Datang New Giants

Chapter 17
Two police officers and an old man wearing a wooden shackle were the guests brought in by Ngawang.

At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Quartet was not peaceful, the political situation was unstable, and there were many prisoners. It was not uncommon to escort prisoners, but these three people were a bit special: the old man had white hair and beard, looked five or sixty years old, and was wearing a pair of wooden shackles. The arrester was about thirty years old, in the middle of his prime, which may be the reason for the long journey. The two arresters looked tired, their heads were lowered, and their steps were a little frivolous, while the old man held his head high and his eyes were bright. His waist was as straight as a javelin, and his steps were steady and powerful, forming a stark contrast with the two policemen, as if he was escorting the two policemen.

One can tell at a glance that the old man is a person with a story, and he became a prisoner for some reason.

"Guest officer, do you want to stay at the tip or stay in the hotel?" Xiao Wu, the waiter, walked up and asked with a smile while wiping the clean tabletop with a cloth.

The fat-faced catcher said lazily: "I'm staying at the hotel, but I'm hungry, let's get some food first, what do you have here?"

"Guest officer, today's menu is hung on the wall, rich and frugal, among which miscellaneous haggis soup, steamed silver knife fish, fresh fish painting, grilled chicken and sauce-flavored mutton are the signature dishes of our restaurant, many customers The official said a good word after eating." Xiao Wu skillfully introduced the situation.

"A roasted chicken, a plate of shepherd's purse, two bowls of rice, and green ant wine, that's all." The stern-faced policeman thought for a while, and quickly ordered.

"Okay, please wait for a while, I'll prepare it now." Xiao Wu has seen this kind of scene a lot, so he responded, and trotted to inform the back kitchen to prepare.

The thin monkey-like catcher opened the wooden shackle for the old man, and said: "Old man Wang, I'll let you off the shackle now, don't move around for a while, remember not to leave this inn."

The old man nodded expressionlessly, but did not speak, and the two police officers did not speak anymore.

It's not time for meals now, there are not many guests, so Xiao Wu and Shui Sheng quickly delivered the meals.

The chicken has long been marinated with secret ingredients, and it has been baked to half or half-cooked. If a customer orders it, then put it on the charcoal and bake it for a quarter of an hour. quick.

After the food was served, two police officers tore a roast chicken in half, and one of them took half of the chicken, and while drinking, he ate the roast chicken vigorously. His mouth was full of oil, and it was obvious that they were very satisfied with the roast chicken. To Lu Ting's surprise, the old man didn't have the share of these meals. The old man silently took out a handful of fried rice from his backpack and ate it carefully. From the beginning to the end, the two policemen didn't ask the old man to eat together, and the old man didn't even look at the table. Wine and meat on the table.

Lu Ting wrote down the accounts, looked at the old man eating fried rice, and at the two policemen who were eating meat and drinking, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Mr. Lu, do you feel sorry for that sinful old man?" At this time, shopkeeper Huang came over to refill tea with a teacup, and asked in a low voice when he heard Lu Ting sigh.

The counter was two feet away from the table where the police were eating, so they couldn't hear them even if they lowered their voices.

"Exile at a young age, those two policemen only care about themselves, and don't respect the elders." Lu Ting said a little indignantly.

"Keep your voice down." Shopkeeper Huang was taken aback, and quickly persuaded: "This old man obviously offended someone, and the one who offended was a big shot. You'd better ignore it, young master, so as not to cause trouble to your upper body."

"Uncle Huang, how do you know? Do you know that sinful old man?"

Shopkeeper Huang shook his head and said: "I don't know. I have been guarding the store for decades. I have never seen anyone. I have already practiced a pair of tricks (eyes). As soon as a customer enters the door, he can guess the same thing as soon as he sees it." , like this criminal old man, although he was exiled, his condescending demeanor is still there, he must have been an official, son, look at his waist, it is as straight as a board, after sitting down, the legs of the two arresting officers swayed from side to side , but the sinful old man remained motionless, with an aura of calmness and prestige, he should have been a court official before."

After talking so much in one breath, shopkeeper Huang also felt a little thirsty. He took a sip of tea and continued to show off: "The imperial court has always respected the old and loved the young. At the age of a guilty old man, unless he commits a serious crime, he doesn't need to be exiled." , but into prison, that is, criminal exile. According to Tang Law, at most, he wears a rope shackle instead of a wooden shackle, but he wears a wooden shackle. It is obvious that some important people do not let him have a good time. The two police officers also deliberately kept a distance from him, even It shows that this criminal old man is not simple, and the most important point, whether it is the two police officers or the criminal old man, who obviously speaks with a Chang'an accent, can he be a small person who can be an official in Chang'an?"

Wonderful, it was just a face-to-face meeting, and after hearing a few words from others, shopkeeper Huang analyzed the three people so well that Lu Ting wanted to clap his hands and applaud.

"Uncle Huang's tricks are simply sharp-eyed. No wonder the owner entrusted Uncle Huang with such a big business as Kelaiju." Lu Ting put a high hat on Huang's shopkeeper without any trace.

Shopkeeper Huang heard that Lu Ting had such a high opinion of him, so he patted Lu Ting on the shoulder with a smile on his face and said, "Young master, you have won too many prizes, because you have seen too many people, and you have a little experience. These are heresy, not as good as your knowledge, take care of yourself." After a while, the old man went to the back kitchen to have a look, those farm slaves would be lazy if they didn’t look at it for a while, and they would spend more time wandering around.”

Everyone loves to hear good things, and shopkeeper Huang is no exception. However, flattery depends on the person. If Xiaowu and Shuisheng shoot them, shopkeeper Huang will just laugh it off after hearing it, maybe He also asked them what their intentions were in flattering, but Lu Ting was different, it was better to settle the score first, even the lady of the Zheng family in Xingyang treated him with respect as a teacher, and the weight of what Lu Ting said was obviously higher than ordinary People are much heavier.

"Uncle Huang, don't worry, I will definitely keep an eye on it." Lu Ting responded with a smile.

If you have a good relationship with the leader, you will definitely not suffer.

Not long after shopkeeper Huang left, the white-haired old man suddenly greeted Xiao Wu and said a few words, and soon Xiao Wu reported to Lu Ting with some embarrassment: "Mr. Lu, that sinful old man wants to ask for a bowl of water, but He has no money."

Ordinary people would be given a bowl of water if they asked for it. The problem was that the one who asked for water was a prisoner. The two policemen didn't say yes or no. Xiao Wu was a little embarrassed, afraid that he might do something wrong.

Lu Ting thought for a while, and quickly said: "Isn't it just a bowl of water? To be convenient to others is to be convenient to yourself. Bring him a bowl of warm water."

The two policemen didn't say they wanted to give the old man water, nor did they say that he was not allowed to drink water. The two policemen must have heard the old man talking to Xiaowu, but they chose to ignore it, which means they didn't object.

After receiving Lu Ting's reply, Xiao Wu didn't hesitate, and quickly brought a bowl of warm water to the old man. When the old man took the warm water, he gave Lu Ting a grateful look. Lu Ting responded with a smile, and then buried himself in sorting out his day I just taught the little girl to solve the problem, but today's account has not been sorted out yet.

When the account was halfway through, two police officers who had enough food and drink brought the old man to register the information. The shopkeeper Huang said that he was inspecting the back kitchen, but he didn't know whether he was going to steal food or take a break. Fortunately, Lu Ting also figured it out in the past few days. After finishing the business, he got up and checked in for them.

"Mr. Xiaolang is optimistic. This is an official document. Qian Yicheng said that there is an in-house price for staying with the official document, and only [-]% of the room rate is enough, right." The thin policeman quickly handed a piece of official document to Lu Ting, and opened his mouth to confirm.

Lu Ting took the official document, nodded and said: "Yes, there is a contract between our store and the post house, and only [-]% of the room fee will be charged according to the official document. Please wait a moment, register immediately, and it will be ready in a while."

People in ancient times could not walk around casually. They usually had to go to the government to apply for something to prove their identity when they left their homes for more than [-] miles. During the Warring States period, "Jie" was used, and in the Han Dynasty, "Chuan" was used. In the Tang Dynasty, it evolved into "Guo Suo". After the Tang Dynasty, it was called "Lu Yin" means that ordinary people have to go through a place when they go out, and government officials can use official documents to pass customs, enter the city, and stay.

The prisoner was supposed to live in the post house next to the guest’s house, but there was a rule in the post house that those with the same status would get the same first serve, and those with lower official positions would make room for those with higher official positions. Suzhou is a big city, and it is located in The transportation hub, the posthouse is often full, so we cooperate with Kelaiju. When the posthouse is full, some guests will be given to Kelaiju, and Kelaiju will give certain discounts. The three people in this group were introduced by Qian Yicheng.

Lu Ting opened the official document to prepare the registration materials, and saw that it read: The arrester Zhang Changming and the arrester Lu Xiaoding were sent to escort the prisoner Wang Gui to Yuezhou, and he was received by the pass along the way. The official document ended with the seal of the Ministry of Punishment.

Shopkeeper Huang is really good at predicting things, just after hearing two sentences, he can tell from his accent that he is from Chang'an. Wait, Lu Ting suddenly gave a shock, Wang Gui? Bai, the sinful old man who was still wearing a wooden shackle just now, this sinful old man turned out to be Wang Gui, one of the four famous figures in the early Tang Dynasty?
(End of this chapter)