The head catcher smiled: "What else can you do, catch people!" ――Last night, the shopkeeper of Sui was stolen, and all the valuable gold and silver were stolen! The family of a Sui shopkeeper cried to death. It's really pitiful, the old mother has just been poisoned, and the house has been ransacked by thieves, can you not be sad? ”

Zuo Shaoyang was secretly amused in his heart, but on the surface, he was very surprised and unbearable: "God! This thief is too much of that, isn't it......? ”

"But it's not, it must have been done by the bearded snitch known as the 'flying squirrel', the state capital Yamen Ouyang Thorn Shi has ordered that the four gates post a sea fishing notice to search for the flying squirrel!"

Zuo Shaoyang couldn't help but laugh when he saw that they were searching for Xiao Yunfei with a bearded portrait just now, even though Xiao Yunfei was standing in front of them, they didn't know that this person was the Jiangyang thief who stole a large bag of valuable gold and silver from the Sui family.

After saying hello, the head catcher continued to patrol with people.

Zuo Shaoyang held an oil-paper umbrella and walked towards Qu Jiami. Before I got close, I heard the sound of people, I don't know what happened, turned the street, and saw that the street where the Qujia rice shop was located was crowded with people, shouting loudly, and there were people everywhere who were carrying rice bags and holding money bags with anxious faces.

Zuo Shaoyang stood on the stone steps of the street shop with an umbrella, tiptoed to see that the Qujia rice store had closed, and above the gate, there was a big sign hanging high, writing: "The rice has been sold out". There were a few catchers standing at the door, with knives on their waists, looking at these people helplessly.

Although the sleet is not big, it will still be wet after a long time. Many of the people in the field had wet shoulders and hair, shivering in the cold wind, but no one cared about this, just looked at the door of the rice shop with desperate eyes, not shouting to buy rice, although they knew that this was empty words, they still couldn't help but shout and vent the despair in their hearts.

Zuo Shaoyang's heart was heavy, and he asked a middle-aged man next to him: "Big brother, is there no rice to sell?" ”

"No ......!" The middle-aged man said sadly, "I got up before dawn, and I came here in a hurry, there was still rice to sell at that time, but there were too many people, and I couldn't squeeze in at all, and the sign at that time said that brown rice and black noodles were 700 wen per bucket!" ”

"What? Seven hundred? Why is it so high? ”

"High? It was changed five times in less than an hour, and the price of rice doubled and went up! But now, many people bid 10,000 yuan, and 11,000 or 2,000, but they can't buy rice! ”

"Huh? Is it bought out? ”

"Looted!" The middle-aged man said sadly, "Everyone is crowding to buy rice, the price of food is too high, everyone doesn't have much money to buy, but they can buy some of it." Unexpectedly, a team of cavalry officers and soldiers came, and the yamen caught quickly, and sealed the rice store on the spot, saying that all the officers and soldiers of the rice court had been purchased, and not a single grain of rice was allowed to be sold out! Then came a large number of officers and soldiers, armed with knives and guns, driving the wagons to pull away all the grain. ”

Zuo Shaoyang thought to himself, it was really not as expected, the grain and grass of the officers and soldiers were all burned by the rebels, and the tens of thousands of troops had nothing to eat, so they could only collect grain from the locality, and Hezhou was already seriously short of grain, and the price of rice remained high, so that the tens of thousands of troops stationed in Hezhou were equivalent to competing with tens of thousands of people in Hezhou for rations, and now all the grain in the rice store was collected.

Zuo Shaoyang hurriedly said: "Isn't there another rice line?" ”

"I went, my brothers came together, and when they saw that they couldn't get in, they ran separately, and the whole city went, and when they went, there were still people rushing to buy rice in front of the rice shop, and soon the cavalry officers and soldiers of the brigade came, and the yamen caught quickly, and sealed the rice shops in the whole city, claiming that the officers and soldiers had bought all the grain sold by the rice shop. Then, a lot of officers and soldiers came, armed with swords, driving the wagon, and the cart pulled away all the grain! The shopkeeper of Mi Xing sat on the ground and cried, saying that he had lost a lot. ”

"Why did you lose a lot of money? Don't the officers and soldiers give money? ”

"I heard that it was given, and a bucket of rice was only given for two hundred wen!"

"Oh my God! Before the price increase, it was 360 wen a bucket of rice, and they only gave 200 wen, isn't this equivalent to grabbing? ”

"Isn't it, all the rice left in the city's rice shops was bought by the officers and soldiers, except for those who bought rice within an hour or two in the morning."

"How much rice and noodles do you estimate the officers and soldiers bought?"

"It's not exactly, but it's not much, and there isn't much rice in the first place. The most metered Qu shopkeeper's rice line, I heard that the warehouse is almost empty when it is opened. Not many meters. ”

"What about Washi? There are also rice sellers in Washi! ”

The middle-aged man choked up and said, "There is no one in Washi to sell rice at all!" Not only rice, but also pork, beef, and cabbage, everything that could be eaten was sold out. God, I haven't eaten, how can this family live......"

Zuo Shaoyang walked away gloomily, thinking that fortunately the officers and soldiers were relatively slow and delayed for a night, he accurately judged the current situation from the information provided by Miao Peilan and Xiao Yunfei, and made a wise choice to purchase food urgently, and Xiao Yunfei helped. Only then did they buy enough food. As the saying goes, "If you have food in your hands, you don't panic in your heart." "That's true, if it weren't for that, I'm afraid that I'm just like these people now, and I'm anxious.

Zuo Shaoyang held an umbrella and walked forward, all he saw along the way were panicked, running around carrying empty rice bags, some with umbrellas, and some walking in the sleet, as if they knew that they were moving forward, but there was still no hope.

After passing through the two rice shops, they were also hung up with "no rice" signs, and the doors were crowded with people waiting anxiously.

Zuo Shaoyang came to the yamen of the state capital, the yamen is a square, before entering the square, he was blocked by a soldier holding a spear and wearing armor, not allowed to enter, standing on tiptoe at a high place to see, the gate of the yamen of the state capital is closed, and a team of heavily armored soldiers around him are heavily armed, and the heavily armored iron horses are patrolling back and forth.

On the wall of the notice in Yamen Square, there is a sea fishing proclamation for the arrest of the Jiangyang thief "flying squirrel". Zuo Shaoyang took a closer look, and it was still the portrait of the bearded man he saw at the yamen last time, and he couldn't help but laugh.

Thinking about the situation he is facing now, Zuo Shaoyang can't laugh anymore.

When he came to Hengchang Pharmacy, it was very calm here, and the guys were busy with their own people, and when they saw him coming, they hurriedly took the red lacquered oil paper umbrella in their hands for him, beckoned him to sit in the living room, and served fragrant tea. At the same time, it was reported in. Soon, Zhu Yao's son, Zhu Treasurer, greeted him: "Xiao Langzhong is here?" ”

"Yes, what about Lord Lingzun? Did you go to a tea shop? ”

"Well, my father has to go to the tea shop every day."

"Along the way, I saw that the whole city was in chaos, and they were all rushing to buy food, so that the old man still had the heart to drink tea. It's really an idle cloud and wild crane, and it's very transcendent. Presumably there is plenty of food at home, right? ”

Zhu shopkeeper smiled a little reluctantly: "The food in our medicine store has always been reserved, but there are too many people in the medicine store, and I am afraid that it will not be enough ......to eat for a long time, alas! ”

"Well, let's start talking about concocting medicinal materials."

"Okay." I wish the medicine cabinet to lead Zuo Shaoyang to the concoction room. Let all the concoction masters and guys go out, close the door, Zuo Shaoyang began to teach him how to concoct these medicinal materials, first said it in general, mentioned the essentials, and then memorized them, and then let him concoct them himself, and guide him on the side.

Since the aconitum aconite, the attached piece and the Aracea have to be soaked for a long time before they can be fried, I learned the essentials of soaking, taught the following procedures, and when the soaking time is up, I will come to point out in person.

When I left Hengchang Pharmacy, the sleet was still sparsely falling, the ground was muddy, and the hurried pedestrians trampled on the white snow, and the rain turned into ugly cold mud.

Before Zuo Shaoyang came out, he carefully walked along the slightly dry place on the side of the street towards Washi.

When I came to Washi, there were obviously fewer people than usual, and many shops were closed. However, there are several more blacksmith shops that are open. Zuo Shaoyang went over and said that he wanted to customize the surgical instruments and sterilized pressure cooker, and found paper and pen to draw, these blacksmiths can do it, Zuo Shaoyang chose a blacksmith shop with a suitable price and good craftsmanship to order. I paid the price and asked them to send it to Guizhitang after they were ready.

Then, Zuo Shaoyang came to the satin shop, where there are all kinds of satin fabrics and leather goods. Zuo Shaoyang found several different thicknesses of fabrics with good breathable and water-absorbing surnames to make medical gauze. Several more deerskin seals were custom-made to match the size of the previously customized pressure cooker.

In addition to the fact that the food was very expensive, the rest of the things in the early Tang Dynasty were very cheap, and the two hundred yuan given by the Liang family were not all spent on these things.

After finishing his errands, Zuo Shaoyang walked to Guizhi Hall. On the streets, a group of soldiers had already begun to patrol, and after asking, they knew that part of the Tang army had already entered the city to participate in the defense. As a result, the people in the city are even more panicked.

Passing by the alley of the Qingxiang Tea Shop, Zuo Shaoyang stood and turned his head to look, he knew that they were sitting by the river in the backyard in the medicine cabinet, and the front hall of the tea shop was empty at the moment, and there was no tea customer, only Sang Mu was sitting there, looking at the street with blank eyes.

As soon as she saw Zuo Shaoyang, Sang Mu seemed to be a wicked man who saw the bun, and she stood up and greeted her: "Xiao Langzhong! You're here for tea, huh? ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled bitterly and shook his head: "What about the little sister?" ”

"My little sister and her father, her brother and sister-in-law all went out to buy rice, and when they heard that there was going to be a war, the whole city was robbed of rice. By the way, Xiaolangzhong, did you buy rice at home? ”

Zuo Shaoyang naturally wouldn't tell him the truth, and shook his head gently.

Sang Mu's old face showed a happy expression, and sighed: "Alas, if you really can't buy rice, how will you live in the future." ”

"The imperial court won't ignore it, and it should be delivered soon."

Sang Mu shook her head and lowered her voice and said: "Haven't you heard, the rebels have burned all the grain and grass of the officers and soldiers, and the roads on both sides of Shuanghuai County and Taihe County have been blocked, where can there be grain to transport in!" Alas, wait to starve to death! By the way, are the 70 taels of dowry ready? Hurry up and marry the little sister, in case there is really a war, the little sister has you to take care of, we can rest assured, we can't take care of so much! ”

(To be continued)