Natural disasters in books: I stockpiled goods to escape famine in ancient times

Hong Sheng couldn't just say that he was craving the grilled fish, so he could only put it aside. Seeing that the fish was not ready yet, he pulled Song Da to sit down and pretended to be chatting with him.

"It's okay, it's okay. I just feel like it's fate that we meet again. The last time I saw you, I was surprised for a while, wondering how your family let you go out. Then I saw that you were so organized, so I guess I was thinking too much."

Song Da smiled and said, "We are going out with the young master, and our family has given us some instructions. Feng Ru has some skills, but he won't be in trouble."

Hong Sheng smiled and nodded: "I also noticed it last time. Although the little brother is young, his martial arts skills are extraordinary. I just don't know who his master is?"

When Feng Ru saw that he was being called, he bared his big white teeth and said with a smile: "My master is not well-known, Uncle Hong must have never heard of him."

This is what he meant by not wanting to talk about it. Hong Sheng was just talking casually and had no intention of asking further. He waved his hand and said, "I'm just asking casually. I don't have any other intentions. I just saw that your body skills are quite good and seem to be from a great family."

At this point, Hong Sheng changed the subject: "Since we last parted, we are meeting again here. Are you three also heading to the capital?"

Song Da said, "Let's go to Beijing to visit relatives."

"This is fate. We are also going to the capital. Would you three like to go with us? We have many people in our escort agency, and we have some skills. We don't need to be targeted by thieves when we are out."

This was not a decision Song Daneng could make. He turned to look at Song Shiwei, who had not spoken a word.

Hong Sheng also set his sights on the older boy.

Song Shiwei pulled the corner of his mouth and smiled faintly: "Thank you for your kindness, Uncle Hong. There is no need for us to travel together. If we think this way, the thieves will not miss it."

Facing the pair of eyes that seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, Hong Sheng was surprised, but he smiled back: "I was worrying too much. Seeing that you can even prepare all these things before going out, I think you are also careful people, much better than us rough guys. I was in a hurry to go out this time and didn't buy too many things. I wonder if you can sell the chili powder?"

Bai Yao definitely wouldn't work, and Hong Sheng couldn't bring himself to say it. After all, in Dali, chili powder was slightly more expensive than salt, and the few of them had only exchanged a few words and weren't very familiar with each other.

Song Da and Feng Ru were sitting quietly grilling fish, and they didn't even raise their heads when they heard Hong Sheng's words.

"If Uncle Hong wants to buy, I will sell it to you. But we don't have much chili powder, so we can't give you too much." Song Shiwei glanced at Song Da and waited for him to come back with a small bag of chili powder from the carriage. He took it and handed it to Hong Sheng: "Here is about two taels, Uncle Hong will give you twenty cents."

During the Dali Dynasty, salt cost fifty wen per pound, while chili peppers cost one hundred wen, which was twice as expensive. In addition, the chili powder on the market was very coarse. The chili powder that Song Shiwei used for grilling fish had to be ground carefully for a long time after purchase to make it so fine.

Hong Sheng naturally knew that he had taken advantage of this, so he bowed to the three people to express his gratitude, and then took out twenty coins and handed them to Song Shiwei.

Seeing that the fish in the hands of the three men was almost cooked, Hong Sheng took Wang Dazhuang and said goodbye and left.

Soon, a large number of people from the escort agency jumped into the river to catch fish.

Song Da looked puzzled, and turned to look at Song Shiwei: "Master, they said so much just to buy chili powder?"

Why don't you believe it?

Song Shi smiled: "You've made so many preparations, of course you came here for the chili powder. You and Ru'er have been grinding this chili powder for a long time. You can divide the money between you two."

Song Shiwei threw the twenty cents given by Hong Sheng to Song Da, then picked up the grilled fish and savored it slowly.

The two men smiled happily and divided the silver into two parts on the spot, giving each of them ten cents.

Feng Ru put the copper coin into his purse and patted it with a satisfied look on his face.

Song Shiwei burst out laughing when he saw the two people's little actions.

They continued their journey early the next morning. When the three of them left, the people from the escort agency were still packing their bags. When they passed by them, Song Da greeted them.

After traveling for several more days, they arrived at the capital. During this time, the three of them mostly slept in the wild, but nothing bad happened, and they never met anyone from the escort agency again.

As it was getting late, the city gates had already been closed, so the three of them camped outdoors on the outskirts of Beijing.

After dinner, Song Shiwei did not return to the tent, but sat on the ground with the two of them.

Feng Ru held her face and looked at Song Shiwei with a smile: "Sister, can we go into the city tomorrow? What is the capital city like?"

"It's more lively than other prefectures."

Feng Ru asked again: "So do we have to rent a house after we move into the city?"

"buy it."

"Houses in Beijing must be very expensive, and I don't know if people in Beijing are easy to get along with."

Song Shiwei turned his head and looked in the direction of the capital, and said in a light voice: "If it's hard to get along, then don't get along. Even if you encounter problems, don't be afraid."

"I'm not afraid because I have my sister here. When I came out, Brother Zhangwu told me that as long as I don't take the initiative to cause trouble, I will give in if others provoke me. If they provoke me again, I will let them be polite. Brother Zhangwu said that there are many people in the capital who bully the weak and fear the strong. Blindly tolerating will only make others take advantage of you."

Song Shi raised his eyebrows slightly. This didn't sound like what Zhang Wu would say, but after thinking about it carefully, it should be what he said, so he smiled and said, "He's right. As long as you don't take the initiative to cause trouble, I'll cover you if anything goes wrong."

If you can't hold it back, just send the other person to hell, or at worst, go to another place.

Feng Ru laughed: "With my sister here, I'm not worried. I'll write to Brother Zhang Wu after we're settled. I don't know if my sister-in-law's belly is getting bigger."

"More than five months old, so he should be big. If you want to know, write to me and ask."

"Uh-huh."

"Go to bed early and go into the city early tomorrow morning," Song Shiwei said as he got up and went towards the tent.

The next day, the three men got up at the end of the morning, put their tents and other things in place, and drove the carriage to the city gate. When they arrived, there was a long line at the city gate. People were either carrying vegetable baskets, or shouldering loads, or driving ox carts that were filled with bulging burlap bags.

General Song drove his carriage to the back of the team and lined up. He took the purse handed to him by Song Shiwei. The purse contained five taels of silver, which was to be given to the officers and soldiers guarding the city gates.

Now that the disaster year has passed, the capital city has regained its prosperity. Except for merchants doing business at the feet of the emperor, ordinary people entering and leaving the city will not be charged an entrance fee. However, the little devils are difficult to deal with. People like Song Shiwei who have a carriage and a lot of luggage are afraid that the officers and soldiers will cause trouble, so giving them some silver can avoid some unnecessary trouble.

After waiting in line for about half an hour, it was soon Song Shiwei's turn. The sun was shining brightly and everyone was sweating profusely. When it was Song Shiwei's turn, Song Da secretly stuffed his purse into the soldiers' hands while handing over the pass, and then he took the initiative to lift the curtain of the carriage for people to check.

The soldier squeezed his purse, a satisfied smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he waved his hand: "Go ahead."

"Thank you, sir," Song Da led the carriage into the city, trying hard to suppress the excitement in his heart.