The sun is scorching.

Bursts of cicadas chirped from all directions.

A caravan, with the scorching sun on their heads, silently marched along the official road.

The old man in the lead, wearing a hat on his head, sat on the wheel, swallowed his spit, and removed the kettle from his waist, only to find that the kettle was empty.

Seeing this, the guy who was driving the car on the side said, "Steward Wang, bear with me a little longer, there is a black mountain cottage in front, and you can have a good rest when you get there." ”

When he heard the three words of Black Mountain Village, Steward Wang was shocked and said: "Black Mountain Village is the territory of King Li Tian, let's go over, isn't it a sheep into the mouth of a tiger?" ”

"Harm!"

The guy immediately laughed and explained, "Steward Wang hasn't gone out for a long time, and it's normal not to know. Now under the rule of the county magistrate, there are no Montenegrin bandits, and the Montenegrin village has been changed to a town. ”

Steward Wang was still a little worried, and said worriedly: "Dogs can't change their, our batch of goods is worth tens of thousands of yuan, what if those thieves have bad intentions?" ”

"Steward Wang is relieved, this is less than 100 miles away from Linzi, and the Qingzhou army is stationed here, and he doesn't dare to give ten dares to the Black Mountain Village."

There was confidence in the man's tone.

The bravery of the Qingzhou Army has now been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

This is a sword and a shot with the Western Army.

Moreover, the Qingzhou army has strict discipline and never robs and oppresses the people, and its reputation is exceptionally good.

In today's world, bandits are like combs, and soldiers are like grates, but they are not naughty jokes, and bandits at least pay attention to long-term development, and they rarely dry up and fish. When soldiers rob the people, they really grab what they want, and sometimes they may borrow the heads of fellow villagers to use them, pretending to be the head of the bandits for military merits.

In fact, the reason why the soldiers of the Qingzhou Army did not loot the people was because of military discipline, and because the soldiers looked down on these poor ghosts at all.

Poor jingle one by one, who the fuck will risk killing his head to grab some broken pots and bowls.

In the army, there is a dry meal and meat, and the 500 yuan per month is held, isn't it fragrant?

And the small merchants and hawkers in Shandong, far from being afraid of the Qingzhou army, are particularly fond of doing their business.

Why?

These Qiu Ba are really rich!

Sometimes three or five soldiers sit on the stall, which can be worth the consumption of more than a dozen ordinary customers.

The three words of Qingzhou Army gave Steward Wang confidence in the end.

Only then did he put his mind at ease, nodded and said, "Okay, then go to the Black Mountain Village to rest for a while." ”

Half an hour later, turning a mountain bay, a town came into view.

Today's Black Mountain Village has completely changed, the original wall gate has been completely demolished, and the bandits and families on the Black Mountain have all moved down.

At the foot of the Black Mountain, which is next to the official road, there were originally patches of dense forests, but now a large amount of farmland has been opened up.

Houses rise from the ground, inns, tea shops, foot shops, and restaurants.

The population of Montenegro Village is already quite large, and after the village was changed to a town, a number of runaways were absorbed, and now the population of the town has exceeded 5,000 people.

This official road is the main road, and there are many merchants coming and going from the south to the north, so the town is particularly lively.

If this development is allowed to continue, with this official road, it will not take many years for a new county seat to be formed.

The caravan's men had apparently been here many times, and led the caravan to a tea shop with ease.

After settling the cattle and horses, the group entered the tea shop, enjoying the cool while tasting the chilled braised plum juice.

Steward Wang held the braised plum juice, his mouth was extremely thirsty, but he didn't dare to drink it.

He was afraid that there was sweat medicine in this braised plum juice.

It's just because of this tea shop, from the shopkeeper to the guys, they are all men with five big and three thick, full of meat.

Especially the shopkeeper, there is a scar on his chin.

At a glance, it was clear that this group of people must have been bandits before.

The guy on the side was not afraid at all, and joked with the shopkeeper with a smile: "What shopkeeper, why don't you see Xiuniang today?" ”

"Humph!"

The shopkeeper snorted coldly: "You are a talent, you dare to beat my family's idea of Xiuniang, and I will bury you in the back mountain later." ”

"Hey, hey."

The guy was not afraid at all, and still said with a hippie smile: "I really like Xiuniang, and the shopkeeper will fulfill me." ”

"You?"

Shopkeeper He glanced at him with contempt and sneered: "I don't fuck and pee." ”

"That's a real lie!"

As he spoke, the man made a gesture to untie his belt, which immediately caused the people in the tea shop to laugh.

Even the shopkeeper pointed at him and scolded with a smile: "Roll on, you bastard, if my family Xiuniang marries you, I'm afraid that I will have to drink the northwest wind every day." ”

When Steward Wang saw this scene, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, so he took a sip of braised plum juice.

Not to mention, the braised plum juice tastes good, with the addition of sugar, it tastes sweet and sour.

There is no shortage of money in the Black Mountain Village, since the fall of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the descendants of the Li family fled here, more than 100 years have passed.

During this period, the wealth accumulated is no less than millions.

Han Zhen kept his promise, and after getting the jade seal of the country, he did not touch the people of the Black Mountain Cottage, nor did he collect their property.

When Li Nanjia returned with his brothers, he gave money to each of them.

If you want to be an errand boy, you can catch a quick or something, and if you don't want to be an errand, you can open a small shop in the town.

In the public office located in the center of Montenegro Town, Li Nanjia is wearing a strong suit and is immersed in official business.

The Black Mountain Village is gone, and the name Li Tianwang is no longer needed.

Li Nanjia changed back to her real name, but her former subordinates are still used to calling her the master.

"Big boss, this is this month's tax."

Mr. Yin held an account book and came to Li Nanjia.

After taking the accounts, Li Nanjia slowly flipped through them, and when she looked at them, she suddenly stood up.

Bang!

With a strong and heavy kick, he directly kicked the case several meters away, and the pen, ink, paper, and inkstones were scattered all over the ground.

This sudden scene made Mr. Yin stunned.

At the same time, it also made the clerks and tax collectors in the public office look at her with horrified eyes.

For a while, the entire public party was silent.

Mr. Yin smiled bitterly: "Big boss, what kind of trouble is this?" ”

"You will be the prisoner!"

Li Nanjia said and walked out of the public hall quickly.

"Sun Zhi!"

"Big boss, I'm here!"

"Prepare the horses!"

"Where are you going?"

"Yidu!"

In a short time, five horses galloped out of the town, rolling up billowing smoke and dust.

……

Xiao Heyue has been more than a month, and it is much more fun than when she was born, because her eyes can see things, and after a little teasing, she opens her mouth and makes unconscious sounds.

The little guy is very afraid of the heat, and only wears a belly pocket, and at this moment, under the teasing of Zhao Fujin, he keeps fluttering his two little hands.

"County magistrate, Dean Deng asks to see you."

"Hmm."

Han Zhen nodded, got up and walked out of the harem.

Outside the study, Deng Song and Shangguan Zhou stood in the shade sweating profusely.

The two of them didn't wear official robes today, they were dressed as old farmers, and they were lifting up their clothes to fan the wind.

Seeing this, Han Zhen hurriedly beckoned: "What are you doing standing outside, come into the study and sit." ”

Deng Song arched his hand and said: "Thank you for the kindness of the county magistrate, I will not sit down when I have official business." ”

"What happened?"

Han Zhen said curiously.

Deng Song grinned and said, "The cold melon cultivated by Brother Shangguan is ripe, so I specially came to give some to the county magistrate to taste." ”

"You have a heart."

Han Zhen chuckled lightly and said with great interest: "Let's go, go and have a look." ”

The three of them walked all the way out of Shaoyang Palace, and an ox cart was parked at the gate of the palace, with dark green watermelons on it.

Han Zhen took a few steps forward and picked up a watermelon to look at it carefully.

Not to mention, the size is twice as large as the watermelons sold on the ordinary market, and it finally feels like a watermelon in later generations.

Flicking the melon body lightly with his fingers, Han Zhen asked, "Have you tasted this cold melon?" ”

Deng Song replied: "I have tasted it, the taste is sweet and sweet, and the meat is juicy and rich." ”

Putting down the watermelon, Han Zhen smiled and said, "I accepted this gift." ”

At this time, Shangguan Zhou on the side wanted to speak and stopped.

Han Zhen commanded: "Shangguan Shilang has something to say. ”

Shangguan Zhou was slightly embarrassed and said, "Uh...... After the county magistrate eats the cold melon, can this melon seed be given to Weichen. ”

There is no way, this batch is a newly cultivated melon, and the yield is not much, and he is still counting on using the seeds of these watermelons to continue to cultivate.

"Okay."

Han Zhen responded.

Hearing this, Shangguan Zhou suddenly smiled.

After seeing the two leave, Han Zhen called the supplementary official and instructed: "Each public party will pick three cold melons and send them over, and the rest will be moved to the harem." By the way, let them not waste melon seeds, collect them, and use them to make seeds next year. ”

There were not many of these cold melons, and after rewarding some of the four cabinets, there were less than ten left.

Carrying the watermelon back to the small courtyard, it immediately attracted the attention of several little girls.

Zhao Fujin looked at it a few times and said curiously: "Husband, is this a cold melon?" ”

Han Zhen replied: "The new varieties cultivated by the Agricultural College are said to be sweet and delicious. ”

"It's the first time I've seen such a big cold melon." Ma Shu was amazed.

The cold melons on the market today are still primitive varieties, very small, and not as big as the cantaloupe of later generations.

Right now, these watermelons are as big as small pots.

"Cut one open and taste it."

instructed the maid to bring a kitchen knife and a plate, and Han Zhen immediately cut the melon.

To be honest, after tasting all kinds of watermelons in later generations, he didn't have much hope for the watermelons in front of him.

The watermelon was obviously ripe, and the blade cut through the skin of the melon, and before Han Zhen could use any force, the watermelon cracked by itself.

Pink juice immediately flowed down the bottom of the cleft.

When you open it, you will see the pink flesh of the fruit.

Jiang Suyi exclaimed: "Ah, this cold melon is actually red. ”

Today's cold melons and melons are pale yellow.

Zhao Fujin pondered: "The concubine has tasted red melons, which are said to be produced in the southern part of the Western Regions, but the cold melons brought back by the husband seem to be more red." ”

She is the princess of Zhao Song in the end, and her knowledge is extraordinary.

There are still a lot of melon seeds, and they are big, but they are countless times better than ordinary cold melons.

"Let's try them all."

Han Zhen quickly cut the watermelon into slices, and added a sentence at the end: "Don't throw away the melon seeds, collect them and make seeds next year." ”

"Hmm, it's so sweet."

Fu Qingyi picked up a piece, took a small bite, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Zhao Fujin's daughters also agreed.

Seeing this, Han Zhen picked up a piece and took a big bite.

The sweetness is average, there are too many melon seeds, and when you take a bite, you almost feel that there is not much meat, and your mouth is full of melon seeds.

However, compared with the watermelon of later generations, the sweet fragrance of watermelon is stronger.

After only tasting a piece, Han Zhen stopped eating it.

There are too many melon seeds.

At this time, he misses the seedless watermelon of later generations.

Han Zhang liked it very much, and ate several pieces in a row.

After eating a watermelon, the small bowl is filled with black melon seeds.

Seeing Han Zhang's unfinished appearance, Han Zhen chuckled and said, "There are still a few cold melons, if you want to eat them, you can cut a few more." ”

Han Zhangshi shook his head and said softly: "The cold melon is cold, and if you eat too much, your stomach will be uncomfortable, so you can save it for tomorrow." ”

At this moment, the maid's voice sounded again: "County magistrate, someone outside the main hall asks to see him, claiming to be from Black Mountain Town. ”

(End of chapter)