The name of Wangjiang Tower sounds very loud, but it is actually just a small two-story building with more than a dozen tables upstairs and downstairs. When Su Hao and others arrived, there were no customers in the restaurant and it seemed quite crowded.
It was deserted. The waiter took them to the second floor. Su Hao saw that there was only one table on the second floor with two people sitting on it, and the rest of the tables were empty.
"Waiter, why are there no people here?" Su Hao couldn't help but ask. It was dinner time, but there was no one in the restaurant. Could it be that the food in the restaurant tastes bad?
The waiter seemed to have heard what Su Hao meant, and quickly explained: "Your Majesty, I don't know. This year, our Xinjian County was hit by a drought. Farmers' harvests were extremely poor, so there were fewer people coming out to eat. In the past half a year,
Eighty percent of the people who come to my restaurant to eat are foreign merchants. But now that it is closed for the New Year, there are not many customers, so the restaurant is deserted. However, please rest assured, my food is the best in Qiaoshe Town.
If the guests are not satisfied with their meal, they don’t have to pay the bill, they can just smash my sign.”
"Haha, you said this yourself." Su Hao smiled.
"That's natural. You will know after you have eaten." The waiter replied with a smile on his face. In fact, his rhetoric was just to deceive people. How could anyone really dare to hit the guests who were away from home?
From the local restaurant. If he knew that Su Hao came with more than 100 soldiers, he probably wouldn't dare to say this.
Su Hao and Chen Dao found a seat by the window and sat down. Looking out from this seat, they could really see the Ganjiang River in the dusk. If it was spring and the scenery was bright, the scenery here should be quite good.
Chen Guanyu and Chen Dao's two followers chose a seat not far away but not too close to sit, so that on the one hand they could take care of their respective masters, and on the other hand they would not affect the chat between Su Hao and Chen Dao.
The waiter brought the menu. When Su Hao unfolded it, he immediately wanted to jump up and curse. He asked: "Waiter, this is not a black shop, is it! How can you have such expensive dishes?"
It turns out that the price of all the vegetables on the menu is almost three times that of Fengcheng. A vegetable costs 20 yuan, and any meat dish costs hundreds of yuan. Even a plate of scrambled eggs is priced at 50 yuan.
You can buy a basket of eggs in Fengcheng.
The waiter put on a smile and said: "Sir, there is really nothing we can do. The food on the market is so expensive now, and our restaurant is already losing money."
"Do it at a loss?" Su Hao sneered, "Let me ask you, how much does an egg cost on the market?"
The waiter said: "In previous years, it was 2 cents for 3 pieces, but this year it is 5 cents for 1 piece."
"What's the explanation?" Su Hao asked in surprise. The waiter said that the prices in previous years were fine, which meant that he was not lying. But this year's prices are outrageous. How can there be any reason for 5 cents per egg?
A chicken only costs 50 yuan, and that's an old hen weighing three to four kilograms.
The waiter said: "Sir, I told you before, our Xinjian County has been hit by a drought this year, and many places have lost their crops. The prices of rice, vegetables, and eggs have all doubled.
How can an ordinary farm family like this afford eggs?"
"Brother Chen, what do you think?" Su Hao looked at Chen Dao and asked.
Before Chen Dao could say anything, someone next to him spoke first: "What the waiter said is true. The price of food here is indeed extremely high. Even the Qiaoshe Inn doesn't dare to serve meals to its guests."
Su Hao looked back and saw that the person speaking was a guest at the previous table upstairs. He was wearing a blue silk robe and a small round hat on his head. The hat was decorated with bright beads.
He looked very wealthy. When he saw Su Hao turning to look at him, the man cupped his hands and said, "Brother, please come. I am Xiong Ji, Xiong Bojiang, Yuyao, Zhejiang. I am a merchant. I have been here for several days, so I know
What the waiter said is true."
"My younger brother, Su Hao, is a handyman in the Fengcheng County government office." Su Hao also bowed his hand to Xiong Ji and introduced himself. He had already changed into civilian clothes when he came out, so he did not mention his position in the military.
.
"It turns out it's Brother Su." Xiong Ji is indeed a businessman, with some ability to follow the rules. He stood up and said: "Meeting by chance is a destined person. If Brother Su and this dear friend don't dislike it, please give me a favor. Come to
How about we come and have a meal together at this table and cook a meal for you?"
Su Hao claimed to be a handyman in the county government, but Xiong Ji was not blind. He couldn't see that Su Hao and Chen Dao came with their entourage. What kind of handyman could get into this and travel with their entourage?
Realm? He believes that at least one of Su Hao and Chen Dao has a good background. The more a person with a good background acts in a low-key manner, the more it means that the person has a good background.
As a businessman, he will naturally not miss any opportunity to make friends with powerful people. When Xiong Ji heard that Su Hao thought the food was expensive, he took the initiative to invite him. In fact, no matter how expensive a meal is, it is not worth much, but he can be with someone who has a good background.
When people gather at a table to drink and chat, the potential value is huge.
Su Hao was not taboo about eating with a stranger, but he didn't know what Chen Dao was thinking. He glanced at Chen Dao, and Chen Dao laughed and said: "Since Mr. Xiong has kindly invited me, let's change it. I think we should be respectful."
It’s better to obey.”
"Then I'll bother Brother Xiong." Su Hao also laughed, and together with Chen Dao, they came to Xiong Ji's table. After a polite exchange, the two parties sat down in the guest and host positions.
"Brother Xu is someone I just met. We both live in Qiaosheyi, so we went out to eat together." Xiong Ji pointed to a young man next to him dressed as a scholar and introduced to Su Hao and Chen Dao.
The scholar had a handsome face, and the robe on his body looked very clean. Being able to keep it so clean when going out showed that he paid great attention to appearance. When Xiong Ji introduced him, he stood up and said to Su Hao and Chen Daogong
He cupped his hands and said: "My Excellency, Xu Zixian, a native of Songjiang Prefecture, is now white."
Su Hao and Chen Dao also reported their names. Chen Dao claimed to be a low-ranking official in a small yamen. Xiong Ji knew that he was covering up, but he was very smart not to expose it.
The waiter brought bowls and chopsticks to Su Hao and Chen Dao. Xiong Ji asked the waiter to add some good dishes to his table, and also arranged to send some food and wine to Chen Guanyu's table, saying that all the bills were on his behalf.
Su Hao clasped his fists to express his gratitude, but secretly turned around and winked at Chen Guanyu. Chen Guanyu very smartly stuffed a silver coin into the waiter's hand, spending all the meal money for himself and Su Hao.
Paid it.
When everyone met for the first time, they toasted each other with a few glasses of wine and talked about the order of eldest and youngest. Of course, Chen Dao was the oldest, already over 40 years old, followed by Xiong Ji, who was 30 years old, Xu Zixian, who was 28 years old, and Su Hao, who was only after the New Year.
At the age of 18, he is a real little brother.
After being polite, Chen Dao asked Xiong Ji: "Bo Jiang just said that the price of vegetables is high, so the post house does not prepare meals for guests. What does it mean?"
Xiong Ji smiled and said: "I have been doing grain business in Jiangxi recently, and I have been to this Qiaoshe Posthouse no less than 10 times. As early as half a year ago, Yu Cheng said that the stove in the posthouse was broken, and it has not been repaired yet.
This means that I don’t want to prepare meals for the guests.”
"That's it." Chen Dao also laughed. He was a man who had been in the officialdom for a long time. When he heard Xiong Ji's words, he knew what was going on.
According to regulations, the post office is responsible for the payment of rice to passing public servants. The standard is three liters of rice or five liters of rice per day. The price of rice given to the door is calculated based on the official price, which is one tael of silver and two stones, but the local rice price is,
Vegetable prices have gone up, and it's impossible to eat enough with this money, let alone eat well.
Yu Yi had no choice but to say that the stove was broken and let the guests go to the restaurant for dinner. When he came back, he calculated the five liters of rice subsidy according to the regulations of the court. As for how much the guests actually spent to go to the restaurant, Yu Yi had no control over it.
Well, this can be regarded as a way to protect yourself.
Su Hao also figured this out, and his dissatisfaction with Yu Yi disappeared. Being a Yi Cheng is not easy, so he should be more considerate. However, the disaster in Xinjian County was so severe, but it was Su Hao who
Unexpectedly, while he was staying in Fengcheng, he really didn't have much awareness of the seriousness of the drought in the province this year.
Xiong Ji said: "The drought in Jiangxi this year is really severe. Half of the fields in many prefectures and counties have lost their production. Food prices have skyrocketed. Among the people, those who sell their sons and daughters, even if they receive government relief, it is only a drop in the bucket. However, I heard that
The situation in Fengcheng is not bad, right?"
Su Hao responded: "Fengcheng also suffered from a severe drought, but our Han magistrate led the officials and people to dig wells, so the disaster was not that serious. This is probably God's care."
Xiong Ji shook his head and said: "Brother Su, what you said is wrong. You are from Fengcheng. Don't you know that the reason why Fengcheng was not seriously affected by the disaster this time is all because of one person's contribution?"
"Haha, is there such a thing? I don't know," Su Hao said, pretending to be stupid. Xiong Ji said that it was the work of one person, and Su Hao could guess who it was. The only thing that surprised him was that his reputation
It can actually spread so far.
Xiong Ji said: "I have been coming and going here in Jiangxi, and I have heard it a long time ago. During the severe drought, the Chief Secretary ordered the officials and people in various places to dig wells to fight the drought. However, the effects of drilling wells in various places were very different. Among them, the wells in Fengcheng
The effect is the best. Everyone said that it was because the magistrate found a mysterious earth master in the countryside, and with the help of ghosts and gods, he was able to survey ten wells and save the people of the entire county."
Su Hao smiled and said: "What is the difference between an earth master and an earth master? Folklore is mostly based on rumors. Brother Xiong cannot believe it all."
Then Xu Zixian also interjected: "I also think this argument is unfair. At the very least, I have never believed in the theory of ghosts and gods."
Su Hao said: "What Brother Zixian said is very true..."
Xu Zixian said: "However, I have also heard about the well exploration in Fengcheng County. I heard that the geologist who surveyed the well learned the method of Western Yi, which is different from the well exploration technique of the Ming Dynasty. Guang Qi actually
I long for him and hope to have the opportunity to meet him and learn a few things from him."
"Well, actually...what, what did you say your name was just now?" Su Hao was about to be humble, but suddenly heard a familiar name from Xu Zixian's words, and couldn't help but ask in surprise.
Xu Zixian said: "Oh, my surname is Xu and my name is Guangqi. Zixian is the character for me."
"You are Xu Guangqi!" Su Hao's eyes almost popped out. (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)