"This caviar noodles is getting more and more expensive, and I can't afford it anymore."
"The pirates are rampant. No one dares to go fishing in the sea. My distant cousin's fishing boat was robbed by the pirates, and two of his sons died."
"I heard that a powerful eunuch appeared in the court and defeated the five tiger generals of Nanliang. He killed 400,000 enemies in one battle. I don't understand why they didn't send troops here to quell the pirates."
"Hey, their princes and generals have made great contributions, who cares about the life and death of our common people?"
"After all, there is still an insider. Those people colluded with the pirates and robbed many fishing boats and wealthy people."
"Just say a few words. The Wu family in Zhenhai County has resisted pirates for so many years, but this time they were wiped out."
"These days of killing, tens of thousands of the hundreds of thousands of people in Zhenhai County were killed. The corpses blocked the city gate. It's so miserable."
These men have dark skin, look older than ordinary people, and have large soles. They look like they have been on fishing boats all year round.
Long Chen ate fish noodles and tried to chat: "Brothers, according to what you said, you can't go to sea now?" ??
The men looked at Long Chen warily. No one answered, they all lowered their heads and continued eating noodles.
Long Chen knew that they didn't trust him, so he hurriedly said: "I am a hunter in the mountains. My father was hit by a big insect while hunting in winter. The doctor asked me to buy fish oil here, saying it can cure it."
"I heard from some elder brothers that I can't go to sea, so where can I buy fish oil to treat my father's injury?"
Long Chen's face was filled with sadness, and he placed the chopsticks on the bowl.
The man saw that Long Chen and Zhang Qian were wearing furs and did not look like locals or fishermen, so he asked: "Where are you hunters?"
Long Chen said: "The people from Shangjiang County are begging for food in Jiulong Mountain."
Another man said: "I know Jiulong Mountain. There are many big insects there, and the people at the foot of the mountain are often eaten."
The man's vigilant face relaxed, and he said in a sympathetic tone: "We are all poor people. We are begging for life at sea, and you are begging for food in the mountains."
"There is a kind of fish in the sea. Its whole body is bones and has no meat. But the oil refined from the bones can heal wounds, and that’s what you should be talking about.”
Long Chen immediately turned around and asked eagerly: "Brother, where can I buy it?"
The man sighed: "This kind of fish can only be found in the deep sea. Now pirates are rampant, so you can't buy it."
Long Chen sighed: "Damn pirates, then my father... ugh."
Seeing Long Chen's filial piety, another man said, "Actually, there are."
Long Chen immediately asked: "Brother, please tell me."
The man said: "The Xu family has it, but it's very expensive."
Long Chen immediately asked: "Which Xu family?"
The man said: "Everyone here knows about Xu's house near the city wall in the east of the city."
Long Chen asked strangely: "This elder brother just said that pirates are rampant, why can the Xu family buy it? Are you kidding me?"
The man said unhappily: "You don't know anything. I'm telling you to tease you. Just go and you can definitely buy it."
Long Chen didn't want to ask any more questions, so he quickly thanked several men, finished eating the fish noodles, gave the money, and returned to the room with Zhang Qian.
Even after closing the doors and windows, there was still a smell of sweat inside. Zhang Qian rolled up all the bedding and threw them aside, and then used fur to cushion them.
"Which family is the Xu family?"
Long Chen asked.
Zhang Qian shook her head and said, "I'm not familiar with this place either, so I have to ask the locals."
Long Chen thought for a while, opened the door and went out for a while, then led the waiter in.
"Sir, what do you have to say to me?"
The waiter picked up his apron and wiped his hands. The cracks on the back of his hands were a bit serious.
When it comes to asking for news, people come and go in the market, and news will gather here.
And the waiter in the waiting room can hear everything. As long as a person is smart, he will know a lot of things.
Therefore, Long Chen called the waiter over.
"Brother, we are hunters in the mountains. We want to buy fish oil to treat my father's illness."
Long Chen said the same thing again.
The waiter said: "I heard it just now. If you go to Xu's house, there must be some there. They didn't lie to you."
Long Chen asked him to sit down and talk. ??
"I am a foreigner. I want to ask about the situation of the Xu family. I have no other intention. I am just worried about safety."
"My father is still lying at home waiting for medicine. If something happens to me, no one will collect my father's body."
With a look from Long Chen, Zhang Qian immediately took out a piece of silver and threw it to the waiter.
The waiter took the money and said with a cheerful smile: "Guest sir, you are so generous. How can you Orions make so much money?"
Long Chen smiled: "To tell you the truth, we can find gold sand in the mountains, so we have a little money."
The waiter collected the money and lowered his voice and said: "Brother, for the sake of your trust in me, I said it."
This ingot of silver is enough to earn him several years of wages.
"Brother, you have been in the mountains for a long time and you have no intention of guarding against others. You should not reveal your wealth here, especially when you arrive at the Xu family."
"Then the Xu family."
The waiter paused for a moment, raised his ears to listen to the noise, and made sure there was no one around before continuing: "The Xu family are pirates. They colluded with the pirates. The pirates plundered on the sea and along the coast. He is here to answer the question."
.”
"Why does he have fish oil? Because he gave the pirates everything they grabbed. He also provided weapons, rice, fruits and vegetables to the pirates, and also tipped them off."
"When you go to Xu's house to buy things, you can't bring too much money, or else I'll kill you if I see the money."
"And sister-in-law, such a beautiful sister-in-law can't go. You heard me right."
Long Chen He asked in a low voice: "Don't the governor know?"
The waiter frowned and said: "The official family is a bandit, and the governor Chen Zu is also a pirate."
hiss
Long Chen felt that the matter was a bit ridiculous. If it were said that the county magistrate and the local gentry colluded with the pirates, it would be nonsense to say that the governor of a county was also a pirate.
As a high-ranking official of the party, the governor must be conferred by the empress personally and assessed by the officials personally. How could he be a pirate?
"How can it be!"
Zhang Qian was also shocked.
The waiter said in a low voice: "I've also heard that when you go to Xu's house to buy things, you can't bring more money with you."
Downstairs, the boss was cursing and looking for the waiter. The waiter quickly got up and said, "Brother, listen to me and be careful."
After saying that, the waiter hurried downstairs and immediately heard the boss scolding him.
"Sir, why do I feel that the water in Qianjiang County is a bit deep?"
Zhang Qian closed the door and carefully checked that no one was eavesdropping.
Long Chen found it incredible: "The governor of a county is actually a pirate? How could this happen?"
Zhang Qian asked: "Could it be a rumor? Someone framed the governor?"
Long Chen shook his head and said: "If the Xu family is a pirate and they dare to do business openly in the city, it is impossible for the governor Chen Zu not to know about it."
"Then there is only one possibility: the governor Chen Zu colluded with the Xu family."
Zhang Qian asked doubtfully: "But every three years, the governor has to go to the official department to report on his work in person. Could it be said that the official department has been bribed?"
Long Chen denied this hypothesis: "The official Baili Bing is a member of the Holy Sage. It is impossible to be bribed. There must be other reasons."
Zhang Qian asked: "But what is the reason?"
Long Chen shook his head: "I don't know. I'll go to Xu's house tomorrow to find out the situation."
"Go wait outside the city for Dugu Jiali and Wu Jian tomorrow and ask them not to enter the city."
