Fan Li and Bao Feng bowed down and agreed, and then led Feng Jian and the three of them to the main hall across the courtyard, and everyone sat down in turn.

Feng Jian looked at Pan Zhaoying and said, "Fatty, tomorrow we will start to deal with the goods we brought, this matter is mainly yours, and I will let Chen Huan assist from the side." Quickly let go of the goods we transported, and then start to buy food, iron, farm tools and other cottage necessities, there are still a few days to go before the New Year, we must hurry up. ”

Feng Jian saw Chen Huan's appearance of wanting to speak and stopped, and said with a smile: "Is Chen Huan worried that we will not be able to transport the supplies out of the city when we buy them?" ”

Chen Huan nodded suspiciously, and Cheng Yousheng next to him interjected: "Our commander has been granted permission by Lord Zhizhou, as long as the purchased materials do not affect the lives of the people in the city, they can buy and sell freely." It's really uninsightful, and even the words of the commander have to be questioned! Cheng Yousheng has always been disdainful of Chen Huan, so his speech is a little ugly.

Feng Jian scolded Cheng Yousheng: "Don't be an eyesore here, stand on the side!" He turned his head to Chen Huan and said, "Cheng Zi is right, Chen Huan, you just need to help Pan Zhaoying to buy and sell!" ”

"Oh, it turns out that Lord Zhizhou has already approved for us to buy and sell at will, it's really unexpected! cough, don't laugh at the villain's shallow commander! Chen Huan said in astonishment.

Pan Zhaoying looked at Chen Huan from the side and couldn't help but sigh, of course he knew very well that the commander and Lord Zhizhou had reached an agreement, and now the commander had completely put the heavy responsibility of buying and selling on his shoulders, and it could be seen that the commander valued him very much, and the more he did this, the more he could not let the commander down.

Seeing the commander's gaze, Pan Zhaoying hurriedly responded: "The villain takes the order, and he doesn't dare to say anything else." In terms of buying and selling, the commander will not be disappointed. ”

Feng Jian has always been optimistic about Pan Zhaoying's business talent, and he specially brought him on this trip to Pingdu City. In terms of buying and selling, I simply let him do it. I hope this fat man can surprise himself!

Hearing Pan Zhaoying's neatness, Feng Jian instead advised: "We are mainly transporting herbs and mountain delicacies from the mountains this time. It's a good idea to find out what the market is trading before trading with others. ”

Pan Zhaoying responded: "The villain has been paying attention all the way, when passing by the market town of Xiaohuakou, the villain pays attention to the herb stalls on the side of the road, and has a general understanding of the market of herbal medicines. ”

This Pan Zhaoying was really a natural businessman, with a keen sense of smell, and he knew that most of the convoys were carrying herbs, so he began to pay attention everywhere. Save the trouble to the end.

Feng Jian is a little complacent, it is the best choice to hand over Huluyan business to Pan Zhaoying, the only way to prevent it is to strengthen financial supervision, this is not a distrust of people, but it is precisely to protect talents like Pan Zhaoying from falling into the abyss because of money!

At the end, Feng Jian said to Chen Huan: "Chen Huan, don't worry about other things for the time being, tomorrow you will mainly go to the main grain stores in the city to check and compare the price of grain in the city, and get ready for us to buy grain!" After returning, the results will be reported to Pan Zhaoying so that the price and quantity to be purchased can be finalized. ”

Chen Huan hurriedly stood up and bowed down and said, "The villain obeys orders." ”

……

Early the next morning, the Yunfeng Inn began to get busy. Pan Zhaoying got up early, braved the bitter cold to come to the courtyard and began to carefully count the types of medicinal materials one by one, while the two teams of soldiers of the Zhenshan Battalion spontaneously began to practice in the courtyard in the morning.

Cheng Yousheng, Fan Li, and Bao Feng rested in the hall last night, and early in the morning, the three of them came to wait outside Feng Jian's guest room to wait for orders!

Feng Jian got up and freshened up. Instructed Cheng Yousheng to bring some more silver taels, and the group of four walked out of the Yunfeng Inn, preparing to find a snack shop on the street for breakfast.

Feng Jian went out today. One is to explore the artisans in the city to see if they can convince some of them to go to Huluyan, and the other is to visit the jewelry stores in the city. Buy a few pieces of jewelry for Chen Lilan and Su Su, and naturally buy a few pieces for the hairpin.

Feng Jian could feel Chen Lilan's friendship for him. Similarly, Chen Lilan, who is infatuated with her, should also feel it. There is a layer of window paper between the two, and buying some jewelry for Chen Lilan is to finally determine her heart, if Chen Lilan accepts the jewelry she gives, it means that she also likes herself.

Approaching the end of the year, most of the small food shops in the city have been closed, and Feng Jian and his party walked around for a long time and did not find a place for breakfast.

Cheng Yousheng muttered to Fan Li on the side: "I always feel that Pingdu City is a prosperous place, now I can't catch up with our Huluyan, you look at how many begging people along the street, I'm afraid that if the weather is colder, some of them will freeze and starve to death!" ”

Fan Li felt the same way, and nodded incessantly: "Now it is better for us to be in Huluyan, and the villagers in the village can at least eat and not be frozen!" As he spoke, he looked at Feng Jian's back with reverence.

Feng Jian walked in front of the three of them, he knew that any big city has a bright side, and there must be a dark side! Pingdu City is naturally no exception.

A few people walked all the way through the streets and alleys, deep into some of the city's secluded alleys, where many dilapidated houses were gradually revealed, and the dirty and noisy slums were many years old, and the poor people living here were still running for a day's food.

In the cold weather, many begging people held rice bowls in their hands, shivering in the cold wind, and begged everyone who passed by for a bite to eat.

Feng Jian remembered that Chen Suowen said last night that most of the craftsmen in the city were concentrated in the west of the city, and now a few people were walking to the west of the city, and there was no place to find breakfast here.

Feng Jian looked at a low bungalow not far away, and said to Cheng Yousheng and the three behind him: "This should be a craftsman living area, let's go in and have a look!" ”

Cheng Yousheng and the three agreed, and followed Feng Jian into this residential area. There are about 200 residents in this residential area, and the dirty streets are full of feces, rotten vegetable leaves, and other filth, and there is a faint stench in the cold weather.

Originally, at this time, every household should be steaming rice cakes and steamed buns to prepare food for the New Year, and it is the custom of having to celebrate the New Year with or without money, but Feng Jian and the four of them walked around this residential area along the street, and there were no people on the street, and every household rarely saw cooking smoke.

Feng Jian suddenly remembered what Chen had said last night, the imperial court is now implementing the policy of "leviing silver on behalf of workers", and the craftsmen have to hand over a sum of silver and two silver taels to the government every year to deduct the labor of the craftsmen, but the craftsmen themselves have no opportunity to work.

No wonder what Chen heard was ambiguous. It turned out that he had long known the living conditions of the craftsmen in the city, which meant that most of the craftsmen in the city had lost their sources of livelihood. Became a member of the begging army in the city.

Cheng Yousheng said while carefully avoiding the feces on the ground: "Look at this street, it's dirty, and people here don't know how to clean it." How can this smell make people live in. ”

Feng Jian glanced at him and said, "Cheng Zi went to knock on a house and asked about the situation, why it was so deserted here in broad daylight." ”

Cheng Yousheng pursed his lips and muttered: "You still need to ask, it must be poor and forced by life." ”

Feng Jian said: "Don't talk nonsense, go and inquire, it's best to find a commander who comes over to ask in person, so that you can make further plans." ”

Fan Li and Bao Feng stood behind Feng Jian and looked at Cheng Yousheng with some sympathy. Cheng Yousheng's poor habit has never been broken, and Cheng Yousheng can always follow the commander, which shows that the commander is not very disgusted with Cheng Yousheng's poor behavior, and even the commander sometimes takes the initiative to talk to Cheng Yousheng for a few words!

Cheng Yousheng didn't dare to disobey Feng Jian's order, and turned around and walked towards the nearest bungalow to a few people.

Feng Jian casually handed Fan Li a few pieces of broken silver, pointed to the street when he came, and said, "Fan Li, you take these broken silvers to find the beggars on the side of the road, and inquire about where the artisans who live near here go in and out every day, and what kind of livelihood they have." ”

Feng Jian pointed ahead with his hand, turned his head to Bao Feng and said, "Bao Feng will go to the stone mill with this commander to wait for a while." Look at Cheng Zi and Fan Li" Bao Feng didn't say much, nodded slightly and followed Feng Jian and walked behind.

Looking at the deserted and dirty appearance of this residential area, you know that the people living in this area are living in poverty, and they have entered the twenty-sixth day of the lunar month. According to customs, no matter how poor and miserable people are, the New Year will be lively. But there is no New Year's atmosphere here, it's just puzzling?

is in contemplation. I saw Fan Li running towards Feng Jian from the street where he came, followed by a large group of beggars holding broken bowls.

Fan Li turned his head and shouted from time to time. Let the beggars who are swarming behind him not follow, and every time Fan Li holds his pace. The beggars behind him stopped and looked at Fan Li, Fan Li raised his feet and walked, and the beggars followed.

Seeing these beggars like kraft candy, they can't beat and scold and don't leave, and they tend to follow Fan Li step by step. Feng Jian said to Bao Feng: "Go and call Fan Li over, don't worry if those beggars want to come over." ”

Bao Feng promised to greet Fan Li, whispered a few words, and turned back to Feng Jian's side.

Fan Li stopped and said: "If you want silver, you can line up for Lao Tzu to meet our host, if your answer can satisfy our host, it will naturally not be less of your benefits." ”

A circle of beggars surrounding Fan Li blinked their eyes and looked in the direction of Fan Li's finger towards Feng Jian, and they consciously followed Fan Li towards Feng Jian one by one.

Returning to Feng Jian, Fan Li reported in a whisper: "The villain found a beggar on the side of the street according to the commander's instructions, and threw him a piece of broken silver. The villain threw the beggar a piece of broken silver again, but suddenly saw that the beggars on the surrounding streets were all surrounding the villain, so he didn't care about the question, turned around and rushed back, but who knew that these people followed like kraft candy, and the commander instructed the villain to not finish! ”

Feng Jian waved his hand and said: "The begging people on the street can get food to eat, you give him enough silver taels to buy one or two buckets of grain at once, let alone follow you, it is a good thing that he didn't go up and strip you naked at that time!" ”

Fan Li's face turned red, and he bowed his head and said, "It's the villain's incompetence,"

Feng Jian said: "I don't blame you, who would have thought that there are so many people who can't eat in this bustling city, you retreat behind this commander!" ”

The beggars came to Feng Jian and the three of them, each stretched out the rice bowl in his palm to Feng Jian, and begged Feng Jian with different expressions on their faces.

Feng Jian said in a loud voice: "As long as you answer a few questions honestly, I will not be stingy with silver taels." Hearing Feng Jian's words, there was a commotion among the begging crowd.

Fan Li shouted: "If you want to get benefits, stand up honestly, if you don't follow the rules and grab randomly, don't blame Lao Tzu's knife for not recognizing people."

"Come here!" Feng Jian pointed to a middle-aged beggar with a wrinkled forehead closest to him.

The middle-aged beggar with wrinkled forehead looked left and right to make sure that Feng Jian was calling himself, so he walked up to Feng Jian with the rice bowl in his hand, and said with a hunch: "Please ask this old man to enjoy the food, the villain must know everything." ”

Feng Jian's eyes lit up, this middle-aged beggar seemed to have something to talk about!! (To be continued......)