A soldier said: "Lao Shou has earned a lot of silver over the years, in addition to drinking is gambling, if it weren't for his good skills, he would have died on the street." ”

Another soldier said: "There are always hundreds of people who rely on the imperial tomb to eat, and Lao Shou is the master who can spend the most money." The tricks he played were also the most, looking at his style, I was afraid that he was also a rich kid back then, and I don't know why he fell here, it's a pity. ”

A few people talked about it, but they were all embarrassed. Li Qiufeng left his heart, glanced at Murong Danyan, stood up with the teacup, walked to the bearded table, and said with a smile: "This military master, can you take a step to speak?"

The bearded man glanced up at Li Qiufeng, and saw that he was neatly dressed, not like a local, and he spoke politely, but he didn't dare to underestimate it, and said, "Do we know you?"

Li Qiufeng laughed and said, "Isn't it now that you know it?" turned to the tea stall owner and said: "The accounts of these military masters are settled on me, and each of them will be served a pot of fine pineapple tea, and another snack will be selected." ”

These soldiers are just small soldiers in the barracks, and the days of careful planning have passed a lot, and this tea money is not a small amount for them. At this time, seeing Li Qiufeng's generous move, he looked at each other, and he didn't know why this person settled the bill for himself for no reason.

The bearded man stood up and smiled, "This brother is so polite. As he spoke, he walked to a spare table and sat down, and said to Li Qiufeng, "This brother is not a local, right?"

Li Qiufeng looked around and said in a low voice: "Don't hide it from the military master, the junior brother is from the capital." ”

The bearded man nodded and said, "It can be seen that my brother's demeanor is not like the turtle in this town." ”

Li Qiufeng said: "Don't hide it, my brother is collecting accounts from Sibaozhai outside Zuo'anmen in the capital, and he has been collecting arrears in this area in the past few days." How many military masters can recognize the old man surnamed Shou just now?"

The bearded man was startled and said, "Lao Shou also went to the capital to borrow money?"

Li Qiufeng said: "He didn't borrow money directly from Sibaozhai. Speaking of this, Li Qiufeng pointed to the tavern and said: "He owes money to the tavern, but the tavern owner's capital is borrowed from Sibaozhai." The younger brother came here a few days ago to collect the money owed to Sibao Zhai. The boss said that the turnover has not been opened recently, so let it be delayed for a few days. The younger brother was urgent, and he said that the old man surnamed Shou owed him more than a dozen taels of silver, and if he was in a hurry, he could ask Shou Lao for it. The younger brother was about to talk to this old man about repaying the debt, and he happened to hear a few military masters mention this person because he wanted to inquire......"

The bearded man didn't wait for Li Qiufeng to finish speaking, and said with a smile: "Brother, you are asking the right person." Lao Shou owes money without worry, although this person is not doing business, but the character is still good, he has money, he will pay off your debts. Just ......"

Speaking of this, the bearded man groaned for a while and said: "It's just a dozen taels of silver is not a small amount, and the salary of Lao Shou for a year is only twenty taels, and it is difficult to repay all the money for a while." ”

Li Qiufeng deliberately showed an anxious expression and said: "How can this be good? Our owner said that if we don't collect all the arrears this time, we will deduct my younger brother's salary." ”

The bearded man smiled and said, "You can talk to Lao Shou about it." He is a drunkard and a gambler, but he has nothing to say about his character. The owner of this gambling house wants you to negotiate with Lao Shou for arrears, and he must know that Lao Shou will not be in arrears for too long. ”

Li Qiufeng said: "In this way, the military master is quite familiar with this old man?"

The bearded man smiled proudly: "Brother, you are asking the right person." To tell you the truth, we are all garrisons of this imperial tomb, and Lao Shou was originally a gardener and has been working in the imperial tomb for many years. He also has a handmade pen, which is quite remarkable. ”

Speaking of this, the bearded man looked around, stretched his head in front of Li Qiufeng, and whispered: "Lao Shou did a great thing back then, and he made a lot of money. ”

Seeing that he was solemn, Li Qiufeng also whispered: "I want to hear about it." ”

The bearded man said: "That was more than ten years ago, when the first emperor died. I heard that a cabinet scholar came from the capital to prepare for the burial of the emperor's coffin in this imperial tomb. The minister of Guan Ling naturally did not dare to slack off, but fortunately he hid an eye, afraid that something would not be handled well, and before the arrival of the scholar, the minister of Guan Ling first went to the Kangling of the first emperor to inspect it.

"As a result, it was okay not to inspect, but something big happened during this inspection. The south wall of the Feng'an Palace, which was originally temporarily placed before being sent to the underground palace, suddenly fell off. Nothing can be done if the wall is peeled off, just have to be repainted by the craftsman. The worst thing is that when the first emperor came in the past, a 'narcissus playing in the water' painted on the wall by the palace painter was destroyed due to the wall falling off. This picture was also appreciated by the Queen Mother back then, and cabinet scholars and other officials also saw it with their own eyes. If you arrive here and find that this picture is missing, the ministers of Guan Ling are all serious crimes.

"The big guys are like ants on a hot pot, and they are so anxious that they don't know what to do. At this time, the head of the repair team secretly said to the minister of Guan Ling that there was a gardener who was good at painting with fine brushes, and had made up a lot of murals for the imperial mausoleum. The minister in charge of the tomb was also helpless, so he had to use the dead horse as a live horse doctor, and found the gardener to come over and ask him to redraw a 'narcissus playing in the water' on the wall. When the gardener arrived, the minister wanted everyone to describe to him what the picture looked like, but the gardener said, "I walk every day in this Feng'an Temple, and I have already seen the frescoes. ’

"At first, everyone thought that this gardener was bragging, but in an afternoon, he actually repainted a 'narcissus playing in the water' on the wall, and even the handymen who cleaned the Feng'an Hall every day could not see how different it was from the original picture. The minister of Guan Ling was overjoyed, and praised him again and again, and rewarded him with eighty taels of silver.

"This gardener is Lao Shou. Since then, he is no longer just a gardener in the imperial tomb, and some things that he writes and paints are also entrusted to him to do. Ordinary handymen are paid no more than five taels of silver a year, and they can only be paid rice and grain. Lao Shou took a real twenty taels of silver, and he never defaulted. Over the years, there have been three or four ministers of Guan Ling, each of whom is very good to this old man, for fear of a snubbing, this old guy quit his job and did not do it, once there is something in the future, he will inevitably lose his life. If it weren't for the fact that a skill can live the whole family, how can it be like our big soldiers, who are tired to death and only rely on a little military pay to survive?"

When the bearded man said this, he complained about Qiu Ba's difficulty, and then said: "Lao Shou is a lonely old stick, the whole family is not hungry when he is full, and he has this craft, so he doesn't have to worry about food and clothing." It's just that the older he gets, the more playful he becomes, and the more he plays, the more tricks he plays. In the imperial mausoleum, he often drank and gambled with everyone, and he was more proficient than anyone else. It's just that he always has a lot of fun with acquaintances in the imperial tomb, so he often secretly goes to the gambling house in this market to gamble. ”

The bearded man turned his head to look at the tavern, and whispered to Li Qiufeng: "Lao Shou gambles money in the imperial tomb, everyone is an acquaintance, although there are also people who play tricks, but it is only a small means, Lao Shou can be regarded as winning more and losing less." The owner of this gambling house is a black-hearted person, and all the platforms he has have are equipped with organs, so how can Lao Shou win money? I am afraid that the silver that Lao Shou threw in this gambling house is more than 100 taels. Alas, it's a pity that Lao Shou is this person. Otherwise, gambling on this thing must not be contaminated......"

The two talked about it again, and finally Li Qiufeng said: "The news of the military master, the little brother also has a bottom in his heart. This old man can't take out a dozen taels of silver for a while, and the money still has to fall on the owner of this gambling house. ”

The bearded man said, "Brother is indeed a reasonable man. If you ask Lao Shou for it, he will never default, and he will definitely want to borrow money to repay you. It's just that in the past few years, he has borrowed all the money from his acquaintances in the imperial mausoleum, although he has borrowed and repaid, this face is always a little indelible. We heard that in the past few years, he actually went to borrow usury, alas, Amitabha, this is a dead end. Brother, I think it's better for you to ask the owner of the gambling house for this account. ”

Li Qiufeng thanked him, took out dozens of Jiajing Tongbao and gave them to the bearded man, and then returned to the table.

Murong Danyan saw that he had been discussing privately with the bearded man for a long time, and he was curious, and asked in a low voice, "Brother Li, what do you have to talk about with this Qiu Ba?"