On the second day of February, the dragon raised its head.

From Shuzhong to Yinyang, the nearest road is to take the mountain trail to cross the wild goose back to the mountain, you can also enjoy the scenery of the big snow mountain, if you are lucky, you can also see the wonder of tens of thousands of wild geese returning to the north when the southern wild goose returns to the north.

However, Zhao Lanjiang insisted on leaving Shu from Jianmen.

He's going to visit an old friend.

Zhao Lanjiang doesn't have many friends, Xiao Jinyan counts one, Li Chengcheng counts half at most, and the other is in Jianmen.

The peaks and peaks on both sides of the sword gate lean against the sky like a sword, and its shape is like a door, so it is called the sword gate.

This is the place where Hanzhong must pass through to enter Shu, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it has been a place where soldiers must fight since ancient times.

When the three of them arrived at the Sword Gate, it was already noon, and they sat down in a teahouse under the city tower.

Zhao Lanjiang asked for tea and ordered four dishes and one soup: steamed tofu, fried tofu, stuffy tofu, stinky tofu and tofu soup.

Xiao Jinyan said, "Even if Jianmen tofu is famous all over the world, you can't even eat a little meat, Lao Zhao, you are too picky, right?"

Zhao Lanjiang said, "Back then, at the border army outpost, I opened up the wasteland during the day, and at night, I could eat a piece of tofu, which was already a delicacy in the world, and you still asked for so much?"

"Aren't you a scout, why do you still have to open up wasteland?"

Zhao Lanjiang said angrily, "Do you think that fighting on the border is to fight every day? In a year, it is too much to fight five or six battles, and in the rest of the days, if you don't open up the wasteland, will the brothers all drink the northwest wind?"

This is true, the border army of the Ming Dynasty implemented the military cantonment system, these soldiers, in wartime, are soldiers, and when they are off, they can cultivate fields, if there is no major war, they can also be self-sufficient.

In the event of a major military operation, grain and grass had to be transported from the interior to the border. Each province has a granary, by the special army through the post station along the way to transport grain, Shuzhong, Hanzhong is the first batch of supplies in wartime.

Now the situation in the west is tense, and along the way, they have encountered many teams carrying grain, which are to ensure the supply of the army.

Every year, there are grain merchants from the Central Plains to Yinyang to sell grain, and after the transaction, the cowhides, sheepskins and pearls and spices of the Western Chu and Northern Zhou Dynasty are transported back to the Central Plains, so as to obtain greater profits.

Now that the war is about to start, the price of grain in Yinyang City has soared, although it is not very peaceful on the grain road, but the wealth is in danger, outside the sword gate, there are also many grain teams, in groups, and they have hired experienced dignitaries and dart masters who have been running the Western Front all year round, ready to earn a vote before the war.

In the teahouse, a storyteller was telling the story of Jiang Boyue, the general of Shu State, who refused to defend the Jianmen Pass and trapped 100,000 Wei troops outside the pass, and the three of them were fascinated.

Xiao Jinyan asked the two of them, "This sword gate is not open, if you are Zheng Ai and want to attack Shuzhong, what should you do?"

Li Chengcheng was born in a family, and he was familiar with military books since he was a child, he said, "It is almost not advisable to conquer the Sword Gate head-on, but first break through Langzhong, attack from the east, west, and south of the slower terrain, cut off the supply of the Sword Gate and the rear, and the Sword Gate can naturally be broken." ”

Zhao Lanjiang sneered beside him, "It's just talking on paper." ”

Li Chengcheng was not convinced, "Then General Zhao, tell me how to break this sword gate?"

Zhao Lanjiang pondered for a moment and said, "The Sword Gate Pass cannot be broken, but guarding the Sword Gate Pass is a person, and if a person is a person, he will have weaknesses. ”

Xiao Jinyan just asked casually, but he didn't expect Zhao Lanjiang to answer like this, and he couldn't help but become interested, "How can you say this?"

Zhao Lanjiang said, "In this world, there are two kinds of people. One is greedy for money, power, and sex, and this kind of person is easy to deal with, and as long as their desires are satisfied, they will naturally lean on your side; the other kind of person is more likely to deal with loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness. ”

Xiao Jinyanqi said, "Aren't all this kind of people willing to die rather than give in, what methods do you use to deal with them?"

Zhao Lanjiang smiled slightly and said, "The code of conduct that supports this kind of person is nothing more than the faith in the heart, as long as their faith is shaken, they will be defeated." If you are loyal to the emperor, then find a way to make the emperor lose trust in you, if you abide by filial piety, then let you become an unfilial person, as for righteousness, find a way to make your friends betray you, do these three points, what sword gate, ghost gate, I can break it!"

Li Qingcheng also said, "This is not like Zhao Lanjiang's style, I thought you would say, give me a knife, and I will kill you from the front." ”

"The path of the sword and the way of the soldier are two completely different paths. The way of the knife pays attention to indomitable, and the way of the soldier pays attention to the right and strange dependence, after all, the two are different paths to the same end, and the ultimate opponent is still the hearts of the people. ”

Xiao Jinyan said, "It looks so profound." ”

"However, if you're the one guarding the gate, I don't know what to do. ”

"Why?"

"We've known each other for so long, and I haven't seen through you, what exactly are you asking for. ”

Xiao Jinyan smiled, "Actually, if I come to guard the pass, it is not difficult to break through, as long as I send me ten jars of Chishui wine, I will open the city gate and surrender." By the way, didn't you say that your friends would greet you when they heard you coming, why did you come here for so long and not even see a figure?"

Zhao Lanjiang said that I didn't tell him in advance.

"And where did he come from?"

Zhao Lanjiang said: "The young owner of Leijiazhuang, Lei Zhenyu." ”

Xiao Jinyan suddenly said, "I've always heard of Leijiazhuang, but I didn't know that they were in Jianmen, and I heard that their small objects were quite famous." ”

Leijiazhuang is not a martial arts family, but they are not famous in the rivers and lakes, they are good at making organs, strange and obscene skills, etc., and they are quite popular in the rivers and lakes.

Some of the major sects and children of the family have insufficient martial arts, and they are equipped to make up, and many of the necessary suits for walking the rivers and lakes are produced in Leijiazhuang. Especially the people of Leijiazhuang's skin mask, which lasts for a long time, is breathable and does not cause rashes, can also greatly replenish water, and can even control micro-expressions, which is a must in the rivers and lakes.

However, compared with the Royal Sword Villa, which has business all over the world, the pattern of Leijiazhuang is a little small. First, these strange and skillful things are not very helpful for martial arts to enter the realm, and the audience is not wide, unlike swords and the like, which are almost the first choice for people who practice martial arts. The second is that this craft is passed on to men but not to women, and it is limited to descendants of the descendants, resulting in the inability to operate on a large scale on the rivers and lakes. The third is Lei Ming, the owner of Leijiazhuang, who is well-known for his violent temper in the rivers and lakes, picking and choosing in business, all based on his mood, and he doesn't even give the prince face. At that time, His Royal Highness the King of Han wrote a letter to customize a mask, but Lei Dazhuang directly refused, saying that he had to be interviewed by the King of Han in person. You must know that the Ming Dynasty has very strict control over all the princes, and they are not allowed to go out of the domain without being recruited, this requirement almost brought disaster to Leijiazhuang, and later under the mediation of a senior in the rivers and lakes, it was barely calmed down, even so, the owner of Lei Zhuang did not agree to the conditions of the Han King.

After eating the tofu feast, the three of them walked towards the inner city of Jianmen Pass. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court set up thousands of households in Jianmen Pass, and because there were fewer wars, they gradually gathered into towns, and they were also considered larger towns on the Shu Road.

Along the way, I saw lights on the road, stopping a person who was walking in a hurry, "What is the happy event in the city today?"

The man said, "Today is the day when Lei Zhenyu, the young owner of Leijiazhuang, and Yu Jiaxue, the eldest lady of Yujiabao, got married, and everyone with heads and faces in the city went to congratulate them, and I was about to go over there to ask for a cup of wine to eat!"

"Which Yujiabao?"

The man said with a smile, "Of course, it is Yujiabao, which is known as the number one grain merchant in Shuzhong! Even the thousands of households here are also the eldest uncle!"

Jianmen Yu's family is unknown in the Central Plains, but it is a well-known grain merchant in Shuzhong, because of its proximity to the capital of Tianfu and the nepotism of thousands of households, Yu's family has made a fortune by transporting grain to the west in recent years. When the three of them came, they met several convoys transporting grain on the road, all of which were assembled at the Yu family, either paying a lot of tariffs or selling them directly to the Yu family at a discount.

When Zhao Lanjiang heard that his good friend was going to get married, he was also happy for him, and couldn't help asking, "How is this eldest lady's conduct?"

The man smiled, leaned over and whispered, "This is the eldest lady, but the number one strange woman in the Sword Gate, there are not ten men who have died because of her in the past two years, and there are half of them." ”

Zhao Lanjiang said suddenly, "It turns out that she is still an amorous beauty." ”

"Haha!" the man smiled, "That's not it, Miss Yu looks extremely ugly, and her temper is also a first-class and short-tempered, the man she fancies, if she doesn't obey him, she will either commit suicide or be killed by her, this young master of the Lei family, when enjoying the lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month, was accidentally bumped into by Miss Yu and blocked on the bridge, when he was forced to be cornered and jumped into the river, who expected that Miss Yu had excellent water nature and rescued him, so he had to marry him, and their Lei family was unlucky!"

Zhao Lanjiang asked, "Is the owner of Lei Zhuang willing to agree to this family business?"

"What if you don't agree?" the man said, "He is the richest businessman in Jianmen, and his uncle is the head of a thousand households in Jianmen, and he has money and power in his hands. Don't say it, Lord Qianhu has made a post, if it's late, we're going to eat. ”

Zhao Lanjiang sighed.

Xiao Jinyan comforted, "Actually, it's not necessarily a good thing, the mask of the Lei family is known as the best in the world, even if the other party is a saltless girl, there is a way to make it look like a sable cicada." ”

Li Chengcheng also said, "It's the time to groom every day, which is a little long." ”

However, sighing and sighing, after all, it is a good brother to marry, and it should always be said that Zhao Lanjiang went to the antique shop in the city, and after picking for a long time, he didn't know what to choose.

Xiao Jinyan saw that in the inconspicuous corner, there was a painting hanging on it, with a big red carp shuttling through the pool, and in mid-air, dozens of lightning bolts slashed into the sky and slashed towards the carp. The inscription is written in one line, "Fish leaping thunder pond map, Mingcui Lake Danqing sheng".

He felt a little familiar, as if Wang Banxian had mentioned him back then, living in seclusion on the shore of Mingcui Lake, and he was also a generation of Danqing saints in the dynasty, but he didn't expect to meet his painting here, so he said: "I think this painting is good." ”

The guy sneered in his heart, this painting has rarely been cared about since he entered the store, and it has been seven or eight years now, I didn't expect someone to ask about it today, and he smiled and said, "This guest officer is really a good eye, it was made by a senior in the rivers and lakes decades ago when he passed the sword gate, to speak, this painting is still a little strange!"

"Tell me about it. ”

The man said, "Do you know that when it rains on a cloudy day and when there is thunder, the crucian carp in the painting will come to life and can avoid the thunder." He pointed to the carp in the painting and said, "The last time there was thunder, the fish was still on the left, and now it is on the right." ”

But I thought in my heart, it won't rain in this weather anyway, how can I come here, these three fools are not locals when they hear it, and they will be falsely accused of them for a while, and when it really comes to thunder, they will have already left, and they will not run back to Jianmen to confront him for a painting?

Although Li Chengcheng does not know how to be green, but there are thousands of famous paintings in the family, and his appreciation is still there, he carefully looked at this painting, and the pen and ink are all excellent works, which are better than some famous artists in the family, so he said, "I also think it is good!"

The man said, "This painting is the treasure of the small shop, and we won't sell it to ordinary customers!"

Zhao Lanjiang was slightly disappointed, "So that's the case, if a gentleman doesn't win people's love, it seems that he can only endure the pain of love." ”

When the guy heard this, he paid it back, and even changed his words, "Don't mind, I see that the three of them are destined people, otherwise, if you sincerely want to buy, I will go and talk to the boss and give you a discount, how about it?"

With that, the man came to the back hall. Of course, he won't really ask the boss for this kind of bad painting, he just pretends to be like it, and it will be convenient to draw it later.

The shopkeeper is sitting on the Taishi chair making kung fu tea. Tea is good tea, three years ago in the Ming Dynasty before the Longjing, the water is good water, the second swill when brushing the pot, Lu Yu's "Book of Tea" has clouds, swill soaked in Longjing, the more you drink, the clearer you are.

When he saw the guy coming in, he frowned and said, "Lai Shun, you don't take care of the guests in the front, what are you doing in the back hall?"

The guy smiled, "There are three customers in the store today, and they have taken a fancy to that fish mine, so I'll take a look at them first, and I'll sell it at a good price later." ”

"What fish' Ray Figure?"

"That's the picture of a fish jumping into the thunder pool!"

When the boss heard this, he sat up suddenly and asked, "What year is it?"

When the guy heard this, he said in his heart What is wrong with the boss today, is it stupid to drink that unique swill tea, and said, "Nine years of Tiantong!"

Emperor Ming succeeded to the throne for 20 years, the first year still used the previous Shunde ten years of the year name, from the second year, the year name Yuanhua, to the tenth year, and changed the year name to Tiantong, now counted, it is the ninth year of Tiantong.

The boss said, "In the ninth year of Tiantong, the second day of the second month of February." But it's been ten years!"

Ten years ago, he was a guy in the restaurant, when there was an old man who ate white food and refused to pay, he saw that the old man was in rags, and some books were angry, so he helped him settle the bill, and the old man was also happy, and drew a picture of a fish leaping into the thunder pond and gave it to him, and told him that in ten years, there would be three young people who would pay a lot of money to buy it.

At that time, he saw that the picture was very simple, and the pen was quite casual, and it was always going on, and later when he opened the store, he found the picture, and when he framed it and sprinkled it with water and pulp, the painting seemed to be alive, and the fish actually moved, and he thought it was an illusion, and later, every time it rained on a cloudy day, the painting was more vivid, and now, it is exactly ten years.

For the past ten years, this painting has been hanging on the wall, as if it never existed, no one has ever asked about this painting, I can't imagine that there are really three people who come to inquire today, so they ask, "What do those three people look like?"

"Man. ”

"Nonsense! I asked you how old you were and what you looked like. ”

"In my twenties, one of them is okay in appearance, and he is more beautiful than a woman, and the other two are average, not as good as me. However, looking at the way they dress, they don't look like rich people!"

The boss said, "What do you know, people can't be good-looking, these days, rich people like to travel in a low-key manner, is it the same as you, there are two money, and they can't wait to stick it to their heads?"

The guy smirked, "So, I made them a pot of tea and was waiting in the front hall." ”

The line of calligraphy and painting is very deep, and the price is relatively arbitrary, all depending on the mind of the person who buys it. This guy has been working for so long, and at first judgment, these three people don't look like rich masters, but they still make a pot of tea, and there is a lot of knowledge in it.

This pot of tea, not up or down, not good or bad, ten taels and one pound of melon slices.

Meet later, first ask how the tea is, if you say good tea, it must be that you have not drunk too expensive tea, what price can you bear, and you will have a number in your heart when you quote. If you say that the tea is too inferior, it must be a person who understands tea, and when you ask for the price, you will naturally ask for it.

All in all, when you ask for a price, you will not be embarrassed, and you will not suffer too much.

The boss came to the front hall with the guy called Laishun.

The three of them were still standing in the lobby.

Come by the way, "The three of you can come today, our boss is doing birthday today, and the calligraphy and paintings in the store are all five folds." ”

Zhao Lanjiang asked, "Then how much does this painting sell?"

Lai Shun didn't answer, and asked, "Three, what do you think of this tea?"

Zhao Lanjiang said, "Fade out of a bird." ”

asked Xiao Jinyan again, Xiao Jinyan said, "Tea is tea, no matter how you drink it, it's not as good as wine." ”

The guy sighed in his heart, he probably didn't have much money, and asked Li Chengcheng again.

The cup of tea in front of Li Chengcheng's table didn't even move, and he said lightly, "Last year's Lu'an melon slices should be the second-class plum slices of Qishan, and they were transported here from Luzhou Mansion, and they were only seven or eight hundred wen a catty." ”

Lu'an Gua Pian Valley picks it before the rain, picks it for plum slices during the rainy season, and takes the most authentic and top melon slices in the bat cave of Dabie Mountain, and the price per catty is more than 10,000 taels.

The boss is a person who is good at tea, and when he heard it, he was so angry that he scolded, "The grandsons of the Nine Donkeys Tea told me that they were first-class tablets, and Lao Tzu spent ten taels of silver to buy them!"

Li Tingcheng said with a smile, "Tea is like an antique, and when anyone has a distraction, they should spend money to buy a lesson." ”

The boss was not reconciled, so he went back to the back hall and took out the high-grade Longjing that had just been brewed, and asked, "How about you take a look at this tea again?"

A smell of swill came out, and Xiao and Zhao took two steps back. Li Tingcheng couldn't help but cover his nose and said, "The taste is peaceful, the soup is thick and fine, it is really a rare good tea!"

When the boss heard this, he said as if he had met a confidant, "This guest officer is really a person who understands tea, in this way, I will sell it to you at a discount of three hundred taels for this picture of the fish leaping thunder pool that you fancie!"

Zhao Lanjiang's face turned green when he heard this, and he said, "Let's go, I think we can buy a carp and send it over!"

The three of them turned and walked out.

The guy shouted, "Wait!"

The three of them stopped.

The guy asked, "How much are you going to pay for it?"

Zhao Lanjiang stretched out three fingers.

The guy said, "Okay, thirty taels is thirty taels, who let you fall in love with our boss like this?"

Zhao Lanjiang smiled, "Three taels!"

The guy said with a dark face, "As the saying goes, the sky is asking for a price to pay back on the ground, and you shout three taels of silver for three hundred taels of silver. ”

He came to the painting, "Look at Dan Qingsheng, the first painter three hundred years ago, look at this paper again, the color is yellow, the authentic window lattice paper, full of antiquity, this paper alone is more than three taels of silver." ”

As he spoke, his hand fell on the drawing paper and accidentally pressed a hole, "Ahem, look at this fish again, it's such a big one, it's not an ordinary fish...... Hey, where's the fish?"