Jia Cong nodded approvingly. Unexpectedly, he was a man who valued his commitment.
Much better than the other two hunters, for the sake of money, he even forgot what he came to do, so he easily abandoned his employer and chose money.
Jia Cong said: "You are very good. You have not forgotten your responsibilities. I appreciate you very much. If you are willing, you can work under me."
Li Orion looked at Jia Cong in surprise and asked, "Third Master, what do you do? Even the young ones don't know where you come from."
Jia Cong was a little stunned. Wu Jinxiao didn't tell them his identity. This old boy was really capable.
Li Biao next to him said: "Our third master is the owner of Ningguo Mansion in the sacred city. Heishan Village and the surrounding fields belong to our third master. The Wu family only works for our third master and manages it for our Ningguo Mansion." This field.”
It turned out to be a big shot from the capital. I thought he was a young master from some family, but I didn't expect that it was the real owner of Heishan Village who came.
It's a good thing to be favored by such a big shot, but I can't do anything except hunting.
Orion Li said: "Third Master, I am just a hunter. I know nothing but hunting. What's the use of following you? I can't hunt with you every day, right?"
Jia Cong smiled and said: "I will join the army in Liaodong. I need some locals from Liaodong to work for me, but there will be danger. You can think about it before replying to me."
He turned to the guards behind him and said, "You don't have to follow me. Just spread out and move around. Just treat it as a warning. Just stay too far away."
"Yes, Third Master, we will be on guard at the perimeter."
Jia Cong looked at the special forces team members who were still behind him, waved his hand and said, "Let's go up the mountain and see the depths of the mountain."
A group of more than a dozen people, led by Li Orion, continued walking deeper into the mountain.
Seeing this, the guards on the outside followed them forward in an arc.
Li Orion said: "Third Master, I heard that there are black blind men in the old forest inside. Do we really want to go?"
Jia Cong said: "Go and have a look. It's hard to come here. Are there so many of us still afraid of the Black Blind Man? He should be afraid of us."
Li Orion smiled and said: "The Third Master is right, so many of us are not even afraid of tigers, are we still afraid of blind bears?"
When passing by a depression, I found a group of wild boars, two big ones and five or six half-grown ones, which should be a family.
Wild boars are rough-skinned and thick-flesh, and a weak person really can't kill them unless they hit a vital part.
The crowd gathered around and fired a volley, hitting three of them. The remaining ones rushed towards a few people with arrows hanging on their bodies.
Jia Cong drew his bow and arrow, aimed at the front legs of the big wild boar, and shot one at it.
It shot directly through the joint of the wild boar's front leg. The wild boar bent its front leg and fell to the ground with a "pop".
Qingwen also drew her bow and arrow and shot another wild boar.
The few remaining ones were all shot dead on the road before they could reach them.
Everyone had to go up the mountain and it was inconvenient to carry them, so they dragged them to the roadside and put them here temporarily, and then took them away when they came back.
As we went deeper and deeper, we caught more and more prey, including roe deer, red deer, and sika deer...
······
While Jia Cong was taking people into the mountains for hunting, Wang Cai and others who stayed at home were not idle either.
All the remaining special forces members were sent out to the surrounding villages to inquire about the yield of the fields here.
"Uncle, are the harvests in the village okay these past few years?"
"It's not bad. After paying the rent, I can still have enough to eat. It's pretty good."
"I think the fields here are very fertile. This acre of land can produce more than two stones of food a year, right?"
"Not that much. If the harvest is good, you can get a little more than one stone a year. If the harvest is bad, you can get just one stone of food."
"I heard that you pay 30% of the rent here, which is pretty good. Many places pay 40% of the rent."
"Yes, we pay 30% of the rent here because the owner is merciful."
······
"Auntie, how was last year's harvest in our village? Is it better than in previous years?"
"Last year's harvest was pretty good, similar to previous years."
"Last year we went to Zhuangzi. We could produce two shi of grain from this acre of land, right?"
"If you can't dig it, you can only dig more than one stone per acre of land. Our area is considered good, but some land can't even dig a stone."
"Their fields shouldn't be our fields, right?"
"Young man is right, the land here is of the highest quality, better than many people's land."
"I heard that there was hail here last year. It was as big as the mouth of a bowl. Is it true?"
"Haha, young man, who are you listening to? Hail as big as a bowl has killed everyone. Besides, there was no hail last year. Someone must be deliberately trying to fool you."
······
"Brother, you have been working so hard for a year. Do you have any food saved at the end of the year?"
"After paying the rent, it will be good to have enough food for the whole family. Where can I still store food? I can't compare with you businessmen."
"We also work as a caravan. We spend most of the year on the road. It's not much easier than your farming. Besides, the road is quite dangerous."
"Brother, how much money can you make in a year by working in the caravan?"
"It's only about ten taels, brother. I heard that it rained all the time here last year and never stopped. Is that true?"
"Ten taels of silver can buy twenty stones of grain, which is equivalent to the output of fifteen acres of land. It is much better than our farming. Brother, although it rains here, it doesn't rain as much as you said."
Inquiries like this continue to appear in various places, villages, farmers, and various groups of people, covering a radius of forty or fifty miles.
After a busy day, Wangcai and the special forces members had a general understanding of the situation in Liaodong.
······
At noon, the hunting team also stopped to prepare for dinner.
Everyone roasted two robes and two sika deer for lunch. Everyone gathered together, eating barbecue and chatting about today's harvest.
After dinner, it was time to go back. If it was any later, we wouldn't be able to get home before dark.
Although there are not many people who are not afraid, if we encounter a pack of wolves, we can't guarantee that there will be no casualties.
This time I didn't see the black blind man I expected, so I was still a little disappointed.
After everyone finished eating, they began to pack up their prey and go down the mountain.
When they arrived at the place where they were hunting wild boars, they found that one wild boar was missing. The three hunters gathered around and took a closer look around.
Chen Orion said: "Third Master, looking at the footprints on the ground, it seems that the black blind man dragged away a wild boar. It shouldn't have gone far. Should we chase it?"
Jia Cong's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said, "Since we can't go far, let's catch up and have a look. If we're lucky, we might be able to carry the black blind man back."
The three of them nodded and followed the trail, and Jia Cong also led others to follow.
After walking less than a mile, I saw a black blind man biting a wild boar under a big tree.
The appearance of everyone disturbed the blind man who was eating. He raised his head and looked at everyone vigilantly, and let out a demonstrative roar.
Seeing that everyone was not frightened and continued to move forward, the blind black man turned around quickly, gave up his prey and ran up the mountain.
This guy is actually quite smart, knowing that there are too many people to do the job, so he can escape easily.
Li Orion shouted: "No, the black blind man is going to run away."
Jia Cong quickly ran forward a few steps, drew the bow and nocked an arrow, fully drew the bow, aimed at the Heixiazi's retreating joint, and shot it.
Then there was a "swish" sound and a flash of black light. The running black bear turned its hind legs and instantly lost its balance. It fell to the ground with a "pop" and let out a roar at the same time.
The blind man stood up again, but he could only use three legs.
After another demonstrative roar at the crowd, Jia Cong took this opportunity to aim at its open mouth, shot an arrow in, and passed directly through the back of its head.
The blind man's roar stopped suddenly, and he fell to the ground with a thud. He twitched a few times and stopped moving.
Everyone gathered around and found that the black blind man had no breath.
Liu Orion said: "Third Master, your arrow passed through the brain of the blind man. You grasped the timing so well and the force was so strong. Even we old hunters would find it difficult to achieve this step."
Jia Cong chuckled and said, "Well, the harvest is good this time. The three of you have made great contributions. Each of you will be rewarded with ten taels of silver."
The three of them were overjoyed when they heard this, and they all said respectfully: "Thank you, Third Master, for the reward."
Jia Cong waved his hand, and Zhang Hu and Li Biao led the people to lift the blind man up and walk towards the road.
This blind man weighs more than two hundred pounds, and the most valuable things on his body are bear skin, bear bile, and bear paws.
Everyone took the wild boars with them, stopped and stopped along the way, and finally returned to Heishan Village before dark.
Seeing the people returning home with their loads, Wu Jinxiao greeted them with a smile on his face.
"Third Master, you are back. If you don't come back, I will send people to find you. Isn't the harvest good this time?"
Jia Cong smiled and said: "It's really good. There are a lot of prey on the mountain. This time it's a good harvest."
Seeing that his master was happy, Wu Jinxiao felt even happier. He glanced at the prey behind him, and suddenly saw the blind man being carried by everyone, and his eyes shrank.
They actually met a black blind man. Did they go to the old forest? These people really don't know the severity. If they get hurt, it will be their own fault.
He turned to look at Jia Cong and felt relieved when he saw that he was fine.
These are the parents who provide food and clothing for me. If something happens to me, my life will probably be in danger.
"Third Master, you actually met a black blind man. I'm scared just thinking about it. No one of you was hurt, right?"
Jia Cong said: "Well, no one was injured. We also met on the way back. It's lucky."
After leaving all the prey to special personnel, Jia Cong went back to freshen up before going out to have dinner.
The food was as sumptuous as ever, and the old boy Wu Jinxiao was very attentive, which made Jia Cong feel embarrassed to check on him again.
But I immediately became convinced that this was just their sugar-coated bullet, and it still needed to be investigated.
That night, Jia Cong summoned Wang Cai and the captains of the two special forces in the front hall.
"Wangcai, did you learn any useful news today?"
Wangcai cupped his hands and said: "Third Master, today our brothers visited more than a hundred households, covering dozens of miles around, and got a general understanding of the situation here."
Jia Cong said in surprise: "Oh, I didn't expect you were so lucky to find out useful information so quickly. Please tell me carefully what information there is."
Wangcai took out a pamphlet from his arms and handed it to Jia Cong with both hands.
"Third Master, the news is a bit messy. The three of us summarized it and recorded it. You can take a look at it yourself."
Jia Cong took the booklet and read it page by page.
As he turned further and further back, his face slowly darkened.
After some investigation by the special forces team, it was found that there was no hail at all last year, let alone hail as big as a bowl.
As Wu Jinxiao said, it rains every three days and almost never stops throughout the year.
Knowing that he could not come to Liaodong to check, this old boy was lying to himself.
According to the results of the investigation, there should be at least 20,000 taels of silver income every year, which is considered normal.
As for those wild game, with Montenegro at your back, do you still need to spend money?
Organize hunters to go hunting in the mountains, get more manpower, and you can get it together in two or three days.
This old guy was too evil-hearted and too greedy, and he directly ruined more than half of his harvest.
He actually got more money than his master, which made him feel a little unhappy.
To be honest, Jia Cong didn't want to deal with the Wu family.
It's not that he is soft-hearted, but that he will be staying in Liaodong for many years and needs someone to take care of Zhuangzi in Ningrong's second mansion as his backing.
I also know what the army of Dachu is like. It is common for generals to eat empty pay and deduct military pay.
I am here to gain military glory, not to make a fortune.
I don't care about the money, but I can't prevent others from making a fortune, otherwise I will be targeted by everyone, and then I won't be able to do anything.
But if the army under your command wants to fight, it must have enough to eat, and you must find a way to deal with the excess rations yourself.
With these two villages, it is not a problem to support thousands of people.
For the sake of your own plan, give them another chance.
If you can't catch it this time, don't blame yourself for being ruthless. Then you will have to change the management.
"Wangcai, bring more manpower tomorrow, continue to ask questions, and increase the momentum. Don't let the Rong Mansion go. Make sure Wu Jinxiao and his brother know that you are investigating them."
Wangcai said doubtfully: "Third Master, if we do this, aren't you afraid that they will jump over the wall and be disadvantageous to us? This is their territory after all."
Jia Cong smiled proudly and said: "If you are afraid that they will jump over the wall in a hurry, then be prepared to beat the dog. This is the last chance I will give them. I will knock the mountain to frighten the tiger and scare the snake.
We need a stable supply point in Liaodong, and we need reliable people to garrison it. If they seize the opportunity this time, I will let them go. If they fail to seize the opportunity, then they will have to replace them. "
