After feeding the exiled criminals, she was forced to reveal herself

Chapter 274: The centripetal force led by the Xie family

After Xie Yuchuan offered sacrifices on behalf of Han Qiguang, Han Qiguang's mental state remained excited until the afternoon.

The work that the convicts needed to do today was no different from that of the day before. After breakfast in the morning, the escorting officials once again counted the work that needed to be completed today, and then distributed it to groups of five to ten people at a minimum, and ten to twenty people at a maximum.

There are big and small jobs, dirty and tiring jobs, and easy jobs.

The Xie family doesn't care about big or small jobs. With Xiong Jiushan's mind, Xie Yuchuan feels that even easy jobs will not be left to the Xie family.

The heavy work is very hard in the cold winter.

Even the villagers in Wulibao were too lazy to reinforce the fortress in such a climate and against the cold wind. They were quite happy when they saw a group of convicts being forced to work by the officials.

I really hope they can stay a little longer and finish all the most tiring work in the fort, so that they won’t have to suffer through the hard work next spring when the flowers bloom.

It was all good thinking, but soon the people in the fort received news from the manager of the Tian family.

"I heard that the bandits from Qinglong Village are going down the mountain?"

"Who knows whether it's true or not? They're making threats to the city every day. The wanted posters at the gate of the government office are just like a toy. They're useless."

The villagers were notified and started to get busy, no matter whether it was true or false, they ate and drank from the Tian family, and the master was worried, so they did whatever they were asked to do.

Reinforce the outer walls, light up the boiling stove, increase patrols near the granary, go up the mountain to cut wood and go down the mountain to sharpen arrows...all of a sudden, everyone inside and outside started moving.

The Tian family's actions were on the verge of death. As a court official, Xiong Jiushan watched the Tian family's actions and endured it again and again. He still asked his subordinate Cheng Ye to call the other party over.

Ever since the Tian family from the city drove back, Tian Su'e had already discussed with her family that if things didn't go well in the city this winter, they would just retreat to the fort and stay there for the winter.

The eldest master of the Tian family was still in the city, and the second master of the Tian family came back with the accountant to discuss with Tian Su'e.

He chatted till midnight and fell asleep as he felt too tired. When he woke up, he found something strange in the fort. Then he believed the news brought back by the servants. His eldest niece really had invited a group of soldiers and fugitives to live in the fort.

Master Tian Er had lived for most of his life and had never thought of such an idea.

I was very nervous. "We are just ordinary people. It is not easy to fool the soldiers to stay here. I hope it will be difficult to send them away when it is easy to invite them."

Tian Su'e said calmly, "The escorting officers and soldiers are different from the others."

"He is also a man in official uniform. We never have close contact with officials."

"Uncle, in this world, it is not easy for us ordinary people to make enemies with mountain bandits. The government has the right to do so, and it is the government's responsibility to eliminate evil. Lord Xiong and his men do not care about local affairs, and the county government will not blame them. They are in charge of the fort, and they will always weigh their opinions. We just have to pay more for carriages, horses, money and food. The adults have both money and money, so we can borrow some of their help to avoid disaster. Only when the fort is peaceful and the Tian family is peaceful can all the counters be stable. When big brother and his men come back, we will have enough people and goods, and our Tian family will have the money to spend."

Master Tian Er asked, "Are we also responsible for the food and lodging of these prisoners in the fort?"

"But it's just some porridge and wild vegetables. I think it's worth it to exchange a small thing for a big one." Tian Su'e didn't think that this little bit of food would be a big burden to the Tian family, not to mention that they were not going to stay there for long.

Master Tian Er looked out the window and pointed at a group of prisoners being forced to work by the officials. "Since we have given them food rations, why are you still letting them do this?"

Tian Su'e said calmly, "That's what Lord Xiong and the others meant. They're probably afraid that the exiled prisoners will cause trouble if they have nothing to do."

"It's not bad to earn food in exchange for work." The second master of the Tian family suddenly felt that his family was not at a loss.

Tian Su'e did not express any opinion, but thought to herself that if this happened, she would not have the nerve to pay less food rations when the team set off one day.

As Master Tian Er watched, he discovered something interesting.

"Among those exiles, there are some who stand out from the crowd."

Tian Su'e lowered her head to check the account book with the old shopkeeper Tian Qing. When she heard her second uncle's words, a surname flashed through her mind.

Tian Qing looked up at her and said, "If you have any ideas, I'll let you know."

She did have some ideas, but… "Let's see."

"What are you looking at?" Master Tian Er heard the noise and turned around to look at him with his hands behind his back.

Tian Su'e put down her brush and looked up and said, "Among those exiles, there are descendants of the Xie family that were previously rumored."

"Which Xie family?" "The one in Beijing."

Master Tian Er suddenly realized, "That Xie family!"

"Yes, the Xie family."

Master Tian Er was in a good mood. He talked about how his smart and decisive niece was suddenly willing to take in a group of fugitives that others were afraid to avoid in their family's fortress.

It turns out that the drunkard's real intention is not to drink.

Master Tian Er, who had misunderstood for a moment, looked at Tian Su'e again, and I don't know how many filters he had created in his mind were added to his eyes.

Only Shopkeeper Tian, ​​who was beside Tian Su'e, knew that this was purely a coincidence. The eldest lady's original intention was really to use the power of the "government" to fight against the unscrupulous bandits in Qinglongzhai.

Disturbing the people is a minor matter, disturbing officials is a major matter.

His master is eager to help Boss Wan make a big deal out of this. If the matter gets out of hand, it will not just be a personal grudge. If the personal grudge cannot be resolved, he will just add fuel to the fire until it gets so big that the government will want to get rid of it as soon as possible, and the Tian family will have no chance of survival.

If you can't beat the tiger, lure another wild tiger into the mountains.

This step was very risky, so Tian Su'e didn't dare to ask the Yucheng government for help. The big master in the government couldn't protect himself, let alone help the Tian family. There is always a way out, and the mighty escort team passed by Wulibao.

She calculated the time in between, and used the tiger's skin and raised the banner to intimidate Wan Lichun day by day.

But unfortunately, something unexpected happened.

Tian Su'e didn't expect that among this group of fugitives, there was actually someone carrying extremely sweet sugar with them.

Tian Su'e has been in the sugar and tea business for generations since she was a child. From the samples brought back by Tian Qing, she intuitively felt that a chance to change the fate of the Tian family might be hidden in that bag of sugar.

A woman's natural intuition makes her cautious before big events.

She had an uncertain premonition that this bag of candy was like a bait to the Tian family. She didn't know what price the other party hoped the Tian family would pay.

A moment of hesitation and the day is gone.

Under the close watch of the officials, the convicts helped to build the fortifications in the fortress. With the experience of yesterday, more people volunteered to help the Xie family today.

Xie Yuchuan never refuses anyone, and the Xie family is willing to pay as long as they are willing to help.

Many people gritted their teeth and quickly finished their own work, and then saved some energy to come to the Xie family to "ask for work". The remuneration varied from person to person, and the Xie family did not give much money, food, cloth and medicine, but they could afford it.

Among all the fugitives, the Xie family is the "richest" one except the Chai family.

Old Madam Xie did not say anything and let Xie Yuchuan do it. The Xie family did not hide their concern for him.

Many people, because of the job of helping, invisibly moved closer to the Xie family.

"In this way, with more exchanges, the general's words will surely have more influence." Zhang Dayi said when seeing this trend.

Xie Yuchuan's eyes were calm.

"Xiong Jiushan may not be happy to see this happen."

Han Qiguang said happily: "It's a different time now, he's very conflicted now."

Several people looked at each other and smiled.

A few snowflakes suddenly fell.

Everyone looked up and saw it was snowing again!
Xie Yuchuan looked up, and heard the voice of the family god:

"Will you show me the moon tonight?"

A hint of warmth appeared in the deep black eyes.

(End of this chapter)