Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 45: Talking about Gratitude in the Corridor
Liu Qiong'er didn't say anything in front of Xu Wuliang , and even took the bag of gold and silver. But as soon as Xu Wuliang left, she glanced at Xu Huai with her beautiful eyes and said, "You are smart. You know how to use people for free, and you pretend to be stupid and don't have to worry about anything."
"If you don't want me to, I'll give all the money to Aunt Seventeen." Xu Huai said, reaching out to take the brocade bag.
"Who said I don't care?" Liu Qiong'er put her hands behind her back to prevent Xu Huai from snatching the brocade bag. "Everyone else follows Xu Wujiang's lead, not to mention that all the soldiers obey him. If you hand over all the gold and silver, you won't get any benefit if something really happens in the end!"
"Why settle all this at this critical moment?" Xu Huai said in a somewhat careless manner.
"Even brothers should settle accounts clearly, not to mention that you and Xu Wujiang are only uncle and nephew," Liu Qiong'er said, "Take the gold and silver for example. If you give away thirty or fifty strings of silver coins to every household, they will be grateful to you at first, but as time goes by, they will want more from you, and few will have a conscience to remember the kindness - do you think everyone will be as sincere to you as Xu Wuliang?"
"Uncle Wu Liang is very nice to me!" Xu Huai said with a smile.
Xu Wuliang lived in Liutiao Lane. Usually, when Ge Lai Pi and others came to collect debts, he would endure it and smile. But when he saw that Ge Lai Pi was resentful towards him, he would kill him. Xu Huai himself could not imagine such a protective feeling, and he dared not hope that there would be another person who would treat him like this!
Liu Qiong'er continued, "And today you asked them to take the gold and silver from you one by one, and asked them to write IOUs. No matter what they think, no matter when, they still owe you, and they have to bow down to you. Do you think we should settle this account?"
"Do you usually think about these things when you are in Yuehonglou?" Xu Huai asked curiously.
"You said I was in Yuehonglou, if I didn't think about these things, what should I think about? Do you really think that I am good at music, chess, calligraphy and painting, so I can avoid being eaten by others in that fire pit?" Liu Qiong'er felt that Xu Huai looked down on her, her expression was a little gloomy, and she said quietly, "Don't think I am scheming. Even if I really became a bandit, every time I robbed a house, half of the money went to the public treasury, and the other half was shared by the heads of the houses. This is all according to the rules."
Xu Huai was slightly startled, and then he suddenly realized that Liu Qiong'er's pursuit of the good-sounding guests of Yuehonglou was not a bad habit, but a way to gain more capital to struggle out of the fire pit.
"What you said makes sense. It's better to settle the accounts clearly," Xu Huai put away his playful smile and said seriously, "I told Uncle Seventeen and the others in Jinshagou that I took more than 200 strings of cash from Deng Gui this time. I said this mainly because I don't want others to be tempted by the money and want to take the money and run away. So, take out 200 strings of cash from this gold and silver and give them to Aunt Seventeen - this is an explanation of what I said before, and say that the rest are all brought out from Yuehonglou. Wait for Uncle Wuliang to come back and tell him. From now on, whoever wants to take money from you will be considered a loan, and they will have to write you a receipt..."
"I hope you don't think I'm too scheming." Liu Qiong'er said.
"How could that be? No matter how you look at this matter, I was the one who dragged you in by force." Xu Huai said with a sneer.
From redeeming himself at Yuehonglou, to purchasing a house in Tieshi Lane, and then retreating back to Lutai Village, these things happened one after another, and it can be said that he was overwhelmed and did not even have a chance to breathe.
She didn't know how Xu Huai could be so calm at his age, but Liu Qiong'er herself was so flustered that she still hadn't been able to calm down.
She was advising Xu Huai to settle the accounts at this time. Rather than giving Xu Huai advice, it was more like she wanted to find something that could play her role and show her value.
Only in this way can one find his own position and calm his panic among this group of people who are neither thieves nor soldiers.
Otherwise, what is she?
Xu Wuliang returned quickly. Xu Huai was afraid that Liu Qiong'er would not be able to speak, so he told Xu Wuliang directly about the account settlement.
"This is the best way!" Xu Wuliang clapped his thigh and cheered, saying, "I just discussed this matter with Di Niang, Su Laochang, Xu Guanshan and others, and they also said that they should take the lead in handling this matter, but all the expenses will be temporarily borrowed from Miss Liu..."
Xu Wuliang was not so thoughtful, but he was also aware that Liu Qiong'er had shallow roots, so he was not afraid that she would embezzle the money and property. He temporarily put the money in her name so that he could make excuses to all parties.
"This gold and silver will be temporarily under my name, and I dare not use it against Xu Huai. But Xu Wuliang, there is something I must tell you in advance." Liu Qiong'er said.
"You say." Xu Wuliang said in a muffled voice, not understanding what Liu Qiong'er was trying to say.
"Unless Xu Huai speaks up, the way the money and materials are spent will depend on my approval. Your words, Xu Wuliang, are useless. If you don't agree to this condition, I don't want to be pushed out by you to be the bad guy for nothing." Liu Qiong'er said.
"Xu Huai said that he would give these money and things to you to manage. If anyone wants to interfere in the future, it will be Xu Huai's new wife who will come to you. Why should I care about this matter?" Xu Wuliang said, and called his wife and daughter Xiaohuan out of the house, telling them that even in the South Village, Liu Qiong'er would be in charge of this courtyard.
Xu Huai saw that it was still early, stretched himself lazily, and said, "I have to go find Xu Wuqi and get that longbow back!"
The soldiers brought out two magic crossbows and six longbows from the military camp, which were considered powerful weapons, but they only had one longbow in the South Camp, which was forcibly confiscated by Xu Wuqi yesterday.
Of course he had to find a way to get the longbow back and take a look at what was happening in the northern camp.
Xu Wuliang was worried about Xu Huai going alone, so he said, " Xu Wuqi has turned his back on us. If you go to him, I'm afraid you won't be able to get the longbow back, not to mention that Xu Wufu and his son have bad intentions - I'll go with you."
…
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Leaving Nanzhai is the grassland on the north slope of Yuhuangling. It is the end of March now, the trees are sparse and the grass is lush, and herds of cattle and horses are grazing on the slope.
Xu Huai stood outside the village gate. He did not rush down the mountain to the north village. Instead, he looked at the northern slope with sparse trees and lush grass, and listened to the sound of cattle and horses neighing in the wind.
Although the northern slope of Yuhuangling and the mountains on both sides have nearly 10,000 acres of usable grassland, the carrying capacity of natural grassland is very limited. It is roughly estimated that there are about 700 to 800 large livestock such as donkeys, cattle, mules, and horses, and nearly 3,000 sheep are grazing here at the same time.
The history of the Xu family's ancestors' migration to Yuhuangling can be learned in every clan school, and Xu Huai is also very familiar with it.
At that time, the war in the Central Plains had just ended and the Dai Viet Dynasty was just established. The population of the world had dropped sharply. In order to recuperate, the court rewarded production and basically all able-bodied men were granted land. The scale of this was so large that it is hard for people today to imagine.
At that time, the Xu family of Yuhuangling plus several smaller families had a total population of less than 500 people. They had no ability to fully develop such a large piece of land, and they had only four or five large livestock such as oxen. Therefore, the grasslands and forests on the north and south slopes were designated as clan property.
It took almost three or four generations of painstaking management for the Beipo grassland to develop into a certain scale of pastoral farming. However, when the clan head was passed to Xu Wufu's great-grandfather, the Beipo grassland and the fertile fields on both sides of Qingliu Creek were concentrated in the hands of a few people on a large scale through continuous replacement and merger.
After Xu Wufu's great-grandfather, thirteen branches were derived, including the current head of the family Xu Wufu, as well as the families of Xu Zhongyu, Xu Boshong and others. They were the richest and had the closest blood relationship in Yuhuangling, and were also called the Upper Xu family in Yuhuangling.
The vast fields, houses and grasslands in Yuhuangling, as well as the warehouses and mule and horse markets in Huaiyuan and Biyang, were mainly concentrated in the hands of Shangfang Xu.
As for Xu Wukun, Xu Wuliang, Xu Wuqi and Xu Huai's father Xu Wuxuan, although they had not yet produced direct descendants according to the method of tracing back five generations of ancestors as small clans, they had already fallen into complete ruin. Like other collateral clansmen and those with small surnames, they were collectively called the Lower Branch Xu.
Those who became bandits and were eventually incorporated into the Jingsheng Army all came from Xiafang Xu.
This "up" and "down" separate two completely unconnected worlds.
Xu Huai was also wondering why he had such a feeling, and walked towards the North Village with Xu Wuliang in silence.
Walking into the North Village, a dirt road goes straight through the north gate and connects to the Qingliuxi River Bridge. Going north, you can go to Huaiyuan. In the center of this dirt road in the village, there is a stone-slab cross street that intersects it.
This cross street is where the rich people of Beizhai gather. In addition to Xu Wufu, the six houses of Shangfang Xu are all located on this cross street. Walking from the cross street to the east end, there is Xu's ancestral hall on the north side and the clan school on the south side. There is a small alley extending southward from the cross street. The Huolu Hall for martial arts practice in the east of the alley is the Huolu Hall, and the Luming Hall for literature practice in the west of the alley.
It is said that the ancestors of the Xu family moved to Tongbai Mountain to avoid the war. When passing by Yuhuang Ridge, they saw a white deer standing on a stone platform. After settling down, they built a village and named it Lu Tai. Most of the more important buildings and the few streets and alleys in the village are named after deer.
Xu Wuqi, Xu Wukun and others usually followed Xu Wufu to do work in places like Biyang. They were also the spear and stick instructors of Huolu Hall. Of course, Xu Huai went straight to Huolu Hall to block them.
Unlike Lumingtang Academy, Huolutang has four courtyards in front and back, and the middle courtyard is the most spacious. It is a small training ground that can accommodate two hundred soldiers in formation and is also the martial arts training ground of Huolutang.
The walls of Luming Hall and Huolu Hall were not high, and there was no need to build large courtyards to waste building materials, so Xu Wuliang stayed outside the martial arts arena. In order to prevent someone from catching him with something, Xu Huai took off his sword and gave it to Xu Wuliang, then walked into the martial arts arena alone with empty hands.
