The old man's eyes lit up. Although he didn't know a word of Chinese characters, he still knew the numbers fifteen acres. He swallowed. The happiness came so suddenly that he really couldn't believe it.
The old man said in a trembling voice: "You, you mean, this field deed was given to the old man? This field also belongs to the old man?" Farmers have an instinctive love for the fields. Although they have not seen the real fields, this field The contract seemed to weigh a thousand pounds in his hand. The old man's face gradually turned red and his heartbeat accelerated wildly.
Jing Zhao said: "I swear to God, if I tell a lie, the sky will strike with lightning."
The people around were in an uproar. Apparently, there was a glimmer of light in their numb eyes. You have to strike while the iron is hot. Jing Zhao pointed out another middle-aged man and said, "Uncle, what do you do?"
Jing Zhao has a very vicious eye. He has strong upper body muscles. He is either a blacksmith or a carpenter. In short, he is a craftsman.
Sure enough, the man said: "I make a living by blacksmithing in Huguang. The thieves came and I came here to take refuge. There are also five people in my family."
With the old man's experience, the middle-aged man's eyes were full of expectation. Jing Zhao nodded, took out the land deed from his arms, and said to him: "This is fifteen acres of land. You keep it. Just now you said you were We make a living by blacksmithing. Our Lang Son Province has a better policy for craftsmen. In addition to the fields, a blacksmith who enters the workshop will receive a monthly salary of two taels of silver. If he does well, it will increase. This is five taels of silver. This is the settlement allowance for the craftsmen, come with me and you will have a good life."
After that, he took out five taels of silver and handed it to his hand.
The middle-aged man held the silver in his hands, his eyes were moist. This was like a living Buddha. If the land deed could not prove the authenticity, this silver was real. I had never heard that a blacksmith could get a settlement allowance. of.
The old man on the side said hurriedly: "Sir, sir, the little old man said something wrong, the little old man said something wrong."
He was a little lukewarm just now, but now he immediately changed his name to Xiao Lao'er, "Xiao Lao'er's son is a carpenter, a real carpenter."
People are like this. After seeing others get real money and silver benefits, they can't sit still and start to compare.
Jing Zhao smiled and said, "Uncle, don't worry. I don't have much money with me. I just gave you an example. When I go to Lang Son House, craftsmen, teachers, soldiers, and farmers will all get the treatment they deserve." , What I just said is the truth, and no one can stand without trust, otherwise, why would I come all the way here to explain to everyone?"
He clapped his hands and said, "As long as you are willing to go to Lang Son Province, come with me. You can go and see if what I said is true or false. If you go, if it is false, it is not too late to leave. If it is true, you won't Wouldn’t it be a big loss to go?”
The old man quickly answered: "Yes, just go and have a look, and you won't lose a piece of flesh from your body. The old man escaped from Henan all the way and walked thousands or tens of thousands of miles. Please take a few more steps." does not matter."
As soon as the words fell, the crowd immediately echoed, and the people said one after another: "Yes, yes, it makes sense, go and see, go and see."
Jing Zhao struck while the railway was hot: "That's right. We have set up a camp outside Zhennan Pass. Everyone can go there for a layover, and then you can enter Lang Son Palace. At that time, it will be clear whether it is true or false."
"Gao Heng really spent a lot of money to deceive people into going to his place. This young man acted really well and is quite a talent. It's just that so many people went there. If he can't fulfill his promise, what will happen?"
In a corner of the Laibin County camp, two scribes were standing together. There were several burly men wearing fancy clothes and bamboo hats beside them. If you look closely, you will find that this man turned out to be Fang Zhenru.
It turned out that although Fang Zhenru had arranged for Sun Ding to take full responsibility, for the first time, he was still a little uneasy and came to take a look, and happened to encounter the scene where Jing Zhao was preaching. The men next to him were all his guards, and the other scribe was Sun Ding.
Although Jing Zhao spoke eloquently, he didn't quite believe it. If land could be solved, the matter of money and food could never be that simple. If Gao Heng really did this, how much food would 100,000 people consume before productivity could be formed? How powerful Gao Hengcai is and how much money he has in his hands. If he does this, he will not collapse instantly. In Fang Zhenru's view, this is a way to attract people. Bring people there first, and it is impossible to really fulfill this condition. . If he really fulfilled his promise, Gao Heng would be comparable to a saint.
The people's emotions were aroused, and the news spread quickly, and they could not restrain their excitement, because judging from Jing Zhao's description, Lang Son Palace was simply a paradise. They don't care whether they are outside the country or not. These refugees have seen too much darkness and hardship in the world. Now they don't want to ask for anything. They just want to find a place with a few acres of thin farmland and live a peaceful life. If they really There is such a place where they would like to go.
The first group of 30,000 people set off under the leadership of Jing Zhao. Fang Zhenru, in the name of the governor's office, mobilized soldiers and horses from various cities to escort them along the way. They said they were escorting along the way, but in fact, the local officials were monitoring these people. In their view, these refugees are a burden, and entering their jurisdiction will bring uncontrollable consequences. Now that someone is willing to accept them, they should just throw them away like baggage.
Under the guidance of this spirit, the soldiers did their best to ensure that these people could get out of the customs completely, which saved Jing Zhao a lot of trouble.
Jing Zhao acted together with the people, and did not forget the tasks assigned by Gao Heng on the way. He tried his best to inquire about some so-called high-tech talents among the people, but since they were refugees, most of them were at the bottom of the society. How could they have any information about these people? So Jing Zhao inquired for a long time, but in vain. It was at this time when he was discouraged. But there has been a turn for the better.
When they were about to arrive at Zhennanguan, several of Jing Zhao's men were also inquiring about the news in the crowd. One of them replied: "Sir, I heard some news. There is a man who fled from Shandong in the team. It is said that his family is He is also the bodyguard of a big shot. He has met Westerners and may have the news we want."
When Jing Zhao heard this, he realized that there were not many Westerners who could meet Westerners in the Ming Dynasty. As a guard of a certain big shot, he had this way.
The man was brought over, and Jing Zhao quickly asked: "But you said there is news about the master craftsman?"
The man clasped his fists and said: "To tell you what you are saying, it is true that my father was Sun Yuanhua's bodyguard. After Sun's death, the team disbanded and my father went home to farm. After my father died, the Qing army invaded Shandong. We have gone through many hardships." , Only then can I escape from the pain."
"What does this have to do with the person we want?" Jing Zhao asked.
"Sir, when I was a child, I met foreigners. They could make firecrackers and artillery, and they also talked about some kind of machinery. I was young at the time and can't remember clearly. When Lord Sun was in power, he promoted Western learning, and he himself They are also surrounded by Western learning, and they have also converted to some foreign religion." The man said.
"Christianity?" Jing Zhao blurted out. He had been dealing with Bu MiG and others for so long, so he had some understanding of them.
"Yes, yes, it's Christianity. Those foreigners are very capable. You can definitely get in touch with them, but I don't know if these people are in Shandong. Maybe they went to the capital." The man scratched his head and said.
Jing Zhao had a speechless expression on his face. Isn't this guy talking nonsense? What he wants is talents that he can see and recruit right away. If he has the ability to go to the capital to recruit people, why would the general give him the task?
Jing Zhao shook his head and could only go back to resume his life.
In the camp outside Zhennanguan, the scene had been in full swing for several days. The news of the fall of Huguang spread throughout both Guangdong and Guangxi within half a month. Different from the dejected expressions of local officials and people, these things outside Zhennanguan The people here all looked curious. The climate and environment here were different from those in Zhongyuan Lake. People from these places looked left and right, as if they were afraid of missing something.
Inside the camp, Zhang Chaozheng led the soldiers to classify them and register them. Just like when they entered Tuo County that day, many of the soldiers under their command had experienced that incident, but this time they had changed their roles, so they were able to do the same thing easily.
"Wang Lao Er, carpenter, three people!"
"Li Gouer, farmer, family of five!"
"Luo Dapao, artilleryman, four people!"
The names were registered one by one, and the literate gentleman wrote down the situation of each household head in the account book, and then another person prepared a wooden sign with the name on it and handed it to the person whose name was called as a witness of their identity. , when you arrive in Lang Son Province, you must have this wooden sign to prove your identity.
As before, people were asked to rinse their bodies with clean water, and all their worn clothes were burned, and clean clothes were distributed. Fortunately, after Lang Son Prefecture was taken, the Xing Hua Army seized a lot of military uniforms and a large amount of cloth in the treasury. They immediately organized manpower to make a lot of clothes, which was barely enough for these 30,000 people. Next A group of people will arrive in a month, and there is enough preparation time for them.
Zhang Chao prepared a large amount of rice cakes as dry food in the camp and distributed them to these people. At the same time, the food given by Sun Ding was boiled into gruel, plus some local pickles from Annan. Although they did not eat well, But you can satisfy your hunger.
Compared with the situation that these people had to escape from and could only dig grass roots and eat tree bark, it was already a paradise.
The people were all smiling, but Jing Zhao was looking sad. He went back to Lang Son House first to report the situation. Gao Heng was very satisfied with the first half. But then Jing Zhao changed the topic and said that he had not found the corresponding talents. Although Gao Heng didn't blame him, it was obvious that Gao Heng had a look of disappointment on his face.
"Is there really nothing gained at all?" Gao Heng asked.
"There is a man from Shandong who has clues about the Westerners, but after all, he himself doesn't know where these Westerners are now, and he asked us to go to the capital to look for them. He said that his father used to be the bodyguard of a big shot named Sun Yuanhua. , that’s why I know these things." Jing Zhao whispered.
"Who? Sun Yuanhua?" Gao Heng asked, raising his voice.
Jing Zhao nodded. He was young and overseas. When Sun Yuanhua died more than ten years ago, Jing Zhao was still a child and had never heard that it was normal. But this is not the case with Gao Heng. Sun Yuanhua's name is well known to anyone who studies the history of the Ming Dynasty. It is a pity that he was executed by Chongzhen, otherwise, the Western School of Ming Dynasty would not have declined so quickly.
Gao Heng suddenly thought of something and asked, "Where is this person now?"
Jing Zhao said: "He should still be in the camp. This man's name is Li Gou'er, and he is a farmer."
"Take me to see him immediately." Gao Heng said.
Jing Zhao didn't know why Gao Heng was so interested in this farmer, but he didn't complete the task well, so he couldn't ask more questions, so he immediately said: "General, please come with me."
Gao Heng left the government office, mounted the black stallion, and rushed to the camp in just half a day without stopping. When Li Gouer was brought to Gao Heng, he was still confused.
Seeing a dozen armored knights surrounding an imposing-looking general, Li Gouer was so frightened that his legs trembled, not knowing what he had committed.
He knelt down with a plop and said: "Little man Li Gou'er, little man Li Gou'er, general, spare your life, general, spare your life."
Gao Heng couldn't laugh or cry, "Get up, I am Gao Heng. You should have heard my name."
Li Gou'er was even more frightened when he heard Gao Heng announcing his family name. On the way, he knew that the supreme ruler of Lang Son Prefecture was called Gao Heng, but how could he, an ordinary farmer, provoke such a great god and now he would fight alone? You brought it here by yourself, and you still don’t know what’s going on?
Gao Heng said: "Get up, I'm just here to ask you something. If you answer it correctly, there will be a heavy reward."
When Li Gou'er heard the word "heavy reward", he swallowed and stood up.
Gao Heng said: "Do you know Sun Yuanhua, Master Sun?"
When Li Gouer heard this, he realized that this was what happened, and he immediately repeated what Jing Zhao said.
Gao Heng shook his head and said: "I don't care about those foreigners you talk about. I just want to ask you, after Mr. Sun Yuanhua died, did your father say where his descendants are?"
Li Gou'er thought for a while and said, "I know about this. In fact, many people in Shandong know that several of his sons have been exiled to Qiongzhou Prefecture. It seems to be in Yazhou."
Gao Heng said: "Great, really great!" Gao Heng was so happy that everyone was shocked. Jing Zhao and others had never heard of Sun Yuanhua, so of course they didn't know what Gao Heng was happy about.
Gao Heng said: "Let's go back immediately, find Pudman, take people to Qiongzhou Mansion, find Sun Yuanhua's descendants, and find a way to pick up his descendants."
Immediately, he dropped a silver ingot and said, "This is for you, thank you very much."
Li Gou'er held the silver ingot and froze on the spot.
