Chapter 163 Defection
The two of them took a step forward, and when they saw Jiang Quan retreating cautiously, they hurriedly said, "Don't be afraid, we just want to ask you something."
Jiang Quan was still on guard, "You don't go to the village to inquire about things. Why are you following me so secretly?"
"Sorry, we didn't mean to do this." It was only because the boy was too focused on digging the ground that he didn't notice them.
A man with a square face said: "We just want to find out if there is a man named Wen Fu here."
Jiang Quan frowned and looked at the two of them up and down.
I saw that their hair was dirty, their clothes and pants were in tatters, and their feet were bare. They were about the same age as my father, so I couldn't help but become more vigilant. "Aren't you going to ask others? There are many people in the village. Why are you sneaking around and asking me?"
Fang Lian was silent for a moment and said: "To tell you the truth, we two brothers have no identity and road guidance, and inspections everywhere have been strict recently. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, I am not sure whether the person I am looking for is here, so it is not easy to go to the village. Excuse me, Wen Fu is our relative, we are here to seek refuge with him, please let me know."
When Jiang Quan heard what he said, he believed it a little bit.
But it is not appropriate for me to rashly bring people like second-rate people into the village.
After pondering for a moment, he nodded and said, "There is indeed a man named Wen Fu, but I don't know if he is the person you are looking for."
Another person was overjoyed and said quickly: "It must be true. We have inquired before. He works as a slave in the Wen family. He came to Qinchuan County with the fourth wife of the Wen family earlier, so we came all the way."
Jiang Quan believed it a little more when he heard it, "Okay, you guys wait here, I'll ask Uncle Wen."
After saying that, he took the chisel and ran away.
Emma, it’s so scary. These two people look like bandits.
No, I must tell my third uncle that they are here to catch them.
snort! Do you think he is a child? What kind of person have you never seen?
Whether they are relatives of Uncle Wen can only be determined after a trial.
Jiang Quan ran all the way back to the village.
Nowadays, the south slope has become a larger village, with rows of houses lined up side by side.
Each family's yard is of average size, and the vegetable garden in front of the yard is also neatly arranged.
Most of the villagers have moved in, and children run around and play on the wide and solid village roads from time to time.
Jiang Sanlang was instructing the villagers to build a mushroom shed when he suddenly saw Jiang Quan running out of breath: "Uncle Third, there are two refugees over there in the bamboo forest. They said they were looking for Uncle Wen, and they said they were Uncle Wen's relatives."
Refugees?
The refugees appearing at this time cannot be taken lightly.
Jiang Sanlang frowned, and immediately asked several people to go to the bamboo forest to surround him, and asked a child to find Wen Fu.
Wen Fu was helping at the school. Hearing that someone was looking for him, he hurried over to the bamboo forest with Jiang Sanlang.
Listening to Jiang Quan's narration, if he guessed correctly, these two people should be his former subordinates.
When they arrived at the bamboo forest, they saw two people squatting on the edge of the forest looking around. They saw many villagers hula coming around. They were startled, turned around and wanted to get into the bamboo forest.
"Zhang Meng! Xu Kun!" Wen Fu shouted.
The two of them paused, turned to look at Wen Fu, and tears filled their eyes instantly, "Brother...Fu!"
Wen Fu quickly stepped forward and hugged Zhang Meng and Xu Kun, who also rushed towards him. All three of them had their clothes wet with tears.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Sanlang asked the villagers to disperse first, while he waited aside.
The three of them talked in a low voice for a while. Wen Fu came to Jiang Sanlang and hugged his fists, "These two are my sworn brothers. Now that they have nowhere to find a way to survive, I ask Jiang Langjun to take them in."
Jiang Sanlang frowned, looked at the two of them, and asked, "Are they innocent?"
"Innocent. I'll guarantee it with my head. They are definitely not criminals and have nothing to do with bandits." Wen Fu swore.
Jiang Sanlang looked at the two of them and asked, "Do you have a household registration guide?"
The two of them were stunned, and Xu Kun said: "To be honest, we came from Yizhou and there was no household registration guide."
"Yizhou? Is it Yizhou where wars often occur?" Jiang Sanlang heard people talk about Yizhou, because when the imperial court recruited troops, less than half of the people went to that place.
"Yes." Xu Kun said: "We were originally border guards and were sent back to our hometown because of injuries. However, life in the countryside is not easy and we have no relatives at home, so we came to join Brother Fu."
In fact, the reason is more than this, but that's all they can say.
Xu Kun stretched out his right hand to show Jiang Sanlang. There was only a thumb and half of the index finger left in his right hand, and the other three fingers were all spread out.
He pointed at Zhang Meng again, "One of his legs has a broken muscle."
Jiang Sanlang turned to look at Zhang Meng, and sure enough he saw that he was walking with a slight limp.
"In that case, come with me first." Since he was neither a deserter nor a bandit, Jiang Sanlang was relieved.
Looking at these two people again, although they are in a sorry state, they are also upright, unlike those little people who wait for the night.
And Wen Fu is a servant of the Wen family, and his every word and deed is connected to the Wen family, so there must be no big problem.
Jiang Sanlang took the two of them back to the village and went directly to Chief Chen to explain the matter.
Patriarch Chen did not object to taking them in. He only said that they should help the village work first. If they performed well, they could explain the situation to Li Zheng and apply for a new household registration for them.
"If they continue to perform their duties, they can apply for asylum as refugees. I see that although they are disabled, they are in good health. Why not let them help tidy up the roads in the village."
A large area of the village is being built with soil. During the transportation of building materials, the road surface will inevitably be damaged, so it is necessary to find someone to fill in the soil and repair it.
It was tiring, tedious, and unproductive work, so no one wanted to do it.
Two strong laborers happened to come, and they were not used in vain.
"That's okay. When the time comes, each household will provide some food to help them support their lives." Jiang Sanlang said.
Since helping the village to level the road is working for the entire village, there is no reason for one family to contribute money and food, so the whole village must work together.
The clan leader had no objection: "Then let's do it like this, and let people do the math later. The food rations and daily expenses of these two people will be shared equally by the whole village."
"good."
Jiang Sanlang met the clan leader, and Zhang Meng and Xu Kun also met Minglu.
He took them to a hut next to his vegetable garden and said, "You two will live here temporarily. After you have status, we will allot a piece of land to build you a house."
Since Chu Chu didn't come back, Wei Zhan had been living with Hu Zi, so the hut had been vacant, just for the two of them to stay temporarily.
"Thank you Jiang Cunzheng." Zhang Meng and Xu Kun hugged Jiang Sanlang. They were very happy and did not dislike the small size of the hut at all.
Jiang Sanlang nodded and went back to bring them two old quilts, two old jackets, two pairs of old shoes, and some pots and pans.
Afterwards, the villagers were asked to collect some rice, noodles and salt for them to cook for themselves.
The next day, Zhang Meng and Xu Kun officially went to work.
One picked up soil to fill the hole, and the other smoothed the road. He worked without any regrets.
Jiang Sanlang observed them for a few days and saw that there was no abnormality, so he was a little relieved.
In the blink of an eye, it is already the middle of winter, and the weather is extremely cold.
The construction of houses in the village has come to an end and the school has been built.
This school was jointly funded by Jiang Sanlang, the clan leader and several clan elders. It is divided into two courtyards, the boys' school and the girls' school, with twelve rooms. In addition to the interior decoration furniture, desks and chairs, etc., a total of more than two hundred taels were spent. silver.
After dividing it up, Jiang Sanlang got more than forty taels.
The money is well spent, because the children in Jiangjiacun will be able to come to school here in the future.
The boys' school has six rooms and a courtyard, and the girls' school is the same, with a high wall separating the two courtyards.
The first three rooms are used as classrooms, and the last three rooms can be used by the husband and his family.
Mrs. Wen moved in with her daughter and servants not long after the school was built, and admitted several female students at one time.
These girls are all young, ranging from six to ten years old.
The reason why the villagers are willing to spend money to send their daughters to school is because they hope that they can read and practice medicine like Yingbao and Erni.
I don’t expect to be able to practice medicine to support my family in the future, but I hope my daughter can find a good husband.