The town where Lijia Village is located was the hardest hit by the plague, and countless people died. For example, in Lijia Village, there are more than 30 households, and less than 20 people survived.
Now that the plague is over, because the number of surviving people has decreased by half, food is no longer as tight as before, and the mob and bandits have settled down a lot.
It was precisely because of this that Li Tianci locked his sleeping daughter in the house, planning to go to the mountains to try his luck.
Xu Jinyi took out the key, opened the door and walked in. The first thing he did was to look at the little girl on the bed.
The girl was sleeping, but her sallow face was stained with tears. She probably woke up in the middle, cried for a while and fell asleep again.
Xu Jinyi wiped the little baby's face, then quietly left the main room, planning to go to the kitchen to make some porridge. This body has been hungry for a long time, and her chest is stuck to her back. The girl has not eaten all afternoon, so she must be very hungry.
Suddenly becoming a widower with a two-year-old girl, how can Xu Jinyi adapt immediately? But he also knew that he had to be a good father to shelter this little girl from wind and rain.
And it's not just because of games.
Fortunately, in the last different world, Xu Jinyi stuck to Zhao Chengli to learn cooking skills for a period of time, and he lived in the mountains and forests for half a month, and he still had the memory of the original owner, even using the stove in the countryside to cook a few bowls of gruel It should be a cinch.
"Who!" After experiencing the hungry tiger, Xu Jinyi's nerves were always tense. When he was washing rice, his ears were pricked up. The kitchen was on the east side, and he could feel the slightest movement from the door next to it.
Xu Jinyi looked through the crack of the door, and there was definitely more than one man standing outside the door. Immediately, his left hand tightly clenched the stick hidden behind him.
It was an eventful time, even Xu Jinyi was able to keep his face straight when facing the fierce tiger, so he felt a little more anxious at this time. After all, even though he had learned life-saving boxing skills for several years in modern times, he didn't have much chance of winning against these big men, not to mention that there was a child in the room.
"Excuse me, little brother. The three of us rushed here. At this time, the sun has set and we still can't find the inn. Can you take us in for a night, little brother?"
"Sorry, it's not convenient at home." After thinking for a while, Xu Jinyi added a few more words, "There should be no one in the courtyard next door, you can stay there for one night."
No one, but the whole family disappeared because of the plague.
"The deceased is a big one, so we don't want to disturb his former residence privately. Besides, to be honest, the few of us have rushed here, and we have run out of dry food. Please ask the little brother to help."
Before Xu Jinyi frowned, another rather stern voice came in, "This is the reward."
A yellow lump was thrown in, Xu Jinyi dodged it, and when it fell to the ground, he realized that it was a piece of gold.
Xu Jinyi grew up amidst piles of gold, silver and jewels, so he knew at a glance that they were not fakes. After the plague, the price of grain dropped slightly. According to the size of this piece of gold, it weighed five taels, more than enough to buy several carts of grain.
This dilapidated yard, two sacks of coarse grains hidden in the cellar, and the emaciated widower and children all add up to not being worth as much as this piece of gold.
So what exactly are they planning? Really just a one night stay
Xu Jinyi picked up the small gold ingot on the ground, rubbed it with his fingers inadvertently, and suddenly found that the bottom was uneven.
official silver.
The current dynasty is called Daqing. Although the official bank can also be circulated among the people, the amount is very small, and it is almost exclusively used by the children of the official family and even members of the royal family.
Then the identities of these people—
It only took a few seconds to think about it. Xu Jinyi put down the stick behind his back and pulled out the latch.
Three big men. One person entered the door first, and his status should be the highest, and the other two walked behind that person, obviously in the posture of guards.
"Excuse me." The two big men clasped their fists, and Xu Jinyi also clasped their fists in return.
"The three of us can eat anything, please trouble brother." One of the bearded and seemingly kind-hearted subordinates laughed. Hearing that voice, it was the first person who spoke outside the door just now. .
Xu Jinyi nodded and pointed to the main room where Li's father and mother lived, "You can sleep in that one tonight. There are quilts in the cabinet in the room. I'll cook."
"Thank you little brother."
There were two pots, one large and one small, on the stove. The big one cooked rice, and the young Xu Jinyi used it to bake a dozen batter cakes. Although there were no vegetables, the batter was edible with salt added.
Xu Jinyi smiled wryly twice, thinking that he used to be considered wealthy, and later he was doted on by Zhao Chengli, so the next time the kitchen was purely out of excitement. Now, it's time to serve others.
If Zhao Chengli knew, he might feel so distressed. Xu Jinyi's hands trembled, and there was more batter in the pot.
It is useless to be multi-faceted, and it is serious to live well now. He can't mess with these people sitting in the yard at the moment. Counting games, Xu Jinyi has lived for a hundred years, so he still doesn't know how to bend and stretch
There was still some batter left, and Xu Jinyi was about to bake the last one, when a girl's cry came from the room. Immediately, he didn't care about the batter anymore, he put down the things in his hands, and rushed into the house in three steps.
The big bearded man was smiling and teasing her with the rattle that was originally placed next to the girl's pillow.
The girl looked at the bearded man in front of her, and cried louder and louder.
Xu Jinyi hurriedly stepped forward to pick up the baby girl, imitating the original owner's memory and patted her on the back. As soon as the child saw the familiar father, he immediately stopped his throat, and the bearded man was dumbfounded.
A child is the most beautiful angel in the world, Xu Jinyi hugged the little guy who was only burrowing into his neck, his heart softened into a puddle of water.
He walked out of the house with the little guy in his arms, and a table had already been set up in the yard, and the colder subordinate was carrying food out from the kitchen.
The bearded man also hurried forward, and scooped up several bowls of rice in no time. Apart from those three, there was obviously another bowl reserved for Xu Jinyi.
Xu Jinyi nodded and sat opposite the owner.
The four of them ate in silence, and occasionally a baby girl whined twice, except for Xu Jinyi's gentle voice coaxing her to eat, it was quite quiet.
Except for a few glances from the owner who occasionally glanced over.
There was no hostility, but Xu Jinyi felt like a light on his back.
Li Tianci has a good body, strong and clean facial features, and a pair of fox eyes that soften the hard face that was used to doing farm work. He is a well-known handsome man in eight villages. Apparently more than ten years later, his daughter inherited his looks, which made Jiang Minshan still have a wicked heart even though he married the princess.
Even though he was sallow and thin, this face was one of the best in a hundred, but what surprised Zheng Ronghan was not his appearance, but Xu Jinyi's unconsciously exuding elegance that was almost the same as those of the rich and powerful in the capital.
Even holding a child, this person's back is still straight, with his head lowered and his hands raised, every movement is pleasing to the eye. His eyes occasionally turned to their side, and he was not happy about winning five taels of gold, and he was not afraid. He was three points defensive and seven points alienated.
It doesn't look like a farmer who scrapes the ground for a living!
Zheng Ronghan was surprised, remembering the mission of leaving Beijing this time and the purpose of following this villager, he couldn't help asking: "I don't know how to call it?"
Xu Jinyi looked at the ice-like owner, "I'm Li Tianci."
"Is there any reading?"
"Read it for a few years."
"Do you have fame?"
"I was lucky enough to pass the exam as a scholar."
Li Tianci is the eldest grandson of the Li family. Before Li Tianci's grandfather passed away, he was always loved by his grandparents, and he was also the only grandchild of the Li family who had attended a private school.
He is still considered to be a gift from God. At the age of sixteen, Li Tianci participated in the children's examination and was named a scholar, but unfortunately he was not named Sun Shan in the general examination. At this time, the grandfather and grandmother were no longer there, and Li's father was at a disadvantage in sharing the family property with his brothers, and the family was also struggling. Li Tianci gave up seeking fame and fame, and obeyed his parents' orders to marry a wife and have children.
Zheng Ronghan nodded, "Now that the plague is over, the drought is worsening day by day, and the common people are miserable. Can Godsend have a countermeasure?"
Hearing this, Xu Jinyi's heart skipped a beat.
Thinking of the pain the girl in her arms has endured, Xu Jinyi couldn't bear it even though the original owner had no desire for revenge. He wished that those who had bullied her could experience a thousand times the pain she had suffered.
But now he is just a mud leg.
Don't say that in the future, Sun Peirou, who will be Princess An, Zheng Yanran, who will be Princess Yanran, and Jiang Minshan, who will win the first prize in the Jiang family, will be powerless.
The word power is easy and easy to say, but difficult to say. Xu Jinyi was worrying about what to do, when this man offered him an olive branch.
Looking at his demeanor, and then thinking about that gold ingot, Xu Jinyi had come to a conclusion.
"Relief for disasters, labor for relief, immigrants for food, water for drought, divide and rule."
"The border war broke out the year before last, and the national treasury is still empty. How can we provide relief?" Zheng Ronghan shook his head, with a wry smile on his face. In the First World War, there were millions of grains of silver. Although it was a big victory over its neighbors, Daqing also suffered heavy losses.
"If the national treasury has no silver, the whole country will have no silver?"
Zheng Ronghan anxiously asked, "Who has money?"
"Corrupt officials have money, and rich people also have money." Seeing that the girl in his arms no longer opened her mouth, Xu Jinyi picked up a coarse cloth towel and wiped her mouth, before finally taking care of her stomach.
"How to get money from corrupt officials and wealthy households?" At this moment, Zheng Ronghan no longer had the previous coldness, but turned to a state of urgency.
"Give it to him. The most precious thing for a corrupt official is his head. If you get evidence of their ink corruption and present the evidence in front of the corrupt official, you will naturally hand over the silver taels obediently." Xu Jinyi wiped his mouth and continued, "Scholar Farmers, businessmen, and wealthy households hate low status the most, and if they can get the reputation of being a good person who is rewarded by the government, they will naturally be willing to hand over their silver taels."
Zheng Ronghan clapped his hands and praised, "Very good, very good!" Facing Xu Jinyi, his eyes were already eager like never before, "Why do immigrants eat?"
In this way, the two asked one question and the other answered. When Zheng Ronghan came back to his senses, an hour had passed, and the little girl was already sleeping soundly in Xu Jinyi's arms.
Zheng Ronghan felt a little sorry in his heart, but he couldn't bear to leave, so he stood up and cupped his hands and said, "Sir, you are talented, would you like to help me?"
Xu Jinyi pondered for a while before speaking, "I don't know if your Excellency is..."
"I am An Wang Zheng Ronghan, please help me, sir."
An Wang? So you are King An! Xu Jinyi's clenched fists were full of veins.