Chapter 126 Xia Youcai's Disaster
Xia Daohua's expression changed slightly, and she couldn't help feeling a little aggrieved.
Who is she doing this for, spending all this time and effort and money?
However, as a mother, Jiang encountered such a chaotic time and her child disappeared, and she couldn't ask others to find him. She must be very worried, so she didn't say anything.
Seeing that Xia Daohua didn't say anything, Jiang couldn't help but patted her shoulder twice:
"You kid! I'm asking you a question! Where have you been? Are you dumb? Why don't you say a word?"
"That's enough!" After hearing this, Zhou scolded Jiang in dissatisfaction, then turned to Xia Daohua and said:
"I'm glad you're back. Check if there's anything you need to take with you and grab it as soon as possible.
Wait for the message from the head of the village, and then we will set off together."
Xia Daohua looked confused:
"On the road? Where?"
Zhou glanced at Xia Daohua and explained simply:
"The northern barbarians attacked and set fire to the forest at Baihuapo. Wang Lizheng asked everyone to prepare to flee.
However, word just came from the front that the Qianhu Division has sent out troops.
If the northern barbarians who came back this time were a small force coming to harass us, we wouldn't have to bother with them.
So we are all waiting here for the news.
Your mother was worried when she saw that you were taking a long time to come back.
I just insulted you and hit you because I was too worried about you. Please don't bear a grudge."
Xia Daohua nodded gently: "Grandma, don't worry, I'm not that kind of person. Besides, my mother and I are mother and daughter, there's no reason to hold a grudge against us."
She paused, and thought she should give her family some reassurance:
"When I came back from outside, I saw our Qianhusuo people dragging several horses and a few northern barbarians, I didn't know whether they were alive or dead, towards the town.
I guess we don’t need to flee for the time being.”
After hearing this, all the serious-looking people in the room suddenly showed joy on their faces.
Erlang couldn't sit still any longer: "I'll go out and take a look!"
Sun raised her hand and pulled Erlang's sleeve, wanting him to stop going, but failed.
Erlang ran out at full speed. Less than a quarter of an hour later, he ran back:
"Many families sent one or two men to wait outside for news. The Lu family opened their gates wide and waited for news in the yard!
The village head just told us not to leave in a hurry and to wait and see.
You guys just rest in the house, I'll wait outside."
Erlang was afraid that he would never come back, and his family would be worried, so he came back specially to tell them.
We waited for nearly half an hour before we got the confirmation.
The invading northern barbarians consisted of only a small group of about three hundred people.
Except for more than 30 people who were captured, more than 50 people who died in the forest fire, and more than 20 people who were trampled to death by frightened war horses, the rest had all fled.
However, the Qianhusuo had worked hard to send troops, so naturally they had to collect some tributes from the villages they passed by...
Beiguan Village was considered to be of average level, and provided a total of three pigs, ten sheep, and a mule, plus thirty taels of silver as a reward for the troops.
These three pigs belong to Hu the butcher; the ten sheep belong to the village head; and the mule belongs to the Xia family.
Of course, the money for these animals was shared equally by the villagers.
The thirty taels of silver were also raised by the villagers.
It was just that the mules of the Xia family were quite old, and Wang Lizheng disliked the meat of the mules being too old, so he lowered the price. Although Old Master Xia was not happy about it, he just sighed a few times.
Firstly, the relationship with the village head cannot be too strained. It is unavoidable to suffer a loss occasionally.
Secondly, the price is public. Since the villagers paid collectively, they certainly know how much each family got. If the money is too much, it will be difficult to get along with the neighbors.
After hearing these words, Xia Daohua really didn't know what to say.
This bunch of veteran soldiers from Qianhu Suo, taking advantage of their existing achievements, actually have so much to say!
The biggest thing they did was to put out the "wildfire". Most of the enemies were burned to death, fainted by smoke, and crushed by horses...
They didn't even fight a serious war! They even forgot to ask the common people for "respect"!
But I had given warnings and stopped the enemy, spending so many precious resources and losing so much money and things. Who could I ask for compensation?
However, there is some good news.
Ten days later, a letter came from Li Zheng Wang saying that Qianhu Suo had discovered the hidden danger on this path and had set up a new garrison, or checkpoint, at a dangerous location further up Baihuapo, between Qingsongling and Hongsongling.
About thirty soldiers were sent to garrison there, and a new beacon tower was planned to be built there.
Once there is an enemy situation, a beacon fire can be lit to give a warning.
Xia Daohua nodded secretly after hearing this. With this checkpoint, all her efforts were not in vain.
But she never expected that a new group of laborers would be recruited to build this beacon tower!
Fortunately, this time they were not recruited from Beiguan Village, but from Beiguan Town, and they specifically recruited those rich families.
According to rumors circulating privately, this was because there was not much money to be made by conscripting laborers from the village.
When it comes to wealth, the people in this town are the most wealthy.
Therefore, this time, when building the beacon tower, they specially recruited laborers from the town.
Unfortunately, Xia Youcai and his family were among those who were called up.
Xia Dalang was a scholar, so he was exempt from conscription.
Xia Youcai has a wife, a son, and even a granddaughter. If something happens, he will not have to worry about his family being wiped out. Even after using the money, he still did not escape.
Xia Youcai was secretly resentful in his heart. He felt that he was so unlucky and most likely he had met with misfortune!
I guess it was because of the things that the Fourth House did before, which caused them to clash with the boss behind Shenxianzui and Furongju. That person hated me, so they interfered and forced me to become a commoner!
In a sense, Xia Youcai was actually right this time.
However, he forgot that although this was indeed because the fourth branch of the Xia family had offended "Master Sheng", it was also related to the little tricks he had done.
At the beginning, because the Xia family avoided the restaurant where he worked, he was angry with the boss, so he secretly did something bad and seemingly inadvertently instigated the owner of Shenxianzui to default on the Xia family's debt. He has now completely forgotten about this matter.
But in fact, this incident was one of the fundamental factors that led to "Mr. Sheng"'s final decision to default on his debt.
In the eyes of "Master Sheng", the Xia family not only had no background and no one to protect them, but were also real peasants who made a living from the land, and there was even discord among the brothers. Therefore, this family must be easy to bully.
I never expected that the seemingly country bumpkin family was actually a tough nut to crack!
This time when the town was conscripting civilians for service, "Master Sheng" sent a trusted subordinate to greet the clerk in charge and ask them not to let Xia Youcai go.
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(End of this chapter)
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