Fenghou

Chapter 20 Buying Food
That night, Chen Qing ordered the killing of more than a dozen cows to reward the soldiers. Although the Northern Song Dynasty required government approval to kill cows, it is now a time of war, and everything is under the authority.

Early the next morning, Chen Qing led a few soldiers down the mountain to the county town on foot, and naturally Zhao Xiaoyi, a local, acted as their guide.

"Xiao Yi, where is your home?"

"Cuimo Town to the west is about twenty miles away from here."

Chen Qing remembered what Liu Wu asked him to do before he died, and he asked curiously: "Why did Liu Wu insist that I tell his son that he died for the country?"

"Hey! Liu Wu is my uncle. He has been a rascal since he was a child. After he got married, he never changed his temperament. He was idle all day long. Later, my grandfather asked someone to let him join the Xiang army. He still eats and gambles. For several years, I have not received a single penny from my family.

His son looked down on him very much, and even didn't recognize his father. Once he was scolded by his son, saying that he couldn't serve the country at the top, and couldn't support the family at the bottom, so he was a useless waste.

Liu Wu was greatly stimulated, so he ran to join the Huanqing Army, and he wanted to fight the Xixia people, but the Xixia people were nowhere to be seen. His only wish was to let his son know that he can serve the country and kill the enemy, isn't it? waste. "

Chen Qing nodded, "In two days, let's go to Liu Wu's house!"

…………

Linyou County is a middle county with a population of about tens of thousands. The key is that it is far away from the battlefield and has not been destroyed by the Jin soldiers. It basically maintains the style of the Song Dynasty.

The Jin soldiers fought against the Song army in Heshangyuan, and all the counties in the south were affected. A large number of people fled to Linyou County, and Linyou County was crowded with tens of thousands of refugees who fled. The county town was noisy and messy. .

There were several soldiers standing at the gate of the city, staring at every passerby, Zhao Xiaoyi was very clever, stepped forward and stuffed each person with a handful of money, the leading soldier weighed the money, and let them in with a wave of his hand.

Entering the county town, a warm and stinky smell blows over us, the cries of children, the screams of women, the roars of impatient men, and the yelling of small vendors come and go.

Inside the city gate seemed to be a market, crowded with farmers from nearby villages who came to sell vegetables. The ground was covered with mud, trampled vegetable leaves and chicken and duck manure, and the stench was suffocating.

Zhao Xiaoyi nudged Chen Qing with his elbow and pouted to the side. Only then did Chen Qing notice that there was a reward notice posted on the wall next to him.

"Whoever wants to arrest [-] cavalrymen of the Song Army and knows their whereabouts should immediately report to the government. '

Chen Qing snorted, and led the crowd away quickly, leaving the city gate for more than a hundred steps. Only then did Chen Qing take a long breath of fresh air. The air at the county gate was too dirty.

"Proprietor, where are we going next?" Zhao Xiaoyi asked.

Chen Qing thought for a while, and said to the two soldiers: "Go and buy four mules, which will be used to transport oil and salt later. By the way, buy oil, salt and lamp oil together!"

"we know!"

The two soldiers walked away quickly, and Chen Qing said to Zhao Xiaoyi: "I want to buy fodder, where should I go?"

They have [-] war horses, and they consume an astonishing amount of forage every day. The forage brought from Chencang is enough for the war horses to last for ten days at most. What should they do next?
The fodder for war horses was Chen Qing's biggest concern.

Zhao Xiaoyi scratched his head, "I remember that there is a store next to Wazi that sells fodder, I wonder if it is still open?"

"Take me to see!"

Wazi is the commercial complex of the Great Song Dynasty. There are all kinds of shops for eating, drinking, entertainment and goods. Brothels and inns are also distributed in it. Basically, every county has them.

Wazi in Linyou County is located in the middle of the county seat, covering an area of ​​nearly [-] mu. There are [-] or [-] shops, large and small. It looks like a small commodity wholesale market in a small county town in later generations.

In front of the gate of Wazi is a square, paved with stone slabs, surrounded by several large restaurants, and the houses of the rich families are also good. It seems that it is indeed the commercial center of the county, but the square is full of refugee tents, beggars and Small vendors crowded around and yelled, making the road very congested.

On the left side of the gate is a row of grain shops, there are about seven or eight, and the one on the far side has a big sign with black characters on a white background, 'Qiao Ji Livestock Grain! '

This is the shop that specializes in livestock grain.

Chen Qing took Zhao Xiaoyi into the shop. The shop was quite large, but the light was dim. There were two rows of baskets by the wall. Several men who looked like refugees were chipping in to buy black beans. The shop assistant was very impatient and looked contemptuous.

The skinny shopkeeper glanced at Chen Qing, and said in a rough voice, "We don't accept money from meetings, Shaanxi money, or Sichuan money!"

Chen Qing was taken aback, what did he not understand?
Zhao Xiaoyi snorted, "We use Xuanhe money and silver, what do you think?"

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up, and he immediately stepped forward with a smile, "Guest officer, don't blame me, there are too many refugees coming to the store, I can't bear to disturb you, please sit in the back room!"

Zhao Xiaoyi explained to Chen Qing in a low voice, "Huizi is paper money issued by the imperial court, which has become waste paper. Shaanxi money and Sichuan money are both iron money. Only five Wen coins are worth one Wenxuan and copper coins. Big shops don't accept them." of."

So that's the case, Chen Qing understands now.

The back room can be regarded as a VIP reception room, with tables and chairs, and the large table is also filled with small dustpans.

The shopkeeper poured them two cups of hot tea, and said with a smile, "My surname is Wang, and I am the shopkeeper of the small shop. Let's see what the guest officers need and how much they need. We will try our best to meet it."

Chen Qing glanced at the livestock grains in the small dustpan. There were coarse grains, fine grains, dried alfalfa, black beans, barley, and some unknown things. Chen Qing grabbed a handful of pea-shaped beans and asked, "What is this?" ?”

"This is wild vegetable bean, which grows all over the river. It is the cheapest. You can buy a bucket with a few pennies. The small shop originally had a few hundred stones, but the refugees bought them all."

"Where are the black beans?"

"Black beans are thirty cents a bucket, and barley is also the same price, but they are basically bought up by the refugees. These people are like locusts, and they will be wiped out wherever they go."

"Then buy fodder!" Chen Qing was very disgusted with his attitude towards refugees, so he didn't bother to talk to him, and went directly to the topic.

"There are both fine and coarse materials. The dried alfalfa is guaranteed to be Hexi alfalfa. The price can be negotiated. Let's see how much the guest officer wants to buy?"

"I plan to ask for [-] tons of fine materials, and you will be responsible for the delivery!"

Shopkeeper Wang's eyes widened, and his head immediately shook like a rattle, "There is no place to buy now. The small store's fine materials, coarse materials and dried alfalfa add up to only [-] tons, and I can't sell them all to you. I will give you five hundred loads at most."

Chen Qing took out six ingots of fifty taels of official silver and put it on the table, "I bought all three hundred taels of silver and three thousand taels, will you sell it?"

Shopkeeper Wang stared at Yinzi and blinked his small eyes, my dear, this is five times the price!
"Sell! The guest officer is so sincere, how can I not sell it? I don't know where the guest officer is going to send it? It's too far away."

"Not far, twenty miles away!" Chen Qing said lightly.

…………

At night, shopkeeper Wang walked back and forth in front of the steps of the county government office, full of worries.

Today, all three thousand dans of fodder were sold out, and at a high price, he could earn at least a few dozen taels of silver, but shopkeeper Wang accidentally found an opportunity to make a fortune today.

Three thousand coins!He can never earn so much in his life.

As an insider who has been selling fodder for twenty years, who in Fengxiang Mansion would buy fodder?How much do you need to buy?He knew it clearly in his heart, but he sold [-] loads of fodder today, and the other party's demand for black beans should be to feed the horses.

The opponent had at least three or four hundred horses. Who could have so many horses, except Jin Bing, but would Jin Bing buy horse feed?
After much deliberation, there is only one possibility, that is, the [-] cavalrymen of the Song Army who are wanted by a reward of [-] guan are hiding in Linyou County, and most likely they are in Qilin Village.

The desire to get rich finally overwhelmed the conscience of Song people,
Shopkeeper Wang walked into the county government...
Li Boliang, the county magistrate, narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you sure that the other party is the Song Army cavalry that is wanted for arrest?"

"The villain can't guarantee it, but when buying fodder for hundreds of horses at a time, besides them, I can't think of anyone else?"

"Maybe it's Yang Guo's rebel army? They are also hoarding fodder, which is normal!"

"Master, Yangguo and the others don't have any horses. What's the point of hoarding fodder? It's better to buy food if they have so much money. It can't be them."

Li Boliang cursed secretly in his heart, he could only reluctantly say: "I will send people to Qilin Village to investigate in two days, if it is really them, I will report to the higher authorities."

"There is also a bounty for the villain!"

Li Boliang gave him a cold look, "Don't worry! If it's true, you'll need a penny."

======
[Thank you for your support, adding a new chapter, Lao Gao has very few manuscripts, and I can't add too many changes during the new book, I hope everyone will forgive me! 】

(End of this chapter)