After Su Ruan settled in the cabin, he walked directly outside.

The spring sun falls on the water, the sparkling is very beautiful, and when the occasional breeze blows, it is very warm and comfortable.

Su Ruan was on a boat for the first time, everything was new to see, with a rare vitality in her eyes, she reached out to catch the colored rope hanging on the side of the boat, and when her body leaned over, most of it fell outside.

As soon as he grabbed the end of the rope in his hand, his waist tightened violently, and the whole person was pulled back.

Su Ruan was startled, turned his head and saw that it was Qi Wenfu, and said in surprise: "Fourth brother? ”

"What do you do? I'm not afraid to fall into the water. ”

Qi Wenfu's heart was still pounding, God knew that when he saw her half of her body hanging on the side of the boat just now, he was so frightened that his brain was stunned, and he felt a little soft when he pulled the person back at this time, "The water flow of this boat is turbulent, and if you really fall down, you can't catch it." ”

Su Ruan heard the words and said: "It won't fall, I'm holding on to the pole, I saw that it was very strange that there was something hanging on the colored rope, and I wanted to pull it over to take a look." ”

Qi Wenfu glanced at the colored rope hanging outside the boat, "That's the emblem of the Salt Gang, the Salt Gang used to let people clean up the water bandits near the Nanhe River in the early years, and later made friends with several gangs along the road and gave money to the passers." ”

"As long as the boat with this hangs on it comes to and from the Nanhe, the nearby gangs will let it go, and ordinary people don't dare to come forward to find trouble."

Salt Gang?

Su Ruan was surprised: "The Xiao family is a salt lord?" ”

The salt gang is said to be the flow of private salt.

Su Ruan has always known that in addition to official salt, there are forces on the rivers and lakes to sell illicit salt.

The court has wanted to clean up these people several times, but the people of the salt gang are based in the rivers and lakes, and they have dealings with the three religions and nine streams, and the interests of selling salt are huge, and the people who are related to them are even more everywhere, from courtiers to local officials.

Not to mention the distance, even on the side of the Salt Envoy Division and the Salt Section, there are also people who are not involved with the people of the Salt Gang.

When Su Ruan was in the palace in the last generation, he knew that Emperor Xuan of the Ming Dynasty had ordered a thorough investigation of the salt gang, and also sent troops to encircle and suppress those who sold illegal salt, but in the end, it was not done.

Su Ruan didn't expect that Qi Wenfu would actually know the people of the Salt Gang.

Qi Wenfu didn't want to hide Su Ruan, he let go of the hand that fell on Su Ruan's waist before, and instead directly pulled her to the side, leaned on the railing next to the boat and said:

"Huaiyu is near the sea, rich in sea salt, and the ancestors of the Xiao family have been selling salt for a living."

"At the beginning, the Xiao family also entered the court, entered the salt governor's yamen, and served as a salt envoy, but the imperial court was too strict in controlling the sale of salt, and the court was unstable during the reign of the first emperor, and the treasury of the country was not sealed for many years, coupled with several droughts and locust plagues in succession, in order to enrich the treasury, the first emperor ordered the price of salt to be raised."

"The people can't live without salt, but at that time, salt was not available in many places, and the imperial court held the salt, and the price of salt outside was comparable to gold and silver."

Qi Wenfu's voice was cold, and after briefly explaining the situation at that time, he continued,

"At that time, the Xiao family was in charge of Xiao Mian's grandfather, he was dissatisfied with the imperial court's holding of salt, and secretly released a batch of salt out, which angered the first emperor, was taken off his official position and fined silver, and even took the Xiao family to the crime."

"The people of the Xiao family are very angry, and after being punished, they began to sell illicit salt, and then they gradually got bigger and bigger, and mixed in some other people, and it became what it is today."

Su Ruan listened to what Qi Wenfu said, and was a little curious: "Then how did you know the people of the Xiao family?" ”

Qi Wenfu said: "My father and Xiao Mian's grandfather had an intersection, and later Xiao Mian's aunt married into the capital, and my mother's side of the family has some relationship, when Xiao Mian was young, Xiao Mian lived in Beijing for a period of time, I had a few fights with him at that time, and then I didn't know each other." ”

Su Ruan's eyes widened slightly, and he was a little stunned: "Have you ever fought with someone?" ”

Qi Wenfu smiled: "What, it's not like?" ”

Su Ruan shook his head: "Not like that." ”

When she knew Qi Wenfu, he was calm and self-controlled, even if he later learned that he was completely different in private, he didn't look like a person who would do anything with others.

Qi Wenfu looked at her eyes with some disbelief and raised his lips:

"When I was eleven or twelve years old, I actually had a very skinny temperament, because the age difference between my brothers in Fuzhong was too big, and my father and mother were used to me, not to mention fighting with people.

"Later, I didn't know that convergence caused a big disaster, I was beaten by my eldest brother, hung under the eaves for a day and a night, my eldest sister cried and put me down, and my eldest brother held a fist-thick stick in his hand, and asked me if I wanted to take the imperial examination or be beaten to death by him."

"I was stunned at the time, and I chose the imperial examination without hesitation."

Su Ruan thought about Qi Wenbai holding the stick and asked Qi Wenfu if he wanted to be beaten to death by him, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Qi Wenfu remembered the bastard things he had done when he was young and frivolous, and he also had a smile in his eyes,

"At that time, I was scared by my eldest brother, so I thought about getting the top prize in the imperial examination as soon as possible, and after entering the court and becoming an official, I climbed to a higher position than my eldest brother, and then I could avenge him that day."

"Later, after I became an official in the court, I found that I had to start from the bottom, and it would take several years just to survive from the Hanlin Academy to be able to get ahead."

"When I didn't enter the court before, I was tested by my eldest brother for schoolwork, and then I went back every day not only to deal with his inquiries about the yamen, but also to be trained, and I didn't stop scolding every day, so in the second year, when the court wanted to send officials to go, I couldn't wait to ask for my will like grabbing a life-saving straw."

At that time, he didn't tell Qi Wenbai about the request, and when Qi Wenbai found out, he was so angry that he chased him with a stick for half of the yard.

But the decree has been made, and there is no possibility of change.

Qi Wenbai scolded while writing a bunch of useful letters, as well as connections near Anrong to him, and then sent him out of the capital angrily.

It was the first time that Su Ruan had heard Qi Wenfu talk about what happened when he was young.

The Qi Wenfu she knows is all about how he is talented, how he became famous at a young age, and how he has a prosperous career, but she doesn't want him to enter the court at 16 and go out of Beijing at 17 to take up his post, and even promoted several steps to the ministry at a young age, all because he was beaten by his eldest brother?

Su Ruan smiled and bent his eyes: "If you tell me these things, you are not afraid of me spreading the word?" ”

Qi Wenfu looked at her and said, "Then will you pass it on?" ”

His eyes were focused, and his eyes were very serious.

When the warm sun fell on him, his contours softened a lot, and when he looked at her with his head slightly sideways, his face was different from the mature and handsome of the young man, which made Su Ruan inexplicably feel a trace of heat.