Chapter 3 Fate with the Master
The refugees were originally a motley crowd, and seeing that they could not take down the tough bone of Wei's house, they went to other territories.
Wei Youcai took Wei Yuan down the corner tower, sat in the main hall, and began to deal with the aftermath. Little Wei Yuan was covered in blood, and was taken down to bathe and change clothes. After cleaning up, Wei Youcai had someone take him back to the main hall, put a chair next to him, and sat him down, watching Wei Youcai deal with the aftermath.
After the war, many things piled up like a mountain. Dozens of servants who went into battle were injured, and several died. There were dozens of bodies of refugees on the wall and in the yard, and these had to be transported out first. The housekeeper also selected a few brave and careful servants to search for property on the bodies of the refugees. In the year of disaster, a little more property is also good.
Wei Youcai was giving instructions one by one, when he saw Bald Old Six carrying a person into the main hall, throwing him to the ground, and saying, "Brother, I found a person among the refugees."
The person was dressed in scholar's attire, with his hands tied and his mouth tightly stuffed with rags. Apart from that, there was nothing else. The scholar's robe was just a little dusty, and it was obvious that he had not suffered much.
Seeing the scholar, the housekeeper felt that he looked familiar, and after a closer look, he said in a lost voice, "Mr. Zhang!"
Wei Youcai looked at the housekeeper, and the housekeeper said, "This is the scholar who gave the young master the name Yuan three years ago."
Wei Youcai slapped his thigh and said, "It turned out to be Mr. Zhang Sheng! How did he become like this?"
He walked quickly to Zhang Sheng, untied the rope on Zhang Sheng's hand himself, and then glared at Bald Old Six fiercely.
Bald Old Six immediately cried out, "It's none of my business! He looked like this when I found him in the refugee camp!"
Zhang Sheng took out the rag from his mouth and smiled bitterly, "It really has nothing to do with this warrior. I have to thank him for saving me."
"Yuan'er was named by you, so he is not an outsider." Wei Youcai ordered someone to bring a chair for Zhang Sheng to sit on, and then asked, "How did you end up among the refugees?"
Zhang Sheng sighed and said, "I am ashamed to say that I was teaching in Lin County and wanted to earn some money for the trip, but I didn't expect a large group of refugees to come suddenly. The defenders in the city fled and left all the people in the county to the refugees. A refugee leader saw that I could read and insisted that I be his military advisor. I refused, so he tied me up and brought me all the way here. He treated me courteously along the way, but after a while, he will lose his patience and might cook and eat me like everyone else."
Wei Youcai was surprised and said, "I remember that you should be a master with magical powers, how could you be caught by refugees?"
Zhang Sheng hesitated and couldn't explain clearly. Seeing this, Wei Youcai didn't make things difficult for him. He looked Zhang Sheng up and down, and suddenly a smile appeared on his face, which made Zhang Sheng a little creepy.
Wei Youcai bowed to Zhang Sheng and said, "Three years ago, my son, no, my son Wei Yuan, was given this name by you when he was born. Three years later, I met you again. It turns out that you have a connection with me!"
"No, not at all!" Zhang Sheng blurted out, which actually scared Wei Youcai.
Seeing Wei Youcai's strange expression, Zhang Sheng hurriedly said, "What I mean is that the young master has a deep destiny and deserves this name. I have no credit."
Wei Youcai smiled even more and said, "You are a talented person. I don't know how talented you are because I haven't read books, but no one in the surrounding dozens of miles knows more than you. Now there is chaos outside, and my son has reached the age of enlightenment. Why don't you let you enlighten him, teach him to read and write, and learn some of the teachings of the saints?"
For some reason, seeing Wei Youcai smiling so much and speaking in a semi-literate manner, Zhang Sheng shuddered again.
Zhang Sheng hurriedly refused: "Master Wei, you are too kind
. I am not very knowledgeable and will mislead the students if I teach others. Besides, I have only learned Taoism in my life, which is far from the teachings of saints and sages." Zhang Sheng said tactfully, but he actually didn't want to stay here any longer.
Wei Youcai didn't seem to understand what Zhang Sheng meant at all, and said with a smile: "Teacher, you can teach me for as many days as you want. There is no rush to decide now. Sit down first!"
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the two fat servants sandwiched Zhang Sheng in the middle, and the bald old man stood behind him with his hand on the knife handle. Bald old man had several new wounds on his body, and blood had seeped through the bandages, so he not only had murderous aura, but also a hot smell of blood.
Wei Youcai returned to his seat and continued to deal with the aftermath. Zhang Sheng said: "It seems inconvenient for me to be here, so it's better to avoid suspicion."
Wei Youcai smiled and waved his hand and said: "It's okay, sir, you are not an outsider, just watch!"
Zhang Sheng couldn't leave, so he could only sit.
At this time, the housekeeper came in again in a hurry, glanced at Zhang Sheng, and hesitated to speak. Wei Youcai said, "Sir, you are one of us, it's okay, go ahead."
The housekeeper said, "Master, there are still many injured refugees outside, most of them are seriously injured and unable to move. I have counted them, there are more than ninety in total. How to deal with these people?"
At this time, the bald old six sneered and said, "Old Eight, these people just wanted to kill us, and you still have to ask? After so many years, you have not changed your cowardly and soft-hearted habits. Okay, I'll tell you what to do. Dig two big pits and bury the dead first, bury them deeper. Then put the living next to the other pit, and wait until tomorrow morning to see who is still alive. If they are still alive by then, save them."
Zhang Sheng frowned.
The refugees with the lightest injuries were also deeply cut, and those who could move had already run away. At this time, how can they survive if they are thrown in the wild for a night? What the bald man said is not to watch them die without saving them?
Zhang Sheng looked at Wei Youcai, only to see that Wei Youcai had his eyes narrowed, as if he had fallen asleep and had not heard anything. The housekeeper left the room without waiting for Wei Youcai to speak, obviously doing what the bald man said.
Zhang Sheng turned around and happened to meet the bald man's eyes. The bald man grinned at him. Zhang Sheng immediately understood what he meant: If you dare to talk too much, I will bury you too.
After the housekeeper left, Wei Youcai seemed to have taken a nap. He slowly opened his eyes and asked, "Where is Lao Ba?"
The housekeeper hurried in again and said, "He just went to take care of some small matters. Big brother...what does the master want?"
Wei Youcai smiled and said, "I told you that Mr. Zhang is not an outsider, so don't worry about the name. Tell me more about the land and grain reserves."
The housekeeper said without thinking, "There are 53.5 mu of first-class good land, 137 mu of second-class land, and 60 mu of third-class land on the farm. There are a total of 107 tenants who farm for us, and each household rents about 2.3 mu of land. We sold some old grain at the beginning of the year, and now there are 230 shi of various grain reserves in the warehouse."
Wei Youcai said
slowly, "This year's harvest is definitely a total loss. If we only hope that we won't starve to death by the beginning of next spring, how many people can be fed with this food?" The housekeeper thought for a moment and said with some difficulty, "Sixth Master can hunt..."
The bald man snorted and said, "There is no grass on the mountain, where can we get prey?"
"In this case, about 240 people can survive, 3 taels per person per day, no less."
Wei Youcai said slowly, "So, in addition to the people in the house, only 30% of our tenants can survive when they come back."
Only 30% of the tenants can survive, and the rest will either starve to death or flee from famine and become refugees. If you don't want to starve to death or flee from famine, then there is only one way left.
Hearing this, Zhang Sheng understood that the food stored in the Wei house couldn't even feed its own tenants, so how could it afford the seriously injured refugees outside? This was the first time Zhang Sheng faced such a cruel choice in all these years.
During this moment, Zhang Sheng watched coldly and had an epiphany: I'm afraid that the people in this room are all murderers.
He suddenly remembered the fortune he saw when he set up the water-combined light array three years ago, and his heart suddenly jumped.
"Mr. Zhang!" Wei Youcai suddenly looked at Zhang Sheng, squinted his eyes and asked with a smile: "Sir, have you considered it? Are you willing to enlighten Yuan'er?"
Looking at Wei Youcai's smiling eyes, Zhang Sheng remembered the two big pits being dug outside the village. If he dared to say no, he would probably be buried in the same pit with the refugees. Zhang Sheng had suffered misfortunes in the past three years, and he couldn't use any of his Taoist power, just like an ordinary person. Now the refugees are crossing the border, and even the grass within a hundred miles has been eaten clean, and there is only yellow soil left. Even if Zhang Sheng can escape, he will starve to death in the wilderness. If he dies at this time, it can be said that his death is worthless.
After thinking about it, Zhang Sheng had no way out.
Thinking about it again, teaching and educating people is also noble, and he was supposed to teach in Lin County, so Zhang Sheng had to say, "Of course I am willing."
Wei Youcai was overjoyed and immediately pulled Wei Yuan over to perform the ceremony of apprenticeship. Little Wei Yuan was very obedient, and knelt down in front of Zhang Sheng and bowed down.
Zhang Sheng's face turned pale and he wanted to stand up and run away several times, but behind him was Bald Lao Liu and his big knife, how could he escape? He hesitated for a moment, and little Wei Yuan had already kowtowed three times.
Zhang Sheng sighed in his heart, since he had accepted the ceremony of apprenticeship, this fate was sealed.
Since you are here, you should make the best of it. After completing the ceremony of apprenticeship, Zhang Sheng felt more at ease. He stepped forward, helped little Wei Yuan up, and looked at him carefully.
Three years ago, Zhang Sheng left in a hurry, and in fact, he had never seen Wei Yuan at all. This was the first time he saw him. Little Wei Yuan had sword eyebrows and star eyes, and his big eyes were particularly beautiful, full of spirit, and Zhang Sheng was a little happy when he saw him.
Little Wei Yuan also looked up at Zhang Sheng, and suddenly the corners of his mouth slowly lifted up and he smiled. He could feel that Zhang Sheng was the fourth person who liked him.
And looking at the little face that was slowly filled with joy, Zhang Sheng's heart gradually softened.
After seeing that the apprenticeship ceremony was completed, Wei Youcai said, "Yuan'er will be entrusted to you for the next three years."
"Three years?" Zhang Sheng was surprised. He didn't plan to stay that long, he just wanted to teach him to read and get away.
Wei Youcai squinted his eyes, picked up the teacup, took a sip leisurely, and then said, "Three years later is the day for the unified examination of the Da Tang Xianzong. Yuan'er will be six years old at that time, which is just the right age to register for the examination. Three years of enlightenment, time is already very tight."
Zhang Sheng slapped his head, he almost forgot about such an important event as the Xianzong's unified examination for accepting disciples. But three years was really beyond his plan, so he had to say, "I have something important to do, so I have to go to Southern Qi
, and I'm afraid I can't stay for three years." Wei Youcai smiled and said, "Now there are refugees everywhere in the nearby counties. In a blink of an eye, the refugees will become bandits, and the ground will not be stable for two or three years. Sir, you haven't left Yongzhou for the past three years, and you can leave in the next three years?"
Zhang Sheng was stunned and thought carefully.
At this point, Zhang Sheng also knew that he couldn't leave in the next three years. He calmed down and said seriously, "If you want to participate in the Xianzong unified examination, three years is indeed very tight. In this case, please make preparations and start classes tomorrow morning."
Wei Youcai was overjoyed and quickly ordered the servants to clean up the room and decorate Zhang Sheng's residence and Wei Yuan's study room. After everything was arranged, Wei Youcai picked up the teacup, took a sip, and smiled, "Since you are not an outsider, I forgot about throwing a pheasant into my yard."
Zhang Sheng was shocked and broke into a cold sweat again.
In the early morning of the second day, the Wei residence had the sound of reading aloud for the first time.
In the study room that had been cleaned up last night, Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan sat opposite each other, and Zhang Sheng's clear voice echoed in the room:
"The general trend of the world is that after a long period of division, there will be unification, and after a long period of unification, there will be division. Weekend Seven... Ahem! I said it wrong, it's this: Da Tang established the country for a thousand years, and first established Jin and Qi..."
Outside the window, Wei Youcai, the bald man and the housekeeper squatted against the wall, eavesdropping with their ears erect.
After listening for a while, Wei Youcai slapped his thigh and whispered: "The general trend of the world is that after a long period of division, there will be unification, and after a long period of unification, there will be division! Although I have never read a book, I think this paragraph makes a lot of sense! This gentleman is really talented!"
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
In the blink of an eye, the mountains were green again, and the Tong River was surging again. Zhang Sheng also filled in all the lessons that others needed ten years to teach Wei Yuan.
(End of this chapter)