Go back to ancient times to engage in sideline business

On the rugged and winding mountain road, the Japanese pirates were tightly bundled into rice dumplings, tied into strings with long hemp ropes, and walked down the mountain one by one.

And on the flat beach at the bay, hundreds of Japanese pirates who had surrendered were already tied up with their hands clasped behind their backs, and lined up neatly, waiting to be counted one by one by the sergeants to verify their identities.

After a while, they will board the ship and be sent back to Ningzhou camp to be strictly guarded.

But in the end, whether he will sit in prison or defend the life of the people who died in vain along the coast, will wait for the imperial court's order.

The task of cleaning the battlefield continued until the evening, and it was not until the stars and the moon were low that most of the warships withdrew from Dongluowan. In the Ningzhou camp, the celebration banquet to reward the three armies had already kicked off.

Hearing of the great victory ahead, the prefect of Ningzhou personally escorted the team, and hastily sent over dozens of carts of fine wine and sauced meat.

In the camp, the soldiers who had returned earlier sat on the ground under the sky, sitting around the bonfire, holding high wine bowls and toasting, the joy of victory was reflected on the faces of every man.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, the passion is especially strong.All the generals had already taken their seats according to their military ranks, facing upwards and raising their wine bottles.

Old General Yuan stood at the head of the throne, and it was hard to hide his heroism at this moment.

"Several months of stalemate, one blow wins, this battle depends on everyone's concerted efforts! After this battle, there has been no Japanese infestation along the coast for more than ten years. The old man has already prepared a battle report, and sent it to the imperial court as soon as possible. Please credit for everyone! Come, I would like to offer a toast to everyone! Do it!"

After some impassioned speeches, all the generals in the tent were full of emotions, shouted "dry" in unison, and all took a bottle and drank it all.

The long table where the Tiger Wing Guards sat was set below the seat of the chief general, ranking ahead of all the generals.

Tang Zhong also picked up the wine bottle with everyone, and poured tons of wine into his belly with his head held high.Unexpectedly, the wine was so strong that it made him frown and squint his eyes, and it took him a long time to recover.

"If you are not used to drinking, don't force yourself, just drink slowly."

Old General Yuan's words came from the side, and Tang Zhong realized that the old general had been paying attention to this side, and immediately nodded his head in greeting.

"You don't need to be too polite, the Tiger Wing Guards should take the lead in this battle. Come, I will toast you!"

Seeing Old General Yuan standing up with a wine bottle, Cheng Li and the five Tiger Wing Guards stood up immediately.

"Have a plan, have skill, can also sense the weather, and create a machine. Adding wings to the army, it really deserves such a reputation!"

Old General Yuan looked at the crowd with a smile, his eyes finally fell on Tang Zhong, and continued: "Everyone has worked hard these days, and the court will reward you soon. But before that, the old man also wants to express his feelings. What do you have? If you want it, just mention it."

Cheng Li looked excited. He and General Yuan were old acquaintances, and now he doesn't bother to be polite: "General, I wonder if you can part with that black iron dagger that is next to you?"

"You, you, the old man knows!"

While speaking, Old General Yuan had already untied the dagger from his waist and presented it to Cheng Li.Then he agreed to everyone's requests for albums, military books, ancient books, etc. one by one.Only Tang Zhong didn't speak for a long time, he frowned and hesitated to speak.

"Just ask what you want, as long as the old man can do it, he will agree."

The old Geng next to him just got the Mohist remnant that he had dreamed of, and couldn't help urging in a low voice: "Tell me what treasure you want! After passing this village, there will be no such shop!"

Yes, if you don't say it now, there may not be a better time in the future!

"Subordinate..." Tang Zhong thought about it, and slowly said: "This subordinate has no intention of going to the capital to work. It has been more than three months since I left home, and my subordinate just wants to return to Qingjiang County and continue to be my city gate guard. being disturbed."

With one word, everyone was surprised, and Lao Geng pushed his back hard, which meant to ask: "You didn't make a mistake, did you?"

"False words!" Cheng Li's eyes swept over him, "If you don't care about your younger brothers and sisters, you can bring them into the capital! A man should serve the country with loyalty to the king!"

These words were the same as when they first met on the boat that day, they were still strong and reasonable, but Tang Zhong didn't quite agree with them.

As a human being in two lifetimes, Tang Zhong had somewhat of an attitude of staying out of it at the beginning.But step by step, it was the brothers and sisters of the Tang family who made him establish a connection with this dynasty, and it was the people in Fengshan Village and Qingjiang County who gave him a sense of real life.

He no longer knew when he would regard the younger siblings of the Tang family as his own family, and the small city of Qingjiang as his irreplaceable home.

In this ordinary county town, there are neighbors running around for daily necessities, guards guarding the city gate step by step, a clean official who has just arrived, and a group of conscientious guard brothers.

It was the hustle and bustle of this small town that made him feel nostalgic and look forward to it.He is not from this era, but he is very happy to continue to be a member of Qingjiang County.

As for the military exploits and awards, he was just relying on the mature technology of later generations to follow the gourd, and he deserved it.Instead of showing merit for others, it is better to give sympathy to the casualties and the people who suffered.

After reorganizing the language, Tang Zhong continued: "I have disappointed the commander. The subordinates come from a remote village. They only want to live in a corner all their lives, and they have no ambitions. This is what the subordinates say from their heart."

"You!" Cheng Li couldn't understand. The teaching he had received since he was a child was to cultivate himself, govern his family, govern the country and the world, and he really couldn't agree with it.

He wanted to say something more, but was stopped by General Yuan with a wave of his hand: "I just said, as long as I can do it, I will agree. Since you want to go back to your hometown, I will arrange a carriage in a few days and take you back."

Mr. Tang was overjoyed, and immediately cupped his fists: "Thank you, General!"

Cheng Li, who was standing beside him, had his chest heaving and feeling upset, but he stopped talking.

Three days later, the army finished its rest and prepared to go north and return to Beijing.

Tang Zhong packed his luggage and sat in the carriage, about to leave for the south.

The groom in front of the car was called away, and the curtain was lifted, but it was the messenger soldier beside Old General Yuan.

"Come out, the general wants to see you!"

Tang Zhong got out of the carriage in doubt, and was flattered to see General Yuan come to see him off.

"Don't dare to work hard for the general, and the subordinates are ashamed."

Old General Yuan waved his hand, indicating that the orderly soldiers should also retreat, and then he said: "The old man has always kept his promises. There were many people at the banquet before, and now he avoids everyone. I just want to ask you, do you really want to stay in Qingjiang forever? The county seat is no longer used by the imperial court?"

Tang Zhong was taken aback for a moment, then nodded firmly.

After a while, a smile appeared on Old General Yuan's face.

"It's really rare to see wild cranes like this. Tang Zhong, you are humble and come from a rural background, but you don't know that you have the style of a gentleman in the Wei and Jin Dynasties."

"The general's reputation is too high, so you don't blame me for not serving the Ministry of War anymore?"

Old General Yuan stroked his beard, looked at the young man in front of him who was active in thinking but different from ordinary people, and couldn't help laughing: "Without you, Tang Zhong, is there no one in the Ministry of War? It's you, think about how to deal with it in the future." Did you find your man?"

……

Half an hour later, the army set off, and Tang Zhong rode in a carriage on the official road heading south.

It is estimated that after walking for six days, they will be able to reach the boundary of Yongning Mansion, and after walking for more than half a day, they will be Qingjiang County.

With the badge of the Tiger Wing Guard on his body, it is very convenient to stay in the posthouse along the way, and he does not need to go to the Yamen to issue a guide.

In the first few days driving along the official road along the coast, there were almost no people on the road, then turned to drive inland, the closer to the border of Yongning Mansion, the more people and horses passing along the road gradually increased.

Although it was the beginning of autumn, the weather turned cooler sooner or later, but it was still hot at noon.Even though he was eager to return home, Tang Zhong still ordered the coachman to stop and rest during the two hottest hours of the day, and wait until the fiercest sun had passed before leaving.

The place where they settled today is a tea shed near the boundary of Qingjiang County.It is reckoned that after turning over the mountain ahead, they will be able to enter Qingjiang County in the afternoon.

At this time, there were already many people sitting in the tea stand, Tang Zhong saw one by one, many of them were businessmen who had met in the last station.

Only Xiao Er was busy in the tea stand, Tang Zhong was about to raise his hand to order tea, but saw a piece of rice paper on the small square table in front of him.

What was written crookedly on it turned out to be...the menu?

Such a small shop in the mountains is really thoughtful.

The menu was some instant food that was easy to cook. Tang Zhong ordered a bowl of wontons for him and the groom each. After a hard journey, they had to eat some meat to replenish their strength.

The waiter at the tea stall responded, and immediately came over with a tray, poured tea for the two of them, and brought over two plates of decent refreshments as snacks for the meal.

Tang Zhong felt that it was very novel that the small shop in the mountains had such comprehensive hospitality.Compared with ordinary restaurants, it is even worse.

Xiao Er deftly scooped up the wontons in a bamboo basket, poured half of them into two sea bowls, and quickly brought them to the table.

"Guest officer, you are joking, the current business is not learned from the Qingjiang Gang."

"Qingjiang Gang? But what kind of gangs have emerged in Qingjiang County?"

As soon as Xiaoer heard this, he just thought that Tang Zhong, like most of the customers in the store, came from other places and went to Qingjiang to do business.

"Guest officials don't know. The merchants in Qingjiang County established a business association a few months ago. They are called the Qingjiang Gang. Talking about business, and even how to deal with disasters, are all carefully considered!"

"Not to mention, after they came here, several big restaurants and silk shops in the county have opened several branches in other counties and made a lot of money!"

Speaking of the important point, Xiao Er turned his head and lowered his voice, as if he had finally met someone who could complain, and said anxiously: "Nowadays, on this official road, eight out of ten merchants go to Qingjiang County. , Their mouths have been teased by the restaurants in the city, if they don’t have some tea and side dishes to keep their mouths quiet before the serious meal, they will definitely make a fuss!”

Tang Zhong couldn't help but rubbed his face. He didn't expect that Qingjiang Chamber of Commerce would be taken aback so quickly after he left for more than three months, and even the small shops in the surrounding area followed suit.

While talking, two more carriages stopped in front of the tea stall, Xiao Er stopped talking and hurried over to greet them.

As the sun was getting lower, Tang Zhong couldn't wait to climb into the carriage. He couldn't wait to see what Qingjiang County would look like.

The horse neighed and headed towards the hill ahead.

But it was different from Tang Zhong's expectation, they traveled for more than two hours after half an hour's journey before they were about to reach the gate of the west city.

The joyful mood before was about to be wiped out.

Tang Zhong couldn't help raising the curtain, and glanced at the horses and horses queuing up ahead to enter the city.

It turns out that the prosperity of the county is accompanied by traffic jams on the road!

The author has something to say:

Thank you for accompanying me to read the article all the way. There is still a little bit of ending in this article, and it is coming to an end!

Ah, get excited in advance—

Good night……