The World of Yellow Sky

No one thought that just brewing tea with water can have such a flavor.

On the side of the official road, in a tea stall that obviously looked like it had been set up not long ago, under the raised shed, there were five or six rough square tables and several benches.

Under the cloth shed, there were tea customers wearing short jackets sitting in twos and threes. Some farm tools were piled up in the corner of the tea shed. Many of the tea customers had traces of soil on their bodies. It seemed that they were all farmers nearby. farmers.

There are also a few people who are full of travel and dust, looking quite tired, and their luggage is placed under the table they are sitting on, which looks bulging. These people are basically street peddlers.

The owner of the tea stand is a couple. Both of them are about 30 years old. Although they are also wearing short brown clothes, they are much cleaner than those farmers who are farming, and they look quite capable.

Although the tea stand is on the side of the official road, there are many cars and people on weekdays, but the various utensils and signboards of the tea stand have been wiped clean, and it seems that the cleaning is very diligent.

There are not many tables and chairs in the tea stall, but they are not full.

It's no wonder that although the tea and food at the tea stand are not too expensive, for ordinary people, it is possible to save as much as possible.

These farmers who drink tea in the tea stalls don't come every day. They are quite familiar with the shopkeepers of the tea stalls, so they occasionally come to take care of business.

More, still rely on the peddlers and merchants who come and go.

All the things ordered on the several tea tables have been served. After the owner of the shop greeted him, he walked into the table where the teapot was placed and sat down. He and his wife began to count the harvest in the morning.

The shopkeeper looked at the copper coins in his hand and couldn't help laughing.

The copper coins I got this month are quite a lot, so I can buy a few more clothes and eat more for the winter this year.

His name is Chen Ping, and his family lives in a nearby village.

In the garrison, there was a teacher sent by the government to teach him reading, writing and arithmetic for free. He was quite talented in arithmetic, and after only a short time, he learned almost all of it.

Mr. Xi saw that he was good at arithmetic, so he told him that the government had marked out some flat areas next to the official road, so he could open a tea stall and sell something.

Chen Ping didn't want to agree at first. After all, the government granted the land to be cultivated. Although it is rented and there is no land deed, there is also a lease. The lease lasts for 50 years, and the tax will never change. After the 50-year period, you can go to the government to renew the contract. .

Although I feel a little uncomfortable without the land deed, this kind of life is much better than renting land from those landlords. Not only do I have to pay much less tax, but I don’t need to help the landlord’s house on weekdays. work.

He was asked to open a tea stall. He had no experience and he didn’t have much capital. He heard that if a business loses money, not only will he not be able to get a penny, but he will have to lose money, so he refused at first.

But it turned out that the government began to pay him the capital. If he made money, he could pay it back in installments without charging interest.

If he makes money and the store continues to operate, he does not need to pay back the money in the first year, but only at the end of the second year will he have to pay back the first part of the money. It will be paid off in three years, which makes him feel a lot easier.

Chen Ping didn't believe it at first, how could there be such benefits in the heaven and earth, although Daojun is a god in the sky, he has a kind heart.

But there shouldn't be such a good thing. Even if there is a good thing in the sky, it probably won't fall on him.

But after Mimihuhu agreed, and saw the complete set of tables and chairs, as well as the big bags of tea, he realized that all of this was true, and that there was such a good thing.

This kind of long-legged tables and chairs has already become popular in the Ming Dynasty, and it only costs a little money to order a set from the nearest workshop.

The tea stand was set up in this way. When it opened, Mr. Xi from the village, Diannong officials, and Fu Zhu all came to support it, and it was quite lively.

During these days, Chen Ping has also earned a lot of money. After careful calculation, if he has such an income every month, it will be much more than the harvest of arable land in a year.

Running a tea stall is indeed much easier than working in the fields, at least there is a place to shelter from the rain.

Chen Ping narrowed his eyes and laughed, his eyes almost became a slit.

While counting the copper coins in his hand, Chen Ping shook his head slightly and hummed an unknown song.

He wasn't worried about safety. There was a station not far away, and there was a Ming army in armor in the station, and there was also a Ming army stationed around the station.

It has a radius of hundreds of miles, and it has been so long, and so far, there have been no bandits.

It did happen a few years ago, but they were all caught in the pavilion by those Ming soldiers wearing armor, and all the heads were displayed to the public. During that time, even petty theft was almost extinct.

It is said that the war in the south is over, the Han court has surrendered, and Wuguan has now been released.

At that time, there will be more caravans coming and going, and his tea stall will probably have to expand to make more money.

"The weather is so hot, bring some more tea to Brother Li and those merchants."

Chen Ping was in a good mood, and said to his wife who was putting copper coins into the money jar.

"it is good."

His wife also had a smile on her face. A small amount of tea leaves can make a large pot of tea. In fact, the cost is not much. The main reason is that the things purchased at the beginning are a bit more expensive, but the money earned these days will not be repaid in the future. How much stress.

It doesn't hurt to add more tea to customers once in a while. If you make it cheaper, those customers will come often.

While talking, Chen Ping suddenly heard footsteps, he stopped speaking, and followed the sound.

I only saw two men dressed as scribes in robes and scarves walking towards the tea stand.

During these days, they also encountered guests in long robes and scarves, but the guards behind the two were not simple. The two guards had wolf heads embroidered on their clothes and wild goose feather knives hanging from their waists.

Chen Ping's expression was slightly stern, he was wearing wolf clothes with wild goose feathers hanging from his waist, only Ti Qi of the Eagle Wolf Guard was dressed like this.

Those Tiqi of the Eagle Wolf Guard are all big men, and you can occasionally see them in the village pavilion, but generally you can only see them in the county town.

The last time I caught those bandits, I heard that it was the Eagle Wolf Guards who were able to capture them all in one fell swoop.

He had also met a Tiqi with a wolf's head embroidered on his clothes before. The man seemed to be a messenger and left him a lot of money.

Right now, the two eagle wolf guards are actually serving as guards. It seems that these two people in robes are probably very important figures.

Although Chen Ping didn't know the inside story, when the county magistrate made his rounds, they were only police guards in blue clothes, and there were no eagle wolf guards as guards.

"Two distinguished guests, please sit down, please sit down."

Chen Ping didn't dare to be negligent, and hurried out of the front desk, welcoming him graciously.

"Please trouble the shopkeeper."

The man with slightly frosted temples walking in front cupped his hands, quite politely.

"Don't dare, don't dare."

After taking several people under the tea shed, Chen Ping quickly walked to an empty table and chairs, picked up a rag and wiped it again, and then invited them to sit down.

But in the end, only the two long-robed men sat down, and the two eagle wolf guards were still guarding their sides, and they did not sit down. Their eyes were cold, and everyone only felt that the tea stand The temperature seems to have dropped a few points.

The two eagle and wolf guard Tiqi looked cold, but the people at the tea stand were not too afraid. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty five years ago, there has never been any incident of soldiers bullying ordinary people.

In times of famine, it was these cold-faced Eagle Wolf Guards who brought relief food.

"I waited to come in and disturbed the store's business. The money should be regarded as compensation."

The Baihu officer in the white wolf suit tried his best to be as pleasant as possible, and said "excuse me" to Chen Ping.

But even though he was as gentle as possible, the expression on the Baihu official's face was even uglier than crying.

Chen Ping didn't care too much, the Eagle Wolf Guard gave him ten copper coins, which was enough to drink five pots of tea.

Besides, at this time, there are no merchants or pedestrians coming and going.

"No problem, no problem."

Chen Ping waved his hands again and again, and greeted him skillfully.

"What would you two like to drink?"

"The small shop only has one kind of crude tea, and a pot only costs two copper coins. If the distinguished guests don't mind it, you can drink some to relieve the heat."

"If you are hungry, the store also sells corn cakes. A corn cake is two yuan, and only one copper coin is charged. There is also some dried mutton in the store. If the distinguished customers want to eat, but the price is a bit expensive, you have to ask for two taels." A dollar."

According to the conversion of later generations, a catty in Han Dynasty was only 220 four grams, which was almost half a catty.

It's not ten taels a catty, but 18 taels a catty, one tael is almost fourteen grams, and two taels is 28 grams, which is actually very little.

But being able to see meat at such a small tea stand is quite surprising.

"And lamb?"

The younger-looking man who had just sat down raised his eyebrows slightly, and said in surprise.

Although there is some meat in the tea stand, it is actually not much, only about two catties of air-dried meat.

Generally only caravans and some small traders, or some peddlers who sell a lot of goods will buy some to eat, so they don’t have much to prepare.

Chen Ping smiled and explained.

"The distinguished guest speaks with a southern accent, so he should be from Nanyang County."

The news of the world's peace has already spread to Zhongzhou, and during this period of time, there are joyful scenes everywhere.

To the south is Nanyang County. I heard that the disaster had a big impact. Most of them fled to Zhongzhou. He also met some people along the way, and he could roughly distinguish their accents.

"So that the distinguished guests know."

Chen Ping said proudly with a bright face.

"The pastures in the Northland are all my Daming's pastures now. The Daoist Lord recruited many people to move northward to graze. Those Xianbei people were sent to the Western Regions. From now on, the Northland will be ours."

"The country occupies the north, and there is more meat on my dinner table. The price here is still high."

"Still high?"

"I heard that if you go further north, you can go to Chang'an City. A catty of mutton is only a dozen yuan. Clothes and pots are very cheap, much cheaper than our side."

Chen Ping's eyes were full of longing.

"It's a pity that Chang'an City is too far away. I have to take care of the tea stall. I can't get away. Otherwise, it's good to see and see."

Chen Ping laughed awkwardly, as if he had realized that he had been nagging.

"I've bought all your mutton, and I want ten pots of tea and twenty servings of corn cakes."

The middle-aged man with white sideburns knocked on the table very proudly.

"There are so many distinguished guests, I'm afraid it's..."

Chen Ping was distressed. He was really happy when someone came to buy things, but how could the four of them drink so much tea and eat so much.

There are twenty servings of corn cakes. After all, the corn cakes can be kept in a cool place for a few days even if the weather is hot.

There are many merchants and shopkeepers along the road, so the sales are good, so there are more stocks.

"All the other things I ordered were delivered there."

"A pot of tea for the two of us, two servings of corn cakes, eight taels of mutton will do."

Chen Ping looked at the place the middle-aged man was pointing at, and only then did he notice that not far from the tea stand, a group of Tiqi wearing eagle wolf guards were building a cloth shed on the same side of the official road There are about thirty or forty people in the Hejun tent.

"There were a lot of people waiting for me, and we all went into the tea stall. I was afraid that it would delay the business of the store, so I took a rest outside for the time being."

"Let's prepare for the two gentlemen first, and I'll do it later."

Chen Ping was slightly taken aback, then nodded when he came back to his senses, and responded.

"Your honored guest, wait a moment, the tea and food will be here soon."

Then he immediately turned around and began to add firewood, and his wife skillfully put the corn cakes into the basket.

"It's better to hear it with your ears than to see it with your eyes; it's better to practice it with your feet than to see it with your eyes."

"Now do you believe the old man's words?"

The older man with white sideburns smiled and asked.

"If someone told me before that it would be like this in the future, I would just think it was a lunatic."

The younger-looking man looked at the eagle wolf guards who were setting up a temporary camp in the distance, and his heart was full of emotions.

This person was none other than Zhang Zhongjing, who was driving all the way to Chang'an via Nanyang County. The person sitting next to him was Hua Tuo, and the eagle wolf guards were the soldiers escorting them.

Originally, Xu An sent an army of thousands of people to escort them, but after sending them to Wuguan, they withdrew, leaving only dozens of eagle wolf guards.

It is said that after entering Zhongzhou through Wuguan, the next road is much safer, and there is no need for so many escorts. They are going to Nanyang County to support the epidemic prevention task.

To be honest, Zhang Zhongjing was a little worried at first. After all, he had traveled a long distance, and if there were not many bandits along the way, his life might be in danger.

But seeing Hua Tuo's confident look, he could only feel relieved.

When he saw those eagle wolf guards waiting in Wuguan, acting as guards, he was completely relieved.

Unless the leader of the thief really lost his mind and went crazy, he would never dare to come to rob.

Zhang Zhongjing sighed. He had heard Hua Tuo say a lot about the Ming Dynasty, and Hua Tuo also explained many things to him on the carriage.

But now, he was really shocked to see that these Eagle Wolf Guards didn't even enter the tea stalls and camped outside in order not to disturb other people's business.

Moreover, the Tiqi who escorted them into the tea stand, just because of disturbing, also compensated the money, and his face was pleasant, without the slightest domineering, which surprised Zhang Zhongjing even more.

In Nanyang County, even if it was a small official, ordinary people would not dare to disobey him.

Thinking of the Han court's jurisdiction, those soldiers passed by, and the yamen servants went to patrol the streets, and the ordinary people were all trembling when they saw them, how could they be so calm.

All this is unbelievable like a fantasy.