Dark clouds and cold winds.

A thunderclap suddenly came from the gloomy sky.

The pedestrians, who had been hurrying home, instantly quickened their pace again, and the street vendors hastily packed up the utensils on the stalls, slung them on their shoulders, and walked away from the empty street quickly.

Cao Yang is not like those vendors who are in a hurry to rush home to pack up their goods, but moved his stall to the eaves next to the street, just after moving the goods on the stall, a shopkeeper walked out of the tavern behind him, holding a small butterfly peanut in his hand, squatting next to Cao Yang, put the peanuts on the stall, pinched a few peanuts in his hand and sent them into his mouth, and said: "Somehow this year, it rained at both ends of three days, I said Boss Cao, you should have made a lot of money this year, right?"

Cao Yang picked up a few umbrellas that had slipped to the ground, wiped them with a rag, his eyes that had narrowed into a line, exposed the joy in his heart, put the wiped umbrellas on top of the few umbrellas that were already few, grabbed a few peanuts from the plate, and said happily: "Not much, not much, what kind of boss am I, the shopkeeper is like a boss, I will beg for a living." ”

The shopkeeper glanced at the umbrellas that were still piled up in the morning, and now there were a few left, and then looked at the tavern behind him, and said: "Now there are fewer and fewer people drinking small wine every year, but everyone who has a little money in hand has gone to the restaurant, and can listen to both books and small songs. ”

Chewing peanuts soaked in salt water in his mouth, he stretched out his tongue and licked his lips, and said in surprise: "The shopkeeper doesn't do business anymore? I see that this tavern of the shopkeeper is not like a loss-making business, and it is really impossible to change some other transactions, and it is a pity that the shop in this area is sold out." ”

The shopkeeper waved his hand, "No, no, my tavern has earned a lot in the early years, and the kid's business in Jiangnan is doing quite well, I have long thought that I will throw away this tavern in the capital and go to Jiangnan to enjoy the blessings, but there are some old customers who are reluctant to open for so many years, just thinking about opening for a few more years, a few days ago, the daughter-in-law gave birth to a big fat boy, saying that I want to go to Jiangnan to enjoy Qingfu, so I have the idea of taking this tavern out." ”

Cao Yang nodded, glanced at the tavern behind him, the shopkeeper seemed to see a little bit of movement in his heart, and said with a smile: "Boss Cao is interested? If you want to take over, I will suffer a loss, how about a folding plate for you?"

Hearing the shopkeeper's words, Cao Yang silently counted his savings over the years, frowned, and thought about the situation at home, a little hesitant.

On the street, an old man dressed as a rich man, followed by an old servant with an umbrella, walked straight to the tavern.

As soon as the shopkeeper saw someone coming, he stood up and said to Cao Yang: "Don't be in a hurry to refuse, my small restaurant can at least be open until the beginning of spring next year, if you think about it, come and tell me again, I will still give you a discount." After speaking, he stood under the eaves, arched his hand to the old man who walked here, and said kindly: "Master Zhao, why are you free to come here today?"

Master Zhao said with a smile: "It's nothing to do today, but I suddenly remembered the taste of your tavern, so I thought about trying it." ”

The shopkeeper hurriedly invited Master Zhao to go inside, and said with a smile: "Then your old man can be regarded as coming to the right place today, a few days ago, there was joy at home, and I brought a few jars of good plum wine from Jiangnan, and I will keep them for you." ”

After speaking, he pointed to a table in the middle of the tavern, and said to Xiao Er, who was still wiping, "Go and take out the plum wine that you just brought from Jiangnan yesterday," and looked at Master Zhao, who was already seated, "Old man, are you still like that today?"

Master Zhao didn't speak, but the old servant behind him said directly: "A plate of peanuts, a plate of tofu, a plate of pickled vegetables, just sprinkle some salt flowers on peanuts." "The voice was a little sharp.

As soon as the old servant finished speaking, the little two on the side wanted to walk to the back kitchen, but Master Zhao spoke: "The horse team that came back from the northland a few days ago, did you bring some lambs back?"

The shopkeeper replied with a smile: "The old man is really well-informed, the restaurant just bought a few lambs from the caravan yesterday, and just killed one in the morning, this winter mutton is the fattest, the old man wants to try it?"

Master Zhao nodded lightly, and said, "Then come a plate of mutton, prepare an extra pair of dishes and chopsticks, and there will be guests coming later." ”

The shopkeeper smiled and raised his head at Xiao Er beside him, and Xiao Er walked quickly to the back kitchen, preparing a few things that Master Zhao asked for just now.

After waiting for a while, Xiao Er successively took a few plates of side dishes and put them on the table, and the old servant behind him stepped forward, tasted a little bit of it, poured some plum wine and drank it, and after waiting for a while, he nodded lightly and stood behind him.

Old Man Zhao said to the shopkeeper who walked to the door again: "Is the shopkeeper still busy today? If you are not busy, can you come and talk to me?"

Hearing the words of the old man who had been taking care of this small restaurant for many years, the shopkeeper immediately ran up, sat down at the table, and said, "What do you want to hear, old man?"

Master Zhao took the wine glass, took a sip of it, tasted it for a while, and said, "I heard the shopkeeper say from afar just now that he wanted to sell this tavern out, but the business has not been satisfactory recently?

The shopkeeper smiled and waved his hand, and said: "No, no, although the tavern business has not been good recently, it is also passable, that is, the boy at home in Jiangnan, thinking that I will go to him to enjoy the blessings, so I want to go out of the restaurant in the next year, and I will not bother the old man." ”

The old servant, who was standing quietly behind him, shook his head secretly, the opportunity to splash the sky is in front of you, and you will be gone with this wave of your hand, but you don't dare to make a sound.

Master Zhao nodded, "The shopkeeper wants to give this restaurant to the umbrella seller at the door? I don't think he is a person who can run a tavern?"

The shopkeeper glanced at Cao Yang, who had already sold out umbrellas at the door and was cleaning up the stall, and said: " The old man doesn't know, this little brother Cao, originally came from Shudi, sold umbrellas in this city to live, but he is diligent, there are few people on this street who get up earlier than him to set up a stall, don't look at him at this time he is cleaning up the stall, but two incense sticks, he has to carry a stall of umbrellas out, don't people say that diligence can make up for it, I have been in business for so many years, and it is a bit of a standard to see people, your old man is optimistic, this little brother will not be bad in the future, if it weren't for my daughter who got married early, I want to marry her to this little brother。 ”

As soon as he finished speaking, an old man of the same age as Mr. Zhao appeared at the door, but he was not dressed as well as Mr. Zhao's, wearing a green shirt, looking a little rude, Xiao Er hurriedly stepped forward and said diligently: "Please inside the guest officer, there are freshly slaughtered lambs in the shop today, can the guest officer taste it?"

The old Confucian shook his head, pointed to Old Man Zhao's table, and said, "I am with this old man." ”

Only then did the shopkeeper stand up and said with a smile: "The old man's guests have arrived, so I won't bother." ”

Master Zhao smiled and nodded, and the old servant behind him immediately stepped forward, set the dishes and chopsticks in place, and poured a glass of plum wine, and then invited the old Confucian to take a seat.

The old Confucian sat still, directly raised the wine glass and took a sip, squinted his eyes and savored for a long time before slowly speaking: "This plum wine is not bad." He smacked his tongue and said with a smile: "How could Master Zhao be interested in inviting me here today, if it weren't for my scholar who was sure that it was your old man, I really wouldn't be willing to come." ”

"If I invite you at home, I'm afraid you will be even more reluctant to go, think about it, this city is just such a place, I am still more familiar with it. Master Zhao said casually.

The old Confucian picked up the chopsticks, stretched out to the plate of mutton, gently pinched the chopsticks, and sent them to his mouth, before he could put it in his mouth, the aroma went down the tip of his nose into his throat, and nodded with satisfaction.

Master Zhao looked at the old Confucian who had always been a mouthful, with a satisfied expression, and then picked up a piece of mutton and put it in his mouth, chewing it slightly, but he didn't feel any difference, and he was a little surprised.

The old Confucian said with a smile: "Old man Zhao doesn't know, those cattle, sheep and livestock in your family have eaten too much, and they definitely don't understand the people's thoughts on these meats, if I wanted to eat a little cattle and sheep and livestock in the early years, it would have to be painstaking, not to mention the government first, even the cattle and sheep had to make up a proper and good way to die, in order to eat a little bit, if it wasn't for the trade in the north, so many cattle and sheep were sent to the south every year, the court would not have abolished the law of livestock fasting." ”

Hearing the old Confucian student's answer, Old Man Zhao suddenly realized and asked, "Then what do you think of this method in the Northland?"

The old Confucian put a chopstick mutton into his mouth, drank a sip of plum wine, and smoothed the mutton, "There are pros and cons, the court has more livestock coming in, the people's farming has been reduced a lot, and the people can reclaim more wasteland and have more food, but Beiting is also more grain, and the soldiers have become stronger and stronger in the past two years, and I heard that the friction with the Beidi has also increased in the past two years, and I think it is ready to go south, but I think this is a good thing." ”

Master Zhao nodded, looked at the plate of mutton on the table, and said, "Do you think it's a good thing that Beiting is strong?"

The old Confucian pointed to the shopkeeper who was sitting at another table, listening to the conversation here, and said, "Why don't you ask him?"

Old Man Zhao turned his head to look at the somewhat embarrassed shopkeeper and smiled: "It's okay, it's okay, you still do it." ”

The shopkeeper was a little embarrassed to get on the stool, and the old man Zhao continued: "Everyone has curiosity, if it's not in the way, tell me if it's a good thing or a bad thing?"

The shopkeeper scratched his head, beckoned Xiao Er to get the pot of wine again, and then said: "I think it's very good, we used to have a little money all year round, and we only had chickens, ducks and fish, since the north drove a lot of cattle and sheep in, we can also taste the taste of cattle and sheep in the mouths of those princes' children." ”

The old servant's eyelids jumped slightly when he heard this, but Old Man Zhao still looked at the shopkeeper with a smile.

"In previous years, every winter, where not starvation to death a few people, the displaced people from the north are yellow and thin, looking very scary, now there are more livestock, in recent years, a lot of wasteland has been reclaimed outside the city, and the farmers have more grain, in recent years, I have rarely heard of any famine, our Dayan is also a lot richer, this is not a good thing, as for what you two old people said Beiting is strong, I am a small people, let's not talk about these things. The shopkeeper looked at the door a little cautiously and said.

Old Man Zhao laughed: "It's okay, it's okay, just drink and talk nonsense, and it doesn't matter if the shopkeeper talks about it." ”

The shopkeeper looked at Old Man Zhao's smiling face, and then said: "I think, it's true that those barbarians in Beiting are strong, but our Dayan is not weak, as for whether they go south or not, don't we still have those 200,000 Li family riders? There is no reason why they could be stopped twenty years ago, and they won't be able to stop them after twenty years? So, it's all good after all!"

Old Man Zhao suppressed his smile when he heard this, looked at the old Confucian who was eating mutton and drinking plum wine, picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks again, put it in his mouth, and chewed it carefully.

The people think it's good, but what about me?

What about the hundred officials?

What about those Confucian students?

Do they feel good too?

.........

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