"Before planting spinach seeds, it is best to soak them to accelerate germination, which can improve the emergence of seedlings. The soil must be deep and fertile. Before planting, it is best to plow the soil deeply and dry it. It is best to sprinkle some quicklime. After the seeds emerge and grow leaves, they will have time to sprout. Water cannot
If you water too much, just keep the ground moist, but not waterlogged, otherwise it will cause root rot..."
Wei Zheng and Wu Huaiyu were lying on the earthen wall that separated the two families.
The atmosphere is a bit awkward.
"It seems that I watered too much, didn't soak the seeds to promote germination, and didn't dry the soil before planting. I didn't expect that there are so many things to pay attention to when growing spinach." Wei Zheng was so embarrassed that he almost dug a big hole in the wall with his toes.
But his wife was still standing behind him, tugging at his trouser legs, signaling him to get down to business.
"Well, Erlang must have heard what we just said, and it made you laugh." Wei Zheng had no choice but to change the subject.
"Actually, I just came here, and I couldn't hear clearly through the wall. It's windy!" Huaiyu was also lying on the wall. While he was chatting with Wei Zheng, he was also curiously looking at Wei Jiayuan next door.
Son, this area is full of vegetable fields.
But it is very different from the Wu family's vegetable plot. The Wu family's vegetable plot used to be planted with flowers, and it was very neatly planned and even paved with bricks and stones. It was very elegant. The vegetable plot on Wei Zheng's side was really original.
No embellishments.
"I heard that Erlang opened a quality shop in Changshengtang?"
"Didn't Duke Wei impeach me last time for opening a medicine shop to compete with the people?" Huaiyu's words made Wei Zheng blush. He had indeed impeached Wu Huaiyu before.
A moment of embarrassment.
Wei Zheng wanted to jump off the wall and go home, but he couldn't talk anymore. How could he have the nerve to talk about borrowing money from Wu Huaiyu at this time? But Mrs. Pei kept pulling his pants down below, almost to the point of pulling them off.
"Well, Changshengtang Diansi, can you pledge your house?"
"Look, if I pledge this house to Qian Sheng Tang, how much money can I get?"
Wei Zheng's face was quite thick.
Sure enough, there are benefits to reading more books. It not only improves your temperament, but also thickens your face.
"Wei Gong's house is close to the imperial city. The location is very good. The land of this house is worth a lot. However, your house has been in disrepair for a long time and is a bit too simple. It is not worth a lot of money." Huaiyu said ruthlessly, this guy
Wu Huaiyu planned to have a good chat with him. It was a rare opportunity. He was feeling sleepy when he encountered a pillow.
Wei Zheng said directly: "As you just heard, I want to get married to Wang Xueshi's family, but the family wealth requires one million, and I can't come up with it at the moment. I can't delay the matter, so I want to use this house as a mortgage to borrow money for emergency purposes."
,"
"Wei Gong is proposing marriage for Wei Dalang?"
"Um."
"But it seems that the young men in your family I saw last time were still very young, right?"
"Dalang is seven years old and has already started studying." Wei Zheng said.
She was only seven years old, but she was eager to kiss him.
"Then there's no need to be in such a hurry. Wei Gong is now Shangshu Zuocheng. This official salary plus the income from his job. I heard that Wei Gong often writes for others and pays a lot for retouching. He saves hundreds of dollars a year.
It won’t be a problem to keep the whole thing going.”
"The opportunity to marry the Wang family of Taiyuan does not come often," Wei Zheng said bluntly. Everyone in the world clings to the five surnames and seven famous families. Wei Zheng's grandfather was a governor, but his father was only a county magistrate. Although he married Pei Hedong
She is a daughter of the Pei family, but she is not a direct descendant of the Pei family.
He has the opportunity to marry the daughter of the Wang family in Taiyuan. Moreover, although Wang Ji does not have a high official position, he is very famous. He is famous in the world of poetry. Especially, he is one of several famous families in the Wang family in Taiyuan, and he is also the great Confucian Wang Tongzhi. Brother, if such a relationship can be formed, Wei Shuyu's future road will be smooth.
"Wu Erlang, can you help me with this?" Pei almost pulled Wei Zheng's pleated pants off. For the sake of his son, Wei Zheng had no choice but to bow his head to Wu Huaiyu, whom he had always looked down upon.
"Neighbors, neighbors, this is nothing. How much does Wei Gong plan to borrow?"
Wu Huaiyu didn't sympathize with Wei Zheng at all and was a terrible person.
Originally, he was an official in the same palace and his next door neighbor, so he would definitely be willing to help if he could.
But the other party is Wei Zheng. He has messed with him several times. He must take revenge on him today. Although this is a bit unethical, repaying evil with kindness is not his Wu Huaiyu style.
He originally wanted to write a memorial to impeach this guy, but he couldn't find any real fatal issue. It was insignificant and would instead deduct points from the emperor.
Despite Wei Zhengren's dislike of dogs, he still has a high status with the emperor and may even be admitted to Lingyan Pavilion in the future.
"Erlang, can you lend me one million?" Wei Zheng hesitated. At this time, Mrs. Pei pulled at his pleated pants again, "Can you lend me two million?"
"No problem." Huaiyu agreed happily, with a smile on his face like a spring breeze.
This surprised Wei Zheng. When Pei saw her husband acting like this below, she simply stepped forward and said, "Wu Erlang, why don't you come over to have a chat with me? There is still some sake at home, please taste it, General Wu."
Huaiyu responded with a smile and jumped over the wall and jumped into Wei's house.
When Wei Zheng saw this, he frowned and invited you to come over to the house to have a chat. You go through the main entrance, why don't you climb over the wall? It's so rude.
Wei Zheng is very old, almost fifty years old, and is not considered young, but his wife Pei is actually quite young, only around thirty. This Pei family was from Hedong, and she married him during the turmoil of the Sui Dynasty in his early years. Wei Zheng gave birth to four sons and two daughters for him. Pei was also well-informed and well-versed in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. However, he did not enjoy much happiness following Wei Zheng and drifted around. Now he has finally settled down in Chang'an, but he is still living in poverty. Even though we are not rich, we still have to grow our own vegetables and weave cloth.
Huaiyu took a look at Mr. Pei secretly. Although he was a commoner and a Jingchai, he was young after all. Even after giving birth to six children, his charm was still there and he had a special temperament.
"Hello, sister-in-law," Huaiyu smiled and saluted her, and then handed over the handful of spinach he had just picked. It was green and green, and it was treated as a greeting gift for the first time.
"Wu Erlang's spinach is so fresh and tender. My Alang can't grow it." Mr. Pei said generously.
All the way to the Wei family hall.
It is also very simple, but very clean and tidy.
Mrs. Pei also specially brought Wei Shuyu to see him as a gift, and even brought a jar of Wei Gong's wine to entertain him.
"Wu Erlang is really willing to lend me two million dollars?" Wei Zheng took the initiative to open a jar and pour wine for Huaiyu. He couldn't help but inhale the aroma of the wine first. These were the best jars he had collected, and his wife was quite generous.
Huaiyu took the wine glass, took a sip, let the wine swirl on the tip of his tongue, and got to know the wine of Wei Gong who was full of Chang'an.
A bucket of gold is not as good as a mouthful of Wei Gong. Even Wang Ji, a wine-fighting scholar, praised him so much.
After tasting it carefully, I found that Wei Zheng's wine is indeed good. It is indeed of a higher grade than the common wines on the market in Chang'an. At least this wine is clear and transparent.
When people in the Tang Dynasty made wine, they usually used rice wine.
Then there are prepared wines, which are added with spices and medicinal materials, and are drunk during various festivals, such as moxa wine on Dragon Boat Festival, realgar wine, and dogwood wine on September 9th.
There are also fruit wine and pine mash wine. They use various fruits to make wine, and they also use pine resin, pine flowers and pine needles to make wine. People in the Tang Dynasty believed that evergreen pine trees were a good thing, so they created unique pine mash wine.
Generally, the most popular drink is rice wine, which is brewed from glutinous rice, wheat, millet, millet, etc.
These rice wines are generally divided into clear wine and cloudy wine. Sake is also called white wine.
There are also two kinds of turbid wine, green and white. They are feasting and feasting. This is exactly what Bai Juyi wrote in a poem. Green ants make new wine, and there is a small red clay stove.
Green wine is considered to be mid-range, and the lower level is turbid wine.
Wei Zhengjia's wine is neither turbid nor green, but very clear.
Pei also learned the art of hand-brewing from Wei Zheng. It is said that Wei Zheng's home brewing method originated from Wei Zheng's grandfather who was a governor. He was good at wine and collected many brewing methods and improved them, thus the Wei family was born.
Brewing secrets.
"This wine is quite strong." Huaiyu said.
"Erlang seems to be a good drinker too." Wei Zheng was very proud, but he also briefly revealed a little bit about the special features of Wei's wine. After their wine is brewed, it is filtered several times, filtered and then slowly cooked over a low fire.
The method of making wine is not unusual. Many places use this barbecue method to make wine. This kind of wine is also called Shaochun. It is mostly made in spring, also called Shaochun, such as the most famous Jiannan Shaochun in Jiannan area.
Slowly burning over low heat can sterilize the wine without losing odor, and can maintain the flavor for a longer period of time. The soju is strong, intoxicating, and fragrant. However, ordinary rice wine can easily deteriorate, become sour, and even breed wine ants.
Soju can also increase the alcohol content, making the wine clearer and more intense.
However, this wine is obviously still rice wine, not distilled wine.
What Wei Zheng said are very simple things, and they are all things that are made public. Everyone who makes wine knows it. If you really want to make good shochu, there are still many secret methods that are not taught.
Wu Huaiyu felt that the reputation of Wei Gong wine was greater than its taste, and this wine was just rice wine, not even as good as some rice wine he drank in later generations.
It's true when you think about it. Later generations made wine more professionally, and Wei's Home Brewing was not even considered a small workshop.
"Drink this wine when it's cold. Cook it slowly over a small stove. The wine will taste better when it's hot." Pei said.
After finishing a glass of wine, Huaiyu got straight to the point. He wasn't here to drink.
"Wei Gong, Mrs. Pei, we are neighbors, and Wei Gong and I are ministers in the same palace. Now you are in trouble and want to borrow money. I happen to have invested some money in the quality shop and am considered a half owner. This can help.
I'd be happy too.
But Changsheng Hall does not belong to me alone. How much do you plan to borrow, for how long, and what are you using as collateral?"
"I'll use this house as collateral to borrow two million."
"How long can I borrow it for?"
Wu Huaiyu smiled with a smile on his face, watching Wei Zheng stepping into his trap step by step. He opened a quality shop and was afraid of people borrowing money? The loan sharking was a bottomless pit, and even Wei Zheng couldn't handle it.
"How is the interest calculated?" Ms. Pei asked. "Mrs. Pei should also know that the interest rates for mortgage shops in the east and west cities of Chang'an and the mortgage loans of major temples are basically the same. Two million is a lot.
If you borrow a pen for a year, you will get ten cents according to the market price, and you will get two cents for storage and other expenses. If you borrow two thousand guan, the interest per year is 2,400 guan, and the fee is 480 guan, which is two cents together.
One thousand eight hundred and eighty."
"The interest rate is so high?"
Wu Huaiyu said with a smile, "Mr. Wei, your house covers an area of fifteen acres. It is located in Yongxingfang, Dongcheng. It is in a good location, but the house is not valuable. I overestimate the land. Let's count it at three thousand guan. According to industry regulations, it is worth ten taels."
Five, you can exchange it for fifteen hundred guan, but you can't exchange it for two thousand guan."
Now Wei Zheng and his wife were a little anxious, "A house as big as ours is worth more than 3,000 yuan, so why can we only deposit 1,500 yuan?"
"The interest rate is too high. If you borrow two thousand guan, the interest will be 2,880 yuan a year?"
"The interest is two thousand four hundred, and there is another four hundred and eighty for storage, procedures and other expenses."
"Too high."
"I believe that Mr. Wei and Mrs. Pei also went to other mortgage shops and inquired about the prices at Changshengku. The amount you borrowed is large and the time is long, so the interest will naturally be high. If you borrow a hundred and eighty guan for a few months,
Just five cents will be enough,”
Wei Zheng's face wrinkled into a ball,
Mrs. Pei said nice things to Huaiyu, hoping that there would be fewer words.
"Ms. Pei, if you really want to borrow two thousand gu, the key issue now is not the profit, but that your house cannot borrow two thousand, so you have to add some other collateral." Although Huaiyu smiled.
, but he didn’t give any face.
"We have a big house like ours, with more than three thousand guan and a house." Wei Zheng said angrily.
"If Duke Wei is in trouble, forget it." Huaiyu stood up to leave.
Ms. Pei quickly asked him to sit down. She gritted her teeth and said, "We still have a lot of books at home that can be mortgaged."
Wei Zheng became anxious, and Mrs. Pei glared at him, "How long has it been since you spent so much money collecting these books? Now that you are in urgent need of money, why can't you mortgage them first instead of selling them?"
"Can I have a look at Wei Gong's collection of books?"
Mrs. Pei took Huaiyu to Wei Zheng's study. Although Wei Zheng's family was poor, this old boy actually collected 3,000 volumes of books. Books from the Tang Dynasty were very valuable. For a book to be copied by hand, the lowest grade would cost a piece of silk. Those
A well-known copyist could even charge thousands of dollars for copying a volume of ten thousand words.
Some good books from the Tang Dynasty cost thousands of dollars, and if you have rare collections from certain eras, they may cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Not all of Wei Zheng's books are good, but the three thousand volumes should be comparable to his three thousand volumes.
This old boy and this baby.
"Wei Gong's house is mortgaged for 1,500 guan, and how about these books being used for 500 guan?" Huaiyu said with a smile.
Wei Zheng almost jumped up and beat Wu Huaiyu.
Isn’t this taking advantage of the situation?
Mrs. Pei held him tightly.
"Wu Erlang, these are three thousand volumes of books. Not only are they worth tens of thousands of gold, but they are also worth three thousand gold."
"Ms. Pei, books are not like houses. The location is worth the price, and there is a market. There are good and bad books. Some may be worth hundreds of dollars per volume, but some may be worth tens or hundreds of dollars. This
It's hard for me to separate three thousand volumes of books. Besides, I'm not buying the books, I'm just taking them as collateral. When you repay the money, the books will be returned naturally.
Books are harder to keep than land. There is a greater risk of being bitten by insects and rats, and they also occupy an area of land. These books can only be used for 500 yuan, so I won’t charge more storage fees."
"Inappropriate." Wei Zheng frowned.
Huaiyu smiled and crossed his hands, "Okay, then I'll say goodbye. Thank you Mr. Wei for the wine."
He walked about ten steps, but Pei still caught up with him and stopped him.
"Of course," Mr. Pei ignored it in order for his son to marry a girl with the fifth surname. "I just hope that the interest can be less. We are all neighbors, so Erlang can help out."
"What I just talked about are the market conditions in Chang'an, but since Mrs. Pei has said so, I must also take care of the neighbors. In this way, I will make the decision on my own. Your house and the three thousand volumes
Book, I will give you two thousand guan as a mortgage. The interest is originally 2,400 guan and the fee is 480 guan.
There are a total of 2,880 guan, how about I subtract 80 guan for you?"
"Wu Erlang, how about you just take two thousand guanli?"
"That's very difficult to handle. You can't do loss-making business. Other owners don't agree."
The two bargained for a long time, and the final result was that the interest was still ten cents per month, a total of 2,400 guan, and the handling fee was only one cent, 240 guan, for a total of 2,640 guan.
"Forget it, for the forty guan, I'll give in to a favor, let's make it a round number of 2,600 guan. Compared with my colleagues, this is a concession of 280 guan, and a small courtyard of several acres in Nancheng has been given away.
"Huaiyu looked like a great neighbor. "Who told us to be next-door neighbors?"
Wei Zheng frowned. The interest rate was too high. If he borrowed two thousand dollars, he would pay back the interest of two thousand six hundred dollars a year. After one year, the principal and interest would be four thousand six hundred dollars. How will he pay it back then?
But his wife Pei is now like a drowning man grasping for a straw. She wants to marry the Wang family and refuses to miss the opportunity for her son to marry a girl with the fifth surname. At worst, she will lose her house and books by then, but as long as she can get a fifth surname,
Daughters and wives are also worth it.
If you run out of books and houses, you can buy them again. This is the only chance for your son to marry a girl with the fifth surname.
"Otherwise, I'd better sell the house to you for three thousand guan." Wei Zheng said.
"Mr. Wei, I live next door to you. What do you want from your house? My house is three acres bigger than yours."
"Two thousand eight hundred guan." Wei Zheng lowered the price.
Huaiyu just shook his head, "To be honest, I can't afford so much money to buy your house. Changshengtang is in the business of pledge and loan, and that is the capital of the business."
"If Mr. Wei is in trouble, forget it. As I said before, there is no such thing as buying and selling, let alone buying and selling by force."
Wei Zheng was silent for a long time, then spoke with difficulty, "My three thousand volumes of books are more valuable than this house, why not just mortgage one thousand volumes?"
"Forget it, forget it." Huaiyu turned and left.
Mr. Pei caught up again, "Dang, we are all duped, when can we get the money?"
"As long as the title deed of the house and the three thousand volumes of books are sent to Changsheng Hall, two thousand coins can be delivered on the same day. However, there are not so many copper coins. The custom is nine silk coins per coin."
"Okay." Pei said decisively.
"Then I'll hand over the deed, documents, procedures and get the money tomorrow."
After the matter was settled, Pei also gave Huaiyu two jars of fine wine, while Wei Zheng sat alone in front of the hall in a daze.
In one fell swoop, he was saddled with an interest of 2,600 guan. He was the fourth-rank minister, Zuo Cheng, and his annual salary was only 300 guan. The total salary and daily necessities issued by the yamen were about 4,200 guan per month.
Money, 700 acres of farmland, and a rent of 420 dan.
There are also some Yongye fields.
But the total income is not much in a year, 720 shi of grain, 50 guan of cash, which is a drop in the bucket.
In the past, we could still make wine and sell it, but now we can’t either.
"Write some epitaphs for people, inscribe some words, and earn some writing fees." Mrs. Pei said helplessly.
It is very profitable to write epitaphs for people, especially those who are wealthy. As long as they have a high status and a high social reputation, writing an epitaph can earn as little as tens of thousands of dollars, or as much as several hundred dollars.
For example, the eighteen bachelors of the original Qin Prince's Palace, their retouching fees are very high, especially if they can get Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui to take action, they will at least have a BMW and a silver saddle, plus other things. But Fang Du can't
I would write to anyone, at least to the Dukes and Lords. Generally speaking, rich and wealthy businessmen with no social status would not be able to write no matter how much money they paid.
Wei Zheng used to disdain earning this writing fee, he would rather brew some home-brewed shochu at home.
"good,"
Wei Zheng had no choice now. He had to make some extra money. The pressure was too great. He could earn ten thousand to twenty thousand dollars by writing one article. If he wrote one hundred articles, wouldn't he earn one thousand or two thousand dollars?
"Those books of mine."
"It's just a temporary mortgage to Changshengtang." Mrs. Pei comforted.
"I worked hard for a year as an official, but my salary was only three hundred gu. Wu Huaiyu made me 2,600 gu in one lump sum by lending money and collecting interest. This is wrong, very wrong." Wei Zheng murmured.
Ms. Pei glared at her husband angrily, "Don't pick up the bowl to eat, and then curse me when you put down the bowl. We haven't received these two thousand guan yet, have you forgotten how you couldn't borrow money anywhere before?"
Let me remind you, don’t find fault with Wu Erlang in the future. I think Wu Erlang is a nice person. We owe him a huge favor this time, so we should be more polite when we meet in the future."
Wei Zheng's beard trembled angrily, "He made me 2,600 yuan from loan sharking, so I still want to thank him?"
"If you borrow it from others, the interest will be more than 2,600 guan. Some people ask for 3,000 guan."
"Otherwise, forget it if you don't marry Wang's daughter." Wei Zheng sighed.
"What nonsense are you talking about? You, Wei Zheng, have such a noble face that your son's marriage is not important anymore?"
Wei Zheng lowered his head, poured himself a bowl of wine, and drank alone.
