Wei's Restaurant is the best restaurant in Jinchuan County and the most famous gold-selling cave in Jinchuan. It is said that the maids inside are all recruited from all over the country. One meal can usually feed ordinary people for half a year.
But this afternoon, the most luxurious third floor of Weijia Restaurant was reserved.
Two middle-aged men with fat heads and big ears entered the innermost room one after another.
They are powerful country squires entrenched in Jinchuan. Although they do not hold official positions, their influence in villages and towns is sometimes greater than that of the government.
He is also a big customer of Wei Family Restaurant and contributes at least hundreds of taels of silver to the restaurant every year.
"Master Zhu, Master Peng!"
The shopkeeper smiled and bowed to the two of them: "You two came at the right time today. The tiger hunting team in Heixionggou just sent a black bear last night. I went to see it, and the bear paws were rare.
It’s the best, if you two want to try it, I’ll ask Master Zhou from the capital to cook it himself!”
"Excellent bear paw?"
Mr. Zhu had a sad face at first, but when he heard the bear's paw, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"In addition to bear paws, we also brought two girls back from Jinyue Pavilion in the capital. They were both trained by the master of Jinyue Pavilion. They are proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. They also learned the popular soap bathing method in Guangyuan.
You two gentlemen must try it when you have time, you will never be disappointed."
After the shopkeeper finished selling bear paws, he started selling girls again.
Now Mr. Peng's eyes also lit up.
But then he shook his head: "Keep Xiong Zhao and the girl for now. We have something to do in the afternoon. Let's talk about it after the business is done."
"Yes, there is still business." Mr. Zhu followed and said: "Give us a pot of tea and don't let anyone bother us."
"yes!"
Upon hearing this, the owner of the restaurant knew that the two were going to discuss something, bowed again, bowed and left.
The maid served tea and left.
But the two of them did not talk about anything, but sat around the table, holding teacups and waiting silently.
After waiting for almost half an hour, Lieutenant Zhao, dressed in casual clothes, arrived belatedly.
"Meet the adults!"
The two of them quickly stood up and came forward to salute.
County Lieutenant Zhao did not return the greeting, but simply said: "Tell me, why are you so anxious to find me?"
The two squires looked at each other and cursed County Lieutenant Zhao in their hearts.
There were four groups of bandits collecting New Year's grain in Jinchuan. Now that Master Zhou and the Tiegunshan bandits were wiped out by Jin Feng, only three of them are left.
Two squires came to County Lieutenant Zhao to discuss how to deal with the problem of people migrating to Xihewan.
They both knew it in the village, and it was impossible for County Lieutenant Zhao not to know about it.
As a result, County Lieutenant Zhao pretended to be confused.
It was originally a common problem for the three of them, but now it was as if they were asking County Lieutenant Zhao for help.
County Lieutenant Zhao was strong and had an official position. If it were normal times, the two of them would have accepted the loss.
But this time it concerns Jin Feng in Xihewan, so he cannot give in easily.
After all, Jin Feng was the ruthless man who destroyed Tiegunshan. They couldn't fight, otherwise they wouldn't have come to County Lieutenant Zhao, and they would have swallowed up Tiegongshan's territory long ago.
Master Peng saw that Zhaoxian Lieutenant was pretending to be confused, so he explained directly:
"Sir, you must already know this, right? Many people from our territory have recently moved to Xihewan."
"Yes, yes, there is a village over there that used to marry women from Xihewan, but now 30% of the people have gone to Xihewan."
Mr. Zhu quickly echoed: "Sir, our territories are next to each other. I heard that half of the people in your village are almost gone. You'd better send someone to check it out when you get back."
"Oh, there's still this matter?" County Lieutenant Zhao continued to pretend to be confused: "Why did they run to Xihewan?"
"Why else? Go work!" Mr. Peng said: "Jin Feng has recently built several large factories in Xihewan, which require a lot of female workers, so they went there."
"Yeah, I heard that Jin Feng also set up some kind of school in Xihewan. As long as they work in a textile factory, their children can go to school for free. When those untouchables heard about it, they went crazy. They didn't even want the family.
Go to Xihewan."
Mr. Zhu also said with a grimace: "Besides, the two kilns in Xihewan have not stopped for a day and have been firing bricks. Jin Feng will definitely need to build more factories.
Sir, you have to think of a way. If this continues, everyone will go to Xihewan, who will we find to collect the new year's food?"
"Those untouchables all go willingly. What can I think of?"
County Lieutenant Zhao said helplessly: "It's okay if he is just an ordinary mountain citizen, but Jin Feng is a noble with a title. If I really send troops to stop him, can the County Lieutenant do anything?"
"What should we do?"
Master Zhu and Master Peng were both anxious.
"What should I do? How do I know what to do?"
County Lieutenant Zhao was too lazy to pretend, and pointed at the two of them and said: "I usually tell you not to be too cruel to those untouchables, but you refuse to listen. The grain harvest is getting higher and higher every year, and the untouchables can't survive.
If it were me, I would have run away long ago."
"I have been very kind to those untouchables. Not only did I leave seeds for those untouchables, but I also left them more than two months of food rations. Then I went to dig some wild vegetables in the mountains and I almost lasted until the next harvest."
Mr. Peng said: "Lao Zhu is much more ruthless than me. He only leaves one month's rations for the untouchables, and more people starve to death on his territory every year."
"Lao Peng, don't talk about me. You're not a good person either. I heard that you did a lot of harm to the girls in the village. After all the harm, you didn't marry them because you had countless girls who hanged themselves in the river. You still have the nerve to talk to me.
!”
Not to be outdone, Mr. Zhu immediately began to expose Mr. Peng's background.
"You have caused a lot of harm, and I have never seen you marry him back!" Mr. Peng immediately fired back.
"Shut up, all of you! Is this a matter of honoring our ancestors? You two actually have the nerve to talk about it!"
When County Lieutenant Zhao saw that the two were actually competing with each other, he was so angry that he slapped the table.
"Speak of business, speak of business!"
When they saw that Lieutenant Zhao was angry, they both became honest.
But County Lieutenant Zhao no longer had the interest to continue: "There are still things to do at the county office, so I'll leave first."
"Sir, I have already reserved a table. The shopkeeper said that he received the best bear paws yesterday and it will be dinner time soon. Please finish your meal before leaving," Mr. Zhu persuaded.
"Yes, the shopkeeper said that he has also brought two girls who have been trained by the master from Jinyue Pavilion in the capital. I will ask the shopkeeper to come over and have a look later. If you like it, you can stay here tonight."
Master Peng also followed suit.
"The best bear paw? The girl from Jinyue Pavilion?"
County Lieutenant Zhao was about to leave, but he sat down again after hearing this: "What else did you find out from Xihewan?"
"The villagers in Xihewan are very close to each other right now. I can't find out anything, but I got news that the soap that is very popular right now was created by Jin Feng."
Master Peng said.
"Did Jin Feng make the soap?" A trace of surprise flashed in Zhao County Lieutenant's eyes: "Who did you listen to?"