Chapter 216: Ways to Make Money
"A murder occurred in a nearby village. A family of more than a dozen people were burned to death. I heard that there were two little girls in that family who did not return home." Wen Yan said hurriedly.
"Let's look at the account book when we get back." Meng Xiyan guessed Wen Yan's thoughts. He put down the account book and walked out with Wen Yan.
They stopped a passerby and asked for directions to Niugouzi Village.
Niugouzi Village is not far from here, and it takes less than a quarter of an hour to ride there on horseback.
From a distance, they saw many villagers gathered in a corner of the village.
There was still a burnt smell in the air.
The county government officials have arrived and are investigating the scene.
Many bodies had been cleared out and placed side by side in the middle of the road.
There are eleven bodies in total, big and small.
Judging from their body shapes, the youngest should be only three or four years old.
The onlookers sighed and discussed why this family was wiped out.
There are endless reasons.
Some say that he offended a big shot.
Some also say that they are too immoral and are being punished by God.
Until the last body was carried out.
The body was burnt and looked extremely thin and skinny.
What caught her attention most was that she was also holding a burnt object in her arms.
The smell of the corpse, in addition to the smell of burning, also has a smell of decay.
Wen Yan was almost 100% sure.
She is the woman who sold her daughter a few days ago.
She said she wanted to go back to her husband's house, and it turned out she was coming back for revenge.
I guess she had already made up her mind to die at that time!
Wen Yan went to chat with the villagers and find out the situation.
Meng Xiyan sent his subordinates back to the county town to pick up the sisters.
The sisters arrived quickly.
After they arrived at the scene, they immediately rushed to the last corpse and cried bitterly.
After some questioning, Wen Yan was able to reconstruct the situation.
It should be that after the woman escaped from her husband's home with her three children, her life was difficult but she was happy.
However, my husband's family was in great chaos and unrest because they had lost several people who could be ordered around and beaten at will.
In addition, as the number of locusts decreased, my husband's family became more and more anxious.
Someone then thought that the woman's first daughter was sold for a lot of money, although she died shortly after being sold.
But who cares?
The woman also has three daughters.
The second and third sons can also be sold for a lot of silver.
With this money, maybe they can stock up on enough food to survive the drought.
The woman had already lost one child, so how could she allow them to touch her own child?
During an argument with her husband, the youngest child was thrown to death by her husband.
The woman was disheartened.
After finding a place for her second and third children, she came back and took the whole family on the road together.
Meng Xiyan was very sad after hearing what Yan said.
The case was handed over to the county government for handling.
Wen Yan asked the two children for their opinions: "Do you want to stay and live with the tribe? Or do you want to come with me?"
The two girls knelt in front of Wen Yan without the slightest hesitation and said loudly, "Miss, we are willing to go with you.
We will repay you by being your slaves for the rest of our lives."
They stayed in the county town for another day.
The next day, they set off for another county.
After passing through two more counties, they followed the river and arrived at the area in Jinyang Prefecture where the disaster was the most severe.
Here, even the trees on the mountain have turned yellow and look withered.
Between the two mountains, the sound of horns was heard.
Wen Yan and the others rode over and found a group of people digging there.
At this time, a man with a knife on his waist and wearing a white robe immediately ran over.
He saluted Meng Xiyan and the others and said, "Sir, why are you here?"
Meng Xiyan looked in the direction of the digging, frowning slightly. "Why are they still digging a well here? I received the report about digging a well a month ago. How come it's been so long and it's still not finished?"
"There's a severe drought in this area. We've drilled five wells, but all have failed."
"Didn't you invite a Feng Shui master specifically?"
While Meng Xiyan was asking questions.
The others found a flat place and started setting up tents.
It was getting late, so they decided to stay here for the night.
Wen Yan and Pei'er couldn't help, so they just wandered around and picked up some firewood to use for making a fire at night.
While walking and picking up things, Pei'er suddenly stopped.
She pointed to a hillside and said excitedly, "Miss, look, there are black pines over there."
"What is Mosong?" Wen Yan looked in the direction of the voice.
There is indeed a pine forest over there.
But in Wen Yan's opinion, this pine forest is no different from other places.
"Of course there is a difference. This kind of pine tree produces the best quality ink smoke, so my mother and I named it Mosong."
Wen Yan looked at the lush pine forest, as well as the other hilltops and other withered and wilted trees.
An idea suddenly came to Wen Yan's mind.
She took Pei'er's hand and said excitedly: "Pei'er, I have an idea."
Pei'er was puzzled: "What method?"
"A way for people in the disaster area to make money."
"Miss, what's the solution? Please tell me quickly." Pei'er looked at the withered and desolate place. What other ways could one make money in such a place?
Are you planning to open an ink-making workshop here?
But that's just a drop in the bucket!
"The secret cannot be revealed." Wen Yan kept it a secret and continued to pick up firewood.
The two men picked up a lot of firewood, returned to the team, set up the tent, and Meng Xiyan also finished the meeting.
He and the young leader Yuan were standing by the tent and talking.
"There shouldn't be no water! This village is less than two miles from the river, it shouldn't be so dry."
Meng Xiyan said: "It should be due to geological reasons.
There may be huge rocks underground in this area, blocking the flow of water.
Haven't you noticed? Although this place is close to the river, it's much drier than other villages."
“If we really can’t dig out water, we’ll just relocate the people in this village.
Relocate them to another place and then move them back to their original location when the disaster is over."
The two looked at each other, then sighed, their words full of helplessness.
They had a simple dinner.
A pot of boiled and cooled water, and a hard-to-bite pancake.
Wen Yan's cheek hurt after she had only chewed half of it.
But she still forced herself to finish the whole thing.
After nightfall,
The hot weather finally got some relief.
But it’s still far from cool.
Wen Yan couldn't stay in the tent, so he simply came out to enjoy the cool air.
She found a big rock and sprinkled some insect repellent powder around it before she dared to sit down.
She propped up her chin and stared at the sky in a daze.
The bright moon is like a silver plate, and the sky is dotted with stars.
There were footsteps behind me.
Wen Yan didn't look back.
The man sat down next to Wen Yan: "Can't sleep?"
Meng Xiyan asked.
"Yeah." Wen Yan nodded, "It's too hot."
"This is the last county town. After this, you can return to the capital."
Wen Yan did not agree, but said: "I may have found a way to help the people in the disaster area make money."
"Seriously!" Meng Xiyan suddenly became energetic, his eyes brighter than the stars in the sky.
"Let them make the charcoal."
"Burning charcoal?" Meng Xiyan wondered, "How much money can you make from this?"
Wen Yan said, "I will buy it at 15% of the price of coal in the capital."
Meng Xiyan became more and more confused.
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