After walking through several houses in a row, Li Xiao felt more and more chilled in his heart. This was an extremely poor village. Li Xiao even found a few naked people huddled under the thatch in the corner of the shack.

His face was so heavy that it could drip water, and he sighed and turned around to get into the carriage.

I took a big gulp of wine and it was burning from my throat to my stomach.

A young man was captured and used as a guide. Shunzi took out a few copper brothers and stuffed them into his hands. The guy immediately ran faster than a rabbit.

Jinshanwei Cement Kiln is at the foot of Jiulong Mountain, and you can see the smoke and dust rising into the sky from a long distance. When he walked to the door of the kiln, Li Xiao opened the curtain and couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

The cement kiln is surrounded by a wooden fence two or three meters high. In the middle of the wooden fence are two tall watchtowers. In the middle of the watchtowers are two heavy wooden doors. There are burly men guarding the watchtowers. Li Xiao was surprised to find that

, these big men actually have guns in their hands.

Not only did they have guns, they also had standard large eight-grain rifles. There were several guys there, even wearing camouflage uniforms.

Many garrison troops in the Ming Dynasty were not even equipped with rifles. These guys guarding the cement kilns were actually able to get rifles!

A large group of people approached, which immediately attracted the attention of the master of the walled city. Normally, no one would come here at all. Now that such a group came on the road, no one could ignore it.

Guns appeared, and Shunzi was very nervous. With a wave of his hand, several cavalrymen rushed over. The cavalrymen behind rushed to the front, each raising their Aka rifles and aiming at the people on the wall. As long as these people were slightly hostile, they would

Shots will be fired immediately.

"Commander, the person on the other side has a gun. We'd better identify ourselves before entering!"

"Go in! If you encounter any resistance, you will be killed without mercy." Li Xiao said with a stern face. In the village just now, almost half of the laborers had pneumoconiosis. Listening to their coughs, it seemed that they were about to cough out their lungs. There were many children,

All the adults in the family died in the cement kiln.

Before these people could resist, several cavalrymen ran to the bottom of the walled city. After a while, two groups of people ran out and stood in the muddy water, holding a gun salute to Li Xiao's carriage.

Li Xiao opened the curtain and looked at the people in front of him, his expression immediately became dull.

They are all veterans of the First Division, and Li Xiao recognizes many of them. The one with a broken arm is Wang Ergou, and the one standing straight, Guo Laohan, is actually missing a leg. They are all disabled veterans of the First Division, and the best ones are also

A few fingers are missing.

Before coming here, Li Xiao thought about going on a killing spree here. He must kill all these bastards who are causing harm to people, but now Li Xiao can't do it no matter what.

The guy with the burn scars on his face was called Xu Dashuan. During the Battle of Jinzhou, this guy was burned by fire, but he still threw a bunch of grenades. It killed more than twenty Eight Banners soldiers, and he lay in the hospital for a whole year afterwards.

I almost died from infection several times.

Even after he was cured, his face was still full of scars. Looking at it in broad daylight, he looked like a ghost.

"My subordinates see you, Commander-in-Chief." Many people also knew Li Xiao. When they saw that it was Li Xiao who got off the carriage, they all knelt down in the muddy water.

Taking a deep breath, Li Xiao hesitantly stepped out of the carriage. He personally helped them up one by one, greeting each one with a few words.

"My body and bones are fine."

"Thanks to you, Marshal, I'm in pretty good shape."

"Commander, I heard that there is still a war going on overseas, and my bones are still usable. Please just agree to let us throw these more than one hundred pounds on the battlefield. Living here will mean suffering."

"Commander! Just let us go to war. Days like this will fade away."

"Commander! I kowtow to you!"

Everyone's tone was filled with excitement, and some people were kneeling in the muddy water, smashing out countless muddy ideas with their heads, and kicking Li Xiao.

"Wu Laojiu, do you have the final say here?" Li Xiao saw Wu Laojiu, who had half his face burned beyond recognition. He was already the company commander during the Battle of Montenegro.

"promise!

We all have disabilities, and land was originally allocated to us in Liaodong. But we... you have seen that staying at home is causing trouble to the family. Later I went to find Mr. Ao.

Let us come here and say that this is your property, Commander-in-Chief.

Give us a salary of ten silver coins every month. Everyone knows that you are taking care of us, Marshal. Everyone is grateful to you, Marshal. This is how it will be in this life. When your arms and legs are intact again in the next life, you will definitely

I will follow you to conquer the world with the commander-in-chief. If anyone refuses to obey, I will twist off his head and use it as a ball." Wu Laojiu slapped his withered chest, leaving only his thumb and index finger on one hand.

The thoughts I had when I came are now stuck in my stomach. It feels like there is a ball of cotton stuffed in my throat, and I can't say a heavy word.

"My subordinates know that Marshal you take care of us who have missing arms and legs, but we can't let Marshal lose money to support us. In the past two years, Huating County has needed a lot of cement to build buildings in the wharf city.

We supervise these Nanbarians every day, and no one dares to be lazy. Look, these dozen cement kilns are producing cement every day. This month's cement has sold more than 9,000 silver coins. Commander, look at the account books

Here, every transaction is clear." Wu Laojiu thought that Li Xiao was here to check the accounts, so he took out the account book and held it in front of Li Xiao with both hands.

Li Xiao didn't take the account book, and there was a "gurgling" sound in his throat.

I thought it was someone in the family who was using his own name to act mischievously because the emperor was far away from the mountain. Unexpectedly...unexpectedly, it was Tokugawa Chihime who placed disabled veterans of the Liao Army here. She offered ten silver coins every month.

Pay, this is giving them money in disguise.

These old subordinates did not want Li Xiao to lose money, so they rushed these workers to work day and night.

As a beneficiary, Li Xiao really couldn't say anything. Especially when facing these disabled veterans, Li Xiao couldn't say anything. For the sake of the Liao army, they had shown their healthy bodies. Now in order not to

He made himself lose money and urged the workers to work day and night.

Li Xiao, who originally had murderous intentions, now doesn't know what to do.

Wu Laojiu took Li Xiao to inspect the eighteen cement kilns. The sky was getting dark, and the wind lamps were hung on the hook poles. The workers were putting cement into bags under the lamps. There was smoke and dust everywhere.

It's not clear how many people are working here.

Under each worker's nose, there are two cement beards. There is cement everywhere in their hair, beards, and eyebrows, making them completely unrecognizable.

On the other side, teams of workers were moving bags of cement into the warehouse.

Li Xiao saw that no one was wearing a gas mask, and Li Xiao didn't even see anyone wearing a mask.

"Why don't you let them wear pig mouths? At the very least, they have to wear masks." Li Xiao pointed at these people and said.

"Commander, you don't know. These are unscrupulous people, notoriously lazy, greedy and slippery. If they get a chance, they will be lazy. If they wear a mask on their face, they will say they are tired and don't work. Pigs.

Their mouths are even worse. They will say that they can't breathe, and then take the opportunity to be lazy.

They are all just farmers, and no one will eat a few taels of soil. You don’t have to worry about them!” Wu Laojiu looked at the laborers who were working without any sympathy or pity in his eyes.

Li Xiao knew that the Liao officers and soldiers actually looked down upon the southerners. These disabled veterans regarded themselves as heroes, and they looked down upon these Jiangnan people even more. Many of their men became officials by killing people in Jiangnan.

"From now on, if we let them wear a pig's mouth to work, they will get pneumoconiosis. Even a strong man will gradually turn into a weak chicken with no strength. There are many people in the village over there who are like this.

Could it be that you can’t see it?”

"Every day there are different people working. Some work for a few days and then leave after making money. The subordinates are too lazy to care. To be honest, it is good to be able to pay them every month."

Li Xiao was even more speechless. In the eyes of these killers, the lives of southerners really didn't matter. The main opponent back then was the Nanjing Forbidden Army. How many people were killed or injured at the hands of the Nanjing Forbidden Army. You ask them to treat the southerners better.

Easier said than done!

"Well! You are doing a good job here, but the court has recently issued regulations that officials are not allowed to run businesses. As a commander, I have to set an example. Some of you are from Shandong, some are from Hebei, and more

He is from Liaodong.

You must have accumulated some wealth over the years, and I will give you a sum of money so that you can live a good life back in your hometown." Helpless Li Xiao could only use another way to deal with the current affairs.

"What! Marshal, you don't want this cement kiln anymore? Is there someone in the imperial court who is doing something stupid? Please tell your subordinates that no one in his family will be able to breathe anymore." Wu Laojiu's eyes were as wide as eggs.

big.

In the past few years, the salary of ten silver coins per month was more than that of most imperial officials. Even many merchants could not earn more than ten silver coins per month.

"This is to ensure that officials in the imperial court have excessive interactions with local gentry. With money transactions and the power of money, no one can live in such conditions for a long time.

After this has been going on for a long time, it is inevitable that some corruption will occur in the officialdom."

"Commander, just stop these bastards from thinking. If someone continues to cause trouble, then he will deal with him." Wu Laojiu knew that his job was over, but when he thought of all the money he had earned over the years,

The money is already stable enough for me to be financially free in this life.

As long as he doesn't squander or invest, he will definitely not be poor.

"I have a day off today, and I have to clean up tomorrow!"

Hearing Li Xiao's "clean up", the killers were all excited. It had been a long time since they had shot someone.

"Stop here for now. In a few days, people from the Ministry of Finance will come to check. If you are willing to follow me, follow me. If you don't want to follow me, I will give you a sum of money to buy a house and land."

Li Xiao has no choice but to use this method to deal with these people. Do you still want to kill the founding heroes? Don't underestimate these people, they are the spirit of this country. If you really kill them, Li Xiao will

I don’t know if I will become the target of public criticism.

"No! I will stop the cement kiln now and wait for someone from the Ministry of Revenue to take over." Wu Laojiu stood up straight and saluted Li Xiao. Although he has been retired for many years, the style of the army has not changed.

.

It was completely dark, and there were lights everywhere in the cement kiln. I heard that I would quit working and go back to my hometown in the north. Many veterans immediately became excited. Although the wages here are high, it is really boring. There is no place like home, my wife

It’s a good day when the child is hot on the bed and has three meals a day and one meal every day.

The chickens wandering around in the yard were picked up by big hands like cattail fans, their necks were easily broken and thrown into the soup pot. The ducks were plucked and put into the oven, and the two big fat pigs in the backyard were simply put in with a white knife.

The red knife comes out.

Anyway, in just a few days, the cement kiln will be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue. If you don't eat it yourself, it will be an advantage for those bastards in the Ministry of Revenue.

Everyone gathered around the bonfire, and when the wine was served, the place became a sea of ​​joy. Some guys started singing after getting drunk. Although their voices were unpleasant, they sounded very majestic.

Li Xiao didn't say anything, he just sat in the middle and laughed at them drinking.
To be continued...