decided, let's do it together."
Xia Quan nodded and began to assign tasks.
"Brother Zhixue can ride a horse. You can ride to the county seat and monitor Ma Jiu's every move."
"Once you discover that they are rushing to Xiping Village in large numbers, you will immediately run back and report."
"A few of us went to the back mountain overnight to dig traps."
"Ma Jiu's matter is not small, but Tiger's matter cannot be ignored either."
"After catching the tiger, we can deal with Ma Jiu with peace of mind."
"Mr. Zhao, what do you think of my arrangement?"
"very good."
Zhao Ping praised.
He became more and more satisfied with Xia Quan.
When he learned that he was going to deal with Ma Jiu, he was not dazzled by hatred, but wanted to pick off the other four, very calmly.
After deciding to deal with Ma Jiu, he was able to arrange everything in detail.
Even the tiger has not forgotten it.
He then said: "Brother Quan, what I said for you to follow me is not just for this time, but also for you to follow me in the future."
"after?"
Xia Quan asked doubtfully: "Mr. Zhao, are you worried that we can't kill Ma Jiu this time?"
"Don't worry, as long as he dares to come, I will kill him with one arrow."
"Ma Jiu is just an appetizer, nothing to be afraid of."
Zhao Ping said with a smile: "You have all tasted the wine just now. I have found a buyer, but I don't have the manpower to transport it."
"I want you to help me transport it."
"It's the autumn harvest now, who has the spare time to send you wine?"
Gao Meng was the first to react and said slightly dissatisfied.
If I can come over to help you deal with Ma Jiu, it's because you poisoned the tiger to death.
Xia Quan, on the other hand, thought more deeply and asked: "Mr. Zhao, do you want to recruit guards?"
"Roughly the same."
Zhao Ping nodded and said: "I won't let you work in vain."
"As long as you agree to follow me, I can give you five hundred coins every month."
"In addition, I also take care of the meals. There are three meals a day, and every meal has meat."
"If I go out to deliver goods, I will bear all the expenses such as food and accommodation on the way."
"How much? Five hundred coins a month? Did I hear correctly?"
Gao Meng rubbed one ear and asked.
"That's right."
Zhao Ping repeated.
"I'll follow you."
Gao Meng was the first to express his stance, but then asked tentatively, "Mr. Zhao, can you push it back a few days?"
"I have agreed to help the Quanzi family collect food."
"I will follow you after harvesting the food."
"no."
The one who refused was Xia Quan, "Brother Meng, how many grains of grain can I get from my few acres of land? I'm afraid it's not even enough to pay the tax."
"But Mr. Zhao's opportunity will be gone if he misses it."
"Not only do you have to follow him, but I also have to follow him."
Then he said to Zhao Ping: "Mr. Zhao, is the monthly payment you gave me too much?"
"Even the government officials at the county government only have two to three hundred cash a month. It's not appropriate for us to just give that much for a small favor."
"Otherwise? Two hundred cents a month."
"I……"
Zhao Ping was speechless for a while.
This was the first time I met a worker who was doing reverse bargaining.
The capitalists were moved to tears when they saw it.
They are still as simple as the ancients.
"If you say five hundred wen, it's five hundred wen. You don't have to think about saving money for me."
Zhao Ping said with a smile: "And it won't delay your autumn harvest. My wine hasn't been brewed yet. It won't be too late to come over and start work after the autumn harvest is over."
"As for wages, they will be calculated starting from today. You can come and collect them every day, or you can come and collect them at the end of the month."
"That won't work."
Unexpectedly, Xia Quan objected again, "Mr. Zhao, we don't dare to ask for your money if we don't work."
"You guys have to be paid for helping me deal with Ma Jiu these days, otherwise I'll feel really bad."
Zhao Ping said.
"Quanzi, I don't think we can harvest autumn either."
Gao Meng suggested: "What if we take back the few crops in your field?"
"I'm afraid it's not even enough to pay taxes."
"It's more comfortable to work with Mr. Zhao. You can earn 500 taels of silver a month and take care of three meals. You can have a balance of 6 taels of silver in a year."
"I have never seen so much silver in my life."
“How can we pay taxes if we don’t harvest crops?”
Xia Quan asked.
"Then I won't pay it."
"Don't hand it over? Aren't you afraid of being captured and used as a vanguard camp? Oh, I forgot, you are a retired veteran. Even if we don't arrest you to join the army, you will be sold and become a slave."
"We can be slaves to Mr. Zhao."
Gao Meng said casually.
"This is a good idea."
Xia Quan's eyes lit up, "As long as we become Mr. Zhao's slaves, we don't have to pay taxes and can legitimately work with Mr. Zhao."
"No, no."
Zhao Ping waved his hand and refused, "Slave status is low. We are all brothers. How can you be my slaves?"
"Mr. Zhao, if I become your slave, will you look down on us?"
Xia Quan asked.
"That won't happen."
Zhao Ping said.
"Isn't that enough? Since Mr. Zhao won't look down on us, we don't have to pay taxes as slaves. What a great thing."
Xia Quan said with a smile.
He was also sure that Zhao Ping would not bully them.
Of course, this is also Yunman's contribution.
Recruited as a member of the Tiger Fighting Team, Yun Man often said good things about Zhao Ping in their ears.
When he first went to Xia Cun, he was laughed at by the people around him.
He said that he actually worshiped that second-rate guy Zhao Ping as his teacher.
Yun Man began to clear Zhao Ping's name.
Since he became Zhao Ping's apprentice, instead of being harshly abused, Zhao Ping taught him hunting sincerely.
Now he can catch more than ten rabbits every day which is the best proof.
Moreover, Zhao Ping would give him some pocket money from time to time.
In just a few days, Yun Man transformed from a pauper into a "rich man" with one tael of silver in his pocket.
He even showed off his money in front of everyone.
Since then, everyone's views on Zhao Ping have changed, and they are full of curiosity about Zhao Ping.
In addition, when the tiger entered the village, Zhao Ping did not hide at home like others. Instead, he fought with the tiger team and finally poisoned the tiger.
Everyone has already recognized Zhao Ping.
It was precisely because of this that Xia Quan dared to be a slave to Zhao Ping.
He then asked the others: "What about you? Are you willing to be a slave to Mr. Zhao?"
"This is what I proposed. Of course I am willing."
Gao Meng was the first to express his stance.
Xia Zhixue pondered for a moment and agreed.
Being a slave can earn 500 coins a month, which is like pie in the sky. Only a fool would not do it.
Xia Yang and Liu Muyun are both Xia Quan's apprentices.
The master has become Zhao Ping's slave, and the two of them naturally have to obey.
Zhao Ping also felt that this was a way to get the best of both worlds, so he no longer refused.
He even took out some money on the spot and gave each of them one tael.
It's an advance payment for the next two months.
Even Qian Liuyunman and Li Hu had a share.
Several people felt that following Zhao Ping was the right decision.
The matter was finalized, and Zhao Ping's hanging heart was completely relaxed.
With the help of these five people, dealing with Ma Jiu will not be a problem, and the next step is to make money.
After Ma Jiu's matter is resolved, Zhao Ping plans to go to the county town to explore the situation at Tian's house and try to open up the sales of acacia wine.
This way we can support more helpers.
When facing my father-in-law in the future, I will be more confident.
Xia Quan took Yun Man and others to set up traps overnight. Xia Zhixue rode to the county seat to inquire about Ma Jiu's movements. Li Hu stood guard outside the yard, and Qian Liu was still lying in the thatched shed.
Zhao Ping went back to his house to sleep.
But seeing Zhao Xiaoxiao lying on the bed, he couldn't help but wonder: "Mengru, why is Xiaoxiao sleeping here?"
"I asked her to come."
Liu Mengru said: "Go to the west room and sleep with Wen Hui."
"ah?!"
Zhao Ping's head was a little down.
"Ah for what?"
Liu Mengru said: "You torture me all day long, why don't you allow me to rest for two days?"
"Besides, Wenhui has mastered our brewing method and promised to be your concubine. You must cook the raw rice into cooked rice as soon as possible."
"In case she regrets it later and runs away with the brewing method, we won't have anywhere to cry."
"Don't be stunned, hurry over."
After saying that, Liu Mengru got up from the bed and pushed Zhao Ping out.
