Ginseng is a great replenishment of vitality, and it can still hang its life at a critical juncture, which is naturally a treasure. Wanyan lives in Changbai Mountain, and there are as many ginseng as there are in this mountain. As the so-called backing on the mountain to eat the mountain, it stands to reason that the face should have been developed a long time ago. It's just that in view of the poor traffic level in the Song Dynasty, the dug ginseng has withered into tree roots before it can be transported out of Changbai Mountain, and the roots are of course worthless.

Yes, as soon as He Libu heard what the sick and weak son in front of him said, he said bluntly: "The boy doesn't know, once this ginseng is unearthed, the medicinal effect will fail, and it is not easy to transport it into the Central Plains." After a pause, he added. Do you want to collect some deer antler velvet and fur? "Wanyan has always been poor, and it is rare for a merchant from the Central Plains to come and buy goods, and of course He Libu also wants to facilitate this business.

Su Mingshi, who was on the other side, smiled shyly and said quietly: "The patriarch doesn't know, although deer antler velvet and fur are also expensive, but the younger generation does not have enough capital, so it is ......."

As soon as these words came out, another middle-aged man with three long beards beside Su Mingshi couldn't help but glance at him with a strange expression. However, the patriarch of the Wanyan tribe and Libu nodded clearly, in his consistent concept: the people of the Central Plains have always spared their lives, and if the big merchants wanted to come, they would not come to this bitter cold place to do business. Only those who have nothing to do will have the courage to fight for their lives. Therefore, he only asked: "Childe wants to buy ginseng, but I don't know what the price is?" ”

"For those under twenty years, ten times each; for those under 50 years, 30 per branch; For more than 50 years, 50 for each branch. If the condition is excellent, the price can be negotiated. Su Mingshi said without thinking, and his words caused the middle-aged man with three long beards to look at him. If the patriarch does not want copper money, he can also settle the bill with grain. ”

He Libu didn't know the market value of ginseng in the Central Plains, and thought that Su Mingshi, who was "full of filth and blood in every pore", was a good businessman who was not bullied, and couldn't help but touch the thick beard and said: "This price is also fair, I don't know how much ginseng Gongzi wants to buy?" ”

Su Mingshi bowed slightly, and said in a low tone: "The juniors will stay here for ten days, and the patriarch will receive as many ginseng as the juniors have, but this ginseng cannot be damaged." ”

"Why is that?" And Milebuchi Road. Ginseng is dug up for people to eat, not for people to see. In his opinion, whether the ginseng body is damaged or not, it does not affect the efficacy of the medicine.

However, this time, Su Mingshi didn't answer again, and only smiled lightly: "In the past ten days, I still need to be taken care of by the patriarch." ”

Seeing that Su Mingshi avoided answering, He Libu knew that this should be the secret of his wealth and could not be passed on, so he no longer dwelled on this matter at the moment, and only turned his head to his second son Wanyan Agu and said: "Aguta, you entertain Su Gongzi on behalf of your father." ”

After Yan Agu answered "yes", he led Su Mingshi, who looked increasingly weak, and his two entourages to exit his father's tent together.

Just because Su Mingshi and his entourage saved their lives, Wanyan Aguda thanked him for saving his life, so he gave up his big tent to Su Mingshi and his two entourages to live temporarily. When he saw that these three people were entering the big tent, the middle-aged man with three long beards under his jaw hurriedly took out a pill with a snow-white body and a strange fragrance and served Su Mingshi to take it, and couldn't help but say, "Since Brother Su is not in good health, why bother to come here to fight for his life?" ”

Su Mingshi stroked his chest with one hand and gasped a few times, and his originally snow-white face gradually became a little red, as if the fine white porcelain was smoked with a little mist-like pastel, making the original cold texture faintly stained with a little warmth. After hearing Yan Agu's question, Su Mingshi couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "Don't hide it from Brother Yan, my Su family has suffered a great disaster, and the whole family is dead, and I am the only one left." If I can't stand up, there will be no Su family in the future, how can I not fight for my life? ”

Wanyan Aguda was born in the mountains and grew up in the mountains and forests, and lived a bloody life of fighting and hunting against the sinister nature, and has always only admired those heroes with martial arts. However, for some reason, when he saw this subtle and quiet Su Mingshi, it was as if he saw the "smoke willow painting bridge, wind curtain and green curtain" in the Song Dynasty. Gentleness and vicissitudes, forbearance and brilliance, instantly turned the cold Changbai Mountain into a ten-zhang soft red Bianjing City. Wanyan Agu's heart moved, and he hurriedly asked, "Brother Su, what do you mean by this?" ”

I saw that Su Mingshi suddenly chuckled lightly and slowly spit out six words. "Khitans, threshing grass!" The voice was cold and cold, like a ghost, and Yan Agu trembled violently.

As soon as Yan Agu left, the middle-aged man with three long beards next to Su Mingshi immediately sank his face. "Lord Murong, if your body lives here for ten days, you will have to go halfway, please think twice!" It turned out that the three people in this line were Murong Fu, Bao Wei and Xue Muhua.

Xue Muhua, the "enemy of the king of Hades", was invited by Bao Wei from Ganzhou to treat Murong Fu in March this year, and as soon as he checked his pulse, he found that he not only had an extremely severe heart disease, but also fell into the strange poison of the sea of stars, "Xiaoyao Xiang". This poison is tested with ten kinds of poisonous insects and ten kinds of poisonous weeds in the Western Regions, once the poisoned person is injured, he will not stop bleeding, even if he is not injured, this poison will also increase with the internal force of the poisoned person, destroy the body function, and make the poisoned person very easy to be overjoyed and angry, until the qi and blood are exhausted and die violently. In order to cure this poison, Xue Muhua rummaged through the medical scriptures and poison scriptures that Murong Fu wanted from Xuzhu, and only found one way - since this poison arises with internal strength, it will be dissipated by dissipating Murong Fu's internal force, and the toxicity will be solved without medicine. However, before this method was sent to Murong Fu's case, Murong Fu was noncommittal. Xue Muhua himself was also detained by Murong Fu to act as his health care doctor. He had been with Murong Fu for several months, and for some reason he was always very afraid of this Lord Murong who had always been polite and polite, and he didn't dare to touch his heart. It's just that there is a bitter cold outside this pass and a lack of medical treatment, and the most difficult thing for people suffering from heart disease in the year is winter, Xue Muhua is really worried that Murong Fu's life will really lose his life.

Xue Muhua's words were chiseled, and his face immediately showed a little anxiety.

However, Murong Fu didn't care, and only said casually: "Doctor Xue, are you here with me for fun?" ”

Can I choose whether I come to Changbai Mountain or not?! Xue Muhua secretly glanced at Murong Fu and said no more.

Murong Fu didn't know about this, but Bao Wei, who was sitting on the side, hugged Xue Muhua worriedly.

At this time, the Wanyan Department was still mainly living in groups, and its living habits retained a simple ** thought. In the next few days, most of the tribesmen of the Wanyan tribe went up to the mountains to dig ginseng, and only a few young people were led by Wanyan Aguda to form a team to go out hunting and prepare daily food for the whole clan. Murong Fu and the other three had nothing to do, so they went out hunting with Yan Aguta. Xue Muhua and Bao saw that the Jurchens were very brave, two or three people could hunt tigers, and six or seven people dared to compete with black bears, so they couldn't help but be secretly speechless.

Bao Wei stared at the scenes of those Jurchens hunting for a while, then quietly walked to Murong Fu's side, and said in a low voice: "Son, these Jurchens are fierce and good at fighting, you must not ignore them!" ”

Murong Fu nodded slightly, and said softly, "Third Brother Bao, go and help." ”

"Yes!" Bao Wei immediately responded, picked up the spear and walked towards the black bear surrounded by several Jurchens.

With the help of flintlock pistols, the hunting efficiency of Wanyan has also made great progress in the past few days. Ethnic minorities have always had the custom of singing and dancing, these days of hunting and digging ginseng are a bumper harvest, Wanyan tribesmen are happy, they light a bonfire around the fireplace at night and liven up. During the banquet, the clansmen of the Wanyan tribe drank wine and ate meat in large bowls, the young and strong people wrestled for fun, and the daughter's family held hands and sang and danced.

Murong Fu was weak and refused to drink and sumo, but he really couldn't refuse to dance anymore. Seeing him stand up with a look of embarrassment, he unbuckled his cloak under the gaze of the young and bold Jurchen girl. Not only was Wanyan and Akuda full of interest, but Bao Wei and Xue Muhua also had an expression of waiting to see a good show. I saw Murong Fu sigh lightly and beg for mercy in a low voice: "Girl, there are words first, this way of singing and dancing is really seven tricks and six ......" Before he finished speaking, he was already pulled into the crowd.

When the clansmen of the Wanyan tribe saw the big gold lord singing and dancing, they couldn't help but applaud. Before the song sounded, Wu Yashu, the eldest son of Helibu, hurriedly walked in with a few young men who were in charge of guarding, and said to Helibu with a calm face: "Father, the angel of the Liao Lord is here!" ”

As he spoke, three or five Da Liao guards rushed in across the high-headed horses, and said with a proud face: "Your Majesty Angel and the King of the Southern Courtyard will arrive at the Wanyan Department early tomorrow morning, and the tribute of the Wanyan Department this year will be prepared quickly, don't let the King of Chu wait for a long time!" ”

This person's voice fell, and the cheerful singing and dancing that originally permeated the sky over Wanyan came to an abrupt end.

In the next three days, Murong Fu used the excuse that he did not want to cause trouble for Wanyan because he couldn't contain his anger because he saw the Khitans, and he always hid in the big tent and stayed at home. But even so, the news that should have been known still reached his ears word for word. As for the person who delivered the news, it was Wanyan Aguta.

Wanyan Aguda knew very well the power of Murong Fu's fire/gun, and in the past few days, he saw that he could trap himself in the big tent for the sake of Wanyan's department, and he was even more grateful for his affection, so he often took time to visit Murong Fu. The two chatted, and this topic would naturally be brought to the Liao Lord Angel.

"Heroic, like a good man, but acting too sinister!" Wanyan said hatefully. "In the past, the Khitans came to collect tribute in October, but now there is still a month left, so they must be deliberately looking for fault!"

Murong Fu listened to Wanyan Aguda's evaluation of Xiao Feng, and his heart was extremely strange, and he struggled to control his expression, and tried his best to ask in a steady tone: "Brother Wanyan was not familiar with that angel before?" ”

Wanyan Agu shook his head in surprise, and said mockingly: "He is a Khitan nobleman, I am a wild man, I dare not climb high!" It turned out that Xiao Feng had never injured Ah Zi by mistake this time, let alone gone to Changbai Mountain to look for ginseng for her, so naturally he never had the opportunity to meet Wanyan Aguta.

Murong Fu figured this out, and the chaotic feelings in his heart gradually suppressed, and he only asked, "Since this angel arrived early, is it difficult for Brother Yan to pay tribute?" ”

Speaking of this, Wanyan Aguda was even more worried. Wanyan has always been poor, and the tribute that can be handed over every year is nothing more than the deer antler velvet, fur and other mountain goods obtained from hunting in addition to domesticated horses and fishing northern pearls. This time, Murong Fu came to collect ginseng, and Xiao Feng arrived a month ahead of schedule, and the tribute to the Khitan was indeed not ready. I saw that he was silent for a long time, and suddenly squirmed and said: "Brother Su, I have something to ask for......

"Yes!" Unexpectedly, before Yan Agu finished speaking, Murong Fu responded without blinking, and then turned his face and instructed Bao Weidao. "Third brother Bao, go get Jiaozi."

"Yes!" Bao Wei immediately responded, then got up and took out a pile of Jiaozi from their luggage and handed it to Wan Yan Aguda.

"Here are three thousand guan, Brother Wanyan can use these silver tickets to buy goods from various tribes and give them to the Liao Lord Angel as tribute. As for the rest, it should be an advance payment for the purchase of ginseng. Murong Fu said slowly.

Wanyan Ah Gu was at a loss and rolled up and down twice with this pile of Jiaozi Adam's apple, and Fang said in a dumb voice: "Ah Gu is a foreign barbarian who does not know shame, isn't Brother Su afraid that I will kill people and take money?" "In ancient times, the people of the Central Plains were reluctant to do business with foreign races outside the Guan, and what they were afraid of was Murong Fu's current situation. Those barbarians are fierce and immoral, and once the wealth of the Central Plains merchants is exposed, eight out of ten will be killed and robbed by them. The carcass was then cut into seventeen or eighteen pieces and thrown into mountain streams to become food for vultures. This case, even if it is a hundred years, don't even think about solving it!

Murong Fu shook his head slightly, and said softly: "The Brother Wanyan I know here is a bright and upright man!" If Su doesn't even have this ability to recognize people, then it is not a pity to die! "All along, in the eyes of Wanyan Aguta, his Su brother is really blown down. He lived in Wanyan's department for seven or eight days, and even though Wanyan had been very careful and couldn't hold him in the palm of his hand or hide him in his heart, Su Mingshi was still gradually getting sick and weakening at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. After getting along for the past few days, Su Mingshi has firmly established his impression of the Central Plains people on several key words such as "weak", "elegant", "gentle" and "exquisite" in his heart. I didn't want his smile at the moment, but it actually made Wanyan Aguda taste a bit of categorical sharpness in an instant, and then he suddenly remembered that although his "Brother Su" was sick and weak, he was also a brave person who could lead a few followers to go alone to a place where alien races such as Changbai Mountain gathered.

Wanyan Aguda is a Jurchen, wears animal skins and lives in caves, and does not know etiquette and walks with beasts. The whole clan couldn't even make up a few mouthfuls of the iron pot, so even the Khitans and those familiar tribes could bully them at will. Today, when I heard that Su Mingshi, a well-mannered person from the Central Plains, recognized his character, Wanyan felt that his heart was stirring, and he immediately stood up and hugged Murong Fu tightly in his arms, patted him on the back and said repeatedly: "Good brother! Good brothers! ”

Murong Fu still smiled and said in a low voice: "Since you are brothers, you don't have to be so polite. Brother Wanyan, it's important to get down to business! ”

"Yes! Be! "Wanyan Agu was reminded by his words and also woke up, but now the most important thing is to send those Khitans." Brother Su, the Wanyan clan will definitely not forget your kindness! He said word by word, and soon walked out with Jiaozi.

With the help of Murong Fu's three thousand guanzi friends, the Wanyan tribe quickly contacted several tribes who were friendly with them and bought enough goods to deal with the Liao Lord Angel. After another five days, Xiao Feng received a full tribute from Wanyan, drank a meal with the patriarch and Libu and his eleven sons, and then whipped away.

It wasn't until Xiao Feng's men and horses disappeared that the patriarch and Li set up a banquet to thank Murong for his help, and finally had a good word for Xiao Feng. "I don't ask for bribes or women, I'm a good and honest official."

Murong Fu just smiled slightly, and said after a while: "Brother Wanyan, it's almost time for Su to leave for the Central Plains." ”

Wanyan Aguda was regretting that he had praised his enemy in front of Murong Fu without holding back, but when he heard this, he was immediately stunned, and hurriedly said: "So fast? I haven't dug enough ginseng yet! ”

"That's enough." Murong Fuzheng said, "I only brought a total of three thousand guan in the next one, but Wanyan gave me two carts of ginseng, which is enough anyway." ”

However, the patriarch and Libu also said: "Su Gongzi's life-saving grace to Wanyan is not only something that these two carts of ginseng can compensate. "The Khitans have always regarded the Jurchens as slaves, and they oppressed and slaughtered at will. This time, if it weren't for Murong Fu taking out three thousand to solve their urgent needs, the entire Wanyan Department would be questioned.

Murong Fu bowed slightly, and said with a smile: "If the patriarch is grateful for the help of the juniors, the juniors may wish to make an agreement with the patriarch." If other businessmen come to buy ginseng in the future, at the same price, please allow Su to buy first. ”

He Libu thought for a moment before understanding the doorway inside, and couldn't help laughing, and said admiringly: "Master Su, you will definitely be a great wealthy businessman in the future!" ”

"May I borrow the good words of the patriarch. Our business will come a long way! Murong Fu replied meaningfully.

Early in the morning of the second day, Murong Fu packed his bags and set off from Changbai Mountain with two carts of ginseng. Wanyan Aguda had been sending their group out for more than ten miles, and Fang Yi reluctantly said goodbye to Murong Fu and left.

However, Wanyan didn't know that as soon as he left, Murong Fu lowered his face and asked Bao Wei, "Can the third brother Bao remember the appearance of Wu Yashu clearly?" ”

Bao is different and replied: "I won't forget it when I turn into ashes." ”

"Good!" Murong Fu said slowly, "Third Brother Bao, it's important to get down to business, you take the first step." ”

"Yes!" Bao Wei bowed his head and answered, but he didn't rush to drive away. "Son, this time Xiao Feng is also here, and his subordinates are only afraid of ......"

Murong Fu's eyes flashed, and he said in a low voice: "Do you think I took Jiaozi out in advance to give Wanyan a bone a beating, just to show favor to Wanyan?" …… You can rest assured, when 'Wu Yashu' went to attack the Khitan guards, Xiao Feng would definitely not be there. He looked up at the sky and suddenly smiled playfully. At this time, he should also be aware of the problem. ”