Compete for the Song Dynasty

Chen Kang walked out of the mansion and came to the county town for a stroll. There are people coming and going in the county town. The New Year is getting closer, and there are many people who go to the streets to buy things for the New Year.Chen Kang warmly greeted his acquaintances, and the people behind him commented curiously: "Isn't that Chen Yuanwai? I haven't seen him for a while!"

Most of the people on this street have also received Chen Kang's kindness, and when they saw Chen Kang, they were still polite: "Mr. Chen, what is this?" They asked this because they were afraid that Chen Kang would bring up tax urging again.

Chen Kang smiled: "It's okay, it's okay, buy new year's goods and go for a walk!" Hearing what Chen Kang said, the shopkeepers and shopkeepers in the shops on the street were relieved, and greeted enthusiastically: "If Chen is useful, just I am here to take care of the business of the small shop, you are usually the one who takes care of it, and I will definitely give you a discount today." Chen Kang thanked him with a smile, and continued to walk forward with a limp, his smile felt a bit fake.

According to Wang Pang's instructions, Chen Kang went straight to the largest silk and satin shop in the county, picked out one or two pieces of the best material, and took out the silver and bank notes as if showing off, looked at them, and put them back arms.This unintentional exposure of wealth even made Chen Kang feel drummed in his heart. Wouldn't it be troublesome if he encountered robbers?Two bolts of high-quality fabrics cost 100 taels. Chen Kang put an ingot of ingots on the cabinet, picked up the fabrics, turned around and left.

The guys in the silk and satin village had put down their work, and several of them came over and whispered: "Isn't this Mr. Chen? I heard that he was going to sell his house a few days ago. What kind of fortune did he get?" Shopkeeper Wu came out from behind, saw the guys gathered together, and coughed dryly twice, a guy nicknamed Little Pimple came over and handed the money to the shopkeeper. "Shopkeeper, look, this is Chen Liezi buying fabrics?"

Shopkeeper Wu took the silver and weighed it, thinking in his heart, the silver is really fine, this Chen Kang didn't come to collect taxes today, and bought so many things suddenly like he got rich.Normally, he didn't wait to see Chen Kang. Anyway, with the support of the county magistrate, it was impossible to collect taxes from this silk and satin factory.But what happened to Chen Kang today?Do you get rich yourself, or do you buy things for someone?In this county, except for the county magistrate, who else has such a big budget?He turned to Xiao Geda and said, "Little Geda, go and have a look."

This little lump is the best person to inquire about things and spread rumors. He is only seventeen or eighteen years old, but he is a very gossipy person.When he is free, he would inquire about something and tell everyone, because he has some acne on his face, which is what we now call pimples, so everyone likes to call him "Little Pimple".Xiao Geda heard Wu's shopkeeper's order, hurriedly responded, turned around and left the silk and satin shop, looking left and right.He saw Chen Kang enter Shopkeeper Yue's jewelry shop at a glance, and trotted to follow.

Chen Kang carried the fabrics out of the silk and satin shop, and the second place Wang Pang arranged for him to go was the jewelry shop on the street.The shopkeeper of this jewelry store is surnamed Yue, known as Yue Laodao.He is usually a smiling tiger, but if anyone buys something from their house, he will be slapped with a knife in terms of price.But today, Chen Kang didn't mind. With money in his arms, his back became much straighter when he walked, and even his lameness seemed to be less serious.

Yue Laodao was standing on the cabinet, resting his cheeks on his hands and looking at the account books. At this moment, he was thinking in his heart that Zhu County Magistrate did not know if he was still in this county after the New Year. County magistrate, do you want to save this money this year?As the saying goes, when a person leaves for cold tea, if he is no longer in Linchuan after the Chinese New Year, then the expenses will not be in vain.From the corner of his eye, he saw someone entering the jewelry store. He came back to see that it was Chen Kang, and he felt a little unhappy. It's not good for someone to come, but it's this lame Chen again. Is there another tax reminder at the end of the year?He thought it would be fine to ask someone to send him away, but when he looked up at Yue Laodao, he was taken aback.

Chen Kang was directly picked up by Wang Pang from the county government that day, not only did he ask a doctor to treat Chen Kang's injuries, but he also ate and drank well during the past few days in Wang Pang's mansion, and he took good care of himself.Moreover, Wang Pang also asked his family to bring out some new clothes for Chen Kang to change into. This was different from the usual Chen Kang. Today, he was clean and tidy, with his chest up and his head up, and he entered the jewelry shop. Piece fabric.

Yue Laodao came out from the cabinet immediately: "Mr. Chen, what brought you here? Come on, put down the things first." He said as he helped Chen Kang put down the fabric, and then with a smile on his face: "Chen Kang Yuanwai, where are you from? What errand do you want to do today?"

Chen Kang put down the fabric and just took a rest. He rubbed his shoulders and asked Yue Laodao: "Master Yue, do you have any good jewelry? I don't care if it's expensive, but it must be high quality."

Yue Laodao pointed to all kinds of jewelry on the counter and said, "What you said, our jewelry is the most expensive in our county, no, no, no, it's the best." Kang, they all slipped their tongues, but luckily Chen Kang pretended not to hear.Chen Kang glanced at the hairpins and bracelets on the counter, and said with disdain: "These are too ordinary in quality. If there is no better one, I will leave."

What is Chen Kang doing today?Yue Laodao was puzzled in his heart, he smiled and said in a low voice: "Of course, there are some, but they are prepared for the magistrate..." As he said, he took out a box from the drawer under the counter, opened it There are a lot of good things in the box, whether it is hairpins or bracelets, the workmanship and materials are much better than those on the cabinet.Yue Laodao showed Chen Kang the same thing, and immediately closed the box again: "These things are not the above prices." Grandpa has friendship, whether you Chen Kang is here to collect taxes today or not, I have to let you know this first.

Chen Kang didn't pay much attention to the box, he said casually: "There is always a price for the rich and the poor, besides, I also give it away. Shopkeeper Yue will lose money by giving it away, and Shopkeeper Yue will sell it to me to make money. If you don't want to sell it, forget it."

This Chen Kang's tone today is really not small, Yue Laodao heard something in Chen Kang's words, could it be that he is also sending the county magistrate?Yue Laodao's smile never fell from his face. He hurriedly opened the box and went to Chen Kang: "Mr. Chen, if you buy it sincerely, then you can choose whatever you want."

Chen Kang thought to himself, this Yue Laodao was probably afraid that I would not be able to pay the money, so he took out the wad of banknotes and a few ingots of silver from his pocket, just like in the silk and satin shop just now, deliberately revealing his wealth, and then took out the money. Two or three silver bills were slapped on the counter. "This agate bracelet, this pair of emerald earrings, and this hairpin by the way. How much are these?"

Yue Laodao looked at the three bank notes on the cabinet, all of which were 100 taels of silver each. Where did this guy get so much money? "These things are 320 taels. I'll give you a better discount. Even if it's 300 taels, Mr. Chen has a good eye. These things were originally intended for the county magistrate..." Chen Kang didn't want him to continue: "Wrap the things well, and the money will be paid." You take the ticket."

Yue Laodao didn't expect Chen Kang to be so happy, he turned around and gave himself a small slap in the face, and said in his heart: Yue Laodao, Yue Laodao, Chen Kang didn't even blink, it seems that this knife is really real today. is too light.

As soon as Chen Kang left, Xiao Geda entered the jewelry shop in a flash, "Hey, shopkeeper Yue, have you made a fortune again?" ? Your shopkeeper Wu will get rich today, right?"

Xiao Geda chuckled: "Where did you say, how can we be as fast as your hot water knife? What do you think of this lame Chen today?" Yue Laodao shook his head: "I am also thinking about it?! Oh, I said Little Geda, there are many good news about you on this street, don’t you like to inquire about it?” Xiao Geda didn’t know about Shopkeeper Yue, so he walked towards the door and said, “Then you always think about it first, I’ll go and have a look.” Saying that, Xiao Geda walked out of the jewelry shop, and Yue Laodao followed to the door and asked: "Come back and tell me!"

The third place Chen Kang wanted to go to was the tavern on the corner of this street. The shopkeeper and clerk of this tavern were old neighbors with Chen Kang. Low.One is that the tax is too heavy these days, and two, I have been working in the tavern for a long time, and the people who come to drink and eat are all regular customers, and the shopkeeper is afraid that the increase will be too high, so the customers will not come.Chen Kang entered the tavern, put the fabric on the stool beside him, and greeted the tavern manager, the buddy, and the diners.

The clerk came up to welcome him: "Mr. Chen, is your injury healed?" Chen Kang nodded: "Okay, okay! Thank you, brother!"

"Hey, what are you thanking me for? Today, what are you doing?" [

Chen Kang said: "Give me half a catty of beef, a sip of wine, and a bowl of noodles. If I'm full, I have to go to the county government to do business."

"Okay, half a catty of beef, a drop of wine, and a bowl of noodles!" The waiter yelled at the chef in the hotel, and after reporting the dishes, he turned to Chen Kang and asked, "Mr. Chen, who was the son who gave you that day? You Why are you still accepting the job of the county government?"

Chen Kang deliberately raised his voice: "My son, he is the brother-in-law of the county magistrate, and this time he is here to pick up the county magistrate to go to the capital." He patted the two pieces of cloth as he said, "You don't know, our county magistrate Grandfather is really afraid of guilt, and actually handed over all the private savings in the past few years to our young master. Isn't that so? Our young master asked me to buy something for his sister to take with him."

Before the words were finished, the sporadic guests who had dinner all looked at Chen Kang, and the waiter smiled: "You are talking nonsense..." Chen Kang winked at him: "Why are you talking nonsense?! Look, this jewelry" said to him He took out the newly bought jewelry, and revealed the silver ingots and bank notes: "What are these, the young master said, the county master has earned more than this in recent years."

The waiter stared at the boss: "Wow, then, Chen Yuanwai, are you following the big family?!" The shopkeeper also came over at this meeting: "Go, go serve Chen Yuanwai!" He ordered the waiter , I came over by myself: "According to Yuanwai Chen, our county magistrate has made a lot of money in the past few years."

Everyone in the tavern looked at Chen Kang, Chen Kang smiled strangely, but he didn't finish his words.