Chang'an City, Datongfang, is located in the southwest corner of Chang'an City, not far from the south, across a square is Anhua Gate, there is a Yong'an Canal running through the entire Datongfang in the west, the Yong'an Canal from all over the world cargo ships carry countless goods, rushing to the most prosperous place in the world.

On the shore were one dock after another, on which the slender men and coolies were still busy with their lives even in the snowstorm, and the strong men were only dressed in a thin linen shirt, which was full of cracks and dark red blood, and a pair of straw sandals left a string of deep footprints on the thick snow.

The snow on the ground has been trampled into ice slag by the men, and the water, making the bluestone pavement on the dock muddy.

"You guys all give me a little bit of money! If you can't bring the goods to the case before the water freezes, I won't give you a penny!" A lean man dressed as a housekeeper was standing in a thatched hut on the shore and shouting loudly at the working men.

It's just that the wind and snow are getting bigger and bigger, and a thin layer of ice floes has already floated on the water surface, and it will be difficult to follow the current speed of the men!

A young man in a fur coat and a mink hat was bypassing the coolies who were moving goods, walked briskly to a liquor store on the dock, lifted the curtain and walked straight to the window seat on the second floor.

"Big boss, I've inquired clearly!" the young man leaned down and whispered to a middle-aged man kneeling beside the desk.

Dahan frowned when he heard this, and said unhappily: "How many times have I told you, don't call me the big boss in the future!"

"Yes......! "The young man didn't seem to be used to this title, and he stammered a little.

Peng Ze shook his head helplessly, and then said, "Say! What have you found?"

"Back to the shopkeeper, the person we are looking for has already been found, in a small courtyard in the northwest corner of Chase Square, here are some of his information. After speaking, the young man took out a stack of small pieces of paper from his bosom and handed it to Peng Ze.

"Today is the last vacation of November, and there is only one month left for the time that Gongzi told us!

With that, he threw the stack of pieces of paper into the fire pool in front of him, and the crimson flames turned all the pieces of paper to ashes with a roll of crimson flames.

After doing this, Peng Ze straightened up, walked downstairs, and after finishing the account with his buddies, he walked out of the wine shop with the young man.

Datong Fang is very large, the area can also be ranked in the whole Chang'an Zhufang, but it is located in a remote area, and it is a place where the wharf is full of water transportation, so in addition to a few businessmen who are greedy for cheap land come here to build a few mansions, the rest of the houses are mostly mudged into loess, and occasionally a few houses with blue bricks and blue tiles can be regarded as wealthy families in the square.

Because of the gathering of wharves in the square, the travelers, the merchants, the rangers who fought with swords, and the scholars who traveled to study, were mixed.

Such a place is naturally not a good place in this splendid and prosperous Chang'an City.

In an alley in the northwest corner of Datongfang, there is a small courtyard with two entrances in the depths of the alley, the small courtyard is blue bricks and blue tiles, there are also some pavilions and rockeries in the courtyard, and some common flowers and plants are planted at will.

It was breakfast time, and a woman in a turquoise cloth jacket with a silver hairpin in her hair in the small courtyard was carrying a tray from the kitchen in the backyard to the front yard.

The wind and snow were getting heavier and heavier, and the woman walked very slowly, watching her feet to avoid falling, and carefully guarding the food on the tray.

"Father-in-law, breakfast is ready! Let's have some food!" said the woman as she walked into the room, placed the tray on the desk, and turned to a middle-aged man who was reading on the couch.

The middle-aged man looked to be in his forties, with two sunken eyes hanging from his emaciated face, flashy sideburns, and a three-inch short beard on his pointed chin. Hearing the woman's shout, the middle-aged man put down the book in his hand, straightened up and walked towards him.

"Hui Niang, don't clean up, let's eat together!" the middle-aged man said to the woman.

When the woman heard this, she put down the folded garment in her hand and came over.

Looking at his wife's ruddy cheeks after work, the middle-aged man felt a heartache for no reason, the noble ladies of other people's families are all hands that don't touch the spring water, but their own wives have to run this family!

It's all because of himself! Chang'an is big, it is not easy to live in, and just relying on his meager income, he could have been considered rich a few decades ago, but now that prices are soaring, he has long been unable to maintain the decent expenses of an official eunuch's family.

Now in addition to the husband and wife, there is only one elderly subordinate left in the small courtyard of his house, and the usual housework can only be handled by his wife.

The middle-aged man stretched out his hand, one hand pulling his wife's calloused hands, and the other hand smoothed his wife's windswept hair.

In this way, the couple stood quietly in place for a long time.

The woman could naturally understand her husband's mood at this time, but she had long been accustomed to the poverty of the family and had never complained about anything.

"Xianggong, if you don't eat again, the noodles will be cold!" the woman opened her mouth to talk about the sadness of the moment.

"It's hard for you!" The middle-aged man put all the love and guilt for his wife into this short sentence.

The woman smiled, and then bent down to set the dishes and chopsticks for her husband.

The couple ate breakfast in this room, although it was just a bowl of noodles, they ate so peacefully, and they were foaming at each other......

Under the guidance of the young man, Peng Ze walked for a long time before coming to this deep and secluded alley. The alleys are remote but not silent, lined with warehouses used by merchants to stack goods, and they are usually quite quiet, but when it is time to buy and ship, the noise can tear down the roof.

But now that the river has begun to freeze, and the merchants have long since hoarded their goods in warehouses, the alley has been considered to have a rare tranquility.

"Shopkeeper, you said that this Zou Run is also a foreigner from the fourth grade, how did he become like this?" The young man looked at the new black leather boots on his feet that had been soaked in snow with regret, and there was a hint of impatience in his tone.

"If he mixes well, we won't come looking for him!" Peng Ze still strode forward.

"But this Zou Run, as a member of the household department, has to go through all the money and food in the world in his hands, but he is clean and self-conscious, and never greedy for a penny, how can we convince such a person?" the young man asked, following behind.

"Corrupt officials have the weaknesses of corrupt officials, clean officials also have the hobby of clean officials, corrupt officials are greedy for money, clean officials are greedy for fame, we will send him a chance to leave a name in history this time, it depends on him, to accept or not?" Peng Ze said lightly.

"And what if he doesn't take it?" the young man murmured.

Peng Ze stood up when he heard this, turned his head to look at the young man, and said, "If he doesn't answer, Gongzi naturally has another way!"

The young man was oppressed by Peng Ze's gaze and lowered his head, knowing that he was talking too much, so he had to lower his head and keep silent.

Peng Ze looked at this former retinue, shook his head helplessly, and said in a low voice: "Bao, you have to remember! We are already a son now, and we will be for the rest of our lives!"

When the young man named Ah Bao heard this, his heart was shocked, and then he nodded heavily.

"It's good that you understand!Okay, let's go!" Peng Ze turned around and continued to walk forward.

Po hurriedly followed.

"Old man, I bother to ask, does Lord Zou Runzou, a member of the household department, live here?" Peng Ze came to the door of the small courtyard, knocked on the door, and said to the old man who led it out.

"What are you looking for my lord?" asked the old man, putting his trembling hand on the doorframe, to the visitor outside the door.

"In Xia Pengze, it is a merchant from Yangzhou, this came to the capital to sell some seafood to sell, I don't want to be a few days ago by the Lord of the household department will be a certain batch of goods seized, more than ten days, run a number of yamen also do not know, this time I heard that Zou is our hometown in Yangzhou, so I took the liberty to come, I hope the old man can report, in the next grateful!" After speaking, Peng Ze bowed deeply to the old man.

The old man turned his cloudy eyes and stared at Peng Ze for a long time before he said, "Alas...... You wait here first! The old man will go to the master for you, and as for whether he sees you or not, it depends on the master's will!"

"Thank you, old man!" Peng Ze bowed again.

The old man staggered towards the main house with a locust wooden cane.

"Master, there is a Yangzhou merchant who calls himself Peng Ze outside and wants to enter the mansion to visit the master!" After the old man entered the house, he relayed Peng Ze's words.

After Zou Run listened, he frowned, according to his temperament, he didn't want to see this kind of person, and the people who usually came to ask for this kind of door were all closed, this old man also knew the master's thoughts, and he usually didn't report these people at all, just listened to Peng Ze say it in the dialect of his hometown, and the homesickness in the old man's heart was hooked out, plus Peng Ze's respectful and polite appearance, the old man made an exception to report it, and now it seems that the old man really doesn't want to see it!

Zou Run was about to open his mouth to refuse, but his wife, who was sitting next to him, suddenly said loudly: "Xianggong, since you are a fellow countryman, then take the time to meet each other! Even if you don't do anything, you will also point out the way for this fellow, after all, everyone is from Yangzhou." ”

Zou Run looked at his wife, usually his wife doesn't ask about her business, but today she must have heard a visit from a fellow countryman, probably because his wife wants to know something about his hometown!

Thinking like this, Zou Run naturally wouldn't refuse again, nodded with a smile, and said to the old man: "Then ask them to wait for me in the living room!"