It was noon, the sun was hot, and some of the peasants who had come early had come to the diner to rest, and the surroundings were almost full. Most of the farmers www.biquge.info came to sell silk, and they chatted with each other when they got together. Qiu Yinming sat on the side and listened, mostly complaining that the purchase price was too low. Suddenly, I heard a person: "It's all caused by this prefect." ”

Qiu Yinming turned his head slightly, and saw that it was a middle-aged farmer in his thirties who spoke. An old farmer next to him said, "You can't say that." People are also kind enough to let us have an extra income. The man said again: "Lao Zhang, although what you said is reasonable, but if you think about it, let's plant mulberry, isn't it just that we can pay rent when the harvest of the farmland is not good." This is good, these officials will not give us any more tax cuts when they see the sweetness. The old farmer said: "You can't say that, at least this prefect has taken care of the river." The man said: "But this prefect will leave immediately, who can guarantee the future?" Perhaps, if we come to the next place, we will be asked to pay more rent if we see that it is profitable to grow mulberry! Originally, it was enough to farm, but now you have to plant mulberry and raise silkworms, like your sons, it's good to say, if there are few people in the family, there will be hardships. My few catties of silk were reeled by my wife after a lot of effort. Qiu Yinming listened, and felt very uncomfortable. I was originally well-intentioned, but I really understood the plight of the peasants.

A little tea and braised vegetables in his stomach, Qiu Yinming's stomach became more and more hungry, seeing that it was not early, and the farmers who had just arrived gathered at the door of the silk store outside the door, looking at this situation, I am afraid that the head of the house will not be able to solve it, so he simply waits here. So he called Xiao Er again and ordered a bowl of noodles and a portion of roast meat. As soon as he finished giving the order, he saw a man come in at the door. The man looked around and happened to be eye-met.

The visitor wore a scarf, a light gray narrow-sleeved robe with a very structured collar, and carried a three-foot-long burden behind his back. This person looked like he was about twenty-five or sixteen, with a white face and red lips, clear eyebrows, and when he walked in, he walked steadily, his clothes were full of style, and he had an awe-inspiring attitude. Qiu Yinming was taking a look at him, and suddenly he was stunned, this person was so familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere, but he couldn't remember it for a while, and he couldn't stare at others, so he turned his head and was surprised.

At this time, I heard Xiao Er say to the man: "Childe, the business of the small shop is good today, there are no empty tables, if you don't dislike it, the table over there is still empty, I will help you ask the guest officer." The man replied, "Yes." Qiu Yinming looked around, only he occupied a table, and sure enough, Xiao Er walked towards him and said apologetically: "Guest officer, I'm really sorry, there are a lot of people in the store today." Can you give some space to the boy? Qiu Yinming looked at the man and said, "Yes." Ask him to come over. Reach out and move some of the plates off the table. The boy stepped forward and waved at him, "Thank you, big brother." "Take off the burden from your back and put it on the table. Qiu Yinming's ears were sharp, and he heard that the burden was filled with hard and heavy things, and looking at the long and short shape, there was no doubt that it was a sword. Xiao Er came up to entertain, and the son said: "Make me a pot of good tea, and then two light side dishes, and a basket of vegetarian buns." Qiu Yinming thought to himself, although this person is dressed plainly, he is also well-dressed and meticulous in his food, so he must be a person with some family background. Listening to his accent, he is not from Henan, and he seems to be definitely not a businessman, and he doesn't know where he is. Then he asked casually: "Listening to the childe's accent, he is not a local, dare to ask where he came from?" ”

Gongzi took a little look at him, and saw that although he was not meticulously born and dressed like a local peasant, he found that he had an outstanding standard and spoke in a very different way from a countryman, so he did not slack off and replied: "My family is in Hubei, and I came to Kaifeng to visit my relatives." Passing by here. Qiu Yinming looked at him again, and the more he looked at it, the more he felt that he had seen it before.

Seeing him looking at himself thoughtfully, Childe became a little uncomfortable, and said, "This big brother, is there anything peculiar about you that is worthy of your view?" Qiu Yin knew that it was rude, so he hurriedly smiled and apologized: "The son looks familiar." I think I've seen it somewhere, but I can't remember. Offended. Childe said, "Okay." Then he said, "I don't listen to my eldest brother's accent like a local." Qiu Yinming said: "I came to Kaifeng Mansion to see my friends." Today, I went to Zhuxian Town to relax. At this time, the noodles and meat came up, and Qiu Yinming pushed the plate towards Gongzi and said, "Use it as you like." Childe excused himself. Qiu Yinming didn't insist, presumably this boy didn't think the meat was burning well enough, so he was not polite and ate it himself. The two of them had nothing to say, and Childe poured a cup of tea and looked straight at the peasants gathered outside the door. After a while, Childe's dishes and steamed buns also came up. The two of them did not mention their respective meals.

It's a bit uncomfortable to eat at the same table with strangers. Qiu Yinming quickly finished eating, paid the bill, and walked out of the store. It was a hot day, and the black horse sweated a lot, and the ashes of the plants and trees on his body were mixed with sweat, which was very sticky. Qiu Yinming borrowed a bucket of water and a rag from the shopkeeper, and roughly washed the horses. When he was washing horses on the side of the street, he saw that the peasants gathered outside the silk shop suddenly looked in one direction, pointed, and heard someone say, "Look." It's time to be in charge! He followed the prestige of the people, and there came a slide bar at the other end of the street, carried by two porters, with a parasol on the slide bar, and on it sat a fat middle-aged man, who must have been the head of the house, surnamed Gu. Next to the slider was a couple of healthy servants.

When the shopkeeper of the silk line saw that the master was coming, he immediately ran over from the crowd and said, "Master, you are finally here!" You see, these people have been arguing since the morning, and they just refuse to sell. ”

Not to be outdone, the peasants rushed towards the sliding rod where Master Gu was sitting, and several servants struggled to block it, and there was chaos. At this time, Master Gu on the slider spoke: "Don't worry, don't worry!" If you have something to say, it's good to say! ”

There was a loud voice among the peasants: "The prefect has said that one catty of silk is fifty wen, why do you lower the price!" ”

At this time, Master Gu got down from the slide bar, beckoned the farmers to be quiet, and said loudly: "The silk store has not had a good business recently, and I can't take out a lot of money to buy so much silk for a while, so I can only pay 20 yuan per catty first, and then make up later." ”

"Who believes you!" The peasants agreed.

Master Gu said unhurriedly: "This, you go and ask other silk shops, everyone's business is light, and you can't come up with a lot of money, so it's not too late to collect this batch of silk and sell it at a good price." ”

"There is no evidence. We're going to go to the prefect. ”

Master Gu stroked his beard and said, "I have already gone to the prefect to ask for instructions, and my lord also understands the difficulties of our merchants." ”

These words entered Qiu Yinming's ears word for word. He stood at the back of the crowd and stared at the fat man, he was indeed the leader elected by the silk merchants last year, at that time he looked quite honest and kind, and kept promising to buy raw silk at the fixed price, and now he is here under the pretense of the prefect's name. Qiu Yinming thought to himself that after returning to the mansion, he would definitely recruit all these businessmen for interrogation. Even if you can't manage it yourself, you should reward them with some boards. While he was thinking, he suddenly caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that the son, who had just eaten at the same table with him, was standing in the corner of the crowd and watching.

Childe also found him, so he walked over to him and said, "It seems that this eldest brother also likes to watch the excitement." Do you know what's going on here? ”

Qiu Yinming saw that he was very interested, so he said: "I heard that after the Kaifeng prefect who took office two years ago governed the Yellow River, in order to maintain the water and soil, and at the same time let the farmers have some extra income, let everyone grow mulberry, and then, the prefect and these silk merchants made a document and asked them to buy raw silk at a price of 50 wen per catty, but now all the merchants are unanimously determined that they have no money and are only willing to pay 20 wen. It's been a morning, and now the head of the house has come, and he has brought the prefect out as a shield. ”

Childe said: "How does the eldest brother know that this is not the prefect colluding with them?" ”

Qiu Yinming said: "Listening to my friend, this prefect is a rare good official. ”

Childe smiled and said, "I've never seen any really good officials. In recent years, selling dog meat on the head of a sheep, the name is cleared on the surface, but there are many people who are corrupt and pervert the law behind the scenes. This surnamed Gu seems to be very confident. Probably the head of the scene. ”

Qiu Yinming didn't refute Gongzi's remarks, but only nodded: "Listen to the peasant, he is the biggest silk merchant here, and other merchants listen to his family." Gongzi nodded, glanced at Master Gu a few more times, and then bowed to Qiu Yinming to say goodbye.

Qiu Yinming looked at the back of his son's departure, and thought in his heart, he didn't know that this person was a nosy chivalrous man. At this time, some farmers could no longer stop the clever words of Master Gu, and they sold the raw silk one after another, and heard the humanity in their ears: "Alas, it is sold anyway, and it is a big deal that we will not sell this strength next year." Some farmers insisted on not selling and went home scolding. Qiu Yinming was no longer in the mood to continue the tour at this time, so he led the horse out of the market and went to Kaifeng Mansion.

Waiting for sunset in the shade of the trees outside the city, when the guards were changing, Qiu Yinming mixed in the crowd and entered the city gate, and returned to the palace around the path. Chai Guan's family had been waiting at the back door for a long time, and when he saw him coming back, he immediately stepped forward and said, "My lord, I'm afraid that you will come back late." Just now, I sent a letter from the palace of Xinjun County, inviting you to the dinner. Seeing that his face was not good-looking, he said again: "My lord is tired, there is white fungus lotus seed soup in the kitchen, and I will ask someone to send it to you with ice?" Qiu Yinming nodded silently.

Speaking of the king of Fengxinjun, he still has some friendship with Qiu Yinming. This county king is the most favored prince of the Zhou Palace, the last in line, and he is not very old. When I first came, I heard that he was so elegant and lively, and he often held banquets in the mansion and invited all the officials in Kaifeng Mansion to drink and write poems. There are a large number of doormen in the house, most of whom are literati and ink writers who have not had a smooth career but have some talents. In addition, there are also the famous singing and dancing classes and cooks in Kaifeng Mansion in the house, and all those who have come to Fengxin Wangfu for a banquet are full of praise. I remember the first time I was invited to the banquet the year before last, it was in the wax moon, the plum blossoms in the palace were in full bloom, the new snow was fragrant and fragrant, and the hall was placed with five-color light and nourishing winter delicacies, the jade pot warmed the wine, and the two or three musicians played the flute and sang in the pavilion and corridor across the water, which was unique and elegant. But at that time, Qiu Yinming had just finished solving the matter of chongsha and governing the river, and he was still worried about the winter subsidy for the river workers. And these kings and grandsons are pampered, multiply, and consume countless wealth of the imperial court every year, but they never ask about the life or death of the common people. Going to this luxurious banquet at this time made him feel very uncomfortable, but he also understood that no matter how dissatisfied he was, he still had to do enough work on this table, otherwise he would not even have the opportunity to do things for the people, so he had to pretend to flatter like other officials in Kaifeng Mansion. On that day, a doorman of the royal palace catered to the preferences of the county king and suggested that the officials give plum blossom lyrics and let the singer sing. Sure enough, this proposal was in the heart of the king of the county, so he ordered everyone to draw up a song. Qiu Yinming was not in a good mood at the time, and there was no Yaxing who wrote poems, but he remembered that Shangguan Hong Daochang once gave a plum blossom poem, and he happened to see it, and he was very amazed, and he still does not forget it, so he copied the poem and sent it. He can't remember the lyrics written by other people now, but he only remembers that at that time, when the singer sang the "Magnolia Slow" slowly with the sound of the flute, the four were silent, and the self-confident doorman looked ashamed. After that banquet, the king of Fengxin County looked at him differently, and sometimes invited him to the palace alone to talk about literature and poetry. Qiu Yinming gradually felt that although this young county king did not understand the world, he only knew Qingfu and elegance, but he was kind, humble and polite, so he did not refuse to be gracious, and always talked with him.