Chapter 142 Deng Qianqiu's trump card
Deng Qianqiu looked at the boy and asked, "How much have you learned now?"

The young man said, "Qian Hu, I have only mastered 137 characters so far."

Deng Qianqiu nodded and asked, "What about arithmetic?"

The young man said, "I can use an abacus, but I can't do mental arithmetic."

Deng Qianqiu nodded: "This is not easy either. It must be very hard here."

After hearing this, the young man shook his head like a rattle: "It's not hard. Life here is great."

Deng Qianqiu: “…”

The young man said, "When I was in the Wucheng Bingmasi, I was only given some food rations. Life was already difficult at home, so I could only barely support myself and I had to work. Sometimes I had to pour tea and water for my superiors, or help officials and wealthy families dredge rivers."

"It's different after I came here. Here, I can eat three meals a day, with white rice and one or two ounces of meat every day. The dishes are also well seasoned with oil and salt..."

Deng Qianqiu scolded, "That cook is really bored. He added so much oil and salt. It's very greasy. I was wondering why this dish is so hard to eat. I've instructed him several times, but he only changed it a little bit. He didn't listen."

The young man felt that Deng Qianqiu had misunderstood, and fearing that the cook would be blamed, he hurriedly said, "No, no, no, it's because everyone likes to eat oil and salt. Qianhu, we used to eat green salt, which tastes bitter, and we dare not put too much. Salt is precious. In the Qianhu Office... it's different."

After hearing what he said, Deng Qianqiu vaguely remembered that when he came here, many of the soldiers of the Five Cities Army were pale and thin. But now it seems that many people are much more normal.

It turns out that being able to eat salt normally is a luxury.

The young man continued, "I've been doing my duty here, I've been well fed and well watered, and I look respectable. My relatives were so happy to know that I came to the Qianhu Office, and they showed off to everyone. My family told me to get a permanent job, but I... I'm worried that I won't be able to do so."

Deng Qianqiu saw the worried look on the boy's face and comforted him, "As long as you study hard, practice hard, and do your duty well, you will definitely be able to become a regular employee."

The young man nodded. "In fact, it's really fun here. The brothers all say so. In the past, we did hard labor on an empty stomach, but now we can learn things. The training may be a little hard, but it's not tiring. And reading and writing are like a rest."

Deng Qianqiu was surprised: "You think reading and writing is easy?"

The young man said seriously, "Of course, I dare not speak nonsense. If you don't believe me, you can ask other people. What everyone likes most is the morning and evening classes. I have to help my family since I was young. Later, my family used their connections to get me into the Wucheng Bingma Division, but I also did odd jobs and it was very hard. I envied those men who read books, but I didn't expect that I can read and write now."

The boy became more and more excited as he spoke, and he only mentioned his past experiences in a few brief words.

But Deng Qianqiu felt that the boy was extremely satisfied with his current life.

So terrifying.

too frightening.

Deng Qianqiu's heart was shocked. He suddenly realized that even though he had lived two lives as a human being, he still didn't have much understanding of the difficult lives of ordinary people in this world.

Studying, training, and being on duty every day, working and studying for eight or nine hours a day, this seemed like a life of cattle and horses to Deng Qianqiu. But the boy felt that it was like a day in heaven.

So……

Deng Qianqiu's heart skipped a beat. If he gave a group of people like this a ladder to move up and gave them the opportunity to learn and improve themselves, what kind of power would they unleash?
In his previous life, Deng Qianqiu always listened to his former leader bragging to him about his youth, such as going up the mountain to chop wood at three in the morning, then going to school, studying hard, and finally being admitted to university.

Deng Qianqiu always felt that these stories, which he had heard so many times, were exaggerated.

But Deng Qianqiu only now realized that what the young man in front of him had been through was countless times more painful.

Deng Qianqiu lowered his head to hide his excitement. He suddenly realized that his trump card was not the time travel between two lives, but standing on the shoulders of giants. His real trump card, the trump card in his hand, was the young men like the one in front of him.

What kind of power will they unleash!
"Qianhu, Qianhu..."

Deng Qianqiu came back to his senses and asked, "What's your name?"

The young man said, "I am Wang Qi."

Deng Qianqiu thought for a moment and said, "This name is not good. I will change it for you. From now on, you will be called Wang Chengzhi. I hope you can carry on my ambitions and study hard like me, and serve the country well in the future."

After hearing this, Wang Qi's eyes lit up instantly and he said happily, "Thank you for the name, Master."

Deng Qianqiu suddenly asked: "Are most of your names numbers?"

Wang Qi nodded and said, "Seven or eighty percent of them are like that. Our parents didn't have much education and didn't know how to name people. They mostly named people according to their generation and the order of the clan."

Deng Qianqiu thought for a moment and said, "Then I have to make the decision. The surname is yours, and the first character of your name is Cheng. I will give it to you. As for the third character, you can choose it by yourselves. You can go back and ask your parents, or you can think about it yourself. This surname is your blood relationship, and the second character will be used as the generation of the first batch of new lieutenants of Qianhu. If you all choose the same name, it means that you have shared joys and sorrows. The third character is yours."

Then, Deng Qianqiu patted him on the shoulder and said, "Wang Chengzhi, continue studying. Go to sleep when you are tired. Don't push yourself too hard."

"Ah."

Deng Qianqiu said, "No need to see me off." After saying that, Deng Qianqiu was ready to turn around and walk out.

"I still want to see you off." Wang Chengzhi said.

Deng Qianqiu smiled and said, "I thought I understood the ways of the world the best, but who would have thought that everyone here understands it."

Wang Chengzhi heard this and said hurriedly: "Captain, I...I don't mean that."

Wang Chengzhi said, "I am really grateful to the captain. This is the first time in my life that someone, other than my parents, has given me a full meal, taught me to read and write, and helped me understand the truth... This is the first time someone has treated me as a human being, instead of saying I was on duty like before, but in fact I was treated like a slave."

Deng Qianqiu was slightly shocked after hearing this. He saw that Wang Chengzhi's eyes were watery with tears, as if he was touched by something.

So Deng Qianqiu deliberately turned his face away to show that he was not deliberately trying to pry into the other person's heart.

"Okay, you go ahead."

Wang Chengzhi skillfully went to light the lantern hanging at the door, then carried the lantern to light the way for Deng Qianqiu and sent him back to the bedroom.

……

The next morning, Deng Qianqiu got up, washed up, but still sat there in a daze.

Zhu Gang brought Deng Qianqiu some food in a lunch box. Seeing Deng Qianqiu's worried look, he exclaimed, "Master, what were you doing last night? Why were you so distracted?"

Deng Qianqiu murmured, "With great power comes great responsibility. The rise and fall of the country and the suffering of the people are our responsibility."

Zhu Gang was startled and reached out to touch Deng Qianqiu's forehead: "Master, what medicine did you take wrong today? Or did you come up with some trick to cheat me out of money?"

Deng Qianqiu came back to his senses, glared at him and angrily scolded: "In the future, you should behave like a disciple in front of others. I don't care, but I'm afraid that others will scold you for betraying your master and ancestors and losing human ethics."

Deng Qianqiu took the lunch box, opened it, looked at the food inside, and said, "Why is there no meat at all? If you don't know, you would think that we are Koreans and can't afford meat."

Zhu Gang was stunned and said, "This is breakfast..."

Deng Qianqiu said, "Go and inform them that even if there is no meat in the morning, at least cook an egg. Everyone works and studies very hard, and we cannot let their health suffer. Also, we will have to organize a naming ceremony later. It's a headache to hear so many new lieutenants named one by one."

Zhu Gang was shocked: "I understand this, just like my father, Chongba Chongba, changed to Yuanzhang."

Deng Qianqiu said, "You said this yourself, not me. I think your majesty's nickname is very good. The eight has a good connotation, and Chongba means even better. From this, we can see that your majesty is indeed destined to unify China."

Zhu Gang took out the shorthand bamboo slips he carried with him and searched his body for charcoal pencils.

Deng Qianqiu looked at his behavior and asked curiously, "What are you going to do now?"

Zhu Gang said, "I will write this down so that I can talk about it next time I see my father."

Deng Qianqiu was speechless.

Despicable and shameless plagiarist!
But at this moment, a captain came hurriedly outside: "Captain, someone is here to visit."

Deng Qianqiu asked: "Who?"

"It is said that His Highness hired them to go to Qixia..."

When Deng Qianqiu heard this, he was overjoyed and said, "Quick, please come in."

Soon, several people in Taoist robes came in.

In this era, anyone who had anything to do with geography was mostly a wandering Taoist priest. The Taoist priests of this era were all versatile. They could tell fortunes and chant sutras in a Taoist robe, and they could go up the mountain with a compass to find a burial site with the best feng shui when they put on leg wraps. They could also make elixirs with a furnace. When they were sent to a high platform, they would start stargazing.

It can be said that they were able to come up with some new tricks in later astronomy, geology, chemistry, metaphysics and various folk customs. Of course, they were also good at using talismans and water to cure diseases, or doing some so-called underground activities, organizing a rebellion and the like.

Of course, now that the world has just been pacified, they are no longer in fashion about this. Some talents still depend on the right time.

The leading Taoist stepped forward and said with a smile, "Captain Deng, please look at what this is?"

As he spoke, he reached out and scattered some broken metal on the desk.

There are golden nuggets, white silver nuggets, and all kinds of metal particles...

For a moment, I was dazzled.

"The places Captain Deng pointed out are indeed blessed by nature and are treasures. Captain Deng, congratulations!"

(End of this chapter)