How can a mess on the canal make trouble in Beijing, Xue Chongxun can probably guess it, and he doesn't bother to inquire about the specific situation, just do his own thing. According to the current speed of news transmission, when the news of the eastern capital reaches Beijing, it is estimated that the matter of reforming Caoyun will also be on track. Thinking of the embarrassment on the faces of those "people with lofty ideals" when they got the news, Xue Chongxun was very happy in his heart.

After staying in Xingyuan for half a month, Xue Chongxun had already arranged for Liu An and other officials to be responsible for preparing for the construction of warehouses, recruiting soldiers, and serving in specific matters. All he had to do was to make decrees and appoint temporary officials and generals, which needed to be done personally, because those officials who were personally promoted by himself would later have the imprint of factions, which would be very helpful in expanding his power and influence.

He carried a brush, wrote and revised at the same time, and very carefully formulated the Caoyun decree word by word. I've been doing this all day.

When it was about to be evening, Liu An came again, chatted for a while and then left. Xue Chongxun sent Liu An back to the study, and saw that the slave who was waiting for the pen and ink was pouring water into the inkstone to re-polish the ink, so he shouted: "No need to prepare ink anymore, just come here today, clean up and rest in the study." ”

The little girl bowed her head in response, and took the inkstone to clean it first. Xue Chongxun walked to the table, sorted the papers on it, and when the girl came in, he said, "These papers are useless, they should be burned." ”

"Yes, Lang Jun, I'll burn these papers first, and then clean up the table later." The slave said.

Xue Chongxun sat on the chair and stretched out to breathe a sigh of relief, feeling quite tired, but he felt a sense of fulfillment because he had done a lot of business. He was in a relaxed mood, and only then did he pay attention to the little girl who had been listening to him all day, more than ten years old, about the same age as Pei Niang...... She really reminded Xue Chongxun of Pei Niang, who was thin and weak, and looked very docile.

"What's your name?" Xue Chongxun asked casually.

She was originally burning paper, but when she heard Xue Chongxun's question, she stood up and bowed solemnly: "If you return to Langjun, the slave's surname is Jiang, and her name is Cainiang." ”

"Heh, it's quite festive, not bad." Xue Chongxun said with a smile. Seeing that she was still standing there with her hands down, he said again, "Just answer while doing things, there are no outsiders here, just feel free." ”

At this time, Cai Niang said something that Xue Chongxun was a little unexpected: "Lang Jun can speak at will, but I can't talk at will." ”

Xue Chongxun was immediately attracted by this sentence, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at her again, pondered for a moment, and said thoughtfully: "This sentence is interesting...... But when I think about it this way, I can't be casual even with you, I have to pay attention to my identity, use the tone I should have, and say what I should say, so that I can be decent, right? ”

Cai Niang said with a smile: "Usually Ah Lang speaks to his subordinates, but they won't say it like Lang Jun now." ”

Xue Chongxun laughed and nodded in recognition: "When you say this, I find that I may be a person of temperament?" He groaned, thinking that he was talking to bureaucrats like Liu An, of course, he had to use his brain; Even if it's for someone as close to Yuwen Ji as you are, your own woman, can you just say it? You can't say something that others don't like to hear.

Maybe Cai Niang is young, even if she is waiting in Xingyuan for someone with status, and she has more knowledge than ordinary young girls, but she still can't understand what is going on with the temperament in Xue Chongxun's mouth, and she doesn't know how to answer, so she has to be silent. It's better not to say anything when you don't know how to say it, and it's much more embarrassing to say the wrong thing than to be cold.

Xue Chongxun was used to this kind of situation, and sometimes he would say some inexplicable things to the slaves around him, just because they didn't understand it...... Naturally, they don't know how to answer.

He sighed and said, "I'll tell you a story." ”

As a big official, telling stories to people of her status, Cai Niang felt special face, and said very happily: "I'll listen." ”

Xue Chongxun said with a little loneliness on his face: "Once upon a time, there was a person who especially wanted to tell the truth, but he couldn't say it, what do you think he would do?" ”

Cai Niang shook her head innocently, not understanding the meaning of Xue Chongxun's story at all.

Xue Chongxun didn't care about her, and said: "He will find a tree hole, and then put the words into the tree hole, and then block the tree hole, so that his secret will not be known." ”

Cai Niang said very seriously: "Then why doesn't he find someone he can trust?" ”

Xue Chongxun didn't say anything, glanced at the burned paper, picked up the draft on the table and walked out of the study. At that moment, it suddenly began to rain in the sky, and he walked out along the eaves.

After a while, I saw Sanniang coming over, holding two umbrellas in her hands, and said, "I saw that it was raining, so I asked someone to bring an umbrella over." Xue Chongxun nodded, and handed the paper in his hand to Sanniang: "Help me put it away, I'll use it tomorrow." ”

Back in the inner house, Xue Chongxun had dinner, the rain had not stopped, he suddenly wanted to walk in the rain, and it happened that there was no visitor who had a reservation at night, so he took an umbrella and went out with a few guards.

Luoyang's prosperity is comparable to that of Chang'an, densely populated, prosperous commerce, is one of the most important material distribution points for East-West trade, and one of the best metropolises in Datang.

Xue Chongxun walked around casually for a while, and suddenly saw a stall selling art on the street, many people were watching there with umbrellas, and a strong man was there dancing a big knife vigorously, which was very exciting. Xue Chongxun himself also practiced martial arts, so he was more interested in this kind of play, but he didn't pay attention to those who teased cats and monkeys next to him.

"Look at it." He said a few words and walked over to watch.

The strong man had a broad face, round arms and a thick waist, wore a sleeveless gown, deliberately exposed the dark muscles on his shoulders, danced for a while, and then hugged his fists and said: "Fathers and fellow villagers, it's ugly." People are in distress, my daughter-in-law needs money to see a doctor, so I have to ask you for a few rewards, and we husband and wife are here to thank you for your kindness. ”

Xue Chongxun heard him say this, and then he noticed that a woman wearing a hat was holding a hat in both hands, asking for money on the side of the crowd, and her appearance was white, but there was a big ugly birthmark on her face, and her fingers were very strangely curled together, and she couldn't hold the hat, so she was holding it with her arms. The strong man just now said that his daughter-in-law was sick, could it be that her fingers were paralyzed?

She begged next to each other, and when she walked in front of Xue Chongxun, Xue Chongxun saw that there were only some copper coins in it, so he reached out and touched his belt, and just touched a small piece of silver, he suddenly remembered something, so he grabbed a gold ingot and took it out. When the woman saw Xue Chongxun holding a large piece of gold in her hand, she was stunned.

Everyone usually calls for money, usually copper money, rarely see gold and silver, gold and silver are almost used as savings, but seeing Xue Chongxun holding that thing in his hand, the people around him are also very surprised. Which family is this, is this how the money is spent?

Xue Chongxun smiled: "Call your beloved over, I want to have a few words with him." ”

The woman didn't speak, so she walked over and whispered a few words to the strong man, the strong man turned his head and glanced at Xue Chongxun, he should have also seen the gold in his hand, but the strong man's eyes didn't look at Xue Chongxun's hand at all.

The strong man walked over, clenched his fists and said, "What do you have to ask?" ”

Xue Chongxun looked left and right and said, "Take a step to speak." ”

The piece of thing in Xue Chongxun's hand, I'm afraid that a strong man can't get enough money to sell his whole life of acrobatics, but the strong man is not particularly enthusiastic, even if there are mountains of gold and silver, who is so stupid to take the gold and throw it away? There must be something strange. The strong man then asked his daughter-in-law to look at the stall, and called Xue Chongxun to the mouth of an alley next to him, there were few people in the alley, and the strong man said, "What's the matter?" ”

"I watched your style just now, and I spent time in the army?"

The strong man suddenly glanced at the ornament on Xue Chongxun's waist vigilantly, and said, "I have been a big one, and I have been a big head...... If the land is gone, you have to go up, you can't get by, and now there are more escapes, how can there be a problem? ”

Xue Chongxun smiled: "Don't be nervous, even if I am an official, I can't run to the street in person to compare with you, right?" He said as he looked at the sky, "It's getting dark, and your husband and wife can earn so much money in a whole day, it's not easy." ”

When the strong man heard him say this, he relaxed a little and said, "Since you don't have anything to do with me, and we don't know each other, let's talk about it bluntly, what do you want me to do?" What price is given? ”

Xue Chongxun picked up the gold in his hand: "This is the settling-in allowance I paid for you out of my own pocket, and the government will pay the military salary in the future, are you willing to do it?" ”

Military recruitment is not as good as military service, the government will issue horses, armaments, food and grass, and there may also be benefits such as military salaries, in short, it is not a matter of free military service, and it is generally possible to support a family. Like the people in Luoyang City, Chang'an, if they want to get such an errand, they have to have a relationship. Obviously, it was a good thing that Xue Chongxun was looking for him.

The strong man couldn't help but be overjoyed, and looked at Xue Chongxun, "What you said can be counted?" ”

When Xue Chongxun heard this, his heart was not as smooth as that of people in the officialdom. He didn't care, he only said: "It can be counted, I can say a word, but you play those tricks that are good-looking and useless, but I don't know if you have the ability to take this money." ”

The strong man immediately patted his chest and said, "I can use it for what I see!" The layman looks at the excitement, the insider looks at the doorway, since he is an expert, I will now give you a few tricks to have a doorway. ”

Xue Chongxun said: "I'll play with you, if you can win my gold, you can take it, and if you are willing to be a military recruiter, you will follow you." ”

"Really?" The strong man was stunned and said, "Let's meet in Pingshui, can there be such an easy thing......"

"Words count." Xue Chongxun pulled him to the art stall, handed the gold in his hand to the woman with the birthmark on her face, and said loudly: "Fathers and fellow villagers testify, I will compare with this good man, bet on this piece of gold, if he wins, the gold will belong to him." ”

There was a sudden commotion around it, and people were happy to see it. At this time, the woman suddenly whispered, "What if he loses?" ”

"What can I do?" Xue Chongxun said with a smile, "Haha, sister-in-law is not as familiar as your husband, Jun Jianghu, he didn't ask, didn't you remind me that I was asking for a loss?" ”

Sanniang reminded: "Until the point is reached, use a wooden stick." ”

Xue Chongxun smiled: "Okay, listen to her, you don't have to play with your life, let's stop at the point." ”

The strong man took two arm-long wooden sticks, and then moved his muscles and bones there, his thick limbs were strong, his muscles were one by one, and he was half a head taller than Xue Chongxun. Seeing this, the onlookers were very optimistic about the strong man and applauded loudly.