Where there is truth there is lies, there is black and there is white, there is crying and there is laughter, there is life and there is death.
It is normal to open a coffin shop opposite a medical clinic. Of course, it still seems awkward to be face to face with only a foot-long street in between, treating the living while making money from the dead.
Moreover, the facade of the People's Medical Center is also refreshing, and the couplets hanging at the door are even more neat. The first couplet is "The good hand and the benevolent heart remove the suffering", the second couplet is "Morality and art win the spring breeze", plus a horizontal line of "Hanging the pot to help the world"
, put some more medicinal flower pots in the shop, and the doctor sitting in the restaurant holds a book about a saint in his hand, this posture alone is enough to beat the dark coffin pavilion.
Pedestrians on the road also habitually pass by the medical clinic instead of the coffin shop. Why? It’s not a taboo! [
Is there anyone in this world who likes coffin shops?
Officials are divided into nine grades, and their professions are divided into three hundred and six. This person is also divided into three, six, and nine grades.
The one who hangs the pot to help the world is a high-class person, second only to the official. Compared with the scholar who has no fame, he is not bad. The coffin bearer is a low-class person. From the boss to the clerk, he is not bad anywhere.
Treated with respect.
A serious person would only deal with the people in this coffin shop only when they meet with casual matters. Normally, if he lowers his head and disappears, he will not see him if he raises his head.
unlucky!
However, Xia Laosi, the owner of the coffin shop, never regarded himself as humble. On the contrary, he regarded himself as superior to others, especially Mr. Zhao, who was sitting across from him. Not for any other reason but because his coffin shop was a humble business.
, but the amount of money earned is terrifying.
He, Mr. Zhao, is a Chinese medicine practitioner who only earns a few copper coins. If he meets someone with a poor family, he might even apply a few medicines. Only when he meets an official or a wealthy family can he earn a few taels of silver.
But he, Xia Laosi, has really made a lot of money. The coffin only costs a little wood, man-hours, and the cost is only a tael of silver. But if it is sold, the starting price is 5 taels, and there is no need to negotiate for a tael less.
Those who buy coffins are all eager to restrain their loved ones. How can they care about it? If they stretch out their heads and shrink their heads, they will also be slashed. They can only bite the bullet and buy it. Add some useless items, and a coffin will at least earn a profit.
Sixty taels of silver.
A pound of pork is only seven coppers. These six taels of silver can buy a fat pig. In addition, there have been constant wars outside the customs in the past two years. People will die in these wars, and the dead will need coffins. Naturally, poor families cannot afford it.
But you can’t stop there are many rich people.
Looking at Ningyuan City, there are more and more wealthy families. Not to mention the original big households, there are thousands of merchants traveling from north to south. Who is missing money in their pocket?
Birth, old age, illness and death are commonplace. People die every day, and people have to lie in coffins every day, not to mention the countless people who died in the chaos of war.
In a radius of a hundred miles, even Xia Laosi only has three shops that specialize in selling coffins. How can this business be booming?
Money is in danger, those businessmen risked their heads and came to the outside of the pass just for money. He, Mr. Xia, gave up his family business in the pass and ran to Ningyuan City just for money.
Those people make money from living people, while Xia Laosi makes money from dead people.
A dead person's money is also money, and it won't be hot if it's money, so you can feel at ease when you hold it. I'm not cheating, so why should I treat myself lightly?
These days, those who have money are the uncles. Emperor Taizu set the ancestral system back then and forbade merchants to wear silk and satin. But look at it now, which wealthy businessman doesn't wear silk and satin?
Could it be that the government could still arrest everyone wearing silk and satin?
So, don't take too seriously what is noble or low, only pay attention to money. As long as you have money, the government will not care what you wear.
[
Turning the beads in the abacus, he glanced and saw that Mr. Zhao had sent away another poor woman who came to treat a disease. Mr. Xia couldn't help but sneered: "That's good, I posted it out again."
You said the same goes for those poor people. If you don’t have money, you will get sick if you don’t have money, so you can just wait to die at home. Why don’t you come all the way here to hear that Zhao Shihe, an old man, is willing to see a doctor for free and take medicine on credit? Bah,
The hanging pot will help the world. The hanging pot will help the world. One day, I will help you, an old immortal.
There is no such thing as doing business!
Pay money with one hand and deliver goods with the other hand, this is the right thing to do!
You damn old man, let’s see how long your medical clinic can last!
A mouthful of saliva came out of his mouth. Before he could wipe his mouth, a dark shadow flashed before his eyes, and a man entered the shop.
"Shopkeeper, how do you sell coffins?" the man asked, but he came to the coffin placed in the center of the store, looked up and down carefully, and knocked it here and there with his hands from time to time.
When he saw the business coming to his door, Xia Laosi immediately beamed with joy, but he couldn't put a smile on his face. He pretended to be sad and walked to the man's side, sighing: "Is there a funeral at home?"
The man said "Yeah": "Brother is gone." His eyes were always looking at the coffin, and he never glanced at Xia Laosi again.
There were so many people coming to buy coffins. Xia Laosi was not surprised to see so many people. He knew that this man was checking whether the coffin was good or not.
Pretending to be kind, he said: "Since he is his brother, I have to buy a better coffin, otherwise I will be sorry for my dead brother."
The man only looked at the coffin, and when he heard the words, without raising his head, he said: "That's right, my brother's funeral must be arranged in a more honorable manner, and of course this coffin must be made of good materials." He paused and took the picture.
He took a picture of the coffin in front of him and asked: "Sir, this is a good coffin. What's the price?"
"My brother has a good eye and can tell at a glance that this is made of high-quality wood." Xia Laosi first complimented the man, then raised his five fingers and said, "It's not expensive, only five taels of silver!"
"So expensive?" The man was stunned for a moment. The price was quite different from what he imagined. He originally thought that he could buy it for two or three taels of silver, but he didn't want to buy it for five taels of silver. If he bought it at this price, the guard would give him
The money is not enough. I also thought that even if I only have two or three taels of silver per mouth, the money is not enough. What should I do?
Seeing the man's hesitation, Xia Laosi thought that he was too expensive and was afraid that the business would be ruined, so he hurriedly said: "Brother, you get what you pay for, so I charge five taels of silver for the right reason. If nothing else, I Xia
The coffins sold in our shop are guaranteed to last for a hundred years! For others, hey, if they can last for ten years, that’s pretty good.”
When he heard that it would be immortal for a hundred years, the man's eyes lit up and he agreed without hesitation: "Okay, I want this coffin."
Xia Laosi was overjoyed and said hurriedly: "Okay, where does my brother live? I will send it to your house with my assistant."
But the man shook his head: "Don't worry, I want more than one bite." After saying that, he glanced towards the back of the store. There were several waiters behind the store who were busy making coffins. He looked at it for a moment and asked Xia Laosi first.
He asked: "How many ready-made coffins do you have in your store?"
How many are ready-made? This question made Xia Laosi couldn't help but be stunned. He hesitated and asked the man hesitantly: "What?... Something big happened at home, brother?"
The man didn't speak, he just looked behind him, as if he was planning something.
Seeing this, Xia Laosi knew a lot. It seemed that many people in this man's family had died, either from the plague or from the soldiers. If there were many people who died, they would need more than one coffin.
Big business, big business![
Xia Laosi suppressed the beating of his heart, and said to the man with a bit of sadness: "My family has encountered such a misfortune, I should take more care... But I don't know how many coffins I need?"
The man first turned his head and thought for a moment, then turned to Xia Laosi and said: "Seeing as your store is not big, it won't be difficult for you, just fifty people."
Fifty people?!
Xia Laosi was almost stunned after hearing this. He looked at the man in disbelief: There are so many people in your family?
If fifty people died at once, wouldn't that mean the whole family was wiped out? Hey, it's too miserable, it's too miserable. I don't know what evil this family has done in their previous life.
After the shock, there was ecstasy. Fifty coffins, one coffin cost five taels of silver, which is two hundred and fifty taels of silver, plus the funeral items used for the funeral, I can even have three hundred taels!
Gee, my fortune is really high today, I’m going to make a fortune!
He was ecstatic in his heart, but his face could not show it at all. Xia Laosi pretended to be in a difficult position and said to the man:
"My brother wants too much, and there are only about a dozen of them ready-made in the store. I'm afraid the guys will have to work all night, and it will take a day or two to work quickly and slowly. I also know that although the ingredients are all prepared, it's hard to make them one after another.
It is very time-consuming to complete.”
"One or two days?" After hearing this, the man pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, you can pack all the coffins in two days."
"Okay, I'll let the guys get started."
Fearing that the man would go to another house and buy more, Xia Laosi opened his mouth and said: "Fifty mouthfuls are two hundred and fifty taels of silver. I wonder if I will pay now or when it is delivered?"
After hearing this, the man took out a money bag from his arms, weighed it in his hand, then threw it on the coffin and said: "My lord gave me so much when I came, so you can take it all."
"
grown ups?
Xia Laosi is a little confused. Is this man from the government?
It doesn't matter if he is from the government or not, just give him some silver. Thinking in his mind, he took the money bag from the coffin. He was thinking that it might be filled with gold. Two hundred and fifty taels of silver is quite a lot for one money bag.
Where can I fit it? There can only be gold here, otherwise it will not be enough?
When he opened the money bag and took a look, he was dumbfounded: What was in this bag was not gold, it was clearly silver, and it was only twenty or thirty taels of silver at best, which was more than half the difference from two hundred and fifty taels!
"Brother, is this a deposit?" Xia Laosi didn't think about anything else, he just thought that this man was giving a deposit.
Unexpectedly, the man shook his head at him with a stern face, and then said: "It's not the deposit, it's all the money to buy your fifty coffins."
"What? That can't be done!"
When Xia Laosi heard this, he immediately jumped up and shouted: "Let's open the shop to do business, pay with one hand and deliver the goods with the other. You are being bullied! Brother, you have to buy me fifty coffins with such a small amount of money. This is really good."
Let’s talk! If you really want to buy the coffin from my shop, in a word, you have to give me enough money, otherwise, please ask me to go to his house again!”
After hearing what he said, the man's eyes swept over his face and said coldly: "Shopkeeper, do you think I'm joking with you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen soldiers with long knives suddenly rushed in from outside the shop, knocking the paper money dummies piled at the door to the ground.
"You! You..."
Xia Laosi panicked, knowing that he was going to be unlucky today. How could this man be an ordinary man? He was clearly the soldier who was licking food at the edge of the knife. Looking at their posture, it was clear that they wanted to buy his coffin by force!
A soldier with a scar on his forehead saw that Xia Laosi was still staring at them. He raised his neck, put the long knife in his hand on his neck, and cursed: "What are you looking at! Look at me and chop you with one knife."
!”
"Master, spare your life, Master, spare your life!" Xia Laosi was so frightened that he almost peed and his body was trembling.
The guys at the coffin shop in the backyard were also frightened by this sudden scene. They dropped the coffin in their hands and hid in the corner. No one dared to come out and ask what was going on.
Pedestrians passing by outside also saw a group of border soldiers rushing into the coffin shop, and someone holding a knife on the shopkeeper's neck. Although they didn't know what happened, they all wisely hid aside.
Dare to join in the fun.
The old doctor at the medical clinic opposite was also startled by what happened across the street. He put down the book in his hand and looked at Xia Laosi at a loss.
………
"Pan Hu, put down the knife, don't scare the shopkeeper."
"Yes, Mr. Qian."
After hearing Mr. Qian's words, the soldier named Pan Hu snorted and removed the knife from the shopkeeper's neck, but his eyes were still glaring at him, as if the shopkeeper could chop him down immediately if he didn't know what he was doing.
Seeing that the shopkeeper was frightened, Jiang Wanli knew that his goal was achieved, so he changed his tone and said to him very kindly: "Shopkeeper, to tell you the truth, we are the Songshan Army, and we ordered these coffins for Heta.
I want my brothers who died in the bloody battle to restrain themselves so that they can have a home. But that’s all the money. Brother, my hands are really tight, so I can’t help the shopkeeper. But don’t worry, shopkeeper, I, the Songshan Army, are always fair in dealing with things and never resort to any tricks.
You will suffer a loss. You should keep this little money for now, and I will give you a note. In a few days, you can use this note to find our guard master in Jinzhou, and my master will naturally make up for the remaining money you have.
"
"this…"
Xia Laosi was a little hesitant. The cost of fifty coffins was not small. Even if it was smaller, it would be more than forty taels. They only gave twenty or thirty taels. If this man didn't keep his word, he wouldn't be able to get it based on his money.
I would have to lose at least ten taels of silver, and it hurts to think about it.
But someone has made it clear to me, and the bright knife is dangling in front of my eyes. Do you think you can agree to it?
Alas, just think of it as being robbed by bandits!
Thinking of this, Xia Laosi could only agree with a sad face: "Since the military master said so, it's hard for me to say anything. My brothers died fighting the Tatars. It's also good for me to have the honor to build coffins for them.
I'm lucky. I'll take the money as soon as possible." He didn't say that he wouldn't accept the money. A businessman is a businessman, and no matter where he goes, he will take money seriously.
"The shopkeeper understands the righteousness very well. I would like to thank you very much for the brothers!"
Giving the shopkeeper a fist, Jiang Wanli walked to the place where the abacus pen and ink were placed, took out a piece of paper and wrote a note, signed with his name. After writing it, he handed it to the shopkeeper.
Xia Laosi took the note and looked at it. It was signed by Songshan Qianzong Jiang Wanli, and it said "two hundred taels of silver owed to purchase the coffin", which was twenty taels less than the original amount. Just when he was about to say something wrong, the words came to his lips.
But he stopped, put the piece in his sleeve with a smile on his face, and said: "Young man, let the guys start working, let's start working now."
"Thank you, shopkeeper!"
Jiang Wanli clasped his fists again, but Xia Laosi didn't dare to delay. He took three steps in succession and ran to the back to recruit the workers to immediately start building the coffins needed by Songshan.
Here, the soldier named Pan Hu pointed to the medical clinic opposite and said to Jiang Wanli: "Mr. Qian, sir, you want us to find a doctor with good medical skills. I think the old doctor opposite will be the one. Otherwise, let's invite him.
Bar?"
Jiang Wanli turned to look at the medical clinic and saw the old doctor staring at him. He looked like a miracle doctor with superb medical skills. He nodded and told Pan Hu: "Okay, you take two people to invite the doctor to Jinzhou."
, I have to go to the other two houses now, the gap in the coffin is too big, we can only solve part of it first, and wait for the rest to Shanhaiguan to find a way to solve it."
After saying that, he left Pan Hu and the others behind and led them to the east of the city.
After Mr. Qian left, Pan Hu walked to the other side of the street and asked politely to the old doctor who looked at him with a puzzled expression: "Sir, can you make a medical visit?"
The old doctor was startled for a moment, then nodded and said: "But I am here to see a doctor, but I don't know where the military masters want to go to see and treat the old man, and who will treat him?"
Pan Hu said: "Jinzhou, those who are treating are injured brothers in our army."
"Jinzhou?"
The old man was a little hesitant. Jinzhou was a hundred miles away from Ningyuan. He was already old and might not be able to bear the bumps along the way.
"Why, sir, you don't want to go to the clinic?"
Pan Hu was very polite to the doctor, which was completely different from his previous attitude towards the coffin shop owner. When he saw the old doctor looking embarrassed, he was not angry, but asked patiently again.
The old man thought for a moment and did not say whether he wanted to go. Instead, he asked Pan Hu: "Just now, I vaguely heard from the military men that it was the Songshan Army, but I don't know if it was the one who fought bloody battles with Jiannu under the Daling River City.
Songshan Army?"
Hearing this, Pan Hu puffed up his chest very proudly and said proudly: "It's me, the Songshan Army!"
Seeing that it was indeed the Songshan Army who fought a bloody battle with Jiannu, the old doctor suddenly became excited and agreed without hesitation: "It is my duty to diagnose and treat the heroes of the Songshan Army! Please wait a moment for the three military masters, and I will take care of this.
Then follow the military men to Jinzhou!"
"Sir, why did you agree so readily? Jinzhou is far away from here after all?" Pan Hu was a little surprised by the old man's cheerfulness.
A blush flashed across the face of the old man, and he almost choked up and said: "The reason why I am willing to go to Jinzhou with the military master is because I want to see with my own eyes the ambitious Master Shi who is hungry for Huns' meat and laughs and talks about drinking the blood of Huns! Miss me!
In the past thousand years of China, there has never been a true hero like Lord Shi. If I can meet him, my life will not be in vain!"
Friends who read the book, can you leave your footprints in the book review area, make some comments, and express your opinions?