"Then Prince Xiang's two uncles should be quite rich, right?" Song Wan blinked.
"Yao Chu is now serving as the Minister of Revenue. How can Yao Xu compare to his elder brother? As for Yao Yuan..." Speaking of General Yao, Gu Yan's mood was actually quite complicated. The whole Yao family was a nest of bad bamboos, but a good bamboo shoot grew out of it.
After the previous emperor ascended the throne, Dai Viet was in a state of disrepair. To the west, the Qiang people of Daye were ready to make trouble, and to the east, small tribes harassed the country from time to time.
The four families of Gu, Song, Yao and Xu who had followed the late emperor, with the Gu family stationed in the southwest and the Song family stationed in the northwest, jointly resisting Daye and the Qiang people.
Of the three sons of the Yao family, only the second one practiced martial arts and was well-versed in the art of war, so the late emperor entrusted his rear guard, Donglin Pass, to him.
In recent years, except for being a little poor, the soldiers at the border have become increasingly powerful and are no worse than the armies in the northwest and southwest. At first, the small tribes tried to provoke them by relying on the geographical advantage, but they were defeated by Yao Yuan's troops and suffered heavy losses. As a result, the other side did not dare to cross the Liujin River for several years.
"He's a good general," Gu Yan lamented anxiously, "but it's a pity he was born into the wrong family."
Song Wan probably understood that those who could be called good generals probably did not have much money at home, just like Gou Wa's mother said that Big Beard was a good official. Therefore, Big Beard's family was starving and could not even afford to eat meat.
Good officials in this world like to make money for the people to spend. This good general should be making money for the soldiers under him.
"Then forget about him." She didn't fight with soldiers for things.
In the end times when order collapsed, the only people Song Wan still admired were soldiers.
In the end times, soldiers with super powers are naturally stronger, but there are also some soldiers without super powers.
Song Wan once encountered a group of more than twenty people. None of them had special powers, but they were still able to fight their way out of the zombie den. Along the way, in addition to protecting themselves, they also spontaneously rescued the weak and never forgot their mission as soldiers.
But it was this group of people who overcame many difficulties and came to a base established in the end times, but were turned away.
The reason was that they had no special abilities and were a burden to the base. In order to be able to enter the base and survive, the rescued weaklings immediately severed ties with their saviors, hurling curses and swearing at them one after another.
At that time, Song Wan was sixteen years old and had just activated her psychic power. She looked through the electric fence gate at the twenty or so people who were forgotten outside the base, and she had forgotten what she felt at the time.
She only remembered that after she became the leader of the team and was able to leave the base alone to find food and kill zombies, she never encountered that group of people again.
I only heard that those soldiers have been homeless and no base is willing to accept them.
That was the first profound truth Song Wan understood after leaving the orphanage: good people do not necessarily get good rewards.
Hearing Song Wan's serious tone of exclusion, Gu Yan laughed anxiously. His A Wan was indeed different from others.
On a morning with excellent weather, Song Wan returned with the defeated Song Qi and others, barely returning with a full load.
Since the amount of silver bills collected was not much, Song Wan did not plan to stuff them into the wall and gave them all to Qi.
In Song Wan's view, in addition to being the original body's mother, Qi is more like the logistics leader of the team, in charge of the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the entire team, so of course there must be enough money in her pocket.
Qi took the banknote without asking where the money came from. She believed that her daughter was sensible.
Moreover, the family really needs money now. In addition to the food, clothing and other expenses for the whole family, the second daughter-in-law's belly is getting bigger and bigger, and she will probably give birth after half of spring.
Guizhou is a remote area and it is difficult to find a good midwife, so Qi has already started looking for one secretly.
As for the six captives brought back, Song Wan asked them to go to the foot of the mountain to collect firewood for the whole day.
There is no way. The winter in Guizhou is cold, and every household has firewood to burn for heating.
They arrived late and there were so many of them that the firewood they had at home was somewhat insufficient.
With these six free laborers, Song Qi and his friends can finally free their hands and concentrate on training.
At first, when Yao Lixuan heard that Song Wan actually asked him to do the same thing as those untouchables, he immediately expressed strong opposition.
His father was the prefect of Xinzhou, and his aunt was the current empress dowager. He...
Before he could finish his words, Song Wan whipped him with a whip until he saw stars. "What are you talking about? I don't support you for nothing. If you don't work, you won't have anything to eat!"
Song Wan exerted her mental power on them. As long as they had the slightest thought of escaping, they would feel pain all over their body and would not be able to stand up.
In this way, the six people were thrown to the foot of the mountain and collected firewood with the villagers.
Not being able to run doesn't mean you have to work. Yao Liwei just lay under a tree with a grin on his face. No matter what others thought, he just refused to work. His face was so swollen that no one would recognize him.
With this thought in mind, Yao Liwei looked down upon Li Hu and his companions who were diligently collecting firewood.
Those who bully the weak and fear the strong are all cowards.
In fact, Song Wan didn't intend to force them to work. As long as they didn't want to run away, it would be fine. The only difference was that if they didn't work, they would have no food to eat.
Yao Lixuan didn't realize the seriousness of this sentence at first until Song Qi came to the foot of the mountain carrying a bamboo basket.
The food given to the prisoners will definitely not be rich, but they will definitely be full.
Each person gets three whole grain steamed buns and a bowl of porridge, a total of five servings.
The only dish was a plate of fried radish with oil residue, which was shared by several people.
Since being captured, Li Hu and his companions have only drunk a few sips of water and are already starving.
Three coarse flour buns with some vegetables were eaten in no time. Li Hu drank the last mouthful of porridge and burped.
He suddenly felt that there was nothing wrong with collecting firewood every day. For him, who practiced martial arts, it was easy and effortless, and someone would bring him meals at regular times.
The other secret guards had the same idea. They thought that they were captured by the enemy and would be tortured.
On the way here, they were ready to die rather than surrender, but in the end they were just thrown here to collect firewood.
It was more comfortable than those who had their property confiscated and were exiled to the mines to do hard labor. The new eldest son kept scolding them for being disloyal.
But they didn't. Apart from helping the enemy collect firewood for a day, they didn't say anything.
Yao Liwei cursed all day and was tired. Finally he found out that there was really no food for him.
He never thought that he, who had always lived a life of luxury, would one day drool over a bowl of porridge and a few coarse flour buns.
He was so angry that he cursed, "What a bunch of spineless people! You really disrespect my father's trust!"
After Li Hu burped, he thought he could still pick up a basket of firewood. When he heard Yao Liwei's curse, he replied without thinking, "Picking up firewood doesn't count as betrayal."
Yao Liyun: "..."
Also drooling were Goudan and Gouwa, who came to the foot of the mountain to chop firewood to help ease the burden on their family.
The fried radish with oil residue made them smell delicious.
Memory, they have only eaten this kind of oil residue once or twice. The residue is made from lard, put it on a plate, sprinkle some white sugar on it, and eat one piece. You can savor it for several days.
They were all a little tempted by the fact that they could eat so well just by working for Sister Awan's family.
Spring is almost here, and it's time to start preparing to sprout potatoes. The method is very simple. Song Wan explained it twice, and Gou Wa's mother and father learned it.
Jiang Zhen brought villagers from three other villages who were responsible for growing potatoes to learn how to grow sprouts. It doesn’t take a long time, about ten days is enough.
Ten days later, it is the beginning of spring.
Under the attention of the whole village, Gou Wa's family planted potatoes.
At this point, Gou Wa's family was still a little nervous, but they did not regret it. Miss Song was a good person and Lord Jiang was a good official.
The reason they were so nervous was that they were afraid that they wouldn't be able to grow potatoes well and would disappoint everyone.
After all, although other people in the village did not believe that it was possible to produce 1,000 kilograms of grain per mu, everyone in their hearts had hoped for it.
In this world, no one is willing to go hungry on their own initiative.
Even Yao Lixuan now collects firewood obediently every day.
There's no way. If I don't work, I'll be hungry.
So far, Song Wan is quite satisfied with these people.
It was tiring enough for Qi and her family to cook three meals a day. Song's father and second uncle were also busy. The family bought more than a dozen chickens, ducks and two piglets and kept them in the backyard, and they needed to be fed every day.
From time to time, I would go next door to help a few babies with their homework.
Of course, Uncle Song helped with the homework, as Father Song only knew how to fight wars and command troops in his life.
So the rest of the work had to be done by these six people.
Gradually, the chickens and ducks grew strong, and the two piglets also began to fatten up.
Song Wan has already started looking forward to next year's pig-killing dinner. She has never had such a pleasant life.
Ever since I could remember in my previous life, I was afraid that the orphanage would suddenly close down one day. Then the end of the world came, and in order to survive, I was either killing zombies or on my way to kill zombies every day, and I didn't have time to think about anything else.
When Song's father was free, he tied a simple swing to the old tree branch in the yard.
Song Wan liked to sit on it when she had nothing to do, which made her father brag to his wife every night that his daughter liked the swing he made very much.
In fact, the truth is that she was short and thin in the orphanage, and could not compete with other children at all. She was fifteen years old and could not even touch the edge of the swing.
Speaking of which, Song Wan is quite satisfied with her current figure. She has long legs, a tall stature, a curvy figure, and a nice body. It makes up for all the regrets in her previous life.
Just as she was admiring it with all her heart, Gu Yan came knocking on the door with a newly made whip.
Song Wan went to open the door and noticed the whip in his hand at first sight. It was a snake skin whip, and it was golden.
"For me?" Song Wan took it from him without hesitation, and touched it with her hands, her eyes shining brighter. "It's a good whip!"
"Do you like it?" As long as she was satisfied, Gu Yanji was happy.
"I like it!" Song Wan didn't expect Gu Yan to do it so quickly as she said. The whip she made casually last time broke after she whipped Yao Liwei for the last time.
There were no money-making tasks in recent days, so she was lazy and didn't make a new one. She didn't expect Gu Yan to be so anxious and send her a new one so quickly.
Of course when you get a new whip you have to try it out to see if it fits your hand.
These people are becoming more and more skilled at their work, and are almost surpassing many farmers in the village.
Song Wan came over with a whip, and Gu Yan followed her anxiously as always.
When Yao Liwei saw the familiar man holding a new whip in his hand, he shook his legs unconsciously. He didn't want to be whipped again.
He hasn't recovered from the last few whippings yet. It's winter and the wind is blowing outside, making him grimacing every day. It hurts so much.
"I worked hard!" he said nervously.
"Don't worry, I won't whip you." Song Wan just felt that this piece of land was open and suitable for whipping.
"By the way, I almost forgot. You have all been working here for half a month. How come your father hasn't noticed anything unusual yet?" Song Wan was very suspicious at this moment. Could it be that this son was also the result of cuckolding?
Yao Liwei had been so busy these past ten days that he almost forgot he had a father who was a prefect. "The trip back and forth between the two places, plus the heavy snow blocking the roads, will take at least four or five days, and, and..."
He didn't say the rest of the words for fear of being beaten.
Song Wan understood that these people came to kill their two families, and it would take at least a few days to kill them.
All in all, there has been no news for more than ten days, which seems normal.
"Then write a letter and say that you have been kidnapped by us, and ask your father to prepare the ransom." Song Wan thought about it. His second uncle could not be robbed, and his eldest uncle was in the capital, more than two thousand miles away, so it would be difficult to rob him.
Looking at it now, the only thing left is to catch his father and take advantage of him.
Yao Liwei didn't expect that she would actually let him go. He asked hopefully, "How much do you want? My father is rich! He will definitely be willing to pay for my redemption!"
He didn't want to pick up firewood in the wind every day, as the back of his hands were getting frostbite!
"I've taken away all the silver in your house. Where is the rest of your silver?" Song Wan said with a stern face, full of disbelief.
"There's more in the capital!" Yao Liwei said hurriedly, "My father owns many restaurants, shops, and farms in the capital, and he brings in a lot of money every month!"
Before Yao Liwei set out for Guizhou with his secret guards, he heard that his father asked the housekeeper to take a team of people back to Beijing to move the money. The profits from a few shops in Xinzhou and Luzhou were not enough for the family.
"You mean your father has sent people back to Beijing to move the money, right?" Song Wan raised her eyebrows.
Yao Liwei was dumbfounded when he realized that he was being tricked. He had cursed Li Hu and others indignantly a few days ago, but in the end, he was the one who betrayed his father.
Li Hu next to me was thinking... It's a good thing I didn't say anything.
Song Wan felt extremely relieved to receive this unexpected surprise. Once Yao Xu sent someone to transport the silver from the capital, she could then cover all the walls with the tiles.
It would take at least several months to travel from the capital to Xinzhou and back, so Song Qi and the others still had time.
However, Song Wan still asked Yao Lizhen to write a letter by hand, fearing that Yao Xu might not care about his son. After thinking about it, she asked Li Hu to write another one.
Even if he doesn't care about his son, the secret guards must care about him. After all, in addition to their powerful martial arts, they probably have a lot of secrets.
Song Wan gave the letter to Gu Yanji and asked him to send someone to deliver it to Yao Xu. Gu Yanji was now her right-hand man, so it would be a waste not to use him.
So Yao Liyun, who had successfully sold out his father, had an extra small bowl of braised pork at lunch compared to Li Hu and the others.
The braised pork is fat and lean, wrapped in the aroma of oil, and stewed for a long time. It tastes soft, sweet and goes well with rice. In addition to the meat, there are a few pieces of things in the bowl that Yao Liwei cannot recognize. They look very similar to meat, but the taste is different.
After eating two bites of meat, I ate this block of stuff, which was surprisingly no worse than meat. It was soft, glutinous and sweet, and at the same time, it was soaked in the aroma of meat inside and out, giving it a unique taste.
Yao Liwei held the rough bowl with only soup left in his hand, crying silently in his heart. He never expected that one day he would actually desire another bowl of a few unknown foods.
He even thought for a moment that if he told one of his father's secrets every day, would he be able to eat a bowl of braised pork stew every lunch.
The secret guards were still given three coarse flour buns and a bowl of porridge, and the dish was stir-fried radish and cabbage, but this time there was not even any oil residue.
Li Hu drank the porridge in big mouthfuls, but the radish and cabbage could not block the aroma of the meat next to it, and he could not control his nose and could not help but inhale secretly.
He secretly glanced at the eldest son who was dipping the steamed buns in the soup. To be honest, he felt a little regretful.
Spring had arrived, and there was no need to collect firewood all the time. Qi found Song Wan and said, "Ah Wan, your father and I have discussed going to the government office to pay some money and open up a few acres of wasteland to grow crops."
No matter where you are, food is the foundation. You can’t always buy it from outside; you still have to grow it yourself.
Song Wan felt that what she said was right. It was not enough to just store silver, but also to store grain. "Then how many acres do you think we should open up?"
"Six acres is fine for now. Your second uncle's family and I have three acres. We won't be able to handle more." Qi thought for a moment and replied.
Six acres of land can yield more than a thousand kilograms of grain, which is enough for a family to eat.
"There are just six of them, and each person has one acre of land. They can finish the work quickly." Song Wan said.
"Mother heard that one of them is Yao Xu's son. If you kidnap him, will his father send someone to rescue him?" Qi was afraid that Song Wan would be in danger.
"No need for them to send anyone. I've already had those people write a letter and have Gu Yan send someone to Xinzhou to demand the ransom." Song Wan patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, mother. Even if they come, they can't defeat me. When the time comes, we'll capture them and use them to reclaim the land for our family."
Qi couldn't help but laugh out loud, "You are so clever."
Song Wan chuckled twice with pride.
Qi finally understood that no matter what happened, she could turn it back into money in the end.
But when she mentioned Gu Yanji, Qi thought of something, "I heard Yanji gave you a whip?"
Song Wan nodded frankly, "Yes, Mom, do you also want to see me play with the whip?" Otherwise, why would you suddenly ask this.
Qi: "...Mother either wants to see the whip show or ask what gift you gave her in return."
Song Wan's eyes widened, full of confusion, "Why do you have to return the gift?"
Qi hated herself for giving birth to such a stupid daughter. She sighed, "Gu Wen said that Yan Ji was almost bitten by a poisonous snake for this whip. Didn't you feel touched at all when you heard that?"
Song Wan exclaimed, "You've been tricked by Gu Wen. Gu Yan said he killed the snake so easily! Gu Wen must be trying to play pitiful and trick you into giving him some potatoes!"
Unfortunately, the next day after receiving the whip, she ran all over the mountain but couldn't find even a rat snake. She also scared the group of people in the back mountain half to death, thinking that someone had discovered them.
Fortunately, she ran fast. After observing her for a long time, those people could only conclude that it was because the wind was very strong that day.
Speaking of potatoes, Song Wan perked up. "And mother, next time, just give a few pieces of meat to the ones who worked, and no more potatoes."
Qi "..."
Well, we’re talking about food again.
Finally, Qi struggled again, unwilling to give in. "Ah Wan, Yan Ji must have worked hard to find the snake. Now that you have the whip, shouldn't you give him a thank you gift?"
In fact, Mrs. Qi didn't have any complicated thoughts. She just wanted the two of them to improve their relationship. She could see that Yan Ji liked her daughter, and A Wan was also good to Yan Ji, but it seemed that she hadn't figured it out yet.
Song Wan paused to chew the snack, thought for a moment, and said, "How about I give him another whip?"
She remembered that when she played for the first time, Gu Yanji watched her very seriously, and she thought she must like it.
Qi "..."
Forget it, even if Yan Ji is her own son, she can't help him.
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