Chapter 240: Suffering in the World

Anyway, the veterans were provided with food and accommodation by Wang An, so Wang An took it upon himself to pay the veterans' wages for more than a month directly to their families.

In this regard, the veteran leader Tian Erleng agreed and said that Wang An did a great job.

Because some veterans, after arriving in the capital, had some surplus in their hands and they just spent it on eating and drinking, or even gambling and whoring.

Instead of wasting it, it is better to give it directly to their families, at least to ensure that their families have enough food and clothing.

This is no joke. With the operation of the chemical plant, the profits of the chemical flagship store have skyrocketed since its opening. Wang An also improved the treatment of the veterans, increasing it to one tael and eight cents of silver per month.

When this money reached the hands of the families, these orphans, widows and elderly people were so happy.

Many people even kowtowed towards the inn where Wang An lived in front of Tian Erlangzi, and kept thanking Wang An for providing a livelihood for their family!

When Wang An found out about this, he felt extremely sad.

Although this amount of silver is not low in any place in the Ming Dynasty, Datong is an important military town.

Just like in Liaodong, due to long-term war and drought, the price of grain often rises sharply after it is transported to Datong.

Fortunately, Man Gui used his power to suppress the situation, and the situation in Datong was much better than that in Liaodong, so although the price of grain was high, it was not outrageous.

Even so, one tael and eight cents of silver could only buy a little over one stone of grain.

So Wang An decided that the progress of the family quarters must be taken seriously.

If the family members are kept in Datong for a long time, this amount of money will not be enough to feed them for long.

If the incident with Lin Danhan had not happened, he would have been able to pass by Datong frequently. Although it would have been a bit troublesome, he would have been able to bring money for the old soldiers.

But it is no longer possible now. Without armor and armor-piercing arrows, there is no chance to come to the grassland at least before Lindan Khan dies.

As he was thinking this, the caravan had already left the city gate and came to the families who were seeing them off. Wang An specifically ordered them to stop for a while so that the veterans could say goodbye to their families.

Unexpectedly, the family members did not cherish the time spent with their family, but instead surrounded Wang An.

Before Wang An could figure out what these people wanted from him, he saw them all kneeling down in front of him.

Although Wang An was puzzled, he was not surprised.

During the time I have been in Ming Dynasty, I don’t know how many times I have been made to kneel to my knees. To put it bluntly, I have become a little numb.

Moreover, the reason why Wang An helped everyone was just out of his heart and he didn't want to feel guilty, not because he wanted others to kneel to him.

However, he still had to save face, so Wang An quickly dismounted and reached out to support an old lady in front of him.

The old lady looked to be in her seventies or eighties, but based on Wang An's experience during his time in the Ming Dynasty, the lower-class people of this era generally looked much older than their actual age, so he estimated that the other party was probably around sixty years old.

But this is quite remarkable. After all, the average life expectancy in the Ming Dynasty was only around 30 or 40 years old. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a saying that life to age 70 is a rare event in history.

"Old man, please get up quickly!" Wang An stretched out his hand to support him.

However, Wang An didn't help the old lady up because she looked so frail.

The old man knelt on the ground stubbornly, and before he could speak, his cloudy eyes were already filled with tears. "Old man, what happened?" Wang An instinctively thought of the old men who knelt at the gate of the government in his previous life, so he asked.

However, the old lady shook her head and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.

Just as Wang An was puzzled, a woman next to her said, "The dumb woman can't speak. This is how it was when the neighbors met her."

"I see."

Wang An saw that the person was probably the neighbor of the mute woman, so he asked, "Has the mute woman encountered any difficulties? If so, please tell me. I will do my best to help you."

Although the mute woman could not speak, she seemed to be able to hear. She shook her head vigorously to indicate that she had not encountered any difficulties, and also made gestures that Wang An could not understand.

There was no unified standard sign language in those days, and every mute made different gestures. Wang An couldn't understand them, and he had no idea what the mute woman wanted to say even by guessing.

However, the female neighbor next to her, perhaps because they had known each other for a long time, was more familiar with the mute woman's sign language, and was relatively clear about her situation, so she said: "The mute woman said that she is very grateful to the boss, and she can't repay you in this life because she is too old. In the next life, she is willing to work like a cow or a horse for you to repay you!"

Hearing that they were thanking him, Wang An thought it was probably because he had taken the initiative to pay the wages last night, so he smiled and said, "Mute, this is what I should do, no need to thank me!"

After saying this, he wanted to help the mute woman up.

Unexpectedly, the mute woman still knelt on the ground stubbornly and even kowtowed to Wang An three more times.

Generally speaking, even if you express gratitude by kneeling, after you kowtow, the person being thanked will say a few polite words and then help you up. It is not a life-saving favor, so there is no need to kneel until you die.

But the dumb woman was so stubborn that Wang An instinctively felt something was wrong.

So he said to the woman, "What happened to the dumb woman? Please help me to get her up."

Unexpectedly, the woman not only refused to help, but said: "This is what I should do. Boss, you are the great benefactor of the mute woman!"

Wang An was a little confused. To be honest, there was a little favor.

After all, since the mute woman appeared here, it meant that there was a man in the family who was hired by Wang An.

Being given food to eat is considered a great favor these days, not to mention that the old soldiers are basically disabled and no one wants them, so they can only wait for death in misery.

However, Wang An had hired so many veterans that there was no need for such a grand gift.

However, the next words from the female neighbor made Wang An understand and feel sad at the same time.

It turned out that the mute woman's son was not selected into the caravan this time and remained in the capital.

So Tian Erlangzi came to deliver the wages to the mute woman yesterday instead of Wang An.

But when they arrived at the mute woman's house, they found that her husband was already seriously ill. Because he had been delayed for a long time and was old, even if they found a doctor, the doctor said that there was no cure.

Seeing that the mute woman could not speak, Tian Erlengzi was worried that even if he gave the wages to her, she would be cheated by the unscrupulous rice merchants. So he personally helped the mute woman exchange the wages for food and some meat.

The mute woman and her husband had not eaten rice and meat for a long time. That night, when the mute woman's husband smelled the rice and meat, he immediately became energetic and ate two bowls of rice!

Just when the neighbors thought that the mute woman's husband was getting better, the next day, which was early this morning.

(End of this chapter)