worthless [rebirth]

From the imperial capital to Chaozhou, I walked for nine days on the road. Except for meeting the woman in red on the first day, the journey was relatively smooth and there were no accidents.As time passed, Chen Ling gradually forgot the shock and fear that the woman in red brought him that night.

Chaozhou City is an ancient city with a history of 600 years. Because the three water systems of Mu River, Yan River and Lu River converge here, and the water transportation is developed, it has been a transportation fortress for military strategists since ancient times.It can be said that as long as they control the major ports in Chaozhou, they can easily cut off the water transportation network of Jiang, Qi, Wu, and Li, which will cause a fatal blow to the country's economy.

600 years ago, Chaozhou was just an ancient town independent of the Four Kingdoms. After three years of hard work, the ancestors of Jiang State finally included Chaozhou City on their own national map.

Jiang Guoneng rose rapidly in the next hundred years, and his national strength was the first among other countries. He never failed to kill several surrounding countries, and Chaozhou City contributed a lot.However, just because the territory of Jiang State is getting bigger and bigger, the capital has been moved several times in the next 500 years, making Chaozhou farther and farther away from the imperial capital, which eventually led to the current state of being far away from the emperor and neglecting the jurisdiction and governance. situation.

When chatting on the road, Cao Xun used a line of Du Fu's poem to describe today's Chaozhou City.

"The wine and meat of Zhumen smell bad, and the road is frozen to death. It is summer now, so it is not impossible to freeze to death, but there are not a few tenants and fishermen who starved to death."

Chen Ling listened in shock, and even Jiang Chi frowned.Living high above the temple, he always thought that the world of Jiang Guo was what he saw in the imperial capital. The people lived in prosperity and peace. He did not expect that in a place thousands of miles away from the imperial city, there would be a sky and an underground. situation.

Now that Cao Xun's injury was all right, the three of them got out of the carriage and walked into the city.

Most of the people walking on the street were poor people who sold goods on their backs. When they first saw Jiang Chi and Chen Ling, two rich and well-dressed princes, they all cast envious eyes.But Chen Ling always felt that the other party's envy was not pure, it seemed to be mixed with a bit of disgust and jealousy.

"Brother Ziling, don't take offense." Cao Xun saw the doubts in Chen Ling's heart, and explained: "The folks have been bullied by evil officials and yamen. Seeing that you two are so rich, it is inevitable that you are with them. son."

"Does the government often oppress the people?" Chen Ling asked.

Cao Xundao: Yuxi group is right, "Actually, the city is fine. If you have a chance, you can go to the dock outside the city to have a look. That's where the government servants work for the tigers and the common people."

"Go to an inn first." Jiang Chi said calmly, "Brother Cao, I don't know where your home is? The journey is far away, and you must be very tired. Why don't you go home and go home to rest."

"I'm ashamed to say it." Cao Xun smiled a little embarrassedly, and said, "My home is in a small fishing village outside Chaozhou City, half a day away from here. But since the two of you are looking for a place to stay, I have a place to go. , I don’t know if you would like it or not.”

"Oh?" Jiang Chi chuckled, and said, "Brother Cao, it's okay to be straightforward."

"I remember on the way, you said that you are the Mohists of the imperial city, and you came to Chaozhou to do the silk business, right?"

Jiang Chi nodded and said, "Not bad."

"If I remember correctly, you should go to Linglong Pavilion of the Xiao family." Cao Xun said.

Guessing what Cao Xun was going to say next, he exchanged a meaningful look with Chen Ling.

"Although I am a scholar, I still have some friendship with the Xiao family." Cao Xun said, "If you trust me, you might as well go to the Xiao family with me. In this way, whether it is business or if you want to stay in Chaozhou more Traveling for a few days saves a lot of trouble than staying in a hotel.”

Cao Xun spoke very sincerely, and after finishing speaking, he looked at Jiang Chi expectantly.

Jiang Chi asked Chen Ling's opinion: "Zi Ling, what do you think?" He winked at him as he spoke.

"..." Chen Ling was stunned for a moment, then nodded immediately after realizing it, and said, "It would be great if I could meet the Patriarch of the Xiao family today and order the batch of silk."

"Okay." Jiang Chi smiled lightly and said, "Since that's the case, Brother Lao Cao will act as the middleman to introduce us."

***

The Xiao family is worthy of being the richest man in Chaozhou. The house was built in a very grand style. The vermilion nanmu gate was more than one foot high, and there were rows of gilt copper nails inlaid on it. The unicorn's animal face holds the ring, and the buckle makes a sound, which is melodious.

Cao Xun knocked on the door a few times, and a gray-clothed man about 40 years old came to open the door. Seeing Cao Xun, he seemed very surprised, and said, "Young Master Cao? Didn't you go to the imperial capital?"

"It's hard to say." Cao Xun smiled wryly and shook his head. He winked at the other party and told him that there was someone behind him, and said, "These two young masters want to see Mr. Xiao. I wonder if Steward Li can make it easier?"

Butler Li glanced at Jiang Chi.

Chen Ling nodded to him with a polite smile, and said, "We are silk merchants from the imperial capital, and we hope to buy a batch of silk from Linglong Pavilion."

"Come in, the master is here." Butler Li said, turning sideways to make way for Jiang Chi and the others.When Jiang Chi and Chen Ling were walking into the yard, Steward Li held Cao Xun back and sighed and said in a low voice, "Since the Eldest Young Master left, Master's health has been getting worse and worse. Seeing that you are like this, you must have returned without success. When you see the master in a while, don't mention the trouble, so as not to make the master feel sad."

"Uncle Li, don't worry, I know the seriousness." Cao Xundao, seeing Jiang Chi and the others stopped to wait for him, he hurriedly followed, pointed to one side and said, "Go this way."

The deeper one goes, the more thoroughly the Xiao family's family fortune is revealed.Every piece of decoration in the long corridor is an antique, and the flowers in the small garden are also rare treasures in the world. Even a stone that looks extremely ugly is a jade embryo worth thousands of gold.

However, the more this happened, the more Chu Ling found it strange. Logically speaking, since the Xiao family had a great business, let alone the richest man in Chaozhou, even in the entire Jiang country, there were not many households that could compare with the Xiao family.There is a saying that money can turn ghosts, even if the Xiao family has no power, they should never be afraid of Wang Anzhi, let alone the unimaginable thing that Xiao Tong, the young master of the Xiao family, was tortured to death in prison.

"Ah Chi..." Chen Ling quietly tugged on Jiang Chi's cuff, leaned his head closer to his ear, and whispered, "Do you think there's anything weird about it?"

"I know what you mean." Jiang Chi whispered, and calmly stroked Chen Ling's palm with his fingertips, signaling him not to worry.With a chuckle, Jiang Chi stopped, and said, "Brother Cao, the Xiao family is indeed the most powerful family in our country of Jiang. This mansion alone will cost a lot."

"Huh?" Cao Xun looked at the flowers and rocks in the garden, and said, "Brother Mo laughed, I don't know much about these flowers and plants."

"Heh—" Jiang Chi laughed lowly and didn't speak any more.

Cao Xun led them around a few turns, and finally stopped in front of the door of a room. He knocked on the door first, and then said: "Master Xiao, I'm going to Cao Xun, and I brought two friends from the imperial capital to see you." .”

"Cough, cough..." There was a low coughing sound from inside the door, and the breathing was heavy, like a broken bellows that had been in disrepair for a long time, and the person who heard it was someone who had been ill for a long time.

When the cough became quieter, a hoarse voice sounded: "Come in...cough."

"Let's go in." Cao Xun said, pushing open the door.

Jiang Chi saw that sitting in the room was a middle-aged man with all white hair, about 50 years old, with a pale face, which should be caused by not seeing the sun all year round.He was wearing a purple wide-sleeved cloud-pattern embroidered robe. Although his complexion didn't look very good, his eyes were shining brightly, showing the shrewd calculations of a full-fledged businessman.

Older gingers are more spicy.

Meeting Xiao Yu's gaze, Jiang Chi sighed in his heart, if he hadn't been prepared, he was really worried that the other party would find out that he was not a businessman.

"My lord, Mo Xiao, I heard that Linglong Pavilion has a batch of silks and satins that were originally intended to be used as tribute brocades for sale, so I'm here to discuss the price with Master Xiao." Jiang Chi said.

Xiao Yu raised his eyelids, looking weak and listless, and said lightly: "You two are from the Mo family?"

"..." Because he knew that the two names "Mo Xiao" and "Mo Ziling" were concocted by Jiang Chi to deceive Cao Xun, so when Xiao Yu asked, Chen Ling thought that the other party knew that there was no family named "Mo" in the imperial capital. ", so he lowered his head a little guilty.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Chi didn't blush, but nodded very calmly and said, "My father had discussed several business deals with the Xiao family in the early years. Based on friendship, I will call you uncle."

"Nephew, you are welcome, please sit down." Xiao Yu lifted two teacups and poured some water to Jiang Chi and Chen Ling.

Seeing that Jiang Chi was pretending to be decent, Chen Ling became more and more puzzled.

"Sit." Seeing that Chen Ling was still standing, Jiang Chi pulled him by the hem of his clothes to make him sit down, and explained to Xiao Yu with a smile: "Zi Ling was afraid of strangers since childhood."

"It's okay." Looking past Chen Ling's face, Xiao Yu said, "Nephew, how many days do you plan to stay in Chaozhou?"

"No." Jiang Chi took a sip of tea and said, "Let's settle the matter of silk first, and then we can talk about everything else." I’m going to borrow the merchant ship from Xiao’s shipping company.”

Xiao Wang clasped the table with one hand, and said slowly: "There are boats, but there are...just..."

"The price is negotiable." Jiang Chi understood, smiled and took out a bank note and put it on the table.

"Ha...cough cough! Nephew is a smart man." Xiao Yu picked up the banknote and looked at the amount on it, folded it up with a satisfied smile and put it in his arms, saying: "Let the housekeeper in the house later Let's take you to Linglong Pavilion to inspect the goods face to face. Come back tonight and hold a banquet to welcome you. For the past few days, my nephew will temporarily live in my house, play around and see, and wait until the shipyard has opened up all the joints before leaving. Late."

"What? Can't the merchant ship set off immediately?" Jiang Chi said.

Xiao Yu sighed, and said: "Nephew, I don't know, in Chaozhou, ships entering and leaving the dock must first report to the government, and they can only transport goods after obtaining approval, so... you should wait patiently for a few days."

"In this case, we have been begging for mercy in your mansion for a few days." Jiang Chi laughed.

Xiao Yu nodded, coughing for a while, it was difficult for him to speak, so he had to wave his hand to let Cao Xun take Xiao Yu and the others out to settle down.

Cao Xun seemed to be very familiar with everyone in the mansion. When the servants saw him, they would call him "Mr. Cao". For a poor scholar, it was strange to be respected so much.

Cao Xun led Jiang Chi and the others to a small two-story building called "Suiyu Pavilion".

"It's better for jade pieces than for tiles." Looking up at the three flying and phoenix characters hanging high on the door, Chen Ling admired from the bottom of his heart: "The characters are good characters, and the name is a good name. Presumably the original owner of this attic must be a A man of noble character and integrity."

"He..." Cao Xun opened his mouth, hesitated to speak, finally gave a wry smile, and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't say anything, you go in and rest, butler Li will take you to Linglong Pavilion in two hours."

"I don't know where Brother Cao is going?" Chen Ling asked. Since Cao Xun said that his home is far away, it means that he will not go home, but since he is not so rich, he probably won't live there either. Inn.

Sure enough, Cao Xun pointed to an elegant bamboo house next to him and said, "I live there, very close to you."

"I didn't expect to be able to live next to Brother Cao." Chen Ling smiled, "We don't know each other well in Chaozhou, so it seems that we will have to trouble Brother Cao in the future."

"Brother Ziling, you're being polite." Cao Xun smiled sheepishly, telling Chen Ling to go back to the room to rest.

Chen Ling was not polite anymore, he was full of doubts and wanted to find a place where no one was around to tell Jiang Chi.

"Achi, do you also think that Xiao Wang is afraid of Wang Anzhi's influence?" Chen Ling couldn't help but immediately closed the door.

Jiang Chi walked to the stool and sat down without haste, dipped some water in the glass with his hand, and wrote a few words on the foot of the table.

"Still waters run deep..." Chen Ling muttered softly, looked at Jiang Chi, frowned and said, "You mean...Xiao Yu seems to be indisputable, but actually has other plans?"

"It's either him or Wang Anzhi." Jiang Chi said calmly, "Things may not be as simple as we first thought."

"..." Chen Ling's expression was a little solemn.

Jiang Chi smiled, grabbed Chen Ling's hand and pulled him over to sit on his lap, saying, "With me here, what are you worried about?"

"..." Chen Ling still felt that something was wrong, and said, "But our names are all fake, Xiao Yu sent someone to check and found out that there is no such thing as Mo Xiao and Mo Ziling in the imperial capital."

Hugging Chen Ling from behind, Jiang Chi tightened his arms and said in a low voice, "He will believe it."

"..." Chen Ling felt that Jiang Chi was a little too confident, and wanted to say something more, but thought that Jiang Chi would not listen to other people's opinions because he was always sure about things, so he had to give up.

"Zi Ling... You said that you would never leave me..." Jiang Chi buried his head in the crook of Chen Ling's neck, rubbing his face affectionately, and said in a low voice, "I take it seriously, don't lie to me..."

The author has something to say: PS: The red envelope has been sent, little angels, please check it~

This chapter is so tiring to write, lie...