Li Siye slapped the table and asked, "Is there any wine?" ”

None of the postmen wanted to bother him, but the leader stood behind the platform, fiddling with the chips, weighing the silver on the scale, and counting out three hundred copper coins and strings of twine. He replied, "There is only turbid wine, fifty dollars a liter, five hundred dollars a bucket, how much do you want to drink?" ”

"Fifty dollars, I can't afford to drink, this is a big bully in the store."

The post man walked over and handed the string money to Zhang Yuanli, and countered with a cold breath: "The shopkeeper is bullying customers? Is this a shop? This is the official post of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate! It is used to convey military information and receive past officials! You hills, people, and business travelers! Being able to rest in the post station with the convenience of the capital is already a special kindness, and you still want to save money cheaply? It's cheap for you, what do the stagecoaches of the imperial court eat? If you are not convinced, you can go to the Duhu Mansion to open a document, and with the paperwork, Lao Tzu will treat you as a master! If you don't have paperwork, you will obediently pay for food and drink, and talk more here and talk more! ”

Li Siye laughed loudly, this postman sharpened his teeth and mouth, and he would settle accounts with him later.

Zhang Yuanli handed back the three hundred coins sent by the post guard to the post guard, and ordered: "Beat this money into six liters of wine, and divide it into three liters for the military master behind me." ”

The post guard thought that Zhang Yuanli was going to tie up the ** with the knife, and said disdainfully: "You have to look at people if you are fake and generous, these Qiu Ba are dog-faced, and they will bite people when they turn their faces, beware of him taking your wealth." ”

Li Siye touched the handle of the knife on his waist again, and said with a hideous face: "Talking so much, believe it or not, cut off your ears!" ”

The post man turned his head stupidly, Zhang Yuanli still handed over the money, and said in a deep voice: "Needless to say, you just have to drink." ”

"Okay."

The postman turned around and entered the inner room behind the platform, and soon raised a wine jar with one hand, put down the big bowl in front of Zhang Yuanli and Li Siye respectively, and used a bamboo liter to put forward three mentions in the wine jar and pour it into the sea bowl.

Li Siye reached out and took a sip of the bowl, and sprayed it into the corner of the wall, this is not a performance, he has never drunk such a bad wine in his life.

"It's sour and astringent, this wine is unpalatable!"

Zhang Yuanli naturally didn't say anything, and the guards glanced at him coldly, and they also endured this resentment.

After all, wine is made of grain, no matter how unpalatable it is, Li Siye still took two sips, and then caused another incident with drunkenness.

He pointed to the Persian merchants and asked, "How much did you pay for your stay in this inn?" ”

The vendors were out and about, seeking perfection everywhere, for fear of getting into trouble, and they had to think about such a problem for a long time, and after turning their heads to look at the face of the post guard, they stretched out five fingers to Li Siye.

"Master Jun, five hundred dollars, we can afford this price."

Li Siye took a sip and said: "Of course you businessmen can bear it, as long as you can keep your head and go back when you go out, you will make money!" ”

He drank half of the wine in the bowl before he stood up with his knife in his hand, and asked the guards in a slightly drunken state, "Which of the inns in this station is empty?" Take me to rest. ”

Who will go with him, the guards? just waved his hand in disgust and said, "Look for it yourself, push the door to see which room is empty, and you can go in and rest by yourself!" ”

When Li Siye left, the vendors breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to each other. The post guard warned the merchants: "That was a Qiu Ba just now, arrogant and unreasonable, you can't do anything to kill people and take money, you don't have to contact and talk to him, when something happens, don't blame me for not warning you." ”

Several Persian traders agreed one after another: "Don't worry, military master, we are also a merchant who often runs on the Silk Road, so naturally we don't dare to provoke these murderers." ”

Zhang Yuanli listened quietly on his knees in his seat for a long time, feeling that he could no longer inquire about anything useful from the vendors or the post guards, so he also left the grass hall on the grounds of rest.

……

The stars hang down in the plains, the night sky is bright, and the Chihe Post is hidden in this primitive wilderness, separated from the dangerous dark world outside, only by an earthen wall. In the middle of the night, the sound of wolves howling rang out one after another around the inn.

Li Siye lit the oil lamp in the post house, Zhang Yuanli took out a copper oil pot from his arms, filled the lamp with oil, and the two sat cross-legged in front of a clay case. On the Chase shop behind him, two passing business travelers snored.

"This Chihe Post is the most famous of all the post stations in Anxi, you can calculate, with a head of 500 yuan for accommodation, tonight there are two groups of caravans of more than 20 people, the daily income is 10,000 yuan, deducting their horses, salaries and post station maintenance daily expenses of more than 5,000 yuan......"

"No," Zhang Yuanli interjected to correct him: "It's only three thousand after deducting all these expenses, no, it's only two thousand dollars." ”

"Based on 3,000 yuan, how much do they earn in a year. Of course, there are not customers every day, after all, it is on the business road, even if there are customers for four months in the previous year, the annual income is more than 8 million yuan. ”

Zhang Yuanli gritted his teeth and said angrily: "These people actually used the post station built by the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate to make a lot of money!" The card merchant tax in the four towns of Anxi is not as ruthless as they collect! ”

Li Siye shook his head and said: "Don't rush to conclusions, our estimate is not true, besides, most of the post stations on this route in Qiuzi have not offered such a high price." To get an exact figure, slaughter the fattest fish and weigh how much fat you have. ”

"General Li, you are right, we will go back tomorrow, transfer soldiers from the Metropolitan Protectorate, and arrest all these people for interrogation!"

"Heh," Li Siye said with a smile: "Just a few post soldiers, do you still need to go back to transfer troops?" Anyway, Li Yuanfang and I are also at the same level, tomorrow you just have to look at my eyes and act. ”

"Who is Li Yuanfang?"

"A lieutenant general, you don't have to know."

The two of them spoke in a low voice, blew out the oil lamp, and each groped his way to lie down on the bunk and fell asleep.

At dawn on the second day, the caravan had drawn the camels and horses from the stables, carefully inspected the goods, packed their knapsacks and prepared them for their way.

Li Siye also pulled out the black fat, and the merchants listened to the popular science of the post officials yesterday, and hid far away, for fear of getting into the big trouble in front of them.

Li Siye led the horse towards the grass hall, and the post man was still standing on the steps, waiting for the new unjust business travelers to take the bait.

He pressed the handle of the knife on his waist, raised his head and said domineeringly: "Go and ask your post chief, I want to join the gang and want to make a lot of money with you." ”

"Into what? You're crazy, you, you were free of room and board yesterday, shouldn't you burn high incense and thank Dade for getting out of the road quickly, why are you still kicking your nose in the face? ”

Li Siye ignored him, but stood there and crossed his fingers and said to himself: "Your post station is open on the mountain road at the source of the Red River, which is a place where merchants must pass through when they go west, and they can collect tens of thousands of dollars every day. ”

The atmosphere suddenly froze, and the sneer of the postman was also fixed on his face, and he suddenly raised his head and shouted at the grass hall upstairs: "Boss! ”

"What's the matter?" The post chief's fat hands and feet were lying on the railing, but he was dragged back by a woman: "Dead ghost, come back!" ”

"Some people are red when they see us getting rich, and they want to rob your property! Now it's time to kill the door! ”

The post chief stood on the edge of the railing with his shirtless shoulders, holding out his bulging belly. No such fat oil and water as Chiheyi, it is estimated that such a big fat man can not be raised, no wonder the Tang people want to be plump as beauty, in this era, plump represents health, represents nutrition to keep up, eating fat and holding a big belly is actually showing off wealth!

The post chief stared at Li Siye standing downstairs with triangular eyes, his face was cloudy, he smelled the dangerous aura of this drunk Luo Tuo**, so there was no need to be a joke or a madman.

"Drive out the idlers and the others, and close the door! Do it! ”