In the midst of the rush, a large ship passed by, and the panic here attracted the attention of the people on board. This large ship was obviously different from other warships. Although ordinary warships were wide and strong, there were only round wooden poles and wide planks on the ship.

decoration, and although this big ship is not as good as

The flower boat is as luxurious as a painted boat. The boat is also surrounded by red curtains and green curtains, which makes it very special in this fleet. There are several general-looking people sitting in the cabin, and there are several young gentlemen standing on the bow.

These young men are not dressed as ordinary sergeants, but rather look like children from aristocratic families.

One of the young men in white clothes looked over here and saw a few people standing on a huge rock, an old man with a white beard, a young man with big horns, and a pair of older young men and women supporting a man from left to right.

A middle-aged woman, the young man has a handsome appearance and a green birthmark on his forehead. The young man in white glanced at everyone, and finally stopped at Zhi Xin.

The river breeze blew her pink pleated skirt and black hair, swaying and flowing gracefully. From a distance, she looked like a hibiscus emerging from the water, naturally beautiful, fresh and refined.

As the boat moved forward, Zhixin's image became closer and closer. When it reached the closest distance, the young man couldn't help but be a little stunned. However, the boat did not stop at this moment, and the distance gradually became further away. If it weren't for fear of committing a crime,

For the serious crime of delaying the military plane, he stopped the ship no matter what.

A young man next to him pushed him: "Brother Shi, what are you looking at?"

Mr. Shi pointed to the shore and said blankly: "The grass is green, and the white dew is like frost. The so-called beauty is on one side of the water. If you swim upstream from it, the road is long and blocked. If you swim upstream from it, you will be in the middle of the water. Brother Xiahou, that one

The woman in the red dress..."

Mr. Xiahou looked in the direction of Mr. Shi's finger. At this time, the boat was far away and he couldn't see clearly. He said strangely: "It's just a woman. Is there anything rare? You can have as much as you want."

Mr. Shi ignored him and the boat continued to move forward. Zhixin gradually disappeared from her sight. Mr. Shi finally recovered a little and said, "Oh, in this rural town, there is such a beautiful woman. It's strange.

It's strange, even in the huge city of Luoyang, it's hard to find such a person. If she were taken into my house, she would be able to overwhelm the concubines in my family without having to dress up. It's just that I, Shi, am not lucky enough to have such a beautiful woman, but I long for it but can't reach it."

Mr. Xiahou smiled and said: "What's so difficult about this? Now that the world is at peace, if Brother Shi likes it, when he gets to Luoyang and receives the emperor's reward, he can send someone to take this girl to Luoyang. Isn't that all?"

"Even so..." Mr. Shi was still puzzled by his melancholy, clapped his hands and stamped his feet, "I only know her once, and I don't know where this place is. I don't know her name. Is she married to someone? How can I find her?"

"Wait a moment." After Mr. Xiahou finished speaking, he walked to the back of the boat. He came back in a moment and said to Mr. Shi, "I asked the boatman just now. This is called Shujiazhuang. It is a small village. How many people can there be? I will feel free to do it then.

a dozen

Just listen. As for whether she is betrothed to someone else, look at her appearance. She is wearing a double bun, she is not old, and she does not have hairpins. She should not be betrothed to someone yet. Don't worry, Brother Shi, I, Xiahou Clan, can guarantee you a beautiful woman.

Return."

"Thank you, Brother Xiahou, for your advice." Mr. Shi was overjoyed after hearing this and took Xiahoumen to the barn for a drink.

These warships went all the way north, originally sailing against the current. But now is the turn of spring and summer, the southeast wind prevails, and the wind is particularly strong today. Good winds are rare, how can we miss this great opportunity, so these ships have full sails, and they are sailing all the way.

Heading north, I did not stop at Ruyin.

Zhixin was afraid that her mother's old illness would relapse, so she asked Ruoxin to go to the drugstore to grab some soothing medicine for her mother, and she helped her mother back home. After taking the medicine, Liu regained some consciousness and gradually fell asleep.

Shu Yan still went to Xishan every day to cut firewood, and then carried it to the West Market to sell. That day he met Mr. Tang again and put the firewood next to Mr. Tang's stall.

At this time, I heard several people talking. The cabbage seller said: "Did you all see it the day before yesterday? The imperial army passed by our Ruyin in a big boat. The river for dozens of miles is so majestic!"

The oil seller said: "I took a look. That day I went to the river to take a look. I didn't even do any business. The scene was really majestic."

The rice seller said: "This scene is rare. It doesn't matter if we lose one day of business!"

The pork seller said: "It's a pity that our officials and people in Ruyin were ready and waiting for the labor force, but they didn't stop at our place."

The porcelain bowl seller said: "Now that the army has left, shouldn't we go to the county to collect the money? I have three hundred sets of dishes!"

"I have thirty pounds of sesame oil."

"I have three stones of rice."

…

After everyone discussed it, they decided to go to the government office to collect the money in the afternoon with their receipts.

Shu Yan asked the old man Tang: "Eunuch Tang, let's go get the money this afternoon."

Old Man Tang said: "Brother Shu, the road to the county government is far away. My legs and feet are inconvenient, so I won't go. Please take my voucher and bring me here."

Shu Yan took the old man's voucher and said, "Okay, father-in-law, I will get you the money according to the amount."

In the afternoon, everyone came to the Ruyin County Government House. The door was closed. After waiting for a long time, no one came to open the door. This group of people are ordinary people, who are usually most afraid of the government. Although it is natural to ask for money for their own goods, no one wanted to open the door.

People dare to stand up. Shu Yan

Seeing that no one dared to knock on the door, he stepped forward and knocked on the door. The door opened, and a man came out. Shu Yan explained his purpose. The man went in to inform, and came back soon. He replied to Shu Yan that today Cang Cao

Shi is not here, please come back another day.

The next day, everyone came to the county government again. Today there were more people than yesterday. Obviously it was not just Shu Yan and the others. After waiting for another long time, they saw a person coming out. This person was wearing a crown.

, Shu Yan saw this crown and knew

Dao is an official with some status, but he must not be Qiu Guoxiang, because the state minister is at the same level as the prefect, with a rank of two thousand stones. Officials at this level usually wear two-beam crowns, but this person only wears one-beam crown, so he should only be

An assistant.

The assistant glanced at the crowd, bowed his hands to them, and said: "I am Tang Hui, the history of Cang Cao of this county. I am here to pay for this goods. First of all, I must explain to you that your goods were originally

In order to comfort the army,

Although it is empty, all your things have become useless. The department has been spending too much money recently. Qiu Guoxiang sympathized with the people's difficulties and reduced other expenses, but it was only enough to pay each of you 30% of the original price.

"

Zhao Youlang asked: "What? It was originally promised to be based on the original price, but in the end it was only 30%?"

Bai Mi Zhang also said: "Yes, the laborers did not work, but they were only given 30% of the money. What's the point? If you don't want to pay, you can at least return the goods to us!"

Tangcang Cao snorted twice: "The county government bought your goods for the labor of the army, not for our own use in the department. The people in the county government have been busy for two days in vain, and now the weather is getting warmer.

Over time, all the labor-intensive things have rotted and deteriorated. The office has wasted a lot of time and effort, how can you, the common people, know? If you are willing, you can line up now, take the vouchers, and go one by one.

Come in and get the money, if you don't want to, then just do it."

Butcher Liu said: "I have two whole pigs, but I only pay for the two hind legs?"

Cui Erdao, who sells porcelain bowls: "Who can say otherwise? My two baskets of porcelain bowls were picked from hundreds of miles away. I haven't earned my hard-earned money, and I can't even get my capital back. Who can bear this in a small business?"

Wang Yidan, a firewood seller, said: "If Lao Jun uses it, we will accept it even if it doesn't cost him any money. But now that Lao Jun can't do it, we only give him 30% of the money. This is puzzling!"

…

Everyone was dissatisfied and talking about it, but Tang Cangcao ignored it and was arrogant.

Shu Yan thought: This must be the intention of Ruyin officials. If it continues like this, they will not give in. If it continues, they may lose even this little money. Why don't we all get the money first? After thinking about it, I would like to thank everyone.

He cupped his hands and persuaded with a smile: "Dear uncles,

Brothers, please listen to what I have to say first. Our labor force failed, but we lost a lot of capital. This is really difficult for us to accept. But depending on Tang Cangcao's intention, it is difficult to get the original amount of money. In this case,

We might as well think about it from another angle, just

When our goods really reward our victorious soldiers, as the people of the Jin Dynasty, we should pay some money to work for the army. As long as the world is peaceful and we people can live and work in peace and contentment, it is worthwhile to make some contributions; if in

war years

Generations, can we do business with such peace of mind? Aren’t the rebels robbing us in vain? We don’t dare to ask for a single piece of money, we just want to save our lives, right? Money is an external thing. As long as there is no chaos, we can lose thousands of dollars.

Earn it back twice as much.”

Seeing that Shu Yan was right, everyone agreed. Everyone was dissatisfied, but there was no other way, so they had to receive the money one by one. Shu Yan got his own money, and then received Eunuch Tang's money. Elder Tang's Zhuling

It was supposed to be 600 yuan, but only 200 yuan was received. Shu Yan secretly thought: It must be said that the diet changed after three days.

It's understandable that it's spoiled, but it's impossible for the lettuce, dishes, etc. to spoil, so why can't I only give 30%? The day before yesterday, I confidently agreed to get the original amount back, but the old man is so old, how can I do this?

It’s not easy to start a small business! Thinking of this, he put his firewood money together with the two hundred dollars...

The next day, Ruyinxi Market.

As soon as Shu Yan arrived, he saw old man Tang walking over carrying a basket of Polyporus.

"Eunuch Tang, this is the Zhuling money given to you by the county government yesterday. It's six hundred in total. You count it." Shu Yan handed a bunch of money to Old Man Tang's hand.

Old Man Tang took the money, with a surprised expression on his face, "Didn't I hear that it was only 30%? Why is it the original number?"

"Oh, that's it. We are all given 30% of our things, except for your Polyporus. The people from the county and government said that your Polyporus is good and not damaged, so we should pay the original amount." Shu Yanzao.

I made up the reasons.

The old man always had a serious smile and a cold expression. He took the money, twitched the corners of his mouth twice, and said nothing.

At this time, there were not many people in the market, and the small merchants were chatting together: "Everyone, have you heard that the things we picked up at the county government a few days ago to prepare for the labor force were not spoiled. That night after the army passed by,

, someone saw people from the county selling these things to Shi Mansion overnight."

"Did they all sell to the Shi Mansion?"

"It must be so. No one except the Shi family can afford this tens of thousands of dollars!"

"Will Shi Mansion pay the original price?"

"Then I don't know. The Shi family doesn't care about the money. Besides, the Shi family has close ties with the county. This little thing is nothing!"

"Even if the Shi family doesn't give the county the original price, it certainly won't only give 30%!"

"Didn't the county make a lot of money from us in vain?"

"Then what can we do? These dog officials."

Everyone was chatting away when suddenly someone pointed not far away and said, "Hey, isn't that the young man from the Shi family?"

Shu Yan looked in that direction and saw three or four people walking towards him. One of them was indeed Shi De.

"How do you sell this firewood?" asked a man who looked like a steward.

Shu Yan knew this person, he was a servant with some power in the Shi Mansion, named Huang San. Although these few were just servants, their clothes were brighter than those of most people in the city.

"One hundred dollars." Shu Yan answered truthfully.

When Shi De heard the voice, he thought it sounded familiar. He looked up and was deeply surprised: "Hey, Shu Yan, why are you here?"

"I'm selling firewood." Shu Yan answered naturally.

"Why are you dressed in such rags? You are covered in dirt and smell of sweat!" Shi De said with an expression of disgust while looking Shu Yan up and down.

Shu Yan was used to Shi De's disrespectful behavior, so he was not angry. He just said calmly: "Haha, I come from a poor family, and I have to run for a living every day and rely on my own efforts. How can I be like you who are so pampered and well-dressed?"

Yushi. Why would a noble person like you come to the market to ask about firewood and rice? You shouldn't."

Shi De stopped laughing: "Oh, you think I want to come, but it's me, Aweng, who insists that I come to the market to go with them and experience people's livelihood. What is there to experience? A

One buys, one sells, one delivers the goods, and the other collects the money, isn’t that what it is?”

"You are a young man from an aristocratic family. You have clothes to wear, food to eat, and mouth to open. How do you understand the business of the market? How do you understand the hardships of the people? Most people here operate on a small scale. If you don't work on a day, you won't be able to eat. For example, today, I'm here

It's been a long time, but my firewood hasn't been sold yet. If it were someone who was poorer than me and couldn't sell it for money, I might not have any rice to cook today."

Although Shi De always looked down on people from poor families, and sometimes even ridiculed Shu Yan, he was sometimes warm-hearted. When he heard Shu Yan saying that he hadn't sold the firewood for a long time, he asked, "Selling firewood? That's easy to do."

, let me tell you, there will be a big event in my family in a few days and we will need a lot of firewood. From today on, you don’t have to come here every day.

Sell ​​it, just send the firewood directly to my house." Then he turned to Huang San, who was in charge: "He is mine..." He wanted to say 'friend', but he couldn't think of it. People from aristocratic families are not as good as people from poor families.

People will be laughed at if they are friends. Then he changed his mind and said, "He has known me since childhood. If you recognize him, you will need his firewood."

How dare Huang San disobey, but Wei Wei agreed.
Chapter completed!