"Why am I stopping you from putting the seal? I am not a saint, and I never thought that no one would starve to death in this food shortage, let alone let everyone have food and clothing. Yang Chengzu put his hand into Ruxian's clothes to make a fool, and said: "The price of grain is also expected by me, but I didn't expect it to rise so fast, so evil, and I didn't expect that there would be a girl to sell so soon." If the price of grain does not rise, how can the grain from other provinces come in, and if they do not come in, how can I control it all in my hands? These grain merchants wanted to have a strange place to live, but they didn't think about it, and I didn't plan to reason with them at all! ”

Ruxian said: "I'm relieved when you say this, I'm just afraid that what you think is that no one will starve to death, or that you want to be a public servant in this world, and I won't be allowed to make money." ”

"Why shouldn't I make money? Such a good market, if Sister Xian can't make a payment, won't she follow me in vain? In the first place, I didn't aim for no one to starve. Forcibly demanding that one not die will only backfire in the end. What I am pursuing is to maintain the stability of the overall situation and prevent this man-made famine from turning into a large-scale civil uprising. Speaking of which, if it weren't for the fear that the civil changes would be too big to control, I would have hoped to make a fuss, and then there would be hundreds of heads mixed up with the future of military merit, and I would be promoted. ”

As soon as Red Peony heard this, her face turned white with fright, and she unconsciously made a movement. Yang Chengzu glanced at her and asked, "How many buckets of grain will you change for a girl?" The food in our Huaxian County has reached this point? ”

Seeing that she was mentioned, Hong Shao's eyes were slightly red, and she knelt down and replied: "That's not it, it's mainly because my family is poor, and although my father is a talent, he has no way to make money." My brother is still young, he still has to study, and he has to marry a daughter-in-law. Now that the family is broken, I have to find a way. I went to the eldest lady's teahouse to find work, but the eldest lady said that she was willing to buy me, six buckets of coarse grain and two buckets of fine grain are worth money, and also put one or two silver and one stone of coarse grain to the family money, with this money and food, how can the family survive this famine. ”

Ruxian said: "If you don't have my food, your father is afraid that he will starve to death." He can't make money himself, and he doesn't have any savings at home, and he doesn't even run to your house, do I save your family's life? ”

"The kindness of the eldest lady to me, Red Peony will never forget."

"Then shouldn't you repay the favor? But what else can you repay but this clean body? Tonight, you will serve the ancestor, let him take you into the room, and when you see the red, I will reward your family with another ten taels of silver. When I turn around and have a body, maybe I can lift you up as an aunt. ”

As soon as she heard her say this, Hong Shao's face turned red, and she lowered her head and said, "This ...... The red peony is still small...... The eldest lady said that she was buying me to be a maid......"

Ruxian sank his face, "When is it your turn to push back?" When you are a maid, don't you have to serve your master? If you don't want to serve, return my food and silver, and I'll let you go back. You know my rules, sit on the ground and calculate interest, nine out of thirteen, two dividends, and one return in five days. You can inquire about Huaxian County, and now release the account, my interest is the most conscientious. If you have no food or money, go out and wash it for me. Otherwise, I will send you to Xiangmanlou, and you will not be serving a man at that time. ”

As soon as Hong Shao heard that the interest was returned, and then when she heard the incense full of buildings, she was frightened like a sifting chaff, and her tears couldn't help falling, and she sobbed: "It's the slave who doesn't know how to lift, Miss, don't be angry, I'll serve the son tonight......"

"Excuse me, people haven't grown up yet, serve a ghost, get down, finally go home and see the crying and mourning, a little interest also makes you disturbed." Yang Chengzu scolded a few words, saw Hong Shao covering his face and crying and ran down, and pinched Ruxian's chest again

"Then a yellow-haired girl, do you tease me like this? With such a big beauty as you, who has the heart to eat that hairy girl. ”

"Your fairy sister is old, she is almost unworthy of you, you have been out for less than a month, and you have earned back thousands of taels of silver, what kind of hero is this. I'm in my twenties, and I'm already an old ugly, and I'm still from that background, and I can't hold my head up. In order not to let himself be kicked out, he had to pull a little girl to invite a pet. I didn't leave you an innocent body, so I'll find you an innocent girl, isn't it? She is the daughter of the Xiucai family, and she is just the right age, so you won't be tempted. ”

"I'm only tempted by my fairy sister, I'll stay with you tonight, don't say that you're inconvenient." He announced domineeringly, and kissed Ruxian on the face a few times, giggling at Ruxian teasingly, which made her heart extra sweet.

The whole person was soft in Yang Chengzu's arms and said: "You, you are also a strange person, everyone likes little girls and Qingqi people, you prefer old women, I am like this, and Miao is also like this." ”

In the aesthetics of this era, fourteen is indeed a good age, and the so-called cardamom years are so big. There are special scholars who like this woman of unscrupulous age, and also think that it is elegant.

As for the twenty-two or three-year-old such as Ruxian, they have to be regarded as old concubines, who are already going downhill, and most of them are gradually falling out of favor at home and being snubbed by their husbands. Yang Chengzu was so infatuated with her, which made her feel comfortable from her heart.

The two of them were hugging and talking in the courtyard like this, and just when Yang Chengzu was about to take something further, he heard a knock on the door. Red Peony came to be a maid in the end, although she was scolded by the master, she still guarded her duty and went to answer the door. 、

I saw that it was an old woman who lived nearby, first politely exchanged words with Yang Chengzu, and then pulled Ruxian and said: "Ruxian girl, the old body was also embarrassed to trouble you, but the family really can't open the pot, I heard that it is cheaper for you to put the seal here than elsewhere, please look at it for the sake of the neighborhood......"

"Mother Wang, what you said is boring, we have so many neighborhoods, if I take care of them all, I should ask for food. However, who made my godmother a kind person, I also have to be kind to you, others are nine out of thirteen, our neighborhood loans, that is, out of ten out of twelve, the interest is calculated at one and a half cents, but you know this matter yourself, forget it, don't publicize it, otherwise I can't do this business. How much do you plan to borrow, and what collateral do you want to use? ”

Ruxian was very familiar with the matter of money lending, so he told the matter in a few words, let the red peony grind, wrote the IOU paperwork, borrowed three taels of silver from the old woman, and agreed to let her family come here to get half a stone of coarse grain. After waiting for people to leave, such as the fairy road:

"Now there are three major money lenders in the city, one is Chengfu Temple, one is the ninth master, and the other is me. How is it, is your fairy sister awesome? Let me tell you, it's this money-lending business that makes more money than the teahouse. The people of the Cao Gang outside are the helpers of our family's debts, and Sango'er, with her stick, no one dares not to pay back. ”

Yang Chengzu saw that on her IOU, the agreement was settled according to grain, and he knew that she was worried about the price of grain and would suffer a loss by settling with silver. smiled and pulled her back into her arms, "My fairy sister is capable, but now it can be calculated according to the grain, and after a while, it will have to be exchanged back for silver, otherwise, you will suffer." ”

"You're saying that after a while the price of food will come down?" How shrewd Ruxian is, you will know what he means when you hear him say this.

"Yes, I went to Kaifeng this time, and that's what I actually did. Sister Xian, you haven't hoarded too much food, if you hoard too much, you may have to lose. ”

"Compensation? Joke, if I want to lose money in business, I won't have the face to see you. The merchants you arrested last time came from Huguang to sell rice, and I bought their rice to save it, and then used the grain to lend money. Now I have these rice in my hands, which are thousands of stones, and if they work well, I want to use them to double them, how can I lose them. ”