After hearing what Yu Niang said, Wen and Ning immediately went back and packed two sets of clothes with Zhu, and put some gold leaves in their bags just in case.
Fortunately, all the money that Yu Niang earned was deposited in the bank, and only some small change and gold leaves for self-defense were left in the house. He put all these in the bag, and went to Yu Niang's room to help her pack two sets of clothes.
At this moment, Xu Qinyu was whistling in the lookout pavilion, calling Baiyu and Moyu to come back.
Although the two often ran to the mountains on weekdays, as long as she whistled, Baiyu and Moyu could hear her even in the mountains and would come back from the mountains.
Xu Qinyu had just whistled twice when she heard the voices of Baiyu and Moyu in the distance. They must have heard the noise in the military camp and were worried that something had happened to Xu's Restaurant, so they ran back from the mountain.
When Xu Qinyu brought the two cats back, Wen and Ning Jie'er had already packed their things.
Seeing Bai Yu, Wen Shi also became a little worried, "Yu Niang, will it scare everyone if you bring Bai Yu with you?"
It has been almost two years since the hotel was built, and Bai Yu has never been seen in the hotel. The hotel employees don't even know that the boss has raised such a big white python.
Xu Qinyu said, "Don't worry, mother. This is a special time. Just tell the staff later. Although Baiyu looks big and strong, and a little intimidating, if we really meet an enemy, he is enough to scare them. So it's safer to take Baiyu with you."
Wen nodded, and the family carried their luggage and went to the restaurant.
At this time, the staff in the restaurant had already dressed and came out. They were all a little worried about what was going on in the military camp. As they were looking towards the military camp, they saw the boss coming from the house. But besides the boss's family, there was also...
All the guys gasped as they saw a huge white python at least three meters long and as thick as a human waist behind their boss.
Everyone just felt their scalps tingling and their bodies going limp.
There was a leopard following the boss. They recognized the leopard as one of the boss's pets. Its name was Moyu. They could occasionally see it in the restaurant, but most of the time it would avoid people.
Seeing that everyone wanted to run, Xu Qinyu waved at them. Out of trust in their boss, all the employees stood still, but they were a little weak.
Xu Qinyu turned around and signaled Baiyu not to follow her. She walked over to the Xu's employees and said to them, "Don't be afraid, this is Baiyu, and I raised her since she was little. She is quite spiritual and won't hurt anyone at will. We don't know what's going on in the military camp yet, so you'd better go into the mountains with me and hide. With Baiyu and Moyu, other beasts won't dare to approach us at will even if they see us."
Something happened in the military camp, and they were the closest to the camp and could not go into the city. They had to find a place to hide and could not continue to stay in the hotel.
Everyone felt relieved and couldn't help but look at the white jade in the distance.
It just lay there straight and motionless. If its owner didn't let it come forward, it really wouldn't come over.
I didn't know it, but I suddenly felt that this big white snake looked quite honest.
Everyone was interrupted by Bai Yu, and they suddenly felt less anxious.
There are about two hundred people left in Xu's restaurant, including the waiters, cooks, guards, other managers and guests. Xu Qinyu asked Gong Ge'er and Tao Qi to take everyone to the mountains first, and she would follow later.
While waiting for everyone to enter the mountain, Xu Qinyu went to see Huo Jiang and Lian Hua and said to them, "Please go to the military camp to see what the situation is. If it is really an enemy attack, we should make plans early."
Huo Jiang and Lian Hua knew what was going on in the military camp. It should be His Highness who led his men to attack, but there would definitely not be many casualties. These soldiers guarding the border city were all good soldiers. His Highness should be confident that he could capture Raozhou City.
If nothing unexpected happens, tomorrow the governor's mansion and the military camp in Raozhou City will all be under the command of His Highness.
Lianhua didn't even dare to look at Xu Qinyu, and just pretended to look at the flames rising from the military camp.
Huo Jiang said, "Master, don't worry. Lianhua and I will go check it out. Master, go into the mountain first. You don't have to wait for us. After we get the news, Lianhua and I will go into the mountain to look for you immediately."
Xu Qinyu nodded and watched Huo Jiang and Lian Hua leave.
She also took Mo Yu and Bai Yu up the mountain.
Everyone hid in the mountains, and it was already very dark.
After waiting for almost two hours, Huo Jiang and Lian Hua finally came back. Huo Jiang told Xu Qinyu, "Master, don't worry. It's not an attack from a neighboring country, nor is it some other bandit group. It seems to be an uprising army from somewhere. They must be dissatisfied with the actions of the imperial court, so they revolted."
Xu Qinyu was relieved. Over the past six months, there had been uprisings in other states, but none of them had gained much momentum.
This is the first time I see an insurgent army that dares to attack a military camp and a state capital. It seems that this wave of insurgents should be very powerful.
However, if these insurgents really captured the military camp and suffered heavy casualties, they would not be able to hide it from the neighboring countries, allowing them to take advantage of the situation and sneak in.
So no matter what the cause of the war, it is still the ordinary people who suffer.
Huo Jiang added, "Master, don't worry. Lianhua and I looked over there and it seems that there are no casualties. The rebels did not want to hurt anyone. They just subdued the generals in the camp and took the tiger talisman."
Xu Qinyu was a little stunned. To catch a thief, one must catch the leader first. But the leader of this camp was captured too quickly. Was even the tiger talisman taken away so easily?
Even Mrs. Wen found it a bit strange. In the past, her eldest son had led soldiers in the southwestern border town. They were said to be brave and very brave. How come they were easily subdued by the rebels this time?
But as long as no one is killed, that's fine.
It seems that these rebels are unwilling to harm innocent people.
Xu Qinyu asked, "Then do we still have to stay in the mountains?"
Huo Jiang said, "From what Lianhua and I have seen, those rebels are very strict and law-abiding. They are not like ordinary rebels who have harmed anyone. So I think they will not harm ordinary people like us. Master, why don't you take your people back to rest? I will go and get more information tomorrow."
Since Huo Jiang said that the rebels were not bad people, Xu Qinyu took everyone back to the restaurant to rest.
But that night, the people in the restaurant must have been uneasy and did not sleep well. Xu Qinyu also had nightmares. She kept dreaming that the enemy attacked the restaurant, captured everyone, and asked her to cook for them.
When she woke up in the morning, Xu Qinyu was still a little confused.
There were other guests in the restaurant, so breakfast had to be prepared. Xu Qinyu didn't want to stay in the house any longer, so she went to the restaurant to prepare breakfast.
Wen's Ning Jie'er, Zhu's, and their two children also went there together. With more people around, they felt more at ease.
Most of Xu Ji's customers were from Raozhou City. Because the military camp was captured, the diners knew that the rebels would not kill innocent people indiscriminately, but they were still panicked. After breakfast, they set out for the city. As a result, half an hour later, they all returned the same way. Because the gates of Raozhou City were not open at all, they still didn't know the situation inside.
So they could only go back to Xu Ji and stay there for the time being.
Xu Qinyu waived all room fees for the diners and only charged half the price for breakfast and dinner.
As a result, the diners were in a panic and sent people to Raozhou City every day to see if the city gates were open.
Most of the families of these diners were still in the city. As the city gates had not been opened, they were naturally very anxious. Even if Xu Ji's food tasted good, it still tasted like chewing wax.
On the third day, the gates of Raozhou City were finally opened.
Huo Jiang sent the guests into the city, and went to investigate. He came back and told Xu Qinyu, "All the shops in the city are closed. It should be because on the day of the attack on the military camp, people were arranged in the city to directly capture the governor's mansion and the government office. I guess they are also handling miscellaneous affairs in the city these days."
Zhu, who was standing nearby, asked anxiously, "Are all shops closed? Are there any casualties in the city? How is the prefect's mansion? How is the prefect's family?"
In the city, the person that Zhu was most concerned about was naturally his younger brother, Governor Zhu.
Huo Jiang shook his head. "There are no casualties. I also sneaked into the prefectural governor's mansion to check. The family is still in the mansion. They are just restricted in their movements. Everything else is fine."
Zhu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as people are alive, that's enough.
Huo Jiang really couldn't tell the princess and the others that the prefect's mansion had indeed been captured, but the prefect was not imprisoned and was still handling official business in the mansion. However, the prefect and his family were not allowed to go out.
I'm afraid the governor has already known about your Highness's actions.
Now Huo Jiang couldn't tell the princess and the others directly that the leader of the rebel army was His Highness. Otherwise, they would have to worry about His Highness's comfort all day long. They were also afraid that His Highness's identity would be accidentally exposed, and then they would be in danger. So they simply continued to keep it a secret and wait until they really attacked the capital.
From the moment His Highness led the troops, he never showed his true face to anyone, simply because he was worried that the new emperor and the empress dowager in the capital would find out.
You know, even though only His Highness and the Seventh Prince are left in the Pei family, there are still some relatives in the capital, and the princess's family is all in the capital. Plus, there are some courtiers in the court who previously supported the eldest prince. The connection is very close. If the empress dowager and the new emperor knew that it was His Highness who raised the rebel army, they would definitely arrest all these people and threaten His Highness, so he could only hide his identity.
Xu Qinyu was relieved to know that the prefect was fine.
In the following days, Xu Ji had few customers, so she divided Xu Ji's employees into two groups and gave them a long vacation to go home.
For a whole month, there were almost no customers coming to Xu's restaurant, but Xu Qinyu still paid half of the wages to Xu's employees.
In fact, during this month, shops in Raozhou City have opened one after another, but there are still not many people on the streets. It was not until the beginning of the busy farming season that people were willing to go out and do farm work, and then more people started to walk on the streets.
It seemed that the entire Raozhou City was no different from before, except that the prefectural government and the government office were more heavily guarded, and the officers and soldiers patrolling the streets also looked somewhat unfamiliar.
Until the beginning of the busy farming season, notices were posted in front of the government offices and the prefectural government offices, stating that only one-thirtieth of the grain tax would be levied on the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Raozhou City. The commercial tax was a little more complicated, but basically it was also around one-thirtieth. The commercial tax standards were also different. In other words, if you earn less, you don't have to pay even one-thirtieth of the commercial tax. If you pay less tax, and earn more, the maximum commercial tax is only one-thirtieth. Compared with the previous 20% and then 50%, this commercial tax is already very small.
The people could not believe it. The grain tax was only one out of thirty. That is, if one mu of land produced three thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes and potatoes, they only had to pay one hundred kilograms. If they had followed the new emperor's previous taxation, they would have to pay one thousand five hundred kilograms. Now the tax was only one out of thirty, which had never happened before when the previous emperor was alive.
The common people didn't care and immediately became friendly with the rebels. They felt that if these people were in power, it would be much better than the emperor in the capital. The emperor in the capital forced the common people to have no way to survive. These rebels were born into the common people and knew the sufferings of the common people and would care about the common people.
What's more, they captured Raozhou City without harming anyone. These rebel troops had clear discipline and never harassed the people.
Most of the people have begun to feel friendly towards the rebels.
But at present, only the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Raozhou City have changed their taxes. After all, other state capitals in the southwest have yet to be conquered.
By the second month, Xu Ji had some diners gradually, but compared with the past, it was still far fewer.
By the end of spring, the empress dowager and the emperor indeed dispatched troops from other states to attack Raozhou City. If a real fight broke out, innocent people would surely be harmed, or the people in the city would be hurt. Huo Jiang asked Xu Qinyu to lock up Xu Ji and stay in the city for a few days, and the other employees also went home first.
Xu Qinyu brought her family into the city.
She had not bought a house in Raozhou City, but there was a yard behind the shop rented by Ning Jie'er, so the family lived behind the shop first. Although the house was fully equipped with household items and a kitchen, Xu Qinyu bought some rice, flour, grain, oil and vegetables to store, and she and Mu Shi cooked breakfast every day.
With the help of Wen's sister Ning and Zhu, she just cooked the dishes, and they did the rest of the washing, cutting, sweeping and cleaning.
These days are a rare chance to have some free time. It is the most leisurely period since Xu Qinyu came to this place.
A few days later, other generals and soldiers really came to attack, but the Black Armored Army stationed in Raozhou City simply closed the city gates and refused to fight with these soldiers.
After living in the city for a few days, Xu Qinyu learned that these rebel troops were called the Black Armored Army and had strict discipline.
The generals from the other two states could not attack by force because there were still civilians in the city.
However, a secret letter was sent from the capital, asking them to launch a violent attack.
The generals of both armies were hesitant. The civilians there were all innocent. If they attacked directly, the civilians would also be implicated, with countless casualties. They could not bring themselves to do that.
But before they could make a decision, spies from the rear came to report that the Black Armored Army had attacked their state capital.
Now there is no need to attack by force. The house has been robbed, so what is there to fight about?
There are only three state capitals in the southwest, and now all three state capitals have submitted to the Black Armor Army. In other words, the entire southwest is under the command of the Black Armor Army.
It was so smooth that it was a bit unexpected.
Because the southwest had already fallen, the empress dowager was extremely angry and the court officials also began to panic. After all, a new emperor appoints new officials. If the rebels really attacked, they, as officials with meritorious families, did not know what their fate would be. The southwest had the most military strength among the border cities, which meant that the strongest military force of the Great Sheng Dynasty had been subdued by the Black Armored Army. It was only a matter of time before they attacked the capital.
It has only been three months since the Black Army conquered the southwest.
Everyone in the capital was in a panic, but in the southwest, people's lives had returned to normal, and they even smiled more than before.
The crops have already been planted, and this year looks like it will be another bumper year. The people will be taxed at one in thirty when the autumn harvest comes. With so much food stored, they won't have to worry about going hungry even if there are natural disasters or man-made calamities next year.
Xu Qinyu stayed in Raozhou City for half a month until the other two cities were captured by the Black Armor Army. A few days later, the generals of the two cities also led their officers and soldiers to surrender to the Black Armor Army and returned to their original cities. Xu Qinyu also left the city and returned to Xu's house.
By summer, Xu's business had improved a lot.
Life in the southwest has returned to normal, but Xu Qinyu is very worried. Her fourth brother has not returned since he left in the first month of the year. Only in early summer did he send a letter home saying that he would be delayed for a long time on the road due to the war and might not be able to return home this year. He asked Yu Niang to take good care of herself and not to worry too much about him.
But how could Xu Qinyu not be worried? Although the southwest was peaceful as usual, the world outside was still very chaotic.
She only hoped that her fourth brother would be safe and sound. As for the rest, she also hoped that the leader of the Black Armor Army would be a wise ruler who would be diligent in governing the country and love the people, and not be blinded by his position and only pursue pleasure. She could see that the leader of the Black Armor Army was a capable man, otherwise he would not have captured another provincial capital and advanced towards the capital in just one month.
She didn't know who the leader of the Black Armored Army was. She only heard that the leader of the Black Armored Army was a man with a very ordinary appearance.
As the days passed, Xu's business became better and better.
As for the affairs of the Hei Family Army, Xu Qinyu had only heard some things about them from Huo Jiang.
Huo Jiang helped her find out a lot of things. Every time he talked about the Black Armor Army, Huo Jiang's face lit up with joy. When he mentioned the leader of the Black Armor Army, his eyes lit up even brighter, and it was obvious that he admired the leader of the Black Armor Army.
The people in the southwest had similar expressions to Huo Jiang when they mentioned the Black Armor Army, because when the autumn harvest came, the people really only paid a tax of one in thirty, and they could move baskets and bags of grain back to their homes. With the stored grain, the people could eat their fill.
These potatoes and sweet potatoes are delicious when cooked.
But these two cannot be used as staple food alone, so not all land in the southwest is planted with potatoes and sweet potatoes. Every family still uses half of the land to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes, and the rest of the land is used to plant other crops.
At the end of autumn, Xu Qinyu received another letter from her fourth brother, who said that perhaps she would be able to return home by the end of the year.
Xu Qinyu just thought that Fourth Brother meant that he would be able to return to Raozhou City by the end of the year.
In three months, it will be a year since Fourth Brother left. Wen and the others are very worried about Pei Weixuan. They don't know how he is doing out there. In times of chaos, although caravans can make more money, they are also more dangerous.
Later, the weather became colder day by day, and Huo Jiang would report the movements of the Black Armored Army to Xu Qinyu almost every ten days or half a month.
The Black Armored Army reached Tongzhou, which was very close to the capital.
By mid-winter, Xu Qinyu heard that the Black Armored Army had already reached the capital.
She didn't know the situation in the capital, but her original father, mother, brother, and uncle's family were all in the capital. Xu Qinyu had been losing her appetite these days, worried that they would be hurt. She was not worried that the Black Armored Army would hurt anyone, but she was worried that the Queen Mother and Emperor Sheng Yuan would use the people to threaten the Black Armored Army, which was something the Queen Mother and Emperor Sheng Yuan could do.
After all, these black-armored soldiers attacked all the way with almost no casualties, and none of the civilians were killed.
Because of this, several state capitals did not even fight and just voted directly.
So Xu Qinyu was also very worried about the situation in the capital, but she also had some expectations. If the Black Armored Army really captured the capital, fought into the palace and subdued the Queen Mother and Emperor Sheng Yuan, and the people had no worries, the dynasty would change. If the dynasty changed, would she be able to go back to the capital? She wanted to go back and see her original body's parents. In the past few years as her original body, she had inherited her original body's feelings and had affection for her original body's relatives. She wanted to go back and see them.
But she didn't know what happened after the Hei family army arrived in the capital.
It would take Huo Jiang seven or eight days for the news to come back, and it would take at least several more days to know the situation in the capital.
Xu Qinyu knew that there was no time to rush. Now it was the Leon month again, so she started to pickle hams. She still planned to pickle about 5,000 hams this year.
Throughout this year, due to the chaos in the world, Xu's business has not been very good. There are still some hams pickled from the year before last, and the hams pickled last year can only be eaten this year, so there are still quite a few. However, Xu Qinyu still plans to pickle more. After this world is over, the surplus hams can be transported to other states by caravans for sale. The hams can be stored for a few years. The taste of raw hams will be more mellow and fragrant, and the taste will be better. It will be better if it is stored for a while, so it is no problem to pickle more.
For the next half month, Xu Qinyu was busy pickling ham.
The New Year is just half a month away, and no one knows what is happening in the capital. Twice, she asked Huo Jiang if he knew what was going on in the capital, but Huo Jiang just hesitated and said he didn't know.
Xu Qinyu had no other channels through which to inquire about the news in the capital. If no one rushed to deliver the message, given the communication distances of that era, there would still be ways around it. The developments in the capital would not be able to be reported to the southwest until at least a month later. She could only calm down and focus on her own business.
Two days later, after preparing dinner at the restaurant, Xu Qinyu returned to the house.
There is still half a year left until the end of the year, and it is a bit busy at the end of the year. Xu Qinyu has to look at a lot of account books, the accounts of the land, and the bills of Xu's Wine Shop and Restaurant. The business in the second half of the year was good, so they have to be checked again.
Ning Jie'er's shop is doing very good business now, and the accounts will be checked at the end of the year. The two of them stayed in Xu Qinyu's room to calculate the accounts.
There was still silver frost charcoal in the room. Although it was warm, it was a bit stuffy. Wen opened the window and took a look. Then she turned around and said to her daughter-in-law and daughter, "The snow has lessened. I wonder if it will stop tomorrow."
Fortunately, the snow in the southwest is not heavy. Even if it snows for a few days, it only reaches the ankles and it almost always falls on and off.
After reading this, Mrs. Wen left a small gap in the window for ventilation and accompanied her daughter and daughter-in-law to settle accounts.
After settling the bill, the three of them went back to their room to rest.
The next morning, Xu Qinyu got up early as she had to go to the restaurant to make breakfast.
Xu's kitchen had more and more chefs, so she basically didn't have to worry about anything anymore. But she still went there every day to help prepare breakfast and dinner.
Xu Qinyu also planned to write a few cookbooks in the future. With so many delicacies passed down over five thousand years, even if she were to teach apprentices, it would take who knows when. It would be better to write them down as cookbooks, some home cooking recipes, some menus, various snacks, etc., so that they can be written down for people to read and be passed on better.
Xu Qinyu was thinking about it when she asked the maid to bring hot water into the house for her to wash up and prepare to go to the restaurant in a while.
The restaurant is still open this year and has started booking diners for this year's New Year's dinner. Xu Qinyu will have to go over and take a look later.
Xu Qinyu couldn't help but think of her fourth brother again. She hadn't seen him for a whole year.
Xu Qinyu couldn't help but sigh. She had just put on her clothes when the maid brought in hot water. After washing up, Xu Qinyu took the water outside and splashed it in the courtyard. Then she saw another little maid running in hurriedly, her face pale. Seeing this, Xu Qinyu hurriedly asked, "Chuntao, why are you running? Run slower. Did something happen in the restaurant?"
All she could think of was that something had happened in the restaurant, but the restaurant hadn't even started serving breakfast yet and the door was still closed, so what could have happened? Could it be that something had happened to the guests living in the garden?
Xu Qinyu's heart also skipped a beat and she began to worry.
Chuntao just shook her head and ran to stand in front of Xu Qinyu. She said with a pale face and panting, "Madam, there are so many guards outside, they have surrounded our house."
Chuntao has been guarding the gatehouse. Whenever someone knocks on the door, she is the one who goes in and out to pass on the message.