After walking through several houses in a row, Li Xiao felt more and more chilled in his heart. This was an extremely poor village. Li Xiao even found a few naked people huddled under the thatch in the corner of the shack.

His face was so heavy that it could drip water, and he sighed and turned around to get into the carriage.

A large mouthful of wine was irrigated, and it was hot from my throat to the stomach.

A half -size boy was caught as a guide, and Shunzi took a few brothers brothers into his hands. The guy immediately ran faster than the rabbit.

Jinshanwei Cement Kiln is at the foot of Jiulong Mountain, and you can see the smoke and dust rising into the sky from a long distance. When he walked to the door of the kiln, Li Xiao opened the curtain and couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

The cement kiln is surrounded by a wooden fence two or three meters high. In the middle of the wooden fence are two tall watchtowers. In the middle of the watchtowers are two heavy wooden doors. There are burly men guarding the watchtowers. Li Xiao was surprised to find that

, these big men actually have guns in their hands.

Not only are there guns, but also the standard -style eight -grain rifle. There are several guys, and even wearing camouflage clothes.

Many garrison troops in the Ming Dynasty were not even equipped with rifles. These guys guarding the cement kilns were actually able to get rifles!

A large group of people approached, immediately attracting the attention of the master of the walled city. Normally, no one would come here at all. Now that such a group came on the road, no one could ignore it.

Guns appeared, and Shunzi was very nervous. With a wave of his hand, several cavalrymen rushed over. The cavalrymen behind rushed to the front, each raising their Aka rifles and aiming at the people on the wall. As long as these people were slightly hostile, they would

Shots will be fired immediately.

"Handsome, the people on the opposite side have guns. We still show that the identity is going in again!"

"Go in! If you encounter resistance, you will be killed without mercy." Li Xiao said with a stern face. In the village just now, almost half of the laborers had pneumoconiosis. Listening to their coughing sounds, it seemed that they were coughing out their lungs. There were many children,

All the adults in the family died in the cement kiln.

Before these people could put up a stubborn resistance, several cavalrymen ran to the bottom of the walled city. After a while, two groups of people ran out and stood in the muddy water, holding a gun salute to Li Xiao's carriage.

Li Yan opened the curtain and looked at the people in front of him, his expression immediately dull.

They are all veterans of the First Division, and Li Xiao recognizes many of them. The one with a broken arm is Wang Ergou, and the one standing straight, Guo Laohan, is actually missing a leg. They are all disabled veterans of the First Division, and the best ones are also

A few fingers are missing.

Before coming, Li Yan thought about killing the precepts here. Be sure to cut off these bastards who harmed people, but now Li Yan can't get down anyway.

The guy with the burn scars on his face was called Xu Dashuan. During the Battle of Jinzhou, this guy was burned by fire, but he still threw a bunch of grenades. It killed more than 20 Eight Banners soldiers, and he lay in the hospital for a whole year afterwards.

I almost died from infection several times.

Even if it is cured, the face is full of scars. Looking at it during the day, it is no different from the ghost.

"See the handsome handsome." Many people also knew Li Yan. When they saw that the carriage came down, Li Yan was all kneeling in the mud water.

After taking a deep breath, Li Yan hesitated and stepped off the carriage. He helped them one by one, and every time he lifted up, he had to greet a few words.

"My body and bones are fine."

"Toron, your blessing, this body can still live."

"Commander, I heard that there is still a war going on overseas, and my bones are still useful. Please just promise us to throw these more than one hundred kilograms on the battlefield. Living here will mean suffering."

"Commander! Just let us go to war. Days like this will fade into nothing."

"Commander! I kowtow to you!"

Everyone's tone was with excited tunes, and some people kneeling in mud water, and the head smashed countless mud ideas, and Li Yan took one foot.

"Wu Laojiu, do you have the final say here?" Li Xiao saw Wu Laojiu, who had half his face burned beyond recognition. He was already the company commander during the Battle of Montenegro.

"promise!

We all have disabilities, and land was originally allocated to us in Liaodong. But we... you have seen that staying at home is causing trouble to the family. Later I went to find Mr. Ao.

Let us come here and say that this is the handsome industry. Your industry.

Give us a salary of ten silver coins every month. Everyone knows that you are taking care of us, Marshal. Everyone is grateful to you, Marshal. This is how it will be in this life. When your arms and legs are intact again in the next life, you will definitely

I will follow you to conquer the world with the commander-in-chief. If anyone refuses to obey, I will twist off his head and use it as a ball." Wu Laojiu slapped his withered chest, leaving only his thumb and index finger on one hand.

The thoughts I had when I came are now stuck in my stomach. It feels like there is a ball of cotton stuffed in my throat, and I can't say a heavy word.

"My subordinates know that Marshal you take care of us who have missing arms and legs, but we can't let Marshal lose money to support us. In the past two years, Huating County has needed a lot of cement to build buildings in the wharf city.

We supervise these Nanbarians every day, and no one dares to be lazy. Look, these dozen cement kilns are producing cement every day. This month's cement has sold more than 9,000 silver coins. Commander, look at the account books

Here, every stroke is clear. "Wu Laojiu thought that Li Yan came to check the account, and took out his accounts and held his hands to Li Yan.

Li Yan did not pick up the account, and "giggled" in his throat.

I thought it was someone in the family who was using his own name to do mischief because the mountain was high here and the emperor was far away. Unexpectedly...unexpectedly, it was Tokugawa Chihime who placed disabled veterans of the Liao Army here. She offered ten silver coins every month.

Pay, this is giving them money in disguise.

These old subordinates did not want Li Xiao to lose money, so they rushed these workers to work day and night.

As a beneficiary, Li Xiao really couldn't say anything. Especially when facing these disabled veterans, Li Xiao couldn't say anything. For the sake of the Liao army, they had shown their healthy bodies. Now in order not to

Let yourself lose money, urging workers to work hard day and night.

Li Yan, who had a murderer, didn't know what to do now.

Wu Laojiu took Li Xiao to inspect the eighteen cement kilns. The sky was getting dark, and the wind lamps were hung on the hook poles. The workers were putting cement into bags under the lamps. There was smoke and dust everywhere.

It's not clear how many people are working here.

There are two cement beards under each worker's nose. One by one, on the hair, on the beard, the eyebrows, the cement is everywhere, and it is not seen at all.

On the other side, teams of workers were moving bags of cement into the warehouse.

Li Xiao saw that no one was wearing a gas mask, and Li Xiao didn't even see anyone wearing a mask.

"Why not let them put on the pig's mouth, the most unsuitable, and we have to wear a pair of masks." Li Yan pointed at these people.

"Commander, you don't know. These are unscrupulous people, notoriously lazy, greedy and slippery. If they get a chance, they will be lazy. If they wear a mask on their face, they will say they are tired and do not work. Pigs

The mouth is even worse, they will say that they can't breathe, and then take the opportunity to be lazy.

They are all just farmers, and no one wants to eat a few taels of soil. You don’t have to worry about them!” Wu Laojiu looked at the laborers who were working without a trace of sympathy or pity in his eyes.

Li Xiao knew that the Liao officers and soldiers actually looked down upon the southerners. These disabled veterans regarded themselves as heroes, and they looked down upon these Jiangnan people even more. Many of their men had become officials by killing people in Jiangnan.

"From now on, if we let them wear pig mouths to work, they will get pneumoconiosis. Even a strong man will gradually turn into a weakling with no strength. There are many people in the village over there who are like this.

Could it be that you can’t see it?”

"Every day there are different people working. Some work for a few days and then leave after making money. The subordinates are too lazy to care. To be honest, it is good to be able to pay them every month."

Li Xiao was even more speechless. In the eyes of these killers, the lives of southerners really didn't matter. The main opponent back then was the Nanjing Forbidden Army. How many people were killed or injured at the hands of the Nanjing Forbidden Army. You ask them to treat the southerners better.

Easier said than done!

"Well! You are doing a good job here, but the court has recently issued regulations that officials are not allowed to run businesses. As a commander, I have to set an example. Some of you are from Shandong, some are from Hebei, and more

He is from Liaodong.

You must have accumulated some wealth over the years, and I will give you a sum of money so that you can live a good life back in your hometown." Helpless Li Xiao could only use another way to deal with the current affairs.

"What! Marshal, you don't want this cement kiln anymore? Is there someone in the imperial court who is a fool? Tell your subordinates that no one in his family will be able to breathe anymore." Wu Laojiu's eyes were as wide as eggs.

big.

In the past few years, ten silver coins have been worked for the most of the money.

"This is to ensure that officials in the imperial court have excessive interactions with local gentry. With money transactions and the power of money, no one can live in such conditions for a long time.

After such a long time, it is inevitable that some corruption will come in the officialdom. "

"Commander, just stop these bastards from thinking. If someone continues to cause trouble, then he will deal with him." Wu Laojiu knew that his job was over, but when he thought of all the money he had earned over the years,

Money has stabilized enough financial freedom of this life and this life.

As long as he doesn't squander or invest, he will definitely not be poor.

"Put a day off today, and I will clean up tomorrow!" ""

After hearing Li Yan's "packing and picking up", the killing talents came together. How long have you not fired?

"Stop here first. People in the households will come to check in a few days. You are willing to follow me, and follow me. If you don't want to follow me, give you a sum of money to buy a house."

Li Xiao has no choice but to use this method to deal with these people. Do you still want to kill the founding heroes? Don't underestimate these people, they are the spirit of this country. If you really kill them, Li Xiao will

I don’t know if I will become the target of public criticism.

"No! I will stop the cement kiln now and wait for someone from the Ministry of Revenue to take over." Wu Laojiu stood up straight and saluted Li Xiao. Although he has been retired for many years, the style of the army has not changed.

.

It was completely dark, and there were lights everywhere in the cement kiln. I heard that I would quit working and go back to my hometown in the north. Many veterans immediately became excited. Although the wages here are high, it is really boring. There is no place like home, my wife

It’s a good day when the child is hot on the bed and has three meals a day and one meal every day.

The chickens wandering around in the yard were picked up by big hands like cattail fans, their necks were easily broken and thrown into the soup pot. The ducks were plucked and put into the oven, and the two big fat pigs in the backyard were simply put in with a white knife.

The red knife comes out.

Anyway, these days, the cement kiln will be handed over to the household department, and it is cheap to eat the bastard of the household without eating.

Everyone gathered around the bonfire, and when the wine was served, the place became a sea of ​​joy. Some guys started singing after getting drunk. Although their voices were unpleasant, they sounded very majestic.

Li Xiao didn't say anything, he just sat in the middle and laughed at them drinking.
To be continued...