Liuhe County, the northwest corner of the county office, in the side hall.

Drapery, table, chair.

Xin Zide retired from the servants in the yazhong, and Chen Yuanliang also withdrew, and now there are only two people in the side hall.

Xin Zide, Chen Ping.

"I heard Yuanliang say, do you have something to look for me?" Xin Zide sat on the main chair, his face was full of kindness, and when he saw Chen Ping standing, he pointed to the chair on the side, "Sit." ”

"There is indeed something to worry about the county order." Chen bowed, put the wooden box in his hand on the table, and then sat down, "The county order knows about the recent collection of feathers by the imperial court as a miscellaneous tax, right?" ”

The box of rosewood is carved with lines, the phoenix spreads its wings, the workmanship is exquisite, and there is a faint fragrance wafting out.

Xin Zide stared at the wooden box twice, and said with a smile: "How can I not know?" If the magistrate of a county does not know about this, it is a dereliction of duty on my part as a county magistrate. You're not here for that, are you? I heard from the community that Chen Yuanliang's house is selling feathers. Nowadays, both rich and poor in this Liuhe County are vying to buy, and they should get a lot. ”

Chen Ping stood up again and said in a low voice: "I really don't hide the county order, but I asked Chen Yuanliang to sell the feathers in his house, the county order should be known, the house is next to Liuhe Mountain, and I often go hunting in the mountains on weekdays. The fine down feathers, cleaned and dried, are used as the filler of the jacket, which is not worse than the cotton. ”

Xin Zide smiled, picked up a bowl of tea next to him, took a sip, and bared his teeth. This new tea is light, but it is tasteless in the mouth, but it is precisely because of this that Xin Zide will change the tea soup and use this light new tea.

The tea soup is not bitter, it is inconvenient to talk, and it is disrespectful to others.

After tasting the tea, the teacup was not put down, but it was still held in his hand, holding the tea lid and pressing the thin leaves in the cup, Xin Zide lowered his head and gently tasted half a mouthful, and then raised his head: "Then this is really a coincidence, the emperor has been a vassal in Yangzhou for many years." It has been requisitioned millions of men and women in Henan, digging ditches, as long as the ditch is connected to the two rivers and Huai, it can be down the river to the south of the Yangtze River. The Holy Driver is here, and you, I, and the government and the people should feel honored. ”

"As the prefectural ordinance says." Chen Ping also replied, "I came to the county order for this matter." One day in the mountains to catch pheasants and hares, straight autumn, the forest fog, the boy into the mountain is to let the fog blind, lost the direction, anxious to find a way out. When I arrived at a stream, I saw something strange and was busy picking it up. ”

Chen Ping walked to the table, put his fingers on the wooden box, and then gently lifted the lid of the box, revealing the contents inside.

The wooden box is lined with soft brocade, silky and shiny, and there are dozens of poultry tail feathers on the soft brocade, which are white and flawless, and five or six feet long.

"This is ......" Xin Zide saw the object in the wooden box, his sleepy eyes immediately widened, and he walked quickly to the table, "This is auspicious, a good omen." ”

The albino peacock feather, at this time, is indeed auspicious.

"That's true, I plan to present this thing to the emperor, and I need to order you to submit it." Chen Ping nodded and said, "The emperor has just prepared a boat, and there is a strange beast phoenix to offer feathers, this is auspicious." ”

Xin Zide's hands were trembling, touching the wooden box, his fingers stopped on the feathers, he wanted to touch it, but he didn't dare, after a while, he finally mustered up his courage, his fingers stroked the tips of the feathers, and immediately retracted again.

His face was excited, as if Fang Cai's touch had also contaminated it with Ruiqi, Xin Zide looked at Chen Ping and said approvingly: "This matter will be dealt with by the county order, so auspicious is not only in our county, it should be the creation of the people, and it is the emperor's benevolent government." ”

"This is also due to the virtue and politics of the county order, why don't the beasts fall in the next county, but they fall in Liuhe County? Because the people of Liuhe County are simple, the people are kind, and the government decree is passed. Chen Ping took a handful at the right time and took out a piece of yellow metal from his coat pocket, "I also hope that the county order can add the boy's name to the newspaper, and I hope that the county order can accept these Xu blockages, and use the Lao Nayi to make the fast horse transmit." ”

Xin Zide glanced at the gold in Chen Ping's hand, and looked at it roughly, it had to be ten taels. For silver, this is the amount of fifty or sixty taels.

It was the duty of the post envoy to convey the stagecoach, and the post book was also under the jurisdiction of his Xin Zide, so there was no need to prepare additional money.

Bao Xiangrui, this is also beneficial to oneself, from the surface, at least moral politics. Virtue and politics, this is a shortcut to rapid transfer, Xin Zide does not have a deep foundation in the DPRK, and his ancestors are only among the seventh classes in Chen, which is really a poor family. The merits of the ancestors are not obvious, and there is no capital in the shade, Xin Zide follows the usual path, and he may want to pay attention to the county order of the seven grades.

"Well, I will gallop quickly to report this auspiciousness to the emperor." Xin Zide's face remained unchanged and he took the gold, his hand sank, his face was slightly happy, and he was heavier than what he saw, "This auspicious rui is discovered by you, and your name will be added to the newspaper, and it will be heard by heaven along with it." ”

"Thank you for the prefectural order." Chen Ping saluted respectfully and withdrew.

What can be done, Chen Ping has already done it, and the piece of gold sent out is nearly eight taels, which should make Xin Zide tempted.

Eight taels of gold, buy a name in the newspaper, and the "auspicious" is still offered by yourself. This is also a measure that has to be done, Chen Ping has no other way to report "Xiangrui", but through Xin Zide.

Out of the yamen, Chen Ping let out a long breath and strode towards the county and city.

Looking for a horse shop in the county and city, Chen Ping bought five horses and three donkeys, and it was the first time that the owner encountered such a big deal, and it was a silver payment, so he immediately asked people to accompany Chen Ping to Baitu Village.

Five horses and three donkeys, swaggering all the way through the market, attracted passers-by to look sideways and returned to Baitu Village.

"The Chen family is back?" In the middle of the village, the villagers looked up and saw Chen Ping riding on a donkey, walked a few steps, got closer, his face was envious and respectful, and even his title changed, "You are coming back from the county and city?" How did you buy so many horses? ”

Chen Ping lifted the reins, turned sideways over the donkey's back, twisted his legs, and replied gently: "There are some mountains and woodlands at home, and the brick kiln also needs to transport the green brick livestock, so I want to buy some horses and donkeys to raise the livestock." ”

The villagers nodded and said a few more words, and Chen Ping responded one by one.

When Chen Ping entered the village, a little farther away, several village women leaned against one place in the field and chatted again.

"I said a long time ago, the Chen family is a person with great ability, in the past, he hunted in the mountains and collected so many feathers, you see how many days it is, and the court will collect feathers. I heard that the Chen family's silver was brought back by car, which was really amazing. A village woman said enviously, "If I knew this was the case, I should have collected some feathers." ”

"But no, have you seen Aunt Li? The nest of ducks in her house was all sold to the Chen family, and this time she had to wipe her tears at home. Although the side feather is not valuable, the ducktail feather can be sold for two hundred yuan. The other person should be reconciled, "But this Chen family man is good-tempered, that is, he is generous, and he is so gentle when he talks to you and me, which makes people feel comfortable." ”

Chen Fang got off the donkey and spoke, his face was kind, and the villagers asked me one by one, and Chen Ping replied one by one. This made the villagers who got the response very happy, and they remembered that Chen Ping did not forget his roots, although he was rich, he still remembered his hometown.

At this time, another village woman who was close to Aunt Li on weekdays listened to the discussion, and she also put down the hoe in her hand and walked over from her own field, with a mysterious expression: "You don't know yet, do you?" Aunt Li's family is going to be unlucky, and the family property is going to be taken away. (To be continued.) )