The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

"Minister Chen is indeed a good person."

After Chen Huai'an left, Aunt Xiao inexplicably let out a sigh.

"Isn't that right?" Old Zhang grinned from ear to ear. "If that method of raising pigs is real, our Xiaoxi Village will be rich. Anyway, it doesn't interfere with anything. Even during the busy farming season, you can send the piglets to dig up grass to feed them. At other times, you don't have to take care of them much. It only takes a little more effort than raising chickens."

"I've already thought it all out. I'll buy five piglets and castrate them all. Next year, I'll sell four of them and keep one for my own consumption. If we can't finish them, we can make cured meat and eat it during festivals. When Minister Chen comes, I'll take them all out."

"Good for you, Fourth Brother," Aunt Xiao said with a smile. "You've even thought this through; you've got a long-term vision."

"Isn't that right?"

"No, no," the fourth son's wife suddenly shook her head and said, "Five is too few. We need to raise six. We promised that when Minister Chen comes next time, we will slaughter a pig for him to eat. We can't go back on our word."

"Right, right, right!" Old Zhang slapped his forehead. "Look at my brain, I almost forgot something important! We should raise six, six would be great!"

"Fourth brother!" someone joked. "Next time, even if you want to slaughter a pig for Minister Chen, you might not get a chance. This year, only your family raised one, so we can only slaughter yours. Next year, when we all raise pigs, we can slaughter ours too."

Old Zhang said irritably, "I'm not trying to be mean, but what's the point of arguing about this? Just eat what you have, why are you arguing about it?"

"There's nothing to argue about. You can raise five pigs then. We'll prepare the pigs for Minister Chen to eat."

"That won't do!" Old Zhang refused decisively.

Hahahaha.

The scene was filled with laughter, and Zhang Wenyuan watched it with a sense of satisfaction.

He didn't doubt the method Chen Huai'an provided. Such a person wouldn't stoop to deceiving ordinary people like them, especially since the person in question was Chen Huai'an.

"oops!"

Aunt Xiao was tidying up the table, which belonged to her family and was about to be put away, when she discovered a package that Chen Huai'an had asked Wang Bai to leave under the table.

"What is this?"

Aunt Xiao was puzzled. She picked it up and shook it, and immediately heard the sound of copper coins clattering inside.

Aunt Xiao's face immediately changed: "Village chief, come and take a look! This should have been left behind by Minister Chen, right? It looks like it's full of money!"

"What?"

These words immediately caused quite a stir, and everyone gathered around, but they always left a path for Zhang Wenyuan.

Zhang Wenyuan walked over, touched the package, and nodded: "It should be full of money inside. Judging by the weight, there should be at least seven or eight strings of cash."

"What? Seven or eight strings of cash?" Aunt Xiao exclaimed in surprise, quickly clutching the package tightly. "That must have been accidentally left behind by Minister Chen! We have to deliver it to him right away!"

"Yes, we must send it over." Zhang Laosi quickly chimed in, "Why don't we send Xiao Pengzi? During dinner just now, that kid kept bragging to me about having been to Minister Chen's house."

"Minister Chen was also brought back by this kid, and he's been going to Chang'an every day lately, so he knows the city well."

"Okay, Auntie, give me the package, I'll deliver it to Minister Chen right away." Zhang Peng didn't refuse, took the package from Aunt Xiao's hand, and planned to hurry to Chang'an.

But Zhang Wenyuan suddenly stopped him: "Wait."

Zhang Peng asked in confusion, "Village chief, why are you stopping me? Minister Chen has lost so much money, he must be anxious. It would be bad if he misunderstood that we stole it. We have to return it to him as soon as possible."

Zhang Wenyuan shook his head: "Minister Chen came with his own men. How could someone who serves under such a high-ranking official be so careless?"

"This money was probably left behind by Minister Chen because he was afraid we would spend too much and didn't want to eat our food for free."

"Huh?" Zhang Peng was stunned for a moment, looking down at the package in his hands, unsure of what to do. "Minister Chen... left this on purpose?"

"But that must be seven or eight strings of cash, right? Nothing else is worth that much!"

"That's right," Aunt Xiao clapped her hands and said, "We just scraped together some things, how could they be worth so much money? This is seven or eight strings of cash."

Zhang Wenyuan chuckled: "Do you think Minister Chen is short of money?"

Zhang Peng was speechless. He thought of Chen Huai'an's huge mansion and all kinds of expensive-looking furniture and teacups.

"Don't judge officials like that with your own eyes." Zhang Wenyuan looked at the package in Zhang Peng's hand. "Seven or eight strings of cash is a huge sum of money that we might never see in our lifetime, but for Minister Chen, it might just be something he gives away casually."

"Let's divide what he left behind."

Zhang Peng hesitated, "Village chief... I didn't mean to doubt you, I just wanted to ask, what if you guessed wrong...?"

Zhang Wenyuan smirked and said with a laugh, "You guessed wrong. I'll just give this old bone of mine to Minister Chen, okay?"

"Hurry up and divide it up. Don't waste Minister Chen's good intentions. This money can be used to buy piglets, build pigsties, and buy farm tools."

"Divide?" Aunt Xiao trusted Zhang Wenyuan. He had been an official before, and his experience was far beyond what they could compare to. He must have some basis for his certainty.

Looking at the villagers around her, exchanging bewildered glances, Aunt Xiao said with difficulty, "How can we divide this up? What if someone objects if we give too much or too little?"

"We can't let Minister Chen's good intentions cause unpleasantness among our own people."

"I remember you always saying that we have to stick together as one so that we can all survive and wait for better days to come."

Old Zhang nodded in agreement: "Yes, village chief, why don't we not divide them up and keep them for the village to buy oxen, plows, seeds, piglets, and all kinds of farm tools?"

"The oxen and farm tools are used by everyone through discussion, and they are usually kept in the village. Piglets are distributed to each household, so no one has any objections."

"Oh?" Zhang Wenyuan was a little surprised. "Fourth brother, you specifically slaughtered your own pig, so you should get a bigger share. If you give it to the village, you'll just get the same as everyone else."

"And Xiao Xiao, you contributed a lot too."

"Oh well," Zhang Laosi said indifferently, "We're all from the same village, what's the point of arguing? Besides, I'm about to go with Xiao Pengzi to repair the Yellow River. Once I leave, my wife and two kids will be left behind, and I'm counting on everyone to take care of them."

"Besides, when I took the pig out to slaughter it, I never expected to get any money."

"That's right, that's right." Aunt Xiao nodded. "The village is important. Let's wait until we get through these next few years. Give Minister Chen and His Majesty some time, and we'll eventually have a better life..."

"..."