I couldn't hear clearly what the outsider was saying, but I saw Liu Laozhu suddenly staggering to the ground after listening.
"Huh?" Mrs. Xu hurriedly supported the fourth uncle and asked the man who was originally supporting the fourth uncle to carry Liu Laozhu.
…
Liu family.
Guan Ertuo came with a medicine box on his back and diagnosed him with acute fire.
Liu Laozhu was lying on the kang, with a wet handkerchief on his head. There was a pot of dark herbs boiling on the stove in the middle of the room.
Pepper was crying and complaining to everyone:
“You are the ones who pickle fish, and those who sell fish get benefits by selling fish.
Looking at my family again, I realized that because of the fish, my eldest brother had been the shopkeeper of that restaurant for almost 30 years, so he didn’t dare to use it anymore!
The boss asked him to ask about the father of my child, so why bother asking?
My brother-in-law was also beaten to the point where he couldn't get up for three months, and my old man also fell seriously ill in the county seat.
The child's father didn't sleep all night last night. He just put on some clothes and sat in the yard, wiping away tears and saying he was sorry to his parents and brothers.
If our father-in-law has some shortcomings, how can we survive? Wouldn't this cause us trouble and be angry to death? I don’t even dare to think that if my sister-in-law and siblings knew that the incident was caused by my family, they would not be able to tear me apart. "
Pepper wiped his nose on the cloth holding the medicine bowl and continued to cry:
"If you ask me, I have stopped working here. I have been scolded a lot behind my back over the years. Has anyone seen my man running errands for you every year?
Which of you is willing to do it? Let's see if whoever takes over can survive the misfortune at home. I hope you will also suffer such a thing, so that you will know how difficult it is for my child's father. Thousands of you have experienced these things.
And let me tell you, the child's father is fine. If anything happens, I will fix all the leaks in the boat and make you happy to catch the fish. I feel heartbroken when I see the fish right now, so let's just leave it alone. "
Liu Laozhu woke up to the sound of Pepper's crying. The first thing he did when he woke up was to stop and stop saying useless things.
"You have the ability to stand up to outsiders. You don't know what's going on here. Why are you yelling at everyone!"
Mrs. Xu also didn't expect that Pepper, who was usually the softest and simplest person in the Liu family, would not be able to speak well at this time.
What's the use of saying nonsense? They knew clearly in their hearts that they had a lot of things they could say back, such as the sentence "Who wants to be honest?" When your man took care of Lao Lizheng like a filial son and grandson, not all the elders in the village remembered it.
There is also the matter of being embarrassed. If your man doesn't let go of anything, will everyone know what's going on? We didn't force him to explain Baijiang's ownership in the past few days. We just fished it out in such a muddle because it was not easy for him.
Even if I don't care about you now, it's just because Liu Laozhu is sick and I don't feel it.
Fortunately, Liu Laozhu is still rational.
Liu Laozhu sat up and looked at the people in the room. They were all important people in the village. Then he said to his old wife, "I have something to tell my fourth uncle and the others. You go and pour tea."
"Pour some tea?"
"Go, I can't even control you!" As soon as Liu Laozhu was talking, he picked up a broomstick and wanted to hit someone.
For some reason, the more useless he felt, the more he wanted to maintain this last bit of face.
The fourth uncle grabbed the broom and advised: "What is this? She is also anxious. We all understand."
"Fourth uncle, this is what I'm used to. I haven't touched her since we got married. She's spoiled her badly. Don't take it to heart. When you leave, I have to take care of her."
After Liu Laozhu woke up, he knew in his heart that from this moment on, he must truly be of one mind with the villagers.
Because he couldn't go back to Wang Lizheng's side, it was useless to kneel down and admit his mistake now.
After reconciliation, it will no longer be the same as before, and the misfortune will be in vain.
Besides, he had already tortured his entire family, and was about to deal with his two sons and one daughter, and he didn't want to admit his mistake.
The second reason is because of the news that the younger brother of Leili Zheng's family just brought.
What that kid said really scared him.
It was said that Leili was being taken away by four mysterious people. He couldn't find out what he looked like or what he was doing. He didn't know anything about it.
There was only one family that had just died, and they happened to be burning paper money in the woods on the roadside. I vaguely saw that the four people were riding horses, and it seemed that they were carrying Lao Lei away on horseback.
The eldest son of Lao Lei's family also said that before that, when he and Lei Li were on their way home from the county town, a villager living on the side of the mountain told him that he seemed to hear a big noise coming from the mountain in the middle of the night. Like the sound of fighting.
At that time, this young man was helping his father take care of things, and all he could remember was that his father had told him not to go to the mountain, especially deep inside the mountain.
I also felt that this villager was quite old, so he might have listened to the criticism. There are sounds of fighting. How many people are needed to fight? Could it be that outsiders think that there are many animals in their mountain in late autumn, so they don’t take it seriously when the news comes from prey.
I just taught him again from home to family: Don’t go to the mountains recently, don’t be jealous even if you see people from other villages coming to the mountains to hunt wild animals, and don’t forget the deaths of people in the past few years.
In short, there are just two useful pieces of information, and Lao Lei hasn't come back yet, and it's unclear who took him away.
This time, the eldest son of Lao Lei's family came and wanted to ask for his help. He said that he didn't know the capable Wang Lizheng and wanted him to introduce him to help him find his father. The reporting officer has not yet approached Wang Lizhao.
But he stopped him with an excuse, telling him to go home first and wait.
Until this moment, Liu Laozhu didn't know what he was thinking at that time. It was as if the Tianling Gai was agitated and he suddenly remembered hearing Lao Lei talk about the new Zhenbei General in the county seat.
In those two messages, the four of them were riding horses. Horses were something that not ordinary people could afford.
So he wondered if there was a possibility that the mountain in Leijiawo was some kind of shady den of Wang Lizheng and his gang. They used the den to make money to honor the noble family and the county magistrate, or else that bastard was plotting against Leijiawo. What is that mountain for?
Following this line of thinking, is it possible that the general who is about to come has already found out that there are evil forces in their town, this county, and even the capital, and also found out about the mountains of Lei's home, and then took Old Lei away with the secret? Ask questions.
As for why we do this, there are three things a new official should do when he takes office. Before the organizers arrive, we should clean up a corner first, and use actions to remind the whole world that we need to change our surname to "Zhenbei", and please find the right place for your filial piety money.
Not knowing whether he knew it or not, Liu Laozhu just felt that his mind was full of chaos.
But one thing is very clear, he and Wang Lizheng are not the same group. Where Lao Lei is a mountain, he is a river, so don't let the mysterious man take him away.
He and the villagers of Erdaohe did not want to be born on the same day, but they wanted to die on the same day.
So whether it was his selfishness, he didn't want to bow to Wang Lizheng, or it was due to many considerations. Liu Laozhu looked at his fourth uncle, seventh uncle, and the eldest brother of the Wan family. Mrs. Xu, Wang Yusheng, and Guan Ertu also glanced at him. This time he planned to tell the truth:
“The fishermen’s tax for each household in our village has been paid by Wangjiagouli Zheng.
I was out drinking with friends once, and I didn't know until I bumped into him accidentally.
It was the man who issued me the bill at the Hebo Station that day. He drank too much and was asking for credit from the Wang family. He was pestering Wang Laoba and his third brother. I thought about going over to say hello, but I overheard him talking in a stall of the restaurant.
I just learned that the fishermen’s tax in our village has been paid by the other side over the past few years.
But I really can’t figure out what’s on the opposite side. "
Fourth uncle, seventh uncle, Wan Chunyi, and Wang Yusheng all looked at each other in confusion: "...What kind of method is this? Help us pay?"
No wonder they were wondering why Liu Laozhu didn't collect taxes after taking back the fishing salt.
Only Mrs. Xu didn't look at anyone. She only lowered her head and slightly raised her eyebrows while taking a sip of tea. She figured out what was going on.
After all, there is a young salt maker in her family who makes money all the time, just like Pixiu.
Her granddaughter said that the 150 kilograms of fish salt she took home had a lot of red yarn, but even counting all the fish used for testing, 60 to 70 percent of the fine salt could be filtered out.
Calculated at 60%, even if the quality of the salt is reduced, she can still earn nine taels of silver, and the cost will only cost her less than half a tael.
Spend half a tael of silver capital and earn eight and a half taels. How many times does this double?
How many households are there in their village? How much does Wang Lizheng earn in one year? How many years has this river been occupied? If not fifteen years, then ten years. How much does Wang Lizheng earn just in the name of Erdaohe Village? The bowl is full.
Then there are those from Wangjiagou.
Only now did I understand that it was no wonder that the Wangjiagou people never salted fish, but kept catching fresh fish and selling them to Wang Lizheng as if they thought they were getting a big advantage.
And she didn’t account for the “little money” she made from fish over the past decade or so.
Furthermore, Mrs. Xu is now very suspicious. It's just that the name of the fisherman in their village has been taken. I heard that there is a waterway from the town to the county seat, but there are no towing boats.
Have any of the villages along that road been spared? The answer can be found by looking at Wang Lizheng's social circle.
It is also known that Wang Lizheng's boat also collects fish from other towns. Does that mean it is also "contracted"?
"Brother Lei of yours, where is their village?" asked Mrs. Xu.
When she heard that it was a border village, Mrs. Xu even suspected that maybe two hundred thousand taels of silver was not enough for Wang Lizheng to earn. If he sold it to foreigners at a higher price, there would be a serious shortage of salt and iron there.
The guts are too fat.
Her granddaughter has been making salt for the past two days. Why are some family members so serious in the live broadcast that they quarrel with others? Some people are making fun of the Nine Tribes, and some keep reminding them not to think it is fun. Salt can overturn the fate of a country in ancient times. thing. Modern people don't feel it, but it was really important in ancient times.
If you want to be beaten to death, you can sell salt privately to strengthen the enemy, and they also produce war horses. How about that? Even if the uprising of many people can succeed, it is because they first control the salt.
Therefore, in the eyes of the officials and generals who really dedicated their lives to the imperial court, they might not care about hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, but they would definitely hate those who dared to illicit salt and bring trouble to the imperial court.
After Mrs. Xu thought about this, she was startled when she raised her eyes again. All the big men were staring at her.
The fourth uncle motioned to Mrs. Xu: "Niece, just say whatever comes to mind."
Only then did Liu Laozhu notice that his fourth uncle did not call Mrs. Xu his nephew-in-law, but his niece.
And Mrs. Xu's next words made Liu Laozhu no longer pay attention to anything else. He finally had to admit that the woman in front of him was very capable.
Mrs. Xu didn't remind her that she was making private salt, so don't nag her about it. She was sensitive and her family also made it.
He just looked at Liu Laozhu and said:
"You are right, a new official is coming, let's see what happens after he comes.
Is your brother Lei missing? That doesn't necessarily mean he was harmed by the opponent. Has he offended the opponent recently? If not, wait a few more days, and maybe the demons and ghosts on the opposite side will become chaotic themselves. If they get into trouble, we'll know who took your Brother Lei away.
At this time, you sent the boy named Lei to the opposite party. If you ruined the new official's affairs, you also deceived your elder brother. He obviously has a normal relationship with the opposite party, but if you let the new official misunderstand that there is a real connection, that would be called complete. Can't come back. "
"How did you know that the official was coming? And what about my brother Lei?" He didn't say anything, he was thinking in his heart.
Liu Laozhu was a little confused.
Fourth Uncle and the others were also confused.
Mrs. Xu was too lazy to explain to Liu Laozhu, but she had to give face to her fourth uncle and seventh uncle.
"My granddaughter learned it when she came back. She said she was dragged by him to find Zhao Dashan to ask if the new general was here."
When I heard that it was coming, it was as if a new blood had been injected into me. I stared at my brother being beaten with wide eyes, as if I was counting the number of slaps in my mind to remember this revenge.
"As for the guy surnamed Lei, look at that kid's appearance. He only did those few things, and he was intimidated, I guess."
He came to ask Liu Laozhu first to explain that he was not familiar with Wang Lizheng. At least Lei Li was at home and did not want to mention it to his wife and children, which showed that he had opinions about Wang Lizheng in his heart. Then contacting the border villages and private salt, Liu Laozhu has been holding back for so many years and has not told why he will tell the truth to everyone today. Don't think that this old guy will confide in everyone for no reason.
Look at the frightened one who threw himself down on the kang and immediately stood up for the villagers. It can be seen from the moment he scolds Pepper that he really wants to make good friends with the villagers and dislikes Pepper for ruining his business.
Although Mrs. Xu did not reveal all of Liu Laozhu's face and just skipped a few sentences, everyone present understood them all.
Perhaps Liu Laozhu is indeed different this time and wants to stand up for the villagers. But it must also be mixed that a new official is coming, and when the situation is about to "change," who knows what will happen. He was afraid that the new official would attack the other side, so he wanted to take the opportunity to draw a slight line.
Even when he finally told the truth today, he was provoked by his brother named Lei.
Liu Laozhu's face turned a little red. He didn't know whether he was sick or ashamed. His eyes were red and he explained: "In the past, I was just afraid of being harmed like this. It doesn't matter what I do, I have a family. This is why I don't take the lead. The reason for grabbing the river surface. As for everyone, to be honest, we have to admit that we are not united."
Fourth Uncle and the others were silent for a long time.
Mrs. Xu didn't know what the fourth uncle was thinking.
Mrs. Xu only knew that she was complaining in her heart: You must have had other benefits from sliding your beard on the other side before, so don't pick it so clearly. Maybe all your benefits are related to me, otherwise you are afraid that I will see Zhao Dashan.
So these few tears from men could not move her. She just didn't have time to go to the town to meet Zhao Dashan for a chat. Otherwise, she could guess the answer simply by asking what Zhao Dashan was busy with.
But she never wants to break up, because her intention has never been to find out the past, and she doesn't want to force anyone to jump over the wall.
Her picture is very clear, just look at what happened after she took over.
She needs to have a very strong voice in the village. Only by controlling this, and it is not you Liu Laozhu who has the final say, nor who has the most population in the village, can she succeed in whatever she does in the future.
As a time-travelling mother, she would never allow Liu Laozhu to choke her cheap sons by using their quota for military service.
So when Liu Laozhu blushed in embarrassment, Xi Shang begged him not to tell anyone about it, lest he lose prestige in the village. When she seemed to give in and want to ignore the village affairs for the time being and let everyone continue to enjoy the "li Zhengzheng", Mrs. Xu looked at her fourth uncle, it was time to talk about that.
The fourth uncle received the look and said to Liu Laozhu:
"You have nothing to think about the past by yourself at night. Look at how ragged the people in the village are, and how miserable they are compared to the people on the other side. Zhuzi, we didn't blame you, but, alas...
Let's talk about the future now. I think the village should set up a team, just like the squad room of the city's yamen. Major issues in the village are decided by the members of this team.
You can no longer allow my niece to be the convener in a muddle-headed manner. She manages things well, but doesn’t give them a penny, and offends people for big and small things in the village.
Form a team so that all team members decide everything together. For example, when paying taxes and grains in the future, everyone will show their hands to decide who is qualified and who is not. "
The eldest brother of the Lao Wan family then said: "Including corvee military service, I think this team should also have some money. When the time comes, we can use the money to look for people outside, and we won't touch the village boys. If it doesn't work, we will draw lots."
Wang Yusheng: "If the team keeps more money, it will come from the money we spend fishing together, so that in the future, whoever is drawn by lot to take the quota of military service and corvee can be compensated. We also do everything on a per-household basis, and each household contributes." Representatives vote by show of hands. For example, the simplest thing is to go out. If everyone agrees or disagrees with who should go into the city to do things, if they agree to raise their hands, then let her go. There are other specific things to consider in detail. Of course, Uncle Li Zheng, you will always It's Li Zheng, you have to stamp the cards and get the fishing salt for everyone."
Guan Ertu: "I'll interrupt, I think it's okay." When every family raises their hand, Mrs. Xu can often go out to help him sell condoms and fish scale jelly.
