From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 6 Opportunity to Learn Martial Arts

It was of no use that the nobleman came; there was still no work to be done in the village.

The head of Li Zhuang and his son sent out a batch of chickens and ducklings and killed a pig, but the villagers only ate some offal, and the two parts of meat were taken away.

The manure pit that had been there for a long time was dug halfway by a group of outsiders, and young and strong men like Meng Yuan and Tie Niu were forced to help dig the manure.

These things are not big or small, but they are not enough to bring down Li Zhuangtou.

After seven days, Li Zhuangtou suddenly went crazy and gathered people to go outside the village to turn the land and apply fertilizer.

The land was about ten mu, cultivated land, but no winter wheat was planted. Li Zhuangtou said that it was the princess's newly acquired land, so he wanted to plow it now and plant spring wheat in spring.

Meng Yuan was shocked. Winter was the time for recuperation and even the hardworking farmers did not go to the fields.

But Li Zhuangtou didn't treat the farmers as human beings at all. He was afraid that the cows would be too thin to sell at a good price, so he refused to allow them to use oxen for working.

Including Meng Yuan and Tie Niu, there were a total of eight people working, and all of them had relatives and family members.

"How can one be rich and powerful if he works as a farmhand?" Meng Yuan still preferred to cut testicles rather than plow the soil.

"Brother, don't forget Tieniu when you become rich." Tieniu sniffed.

Meng Yuan agreed with a smile.

That evening, after finishing work and returning home, Mr. Jiang couldn't stop sighing.

"Li Zhuangtou is not kind. How can he order a craftsman around like this?" Old Man Jiang's face was filled with guilt. He said, "It's Tang'er and I who are holding you back. Otherwise, you are still young and strong. You can go anywhere. You don't have to be exploited here."

"It's okay. I'm young and it's okay for me to do more." Meng Yuan comforted him and whispered, "Uncle Jiang, when you go to work outside the village these days, ask about the origin of that piece of land."

While working, Meng Yuan also asked the villagers passing by, but they didn't know who the land belonged to. They only heard that it belonged to a wealthy family in the town.

Li Zhuangtou said that the land was just purchased by the princess, but who would sell land for no reason when the New Year is approaching? Either they really couldn't make ends meet, or they were forced to do so.

Judging from the princess's previous actions, such as implementing the three-meal system, personally distributing rewards, and allowing nearby villagers to go into the mountains, it is clear that she sympathizes with the poor and the weak and is knowledgeable about the world, rather than pretending to be kind and righteous.

Therefore, Meng Yuan felt that this land probably did not belong to the princess, but was forcibly taken by Li Zhuangtou and his son in the name of the royal palace.

That evening, Meng Yuan was teaching Jiang Tang to read in her room when someone knocked on the door.

The visitors were Zhao Datou and his son, both of them had happy looks on their faces.

"You've been sleeping with your young wife?" Zhao Datou was very surprised when he saw Meng Yuan coming out of Jiang Tang's room.

"How old is she? I'm teaching her to read." Meng Yuan explained and asked, "Uncle Big Head, what's the matter with you coming here so late?"

"There's good news." Zhao Datou and his son pulled Meng Yuan into the house and sat down with Old Man Jiang.

Jiang Tang wanted to come and listen, but was glared at by Meng Yuan and was sent away.

"Uncle Big Head, what's the good news?" Meng Yuan asked curiously, and Uncle Jiang also listened carefully.

"Someone came to the palace this morning, and I happened to meet him. He said that there was a civil riot in the town north of Songhe Prefecture a few days ago, and many wealthy families were robbed. Our princess became alert and planned to pick up some people to go to the palace to learn a few tricks so that they can also take care of the farm."

Zhao Datou lowered his voice and said, "It is said that young men from various manors and shops can go. If they learn well, they can stay in the palace as guards in the future."

"Can everyone go?" asked Mr. Jiang.

"No matter if they are born in the family or not, as long as they have a family, they can go." Zhao Datou held Meng Yuan's hand and said, "I have followed Li Zhuangtou for five years, and I have seen through it a long time ago. There is no hope in the manor, and the only way is to go out. My son Tieniu is very stupid, but Xiao Meng, you are smart, and Tieniu listens to you. I thought that you two should go together so that you can take care of him."

Meng Yuan was moved.

Now they are trapped in Muzhuang. Li Zhuangtou and his son have absolute power over everything. Nothing can be done and people are unable to move.

If I could go to the palace to learn martial arts, I don't know if I can succeed, but at least the food would be much better, and it would be better for nourishing the essence and fire in my body, which might bring other benefits.

Besides, in today's world, everything is fake, only the knife is real. It will be beneficial to learn more ways to save your life.

This is a great opportunity, you must grab it!
"You two should discuss it." Zhao Datou said, pulling Tieniu up and said, "I've made up my mind. I'll go talk to the village head now."

After Zhao Datou and his son left, Old Man Jiang sighed again.

"I can see that, Xiao Meng, you are smart and capable. The suffering you are suffering now is because of Tang'er and I. If you were in another place, you would have made a name for yourself, which is much better than being a gelder." Seeing Meng Yuan in deep thought, Old Man Jiang took out some silver from his pocket and said, "Let's use the silver and ask Li Zhuangtou for help. The manor won't lose much without you, and he can get the silver for free. He will definitely help."

"People like Li Zhuangtou are stingy and greedy, and most of them take the money but do nothing." Meng Yuan felt that it was not appropriate, but if he went directly to find Miss Mei, she might think that he was wasting his time and get disgusted. "Now we can only find Li Zhuangtou, we have to give it a try." Old Man Jiang said earnestly, and counted the money again.

I got nine cents for selling my body contract, and I was rewarded with three taels of silver when I went to look for plum blossoms last time, so the total was three taels and nine cents.

After taking two taels of silver, Old Man Jiang dragged Meng Yuan out of the house. Jiang Tang wanted to follow him, but was scolded by Old Man Jiang and sent back.

It was already dark at this time, and there were people in the village walking around with their dogs and beating gongs.

Li Zhuangtou lived behind the lobby of the manor, in a separate courtyard with lights on.

After knocking on the door and entering, I saw Li Zhuangtou, his eldest son Li Dabiao, and his second son Li Xiaohu having dinner.

"Hello, Mr. Zhuangzi." Old Man Jiang spoke, smiling a little awkwardly, and said, "I heard that the palace plans to recruit some children to learn martial arts. My grandson-in-law is quite capable. I want to ask if he can learn something from him? Then he can come back to protect our manor."

"Old Jiangtou, it's not that I don't give you face."

Li Zhuangtou put down his chopsticks and said, "There are not many people in Zhuangzi to begin with. If I let them go, I'm afraid I won't be able to finish this work."

"The head of the village works hard to take care of the village. We all see this." Old Man Jiang took out some money from his sleeve and said, "Thank you for your concern."

"Okay! It's not easy for you either! I'll report the name of the young gelder, you go back and work hard, and just wait for my news!" Li Zhuangtou received the silver, and was originally smiling, but suddenly his face changed, picked up the chopsticks and knocked on the hand of his second son Li Xiaohu, and said angrily: "Look at the salted fish and eat a bite of rice, why are you holding your chopsticks?"

Li Xiaohu said angrily: "My brother only took a bite after watching him for a while, and you don't care?"

"Eat your food, he deserves to be choked to death!" Li Zhuangtou cursed angrily.

Meng Yuan and Old Man Jiang looked at each other in bewilderment. This village head Li was so greedy that he could have no problem eating meat and eggs every day. However, he was not only stingy with the villagers, but also with his family members.

Five days later, Meng Yuan worked hard outside the farm every day, turning the soil and applying fertilizer. He had finished most of the work on the ten acres of land, but there was still no news from Li Zhuangtou.

When he came back from outside the village that day and returned to his residence, Old Man Jiang pulled Meng Yuan mysteriously.

"I met a traveler outside today and asked him about the land." Old Man Jiang lowered his voice and was very cautious.

It turned out that the ten-plus mu of land belonged to a wealthy family named Yan in Qingshui Town. In the autumn, the man of the Yan family died of illness, leaving only his widow and young daughter, and the land was abandoned.

The deceased's elder brother wanted to wipe out the family and wanted to buy the manure at a low price, so he contacted Li Zhuangtou. Li Zhuangtou was willing to do it, so he used the name of the royal palace to find a familiar evil official, and finally bought the land at a low price and found a buyer for the manure.

"The widowed mother and her young daughter have nowhere to go now. People in the town say that the palace forced them to buy the land and that our princess is hypocritical." Old Man Jiang sighed.

Meng Yuan saw clearly that even if the princess was hypocritical, she would never let a village head do such a thing as annexing fertile land. It must be that Village Head Li acted on his own initiative and borrowed the power of the royal palace.

But Li Zhuangtou was really cunning. This matter had not been touched by anyone in the village. If it had not been for the greed for the money that Old Man Jiang earned outside, it would have been difficult to detect. If it had been a few months, I'm afraid no one in Qingshui Town would have mentioned it.

Meng Yuan was just thinking about how to use this incident to deal with Li Zhuangtou when he saw Jiang Tang running over and saying that Zhao Datou and his son had arrived.

Zhao Datou's eyes were red and Tie Niu also looked aggrieved.

Meng Yuan asked Jiang Tang to go out first, and then asked Zhao Datou what happened.

"Li Zhuangtou is not a decent person. He took the money but did not do anything." Zhao Datou was very angry. He said angrily: "His second son Li Xiaohu has already gone to the palace! And several children of the patrolmen have also gone! I went to argue with him, but he said that the palace doesn't want anyone anymore!"

"This..." Mr. Jiang widened his eyes and asked, "Has the money been returned?"

"Can I return it? He thinks I'm easy to bully. He said I helped him out with some money, but I still owe him one or two taels!" Zhao Datou's eyes were red.

Old man Jiang coughed repeatedly in anger and sighed, "They say that you are what you eat. People like us who can endure hardships cannot become the best. We have to eat people."

After hearing this, Zhao Datou sighed and clenched his fists, and finally left with Tieniu helplessly.

Jiang Tang just came in at this moment. Seeing that Meng Yuan and Grandpa were silent, she also behaved and kept silent.

After a long while, Old Man Jiang said, "Xiao Meng, the village head is the most powerful in the village. Even if we know some of his evil deeds, we can't defeat him. I think if you don't endure this, you won't make money as a gelder, but you can provide for your food and clothing."

Meng Yuan shook his head slightly.

If there is a first time, there will be a second time. If you are bullied and humiliated, you will be docile and submissive, not dare to resist, and just swallow your anger. What is the difference between this and castrated pigs and sheep?

Meng Yuan worked a lot in the manor and never slacked off. But since Li Zhuangtou wanted to block his way to advancement, Meng Yuan had no choice but to overthrow this broken manor!

Meng Yuan decided to castrate Li Zhuangtou.

(End of this chapter)