After dressing as a widow

Today's Niu Da is the steward Niu whom many businessmen in the city of Lizhou want to curry favor with. Looking at him, Lin Zhen can't remember what it was like when he just bought his family back.

But Niu Da did not live up to his expectations. Although he became the biggest manager of the firm, he did not get carried away. His mother was still in charge of the food in the kitchen of Lin's Water Fen Workshop. I said to let the old man go home and rest.

But Mrs. Niu said instead: "It's so lively in the workshop, a busy day is over, and the children can still talk to me after work, which is much better than at home."

As for Niu Da’s daughter-in-law, she originally worked with Mrs. Niu in the kitchen of the gouache workshop. The year before last, seeing more and more brothers and daughters working in the gouache workshop, she also wanted to work. After saying that, he worked in the gouache workshop, earning the same wages as other workers.

It was precisely because of the good conduct of Niu Da's family that Lin Zhen entrusted Niu Da with the business in Lizhou.

Of course, he also considered the issue of supervision, and promoted two old employees at the same time, let them manage together with Niu Da, so that Lin's firm in Lizhou would not become Niu Da's voice.

After his explanation, the stewards below smelled something and asked, "Boss, you have been back to Kyoto for a long time, right? When will you come back?"

Lin Zhendao: "It's not sure yet, maybe I will come back in three to two months, maybe a year and a half, three to five years."

The stewards of the workshop were a little anxious, "Boss, you are our backbone, we don't know if you are not here."

"Yes, boss."

Lin Zhen looked at them and said: "Even if I go to the capital now, I will come back to inspect the business in the future, so whether I'm here or not, everyone must do a good job."

"Originally, I also thought about moving the business of several workshops to the capital, but you all know how many workers are working in the workshops of Lin's Commercial Bank. Once the workshops are moved, these workers can only continue to go back. Go digging in the ground to eat."

"It's not that planing food in the ground is bad, it's that it affects the workers. If that's the case, let's continue to open the workshop in Lizhou."

Except for Niu Da, who is Lin Zhen's servant, these stewards are all locals. Hearing what Lin Zhen said, he was very grateful to Lin Zhen.

After explaining the matter of the workshop, Lin Zhen chatted with the stewards for a while, and then asked them to go back before it was dark, and then left Niu Da behind.

"Boss." Niu Da has been respectful to Lin Zhen for several years. If Lin Zhen hadn't bought his family, they still don't know which family they are working as slaves, and how can they have the glory they have today. When they go out, others will call out Steward the cow.

Lin Zhen raised his hand, asked him to sit closer, and said, "This is the fifth year you have worked for me, right?"

"Yes, it's the fifth year, exactly five years and two months."

Lin Zhen smiled and looked at Niu Da: "You have a good memory."

Niu Dao Dao: "If it weren't for you, the boss, the few members of my family would not be settled now. You are our great benefactor, and we dare not forget, and we must never forget."

Lin Zhen waved his hand: "It's also for your business that I'm keeping you here today."

"You have been with me for several years, and you have done your best. There is nothing wrong with it. So I plan to remove your slave status and restore your status as common people before I go to the capital."

Niu Da's heart trembled, he couldn't believe what he heard: "Boss, boss..."

Lin Zhen looked at him and said, "If you live in slavery, the future generations will also be slaves if they don't have good luck."

"I see that your son is very smart. If you send him to study and read well, maybe he will be able to pass the exam as a child-born scholar and bring him back, and he will shine in the family."

Niu Da was so excited that he didn't know what to say. As Lin Zhen said, once he was enslaved, his descendants would be slaves, and no matter how promising they were, they could only serve others, with the master's family on top of them.

My son is smart, but because he is a slave, his master does not accept him when he is sent to school, so he can only hire a scholar at a high price to teach him at home.

Whenever he thinks of this, Niu Da can only pat his son's head and tell him not to blame others, if not for their family selling themselves as slaves, they might not be able to eat enough and wear warm clothes now, how could they live a good life without worrying about food and clothing? People need to be content.

But now Lin Zhen told him that he was going to get rid of their slavery!

Niu Da was so happy that his lips were trembling.

Lin Zhendao: "Not only you, but also those who bought with you, the nursing home bought after coming to Lizhou, Zhou Zhengchu and others who escorted the caravan, let's join together."

"You go back and tell them, I'll let the people in the Yamen go through the process of selling your life contract, and you will be free from now on."

"Thank you, Boss, I am lucky to meet Boss!"

"Let's not talk about that, it's getting dark, please be careful on the road." Two years ago, Lin Zhen asked Niu Da's family to move out, and the house was next to the Shui Fen Fang, so it was convenient for Niu Da to run around.

Niu Da solemnly bowed to Lin Zhen and exited the house.

When the two of them were talking, Lu Lu was waiting outside the house, and when Niu Da left, Lu Lu came in.

Lin Zhendao: "Did you hear what I said to Niu Da just now, what do you want to do when you get out of slavery?"

When he bought it, Lulu was skinny, with one-third of his eyes taking up one-third of his face, and his hair was short of nutrients and withered and yellow.

Now Lulu is 17 years old, with fair skin, delicate eyebrows and cute eyes. In other families, she would have been able to get married long ago. However, she herself has never had this idea. She surrounds Lin Zhen all day long, as if serving Lin Zhen is the most important thing. important things.

Asked by him, Lu Lu said: "It's fine for the servants to remain in slavery, and it's fine to stay by the boss's side to serve."

Lin Zhen knew that she was pure-hearted, so she must have thought so in her heart when she said that. After thinking about it for a while, she said, "You must get rid of your slave status. This will only benefit you and not harm you in the future."

"Well, after returning to Kyoto, you still follow me and say that you are my distant cousin, what do you think?"

Lu Lu knelt in front of him: "Boss, I can't afford it."

"I just want to be with you all the time."

Lu Lu couldn't forget what Ren Yazi said to the procuress of the brothel who came to buy him before Lin Zhen bought it back, and even negotiated the price.

If it wasn't for her being afraid, when she saw Lin Zhen choosing people, she thought that even if she was killed, she would not be able to enter that kind of place, and threw herself on the ground in front of Lin Zhen, begging Lin Zhen to buy her, what kind of situation would she be reduced to now? One can imagine.

From then on, she swore secretly in her heart that she would only serve Lin Zhen as her master in her whole life.

Lin Zhen, who was more than ten years older than him, put his hand on her head: "There is nothing that can't be worthy of it. I can see what you have done by my side in the past few years. I will also accept you when you take off your slavery." Happy."

"Lulu, you are still young, and you will have a long time to come. You may not be able to meet someone you like. At that time, it will be very good for you to marry as my distant cousin."

"As for serving by my side, just keep doing it, and we'll talk about it when you get married."

"Well, boss, I understand." Lu Lu felt a little more at ease when he learned that he could continue to serve by his side.

He quickly recovered his usual liveliness, and said to Lin Zhen: "Your maidservant went to the kitchen to look at the food. Boss, you have been busy all afternoon today, and you haven't eaten anything. You only drank water."

With that said, she walked briskly out of the house and walked towards the kitchen.

Lin Zhen shook her head, feeling that Lu Lu is still a child at heart, and if she wanted to get her enlightened and have the idea of ​​starting a family, she might have to wait for someone she really likes.

Lin Zhen didn't have many things to take away when he was going to the capital, clothes, shoes and socks, and some things that Gu Lin bought for him in the past few years.

By the way, he also put Gu Lin's clothes, the good brushes and inkstones he usually used, and some books into boxes for the people below, and he was ready to go on the road on the third day.

After the luggage was loaded into the carriage, Lin Zhen personally went to the stable in the backyard to pull out the jujube and touched its mane and ears.

Jujube is very docile, his mane and ears blinked obediently with long eyelashes after being touched, and he looked at him with big eyes.

Lin Zhen smiled, grabbed the saddle, jumped up, sat firmly on it, and controlled Hongzao to the front of the team, "Elder-in-law, we can go."

The inner eunuch who had been treated to delicious food and drinks for two days had a reassuring smile on his face: "Okay, this journey is not in a hurry, if Fu Lang is tired, you can tell the servant at any time, it's okay to take a rest for a day and a half .”

"Thank you, Eunuch, for your compassion."

"Fu Lang is polite, let's go on the road." Don't look at this father-in-law like a white glutinous rice ball, who has never been exposed to the sun, but his riding skills are very good, and he rides steadily on the horse. It seems that he has specially practiced it.

The leaving team had just left the state government office and went to Changping Street. Many shopkeepers raised their hands and greeted Lin Zhen enthusiastically when they saw Lin Zhen: "Boss Lin, where are we going to make a fortune?"

It wasn't just one or two who were talking, the shopkeepers on the street were all booing, but there was kindness in their laughter.

The internal supervisor was amazed. It was not easy for a husband to ask so many businessmen to give him a good face.

In the capital, Brother and Fulang don’t talk about doing business. Many people still think it’s bad luck. They feel that the things that Brother and Fulang handle have ruined their luck, and they look down on them very much.

No, even in the court, no one married a brother as the main wife, and even if he was a concubine, he was a head shorter than the girl.

The inner eunuch couldn't help looking at Lin Zhen. Lin Zhen was riding on the horse, very leisurely, and said to the shopkeepers as usual: "It's not so easy to find a way to get rich. I see that the business of the shopkeepers is very good. If it weren't for the hands The stalls here can’t be opened, and I’m still doing your business.”

"Hahahaha, Boss Lin, you are joking, who doesn't know that Boss Lin is the God of Wealth, you want to say this," the speaker gestured with an index finger, which then turned into a thumb, "No one dares to discuss this in front of you .”

The man from the nearby shop said, "No, we all rely on you, Boss Lin."

Someone sharp-eyed saw the luggage in the queue, and asked suspiciously, "Boss Lin, are you going on a long trip?"

Lin Zhen nodded: "Go to Kyoto."

The person who spoke said: "Boss Lin, you have to come back earlier, the big guy is not used to seeing you running to the workshop every day."

Lin Zhen, who knew that there was a high probability that he would not come back from this trip, was not disappointed, and nodded: "The workshops of Lin's business are all here, I must come and have a look."

"Big guy, do business well, eat well, drink well, and have fun."

"it is good!"

"Listen to Boss Lin."

"Boss Lin, come back sooner."

The workshop of Lin's Commercial Firm has expanded several times. It can be said that almost every family in Lizhou City now has people working in the workshop. They are very satisfied with the wages and benefits of Lin's Workshop, and wish that this job can be done for a long time. Going on, I admire Lin Zhen more and more.

The shopkeepers of the front shop greeted Lin Zhen, and the women and children who lived in the back all ran out to watch the excitement. The children all recognized Lin Zhen, hugged their mother's thigh and said, "Boss Lin."

The woman picked up the child with a smile, looked at Lin Zhen who was riding on the horse and said, "That's right, that's Boss Lin, Mr. Gu's husband."

"It's beautiful!" The little child nodded his head, thinking he was right.

The woman was amused by the child, but when she looked at Lin Zhen, she felt that the word "good-looking" was too thin for Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen is more suitable for the word "beautiful", the beauty that hits people's hearts directly, the beauty that makes people unconsciously fall on him, and it is not artificial, warm and straightforward, just like the sun.

On the way out from the state capital of Lizhou, there were many people who greeted Lin Zhen, men, women, old and young, traffickers and pawns, of all identities.

The people in Lizhou City gave him the share of not seeing Gu Lin often, and being scared away by Gu Lin's cold face. If he wasn't riding a horse, he would look like he was going to travel far, so they would all hold their hands. Stuffed the things in his carriage into his carriage and asked him to take it with him.

It was the season for weeding the seedlings that were just as tall as a finger, and some flat land outside Lizhou City was opened up, and sorghum, wheat, soybeans and other crops were planted.

Looking around, there is a little green in the dark soil. Farmers are bending over and weeding in the field, and they take the trouble to pick up the manure that has been added to the field and fertilize it again.

The smell was unpleasant, but Lin Zhen was used to it.

The current Lizhou is very different from the Lizhou they saw for the first time. It looks like a young man full of vitality, walking forward with great strides.

Lin Zhen was watching from the team, with a serious expression, which attracted the eunuch to look over too. The eunuch was also a farmer before he entered the palace, and was sold into the palace by his family as a eunuch when he couldn't survive. The scene in front of him was both strange and familiar. It was very different from what I remembered.

He couldn't help sighing, "I'm sure we'll be able to harvest a lot of grain next year."

Lin Zhen looked at him: "I didn't expect my father-in-law to know about farming?"

The inner supervisor said: "The kindergarten teacher also has a few acres of land, but the crops are not so good."

Lin Zhendao: "They use compost, plus tools that can break through deeper soil, so the seedlings will naturally grow better."

This is the result of Gu Lin's more than four years here. He blocked the thousands of troops of the Che Luo Kingdom, removed obstacles to the implementation of the New Deal, and joined forces with officials and friends to open up a lot of new land in Lizhou. This year is sure to be another bumper harvest year.

Lin Zhen raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and trotted away with the red dates. The hooves of the horseshoes clattered on the concrete road, causing the farmers on both sides of the road to raise their heads.

Just a few hours later, Lin Zhen and the inner supervisor traveled from Lizhou City to Dongyang County, and then took a boat to Kyoto.

On the fifth day, the ship docked on the Kyoto Canal.

"Boss Lin, Hongzao is just a little seasick, and he will be fine after getting off the boat and resting for a while." Affected by the Tongzhou war, the canal was not as lively as before, with only seven or eight boats.

Lin Zhen and the others were on the big boat of Lin's Commercial Company. It looked like a mobile attic on the river. It looked very delicate and elegant. The people on the boat and the people on the shore all looked at them.

Lin Zhen untied the purse at his waist, and took out a piece of candy in his palm. When the wilted red dates saw the candy, he cheered up a little, ate the candy, and put his head on Lin Zhen's shoulder.

Lin Zhen rubbed its ears: "Let's get off the boat, and we'll take a stroll for you after entering the city."

"Huh—" Hongzao let out a breath from his nose, pushing him even harder.

Lin Zhen quickly pushed its big head: "Okay, okay, let's get off the boat."

He pulled Hongzao's rein and walked out of the cabin. As soon as he came out of the cramped cabin, Hongzao snorted a few times, urging Lin Zhen to move forward quickly.

Lin Zhen knew that it had been aggrieved these days, so he led it to the thick wooden plank connecting the shore, behind him were the sergeant carrying the luggage, and the inner prisoner standing aside with a humble attitude.

A discerning person can see the difference in the inner prison at a glance, and whispers to his own people to step back to make way for Lin Zhen and his party.