At night, the courtyard under the Phoenix Gang was very lively, Liu Cun and Wang Qi, the fleet manager Bao Laosan, the new caravan manager Lu Jiu and Liu Cun's more than 20 apprentices gathered together to enjoy delicious seafood, Liu Cun, who was in a good mood, made an exception to allow the apprentices to drink, but the dish was not finished, and most of the more than 20 excited young men were already red-faced.

Wang Qi's wife and Sun Wan were a little worried when they saw this, and discussed whether to remind Liu Cun and let a group of half-grown children drink less?

Liu Cun didn't care about this, and said to them with a grin: "This kind of vinegar-like water wine has no strength and is not in the way. ”

As soon as the words fell, Wang Qi, who provided drinks for tonight's party, was reluctant, put down his chopsticks and rolled his eyes at Liu Cun: "You always say that the wine I brew is not good, why don't you take out the wine you brewed and let the brothers taste one or two?" I remember that you said many times that you would show me your unique skills in winemaking, but why has there been no movement so far? ”

Liu Cun pointed to the wide backyard under construction: "After the small courtyard and two rows of stoves by the water are built, the younger brother will personally brew two pots of pure and fragrant wine, and after the autumn harvest, there is surplus grain, and the younger brother plans to teach the skills to the family members, make wine for many years, and then let Zhen'er their pottery workshop make a beautiful painted white pottery wine bottle, fill it with the wine I brewed with the secret method, and then sell it to Luoyang, I have thought of the name, it is called 'Langya Jade Liquid', haha!" Don't drop your jaw in shock, big brother, I will never sell a bottle of wine for less than 10,000 yuan. ”

Bao Laosan, Lu Jiu and the others at the banquet were shocked, it was really hard to imagine how a bottle of wine could be sold for a high price of 10,000 yuan? 10,000 dollars is the price of a pound of gold!

Wang Qi, who was accustomed to Liu Cun's endless skills, was stunned for a moment, pondered for a moment and gradually smiled: "I believe in a bottle of 10,000 yuan, but I'm afraid it's not your wine that is good, but the painted wine bottles made by Zhen'er are more valuable, right?" ”

Everyone will come to their senses, and immediately laugh, Liu Cun was just about to explain a thing or two, but the housekeeper Lu An arrived with a panicked face, and he didn't care about saluting and eagerly reported: "Something happened!" When the caravan had an accident, Wangjiazhai sent people to ask for help, saying that it was ambushed in the north of Dongwu City, with heavy casualties and all the carriages, horses and goods robbed! ”

The frightened Liu Cun and Wang Qi stood up at the same time, Wang Qi stepped forward to inquire first, and learned that the people from Wangjiazhai who came to report for help were outside the gate, so they ran out immediately without saying a word.

Liu Cun, who quickly calmed down, came to Lu An, and Lu Jiu and Bao Laosan and other brothers also gathered around, and after listening to Liu Cun and Lu An's questions and answers, they immediately understood that the place where the incident occurred was the complex mountainous area at the junction of Dongwu City and Pingchang City, and it was the only way to Beihai Kingdom, Linzi City and Jinan Kingdom in the hinterland of Qingzhou.

Lu Jiu, who was in full swing to reorganize the caravan, turned to Liu Cun: "Lord, there are indeed a few strongmen in the mountains west of Pyeongchang City, it is said that after the death of the great sage and good teacher, the remnants of the Yellow Turban who fled back from the Qingji area, there are not many of them, and they do not belong to each other, in the past few months, the small one has followed the master twice to escort the caravan through there, and the time of choice to pass is noon, plus we are all equipped with bows and horses, and the vehicles are fast, so nothing happened, this time the caravan was suddenly looted, could it be that the guards of Wangjiazhai were negligent?" ”

Liu Cun thought of the people in the Wangjiazhai caravan who were eager for quick success, and couldn't help but sigh: "The matter has come to this point, there is no need to investigate the reason, Lu Jiu, you go back immediately, call a few capable brothers to prepare the horses, and then go to the ironsmith warehouse to get a few newly made long knives and crossbows, no matter what, we can't die without help." ”

Lu Jiu raised his hand and hurriedly left, and Bao Laosan hurriedly stepped forward and asked to go together: "Lord, bring the little ones with you." ”

Before Liu Cun could speak, Wang Qi, who had returned in a hurry, said loudly: "Brother Xian, you stay and watch the house, just Brother Fool and Lu Jiu and they will go!" ”

"This matter needs to be reported to the county government in Xiahe City, so I have to make a trip. The third brother and the other brothers just stayed to watch the house, and then sent a few people to Wangjiazhai to inform them, so that the villagers could feel a little at ease. Liu Cun explained.

Wang Qi weighed it slightly, then nodded, returned to his residence to change his clothes, and after listening to Liu Cun's instructions, the brothers dispersed with all their tasks.

Liu Cun put on the body armor that turned out the bottom of the treasure box, put on a smock under the service of his beloved wife Sun Wan, and told his righteous son Liu Zhen and his eldest apprentices Lu Pei, Cheng Ji, Xu Yan and others to stay at home, and then walked out of the gate and got on the horse with more than ten brothers such as Wang Qi who had gathered, and rushed to Xiahe City along the well-groomed wide mountain road.

In the middle of the night, the torches were blazing up and down the closed north gate of Xiahe City, and the people outside the city were full of panic, and the county commander Cheng Binghe and other officials who were woken up in the middle of the night were lying on the female wall of the city, and they were worried after listening to Liu Cun's report under the city, but they could not send officers and soldiers to assist, after nervous discussion, Cheng Bing could only throw down a token and allow Liu Cun to lead a team to the rescue site two hundred miles away in the name of the salt official in the north of the county.

Liu Cun and Wang Qi wanted this name, picked up the token and bowed to Cheng Bing and the others on the city wall, no matter how chaotic it is today, Liu Cun, who is about to embark on his official career, must act in strict accordance with the law of the Han Dynasty whether it is for his own family business or for the sake of thousands of villagers in Zhushan, and must not leave anyone with a handle to attack.

Seeing Liu Cun lead more than ten horsemen to leave quickly with torches, Cheng Bing on the city tower sighed with emotion: "I didn't expect Liu Zijian to be so benevolent and righteous, I hope he can return safely!" ”

Dong County Lieutenant laughed: "Don't worry, my lord, my subordinates found that Liu Zijian and Wang Shoushan were skilled in riding, and their bodies were vigorous, and they led more than ten young and strong people to wear their whole bodies, and their forces were extraordinary, even if they couldn't recover the goods, there should not be much of a problem to retreat, if it wasn't for the gathering of displaced people, the limited strength of their subordinates needed to be strictly guarded, and they had to go with them, haha!" ”

Meng Huan, the county magistrate, glanced at the many panicked homeless people gathered under the city, and couldn't help but sigh loudly: "Liu Zijian and his entourage suddenly made such a big move, which shocked the city and the outside of the city, it seems that none of us want to sleep tonight, alas!" ”

Lieutenant Dong came to his senses and was taken aback, and immediately ordered his subordinates and several teams to disperse and lead the soldiers to pacify the tens of thousands of displaced people gathered in and outside the city, otherwise once a riot broke out, I am afraid that a catastrophe would come.

The frightened people in the city quickly calmed down under the pacification of the officers and soldiers, but the study room of the Xu family's compound located on Chengnan Street was still in a tense atmosphere.

The butler who had just returned from the north gate whispered what he had seen and heard, and the two middle-aged men in literati costumes of about forty had complicated expressions, and after listening to the butler's report, they couldn't help but look at the elder brother on the throne.

On the delicate and luxurious low couch, Xu Yang, the head of the Xu family who was nearly fifty years old, had a stern face, his long black hair was nearly a foot long, and his long black hair fluttered gently with the breeze blowing in from the window, and his slender eyes stared at the exquisite carved pottery cup in his hand for a long time.

After a while, Xu Yangcai slowly raised his head, and instructed the tall literati who was eagerly looking forward to it at the lower left: "The opportunity must not be lost, it will not come again, we can't hesitate any longer, third brother, you immediately send someone to Jiaoshan in the north and tell those Yellow Turban remnants: As long as you can level the two small villages at the foot of Wangjiazhai and Zhushan, destroy all the pottery kilns and workshops, and all the money and utensils obtained will belong to them, after the matter is completed, my Xu family will give another fifty gold as a reward!" ”

The tall literati immediately stood up: "Junior brother, I will send a letter to the two henchmen waiting outside the east gate, and ask them to set off overnight on fast horses, and they will definitely be able to rush to the foot of Jiaoshan before dawn tomorrow." ”

Xu Yang nodded with satisfaction: "Very good!" Remember, be secretive and don't leave too obvious. ”

"Brother, rest assured, this matter has been implemented for more than two months from the initial planning to today, and it is through the two distant relatives who defected to the younger brother in the middle of the year, and the leaders of the two remnants of the yellow turban in the north and northwest are contacted separately, and no news will be leaked, even if the two henchmen are different, the younger brother can completely push it away, and it will not affect my Xu family." The tall literati arched his hands and strode away.

Mr. Xu Er, who was sitting on the right side and had been silent, coughed lightly, waved his hand to signal the housekeeper standing on the side to step back, looked at the elder brother on the throne and whispered: "It is rumored that the county order Cheng Bing has officially written to recommend Liu Zijian, a son of the Hanmen, to the monarch of Kaiyang City as Maocai, and the county Cheng Meng Huan, the county lieutenant Dong Jie, and other adjutants also signed and recommended it together. ”

Xu Yang was leisurely and complacent, brushed his long beard and asked sideways: "Second brother, are you worried that once that Liu Zijian becomes the county commander, he will be embarrassed by my Xu family?" ”

"This ...... The foolish brother does have this concern, although the county order is light-spoken, but after all, he is also a scholar on the official side, and Liu Zijian is a person who has a way of collecting money, and is good at buying people's hearts and selling fame and reputation, once he becomes a county commander, I am afraid that it is not easy to get along with each other! The worry in Mr. Xu Er's heart still lingers.

Xu Yang shook his head slightly: "If there is a big chaos today, the displaced people are everywhere, a large number of people of insight have resigned and gone into hiding, not to mention, just say that I have ten counties and two cities under the jurisdiction of the Langya Kingdom, and in less than half a year, four counties were destroyed by the hands of the Yellow Turban thieves, and as many as more than 200 officials died in the hands of the Yellow Turban thieves, and as many as 200 officials died in the dead body, causing everyone in the officialdom to be in danger, and the wind changed, for several months, there was an endless stream of people who resigned and left, and thousands of young people flocked to it, and there was no sign of stopping, only inside and outside Xiahe City, which was located in the remote rivers and rivers. There are as many as tens of thousands of displaced people gathered, and the slightest carelessness will lead to a civil uprising, and even cause a riot that spreads hundreds of miles around. ”

Mr. Xu Er gradually understood: "What does my brother mean that Cheng Bing and others strongly recommended Liu Zijian, which is purely a helpless move to protect Mingzhe under the crisis?" ”

Xu Yang patiently explained: "The reason why Cheng Bing and others hurriedly recommended Liu Zijian, a son of a poor family of unknown origin, was entirely because of the helplessness of not getting the support of the four local families, and secondly, I hope that this move will allow Liu Zijian, who is known as a virtuous person, to do his best to help the victims of the disaster, so as to prevent a civil uprising that may occur at any time!" ”

Speaking of this, Xu Yang sighed with deep feelings: "I have to say that Liu Zijian is indeed quite talented, and he has a good way to make money, only a piece of exquisite pottery that can be made in large quantities, in just a few months, it has brought him a huge wealth of no less than five hundred gold, which is more than the total profit of my Xu family's business for ten years, if he can really obtain a large amount of sea salt through secret methods, it will be even more incredible!" Alas...... If Liu Zi is very good, understands the current affairs, and hands over the products to my Xu family for marketing everywhere, instead of having a dog with the insatiable Mi family, the foolish brother will not be forced to get rid of this person when he can't bear it, and the foolish brother is deeply sorry in his heart! ”

"However, the foolish brother is worried that after the matter is completed, he may not be able to obtain the secret method of making Zhushan pottery, and if the artisans who have been captured back do not master the key skills, won't they be busy in vain?" Mr. Xu Er expressed his worries.

Xu Yang smiled confidently: "The second brother doesn't have to worry, as early as two months ago, the third brother sent someone to buy the people in the Wangjiazhai caravan with a lot of money, and gradually figured out the selection of materials, preparation, blank drawing, repair, kiln, firing of the layers of processes and all the techniques of Zhushan black pottery, the third brother in the southern suburbs workshop according to the techniques obtained quietly firing, has now obtained nearly 100 pieces of exquisite utensils comparable to Zhushan black pottery, accurately mastered the secret technique of putting sea salt into the kiln to increase the luster of pottery, it can be said that the production method of Zhushan black pottery and the know-how of mass production, no need to worry about it anymore, haha! ”

Mr. Xu Er finally put his mind at ease, twisted his upper lip and slightly upturned beard and nodded frequently: "In this way, there is really no need to leave that Liu Zijian, as long as you get rid of Liu Zijian, and level Wangjiazhai and the Zhushan Village full of homeless people, the world-famous Zhushan Black Pottery will be surnamed Xu from now on!" Haha......"