OBS Chapter 542 Fire in Wangjiazhuang
Chapter 542 Fire in Wangjiazhuang
"General, you may not know this, but since ancient times there has been an imperial decree that our Zhao family has been forbidden from engaging in politics for generations. I am not good at studying or doing business either, so I really have nothing to do. I see that there are countless people working in the West Ward, and there are also young clerks in charge. I can also work as a clerk without pay. Please agree, General."
Zhao Yizhi bowed deeply to Wang Erniu, hoping that the opportunity he had offered would help Wang Erniu build connections; he desperately needed friends and partners.
Wang Erniu raised an eyebrow. This child is really clever, taking things step by step. He must have found out a lot about what he's been doing. But as Lin Er said, this child is indeed a pity. Oh well, if he doesn't want wages, then he's not working for the government and won't be violating official orders.
"Alright, Zhang Hu will take you tomorrow, but don't throw a tantrum."
"Thank you, General!" Zhao Yizhi laughed out loud, a rare moment of joy.
After the father and son left the general's mansion, Zhao Yizhi pulled his father to get the silver notes. He was worried, so he specially asked Wang Erniu to send a few personal guards to accompany them. Coincidentally, Wang Feng was always a personal guard, so he sent a few of them.
Inside Hengfu Money Exchange, Boss Hao smiled as he watched the God of Wealth arrive. Several months ago, Zhao Yizhi had deposited a considerable amount of silver in several money exchanges, mostly from selling his gold, silver and jade artifacts.
"What brings you here, Young Prince?"
"Help me get two hundred thousand taels of silver notes and give them to this young man," Zhao Yizhi said calmly, stating his purpose.
"Okay!" The shopkeeper was taken aback for a moment, then quickly went to get the money.
Wang Feng's heart skipped a beat. How much? Nobody told him he needed this much money! Oh no, did he bring too little?
The two counted the silver notes face to face and put them into the box. Zhao Yizhi then handed them to Wang Feng.
Wang Feng took several deep breaths to calm himself down, and then took the box with slightly trembling hands.
"Let's go, next one!" Zhao Yizhi walked ahead with his hands behind his back like a spoiled brat, followed by Zhao Dequan, who looked pained, and Wang Feng and the others who were being cautious.
After arriving at the second money exchange and experiencing another shock of banknotes, Wang Feng's mindset gradually calmed down.
After withdrawing the money, Zhao Yizhi said to Wang Feng, "Alright, take the money back and give it to General Wang. I'll report for duty tomorrow."
After saying that, he pulled his father away gracefully.
Wang Feng was at a loss for what to do with his hands and feet, feeling like everyone was watching them and staring at the boxes in their hands.
"Hurry up! Let's go back to the manor!" Wang Feng whispered, looking around with murderous intent. Wang Shan's hand was on the hilt of his knife, extremely nervous.
"What are you doing?" Zhang Biao, who was patrolling with a group of men, couldn't help but shout when he saw them acting suspiciously.
"Oh my mother!" Wang Feng ran over, moved as if he had seen a family member.
"Brother Biao, quickly take me back home!"
"What's wrong? Why are you being so mysterious?" Zhang Biao glanced at the box. It was so small, what could it possibly contain?
"Stop talking, let's go back to the manor first." Wang Feng didn't dare to test people's character, so it was best not to tell anyone about this money yet.
"Oh, oh." Zhang Biao didn't ask any more questions upon seeing this, and escorted the person to the mansion.
Wang Erniu gave the box to Chen Wenfang, which made her extremely happy. Now she had money again, so she could start the workshop. This year was a bumper year in the south, and they had stockpiled a lot of food.
"Go and inform all the merchants that they should pay as soon as the goods arrive, whether it's food, drink, or clothing. They need to be cheap and durable, and they should pay in cash! Go now!" Chen Wenfang's eyes narrowed with joy. "Husband, come here, give me a kiss. You've worked so hard. This winter, the people will be able to live a good life!"
She rushed over, hugged Wang Erniu tightly, and kissed him repeatedly on the face.
Lin Er and Wang Feng, who entered together, covered their faces and turned away.
Wang Erniu held her and laughed, letting her make a fuss for a while.
"By the way, my husband! Those women are dead, who knows when they'll come after you for revenge! We have to be careful."
Wang Erniu patted her head affectionately and said, "I know, just go do your own thing!"
"Okay!" Chen Wenfang tapped her finger and put the silver notes into her large box. Hehe! The more she spends, the more money she makes; she needs to spend it quickly!
Life began to heat up quickly. Even as the weather grew colder, it couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the people of Xifang. In the first month after the construction of Xifang began, the first batch of two thousand registered residents had all moved into houses, and nearly a thousand acres of fertile land had been cultivated from the wasteland.
With nowhere left to go within the city, Chen Wenfang turned his attention to the area outside the city. According to Lin Er's plan, the city wall would be used as a reference point, and the wall would be extended outwards for nearly ten miles to rebuild the city wall.
Chen Wenfang did the math and decided that city walls were not feasible; they were too uneconomical and uninhabitable. Instead, he suggested establishing local families as fortresses, dispersing the population, and building fortresses on enclosed land, like the Liao people. Fortresses would communicate with each other using beacon fires, and military households would live there, receiving monthly stipends to farm and support their families and the country. This would be more effective in uniting people's hearts.
Chen Wenfang's suggestion was unanimously approved by everyone. After all, there was endless harassment from the Liao people outside the city, and this method was the most feasible.
Amidst the bustling activity in Youzhou City, someone secretly approached Chen's Workshop's largest warehouse under the cover of night in Wangjiazhuang, located on Hubei Road.
"Crack!" The sound of a dead branch snapping underfoot was particularly jarring in the darkness.
"Be careful!" the shadowy figure whispered.
The two climbed the thorny wall, and somehow managed to cross it without any problems.
Before long, the firewood piled up in the warehouse yard began to glow red. The two lit four or five fires, then climbed out again and quickly disappeared.
The fire swelled as soon as it caught the wind. Dazhuang, Shitou, and the others usually took turns patrolling and keeping watch every day. Once the fire started, it ignited the haystacks, which were specially stored as fodder for the cattle to eat in the winter.
Dazhuang had just finished inspecting the fields. They had recently harvested sweet potatoes, and there were untied sweet potato vines lying in the field. He was worried that someone would come to steal them. Although every household had them now, there was always a chance that a few would be tempted to steal them.
"Life has gotten better now. People can feed pigs all the food they can eat. Pigs are living a good life now!" Dazhuang walked across the field ridge, kicked a sweet potato vine that someone had put on the ridge, and accidentally fell into the field.
"Really, who's so wicked!" Da Zhuang cursed as he got up, almost knocking over the oil lamp. He then inadvertently saw flames shooting into the sky in the west!
"My goodness!" Da Zhuang ran off quickly, shouting as he ran!
"Fire!"
"Someone is coming!"
"Fire! Help!"
The first to arrive upon hearing the noise was Dugu Wuhui, followed by Tie Tou who ran over.
"What happened?" Dugu Wuhui used the wall as leverage to fly over it.
Someone inside the house was startled awake and opened the courtyard gate!
"I don't know, it just suddenly caught fire!" Dazhuang carried a bucket and splashed water onto the haystack next to him. Fortunately, the fire prevention measures were good. There were water tanks everywhere in the yard, and they had taken precautions against fire early on, with open spaces between the haystacks.