The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 144 Conservation of Energy
How to quickly break the ice?
How can I make the cold beauty treat me differently?
Chen Qianfu's brain was frozen, and it slowly began to turn.

When he heard a handsome man walk up to him and ask about the situation at the South Gate.

He suddenly had an idea.

"Everyone, you've come at a really good time. You can choose a house near the South Gate."

There's an old saying in our border town: "Returning in glory through the South Gate, departing for war through the North Gate; the limelight is at the East Gate, obscurity at the West Gate!"

What does this mean?
This means that anyone who returns from the South Gate, whether alive or dead, can leave behind a good name that will benefit their descendants.

When the border troops set out on an expedition, they would exit through the north gate, which was the most spacious area.

Outside the East Gate are vast lakes, gardens, and farmland, a scenic area considered an auspicious burial site.

Of course, only those who have made great contributions are qualified to be buried outside the East Gate.

The West Gate is also called Zhenyuan Gate.

Facing Junma Mountain, before the city walls were built, the Tatars often crossed the mountain pass to harass the border.

Therefore, besides the common people of the border town who were buried along the banks of the Ximen Tanglai Canal, the majority of the remains of border soldiers who died in the war were buried there.

The name "Zhenyuanmen" serves two purposes: first, to intimidate the Tatars, and second, to ward off wandering ghosts.

Good heavens, no wonder they're local bullies.

If no one interrupts him, he could probably talk nonstop for a whole day and night without stopping.

Those from the Zuo clan who were relatively close to him felt dizzy and had ringing ears.

Braving the cold wind and snow, we walked with him for about 15 minutes before reaching our destination.

The first impression people have of the inner city of the border town is that it is square.

The streets and alleys are all perfectly straight.

The entire inner city was divided into neat, square blocks.

There are no blue bricks and gray tiles, nor pavilions and towers.

The earthen roof structure was the most widely used construction method in the entire border town.

A plank house is a dwelling built with mud walls and wooden planks.

Covering with soil, as the name suggests, involves covering a house with soil.

Then these residential buildings are basically copied and pasted, and they all look the same.

Please forgive us, people from Daming Prefecture, for we really couldn't tell from these mud houses.

What exactly makes this South Gate, a symbol of honor, so noble?
Lunar New Year's Eve should be a lively and bustling occasion, but there were hardly any people walking on the streets, making it seem exceptionally deserted.

This time, Chen Qianfu didn't ask for a single copper coin in return, and simply gave the 152 people fifteen courtyards.

They all have three main rooms, with an auxiliary room on each side.

On average, each courtyard can accommodate ten to eleven people!
According to Chen Qianfu, the exiled prisoners living near the West Gate were housed in courtyards with the same layout, which housed twenty people each.

He also said:
"The Anping Ward that I chose for you is inhabited by military households, and more than a hundred military households and their families. My family also lives in this ward."

Tsk tsk, it's so nice to live close by!
Upon hearing this, Zuo Wenkang quietly slipped a small silver ingot weighing five taels into his hand.

"Thank you, Centurion, for choosing such a good place for us. We will have to deal with you a lot in the future. If we make mistakes or violate the rules in the future, we hope you will be lenient with us."

Chen Qianfu tossed the silver ingot in his hand, thinking to himself that there were still some sensible people out there.

He became even more enthusiastic, saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing. I'll explain the relevant rules to you again."

A long list of rules was laid bare, leaving everyone dizzy from listening.

In summary: First, without a clearance order, their current status prevents them from freely leaving through the four city gates.

Secondly, even if there's no work to do right now, they still have to gather every three to five days for a roll call. They need to be able to be there on call at any time within a certain timeframe.

Third, they also adopted a system of collective responsibility for the management of exiled prisoners. If one person violated the rules, everyone else in the courtyard would be implicated.

Gan Minglan thought to herself: It all boils down to one thing: exiled prisoners have no freedom! They're just in a bigger cage.

Ms. She and others were moved to tears:

Isn't this freedom? There are no restrictions on staying in their own backyard or shopping in the street. This is much better than they expected! Anyway, they didn't have many opportunities to leave the city in the past.

The same rule can have vastly different effects on different people.

After Chen Qianfu, who was still not satisfied, left.

The 152 people were divided into small groups based on their families.

They want to form a group of ten people by drawing lots!
It can be considered absolutely fair and just!
When Zuo Wenkang brought back the group of people from their courtyard, Gan Minglan could only roll her eyes.

What incredible luck!

It was a great thing to catch his apprentice and his mother, but unfortunately, Zuo Wenxuan and the Lü family were also caught.

Is this the principle of conservation of energy?
Children don't care about all that!
Zuo Chihuai and Fatty held hands, happily following behind Zuo Wenkang and Zuo Wenxuan.

For them, living in the same courtyard means being one family!

We're all one family.

Fatty asked excitedly, "Brother Xia, how about we sleep on the same kang (heated brick bed) tonight?"

Zuo Chixia paused for a few moments, then asked softly, "Little brother Jun, you won't wet the bed tonight, will you?"

It's not that he dislikes his younger brother, it's that he doesn't even have a change of bedding!
Fatty, furious, put his hands on his round, chubby waist and protested in a childish voice, "I'm not round, and I never wet the bed!"

Under the wolf-skin cloak, a certain Yuan, sleeping soundly in her mother's arms with a flushed face, thought: Is it my fault?!
Zuo Chixia begged for mercy repeatedly: "Jun-di, you're really amazing. My mother said I wet the bed when I was six years old. You're much more amazing than I was when I was a child."

"Hehehe, Brother Xia is still a good brother."

The two of them started laughing and joking around, jostling each other.

Just as happy as the children were Mrs. She and Mrs. Luo.

"Auntie, now we're really family. You can't look down on me for not being as capable as Brother Xia's teacher's wife."

"Hahaha, no problem, no problem. You can't find many people in the whole of Daming Prefecture as capable as Fatty's mother. We can't compare to her."

“We won’t compare ourselves to her, but we will learn skills from her. Didn’t you say that Fatty will learn how to slaughter sheep from Xia’s master’s wife after the New Year? Then my son and I will learn from her.”

Oh dear, you really are...

Zuo Wenxuan and Zuo Wenkang, who were walking at the front of the group, occasionally exchanged a few words.

Like Gan Minglan, Lady Lü was also in a bad mood.

A woman I disliked, whom I tried to harm multiple times but failed to get rid of.

A woman whose every appearance draws the attention of every man.

How could she possibly not understand why she wanted to live in the same courtyard as her!
But the head of the household always draws lots.

Zuo Wenxuan, that hypocritical man, is still the head of their family.

Whenever Lu Shi thought about the two people she hated most living under the same roof, she felt a tightness in her chest.

Gan Minglan: I'm afraid it might be a nodule.
(End of this chapter)