Xia Daohua's expression changed slightly, and she couldn't help feeling a little aggrieved.
Who is she doing this for, spending all her money and effort?
However, as a mother, Jiang must have been very worried when her child disappeared during such a chaotic time and she couldn't ask others to look for him, so she didn't say anything.
Seeing that Xia Daohua didn't say anything, Jiang couldn't help but patted her shoulders twice:
"You child! Mother is asking you a question! Where have you been? Are you mute? Why don't you say a word?"
"That's enough!" Zhou scolded Jiang dissatisfiedly after hearing this, 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 quickly.
Wait for the village head to send a message, and then we will set off together."
Xia Daohua looked confused:
"On the road? Where to?"
Zhou glanced at Xia Daohua and explained simply:
"The northern barbarians attacked and set fire to the Baihuapo forest. 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 just a small force 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 hold 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."
She paused, thinking she should give her family some peace of mind:
"When I came back from outside, I saw our Qianhu Division's men, dragging several horses and a few northern barbarians, I didn't know whether they were alive or dead, heading 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 to hold him back.
Erlang ran out at top speed. Less than a quarter of an hour later, he came back again.
"Many families sent one or two men to wait outside for news. The Lu family opened their gate wide, and the whole family was waiting in the yard for news!
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 to tell them.
Everyone waited for nearly half an hour before they got the confirmation.
The invading northern barbarians were only a small group of about 300 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 Qianhu Division was hard-working, so naturally they had to collect some tributes from the villages they passed through...
Beiguan Village was considered to be of average quality, and provided a total of three pigs, ten sheep, and a mule, plus thirty taels of silver in cash 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 collected by the villagers.
It was just that the Xia family's mules were quite old, and Wang Lizheng disliked the meat being too tough, so he lowered the price. Although Old Master Xia was unhappy, he only sighed a few times and let it go.
First of all, the relationship with the village head cannot be too stiff. There is nothing we can do if we suffer a loss occasionally.
Secondly, the price is public. Since the villagers contributed collectively, they naturally know how much each family received. If the amount is too high, it will be embarrassing to face 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 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 the smoke, and even crushed by horses...
They didn't even fight a serious war! They even forgot to ask the people for "filial piety"!
But I have been giving warnings and stopping the enemy, spending so many precious resources and losing so much money and things. Who can I ask for compensation?
However, there is also 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, in a dangerous place further up Baihuapo, between Qingsongling and Hongsongling.
About thirty soldiers were sent to garrison there, and plans were also made to build a new beacon tower 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 group of civilians 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 the rich families.
According to rumors circulating privately, this was because they could not squeeze much money out of recruiting laborers from the village.
When it comes to wealth, it has to be the people in the town.
Therefore, this time, to build this beacon tower, they specially recruited laborers from the town.
Unfortunately, Xia Youcai and his family were among those 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. He felt that he was so unlucky and most likely had suffered a tragedy!
I guess it was because of the things that the fourth room did before, which caused a conflict with the boss behind Shenxianzui and Furongju. The boss hated me, so he 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 had completely forgotten about this matter now.
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 "Master Sheng's" view, the Xia family not only had no background and no one to protect them, but were genuine peasants digging for food in the fields, and there was even internal 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 laborers for service, "Master Sheng" sent a trusted subordinate to greet the clerk in charge and told them not to let Xia Youcai go.
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