Chapter 143 Procurement and Information Gathering!
Everyone in the Shen family could see the difference between the stone house and the mud house, and no one wanted to move out!
"Mother, why don't we have my eldest brother talk to Lanxi?" Shen Conglian muttered to himself.
"What did you say? Tell her to bury my brother back in the ground." Shen Congli pursed his lips, inwardly cursing his niece for being heartless, but dared not say it aloud.
"Mother, let my eldest brother go and talk to her!" Shen Congyi not only didn't want to leave, but also wanted to build another stone house. How could so many people live in one courtyard?
Shen Congwen kept his head down and didn't speak; no one knew what he was thinking.
"If you don't want to go, you can have Yuan Jing talk to Lan Xi about it!" Yuan Jing often goes to Lan Xi's place for meals, so he must treat his younger brother like a different person.
Looking at her dejected and dispirited children and grandchildren, Old Madam Shen couldn't help but sigh again.
None of them are capable. She's already so old, yet she's still being pushed forward to secure a future for her children and grandchildren!
"I still have some silver here, all earned by Yuanjing!" Old Madam Shen took out a bag of silver.
The ingots were laid out on the table, totaling eighty taels!
"The courtyards we looked at before, the eight-tael and fifteen-tael ones, were very nice. Go buy them. Second brother, third brother, and fourth brother, you guys draw lots and move in!"
The three Shen brothers looked rather grim.
“Mother, you used to live with us brothers. We didn’t separate the family. We should live together as a family and help each other!” Shen Congyi was the first to object.
Madam Shen said calmly, "We are supposed to be supported by the eldest son's family. If you want to divide the family property, all the money is here, so then divide the family property!"
When Shen Conglian and the other two heard what the old lady said, their expressions changed immediately.
Even a fool could see that the eldest son's family is currently profiting. If they don't separate the family, they can still find an excuse to get some money. But if they do separate, they won't get anything.
Besides, what can you do with this little bit of money? If you divide it into several portions, you definitely won't be able to get through the holidays!
"We agreed that we wouldn't separate while our parents were still alive!" Shen Congli said sullenly.
Shen Conglian stood up and took the silver: "There are so many exiled people behind us, and we don't know if they will be assigned here. If we buy the house now, maybe we can get a better price!"
These words reassured those who were initially undecided.
But the thought of having to live in a thatched hut instead of such a nice stone house made them very sad!
As soon as they came out of the stone house, Liu immediately pouted and said, "Can't Mother swallow her pride and go find Lanxi?"
Shen Conglian said irritably, "She even dared to bury my older brother, what else wouldn't she dare to do? If we really anger her, she might abandon us and leave us to fend for ourselves. Let's see if you'll still complain about these things then!"
"Lanxi used to be a very gentle and filial person, how did she become like this?"
“Keep your voice down. Before you speak, think about the people on the road to exile,” Shen Conglian warned.
Liu pursed her lips and remained silent.
"Let Yuan Kun and Yuan Xu spend more time with Yuan Jing. I think Lan Xi is quite good to the children, except for being a bit ruthless towards my eldest brother and his aunts!" Shen Conglian thought of the pastries the children brought back every time they came back from martial arts practice, as well as the things they received, and couldn't help but remind Liu Shi a few more times.
"You've hidden the money and things Yuan Kun and Yuan Xu brought back, haven't you?"
Liu quickly looked around: "Smaller."
Seeing Liu's expression, Shen Conglian felt confident again.
“It’s not like we can’t afford a stone house ourselves. Now that the old lady is willing to pay, we’ll spend the money. I don’t think that’s bad either. Everyone lives here, right? We should choose the one with the best courtyard. We can hide inside and eat and drink without anyone seeing us!” Shen Conglian became more and more excited as he thought about it.
Mrs. Liu also thought so. It was great that they had a house to live in and didn't have to spend any money on it!
When buying a house, the three brothers discussed it again and decided to buy one near the Stone House, so that they could be closer to their family and take care of each other if anything happened!
After a busy afternoon, everyone fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, the shopping resumed!
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Liu Yan went to the county town to make purchases with Zhang Liao.
Wei Dongzhu's injuries were at a critical stage, and he couldn't be exposed to the wind, so his men went out to buy charcoal.
The women of Liuzhao Village and half of the students from Qinglan Academy went out to make purchases.
Some people stayed at home to repair and reinforce the roof, clean up, and go out to exchange things with the people in the military camp.
Exchanging items was secondary; the main purpose was to gather information.
Shen Lanxi took Chunxue and Qiushuang for a stroll in the neighborhood.
Hongliutun has been especially lively these past two days because of their arrival.
The women would gather together in twos and threes, and their conversations always revolved around them.
"They don't look like exiled prisoners!"
"It doesn't look like it to me either!"
"When Wang Er's family came before, they were barely recognizable as human beings!"
"They look like officials! They might have offended someone and been demoted here."
How did you figure that out?
A knocking sound rang out on the door.
Who is it?
Liu Taoye Lan Hua smiled and said, "I heard that you raise the most chickens and ducks at home. Can I exchange some grain for some?"
The women talking inside looked at each other.
Barter with grain? How? We can't give too little!
"Come in, come in! It's awfully cold outside. Come on in!"
The women of Hongliutun warmly invited the two inside and didn't leave until it was time to cook lunch.
At noon, Zhang Liao and his men returned with the grain, and the people of Hongliutun were all overjoyed.
Liu Yan had already asked about it on the way.
"Brother Zhang, there's plenty of land in Dongchuan, so there shouldn't be a shortage of food, right? Why are you buying food?"
Zhang Liao replied helplessly, "A year's hard work, all gone to hell. What's left isn't even enough to eat for two months. If we didn't hunt in the mountains to supplement our family's income, we wouldn't have survived the winter!"
This is the helplessness of the garrison troops: most of the grain they grow must be handed over to the state, and at a single command, they must also go to the front lines to fight the enemy!
...
"If you want to eat your fill, keep your mouths shut and don't let anyone know!" Zhang Liao kept instructing as he distributed the grain.
Liu Yan returned with the purchased tea to report back.
"Zhang Liao had a centurion named Cao Lianwang, who was ruthless and didn't care about the lives of the garrison soldiers at all. According to regulations, each military household had to pay 600 catties of grain. He collected an extra 200 catties. The garrison soldiers had no choice but to cultivate more land. When this reached Cao Lianwang's ears, he directly confiscated all the grain grown on the cultivated land."
So these garrison troops had to buy food secretly, distribute it secretly, and eat it secretly!
But Shen Lanxi heard something different!
How did the news of the land reclamation reach Cao Lianwang's ears?
Liu Yan's eyes lit up, and she suddenly said a few words to Shen Lanxi.
"Go ahead and get it done. It'll make things easier for us in the military settlement!"
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