What a lucky world!

Chapter 176 Old Zhao's Hope
The morning sun shines on Qianyuan Village, and another hard day begins.

Although there was little work to do in the fields during the winter, firewood was essential. Old Man Zhao strapped a hatchet to his waist and planned to go to the mountains to chop some firewood.

He was originally a farmer in Hongdong County under the rule of the Dayun Dynasty. The government forced him to borrow money from the government for young crops, claiming that the court was compassionate to the farmers. However, the interest rate was even higher than the village tyrant's 90% return on loan. In the end, he was forced to sell the few acres of his ancestral land to avoid arrest.

Without land, there is naturally no means of survival.

Old man Zhao had no choice but to become a tenant farmer, but the landlords in the village had hired enough people, so he had no choice but to leave his hometown with his wife and son and go out to find a job.

It was at this time that he encountered Qianyuan Wuzhai, which was recruiting refugees.

He didn't care about whether it was legal or not. He just listened to the big official who was recruiting people to reclaim wasteland. As long as they paid 10% of the rent, the seeds and farm tools would be prepared. After ten years of cultivation, the land would belong to them.

He couldn't believe how good the conditions were.

But at that time, the family had not eaten for several days. If it were not for the official giving out porridge, the four members of the family would have collapsed from hunger on the roadside.

So, with a nervous mood, Old Man Zhao and his family followed the other party into the mountains.

At first, Old Man Zhao felt like he'd been cheated. Who would go so far into the mountains to reclaim wasteland? He wondered if a demon had tricked him and was using him and his family as food?

But the moment he saw Qianyuan Village, all his concerns were dispelled.

Some people helped build the house, others took him to measure the land, and gave him three months' worth of food.

Bodhisattva!
This is simply like falling into what the storyteller described...some Peach Blossom Spring!

The land in the mountains is indeed a bit barren, but as long as it can grow food, there is nothing to be afraid of!
The mountains are indeed a bit isolated, and there is no peddler, so we can only take our food to the village office to exchange for some daily necessities, but what’s the value of that!
In this world, it’s good to be alive!

Old Man Zhao had already thought about it. With two boys at home, he needed to prepare 200 acres of land. With this land, he could marry a wife, have children, and continue the Zhao family!
The only pity is that neither of his two sons has any talent for martial arts, otherwise they could have been selected as soldiers in the village!
The Wang family next door had a soldier. Not only was he fed with rice and flour every day, but he also had meat. From time to time, some was left over and sent back home. Whenever the aroma of meat came from next door, his two sons would drool like fools.

I heard that once you become famous and are officially recruited into the army, you will receive a salary of three taels of silver every month!
Nowadays, Old Wang looks at people with squinted eyes every day, and it’s almost as if “My son is awesome” is written on his face.

It makes me angry just thinking about it. The kid from the Wang family looks skinny and small, so how come he has good luck in martial arts? Although my two kids are also a little skinny, they are like me, with broad shoulders and big hands, so how come they are just silver-plated spear heads?
It must be his mother's problem!

After a lot of random thoughts in his mind, Old Man Zhao took a piece of yesterday's wild vegetable cake from the stove, poured a full amount of cold water into the gourd, and prepared to go out!
At this moment, a young man came trotting to the front door of the Zhao family, shouting, "Uncle Zhao! Uncle Zhao! Where is my big brother Zhao?"

When Old Man Zhao saw the other person, it was none other than the young man from the Liu family, who had a good relationship with his eldest son, he said, "He's still asleep!"

This old man from the Liu family was from the same hometown as me, and our two families had a good relationship. The key point was that he had a daughter who was very attractive to me and my wife.

Wait another two years and then come to propose marriage.

"Hey, what are you still sleeping for!" The kid from the Liu family slapped his thigh and was about to walk into the house when he was grabbed by old man Zhao.

"Your eldest brother went to transport the corpse of the demon snake yesterday, and he hasn't gotten up yet!"

When talking about this, Old Man Zhao was shocked.

Yesterday afternoon, the village suddenly summoned young and strong men to go to the deep mountains to move something. They originally thought it was some wood or minerals, but unexpectedly it was the corpse of a demonic python that was dozens of feet long!

The villagers who went there immediately knelt down and kowtowed, and only when the soldiers shouted at them to stand up did they realize that the python was dead. Old Man Zhao couldn't imagine how such a large python could be killed.

I heard that it was Chief Lu and another young man who killed him together.

He glanced at the young man from afar. He was about the same age as his eldest son and looked like someone from Yuli. He actually had such abilities.

But later he also heard that the young man was the young master of Wuzhai.

That’s the young master!
Since the entire body of the demon python could not be transported, it was cut up on site and transported back in pieces.

Because his eldest son was brave and strong, he carried the python back and forth several times and was the last to finish the task. For this, the young master rewarded the son with a piece of python meat, which weighed more than twenty pounds!
That was monster meat, a piece could last a whole day. He had once seen a landlord in his hometown buy a piece, less than half a pound, and he said he spent ten taels of silver!
I'm afraid I can't buy a bite of this twenty kilograms of snake meat even if I sell myself.

If it weren't for this contribution, would I have been able to let that brat sleep until this hour?

"No, it's a big deal!" The young man from the Liu family shook off the old man Zhao and shouted towards the house, "Brother Zhao, get up, get up quickly!"

"You bastard!" Old Man Zhao raised his leg and gently kicked the Liu family boy's butt, shouting, "Your aunt is asleep too, are you going to wake her up too? What's going on?"

Liu Xiaozi quickly said, "Uncle Zhao, the village is recruiting soldiers!"

"Recruiting soldiers?" Old Man Zhao was stunned. "Didn't we recruit soldiers before the New Year?"

"Besides, you know that your brother Zhao has no luck in martial arts, so what is there to raise?"

"It's different!" The Liu family boy shook his head. "I heard that this time it's the young commander who's recruiting soldiers!"

"The clerk said that as long as you're between eighteen and twenty, it doesn't matter if you have martial arts luck or not, but you must be physically strong!"

"Doesn't Brother Zhao meet the requirements?"

"The clerk also said that the young leader has instructed that for any selected candidate whose family lacks young and strong laborers, the young leader will reward each family with a mule or horse, or two families together with a cow!"

"From the day you're chosen, you'll be paid three taels of silver every month!"

"That's right, only one hundred!"

There are more than 2,600 villagers in Qianyuan Village, of which about 300 to 400 are of marriageable age, so the competition is quite fierce.

What? Why is the proportion of young and middle-aged people so high at this age?

It's very simple, because they were all refugees before, so they have the highest chance of survival.

Old Man Zhao's eyes turned red as he listened to the young man from the Liu family. He turned around and walked directly to the door, kicked it open, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Damn it, Boss! Still sleeping! Get up now!"

"If you can't be chosen, don't come back to me!"

(End of this chapter)