Otherworldly Days

Chapter 404 Wounded Soldiers

The firewood in the fireplace is burning brightly, the flames are jumping, and the iron pot hanging inside is boiling water.The boiled water was poured out bowl by bowl, and the silent men passed by one by one in order, picked up the bowl and drank a bowl of hot water, stepped back and let the next one come forward, and the pot of water was ready in a short while The bottom is over, put on cold water and hang it up to cook.

The men who had drunk the water stepped aside and stood quietly without making a sound.

The room is warm. People who have been walking in the cold wind for so long can warm up after drinking a bowl of hot water.Wang Dahu saw that the people around him drank hot water and put down their bowls, so he drank up the water in his bowl, poured another half bowl into it, and drank it up in big gulps.

Seeing Wang Dahu pick up the bowl he drank to drink water, Liu Baishu's expression remained normal, and he talked to the general about the border affairs.When Cao Gang listened, he let out a "huh" and his face was a little dark.

In the kitchen, food is being cooked in a big pot, which is prepared for the men in this house.

There was a knocking on the door, followed by the creaking of the door being pushed open.

"Cao Gang..." Brother, the last word was still in his mouth. As soon as Cao Xiangnan opened the door and went in, he saw a group of big men standing inside the room. He was still stunned, thinking that he had gone to the wrong place.

Seeing Cao Gang sitting in the room, and Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu who came back, Cao Xiangnan made sure that he went to the right place, "Brother Cao Gang." He called out, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and walked inside.

From the moment he walked in, everyone's eyes were on him, which gave Cao Xiangnan the illusion that he was being watched by a group of vicious wolves for a moment. He laughed and walked towards Cao Gang, feeling a little scared in his heart.

"Dahu, Baishu, you two are finally back." Cao Xiangnan said to the two with a smile, "It's been so long, I thought you wouldn't come back." To be honest, he liked Wang Dahu and For the two of Liu Baishu, if they never come back after leaving like this, he will still feel a little sad about it.

"Haha, Xiangnan, we're back, why don't we come back?" There are so many delicious foods here, the most important thing is to keep your stomach full.Wang Dahu stepped forward and gave Cao Xiangnan a bear hug.

The back was slapped twice by Wang Dahu's bear's paw, and he almost vomited blood. Cao Xiangnan quickly pushed the bear away, took two steps back, and stood in a safe place.Seeing that Wang Dahu had grown a beard again, he didn't forget that under the beard was a handsome face, everyone's brother has always missed Wang Dahu.

"Bai Shu, long time no see, welcome back." Cao Xiangnan turned his head to look at Liu Baishu, he found that Liu Baishu was very thin, and he didn't know where they went or what they went through this trip. so long.

"Xiangnan, long time no see." The smile on Liu Baishu's face was no different from before.Cao Xiangnan glanced back, not knowing the situation, looked at Cao Gang and asked, "This is?"

When he walked in just now, Cao Xiangnan didn't fail to notice that many of the men in this group seemed to have injuries on their bodies, they looked up with crutches, and their arms were hanging. Only a layer of skin and bones is left, but this pair of eyes are piercing, and each of them looks like a tough guy with strong bones.

No need to think that this group of people was brought back by Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu, he suddenly remembered that when Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu left, he asked them to bring brothers if they had any.So this is the person who brought him work?

"Xiang Nan, that's why I came to you." Cao Gang said with a heavy face.

"Huh?" Seeing Cao Gang's serious face, Cao Xiangnan looked at him seriously, waiting for him to say something.

Cao Gang told him the truth that the group of people brought back by Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu were wounded soldiers who had retreated from the battlefield.

In the desolate northwest, there is a shortage of food, and the army is stationed there, and Zinu outside the border invades from time to time, and there are constant wars there.When there is a war, there will naturally be casualties. The dead are buried in a handful of loess, and the injured who are alive means that they cannot fight on the battlefield. In the northwest border where there is a shortage of food, these wounded soldiers also mean that they need rice every day. feed them.

Naturally, the court is unwilling to spend food to support wounded soldiers who cannot fight on the battlefield. These people will be sent back to their original places according to their origins. If they don’t want to go back, they can go wherever they want.There are so many wounded soldiers every year that the imperial court can't even afford the food and salaries of the generals at the border, let alone spend two taels of money to settle these wounded soldiers. This has caused an embarrassing situation for the wounded soldiers.

Even if these people were sent back to their hometowns, many died of illness and starvation on the way back, and less than [-]% of them were able to go back to their hometowns.When I went back to my hometown, I was missing arms and legs, so I couldn’t work in the fields. These soldiers went to serve as soldiers and then went back. They were getting older, and it was not easy to find a partner. All died in poverty.

The officials of the imperial court naturally don't care about the life and death of the soldiers at the border, but the soldiers can't care about the life and death of their own soldiers.

The fire in the fireplace was crackling, Cao Xiangnan heard Cao Gang talking about the soldiers at the border, Wang Dahu and Liu Baishu would add a few words from time to time, and he also roughly understood the situation of these wounded soldiers.

In fact, no matter in this era or in the era when he came, the situation of the soldiers who were injured and retired was embarrassing. , In the end, he spent his whole life in poverty.

Cao Xiangnan never thought that he would be such a great person, all he thought about from the beginning to the end was just to give Wanfeng and the children a good life.Now that he meets these people and things, it is true that he can afford the money, but he will not support these people in vain. What he wants to do is to arrange a job for them, Let them live here on their own.

What he thinks is how to arrange these people, what can these people do?He kept these soldiers, and what he could do with them here. He had to think carefully about these issues.

Seeing Cao Xiangnan sitting there silently, Wang Dahu was impatient. He said, "Xiangnan, do you want these brothers of mine? If you want, just say a word. If you don't, I, Wang Dahu, will take them away."

"Sit down!" Liu Baishu said.

Cao Xiangnan raised his head to look at Wang Dahu who stood up, gave him a sideways glance, and said, "What are you doing in such a hurry, I didn't say no."

But he really didn't think about how to deal with this group of people. You said that I can arrange for a group of able-bodied people when you come back, right?You just brought me back a group of people with missing arms and legs, how do you want me to arrange it for a while? !

But since people have come all the way to Cao's Village and come to him, he can't drive them away, right?

"...Yes? Hey, you want my brothers, don't you?" Wang Dahu widened his eyes, laughed haha, and said in a loud voice, "I can hear you clearly, Xiang Nan. I want these brothers of mine, everyone has heard it, you can’t do it if you want.”

"Yes, yes, please don't quarrel, let me think about it." Once he takes over this batch of wounded soldiers, there may be a second batch of people. If these laid-off soldiers are brought to him in the future, What is he going to do?This is no small matter.

He is currently short of people. Once these people are sent over, they can make up for a gap in the labor shortage, but these people also have certain limitations.But it doesn't mean that these people are useless. If they are used well, they will definitely benefit a lot.

Make the best use of everything, everyone can also play everyone's strengths, right?

Cao Xiangnan glanced suspiciously at Wang Dahu, and then at Liu Baishu who was sitting there with a smile on his face all the time. How did they get these people here?He wondered who these people around him were!

Seen by Cao Xiangnan with suspicious eyes, the smile on Liu Baishu's face did not change, and he calmly let him watch.He looked at Cao Xiangnan with a smile in his eyes, knowing in his heart that Xiangnan must have a way to deal with these brothers properly.

None of the men standing there said a word or made the slightest sound.

Cao Xiangnan got up from where he was sitting, walked towards a group of men there, stood still in front of the first big man, coughed, cleared his throat, and said, "My surname is Cao, and my name is Xiangnan. .”

"Brothers, I'm glad you've come to Caojia Village. I don't have any great skills. What I'm trying to do now is just to support my family and provide food for my wife and children. Dahu and Baishu brought you here today. Coming here is also trust in me, Cao Xiangnan. What I can assure you is that, when you come here, I will absolutely not let you do murder and arson to harm the nature and reason."

"I'm short of people to work here, and it's not an easy job. There will definitely be hard work, but what I can tell you is that as long as you are willing to work hard and do it, you will be able to eat it. Of course, I I also want to emphasize here that if any of you are lazy, I don't welcome such people here."

"If you are willing to stay, I, Cao Xiangnan, can assure you that as long as you work hard, you will not miss a bite of food. If you work harder, there are also people who save a few money to buy a piece of land and build a house here to marry a wife." So today, if you are willing to stay in Caojia Village to work with me, Cao Xiangnan, you can stay. If anyone is unwilling to stay and wants to go back, I can also give you five taels of silver per person here. As travel expenses, let you go home."

"Brothers, if you are willing to stay and follow Brother Xiangnan, I will send a message here today. If you stay, if you want to go back, you will be given five taels of silver per person as Xiangnan said. I, Wang Dahu, borrowed the money from Xiang Nan." Wang Dahu walked over and said.