scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 103 The Crazy Begins

(PS: The chapters have been updated for several days in a row, but the monthly ticket scores have dropped again and again, and now they have fallen out of the top [-]. Dear friends, you can’t even out a few monthly tickets for the great gods, and give them to the pure wolf. Send charcoal in the snow?)

As an army man who entered Yunnan with Wu Sangui's army more than ten years ago, Luo Leisheng is undoubtedly a very lucky person. Burned out in the army like so many of my mates.Although he failed to return to his hometown in the Central Plains, he still settled down in the Qujing Mansion in Yunnan, where the colorful clouds are like spring all the year round, married a wife and had children, and settled down.

After several wars, Yunnan has fewer people and more land. In order to collect taxes from the people, the surviving soldiers and civilians were allotted a little bit of land. Luo Leisheng, who worked as a cow and horse for Wu Sangui for five years, was also allotted ten acres of land to live and live. With hard work and a little bit of luck, Luo Lei became a small landlord, with more than 50 acres of precious land of varying quality and quality, and hired a few long-term laborers. There is some hope for a better life.

But at this time, bad luck came to the door. Ren Xing, the big shopkeeper of the Ren family business, came to see Luo Leisheng's land, which was the best land of more than [-] mu in Luo Leisheng. , I just want to take it, so there is a mysterious incident of Tianmu Dibei moving by itself.

After many years of hard work, half of it was taken away by others, and he was tricked by others when he tried to reason. In anger and anger, Luo Leisheng held the last ray of hope, held a pleading paper and went to Cheng Feng, the magistrate of Qujing County, to sue his brother-in-law and prince. Ren Xinglai, the younger brother of the goddaughter, the result is predictable. The magistrate was not happy on the spot, and the magistrate Cheng was obedient, trying to figure out how to get rid of Ren Xinglai, and turn Luo Leisheng's legal property into Ren Xinglai. legal property.

Just when Luo Leisheng was on the brink of despair, the new county magistrate of Qujing, Lu Yifeng, Lu Qingtian, and Lord Lu Daxian took office, and everyone knew the series of earth-shattering events that happened next.

In order to repay Fatty Lu, a rare and good dog official, when Lu Qingtian, the magistrate of Xinxian County, encouraged Luo Leisheng to plant Eight Banners Fushouhua, Luo Leisheng planted [-] acres in one go. Although he was not the person who planted the most in Qujing, he was the only one who More than half of the land was used to plant the Eight Banners Fushouhua, and according to the instructions of the Xinxian Taiye and the county Taiye, the pervert master Zhu Shiye, they used the method of growing wheat to send soil and fertilization to the Eight Banners Fushouhua. Following Lu Qingtian's instructions, he took his wife and children, and the long-term laborers went to the field with brushes, and used the brushes to artificially pollinate the Baqi Fushou flowers one by one. Crops can also increase yields in this way.

The people who have planted the land for most of their lives are skeptical about the method that the Grand Master of Xin County said. In previous years, more than 200 catties were collected, which made many villagers regret it. They said that the county magistrate also taught us, but we didn't believe it!
The cucumbers in a few ridges are just a trivial matter. What really worries Luo Leisheng is the [-] acres of beautiful Eight Banners. The spectacular scene of beautiful flowers blooming in the fields, but most people also express doubts, can these beautiful flowers really be exchanged for money like grain and vegetables?But don't plant it, no one will buy it and no one will want it, right?There are also many people who like to gloat and say, Luo Leisheng, that kid has been fooled, just wait and cry!

The beautiful Eight Banners Fushou Flower gradually withered, and green oval fruits grew one after another. Like all the people who planted this Eight Banners Fushou Flower, Luo Leisheng followed the instructions of the county magistrate, using a knife, an awl and The thick needles cut through the fruits one by one, and collected the oozing white juice bit by bit, leaving only half an acre of fruit as the seeds for the coming year—— according to the county magistrate, this kind of seeds can also be used to extract oil and squeeze them. The oil that came out was a tribute to the palace in the previous dynasty, and the price was so high that Luo Leisheng could not imagine.

After collecting the thick white juice, Luo Leisheng boiled it in a small pot on a low heat according to the request of the county magistrate. The fragrance emitted when boiling the medicine was very peculiar and intoxicating. Luo Leisheng and all his neighbors said it smelled good. , but what made Luo Leisheng terrified, and what made all the people who planted this kind of Eight Banners Fushouhua terrified, was that the white concoction harvested from an acre of land could only boil about thirty taels of black ointment, which was the highest yield. An acre of land can only boil more than 40 taels, and the least is even less than 20 taels.

Luo Leisheng's wife cried on the spot, saying that if these lands were used to grow grain, one mu of land could receive two to three hundred catties of grain throughout the year, which could be sold for seven or eight renminbi. What's the matter?Unless these black ointments can be sold for two cents per tael, and six renminbi for an acre of black ointment, then this year's hard work will be in vain, and whether they can afford to hire long-term workers next year is probably another matter.Although Luo Leisheng was not as weak as his wife, but after counting the [-] acres of land with eight banners of blessing flowers, Luo Leisheng didn't fall asleep for several nights in a row.

A notice was posted in the county government office, saying that the county magistrate has been busy with official business recently, and the day of buying Baqi drug cream will be postponed a little bit. On the fifth day of August, the purchase will start outside the west gate of Qujing.

Seeing this notice, those who didn't grow the Eight Banners medicine laughed, saying that the county magistrate is really bragging, and he will definitely not accept it until the fifth day of August.

Most of the common people and landlords who planted the Eight Banners Fushou Gao said that it didn’t matter, because they planted very little, or they planted the Eight Banners Fushouhua on the mountainous land that could not harvest a few grains at all. Just treat it as filial piety to the county magistrate. Anyway, this county magistrate treats the common people well.

Luo Leisheng cried, a big man cried so loudly, he wanted to scold Mrs. Fat County but he didn't dare, and he was a little embarrassed, so he couldn't sleep all night, and cried with his wife all night, crying with tears. Wash your face, almost desperate.

It was finally approaching the fifth day of August. Holding the last ray of hope, Luo Leisheng rushed to the west gate of Qujing with his wife and son on the evening of the fourth day of August. With more than 900 taels of Eight Banners of Fushou Gao and more than 20 catties of seeds, they were in the queue. The first one.And in the middle of the night, many people who planted the Eight Banners Fushou flowers also came to line up with the planted Eight Banners Fushou ointment and seeds, waiting for the county government to purchase them uniformly. , everyone is guessing at what price Baqi Fushou Gao can be sold at. Some say one tael for three cents, some say one tael for one penny, some say one tael for eight cents, and some even swear He swears that it's a tael of Baqi Fushou cream for a penny of silver, and he also said that he heard the news from some relative who works in the county government office.This made Luo Leisheng's family feel very up and down, happy for a while and worried for a while, tossing and turning.

As the sky gradually dawned, more and more people came out of the west gate. Landlords, big and small, also came to line up. They came here to try their luck with the mentality that mosquitoes are also meat, and wanted to see whether they should continue planting the Eight Banners Fushou Ointment next year.There are more people watching the excitement, and they all say to see how the price is. If it is good, then buy some seeds or ask neighbors for some seeds, and plant some next year.

At the second quarter of the hour, a team of 500 soldiers suddenly arrived at the Youzhen camp of Prince Pingxi's mansion, led by Mr. Wang Jing, the deputy general of Youzhen, who maintained order with swords and guns; , another group of government servants and Green Battalion soldiers from Qujing County came out from the county town, led by Li Tianzhi, the chief catcher of Qujing County, who brought dozens of heavy wooden boxes and a pile of tables, chairs and benches, and placed them against the city wall outside the west gate. A semicircle surrounded dozens of large wooden boxes, which were strictly protected by the army of Youzhen.

Maybe it was God's destiny to torture Luo Leisheng's fragile heart. The hour has already passed, the sun has already risen into the sky, and the fat county magistrate still hasn't shown up. On the contrary, dozens of businessmen came from Sanchakou Pass—— ——Luo Leisheng's sharp eyes recognized that those foreign merchants were all medicine merchants, and some often went to Qujing to buy medicine.However, these medicine merchants are closely guarded by Youzhen soldiers, they are not allowed to contact the common people, and one of them yelled at them, "What's the hurry? Wait for Mr. Lu to come and set the price of Baqi Fushou Ointment. If you take it again, you want to rush to collect it now. Who will take care of the common people if they suffer? Who will take care of you if you suffer? No snatching is allowed. Whoever robs will be disqualified from buying!"

"Oh, so they also came to collect the Eight Banners Fushou Ointment." Luo Leisheng secretly heaved a sigh of relief, only then did he realize that these medicine merchants also came to collect the Eight Banners Fushou Ointment. I'm worried that I can't sell it, but I don't know the price. I hope it won't be too low. If I can sell it for three cents of silver, I will be satisfied.

Of course, if Luo Leisheng knew that these medicine merchants were detained at the checkpoint ten days ago at the earliest, and they were not allowed to go to Qujing to buy Baqi Fushou Gao first, then Luo Leisheng would not have to worry, and he would not have to suffer so much psychological suffering.

At two o'clock, the chubby county magistrate finally showed up, with a large group of clerks and yamen servants, and Qin Chuanwu, the current largest shopkeeper of the Daheng store in Qujing City—I heard that this treasurer Qin is the county magistrate's uncle.In addition, Mr. Zhang, the acting magistrate of Qujing, also came, and many senior officials from Yunnan also came, but these officials who are much older than the county magistrate respect the county magistrate very much, and keep nodding and bowing, as if The county magistrate's officials are as big as theirs, which is very strange and confusing.

The guys from Daheng Company sat behind the table and prepared papers and pens for accounting, as well as official scales for weighing. The officials went into the circle behind the tables and chairs and sat down. There were also representatives from foreign drug dealers and local drug dealers. Enter the circle and stand still.The chubby county magistrate stood up, looked at the people in Qujing who were looking forward to it, and then at the trembling Luo Leisheng family at the front, the county magistrate suddenly smiled, turned around and waved to the yamen servants, and the yamen servants immediately stepped forward, The dozens of large wooden boxes were opened one by one, revealing boxes of white flowers and shiny snow-white patterned silver!The shaking made Luo Leisheng and countless people's eyes dazzled, and they kept exclaiming, "My God! So much money!"

"Fellow Luo, I remember that this year your family has the most Eight Banners Fushou flowers." Fat County Grandpa pointed to Luo Leisheng who was ranked first, and asked with a smile, "How many Eight Banners Fushou Gao have you harvested this year? How many seeds have you harvested?"

"Go back to my lord, I received 930 five-two-eight-eight banner drug ointment, 22 catties and 13 two seeds." Luo Leisheng answered the numbers that he had already memorized by heart.

"Oh, not bad." Fatty County Grandpa smiled and nodded in approval.

"Grandfather, how much money can these Eight Banners medicines and seeds be exchanged for?" Luo Leisheng asked nervously.

Fatty County Grandpa laughed again, and the pervert master behind Fat County Grandpa also laughed, very happily.Finally, while Luo Leisheng and countless other people waited with bated breath, Fatty County Grandpa finally said, "You can sell as many taels of the Eight Banners Fushou Ointment you brought. For seeds, one catty of seeds can be exchanged for two taels of silver. "

"What?!" Luo Leisheng was dumbfounded and couldn't believe his ears. The people around him also opened their mouths wide and couldn't believe their ears.

After pinching his thighs a few times and making sure that he was not dreaming, Luo Leisheng asked tremblingly, "Grandpa, did the grass people hear you right? How many taels of Eight Banner Fushou Gao can be sold for as many taels of silver? Seeds can be sold for a catty." Two taels of silver?"

"You heard me right." Fatty County Grandpa nodded earnestly, and said loudly: "Folks, listen carefully, the price stipulated by this county is one tael of Eight Banners Fushou Gao for one tael of silver! One catty of Baqi Fushou Gao Seeds, exchange for two taels of silver!"

"Wow!" There was a burst of landslide and tsunami exclamation at the scene, and every commoner and landlord who had planted the Eight Banners Fushou Ointment was trembling. They never thought that the black Eight Banners Fushou Ointment could be worth so much silver!And the common people who didn't plant the Eight Banners drug cream or planted too little, that is, they regretted it on the spot and hammered their heads, saying why didn't I plant it?Why didn't I listen to the magistrate?How can I be so stupid? !
"And you, the county also gives you a rule." Fatty County Grandpa turned to the representatives of the medicine store in the city and the representatives of the medicinal material merchants from other places, and said to them: "You can also buy and sell Baqi Fushou Gao at will, but the price is the lowest. It should not be less than one tael of Eight Banners Fushou cream and one tael of silver, and there is no limit to the maximum. As long as you can eat it, you can take it as you like, and the county will never interfere. But you are not allowed to collect the seeds, and they must all be purchased by the Daheng Company in the county. Do you understand?"

"Understood." Several representatives agreed together.A representative of an out-of-town medicinal material dealer said timidly again: "Grandfather, one tael of Eight Banners Fushou cream is one tael, isn't the price too high? Can it be reduced to five taels of silver?"

"Don't be too dark-hearted. This county is afraid that you will mess around and harm farmers, so we ask the governor's office, the prefect's office and the green camp to strictly control you." The fat county magistrate smiled and said: "If you really want this How much profit does the county make from breaking you? If you want to miss this opportunity to make a fortune, the county will not force you, please feel free to do so.”

"Grass people should be damned." The medicinal material dealer representative twitched his mouth lightly, nodded and said, "Okay then, one tael of Eight Banners Fushou Ointment and one tael of silver, we will also accept this price."

"Sure, then it's settled, you go to the side and put it away." Fatty County Lord nodded, then turned to Luo Leisheng who was already full of surprise, and said with a smile: "Mr. Luo, do you sell your Eight Banners Fushou Ointment? Hurry up, sell it to the county or these medicinal material dealers, don't stop the people behind."

"Sell! Of course!" Luo Leisheng yelled when he came back to his senses, and quickly unwrapped the medicine jars on his body, and said, "I'll sell them all, including the Eight Banners Fushou Ointment and seeds!"

"Old man, are you stupid?" Luo Leisheng's wife, who had been crying for countless days, came to her senses, and quickly pulled Luo Leisheng's sleeves, complaining, "What if you sold out the seeds? We won't plant them next year?"

"That's right." Luo Leisheng also came back to his senses, and hurriedly said: "Grandpa, the grass people are wrong, all the Eight Banners Fushou Ointment will be sold, I will keep the seeds... I will keep five catties, and all the others will be sold."

"My fellow, this fellow, I heard that you have the most Eight Banners Fushou Ointments." At first, the out-of-town medicine merchant who protested against the high price was anxious, and hurriedly said to Luo Leisheng, "Can you sell all your Eight Banners Fushou Ointments to me? Offer the price of one tael of silver and one tael of ointment!"

"No." Luo Leisheng categorically vetoed it, saying: "My grandfather has kindness to me, I can't repay my kindness with revenge!"

"I'll pay you one tael!" The out-of-town drug dealer yelled, "One tael for one tael of Eight Banners Fushou Ointment. I'll buy all of your more than 900 taels of Eight Banners Fushou Ointment!"

"One tael, one tael?!" Luo Leisheng and the surrounding people all exclaimed again.Luo Leisheng's wife also had bright eyes. She tugged on Luo Leisheng's sleeves and said in a low voice, "The head of the house, sell it to him. One tael and one tael of ointment can be sold for more than 100 taels."

"But Grandpa..." Luo Lei looked at Fatty Lu timidly.

"Hehe, it doesn't matter, you can do whatever you want." Fatty Lu said with a smile: "Don't worry about the county, you can sell it to whoever you think is a good deal, but it's still the same sentence, the seeds must be sold to the county, and they are not allowed to leak out without permission. Otherwise If you find out that you have sold one or two taels privately, the county will fine you one or two taels of silver.”

"Then...the grass-roots will be sorry to the county magistrate." Now that the huge profit was made, Luo Leisheng couldn't care less about Fatty Lu's kindness, so he threw the seeds into his wife's hand and said, "Old lady, you sell the seeds here. , I’ll go to the side to sell the Eight Banners Fushou Cream.”

After all, when Luo Leisheng and his son mentioned the medicine jar, they followed the foreign businessman to the side to sell Baqi drug cream.Some other common people also followed, all with the attitude of selling more is a little, and went to those merchants to sell Baqi Fushou Ointment, and the official medicine buying point that was still crowded just now was more than half empty.

"Yifeng, this won't work." Qin Chuanwu, Fatty Lu's uncle, was in a hurry, and quickly pulled Fatty Lu's sleeve and said, "The Eight Banners Fushou Gao has been confiscated by out-of-town medicine dealers. How can we make money? What can we sell to Zao?" Just the appointed firm in the capital and the Western merchants in Guangzhou?"

"Uncle, don't worry." Fatty Lu replied with a smile: "First, these medicine dealers came here to bully the people of Qujing. They didn't know the price of Baqi Fushou Gao. They don’t have much silver, and now that the price has suddenly increased by more than ten times, how much can they eat? Second, the Eight Banners drug ointment produced on the 500 mu of land we borrowed from the second prince of Pingxi Palace is our own. Yes, no one can take it away. The output from Longkuo Tusi and Anmin Tusi is also ours. Third, the Baqi Fushou Gao planted in Qujing this year has a total of more than 30 mu, with an average of about 10 mu per mu. Two, even if we eat all of it, it’s only about 6000 taels, more than 16 catties less than [-] catties ([-] taels per catty on an ancient scale), and we can’t earn much money. If we want to make a lot of money, we have to wait until next year.”

"Also." Speaking of this, Fatty Lu put his mouth close to his uncle's ear, and whispered: "What we can really make money this year is actually the seeds of the Eight Banners drug ointment! We collect the seeds, and the surrounding provinces and People in the state government see how much money Baqi Fushou Gao is making, why don't they buy seeds? At that time, our seeds won't sell for sky-high prices?"

"That's right, that's the reason." Qin Chuanwu's eyes lit up, he nodded repeatedly and said, "It's still my nephew who knows how to do business, and we'll sell the seeds at 16 taels...not 32 taels a catty. , the profit will be more than ten times as soon as it changes hands!"

"One or two seeds for two taels of silver?" Fatty Lu rolled his eyes at his uncle, and said in an extremely unfilial manner: "Uncle, are you so confused? What's the difference between this price and giving them free? One or two seeds, you at least You have to sell me a tael of gold!"

"So expensive? Can someone buy it?" Qin Chuanwu was taken aback.

"Don't worry, some people buy it!" Fatty Lu snorted coldly, and said in a low voice: "One more thing, uncle, you must remember that 1000% of the sold seeds have to be steamed for me to let it There is no way to germinate it, and then mix it with [-]% good seeds and sell it! There are more than [-] seeds in a hibiscus plant, if we don’t do this, we won’t be able to get rich next year!”

"But if others can't grow it, don't they suspect that we have tampered with it?" Qin Chuanwu was even more worried.

"Their soil is not suitable, the climate is not suitable, and the planting technology is not good. It's none of our business?" Fatty Lu said with a sneer: "Anyone who wants to learn how to grow the Eight Banners drug balm from me, why don't you give me a piece of skin?" stay!"

Fatty Lu's crow's mouth was right, because the price was forcibly raised by Fatty Lu by more than ten times, and the medicinal material merchants who came to Qujing from other places to take advantage of it were seriously short of funds. However, after a total of more than 2 taels were collected, these merchants were all out of pocket, so they could only beg the common people to give them credit, or ask the common people to keep the Baqi Fushou Gao for a while, and come back when their capital turnover comes. High price acquisition.

The eyes of the common people are sharp, especially when they see white flowers and shining silver. On the one hand, Fatty Lu is buying with sufficient cash, and on the other is the illusory debts on credit. Of course, the poor and accustomed common people will Choose the former, and at the same time, Fatty Lu also showed great kindness and raised the purchase price by one or two yuan. Naturally, the common people obediently sent the rest of the Eight Banners medicine to Fatty Lu, and happily left with the money in their hands. The money that Fatty borrowed from Wu Sangui with the mortgage of his family property was almost gone.And Luo Leisheng's family, who planted the most crops this year, naturally became the envy and envy of everyone - this kid, good luck!
The precious Eight Banners drug ointments are basically purchased. In order to get back the funds as soon as possible, Fatty Lu’s uncle Qin Chuanwu rushed to Guangzhou with a batch of Eight Banners drug ointments on the same day, and sold them to Western businessmen who had already made an appointment—the Golden Triangle of this era. It has not been developed yet, and it happens to be popular in Europe. When it is shipped to Guangzhou, Western merchants buy as many as possible.

In order to prevent accidents, Fatty Lu borrowed a hundred masters from Wang Jing and handed them over to Fang Shiyu, Liu Zhen, and Liu Xu brothers to lead the caravan to protect his uncle and rush to Guangzhou.Li Tianzhi was unavoidably worried about this, and said, "My lord, you have sent Fang Shiyu out. You only have the last general and Shen Xin by your side. Is there a little less manpower? Prince Pingnan hates you to the bone. What if you are here?" Who will he send to...?"

"It's okay, when the news of the Eight Banners Fushou Cream reaches Prince Pingnan, he will definitely not be willing to kill me as a son-in-law." Fatty Lu shook his head, and said: "As for sending Fang Shiyu to Guangdong, I have nothing but to let him go back. Go home to reunite with my parents, and let him do some things for me, and find some manpower for me, my manpower here is about to start to be short."

Fatty Lu's crow's mouth has always been very sharp. When Qin Chuanwu's caravan was still on its way to Guangdong, the news that the Eight Banners Fushou Gao had harvested in Qujing County and sold at sky-high prices had already spread, and it was quickly spread through various sources. The channel spread to the ears of Fatty Lu's official father-in-law, the traitor Shang Kexi.I probably inquired about the production of Eight Banners Fushou Gao in Qujing, as well as the purchase price in Qujing and the current price in Guangzhou. I also heard about the price of Eight Banners Fushou Gao in Beijing. I also heard that the residue of Baqi Fushou Gao is used on war horses. magical effect.The old traitor Shang suddenly discovered that Fatty Lu, who had abducted his precious daughter and had already made her belly big, was actually very good, and barely worthy of his precious daughter.

Thinking of this, the old traitor Shang immediately turned to his confidant and asked, "Jin Guang, I heard that when Wanyi and that bastard surnamed Lu officially got married, Zhixin gave them a generous gift and said that he would continue to recognize Wanyi as a Sister, you also recognize this brother-in-law surnamed Lu, is there such a thing?"

"Back to the lord, there is indeed such a thing." Jin Guang nodded, thinking that you are an old man, why are you asking this hypocritically?The last time your second son gave your eldest son eye drops, didn't he already tell you about it?You seemed to lose your temper at that time, didn't you?

"Zhixin is not bad. He doesn't hate the poor and doesn't love the rich. He has the character of an old man." The old traitor Shang praised his eldest son, completely forgetting that after he heard about it last time, he immediately scolded his eldest son Shang Zhi Xin is an unfilial son of a bitch, he deliberately wants to piss himself off!

"Go." After boasting, the old traitor Shang immediately ordered: "Send someone to find Zhixin, and ask him to come see me immediately."

"My lord, I think I don't need to send someone?" Jin Guang said with a wry smile, "I just received the report. After hearing the news about Qu Jing, the eldest prince is already packing up and saluting to go to Yunnan in person."

"Really?" The old traitor Shang was overjoyed in his heart, and said with a smile: "This kid is really vigorous and resolute, he really looks like Lao Tzu! But I still have to call him here. Since he is going to visit my sister, let him bring me a few A word to Wanyi, let Wanyi go back to her mother's house to have a look when she has time."

From the east to the north, the news reached the ears of Geng Jimao, Prince of Jingnan in Fuzhou, and Geng Jingzhong, the son of Prince Jingnan.Hearing this news, Prince Jingnan was still quite reserved, and said to his son: "Send an envoy to Yunnan and ask Wu Sangui to get us some seeds of Eight Banners medicine for the sake of our family friends Geng and Wu. Try planting and see if it can be grown in Fujian."

"Father, don't be so stupid!" Geng Jingzhong jumped three feet high and shouted: "It's not like you don't know how selfish and stingy that old Wu Sangui is! Send an envoy over to say hello, and he will give us this My baby? Besides, even if we have seeds, is it a waste of energy if we don’t know how to plant them?”

"Then what do you say?" Geng Jimao asked his son for advice.

"I'll go there myself and bring a few farmers with me!" Geng Jingzhong roared, "I not only want to get seeds from him, but also how to grow Eight Banners drug ointment!"

(End of this chapter)