Chapter 150: Sprouts "Hahaha" the drinkers roared with laughter.
After laughing, he lamented the good fortune of the scholars in Huai'an City, "One stone of rice per month and one ounce of money are still copper coins.
Not only can I eat for myself, but I can also save money to support my wife and children."
"Isn't it true that a thousand feet of meat is good and can buy more than three hundred bowls of wine.
The person named Zhou is still unwilling to go.
I just didn't have money to study when I was a child.
Otherwise, I would have gone to Huai'an long ago."
More than three hundred bowls of wine, ten bowls a day, what a magical life it was.
The eyes of the other drinkers who were holding the wine bowls and slowly sipping the wine immediately started to shine.
"Isn't it true?
If I had known this, I would have gone to study."
"Just you, your fingers are longer than other people's toes and you are stupid and you still study, you will definitely be beaten to death by your husband with a board."
"Didn't I just say something and I was beaten to death?
If the teacher dared to hit me, I would slap him and leave teeth all over the floor."
"Hahahaha" everyone burst into laughter again, shaking their heads while laughing.
They all feel that scholars and themselves are in completely different worlds.
No matter how good the treatment given by others is, they cannot envy them.
The two guests wearing long gowns sitting at the end of the tavern did not join the others in telling jokes.
Just keep your ears open and listen to people talking nonsense, until everyone's bowls are almost empty.
Then he raised his head and asked very politely, "Well, well, brothers, where did you hear the things you just said, are they reliable, or are they just lies spread around?"
"Hey, what do you say?"
The drinkers immediately raised their eyes after hearing this.
However, when he saw the neat silk gown on the other party's body, he quickly lowered his head and said, "We, we don't know if it's true or not.
It's hearsay, hearsay.
If you say it, forget it.
If you say it, forget it.
Do you understand?"
"I'm just asking casually about what you just said.
It sounds strange."
Among the two guests in long gowns, the one who seemed to have a slightly higher status smiled and added in a low voice.
"Sir, you old chicken ass!"
Before anyone could respond, the waiter had already rushed over.
He bent down and waved his oily chicken butt in front of the two gowns, then raised his hand, pointed at a wooden sign hanging high on the wall and said: "Please feel free to use it, sir.
There are a few words here, issued by the Yamen "I don't know the waiter.
Sir, can you help me read it?"
"Yeah."
The guests in long gowns were stunned, and their eyes quickly turned to the wooden sign on the wall.
The eight words "Misfortune comes from the mouth and disease comes from the mouth" have been hanging there for I don't know how many years.
Each word is covered with oily stains.
"Second Brother, pay the bill."
All the drinkers were also alert.
They took out their copper coins and slapped them on the corner of the table.
Stand up and prepare to walk out.
These days, the officials in the yamen are doing something secretive.
If they really put you in jail for being a "bandit", it will be the result of ruining everything.
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Everyone has a wife and children, but they don't dare to cause trouble for themselves.
"Isn't it just a few gossips?
It came from my mouth and fell into your ears, and there were no witnesses around.
Who would know it was me who said it later?"
The one who seemed to have a slightly higher status among the two long-shirted guests curled his lips and said loudly.
"Okay, everyone doesn't want to say anything, just pretend that Li didn't ask.
Waiter, please bring a bowl of hot wine to everyone here, and just pretend that Li has apologized to everyone."
"Hey, here we come."
The second brother was overjoyed when he heard this.
He no longer bothered to remind the guests to stay out of trouble, and trotted off to sift the hot wine.
The other drinkers were too embarrassed to leave, and sat back to their original seats with a smile, "Well, how can this be so embarrassing?
Mr.
Li, I don't even know you, how can I be so embarrassed to eat your wine?"
"I can't bear the surname of Li, Xing Si.
Just call me Li Si."
The one with a high status among the long-shirted guests fell towards the chair, patted the table, and said carelessly, " It’s my first time doing business in the south of the Yellow River.
I’m not familiar with the place, so I want to find out more about it.
I don’t mean to cause trouble for everyone.
Liu Zi, give everyone a share of the chicken butt.
It doesn’t matter if you have wine but no meat. " "Yes, Sir, please sit down, Liu Zi will go right away."
Another long-robed drinker raised his hand and responded in fluent northern Mandarin.
"Oh no, I don't dare, I don't dare."
The drinkers waved their hands and refused, but the bright luster at the corners of their mouths revealed their inner thoughts.
Chicken butts, you need twenty cents to get a plate.
It's not a New Year or a holiday.
Who dares to be so prodigal and buy chicken butts?
It's a crime to have wine and food at the moment.
Poor bones eat meat and vegetables, and you're not afraid of farting on your pants.
"What are you afraid of?
There is no separation between wine and meat."
Changshan Li Si, a familiar face, waved his hands carelessly, "Shopkeeper, cut two more plates of sausages and a pot of salted edamame.
Add enough salt.
Here you go.
Served in small portions, the account will be charged to me."
"It's coming, it's coming."
The shopkeeper was overjoyed, agreed, and trotted to the kitchen to prepare.
A street chicken and feather shop operates on a small budget, but it is rare to see so many generous drinkers throughout the year.
Therefore, from the shopkeeper down, everyone's hands and feet have become extremely agile.
In a moment, a jar of Huadiao wine was steamed and heated, sprinkled with some dried sweet-scented osmanthus, divided into small bowls and served in front of everyone.
The several dishes that go with the wine are also divided into small portions, and each of the drinkers here has a portion.
Everyone's eyes gleamed with greed, and they all held up their hands, asking the long-robed drinker to use it first.
"Come together, let's take a sip of Li Mou's toast to everyone."
Li Si, a man in a long shirt, was not humble.
He picked up the wine bowl first and took a big sip.
Then he closed his eyes and thought about it for a while, exhaled a long breath of hot air, and groaned, "Well, the authentic Huadiao wine makes you feel comfortable when you drink it.
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It's not the Shao Daojiu we have in the north.
If you take a big sip, your whole body will turn upside down." " "Fourth Master, that's a very generous drink for you."
The drinkers also took a sip, and then responded vaguely while moving their chopsticks quickly to eat the food, "It's not like us here, everything is sipped in small sips. , so delicate that it’s boundless.”
"Each has its own benefits, each has its own advantages."
Changshan Li Si obviously did not intend to waste any more time on the customs of the north and the south.
He waved his hands and said with a smile, "I like you people from the south more.
They are careful in everything they do.
Alas. , let’s not talk about this.
What happened to the person who gave me copper coins for the exam just now?
Why does it sound so fresh to me?”
"This" everyone looked at each other, and they were too embarrassed to spit out the chicken butt that was already in their mouths.
Then he shook his head and laughed a few times, and responded in a flurry of words: "We are also talking nonsense.
Fourth Master, please don't believe it.
No one knows whether it is true or not."
"I just heard it was interesting.
To be honest, there is a salt shortage in my hometown recently, so" "Oh, no wonder the fourth master is so heroic, he turns out to be a big business man."
Everyone immediately understood and nodded with a smile.
Half of the world's salt comes from the Huaihe River.
As for the salt produced in Lianghuai, more than 60% comes from Huai'an Road.
Although Gaoyou and Yangzhou also produce salt, the quantity is not as large as that in Huaian.
And it turns out that the salt from Lianghuai is transported to Huai'an City first, and then sent to all parts of the country.
In a hurry, it is difficult to change this rule.
Therefore, as long as you are doing business related to salt, you will most likely want to go to Huai'an.
Since he was going to Huai'an to sell smuggled salt, Li Si in a long gown would definitely not lead everyone into the Yamen.
He just asked everyone about Huai'an, which is of course reasonable and not worthy of everyone's caution.
But Li Si was afraid that his explanation was not clear enough, so he smiled and continued: "It's not a big business.
The elders in the family just sent me here for a while.
You also know that in the past, the only business in selling salt was that Only a few companies can do it.
Others, no matter how rich they are, it’s useless.”
"Then Fourth Master, you are really in the right place."
When everyone heard this, they immediately started chatting, "Those families are seeking their own death, and they actually want to take advantage of Zhu Bayi's unstable foothold to gather slaves to retake Huai'an." .
In the end, he was defeated by Zhu Bayi, and then he chopped them all off with a knife.
Anyone who can afford the price can buy the salt and take it away. " "Oh, that's it."
Changshan Li Si's brows twitched, deliberately pretending to be at a loss, "Someone actually dares to go against Butcher Zhu.
How dare they eat leopards?"
"I guess they want to bully Zhu Bayi because he has so few people.
The salt dealers were not good guys at first, but this time they are full of evil."
"You can't bully Butcher Zhu, but he doesn't have many people.
How did he conquer Huai'an?"
"Why not?
I heard someone said that when Zhu Ba11 entered Huai'an that day, he only brought more than a hundred people with him."
A drinker stood up with a mysterious expression on his face.
"Isn't that right?
Then Zhu Bayi and Zhima Li have already become friends.
Zhima Li captured Xuzhou with eight people that day.
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He is Zhima Li's brother.
He captured Huai'an with more than a hundred people.
This is already a favor to the government."
"Yes, that Zhu Bayi can use palm thunder."
"Others don't know that Zhu Bayi's men must not have many people.
In the past month, Sesame Li has successively defeated Suzhou, Mengcheng, and Huaiyuan, and Zhao Junyong has also attacked all the way from Xuzhou to Suiyang City.
Only Zhu Bayi 11.
After the capture of Huai'an, there was no big movement.
It was not until the past few days that another man named Xu Da was sent to take Sizhou City in the upper reaches of the Huai River."
Immediately, everyone became energetic.
Spit out the news heard from hearsay, regardless of whether it is true or false.
And he even added some extra details, as if everyone had seen it with their own eyes.
Li Si had already figured out exactly what the thunder in his palm was about.
Hearing that everyone was getting further and further away from the topic he wanted to know, he coughed a few times and pulled back the conversation with a smile, "Well, hum, hum, well, that is to say, Zhu Bayi has few soldiers, so those The salt merchants tried to take advantage of the opportunity to make a profit, but instead they lost their lives.”
"Yes, that's basically what happened."
Everyone was drinking Li Si's wine and eating Li Si's chicken butts, so naturally they wouldn't displease him.
They smiled and nodded.
"Oh, that's really an opportunity."
Li Si thought for a while and nodded thoughtfully.
The salt policy of the Yuan Dynasty has been corrupted for a long time.
It is said that all salt must be government-run.
In fact, the big salt merchants in the Lianghuai area have long found countless loopholes in this.
Every year, the actual taxes paid to the government and the salt transported to designated areas for sale are less than 40% of the total.
The remaining 60% or more are all private salt under the banner of official salt.
All the high profits earned went into the private pockets of salt merchants and corresponding officials.
Therefore, Zhu Bayi chopped up the big salt merchants in Huai'an City.
From the perspective of the court, Li Si did not feel that the latter were very pitiful.
What he only cares about is whether Zhu Bayi can establish a new rule and get the salt profits in his hands after killing all the original salt merchants.
If it can, the imperial court's current direction of suppressing bandits must quickly move eastward, abandon Liu Futong, and use Zhao Junyong, Zhima Li and Zhu Tuhu as the main targets.
If not, the imperial court can still wipe out the red scarf thieves step by step according to their power as they are currently doing.
First concentrate their forces to capture Liu Futong, the culprit, and then it is the turn of Sesame Li, Zhu Tuhu, Xu Shouhui and others.
"Of course it's an opportunity."
A yellow-faced drinker wiped his oily mouth with his hand and echoed loudly, "We people just don't have the capital.
Otherwise, we would have gone to Huai'an long ago.
When we go there, we will haul a boat of grain. , pull a boat of salt when you come back.
Come and go, at least ten times the dividend.
Otherwise, people have two legs, and money is like a wheel.
No matter how hard you chase, you can't catch up with one. wheel" "Haha, what I said is interesting."
Li Si smiled and nodded at the yellow-faced drinker, "But why do you need to haul a boat of grain?
Isn't it easy to sell other things in Huai'an?"
"Well, I've also heard people say that if you don't do it right, you can't do it right."
The yellow-faced drinker waved his hand and responded with a smile, "It is said that although there is no need for salt over there, there is a strange rule.
Every ship of Huai'an local For goods to leave the country, a boatload of grain must be transported in.
Otherwise, even if you can sneak away with the goods, you will be intercepted by the navy on the way."
"Navy master, there is a navy master under Zhu Bayi's command."
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Li Si was shocked and asked with his eyes widened.
"Isn't it?"
Huang Lian was obviously a little drunk and nodded stupidly, "No one expected at first that Zhu Ba11 would pull up the navy so quickly.
But I heard that the Yellow River was going up The ship's brother said that the first thing Zhu Bayi did when he entered Huai'an was to form a navy.
Anyway, there is no shortage of ships in that area, and there are a lot of sailors."
The existence of a naval force, no matter how large or small, is a trouble for anyone trying to attack Huai'an.
Huai'an City is bounded by the Yellow River to the north and the Canal and Huaihe River to the west.
To the east, less than two hundred miles down the Yellow River, is the vast ocean.
Although river boats and sea boats are not the same thing, Zhu Bayi was so anxious that he took the risk of pulling the fleet into the sea.
I'm trying to catch him, but I'm just trying to find a needle in a haystack Note 1 "But Fourth Master, you don't have to worry."
Seeing that Li Si's face was not very good, the drinkers slapped their chests and loudly comforted them, "Although Zhu Bayi has both an army and a navy under his command, he is by no means a Unreasonable Lord.
We have heard that as long as you do not break his rules, he will never take the initiative to cause trouble for you.
The red scarf soldiers under him are also very kind, unlike the red scarf thieves in other places. ” "Oh, what a different approach, aren't they all red scarf thieves?"
"We can't explain why the laws are different.
But it is true that people in Huai'an do not bully the people.
It is said that they have three major disciplines and eight minor disciplines.
We don't know exactly what they are.
"Fourth Master, just go to the boatmen on the river and ask him.
Zhu Bayi has made his rules into a song.
Not only his men can sing it, but also the men who often go there can sing it."
Note 1: The coastline in the Yuan Dynasty was much farther west than it is now.
The area around Sheyang and Dafeng is still full of sea.
Lianyungang is an island near the mainland, named Yuzhou
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