"You guys are talking nonsense!" A childish voice sounded as the slap fell on the thug's head.

"Who is talking nonsense? What nonsense are you talking about? You can go to the cement kiln and take a look and you will know what kind of life the people there are living. Oh! By the way! Those who manage the cement kiln are all people who retired from your first division.

Maybe there are some senior officers of yours there, and if you go there, they might as well invite you to a restaurant for a drink." The thug might have been hurt from being beaten, so he covered his head and yelled loudly.

"Shut up!" Mr. Cheng shouted loudly and came over to beat him again. The guy who looked like a thug immediately ran out: "Second uncle, you have to say this even if you beat me to death.

They only see that we are cruel to the workers, but they don’t know that we give workers wages every day to keep them alive. Over there at the cement kiln, hey! The wages are paid once a month. If you don’t work on one day, the wages for that month are gone.

As far as wages are concerned, how much money have they made? You have been working hard to pay these coolies all day long. Do you know how many people are laughing at you behind the scenes?

With the support of Shuai, they dare not do anything, they...!"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Mr. Cheng held down the thug's hand and slapped him down without any fuss.

Li Xiao's face suddenly turned dark. He didn't expect such a thing to happen. There are many properties in the Marshal's Mansion, all of which are in the hands of Tokugawa Qianji and Li Xiu's wife Zheng. How much money can be obtained from Ao Canghai?

It is possible for a retired soldier to manage this kind of cement kiln.

The First Division fought all the way from Liaodong to Jiangnan. Almost every soldier exuded the bloody smell of violence. It is difficult for people with this bloody smell not to commit numerous atrocities. Because killing is as good as eating and drinking for them.

Just as casual. As for abusing people, those who come off the battlefield will have more or less psychological problems.

"You're talking nonsense! You're talking nonsense! My uncle Ao's soldiers wouldn't do that. If you talk nonsense again, I'll tear your mouth apart." Li Lin pointed at Master Cheng with his little finger and roared.

"Young nephew! My child has hysteria. Hu Qin fell ill today. Don't take it seriously. Sir, you are a master. This boy is also from Liaodong. He never hesitates to kill the enemy on the battlefield. For the sake of my fellow countrymen,

Please spare him this time. I, Lao Cheng, promise that he will never dare to mess up next time." Obviously, the words "my uncle Ao's soldiers" frightened the seemingly fierce Lao Cheng.

So the coolies saw a strange scene. Mr. Cheng, who could walk sideways at Shiliupu Pier, knelt in front of a doll and was as obedient as a pug. If he had a tail, he would definitely be wagging it.

"Brother, please get up. Our Liao soldiers respect heroes who go into battle to kill the enemy, and we don't like this." Li Xiao stretched out his hand to help Mr. Cheng up, and glared at Li Lin.

"Apologise to this uncle." He tried his best to pull Master Cheng up, and Li Xiao looked at Li Lin with a dark face.

"But he said Uncle Ao's soldiers...!"

"Apologise!" Li Xiao's face turned even darker.

"Oh! Uncle, I'm sorry!" Although he didn't understand why he was apologizing, Li Lin still lowered his head under his father's lust. In his heart, Uncle Ao, who wants stars but not the moon, is really first-rate.

Good people.

"Young nephew! I don't dare, I don't dare." Mr. Cheng, whose face was as pale as paper, shook his hands like windmills. With his sense of life and death, there was no doubt that the two men in front of him must be big shots.

"It's not that all these rough jobs are done by foreign labor. It's not that the officials don't allow it...!"

"Officials don't allow it, but those foreigners need to buy from the slave market. Javanese and Cochin people are small and don't have the strength to work. Egyptians and Kunlun slaves are in good health and can do hard work, but the price is also expensive.

An Egyptian slave was sold for the price of two Javanese.

Those people in the cement kiln find it too expensive! They don’t even buy in the slave market. In the past two years, many people have come from the mainland, and the wages are much cheaper than buying slaves. So, they simply hire people instead of buying them. He is a handsome man.

The government does not dare to control or ask questions about your business."

Li Xiao nodded, it was indeed in line with the laws of economics. Wherever the people are cheap and good, start wherever they are.

"Take me to the cement kiln and have a look!" Li Xiao sighed helplessly. He really didn't want Master Cheng to be telling the truth, but his reason told him that what Master Cheng said was probably 100% true. These things

You can't fool anyone, just take a look and ask around people and you will know.

It is easy for one or two people to lie, but it is too difficult for thousands of people to lie together.

"Sir, aren't you making things difficult for me, Old Cheng? You also know that the brothers from the First Division are all fierce. I, Old Cheng, have taken you there, and you will have no chance of messing around in this area in the future. You do well, I will

There is also a big family eating here. The cement kiln is a bit far away from here, on the Jinshanwei side. If you want to go there, you have to take a horse-drawn carriage, and the handlebars know where it is.

But you have to report your name first when you get there. The brothers there are very fierce and they have many big wolf dogs. They are all very fierce brought from the Mongolian grasslands. You must be careful with your children." Mr. Cheng bowed and bowed.

, I longed in my heart for this man to leave quickly.

As for who this man is, he doesn't care what he wants to do. It's best not to have contact with this kind of person. God knows whether this falling piece will be a brick or a pie.

"Thank you!" Li Xiao bowed his hands, turned around and left.

Mr. Cheng threw his hands away in panic. It was not until the old man with his child walked out of the gate of Shiliupu Pier that he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Second uncle! Who is he?" The thug covered his cheek and approached Li Xiao.

"It's undoubtedly our Liao Army. I can smell the smell on his body. Boy, don't tell anyone what happened today. God knows, whether it is a blessing or a curse. Do you hear me?"

"No! I heard you, uncle!" The thug nodded nervously, for fear of being beaten again.

As soon as Li Xiao and Li Lin stepped out of the gate of Shiliupu Wharf, hundreds of well-dressed men immediately gathered around them. The leading man turned back and glanced at Uncle Cheng and his nephew, his expressions ferocious!

Xiao Cheng swallowed his saliva loudly!

Li Xiao didn't speak, and neither did anyone else. Everyone didn't speak, just walking on the gravel after the rain.

"Send the young master back, find a carriage, and go to Jinshan Guard to have a look." After walking for a while, Li Xiao suddenly ordered. He could imagine what Jinshan Guard looked like, but he really didn't have the courage to let Li Lin see this ugly thing in the world.

One scene.

"No!" Someone promised, turned around and ran out to call the carriage.

"Dad, I want to go too. Uncle Ao's soldiers will never be like that. Last time they sent a little tiger, he was obedient. I saw that they were very polite when talking." Li Lin held Li Xiao's hand and refused.

Let it go, and the people next to you won't dare to pull it.

"Silly boy, seeing is believing and hearing is believing. Daddy is going to take a look today. When you are older, Daddy will take you there."

"But I'm ten years old this year, and my mother said I'm a big kid." Li Lin's mother was Tokugawa Chitzu, and I don't know what method she used. Anyway, Li Lin has now seen Tokugawa Chitoko.

Ji is closer than her own mother.

"Well! He's a big kid, but he's not big enough yet. Go ahead, daddy will go back later." Li Xiao patted Li Lin's head, and there was a sound of carriages beside him. Two carriages came one after another, and Li Xiao lifted Li Lin up.

Carriage. As soon as Li Lin got into the carriage, the carriage started to move.

Li Xiao got into another carriage and headed to Jinshan Guard surrounded by his personal guards.

Jinshanwei is to the south of Huating County. It was already evening when Li Xiao arrived at Jinshanwei surrounded by carriages and horses. In the eyes of Huating people, this was already a standard rural place.

After a day of rain, I finally saw the sun in the evening. The dusk sunlight penetrated the clouds like a sharp sword. It seemed that God had opened his eyes to see this land and the people on it that were not illuminated by the sun.

On weekdays, few people come to the countryside. Seeing this luxurious team, many people got out of their thatched houses to watch the fun.

Although Li Xiao was mentally prepared, when he saw the clothes of the people here, he still felt cold in his heart.

There are thatched houses next to each other on both sides of the road. It is the time for cooking, but there are not a few smokes. There are old people and children who go out to watch the excitement, and the clothes on everyone's body are patched. Many people's clothes are patched.

There are already patches piled up on top of each other, so the true color of the clothes cannot be seen at all.

There are also many children, simply wearing tattered robes that don't fit very well. The wind blows up the robes, revealing legs as thin as hemp poles. The children here all have a special characteristic, that is, they have big heads and big bellies. It seems that

Because of their big heads, many children also have big eyes.

In contrast, their arms and legs were simply skin and bones. Li Xiao had seen such a scene in photos of the Great Famine in Africa, but he did not expect to see such a scene in the Ming Dynasty, under his own rule.

Numb faces looked at tall horses and gorgeous carriages passing by on the road, like zombies, or the walking dead.

Shunzi wiped the rainwater off his raincoat and pointed the riding crop at a guy who looked smarter. "Take us to the cement kiln."

The man looked at Shunzi, neither saying anything nor moving. He just stared at Shunzi, as if he didn't hear what Shunzi said.

"He is deaf. His ears were slapped twice by Master Hao, and he became like this." An old voice came from the side.

Shunzi raised her whip and swung it twice, shaking off many water drops.

Maybe it’s because they don’t like the weather in Jiangnan, or maybe they don’t like the dialect of southerners, or maybe they don’t like the Donglin Party in the south. Anyway, the Liao army basically doesn’t like southerners.

"Take us to the cement kiln, and there will be a reward." Shunzi said lazily, and several copper brothers threw it over, hitting the old man's clothes, and then fell into the muddy water.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir! Dog, hurry up and take these officers to the kiln." The old man bent down to pick up the copper coins in the muddy water and shouted loudly into the house.

"I know, Grandpa!" A half-year-old child came out of the house, his coat fluttering in the wind, without even a crotch cloth, and wearing two black straw sandals on his feet.

"Wait a minute!" Li Xiao shouted and got out of the carriage. He immediately pressed the stopper on the handlebar. Someone behind him moved a block to let Li Xiao get out of the carriage.

Seeing Li Xiao's power, the old man couldn't help but kneel to the ground, his head stuck in the muddy water and he didn't dare to raise his head. The boy who had just escaped seemed to have seen a ghost, and ducked back into the thatched house.

Li Xiao got off the carriage and patted the old man on the shoulder: "Get up and take me in to take a look."

The old man didn't answer, he just stuck his head in the muddy water, his whole body shaking like chaff.

Shunzi knew that this old guy was almost paralyzed with fear. He reached out with his hand and picked the old guy up from the ground. A strong stinking smell immediately came up!

"Commander, this old guy is so scared." Shunzi covered his nose, looking like he was quite choked by the smoke.

"Put it down and give the old man some money. Don't let you be scared to death!" Li Xiao shook his head helplessly and walked straight into the thatched house.

Shunzi hurriedly threw the old man to the ground, held the gun in one hand and ran behind Li Xiao, following closely.

The inside of the thatched house was dark, with a bonfire burning in the middle. The bonfire was roasting dark pots. Li Xiao also saw smoke coming from the house, so he wanted to come in and see what these people were eating.

The whole house smelled of grass foam, which penetrated into the nose and made people want to vomit.

After his eyes adapted to the darkness, Li Xiao came to the bonfire by the light of the fire. The pot was made of stone, and there was something dark inside. He didn't need to taste it. As long as he smelled the smell, Li Xiao knew that he might not be able to eat tonight.

.

"What is this?" Li Xiao asked, pointing to the pot.

No one answered. The half-grown boy just now was huddled in the wall and cotton wool, shivering.
To be continued...