Chapter 41 Loyalty Outside the Pass
The servants of the Gu family wiped away their tears and stood aside obediently. Gu Youan looked at the servants standing in the back row.
The broker said, "These gourds were sold as slaves to the government because their original owners fell into trouble. The ones with good connections, good looks, and eloquence were all bought, leaving only these gourds with sawed-off mouths, and no one wants them."
"I'm an old woman and I'll be honest. They may not be very good at talking, but they're honest people. They're all farmers. If you hire them to take care of your land, they'll definitely take good care of it. You'll have a full barn and a full harvest."
This dealer is really bold! Who can guarantee a good harvest every year?
Gu Youan looked at their palms. Regardless of whether they were men or women, they all had a pair of rough big hands. It was obvious that they were workers. It was obvious that the broker did not lie about this.
Gu Youan pointed at the tallest young man and asked, "What's your name, and what do you do?"
"In reply to your Excellency's question, my surname is Zhang, I am the third in lineage, and my academic name is Zhang Gui."
Zhang Gui's reply was very polite, unlike that of an ordinary farmer. Gu Youan then asked, "What did you do for a living? Where are you from?"
Zhang Gui bowed and replied, "I am originally from Zhangjia Village, Nanhe County, Kaifeng Prefecture. Ten years ago, the county suffered a disaster, and many families sold themselves into slavery. I, along with over thirty of my relatives and several people from neighboring villages, sold ourselves into slavery to the family of Xu Shaoqing, the former head of the Taichang Temple. We were responsible for farming for the Xu family."
"Have you ever been to school?"
"Before the disaster, my father sent me to the village school for a year, and I learned a few words. It was also because of this that I became the head of the Xu family farm, managing it."
He was literate and had experience as a village headman—that was the talent Gu Youan wanted. With Zhang Gui managing the family land, her mother could relax.
Gu Youan was very fond of Zhang Gui, so he asked, "Would you like to go to Songjiang City with me?"
"My little one is willing."
Zhang Gui suddenly fell to his knees and begged, "My family is still in the slave house. Please buy them all."
The broker shouted angrily, "How dare you, a government slave like you, open your mouth here? You don't know the rules!"
The old woman took out a whip from her sleeve and pretended to hit him. Zhang Gui was so scared that he trembled.
Gu Youan raised his hand to stop him and said, "Zhang Gui, tell me about your family."
Zhang Gui, as if grasping at the last straw, hurriedly said, "My wife can read a few words, and I taught her. You can ask her to do anything. And my two children are over five years old. They are very sensible and obedient. You can buy them to serve water and tea to the young masters of the family. These two children will definitely be useful and will not be idle."
Zhang Gui had been a village head and was literate, so a slave like him wouldn't have trouble finding a job. But he didn't want to be separated from his wife and children, and he also wanted to be sold to the same family as the other people from Zhangjia Village, so he stayed in the slave house until now.
Since the nobleman was willing to listen to his explanation, Zhang Gui boldly said a few more words. Except for his own family, the people from his clansmen and neighboring villages who sold themselves into slavery with him were all hardworking and willing to work. Although they all had families to burden them, in other words, as long as all the family members were there, there was no need to worry about the young and strong running away or doing bad things to their masters.
Gu Youan listened patiently to Zhang Gui's explanation and said, "My family is in need of someone who can farm, and meeting me is a blessing."
Zhang Gui was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly: "Thank you for your mercy, my lord."
Gu Youan pointed at the broker and said, "You should thank her. If she hadn't been so kind as to bring you here, you would probably still be suffering in the slavery."
Zhang Gui turned his knees and kowtowed to the broker: "Thank you, Aunt Zhang. I kowtow to you."
Mrs. Zhang snorted softly, "Why should you thank me? It's just that the noble lady is kind enough to take you, the ones with families to support, to live off of. When you go to the noble lady's house, you should work hard for her and be worthy of her kindness in saving you."
"Thank you, Mrs. Zhang, for your guidance. I now know everything."
Zhang Gui's wife, children and relatives totaled forty-five people, including more than twenty young men and women, and the rest were elderly people and young children. Gu Youan took them all in.
In addition, the broker Zhang Po recommended thirty young and strong men with experience in guarding houses. These people were all thin and many of them had injuries on their bodies. They looked far inferior to the bodyguards of Ping An Escort Agency.
"I, an old woman, do not engage in shady business in Luoyang City, deceiving superiors and concealing secrets. I must make it clear to you, sir. Don't be fooled by the appearance of these people. They have a good foundation. If you take them home and provide for them for six months, they will help you guard your house."
"To be honest, the ones that look good have already been picked up by the wealthy. They're expensive, so it wouldn't be worth it for you to spend money on them. The ones I brought here today were all carefully selected by me. They're all decent. I'll definitely use them after I buy them and give them a little training."
Mrs. Zhang also said, "Don't worry, Manager Gu. Mrs. Zhang is trustworthy. Although she charges a high price, she is reliable and her reputation is not false."
Gu Youan thought about it for a while and agreed. She wanted all these people.
Thirty people lined up in two rows and stood in front of Gu Youan. Gu Youan asked them to choose a leader and waited for two breaths without anyone speaking.
At this time, the young man standing on the far left of the back row said, "My name is Gao Jin, and I am willing to obey the master's orders."
Gu Youan's eyes fell on Gao Jin: "Well, you answer first, and I will leave these 29 people in your charge. If they do anything wrong, I will only talk to you."
"Yes, I will take good care of them."
At this point, Gu Youan had finished selecting his men. The seven old servants of the Gu family were led by the housekeeper Wang Quan. The forty-five farmhands were led by the village head Zhang Gui. The thirty guards were led by Gao Jin.
There were a total of eighty-two slaves, which cost Gu Youan nearly one thousand taels of silver.
Mrs. Zhang smiled and said, "Don't think it's too expensive, my dear. Although you didn't buy a young maid of outstanding appearance and figure, the guards I selected for you are not cheap. And the old servants of the Gu family that you specifically requested, it really took me a lot of effort to find them for you. All of these will cost a lot of money to arrange."
Seriously speaking, the worth of the seven old servants of the Gu family is comparable to that of the forty-five men, women, and children led by Zhang Gui.
As long as the job was done well, Gu Youan didn't mind the price and happily paid one thousand taels of silver.
"The extra six taels of silver is a reward. Thank you for your trouble."
Mrs. Zhang laughed heartily: "You are so generous! I wish you all the best, great fortune, and abundant wealth!"
Gu Youan's situation was settled. Zhang Yinshan had already met with the Zhang family's former servants, a total of thirteen people, young and old. Among these thirteen families, there were three children, and the remaining four or five who knew something about medicine would be sent to the family pharmacy to help out, while the remaining few would stay at home to serve.
After all, the Zhang family still needed workers for farming, so Zhang Yinshan bought twelve farmhands from a broker for less than a hundred taels of silver. Compared to Gu Youan, it was a steal. Zhang Yinshan glanced at the woman, wondering if she had secretly accepted benefits from the Zhang family to give him such a low price.
Madam Zhang immediately said, "You child simply don't understand the market. In years of famine, a bag of grain could buy a young and strong slave. Even in recent years of good harvests, an ordinary servant would cost only a few taels of silver at best. The twelve you chose are not outstanding in any way. If you were to buy them elsewhere, you could get them for eighty taels of silver."
Mrs. Zhang said hurriedly, "Madam, you can't say that. The people I brought with me are all carefully selected. They are not lazy people picked up from the street."
"I know you chose it. I'm just giving the kid a few words."
Zhang Yinshan knew that his father didn't want to have anything to do with the clan. Their family was living a decent life, but he didn't want to receive support from the clan.
However, their old servants were recruited by the Zhang family, so it was difficult to calculate the money. Even if Zhang Yinshan was willing to pay, Mrs. Zhang would definitely not accept it. So, the big families were really like cutting bones and connecting tendons, and it was impossible to tell them apart.
Zhang Yinshan didn't care about much else. After knowing that Mrs. Zhang did not secretly pay any money, Zhang Yinshan paid the money and was about to leave.
"Please ask Madam to help me ask if the reply letter is ready."
"Everything is ready, but it's already mid-afternoon. Would you like to stay overnight?"
"Thank you for your kindness, but that's alright."
Mrs. Zhang couldn't keep him, so she had to give up and asked the maid beside her to go to the study and deliver the reply letter.
After finishing the work, Gu Youan and Zhang Yinshan said goodbye.
After leaving Zhang's house, Gu Youan first took them and the broker to the yamen to exchange the registration books of the newly bought slaves, and all of them were registered under her name.
After sending the broker away, Gu Youan handed the butler Wang Quan some money and said, "Pick a few people and take them to buy winter cotton-padded clothes, trousers, quilts, and other small items. Also, get two sets of shoes and socks for each person."
"Listen to the master's orders, I will do it right away."
Clothes, shoes, socks and quilts for more than 80 people are not small items, and it would definitely not be possible with fewer people.
Wang Quan asked his old acquaintance Chen Chang to help him, and also called his son Wang Hu, and then went to discuss with Gao Jin and asked him to bring twenty people with him.
Gao Jin immediately agreed: "Just tell me what you want to move."
At this time, the village head Zhang Gui came over and said, "We have about ten half-grown children among us. I am familiar with their sizes and can help them buy clothes."
Secretly, Zhang Gui still wanted to buy a set of suitable clothes for his children so that they could keep warm.
Gao Jin understood Zhang Gui's thoughts and didn't say much, just asked him to follow.
Gu Youan and Zhang Yinshan led the other purchased slaves out of the city first. Guo Su was shocked to see them bringing a large group of people into the inn.
"How much silver did you spend to buy so many people?"
Zhang Yinshan said, "There are only about twenty people in my family, and the rest are all from the Gu family. This is only a part of it, and there are more than twenty people who went to buy quilts."
Guo Sulue did some calculations and was shocked. They had hired more than 80 people. Could the Gu family accommodate them?
"There's room for them. There are still some empty houses in the village that the government hasn't rented out. Let them live there. Next spring, we'll build a big house and move the whole family in."
Gu Youan now has a lot of silver in her hands. After leaving some money for purchasing goods next year, the silver she can use is not only enough for her to build a house and buy a shop, but she can also save a lot.
"With so many new members in your family, there will definitely not be enough firewood or food in the winter."
"It should be enough. My parents knew we were going to have a new family, so they not only didn't sell the grain we harvested this autumn, but also bought some from the villagers and stored it."
While Gu Youan was talking to Guo Su, Xiaoju had already asked the waiter for tea. She poured the tea and waited until it was no longer too hot before handing it to Gu Youan.
Mrs. Wei, the housekeeper's wife, had already gone around the room, cleaned it thoroughly, and washed and hung the young lady's clothes. Worried that the clothes wouldn't dry before leaving tomorrow, Mrs. Wei went to the kitchen and asked for a charcoal fire to dry them.
When it was time for dinner, the cook of the Gu family, Mrs. Yang, came into the kitchen and prepared three dishes that Gu Youan used to like to eat: braised vegetarian eggplant, winter melon meatball soup, and stir-fried cabbage with vinegar.
The dishes cooked by Mrs. Yang were served together with those cooked by the chef of the inn. Gu Youan could tell at a glance that these three dishes were cooked by Mrs. Yang. He turned around and smiled and praised her, "Mrs. Yang's cooking skills are getting better and better."
Mrs. Yang was standing at the back door of the hall, watching. Seeing the young master praising her cooking skills, Mrs. Yang put aside her worries and said with a smile, "You have been eating with the lady since you were a child, and your taste has taken on hers. You like tender and delicious dishes with garlic and spicy flavors. There are not many vegetables here, and there is no good meat. I picked some fresh vegetables and made a few vegetarian dishes for you."
"It's delicious. With you here, our family will be blessed with delicious food in the future."
Old Lady Yang smiled happily and said, "I have learned a new dish in the past two years. When we get to Songjiang City, I will cook it for you to try."
Gu Youan nodded in agreement and told her not to wait and to go and have dinner.
Guo Su ate a mouthful of braised pork. How could the cook from the Gu family say that meat was not good when it was such a good meat dish? Life was so good when there was no shortage of meat. In the past, she considered life a good life just to have enough porridge and rice, let alone meat.
Guo Su said whatever she thought. When she said this, Gu Youan said, "We can live through good days and bad days, but if we have the choice, who wouldn't want to eat something that suits their taste?"
"That's true."
This made Zhang Yinshan sigh again. He used to be a playboy who never tired of eating fine food. After being exiled, he is no longer picky about anything. As long as it is not poisonous, he will eat anything.
Guo Su was shocked: "Oh my god, who would put poison in the food?"
Zhang Yinshan: "Well, I just said it casually. Besides, you don't understand this. How can you tell if the poison is poisonous before it takes effect?"
"Bah, only those of you who can spread poison have such dirty thoughts."
"I disagree with what you said. Ask those veteran escorts who have been traveling for years. Have they ever heard of anyone being poisoned and killed while stealing goods?"
A forty-year-old escort at the table said, "It's not easy to run into them on familiar routes, but if you're escorting someone on an unknown route, you have to be extra careful. Especially if you're staying in someone else's house in the wilderness, you never know. You could get into trouble."
A nice set of clothes is worth a lot of money, not to mention the value of the goods carried by a caravan that can afford escorts. I heard that there are some unscrupulous people who build houses in the wilderness to lure people in, and their methods of stealing money and killing people are even more ruthless than those of the bandits in the mountains.
Zhang Yinshan spread his hands and asked, "Look, what did she say?"
Guo Su thought about it and realized that she had just started escorting goods this year and was an experienced escort. The leader of the escort team was her sworn brother. She had been on two escort missions and had never encountered any real interception with guns and swords. She was considered lucky.
Half an hour after Gu Youan and others finished their dinner, Wang Quancai came back with his men, carrying many sacks filled with various thick quilts, cotton coats, cotton pants, cotton shoes, etc.
After Wang Quan came back and reported to Gu Youan, he distributed the clothes and quilts he had bought to each family and asked them to carry them on their own.
Zhang Gui's daughter's nickname was Ye Niang. The five-year-old girl had never had a good life since she was born. When she was three or four years old and started to understand things, her whole family lived in a slave house. The house was stinking in the summer, and her hands and feet were so cold in the winter that they became sore.
At this moment, Ye Niang was holding the new clothes by herself, feeling both excited and nervous: "Dad, is this for Ye Niang?"
Zhang Gui felt very sad and nodded quickly, saying, "It's yours. The master gave it to you."
Ye Niang smiled faintly: "I got the master's clothes, then I will work for the master in the future."
Zhang Gui turned around and secretly wiped away his tears, saying in a hoarse voice: "Okay, Dad will work hard for the master and grow plenty of food for the master, so that we can all be warm and well-fed."
Zhang Gui's wife whispered, "Who can say for sure? When we were at the Xu family, we could barely get by."
Zhang Gui said, "This master is different from the Xu family. Just seeing that she bought us clothes, shoes, socks, and quilts on the first day she bought us, I know this master is a kind person. We will definitely live better than when we were in the Xu family."
Zhang Gui's clothes shopping was just an excuse to get close to Wang Quan. Wang Quan was a smart man and didn't hide anything from him or Gao Jin. He told them a general outline of the Gu family's affairs.
"The Gu family was implicated and exiled, and it's only been three years, yet a young lady from their family was able to lead a caravan to Luoyang to make a living, earn money, and then find a way to redeem the old servant. This shows that this family has both ability and conscience."
Zhang Gui has been a slave for quite some time. During these years, he has met many noble people and gained a lot of experience. He believes that he still has some vision.
Zhang Gui's wife said, "I heard that the land outside the Great Wall is different from here. I don't know if it's good for farming."
"Don't worry, you'll know when you get there. As long as we serve our master diligently, we won't starve to death."
The bulk of the Gu family's income comes from trade. Even if they encounter a bad year, their master is rich and kind, so they will never starve to death.
Zhang Gui and his wife were discussing the trip to Songjiang City in a low voice, and the relatives surrounding them pricked up their ears to listen.
At that time, thirty young men were living in the large bunk bed next door.
Gao Jin scolded him coldly, "Master has a kind heart, but he is not easy to fool. If he were, he wouldn't have built such a large family business in just one year. We have entered the Gu family by our own will. If anyone dares to betray the master in the future, don't blame me, Gao Jin, for taking his life."
"Don't worry, Brother Gao. We all have consciences and will never betray our master." Someone patted his chest and made the promise.
Gao Jin glanced at everyone and said, "We are thirty people, united as one. If a traitor were to appear among us, what would happen to the remaining twenty-nine of us? Think about it for yourselves."
This was a very sharp statement. Everyone ignored the new clothes and looked at each other. They were sure that they would not betray their master. However, people's hearts are hidden, and others could not be sure.
Even if it's for your own sake, you should keep an eye on the people around you and don't let them drag you down.
Guo Su walked away quietly, went upstairs and said to Gu Youan, "That Gao Jin is really good at talking."
"Of course he's powerful. After all, he was the son of a prefect before he became a government slave. He's both civil and military. It would be strange if he couldn't control these thirty people."
"He is actually the prefect's son?"
"Well, he was originally the illegitimate son of the prefect of Dongchang Prefecture in Shandong. Because his father committed a crime and was beheaded, he, a young man, became a slave bought and sold by the government." These brokers had explained it to her in detail, and Gu Youan remembered it very clearly.
Guo Su sighed and said, "He looks so skinny that he's just a bag of bones. I didn't expect he had such a background."
"He had bad luck. The previous owner bought him back to work as a laborer. He did heavy work every day and didn't have enough to eat. When he fell ill, his master wouldn't treat him and sold him again. Fortunately, he was a tough guy. The slavery made him a pot of medicinal soup, and he recovered."
Guo Su took off her coat and rolled onto the bed. She spread her limbs and turned to look at Gu Youan who was writing at the table. Her tone was somewhat dejected: "An'an, you have so many people around you. You won't need me in the future, right?"
Gu Youan looked up at her and said with a smile, "Why don't I need you? Apart from you, which other young lady is so good at martial arts and so loyal to me?"
Guo Su sat up immediately, his eyes brightening: "Will you still hire me in the future?"
"I'll keep you employed as long as you want."
Guo Su immediately said, "I am willing. I am willing. When I get home, I will tell my adoptive father that I will work with you from now on and be your long-term worker."
Gu Youan laughed: "I don't need you as a farmhand, I will hire you as my bodyguard."
"We have a deal!"
At this time, Xiaoju brought in hot water for Gu Youan to wash up. These were Guo Su's jobs before. With Gu Youan's approval, Guo Su did not compete with Xiaoju for the work. Instead, she talked and laughed with Xiaoju, telling her how cold it was in Songjiang City in the snow in winter.
Xiaoju had only seen light snow, and had never seen the scene that Guo Su described, where the snow was so thick that it could drown people. She felt a little bit of anticipation in her heart.
"Don't worry, it's already snowing outside the Shanhai Pass this month. You'll be able to see it after we leave Shanhai Pass."
Afraid that the snow would be too heavy to return to Songjiang City, they set out on the road the next day and hurried all the way. They left home at dawn every morning and rested only after it was completely dark.
We hurried to Shanhaiguan and walked for two days after leaving the customs. We only saw a thin layer of snow on the road.
Gu Youan felt nervous. There was no heavy snow at this time of year. Could it be that next year will be a drought year?
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