I saw that it was Min Chong who walked in the front, and he respectfully led the two people into the box. The first one was a middle-aged man of about forty years old and a kind face, and the other was about thirty years old, burly and bright-eyed. Jiang Qingliu had already gotten up to salute the two of them, and said apologetically: "The two of you have come from a long journey, and it is really hard. I was supposed to come to the door to answer in person, but at the moment I have a lot of inconvenience, so I will set up a banquet here today to wash the dust for the two of you. Later, I will punish myself with three glasses of wine, and please don't blame me for the sin of neglect. ”

Seeing Jiang Qingliu's modest attitude, sincere tone, and Qinghua temperament, and generous and calm demeanor, the two couldn't help but feel a little more good in their hearts. The middle-aged man hurriedly said: "Fourth Master Jiang is serious. Thanks to the trust and value of Jiang Siye, he specially invited us to come here to raise a big plan, and also set up a banquet to entertain us. ”

The burly man next to him also laughed loudly: "The fourth master doesn't need to be so polite, I'm not used to these false courtesies, it's only right to drink a few glasses of good wine and good food later, Brother Yan, do you say yes or no?" ”

It turned out that the middle-aged man was the second-in-command of the Yan family's boat company, called Yan Rui. The Yan family has built ships for generations, with exquisite technology, and has large shipyards in Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Dengzhou and other places, with thousands of workers, and the number of shipbuilders every year is also a thousand. The Yan family is among the top craftsmen in the major families, and the reputation of the wealthy businessmen is undegraded, which shows its strength.

And the big man is the third son of Fang Qiusheng, the founder of the Yuanfu Dart, called Fang Weiyuan. At the beginning of its establishment, the reputation of Yuanfu Dart was not obvious. Later, Fang Qiusheng encountered a group of extremely fierce mountain bandits in the process of a dart, he was not only not afraid of danger, but also relied on extraordinary courage and excellent skills, first showed weakness to lure the enemy, and then led his brothers to intercept this group of mountain bandits by surprise halfway, and all of them were captured alive and thrown at the door of the official office. This gang of mountain bandits is extremely vicious and has done many evils, and the local county government has been wanted for many years without making any progress, which has always been a big problem for them. Fang Qiusheng was captured alive at once and handed over to the government, the magistrate of Boping County got such a big gift, and the promotion was expected, so he also reciprocated the favor, and when he reported to the prefect of Dongchang Prefecture, he greatly praised Fang Qiusheng's righteous deeds and asked for a reward for him. The prefect surnamed Yin didn't pay too much attention to it, and planned to reward some gold and silver wealth.

But his staff had an extra heart, and they found out that the dart that Fang Qiusheng was holding this time was not a particularly valuable item, but a pair of ashes and a few boxes of cage letters and clothes. It turned out that Liu Bomin, then the magistrate of Ningyang County, Yanzhou Prefecture, died suddenly a month ago, and his eldest brother, Liu Boxian, who was a waiter in the Ministry of Industry at the time, was suspicious of the cause of his brother's strange death, so he sent his henchmen to check on him. After this henchman arrived in Ningyang County, he secretly investigated in many ways, and learned that Liu Bomin had a lot of disagreements with a local rich gentleman surnamed Xie because of his strict investigation of tax matters during his tenure. Although Liu Bomin wanted to rectify government affairs and take the Xie family as a knife, the Xie family had been operating in Ningyang County for many years and had a deep foundation, and it was the side branch of the Xie family belonging to Xie Qin, the founding general of the Zhao Dynasty, who had a great prestige in the local area, and there were many people who were good friends with him even in the county government. He had no evidence to investigate, so he had no choice but to put the matter on hold. A month ago, the grandmother of the Xie family celebrated her 80th birthday, and specially invited Liu Bomin, and specially set up a table for him to entertain him with delicacies from the mountains and seas, wanting to ease the relationship with him. Liu Bomin saw that he was a rich gentleman in the countryside, and the furnishings at home were extremely luxurious and rich, and then looked at the shark fin and abalone cucumber on the table, and he was angry, so he only chose the most simple steamed sea bass in front of him to eat. Unexpectedly, when he ate most of it, he had red spots all over his body, his throat was swollen, and it was difficult to breathe. By the time the Xie family hurriedly found a doctor, he was already in shock. The Xie family was in chaos and at a loss. At this time, a slave beside the second master of the Xie family came up with an idea, saying that he would pretend to be drunk and faint, and send him back to the mansion directly in a carriage, as long as he did not die in the Xie family, everything would be easy to say. The Xie family rushed to the doctor when he was ill, but he adopted his opinion, gave the doctor a large amount of hush money, and sent Liu Bomin, who had been splashed with a lot of alcohol, back to the backyard of the yamen. Originally, even if the Xie family was unintentional, they couldn't get rid of it, but who knew that Liu Bomin was carried back to the room, and woke up again, and happened to be seen by the night officer, and his expression was uncomfortable, and his expression was sluggish, which just matched the appearance of drunkenness and fainting. Therefore, when he was found to be stiff and lying on the bed without breath the next morning, no one suspected the Xie family. Although the Xie family was responsible, it was difficult to find evidence of their deliberate murder because it was an unintentional mistake, so they wrote a letter to report to Liu Boxian. Liu Boxian replied and ordered him to send Liu Bomin's ashes and relics back to the capital for the funeral, while he stayed behind to continue the investigation. This is why Fang Qiusheng darts.

The staff informed the prefect Yin of the cause and effect of the incident, and the prefect of Yin immediately approved the edict of reward, not only the gold and silver property of the wounded and the reward, but also a plaque of "spirit and courage and righteousness" to Fang Qiusheng, and sent several guards to accompany the Beijing and sent it directly to the mansion of the Liu Mansion before turning back. Under the special publicity of Governor Yin and the instruction of Liu Boxian, the Yuanfu Dart founded by Fang Qiusheng became famous for a while, and passers-by knew it. After that, Fang Qiusheng connected several huge amounts of business with high risks, because he did have a good kung fu foundation, and with the assistance of a group of brothers who were also brave and resolute, he completed it every time without danger, so far the reputation of the Yuanfu Dart was truly stable, and he also had a place in this Jianghu.

Jiang Qingliu, Yan Rui, and Fang Weiyuan sat down separately, shouted Xiao Er to order food, and the three of them drank tea and chatted first, and said some anecdotes. Yan Rui and Fang Weiyuan often travel from all over the world because of their family's business, so they naturally have a wide range of knowledge, and they also know a lot about the customs and customs of various places, so they picked out interesting ones. To their surprise, Jiang Qingliu was also able to talk in this regard, and he had many additions and explanations to what they said, and he seemed to know the local folk customs better than them. Fang Weiyuan was very curious and puzzled, could it be that Jiang Qingliu had also been to these places? But how can his experience be as young as that of those of them who have been around for many years?

“… I was in my early twenties when I was carrying a shipment with one of the big brothers in the darts to a small town north of Kyoto. I heard that the prairie could be seen a few dozen miles north of the town, so I secretly rode a horse at night to find it. I ran all the way north, for a few hours, and the sky was about to dawn, and I had not yet seen the shadow of the grassland. I didn't believe in that evil, so I ran to a nearby higher mountain, stood on the mountain and looked, oh, here and there! On the back of the mountain was a green grassland, so big that it was boundless, and a few black spots could be faintly seen in the distance, and I wondered if it was the yurt where the shepherd lived. So I went down the mountain and rode around to the grassland, and as far as I could see, it was all this tender grass, and my horse was so excited that it threw its hooves. I galloped for a while, and I felt refreshed. When the sun rises, this scenery is more beautiful than what is written in the poem! Later, I also saw a few residents grazing, but I had already walked too deep, and I was in a hurry to go back, otherwise I would have gone up to talk to them, and I would have seen a long time. Fang Weiyuan said with great regret and envy: "The scenery of this grassland is really unique and magnificent. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to try the taste of eating meat and drinking wine around a campfire. ”

Yan Rui listened with relish and was very interested. Most of the cities he ran to were in the coastal zone, and he didn't have the opportunity to see the vast and beautiful grassland scenery. But Jiang Qingliu smiled and said: "Brother Fang doesn't have to be so sorry, there will be many opportunities in the future, as long as Brother Fang has this heart, it is not difficult to go to the grassland." It's just that if you want to eat meat and drink wine every day on the grassland, it is a little difficult. ”

Fang Weiyuan was puzzled, Yan Rui also looked puzzled, and said, "I heard from a few friends who have been to Saibei that they are all like this on the grassland, isn't it the truth?" ”

Jiang Qingliu explained: "What your friends said is true, but the grassland herders cherish their livestock very much, and they mainly eat milk on weekdays, and rarely eat meat, and only slaughter livestock when entertaining guests." If Brother Fang is going to the grassland to be able to eat a lot of meat, I'm afraid that even the most hospitable grassland herdsmen will not dare to receive you! ”

Fang Weiyuan and Yan Rui couldn't help but be stunned when they heard this, but they wondered why Jiang Qingliu knew so clearly? Fang Weiyuan finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Fourth Master Jiang, how do you know this, could it be that you have been to the grassland?" ”

Jiang Qingliu knew that he was puzzled, so he nodded with a light smile and said: "I practiced martial arts when I was a child, and my master often took me out to travel, and I was there for most of the year. The north and south of the river, the grassland and the desert, we have all settled and lived for a period of time, so we have some understanding. ”

"I see, I said why Fourth Master Jiang is so young and has such rich experience, my Weiyuan sighs to himself!" At this time, the drinks and dishes had already been served, Fang Weiyuan picked up the wine glass and said to Jiang Qingliu: "Today, the fourth master taught me to have a long knowledge, come, I will give the fourth master a glass." ”

Jiang Qingliu didn't refuse, drank it all, poured it all again, and said: "I neglected the two of you before, and said that I would punish myself with three cups, but this is the first cup." Before Yan Rui and the others could stop him, he had already taken a drink. Then the second cup, the third cup.

Fang Weiyuan saw that he acted so decisively and boldly, and he did what he said, and he was very interested in his appetite, and immediately said: "Okay! Joyfully! Our Weiyuan admires such a happy and bold person as the fourth master the most, the fourth master, I will toast you again! ”

Yan Rui watched from the sidelines, and he also greatly appreciated Jiang Qingliu in his heart. Although he didn't know Jiang Qingliu's true identity, according to the information he had previously discovered, it must be from a scholarly family. He saw that Jiang Qingliu did not have the slightest arrogance and contempt for businessmen like them, but instead intersected wholeheartedly, and his words and demeanor were even more like a spring breeze, and he couldn't help but feel close. Thinking that he was not yet at the age of a weak crown, he had such a cultivated demeanor, and I admired it even more. Thinking of this, he also picked up his glass with Fang Weiyuan and said: "The fourth master treats people sincerely, and his demeanor is even more convincing, today I have the opportunity to intersect with the fourth master, it is really fate, I also salute the fourth master!" ”

The three of them talked happily with each other, and later they actually had some intention of hating each other. After the meal was over, the three of them went to the low floor to drink tea, and finally chatted about business.