My father Yongle, building a five-good family

Chapter 83: If you don’t want to do this job, there are plenty of people who will!
The city gate.

Today's refugees are not as lifeless as in the past.

Through word of mouth, the refugees at the city gate soon learned the news.

The big shots in the city are about to start building the city wall of Datong.

It’s just that whether Datong’s city wall was repaired or not had nothing to do with them.

If the Tatars really come, whether there are city walls to stop them or not, what does it have to do with the refugees outside the city walls?

What really excited them was that they would have three meals a day while building the city wall, and each meal would include two steamed buns and a stack of pickles.

For the big shots in the city, even their own dogs would not eat such food, but for the refugees outside the city, they can eat two steamed buns for each meal, which allows them to survive. There is still hope for this winter.

Ge Cheng, the chief official of Prince Yan's Palace, looked at the long queue and thought about these refugees who were scrambling to do hard labor just for a few hard steamed buns. An inexplicable sense of superiority arose in his heart.

As he was thinking this, a gust of cold wind blew. He wrapped himself in his padded jacket and cursed the horrible weather in his heart.

In Datong in November, the north wind blowing on your body feels like a knife scraping your bones, with waves of pain that spreads from your marrow.

Ge Cheng blew on his frozen hands and his tone became a little impatient.

He looked at the hesitant middle-aged man in front of him and frowned:

"Two meals a day, two steamed breads per meal. Ask around, where else can you get such good treatment? There are some people and things that you will never get to know in your whole life. It's better to be down-to-earth."

The middle-aged man showed a flattering smile on his weather-beaten face:

"Sir, can you please be flexible? I have a wife, daughter and elderly people at home. I am already satisfied and grateful for having enough food and clothing. But can you give me a little more? Four steamed buns are a bit of a stretch to feed four adults and one child in a day..."

Ge Cheng frowned, and a frosty expression appeared on his face as he listened to the words of the middle-aged man:
"Why are you nagging? If you don't work, you won't eat. You want to eat free steamed bread? Where in the world can you find such a good thing? Or do you think I'm easy to talk to and come here to cause trouble?"

After hearing these words, the middle-aged man was so frightened that he trembled and kept saying he didn't dare.

Seeing his extremely embarrassed appearance, Ge Cheng's anger subsided a little, and he lazily lifted his eyelids, glanced at the group of refugees in front of him, and said slowly:

"The refugees are displaced, or harmed by soldiers, or the land is left barren. Our King Yan is kind and generous, and is able to give you a bite to eat. That is already a great favor. If you are still picky, you are ungrateful."

Then, Ge Cheng said meaningfully:

"If you don't do this job, there are plenty of people who can do it!"

Just as he finished speaking, a child appeared at the end of the refugee group.

The child, who was wearing coarse linen clothes, heard this and spit fiercely. He looked at the old man next to him and said indignantly:
"This King of Yan is really a piece of shit! He wants to send people away with just two steamed buns. Who is he looking down on? This Chief Clerk is also a hypocrite. His eyes are almost growing on the top of his head, but he still pretends to be a good person."

The old man next to him didn't care at first, but this fat kid who came out from nowhere was really too brave.

He actually dared to speak ill of the Chief Secretary and the King of Yan in the team in front of so many people.

This cannot be simply described by the saying that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger.

To be honest, I can only say that...ignorance is bliss.

Furthermore, the child's appearance and dress were extremely strange.

He was wearing a ragged linen suit, but he was indeed plump and solid.

Doesn't this clearly tell others that his identity is not that simple?

After experiencing separation, migration and turmoil, the refugees are no longer interested in this kind of existence that seems like "trouble".

The little kindness they had had had long since disappeared while they were fleeing famine and wandering.

Therefore, after hearing Zhu Gaoyu's nagging, almost instantly, the refugees around him subconsciously took a step back, trying to distance themselves from the child.

When the old man saw Zhu Gaoyu, he couldn't help but think of his little grandson buried under the roots of the willow tree. He sighed, but still couldn't bear it. He grabbed his sleeve and wanted to pull him behind himself to block his presence.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the old man touched the little fat man, his eyes suddenly widened.

Whose kid is this?

How come you have so much strength?

The old man was caught off guard and was pulled over by him.

Zhu Gaoyu looked at him with surprise and suddenly raised his voice:

"Grandpa, how do you know there's a farm on the outskirts of the city hiring people?"

The old man was stunned for a moment, then he turned his head and saw the unfriendly look of Ge Cheng, the Chief Secretary of Prince Yan.

Fortunately, the old man has experienced life and death, and many storms.

Otherwise, if an ordinary person were to encounter such a situation, he would probably be trembling with fear. He wanted to withdraw, but the next second, Zhu Gaoyu held his hands tightly again and shouted:

"Grandpa, are you telling the truth?"

The old man was dumbfounded.

What did he say?!

Zhu Gaoyu seemed to be addicted to acting:

"You said that the farm on the outskirts of the city is hiring people to work, with three meals a day, both meat and vegetables, and wages are distributed according to how much work each person does. If you work long hours and sign a contract, you can also advance a cotton coat..."

As Zhu Gaoyu talked about the benefits of working in the farm, the refugees around him began to breathe heavier.

It was just because of their long-term experience that there was still some disbelief in their eyes.

Are there really such idiot village leaders?

wrong!

It should be said, is there really such a kind-hearted village leader?
No...what does he want?
If you hire people to do this kind of work, won’t you end up losing money by even pawning your pants?

Or, he is just a second-generation rich kid and a prodigal son. It is obvious that he is selling his father's land for his own benefit, and he doesn't feel sorry for it at all!
The old man had been fleeing all the way, and his wife and children had already died, leaving him alone.

But as the saying goes, a good death is worse than a miserable life.

If you can live and live like a human being, who would want to lie under the city wall, begging for food, and live in a muddle-headed state under the contempt of others?
So when everyone's eyes were on this little brat who seemed to be drawing big plans, the old man had a glimmer of hope:
"Are you... telling the truth? Is there really such a Zhuangzi?"

Zhu Gaoyu showed a reserved smile.

Sure enough, it feels great to pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger.

but now!

I won’t pretend anymore!

I, Zhu Gaoyu, am about to reveal my true identity.

I, Zhu Gaoyu, am...

Just when the words were about to come out of my mouth...

Ge Cheng came out of the crowd with his hands behind his back at some point.

When the refugees in circles saw Ge Cheng's attire, they almost subconsciously made way for him.

Seeing that these refugees were in a state of confusion, Ge Cheng gritted his teeth and walked forward.

He wanted to see which thief was so bold as to come to the refugees and make false promises.

This person didn't make promises earlier or later, but chose this time to make people feel uneasy. Isn't this simply trying to make things difficult for Ge Cheng?
And who is he Ge Cheng?
The Chief Secretary of Prince Yan’s Palace!
What's the difference between being against Ge Cheng and being against the King of Yan? !

The more Ge Cheng thought about it, the angrier he got. When he reached the center of the field, he strode over and said:

"Who dares to..."

Before he finished speaking, Ge Cheng saw Zhu Gaoyu's face.

With a chubby chin, he grew a little taller after a year, and had a pair of thick eyebrows that looked very much like Prince Yan.

All of this indicates that the person in front of him is none other than the fourth son who followed Prince Yan to Datong - Zhu Gaoyu!

Ge Cheng was devastated when he saw Zhu Gaoyu.

But when he saw Zhu Gaoyu's eyes on him, he could only bite the bullet and move forward:

"Your Highness... you are really in a refined mood... But Your Highness, isn't it enough to have tenants working in the manor? Hiring refugees to work and offering such conditions is a bit too extravagant."

Zhu Gaoyu looked at Ge Cheng and spread his hands helplessly, "There's nothing I can do. I have a lot of money and I am willful."

Just this one sentence made Ge Cheng completely speechless.

He had also heard about Zhu Gaoyu's deeds in Datong.

The father is still worried about the lack of money.

As a result, the son had already started to confiscate the property to get rich, and even distributed the windfall everywhere.

Does this make sense?!

The second update is here, see you tomorrow!

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(End of this chapter)