Chen Laoshi and Qiao Da squatted outside Yuxian Tower with their heads and shoulders, looking at the small boats that occasionally sailed in the river not far ahead, and said in a muffled voice: "It's Shangyuan Festival again-"

Qiao Datou stretched out his neck, looked at the lanterns hanging on the trees on both sides of the road and said, "Ran the lamp!"

After saying that, the two of them shrank, leaned against the wall behind them, watching the people coming and going.

The Yuxian Tower behind him was already dilapidated, and only the carefully crafted doors and windows still tell the prosperity of the past. Many years ago, an official who was demoted from the capital admired the time in the capital and built this restaurant that imitated the Yuxian Tower in Tokyo in the remote Yongzhou City. It had the same name, and even the wine from the Minister Curry sold was also called "Yuye". In those years when the restaurant was just opened, this was the most lively place in Yongzhou City. If you eat wine here a few times a month, you can only be called the famous and surnamed Yuanwai of Yongzhou.

The restaurants will gradually age like people. Locals learned the method of brewing jade wine, and opened new restaurants one by one, and Yuxianlou gradually grew old. Later, the superiors were not good at managing them, and there was no more wine in the minister's wine warehouse. Thirty years ago, Yuxianlou finally died of sleep, leaving only this dilapidated building, standing in the most prosperous area of ​​Yongzhou City, recalling the past.

Chen Laoshi was originally transferred to Yongzhou as an imperial guard. As time goes by, he is also aging day by day. The imperial guards were eliminated and served as the Xiang army. Finally, he was sent to guard the dilapidated Yuxianlou. Qiao Datou is the child of the old brother of Chen Laoshi's imperial guard. The old brother did not accept the soil and soil of Lingnan. When Qiao Datou was five years old, he left the world. The local family was unknown and was raised by Chen Laoshi. When Qiao Datou became an adult, Chen Laoshi asked someone to replenish him in the wing army of the state and be a companion with him.

Every day they squat outside Yuxian Tower, watching the crowds flowing on the road, watching the sun in Lingnan rise and fall day after day, and occasionally recalling the time in the Central Plains when they were young.

Qiao Datou poked Chen Laoshi with his elbow and curled his lips and said, "The official is here."

Chen Laoshi turned his head and saw a young official walking towards him on the road with two soldiers, following the minister Ku Baiganban, and followed him with a public official.

Turning his head, Chen Laoshi said carelessly: "It's time to change the official again."

Xu Ping finally had free time, and brought Gao Daquan and Tan Hu to visit Yuxianlou with Bai Gan Office in charge of the Minister's Deposit. He wanted to make a subsidy for winemaking, so he naturally had to take stock of the original assets first. The Minister's Deposit actually had a restaurant in the prosperous area, which was beyond his expectations. Such high-quality real estate has never been rented out and was slowly ruined. It can also show how unwilling the previous magistrates were about the operation of public assets.

When they arrived in front of the building, the two ragged soldiers who were squatting on the ground just looked at Xu Ping and still squatted there to watch the street scene. They had no intention of getting up, and they thought they were used to being lazy.

Bai Gan Office couldn't hold back his face, so he rushed forward and shouted to Chen Laoshi: "Chen Laoshi, this is the new magistrate in this state. Come to inspect the restaurant. If you can't get up to greet him, are you going to find a board to hit him?!"

Qiao Datou shrank his neck and said to Chen honestly: "You have to beat the board when you do it!"

"Just fight." Chen Laoshi still looked careless.

Xu Ping shook his head impatiently. The wing army was complex and could be roughly divided into three categories. If the imperial guards can be used for war, they have numbers for each command of about 500 people. Yongzhou has two commands, Jingjiang and Xinzhao Jingjiang, with more than 1,000 people. They have all been taken away by Cao Zhizhou to defend the five villages under Yongzhou. There is also a more regular service soldier, and there are also numbers. The rest are the whimsical service soldiers, which have no numbers. Although they have the name of the army, they are actually doing whimsical service work.

The imperial guards of the Northern Song Dynasty were basically all northerners, and 90% were stationed in the north. The vast area south of the Yangtze River relied on the Xiang army to maintain order, and their status was higher than that of the Xiang army in the north. However, the Xiang army never taught and did not expect them to fight. They were actually official servants, and their qualities could be imagined.

Why do people fear death if they are not afraid of death? These two soldiers are like beggars, who look like they have no desires. What's the use of scaring them for nothing? They save money from being burned to death. How could they be afraid?

After looking at the dilapidated Yuxian Tower, Xu Ping asked Chen Houshi who was squatting: "How many years have you been here? Have you always been like this?"

Chen honestly said: "We have been here for more than ten years, how could it be like this? This building is getting worse day by day. We can't shelter us from the wind and rain in a few years."

Seeing Chen Laoshi's appearance as if he was not afraid of boiling water, Xu Ping was speechless. He didn't speak like a local, so he asked, "Where is your hometown? It sounds like he is not a local."

Chen honestly said: "We two are from Jinzhou, Hedong. Emperor Taizong conquered Jiaozhi. When we returned to the army, we stayed in Yongzhou for more than 40 years. When we are old, we don't know how many years we will live."

Qiao Datou whispered, "I was born locally, I am considered a local. My father is from Jinzhou. He has been dead for more than 30 years."

It turned out to be the veterans left by Emperor Taizong when he was conquering Jiaozhi. Xu Ping looked at them and felt an unspeakable feeling. Several emperors in the early Song Dynasty all meant to regain Jiaozhi and counties. In the fifth year of Taiping Xingguo, Taizong took advantage of the civil strife in Jiaozhi and sent troops to fight, winning first and then losing, and most of the tens of thousands of troops were buried in Lingnan. These veterans were used to life and death, and had long been honored and disgraced.

Sighing, Xu Ping said, "It turns out that he was a veteran of the imperial guards in the previous dynasty. I am disrespectful. I want to clean up the Yuxian Tower and reopen it. You open the door and let me go in and take a look."

Chen Laoshi stood up, took out the key and opened the door with Qiao Datou, muttering: "What should I do? Isn't it better to rebuild a new building? We both don't even have a place to settle down."

As soon as the door was opened, a decadent smell came to my face, as if I was pushing open the door of a thousand-year-old tomb.

Chen Laoshi and Qiao Datou were unaware of it and walked straight forward staggeringly.

The restaurant was dimly lit, and a few rays of sunlight were squeezed into the cracks in the sealed windows, aimlessly sprinkling in the lobby full of dust and moss.

There were more than a dozen tables in the lobby, and there was no texture to be seen. When the wind coming in at the door blew, it shaking.

Xu Ping sighed: "The tables and stools are no longer used."

Qiao Datou heard this and leaned over to Chen Laoshi and said, "Dad Chen, the official said that these tables and stools are not available. They are all made of fir. It's good to burn the fire. We won't have to find fire in the past two months."

He looked like two people were whispering, but his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear it clearly.

Xu Ping felt a little sad. These two people lived in the downtown city, but they were like people in the deep mountains. All the bustling and prosperous surroundings were like plants and trees, watching life and death, and flourishing, but had nothing to do with them. They were like this declining restaurant, quietly waiting for the ending moment.

"Go upstairs and take a look."

Xu Ping told the people around him that he stepped onto the stairs first.

Gao Daquan hurriedly came forward, walked in front of Xu Ping, and said, "This staircase is extremely decayed. Please be careful, just walk behind me."

Upstairs is a small pavilion, just like the layout of a restaurant in Tokyo. Through the dust, spider webs and moss everywhere, Xu Ping seemed to have seen many years ago, officials covered in brocade sitting outside the pavilion talking. The singer next to him was singing the lyrics that had long been heard from the big city. The waiter sang the name of the dish loudly, and the vendors selling various snacks were shuttled through the pavilion.

Chen Laoshi stood at the entrance of the stairs, playing with the keys in his hand, bored. He was old and was just waiting quietly for his limit to arrive. Everything in the world was blurred in his turbid old eyes, and could no longer be distinguished one by one, and he had no intention of distinguishing it.

Qiao Datou beside him looked at Xu Ping and the others, but was a little curious. He was in his thirties and had not felt the shadow of death pounced on him. He was willing to open his eyes to see the outside world.

Gao Daquan said beside Xu Ping: "Officials, this place looks much bigger than the restaurant in our Baisha Town. It's just that it's so decayed. I don't know how much manpower it will take to clean up."

Xu Ping sighed: "No matter how difficult it is, you have to clean it up. There is no money in the state to buy a new restaurant. Tomorrow you and Tan Hu will come to clean up with the soldiers, and the free agency will follow you. All the expenses will be paid from me first."

Tan Hu said: "Don't the officials still want to make wine? I think they have collected a lot of sorghum. Who will help the soldiers?"

"What's the solution? You guys just lost it after doing this and then they had to pick up the important ones first and find a way to slowly."

Tan Hu looked at Chen Laoshi and Qiao Datou at the stairs and whispered: "In fact, there are many errand soldiers like them in the state. The officials can gather them to do something. Anyway, they are idle, and their monthly salary is not enough for food and clothing, and they are rewarded with two staples of money. They are grateful to the officials."

Xu Ping couldn't help but be moved. Using his own troops is much more reliable than hiring people. He is willing to pay for his wages and can work and manage it better.

"You're right. When I go back and check it, I'll allocate it to you tomorrow."

After Xu Ping finished speaking, he said to Bai Ganban beside him: "By the way, Bai Ganban is coming tomorrow. This is a restaurant belonging to the Minister's Depot. You can also bring a few people to clean up. Also, Bai Ganban, how much does it cost to rent a month after the military resource warehouse of this restaurant is requisitioned?"

Bai Ganban kept looking at Xu Ping's face carefully, for fear that he would blame him for not taking good care of himself and letting the official property be ruined like this. If he was a little more harsh, he would be troublesome to ask him to pay for it.

Hearing that Xu Ping did not blame himself and talked about renting money, the Bai Gan Office put it down and hurriedly said, "The two databases are all in charge of the magistrates now. How dare I interrupt?"

Xu Ping smiled: "Master Cao should come back if he can't take many days. I'll make a rent. Maybe he'll think it's too much. You can tell the price according to the market price, and there's something to say at that time."

Bai Ganban looked carefully at Xu Ping's face and whispered: "What do you think of the Monthly Monkey King Tongzong?"

"Oh, it's not expensive, so I'll make sure to make a full amount of 2 chunks a month."

Such a large restaurant is not expensive. Besides, the Minister's Cut was used by him and the governor, so he would not lose money to himself. If he hadn't been inconsistent with the governor, Xu Ping would have set the rent to twenty cents, which would have been much easier for the Minister's Cut.

In states where wine is prohibited, the wine in the minister's wine warehouse is not allowed to be taken out. It can only be made into vinegar and sold with lees left over the brewing wine. It is called vinegar and money, which is an important source of wealth for the minister's warehouses in many states. Yongzhou does not prohibit wine, so the minister's warehouse can open a restaurant by itself, as long as it pays taxes like other restaurants. The Song Dynasty court was very concerned about money, so no matter how the local government is to make trouble, the central government's taxes are left out.
Chapter completed!