The group traveled from Guangyang to the southwest for eight days before crossing the boundary of Yanzhou and Xingzhou and arriving at the bank of the Yellow River. On the other side of the Yellow River is the ground of Gyeongju, which is subordinate to Kannai-do.

If you want to save effort, you only need to board the boat on the bank of Xingzhou on the Yellow River, go down the river, you can bypass Gyeongju, land at Linzhou, and go west through Tongguan to reach Luoyang, the capital division. In this way, the bend is straightened, and it can be less than 200 miles. However, in recent years, the imperial court has neglected to control the Yellow River, and every summer flood or mid-flood season, the Yellow River is densely covered with whirlpool undercurrents, and even the most experienced boatmen dare not sail at this time.

Qiu Yizhi and others were in a hurry, unable to wait for the end of the flood season for the sake of saving effort, and spent a month or two in vain on the edge of the Yellow River, so they crossed the river at the Xingzhou ferry and entered the territory of Gyeongju, Kannai Province.

As soon as he crossed the Yellow River, Qiu Yizhi saw that there was a small town on the side of the Yellow River, so he said to He Jiugong beside him: "This pass is really at the foot of the Son of Heaven, very prosperous, you see that there is a rather large town near the Yellow River." He doesn't ride a horse these days, but always sits side by side with He Jiugong in the carriage, listening to him talk about the customs and customs of various places, and also to relieve some boredom and loneliness on the journey.

He Jiugong replied: "This town is called 'Anhe Town'. It turned out to be a small village with only forty or fifty households. Since the Bohai people exchanged markets with the Han Dynasty, there were more merchants who traveled back and forth between Guannai and Youyan. My owner saw that this Anhe town was on the road from Xingzhou to Gyeongju, and it was a treasure land of feng shui, so he connected several big businessmen in series, built a restaurant and horse shop here, received passing merchants, and the surrounding merchants and people also gathered to do some small business, and the town slowly prospered. ”

Qiu Yizhi originally thought that Zhou Cijing was just a mercenary peddler, but what he saw and heard along the way made him admire this "uncle" more and more, so he praised: "Uncle is really a good eye, no wonder the rich businessmen and giants in Guangyang City all look to their uncle as the leader!" ”

This He Jiugong shared weal and woe with the Zhou family, and when he heard the dignified Youyan Wang Yizi praise the owner, he praised him himself, and said with a smile: "That's not it." Childe, please look ahead, the tallest restaurant, called 'Qinggui Building', is the property of the owner. The proprietor had already instructed him to eat here today. ”

Qiu Yizhi looked towards Anhe Town, effortlessly saw a four-story restaurant rising from the ground, higher than all the surrounding buildings, hanging lanterns and satin on the upper floor, it seems that you can hear the sound of pushing cups and changing lamps in the restaurant from a distance, and the sound of staggering is undoubtedly a big place in this Anhe Town. It was the first time he came to Guannei Road, and the young man's temperament had not completely subsided, so he left the team, and rode to Qingguilou with Zhao Chengxiao and the two of them.

The two of them were only halfway along the official road, but they were stopped by two officials on the side of the road, one tall and one short, with spears in their hands, and shouted to the two: "On the official road, it is strictly forbidden to gallop and play, you two, quickly dismount Lao Tzu!" ”

Only then did Qiu Yizhi remember that he was not in Guangyang City, and he couldn't put on the majesty of His Royal Highness the prince and his son, so he hurriedly rolled off the saddle with Zhao Chengxiao, stood in front of the two officials, and listened to the fate.

Among them, the slightly taller officer carefully looked the two up and down, and saw that Qiu Yizhi's fresh clothes and angry horses were dressed as a rich young master, and Zhao Chengxiao was obviously the young master's entourage, so he "hummed" and said: "Master, when I look at it, I know that you are hillbillies from Youyan Road." Let me tell you, this pass is under the emperor's reign, and there are many rules, and it is a big sin for you to gallop on the official road for no reason. In this way, sir, when I saw that you were committing a first offense, I spared you this killing rod and fined you one tael of silver each. As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand and said, "Quick, bring it." ”

Qiu Yi thought to herself, if the speed of riding a horse just now was called "galloping", then her speeding on the Youyan official road should be called "flying". But he remembered the ancient slang adage that "people have to bow their heads under the low eaves", and hurriedly groped for silver taels on his body and sleeves. But it's okay not to touch it, and after touching it, I remembered that all my soft packages were put on the carriage and not brought out. So he hurriedly hugged his fist at the official and said: "This poor master, I don't have any silver taels with me, but as long as I wait for a while, the rear carriage will come later, and then I will pay the fine?" ”

Another slightly shorter official heard this, and smiled "hehe": "Lao Tzu has only heard of the people waiting for the officials, and I haven't heard of letting the officials wait for the people, but today I have opened my eyes." Tell you, Lao Tzu is about to change shifts, and I don't have time to wait for you! ”

Since Qiu Yizhi became the righteous son of King Youyan, he had been subjected to such difficulties, and he barely suppressed his temperament and said: "Otherwise, one of the two of us will choose one of us to go back and get the silver, and the other person will be hostage here." Presumably, it only takes half a cup of tea to send the silver, and I also ask the two messengers to make it convenient. ”

"Whew!" The short officer snorted and said, "We will make it convenient for you, who will make it convenient for our brothers?" It is okay to go back and get the money, and I don't want you to stay here and get in the way, so I will keep these two horses with me, and you will redeem them with the money. ”

Only then did Qiu Yizhi know that these two officials had taken a fancy to their two horses. But these two horses under their crotches, one is a priceless sweat and blood horse, and the other is also a rare grassland horse. Yi Xin thought that these two officials would play tricks when they arrived, and refused to admit that they had seized their BMWs, so they would be speechless at that time; At present, I can only entangle with them a few more words, just wait for the team to arrive, and pay a few more taels of silver.

But this Zhao Chengxiao has been bullied by officials since he was a child, and when he saw the two officials being so aggressive, he was indignant in his heart, and he didn't know what to say in his mouth. The tall official had good ears, and when he heard it, he became angry, picked up the spear in his hand and hit Zhao Chengxiao's head. Zhao Chengxiao's eyes were quick, and as soon as he stretched out his right hand, he pinched the spear with one hand; He had a strong hand, but he didn't use any force, he only held his strength, so that the tall official couldn't move for half a minute while holding the spear shaft with both hands.

At this time, there were already people around to see the excitement, and Qiu Yizhi's eyes saw that things were about to make a big fuss, so he was busy trying to go up and make a round to persuade a few words. Unexpectedly, the short official who was still talking to him quietly walked to the side at some point, took a horse step, and pierced Zhao Chengxiao's waist with a spear.

Qiu Yizhi saw that if this move continued, Zhao Chengxiao would be seriously injured if he didn't die, so he didn't hesitate to pull out the treasure knife hanging on his waist, and slashed at the spearhead casually. This Western Regions treasure knife sharpened iron like clay, and a trace of cold light disappeared under the scorching sun, and everyone only saw a pitch-black and unsluggish arc cut through the air, and the metal spearhead that was nearly half a foot long was gently cut off and fell heavily to the ground, making a crisp metal sound. The two officials and the idlers around were stunned by this scene, one by one with their mouths but unable to say half a word, and the official road that was still bustling just now did not hear half a cough and wheezing.

After a long time, the short official reacted and screamed: "Good boy! You're going to rebel! As he spoke, he skimmed the spear that had half of his head cut off, and pounced on it to catch Qiu Yizhi.

Qiu Yizhi was afraid that this official would accidentally hit the blade of the treasure knife and immediately give his life, so he hurriedly put the knife behind him, and finally opened the middle door, and was grabbed by the collar by this official messenger, and was about to drag it to the side.

Zhao Chengxiao, who was still confronting the tall man, saw that the situation was not good, and his right hand that grabbed the spear shaft dragged it back, instantly snatched the spear in his hand, and lightly threw the spear out of a dozen zhang away, and then stepped forward and grabbed the wrist of the short official with both hands, and the ten fingers were clenched as hard as the clamping stick used in torture to extract confessions. The dwarf's hands were pinched by Zhao Chengxiao, and he had already loosened Qiu Yizhi's collar, but he couldn't get out, only one mouth kept babbling.

Seeing that things were about to become out of control, an old man's voice suddenly came from the group of guests: "Isn't that Zhang Tou and Li Tou?" I haven't seen you for a long time, don't come unharmed? ”

Qiu Yizhi and Zhao Chengxiao followed everyone's gaze, and it was none other than He Jiugong who was driving the car. I saw him jump off the carriage very skillfully, gently flick the horsewhip on his shoulder, and only arched his hand far away at the two officials, but walked to Qiu Yizhi and gave a deep salute, and said: "For such a short time, the son has run here, and the owner has been looking for you for a long time and can't find it, so he was talking to Zhang Tou and Li Tou!" ”

Zhao Chengxiao saw that the tall and short officials knew He Jiugong, and felt that it was not good to offend more, so he snorted lightly in his nostrils, and let go of his hand. The dwarf was relieved, and took several steps back, and tried to step forward and punch him, but both wrists were swollen and painful, and he could not exert any strength. Although he couldn't swallow this breath in his stomach, he understood it tightly in his heart: even seven or eight of himself couldn't beat the black-faced guy in front of him, so he turned around and asked He Jiugong: "It turned out to be He Jiugong, what?" Do you know these two men? ”

He Jiugong didn't seem to see the embarrassing scene just now, and replied: "This son is the nephew of my master's master, and the master came to the customs to do something, and he just took the son out to see the world." ”

"Yo! It turns out that Zhou Daguan also came to our Anhe Town? The tall officer on one side answered.

At this time, Zhou Cijing slowly leaned out of the carriage shed driven by He Jiugong, and said slowly: "What do the two poor masters say to my nephew?" If there is something that the little nephew is not doing, please ask the two of you to give me a lot of advice. ”

What kind of person is Cijing this week, it is common for the state pastor and county officials to drink together, and this little official surnamed Zhang and Li usually have the share of talking to him? The tall errand officer was a little more sensible, and when he heard Zhou Cijing say this, he hurriedly said, "Don't dare, don't dare." It's just a little misunderstanding between the villain and your nephew. ”

Zhou Cijing nodded slightly after hearing this and said, "It's good if it's a misunderstanding." He Jiu, you go and get two gifts and sell wine to these two masters. With that, he slowly retracted back into the carport.

He Jiugong replied loudly, "Yes", then took out two paper packets from the placket and handed them to Zhang Tou and Li Tou. The two officials took the paper bag and checked it with their hands, only to feel that their palms were heavy—there must be red gold in this paper bag, and there are two taels of silver, which can be worth twenty taels of fine snowflakes and silver, which is enough to cover most of their salaries for half a year.

Seeing the greedy and obscene appearance of these two people, Qiu Yizhi smiled contemptuously, put away the treasure knife in his hand, led the horse and continued to walk forward with the carriage that Zhou Cijing was sitting in.

After walking for half a pillar of incense, there were no onlookers next to him, Zhou Cijing gently lifted the curtain on the side of the carport, revealed half of his face, and said to Qiu Yizhi: "Virtuous nephew, since you call me 'uncle', then Zhou Mou doesn't matter if it's true or not, you have to persuade the virtuous nephew." ”

After this turmoil, Qiu Yizhi remembered the word "meticulous" repeatedly explained by his father-in-law and master when he left Guangyang, and was reflecting on himself, when he heard Zhou Cijing say this, he hurriedly replied: "Please also ask my uncle for advice!" ”

"Zhou has traveled south and north for so many years, and finally took root in Youyan Road, does the virtuous nephew know what the reason is?" Zhou Cijing sighed and replied to himself, "Alas~ Don't look at the superficial scenery of our businessmen, in fact, they are all businessmen who rely on people's breath. No matter how big my business is, as long as one of the officials in the court says a word, it can make me bankrupt. In order to keep this family business, Zhou didn't know how much he had dealt with the government and how many things he had done. There are nearly 100 state capitals in the ten provinces of the Han Dynasty, and in my opinion, only the officials of Youyan Dao are still incorruptible, so they are ready to operate in Guangyang City for a long time. ”

Halfway through his words, he seemed to be a little thirsty, took out two pieces of chilled watermelon from the car, one was handed to Qiu Yizhi from the car window, and the other took a bite of himself, moistened his throat and continued: "I also hope that Prince Youyan will live a long life, but ...... As the saying goes, 'people have no long-term concerns, they must have near-term worries', and Zhou also has some long-term plans, so he sharpened his head, and wanted to support the rest of the prince's blessings, and he would be able to sit on an equal footing with this group of officials. Don't hide it from my nephews, none of the nephews of the younger generation of my Zhou family are in business, and they are all counting on which one can be admitted to fame. It's a pity, these boys are all gentlemen, and they don't even have a good ......."