Chapter two hundred and seventy-eight how difficult people's livelihood
Sihan Tianshi Mansion at the foot of Longhu Mountain in Yingtan, Jiangxi.
The tea bowl floated on the tea cup, and he picked it up and took a sip. Zhang Daoen put down the tea cup and glanced at the woman standing below with interest.
The woman was no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, and she was very pretty. If you look closely at her features, you could see that she was somewhat similar to Zhang Leyao.
A smile appeared on his face, Zhang Daoen asked: "How old are you?"
"Fourteen." the woman replied.
"Okay, okay." Zhang Daoen nodded in approval and looked at the man sitting on his left.
The man had an ordinary face and immediately put on a smile and said: "Little Heavenly Master, Baguio is still in perfect condition. I spent three hundred yuan to buy it from the old bustard. You see..."
"Hmm..." Zhang Daoen pondered for a moment, then looked at the scar-faced man standing beside him: "Old Scar, send someone to Shangqing Palace...be careful and don't let outsiders see you."
"yes."
Lao Scar lowered his head and responded, waving his hand, and two men carrying boxes of cannons came in and led the woman out.
Zhang Daoen picked up the tureen again and said leisurely: "Cousin, there is a saying that goes well, show your courtesy for nothing...it is either an adulterer or a thief. If you have anything to say, you might as well say it clearly."
The man sitting on the left can be regarded as Zhang Daoen's cousin. Alternatively, he can be called his cousin... In short, the seniority of the Zhang family is very chaotic.
Naturally, this man's surname was Zhang, and he was the Zhang Daoyuan mentioned in the biography of Fei Ge that Zhang Yuanqi received.
Zhang Daoyuan is twenty-five or six years old. He has ordinary appearance and almost no moral skills, but he is good at speaking well. He has been running the rice and grain business with his father since he was a child. Five years ago, his father suffered a stroke, so he took charge of the business.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Daoyuan is an expert in doing business. In just five years, he has expanded his business and now has a relationship with several military leaders in Bashu. It can be said that he is making money every day.
Hearing what Zhang Daoen said, Zhang Daoyuan smiled and said: "Little Heavenly Master knows me, what can I ask for? It's just to ask Little Heavenly Master to come back and help me say a few more good words. I really want to marry Le Yao."
"
"Ha~" Zhang Daoen glanced at him: "Cousin, my sister is so proud and arrogant, how can she like you?"
"It all depends on people. The children of the Zhang family do not marry outsiders, nor do they marry outsiders. If the Little Heavenly Master is interested, I will not dare to go beyond it. But since the Little Heavenly Master has no idea, I will give it a try."
Zhang Daoen hummed and said nothing.
Then Zhang Daoyuan said again: "I know that Little Heavenly Master has some scruples, so why don't I make an oath now? If Le Yao and I give birth to a daughter, if she has excellent bones, she will marry Little Heavenly Master's queen; if she gives birth to a daughter, she will
I will drown my son with good bones before he reaches the full moon. How about that?"
Zhang Daoen's brows twitched slightly, and he said such harsh words, but Zhang Daoyuan's face was full of smiles, as if the matter had nothing to do with him. He thought to himself, cousin, cousin, is it Zhang Leyao that I am worried about? You are so decisive
, I’m afraid the picture is too small.
"My cousin is overly concerned. We are both descendants of the Sihan Celestial Master's Mansion. How could I not believe you? It's just that..."
Zhang Daoyuan was very wise and immediately said: "Don't worry, Little Heavenly Master, I have prepared some small gifts. No matter whether things come true or not, I will send them all to Little Heavenly Master. If everything succeeds, I will reward Little Heavenly Master with heavy gifts in the future."
"
Zhang Daoyuan's attitude was sincere, as if he would not marry anyone other than Zhang Leyao in this life.
Acting? Who can't?
Zhang Daoen immediately looked moved and said: "My cousin's heart for boxing is really touching. In this case, I don't want to be a bad person... Don't worry, cousin, I will have a lot of nice words to say to my father in the future."
With Zhang Daoen's words, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became harmonious. Zhang Daoyuan was about to present the gift without any servants carrying it. He directly handed over a thin piece of paper with a bill of lading from a foreign bank.
There are thirty firearms and ten thousand rounds in it. This is a good thing!
Gan Province is not close to the southeastern coast, and the price of firearms has increased by at least 50%. Furthermore, because the Chinese representatives refused to sign at the Paris Peace Conference, and in order to maintain their respective spheres of influence in China, the Allied Powers launched a direct
An arms embargo against China.
As soon as this news came out, the price of firearms naturally skyrocketed. The factory price of a Horse brand gun was only 13 yuan, but it could be sold for 33 yuan in Shanghai. As soon as the news of the embargo came out, it immediately skyrocketed to 200 yuan.
This is still priceless.
Thirty long and short firearms, all foreign goods, plus ten thousand guns, these things are worth ten thousand oceans now.
Zhang Daoen's Taoism does not mean he is invulnerable. When he encounters ordinary people with mud-legged legs or even strong men with cold weapons, Zhang Daoen can naturally use Taoism to deal with them. But when he encounters someone with a gun, he has no choice but to run away.
Seeing that the times have changed and hot weapons have become more and more powerful, the Zhang family naturally has to keep pace with the times. Zhang Daoen's father, the contemporary Celestial Master Zhang Yuanchao, spent a huge amount of money a few years ago to build the Celestial Master's Mansion that was robbed by more than 300 people.
Armed.
Zhang Daoen knew how powerful firearms were, so he naturally imitated them. The scar-faced man standing in the hall was the gunman he bribed.
The gift was lovely. Zhang Daoen immediately had a smile on his face: "Oh, my cousin is interested."
"Oh, it's fine if Little Heavenly Master likes it."
After saying a few polite words, Zhang Daoyuan stood up and left. Zhang Daoen was arrogant, but he just bowed slightly and had no intention of getting up to say goodbye. When Scarface sent people away, Zhang Daoen's expression changed, and the fine JDZ porcelain was smashed on the ground.
He cursed: "The toad wants to eat swan meat, it's a wishful thinking!"
Lao Scar didn't say anything, he just looked at Zhang Daoen inexplicably.
Zhang Dao'en said: "Does he think I don't know what his intentions are? Jiu Zhan Magpie's Nest, do you really think I don't know anything? Old Scar, go ask someone to check Zhang Daoyuan and see who this kid has been with recently.
Coming and going.”
"Yeah, I know."
"Be careful not to alert the enemy. If you hook up with the military leader, you can quietly find an opportunity to kill him."
"What if not?"
"No?" Zhang Dao'en sneered: "No, then let him do it. Doesn't he want to marry Zhang Leyao? Then let him marry him. If he becomes an eunuch, what's the use of marrying an immortal? Hahaha..."
After laughing loudly for a while, at this moment, a boy of fifteen or six years old broke in, followed by a servant who was looking after him.
"Hey, little ancestor, you can't enter this place..."
"Ah...Ababa...ah..."
The half-grown boy's mouth and eyes were crooked, drool was drooling from the corners of his mouth, and he could only make random sounds when he opened his mouth, but he was mute.
Zhang Daoen's good mood suddenly disappeared. He looked at the young man with disgust and said, "What do you think? Is he allowed to enter this place?"
The servant quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "Little Celestial Master, it's all your fault. The Fourth Young Master ran out without paying attention."
"Old Scar!"
Amidst the loud shouts, the scar-faced man took off the whip hanging on the wall, turned around and threw it to Zhang Dao'en. The latter took it, stepped forward aggressively, and started beating the young man and the servant randomly.
…………………………
The train was swaying, and its speed was only forty kilometers per hour. It would be fine if it kept running at this speed. The problem was that the train stopped at the station, and it only lasted half an hour.
The trains these days are not divided into passengers and cargo. They are all mixed. Generally, people are loaded in the first few sections and cargo is loaded in the back.
Another fatal problem that slows down the speed is that the steam train has to stop at every turn to add coal and water.
It took a long time to wander from Jinmen to Cangzhou, and it was already dark when we arrived in Texas. When the train just passed Cangzhou, Fei Jingting saw the deserted fields on both sides of the railway, and the fields that occasionally turned green were filled with seedlings.
They are all extremely short and have droopy heads and brains.
I heard the people in the same carriage talking about the severe drought in Zhili, Qilu and other places. Many farmers knew that there would be no harvest this year, so they simply stopped farming.
After arriving in Texas, I heard a loud noise outside in the middle of the night. The train attendant hurriedly got up and ran around asking passengers to close all the windows to be careful of someone climbing in.
Fei Jingting had good eyesight, so he could see that wherever the train turned, people with their families and families would always gather. Without waiting for the train to stop, they would run and try to climb on the train.
Some pried open the warehouse at the back and threw the things in the warehouse, and then the people on the ground moved around; some pried open the train carriage and huddled in the corner, waiting for the train to carry these things away.
Take people to the nearest big city.
What's more, Fei Jingting even saw two figures hanging outside the carriage behind.
In the past, Fei Jingting thought that only the magical Ah San could do such things as hanging tickets. He didn't expect that Chinese people a hundred years ago also did this. But then again, look at the skills of these people and get some weapons...
After leaving Quancheng on the second day, the train stopped just after passing a small station.
This place is out of the way and has no shops. I can’t figure out why the train stopped. The people who get first-class seats are either dignitaries or rich people. You must know that train tickets are more than ten times more expensive than ferry tickets these days. Someone immediately came
He quit and called the waiter to reprimand him and asked him to rush the train to start.
The third grandson of the waiter was usually scolded and did not dare to argue. He ran to the front to ask. After a while, the waiter came back and said: "I'm really sorry. Someone blocked the road ahead with stones. The captain is talking to the person blocking the road.
Negotiate.”
The man who complained earlier asked: "Negotiate? Where are the road convoys? Just shoot them and drive them away!"
The waiter said: "Kicked them out, but the old ones, the young ones, and the road guard gave them a lot of scares. These people stretched their necks and waited for death, but refused to get out of the way. They couldn't really beat people to death, right?"
Someone in the carriage sighed and said, "It's completely impossible to survive. Otherwise, if everyone just pools money together, it would be considered a good thing."
"You say it's easy. I gave it this time, but what about next time? There was a famine in Yudi in the early years. I kindly gave some food, but I was surrounded by hundreds of hungry people and couldn't move. If it hadn't been for the county magistrate and his people.
, my life may have to be handed down there."
There were various opinions in the carriage for a while, and an old man sighed: "The national affairs are so difficult, and the people's livelihood is also difficult... The Republic of China can't catch up with the Qing Dynasty."