"If you are the son of one of those high-minded families with no one in your eyes, or those traitors and corrupt officials, I won't sell you at such a low price. That's it, although we businessmen are lowly, but sometimes we also pay attention to fate, if you really like it, little brother, you can make a price, as long as it is not too much. The old man sold it! In the end, the old shopkeeper was gritting his teeth. Seeing this, Ma Zongheng didn't want the lion to open his mouth, thinking that there were probably more than 800 taels of gold left at home, he also gritted his teeth and said: "Shopkeeper, I don't hide it from you, I only have more than 800 taels of gold at home now, although I am an official in the imperial court, but I don't have much, you are willing, plus the deposit of dozens of taels just now, I will pay you 800 taels of gold." If it doesn't work, I really don't dare to force it anymore. ”

"You! You're going to kill me!! When the old shopkeeper heard this, he immediately felt sad, but he thought that his children had offended the powerful people in the court, and those traitors were ruthless, coveting the old man's property for a long time, and if they didn't leave, they would die with a whimper, wouldn't there be nothing?

Ma Zongheng was obedient and couldn't help but feel a little lost, but he didn't want to buy it forcibly, and said with a smile: "It's Ma who is insatiable." The old shopkeeper, you clean up, and I'll take you to collect the rest of the money. ”

"Slow!! That's it, that's it!! The old man should make you a friend!! Half buy and half get away!! The old shopkeeper suddenly screamed, and his face was covered with sweat, and it seemed that he had struggled violently. After all, if there are thieves and bandits everywhere today, he offends the powerful again, and many places along the way to Jingzhou have to be dredged, and at that time, real money and silver can be used much better than these jewels and jade.

Ma Zongheng heard this, his eyes lit up, and he looked at the old shopkeeper for a while, and from his expression, he also knew that he must have difficulties, so he replied: "The old shopkeeper is refreshing enough, Ma is willing to make you a friend, but eight hundred taels of gold is a lot, do you want to go back and call some people?" ”

The old shopkeeper smiled bitterly, or he really had a good impression of Ma Zongheng, and he didn't hide it: "Little brother, the old man won't hide it from you." The old man's real name is Wenxiu, he came to Luoyang to do business decades ago, and he has a son named Wenpin. When he was eighteen years old, I dredged up his contacts and made him a small official, he also competed, with his own skills, he would be promoted to the position of the tooth general. I didn't know that because I couldn't get used to seeing the eunuchs' minions oppressing the people and scraping the people's fat and ointment, he offended the powerful, and was not only removed from his official position, but also beaten half to death. In order to escape from this place as soon as possible, the old man had already dispersed his buddies, and there was not even a small servant at home. But you are also worried that the old man has been in business for many years and has his own way. Wenxiu said and smiled bitterly. Ma Zongheng was a little surprised when he heard this, and instantly recalled the information about Wenzhi in his mind.

Wen Ping is Nanyang Wanren also. In the romance, he is much inferior to Liu Bei's five tiger generals, Cao Cao's five good generals, and tiger generals such as Dongwu Zhou Tai and Gan Ning. But in the official history, his record is not inferior to these people in any way.

However, he said that Wen Ping was originally the general of Liu Biao in Jingzhou. After Liu Biao's death, his son Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao. Before this, Wen Ping was still unknown, and he refused to see people because he couldn't protect the land. Cao Cao had already heard of Wen Ping's loyalty, and he refused to see Wen Ping even after being summoned. Cao Cao's ministers were all angry. Later, Cao Cao heard the reason, and was moved by the loyalty of Wenpin, who was first praised by it, and even entrusted him with a heavy responsibility, and still asked Wenpin to guard Jiangxia, so that he could pawn the northern soldiers and Zhenjingjiang. Wen Ping was grateful for Cao Cao's trust, and also lived up to Cao Cao's expectations, when guarding Jingcheng, he repeatedly led troops to stop Guan Yu's army, attacked his baggage, burned his warships, and made great contributions, becoming one of the generals who Cao Cao relied on as a barrier, and his prestige spread far and wide.

And the most glorious battle in Wen Ping's life was the Battle of Shiyang. It is said that Sun Quan, who was ambitious at that time, personally led 50,000 soldiers to attack Shiyang and besiege Wenpin, and the situation was urgent. The soldiers in the city were afraid that the city would be broken, and advised Wen Ping to surrender to save his life. But Wen Ping stuck in the city and did not move, every time Sun Quan came to attack, he was in the front line, commanding the soldiers to fight, inspiring and inspiring a group of soldiers, and Wen Ping was extremely good at defending the battle of the city, every time he was transferred, there was an unexpected effect, Sun Quan repeatedly could not attack, stationed for more than 20 days without results, and the daily cost was huge, and I heard that Cao Wei's reinforcements were coming, and the only way to withdraw the military horses was to be removed. When the generals of Shiyang saw Sun Quan retreating, they all thought it was a plan, but Wen Ping changed his previous steady posture, made a decision immediately, and led the troops to pursue in Kaicheng, killing the Wu army without leaving a piece of armor, with countless casualties, and finally broke the Wu army and returned. Although this battle cannot be compared with Zhang Liao's Battle of Hefei, both of them are the two barriers that Cao Wei relied on the most to resist Eastern Wu in the south!

In history, Wen was hired in Cao Wei, and was named a rear general, with a high and powerful position, admired by others, and his status was in no way inferior to that of the five good generals. Moreover, Wen Ping is good at guarding, and even the Eastern Wu heroes led by the martial saint Guan Yu and Sun Quan can't break through the territory he guards, which shows its transcendence. What's more, Wen Ping is also very good at training soldiers, and it has been recorded in history that the Rui of Jingzhou is under Wen Ping, so he is deeply favored by Liu Biao.

Ma Zongheng's heart beat faster, if he can recruit Wenpin, he will undoubtedly add a general talent to his command. In his mind, the official history has always been far more correct than the romance, after all, the romance always has the flavor of lifting Liu and degrading Cao, so it is unauthentic, and many famous historical generals have been ignored by the romance.

Ma Zongheng's scheming is also keen, and he quickly had a plan at this time, and said with a smile: "The old shopkeeper, Ma really doesn't want to take advantage of you after thinking about it." Otherwise, I would like to repair a letter and send an elite escort to Tianshui Jicheng, where the brothers will take you to an old man named Pang Ming. Although this person is old, he was still a general under my command not long ago, and he is very serious. If you give him my letter, he will settle down in Jicheng for you, and then allocate you a thousand taels of gold, and I promise that as long as you are in Jicheng, you will do business in a down-to-earth manner to ensure that you have no worries about your life!! ”

When Wen Xiu heard this, his eyes suddenly widened, and he hesitated for a while. However, Wen Xiu is an old Jianghu after all, and he has not known Ma Zongheng for a long time, how can he believe him so lightly, if it were someone else, Wen Xiu would have thrown his sleeves away, but seeing that Ma Zongheng's attitude was sincere and there was no malice, he still shook his head and said: "I'm worried about the little brother." Our family is originally from Nanyang, and it is time for us to return to our roots and return to our hometown. ”

When Ma Zongheng heard this, his heart tightened, his eyes showed a little disappointment, and he bowed slightly, and replied, "It has to be like this." The old shopkeeper, I'll wait for you outside, you can pack up and come. ”

When Wen Xiu heard this, he looked at him a few times curiously, and then nodded in response. After Ma Zongheng went out, he waited for a while, and it was already night, but he saw Wenxiu turning out from the side of the street, and a large number of Ma Zongheng for a while, and said with a smile: "The old man thought that you would take the opportunity to escape, but I didn't expect the little brother to really stand here honestly and wait." ”

Wenxiu's mouth has always been open-mouthed, and they are people from the Central Plains, and they have always felt that Xiliang is a barren land, and that although Ma Zongheng is the son of Ma Teng, the great warlord of Xiliang, his family may not be rich.

The old shopkeeper laughed. Ma Zongheng smiled, and was not angry. Wen Xiu saw that Ma Zongheng was young and old, and the more he liked it.

Along the way, the old and the young were not restrained and talked about it. The old and spicy Wenxiu asked Ma Zongheng to buy these three pairs of hostas at the expense of a lot of money, and I am afraid that this sweetheart is not only a beautiful country, but also a lot. Ma Zongheng was a little embarrassed by Wenxiu's words, and he didn't hide it, and told Wenxiu that he accidentally offended a girl some time ago, and the jade mink hairpin he chose before was to make amends. As for the other two, they were brought to the two wives in the family. Wenxiu heard that Ma Zongheng got married so early, and he didn't forget his wife at home when he went out, so he had a good impression. So, the two talked and laughed, and unconsciously came to Ma Zongheng's mansion.

Pang De, Hu Che'er and others were waiting for Ma Zongheng to come back, and when they saw an old man behind Ma Zongheng, Ma Zongheng introduced to everyone that this was his new friend, and everyone hurriedly greeted him after hearing this.

Wen Xiu was surprised to see that these Xiliang men were more burly and majestic than the other, and saw that everyone had great respect for Ma Zongheng, and felt more and more that Ma Zongheng was unfathomable. Ma Zongheng then instructed Pang De to take out 800 taels of gold and put it on the frame. When Pang De heard that he was going to take out such a huge amount of money, his eyes couldn't help but widen, but after coming back to his senses, he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly took a few men into the mansion to prepare.

"Hehe, if the old shopkeeper hasn't eaten yet, why don't you eat here and leave? Later, I will teach my brother to send you back. Ma Zongheng said with a smile. If it was usual, Wenxiu would definitely take it and leave, don't look at Wenxiu who is already in his fifties, and now his posture is still quite strong, and he can use the frame to carry the eight hundred taels of gold and rub it.

"It's good! Then the old man is welcome! For some reason, Ma Zongheng always gave Wenxiu a feeling that was different from ordinary people. Beside him, there will be an inexplicable peace of mind. Even a suspicious person like Wenxiu put his mind at ease to associate with him. Ma Zongheng then led Wen Xiu into the seat, and when he was young, Pang De's people moved the two boxes full of eight hundred taels of gold to the frame, and rushed to sit down, and the three seats around, a total of dozens of people, also seemed very lively.

Wen Xiu couldn't help but be surprised when he saw Ma Zongheng eating with his subordinates, feeling that Ma Zongheng was really weird, according to the rules, the host and the guests should eat inside, and the others would inevitably disturb the interest of the guest of honor, and they had to wait until the guest of honor finished eating and cleaned up before eating.

"Hehe, let the old shopkeeper be surprised, I don't have so many rules here." Ma Zongheng seemed to see what Wen Xiu was thinking, and explained with a smile. Wen Xiu also began to get used to it, and after nodding, he took out the other two rosewood boxes from his arms and said, "These are the other two pairs of hostas, little brother, you can take them." ”

When Ma Zongheng heard this, he took the two wooden boxes, and he didn't open them to look at them, so he handed them to Wang Xiaohu next to him and said: "Trouble Xiaohu, you bring a few brothers, pack up tomorrow, and when you are ready, rush back to Tianshui Jicheng the day after tomorrow, report safety first, and then hand over these two pairs of hostas to the two ladies for me." The phoenix white jade is for the eldest lady, and the jade peony is for the younger lady. ”

When Wang Xiaohu heard this, he bowed his head heavily, and then took the wooden box and put it in his arms. Wen Xiu's eyes widened when he saw it, coughed twice, hesitated for a while, and still asked, "Little brother, don't you have to look at the hosta in the box?" What if the old man secretly steals the dragon and turns the phoenix? ”

"Haha, are the old shopkeepers and I already friends? Shall I doubt you? Ma Zongheng smiled brightly.