"Besides, the nobleman of Duke Xinguo's Palace promised his son that as long as his son helps him catch this turtle, he will take care of us in the name of Duke Xinguo's Palace." The man said, glanced at the beautiful girl, and sighed:
"These days, it's really difficult for a family like ours to survive without someone to take care of them."
Beauty is not just talk about disaster. With a girl’s appearance, if no one takes care of her, even if there is no Cheng Qi, Wang Qi and Li Qi will come to her door. Whether it’s force or soft knife stabbing.
, in the end they all inevitably ended up with their families destroyed.
If a family wants to live safely, they must have strong protection. And Duke Xinguo's Mansion can provide them with such protection. As long as he catches this turtle, no one will dare to embarrass them again.
The girl was still a little confused and didn't know what the elder brother meant. But the mother had a clear mind and knew that what her son said was reasonable. She had no choice but to sigh, not knowing what to say.
"Moreover, the nobleman also offered a sky-high price of fifteen taels of gold for a soft-shelled turtle. Even if his son is just for this gold, he has to fight for it." When he mentioned gold, the man's eyes visibly lit up.
Such a price means that even if he only catches one, it is enough for him to buy several acres of good paddy fields, and his family will have enough food and clothing.
When the old mother heard that someone from Duke Xin's mansion offered fifteen taels of gold for a turtle, she knew that she would never be able to persuade her son. In fact, if other people knew how to catch a turtle, they would go there without hesitation.
Caught.
It is extremely rare for ordinary people to have such an opportunity to get rich overnight. Even though fifteen taels of gold does not seem to be a lot, it is only one hundred and fifty taels if converted into silver. But that is not how accounts are calculated. What ordinary people have the most contact with is copper coins.
, it is rare to even own silver, let alone gold. Gold is more precious among the people, and sometimes you may not be able to exchange it for gold even if you hold silver.
The man opened the wooden box and saw a dark fishing net inside. This fishing net was different from ordinary fishing nets at first glance. Not only was the mesh larger, but the ropes were also thicker. I don’t know what material it was made of.
It is woven, and occasionally there is a glimmer of light.
After checking the fishing net, the man showed a satisfied look on his face. Then he took out a packet of medicine from his arms, handed it to the girl, and said, "Give mother the medicine to boil. Brother, go and come back."
The girl subconsciously took it, looked up at her brother and shouted softly: "Brother~"
The man turned back and smiled at the girl, "Brother, I'll come back as soon as I go, don't worry."
Then he looked at his mother and said, "Mom, take good care of yourself."
After saying that, he held the wooden box in one hand and walked out of the door without hesitation.
Tang Fu was so anxious that he couldn't sit still in the room. He had been waiting for the man outside for a long time. When he saw him coming out with the box, he smiled and asked, "Have you got everything?"
The man nodded, "Let's go."<
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Tang Fu glanced at the room behind the man. Seeing that the man was walking out first, he withdrew his gaze and followed him.
The girl stood at the door, watching her brother lead everyone away, and couldn't help but feel worried. But when she lowered her head and looked at the medicine bag in her hand, she sighed helplessly and went to boil medicine for her mother first.
The man came to the river and found his raft. The man took out the fishing net, put it on his back, and tied a few things around his waist. He jumped on the raft and said to Tang Fu and others: "This raft can't carry more than a few people."
, you just wait for me here, I can just catch the turtle myself."
"Wait a minute." Tang Fu immediately stretched out his hand to stop him. Then he turned back to the guard beside him and asked: "Which one of you has the best water quality?"
A guard immediately stood up. He bowed and said, "Sir, I was originally a navy man. I grew up by the sea. Going to the sea is like going home."
Tang Fu nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, just follow him. If he needs help, you can help him. Even if you can't catch any fish this time, you have to bring him back to us."
"Don't worry, sir." The man replied immediately. Then he jumped onto the raft with a quick stride. Standing on the raft, he was as motionless as if there were roots in the soles of his feet.
When the man saw that Tang Fu had sent someone to help him, he was moved in his heart. This at least meant that the other party cared about his life. Moreover, although the raft was simple and crude, there was no problem in carrying one more person. So, the man did not
He refused and rowed the raft directly towards the center of the river.
Tang Fu watched the raft gradually move away until it disappeared from sight. The waiting time was extremely difficult, and as time passed, Tang Fu couldn't help but start to feel flustered in his heart.
About an hour later, the guard next to him suddenly shouted in surprise, "Look, sir, it seems they are back."
Tang Fu suddenly raised his head and saw a black spot on the river. As time went by, the black spot became clearer and clearer, and the two of them could be clearly seen.
As soon as the raft docked, Tang Fu ran to the river desperately and asked quickly: "How is it? Did you catch it?"
"I caught it, sir, it's exactly the same as the fish in the picture." Before the man could answer, the guard shouted happily.
Then he and the man worked together to pull up the fishing net dragged behind the raft. A strange fish four to five feet long was firmly trapped in the fishing net and pulled out of the water.
Everyone worked together to drag the fishing net to the shore, and then the man carefully opened the fishing net little by little. Tang Fu took a look and saw that it was indeed the fish in the painting.
As the shackles of the fishing net were untied, the turtle instantly
He struggled violently.
"Quick, hold it down." Tang Fu shouted anxiously.
Although the soft-shelled turtle is extremely powerful underwater, after it was out of the water, it had nowhere to use its strength, and everyone quickly grabbed hold of it.
"Quick, hurry back to the capital immediately." Tang Fu immediately ordered.
"Yes, sir." After finally finding this turtle, everyone was extremely excited. Several people quickly put the fish into the water tank that had been prepared and immediately sent it back to Duke Xin's mansion on a fast horse.
Tang Fu laughed heartily, patted the man on the shoulder and said: "Fifteen taels of gold, I will give it to you now. Come, bring the money."
The man's face was full of joy, but he waved his hands and said, "No, no, no, no, fifteen taels is not necessary, ten taels is enough."
As he said that, he glanced at the person who went fishing with him and said, "If it hadn't been for this brother, let alone catching the fish this time, we might have ended up with our guts torn apart.
"
Tang Fu was just happy, but now he noticed that there were scars on one of the man's arms and thighs. He couldn't help but asked with concern: "Your injuries are not serious, are they?"
The man glanced at his arm and replied with a smile: "No, they are just superficial injuries. They are not harmful. They will be fine in a few days."
Tang Fu nodded and felt relieved. Then he said with a smile: "Don't worry, you deserve this. Just take it. As for him, there will naturally be another reward."
The man no longer shied away and felt relieved.
At this time, the guard brought over the gold. A small gold ingot and five gold beans. There were twelve gold ingots and one tael of gold beans each. There was also a line of inscriptions on the gold ingot, "Made by the Ministry of Household Affairs in October of the 20th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty."
"One ingot of pure gold weighs ten ounces." The golden bean didn't have anything engraved on it, it was just a round bean.
Although the man was illiterate, he had heard rumors about gold. Just the luster of this gold made him feel excited and couldn't help but feel excited. After getting it, he put the gold ingot in his mouth.
I took a bite slowly.
"How is it? Is it sweet?" Tang Fu asked with a smile.
The man nodded repeatedly and replied with a smile on his face: "Sweet, so sweet!"
Tang Fu laughed and said: "The better the gold, the sweeter it is. These are the finest pure gold, and of course they are the sweetest."
"Thank you, sir." The man was also full of gratitude. He didn't expect that the noble gentleman in front of him would actually promise a thousand gold coins. He said he would give him fifteen taels of gold, so he gave him fifteen taels of gold, not a penny less.
Tang Fu got on his horse and said to the man: "I am in a hurry to return to Beijing, so I won't send you back. But don't worry, I will send someone to send you back safely."
"Thank you, sir." The man said again
The next time he thanked Tang Fu, he kindly refused and said, "But there's no need to trouble the young master. I can just go back by myself."
Tang Fu smiled slightly and said, "You still don't know how dangerous people's hearts are. If I don't send someone to follow you back, I'm afraid you won't be able to keep your gold."
Fifteen taels of gold is enough to make people take risks. When Tang Fu originally offered the price to the man, in order to catch the turtle, he did not hide it from the other people around him. As long as the news of the man catching the turtle was sent back,
Everyone knows that he will definitely get fifteen taels of gold. It's really hard to say what will happen by then.
Afterwards, Tang Fu ordered the two guards: "Take him and go to the county government office first. Tell the county magistrate here that this is a person from the government of my country, and ask him to take care of him."
"Don't worry, young master, I'll know what to do later." The two men nodded immediately.
Tang Fu then turned the horse's head with confidence, picked up the reins and rode away.
The two guards took the man to the county government office and handed Tang Fu's name card.
When the county magistrate saw Tang Fu's name card, he was so shocked that the book in his hand fell to the ground with a "clack". Without bothering to pick up the book, the county magistrate hurriedly came outside the county government office, preparing to welcome Tang Fu.
.
After going out, they only saw three people standing outside the yamen. None of the three people were dressed like the second son of the Duke of Xinguo. The county magistrate was confused for a while, and he raised his hands and asked: "May I ask who is the second son of the Duke?
?下官”
A guard stretched out his hand to interrupt the county magistrate's words and said directly: "Young master has important matters and has returned to the capital. We are here this time on your orders."
The county clerk was as smart as he knew what to do as soon as he heard it. He enthusiastically invited the three people into the county government office, prepared a table of good food and wine to entertain them. Finally, he enthusiastically sent the three people out of the county government office.
Outside, until the backs of the three people could no longer be seen, he slowly walked into the county government office with his hands behind his back leisurely.
Tang Fu's guess was correct, there was indeed someone who wanted to kill the man.
As for why these people knew that the man had successfully caught the turtle, it was actually very simple. In the eyes of these people, if a high-ranking family like Xinguo Gongfu failed to accomplish something for them, it would definitely be miserable.
. As long as they see that the man is safe and sound, they will know that the man must have helped Duke Xinguo's government catch the turtle. In this case, the gold will probably fall into the hands of the man.
But after the county magistrate's operation, those people with ulterior motives gave up their thoughts on the man. Since the county magistrate valued the man so much, they did not dare to attack the man, let alone fifteen taels of gold, even if it was
One hundred and fifty taels is not worth offending the county magistrate.
As for why they weren't worried about offending Duke Xinguo's government? That's because no one would believe that the most powerful man in the Ming Dynasty would care about the life and death of a fisherman.