Reading guide: The Yangtze River is rich in fish and shrimp, but the Manchurian Qinglin still follows the eating habits of the ancestors, loves to eat game, and is not used to eating fish and shrimp. The turtle is the best in the meal, but unfortunately it is not a good name, and it is regarded as an enemy by Qinglin. This is also a grievance for Qinglin's taboo, because there are too many Mrs. Gain, and her head is often dyed green.

At this moment, an alternate Daoist walked into the governor's yamen signing room.

So, a good show, under the premise that Qinglin was unprepared, kicked off the curtain suddenly......

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Outside the Yamen Gate of the Governor of Huguang in Wuchang City, there are many sentry posts, and green, blue and other sedan chairs shuttle back and forth, a busy scene.

In the yamen signing room, Zhang Liangji and copywriter Zuo Zongtang sat on the kang in civilian clothes, discussing the candidate for acting governor after Hubei Governor Qinglin contracted the disease.

Qinglin was very ill, and on the first day, he came to tell Zhang Liangji about the city defense, and the next day, Chonglun, the deputy political envoy of the Hubei Military Affairs Administration, handed over a note of infection.

Zhang Liangji was surprised, and secretly visited the ins and outs of Qinglin's infection with an alternate Taoist, or even Qinglin's other intentions under the banner of infection.

Qinglin and Chonglun have a very good relationship, and from the time the two fought to Wuchang, they conspired day and night to squeeze out Zhang Liangji. Zhang Liangji was quiet on the surface, but in fact, he was already on guard in his heart.

Soon, the alternate Dao truthfully reported the situation he had secretly visited to Zhang Liangji.

Zhang Liangji almost burst his belly with laughter when he heard this.

What kind of acute illness did Qinglin have? made Zhang Liangji laugh so much?

Qinglin has a characteristic of eating: he likes wild game in the mountains, and he doesn't like fish and shrimp in the water. This is almost all following the eating habits of the Manchu ancestors. The Manchus were originally northern nomads, hunting in the mountains all day long. At first, everyone caught game, peeled the skin and ate it. Later, when there was a fire, he set it up and roasted it over the fire, and ate it. After the tribe was founded, there was a leader, and it still fed from the mountains; After the establishment of the regime, there were not only chieftains, but also hierarchies. Most of the people went into the mountains to hunt, and a few people sat in large tents made of branches and thatch. Eating habits have not changed much since the entry of customs.

From the palace and palace to the nobles, there are special people who regularly send them game. Ordinary Manchurians also have to go out of Beijing several times a year, rush to Fengtian and other places to hunt for a few days, and get some roe deer and wild deer to transport home to satisfy their hunger.

There are many lakes and mountains, and it stands to reason that after Qinglin arrives in Hubei, there should be no shortage of game to eat. But the reality is quite the opposite. This was mainly because the Taiping army never really left Hubei, or hid in villages far from the towns, or camped in a certain mountain to wait for the opportunity.

At the beginning, Qinglin once sent his own soldiers into the mountains to hunt game for him, but they all went and never returned. Although a soldier with a fast leg escaped with his life, his nose and ears were cut off, and he still does not dare to come out to see people.

Qinglin doesn't taste game for a few days, and he will go crazy.

Ten days ago, one of the candidates offered him a turtle in order to get a red dot on his head.

The turtle is not uncommon in Wuchang, but the one he gave to Qinglin is extremely rare. He actually had five legs, two heads, and a very large body, weighing more than 30 pounds.

Although Qinglin has been in Wuchang for many years, he has never eaten fish, let alone turtle, and he doesn't know what the taste of turtle is. Although many people have praised him for the beauty of the turtle and how much it is a great complement during this period. But he was unmoved.

Why is that? Because he hates the nickname of the turtle. The turtle is commonly known as the turtle, and the other name is Wang Ba, and the Wang Ba is also known as the turtle, which is a common curse in all provinces. When a woman commits adultery behind her husband's back, others call him a king (some say he is a tortoise).

Because of his lust, Qinglin married many Ru ladies openly and secretly. He got tired of playing, so he went to make new food and kept Mrs. Ru at home. If the lady is idle and panicked, she will inevitably do some things like chickens and dogs. When he found out, he had her sold into the kiln; I don't know it, so I've been wearing a green hat.

Just because of this Wang Ba Er, Qinglin swore not to eat turtle fish for the rest of his life.

After this rare turtle was sent to Qinglin, Qinglin was furious, thinking that the alternate Dao had some backer, and used this kind of thing to mock him. But when he looked at it again, he suddenly noticed that this thing had a leg longer than the others; If you look at it again, you will not only have an extra leg, but also an extra head.

Qinglin thought it was his own dazzled at first, but he didn't see it real. After stopping for a long time to look at it again, I was sure that it wasn't my own dazzle.

He immediately passed the alternate road to send the turtle fish, and pointed to the turtle crawling all over the ground and said: "My brother has been in Hubei for several years, and this is the first time I have seen a turtle like this." Where did you get it? ”

The alternate Dao hurriedly said: "Futai never eats turtles, and he knows about this matter." What did the occupation do when the turtle was brought in? Isn't it clear that I want to make you angry? ”

Qinglin was shocked: "What is my brother talking about?" The brother sent it in, isn't it a turtle? ”

Qinglin raised his legs and got off the kang, looked at the turtle with his eyes, sat down and said with a smile: "What do you think, brother, it's all turtles." It's just an extra leg and a head. ”

The alternate Dao bowed to Qinglin and said: "Futai Rongyu, the one given to the adults by the Dao is really not a turtle, it is an extremely rare five-clawed dragon in the Yangtze River!" ”

Qinglin's eyes widened, and he asked in disbelief: "What?" Five-clawed dragon? Why haven't you heard of this name? Brother, please sit down and tell me the origin of this five-clawed dragon.!! Come! Hurry up and make a bowl of tea for the observation adults! ”

Alternate Dao sat down and said to Qinglin very mysteriously: "Zhidao went to the temple fair three days ago and met a high monk. He said to him, 'The river is muddy, and in five days there will be a five-clawed dragon.' I don't know which rich and noble person I want to fulfill. At the beginning of the ministry did not take his words to heart. Later, I heard from the people in the temple that the monk was not an ordinary monk, but an enlightened monk. There is hardly a word that is spoken. Zhidao went to the river early this morning to buy fish, and saw that there were many people on the shore, all looking at the strangeness. It took a lot of effort to squeeze in, but I just wanted to find out. But when I saw a person squatting on the ground, it was clearly a person who ate water and rice. There was a cloth bag beside the man, bulging inside, moving slowly. He asked the person next to him, what does that person want to sell? The man next to him whispered to him, 'You can't afford what he's selling.' If you want to see it, you will need two hundred taels of silver, and if you want to buy it, I am afraid that you will not be able to buy it without tens of thousands of silver. It was a coincidence that there were two hundred taels of silver in his pocket. In order to get a glimpse of the contents of his sack, he took out the silver and put it in front of him. He took the money, got up, took up the cloth bag, pulled up the road, and left. When I got to no one, I opened the cloth bag, but it turned out to be this five-clawed dragon. ”

At this point, Goshha came in with two bowls of tea and put them on the table.

Qinglin was hearing the confusion, and before Goshha could walk out, he hurriedly said, "Brother continued." ”

The alternate then said: "According to the man, his family has been fishing for five generations and has been relying on the Yangtze River for food. ”

Qinglin asked urgently: "Brother, my brother wants to know, how did he know that this is a five-clawed dragon?" ”

"According to the man, his grandfather's grandfather said that the Yangtze River is not an ordinary river, it is spiritual, because it is protected by a five-clawed dragon. According to his grandfather's grandfather, if a person eats a five-clawed dragon, it is certain that he will live a long life, and he can also turn evil into good fortune and be lucky in death. If it is a person with official status, it is even more terrible. Naturally, university scholars and ministers of military aircraft are not a problem, even the princes are also participating. As soon as I heard what he said, I immediately remembered the words of the eminent monk. He asked him how much silver would he need to buy his five-clawed dragon? So he stretched out three fingers and said, "Thirty thousand taels less is not to be discussed." Zhidao negotiated with him repeatedly, and finally grinded down two thousand. Your Excellency knows that there has been no shortage of points in the ministry for four years, so where can I make up the 28,000 taels of silver? Fortunately, the house where he lives now is borrowed from a distant relative. The relative had already explained that someone had a suitable bid and could sell it. I thought that there was no house to buy, and if the five-clawed dragon fulfilled someone else, there would be nowhere to find it. He gritted his teeth and asked him if he could exchange the house for his five-clawed dragon? He offered to take a look at the room. And he led him to the house, and looked inside and out. Seeing that he was a little unwilling, he rubbed with him again until he agreed to come down. He made a note with him and promised to vacate the house for him in three days. When he went, he took up his cloth bag and ran to the temple to find the monk. When the monk saw it, he closed his eyes, and Amitabha Buddha couldn't be a person. When I saw it, I knew that the man's words were true, so I dared to use it to honor your elder. ”

Qinglin pondered for a moment, and suddenly said, "I didn't expect that this five-clawed dragon still has such a history. But the elder brother is so expensive, how can the elder brother bear it? ”

Alternate Dao got up again and said: "As long as the adults live a long life and the Marquis of Jin is crowned king, even if he dies of poverty and starvation, he will be happy in his heart." ”

Qinglin also got up and said, "When my brother speaks like this, my brother's heart is even more uneasy. Brother, please go back to the house, and when the elder brother is busy with these few days, then ask the elder brother to talk. ”

Alternate Dao knew that Qinglin was hinting at his lack of points, so he replied, "Zhidao is always waiting to serve your lordship. ”

After the alternate road left, Qinglin passed people in and took the five-clawed dragon to the kitchen and threw it into a large vat to raise. Then he invited Chonglun, the acting political envoy, to the yamen and asked him about the five-clawed dragon.

Who knows that although Chonglun arrived in Wuchang four years earlier than Qinglin, not only has he never seen a five-clawed dragon, but even the name of the five-clawed dragon is the first time he has heard of it.

Qinglin smiled, and took the five-clawed dragon out of the tank and put it in front of Chonglun.

When Chonglun saw it, he was sure that it was a turtle. But as for why this turtle has five legs and two heads, he can't say why.

The two of them argued for a long time, and finally alarmed Qinglin's twenty-three Mrs. Ru's father, Lao Xiucai.

Lao Xiucai looked at the five-clawed dragon for a long time, and finally said with certainty: "This should be a five-clawed dragon, I have seen it in an ancient book." Five-clawed and two-headed, its shape is like a turtle. You can't go wrong, it's a five-clawed dragon. ”

Lao Xiucai made a conclusion, and Chonglun naturally had nothing to say. (End of chapter)