Hearing that Shopkeeper Li wanted to get rid of him quickly, Wei Liang also caught a glimpse of the figure moving at the door, and knew in his heart that Shopkeeper Li must be in trouble.
He immediately stood up and held up his fists: "Shopkeeper Li can lend me seeds again and save the lives of many people in Cao Village. Wei is grateful. Wei will remember this kindness."
"Master Wei, this is serious. This matter is just a simple matter. There is no need to delay spring sowing, and this rain is just the right time. I just hope that the people of Cao Village can really plant the seeds in the ground this time." Shopkeeper Li
Said with a smile.
"This time, Wei will definitely send someone to watch them finish sowing. If shopkeeper Li is not busy, he can arrange for someone to go to the rice store to get the seeds." Wei Liang said knowingly.
Shopkeeper Li said: "It's easy to talk about. I will make arrangements right away and take Mr. Wei to the rice store with him."
He sent Wei Liang out of the door with a smile. The moment the door closed, Shopkeeper Li's face suddenly turned serious.
The figure watching at the door also hurried over.
"Wei Liang is here, why are you hanging around the door? He is the magistrate of Gu'an County. Although his official position is not high, he is a member of the court after all. Before I came in, I had already separated everyone in the yard, for fear of attracting him.
I'm suspicious of you, you'd better keep wandering around, how urgent is it?" With a straight face, shopkeeper Li's words revealed a sense of majesty.
"How dare I come here to disturb you on my own? The man inside seemed a little dissatisfied with you for welcoming Magistrate Wei into the courtyard, so he ordered me to ask you to go over and talk." The man replied hurriedly.
"Are you talking? Do you want to reprimand me? This matter is of great importance, and I have my own sense of proportion. I have been operating in Gu'an for so many years, and I don't know what to pay attention to?" As he said this, shopkeeper Li turned around and walked in another direction in the yard.
go.
This was a courtyard wall that looked no different from other places. Shopkeeper Li walked up to it, reached out and pushed it gently.
There was a "creaking" sound, and a secret door appeared on the courtyard wall.
With a gloomy face, shopkeeper Li walked in, and the man behind him hurriedly followed.
The scene inside is completely different from outside.
There are no pavilions or pavilions, and even the ground is paved with ordinary gravel. There is a huge square surrounded by some bluestone houses.
These houses are very low and don't even have windows. There is only an iron door about two feet wide in each house. There is a hole as big as a bowl above the iron door, which should be the only lighting point in the room.
At the door of every house, there are two or three figures.
All of these people were dressed as ordinary people. They were either weaving bamboo baskets or sitting around doing other things. Anyway, no one was idle.
In the center of the square, there are many finished and semi-finished products piled up, as if this place is a huge handicraft workshop.
In front of the right wall of the square, there is a pergola over ten feet high that can accommodate more than ten people.
Under the pergola, there is a table with a wine jar and several large plates filled with different meats.
A thin middle-aged man, dressed in black robe, sat in the middle of the table, looking at Shopkeeper Li who was walking towards him with narrowed eyes.
There were two men standing next to them. Although they were dressed as ordinary people, they each had a steel knife about three feet tall on their waists.
He looked straight ahead with an expressionless face, seemingly without any emotion.
Walking straight to the pergola, shopkeeper Li was not polite and sat down next to the table.
"Sir, how good is the rice wine brewed from the Lugou River?" Shopkeeper Li showed his signature smile again, looked at the middle-aged man, and greeted in a low voice.
"The rice wine is good, refreshing and delicious. These kinds of meats are also very suitable to my taste. However, I didn't come from the capital just to drink shopkeeper Li's rice wine and eat shopkeeper Li's barbecue." He raised his head slightly and said,
The young man's tone was obviously not very friendly.
"Sir, please don't be angry. We are all taking orders from Mr. Wang, but I am responsible for the economic aspect, and you are responsible for the combat aspect. Our purpose is the same. Even if we have differences, we can sit down and talk it over clearly.
Okay, sir, do you think so?" Shopkeeper Li smiled, picked up the wine jar on the table, poured a full bowl, and pushed it towards the middle-aged man.
Then he poured himself a bowl.
"Sir, let's do one." Shopkeeper Li smiled and picked up the wine bowl.
The middle-aged man didn't seem happy. He picked up the wine bowl and bumped it against Shopkeeper Li's wine bowl. He didn't care about the wine spilling on the table, raised his head, and drank it all in one gulp.
Then he put the wine bowl down on the table, raised his sleeve and wiped his mouth, but didn't say a word.
Shopkeeper Li smiled faintly and leaned back on the chair: "We all do things with our heads up, and we must be cautious. But sometimes, some things cannot be avoided, and it is more appropriate to face them calmly.
a little."
"Is Shopkeeper Li trying to teach me a lesson? Gu'an is your territory, so you should have the final say?" The middle-aged man stared straight at Shopkeeper Li with a burning gaze.
"The adults are joking, they are all our own people, there is no lesson to be taught. I am just talking about the matter. It is true that I built Gu'an with my own hands, but I always know who I was built for. This time I was sent
The usefulness is due to Lord Wang's trust in Gu'an. Your being responsible for this matter is also Lord Wang's trust in you. As long as no mistakes are made and the matters assigned by Lord Wang are done well, whoever is right should be listened to.
"Faced with the other party's aggressiveness, shopkeeper Li showed no sign of weakness.
Shopkeeper Li couldn't figure out how Mr. Wang could entrust such an important matter to him with such a condescending look.
"Does Shopkeeper Li know how important the things I am responsible for when I come to Gu'an this time are?" the middle-aged man said calmly.
"I know, of course I know. Mr. Wang personally told me the importance of this matter. Before leaving, he also gave special instructions that even if everything in Gu'an is sacrificed, I must ensure the safety of you and the things you are responsible for.
"Shopkeeper Li said very seriously.
"Since Shopkeeper Li knew about it, why did he put the Magistrate of Gu'an into the courtyard? Didn't Mr. Wang tell you that everyone in the court should avoid it?" Looking at Shopkeeper Li, the middle-aged man said slowly
.The words are full of questions.
Hearing this, Shopkeeper Li smiled faintly: "Not to mention that the official position of Gu'an County Magistrate is low. From his perspective, even if he enters the courtyard, he can't see why. According to ordinary people's thinking, they have walked to the door of their house.
If you push someone away, will they be regarded as someone who has something wrong with you?"
"Humph." The middle-aged man snorted coldly, but did not refute.
"This Gu'an magistrate has been poor all his life, but he always thinks about the people. He found his way here in the mud, just because he wanted to borrow some grain seeds for the people of Cao Village. To outsiders, he is just a fool magistrate. To himself
His life has been ruined, but he still can't see the slightest suffering in the world. However, he is a county magistrate and a member of the imperial court. Even if he is in such a state of poverty, his sensitive intuition for the things around him should still exist."
"Now, if he is not allowed to come in, my compound must be mysterious to him. Mysterious things may exist. On the contrary, if he is allowed to come in and see enough, he will know that this is just a luxurious place.
It's just the yard of a rich man's house. It should be better to see it clearly rather than keeping it secretive."
His voice was very low, but Shopkeeper Li's words made sense.
"What Shopkeeper Li said is very reasonable, but who can guarantee that the Gu'an County Magistrate did not see the reason? There is no room for any mistakes in this matter. Shopkeeper Li also knows that Dongchang's eyes and ears are everywhere.
They are running around like mad dogs now. If we get a whiff of them, we may lose all our efforts."
Perhaps in order to save his face, the middle-aged man said after thinking about it.
"I have lived in Gu'an for many years, and I know the Gu'an magistrate very well. Otherwise, I would not have invited him into the courtyard to dispel his doubts." Shopkeeper Li said with a smile.
Looking at Shopkeeper Li, the middle-aged man shook his head and tapped the table gently with his hand: "I believe Shopkeeper Li's words, but in order to ensure that this matter is foolproof, the Gu'an County Magistrate will let him shut his mouth forever. What's more,
