Vicissitudes know Jinhua

At this moment, seeing Qi Shaochong's strange eyes, Zhuxi lowered his head to avoid his gaze, but said, "What's wrong with the third brother? Is there anything wrong with me?"

Qi Shao hurriedly took a mouthful of rice, and said hesitantly: "Just now my brother told me that your fan cover is good, but mine is old..."

Zhuxi chuckled: "It's already snowed, who still makes fan covers? I'll make it for you next summer, okay?" Thinking of Mu Zishi praising his embroidery work behind his back, he felt sweet and a little shy, and hurriedly After drinking two mouthfuls of soup, he left the table and went back to the house.

Qi Shaochong was able to pass by easily, and just breathed a sigh of relief, but saw Mu Zishi glaring at him, and said softly: "Fan cover? You really know how to lie, your brain is frozen by snow, right?"

Qi Shao shrank his neck and hid his face in the bowl.

Wan Jing heard it clearly, and couldn't help laughing. At this time, there were only the three of them at the dinner table, talking in a relaxed manner.

Wan Jing was born in a poor family and lived in the market. He is very experienced and wise in dealing with people. He has a good taste in every word and deed. He has been soaked in oil and salt and has gone through a long time and road. Small talk.

But among the two of them, Wan Jing is affectionate and sympathetic to Mu Zishi, and even has a respect for the prince in the past, while Qi Shaochong is affectionate and protective, going straight to each other without any gap, and sighed for a moment: "Shao Chong, you will never be able to compare with Zishi in terms of agility. Sometimes I always feel that Zishi is more like you... your fourth brother."

Mu Zishi put down his chopsticks and said in a low voice, "I was very lucky to have lived with my fourth brother day and night in those years."

Wan Jing hurriedly changed the subject: "It's already winter, you should be more careful when you go out."

Qi Shaochong raised his head and asked, "Could there be wild beasts?"

Wan Jing frowned slightly, and said: "It's not... a hundred miles to the northwest of this area, there is Nanke Mountain. There is a group of thugs in Nanke Mountain. They gather nearly a thousand people. They are very powerful and the government is weak. I'm afraid they will disturb the wealthy households in the middle of winter."

Mu Zishi snorted and thought to himself: "There are only occasional barbarians outside the Great Wall provoking troubles in the Xiashen area, and the Ministry of War has never received a report from bandits and bandits... Besides, there are spear camps in both prefectures. Allow a mountain of thieves to sit big?"

Qi Shaochong's expression darkened, the corners of his mouth were pursed tightly, and he looked at Wan Jing intently, waiting for him to explain.

"Xiashen and Shenzhou are too close to Yongliang, so it is difficult to recruit elite soldiers. The salary of ordinary soldiers in Zhige Battalion is about ten taels a year, but the Yongliang army pays 20 taels. Therefore, the young and strong in the state capital must first go to Yongliang to apply... What's more, the Yongliang iron cavalry has a reputation of being powerful all over the world?"

After all, Wan Jing is a businessman, so when he analyzed the reasons, he started with the salary, thought for a long time, and then said: "The government can't calm down these bandits, let alone suppress them."

Qi Shaochong held back his anger and said: "Bastard! The imperial court pays them military salaries every year and exempts them from taxes, labor and labor, and expects to raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for a while. Could it be possible to raise such a group of waste?"

Mu Zishi said: "Don't be impatient, please listen to uncle first! I think there is something else wrong with this matter."

Wan Jing said: "Nanke Mountain stretches for nearly a hundred miles, and it happens that half of it is in Xiazhou and the other half is in Shenzhou. I don't know much about the officialdom, but if there are two shopkeepers in one shop, I guess there will often be evasion and perfunctory. Concentric, there are also some restraints and cautions between each other."

Mu Zishi nodded, and Qi Shaochong smiled and said, "That's true. In the officialdom, there are few people who know Xia like Yin, but there are many people who soak loquat kernels in oil."

Qi Shaochong puffed up his cheeks vigorously, a little childish, but also awe-inspiring and righteous: "If I am a king, I should put down the mediocre and corrupt."

Mu Zishi chuckled almost invisible, and said: "But they may not be mediocre or corrupt officials. To be an official, you must first be a man, and then you can do things. There are some rules and tricks that have been agreed upon. If you don't talk about it, others will talk about it. If others can’t understand, then others can move freely, but you can only move with difficulty.”

Wan Jing couldn't help saying again and again: "Zi Shi's words are the most reasonable in the world, and a person should be round rather than square."

But Mu Zishi said decisively: "No, it's better to be round on the outside and square on the inside, and you should see your heart clearly and take your heart as the criterion." Looking at Qi Shaochong, his eyes were shining brightly, with the color of earnest expectation: "If you want to do things squarely For things, seek it with perfection, blindly seek perfection, and tend to be sophisticated and mediocre and drift with the waves.”

At this moment Qi Shaochong felt that he was as close to him as if he were alone, and his eyes were as clear as cold stars: "I am the outer side and the inner side."

Mu Zishi's eyelashes trembled, and he smiled: "You are clumsy on the outside and stupid on the inside."

Qi Shao rushed to fight his back, and resolutely said: "You are my brother, I am stupid, what can you be proud of?"

Mu Zishi was stunned, unable to answer for a while, so he could only remember his hatred secretly, and turned to ask Wan Jing, "Uncle, is it because the two prefectures don't want to send out soldiers to carry out the battalion because they hinder each other?"

Wan Jing was watching them having an interesting chatter, and was so happy that his beards turned up. Hearing this, he said, "Of course it's not just that. Le Shun once told me about this. He's been born and raised here for half his life... all these years, there's a foreign race outside the Great Wall. Afraid of the Yongliang iron cavalry, sometimes they sent a small group of people to bypass Shelu Pass, intending to break in through the Nanke Pass. Fu Yin can defend against the enemy without any effort, how can he be willing to seriously destroy this bandit army?"

Mu Zishi propped his chin with one hand, a playful light flashed in his eyes, and he said with a smile: "I'm afraid that Nanke Mountain is a big one, and it's basically a tiger raised by the two states... If the barbarians pass through the mountain pass, the two states will definitely be suppressed." I have to report it to the court of the Ministry of War. Wouldn’t it be a big hindrance to the evaluation of the official reputation? Keep the tiger in Nankeshan to fend off a pack of wolves outside, and use the sword to kill the internal bandits to control the foreign enemies."

Wan Jing hesitated, "There is one more thing, I don't know if it's true or not."

Seeing his solemn expression, Mu Zishi quickly sat up straight and said, "Uncle, what you say is true, there is no limit to whether it is true or not, and Shao Chong and I just listened to it."

Wan Jing lowered his voice, and said: "It is said that the governors of the two states still have business contacts with Nanke Mountain!"

Qi Shaochong was startled and angry: "Doing business with a group of bandits and robbers? Did they accept bribes from the bandits or what? Do they want the court's face?"

Wan Jing smiled wryly and said, "This business is the prefect of the two prefectures begging Nankeshan!"

Mu Zishi couldn't help but be very surprised: "What is it that makes an official seek a thief?"

"The heads of the barbarians." Wan Jing said slowly: "A head is at least a hundred taels of silver, and it is said that it can be reported as a military merit for the battalion."

Mu Zishi was quiet, and said: "That's it. In this way, the two prefectures will be both orderly and safe, and they will also be able to expel captives. When an official reaches such a level, it can be regarded as exquisite and transparent... Don't rush, You may wish to guess, does Nanke Mountain want silver, or would it rather want weapons, armor or food?"

Qi Shaochong's voice was a little hard: "Naturally, it's the Grass Blade Armor."

Knowing that Mu Zishi has the ability of photographic memory, he asked, "Who are the prefects of these two prefectures in Xia and Shen? How many years have they been in office? What are their political achievements?"

Mu Zishi lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "I don't know whether Qi and Feng have touched the officials of these two prefectures after they ascended the throne..."

Wan Jing hurriedly said, "I've never heard of a senior official being dismissed."

Mu Zishi nodded, like a few treasures, and said: "Yin Huangxin of Xiazhou Prefecture, won the Jinshi in the sixth year of Yongxi. This prefect has been in office for five years. The year before last, there was a major examination, and the examination was rated as the upper middle class. It said: Work diligently, and keep the people safe. The prefect of Shenzhou is called Cui Fufang..."

Qi Shaochong interrupted: "The captives are in peace? The captives are in peace?" Repeated several times, his face turned yellow with anger: "I think it's a family of officials and bandits! Officials and bandits are in peace!"

Wan Jing hesitated for a moment, and said: "Although Nanke Mountain occasionally harass the people, it's not too much. It's just that in the middle of winter, they may ask for food and money from the nearby rich family Zhuangzi..."

Mu Zishi's eyes moved slightly: "I think it's a private agreement with the two prefectures. Since the government is well-fed, why bother with the people so that the people's anger can't be suppressed?"

Wan Jing hummed, and said with a smile: "Zi Shi must not know that Zhuangzi in this area has another business, which has something to do with these bandits."

Mu Zishi felt that he was very knowledgeable. In the East Palace, Prince Meng taught and instructed political affairs. He was by no means a person who was ignorant of world affairs. It's easy to get along with each other!

In a moment of great interest, he asked, "Uncle, tell us quickly."

When Wan Jing talked about the breeding of goods, he said eloquently: "The northern land is not as rich as the Central Plains, nor as prosperous as the south of the Yangtze River. However, there are a few kinds of goods that are cheap to buy, but expensive to sell... such as alkali."

Mu Zishi and Qi Shaochong glanced at each other, Qi Shaochong cleared his throat and asked, "Uncle, what is alkali used for?"

Wan Jing raised her eyebrows and smiled, the wrinkles on her forehead looked kind and generous, pointing to the fat white steamed buns left on the table, said: "Look, these steamed buns, steamed buns and noodles, can't be made without alkali. , it will be sour and hard when it is finished, and it will not taste good, so no one can do without it... and the sale of alkali is not investigated by the government, which is different from selling salt."

Mu Zishi said: "That's true. The government prohibits the distribution of private salt, and there must be salt introduction before it can be sold."

Qi Shaochong asked: "Businessmen are after profits. Since alkali doesn't need to buy official quotations, why are there still more salt dealers and fewer alkali dealers?"

Wan Jing said with a smile: "Salt, sea salt, well salt, rock salt have everything you need, so you don't have to worry about the source, but there are very few sources of alkali, and the soil in the Central Plains has many impurities and poor quality. The best and purest alkali in the world is found on the grasslands outside the Great Wall... ...Even though most merchants are after profits, they are unwilling to travel thousands of miles to the land of barbarians to obtain alkali."

Mu Zishi was thoughtful, and said: "Could it be that Nankeshan took alkali from the grassland and sold it to nearby villages?"

Wan Jing shook his head: "Nankeshan only has one word for the barbarians, kill them, and absolutely will not do business with them. It is Zhuangzi, a merchant in our border states, who often goes out of the customs to sell alkali into Ning."

Hearing these words, Qi Shaochong felt very uncomfortable, and thought that even bandits and grass bandits know how to value integrity over profit, why do I, the people of Daning, have to communicate with foreign enemies and barbarians? "

Because he has always regarded Wan Jing as an elder, he reluctantly suppressed the words of reproach, but there was already a look of displeasure on his face.

How good is Wan Jing at observing colors?Immediately sighed: "You have lived in Beijing for a long time, and you don't know anything about the border. Although the barbarian army will inevitably cause incidents, looting, burning and killing every year, there are also ordinary herdsmen on the grassland. It has been a long-standing practice to exchange some food, iron, cloth and silk with us..."

Mu Zishi glanced at Qi Shaochong: "Shaochong, the common people have to live, and this battle is not fought every day. It's not pleasant to say that if the barbarians kill Yuzhuang, my uncle would rather die than die." yield."

Wan Jing looked awe-inspiring, and said solemnly: "That's right."

Mu Zishi put his arms around Qi Shaochong's shoulders, and seeing his expression change, Fang smiled and asked, "Uncle, do you think this alkali is the big deal?"

Wan Jing said: "That's right, there are soda lakes everywhere on the grasslands, and soda ash can be obtained anywhere, and the herdsmen sell it at a low price. Often a large cart of hundreds of catties can be exchanged for only a small bag of flour, but as long as you enter the customs The price of this soda ash outside the Great Wall must be at least forty or fifty times that of a sack of flour."

Mu Zishi said in a low voice: "It's a lot of money... But why does this involve Nanke Mountain?"

Wan Jing smiled wryly and said: "It's just a word of profit. We bought a few carts of soda ash from the grassland. If we return from the city gate of Xiazhou or Shenzhou, we need to pay the city gate tax and business tax, and also pay a sum of soda ash. , This amount of money is really quite a lot. Almost half of the original profit of forty or fifty times was given to the government, not to mention the expense of chariots, horses and manpower? The risk along the way? Therefore, if the road is taken from the city gate, the business may No one wants to do it."

Mu Zishi was stunned: "So you went into the city quietly through the trail on Nanke Mountain?"

Wan Jing's old face flushed slightly: "Nankeshan often turns a blind eye to this kind of alkali truck and doesn't bother to care about it. Even if they stop it, the cost will not be more than that of alkali gold."

Mu Zishi said with a smile: "No wonder some people say that bandits come like combing soldiers like shaving."

Qi Shaochong said: "Uncle, you are good at business management. This Yuzhuang is very prosperous even without selling alkali. Why do you have to earn such troublesome and dangerous money?"

Wan Jing said solemnly: "Silver is silver, how can there be troubles and dangers? Put two boxes of silver together, who can say that this box is more relaxed and more beautiful than the other box?"

Qi Shaochong and Mu Zishi could only keep silent when they saw his businessman's nature broke out. Wan Jing was silent for a moment, but said slowly: "Actually, your fourth brother gave me 1 taels of silver notes that day besides this Zhuangzi."

"1 taels is enough to live comfortably for the rest of my life even if I sit on the mountain... But he has given me a great kindness that is hard to repay, and he entrusted me with such a life-threatening matter. Wan Jing was trusted by his old man. More importantly, how can you enjoy leisure and hate work without thinking about making progress?"

"I haven't moved the 1 taels of banknotes. I've kept them for your unexpected needs. I will do my best so that even if you brothers can't return to Chenjing, you can give Zhuang Fujia here!"

Qi Shaochong just slandered him for profit-seeking. Hearing this, he was only grateful, and called softly for a while: "Uncle..."

There are ghosts in Mu Zishi's heart, how can the prince Yu Wanjing be so kind?It was clearly a sea of ​​blood and deep enmity. At this point, he dared not look at Wan Jing's sincere eyes. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, and said, "According to my uncle, there are not many evil deeds in Nanke Mountain that harass the people. Why did you ask us to be careful when we go out?" ?”

Wan Jing frowned, and sighed: "It's different today, the leader of Nanke Mountain has been changed as early as the year before last, it is said that he was raised by the original head of the family. Stabbed through with a knife, took his life and seized power... For more than a year, this new leader has been the same as the one who secretly communicated with the government to fight against foreign captives. That means that they don’t even pay attention to the two prefectures’ battalions.”

"During those days when you were ill, Cuiyuan Sanchejian and his party of 17 people were all robbed at the foot of Nanke Mountain..." He shook his head repeatedly, with an expression of intolerance in his eyes.

Qi Shao rushed to ask: "Cuiyuan is the richest in this area, just pay a little ransom. Could it be that the new leader, Lion, opened his mouth?"

Seeing his expression, Mu Zishi had already guessed about seven or eight points, and said, "Could it be that Nankeshan took the ransom and killed someone again?"

Wan Jing said: "The ransom demanded three hundred shi of grain and silver, but in the end, only three of the 17 people were allowed to go down the mountain alive, and one went crazy because he was frightened by the work. It can't be regarded as a person, it is worse than a beast, and it is more terrifying than a living Yama!"