Chapter 1177: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (Sixty-Seven) Poverty and Hardship

Donkey returned home happily, took out two bills from his pocket, sat at the table, looked left and right, and murmured: "It's really beautiful!" His wife walked away carrying two vegetable bowls. He came over and put a bowl of braised pork and a bowl of pickled vegetables on the table. Then he went back and brought a plate of steamed buns over. He looked at the donkey and said, "What are you laughing at?"

Donkey's surname is Mao, and he has a very bad temper, so everyone calls him Donkey. Not many people remember his real name. "This is the monthly payment from my boss today." Donkey reached out and grabbed a steamed bun and took a big bite.

"What? This, why isn't this copper money? Why is it this colorful thing?" His wife was surprised, picked up the two bills from the table, looked at them up and down and said: "Donkey, we can't read, but we can't read." Don’t let the boss fool you, why is this money?”

"Don't talk nonsense. This is the new money just issued by the imperial court. From now on, no silver, gold, copper coins, etc. are allowed to be used. You can only use this ticket. This is what everyone in the store is issued. Here , this is my monthly salary, a total of fifteen yuan, you can take it," said the donkey.

"Here, can this be used as money?" His wife was dubious.

"Of course you can. This is approved by the king. Think about who the king is. He can still lie to us? There is a notice posted at the city gate. Someone has read it to us, saying that he has gold and silver at home. You can go to a special place to exchange copper coins. It seems that one tael of silver is exchanged for one yuan. You can exchange it for as many taels of silver as you have at home!"

"My family has saved sixty taels of silver this year, have they all been cashed in?"

"Of course I have cashed it. What are you afraid of? When I came back just now, I saw Mr. He Dayou who lives on our street and went to cash it. What kind of person is he? He is a congressman and his wife is a general. You know? They have a lot more money than us, so what’s the point of our money? Besides, will the king lie to us? Without the king, how can I have the money to marry? With you as my wife, how can this old house that was originally leaky be made so bright? The notice said that everyone rushed to exchange money to support the court's currency reform and support the king. "

“What is currency reform?”

"I don't know, but as long as you support the king. I can do it even if I lose all my money. Go, you can go after dinner. I have to go to work in the afternoon, and the boss has taken on another big job during this time. , I want to transport a batch of ordnance to Dai County, I signed up to go. "

"It's the New Year, and you still have to go so far away? How can you come back in time to celebrate the New Year?" His wife immediately made a bitter face.

"What do you know, mother-in-law? The boss said it. This trip will cost three times the salary! Aren't you pregnant? I need to earn more money to prepare the baby. I'm preparing New Year's goods at home first.

If I can't come back, you can keep your parents with you. " said the donkey.

"Then you should eat more meat. If you have to walk such a long distance in this cold weather, you won't be able to eat well on the way." The woman brought a large bowl of braised pork to the donkey.

"You are stupid. You are really stupid. We went out with the boss. We were afraid that we would not get good food. The boss was fawning over us. We ate much better than at home. This meat is still yours. Eat more, now you are not the only one eating, but my son is also here, you need to eat more!" the donkey chuckled. "Now that life is getting better, eating meat is no longer a rare thing. I will prepare more New Year's goods this year, including some chicken, duck, and fish."

"Um!"

"Pull some more cloth and make new clothes. Look, your body is covered with patches."

"Oh, I'll have sex with you too."

"I don't have to. I guess I won't be able to come back in time for the New Year this year. I made new clothes and don't have time to wear them. When I come back, the New Year will be over and I have to go to work again. Should I wear new clothes to work? , so I don’t have to, I will do it again next year. This is not about giving up money. We can make money now, as long as people are diligent and willing to endure hardships. Don’t you think we can save dozens of taels of silver this year? I will definitely be able to save more. If I work hard, I might be able to make a small salary next year, and my salary will double."

The donkey's wife sat quietly aside, silently listening to the donkey chattering, her face and eyes filled with contented happiness.

Yes, there is no shortage of money now. Compared with previous years, life now is like a fairy. Both of them are natives of Jicheng, so they can naturally understand the huge gap between the present and the past.

As members of the lowest class of the Han Kingdom, Mao Luer and his wife felt that they were not short of money and lived a very happy life. But at this moment, in Pinggu County, Shanggu County, thousands of miles away from Jicheng, Li Mingjun, the general of Western Zhao, was Money troubles my mind.

In the Handan Revolution of Zhao State three years ago, Zhao Qi failed and ran away with Zhao Wang Zhao Wuji's eldest son. With the support of the Qin people, he occupied the western part of Zhao State and established Zhao Wuji's eldest son as King of Zhao and appointed himself as the leader. Assistant, and as Zhao Qi's die-hard confidant, Li Mingjun was named a general, and Zhao Xilie, Zhao Qi's son, became the second general of Xi Zhao.

Zhao Xilie was stationed in Jinyang County. Jinyang County was now the capital of Western Zhao, while Li Mingjun led an army of 50,000 to station in Shanggu County. Pinggu became the place where Li Mingjun's general was stationed, and Dong Zhao was stationed in Dai County. The armies faced each other at a distance.

But compared to the Dong Zhao army, Li Mingjun was much more distressed. Because he had no money, his most important job was not to train soldiers and prepare the army for war, but to think hard to raise food, fodder, military pay, and uniforms for the army. Western Zhao occupies Jinyang, Shanggu and other places, which were originally sacred places. However, in the last war, these places were ravaged by the Qin army. The people suffered so much that they basically had nothing left. It can be said that Extremely poor. After Li Mingjun arrived here, the biggest problem was to feed the army and squeeze the people. But the problem was that the people here were already so poor that they had nothing.

Dong Zhao does not need to worry about this problem, because behind them is the Han State, and the king of Dong Zhao, Zhao Wuji, has completely become a puppet.

, every day's work is to live in a dream, and the power of the country is completely controlled by Zhou Changshou, above the economic policy. Zhou Changshou fully adhered to the policies of the Han Dynasty, vigorously cracked down on wealthy landlords, and strictly restricted land annexation. It would not take long for the Han Dynasty to issue any policy. In Dong Zhao, it will be promulgated in the same way. Although sometimes it is inevitable that Dong Shi will imitate and cause some troubles of one kind or another, but generally speaking, there is nothing wrong. Dong Zhao's economy is getting better day by day. not to mention. They could also obtain loans at low interest rates from Han, or obtain goods from Han merchants first and then pay for them at the appropriate time. Compared with Dong Zhao's army stationed in Dai County, Li Mingjun felt like a beggar now.

Standing outside the military camp, Li Mingjun felt extremely heavy. It was already the middle of winter, but his soldiers were still wearing single clothes, and they had not put down their winter cotton clothes at all. Tens of thousands of soldiers could only huddle in the military camp and shiver. Now he was inspecting a military camp located at the front line, here. Three thousand soldiers were stationed, but in the howling cold wind, Li Mingjun didn't even see a single soldier standing guard. The huge military camp looks like a dead fortress from the outside. Not a single human voice was heard.

If Dong Zhao's army came at this time, they would easily swallow up his 3,000-man forward battalion. Li Mingjun's face was full of bitterness, and he had no intention of blaming his soldiers. On such a cold day, the soldiers in single clothes did not cause trouble. Without the mutiny, it would have been pretty good.

He reached out and pushed the door of the camp. In response, Li Mingjun walked in with heavy steps. The guards behind him quickly quickened their pace and rushed inward to notify the garrison leader.

After a moment, the entire military camp was boiling. Several generals rushed out with panic on their faces. Looking at their appearance, Li Mingjun felt a little sore in his heart. The dignified general of the forward camp was actually wrapped in several burlap bags. General In this way, the soldiers can imagine.

"General!" Guo Fu, the general of the forward battalion, swallowed, "Why are you here? I, I will assemble the army immediately."

Li Mingjun waved his hand, "Forget it, why are you gathering the army? Let everyone come and enjoy the breeze? Let's go to your camp."

"Yes, thank you General for your kindness."

"Brothers, you don't have enough food and clothes to keep out the cold. This is a dereliction of duty on my part as a general. You can still restrain the troops in the camp. You have done a good job. Not only is it not guilty, but it is also meritorious." Li Mingjun nodded.

Guo Fu's eyes suddenly became wet. What kind of life is this? The beggar also lives more comfortably than himself.

It was as cold as an ice cellar in Guo Fu's tent, and there wasn't even a fire. Li Mingjun frowned: "Why isn't there even a fire?"

"General, it's not that I'm lazy, but I've cut down everything that can be cut around here. We have to go far. Firstly, the cold is unbearable. Secondly, there are often cavalry coming out from the opposite side. We have several of them going out. The soldiers who were cutting firewood all left and never came back, and the general never dared to send people out again. If the general hadn't tried his best to restrain them, the camp would have been burned to the ground by the soldiers. , when can we get rid of the cotton-padded clothes, quilts and charcoal fire? If this continues, the soldiers will eventually be unable to bear the mutiny. "

"Is there enough food to eat?"

"The general shipped a batch here before, and now we can barely survive for a few days, but the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and we don't even have any New Year supplies. The soldiers don't say it, but they must have complaints in their hearts. ”

"There has just been news from Jinyang that a batch of supplies will be delivered in the next few days. When the time comes, I will give you priority to allocate a batch to meet the urgent need." Li Mingjun said.

Guo Fu smiled bitterly: "General, can you believe the words from Jinyang? They have said such empty words countless times. If you count on them, I'm afraid it's just empty talk."

"What should I do if I don't count on Jinyang? There is nothing left in Shanggu. Even if I rob it without conscience, I won't be able to rob it."

"General, to tell you the truth, I've been crazy with cold and hungry these past two days. I'm going to do something, but I have to give it a try anyway," Guo Fu said.

"Are you trying to capture the other side? How powerful are your soldiers now?" Li Mingjun frowned and said, "I'm afraid they'll be too cold to hold their swords and guns."

"People who are crazy about hunger will burst out with great power." Guo Fu hissed: "The popular and spicy food across the way is here, but we are freezing and starving here. Everyone's eyes are red. It's such a cold day. They didn't expect us to take action. Didn't even you, the general, think of this? As long as we get one vote, not only will our battalion's problems be solved, but you, the general, will also have a comfortable year."

"You've done recon?"

"Of course, the other side is decorated with lights and preparing for the New Year. They probably came to check out my military camp. I'm afraid they don't take us seriously at all."

Li Mingjun suddenly realized, "So your camp is like this for show."

"Half and half, it's also because it's really cold." Guo Fu smiled. "The other side will never think that we are like this, and we dare to attack them, so there is a high possibility that I will succeed." (To be continued)