Chastity Layman

  Chapter 195 Smuggling

evening.

  Jingyang Wharf.

  Zheng Hongji brought two servants into the city, bought roast goose and mutton, picked two baskets of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and bought two jars of fine wine. The boatman by the pier burned two big Jinghe carp, and dozens of men gathered around, happily drinking and eating meat, and guessing games.

  Beside him, there were several brothel women brought back together from Jingyang City, drinking and having fun with them.

"Damn it, the prices are astonishingly expensive now. It used to cost two to three thousand dollars to buy such things today, but now it costs more than ten times. If it weren't for us traveling this way often, we would even be rich now." I can’t buy these wines and meats, especially this wine, which is now hidden and sold secretly, only for regular customers.” Zheng Hongji said to his father Zheng Yuanrui while drinking wine.

"The imperial court has no ability, so that's how it is. When there is a famine, slaughter and selling are banned, and the end is the end." Zheng Yuanrui was a secretary in the Sui Dynasty, and the son next to him who is now swearing was also the magistrate of Fei County in the early years of Wude , but now the father and father are both unofficial and unemployed people in the mountains.

   While eating meat and drinking wine, everyone hugged the woman to guess the boxing game, and at the same time cursed a few words about the court's immorality and so on.

  While the wine was in full swing, a team suddenly came to the pier, all of them dressed in neat soap robes and carrying guns and sticks in their hands.

  Being the first one, wearing a soap robe and wearing a horizontal knife, looked coldly at this group of guys who were somewhat out of place, even unscrupulous.

  An officer stepped forward and shouted, "Under the order of the Fusi of the town, all merchants and goods at the Guanjin Wharf will be inspected. Anyone who resists will be arrested and severely punished!"

  The Zheng family on the pier didn't care, and continued to drink.

   "Don't worry, in this Jingyang County, everyone in our family has been fed already." Zheng Yuanrui said disapprovingly.

Although the Jing River is thousands of miles long and is the largest tributary of the Wei River, the Jing River originating from Laolongtan in Longshan Mountain is not a river suitable for navigable water transportation, especially the Jingyang section. Although the total length is 80 miles, the river flows seasonally The difference is too big.

   In summer and autumn, when it rains, the sky rises and the boat cannot sail. In spring and winter, the water is dry, and the boat cannot sail. The terrain on both sides of the river is flat, and the land transportation is convenient. Therefore, the usual transportation is mainly by land. To travel between the two banks, it is mainly by ferry. There is no bridge. Because the water volume is erratic, it is difficult to build a bridge, and the ferry is the best solution.

  Going from Jingyang County to Chang'an, one has to cross the Jinghe River, so from Longyou Shuofang in Hexi to Chang'an, Jingyang is the only stop, and the Jinghe Wharf is very lively.

  Where there is a ferry terminal, there will be a ferry, a boatman, and a boatman.

  There was pier grass market, too.

  Zheng Hongji is not as calm as his father. Although he often walks this pier and is familiar with the officials in the county, it is not as usual now, let alone the goods piled up on the pier.

   "You want to transport goods across the river? Where do you come from, where are you going, what kind of goods are you?"

  The squad leader brought his subordinates over and yelled loudly.

   "Old Zuo, we are going to Qizhou, we are from Binzhou." Zheng Hongji stood up and replied with a smile.

  The leader of the team is just a small team of yamen servants, and it is quite useful to be called Laozuo. After all, although Cao Zuo in the yamen is just a small official, it is also an honorary name for them.

   "What product?"

   "It's nothing, just some charcoal." Zheng Hongji replied.

   "Charcoal?" The team leader glanced at the huge pile of goods. Although it was covered by straw curtains, it didn't look like charcoal. Besides, I have never heard of transporting charcoal from Binzhou to Qizhou. "Is there no charcoal in Qizhou?"

   "Old Zuo, it's like this, these charcoals are all high-quality silver charcoals."

  The team leader didn't listen to his words, "According to the regulations above, the goods have to be randomly inspected, and someone will find them for inspection."

  At this moment, Zheng Yuanrui came forward, "These officers, this guy belongs to the Zheng family. It's convenient." He took out a silver collar and slipped it into the leader's hand quietly.

The team leader looked down, touched his hand again, and finally pinched it with his nails. He thought to himself, this silver collar is at least five taels. Big head, it's a big deal.

   There is no chance for a windfall like this. Although it is obvious that there is something wrong with the other party's goods, this silver is not a fool. It doesn't matter what his goods are, not to mention that they also mentioned the Zheng family.

   "The Zheng family, which Zheng family?"

   Zheng Yuanrui said casually, "Which Zheng family is the most famous in the world, I'm talking about which Zheng family."

   "Zheng family in Xingyang?" The team leader was startled.

  Zheng Yuanrui smiled smugly, "Brother, please help me. If you need help in the future, you can always come to my Zheng family for help."

  The team leader was taken aback, unexpectedly it was the Zheng family of Xingyang, so he said very politely, "It must be, if you bother me, please leave."

  He put away the silver, turned his hand and walked to his subordinates, and waved his hand, "Brothers, let's go, there are some charcoals in there, I have seen them all."

  After the team leader took away the county guards, Zheng Yuanrui continued to invite people to drink.

  He hugged left and right, feeling extremely contemptuous of the departing team leader, but a mere few taels of silver was considered a beggar.

   It wasn't long before the wine continued to drink, but another team came.

   Zheng Hongji said dissatisfiedly, "Aren't those guys greedy?"

  Zheng Yuanrui said, "Go and see, if anyone comes to ask for money, just send a few, don't get entangled with them, let's be more careful at this time."

   Zheng Hongji went over, only to see that there were more people coming this time, and the leader was actually an official in a green robe.

   "My officer, Lieutenant Jingyang, please don't panic and perform routine inspections."

   Zheng Hongji stepped forward, "I have seen the county captain, we have just been inspected."

  The county lieutenant looked at him coldly, "Who inspected it?"

   "A boss in a soap robe, with a beard."

  The county lieutenant looked at the large pile of conspicuous goods, "What are your goods?"

   "Silver charcoal, transported from Binzhou to Qizhou, the team leader just opened it and checked it."

   "Silver charcoal? Is this a lot of silver charcoal?"

   "Exactly!"

  The county lieutenant ignored him, "Come here, lift up the straw weaving, and do random inspections!"

"Young mansion, these goods have been inspected. Check again, and I will have to reinstall them later. It's getting dark, so it's convenient." Zheng Hongji whispered, "This is the goods of the Zheng family in Xingyang. We can't delay it." rise."

   "Open the box and check!" The county lieutenant ignored the Xingyang Zheng family.

   Zheng Yuanrui also walked over when he saw something was wrong.

  He crossed his hands to salute, "Can the Shaofu move forward and talk?"

   "Speak up if you have something to say!"

Zheng Yuanrui has never seen such a county lieutenant before, "To be honest, these silver charcoals were sent to Qizhou Governor Zheng." As he said that, he repeated his old trick, and this time he directly took out three pig waist silver coins. collar.

   "Do you dare to bribe me?"

  The county captain grabbed Zheng Yuanrui's hand, and the three pieces of silver in his hand were shining in the setting sun.

   Zheng Yuanrui was also a little stunned now, why did he meet such a person?

   "Come here, arrest all these daring thugs, and open and inspect them all!"

   "Go, go and ask the people from the Zhenfu Department to come over immediately."

  A team of guards rushed forward and lifted the straw weaving, so the goods underneath were exposed.

   "Shaofu, here is food!"

   "This is also food!"

   "It's all grain, or milled corn!"

  The county lieutenant walked over and found that the pile of goods, which had been opened, was full of yellow and milled corn.

  He roughly estimated in his mind that a bag weighs about half a stone, so there must be thousands of stones in such a large pile.

   At this time, so much food was obtained quietly, which is obviously smuggling.

   "Do you dare to openly smuggle food during the famine? How bold!"

   "We are not smuggling, this is shipped to Qizhou for sale."

"Selling? Selling you falsely claiming that it is silver charcoal? Don't you know that the imperial court has already issued an edict to allow food from outside the disaster area to be sold through the customs, but you must register before entering the disaster area. You deliberately concealed it. , dare to say it’s not smuggling?”

  Zheng Yuanrui didn't expect to meet such a county lieutenant, so he straightened his clothes, "Take me to see your magistrate Wang, I'm an old acquaintance with him."

  The county lieutenant is not afraid of him, "When is it now, do you think that knowing the county magistrate can override the law?"

  The county captain sent people to seize the grain, and then escorted Zheng Yuanrui and others into the county seat.

  Jingyang Ling was a little surprised to see Zheng Yuanrui.

   "Brother Zheng, is this?"

Zheng Yuanrui said, "Your county lieutenant is very stubborn. I just transported the grain from my Binzhou village to Qizhou, but he insisted on accusing me of smuggling and breaking the law. Now not only my grain is confiscated, but also I am detained. I'm going to jail."

  The county magistrate surnamed Wang is indeed very familiar with Zheng Yuanrui, even a relative by marriage. He is a child of the Wang family in Taiyuan. As for Zheng Yuanrui, his father is Zheng Quan, and his uncle is Zheng Cheng and Zheng Yi. Zheng Yuanxuan, the son of Zheng Yi, is currently the governor of Qizhou. Zheng Shanguo, the son of Zheng Cheng, was formerly the son of Zuo Shuzi, the Minister of the Minister of Ministers of the Ministry of Ministries of Dali Temple.

  He is the authentic Zheng family of Xingyang. He was a secretary in the Sui Dynasty.

  The Zheng family and the Wang family are also often married.

"Brother Wang, I'm still rushing to Qizhou. To be honest, this food was sent to my elder brother Defang. You ask someone to return the food to me, and I won't stay with you. When I come back , Come visit again."

   Just as he was talking, a man in brocade clothes came in.

   "Magistrate Wang, I heard that the guy who smuggled and sold food has been caught?"

  The county magistrate Wang stood up, "Young Master Qin, this is a misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstand?"

   After listening, the man in brocade clothes said, "Since the stolen goods have been obtained together, how can there be any misunderstanding? Is it just because this person is the son of the Zheng family in Xingyang?"

   "Young Master Qin..."

   "Magistrate Wang, don't be confused with me. I'll tell you too. Governor Yi Guogong just sent Ping Zhangshi Qi Guogong to go out of Kyoto to supervise the locust catch. Explain this to him yourself."

When County Magistrate Wang heard that Qin Qiong and Qin Lang's father and son had arrived, he couldn't help but feel a little timid. In front of ordinary people, the Taiyuan Wang family and Xingyang Zheng family are still very famous, but in front of these two, especially the little Qin scholar. , I'm afraid it won't work. He had slapped Zheng in the face more than once before.

   "Have Duke Qi and Duke Yi arrived in Jingyang? Where are they now? The next official will go to greet you!" County Magistrate Wang hurriedly said.

  (end of this chapter)