Also coming with them was Han Zhang.
Perhaps with the comfort of Mrs. Han and Zhang, these women calmed down a little and no longer looked frightened as before, but their eyes were still full of anxiety and uneasiness, not knowing what kind of outcome was waiting for them.
Mrs. Han Zhang gently pulled the corner of Han Zhen's clothes and said softly: "Erlang, I asked you just now. These sisters are hard-working people and are often beaten and scolded. Don't embarrass them."
"I didn't mean to embarrass them at all."
Replied to Mrs. Han Zhang, Han Zhen glanced around at the women and ordered: "Each person will receive the same amount of money, and everyone can go home."
When they heard that not only could they go home, but they would also receive money, the women were overjoyed. After thanking them profusely, they followed Ma Sangou to collect the money.
But the fat cook and the two little maids didn't leave, standing there with lonely faces.
Seeing Han Zhen's confused look, the fat cook smiled bitterly and explained: "Little Master, my family is gone, and the two of them were bought as maids since they were young. They have no place to go."
Han Zhen casually arranged: "Since you are homeless, I will give you a few acres of wasteland to farm in the village."
"We can only serve people, no... we can't farm." One of the little maids said timidly.
They were sold to the Wang family when they were young, and they learned how to serve their masters and how to do farm work.
If they are allowed to farm, they will probably starve to death in a short time.
Seeing this, Han Zhen could only say: "Then stay and work, with a monthly salary of 300 yuan."
"Thank you Alang!"
The three women hurriedly thanked him and even changed their title from Xiaolangjun to Alang.
After settling them, Han Zhen waved his hand: "Take me around the house."
He was in such a hurry just now that he didn't take a closer look at Yuan Wang's house.
The two little maids immediately said: "Alang, madam, please come in."
"I...I am not a madam."
Mrs. Han Zhang blushed when the two little maids addressed her and waved her hands repeatedly.
Han Zhen came to the rescue and said, "This is my sister-in-law."
The little maid quickly changed her words: "Oh, it turns out to be the eldest lady."
Under the leadership of the two little maids, Han Zhen and Han Zhang walked into the side door.
This is a standard large house with three entrances and three exits. The door is closed all year round and is only opened when worshiping ancestors or welcoming important guests, such as Master Xu and Chang Zhixian.
Under normal circumstances, entry and exit are through the side door.
As soon as you enter, there is a concierge on the left.
One of the little maids with a round face introduced: "Alang, this row is a reverse house. The servants and servants all live here."
At first, the two little maids were very reserved.
However, seeing that Han Zhen and Han Zhang seemed to get along very well, they gradually started to talk more, like two little sparrows, chirping.
At the age of thirteen or fourteen, it is the time to be lively.
During the conversation, Han Zhen also learned their names.
The round-faced girl’s surname is Fang and her nickname is San San. According to her, her parents gave her this nickname because she was born on the third day of March.
Another little girl with an oval face was named Jiang. Because she was the fourth eldest child in the family, she was called Siniang.
Stepping into the hanging flower door and entering the second courtyard, the area suddenly became several times larger.
"This is the main hall, with rooms on both sides. The kitchen is on the east side, and the warehouse is on the west side."
Hearing the word "warehouse", Han Zhen paused and ordered, "Take me to the warehouse to have a look."
Fang Sansan wondered: "Alang, I don't have the key to the warehouse."
It happened that Ma Sangou led a few maids with money out of the backyard. Seeing them standing in front of the warehouse, he took out a bunch of keys and handed them over: "Brother Han, are you looking for the keys?"
"Um!"
Han Zhen nodded, took the keys and tried them one by one.
When the third key was changed, the door lock was opened with a crisp sound.
As I walked into the warehouse, I saw grain bags piled high.
After a rough count, I estimated that it was no less than two hundred stones.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, one stone was equivalent to 92.5 Song Jin, and two hundred stones was equivalent to more than 18,000 Jin.
It is a basic operation for landlords and wealthy businessmen to hoard grain. Once a disaster strikes, the grain can be sold at several times or even dozens of times the price, making huge profits.
This much food was enough for him to raise a team of a thousand people.
And in more than half a month, the wheat and rice in the fields will be harvested one after another, and another wave of grain will be harvested.
But now I can only think about it, although there is food, there is no one!
There are only more than 300 people in the whole village. Excluding the elderly, children and women, there are less than 100 young and strong men. They still have to cultivate the land.
Forget it, take your time.
After leaving the warehouse and locking the door again, the group walked towards the last courtyard.
The last courtyard is the residence of the owner. It is also the largest and most spacious of the three courtyards. There are various flowers planted in the courtyard. There is a main room with three rows and east and west wing rooms on both sides.
Han Zhen pointed to the main room and said, "Sister-in-law, you can stay here."
"Erlang, let's stay here. I'll just stay in the east wing."
After saying this, Mrs. Han Zhang led the two little maids towards the east wing.
Seeing this, Han Zhen had no choice but to walk into the main room.
The main room has three rows, with a study on the left and a small warehouse on the right.
The small warehouse was filled with copper coins, at least one or two thousand guan, plus silk cloth, jewelry, etc. Even not counting the land and food, there were more than 3,000 guan in floating wealth alone.
He obviously has so much money, but he doesn't even want to give him a ten-guan reward. He is really stingy and wants to open the door for Stingy. He is extremely stingy.
At this moment, the entire mansion was in a mess, with large areas of blood stains remaining on the ground.
Under the high temperature of the scorching sun, these blood stains suddenly gave off a fishy smell and attracted countless flies.
After inspecting the house, Han Zhen took the lead and led a group of people to clean up the house and clean up the blood stains.
By the time the busy work was over, the time had come to evening unknowingly.
At this time, the villagers had all finished their farm work and returned home.
What happened this afternoon was nothing short of earth-shaking for these villagers.
It took two or three days and I couldn't digest it at all.
In a thatched house in the east of the village, a woman was cooking wheat rice in an earthen pot, while her husband was chopping firewood in the yard while it was still dark.
The woman absentmindedly filled the pot with firewood and asked, "Dad, what do you think we will do if the government calls?"
The man said in a muffled voice: "I called here to look for them. They killed the person. What does it have to do with us?"
The woman asked again: "Is it true that there will be no tax this year?"
Hearing this, the man stopped chopping firewood and said in a somewhat uncertain tone: "Maybe it's true. I heard they even gave the chief some money!"
"How many were given?"
"Five hundred coins."
"Five hundred coins is not much, but they have taken advantage of the king's family property. How can they be so stingy?" the woman muttered in a low voice.
The man scolded: "What do you know? It happens every month. This is called a steady flow of water."
"Every month, I will have ten dollars in a year!"
The woman exclaimed in surprise, and then said angrily: "You won't even pay our family any money."
"The chief wants to help someone with something, what can you do?"
The man said something to his wife, and couldn't help but look at the blue-brick and red-tiled house halfway up the mountain.
He doesn't want officers and soldiers to come, and he doesn't expect to be able to pay him. As long as those people can keep their promises, he feels that with his own strength, he can make his family live a good life...
