Cui Muyuan was in a complicated mood. He was pacing back and forth with his brows twisted into a frown. When he thought about the purpose of coming here, it was even more difficult for him to say it.
At that time, his ancestor Cui Zhiyuan came to China and returned to Silla after achieving the third-rank official rank in the turbulent late Tang Dynasty. However, his subsequent official career was full of twists and turns. After being ostracized, he became enlightened and resigned and went into seclusion. Afterwards, after the changes of the times, Cui Zhiyuan's Later, the Gyeongju Choi family branched out and became a famous family in Goryeo.
Later, the Choi family of Gyeongju also had famous ministers such as Cui Seunglao, who was awarded the title of Sangjuguo, and Cui Hang, the guardian chief and Zhongshuling, who could be passed down to Xianjong. During Sujong's time, Buddhism flourished throughout Goryeo. Ruijong After Wang Ma came to the throne, he went to war with the Jurchens in the north, which gradually caused the power of the Cui family of the two groups of civil servants to decline sharply.
Cui Muyuan originally took a very indifferent view of the domestic political struggle. Taking advantage of the frequent overtures to the Song Dynasty by the King of Goryeo, he only wanted to imitate his ancestor Cui Zhiyuan. After studying in China, he was like the three heroes of the Cui family at that time: Cui Zhiyuan, Cui Chengyou, and Cui Ren. It's like "three cranes in a generation, one title on the gold list". But I didn't expect that just a few days after arriving in Song Dynasty, Mizhou City Ship Division, something like this would happen!
Originally, Jin Zhi lost to Xiao Tang in a fist fight. He felt so humiliated that he even had the idea of asking his men to secretly attack Xiao Tang and others.
Li Fang, who was relatively calm in dealing with things, immediately persuaded Jin Zhi to stop him. They were living in the Song Dynasty at this time. Not to mention that they were the only ones who suffered if they fought fiercely. They were willing to bet in public but refused to admit their losses. These arrogant people were used to it. Even the two Hwarangs couldn't afford to lose this person.
However, the military faction in Goryeo, headed by Marshal Yin Guan, was obsessed with pacifying the Jurchen tribe in Lalandian. They even hoped to gradually encroach on the northern territory and annex or expel all the Jurchen tribes.
However, under the leadership of the Wanyan tribe, the Jurchen alliance was tough and good at fighting. After a series of fierce battles, Goryeo was frightened to death, and the voice for peace in Goryeo became louder and louder.
It was not a big deal to lose a bet this time because of their anger, but if their father, General Yiwei, the Navy Controller, and Lord Yin Guan knew... Jin Zhi and Li Fang then remembered that they had not watched this whole journey. In his eyes, Cui Muyuan seemed to be able to talk to the hateful Song people.
Cui Muyuan listened to Jin Zhi and Li Fang's good talk, and asked him to make peace with Xiao Tang, and could he be given some time to repay the favor in the future when he was in charge of shipping in Mizhou City. Cui Muyuan was a kind-hearted man, and he couldn't bear to see his compatriots humiliated. Embarrassed, he agreed after some hesitation.
But with this bad debt on his head, how can he talk to others? "Who at home pities overseas people and asks where Tongjin is. I am seeking food and salary, not profit, but only for the honor of my relatives and not my body..." "Cui Muyuan suddenly remembered the poems written by his ancestors. It was appropriate for such a situation. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head.
"Ms. Sir, our boss has returned. Please follow me." At this moment, an escort under Xiao Tang reported to Cui Muyuan. After hearing this, Cui Muyuan straightened his clothes, sighed, and followed the escort. Already.
Xiao Tang could probably guess the reason for Cui Muyuan's behavior, so he left only Wen Zhongrong and Cui Ye as interpreters. He chose a quieter bedroom in the shop. When Cui Muyuan entered the door, he stood up and clasped his fists and said: "Your Excellency is here to visit. Do you have anything to discuss?"
Cui Muyuan's thoughts turned around a few times in his mind, and he made up his mind to return a respectful salute to Xiao Tang and tell the truth frankly: "We don't know heroes and offended Hu Wei, and that's why we learned today's lesson. It's just that this batch of goods has another It’s useful and there’s no room for error.”
Xiao Tang sneered and said: "But we are not the ones adding glory and trying to compete with others, right? If those two people traveling with you knew even a little bit of worldliness, how could they have made the situation so uncontrollable?"
Cui Muyuan looked horrified, and Wen Zhongrong and Cui Ye also looked very disdainful. How arrogant and arrogant was he to dominate others at that time? But now he couldn't afford to come to the door to beg for help. This was too despicable and shameless.
Seeing Cui Muyuan's embarrassment, Xiao Tang sighed and said: This matter has nothing to do with you, so why should you suffer humiliation for others?"
After Cui Muyuan heard what Xiao Tang said, he took a long breath and said calmly: "Since we are Korean compatriots, we share weal and woe with honor and disgrace! How can we be considered humiliating on behalf of others? What happened today is indeed our outrageous offense. First, I would like to thank Your Excellency Haihan!"
After saying that, Cui Muyuan stood up, bent down and bowed, and gave a deep salute to Xiao Tang.
Xiao Tang secretly nodded, and he couldn't help but look highly at Cui Muyuan in his heart. Although this Cui Muyuan was just a weak scholar, he was much more responsible than the two playboys Jin Zhi and Li Fang. It was obvious that he had suffered for others, but he was like this Resolutely and calmly.
Xiao Tang already had an idea in mind, and he said: "I admire Brother Cui's character and intend to make friends with him. Since Brother Cui has put this debt on himself, I don't want to ask for it from Brother Cui, so why not just do it They’re all exempted!”
"Huh?" Cui Muyuan, Wen Zhongrong, and Cui Ye all looked at Xiao Tang, their eyes full of disbelief. White rice paper, pine smoke ink, and century-old Korean ginseng were all in-demand commodities in the Song Dynasty, and the discounts were low. It was said that it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it was all wiped out by Xiao Tang with just one word?
"Young Master, why bother taking advantage of those guys?..." Wen Zhongrong was about to persuade, but was interrupted by Xiao Tang waving his hand.
Cui Muyuan looked at Xiao Tang blankly and said, "Your Excellency...but are you serious...?"
Xiao Tang nodded and said with a smile: "Of course it is true, but I am opening a new shop here. I intend to do more business with your country in the future, and I hope to give you a discount. But although I am happy to deal with people like Brother Cui more , As for the two Hwarangs Kim and Lee who are traveling with Brother Cui, forget it!"
Hundreds of thousands of dollars is an astronomical amount of money for ordinary people, but Xiao Tang's income from the Jinfeng Yulu Building in Daming Mansion is more than that, and Yang Xu also handles management, escort agencies, wine shops, and silver shops. Earning various kinds of livelihood, although it is not yet as rich as a country, but it is more than just making money every day?
Xiao Tang didn't just want to be taken advantage of. Considering the hostile relationship between the Jurchens and Goryeo, and the reason why the Jurchen clan would wreak havoc on most of the Song Dynasty in the future, now that Xiao Tang has the opportunity to get in touch with Goryeo, he doesn't want to go with them either. The relationship is too tense.
The Goryeo Kingdom located on the Korean Peninsula is bordering the Jurchen forces in the south. Although when the Jurchen cavalry trampled the two most powerful countries, the Liao Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, the Koryo Kingdom was in the midst of foreign relatives controlling the government, and the conflicts among the nobles were the most serious. period.
However, the Goryeo people have always been interested in the nine-city area of Hamhung in North Korea that is occupied by the Jurchen alliance. They have established relations with Goryeo, which will definitely come in handy in the future when the Jurchens, who have reached the peak of their luck, invade the south.
How did Cui Muyuan know that Xiao Tang was thinking like this? He just felt that the heroes from China were really brave and open-minded, and he was immediately convinced by Xiao Tang. He was pleasantly surprised and said: "Of course! I know a lot of merchants in China who want to do maritime business with your country. , I am deeply grateful to you for your generosity and generosity! I will take care of all the negotiations in the future!"
After chatting for a while, Cui Muyuan, who was full of gratitude, thanked him repeatedly and left with three knocks. Cui Ye was still unwilling to accept it and said: "It is only natural for the young master to take the prize he won! Let's talk about hundreds of thousands of dollars at least. Isn't it too cheap for them to wipe out the goods so easily?"
Xiao Tang laughed and said, "I'm still short of his hundreds of thousands of dollars? See, Cui Shusheng is a man of his word. Once the company opens a few transactions by sea, the profits will be more than this?"
Wen Zhongrong and Cui Ye looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh: "It's no wonder that the young master controls all kinds of businesses, like us who are wandering in the rivers and lakes. How can we have such a vision?"...
Two days later, after finishing the business at Haimao Store, Xiao Tang, Hua Rong, Xiao Yi and others were preparing to return to Daming Mansion. Before leaving, Xiao Tang encouraged Xiao An: "Manager Yang will give you some advice." Keep this in mind, now that you have two brothers, Wen Zhongrong and Cui Ye, helping you, don’t betray the trust that Manager Yang and I have placed in you."
Xiao An nodded repeatedly and said: "Don't worry, young master. I, Xiao An, know what's good. I will definitely take care of these businesses so that I can teach the young master and Manager Yang to be at ease."
Xiao Yi listened and sighed: "I used to argue that you were too noisy, but thinking that you are going to stay here in Banqiao Town, Mizhou, I feel deserted again."
Xiao An smiled and scolded: "Come on! It's not like we won't see each other again, but you are itching to be scolded?"
After everyone joked again, they prepared their cars and started on the road. When Xiao Tang and others came, they left from Xiaojiaji in Zongcheng County, passed through Gaotang Prefecture, entered Qizhou, Zizhou, and Qingzhou and arrived at Mizhou. The return route was From the cities of Mizhou, pass through Yizhou, Yanzhou, and Yunzhou, enter Hebei East Road and return to Damingfu.
The reason for setting such a journey is that it can cover most of the two prefectural capitals of Jingdong and Jingdong, where many heroes live. The second reason is that Hua Rong also intends to visit Song Jiang, whom he regards as his benefactor, when passing through Yuncheng County in Yunzhou.
Timely rain Song Jiang... the number one male protagonist in Water Margin, it's time to meet him. Xiao Tang also had this idea in his heart. Song Jiang, the number one person in Liangshanbo, was also full of controversy in later generations. Gongming, what kind of person you are, only seeing is believing.
Xiao Tang and his party left Mizhou and shortly after entering the boundary of Yizhou, they arrived at a village and asked the local villagers for the route, and found out that this was Baizhang Village in Yishui County.
Baizhang Village, Yishui County... Isn't this the hometown of Black Tornado Li Kui? I don't know if the Heavenly Killer has killed people and escaped, living all the way to Jiangzhou and being imprisoned in Jiangzhou's two hospitals. The superior hand made a small prison.
That Li Kui was innocent, frank and reckless, but also murderous and cruel. Xiao Tang asked himself, even if there was a chance to take this black whirlwind under his command, it would be difficult for him to control Li Kui's temperament.
Although Li Kui has a somewhat submissive nature, he does things based on his own whim. Xiao Tang, who served in the Department of Left-behind Affairs in Daming Prefecture, couldn't help but the black man who was tormented by a small misfortune in three days and a big misfortune in five days. Li Kui's always obedient brother Song Jiang would chop people into pieces with an ax without saying a word if he contradicted his inner principles of Black Tornado.
Countless innocent souls died at the hands of Li Kui. It can be said that among the heroes of Liangshan, Xiao Tang had the most complicated attitude towards this black whirlwind.
Xiao Tang was thinking about it when he suddenly heard shouts and shouts not far away. He frowned, and when he looked over there again, he saw three or four barbarians surrounding a farmer and beating him. He kept begging for mercy, but he could only protect his head and let the group of rough guys punch and kick him.
Zheng Tianshou, one of Xiao Tang's group, saw him and said with disdain: "That village man is so cowardly. He doesn't dare to fight back even when he is insulted. It's all for nothing!"
Seeing those reckless men getting more and more cruel, Hua Rong couldn't bear to turn her head away when she saw it, while Hua Rong frowned and said: "It's just a dispute in the countryside, why do you need to be so harsh? You want to beat people to death."
What?"
At this time, a rough man who was beating up the village man suddenly cursed loudly: "It is only right to kill someone to pay for their life! Your iron bull killed my brother, and the man who killed a thousand swords escaped. You can only get away with it, but my brother did not."
No revenge will be avenged, and you will die with your eyes open! How can there be such a cheap thing!?"
