Chapter 822 The landlord’s family doesn’t have any food left.
Author: gusty wind
Chapter 822 The landlord’s family doesn’t have any food left.
After five exhausting days, Li Shan was finally able to feel clean. He got up early in the morning and went out for a run as usual. He came back, took a shower, and changed his clothes before having breakfast with Zhu.
Looking at the soy milk and tofu curd on the table, Li Shan chose millet porridge. In his previous life, his family had a tofu shop, and he was really tired of eating soy milk and tofu curd.
A pretty maid brought a bowl of millet porridge, but Xiaoman snatched it away and glared at the person in front of her, which made Li Shan laugh.
The current Li family is no longer what it was in previous years. There are more than 30 servants in the front and back yards plus a few stewards. There are five people who manage the horses alone, and there are six maids and maids who serve the Zhu family.
.
However, Li Shan himself is not used to having any kind of waiters around him, and there are only two people, Zhou and Xiaoman, on a daily basis... The former is quite good, but the latter has not yet used real swords and guns, and only serves with words, which makes him a bit repulsive to other maids to serve him personally.
Li Shan, the blond and blue-eyed Xiao Zhao were brought back to Zhuangzi and sent directly to the kitchen.
While they were drinking porridge, Zhu Wei came in, and Li Shan greeted him with a smile, "Uncle Qi is here so early, is it too early?"
"I've used it." Zhu Wei looked at Zhu with a wry smile and said, "If Dalang brings hundreds or even thousands of people every time he comes back, Zhuangzi may not be able to accommodate them."
Zhu was speechless after hearing this. The first time his son gathered refugees from Hedong and Guanzhong many years ago. Although most of them returned to their hometowns later, there were also hundreds of people who stayed. The second time they were brought from Shandong.
Together with Ling Jing, Su Dingfang and Qi Lao, there were three or five groups of people, a total of four to five hundred people.
The third time was the family members of the guards who moved with Li Shan from Daizhou and Shuozhou last year. This time there were not many, only two to three hundred people, but this time it was a bit exaggerated, there were nearly a thousand men, women and children, old and young.
It can be said that in the past few years, Zhuangzi has been expanding and building houses, and it has never stopped, but it has never been enough.
After Hou Chen and He Fang's group of people arrived in Chang'an with Li Shan, most of them had to borrow accommodation at Dongshan Temple... There was really no room left, and there wasn't even much land.
To the west of Sun Moon Lake is a dense forest, to the north is Dongshan Mountain, and to the south is a river dug out by Su Dingfang. We can only build a new house at the east end of the village, but Zhuangzi is not far from the main road, and the space is really not big.
What's more, Su Dingfang became the Duke of the country, Wang Junhao became the Duke of the county, and Zhang Zhongjian, Qu Silang, and Hou Hongtao were all granted the title, so they needed to leave space to build a big house.
Moreover, Li Shan is getting married next year, and Li's house needs to be expanded, otherwise Cui Shiniang's married servants will not have a place to live... That would be a joke.
However, those are not the top priority. At present, we still have to deal with the accommodation of thousands of people waiting in the morning. For this reason, Zhu Wei's hair has turned a lot white. In fact, he started building a new house two months ago, but on the one hand, there is not enough manpower.
It was the beginning of the autumn harvest, and it was hard to hire anyone.
On the other hand, there was not enough money in the public accounts. Although Li Shan had created several properties, they were all in a sluggish way. Moreover, the personal guards were also damaged in this war. In addition to the pension from the imperial court, Zhuangzi also had to contribute a share.
Listening to Zhu Wei's nagging, Li Shan also sighed, the landlord's family didn't have any food left!
He will pay a share to support Zhuangzi's public account, but after all, he is a personal guard of the Li family, and Li Shan will also have to pay a share... This is not to say that he must give it, but the question is that he has given it in the previous few battles, why not this time?
Doesn't that chill the heart of the personal guard?
The Li family has also saved a lot of money over the years. In addition to the dividends from the Zhuangzi business, there is also the profit sharing from Xia City. However, Xia City no longer distributes dividends. Several pensions have been extremely generous, and Dongshan Temple is a secret
Ku has been purchasing grain.
After all, Guannai Road and Jingzhao have been in a state of food shortage in the past few years. Food is the real hard currency, which is more useful than money, cloth, and silk. In the past, when people were hired from the countryside, most of them were paid with food.
Although the Li family's warehouse is full now, and even the backyard is piled up, and it can't fit in two new warehouses, there is really not much money left.
Zhu Wei couldn't help complaining: "Da Lang is benevolent and righteous..."
Midway through the words, Zhu Wei suddenly stopped talking. He also knew that without the 400 young men supplemented by Hou Hongtao and others, the war might not have gone so smoothly... But with thousands of men, Zhuangzi originally only had 2,000 men in total.
, almost half more at once.
Zhu thought for a while, "Now that the autumn harvest has finished, we have enough manpower to make bricks and build houses at the same time. However, it is almost September, and the weather will be freezing at the end of October. I am afraid there is not enough time."
"Hire more people. It's autumn harvest and the price of food is not high. It's better not to pay with food. As for the lack of money..." Li Shan scratched his chin, "There is really no other way but to borrow..."
"Who can I borrow from?"
Li Shan couldn't help but sneered. This time Li Yuan made it clear that he couldn't be sealed. If he couldn't be sealed, he could be rewarded heavily. Don't you know how much I love Duwu!
Borrow money from those aristocratic families?
Li Shan rejected it immediately. It was too wasteful to exchange such favors for some money, and the reputation was not very good. After much deliberation, Li Shan decided to ask Princess Pingyang and King Li Daoxuan of Huaiyang tomorrow.
Not to mention Princess Pingyang, they have a close relationship, and because she is Li Yuan's favorite child, Princess Pingyang has a lot of money in her hands over the years.
Besides, Hou Chen's group of people can be considered Princess Pingyang's old tribe.
But as for Li Daoxuan... Li Shan was a little hesitant. After pacifying Shandong, Li Yuan gave Li Daoxuan three thousand gold, but Li Shan snatched half of it and has not paid it back yet.
Well, it wasn't intentional, Li Shan really forgot.
I have to pay it back this time. Anyway, Hou Chen still has an exclusive soap bar business. Although it is a steady business, the consumption is much greater than that of Gewürztraminer and Red Brick.
Or just ask Li Yuan for it?
This is also a way. Although it is not pretending to be crazy, it is still self-destruction.
Li Shanzheng was thinking wildly. Zhang Zhongjian came to report outside the door, asking Hou Chen and Hou Hongtao where to see him.
"Let's all sit down. Sanlang also sat down to talk, and called Qu Silang." Li Shan got straight to the point and said directly: "After the battle at Tiantai Mountain, some of the personal guards temporarily joined the Qianniu Guards on the left and right, and most of them will escape after returning to the capital.
, Sanlang, Hou Jiada Lang, and Qu Silang all have titles, and whoever has meritorious service this time can make up for it."
Several people were silent for a while, and Qu Silang asked: "Lang Jun, where is Brother Junhao?"
"Jun Hao entered Jue County this time, but he had already decided not to join the army." Li Shan shook his head and said: "But you are different. It is better to become an official if you can."
"Entering the Beiya Imperial Guards, under the command of brother Dingfang, no one dares to make things difficult. It is unlikely that the left and right Qianniu Guards and the left and right gate guards will be generals. Sanlang may be able to serve as Zhonglang General, and the remaining few can also serve as recorders and join the army.
, Chang Shi or each division joined the army."
Qu Silang said carelessly: "Mr. Lang, I am a poor man from a rough background. Fortunately, I am saved by my husband. I only want to lead the horse and kick the pedal for him."
"You're a good-for-nothing." Li Shan scolded with a smile, "You are now a county magistrate, and you want the county magistrate to lead a horse to the ground for an orphan?"
Qu Silang chuckled and fell silent, obviously having made up his mind. In fact, after returning to Beijing, he and Zhang Zhongjian still insisted on guarding Li's house day and night.
"I am willing to serve you." Zhang Zhongjian looked resolute and prostrated on the ground. He was an ambitious man, otherwise he would not have been so excited when he found out that he had been awarded the title of Duke of Weiyang County.
Hou Hongtao and He Fang looked at each other, stood up and knelt on the ground, "I am willing to listen to my husband's instructions."
Obviously, the latter two understood the implication of Zhang Zhongjian's words. Even if they became officials, they would still respect the King of Handan as their master.
Li Shan smiled and picked them up one by one. While comforting him, he thought in his heart that these people had made meritorious service in the Tiantai Mountains and were even knighted. It was a logical thing for them to join the Beiya Imperial Army under Su Dingfang... at least.
Guaranteed, it is also very likely to become a backup.
This has always been Li Shan's habit. No matter what happens, he must have a backup plan.