Gongsun Zan became more energetic and forced Liu Jian to go to interrogate the barbarians at night, but Liu Jian refused to go.
He wasn't pretending, but it was really getting late and he really needed a good sleep.
Furthermore, he also wanted Gongsun Zan to feel comfortable.
As expected, Gongsun Zan may not be able to sleep tonight.
…
Early the next morning, Liu Jian cleaned up and got up for morning exercises. He was not in a hurry to go to the county office and just waited at home.
He had to wait until Gongsun Zan got extremely anxious and asked someone to take him from his home to the county office. It was not that he meant to make matters worse, but that today's matter was of great importance, and he had to have a psychological advantage at all times before he could act.
When a person lives in the world, what makes him most anxious? It is the unknown, especially the unknown that is closely related to himself.
Gongsun Zan is like this now.
Liu Jian ate a big meal, then took the scriptures, and sat bored in the courtyard, lying on a wooden deck chair he made, taking a nap in the sunshine and putting the scrolls on his face.
Of course, it's not that he really doesn't like reading scriptures, it's just that he doesn't like studying the annotations of various schools, but he couldn't resist Liu Zhou forcing him to do so.
Every time Liu Jian sat on the recliner, Liu Zhou would sneer at him and scold him as "a strange tool" and "very disrespectful".
But what’s interesting is that one time when Liu Jian was sitting on a recliner, he picked up a scroll of scriptures. After Liu Zhou saw it, he obviously wanted to lose his temper again, but for some reason, he swallowed the words back in his stomach.
He just snorted loudly at Liu Jian with both nostrils, then turned around and walked away.
Perhaps in Liu Zhou's opinion, even posing is better than lying down.
From then on, every time Liu Jian lay down on the recliner he made to rest, he would randomly pick up a scroll and use it to block Liu Zhou's mouth.
Today, when Liu Jian was sitting on a recliner to rest, Liu Bei walked towards him from the other direction.
He sat cross-legged next to Liu Jian's recliner and said with a smile:
"Lend me to lie down for a while."
Although Liu Jian was very generous to Liu Bei, he never let Liu Bei enjoy the recliner he made.
At least Liu Bei never sat there while Liu Jian himself was there.
If I'm going to let you sleep for a while, why don't you go to Jingzhou?
"Didn't I tell you how to make it? Go ahead and make one yourself!"
Liu Bei smiled and said: "You feel comfortable lying down like this."
"How do you know you're comfortable?"
"hey-hey!"
"Go as you go, don't borrow."
Liu Bei was not angry and started talking nonsense to Liu Jian again.
"My uncle had a hangover. He still felt uncomfortable when he woke up this morning. He didn't even eat much."
Liu Jian sighed helplessly: "Oh, I have to ask him to drink less in the future. There is no such way to drink it. By the way, there is a medicine called kudzu root, which is best used to make hangover soup. I'll see if I can prepare some later.
"
"What did you do with Gongsun Bogui last night? Why did it take so long?"
"He has abdominal pain, vomiting, and vomiting. I have no choice but to wait for him."
"Waiting in the bathroom?"
"Wait outside the restroom."
"My aunt made delicious sunflower vegetables this morning. I want to eat some more."
"Then I'll tell my mother tonight that I want to eat."
"Brother, please let me lie down for a while."
"Go as you go."
"..."
For many years, the two brothers had nothing to do, just chatting with each other in the yard. They often talked for an hour, and sometimes it ended. Even the two brothers didn't know what they just said, or the same thing.
They would say something or a sentence over and over again in a daze.
Maybe, this is a habit.
"Why haven't you come yet?"
Liu Jian stretched out and looked up at the sky.
"Who are you waiting for?"
"Gongsun Bogui."
"Ah? Didn't he come yesterday?"
"Yes, but I'm sure he will come again today... No, it should be said that he sent someone to find me."
"Bragging!"
God seemed to deliberately want to give Liu Jian a chance to show off. At this moment, a servant came to Liu Jian and said that Gongsun Zan's assistant had arrived at Liu's house. He asked Liu Jian to go with him to the county office, saying that he had something important to do.
.
Liu Bei opened his mouth in surprise: "He's actually here?"
"Haha, look, you're not bragging, are you?"
Liu Jian tidied up and went to the main hall. What he saw was Yu Ze who had come to Liu House with Gongsun Zan yesterday.
Yu Ze didn't go into too much detail and simply said: "Young Master, I have come here to deliver a message on the orders of the Ming Court. You should go to the county office to fulfill the agreement you made with the Ming Court yesterday."
Liu Jian knew that this was Gongsun Zan telling him to quickly fulfill the boast.
"Ask officer, please let me prepare a little later, and then I'll go."
"Don't worry, I'll wait for you outside the house." Yu Ze's face was cold, with an attitude of rejecting people thousands of miles away.
"There is tea brewing in the hall, and the assistants can drink it slowly while we wait."
"No need, I'm just waiting outside, please hurry up, young master."
After that, Yu Ze turned around and left the hall without giving Liu Jian a chance to continue speaking.
"Gongsun Bogui's subordinates all follow him with their eyes higher than their true nature." Liu Bei shook his head from the side: "Deran, what exactly did you agree with Bogui yesterday?"
"I said on the way, brother, help me greet people, pack up the gifts Gongsun Bogui brought yesterday, load them into the car, and take them to the county office together later."
Liu Bei's face showed a bit of reluctance, but their brothers had discussed this matter earlier. They really couldn't get this thing and had to return it, so they had no choice but to do it.
After assembling the things and putting them in the car, Liu Jian and Liu Bei went to the county office together.
Yu Ze saw them loading all the gifts brought by Gongsun Zan yesterday into the cart, and was not surprised at all. He felt good and thought that everything was under the control of his county prince, and said nothing unnecessary.
The county office is in a prosperous place in the middle of the county town, and Liu Jian's home is in the west of Zhuo County. The road happens to pass through the downtown area. This time coincides with the opening of the market, the peak season of comprador and exchange of goods, so the market is full of people.
Extremely lively.
You are not allowed to ride a horse in the busy city. This is the most basic rule in all counties in the Han Dynasty. This is just like not riding the wrong way on the main road in later generations, unless your family is really, really awesome, like other people's bad guys on the road.
Yuan Changshui's background, otherwise ordinary people would never be able to achieve this ability.
Just as he was about to walk through the downtown to reach the county office, he suddenly heard a long hiss from the right side of the downtown, which attracted the attention of Liu Jian, Liu Bei and even Yu Ze.
Hearing the sound, he went to see a tall horse with a tall body, a broad chest, and a gray body but with a white face tied under a big mulberry tree by the road.
The horse attracted the attention of many people around him.
Dozens of onlookers passing by gathered around the big mulberry tree, pointing at the good horse, whispering to each other, and making comments. However, most of them were full of praise, and it was obvious that most of them were praising and envious.
Liu Bei likes four things the most on weekdays - gorgeous clothes, hunting dogs, geishas, and the third one is a good horse!
As soon as this good man appeared, Xuande naturally lost control.
"Deran, take a look!"
In fact, Liu Jian also liked these things that Liu Bei liked, especially high-quality horses, which could always catch his eye.
This is just like in later generations, when most men see a top-notch luxury car, they will look at it for a while, comment on it, and long to own it. It's just that the era has changed, and the car has also changed its load.
There were so many people around, and the green partridge horse was obviously a little restless. It stepped back and forth, holding its head high, looking at the crowd, panting heavily, and its strong legs and hooves were digging holes on the ground from time to time.
As if he was about to rush out...
"咴咴——!"
Suddenly, the green partridge horse was seen raising its two front hooves and neighing loudly into the sky. The horse slave next to it hurriedly stepped forward, grabbed the reins on its mouth, carefully controlled it, and used all its strength to pull it.
The head, which seemed to be flying to the sky, was violently torn off.
All the spectators around him couldn't help but burst out in admiration.
What a wild Hun horse!
There is a saying: The Xiongnu rode with white horses in the west, green partridges in the east, black horses in the north, and gelding horses in the south.
"What a good horse!" Liu Bei couldn't help but praise.
Yu Ze did not rush Liu Jian and Liu Bei to watch the horses, but instead watched them with them. He had been in Liaodong for a long time and was good at looking at horses. He knew horses better than others and loved them more.
The three of them, Liu Jian and others, pushed their way to the front of the crowd, while Yu Ze walked up to the big green partridge without any politeness. He carefully watched the big green partridge's pace as it moved back and forth, counting the beats in his mouth.
Then he spread out his palms again, at a distance, with one eye closed, and calculated the proportions of the horse's neck, body, and limbs with one palm after another.
"What are you doing?" Liu Jian asked from the side.
"Horses of the same kind can also be divided into good ones. Although the Green Partridge is a good horse of the Xiongnu, it can also be divided into high and low. There are three types of good horses. You can judge whether it is a horse that can be used for long riding or a horse that can be used for riding based on the length of its legs and body.
, or use both..."
Speaking of this, Yu sighed softly: "This fierce horse has not been tamed and cannot be ridden. It is a pity that we cannot watch it stroll and walk quickly today, otherwise we can judge that it is suitable for riding. However, just judging from the length of its body and the shape of its legs, it is already
It’s a rare good horse!”
"Oh! This is an expert!"
With a cry of admiration, from the other side of the mulberry tree next to them, a man who had been listening to their conversation walked out with a smile. Although his face was kind and naive, he looked as amiable as the elder next door, but he was dressed in clean and wrinkle-free cloth and a well-groomed
His neat and symmetrical eyebrows seem to express his sophistication and ability from the side.
Liu Bei smiled when he saw this: "Who did I think...it turned out to be this bastard!"
Liu Jian also smiled and thought to himself: It turns out to be Su Shuang, no wonder he could get such a good horse.
The so-called Zaoji generally refers to the middleman of horses in the Han Dynasty, that is, an intermediary.
Including the housing agents of later generations, the agents in the horse market are the ancestors of all agents in China.
Of course, horse-trading intermediaries like Su Shuang are not ordinary intermediaries, but the kind that are jointly operated by business intermediaries and develop through multiple channels.
Not only does he introduce buyers and sellers to trade horses, he also spends his own money to buy and sell horses, then analyzes the market, or sells horses from north to south, earning a huge price difference.
The risk is much higher than that of ordinary monks, but at the same time, the profit will be much higher.
"Hey, this is not the big tiger among the four tigers. How can the two tigers have the time to come and see the horses?" Su Shuang teased the Liu brothers, but there was no malice. They had known each other several times.
Although Su Shuang's business has become bigger now. In recent years, he has begun to stockpile horses in large quantities in the land of Youbin to control the city. However, a few years ago, he was also a famous libertine in Zhuo County, even worse than the Four Tigers of Zhuo County.
And nothing less.
Liu Jian rolled his eyes: "Don't scream, who are the two tigers?"
"Hey, Ajian, have you seen my big green geyser? It's hard to find a top-grade horse! I don't care if you search all over Zhuo County within three years, but you can't find such a good horse!"
After that, he looked at Yuze: "Sir, your vision is very accurate. I heard everything you just said makes sense. Do you like this horse?"
Yu Ze said bluntly: "I can't afford it."
Su Shuang looked at Liu Jian and Liu Bei: "This horse is actually not for sale. I just brought it here for a ride today. I have never seen this horse in the horse market since I got it. I don't want to go out for the first time."
Two brothers bumped into each other. Considering their normal friendship, if you like it, I can offer you a cheaper price, how about that?"
Liu Bei hurriedly asked: "How much does it cost?"
Su Shuang stretched out four fingers and said with a smile: "I collected 350,000 yuan in Mayi. Including people eating and feeding horses and traveling back and forth, I will give you the principal, 400,000 yuan, how about it?"
When Liu Bei heard this, his face couldn't help but darken: "In our Zhuo County horse market, the most expensive black horse ever sold was only priced at 250,000 yuan. Is this a golden horse? You want 400,000 yuan? This is a clear lie.
I!"
Su Shuang was not angry, but just smiled and said: "Abei, you have narrowed your horizons. How can that cheap horse you mentioned compare with my big green partridge? It's like comparing a sparrow to a swan, or a tiger to a pine dog."
Liu Bei was so angry at Su Shuang that he wanted to laugh: "That 400,000 yuan is too expensive."
"It's not expensive. It's really not expensive. It's just a cost. I'm not counting the labor."
At this moment, Liu Jian on the side suddenly smiled and said: "What a superb man, one in a million... Will you sell me for one million dollars?"
Su Shuang was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and subconsciously nodded vigorously: "Sell, sell! Of course it's a sell!"