Exile at the beginning: I rule the world by drawing cards

Chapter 58 The money giver is here (two updates in one)

Empress Xuan and Mrs. Qin were once close friends. Perhaps because of this relationship, the candidate for the Crown Princess was decided early on.

Zhou Lingqi didn't care who would marry into the East Palace in the end, but he could not bear the entanglement between his crown princess and his royal brother.

In fact, if you count carefully, they have been married for less than a year.

This marriage was originally supposed to be carried out three years ago, but his mother died of illness and he observed mourning for three years, so it was delayed.Shortly after the ceremony, news of military turmoil came from the northwest, and then it was revealed that his uncle had colluded with horse bandits to embezzle the mines.
One link after another, each link is enough to drive the Xuan family into a place of eternal destruction.Behind all this is not only the ruthlessness of the imperial power, but also his princess.

Qin Mengshang pointed at himself and asked uncertainly: "Is there something on my face?" He stared at her for so long.

His gaze faintly passed over her eyebrows, and Zhou Lingqi suddenly stepped forward and raised his hand to wipe her cheek: "It's true, Charcoal Ash."

"."

Staring at her without saying a word for so long just because there was charcoal ash on her face? !

After he was done, the man raised his smearing hand to show her. His look seemed to say, "Look, I didn't lie to you, did I?"

Doesn't she want to lose face?Remind her again and again?Qin Mengshang immediately wanted to find a hole in the ground and crawl into it!
When Zhou Lingqi saw her embarrassed look, he felt a little funny for no reason. He lowered his lips without saying anything and walked past her into the room.

Smile, smile, what’s so funny!Qin Mengshang glared at him angrily, rubbed his cheeks, and suppressed the strange feeling in his heart.

Who doesn’t have embarrassing things?As long as you don't think about it, you won't be embarrassed.

In the evening, the three of us gathered around the table to eat. In addition to the plate of stir-fried pork intestines, there were also two vegetarian dishes.

Zhou Lingqi thought it was pig intestines and refused to hold out his chopsticks.The more reluctant he was, the more Qin Mengshang pushed the plate in front of him. Who told this man to laugh at her before?

There was really no other way, so I had to bite the bullet and pick up a chopstick.The stir-fried pig intestines have no peculiar smell at all, but become more and more fragrant the more you chew them.

After tasting it for the first time, Zhou Lingqi completely lost his scruples and added another bowl of rice silently.

Qin Mengshang was used to his tough talk. Although he didn't say it was delicious, looking at the plate of pig intestines with no soup left, he felt confident.You can try making braised food later, maybe it will be a good business again.

A few days passed without any panic, and no more news was heard about any village being robbed by water bandits.

The uneasy hearts of the villagers gradually calmed down, but for the sake of safety, the village did not cancel the patrol.

Early that morning, Qin Mengshang and Lu Ximing went out together.I'm going to the brick kiln today to look at the tiles. If I can do it, I'll be sure.

Qin Mengshang has been here twice. The brick kiln clerk recognized her and hurriedly led her to see the boss.

The boss took out the fired nailed tile and showed it to her: "I made it according to the drawing you gave me. Is this nailed tile sharp enough? If anyone turns in, their palms will be pricked!"

Qin Mengshang didn't understand architecture, so he looked left and right and said, "It's really good."

"That's not true!" The boss excitedly showed her the nail tiles, "Our tile-burning skills are inherited from our ancestors. They are not only durable but also resistant to falling. If you don't believe it, look at it——"

He lifted the tile and threw it to the ground. As he said, it didn't break at all.

"It is indeed a craft inherited from our ancestors!" With this kind of tile, you no longer have to worry about burglars in your home.

Qin Mengshang was very satisfied and immediately ordered one thousand watts from his boss.This kind of tile is more expensive than ordinary gray tile. One thousand watts is just one tael of silver.Without hesitation, she paid half the money and waited for the remaining half when she picked up the goods.

Money is all foreign objects, personal safety is the most important.

Don’t rush to use the nailed tiles. Build the courtyard wall first.As for who to ask to repair the courtyard wall, Qin Mengshang entrusted this matter to Li Zheng.

"It's a simple matter. Now that we've finished the autumn harvest, just shout in the village and there will be many people to help." Li Zheng half-squinted his eyes and was not energetic. He thought it was because he hadn't slept well these past few nights. "But you have to pay the wages in advance." Make sure you don't go wrong at the last minute."

Qin Mengshang had already considered this matter: "It's thirty cents a day for hiring people to work in the town. If you don't care about food, let's pay this price."

"Okay, then I'll go to the village and ask if there's anyone willing to do it."

Li Zheng worked very quickly. He just talked about it in the morning and found someone in the afternoon.There are five people in total, all of them are down-to-earth and hard-working men in the village.

Building the courtyard wall was not a difficult task. Several people worked hard for five or six days and finally finished it.It’s too late to go to town to pull out the nail tiles, so you can just lay them back later.

The wasteland on the other side was reclaimed more slowly, and it took a few days to get half of it out, but it was enough for growing konjac.

After the konjac was planted, Qin Meng Shang paid the women their first payment.

When Mrs. Cao, Chen's second daughter-in-law, received her wages, she praised her repeatedly.At the end of the story, Qin Mengshang felt a little embarrassed.

Mrs. Fang was jealous at the sight and was about to say a few words when someone suddenly shouted from outside the door:
"Uncle Li Zheng, it's bad! Tian Youliang and Lei Dapao are fighting. Come over and have a look!"

Tian Youliang was a well-known gangster in the village. He had some friendship with Li Zhang before, but they gradually became estranged after something happened to the Li family.Not to mention Lei Dapao. As his name suggests, he has a bad temper and is not easy to mess with.

When the two men started fighting, no one dared to break up the fight, so they had to run to find Li Zheng.

Li Zheng was already worried about the water bandits. Now that someone is causing trouble in the village, he is even more troubled.

"Together, the two of them are half-body people who are about to be buried! They are still like children. I don't want to worry about walking around for a day. Let's go and take a look first."

Qin Mengshang also went with him. It was very important to grasp this kind of news in time. To put it bluntly, it was just gossip.

When a group of people arrived, Tian Youliang and Lei Dapao had been pulled away from each other, and both of them had bright faces.One was punched in the left eye, and one of his teeth was knocked out. He looked funny and miserable at the same time.

Seeing Satomasa coming, the people gathered around quickly moved out of the way.

Li Zheng put his hands behind his back and took a closer look at their faces. He snorted coldly: "We are dozens of years old, and we are still fighting? Are you happy that your face was smashed and disfigured? Tell me, why are you doing this?"

"He did it first!" Tian Youliang pointed at Lei Cannon opposite with an angry look.

After being pointed out like this, Lei Dapao's anger, which had just subsided, suddenly came back again: "What happened to me? You deserve to be beaten! It's your turn to patrol tonight, but you hide at home and refuse to change shifts. How can I talk to you so much?" You said you didn't listen, so what? You want me to use an eight-carat sedan to invite you out!"

Tian Youliang was not to be outdone: "We have been patrolling for so long and we haven't even seen a single water ghost, let alone a water bandit! You are just happy to wander around the village in the middle of the night, but I don't like it!"

Hearing this, Qin Mengshang understood.

Because food was robbed in Tonghua Village, for the sake of safety, the village temporarily organized patrols.Now that a few days have passed and there is no sign of trouble, some people have naturally relaxed their vigilance and are unwilling to contribute any more.Li Zheng said with a straight face: "The patrol was agreed upon by everyone. How long have you become impatient now? If the water bandits suddenly come back, how many lives do you have for them to play with?!"

"At first, everyone agreed because Tonghua Village was attacked by water bandits, but it's been a few days. Have you heard about which village was robbed?"

Tian Youliang sat back with disdain on his face: "I have to work on the river embankment during the day, and I have to help patrol the village at night. I'm as tired as a dog, and I don't even have half a copper! I'm not happy with this job anyway. It’s done, if water bandits really come, I don’t need your help!”

This statement is straightforward, but it expresses everyone's feelings.

They did volunteer to help the village at first, but who is willing to give unconditionally all the time?They are very tired when they come back from work every day. How can they have extra energy to patrol?
Li Zheng also realized at this time that patrolling the village would delay his own affairs. Only a fool would be willing to do unpaid work for a long time.

"I understand everyone's difficulties, but I didn't think carefully about this matter. Everyone happens to be here, let's discuss whether we should continue to send people to patrol."

Tian Youliang was the first to object: "My food will be put into the warehouse tomorrow. I don't think patrolling is necessary!"

Some people took the lead, others became bolder, and several more opponents came forward one after another.

Li Zheng's face darkened, and he raised his hand to interrupt the person who wanted to stand up again: "Others don't want to continue patrolling, I agree, but - the Chen family members must stay with me!"

The biggest surname in the village is Chen. Although Li Zheng is not the clan leader, he still has a lot of say.

Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, the old patriarch of the Chen family came out on crutches: "Sanwazi is right, we, the old Chen family, must stay in this matter! If anyone dares to say no, we will worship our ancestors this year." Just don’t go!”

In ancient times, people paid most attention to their roots. Even if they moved away from their homeland, the things left by their ancestors were still preserved.Ancestor worship is a top priority for the villagers in Sanjiang Village. Anyone who fails to worship ancestors will be unfilial and will be looked down upon by the whole village!
The clan leader had already spoken, so the people of the Old Chen family naturally did not dare to say anything.

With the support of the Chen clan leader, Li Zheng straightened his back and said: "From now on, the Chen family will be responsible for patrolling. If you want to quit, just mention it. But if the time comes, whose food will be lost, don't come and cry in front of me!"

Li Zheng was rarely so severe, and no one dared to say anything more.

Tian Youliang said coldly: "Our village is so poor, it's strange that water bandits would come! Even if they come, I can still protect my own food."

The matter was settled, and the crowd gradually dispersed.

Li Zheng stopped Qin Mengshang: "Daughter-in-law of the Zhou family, wait a minute, I want to hear your opinion on this matter."

It was Qin Mengshang's suggestion to send people to patrol the village. Now the village is divided over this matter. Although the Chen family has taken the lead for the time being, in the long run there will definitely be a second Tian Youliang.

He had no idea for a moment, so he had no choice but to lick his old face and come over to ask.

"Uncle Li Zheng, although there is nothing going on at the moment, water bandits rob us one after another. No one can guarantee whether any accidents will happen in the future."

Qin Mengshang still wants to keep the patrol team for a long time. The boundary of Xunjiang River is not peaceful. In addition to water bandits, there are many criminals.This is also the reason why she bought nailed tiles.

"I understand what you said."

But now most people are unwilling to continue working, so he can't force everyone to work.

After the incident in Tonghua Village, he went to inquire about the situation there.All the grain harvested this year was robbed, and several girls from good families were also kidnapped by the water bandits. They were ruined until they were no longer human, and they were thrown into the woods like rags.The villagers who were slashed were all relatives of those girls. They were too seriously injured to survive and were already dead.The one who was in better condition only had his hand broken.

Li Zheng shook his head and sighed: "I have been in Xunjiang for 50-[-] years, and this is the first time I have seen water bandits coming to the village to do evil. Losing food is a small matter, but if you lose your life, it will be really over."

Qin Mengshang said: "Uncle Li Zheng, everyone is unwilling to contribute simply because there is no salary. If we can hire someone to be responsible for patrolling, we may be more motivated."

"You mean - pay everyone to patrol?"

"Yes."

The current patrol team is equivalent to a volunteer. In her previous life, she was a volunteer at school, although she didn't get paid, but she could get extra credits.Nowadays, patrolling in the village has neither credits nor wages, so no one is willing to do it.

Li Zheng was thinking about paying for it, so he hesitated and said: "You don't know, our village is very poor. In the past, the road paving in the village relied on the government to use the remaining gravel. Now it is really difficult to get the money to set up a patrol team!" "

Even if each person is worth [-] taels of silver per day, one person's monthly expenses will be [-] taels of silver and nearly one tael of silver, and the patrol team will require at least ten people, so that's ten taels of silver per month!

The village can't even afford two taels of silver now, let alone a huge sum of ten taels of silver.

Qin Mengshang closed his eyes and thought deeply.The lack of public funds in the village is indeed a problem, not to mention that collecting taxes twice a year costs the villagers nearly half of their net worth. It is obviously not feasible for each household to pool money.

Seeing that she was silent, Li Zheng didn't hold out much hope: "Hey, let's take it one step at a time. I can't think of a way to make money right now——"

"Grandpa Rizheng! Grandpa Rizheng is not well——"

Hu Dajun rushed over with a wooden knife.

Li Zheng looked stern: "What happened?"

Hu Dajun put his hands on his knees and panted: "I, we found a few people from other villages in the woods in the back mountain."

Qin Mengshang immediately became vigilant: "Have you seen what they look like?"

"No, Xiao Shuang discovered it first. When we passed by, the person was already gone."

Li Zheng immediately raised the alarm: "Daughter-in-law of the Zhou family, do you think those water bandits are targeting us?"

Qin Mengshang was not sure, but the unfamiliar face that appeared in Sanjiang Village at this time was definitely not a good person. "Uncle Li Zheng, just in case, send someone to the mountain to take a look."

"it is good!"

Li Zheng quickly called several Chen family members, all of whom were tall and powerful men. A group of people picked up the guy and headed up the mountain.

Everyone searched the forest and found no suspicious people. They only found a few strange-shaped piles of stones beside the path. Experienced people could recognize them as marks left by bandits at a glance.

When Li Zheng heard the news, his face turned pale: "It's over, it's over, the water bandits are really targeting us."

Qin Mengshang's eyes lit up: "Uncle, the person who sent the money is here!"

"what?"

　Rural revitalization faces long road ahead!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)