As winter was approaching, Liu Wen did not come out to look for trouble, which made Su Ren very comfortable.
Shu County is close to the south, so it is unlikely to snow. After a few cold rains, the cold west wind blew down from the plateau and poured into the house, blowing the fire in the brazier. It was still freezing even if I put on thick clothes.
Don't want to go out.
For agricultural societies, winter is a season of rest. The water in the paddy fields has been drained, and the thick silt is exposed to the sun, absorbing sunlight and preparing for next year's farming. The dry fields on the hillside have also been renovated.
, revealing the dark raw soil.
Laojun Temple is very lively, and the salt sellers coming and going are checking out and collecting salt. Nowadays, the official salt business is on the right track. Everyone has their own things to do. As the big boss, Su Ren can just stand aside and watch.
.
Su Ren's job as county assistant was also very comfortable. He was not required to go to the county government office to report for work. In this way, he would have to travel dozens of miles less every day. Su Ren was able to save his old life.
A bullock cart was walking slowly and leisurely on the path. There was an old man and a young man in the car. The driver was a young man. Although his gray robe was a little old, it was washed very clean. There was no shed in the carriage. An old man grabbed the handle of the cart with both hands, and then
The car swayed from side to side. As I walked, I admired the scenery of Wenling. Not all the leaves fell off in winter. The remaining leaves turned yellow or red due to lack of nutrition, which gave them another interesting aspect.
Different from the sparsely populated roads elsewhere, this road leading to Laojun Temple is actually very lively. There is an endless stream of people going up and down the mountain. The people going up the mountain are in a hurry. The people going down the mountain are walking happily. They are carrying or carrying,
Some even used carts to pull the goods, and the ox carts made a squeaking noise as bags of goods were loaded on them. Whether they were going up or down the mountain, everyone had a smile on their face.
"Laifu, how far is it?" The old man in the car had already seen the eaves of the roof exposed in the forest in the distance, and it must be not far away.
The young man driving the carriage quickly replied: "Prefect, please be patient for a while longer. We will arrive soon. We can already see the eaves of the house in front of us."
"I told you not to call the prefect. We came out secretly this time, so just call me sir."
Laifu chuckled: "I understand, sir!"
The old man in the car looked at the people on the side of the road and asked: "These should be the people who get salt from that Laojun Temple, right? They seem to be very happy. How come I heard that all the salt merchants there are...
It’s a sad look.”
"How can this be the case? Sir, you must have heard it wrong. Every one of our salt merchants made their fortunes by relying on official salt. They are all from wealthy families. It's just that their lives have been difficult recently."
"That's right, ever since the warm water bag salt from Shu County entered our Chengdu, those black-hearted salt dealers have really had a hard time. No matter in terms of the quality or price of the salt, they have no advantage. Who can be happy without making money? Even I am here.
, without the salt tax, our government office will no longer be able to uncover the pot."
"Haha!" Laifu smiled: "Sir, this is a joke. Regardless of the fact that the salt tax accounts for less than 10% of the tax, we ordinary people have to thank God for having good salt."
The old man said angrily: "It sounds like I'm not doing a good job as an official?"
"Sir, as I said just now, you are either an official or a gentleman here."
The old man laughed loudly: "It's my fault. You are right. Today we are here to see this Wenshui man who makes all the people of Shu County grateful."
The oxcart had just turned the corner and was still far away from Laojun Temple. A market suddenly appeared in front of it. Because there were many vendors coming to Laojun Temple to buy salt every day, the lively people nearby set up their pots here.
Stove, cook some porridge, bake two noodles for sale. Gradually more people come, and more people do business. The nearby specialties, such as rice wine, fungus, snacks, and wild vegetables are all sold here.
.
Laifu helped the old man to the bottom of the outermost shed. The words "big bowl of tea" were particularly eye-catching. Looking at the name, you can tell that what is sold should be tea soup. Tea is produced in the south, and Sichuan has been an important producing area of tea. Sichuan has been an important producing area of tea since ancient times.
People have the custom of drinking tea. According to legend, the origin of tea drinking can be traced back to the Huangdi period. The Shen Nong's Herbal Classic records that tea has various magical effects such as detoxifying, improving eyesight, promoting body fluids and promoting blood circulation. However, in the Han Dynasty, tea had many names.
Fa, Tecao is considered the most orthodox one.
The old man and the young man had just finished cooking when a frail little girl came over carrying a large copper kettle, placed two thick bowls in front of them, and poured light yellow water from the copper kettle.
The old man glanced into the bowl and asked with a smile: "Little girl, what is this?"
"The tea is specially made by my master Su County Cheng. It tastes so good that most people won't give it to me!"
The old man chuckled: "It seems that I am no longer an ordinary person?"
A busybody at the next table quickly explained: "You two are not from here, are you? This stuff is water made from tea grass. I don't know what Su County Assistant is thinking. There is nothing in it. It tastes bitter and hard to swallow at first.
The aftertaste is sweet and refreshing, old man, you can try it, I guarantee you won’t forget it after drinking it.”
Laifu quickly clasped his fists and thanked him: "I've also drunk this tea grass soup. Shouldn't I add some seasonings to it? What can I drink with such a clear soup?"
The man smiled and said: "Brother, you don't understand, try it first before you say this!"
The old man had already picked up the thick bowl, put it to his mouth and smelled it. Sure enough, a faint aroma penetrated his nostrils. He took a sip and found it was bitter and unbearable. He was about to open his mouth and spit it out, but suddenly there was a sweetness in his throat. When he took a sip,
After swallowing the tea, the taste in his mouth was very strange. The aroma, bitterness, and sweetness constantly stimulated his nerves. The old man slowly closed his eyes and kept thinking about it.
Seeing the enjoyment on the old man's face, the man smiled and said, "Not bad, right? Isn't it much better than those tea soups?"
The old man nodded: "Yes, yes, it is bitter and sweet, first bitter and then sweet. The lingering fragrance fills the mouth, and there is a sign of enlightenment in the breath. It is indeed a good thirst quencher. This is the original taste of tea grass."
The little girl raised her lips, stretched out a hand and stood in front of the old man. Laifu was a little puzzled, and the man said: "Sir, don't you give a reward for such a good thing? You know in this place, even if
The county magistrate has to pay when he comes."
"Do you have to pay for a bowl of water?"
The old man glanced at the little girl and said, "It doesn't hurt to give me some money for such a thirst-quenching thing."
Laifu reluctantly took out some money from his sleeves and threw it on the table. He picked up the tea bowl and drank it all in one gulp. His face turned green because of the pain, and he swallowed it with great effort. The little girl was not angry either.
He picked out two coins from a handful and said, "My master said, one coin per person, don't ask for more!" He turned around, carrying the copper pot, and went to greet the others.
The little girl is very diligent. Whenever she sees someone coming, she will immediately bring the tea bowl to them. If there is no water in the tea bowl, she will quickly fill it up and rush around alone. If you are talkative, praise the little girl for being diligent and sensible. Whenever you drink tea,
People in the country are quite well-behaved. No matter whether the little girl is there or not, they will put a dollar beside the tea bowl when they leave.
After drinking tea, the old man and the young man continued to walk in. There were quite a lot of different kinds of food on both sides of the path, many of which they had never seen before. There were not only vegetarian food, but also meat. Laifu liked to eat meat.
I spent two dollars to buy a piece of cooked meat. When I asked, it turned out to be pork. This made Laifu very angry. He started to argue with the shop owner at the top of his lungs. The people around him looked at it with smiles, and they didn't care.
Intervene.
The shop owner looked at Laifu, and when Laifu was done shouting, he handed over his hands and said: "This little brother, this is cheap meat, but I have no intention of cheating you. How about you try it and let's talk about it? If you don't like it, we'll talk about it."
, how about I give you this meat and return the money to you?"
When the businessman said this, the old man was quite curious. He tore off a piece of meat from Fu's hand and stuffed it into his mouth. Although there were only a few teeth left, the taste of the meat was very different. Not only did it not have the mutton smell,
, and there is no smell of pork, it is softer than beef, and sweeter than horse meat. After eating it, he said: "What a good craftsmanship, it's a wonder that this cheap meat can be so delicious."
The meat seller waved his hands repeatedly: "Sir, you are ridiculous. I don't have this ability. This stall was opened by the villain and Su Xianzuo. His recipe is just my craftsmanship. Those who have the ability are others."
The old man nodded and looked around: "Presumably all the strange foods here are made by this Su County Assistant?"
The meat seller smiled and said: "It's almost the same. Anyone who orders it through Zuoti in Su County will definitely do good business."
Leaving the meat stall, Laojun continued to walk in. There were crowds of people at the door. A young man carrying a spear was walking back and forth among the crowd. Anyone who wanted to squeeze in would pick up his hand without saying a word.
The spear dart struck twice. The person who was beaten was not angry, he smiled, turned around and walked out. There were two teams, one in and one out, looking very orderly.
The old man sighed with emotion: "There is no rule without rules. It seems that this Su County Assistant does have some abilities."
Laifu rewrapped the uneaten meat and stuffed it into a cloth bag: "Sir, shall we go in now?"
The old man shook his head: "Now is the busiest time for us, and we have to find a time when the owner is free to visit. We'd better wait and see."
Laifu nodded, and the two of them found a porridge stall at the entrance of Laojunguan. Each of them ordered a bowl of porridge and drank while waiting. Seeing that the sun had turned westward, the two long queues at the entrance of Laojunguan showed no signs of movement.
There was no intention of shortening it. Laifu wanted to go in and find the Su County Assistant several times. He had never seen anyone who dared to look down on his husband. But the old man didn't nod, so Laifu didn't dare.
It was already time to light the lamp, and a stout man came out of the door. He cupped his hands and said to the people outside the door: "Everyone, it's already late today. I'll stop putting the salt here. Come early tomorrow and you will definitely be able to get the refined salt." The man said
I apologized over and over again. Although the people outside the door were a little disappointed, there was no atmosphere. They turned around and prepared to go down the mountain one by one.
The crowd who had been waiting at the intersection cheered and gathered around. Their conversation could be heard clearly. Those people were inviting salt merchants from out of town to rest at their homes. Naturally, the bargaining process was inevitable. Many of the salt merchants had already negotiated the price.
Followed the villagers.
Without waiting for the big man to close the door, Laifu hurriedly went over and said, "My husband came to visit Su County Assistant. Is it convenient for the County Assistant?" (To be continued)