I am happy to be a mother in a famine year, I have a system to farm the land

He took the token carefully and looked at it again and again. Then his hand trembled and he almost dropped the token on the ground.

Fortunately, he had quick eyesight and quick hands, so he grabbed the token again.

"This...is this a royal token?"

Zhang Siyuan nodded, "I can definitely protect the person the shopkeeper cares about, and so can that person."

The shopkeeper's eyes were full of astonishment at this time, and his mind was blank. He didn't think much about Zhang Siyuan's words, and just nodded mechanically.

Seeing the shopkeeper's behavior, Zhang Siyuan did not urge him.

It took the shopkeeper a long time to come to his senses. He claimed to be a well-informed person. But he has never had contact with the royal family.

After all, a small Qingshui County is indeed too small for the entire Zhou Dynasty.

Seeing that the shopkeeper's face was slightly relaxed, Zhang Siyuan personally poured a cup of tea for the shopkeeper and handed it over.

There was no tea in the cell, but Zhang Siyuan specifically asked Magistrate Han for a food box and tea when he came.

The shopkeeper saw this, hesitated for a moment, and then took the tea.

"I won't hide it from the shopkeeper until now. Now, not only our Qingshui County, but also people in Lin County next door are investigating."

The shopkeeper was shocked when he heard this.

Although he had heard rumors about Lin County a few days ago, the specific matter had not yet been found out, so he didn't take it to heart.

Now it seems that there is indeed something fishy about this matter.

"Lin County..."

Looking at the shopkeeper's expression, Zhang Siyuan chuckled.

"Don't worry, shopkeeper. The person who went to Linxian this time has also heard of the shopkeeper. He is His Highness Prince Ling."

The shopkeeper's hand holding the tea cup shook. When he saw the royal token, he had a bad premonition.

Now that he heard this, his heart suddenly trembled.

It seems that something big is going to happen in the court.

Thinking of Zhang Siyuan's identity in front of me, I also thought of the big shot Zhang Siyuan mentioned, and the King Ling of Lin County...

At this time, the shopkeeper also realized that something was wrong. He had been out there for so many years, and he still had a keen sense of danger.

"General Zhang..."

Just as the shopkeeper was about to speak, he was interrupted by Zhang Siyuan.

"You don't have to be like this, shopkeeper. Zhang knew whether your intention to help me was true or not. Since you said you would not forget the shopkeeper's kindness, you will naturally not ignore it because of other things."

The shopkeeper opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know how to speak.

After a long time, the shopkeeper sighed.

"Actually, the Fanbang man found him a month ago."

……

A month ago, the shopkeeper was still worried about the livelihood of the gambling house.

He would never worry about this matter before. After all, this gambling house and brothel are the most prosperous places in Qingshui County.

But since the drought, everything has changed.

Thinking of what happened before, the shopkeeper was also very helpless.

"Shopkeeper, there is a foreigner outside looking for you."

Just when the shopkeeper was at a loss what to do, a brother guarding the door hurried in to report.

The shopkeeper was worried about the gambling house, and when he heard that the visitor was from a foreign country, he didn't feel good about it.

As for why their life in Dazhou is becoming more and more difficult now, is it because those beasts from Fanbang invade Dazhou from time to time?

It would be fine if the imperial court would take this matter seriously. After all, the imperial army is still very reliable.

However, the current Holy Emperor values ​​civility over military affairs, and often suppresses the generals in the court. On the contrary, he attaches great importance to those who enrich his own pockets.

The final result is that those bugs lying on the people's bodies and sucking blood become more and more greedy.

After a drought, they persuaded the emperor to negotiate peace.

And where do the things needed for peace negotiations come from?

They can't bear it themselves, but don't they have to exploit it from the people?

Originally, because the people had experienced a major disaster, their lives were already more difficult than before.

Nowadays, coupled with the increase in taxes from the imperial court, how can one imagine the lives of the people?

People's lives are getting worse, so where can they find the extra money to live happily?

Not to mention the gambling den, even the business of the brothel is getting worse day by day.

Thinking of this, the shopkeeper became even more angry at the foreigner.

"Tell him to get out of here before I attack him!"

When the gatekeeper saw the shopkeeper's behavior, he also knew that the shopkeeper hated the foreigners.

After hesitating for a moment, he boldly stepped forward.

"Shopkeeper, that foreigner came to us and said he wanted to do a business with you."

The shopkeeper couldn't help but narrowed his eyes when he heard this, "He is a foreigner, what kind of business does he want to do with me?"

The guy shook his head and said, "This guy doesn't know."

The shopkeeper saw the guy's expression and knew that he was thinking about their gambling shop.

After hesitating for a moment, he still asked the servant to bring him in.

When the people from Fanbang met the shopkeeper, their attitude was quite respectful.

He raised his hand and put it on his other shoulder, saluting towards the shopkeeper.

When the shopkeeper saw the Fanbang people like this, his expression remained calm, making it difficult to tell whether he was happy or angry.

The Fanbang people were not annoyed when they saw this, but the complacency in his style made the shopkeeper narrow his eyes.

"Who are you? Why do you come to our gambling house?"

The foreigner suddenly smiled when he heard the shopkeeper finally spoke.

"I heard that the shopkeeper is a very famous person in Qingshui County."

The shopkeeper ignored the compliment and said coldly: "If you have anything to say, just say it."

It seemed that they could see that the shopkeeper was really unhappy about this matter, so the Fanbang people didn't make any more detours.

He took care of himself and sat on the chair next to him, and then said: "I came here recently to do a business with the shopkeeper."

"If this thing is done, all the five hundred taels of gold I have will belong to you, the shopkeeper."

The shopkeeper was originally a little unhappy because of the rudeness of the Fanbang people.

But now the magistrate of Qingshui County is a difficult master, and he doesn't want to be targeted by the other party.

This time I held back my temper and listened to what this foreigner said.

Otherwise, based on his previous temper and seeing the virtues of the foreigners, he would have beaten them up and thrown them out.

But now that he heard that the other party had five hundred taels of gold, the shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat.

It's a bad year now, and the business of gambling houses is not good, but he still has a group of brothers waiting to fill their stomachs.

He can do it alone, but he can't let these brothers who follow him suffer.

After thinking for a long time, the shopkeeper asked: "I wonder what business you are talking about?"

The people from that country did not shy away and said bluntly: "There is a pharmaceutical workshop in your Qingshui County. Does the shop owner know about it?"