Chapter 28

“Qiongzhou is here, what are you doing in bed, hurry up and get off.” The person in charge of inspecting and delivering the goods said in a fierce tone. The slave behind him was led on the rope and squeezed out of the boat.

They were all gray, and their hair looked dirty, and their hair was tied into strands by hair oil, which gave off a sour stench that they hadn’t bathed in many days.

The crowd watching the excitement retreated a little while covering their noses, letting officers and soldiers **** more than 2,000 slaves down. The young general at the head saw Jiang Chaosheng from a distance in the crowd, and his eyes sank slightly when he saw Ji Xuanbing’s face.

Lanyan disaster, as Jiang Chaosheng’s close confidant, is one of the few people who knows that Ji Xuanbing is not a woman, but Ji Xuanbing has not done anything to harm Qiongzhou at present, and he will not interfere with Jiang Chaosheng’s feelings.

The soldiers below are escorting the slaves to their temporary accommodation. The small wooden houses that have been eliminated since this time, the original soldiers have all lived in their new houses. This kind of simple construction of wood does not have a foundation connection at all. The row of cabins was just right for slaves to live in.

Lou Zhan took out a list: “City lord, this is the list of slaves purchased by the humble post for this trip. There are more than 2,000 slaves in total, including 1,203 mature slaves, 670 young slaves, and old slaves. Three hundred and fifty-four people. The strong slave is 2,000 yuan, the young slave is 1,000 yuan, and the old slave is 600 yuan. Their deeds of sale are all locked in a box, and they are not carried with them by the humble staff. They will be sent to your house later.”

The price of silver in Lan Guo was on the high side, but copper coins were very cheap. One gold was equal to ten silver, and one catty of silver was one thousand dollars, which meant that one tael of silver was about one hundred dollars. A prime-age slave costs about twenty taels of silver, and the cheapest old slave is only sixty taels of silver.

Nowadays, people’s life span is short. If they can live to sixty years old, they will be considered longevity. If they are over forty years old, they will be old. Most of the slaves are not in good health. Died soon after.

Among the slaves, the black slaves with the size of the iron tower are the most expensive. Generally, they are only kept in the families of princes and nobles. The second is the actors who are especially beautiful, or who are good at singing and dancing. They can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, but Jiang Chaosheng did not raise slaves for pleasure. Just to increase the population of the city, the natural choice is cheap ordinary slaves.

The price of this slave is much lower than that of Kyoto, but everything in the capital is expensive, and there are often many losses during the transportation process. The price that Lou Zhan bought these people is in line with the market price, not expensive nor particularly cheap.

After Ji Xuanbing heard this, the abacus in his heart crackled, and he used the cover of the table to tug at Jiang Chaosheng’s sleeve: “Chaosheng, the total is 3,288,400 coins, 32,800 Eighty-four taels of silver, right?”

Men become bad when they have money, but Jiang Chaosheng is obviously a good man. Although the two are only engaged and have not officially married, the stewardship of the palace has been handed over to Ji Xuanbing. Ji Xuanbing’s ability to settle accounts was taught by Jiang Chaosheng.

According to Jiang Chaosheng’s words: “Xuanbing’s money should be clear about how it was spent and how it was earned, and keep an account in mind, so as not to suffer losses. Even if it is spent on me, it should be calculated. it is good.”

Jiang Chaosheng is actually soft-hearted and not hard-hearted. He will never be soft-hearted if he wants to cheat him, but the little merman is so stupid that he foolishly holds a sincere heart, how can he be willing to let him down: “Xuan Bing should be To be my investor, I will work hard not to let you suffer this loss.”

After two people get married, the money will naturally be put together, but they are still married, and the pre-marital property should be counted separately. When a woman gets married in the world, the dowry brought to her husband’s family is private property. Jiang Chaosheng just wanted to make a salted fish, but didn’t want to eat soft rice. Besides, he now has to support his family and protect this little merman, and he is afraid that he can’t even make salted fish.

He smiled and praised Ji Xuanbing: “You’re not bad at your calculations. The arithmetic you learned a few days ago can be used now, which shows how talented you are.”

The people under Jiang Chaosheng are not lacking in elites, and more than one is better than Ji Xuanbing, but he has never praised someone in such a simple and straightforward manner.

Standing not far away, Lou Zhan was shivering with goose bumps. He had been with Jiang Chaosheng for several months. He knew that Wang An didn’t like to let outsiders get close. He looked gentle and didn’t care, but he was cold and alienated in his bones. Watching him get along with Ji Xuanbing was utterly disgusting.

Before Lou Zhan knew that Ji Xuanbing was a man, he felt a little bit of love in his heart, and then he cut it off lightly. King An’s treatment was so obvious that he couldn’t even deceive himself.

The little shark raised the corners of his lips proudly. It is one thing to be proud of himself, but it is another to get the affirmation of his sweetheart. He leaned over to look at the list, but found that only thirty-two thousand silver was written on the last word, and the fraction of eight hundred and eighty-four taels was erased: “Why don’t the numbers on the list match?”

He is no longer an illiterate little merman. Although he still has some unfamiliar characters that he has not learned yet, Ji Xuanbing has already recognized the basic characters. One is one, two is two, whether it is more or less, it must be called Zhenrong must be clear.

Jiang Chaosheng explained on behalf of Lou Zhan: “We made such a large order, and naturally we have to wipe out a fraction. You are like a businessman in the city. If you buy a lot of things, even if you don’t reduce the price, you will add a little extra. ”

Lou Zhandao: “What the lord said is that we almost swept the entire Yunzhou slave market, so the manager gave a discount.”

The slave market in Wangzhou is not that big. These slaves were bought from the largest slave market in the twelve cities of Yunzhou, which was farther inland.

Ji Xuanbing nodded in agreement: “But I saw fruit sellers at the stall before, one for three dollars, three for ten dollars, how come it’s more expensive to buy more at one time?”

Jiang Chaosheng said: “That’s because the stall owner bullies some people who are not good at arithmetic. If you study hard, you won’t let outsiders take advantage of this.”

“I will, but Chaosheng can take advantage of me as he wants.” Of course, only Jiang Chaosheng can take advantage of himself, and Ji Xuanbing has never suffered a loss from others.

“My lord, I have to go back to work on those slaves. I will report to you after a little rectification?” Lou Zhan regretted that he had chosen this time to come here. Even though he had not eaten, he was already full of dog food.

Jiang Chaosheng nodded: “Go back and rest, it’s been a long journey.”

When Lou Zhan left, the mighty slave team also disappeared along the newly built road at the end of the two people’s field of vision. Ji Xuanbing leaned his head on Jiang Chaosheng: “Chaosheng, those human cubs look so pitiful.”

Ji Xuanbing used to watch from a distance on the bottom of the sea, and he didn’t have any special feelings for humans, but just now there were so many slaves coming, those adults with cloudy eyes and numb faces were forgotten, the merman couldn’t help but pay attention to the Those rather skinny human cubs.

Some of them look like they are only five or six years old, and one is small. And these human cubs not only have black hair and black eyes, but also have red hair, yellow hair, small faces, and big eyes, which reminded him of those little mermen on the seabed. But the little sharks are treasures, and these human cubs are like mustards.

Jiang Chaosheng patted the little merman’s head: “Don’t worry, you won’t let them do any heavy work.”

Ji Xuanbing said: “That’s not possible, Chaosheng, you bought them back to build a city.”

“It’s okay, they have to support them and then work.” Of course, Jiang Chaosheng couldn’t support this group of people for nothing. Even for ordinary people, most children have to help the family when they are very young. The economic development is not in place, it is impossible Ten fingers do not touch the spring water.

If slaves lived better than ordinary people, maybe many people would voluntarily abandon their children. No matter how weak Jiang Chaosheng was, he wouldn’t make such a decision out of his head.

Jiang Chaosheng was afraid of Ji Xuanbing’s thoughts, so he simply pulled the other party to change the policy together: “This newly revised Qiongzhou order will be posted on the day we get married, Xuanbing, please help me to see if there is anything that is not thoughtful. of.”

When the little merman heard the word marriage, his ears perked up immediately, his eyes widened, and he refused to miss half of the word: “Let me see.” In this way, he didn’t have any extra time to think about messy things.

The slaves who arrived at Qiongzhou were very dazed and chaotic. The little slave who was looking at Ji Xuanbing was in a state of being shocked by the beauty of the little merman. Among the several crying slaves, they were too stunned but a little bit out of it. .

As the southwest area, the twelve cities of Yunzhou are not rich. To be precise, in addition to the central area where Kyoto is located, there are many plains in the south of the Yangtze River. This area in the southwest is quite poor, and the further south you go, the poorer it becomes.

On the one hand, the mountains are huge, the forests are full of insects, ants, and miasma, and the mountain roads are difficult and tortuous. Although the land is vast, there are not many places where people can live and farm. The island is rich in resources, but the weather is hot all the year round. In the case of a poor medical environment, injuries and illnesses are easy to be infected. It is difficult for a person to survive. After a disaster such as a typhoon or a tsunami, the family business accumulated over the years will be wiped out overnight.

Half of the slaves in Yunzhou were prisoners who were defeated in the war with Lan Kingdom, and the remaining half were exiled slaves who originally came from the central region. Before buying slaves, the people under Lou Zhan went to find out that they were not wicked criminals. Except for the captives, most of them were ordinary slaves who had committed petty crimes like stealing. Going down, the good people who have to owe debts and sell themselves.

Heidou is a special case. He is not a prisoner, nor does he commit a crime. He is a domestic slave, and his father and mother are both slaves.

Although slaves can marry, they do not have their own private property, and the children born are also the wealth of their masters. Therefore, Heidou was born as a slave, a serf who worked for others. If there were no accidents, he would live the same life as his parents. However, when he was ten years old, the original owner’s family offended people and the family was destroyed, so he and the original owner’s family were reduced to the slave market, waiting for the new owner to buy them away.

When they were sent to the slave market, the prisoners were very anxious and huddled together, letting the people who came and went pick and choose them. If they cannot be sold in the nearest market, these slaves will be transported to more prosperous and remote places. Children of ordinary families are prone to accidents when they travel long distances, not to mention slaves who are not looked after. If they are unlucky, they may die on the way.

However, in the twelve cities of Yunzhou, most of the people had a hard life, and not many people could afford to buy slaves. Many people picked and bargained, and only bought a very small number of slaves.

Until suddenly a big customer came, and most of the people in the slave market were about to leave. The steward of the market was smiling, and he was quite generous by sending some unsellable goods directly to the big customer. Zi emptied the slave market in Yunzhou.

The person in charge of taking over them said that the one who bought them this time was a very kind-hearted master, and his status was very honorable. They were lucky. After building the city, they can have a good life in the future. Some people believed it, and some people were quite frustrated and said that what a good life there is in building a city, it must be like working in labor, exhausted to death.

Heidou was quite happy. They were lucky. They were all together. Unlike some people, they were forced to sell to different places, and they didn’t even know when their relatives died. Anyway, they are all slaves, and it is best for aunt, aunt and sister to be together.

When they got on the boat and the boat was sailing at sea, the steward who was in charge of dispatching the rice brought over the stewed rice. Of course, it was all coarse grains, and it was not very thick, but in the eyes of the black beans, the rice was better than what they had on Zhuangzi before. Well, as long as the new owner is not bad and allows himself to be full, Black Bean decides to work hard.

After arriving at Qiongzhou Island, Heidou looked left and right. Qiongzhou City was not particularly lively, except for the beaches and trees that grew differently, and it didn’t seem to be much more prosperous than Yunzhou City.

It wasn’t until he met the city master husband who came out with him that Heidou was stunned like a child who had never seen the world. There was also a little girl in his original master’s family. She was a spoiled young lady. Everyone praised her for her beauty, and Heidou also thought she was beautiful.

But seeing the new city lord and the city lord’s wife, Heidou felt that the eldest young lady was a fire-fighting girl. If there were not many ordinary people in the streets, Heidou would almost think that he was sold to an immortal.

After arriving at the place where I lived, I ate a full meal, and took a shower and changed into new clothes. Heidou even suspected that he was dreaming. Although the clothes had patches on them, they looked like old clothes, but the clothes were neat and clean.

The city lord and the future city lord’s wife did not appear, but the steward set new rules for the slaves, and Heidou also listened to the laudable love story of the city lord and the city lord’s wife.

“Ten days from now will be the city lord’s big wedding. During this time, the city will be very busy. The lord is kind, I wish you all to rest and recuperate. Take a day off. You will get up and work hard. We will sell the slippery ones, and you won’t be able to find such a good master with lanterns!”

Some people listened to what the steward said, while others disagreed. There are no good masters with benevolent hearts in the world, but they will definitely not want to be sold in a short time. No matter what the plan was, he said he would perform well.

The chalet is not very big. There are about 20 people in one room, but the management is very considerate. If it is a family who has known each other for a long time, they can live together. The men and women must be separated at present. A six-year-old child, even a boy, can stay with a female relative.

Heilang was ten years old. He and his father crowded into a room of a group of men, and his mother, two younger sisters, and a group of women with children crowded into a room.

In the first few days, the work was very light, and I didn’t make much black beans. It was a simple job of pasting boxes. The strong labor was more difficult, and I had to participate in road construction and moving stones and wood, but the meals on both sides were different. Adults can eat full of dry food cakes, and can eat three meals a day. Of course, slaves still worked without pay. But for some slaves whose stomachs were not full in the past, this kind of life has been very satisfying.

When he opened his eyes and closed his eyes, all kinds of red ribbons and lanterns were hung on the big trees on both sides of the road. Heidou knew that this was the city owner and the city owner’s wife who were about to get married.

Two days before the two got married, the new Zhoucheng decree was promulgated, and a lot of lists were posted on the bulletin board outside the government office, and many people crowded there to watch.

In front of the wooden house where the slaves lived, part of it was also posted, mainly about their rules.

Because apart from the kind of official slaves sent by big families, the slaves were almost illiterate, and there were special stewards who came out and talked about it.

“Your daily work will be credited with contribution points, ten contribution points per day for completing work, extra contribution points if you do well, four contribution points are deducted from food and clothing per day, and contributions under the age of sixteen are all halved. Knowing that the arithmetic of this group of slaves may not be good enough, the manager said succinctly, “Do it properly, at most ten years, you will be able to break away from slavery and be free. If you are lucky, you will be free in five or six years. Yes, if you can make a great contribution to Qiongzhou City, it will be faster.”

All the slaves were boiling, and even Heidou’s father was so excited that his hand hurt. Everyone didn’t get a good night’s sleep that night, and everyone was talking about it before the lights went out.

“Are you telling the truth, you can get out of slavery for up to ten years?”

“Ten years is too long. Maybe it’s just fooling us. At that time, I can just find an excuse and bet on the contribution degree and refuse to give it. I haven’t been able to get the contribution degree of 20,000.”

They have lived for so long, and they have never heard of such a good thing, one or two is not enough, that kind of lucky family slave, the master is benevolent, it is possible to return the deed of betrayal, but so many people, how is it possible .

“That’s right, and some of us have imprints on them. Even if we say they’ve recovered, what should we do with the imprints, and then we’ll find an excuse to take us back…”

“What’s the noise at night, go to bed quickly, you have to get up early to work tomorrow, don’t you want your contribution?” The irritable voice of the steward sounded, and the cabin became quiet again.

Heidou wanted to speak, but he swallowed the words when they reached his lips. He believed that this was true. After all, the city owner and the city owner’s wife were so good-looking, they would definitely not lie!

The thin black beans didn’t know at this time that he would become the first person to enjoy the new order of Qiongzhou. It didn’t take ten or eight years, but in less than a year, he left the slave status and took the whole family to turn over. body.

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Ji Xuanbing: Good looks can be deceiving! like me