Chapter 215: This bustling village comes

The fruits are fragrant in autumn, and Yizhou is busy picking. It attracts wealthy people from afar and wants to go to the ski resort. Craftsmen are busy burning the jars when they are harvested.

Zhang Zhong, who was confused about drinking, refused Qiang Hu's retention before the night came, and left the village with Qiang Hu's son and daughter, preparing for related matters.

The next morning, Qiang Hu, who had woken up to the wine, remembered what he said yesterday, and quickly summoned the adults and children in the village to the mountain to harvest the ripe fruits so that he could help Zhang Zhong’s family to make wine.

While Zhang Zhong found three old men to discuss sending invitations to invite all kinds of playboys and rich ladies to come here to play, he found craftsmen to make fermented fruit jars nearby. The city also posted notices to ask the people in the city to try their best to help the people who burn the kilns so that they can learn this craft and burn it themselves in the future.

With Qiang Hu's lead, the people in his village worked hard. It would be difficult not to disturb others if they were so moved. How could other villages help other villages pick fruits come to find others without waiting for the initiative.

People from nearby villages all joined happily when they knew that wild fruits could be exchanged for money and helped the Guan'er who invited them to eat, drink and dance to make a fortune.

Three days later, piles of fruits were sent to the Yizhou prefecture. Zhang Zhong's family hurriedly repaired the temporary residence. They dug a large section of the adobe wall. They have not yet taken time to rebuild them. They have to wait until the fruits are almost harvested, and they will find local people to do it after the autumn harvest is over.

Another day later, the people sent by Zhang Zhong in advance came back from outside, pulled a cart of daily necessities, and began to pay local people for the money to buy fruits.

This is because the local people are used to bartering things. When Zhang Zhong collected fruits and paid for money on the first day, Qiang Hu was worried. He didn't know how to go out to shop with money. He was afraid that others would deliberately care about them asking for more money, so he told Zhang Zhong that it would be better to exchange things for things before.

They all know how much their things are worth and are not afraid of being cheated.

Zhang Zhong was speechless at that time. How could he not be deceived if he exchanged things for things? When he heard Qiang Hu say that they had fixed people to exchange, Zhang Zhong understood even more that it was controlled by others. Seeing Qiang Hu looking embarrassed, he had to send someone out to buy things.

Therefore, the largest and most complete store in Yizhou City was born, which was specifically responsible for exchanging with locals and purchased various fur and medicinal materials at 80% of the price of the goods outside, and the remaining 20% ​​was included in the transportation fee.

When people in the villages around them learned about the market outside and knew what the price of the things they had exchanged in the store, they all clamored to go out and kill the person in the shop where they exchanged things with them.

After paying, the compensation was too big. A bear skin could be sold for fifteen stakes, and the better ones could even reach twenty stakes. The salt I bought with so much money was enough for a village with a hundred people for two years, and there was still leftover pickled bacon. They could only exchange it for a dou of salt before, but they thought it was very cheap. They saved some food and could make the people in the village eat it for more than a month.

Zhang Zhong couldn't let them go out for trouble? He stopped them and made a promise that the shops in the city would continue to provide various daily necessities and be responsible for collecting money outside to purchase designated items.

Of course, this requires local people to get used to using money as currency in the future.

The people resisted the grievance of being deceived and began to work harder to pick fruits for Zhang Zhong, acknowledging Zhang Zhong's status in their hearts. They were a good official, and they told them and others about such an important matter.

At the same time, there were several people who were most skilled in speaking Mandarin. They were the ones who often took people out to exchange items. In Yizhou Prefecture, they actually had large houses and many good places outside. Needless to say, everyone understood what was going on.

After solving the income problem of the people in nearby villages, Zhang Zhong began to prepare to let people farther away know about the things here, but before he could ask someone to go to the village farther away in the mountains to find a way to convince them, people in the villages in remote villages learned about the things here by chance.

Gong Shi is the son of Gong Mu, the head of the Xiaoxiongzhai. His father is old and is preparing to give himself the position of the head, but the year seems not very good. The continuous rain makes the food in the field grow half as good as last year.

In addition, the village accidentally caught a fire, burning a lot of linen and fur to be exchanged. I don’t know how to spend this winter.

I need to think of a way for the people in the village to take the people in the village to see if I can find some work that can be done by strength. When winter comes, I will replace some of the food and cloth before returning.

Then winter might be able to survive, and there is no need to freeze and sick people as the rain falls.

Gong Shi looked back at the twenty villages following him with this idea, and looked at the sky again. Seeing that it was almost dark, he thought that there was a village not far away, so he might go there to have a good rest, or rush to live in the city.

"Hurry up, hurry up, don't have to sleep outside today, hurry up." Gong Shi shouted twice to the people in the village, and began to speed up, lowered his head and watched his feet move forward.

People in the Xiaoxiong Village also know the mission that was launched this time. They have never done this before. When facing unknown things, they feel a little worried, a little excited and expectant in their hearts. They are ready to do their jobs outside and when they come back, they will be the time to become a hero in the village.

Therefore, they had been on the road for more than ten days and did not care about their physical fatigue at all. They followed the future patriarch and hoped to have a good sleep in the city, and then have a full meal so that they could accumulate enough energy to work.

When it was almost evening, it was cloudy. Anyone who was familiar with the weather knew that there would be no rain. You might see the stars in the middle of the night, and you didn’t worry about being soaked like you did a few days ago.

Just as the crowd accelerated and trotted forward again, many light spots suddenly appeared in front of them, shaking clearly to the people nearby. Many people were swaying there with torches, and they didn't know what they were doing.

With curiosity in his heart, Gong Shi couldn't help but stop, looking at the dazed front, the people behind him also stood up and thought together that if the people in front of him did not rest early at night, they would run to the mountain to do what they would do.

After thinking for a while, Gong Shi, who really couldn't figure it out, began to move forward slowly again. He was relieved when he got closer. The people in front of him knew that the people in Gaoshan Village who were preparing to stay for one night were not only adults, but also little kids also climbed up and down there.

When he found the other party, the other party also noticed that there was someone shaking here. Because they did not light the torch, the other party could not see who they were. Soon a group of people gathered together and shouted at them in a mess.

"Is Qiangshan here or not? It's me, Gongshi from Xiaoxiongzhai." Gongshi didn't want to misunderstand, and then asked a bunch of arrows to shoot from the other side, and quickly shouted at the top of his throat, and the voice echoed in the mountains.

After shouting, Gong Shi signaled the people behind him not to move first, and walked up alone. When he was within the range illuminated by the torch, the person on the opposite side finally relaxed his vigilance, walked out of the crowd with a bow, came to Gong Shi and laughed and said:

"Shitou, why are you here? Are you tired? Come and eat some fruits. Come to my place to drink some wine. Good wine. The wine that the new Guan'er named Zhang wants to sell at home. Yesterday, when picking fruits, I picked a deer. Except for half of Guan'er named Zhang, the remaining half has not been eaten yet, so that you can taste it. The new seasoning tastes different from before."

Qiangshan is very enthusiastic, making Gong Shi seem to not know Qiangshan. Generally speaking, if he catches a deer, he has to take it outside to change things. Whether it is deer skin or venison, there are more things to change than usual. If he catches a living deer, it will be even more amazing. Why are you willing to eat it?

What Gong Shi couldn't understand the most was that an official came and gave him half. Could this new official be powerful and could control the people here?

With the doubt in his heart, Gong Shi waved to the back, asked the people in the village to come over, and asked Qiangshan in confusion: "What new official is there? Many people are brought?"

"The great official, the biggest official, the entire Yizhou must listen to him. Even the horse surnamed Fang in the past must listen to him. There are many people, and there are almost two thousand people. They cannot live in the city. They demolished the city walls and built a house there. They just built them and the generals could live in it. They had to rebuild it when it was cold."

Qiangshan handed over one of the fruits in his hand, took a bite, and started talking while chewing them.

After Gong Shi heard this, a trace of sorrow appeared between his eyebrows. He looked at the people who picked wild fruits in Gaoshan Village and said sympathetically: "Does he have many generals in his family? You can't beat them. He forced him to recruit a lot of things and had no food. Go to the mountain to pick wild fruits to eat? I wonder if he would also go to my little bear village to grab them. If I go, I will fight with them."

"Fight." The people who came from the Little Bear Village also shouted passionately.

"Hahaha~!" Qiangshan squirted out all the fruits that had not been swallowed in his mouth, pointed at Gong Shi and laughed loudly, covering his other hand with his stomach. It seemed really funny, and even the people behind him laughed.

Gong Shi didn't think there was anything ridiculous, and his face turned red when he was laughed. At this moment, a seven-year-old kid in Gaoshan Village took out a piece of candy from a small pocket hanging on his body, handed it to Gong Shi and said:

"Uncle Gong, I'll give you candy. The new official is called Zhang Zhong. His youngest child is called Xiaobei. Xiaobei is fun and there is a lot of sugar. This is called malt sugar. It smells like wheat in his mouth. Zhang Zhong is a good official. The deer skin I brought in my house to make a mat for him. I brought someone to deliver it. His family also asked me to eat a meal called hot pot, which contained such a big shrimp."

The little kid looked very excited while talking and complimenting.

Gong Shi's doubts became even more intense. He looked at the things handed over by the child of the Qiangshan family, and wanted to refuse, but wanted to figure it out, so he had to take them into his hand and pinched them carefully. He found that there was a layer of wrapped things outside, peeling off the things outside. There was a translucent thing inside, and a layer of glutinous rice paper was glued on the outside.

He knew that this thin layer of paper could be eaten, but it was only wrapped in something good. He couldn't help but feel confused. Under the expectation of the little kid, he threw the candy into his mouth, and a sweet feeling with the smell of honey suddenly filled his mouth.

"Uncle Gong, isn't it delicious? How many more do I have?" The little kid looked forward to others sharing the joy of candy with him.

Gong Shi suddenly felt like he recalled the sugar several times he had eaten when he was a child. He was so happy. The sugar was obviously better than what he ate when he was a child. He wanted to take it out and stuff it back into the little kid's mouth, but he felt that it was not good to do this, so he could only resist this idea and asked:

“Is this sugar very expensive?”

"I don't know, a fucking brother named Xiaoman of Xiaobing said that the candy was made by myself, and I couldn't buy it or exchange it. I knew that Xiaobing and their house were very beautiful, and there were bright lights inside. Unfortunately, I couldn't get in. There were three layers in total, and the blanket inside was very easy to touch."

The little kid didn't know the value of the candy. He only knew that it was delicious. He also knew that Xiao Bei's house looked good. The courtyard where the house was built was the first to be repaired. The ground inside was very smooth, which could reveal the shadow of people.

Gong Shi asked the little kid but couldn't understand it for a while, so he had to look at Qiangshan and wait for Qiangshan to tell him.

Qiangshan has had a better life recently. The fruit has been exchanged for a lot of things I usually need, as well as a beautiful porcelain bowl. I have always been in a good mood. When Gong Shi saw him, he laughed twice and told Gong Shi about what he had done in the past few days.

From Zhang Zhong bringing people over to eating, drinking and having fun outside the city, then collecting fruits and making wine, newly opened shops, and things that were often deceived by people in the past when changing things.

Gong Shi and his group became more and more surprised the more they listened. The more they heard, the more they felt that they could not imagine. Where was such a good official? The former surnamed Fang had never asked anyone to drink, sing and dance together, let alone exchange things for wild fruits that no one wanted in the mountains.

Every year when winter is approaching, Fang's surname will start to leave the village one by one, asking the people in the village to pay rent and pay tribute. If he didn't look pitiful, he would not give it to him at all. The piece of land he distributed himself would not produce much, the worst land.

The new official is so powerful that he doesn't even mention rent or tribute. He collects fruits when he comes up and even delivers good things outside to the city to open a store. What are the plans?

"Stone, since the fruit can be replaced, do we no longer have to find work outside? People outside are not good, so they always bully us and let the people in the village pick fruits and send them here."

A man from Xiaoxiongzhai was smarter. He suddenly thought of the key point of the problem and came to Gong Shi to propose.

Gong Shi is not a fool either. How could he not think of this? But he had other thoughts in his mind, so he asked again: "Can the things that are paid to the tribute in the land be replaced?"

"Okay, this year, Gaoshan Village is preparing to hand over more tributes, and the rest will be left to the officials named Zhang for their own use. Qianghu Village also said that even if they don't hand over other villages, they will take care of them."

Qiangshan said generously.

"So the official surnamed Zhang and the official surnamed Fang also need to use us. We are afraid that we will not submit tribute to the court to cause trouble, but we will just give benefits first."

Gong Shi analyzed.

"You guys, do you really think that the official surnamed Zhang is the same as the one in Fang? The person surnamed Zhang is not afraid of not being able to hand over the goods. Yesterday, when I brought someone to deliver fruit, the official surnamed Zhang stood in front of the shop and watched. The court had come quickly to deliver imperial edicts, imperial edicts, things written by the emperor.

Guess what, if another official is not allowed to set up incense tables and kowtows with his family, the official named Zhang didn't care at all, so he took them over, opened them and threw them directly to the servants behind him. The person who sent the imperial edict was still smiling, and he didn't dare to mention anything that was disrespectful to the emperor.

I am afraid that I can't pay the local tribute? Also, after giving the fruit, I asked someone to ask, guess what, he was not the only one who came this time, but there were several third-rank and fourth-rank officials. Later I heard that the imperial edict wrote about the title of officials to the old man in his family, all of whom were second-rank officials, and the mother in the family, who was also a second-rank official, and what kind of imperial edict was called.

Even a little kid named Xiaobao, who had never seen before, had a sixth-rank official position. The people I sent out heard from the three old men that the emperor felt that the emperor was far away and would not give Feng Shang's money, and even the official uniforms. He only brought a few goldfish bags, saying that it was other things for his family to bring their own."

Qiangshan pretended to be mysterious and said the gossip, and the crowd listened mysteriously.

After hearing this, a man in the Xiaoxiong Village said, "Is it because the emperor is not good to his family and he doesn't even give him a reward?"

"I think you are a melon girl too." Qiangshan glanced at the man and continued, "This means that the emperor is not with his family. Can't he be appointed as an official? Can't he dare to treat the imperial edict like that? When I throw it to others, I can see it clearly, just like throwing a rag.

I heard from me that I can’t pay the rent this year. If I pay it, I will pay the salary to the official named Zhang. He may not be used to eating it and does not care about the little food. But the tribute can only be more or less. Don’t use tribute to threaten him, otherwise he won’t be angry. The few villages here will disagree first.”

"That's right, I must pay it. There is little food, but there are too many tributes. It's useless to keep it in my hands. It's better to give it to him. As you said, he really doesn't care whether he can give it to the capital. Didn't the emperor not give it to him? It's a two-deal, but we don't give it to him. He was unhappy and thought that we would not treat him as a brother. Let's talk to the emperor, who will collect the fruits if there is another place?"

Gong Shi finally figured it out. As for whether Qiangshan lied to him, you can tell if you looked down.

When he thought about it, Gong Shi was moved and said to Qiangshan: "It's better to do this. Let me take a part of the fruit you pick now, carry a basket for each person to see if it can be replaced. Oh, I have to wait for tomorrow, so we will pick the fruit together first and go tomorrow."

"No, there are people at night. I can deliver them once in the middle of the night. I can deliver them once before dawn. I will give you one basket for you. Let's go and see. This shop is not closed for twelve hours, and there is also a place called a hospital, which is not closed for twelve hours.

When you go down, you will first go to the hospital and ask the doctors inside to take their pulse. If you are sick, just boil medicine for you. This medicine does not cost money, and it is considered to be 20% of the dividends when exchanging fur and other things."

Qiangshan, facing Gong Shi and others, introduced the situation in the city, and signaled the people in the village to pack a large basket of wild fruits for them.

Gong Shi led everyone to walk to Qiangshan with hope for a good life in the future and walked down the mountain.

After walking a lot of roads, they were already tired and felt full of strength at this time. After walking one by one for more than half an hour, they finally arrived at the foot of the mountain. They could see the city in front of them from afar, and they had heard the sound of singing and musical instruments coming from the brightly lit places outside the city.

Occasionally, the wind blows over there, and you can smell the aroma of meat and wine, which makes them sniff continuously after walking for a long time.

The crowd couldn't help but speed up and wanted to go downstairs to see what was going on.

When they were getting closer, Gong Shi and others finally heard it clearly. What they sang there was a toast song that they had never heard before, but they were indeed the songs on their own. They didn’t know what instruments they were all. The coordination was very good, and people wanted to jump into a paragraph after listening.

When he could see the face clearly with the light, Gong Shi found another person he knew. He was squatting outside next to the person using the musical instrument. It seemed that he wanted to learn.

The man also felt someone looking at him, turned his head and looked at him. When he saw that it was Gong Shi, he immediately stood up and met him.

"Stone, you also heard the news and ran over. OK, let's go all the way, drink a glass of wine first. This wine is good, and you will feel dizzy after one glass. Then I will take you to find a place to rest."

"Qianghu, you are not staying in the village, you are running down tonight." Gong Shi put down his backpack filled with wild fruits and looked around curiously with his shoulders.

"Just come down today and see my two children. When they have dinner and go to bed, I will come out to join in the fun." Qiang Hu waved his hand vigorously to the person in charge of delivering wine and said.

Gong Shi didn't understand why the two children from the Qianghu family had to go down the mountain to see. He glanced at the people dancing and singing in front of him, and then looked at the people around him, and asked Qianghu, "Didn't it mean that there is an official named Zhang here, where is the person?"

"I haven't come out today, can you always stay with you? That's an official, with official duties, I'll be here in the future. Except for rain, otherwise every night outside the city will be like now, singing and dancing. However, it is said that after the New Year, you have to prepare your own wine and eat as well."

Qiang Hu took the wine brought by someone else and handed it to Gong Shi, and felt a little moved by the situation here.

Gong Shi also likes to drink, but he is reluctant to drink it. Now he doesn't have to exchange for drinking. He happily grabs the wine glass, raises his head and pours the wine inside into his mouth. Then he coughs hard, his face flushed and he insists on praising the good wine.
Chapter completed!