In February of the third year of Jianxing, Feng Yong, the Marquis of Guannei, was appointed as the chief historian of Yuejun. He set out from Jincheng, passed through the waterway to Bodao, and led two thousand soldiers towards Beishui.
In February, the weather in Beishui is already warmer than that in Jincheng.
Outside Beishui City, large bamboo sheds were built one after another.
After leaving enough space, a large fence was erected around all the sheds, with exits and entrances.
A tall flag was erected above the shed.
One side of the flag has the words "Dongfeng Express" written on it, and on the other side there is something similar to a cylinder with a pointed head, a tail fin, and fire breathing from the bottom.
Don't tell outsiders what is painted on this flag, even people from the Xinghan Society don't understand.
I heard that this was painted by the leader himself. Although it looks nondescript, it is the logo of Dongfeng Express.
This flag and this symbol are really notorious among the barbarians in Nanzhong.
Because this flag represents the ghost king's minions, and I heard that it is specially used to transport human flesh and blood to the ghost king.
Early this morning, Beishui City started to become noisy.
I saw groups of soldiers driving groups of prisoners of war into the sheds, and the crowd outside became commotion: after waiting for so long, the prisoners of war in the hands of Yuejun Prefect Meng Yan were finally going to be sold.
"How many people?"
An old man in his fifties blushed and jumped to his feet and shouted.
"It is said that there are three hundred people. This is the first batch. There should be more after that."
"Everyone, I am the second wife of the Li family. I arrived in a hurry the day before yesterday. To be honest, these shoes have been worn out twice. There is nothing I can do. The master is in a hurry. Please give me some face later. , this kind of labor costs me eighty cents per person..."
"Bah! You only want eighty minutes?"
Someone said something disdainfully.
"It's endless. If you give me two hundred evenly, I will be able to offer them to you sincerely!"
"Go away! Shameless old man! You robbed two hundred of three hundred people? When did the second wife of the Li family become so proud? How dare you say such things?"
After hearing the old man's words, the people around him glared angrily on the spot.
Among them, the earliest one arrived ten days ago. After waiting for so long, just for today, this old man, who only came the day before yesterday, dared to speak arrogantly. He was really shameless.
When the old man heard this, he immediately became furious and pointed at the speaker, "Who knows about our Li family in Shu? Then Governor Li..."
"Li, your mother-in-law!"
After punching him, the old man screamed and fell to the ground.
"You old man, dare to show your identity here? Do you really think I'm afraid of the second room of the Li family? Governor Li is from the Li family in Nanzhong. Not to mention the second room of yours, he is the eldest member of the Li family in Shuzhong. Let's see if Governor Li knows how to do it. Will it give you face?”
The man kept cursing and wanted to step forward and step on him.
"Forget it, forget it, this old man doesn't know the rules, don't be like him."
His accomplices quickly grabbed him and said, "If we continue to fight, someone will be killed..."
"What's going on over there?"
The commotion here naturally attracted the attention of the soldiers maintaining order. He pressed the handle of his knife and shouted loudly. At the same time, other soldiers moved towards this side.
When the man who beat him saw that something was wrong, he quickly hid in the crowd - he would be selling his labor later, but he couldn't be caught by the soldiers.
Only an old man was left lying on the ground, ouch ouch ouch...
After all the labor was transferred to the shed, the entrance to the fence was finally opened.
"It's started, it's started, let's go!"
Someone shouted, and the crowd began to push forward.
When the old man heard this, he quickly got up, even ignoring the few footprints on his body.
"Don't squeeze, don't squeeze, there's still more to come!"
"Shoes! My shoes, fuck! Which bastard stepped on my shoes?"
"You grandma! Who is touching my butt? Do you believe I will stab you to death?"
With a lot of noise, everyone began to enter the passage surrounded by fences.
Each shed houses ten laborers, all of whom are packaged and sold, not just sold individually.
Each laborer had his head shaved and his upper body was naked, with only a rough linen cloth wrapped around his waist so that guests could observe the laborer's physical condition.
"This, this, and this, one hundred coins, I want them all!"
The first person to enter glanced over and immediately picked out three sheds.
One hundred mins means one laborer one hundred mins.
The man glanced behind him provocatively. His meaning was very clear. Who do you think is going to compete with me?
No one paid any attention to him.
The basic price for selling labor is seventy cents. The one with the highest price gets it. One hundred cents per piece is not low.
Anyway, there is more to come, so don’t bargain with this fool.
The Dongfeng Express employee standing guard in front of the shed quickly shouted, "This gentleman is offering a hundred cents!"
After waiting for a few seconds, he saw that no one was bidding anymore, so he turned over the sign hanging in front of the shed with a smile, and saw the word "Sold" written on it, which meant that the labor in this shed had been sold.
"This gentleman, please register here."
In the open space surrounded by fences, there is a row of tables. There are papers and pens on the tables. The paper is high-quality mulberry paper produced in Nanxiang. There are some frames drawn on it, and words such as unit price and total are written inside.
Sitting in front of each table was a young man of fifteen or sixteen years old, some even fourteen years old, but they had long since lost their childishness and had become sophisticated.
When I saw someone coming, I quickly picked up a pen and prepared to register.
"Thirty, one hundred coins, I would like to ask if this gentleman will carry it himself or consign it to the consignment?"
"Of course it's consignment."
"Shipping to where?"
"Pingyi County."
"Which one is it from?"
…
After all, they registered the information and gave the customer a copy as a voucher. Dongfeng Express kept a copy for himself and each of them took their fingerprints.
The man who bought the labor took out a wad of bills from his pocket, counted them, took out a part and put it on the table as a deposit.
The remaining half will be paid when the land is reached.
This is considered the transaction is completed.
Nowadays, all labor bought and sold through Dongfeng Express basically uses bills.
For the convenience of customers, Dongfeng Express has also set up a ticket exchange office not far away.
It can be said that labor trading played a great role in promoting the bills issued by the Nanxiang Dahan Reserve Bureau.
The three hundred laborers were quickly wiped out, and the last two sheds were snatched up by the old steward of the second house of the Li family, each laboring for ninety cents.
This was because others saw that some of the laborers in the two sheds were a little thin, so they didn't compete with him.
Seeing the young man in front of him skillfully writing out the credentials, the old steward asked eloquently, "My child is good at arithmetic. Where did he learn it?"
The young man raised his head and glanced at the old steward, whose nose was a little crooked, and said with a smile, "Sir, I came from Nanxiang Academy. You must learn arithmetic."
Nowadays, there are countless families who want to settle in Nanxiang Gongfang Ranch, so the requirements have become increasingly strict.
Ordinary families would be lucky if they could settle in Nanxiang.
Those who can settle down in the workshop ranch must either have skills at home, or their children can be attracted by the school.
It was because this boy was attracted by the school that the family was able to move their household registration to Gongfang Ranch and live a good life.
He studied in the school for two years and was selected to work for Dongfeng Express.
The work is not tiring on weekdays, it is even very relaxing. It is all registration and calculation work, but the money and food received every month is quite a lot.
The old steward glanced at the young men sitting in a row and saw that each of them was writing and calculating with their heads down. He was slightly surprised. He thought that the background of Dongfeng Express should not be underestimated, and he didn't know about Nanxiang Academy. How many such people are there?
Meng Yan stood at the head of Beishui City, looking at the commotion below, with complex expressions flashing in his eyes. The elegant and elegant family, the gentleman who was ashamed of his words and power, all disappeared when he arrived here.
The profit-seekers they usually looked down upon crowded together, shouting and waving tickets, just to grab the best labor.
Feng Langjun's move was basically to tear off all the fig leaves of the aristocratic family and display them in front of the world.
I just don’t know if he can withstand the counterattack of the wealthy family?
"Prefect, the people sent out ahead have returned and said that Feng Langjun is still at most one day's journey from Beishui."
Meng Yan was deep in thought when he saw someone approaching and reporting in a low voice.
"Oh, is it finally here?"
Meng Yan came back to his senses and turned around to look, "General Wang, Feng Langjun is coming with his army. I originally wanted to go and greet him in person, but now Beishui is newly settled."
Then he pointed to the city, "This labor matter is also at a critical juncture. I can't leave for a while. I wonder if General Wang can go on my behalf?"
"The governor has an order, how dare the general disobey it?"
"Then there is General Lao Wang."
Meng Yan nodded.
When Feng Yong saw the people sent by Meng Yan, he smiled and said, "General Wang, long time no see. How are you doing?"
The man who was called General Wang had a face filled with joy and he quickly bowed and saluted, "Thank you, Mr. Feng, for thinking of me. I am deeply honored."
Wang Han was originally a relative of Wang Ping. When Feng Yong went to Zhuti to inspect farming last year, Wang Ping sent him to lead his personal guards to protect Feng Yong's safety.
When Feng Yong was assassinated in Nagu, Wang Han, because of his alert nature, saw through the Yi people's sneak attack and defended the camp, so he was appreciated by Feng Yong. He later recommended Wang Ping and was promoted to a military position.
Before this, Wang Han heard others say that Feng Langjun had the ability to recognize people, and anyone who was admired by him would have a good career in officialdom.
Later, when something like this happened to me, I felt that this statement was indeed true.
Now that I am lucky enough to come to greet Feng Langjun in person, is there any reason not to be happy?
Feng Yong was happy to see that he was an old acquaintance, and asked, "Isn't General Wang following General Dang Kou? Why are you here?"
"Going back to Feng Langjun, after General Wang pacified Nanzhong, he got the permission of the Prime Minister and ordered Han to return to the land of Sanba and summon the tribesmen of Badi. The governor of Houmeng transferred five captains and horses, and there were many of them. A descendant of Badi, General Wang then ordered Han to lead his army to follow Prefect Meng."
The General Wang in Wang Han's mouth is naturally Wang Ping.
Wang Ping has been in Nanzhong for three years. He was first valued by Li Hui and then appreciated by Zhuge Liang during the Southern Expedition.
When preparing to develop the Zhuti copper mine, he first took control of the five barbarian captains, and then was transferred to Zhuti as the county guard. , that is what it should be.
In addition, the Bancheng barbarians in Sanba land are brave, good at fighting, and fearless of death. Zhuge Laoyao used Wang Ping's relationship to recruit more Bancheng barbarians from Badi, which could strengthen the Han's military power and weaken it. The Badi people killed two birds with one stone.
It seems that the famous Wudang Feijun in later generations has begun to take shape, but I don't know when Zhuge Lao Yao plans to formally form it.
"I see. General Wang followed Taishou Meng to pacify Beishui. Has he ever found out about the news from Qiongdu?"
"Back to Feng Langjun, the Yi people in Qiongdu heard that the son of Gaoding and the former most powerful general came in person and surrendered without a fight. Many of Gaoding's old troops came under his command. Now Huang Duwei and Zhang The captain has led his troops into Qiongdu."
"So, wouldn't Qiondu be able to decide on its own without fighting?"
"Exactly."
"That's great!"
Feng Yong laughed. Gao Yuan and Eshun were just a casual move. When they were asked to go to Qiongdu to gather the old Gaoding team, they were even mentally prepared for their rebellion. Unexpectedly, they gave themselves a big surprise.
Just when Feng Yong led his army into Yuejun, in a small courtyard next to the Gongfang School in Nanxiang County, Hanzhong, Zhang Xingyi was leaning on the couch and reading a book, fascinated.
She said she came to Nanxiang to inspect her property, but since arriving in Nanxiang, she has been hugging Ye Shi all day long and rarely goes out to the yard.
If it were in Jincheng, Mrs. Zhang Xiahou would have scolded her if she had seen her sitting still all day, and even reading these miscellaneous books.
But here, no one can control her.
Even Li Qiu, the magistrate of Nanxiang County, heard that she wanted a small courtyard next to the school. Not only did he agree, but he also took her to choose a place in person.
He even told her that if she had any requests, just send someone over to tell her.
It really made her feel what it meant to be surrounded by stars, and she had never been so happy even when she was the queen's sister in Jincheng.
"Madam, the husband of the Li family would like to see you."
I heard the maid come in and report to Zhang Xingyi.
"The husband of the Li family? Who is it?"
Zhang Xingyi stretched lazily and asked impatiently.
These days, many people heard that Mrs. Zhang, who had a dispute with Feng Langjun, had arrived in Nanxiang, and they came to see her.
Zhang Xingyi thought they were related to the Zhang family at first. Later, when she saw a lot of visitors and heard them mentioning Feng Langjun in their words, she realized that they actually wanted to establish a relationship with the unfaithful person through herself. .
After figuring out their purpose, Zhang Xingyi was so angry that he almost kicked them out.
At this time, I heard that someone was visiting again, and I felt a little bored.
"The person who came here claimed to be Madam Mu's brother, and said he had something to present to Madam Mu."
"Mrs. Mu?" Zhang Xingyi's heart skipped a beat when she heard the name.
Who in Hanzhong doesn’t know the reputation of Nanxiang Lady Mu?
If her sister is like this, her brother must be no ordinary person, right?
"Tell him to wait in the living room."
Zhang Xingyi got up, straightened his clothes, and then walked out the door.
Li Tong sat in the living room with some anxiety. He secretly came here to ask to see the Zhang family's young lady without telling his sister, and he felt really uneasy.
I heard that Mrs. Zhang is very pretty, but I don’t know what her temper is like.
While he was making random guesses, he saw the door suddenly darken, and someone walked in slowly. He didn't dare to take a closer look, so he stood up quickly and bowed deeply: "Li Tong has met Mrs. Zhang."
"Li Langjun, there is no need to be polite."
Only a clear voice was heard saying, "Please sit down."
"Thank you, Miss Zhang."
Li Tong only felt a burst of fragrance wafting by, and then another long skirt passed in front of him. After feeling that the other party had sat down on the main seat, he stood up and sat back down in his seat with his head bowed.
"I wonder why Li Langjun came here?"
Hearing Zhang Xingyi's question, Li Tong dared to raise his head slightly and glanced above. Unexpectedly, it was this glance, and he felt that his eyes suddenly became as bright as spring.
I saw the young lady sitting above, with bright eyes, elegant and graceful. Although she still looked a little immature, she already had a faintly charming aura.
It turns out that the clouds are like the clothes and the flowers are like the appearance!
