The firewood in the fireplace was burning brightly, the flames were jumping, and the iron kettle hanging inside was boiling water. The boiled water was poured out bowl by bowl, and the silent men went over one by one in order, picked up the bowl and drank a bowl of hot water, stepped back and let the next one come forward. Soon the kettle of water was empty, and it was replaced with cold water and hung up to boil.

The men who drank the water stepped aside and stood quietly without making any sound.

The room was warm, and the people who had walked in the cold wind for so long, after drinking a bowl of hot water, their bodies were warmed up. Wang Dahu saw the people around him drink the hot water and put down their bowls, so he drank the water in his bowl, poured half a bowl into it, and drank it all in big gulps.

Seeing Wang Dahu pick up the bowl he had drunk from and drink water, Liu Baishu looked normal and talked to their generals about the border. Cao Gang listened and made a "hmm" sound from time to time, his face a little gloomy.

In the kitchen, food was being cooked in a big pot, which was prepared for the men in this room.

There was a knock on the door, followed by the sound of the door being opened.

"Cao Gang..." Brother, the last word was still in his mouth, Cao Xiangnan pushed the door open and saw a group of big men standing in the room. He was still stunned, thinking he had come to the wrong place.

Seeing Cao Gang sitting in the house, and Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu who had returned, Cao Xiangnan made sure that he had not gone to the wrong place. "Brother Cao Gang," he called out, swallowed his saliva, and walked in.

From the moment he walked in, everyone's eyes were on him, which made Cao Xiangnan feel like he was being stared at by a group of vicious wolves. He laughed and walked towards Cao Gang, feeling a little scared in his heart.

"Dahu, Baishu, you two are finally back." Cao Xiangnan said to the two with a smile, "You've been gone for so long, I thought you wouldn't come back." To be honest, he liked Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu very much. If they left like this and never came back, he would still feel a little sad.

"Haha, Xiangnan, we are back, how could we bear not to come back." There are so many delicious foods here, the most important thing is to be able to eat as much as you want. Wang Dahu stepped forward and gave Cao Xiangnan a bear hug.

Wang Dahu's bear paw slapped his back twice, almost making him vomit blood. Cao Xiangnan quickly pushed the bear man away, stepped back two steps, and stood in a safe place. Seeing that Wang Dahu's face had grown a beard again, he did not forget that under the beard was a handsome face. Ada's brother has always been thinking about Wang Dahu.

"Baishu, long time no see, welcome back." Cao Xiangnan turned his head to look at Liu Baishu. He found that Liu Baishu was very thin. He didn't know where they went this time and what they experienced. This time they were gone for such a long time.

"Xiangnan, long time no see." The smile on Liu Baishu's face was no different from before. Cao Xiangnan glanced back, not knowing what was going on, and asked Cao Gang and the others, "Who is this?"

When they just walked in, Cao Xiangnan also noticed that many of the men in this group seemed to be injured, leaning on crutches, and hanging their arms. However, although these people were wolves and monkeys, each of them was so thin that only a layer of skin and bones remained, but their eyes were bright and each of them looked like a tough man with a strong body.

Needless to say, this group of people were brought back by Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu. He suddenly remembered that when Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu left, he asked them to bring brothers over if they had any. So this is the person who brought him work?

"Xiangnan, I asked you to come here for this matter." Cao Gang said with a heavy face.

"Hmm?" Seeing Cao Gang's serious face, Cao Xiangnan looked at him seriously, waiting for him to speak.

Cao Gang told him the truth that the group of people brought back by Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu were wounded soldiers who retreated from the battlefield.

In the desolate northwest, food was in short supply. The army was stationed there. The Zinus outside the border invaded from time to time, and the war there was constant. Where there is war, there will naturally be casualties. The dead are buried in the loess, and the living are injured, which means they cannot go to the battlefield to fight. In the northwest border where food is in short supply, these wounded soldiers also mean that they need rice and food every day to feed them.

The court was naturally unwilling to spend food to feed the wounded soldiers who could not fight on the battlefield. These people were to be exiled to their hometowns according to their origins. If they did not want to go back, they could go anywhere they wanted. There were too many wounded soldiers every year. The court could not even provide food and wages for the generals at the border, let alone spend money to properly settle these wounded soldiers. This created an embarrassing situation for the wounded soldiers.

Even if these people were exiled to their hometowns, many of them died of illness or hunger on the way back. Less than 50% of them could return to their hometowns. When they returned to their hometowns, they were missing arms and legs and could not work in the fields. These soldiers who served in the army and then returned were old, and it was not easy for them to find a partner. No boy was willing to marry such a man, so many of them died in poverty.

The officials of the imperial court naturally wouldn't care about the lives of the soldiers at the border, but the soldiers couldn't ignore the lives of their own soldiers.

The fire in the fireplace crackled, and Cao Xiangnan listened to Cao Gang talking about the soldiers at the border. From time to time, Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu would add a few words, and he roughly understood the situation of these wounded soldiers.

In fact, whether in this era or in the era when he came, the situation of the wounded soldiers who retreated was embarrassing. The imperial court would not spend time caring about the lives of these people. It was a pity that these soldiers worked for the country and the people, but in the end they spent their lives in poverty.

Cao Xiangnan never thought about how great he would be. All he wanted from beginning to end was to give Wanfeng and the children a good life. Now that he has met these people and things, he can indeed afford the money, but he will not support these people for nothing. What he wants is to arrange a job for them so that they can live a self-reliant life here.

He is thinking about how to settle these people and what they can do. He wants to keep these soldiers here and what they can do here. He has to think these questions carefully.

Seeing Cao Xiangnan sitting there without saying anything, Wang Dahu was impatient. He said, "Xiangnan, do you want these brothers of mine? If you want them, just say a word. If not, I, Wang Dahu, will take them away."

"Sit down!" Liu Baishu said.

Cao Xiangnan raised his head and looked at Wang Dahu who stood up. He glanced at him and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? I didn't say no."

But he really hadn't thought about how to deal with these people. You said you would bring me a group of healthy people and I would do whatever I wanted, right? But you brought me a group of people with missing limbs. How do you want me to deal with them at this time? !

But since they have come all the way to Caojia Village and come to him, he can't just drive them away, right?

"...Yes? Hey, you want my brothers, right?" Wang Dahu opened his eyes wide, laughed, and said in a loud voice, "I heard it clearly, Xiangnan, you said you wanted my brothers. Everyone heard it, you can't deny it."

"Yes, yes, yes, don't argue, let me think about it." Once he took over this batch of wounded soldiers, there might be a second batch of people. If these retired soldiers were brought to him in the future, what would he do? This was not a small matter.

He is short of people right now. Once these people are sent over, they can make up for the lack of labor, but there are certain limitations in the use of these people. But these people are not useless. If they are used well, they will definitely be of great benefit.

Make the best use of everything, and everyone can play to their strengths, right?

Cao Xiangnan glanced at Wang Dahu with suspicion, and then looked at Liu Baishu who was sitting there with a smile on his face. How did they get these people here? He wondered who these people were around him!

Being stared at by Cao Xiangnan with a suspicious look, Liu Baishu did not change the smile on his face, and calmly let him look. He looked at Cao Xiangnan with a smile in his eyes, knowing in his heart that Xiangnan would definitely have a way to deal with these brothers.

None of the men standing there said a word or made a sound.

Cao Xiangnan stood up from where he was sitting, walked towards the group of men there, stopped in front of the first big man, coughed, cleared his throat, and said, "My last name is Cao, and my name is Xiangnan."

"Brothers, I'm glad you came to Caojia Village. I'm not a very capable person, and now I'm just trying to support my family and let my wife and children have food to eat. Today, Dahu and Baishu brought you here, and it also shows their trust in me, Cao Xiangnan. What I can guarantee to you is that when you come here, I will never let you do anything that harms the world and harms the world."

"I'm in need of workers here, and it's not an easy job, so it's definitely going to be hard work, but I can tell you that as long as you're willing to work hard, you'll have enough to eat. Of course, I'd like to emphasize here that if any of you are lazy, you're not welcome here." "

If you're willing to stay, I, Cao Xiangnan, can guarantee you that as long as you work hard, you'll have enough to eat. If you work harder, you can save some money to buy a piece of land here, build a house, and get married. So today, if you're willing to stay in Caojia Village and work with me, Cao Xiangnan, you can stay. If anyone doesn't want to stay and wants to go back, I can give you five taels of silver each as travel expenses so you can go home."

"Brothers, those who are willing to stay and follow Brother Xiangnan, let me say this today, stay. If you want to go back, you can go home with five taels of silver as Xiangnan said. This silver is considered as something I, Wang Dahu, borrowed from Xiangnan." Wang Dahu walked over and said.