Chapter 84

A soldier said: "Lao Shou has made a lot of money over the years. He only drinks and gambles. If he hadn't been good at his craftsmanship, he would have died on the street."

Another soldier said: "There are always hundreds of people who rely on the imperial mausoleum to make a living. Lao Shou is the owner who can spend the most money. He also has the most tricks. Judging from his style, I am afraid he was also a rich man back then.

My son, I don’t know why I ended up like this, it’s such a pity.”

Several people talked about it, and they were all sighing. Li Qiufeng took it to heart. He winked at Murong Danyan and signaled her not to move. He stood up with the tea cup and walked to the bearded table.

On the other side, he smiled and said: "This military master, can you lend me a moment to speak?"

The bearded man raised his head and glanced at Li Qiufeng. He saw that his clothes were neat and tidy, and he did not look like a local. His speech was polite, but he did not dare to look down on him, and said, "Do we know you?"

Li Qiufeng laughed and said: "Don't you know now?" He turned to the tea stall owner and said: "The accounts of these military masters are settled on me, and each of them will offer a pot of good usnea.

Tea, and a snack to choose from."

These soldiers were just small soldiers in the military camp. They had lived a careful and careful life. Even this tea money was not a small amount for them. At this time, seeing Li Qiufeng's generous move, they immediately looked at each other.

I know why this person paid for himself for no reason.

The bearded man stood up and said with a smile: "This brother is so polite." As he spoke, he walked to a free table next to him and sat down, and said to Li Qiufeng: "Isn't this brother a local?"

Li Qiufeng looked around and whispered: "To be honest with the military master, I came from the capital."

The bearded man nodded and said, "I can see that my brother's manners and manners are not like those bumpkin in this town."

Li Qiufeng said: "To be honest, my brother is a debt collector from Sibaozhai outside Zuo'anmen in the capital. He has been here to collect debts in the past few days. Do any of the military masters recognize the old man named Shou just now?"

The bearded man was startled and said, "Have you gone to the capital to borrow money?"

Li Qiufeng said: "He did not directly borrow money from Sibaozhai." At this point, Li Qiufeng pointed to the tavern and said: "He owes the money to the tavern, but the tavern owner's capital is borrowed from Sibaozhai."

I borrowed it. The younger brother came here a few days ago to collect the money the tavern owed Sibaozhai. The boss said that the turnover has been difficult recently and it will be delayed for a few days. The younger brother pressed hard, so he said that the old man surnamed Shou owed him

If you are in a hurry, you can ask for more than a dozen taels of silver from Shou Lao. Just now, I was trying to talk to Shou Lao about repaying the debt, and happened to hear several military masters mentioning this person, so I wanted to inquire..."

The bearded man didn't wait for Li Qiufeng to finish, and said with a smile: "Brother, you have asked the right person. There is no need to worry about the money Lao Shou owes. Although this person is not doing his job properly, his character is still good. He has

Once I get the money, I will pay off your debts. It’s just..."

Having said this, the bearded man pondered for a moment and said: "Just a dozen taels of silver is not a small amount. The salary for a year of life is only twenty taels. It will be difficult to pay back all the money in a short while."

Li Qiufeng deliberately showed an anxious look and said, "What should we do? Our boss has said that if we don't collect all the debt this time, we will deduct my brother's wages."

The bearded man smiled and said: "You can discuss it with Lao Shou. He is fond of drinking and gambling, but he has nothing to say about his character. The boss of this gambling house wants you to discuss the debt with Lao Shou. He must know that Lao Shou

Shou will not be in arrears for too long."

Li Qiufeng said: "So, the military master and this old man are quite familiar with each other?"

The bearded man smiled proudly and said: "Brother, you have asked the right person. To be honest, we are all the garrison of the imperial mausoleum. Lao Shou was originally a gardener and has worked in the imperial mausoleum for many years.

He also has a handicraft skill, which is quite remarkable."

Having said this, the bearded man looked around, stretched his head in front of Li Qiufeng, and whispered: "Lao Shou did a great thing back then and made a lot of money."

Seeing that he spoke solemnly, Li Qiufeng also whispered: "I would like to hear the details."

The bearded man said: "It was more than ten years ago, when the late emperor passed away. I heard that a cabinet scholar came from the capital and wanted to go to the imperial mausoleum to prepare the coffin for the burial of the late emperor. Naturally, the minister in charge of the mausoleum did not agree.

He dared to be negligent, but fortunately he had a hidden agenda, fearing that something might be done improperly, so before the arrival of the great scholar, the minister in charge of the mausoleum first visited the late emperor's Kangling residence.

"In the end, it was okay not to inspect, but something big happened during this inspection. The south wall of Feng'an Hall, which was originally used to temporarily house the late Emperor's Zi Palace before being sent to the underground palace, suddenly fell off. It's nothing if a single piece of wall falls off. We just need to let the craftsmen rebuild it.

Just smear it on. What's terrible is that when the late emperor came to visit in the past, a picture of "Narcissus Playing in the Water" painted on the wall by the palace painter was destroyed because the wall fell off. The Queen Mother also admired this picture very much.

The cabinet ministers and other officials have also seen it with their own eyes. If the master of the cabinet discovers that the picture is missing after he arrives, it will be a serious crime for Minister Guan Ling and below.

"Everyone is like an ant on a hot pot, and they are so anxious that they don't know what to do. At this time, the head of the repair team secretly told Minister Guan Ling that there was a gardener who was good at fine brushwork painting and had previously repaired the imperial mausoleum.

He painted a lot of murals, and they were so clever that no one had ever noticed any flaws. You might as well invite the gardener to paint a picture on the wall, which might be able to cover it up. The minister in charge of mausoleums was also helpless and had no choice but to die.

As a live doctor, he called the gardener and asked him to redraw a "narcissus playing in the water" on the wall. After the gardener arrived, Minister Guan Ling originally asked everyone to describe to him what the picture looked like.

Unexpectedly, the gardener said: "I walk around Feng'an Hall every day, and I am familiar with the murals. No need to say more, I will just paint them again."

"At first, everyone thought the gardener was bragging. Unexpectedly, it only took three hours for him to actually re-paint a 'narcissus playing in the water' on the wall. Even the handyman who cleans Fengan Hall every day saw it.

He couldn't see any difference from the original picture. Minister Guan Ling was so happy that he praised him repeatedly and rewarded him with eighty taels of silver.

"This gardener is Lao Shou. From then on, he was no longer just a gardener in the imperial mausoleum. Some writing and painting tasks were also left to him. Ordinary handymen could only have five taels at most throughout the year.

In exchange for silver wages, I could only be given rice and grain to top up the salary. Lao Shou received a solid twenty taels of silver, and he never defaulted on arrears. In recent years, there have been three or four ministers of Guanling, and each of them is very important to Lao Shou.

They are all very good. For fear of being neglected, this old guy quits his job. If something happens in the future, he will inevitably lose his wealth and life. If it is not that one skill can support the whole family, it is not like us, a big-headed soldier, who works hard and exhausted, relying only on

A little military pay to survive?"

When the bearded man said this, he complained about Qiu Ba's difficulties, and then said: "Lao Shou is a lonely old man. If one person is full, the whole family will not be hungry, and with this craft, he will not have to worry about food and clothing. But he

The older he got, the more he loved to play, and the more he played, the more tricks he played. He often drank and gambled with everyone in the imperial mausoleum. He was better than anyone in fighting crickets and throwing money. In the imperial mausoleum, it was not satisfying to play with acquaintances all the time.

I often secretly come to the gambling house in this market to gamble."

The bearded man turned his head and looked at the tavern, and said to Li Qiufeng in a low voice: "I am gambling in the imperial mausoleum. We are all acquaintances. Although some people are playing tricks, they are just small tricks. I still win more and lose less."

.The owner of this gambling house is a black-hearted person. His tables are all equipped with mechanisms. How can he let Lao Shou win money? The money that Lao Shou has thrown into this gambling house is probably more than a hundred taels. Alas.

, It’s a pity for Lao Shou. Otherwise, gambling is something that cannot be contaminated..."

The two talked for a while, and finally Li Qiufeng said: "The news about Master Duo Chengjun has made me feel confident. This old man won't be able to get more than ten taels of silver for a while, and the money still needs to be secured.

Go to this gambling shop owner."

The bearded man said: "Brother is indeed a sensible person. If you ask Lao Shou for payment, he will never default on it and will definitely find a way to borrow money to repay you. But in the past few years, he has been in the imperial mausoleum.

The Lieutenant General has borrowed all the money from his acquaintances. Even though he has borrowed and repaid, he has always been embarrassed. We heard that in the past few years, he has actually borrowed money from loan sharks. Alas, Amitabha, this is a dead end. Brother, I think you are still

It would be better to ask the gambling shop owner for the account."

Li Qiufeng thanked him, took out dozens of Jiajing Tongbao and gave them to the bearded man, and then returned to the table.

When Murong Danyan saw him having a long private discussion with the bearded man, he was curious and asked in a low voice: "Brother Li, what do you have to talk about with this Qiu Ba?"
Chapter completed!