Liu Xiu returned to Buyun, which startled Zhang Fei and the others, and when they heard Liu Xiu say that the officials had not paid for half a year, they all felt incredible, if it wasn't for Liu Xiu's unhappy face, they probably thought that Liu Xiu was telling a joke. Although he felt that it was a pity that Liu Xiu threw a hard-earned tiger Benlang like this, but things were already like this, and they couldn't help it, Zhang Fei was the first to break the silence: "What should I do next?" ”

"The biggest problem right now is the problem of eating." Liu Xiu scratched his head a little, Luoyang's consumption level was too high, and although Mao Yan left a lot of money, it was not a problem to sit and eat. Besides, a manly man, who does not lack hands or feet, how can he eat for nothing and not dry. He thought about it and said to Zhang Fei: "Let's sell calligraphy and paintings." ”

Zhang Fei rolled his eyes and ignored him. Although he has entered a good state of painting beauties, and his calligraphy has made great progress, he has never thought of exchanging this for money, this is art, and how vulgar it is to raise money. But then he thought of a solution: "It's better to do your old job and open a wine shop." ”

Liu Xiu's eyes lit up, Zhang Fei's family opened a wine shop, he was no stranger to this business, but after thinking about it again, he shook his head and vetoed it. The capital required to open a wine shop is not small, and he is not familiar with the place in Luoyang, what if he encounters Yuan Shu, the second ancestor to smash the field, although he is not afraid of fighting, with his and Zhang Fei's fists and feet, probably Luoyang can not find a few people who can win them alone, the problem is that if a wine shop fights every day, it is not a wine shop but a martial arts hall.

The Zhang family in the backyard soon got the news, and hurriedly asked Lu Shen to come out and ask what was going on, Liu Xiu didn't want her to worry, and said lightly that Hu Benlang didn't pay money, it was a money-losing job, so he stopped doing it. Zhang didn't say anything, but was a little dissatisfied with Liu Xiu's hot temper in private, but now she needs Liu Xiu to support the door, if Liu Xiu can't earn money, but loses money to go in, it is really not a good thing for her.

In the next few days, Liu Xiu went out early in the morning and came back in the evening, wandering around the south of the city, looking for ways to make money. There is Taixue in the south of the city, there are Lingtai, Shunyong, and Yue Riding Camp, all of them are very lively within a radius of ten miles, the population density is not a city, speaking of Luoyang is the capital division, but in fact, aside from the political factors, Luoyang City is not as lively as outside the city - in addition to the palace city, the city is either the official office, or the residence of the dignitaries, the rich are rich, the expensive are expensive, and the anger is not as lively as the city gate. Moreover, the culture of various places brought by a large number of immigrants is enough to make people dizzy.

Liu Xiu thinks that it should be no problem to open a noodle shop and sell snacks such as noodles. There are a lot of foreign populations here, and many people have no place to eat, especially those single students and soldiers from the Yue Cavalry Battalion, who don't know how to do it themselves, and it is inevitable that they will get tired of eating the collective canteen every day, and it must be good to change the taste. Liu Xiu carefully studied the diet of this era and found that he still had loopholes to exploit, and the most convenient and quick points were noodles and stir-fried vegetables.

In the Han Dynasty, there were already noodles, called soup cakes, but the technology was not enough, the noodles made were very short, very thick, more like gnocchi, convenient and convenient, but the taste was very ordinary, compared with the noodles that Liu Xiu had renovated in his previous life, it was simply too primitive. The other is stir-frying, the cooking of dishes in the Han Dynasty is mainly based on frying, boiling, frying or eating raw, and the cooking methods of later generations are basically completed, but there is no stir-frying. Because the pot used in the Han Dynasty - at this time it was also called a kettle - was relatively deep, only suitable for cooking, but not suitable for stir-frying, Liu Xiu also wanted to eat stir-fried vegetables and thought about it for a long time, and only noticed this problem after complaining to the chefs in the kitchen.

Liu Xiu felt that this thing could be done, the cost was not large, the things were novel, there was such a large potential market in front of him, it was definitely not a problem to earn some living expenses, maybe he could open a few chain stores if he did it well. When he thought of the incense-sprayed topping, he drooled first. I went back with great interest and talked to Liu Bei about them, but they were not interested, and they thought that Luoyang would come to be an official, who would be happy to open a small shop and be a man. Liu Xiu had no choice but to experiment at home first, he went to customize a wok, and then started to make ramen again, in order to fool Zhang Fei and them to ramen, he said that this is a good way to train explosiveness.

Zhang Fei and Liu Bei didn't take it seriously, they were idle anyway, and it was quite interesting to make ramen and eat it by themselves, watching a large ball of noodles finally turn into long and round noodles, they had a great sense of accomplishment, one by one self-righteous, Liu Xiu laughed when he saw it, and said in his heart that you are this is a primary technique, barely pulled into strips, I want you to know that the noodles pulled out by the ramen master can be as thin as a hair, and I guarantee that you are all stupid.

Zhang didn't come out in the backyard, he didn't know what Liu Xiu was busy with, and when he ate the new style and delicious topping noodles, he knew that Liu Xiu actually wanted to open a store to do business. She immediately became anxious, looked for Liu Xiu, and said to him as politely as possible, you can't do this, business is a cheap business, your husband is Lujiang Taishou, your senior brother is Shanggu Taishou, they are both officials of 2,000 stones, how can you go into business? Although Hu Benlang didn't do it for long, you can't give up on yourself, find a way to find a way, or become an official. In the end, she asked Liu Xiu, why don't you go and bow to Yuan Shu and apologize? Your husband is a student of Ma Rong, and Ma Rong's daughter is Yuan Shu's uncle, maybe you can not care about you for the sake of your husband's face.

Liu Xiu almost didn't laugh out loud, he fought with Yuan Shu, but it wasn't just because he was in a hurry, he just didn't want to have a relationship with the Yuan family. Don't look at the Yuan family now, it seems to be very majestic, but Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are not good birds, the Yuan family is now cooking oil on fire, and it won't take many years to blow the wind and rain. This is not because he has a prophet, after all, the ending of this kind of wealthy family is very similar, if the giant company of Dahan does not close its door, it will definitely not tolerate the Yuan family, if the Dahan company still closes its door according to the trend of historical development, the Yuan family will also be unlucky, take 10,000 steps back, even if the Yuan family has the opportunity to change the dynasty, Yuan Shu is not Yuan Shao's opponent.

Liu Xiu didn't say much to the Zhang family, she was just an ordinary housewife, and her family was not a nobleman, and her knowledge was limited. He just comforted the Zhang family and said, "Master, don't worry, I won't run it myself, and it won't have any impact on the reputation of my husband and brother." I want the landlord and his wife to do it, I just want to collect some dividends and subsidize the family, and a family like the Yuan family does the same, not ashamed. As long as the husband comes back, with the gentleman's money, I don't have to worry about this little money.

When Zhang heard this, he didn't want to say anything, so he had to let him toss. An Quan and his wife listened but were very interested, they did not want to be officials, of course it was a good thing to make money, so An Quan went to find a storefront, and Luo began to learn from Liu Xiu the new style of noodles and stir-fried vegetables. These were originally women's jobs, and it didn't take much time for Luo to learn them, and the fried dishes could make Liu Xiu, the founder, embarrassed.

Just when the noodle shop was about to open, the good news also came, first there was news from the palace, asking Liu Xiu to go to the palace on an errand, this time he was promoted, and he was promoted by one level: Tiger Ben Shilang, more than four hundred stones. When Liu Bei and the others heard this, they immediately smiled and squeezed each other's eyes, the meaning was very clear, Liu Xiu was blessed and beat Shangguan, not only did he not punish him, but he was promoted to increase his ranks.

Liu Xiu was not so excited, he asked the Yongle Palace official who came to announce the edict, did he send the edict on time?

The Yongle Palace was very unhappy, he came here to announce the Empress Dowager's edict, knowing that this was the Empress Dowager's favorite fellow, and he didn't dare to reach out to ask for money, so that's it, Liu Xiu also looked like he was ignoring, and asked Yu Lu as soon as he opened his mouth. He said angrily: "I'll send it when I have money." ”

Liu Xiu understood, this means not to send it. He shook his head, thanked him, and didn't go. The salary scale has risen, but the salary is still not paid, so I will drink the northwest wind? Besides, I didn't want to be an official in the first place, whether it was 300 stone or 400 stone, if I didn't pay a fortune, it would be the same for me.

The confessor was dumbfounded, thinking of Huo Yu's instructions before he came out, he had no choice but to put down the shelf and persuade him with good words. He said to Liu Xiu, this is the grace of the Queen Mother, don't be ignorant.

Liu Xiu was puzzled, and asked in detail, only then did he know the reason. It turned out that when he was fighting outside the palace, the Queen Mother knew from Huo Yu that he was a quasi-fellow, and she was moved by her nostalgia for a while, so she asked him to talk and wanted to listen to the folk music. When I asked, I found out that he had resigned, and the Queen Mother was very strange, so she called Jia Xu and asked what was going on, why he resigned on the first day of duty.

If you want to say that a smart person is a smart person, the Queen Mother was originally bored, and she asked casually, and she didn't take Liu Xiu too seriously, but Jia Xu's words hooked the Queen Mother's interest. Jia Xu said that it was the tiger servant who shot Bao Hong to find trouble with Liu Xiu, and then said, Queen Mother, don't worry, Liu Xiu is a warrior who has been in battle and killed the enemy, and he killed Dou Gui, the most outstanding son of the young generation of the Dou family, in the Ningcheng array, and he couldn't hurt Liu Xiu with Bao Hong's two blows.

Everyone in the palace knows that the queen mother hates the Dou family the most, as soon as she heard that Liu Xiu killed the people of the Dou family, her interest increased greatly, and she had to meet Liu Xiu, not only called Bao Hong to scold him fiercely, but also asked the Son of Heaven to issue an edict to Liu Xiu to promote him, so that he could immediately return to the palace on an errand.

Liu Xiu laughed secretly, and said in his heart that the two bowls of ginger soup given to Jia Xu Zhang Luo were not in vain, and they played a role so quickly. If you change to someone else, even if you have this heart, you may not be able to think so far and say it so cleverly.

However, I still can't go, and I'm still short of money if I don't pay money. In order to appease the confessor, Liu Xiu wrote a sincere Shangshu, and then handed it to the confessor and said, I can't go to the palace on an errand for the time being, the reason has already been said in Shangshu, please forward it to the Queen Mother, she will definitely understand. Saying that, he took out 500 coins and stuffed them into the hands of the confessor, and said very embarrassedly, I am really short of money now, so I can only talk about the heart, and when I get rich in the future, I will thank you again, go to the palace to meet the queen mother and her old man, thank you in person for a good piece of kindness, and make cattle and horses for her old man.

Although the confessor was puzzled, he was not easy to force, so he had to take it and leave.

As soon as the confessor went out, Mao Zong was anxious first, and said to Liu Xiu, why don't you know what to do, last time you lost a tiger benlang of more than 300 stones, and this time you rejected a tiger benlang of more than 400 stones, how big of an official do you want to be?

Liu Xiu had an idea in his heart, but he didn't want to explain to Mao Zong before the matter was finalized, he just said, Yulu is rising, but it won't be sent, so what's the difference, I went to the palace on an errand, and you came to earn money to support the family? One sentence blocked them all. Then he said, I know you want to enter the office, don't worry, I said to the Queen Mother in Shangshu, I hope she will be gracious, and you will be this tiger benlang, as for whether she is allowed or not, then I don't know.

As soon as he heard this, Mao Zong was moved, stopped nagging, and looked forward to another person in the palace every day.

The Queen Mother received a report that Liu Xiu did not listen to the edict and was very angry, but after seeing the reason explained by Liu Xiu, she was distressed, and felt that Liu Xiu, a young man, was really good, and she couldn't take care of her future for the sake of her mother's worry-free life. Looking at the back again, Liu Xiu said, thanks to the queen mother's favor, the minister was grateful, and he couldn't serve the queen mother in person, but he didn't dare not be moved by the queen mother's nostalgia.

He immediately recommended Zhang Chao, a native of Hejian, after this person is famous, both civil and military, in Luoyang for many years, has not been able to get the opportunity to be promoted, and is the queen mother's real township party, if the queen mother can promote him, he will be grateful inexplicably, loyal to His Majesty and the queen mother.

Then Liu Xiu recommended his younger brother Lu Shen, although Lu Shen was young, but he was diligent in his studies, loyal and filial, and served his mother in Luoyang at the age of thirteen, getting up early and going to bed late, and never complained.

Then there are Mao Zong, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, he said, these three are not adults, but follow me away from my parents, far away from home, although I can barely ensure that they eat, but can not give them better care, I heard that the Queen Mother is the mother of the world, benevolence to the world, if they can let them wait by the Queen Mother's side, they will be able to feel the mother's love, and they can also bring some almost family warmth to the Queen Mother.

If these words are said by other people, this is undoubtedly a big rebellion, can the Queen Mother be a nanny for you? But Liu Xiu figured out the queen mother's thoughts, a forty-year-old woman, widowed for more than ten years, although she became the queen mother, but now that she has entered the palace, the Son of Heaven has become an adult, and the state affairs are heavy, although she goes to ask for peace every day, after all, it is impossible to always accompany her. The people around her are either eunuchs or palace maids, but they have no children, Liu Xiu's proposal seems reckless, but it just hits her need for nostalgia and family affection. In addition, Liu Xiu gave up his future in order to serve his wife, and he had already left a filial impression on the Queen Mother, saying that these are also logical, and they come naturally, and they can't be more natural.

What's more, the Queen Mother herself is still grateful to him.

Liu Xiu's letter is written very straightforwardly, and he doesn't use any four or six couples or the like, and he can't write them well, and it is estimated that the Queen Mother may not be able to understand it. He just used the most simple words to express the most sincere feelings, not to treat the Queen Mother as an unattainable noblewoman, but to treat her as a maternal relative, the words were euphemistic and moving, and finally copied two sentences of Zhuge Kongming's teacher table "I don't know what to say, I paused, and I was guilty of capital crimes", and successfully deceived the Queen Mother into tears.

"This kid ...... What a good boy, loyal to the country, filial to his elders, righteous to his friends, and caring for his brothers. The Queen Mother wiped her rippling tears and said to the Son of Heaven, "You don't need such talents, what kind of people can you use?" If you want to, recruit all the people he recommended into the palace. ”

The Son of Heaven was dumbfounded, holding the book wet with the tears of the Queen Mother, looking at the smudged handwriting on it, angry and funny, and at the same time a little emotional, the queen mother was really lonely. Forget it, there are tens of thousands of people in the palace, and there are not many of these officials, anyway, they don't pay money, so they should find a few people to talk to their mother.

This Liu Xiu really has a set, no wonder he can do so many things in Ningcheng and scare the Wuhuan people.

The Son of Heaven immediately issued an edict to worship Zhang Chao, Lu Shen and other five people, and rewarded Liu Xiu with 20 gold, thinking that Lu Shen and others were in charge. The Queen Mother issued an edict, and Liu Xiu entered the palace to see Lu Zhi's wife, Zhang, and she wanted to see Liu Xiu in person.

Buyunli suddenly boiled. Lu Shen, Mao Zong and others were of course overjoyed and excited, and even the Zhang family, who was originally a little dissatisfied with Liu Xiu, was happy to smile and enter the palace to see the Queen Mother? This is a qualification that only a noble lady has, I never thought that she would meet it now.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Chao hurried to Buyunli, he was ten years older than Zhang He, and had been working hard in Luoyang for seven or eight years, but he had not waited for the opportunity to become a scholar, and was now working as a scholar in Situ Mansion. The current Situ is Yuan Kui of the Yuan family, and the protégés of the Yuan family are all over the world, and there are countless subordinate officials like him, and I don't know when it will be his turn to make up for it. Zhang He asked Liu Xiu to bring him a letter, in which he said about Liu Xiu, hoping that he could have more contact with Liu Xiu, he didn't take it seriously, compared to the Yuan family, what is Liu Xiu? If the Yuan family is a towering tree, Liu Xiu is not even a grass.

But he never thought that the big tree of the Yuan family had not given him a drop of rain and dew for so many years, but Liu Xiu's grass brought him the opportunity to enter the office he dreamed of.

Zhang Chao is very grateful.

Liu Xiu pulled him and said a lot of affectionate things, and finally said that Lu Shen and they were all children, and entering the palace was just to accompany the Queen Mother to talk, which did not play a big role. You are different, you have knowledge and experience in doing things, and you should be able to get the reuse of the Son of Heaven soon after entering the palace, how to grasp it depends on yourself. Eunuch, you disdain to be attached, the family has already been attached, and the result is very clear, from now on, you don't want to be attached to anyone, you are attached to the Son of Heaven.

Zhang Chao comprehended and said with admiration: "Deran is young and promising, has seen people, how to be a leader, and will definitely be able to be the same as this place name. ”

Liu Xiu laughed, both shots were successful, and he was more confident in himself. He patted Zhang Chao on the shoulder and said familiarly: "Brother Zi, there will be a chance." However, I still have to work for Daoliang now, and when this matter is resolved, I will work with you to serve the country. If the Son of Heaven asks, please also ask Brother Zi and Brother to explain a few words for me. ”

Zhang Chao nodded again and again. The two talked for a long time, Zhang Chao left twenty gold, and made an appointment to enter the palace together to see the driver, and then he left satisfied.

Early the next morning, a group of people got up to prepare, Zhang was a little nervous, even talking was a little trembling, how to paint makeup felt bad, and finally Liu Xiu and Luo helped her clean up. Liu Xiu took care of her while serving, she said, the Queen Mother is also a human being, and she is also an ordinary woman, she used to be poor when she was the wife of the Lady of the Pavilion in the river, and now she still likes to count money, so you don't think she is a fairy, you treat her as a woman in Zhuo County, just like you, because her son became an official, so she came all the way to Luoyang, where she was unfamiliar with life. You can accompany her to talk about her hometown and the customs of her hometown, which is better than anything else. There is only one point, don't mention the government, these things are complicated, you can't understand it, if you can't make a mistake, then it's troublesome.

Zhang wrote them down one by one, and several people went out together, and rushed to wait outside the Kowloon Gate in the morning, and the Queen Mother also waited, so she asked them to take them in, and looked at Liu Xiu and the others in turn. Zhang Chao is mature and steady, all-round in civil and military affairs, needless to say. Although Lu Shen and others are young, they are not bad, and the youth that cannot be concealed makes the Queen Mother suddenly think of the Son of Heaven back then, the time when she and the Son of Heaven depended on each other in the river, and remembered that the Son of Heaven entered Beijing and ascended the throne as the emperor, but she wanted to serve the Empress Dowager Dou as her mother, and she could only call the nobles to stay in the river, and the mother and son were separated by thousands of miles.

The Queen Mother is most satisfied with Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu is also young, but he has a maturity and stability that does not match his age, vaguely similar to the son of the emperor who is just twenty-one years old but has been the emperor for nine years, but the Son of Heaven is worried because of the busy state affairs, and he is also a little weak, but Liu Xiu is strong and masculine, and the look between his eyebrows and eyes is also a little more confident and calm, and he has a strength that is not afraid of heaven and earth.

This momentum reminded the Queen Mother of his heroic deeds of defeating Yuan Shu and Bao Hong alone, these days, this matter has been spread in the palace, and the tiger servant shot Bao Hong was so shameless that he entered the palace, and directly hung the seal ribbon and said goodbye.

"It's a pity that the Son of Heaven is fasting in Beigong for the sake of the big pheasant, otherwise he will definitely like it when he sees you." The Queen Mother said.

Liu Xiu respectfully saluted and said: "Your Majesty has worked hard for the country, and the ministers are ashamed to share their worries for Your Majesty." Fortunately, Zhang Chao and Jia Xu are both people with both ability and political integrity, and with them by His Majesty's side, they are much more useful than ministers. ”

The Queen Mother laughed, she was very satisfied with Zhang Chao and Jia Xu recommended by Liu Xiu, but from the looks of it, she was still the most satisfied with Liu Xiu, but unfortunately he still had to serve his wife Zhang, and he couldn't enter the palace for the time being. She said to the Zhang family enviously, you are so blessed, you married a good husband, gave birth to two good sons, and her husband also accepted such a good disciple.

Zhang's modest again and again, according to Liu Xiu's care, accompanied the Queen Mother to say some local dialects, and was careful and affectionate, which made the Queen Mother very happy. The Queen Mother was not originally from a big family, but now she is the Queen Mother, high up, and has to hold a shelf, in fact, in her heart is the same as Zhang's, she is still the eyes of a small family, and she listens to Zhang's parents very well, and for a while she has returned to the river, and a group of familiar women gossip to pass the time, refreshed and energetic.

Liu Xiu accompanied him for a while, and asked the Queen Mother to go out to chat with Jia Xu. The Queen Mother readily responded and asked Huo Yu to take him. Walking between the high palace walls, Huo Yu glanced at Liu Xiu, who was a little restrained, and laughed: "Jia Xu said a word for you, and you were killed Chengxiang, and you in turn recommended him, he is now Bao Hong's tiger servant, and the Queen Mother also issued a special edict to reissue him for half a year." The two of you are really fated, but after living together for a night, you have such a friendship. ”

Liu Xiu felt that there was ambiguity in this sentence, and he laughed awkwardly: "In fact, the most grateful thing is the adult, if it weren't for the adult, we wouldn't have such a favor." ”

Huo Yu stopped, turned around, and looked at him with a smile. "Heh, aren't you called the eldest sister now?"

(To be continued)