On the day of the Lantern Festival, Chu Nanzhi handed over one million taels of silver to Sun Li, and immediately gained the trust of both father and son, and was treated as a distinguished guest of the Prefect's Mansion.
Both father and son treated her with all their heart and soul, presented the land deeds to various fields, and promised to hand over the entire Tanzhou field business to her.
Chu Nanzhi knew that the money could not enter the state capital and had to take it back immediately while the father and son were still warm. So on the day after the transaction, he led Ma Laifu, Sang Qi and two guards to follow Sun Huaixian to the south of Dangyang City.
, and then rushed to the west of the county to inspect the land.
Since the Chinese New Year, the snow on the road has melted, and the long-lost sunshine has appeared in the sky.
The carriages and horses walked on the gradually drying road, and the journey was much smoother than when they entered Qinghe.
Even from the inn to the south gate of the city, there were only a few pedestrians on the road, and the scenery everywhere was very depressed. This also made Chu Nanzhi realize that Ji Huaizhang's report to the court a while ago that he mentioned the disaster in Tanzhou was not a lie to Lin Jinxiao.
But based on what I have seen along the way, although the land of Qinghe has been snowing heavily for the past few months, it has not caused any real disaster, and it is not as serious as Yongzhou and Ningzhou.
From a regional perspective, this is the norm in the northwest region.
If the government orders are appropriate, the surplus food in most people's homes can fully cope with the inconvenience caused by the ice and snow.
From this point of view, the cause of the famine is most likely caused by man-made disasters.
In the spacious carriage, looking at Chu Nanzhi's worried look, he suddenly couldn't bear the thought of his elder brother asking the brother he had just recognized to deal with the member of the Mu family.
It was hard to persuade her openly, so I could only say tactfully: "Brother Mu, you have now taken over 200,000 acres of fertile land in several counties in the southern suburbs of Dangyang City. I guarantee you will make a lot of money after the spring starts."
It’s true, the six counties in the west of the city are not as good as those in the south. In recent years, the King of Green Grain has been tyrannical, causing the population to decline. Brother Yu, I might as well give you a solid answer today. The fields in the counties to the west of the city are indeed not sold at a higher price than those in the south of the city."
In the days since she got to know Shopkeeper Sun, Chu Nanzhi saw him talk to her so openly today for the first time. Although he may not be telling the truth, he should have disobeyed the prefect and persuaded him not to get involved in Chengxi's affairs.
A good intention.
Just as he was about to answer, Sun Huai continued: "Brother Yu knows that Brother Xian is not short of money, and he also wants to take this opportunity to make a lot of money. If you really want to buy more fields, I also have a way, two million
After all, two silver coins is not a small amount. In a few days, my dear brother will use the money raised from Luyan Port to wait for some time before arriving in Tanzhou to purchase the remaining land. In this way, everyone has a step forward. I will think of some ways to introduce some of my brothers to you.
The family has a distinguished family and a mere 200,000 acres of fertile land."
"I appreciate Shopkeeper Sun's kindness."
Chu Nanzhi looked at his nervous expression attentively: "It's just that I made a promise to your young master. How can I break my promise? Even if the property in the west of the city is a loss, I will accept it, so I won't let my brother be in trouble.
"
"Well, my dear brother, my family is so big that money doesn't matter. I shouldn't have said anything, but this is not a small number after all."
Sun Huai urged again: "Brother Yu, I hope you will seriously consider it."
"I know it well."
Chu Nanzhi said with a smile: "The three states of Qinghe today are not the same as the years when Prince Qinghe was in power. Even if the population in the west of the city has declined, it will be able to recover sooner or later. This Tanzhou is the most prosperous place in Qinghe, and the six counties in the west of the city are
It is also close to Mengzhou, the capital of Qinghe, so a field of five taels of silver per acre can be sold at a good price in time."
Seeing how stubborn she was, Sun Huai did not dare to persuade her.
After all, I have persuaded him, and it will not be my problem if I suffer losses in the future.
"Since my dear brother has made up his mind, my foolish brother will definitely help you win this deal."
Sun Huai replied in agreement.
The carriages and horses left the city and traveled a few miles south when a loud noise suddenly came from the quiet official road.
Chu Nanzhi opened the curtain and looked out, and saw a group of ragged people running towards her in the billowing dust, looking in a panic.
Not long after, I heard the sound of galloping horse hooves approaching from far away.
Only then did Chu Nanzhi clearly see the figures coming towards her, when she saw a sharp arrow shooting out of the air and heading straight for the leg of a strong man behind the refugee.
"ah."
The strong man screamed, fell to his knees and held on to the pierced arrow feathers, and shouted hysterically towards the panicked women and children in front of him: "Run away, leave me alone, keep going west to Mengzhou to find the queen, she is also poor. When the common people are born, they will definitely save you."
Unexpectedly, as soon as the strong man finished speaking, another sharp arrow quickly passed in front of him and went straight into the belly of a girl in front of him. The girl fell to the ground on the spot.
This scene shocked Chu Nanzhi. Before she could react, she heard a rough curse coming to her ears:
"You bitch, you really don't know what is good or bad. I have provided you with food, clothing, and support for your family, but you still want to escape from Dangyang and file a lawsuit."
The sound came closer and closer. Chu Nanzhi looked closely and saw an angry young man galloping towards him. He was holding a long bow in his hand, and the arrow was on the string, aiming at the refugees again and about to take off the bow.
"Save someone under the arrow."
As soon as Chu Nanzhi shouted, he saw a figure running directly towards the direction of the arrow, and steadily caught the incoming arrow.
"What a handsome kung fu."
Sun Huai was stunned when he saw that the man who caught the arrow was the taciturn Erlang of the Mu family who was following the manager Mu Da. Only then did he realize that his wise brother was not only rich in wealth, but also had dragons and crouching tigers hidden around him.
But when he heard that the person shooting arrows on horseback was none other than Liu Lang of the Mu Family of Dangyang County, he immediately became wary.
Seeing that Chu Nanzhi was about to dismount from her horse and stop Mu Liulang, she hurriedly grabbed her and urged her: "Brother, it's important that we go to inspect Zhuangzi, so don't delay here."
"In this bright world, someone is actually committing evil and committing crimes at the feet of the Emperor. Even if I am a business traveler, I cannot sit idly by and watch someone lose their life under my nose."
Not allowing Sun Huai to stop him, Chu Nanzhi immediately jumped off the carriage, his eyes full of anger.
These people came to seek help from me, and they must have grievances hidden in their hearts.
Seeing that he couldn't stop him, Sun Huai had no choice but to follow him and get off the carriage.
Mu Liulang on horseback saw Sun Huai's figure, he immediately put away his bow and arrows, jumped off the horse, looked at Sang Qi who was catching the arrow, and said with a smile: "It turns out to be shopkeeper Sun. I don't know what happened to shopkeeper Sun suddenly appearing in the south of the city. ?”
"I will accompany Mr. Mu to the southern suburbs to inspect the fields."
After Sun Huai answered truthfully, he looked at Chu Nanzhi, who had a gloomy expression, and introduced: "This is the distinguished guest of the prefect, the wood shopkeeper from Luyan Port."
"I see, that's really disrespectful."
Only then did Mu Liulang examine Chu Nanzhi carefully, and he joked maliciously: "They say people in the south are delicate, but it is true when I see them today. I don't think the shopkeeper Mu is like a merchant who travels around. They are those refined scholars."
Chu Nanzhi went to check the woman who was shot by him and the strong man who had injured her leg. Seeing that the woman had already lost her breath and the man's leg was bleeding profusely, he quickly took out some gold sore medicine he had brought with him to replace it.
He stopped the bleeding.
Looking at the terrified expressions of the refugees, he turned his head to look at Mu Liulang, who looked arrogant, and asked sternly: "Why do you hurt people's lives?"
This question caused Mu Liulang and the dozen or so guards following him to burst into laughter.