Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, was indeed a particular person, and the next day he arranged for the sergeants of the 500 battalion to change their military status, and 3,000 taels of silver were also sent to Xu Jin's mansion, which was an unexpected gain.

Three thousand taels of silver is not much, but it is not too little, and the construction cost allocated by the household department to the five hundred battalions is only one thousand taels of silver, and these silver are not directly given to Xu Jin, but to the Ministry of Industry, which is responsible for sending people to build barracks for the five hundred battalions.

On the morning of the fifth day of the second lunar month, Xu Jin, Wang Lin'er, Xie Erjian, and other backbone members of the 500 battalion led the people of the Ministry of Engineering to the station in the western suburbs of Beijing to survey the terrain and begin to prepare for the construction of barracks.

The garrison assigned to the 500 battalions by the household department is in the Liangxiang area in the western suburbs of Beijing, including two nearby hills, covering an area of more than 4,000 mu.

Looking at the two barren mountains full of low shrubs in front of him, Qi Jingtong couldn't help but burst into a rude voice: "Grass grandma's, it's hell if this kind of land can grow food." Yang Tan's old king and eight thieves are damaged, this is clearly rectifying us. ”

Wang Lin'er also looked worried, in the future, the five hundred brothers will have to rely on these thousands of acres of land to feed, but these lands can't grow grain at all, he really can't figure out why Lord Xu, who has always been shrewd, would accept the arrangement of the household department, sighed and said: "It seems that only sweet potatoes can be grown, and I heard that sweet potatoes can also grow in such barren mountainous areas." ”

Xie Erjian has been raising for more than two months, and his internal injuries have almost healed, at this time, holding the long sword in his arms, he looked lazy and indifferent, kicked a piece of turf with his foot, and said with a smile: "Lao Wang, it's true that sweet potatoes are full, but if you eat them every day, no one can stand it." You don't have to worry about it, adults will naturally find a way to solve it. ”

Qi Jingtong and Wang Lin'er looked at each other and smiled, and what they said was also, what else could not be solved by adults, and the weapons and military status of the brothers were not easily solved by adults? Since the adults have received these thousands of acres of mountainous land, they will naturally have a way to solve the problem of military salaries.

"Let's go, let's go over and listen to what the adults are talking about with Master Li." Qi Jingtong beckoned and took the lead towards the top of the hillside.

At this time, Xu Jin was standing at the highest point of the hillside, followed by a middle-aged man wearing a six-grade official uniform, this person's name was Li Liang, a director of the Ministry of Works, responsible for building barracks for the 500 battalions.

"Lord Xu, this place sits in the north and faces south, there is a small river under the slope to facilitate water, and the terrain is relatively gentle, according to the official's opinion, it is better to build the barracks below." Li Liang pointed to the half-ramp below.

When Xu Jin received the land a few days ago, he had already surveyed the terrain with the officials of the household department, and he also fell in love with this position at that time, and said with a smile when he heard this: "Director Li has rich experience, since he thinks this location is suitable, there is nothing wrong with it." ”

It is undoubtedly a pleasant thing to meet an unpicky customer, and Director Li is very happy at this moment, and after instructing his craftsmen to do their work, he said with a smile: "Lord Xu, it will take half a month to be fast, and a month to be slow, and the barracks will be built." ”

Xu Jin nodded and said: "There is Director Lao Li, but this official still has some additional fortifications to ask Director Li here, Erniu, bring the drawings." ”

Erniu next to him hurriedly handed a roll of rice paper to Xu Jin, Director Li couldn't help frowning secretly, the happy mood just now was suddenly gone, he was only responsible for building barracks for the five hundred battalions, Xu Jin's addition of additional fortifications will undoubtedly increase the workload, and the cost will also increase, so that this project is not only out of oil and water, I am afraid it will have to be upside down.

So Director Li secretly made up his mind, if it was just a small project and pinched his nose and admitted it, it would be regarded as selling personal favors, and if it was a project with a large cost, he would resolutely refuse, and there was no way to offend people, so he couldn't lose money, right?

Xu Jin looked at the rice paper, and Director Li hurriedly approached to take a look, and couldn't help but sigh lightly: "Lord Xu, what is this?" ”

Xu Jin smiled and pointed to the location between the two hillsides and said, "Trouble Master Li to have the ground under the hillside over there leveled, just make it according to the inches marked in the drawings, and then plant the turf, the kind of soft grass that is several inches high." In addition, the shrubs on the hillside over there were cleared, but they were all planted with grass instead of leveling. ”

"Planting grass?" Director Li couldn't help but blurt out.

Xu Jin nodded and said, "That's right, it's planting grass!" ”

This time, including Xie Erjian, they were dumbfounded, Tuntian was used to plant grass, could my brother-in-law plan to build this place into a pasture, or would he simply let the brothers of the 500 battalion eat grass in the future?

Director Li's eyes are strange, Hubu Shangshu allocated 4,000 acres of mountainous land to 500 battalions as a matter of tuntian, the entire capital officialdom knows about it, and director Li has naturally heard about it, and now Xu Jin actually uses these tuntian to plant grass, won't it be that his head was kicked by a donkey, right?

Facing Director Li's questioning eyes, Xu Jin said calmly: "Director Li, this is no problem." ”

Director Li laughed dryly and said, "It's no problem, but ...... The lower officials are only responsible for building the barracks, and the household department only allocates 1,000 taels of silver, but the workers below have to eat and be paid, hehe, Lord Xu, you understand. ”

Xu Jin patted Li Liang on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Director Li won't let you work in vain, how about two thousand taels of silver?" ”

Director Li's eyes lit up, the cost of leveling the land and planting grass is not high, unlike the construction of barracks, which requires wood and bricks, it only takes a little time and effort, two thousand taels of silver has a lot of oil and water to fish, rubbed his hands and said: "Lord Xu, what you said is true?" ”

Xu Jin said bluntly: "This official can advance half of his salary first!" ”

Director Li couldn't help but be overjoyed, nodded and said, "Cheng, it's done!" "As long as there is money to be made, it doesn't matter if he grows grass or stones.

Since the money was given, Xu Jin was naturally not polite, and then talked to Director Li in detail about some details, including the size of the site, what type of grass to plant, how to leave the walking path, where to divert river water to dig a small pond, and so on.

Qi Jingtong and the others were confused when they heard it on the side, it seemed that the adults didn't want to build a ranch, not to mention that they had never heard of a size for building a ranch.

When Xu Jin and Master Li finished talking and were about to walk down the hillside to return to the city, Wang Lin'er finally couldn't help but ask: "My lord, if you plant grass in the mountains over there, do you want to build a pasture?" ”

"You want to be a shepherd?" Xu Jin asked with a smile, and Wang Lin'er and the others hurriedly shook their heads and said they didn't want to.

Xu Jin smiled and said: "You won't understand it now, but you will know by then, and in the future, the brothers of our five hundred battalions will have to rely on the slope on the opposite side to feed." ”

Qi Jingtong and Wang Lin'er couldn't help but look at each other, Xie Erjian shrugged his shoulders, he knew that his brother-in-law always had some wild ideas, so he didn't bother to think about it, because even if he figured it out, he couldn't figure it out.

In fact, whether it is ancient or modern, doing business is inseparable from clothing, food, housing, transportation, and entertainment.

Xu Jin is naturally not stupid enough to do the business of clothing, food, housing and transportation in the wilderness, so if he wants to use these barren mountains to make money and raise the army, the only way to do it is to do entertainment. The population of the capital is more than one million, and there are many rich officials and nobles, these guys are "stupid and rich", and lack rich entertainment methods, Xu Jin plans to move several popular sports in later generations to earn money from these upper-class nobles.

……

Below the hillside is an official road, and the horses of Xu Jin and others are tied to the bushes next to the official road. When Xu Jin and the others almost returned to the place where the horses were tethered, Xie Erjian suddenly stopped in front of Xu Jin vigilantly and shouted, "What person? Come out! ”

Qi Jingtong and Wang Lin'er quickly drew their waist knives and approached the bushes with horns.

At this time, a person crawled out of the bushes, knelt on the ground and said in horror: "The official spares his life, the little one is not a villain, not a villain." ”

"Great!" Erniu blurted out.

Xu Jin fixed his eyes, and his sword eyebrows suddenly wrinkled, and the obscene guy in front of him was indeed the big guy.

Da Yan was stunned for a moment, raised his head and looked, and naturally recognized Er Niu and Xu Jin at a glance, this thing was overjoyed, he got up and ran to Xu Jin and knelt down, kowtowed three heads firmly, and said excitedly: "My nephew kowtowed to Uncle Ten, hehe, I didn't expect to see Uncle Ten here!" ”

Da Yan, this kid is generally treacherous and lazy with his old son Xu Youcai, and he likes to take advantage of small advantages, so Xu Jin doesn't like this nephew of his own family, and he severely reprimanded him in Nanchang at the beginning, frowning and saying: "Da Yan, why did you come to the capital?" ”

As soon as Da Yan wanted to answer, a voice roared from the official road outside: "Da Yan, you are a special iron ball, right, if you don't come out, the master won't wait for you, you fuck, you always have to slip when you have to work." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure jumped up like a monkey on a nearby bush and looked over the pergola with his hand.

This time, it was Xie Erjian's turn to blurt out: "Fourth! ”

At this time, it was a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy who jumped on the bush, born with a tiger's head, bright eyes, and as strong as a calf, first stunned for a moment, and then excitedly shouted: "Second brother, haha, and brother-in-law!" ”

The young man on the bush was his brother-in-law Xie Sangun, who landed on the ground with a somersault and rushed towards Xu Jin and the others.