Sword narration is painful in the world

After a short time, Li Chaoliang walked in happily again. He was still holding a small red cloth bag in his hand, which looked heavy.

Behind Li Chaoliang, there were two handsome little maids following at this moment, each holding several gorgeous cotton clothes in their arms.

Arriving in front of Longbaoshan, Li Chaoliang handed out the red cloth bag with both hands and said seriously:

"Mr. Hong, although you and I have never met before, we feel like old friends at first sight. I have thirty taels of gold here, and I have made a payment for you first to show my sincerity. I hope Mr. Hong will accept it with a smile."

thirty taels of gold

For a young man from a humble family like Hong Lingquan, that was an astronomical figure.

Seeing Li Chaoliang's generous move at this moment, Hong Lingquan was so frightened that he was a little flustered and suddenly at a loss.

After staying for a moment, Hong Lingquan stood up respectfully and declined politely:

"Old man, this student is truly lucky to have met you. How dare you accept such a heavy gift again? Please take it back."

At that time, when he saw that Hong Lingquan was not tempted by money at all, and sincerely refused again and again, resolutely refusing to take any money, Li Chaoliang saw it again, was happy in his heart, and actually admired him even more.

After casually placing the red cloth bag heavily on the table, Li Chaoliang took out a letter from his sleeve and said:

"Young Master Hong, I will tell you the truth. My brother Li Chaozhong is now serving as Prime Minister Zuo. When the time comes, you can hand over this letter from home to him in person. In the letter, I have introduced you to him. In the future, he will I will definitely look at you differently."

Only then did he truly learn Li Chaoliang's true identity. Hong Lingquan was so shocked that he quickly retreated and said:

"Thank you for your kindness, old man. However, it is difficult for students to obey your orders. If I obey you today, it will be against my mother's teachings. What's more, we scholars who want to serve the country must rely on their true talents and practical learning. We must not rely on power. power, relying on the strength of others to rise to power.”

After hearing Hong Lingquan's words, Li Chaoliang couldn't help but admire him and said:

"Listening to your words is really better than reading ten years of reading. What Mr. Hong said today really benefited me a lot. It's also my fault that I am old and dull. I don't know what Mr. Master is like. I am presumptuous and hope for forgiveness, but I still want to see you. Let me ask you, if you don’t want the gold and you won’t accept letters of recommendation, then will you sell the Spring Festival couplets?”

Hong Lingquan was stunned for a moment and then replied softly:

"I have no choice but to write some red couplets to tide over the current difficulties. They are the income from my labor. I will sell them, of course I have to sell them."

When Li Chaoliang heard this, he smiled and said: "Well, with the thirty taels of gold, I will buy you some more couplets. Do you like it?"

Although Hong Lingquan is a bit pedantic, he has not turned into a nerd yet. How can you not see his sincerity?

Just when Hong Lingquan was at a loss and moved in his heart, Xiaobao had already taken out ten taels of gold from the red pocket. Then he put away the cotton clothes and bowed to Li Chaoliang to thank him:

"Old man, this gold is the money you spent to buy Spring Festival couplets today. I will accept it first. My young master will never forget the gift of gold and clothes today, and I will repay you in the future."

Seeing that Hong Lingquan was blushing and was so embarrassed that he only bowed politely, Li Chaoliang smiled slightly and said:

"It's just a pity that the young master can't stay in the house for a few days. It's really a pity. I have one request. No matter whether you can be named on the gold medal in the future, I hope that when you pass by this place in the future, you must come to the house to talk about it."

Only then did Hong Lingquan lose his shyness and said hurriedly: "Please rest assured, old man, students will definitely come to visit you in the future."

When Li Chaoliang heard this, he smiled with satisfaction, so he ordered people to prepare wine and dishes to entertain Hong Lingquan and Xiao Bao'er.

After a while, a sumptuous banquet was prepared. After the meal, seeing that it was getting late, Li Chaoliang ordered his family again:

"Hurry and prepare horses for Master Hong and his servants."

"Yes" the family members responded and went out.

After a while, Li Mansion's servants prepared the horses. Without waiting for Hong Lingquan to be polite again, Li Chaoliang took them out of the living room, and then forcibly handed the reins to Xiaobao.

Speaking of which, why did Li Chaoliang treat Hong Lingquan like this?

It turns out that although his younger brother Li Chaozhong is an official in the capital, he is also the prime minister of the left. He has always been honest and upright. However, the current government is controlled by traitorous officials. The country is in decline and the people are in dire straits. This is because he is weak and powerless. contend.

Thinking about Li Chaoliang, although he is a commoner now, he cares about the fate of the country, so he wants to recommend talents to his younger brothers and contribute to the country, so that the world can be prosperous and the people can be prosperous.

Perhaps it was a coincidence that I happened to meet Hong Lingquan at this time. I found that he was just starting out, had great ambitions, and spoke well, so I treated him with sincerity and courtesy.

Perhaps because he was afraid that his brother would be alone, Li Chaoliang wanted to find a capable right-hand man for him who was not afraid of death.

No longer polite, and sincerely thanked Li Chaoliang again and again, Hong Lingquan and Xiaobao returned to the inn to rest in peace with their two good horses.

After getting up early the next morning, the two paid the store and set off immediately. With their mounts, they no longer had to suffer the pain of walking. The two brothers were overjoyed.

As for the horse riding, Hong Lingquan came from a poor family, so he must have never ridden such a tall horse.

However, I have never ridden a horse, so of course I have ridden an ox. I remembered that when I was a child, I often let the oxen go for the local rich man’s family.

Recalling that time, Xiao Lingquan was wearing a straw raincoat, a bamboo mat hat on his head, holding the Three-Character Analects of Confucius in his hand, sitting on the back of the big green cow without any distractions, letting it eat green grass in the field, and drink cold water from the stream. It is absolutely smooth and effortless to drive.

There is no need to explain Xiaobao. When this child gets naughty, he not only rides bulls with ease, but he even rides pigs and dogs obediently.

It is said that the two brothers, who already had ten taels of gold in their pockets and a brand-new appearance, got a good horse and beautiful clothes, and they drove all the way quickly. Before dusk that day, they arrived at Anji Town ahead.

Look at Anji Town, it’s really lively with people coming and going, and luxury hotels are everywhere.

Pulling the reins of the horse, Xiaobao happily said to Hong Lingquan:

"Brother, this time we have golden real gold, and we have a lot of money. I think we should not stay in that dirty shop again, lest we feel wronged and ruin ourselves. What do you think?"

Seeing that Xiao Bao'er was so proud, Hong Lingquan couldn't help but hold back his laughter. He glared at Xiao Bao'er hard and didn't answer.

After receiving a glare, Xiaobao continued to say with a playful smile:

"Brother, it's not like I've forgotten how poor I was when I got rich. To be honest, let's find a big, comfortable shop with hot water for soaking, bright lights and fragrant mattresses. You can also watch more at night. A few pages of books will not be much better than saving those two small coins when I get a rank in Jinbang in the future."

Although Xiaobao's words were quite reasonable, Hong Lingquan still didn't say anything for the time being. He dismounted and entered a small restaurant.

Looking at this small shop, the house is narrow, the tables and chairs are simple, and there are a few rough customers who are laughing, angry, and making noisy guessing games.

When Xiaobao saw it, he felt a little unhappy, but he could only obey his master's orders. He immediately asked the waiter to bring wine and food to serve his young master.

After the hungry master and servant were full, Xiaobao wiped his mouth with oil and said softly:

"Brother, you really need to take a good rest after working hard on your horse. Let's find a big hotel to stay."

Glancing at the red-faced and thick-necked men, Hong Lingquan saw Xiaobao begging again and again. This time, Hong Lingquan didn't say anything and remained silent.

Then, the two of them went out to fetch their horses, and Hong Lingquan found a small, ordinary-looking inn to stay at.

After the good master brother had washed up, Xiaobao was so angry that he just threw himself into the quilt, and there was no more sound.

It was getting late at this time, so Hong Lingquan went to bring the candle himself, and planned to stay up late and read at night.

At this moment, a mean voice came from the next room:

"Hey, you are considered a man. You are deaf and blind, but why are you so shameless?"

When Hong Lingquan heard this, he already understood about seventy-eight points in his heart, and then he heard the harsh voice and continued to shout loudly:

"When you were rich, you were picky and picky every day. You woke me up three times in the middle of the night to bring you water into your house and catch bed bugs and cockroaches for you. But now you don't give me money for the store or food. If you don’t pay, what are you going to do? I’ll tell you clearly, if you take out the hotel money and food money today, you can talk about anything. If you still don’t have the money, we will definitely throw you out tonight.”

Hearing the voice getting louder and louder, he finally started slapping the table, but no one answered a word. Hong Lingquan was also a little impatient with the disturbance, so he said to Xiaobao:

"Xiaobao, please go over and take a look."

When Xiaobao heard this, he pouted and said:

"There's no need to go and see it. It must be the guy who lives in the hotel next door. He didn't pay for the meal, so the store owner wanted to throw him out. Now he has no money. Why don't you give it to me? If you don't give it, why should I go over and see it?"

Hong Lingquan saw that Xiaobao had no use for him and knew that Xiaobao was angry with him. He thought he was too stingy in frugality.

When he was thinking about it, Hong Lingquan just thought that Xiaobao was still a child, so he stood up, opened the cotton curtain, and came to the door of the next door.

When Hong Lingquan opened the door and walked in, he looked again and saw the store clerk who had always been tough and tough, standing there with his eyebrows knitted, cheeks puffed, eyes wide open, fists clenched, and murderous.

Hong Lingquan looked at the dirty bed again and saw a person lying there.

If he didn't look at it, he immediately regretted it and was stunned. With the candlelight, Hong Lingquan looked carefully and finally saw the man's face clearly.

I saw that the man was young, with a sallow complexion, a pointed head, small eyes, and a flat nose. Especially his mouth was surprisingly long, with a thick and short upper lip and a thin and long lower lip.

Looking at his figure, there are many differences. He has chicken breasts and a small hunchback. Not only is he bow-legged, he is also skinny and skinny.

The guy was shouting loudly there, while the weirdo was blinking with his small eyes, silently watching the guy without saying a word, with no expression on his face, just like a wooden man.

When the store clerk saw Hong Lingquan suddenly come in, he probably felt that it was very inappropriate to treat a guest like this and to be seen by the guests staying in the hotel.

So, he quickly explained to Hong Lingquan:

"This young master, I'm really sorry for interrupting your rest. I'll tell you the truth, and I ask your forgiveness. This person is really too irritating."

"What's wrong with you being so aggressive?" Hong Lingquan asked after taking another look at the weirdo.