Wei and Jin cooks

It's not far from Chen County to Luoyang. If Zhao Hanzhang led his soldiers on a horse race, it would take two days to arrive. However, because there were many people going back this time, the speed was much slower.

As an aside, after Zhao Hu, who had always been arrogant and refused to give Zhao Hanzhang a good look, saw that his son and grandson were going to Luoyang with Zhao Hanzhang, he followed him silently.

Slow speed has the advantage of being slow. They can enjoy countless scenery on the way.

Half of Zhao Hanzhang was riding in the car to deal with government affairs, or discussing the future construction of Luoyang and Yuzhou with Fu Tinghan, Wei Jie, Zhao Cheng and others; the other half was riding ahead to see the scenery or check the farming conditions along the way.

Along the way from Chen County to Luoyang, large tracts of cultivated land are empty and sparsely populated. It takes a long time to run before you see human habitation, scattered sparsely in the fields.

Zhao Hanzhang reined in his horse, sat on it and looked into the distance.

Fu Tinghan was one step behind her, reined in his horse, looked up and said: "The location of the land they chose is very ordinary. Look at that land, there is a ditch connecting the river, and there is a ditch next to it. Generally speaking, it looks like this The fields will not be in bad condition, but they will be overgrown and uncultivated.”

Zhao Hanzhang dismounted, threw the horse to Tinghe, and went down to check with Fu Tinghan.

When she walked into the field, she pulled away the weeds. There was gray soil underneath. She grabbed the grass and pulled it out easily. The soil was soft. When she shook it, the gray soil fell down. Zhao Hanzhang couldn't help but One praise, "What a great place!"

Zhao Hu, who rarely took a horse ride to relax, stood on the roadside and watched for a while, and also supported Chang Sui's subordinates to watch the excitement.

He glanced at the grass in Zhao Hanzhang's hand, lowered his head again, saw the soil, and immediately his eyes lit up, and he said to Zhao Hanzhang: "This land is good, I bought it!"

Zhao Hanzhang threw the grass away and asked, "Does the seventh uncle have anyone who can farm?"

Zhao Hu looked around, pointed at the man waving a hoe in the distance and said, "Isn't that just a human being? I bought him and asked him to farm the land for me. Wouldn't he refuse?"

Zhao Hanzhang snorted lightly, picked up his riding whip and walked towards the farmers.

Zhao Hu followed immediately, taking the time to look at the ground under his feet as he walked, commenting from time to time, "This land is a little worse, but it is also close to the canal, so it can be considered a middle field. This land is good. If you use it to grow wheat, you will have a good harvest." Yes... this area is a little far from the water, but it can be used to grow beans. You can plant rice one season first, and then you can plant corn the next year..."

By the time he got close to the farmers who were farming, Zhao Hu had already made up his mind, "Sell all this land to me. By the way, is this your land?"

Zhao Hanzhang only glanced at him.

Zhao Hu understood and followed her happily, "Sell it to me. I can buy this piece."

There are rivers and ditches here. Although there is a lot of mud and overgrown weeds in the ditches, they can be used after a little cleaning.

Covered by a water network, as long as there is no huge natural disaster, the harvest can be guaranteed in this area even with minor droughts and floods.

What a great place!

The more he thought about it, the more Zhao Hu wanted to buy it.

Zhao Hanzhang did not reply to him and found the farmers who were farming.

When the man saw so many people walking towards him, he couldn't help but hold on to his hoe. The farmers who were farming not far away saw it and ran over with their hoes on their shoulders. They held out their chests but looked timid, and their eyes stared in fear. them.

Zhao Hanzhang didn't understand how they made such a bluffing move. She stopped, raised her hands and saluted: "Brothers, we are a little thirsty when we pass by. Do you have any water?"

The farmers did not relax and pointed directly to the river in the distance: "There is water there, just go and get it. You just crossed over from the ditch, so there should be water there."

Zhao Hanzhang: "...That's raw water."

The farmers couldn't help but said: "We also brought raw water. It's not cold yet, so why waste firewood to boil water?"

"But raw water is unclean, and you will easily get sick if you drink it." Zhao Hanzhang frowned slightly, "Have you been drinking raw water? I remember that the county government should have publicized that you should drink cooked water."

The farmers relaxed a little, and someone said "Hi": "The county government just said that, and we just heard it, why did you take it seriously?"

Zhao Hanzhang: ...She doesn’t take the decrees she issued seriously, so who else takes them seriously?

Fu Tinghan couldn't help but lower his head and smile. After Zhao Hanzhang glared at him, he suppressed his smile, raised his head and said, "Is the raw water you use also river water?"

"Yes, we also get everything we eat from the river."

Zhao Hanzhang then spoke again, "Don't you have a well?"

"Hey, isn't the river water and well water all water?" He said: "It's good to have water to drink. In the past two years, there was a drought in this area, and even muddy water was rare. Now the river water is so clear, what else is there to dislike?"

Zhao Hanzhang remained silent for a while and said: "Nowadays, there are firewood and Platycodon platycodon everywhere in the wild. If you have children at home, you can let them make a fire and boil water without any effort. There are algae in the raw water and there are many pests. Drinking it like this will easily cause abdominal pain. , if there are internal diseases, the body will be susceptible to external infections, and diseases such as wind and cold will also be easy to develop."

The farmers were stunned, and then they became serious when they saw her serious advice, "Girl, it's not that we don't want to, but the children also have things to do. They have to do it every day since they open their eyes. There is no time to boil water." oh."

He said: "It's going to be cold today, and we haven't even prepared much firewood for the winter. How can we dare to waste more firewood to boil water? When it gets colder, we will definitely not drink raw water by then."

The other two farmers were more direct, "We have no children at home."

Zhao Hanzhang asked: "How many people are there in your family?"

Farmers are very wary and do not want to disclose their information easily.

Zhao Hu on the side interjected: "Are there many young people in the family? How many people can farm? Are your teeth in good condition? How are your legs? If I buy you, what other requirements do you have besides food rations?"

Zhao Hanzhang turned around and glared at him, but what she didn't expect was that several farmers suddenly became excited, but then looked at Zhao Hu worriedly and asked thoughtfully: "Is the master going to buy someone? But I don't know. What do you buy people for?”

Zhao Hu said angrily: "What else can you do besides farming?"

"No, no, we can only farm." The farmers thought about it and said, "But I don't know how much rations we will give each year. Whether it will be given monthly or quarterly, directly from the fields, or from the government." Where’s the top?”

He actually started seriously discussing the business of buying and selling people right in front of her.

Zhao Hanzhang simply stood aside and listened.

Zhao Hu is not taken advantage of. He has two ways to buy people. One is a living contract, which only buys people for a few years. He is willing to call this kind of long-term employment.

He does not give a buyout value, and pays money and food on a monthly basis. Every month, he has to look at the other party's labor efficiency. If it is suitable, he will continue. If it is not suitable, he will either fire the other party or throw him to dig river mud. Dare to be disobedient and try.

The second type is a death contract, which directly buys a person's life. Under normal circumstances, this kind of transaction involves close relatives, and the money and food for the transaction are given to the close relatives.

Since it is a death contract, there is naturally no such thing as wages. They are given a certain amount of food every month, as long as they are not starved to death, and the rest can be done by themselves in their spare time, which may make life easier.

Zhao Hanzhang felt that he was harsh when he heard the conditions he reported, but the farmers thought about it seriously and asked again and again: "Can I really give you a dou of grain every month?"

Zhao Hanzhang thought, what kind of food is enough for a bucket of grain?

Zhao Hu nodded proudly.

Several farmers became excited, and then hid aside to discuss.

Zhao Hanzhang had sharp ears. While listening to their discussion, he asked Zhao Hu, "Is this treatment good?"

Zhao Hu said: "It's just so so. Although I didn't treat them very favorably, I didn't treat them badly either."

Zhao Hanzhang frowned, "One bucket of food per month is not even half full."

Zhao Hu glanced at her curiously, frowned and said, "How many people in this world can be half full now? A bucket of food per month is a lot. If you make some vegetable balls with vegetables, it will be good if you don't starve to death."

He asked: "How many people are starving to death every day outside now?"

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him and said, "Seventh uncle actually knows."

Zhao Hu laughed loudly and said: "I am not that kind of scholar who doesn't know the world. My caravan travels all over the place. How can I not know?"

Zhao Hanzhang suddenly felt very sad. He stiffly twitched the corner of his mouth and said: "Scholars who know the world have no intention of saving the country. People who have the intention of saving the country do not know the world and are unwilling to put down their bodies to know. This world is really sad. .”

Zhao Hu was stunned for a moment and then said: "You don't have to tell me this. You should talk to Wang Yan."

After saying this, Zhao Hu reacted, "Oh, Wang Yan is dead, and now you and Gou Xi are in charge."

Zhao Hanzhang's face darkened, "Can you change the word?"

"Okay, you are a good official. It is a blessing to have you in Yuzhou. It is disgusting to have you like Gou Xi."

Zhao Hanzhang did not feel happy at all when he heard this compliment. The farmers had also finished discussing it. Even though they had made a decision, everyone still had hesitation and embarrassment on their faces. Obviously, they did not know that they whether the decision is correct.

Zhao Hanzhang, who knew their respective decisions because of his strong hearing, asked directly without waiting for them to speak: "Can't you live on your own farming?"

The one who spoke was the farmer who decided to reject Zhao Hu and continue to be a good citizen. He sighed: "Now I have five buckets of wheat, half a stone of beans, mixed with vegetable balls. I should be able to live until March or April next year, but I don't know next year. What a scene."

"Prostitution might be a way out."

Another farmer on the side who decided to sell himself said: "But the master must be good, otherwise he will drive them away day and night, and I'm afraid he won't be able to survive this winter."

Death contract, life and death depends on the master.

Both of them looked at Zhao Hu worriedly and uneasily.

Zhao Hanzhang sighed. Obviously, those who sold themselves were frightened and didn't know if it was right to sell themselves; those who decided to be good citizens were also hesitant, not knowing whether their persistence was correct, so they all expressed doubts about their choices.

She raised her hand to stop what Zhao Hu was about to say, and went directly to the topic. She pointed to the fertile fields beside the ditch and asked: "Those fields are also ownerless fields. Why don't you cultivate those fields and choose the ones here instead?" land?"