The villagers in Maojia Village are all stove households. The so-called stove households are the families of people who have made a living by boiling salt for generations. They have no land, are not allowed to engage in farming, and are not allowed to transfer to business at will. Their only source of life is salt.

However, salt is operated by the state monopoly. The salt produced by the stove owner can only be sold to the government and cannot be sold privately. The tax is extremely heavy. In addition, the clerks responsible for collecting salt use all kinds of means to deduct weight. Therefore, the stove owners live a very poor life. The money they earn throughout the year is barely enough to support their families. They dare not rest for many years, and they are reluctant to go to see a doctor when they are sick.

It can be seen from the fact that the Maojia Village is full of thatched houses. The life of the stove household is indeed very poor. Despite this, in order to entertain Xu Jin and others, the old patriarch Mao Zhigao still decisively ordered the slaughter of the only pig in the village.

Xu Jin naturally would not let a group of bitter villagers suffer losses. He used the excuse of building a cemetery for his parents in early spring and early summer, and forced the old patriarch to give 100 taels of silver. Don’t underestimate this 100 taels of silver. In the Ming Dynasty, his purchasing power was great. For example, Xu Jin bought a house of about a hundred square meters in Shangrao County, and even brought a store for only fifty taels. So spending dozens of taels of silver to build a tomb can definitely be a very rich man. One hundred taels should be left with more than half.

Of course, one hundred taels of silver would be a drop in the bucket for Xu Jin's current wealth. If it weren't for the fact that he brought not much money, Xu Jin wouldn't have blinked if he gave him a few hundred taels of silver.

Soon, the men in Maojia Village who were working in the salt farm returned to the village one after another. The old patriarch was extremely proud and immediately asked someone to go to the city to buy wine, meat, vegetables, candles, paper money, firecrackers and other items.

In the afternoon, smoke was everywhere in Maojia Village, and the air was filled with the tempting aroma of meat. Adults laughed and laughed, and children ran and played, and it was as lively as the New Year. It should be said that it was ten times more lively than the New Year.

It is no wonder that in the eyes of these salt households at the bottom of society, the magistrate is a great official, let alone the imperial envoy from the capital. Therefore, when the imperial envoy arrives in Maojia Village, this is naturally ten times more important than the New Year, and it is a major event that can make their descendants brag for a hundred years. It is naturally to be vigorous, and it is best to know it within a radius of hundreds of miles.

Slap...

A string of extremely arrogant firecrackers rang at the entrance of Maojia Village for several minutes before stopping. White smoke with strong gunpowder smelled filled half of the hill. Soon, villagers from nearby villages heard the noise and ran to watch the fun.

Seeing this, Xu Jin couldn't help but smile bitterly. After making such a fuss, the magistrate of Chongde County would soon receive the news and come to see his imperial envoy.

Early spring and early summer were obviously extremely nervous and stayed with the master with apologetic look. They did not expect that the matter would be so ostentatious and caused great trouble to the master.

Xu Jin patted the two pretty maids' elastic round buttocks and smiled and said, "What are Zhu doing here? I finally came back and quickly go and have a family relationship with your relatives and aunts. Let's get familiar with each other. You don't need to wait here."

In early spring and early summer, the sun was flying on both cheeks. The latter quickly kissed the master's face while no one was paying attention, and then ran away happily. In early spring, he was not as bold as his sister, but just gently told the master to remember to call her if there was anything wrong.

In front of the old patriarch's yard, the villagers and sisters and sisters were chatting around the early spring and early summer like stars, and men became the main force in cooking. At about three o'clock in the afternoon, more than a dozen sumptuous banquets were set up in the yard. Nearly a hundred people in the village, men, women, young and old, were all in the seats.

Xu Jin and the old man in the village sat in the chief, while the Jinyiwei and the 500th battalion soldiers under him also occupied one seat. Xu Jin noticed that the guy from Mao Dazhong did not enter the seat, but just brought a bowl of food and squatted in the corner of the yard, eating alone. The other villagers obviously didn't like him, and they didn't even bother to take a look.

The wine lasted for half an hour before the meal ended. The villagers carried tables and stools and went back to their homes, leaving only a few diligent village women to clean up and clean them. They also went to help clean dishes and chopsticks in early spring and early summer.

The old patriarch Mao Zhigao ordered the villagers to arrange a residence for Xu Jin, and then brought the timid Mao Dazhong into the house with a dark face and closed the door. The two Jinyiwei, who were in charge of staring at Mao Dazhong, looked at each other when they saw this, secretly touched the back of the house, intending to eavesdrop on what the two said.

After about half an incense stick, the old clan leader Mao Zhigao opened the door with a serious expression. Mao Dazhong followed him with a pale face and drooped his head. The old clan leader Mao Zhigao stood at the door and shouted in a deep voice with a crutch: "Please come out, two of you!"

Two Jinyiwei flashed out from behind the hut, a little embarrassed and curious. This old guy is seventy-six years old, and he is so smart and clear-headed.

The old patriarch said lightly: "Take me to see the imperial envoy, I have something important to report."

The two Jinyiwei did not dare to underestimate the old man in the countryside at this time. They nodded and took the old patriarch and Mao Dazhong to see Xu Jin.

Several village women who were still cleaning the yard couldn't help but look at each other, pulling Chuchun and Chuxia to inquire about what was going on, and the two pretty maids were naturally confused.

The old patriarch Mao Zhigao came to Xu Jin and actually knelt down on the ground again. Xu Jin was stunned for a moment and quickly reached out to help him, but the old man refused to get up this time and said in a deep voice: "Mr. I am unlucky in the family, and I have no choice but to control it, so I have a scum who has harmed the country and the people in the clan. I will apologize to the imperial commissioner."

Xu Jin felt aroused and pretended to be surprised: "Why did the old patriarch say this?"

Mao Zhigao turned around and shouted sternly: "Don't you go in and confess your guilt to the imperial envoy."

Mao Dazhong, who was trembling outside the house, staggered in, and fell to the ground from a distance, and said tremblingly: "Sir, please spare me, the little one is just a small minion who explores the way."

Xu Jin frowned and said, "What kind of minion? Explain it clearly!"

"The youngest is a minion under the pirate Xu Hai, the big boss... Xu Hai and the others are planning to attack Chongde County, so let the youngest come to explore the way."

Xu Jin's expression changed slightly: "What did you say? The pirates plan to attack Chongde County?"

Mao Dazhong nodded, and then explained everything in detail.

It turned out that Mao Dazhong had fled the village with several neighboring village husbands a few years ago and went out to sea to become pirates. Xu Hai, the former man, borrowed troops from Japan and returned to Chengsi Island, and incorporated the small group of pirates where Mao Dazhong was located.

These days, Xu Hai is planning to attack the mainland, so he sent a group of pirates familiar with the local area to sneak back to the mainland to find out the news, and Mao Dazhong is one of them.

After hearing Mao Dazhong's confession, Xu Jin's expression suddenly became solemn. It was true that he could not remove the roots. The spring breeze blew. In just two months, the monk Pujing, Orimiko and others who escaped before actually made a comeback.

Xu Jin quickly calmed down and asked carefully: "How many people and ships do they have?"

"Xu Hai brought back twenty large ships from Japan, about one thousand people, and recently he has recruited many more people, probably two thousand people. I'm afraid there are two thousand people. I don't know how many people Okinawa Takeshu and the small ones are. I guess there are thousands of people each. Wang Zhi of Jintang Island has the strongest strength, with as many as thousands and hundreds of ships. I heard that he even got muskets from Westerners."

Mao Dazhong obviously wanted to be frank and lenient, so he told all the news he knew without any concealment.

After hearing this, Xu Jin's face became unprecedentedly serious, which means that the total number of these pirates was six or seven thousand, and the situation was quite serious. He asked in a deep voice: "When will they launch?"

"When the tide is rising this evening, take advantage of the Luoheiguan gate." Mao Dazhong replied with a positive expression.

Xu Jin quickly took out his pocket watch and looked at it, and secretly shouted that it was broken. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon, and there was not much time left for himself.

"Zhao Datou, go back to the city immediately!" Xu Jin ordered decisively.

Zhao Datou is Xu Jin's personal soldier, and he is more concerned about Xu Jin's safety, so he shook his head and said, "Sir, it's too late. I think you should stay in the village to mobilize troops and wait until the army is over before taking action."
Chapter completed!