Liangzhou, West Liangcheng.

A person sits alone in the wine shop, carrying the wine jar, and the clear wine flows into the wine bowl.

On the square table, there are two large plates of cooked meat, a plate of boiled mutton, and a plate of flavored beef jerky.

The beef jerky tastes good, but it's too hard, and when he was in the mountains, his apprentice also learned to make some jerky from Aunt Zhao under the mountain, but it was the first time he ate it like this.

Dressed in a green shirt and stepping on the bench with one foot, Huo Qiji picked up the wine bowl and glanced at the pedestrians coming and going.

He's waiting for someone.

After taking a sip of the wine in the bowl, Huo Qiji frowned. After all these years, he still hasn't gotten used to the taste of this spirit.

The mutton is boiled in water, but after it is cooked, it is sprinkled with some grated coarse salt, which has a unique flavor.

Cutting off a piece of mutton with a knife, putting it in his mouth, chewing it slowly, Huo Qiji noticed the person coming from the opposite side.

This is a man in his thirties, wearing a sweatshirt and shorts, looking at his careless gaze, Huo Qiji knows that this person is looking for someone.

Approaching the wine shop, the man glanced at Huo Qiji, who was sitting there drinking, swaggered into the wine shop with his hands behind his back, and shouted

"Xiao Er, come to a jar of good wine, it will be strong!"

After speaking, the man walked to the opposite side of Huo Qiji, leaned on the table with one hand, tilted his head and asked,

"This friend, do you mind sharing a table?"

Huo Qiji raised his eyes and looked at the rough man sitting opposite, didn't speak, just pulled the meat plate to his side.

Da Ma Jindao sat diagonally on the stool, stepped on the stool with one leg, and his arm was horizontal on the table, the man leaned forward slightly, and said with a smile,

"A leaf of duckweed returns to the sea, where does life not meet, meeting is fate, how about a few drinks together?"

Xiao Er had already brought the wine, and the man took the wine jar, put it on the table, stretched out his hand to pat the sealing mud, and poured it into his own wine bowl first.

Xiao Er saw that this guy didn't mean to order snacks, so he went to greet the other guests.

Pick up the wine bowl and salute the person opposite, and then pour it into his mouth.

Put down the wine bowl and wipe his mouth, and the man exhaled happily.

Huo Qiji picked up the wine bowl, saluted him back, and drank it all.

When the man saw him put down the bowl, he said,

"Come on, come on, I'll give you a bowl!"

After speaking, he took Huo Qiji's wine bowl, poured it full of wine, and pushed it back.

Next to the wine bowl, there is also a small sign.

Huo Qiji glanced at it, put his hand on the table, flicked his fingers, and the sign slid over, just to the bottom of the hand of the man on the opposite side who knocked on the table.

The man remained silent, put away the wooden card, and said in a low voice,

"I've seen my lord!"

Huo Qiji nodded, pushed the plate that he had just pulled over, picked up the wine bowl, he motioned, and took a sip.

The man hurriedly picked up the wine bowl.

Putting down the wine bowl, Huo Qiji asked

"How long have you been in this position?"

The burly, tendon-covered man was a little shy, reached out and grabbed his head and grinned,

"Villain Huang Tianba, it's been almost five years since I took over this brand, and the last time I came to Xiliang City, I was fortunate to see the demeanor of adults. ”

Seeing that the man's eyes were constantly glancing at the meat plate, Huo Qiji said,

"You invite me to drink, I invite you to eat meat. ”

The man who was smashing the wine in his mouth pulled the chopsticks "hehe", pulled out two sticks, inserted a piece of mutton, and gnawed it.

Huo Qiji didn't care, he ordered so much meat, it was for the people opposite.

The surroundings are noisy, there are all kinds of drinkers, and there is no shortage of people who are spitting and talking about the gossip of Zhang San and Li Si in a posture that looks at the world.

Huo Qiji said,

"I didn't think you have such a good memory, so you don't have to confirm my identity?"

The man named Huang Tianba put down the mutton he was gnawing, reached out and wiped his mouth, picked up the wine jar and poured a bowl of wine, and said while chewing,

"According to the original rules, the adult still has to show the waist card, the villain just sat down and drank a bowl of wine, ate a mouthful of meat, and did not break the rules, so if the adult has something to ask the small, then don't blame the villain for only recognizing the card and not recognizing the person. ”

Picking up the wine bowl, he said with a smile,

"The adult is extraordinary, more than ten years have passed, and it is still as fascinating as when I first saw the adult, if I really want to say that there is a little change, that is, the adult has become more unfathomable, the master said to me before, the adult is like the mountain in the northwest of our Liangzhou, it is so undesirable. Now the villain is fortunate to sit opposite the adult, only to feel that the adult is like the sea, and the general ......"

Huo Qiji took out a jade plaque from his arms, threw it on the table, and said,

"Okay, okay, don't squeeze the sycophants there, the brand is for you, the rules are still the rules, look at it, I have something to ask in a while." ”

The man with some oily hands was embarrassed to pick up the jade plate directly, rubbed his hands with his sweatshirt between his waists, and then picked up the jade plate from the table and looked at it carefully.

The fingertips rubbed gently, compared to their own copper waist card, the adult's black jade waist card can be described as delicate in texture and has an excellent feel.

The front of his waist card is a "cool" word, surrounded by a seal pattern, and the back is a line pattern.

A long line is on the top, and four short lines are divided into two groups at the bottom, which is the bowl diagram in the Bagua diagram, the Gen hexagram.

And the adult waist card, the front is a "Xuan" word, the surrounding seal pattern is no different from their own waist card, and the back is engraved with the Taiji Yin and Yang fish pattern.

After checking it, Huang Tianba took out his bronze medal, overlapped one side of the two brands engraved with gossip diagrams, and picked it up to examine it carefully.

When the two signs coincide, at a certain edge of the brand, there is just a "Gen hexagram" figure.

Huo Qiji put away the black jade card handed over by Huang Tianba, and then said,

"What do you do for a living now?"

Huang Tianba glanced around, poured wine from the altar, grabbed the unfinished meat in the bowl, took a bite, and said vaguely,

"Sell meat!"

Looking at Huang Tianba, who was gnawing meat, Huo Qi smiled and said,

"You are like a butcher, what about your master?

Huang Tianba swallowed the meat in his mouth, didn't hold back, picked up the bowl, drank another half bowl, and said while pouring wine,

"After teaching me some self-defense skills, the master will know how to do it, and I should have been taught it, after the master passed the sign to me, I found a place to care for the elderly, which is also the rule of our organization. ”

Glancing at the adult in front of him, he continued,

"My lord, I want to say that I can't find Master, and you can't believe it, but according to the rules, if you hand over the sign, it has nothing to do with the organization. When Master handed me the sign, he said that the most fortunate thing in his life was to meet the adult holding the black jade sign, but unfortunately he had never seen the white jade token. What the adults explained, Master has always remembered. When the sign came to me, I continued to do it, and if the master insisted on seeing the master, it would mean that I was not doing well and was willing to be punished. ”

Huo Qiji listened without saying a word, blocked Huang Tianba's hand to pour wine, filled the wine bowl himself, and drank slowly, Huang Tianba drank wine and meat on the opposite side, waiting for the adults to ask.

I sandwiched a piece of air-dried beef, did not put it in my mouth, but pinched the jerky with my left hand, put down the chopsticks with my right hand, tore off a small piece of shredded meat and put it in my mouth, and chewed it slowly and methodically.

Huang Tianba, who was munching on the opposite side, also slowed down his swallowing speed.

Huo Qi laughed,

"You just have to eat, if the wine is not enough, then call it, since the brand is in your hand, I will naturally only look for you, even if you give the brand to someone else tomorrow, I will find the person who got the brand, since the rules are so, you have to do things according to the rules." ”

Huang Tianba smiled, stuffed two pieces of jerky into his mouth, chewed hard, drank another bowl of wine, sent down the jerky that had not been chewed much in his mouth, burped, and said,

"It's worthy of being an adult, eating something is so temperamental, unlike me, a big old and coarse, not so much exquisite, in this case, the adult just asks, the adult has explained the things that have been sorted out over the years, and I have it in my place, which inn does the adult live in, and I will send it over when I turn back. ”

Huo Qiji nodded, and then said,

"You've worked hard all these years!"

Huang Tianba Zhengsedao,

"The adults have tormented the villain, it's just to sort out some news, and it doesn't take much effort, in the early years, I took the line of the palace, responsible for supplying meat to the palace, not to mention the money, it is more convenient to find out the news. ”

Speaking of this, he lowered his voice and said,

"Don't hide it from your lordship, there are also my eyes and ears in this palace. ”

Huo Qiji picked up the wine bowl, and Huang Tianba hurriedly filled his wine glass and touched the bowl.

Huang Tianba was a little excited, his hand holding the wine trembled a little, and he drank it in a big gulp, spilling the wine on his clothes.

He has always kept it in his heart, and the master told him that they can have today, and they must remember the person holding the jade plaque, which is their benefactor.

When he saw the black jade card, he hoped to meet the person with the white jade token one day.

___________________________

Wanwa dawns, and the heavy eaves are collected at night.

Rihui Qingzo Palace, Xiasheng Jieqi Building.

At the beginning of the morning, Yuan Xi and Cheng Shifei walked out of the gate of Pingnan City with the people of Zhang Fu and his party.

A group of eleven people, plus a dog, three carriages.

In the middle of the convoy was a carriage with a carriage, Zhang Zhongqian, Yuan Xi and Cheng Shifei were sitting inside, and there was a person driving outside.

In front of a flatbed carriage, four people sat in the carriage and one person drove.

It was followed by a carriage, also a flatbed carriage, on which were the necessities of the group's life, and two people sat on the front of the carriage and followed behind the main carriage.

Funny Fei has no treatment in a car, no rope restraint, Funny Fei is also very excited, running around on the road.

Zhang's business was in Wuling City, Jingzhou.

Wuling City is located in the east of Jingzhou, east of Yangzhou, is the city guarded by Xiang Feiang, the former commander of Bazhou's soldiers and horses.

Jingzhou has a total of five cities, the capital of Xiangyang in the north, and Yuzhou Jianye in the north. Between the two cities, it is the road from Jingzhou to Yuzhou, with the current situation, I am afraid that the soldiers and horses have already been facing each other, and the saber is rattling. To the west is the city of Spring Water, which borders Bazhou. The southern city is called Nanjun, and the southern part of Nanjun is half a mountain and half a sea. In the middle of Jingzhou is Xinling City.

The official road is quite smooth, and it is not too shaky in the carriage. The carriage is quite spacious, Zhang Zhongqian is in the center, and the two of them sit on both sides, facing the window, and the window is hung with curtains.

Zhang Zhongqian took out a small pocket folding table from under his seat, unfolded it and placed it between the three of them, and took out a sheepskin from the carry-on package on his side and spread it on the small table, which was a map drawn by hand.

He spoke,

"Yuan Shaoxia, Xiao Fei, as you know, I have been to Jingzhou many times, so I am very familiar with the route to Wuling City, and this map was prepared a few years ago. ”

Pointing to the map, he continued,

"This is Wuling City in Jingzhou, our destination. ”

This is what is right and wrong and asked,

"Brother-in-law, why didn't you choose Xiangyang, the capital?"

Zhang Zhongqian said,

"Xiao Fei, this way of doing business is also a practice, like martial arts, it is a game with others, this Xiangyang City is not something that we outsiders can eat, this truth will be understood when you are older. But I've already started to go that way, but now, alas, it's a pity!"

Zhang Zhongqian, who sighed, shook his head.

At this time, Yuan Xi said,

Bazhou is famous for Shu embroidery, and Yangzhou Wu embroidery is also unparalleled in the world, Yang, Xu Erzhou is rich in mulberry silk. Yangzhou silk is better than the local silk in Bazhou, so the high-quality silk is from Yangzhou and Xu Erzhou. There are more cotton and linen spinning cloths in Bazhou, although this cotton and linen cloth is not as comfortable to wear as silk, but it is wear-resistant and practical, and is loved by civilians. Presumably, Zhang Gongzi set the semicolon in Wuling, in order to further develop towards Yangzhou in the future. ”

Zhang Zhongqian was shocked for a while, and then said,

"I didn't expect Yuan Shaoxia to know how to do business, and he still knew so much about the products of various places. ”

Yuan Xi smiled,

"I just know a little, when the tutor taught me to read, he had some introductions to the customs and customs of various states, and I was very interested, so I kept them all in my heart. As for the businessmen, the family teacher is still very respected. ”

Regarding Shang Jia, the mountain dwellers started from an article by the sages.

Cheng Shifei next to him looked at Yuan Xi with a look of adoration, and then said,

"Brother Yuan, is your master omnipotent?"

Hearing this, Yuan Xi was a little distracted, and it had been a long time since he left his master, and his heart suddenly felt a little pantothenic.

I lifted the curtains and looked outside, and the breeze was blinded.

Blinking vigorously and taking a deep breath, Yuan Xi glanced at the teasing who was spreading wild outside, and then said,

"It's very fun to be funny, by the way, Zhang Gongzi, after we left Pingnan City, we went east?"

Cheng Shifei also noticed the strangeness of Brother Yuan, so he didn't say anything, he actually left home for the first time, he didn't go for long, he didn't feel anything, maybe he was infected by Yuan Xi, which made him suddenly remember that he was going to leave home for a while, Cheng Shifei suddenly missed his father, mother, and martial arts.

Reaching out and grabbing Zhang Zhongqian's sleeve, he shouted softly,

"Brother-in-law!"

Zhang Zhongqian is a few years older than the two, and he has gone far away many times, and he knows what is going on at a glance about the emotions of the two, after all, when he went to Jingzhou for the first time, he also shed tears in private.

Reaching out and patting the back of his hand, he spoke,

"Xiao Fei, there are a lot of fun and beautiful things along the way, you have to see more, after all, some people may never leave their hometown dozens of miles away in their lives. ”

Then he said to Yuan Xi,

"What Yuan Shaoxia said is good, originally I really wanted to take a firm foothold in Wuling, and then go to Yangzhou to have a look. ”

After saying that, he pointed to the map with his finger and swiped slightly, and after stopping in a small town, he continued,

"We're going all the way east, because there's a carriage, and we'll be here almost tomorrow evening, the town of Anyi in Cloud City. Where to rest for a night, the next day from Anyi Town, forward fifty miles, to the junction of Ba and Jing Prefecture, if nothing else, there should be soldiers and horses stationed here to check, after passing the checkpoint, we arrived at the boundary of Jingzhou. ”

Fingers continued to move across the map, and he said,

"After arriving in Jingzhou, we traveled east along the official road, crossing the boundary between Chunshui City and Xinling City, and finally arrived at Wuling City. There are three mountains on this road, and there are three powerful mountain bandits, namely Niujiao Mountain here, Erlong Mountain here, and Heifeng Ridge here. ”

Fingers tapped on these three positions, and Zhang Zhongqian said worriedly,

"These three mountain bandits are at the boundary of Chunshui City, the junction of Chunshui City and Xinling, and the eastern part of Xinling, all of which are our only routes. These three mountains have been in business for many years, it is said that the Jingzhou government has sent troops to suppress bandits many times, it may be that these groups of mountain bandits are too fierce and cunning, all of them have returned in vain, it is said that there have been several hard fights, the mountain bandits occupy the geographical advantage, and the officers and soldiers did not take advantage of the slightest advantage, so he went. ”

At this time, Cheng Shifei asked curiously,

"Brother-in-law, how did you get through?

Zhang Zhongqian shook his head, and then said,

"Actually, it's not, these guards who were in charge of the guards earlier concentrated on worshipping the mountain, and a group of warriors went up the mountain, but it was not comparable to those officers and soldiers, after all, they were all begging for a living on the tip of a knife. The three hills, together with some small grass cobs, made an agreement with them, that whenever the merchants of the state passed by, they could prepare a lump sum of money. As for who will pay for this money, what do you say?"

Cheng thought about it and said,

"Logically speaking, whoever hires someone will go out, but they have spent money to hire guards, and they will inevitably be a little wronged if they pay this road money. ”

Zhang Zhongqian nodded, and then said,

"It's said that it's a guard, but it's actually just a façade, you don't hire people, this gang of mountain bandits is ruthless, they rob you completely, and you lose your life in vain if you can't save it, and it doesn't make sense to send a sum of money at that time. Therefore, we have to recognize people when we buy and sell. However, the guards paid for the money themselves. ”

"Huh?" Cheng was a little confused.

At this time, Yuan Xi opened his mouth,

"The left and right are but the wool of the sheep is out of the sheep, and they just need more money. ”

Zhang Zhongqian smiled,

"What Yuan Shaoxia said is true, the reason is such a reason, we will pay the money, as long as they guarantee that there will be no accidents, as for whether there is a balance, it depends on their ability. After all, there are strong and weak guards, and it depends on how thin the bandits are. In addition, the guards of other states passing by, according to the rules on the road, will be more than fifty percent. So we used to keep an eye on it, and generally hired people from our Bazhou to escort them to Anyi Town. Then go to Chunshui City to hire Jingzhou's guards, and then escort them. ”

Yuan Xi smiled, and then said,

"It's just a businessman's duty to be careful with a budget. ”

When Zhang Zhongqian heard this, he was a little surprised, this Yuan Shaoxia seemed to have a unique opinion.

It is necessary to know that the saying "Shinong Industry and Commerce" has existed since ancient times, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period when the sages came out, and it is recorded in the classics that have been handed down to this day, "Shinong Industry and Commerce are the four people, and the stone people of the country are also." "The ancients had four people: scholars, merchants, peasants, and workers."

In the Han Dynasty a few hundred years before the Great Jin Dynasty, there was an order of the four peoples of "Shi Nong Industry and Commerce", with Shi as the head, agriculture second, industry as the second, and commerce as cheap.

The ancestor who established the foundation of the Han Dynasty even ordered that "the Jia people should not be clothed and cared, and the heavy rent tax would be humiliated".

Although the court's attitude towards merchants improved slightly after Gaozu, there was still a system of "descendants are not allowed to be eunuchs", so that merchants were always inferior.

No matter how much money you have, you can't elevate your status, which is the distress of businessmen.

From the mouth of this Yuan Shaoxia, Zhang Zhongqian felt that he did not look down on himself.

In fact, don't look at their businessmen who pay for guards, these guards don't talk much to the owner, and pursue the principle of taking people's money and doing things with people, and even the owner who spends money has to laugh more at these guards.

There are no equals in the country, not only scholars, but also samurai.

Martial arts practitioners, even if they are not samurai, are not comparable to merchants, so the caretaker in the merchant compound cannot invite real warriors, and can only hire poor people who have learned some fists and kicks to make a living.

If you read fewer books, you won't have so much sense of nobility.

From Yuan Shaoxia's conversation, coupled with his skills, he must be a person who is both civil and military, and he can really be called a national soldier, looking at himself like this, Zhang Zhongqian felt a lot of emotion in his heart.

He told the two of them in detail about the details of these gangs of bandits and bandits that he had heard before, and Yuan Xi and Cheng had a general understanding in their hearts.

In the evening of the next day, the group arrived at Anyi Town.

-------------------------

Wei Long looked at Ji Daqiang, kneeling in front of him, with mixed feelings.

It's just that who did he listen to when he called this daddy?

On the side, Lu Shiyin covered his mouth with his hand, and his beard shook under his chin.

He almost choked back his internal injuries, coughed lightly, and said,

"Big wall, come here, this is General Wei, don't scream, be careful of breaking the general's life. ”

Kneeling there, Ji Daqiang, who was about to bow three times, thought that it was broken, he recognized the wrong person. Secretly raised his eyes and glanced at the person he was kneeling down, his temples were already gray, how could he be his father at such an age.

Just as Ji Daqiang was thinking about how to resolve such an embarrassing situation in his heart, Wei Long, who was in a trance, glared at the old guy who was gloating next to him, and opened his mouth,

"Child, get up, it was the old man who sent you to Penglai Pavilion back then. Regarding your life experience, after you go down the mountain, the old man will tell you in detail. ”

When Ji Daqiang heard this, could it be that this old man was his grandfather?

Guessing in his heart, Ji Daqiang, who didn't dare to call him indiscriminately, said,

"It's because the big wall is abrupt, it's really because the big wall has been on this mountain for several years, and his heart is full of thoughts and imagination of his loved ones, so he talks nonsense, and asks the general to forgive the boy for being abrupt. ”

After speaking, Ji Daqiang, who got up, bowed to Lu Shi and saluted,

"The wall has seen sir!"

Lu Shiyin stroked his beard, nodded and smiled,

"Good, good!"

Before Ji Daqiang came to the cottage, Wei Long was talking to Lu Shiyin about the situation in Xuzhou.

In Daze Township, Langdiecheng in the south of Xuzhou, a fisherman named Ji Hiiragi actually teamed up with a person named Su Ming to launch an uprising, and nearly 1,000 people responded in a few days.

Then there were more and more followers, and this group of people actually captured Langdi City within half a year, and used this stronghold to shout to overthrow the Xuzhou regime, and support Ji Hiiragi as the new king, and Su Ming as the foot king.

The rebel army proclaimed itself the Green Turban Army, tied a triangular green scarf to its left arm, and shouted the slogan "The world is one, and the people should be evenly divided".

There is not much land within the Langdi City, because it is close to the sea, and the two towns and three townships are all fishing villages, so most of the rebels are fishermen.

It is said that the occurrence of this uprising originated from an order from the royal city of Xuzhou.

Dig for red coral.