Soon, the refugee camp learned that a wealthy family had come to buy people.
The crowd stirred; this wasn't the first time someone had been bought, brokers had come to select people before.
Children with good looks and regular features are the most sought after, followed by strong young men and women who can do rough and heavy work, while older people are generally not wanted.
In order to survive, some families have no choice but to sell their children. When they see that there are more people coming to buy them, they are probably reminded of sad things, and crying and cursing suddenly rise up in the shack.
Jiang Zhi didn't go into those shacks to inquire; she just waited in the shade.
The clerk led a family over: "Village Chief Jiang, this family is willing to sell their child!"
A lame man, holding the hand of a five- or six-year-old girl, walked up to Jiang Zhi and said, "Madam, I am willing to sell my daughter to you."
His accent was very heavy, and it was barely understandable. At this moment, he was talking about selling children, and he was vigorously wiping the dirt off the children's faces with his sleeve, trying to make the children look better.
The child was drenched in sweat on that hot day, and mixed with his terrified tears, his face looked like a little kitten's.
Brokers prefer young children who are easier to manage, but Jiang Zhi doesn't need children to be maids; she needs children who can do things.
She looked at the little girl and shook her head, saying, "This child is too young, I don't want her!"
When the man heard that Jiang Zhi didn't want to, he became anxious and grabbed the little girl's arm and shook her: "This child is six years old, six years old, she can work, she can do laundry and cook."
The child was thin and small, quite frail, but there weren't any fat people among the refugees.
Jiang Zhi thought of her five-year-old daughter, Nini, who spends her days playing with pigs and walking dogs, and at most cutting some rabbit grass. Her grandmother, Xiaoman, never lets her do laundry or cook.
Despite my sympathy, Nini will be pampered by Chunfeng and the others from now on, and will definitely be raised like a spoiled princess.
This child is quite old and inevitably has a lot of concerns; it's not appropriate!
More importantly, the family is not so luxurious that they need maids to serve them; what they need are able-bodied people who can look after the house and do chores.
"My child is too young, and my family lives in the countryside. There's too much work and too much weight to do!" Jiang Zhi said politely.
Seeing that the owner really didn't want the child, the man could only pull the child away and push and shove him all the way: "Useless thing, can't even be sold, all you do is eat."
The little girl was crying loudly.
At this moment, several other people were standing nearby, each holding a child's hand. They were all probably going to sell the child. The whole family was crying and wailing, looking very sad.
Mr. Pi sighed repeatedly, "Alas, how pitiful!"
Jiang Zhi remained unusually calm, and even Er Rui kept a tense expression and didn't say a word.
My mother said that sympathy is the cheapest and most useless thing. If you want to help, then help; if you don't want to help, then don't say it.
Besides, when the refugees rushed up the mountain and fought each other with knives and clubs, no one deserved pity.
Sure enough, Pi was harassed by someone. An old woman rushed over and hugged her leg, saying, "Kind people, please save us! Our child is starving to death, and we can't even go out to beg for food."
Another man stepped forward and started pulling and tugging at Pi: "Buy us! Only thirty taels of silver, we can do the work!"
Pi screamed in terror, "I have no money, I won't buy anyone, I won't buy anyone!"
Immediately, someone nearby pushed the two vagrants who were scolding them aside.
Pi said with a trembling heart, "Oh dear, we never did that before."
The person Jiang Zhi wanted to buy it appeared very quickly.
A man of similar age to Tian Gui stepped forward, offering to sell himself into servitude for five years in exchange for twenty taels of silver.
His money wasn't much, and he was at the right age to work hard. Twenty taels could buy him, but selling him for only five years would be too harsh.
If used properly, the person will leave after five years, which will be difficult for the family to arrange.
If it's not suitable, twenty taels is too expensive. People might as well buy a teenager, who can be raised for a few years and still be useful.
Pi sighed twice: "What kind of work can you do? You're only willing to sign a five-year contract. Even if you eat and use the food, you probably won't earn enough to make twenty taels of silver!"
An ordinary person can earn at most one or two taels of silver a month, and that's after food and other expenses. It's considered good if they can save four or five taels a year.
This man asked for twenty taels...
The man's face darkened at Pi's sarcasm, but he still replied politely, "I used to be a bodyguard. I know how to drive and fight. Twenty taels of silver is a lot, but if I die in an accident within five years, my family cannot seek out my master again."
This twenty taels of silver was actually a pension.
Before Jiang Zhi and Er Rui could speak, Pi Shi exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my, you know martial arts? How good are you? Can you beat two or three people?"
Pi and Xu Gensheng are indeed from the same bed; they talk a lot.
However, her question made Jiang Zhi speak less.
The man ignored Madam Pi and looked at Jiang Zhi instead: "I wonder if Madam can grant my request?"
Jiang Zhi never expected that her attempt to find more manpower would result in the arrival of a suicide bomber.
Actually, calling him a suicide squad member isn't entirely accurate, because Jiang Zhi once asked Xiang De Gold Broker about the price of buying and selling people, how much silver for a child and how much silver for an adult.
Jiang Zhi had no experience selling people, but she knew that prices varied across different eras, with the most expensive probably being from the Song Dynasty.
|Eastern Han Dynasty| Slave: Money |Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Treatise on the Five Elements, Part 1
|Tang| Maidservant: 4000 words (From "Tang Code Commentary on Household and Marriage")
|Song Dynasty|Concubine: 100 strings of cash|Water Margin
|Ming Dynasty| Maidservant: 15 taels of silver | *The Story of a Marriage to Awaken the World*
|Qing Dynasty| Maidservant: 10 taels of silver | *Dream of the Red Chamber*
Twenty taels of silver is definitely not enough to buy one's life.
Errui has learned to be more composed now. Although he was excited when he heard that he knew martial arts, he still lowered his voice and said, "My family are farmers in the village. We don't fight or risk our lives. I'm just asking if you can do farm work, like plowing the fields and carrying manure?"
The man was clearly surprised. Would someone pay someone to carry manure?
The twenty taels of silver he wanted were enough to hire someone to carry manure for ten years.
But now that his master was asking, he thought of his wife, children, and parents who were waiting for money, so he lowered his head and said, "Yes, master, I can learn!"
As long as you can learn, that's fine. Jiang Zhi asked, "What's your name? Where are you from? Who else came with you?"
"I live in Maguan. I have parents and a wife and children. I fled to Ba County because of the war." Maguan was already familiar with this kind of question and answered it without even thinking.
Jiang Zhi felt a little relieved. It must have taken skill and intelligence for her to have managed to safely bring her parents, wife, and children from the war to Pingchuan County.
Moreover, the fact that he doesn't mention his ancestral home suggests he likely has other murder cases on his hands that he's unwilling to discuss.
But it's easy to understand if you think about it: the only way to get through this is by killing people.
She continued, "If you sign the contract, how will you take care of your family for the next five years?"
Ma Guan's spirits lifted: "With these twenty taels of silver, I can rent a house in the city and live frugally for five years."
Jiang Zhi raised an eyebrow: "If I were willing to sign a five-year contract with you, give your family ten taels of silver, and you would receive three hundred copper coins a month, but you would need to have your whole family move into the village, would you be willing?"
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