In Bianliang City in late October, the weather was cold and cold, and the atmosphere in the air of the city was already more tense. Most of this tension comes from the weather, although the winter in Bianliang City is not difficult compared to other small places, but most people are still too lazy to go out in winter, and it is already the season to stock up on winter supplies.

Fireworks industries such as alum buildings and small candle shops are still prevalent, and it snows in winter, at most you go out less, and in the famous green buildings in Bianliang, there will still be a prosperous charcoal fire every day, making people feel at home in the cold weather. When it snows, some rich benefactors will even live in the green building and no longer go out, so until the spring of the next year, the silver on the body will naturally be like flowing water.

Master Li is taking advantage of the days before the snow to make friends and visit friends, for the first Oiran in the eyes of many people, she will reduce the time she spends with guests in the winter, and if she wants to meet, she is often familiar with friends.

In the warm house in winter, the atmosphere will become too ambiguous, some people can't hold it, they really want to do something, say something, although she has a way to deal with it, but it is more troublesome to deal with than usual, so even if she meets people, it will often be a group of people together. Second, she has a lazy temperament, and she doesn't want to go out in winter, and sometimes she doesn't even bother to get out of bed. In winter, if there is no gathering of powerful people that cannot be pushed away, it is better to rest more.

What really bothers her in recent times is that someone will tell her plainly that she is about to pass her prime. For an Oiran of a green house, the real Fantasia is between the ages of sixteen and twenty. After the past, in the eyes of some people, it is inevitable to become a woman. She is twenty-one years old at this time, and she has been smooth and steady all the way from becoming an Oiran to reaching the peak now, although she has also experienced many things, but next, the peak will pass.

Although for many who already know her, her charm. It's still improving over time. As long as I've seen her. It's inevitable to be attracted to her, but once you're twenty-one or twenty-two, the likelihood of her age attracting new customers to throw a lot of money at her age decreases, in a sense. She had to think about quitting and getting married.

For her. It's a difficult decision to make. But you can't help but think about it. Of course, there are many people who are willing to marry her, and she can choose to be a concubine in many large families. Or big officials, literary giants and the like. The first Oiran in the capital, if you want to marry out, not everyone can handle it, and the background must not be low. If friends such as Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng, assuming that she likes it and is willing to marry, she can't marry it, then it will hurt them at all.

People with insufficient backgrounds can't keep up with a woman like her, and then they often have a bumpy fate, and she has to suffer with it. Of course, in addition to marrying those big families with a very high status, she can also choose to be someone's wife, and among those who are willing to do this, there are also people with good status, but they must have to marry out of the capital without a sound, far away to a certain place.

Recently, she has secretly screened several times among those who are likely to marry, with high status, good personality, good chat, and good looks...... And so on and so forth, and in the end, I still couldn't make up my mind.

Over the past few years, she has received a lot of preferential treatment from Alum Lou by virtue of her Oiran status, and every year there are about one or two months, and she is free to visit other places and visit all kinds of famous families - Mother Li also understands that this can cultivate her to be unique - she has seen many things because of this, and after having insight, she vaguely feels that she can do a lot of things, just like Tong Shu'er's matter, under the running of her and some other women and scholars, the last official of the Ministry of Officials was found guilty and went to the official position, flowing three thousand miles, It's applauding, but after this incident, it's boring.

Recently, a popular topic in the capital is the battle between Zhang Jue and Wanyan Yanmu in the north. This is the first battle between the Wu Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty, and everyone is waiting with bated breath, but after the war, the news came, Zhang Jue had lost the first battle after defecting to the Wu Dynasty, but he was only a small defeat, and after the defeat, the two sides were still facing each other, and then there was a second battle - these things, Shi Shi has heard recently, and he has no interest.

In a year or two, this will no longer be her world, she will marry someone, and live a simple but leisurely life, without sprinkling and weaving, and without washing her hands to make soup, it is enough to greet her husband and please him at the right time, and to capture his heart. After a few years like this, he gave birth to that person's child, and after many years, he was old and yellow, and he pointed to the child to live.

Sometimes thinking about it like this, she can't help but smile lonely, sadness comes from it, and even gives birth to emotions that she rarely had in the past: If she wasn't a Qinglou woman, if she wasn't this Oiran called Master Li, how good would it be......

In addition to receiving experienced dignitaries, more guests are also big businessmen and gentry from other places. For these people who have money and status in other places, when they arrive in the capital, see the style of the first floor of the capital, and spend a lot of money to meet the Oiran is the best thing to talk about after going back. For guests from other places, except for some talented people who are well-known, they usually measure the value of the other party by money, and it is often a one-time consumption anyway, that is, the one with the highest price will see.

On this day, after attending a poetry meeting, I returned to the Alum Tower, and Li's mother said that there was a son of the Sun family from the south who could meet him. It is said that the other party's family is a wealthy family in the area of Jinghu South Road, young and golden, and talks extraordinary, and when he arrives here, he will make a move of five hundred taels of silver, indicating that he wants to see her. Anyway, it's to make money, the teacher smiled, and went.

Later, I saw that the other party was really as Li Yun said, he talked extraordinarily, and he was obviously a well-educated son in a big family, twenty-six or seventeen years old, and his appearance was okay. The teacher played and sang two songs, chatted for a while, and when the guests and hosts felt good, the other party casually asked about Zhuji.

"I heard that the Beijing Bamboo Record was opened by the talented Ning Liheng, and the teacher and the girl are familiar with him, and every building opens, the teacher will go over to perform." The grandson ate a small half of the snack and smiled casually, "I have always admired talented people, but I don't know that Ning Gongzi." What kind of person can have such means, not only good poetry, but also business so prosperous. ”

"It's ...... Not ......very familiar," the master replied, but his brows furrowed imperceptibly. She didn't want to talk about Ning Yi recently, during this time, merchants in the capital have come and gone, and she also knows about the lack of food in the north and south, and Zhuji is operating this matter, and she also knows what she wants to make a lot of. This realization made her not want to interact with each other anymore. Ning Yi once said that he had something to do with her. Later, she came to Alum Tower twice to see her, but the teacher pretended to have something to do, so the maid refused, and during this time, Zhu Ji was busy buying and selling grain to make money. Several new branches that were originally planned to be opened have also been put on hold for the time being. As a result, she doesn't have to fulfill the promise of performing in the past.

"Oh? Not very familiar...... But there is always a general exchange. According to the eyesight of the teacher, is this person a genius or a businessman? ”

He was a very wise man. Speak with clear and precise words. The master inadvertently swept the other party's eyes, but his heart moved, this Sun Gongzi seemed to speak casually, but the depths of his eyes were extremely clear, he was familiar with the car before, enjoying the leisure time with the Oiran, but this time it was not very like. Then I remembered a foreign wealthy family from Huainan I had seen two days earlier, and the other party also asked about Zhu Ji and Ning Yi, she dealt with it casually at that time, but now that she thinks about it, two groups of people in a row have asked him in a targeted manner, and the situation is a little different.

These two groups of people are all wealthy families in the local area, but they are thousands of miles apart from each other, and it is really impossible to say that they made a special trip to Beijing to find Ning Yi...... With doubts in her heart, she carefully responded to the other party's inquiries and explored the intentions of this Sun Gongzi. Sure enough, not long after, this Sun Gongzi asked Ning Yi's character, asked his family, popularity, and even his residence, and made a gesture of wanting to visit.

The discovery of this day struck her as rather strange. She knew that Ning Yi was very good at business, and she also knew that after he relied on the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, he could also do business, but did the two big families who were thousands of miles apart send people to Beijing to find him to cooperate? Again, it seems unlikely. That night, she asked Li's mother about the background of these two families, and sure enough, both sides have officialdom relations, and they will not come to rely on the Right Prime Minister's Mansion so deliberately, as for the disaster situation in these places......

“…… I don't know the way, you also know the way, teacher, all the people who do business recently are going to the disaster, and the capital is talking about it. This kind of thing is not once or twice, some time ago, there was a quarrel in the court, and many officials were dismissed, just for disaster relief, and there was a war in the north recently, and I heard that the saint was in a bad mood, and things eased a little. Daughter, why are you asking this? ”

"It's nothing, just ask......"

So the next day, when she went to a poetry meeting, she met Zuo Houwen and his cousin Zuo Jilan, and also met Wang Zhizhen, a relatively famous genius in Hedong. For Zuo Houwen, the teacher knows that he is in charge of the business affairs of the capital for the Zuo family, and he is also famous, second only to the great Confucian Zuo Duanyou in the Zuo family, because of this relationship, the two sides have met many times before, but they are not familiar. Shishi secretly heard rumors about him, it is said that he prefers the kind of woman with a strong and independent personality, and the two concubines in the family are said to be in the middle of the family, and they themselves support the family business, and then they were married by him. It is said that he also secretly coerced several women with strong temperaments, but this matter was not widely spread, which shows that the other party is not a person without restraint.

Towards the end of the poetry meeting, Zuo Houwen, Zuo Jilan, and Wang Zhizhen came to see her. Zuo Jilan is in her thirties, and at first glance she is the kind of proud but capable son of the sky, for her, she just simply looked up and down, making an expression that she didn't care much, but the teacher could see the emotion in his eyes - it was the kind of person who wanted to take advantage of her innocence and thought she was capable - After saying a few words to each other, Zuo Houwen actually asked about Zhu Ji and Ning Yi.

"I heard that Miss Li knows this Ning Gongzi, so she must be very familiar."

"Uh...... It's not familiar, it's just a business dealing......"

"Hehe, it doesn't matter if you're not familiar, my nephew wants to see him, and there are some things to discuss. There is a middle-aged person, the face is more obvious, and my nephew has a bit of a strong temperament, Miss Li follows beside him, maybe he will be more restrained. Zuo Houwen smiled, "That's it, tomorrow...... No, in two days, Jilan will go to Alum Tower to find Miss Li, and then the two of you will go to find Nan Ning Gongzi together, how about it? ”

Although Zuo Houwen is not an official, the influence of officialdom comes from Zuo Duanyou, and it can be said that he is Zuo Duanyou's spokesperson in the capital, and he is used to giving orders. Although the sentence was added at the end, the teacher could only nod at this time. This time. Tiannandi Beiguang wants to start looking for Ning Yi from her, there are already three families, and it doesn't seem to be good.

No matter how powerful Ning Yi is, no matter how fast Zhu Ji develops, when will he be in a position to offend such a wealthy family? Or offend the three families at once? However, there are only three looking for their own, and the rest are probably even more......

She couldn't figure it out for a moment. Another day passed, and that night, the alum tower was as lively and noisy as ever. There are two groups of people who are willing to spend money into the eyes of Li's mother. Come and ask what the teacher means. Among these two groups of people, one group is also a son from other places, and there is only one, and the other group is invited to come over from the capital. It's supposed to be about business. The teacher doesn't want to be alone. I chose the latter. Shortly after the selection. In the alum tower, there was a quarrel, and the master vaguely heard the noise over there when he passed.

“…… You black-hearted scum. Eighteen Layers of Hell ...... Dead"

"Hey, you're not, how much is the difference between twenty-five taels and thirty taels...... If you make enough money, come to Alum Lou to find the top card, and dare to say that you are kind......"

"Better than you, we're ...... this time"

"Let's find a fight!"

"Who dares, can't kill you......"

"There's a ...... you used to"

The noise was intermittently listened to a few words, and soon after, the people of Alum Tower came out to mediate, and the riot was quelled. Later, the master went to the banquet in the warm pavilion to accompany him, only to find that the voice on the side of the quarrel came from the side that invited the guests.

The guest was a group of foreign vendors, led by a man in his forties, but it seemed that he was a man who had traveled all over the world, surnamed Yu, and he was followed by several nephews in their twenties. Since they may be from the countryside, their words are relatively vulgar, and those young sons are a little shy, and some pretend not to care about acting in front of themselves. The teacher who was invited knew that this surnamed Wei was a grain merchant in Beijing, who had a good reputation on weekdays, and was said to love his wife and concubine very much, but he didn't come much to Alum Tower.

The two sides did not discuss business at the wine table, and it seems that the two sides have already had an intention to come here. The master tried his best to liven up the atmosphere, and after the third round, Boss Wei smiled and patted the hand of the man surnamed Yu: "Okay, I know the way, this is the case." Yu Yuan's sincerity, I understand, now I have to go back first, there is still something at home. You guys...... It must have cost a lot of money to sit here more. Master, you arrange them, it's not that I said, a trip to you will cost too much......

The teacher smiled with a little grievance: "Where is Mr. Wei, the rules in the building are like this, and the teacher can't help it, the teacher just tries his best to serve everyone......

Boss Wei waved his hand: "Okay, I'm leaving, I'm leaving......"

Since he is leaving, he will also send him off, the two of them have negotiated things, they are in a good mood, and they go out together, leaving the master and the rest of the people surnamed Gongzi. The maids continued to add wine and serve food, and the master smiled and talked with them, asked about the situation at their home, and after playing and singing a few songs, he also casually asked about the business they did, and then he learned that they were going to buy grain with Boss Wei and sell it to the disaster area, and then a young man spoke: "I heard that the master girl is very familiar with Boss Ning of Zhuji, right?" ”

"It's not very familiar, and there are business contacts." In the past few days, the teacher has been tired of hearing this sentence and replied casually. However, this son is different from others, the master is not familiar with it, and he doesn't know what to say to the convenience. I vaguely heard two of them talking to each other, it seemed that it was because she was very familiar with Ning Yi that the other party chose to be in the alum building and spent a lot of money to entertain Boss Wei.

Several young men wanted to behave in front of the teacher, so they continued to talk during the banquet, and after a while, they heard them say that this time they went north to "do good deeds", and the teacher knocked on the side and asked, the humane people bought grain for thirty taels and one stone, and they wanted to sell it for twenty-five taels. The teacher smiled and nodded, but he was disgusted with these people in his heart, you used to give grain and release grain, that is called doing good deeds and accumulating virtues, and the grain of more than two taels and one stone on weekdays was dragged ten times and sold, what kind of virtue is accumulated in this line.

After the young man finished speaking, he also seemed to feel that something was wrong, and opened his mouth to add a few words, wanting to correct them. The master plucked the strings and smiled in agreement. The young men began to speak to each other, and after a while, the words of a young man with relatively clear words made the strings under her fingers tremble slightly.

“…… This time, the teacher and the girl also know the way, after all, it was arranged by Zhu Ji later, this disaster relief, if there were no people from them. I really don't know what to do, those people in the north are really bitter......"

A person next to him said: "It's not a bamboo note, isn't it the right phase behind the bamboo record, and the top is arranged by the right phase." If it weren't for the right phase, would we be able to go to Hedong? ”

Speaking of this, the young man in front of him suddenly became excited: "Why can't I get in, if I had known that there were so many hungry people in Ludao, I would have to transport grain in if I died!" They're kind of beating me to death! @#¥%&* (Start swearing)"

Shi Shi frowned: "The north is ...... now How's it going? ”

"Hedong Road? I don't know if it's a good way, both sides are working hard. Let's bring the grain over. This thief...... The weather has dropped so much that the price of food has dropped a little bit, and then it has risen again. Those big dogs don't allow us to keep the price of food down. Look around. Last time, my third brother was beaten by them. Fortunately, there are also preparations on the Zhuji side. The shopkeeper Yao called the doctor, and then called the government and arrested them. Hum. This time, let's go north, the third brother's injury is not healed, and he is clamoring to go. ”

A young man stood up with a flushed face: "That shopkeeper Yao is right, this is war!" ”

Others chimed in: "I'm afraid they're a bad seed!" Are we still less of us this time! Their land? Mess with me, I'll kill them! ”

The teacher was puzzled. What are they talking about? She used to know that these young people were the most susceptible to certain things, and they were often irritable and impulsive. But now it looks different, in Bianliang City, there is a group of students, led by Chen Dong, who are often worried about the country and the people, and are impassioned, and they even dare to scold Taishi Cai and Gao Taiwei. At this time, it seems that these young people who don't read much are in a mood like Chen Dong.

How can they sell grain like this? It looks like someone instigated it.

She asked tentatively, "How many sons also went to give porridge and rice?" ”

"Naturally, every day!" Several people said almost in unison, and then someone said, "But the Ning Dong family of Zhuji is right, after all, it is impossible to boil all of them into porridge, only by pushing the price down, others will have a way to live." Teacher, you know that Ning Dongjia, what kind of person do you say he is? ”

The master looked at them, and then said softly, "Yes...... If the price is pushed down, other people will have a way to live, but I still don't understand. ”

One of them, who wanted to show the surname of Gongzi, said loudly: "Hey, what's so difficult to understand, I'm so stupid, I understand." Miss Shishi, you think, if the price of grain there is thirty taels and one stone, how rich it is to sell grain, and with such a profitable business, those big dog families and dog officials have to work hard. Even if the two prime ministers in the court risked their lives, they couldn't stop the greed of so many people. But if the price of food goes down, there is not much money to be made, and the government has some clean officials, so that those big households can interfere less. As Ning Dongjia said, if the price of grain continues to rise, the government's disaster relief grain can be distributed to the people, and if it is defeated, maybe half or more can be saved, and when the time comes, we will go to give more porridge, and many people will survive! So, this time we made money, and we came back to ship the second batch of rice and grain, and we also bought winter clothes...... Hmph, after this time, we have to go up for the third time, the Yu family is a man, we have to go! ”

The man was talking, and one of the people next to him said, "I'm afraid that after the snow, the road will be difficult." ”

"Don't say that the snow closes the road, even if I freeze to death, I have to drag the food over, I don't believe it, I can't get those beasts whose conscience is eaten by dogs-"

Shishi's head is buzzing, she is a smart person, and if she has some things to do with others, she will know the Tao. Subsequently, in the words of everyone, she gradually pieced together the outline of a huge "battlefield" that had been around her for nearly three months, and she originally felt the bits and pieces of this outline, but she didn't care about it at that time. Then, at the bottom of her heart, a sense of fear came up, and she realized that the businessman and former friend who had almost been placed on her position as "breaking off friendship" had touched a lot of interests and offended many people in the past three months......

She finally understood what those wealthy families were going to do when they entered Beijing...... (To be continued......)

PS: Uh, this chapter is 6,000 words, and it's all night, think about it, ask for a ticket. Well, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass......, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass,