When Liu Jin and Zhao Erhu arrived under the old tree in the village, it was already very lively. There were more than 40 households in the village, and people came from every household to pick up all the salt that their families had cooked in the past half month.
come out.
You have a load, I have a basket, and it is inevitable that we will compare and chat with each other. The day of selling salt is considered the most lively day in the village, and it is also a rare rest day for everyone in the month.
As for the children in the village, they were even more excited at this time. They were playing and playing in groups. They sold salt at home and had a few pennies. Maybe they would buy some snacks. At least, they were cooking at home today.
There will definitely be more noodles than usual.
Around the old chun tree in the middle of the village, all the young and old men in the village gathered.
"Old Zhao, your family can do it. In the past half month, it has cooked 2 tons of salt. I'm afraid it's more than 200 kilograms, right?"
Zhao Heishan and his eldest son Zhao Dahu were guarding two loads of salt. Old man Wang next to him couldn't help but said while looking at the two loads of salt from Zhao Heishan's house.
"It's a full 230 pounds. I've weighed it at home."
Zhao Heishan grinned and said.
It was only at this time that he could see a smile. He usually had a dark face and couldn't see the slightest smile.
"Tsk tsk, it's good to have more people, but my family can't do it. I've only cooked less than 80 kilograms in the past half month."
Old Man Wang said with some envy, Old Man Wang only has four sons, and now is the busy farming season. The family is busy farming during the day, and can only find time to cook some salt at night, and the output is limited.
"There are more people to work with, but there are also more mouths to eat. It's not like you don't know that I, the half-grown men, are going to eat me to death."
Zhao Heishan kept talking after hearing this, and when he talked about this, the wrinkles on his face seemed to get deeper.
"Liu Xiucai is here."
Old Man Wang nodded, then looked around, and happened to see Liu Jin and Zhao Erhu walking over.
"This brat is fooling around with Brother Jin again. I don't know what he's been up to lately."
Zhao Heishan saw Zhao Erhu behind Liu Jin and couldn't help but cursed. When the family was busy, Zhao Erhu always made excuses to avoid work. This made Zhao Heishan want to find a stick and beat Zhao Erhu to death. Now look at it.
Even Zhao Erhu was furious.
"Hello Uncle Li~"
"Hello Uncle Wu"
"Hello, Grandpa Zhou~"
Liu Jin kept saying hello to the people in the village along the way. Liu Jin was very popular in the village. When he used to sell salt, Liu Jin would come over to help the villagers to avoid being bullied by the salt seller, Tang Laohu, so everyone treated Liu Jin
He also had a good impression of him, and everyone he saw greeted him one after another.
"Uncle Heishan~"
"Grandpa Wang~"
"Brother Big Tiger~"
Soon, Liu Jin came to Zhao Heishan and greeted Zhao Heishan, Old Man Wang and Zhao Dahu with a smile.
Zhao Dahu is the same as Zhao Erhu. He is also tall and tall, with a height of 1.9 meters. He is also honest and honest. When he saw Liu Jin greeting him, he also smiled and touched his head.
"Brother Jin~"
Zhao Heishan and Lao Wangtou also replied.
"Brother Jin, you shouldn't come out at this time. If Mr. Tang's people see that you are fine, they might cause trouble for you again soon."
Zhao Heishan looked at Liu Jin and couldn't help but kindly reminded him.
"If I don't come out, he will still know that I am fine, and sooner or later he will cause trouble for me. He can avoid the first day of the new year, but not the fifth day. What is supposed to come will still come."
Liu Jin smiled and said helplessly.
"Oh, you have to be more careful in the future."
"Gouzi, you follow Brother Jin every day, so I won't say anything to you, but you must protect Brother Jin. If anything happens to him, I will kill you."
Zhao Heishan sighed, then thought about it and said to Zhao Erhu next to Liu Jin.
Zhao Erhu likes to follow Liu Jin, so he might as well let Zhao Erhu protect Liu Jin. The Liu Jin family's kindness must always be repaid, and even if this son is gone, he has nothing to say.
Although he, Zhao Heishan, was an honest man and poor, he also had his own principles of life and knew how to repay kindness. He had been silently repaying the Liu Jin family's kindness.
"Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt Brother Jin."
When Zhao Heishan heard this, he immediately smiled. This meant that his father would not care about him if he followed Liu Jin in the future. This was a good thing. Of course, he also spoke from the bottom of his heart.
Everyone in the village called him Gouzi, including his parents, but only Liu Jin called him Huzi, and only Liu Jin would give him braised pork. Although he was simple, he was not stupid and knew good and bad.
"Come on, come on, the salt collector is here."
Just as a few people were chatting, someone started shouting excitedly, and then everyone looked towards the entrance of the village. At the entrance of the village, they saw a man wearing black clothes and carrying a bamboo hat on his back. The bamboo hat could still be used here.
Seeing the handle of the knife, a man came over with an empty basket on his shoulder.
Then behind this person, one after another, people in the same clothes formed a row, with dozens of people in total, walking towards the middle of the village like a long dragon.
Each of these people was strong and tall, and they had a fierce aura coming towards them. The villagers in Xiahetun were both excited and slightly nervous. They were originally playing and playing in groups.
The children also hid with their own families one by one.
"As expected, those who dare to engage in private salt trading have a few tricks up their sleeves. The clothes, outfits, etc. are actually made into a unified style. Just by looking at this posture, you can tell that you are not to be messed with. Naturally, you will save a lot of trouble."
Liu Jin looked at the dozens of private salt dealers and couldn't help but nod.
This kind of uniform attire, uniform clothing, etc., is very popular in later generations. Schools, companies, and even classes all have their own uniform clothing and attire, and they must wear it when working as a team.
, let people know it at a glance.
Dozens of private salt dealers walked in in a queue, followed by a few people. The leader was wearing brocade clothes and a military cap on his head. His face was fat and short, and his triangular eyes were like snakes.
There was a cold light on his face, a big belly, and he was playing with something in his hand.
Behind him was a man dressed as a butler, holding an abacus and account book in his hand, and two strong men with wooden sticks and dressed as servants following him.
"Master Tang~"
"Tang Tiger is here."
Liu Jin heard a series of slight sounds and couldn't help but stare at Tang Laohu carefully.
This Tang Laohu has obviously been accumulating power for a long time, and everyone in the village is afraid when they see him. There was a bit of a festive atmosphere at first, but it suddenly disappeared with the arrival of Tang Laohu.
Liu Jin even saw some children trembling with fear, and it actually had the effect of stopping the children from crying. It frightened these villagers more than private salt dealers.
Soon, Tang Laohu and his party came to the middle of the village. His triangular eyes glanced at the villagers in Xiahetun. All of them immediately lowered their heads, not daring to look at him. Some of them were even scared.
Shivering.
Tang Laohu is very satisfied with this effect. He has been working tirelessly for this effect. He just wants to make everyone afraid of him, so that he can ride on them and dominate them and do whatever he wants.
fish meat.
But when he saw Liu Jin, especially when he saw Liu Jin with a smile on his lips, all his good mood disappeared completely.
"This Liu Xiucai has a dog's life, and he won't die even if he does that."
"Gouyazi is such a waste, he can't handle even the smallest things well."
Tang Laohu couldn't help but cursed in his heart. Liu Xiucai was the only person in Xiahetun who dared to quarrel with him. He wanted to kill Liu Xiucai not only because of Liu Jin's family's dozen acres of land, but more importantly.
He cannot tolerate anyone challenging his authority.
Last time Liu Jin came to the door in a hurry, he just refused to do anything and wanted to kill Liu Jin to kill the chicken and the monkey. At the same time, he tried to find a way to appropriate more than ten acres of Liu Jin's family's land.
"Liu Xiucai, I was really sorry for causing you to fall and get injured last time. I heard that you are fine, so I came over to check on you."
Tang Laohu came to Liu Jin's side, narrowed his eyes and said with a smile.
When Tang Laohu arrived, Zhao Heishan, Zhao Dahu, Old Man Wang and others nearby immediately moved away like a mouse seeing a cat. Only Zhao Erhu leaned closely against Liu Jin and looked at Tang Laohu nervously.
"Thank you, Mr. Tang, for your concern. I'm very fine."
Liu Jin replied calmly, as if he had no intention of pursuing what happened last time.
"That's good, that's good."
Tang Laohu smiled and nodded. Seeing that Liu Jin was not angry, he was slightly surprised. In the past, Liu Jin was very proud of a scholar and did not have a good look towards him.
He just asked people to cut off the water in his field, and Liu Jin rushed to his house to cause trouble, not afraid of himself as a Tang tiger.
Of course, Liu Jin was a scholar. Scholars had a high status in the Ming Dynasty. They had teachers, classmates, and contemporaries. Unlike other villagers in Xiahetun, they did not have any network of connections.
Originally, Tang Laohu didn't want to touch Liu Jin. Although Liu Jin didn't win the imperial examination, he was still a scholar and a scholar. If something happened, he would be in trouble if the superiors investigated.
But Liu Jin repeatedly challenged his power, which made Tang Laohu very angry. It happened last time. Unexpectedly, it was very dull now. It seemed that he had suffered a lot. He knew that he was powerful and did not dare to
Don't mess with yourself anymore.
"That's good. It saves a lot of trouble. As long as you don't provoke me in the future, I won't bother to care about you. People are all cheap. Only those who have suffered will understand how powerful I am."
Tang Laohu was still very satisfied with Liu Jin's current performance. It seemed that Liu Jin was afraid of him, which made him feel better again.
Just thinking of the smile on Liu Jin's lips just now, a cold light flashed in Tang Laohu's eyes, and he thought it would be better if he cut the grass and root out the problem.
