On a hot day, it is not easy to store a few heads, and the smell is stinking, Wang Chengen is not willing to smell the smell of these heads, but he just symbolically went through the motions, and discussed with Governor Chen about going to Dongshuanghe Town to investigate.

In order to feel and understand the new village more realistically, so as to better tell the story to Emperor Chongzhen. Wang Chengen decided to pay a private visit to WeChat.

Early the next morning, several carriages stopped in Dongshuanghe Town, and Wang Chengen got down from the carriage in the middle, dressed as a wealthy businessman.

Now the famine and the war are the capital city, and the streets are deserted and sparsely populated. But when I arrived in Dongshuanghe Town, it was as if I had entered another world, with a steady flow of people and endless shouts and shouts.

Although not long ago, the loess gang dozens of miles away from Dongshuanghe Town has just experienced a bloody battle, and there is no scar of war here, the reason is that the war was blocked outside the core area of Dongshuanghe Town, agriculture and commerce were unharmed, and the defeat of Zhang Xianzhong, the news of the surrender of Liu Guoneng once came out, the reputation of Dongshuanghe Town was even louder, which bandits and bullies cottage kings all stayed away from Dongshuanghe Town, coupled with the launch of the new village currency, which greatly facilitated the transaction, a strong business atmosphere, safe and reliable transactions, Reliable trading venues and thoughtful services have contributed to Dongshuanghe Town becoming a well-known trading market, and many merchants in Fucheng have moved to Dongshuanghe Town.

Wang Chengen saw the bustling Dongshuanghe Town, and praised again and again: "What a prosperous place, it makes me feel like I have returned to the capital, good, good!" ”

Wang Chengen saw the Yuelai Inn in Xincun for the first time, and sat for a long time in front of the door. Wang Chengen adhered to the principle of watching wherever it was lively this time, and walked towards Yuelai Inn. As soon as he arrived, a guy came out of the inn and said loudly: "Everyone doesn't have to line up today, there is no vacancy, after confirmation, no one has checked out today." ”

The people in line shook their heads and sighed, muttering to themselves: "I don't know if I can live in the inn in the Year of the Monkey." ”

Seeing Wang Chengen's surprised expression, Governor Chen talked about the advanced facilities, fair price, excellent service, safety and comfort and other attractive points of this inn, Wang Chengen praised again and again, "The management is good." Good, good! ”

After speaking, Governor Chen copied a group of people and walked over, took a closer look, and saw a group of people gathered in front of a room, and the room prominently wrote the three big characters "Collect grasshoppers".

Wang Chengen is very curious, what is the use of this grasshopper? During the Wanli period, Chongzhen was seven years and eight years, and there were locust plagues, and when the locust plague was mentioned, the government and the opposition had a headache. Xincun actually bought grasshoppers, this matter sounds fresh, Banzai must be happy to hear it, he ordered Zhao Jiacheng to stop a person who had just finished selling grasshoppers and asked, "Are you here to sell grasshoppers?" ”

This person smiled: "Yes, I walked more than 20 miles from Pengjia Town, specializing in catching grasshoppers to sell." ”

"How's the price?"

"A pound of grasshoppers can be sold for five dollars, and my family of seven can catch up to two pounds of grasshoppers a day, and they can sell a tael of Xincun dollars a day, but now there are too many people to catch, and there are a lot fewer grasshoppers, and now it is good to catch one pound a day."

Xincun coin, another new word, Wang Chengen asked: "What does Xincun coin look like, how to use it, can you let me see?" ”

This person saw that Wang Chengen was rich and noble, not like a villain, he took out a piece of cloth from his pocket, opened it carefully, and saw only a few bright Xincun coins.

Wang Chengen curiously picked up the Xincun coin, looked at it carefully, and asked Governor Chen: "What is the method of this coin?" ”

Governor Chen was speechless for a while, complaining in his heart about Yu Xiang, he didn't know him about such a big matter, he didn't dare to talk nonsense in front of Wang Chengen, so he had to say: "The villain doesn't know, so I still ask this little brother to talk about it." ”

This honest middle-aged man said: "This Xincun coin is the same as silver, a penny of the new coin is the same as a penny of cash, and a tael of Xincun coin is a tael of silver. If you want to exchange it for silver, you just need to go to the Xincun Credit Union and exchange it for silver. He pointed with his hand, "Do you see that row of houses, there are many people lined up there, all of them are depositing silver and exchanging money." ”

Wang Chengen asked: "How many Xincun coins do you have in your hand, exchange them all for us." After speaking, he glanced at Zhao Jiacheng, and Zhao Jiacheng took out a piece of silver, which was enough for two taels of silver.

This man counted the Xincun coins, one or two or two coins, which was a great good thing for him, and he left happily after exchanging the silver.

At this time, a ragged man held two new coins in his hand and said to himself, "Now, my family has a way to live." ”

Wang Chengen hurriedly stopped this person and asked, "May I ask where you are from?" Why is there no way for the family to live? After that, he ordered Zhao Jiacheng to give this person some broken silver.

The man took the silver with great gratitude, and replied: "It has not rained for many days, and the family has died, and there is no way to live, I heard that Dongshuanghe Town is good, and I just escaped from Linxian County, and I heard that I can also catch grasshoppers to exchange money, no, our family can catch a pound of grasshoppers every day, and the family finally found a way to live." ”

Wang Chengen asked: "Is the drought so severe this year?" ”

The man sighed: "When you look at the guest officer, you are not a farmer, the weather is extremely hot this year, and it has not rained since the beginning of the summer." All the crops in the field withered. ”

Governor Chen said on the side: "That's true! ”

When I think of the drought in Shaanxi, it caused a riot of displaced people. Moving, stirring up the whole Daming Jiangshan chickens and dogs restless, Wang Chengen has palpitations, worried, this time back to Beijing, must report the drought in Henan according to the truth.

After the man finished speaking, he left in a hurry, Wang Chengen looked around and saw that not far from the place where the grasshoppers were collected, a group of people gathered, bursts of green smoke came out, and there was a fragrance.

Wang Chengen walked up with his hands behind his back, and Zhao Jiacheng had already cleverly separated a way from the crowd.

I saw a fried goods stall, and a sign was erected in front of the stall, which read: "Thousand always fried grasshoppers." The stall owner also shouted: "Come and eat, the craftsmanship taught by Mr. Qian himself, now try it for free, the opportunity is rare!" As he spoke, he put a fried grasshopper in his mouth and ate it with relish.

Grasshoppers can also be fried and eaten, this matter is extremely fresh, this thing let Emperor Chongzhen know, must be curious, come forward, only to see the stall owner from the oil pot out of the burnt yellow grasshopper, the children around the side can't help but reach out to catch it.

The stall owner hurriedly said: "Don't grab it, you have a share, be careful of it, be careful of it!" ”

After the charred grasshoppers cooled slightly, the stall owner distributed them to the children, who ate them with relish and ate them when they were finished.

Several adults took a few, put them in their mouths, and nodded their heads in praise after eating.

The stall owner saw Wang Chengen and his party onlooking, and greeted warmly: "Guest officer, hurry up and try it, you will be charged in a few days, and now you can try it for free." ”

Wang Chengen frowned, feeling a little disgusting, and glanced at Zhao Jiacheng, how dare Zhao Jiacheng disobey, took one, frowned, put it in his mouth and bit it, his brows gradually stretched, and he praised again and again: "Crisp and fragrant, it really has a different flavor." ”

Governor Chen was suddenly interested, and he also wanted to take the opportunity to show himself in front of Wang Chengen, so he ate one and was full of praise.

In order to be able to speak clearly in front of Emperor Chongzhen, Wang Chengen saw that everyone was full of praise, so he also took one, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly, as if he was tasting some delicacies from the mountains and seas, and it felt crispy and crispy, and it tasted good.

Wang Chengen was interested and asked the stall owner: "Why is the name of this stall called Qianzong Crispy Fried Grasshopper?"

The stall owner said: "This is the production method taught by our President Qian, he also eats it in person, Mr. Qian said, don't look at this grasshopper don't look good-looking, but it is extremely nutritious, if you encounter locust plagues in the future, you can also catch it for food, that is, you can kill locusts, and you can eat for food, killing two birds with one stone." ”

When Wang Chengen heard him say this, he couldn't help nodding, he pointed to the place where grasshoppers were purchased next to him and asked, "Are the grasshoppers purchased in front of you used to fry food?" ”

The stall owner said: "These grasshoppers are harvested, the big ones are used to fry food, and the small grasshoppers are used to feed the chickens. ”

Wang Chengen couldn't help but nod and said: "The intentions are extremely ingenious, it can be said that there are many birds in one stone, wonderful!" ”

Wang Chengen and his entourage came to the Xincun Credit Cooperative, and several people held fires. Soldiers with guns stand guard and fire. There was also a bright bayonet on the gun, and the cold was pressing. But everyone was queuing up, not afraid at all.

Just as Lao Xu Tou came out of the silver deposit window, he carefully folded a voucher and put it in his underwear pocket.

Governor Chen asked, "Uncle, please stay!" ”

Lao Xu stopped, looked at the few people in front of him, all of them had extraordinary bearings, and replied, "A few guest officers, is there something wrong?" ”

Governor Chen asked, "Are you saving silver?" ”

"Yes, I have saved a few dozen taels of silver for future emergencies."

"Dozens of taels?" Governor Chen sighed in his heart, looking at Lao Xutou's dress, he didn't look like a rich person.

Lao Xu Tou saw their thoughts from their surprised eyes, and sighed: "Don't hide a few, this money is my son's pension silver, my son died in the loess gang, Mr. Qian subsidized my family with a hundred taels of silver, paid off the debt, bought some clothes, and saved the remaining ninety taels." He pointed to these people in line and said: "They are all here to deposit the pension silver, hey, many people don't want to collect so much pension silver, but Mr. Qian does not allow it, everyone must accept it, and everyone is afraid that the silver in the new village will not be able to turn, so they are all deposited in the new village credit cooperative." This time, more than 1,000 people died in the battle, and more pensions were paid. ”

"One hundred taels per person, this amount is many times higher than that of the imperial court. Now that the imperial court's finances are tight, and there has been no serious payment of pension money for a long time, I didn't expect a small new village to be so arrogant. Wang Chengen was secretly surprised in his heart.

Wang Chengen can clearly feel that although these martyrs are grieving, they are all thinking about Yu Xiang everywhere, the hearts of the people in the new village are so neat, Yu Xiang's appeal can be described as extraordinary, no wonder he can lead more than 1,000 people to resist and defeat Zhang Xianzhong's army of more than 10,000 people, and he can't help but praise in his heart: "What a heart, good, good!" ”

Wang Chengen personally took the Xincun currency he had just exchanged to exchange it, and within a while, he successfully exchanged one or two coins in cash, and he was very satisfied in his heart.

At this time, not far ahead, a lot of people gathered, Wang Chengen did not discuss with Governor Chen, and went up directly, Zhao Jiacheng opened the way in front, and Wang Chengen squeezed into the front row.

I saw several Xincun soldiers wearing Xincun military uniforms and holding bayonets standing at the door of a room, and an auction announcement was posted at the door, which stated that anyone who entered the auction site needed to pay 200 taels of cash as collateral, and the auction was successful, and 200 taels of cash was used as a down payment. Obviously, those who can participate in the auction are either rich or expensive, and ordinary people can't afford to play at all.

While people were talking, a young man wearing a green satin hand-cranked folding fan hugged him in front of the family, swaggered up and came to the registration office, he was Xue Shao in the capital.

A dogleg threw down five hundred taels of silver tickets, and said with a grin: "Hold it first, don't look for it." ”

A beautiful lady gave him a number plate, and the group took the number plate and shouted inside.

The soldier guarding the door raised his gun horizontally and said coldly: "Only two people can enter." ”

The dog who walked in front stopped doing it and yelled loudly: "Why? Lao Tzu came to buy things, why only let the two of them in. ”

The soldier guarding the gate looked like a frost, pointed to the notice and said, "This is the rule, see for yourself." ”

These dogs still don't give up, but the soldiers guarding the door don't eat this set at all, they just don't let people go.

The people in the back didn't do it, and shouted loudly: "Damn, it's okay to have a little quality, stop talking and get out of the way of Lao Tzu." ”

Xue Shao glanced at the person who spoke, and was immediately deflated, this person was Zhou Deli, the big housekeeper of Yang Shao in the capital, and then looked behind him, Mom, the big housekeepers in the inner circle of the capital are almost all there, Zhang Shao's big housekeeper Zhang Fa, Li Shao's big housekeeper Zhao Dahai, and some other housekeepers, these people are all extremely impatient in the back, and they all recognize Xue Shaolai, and they are polite, otherwise they will come up and beat people, not just move their mouths.

Xue Shao saw that these people were here, and it was inconvenient to be wild here, so he kicked the dog's leg and ass in front of him, and shouted: "Get out of the way of Lao Tzu." ”

The dog-legged man stood aside obediently, getting out of the way, and Xue Shao said, "Cao Qi will follow me in, and the rest will wait at the door." ”

After that, he took the big housekeeper Cao Qi into the house with a swagger.

The others entered the house one by one.

When Wang Chengen saw this meeting, he felt very interesting, the auction was the first time he had experienced it, so he glanced at Governor Chen's mansion and said, "Let's go in too." ”

Zhao Jiacheng immediately took out two hundred taels of silver tickets and handed them to Chen Zhifu, who went to register and received the number plate: No. 28.

Governor Chen led the way, and Wang Chengen followed him into the house.