Han Du sent everyone away and returned to the racecourse to find An Qing and his parents.
Seeing Han Du open the door and come in, An Qing happily stepped forward to hold Han Du's arm and asked expectantly: "How is it? How much did we earn today?"
It was okay if An Qing didn't ask, but when he asked, it brought up Han Du's sadness. Thirty-one thousand five hundred guan, just gone, made him feel heartbroken and bleeding.
Without answering An Qing, Han Du forced a smile, raised his hand and patted his face, and said with a dry smile: "Dad, Mom, it's getting late today, why don't we go back first~"
"Okay, I'm tired too, so I'll go back today." Seeing that Han Du didn't answer An Qing, Han De glanced at their faces lightly and said nothing more.
After saying that, he pulled Ms. Liu, who was a little confused, to stand up.
When An Qing saw it, he didn't want to question Han Du anymore, so he stepped forward to hold Liu's arm and left the racecourse.
After getting on the carriage, An Qing couldn't hold it in any longer. He pulled Han Du's brocade robe and asked dissatisfiedly: "What's going on? What do you think?"
The racecourse cost the family 300,000 yuan. Although it did not make An Qing feel distressed, it was not a small amount. As the wife of Marquis Zhenhai, it is natural that she has no connections to make money.
Originally, I had already made money, but if your father hadn't intervened... Han Du slandered me.
Facing An Qing's unwilling eyes, Han Du said calmly: "I made money originally, 31,500 yuan..."
An Qing was stunned for two seconds, then half-opened his mouth and said, "Wait...what do you mean I made money before, but now where is the money?"
"Your father took all the money away..." Han Du, in an extremely depressed mood, told An Qing in detail about Lao Zhu's visit here.
"What did you say? Why did Father come here? Why didn't I know?" An Qing was even more surprised at this moment than before.
Han Du spread his hands: "If the emperor hadn't also bet on horse racing, I wouldn't have known that the emperor was here..." Needless to say, when Han Du found Lao Zhu, he must have mentioned sending someone to Everyone at the racecourse gate was under control. In this way, without anyone reporting it, Han Du would naturally not know.
"My father is here, so why don't you send someone to inform him so that I can go and pay my respects to my father." An Qing let go of Han Du's robe and couldn't help but give it a light hammer.
Han Du smiled bitterly and said, "I've been looking for opportunities to go out, but I haven't found any. The emperor looked at me so hard that he didn't even give me a chance to leave the house. How could I inform you?"
Although An Qing was a little regretful that she was unable to pay her respects to her father in time, but since this was what her father wanted, she didn't think much about it. Then he thought of his own money, and asked with some confusion: "Does that mean my father won all the money that originally belonged to us?"
"That's it..." Han Du nodded weakly.
An Qing felt distressed and asked with some worry: "What will we do in the future? If my father comes to place bets every time we race, won't we make no money at all?"
It's not a pleasant feeling to work hard and end up making wedding clothes for others.
Han Du laughed instead, patted An Qing's hand to comfort him for a moment, and said, "This is the first time that my father-in-law took advantage of my husband's lack of preparation. Look, if my father wants to win like this in the future, that's not right." It’s possible.”
An Qing heard that the racecourse could make money in the future. Although she didn't know what Han Du could do, she was still happy. However, there was quite a bit of criticism about Han Du's statement, "You have tricked Confucius...don't let your father hear what you said."
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
Han Du was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that he had made a mistake. He quickly smiled to cover up his embarrassment and kept saying, "It was my husband who made a mistake. It will never happen again."
...
The time was advanced, and Lao Zhu was sitting on the throne, stroking his beard with a smile on his face, feeling a little satisfied.
When Queen Ma saw him, she didn't know what he was so proud of. She came closer and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is having a great time today and has won so much money."
"Hmph, Han Du has a lot of clever ideas, but he didn't fall into my hands yet." The reason why Lao Zhu was so proud was mainly because he won money.
Empress Ma smiled and echoed, as if coaxing a child, "Yes, yes, yes, no matter how smart Han Du is, how can he be the emperor's opponent?"
Just when Lao Zhu was happy, Empress Ma added abruptly, "But every step of the way makes you wiser. Han Du has suffered such a big loss in your hands, and he will definitely find a way to make up for it. Next time the emperor I’m afraid it won’t be easy to win money again.”
Lao Zhu, who was in high spirits, didn't believe Queen Ma's words at all. In his opinion, horse racing relies on the horse's eye and careful measurement of the rider's skills. Sometimes even the best horse in the field cannot win as long as it is with a bad rider. Similarly, if the best rider rides on a bad horse, the result will be the same.
Therefore, only the best result obtained by combining the pros and cons of the rider and the horse is the horse that should really be bet on.
Lao Zhu was proud that he was very proficient in these two and did not believe Queen Ma's words at all. He shook his head in disbelief and said: "Then just watch, I can win all Han Du's money in this horse racing."
"Why don't I take a gamble with the emperor?" Queen Ma suggested with a roll of her eyes when she saw Lao Zhu's confidence.
Not only did Lao Zhu not have the slightest intention to propose a bet to Queen Ma,
Instead of being annoyed, he said even more enthusiastically: "Oh? Are you so confident in Han Du? Well, I will bet with you!"
Five days later, Lao Zhu received the news again and looked at the paper with a pale face.
The paper was brought back from the racecourse, and it was densely covered with words. The first line is: horse racing rules.
Lao Zhu didn't look at the others, but just stared at one of them: the racecourse takes 20% of all gambling funds each time as the cost of feeding the horses and management, and all the other money is used to distribute the money to the winners in proportion.
In other words, Han Du can get 20% of the income no matter what. It is impossible for Lao Zhu to take away all the money like last time.
Lao Zhu let the paper fall on the imperial desk dejectedly. He sat down with a sigh and said to the old eunuch: "Go and report to the empress, I lost."
The old eunuch covered his mouth and snickered, and quickly turned around and left before the old man could get angry.
Lao Zhu was resentful of the racecourse's horse racing rules, but for gamblers in the capital, this was simply an extremely fair, just and open gambling opportunity.
Everyone knows that gambling houses in this world are all about gambling and cheating. But these gamblers still can't help themselves. The illusion of instant wealth stimulates them, even if they lose and lose everything, they still have to gamble.
Now the racecourse has printed the rules of horse racing on a piece of paper and informed everyone in detail, and it is written in black and white. The racecourse only takes 20% of the commission for each horse betting, and the rest belongs to the winner.
Han Du even specially found some storytellers to come and sent a dozen people to sit at the entrance of the racecourse. Each person had a table and a pot of tea. They didn't have to do anything. When someone asked what the horse betting was about, When the time comes, they can just be responsible for answering questions for everyone.
The consistent high salary every day stimulates all storytellers, even if they are angry when explaining over and over again, even if their throats are filled with smoke, under the comfort of such high salary, all problems are not problems.
Horse racing betting forms a fixed amount of bets according to the number of games. There are hundreds of essays, one hundred essays, ten essays... and even one hundred essays and one thousand essays. However, the first three are the most popular. Although Baiwenchang may seem like one bet is too small, there are many people who can't bear to bet. Taken together, it is actually no less than those who have made hundreds of thousands of bets.
As soon as the horse betting method spread, the business of the entire gambling house in the capital plummeted instantly, with more than 80% of it gone.
If it were another person, he might have been torn to pieces by these gambling house owners with eyes as red as rabbits. It's a pity that in front of Han Du, they are just ants. If they dare to step forward and cause trouble, they can be crushed to death with just one finger.
The popularity of the racecourse has resulted in a sea of people coming to the racecourse every day to have fun.
People are the root of everything, and there are people who have everything. Seeing how popular the racecourse was, the nobles no longer had any doubts and began to take action on the land around the racecourse.
At first, the price of these lands was not high. Even if it was 25 to 30 guan according to the market price, or even a little lower than that, you could buy it. After all, the people had limited knowledge, and the people who came to buy their land were either stewards of the Marquis Mansion or close associates of the Duke's Mansion. They were polite to them and did not deliberately lower the price, so they bought their land at the market price. .
Although the people were reluctant to part with the land, they knew that they could not afford to offend these people. If they did not agree, they would probably be retaliated against. How could ordinary people like them withstand the retaliation from the Marquis and the Duke's Mansion? In addition, the price was not deliberately lowered, so I gritted my teeth and sold the land.
After all, if they take the money to sell the land and go to other places immediately, they can still buy the land back. This way out and in, there is no loss at all, it is just a little troublesome. And obviously, this little trouble is nothing compared to the revenge of the Marquis's Mansion and the Duke's Mansion.
But there is always a contingency, some people sell directly, some people want to wait and see hesitantly, and some people are determined not to buy.
This is how Ma Laoliu accepted death. His house has a piece of land in a very good location, just opposite the gate of the racecourse. Moreover, the area of the land is not small, a full six acres, and the long and narrow terrain almost surrounds the entire front side of the racecourse.
The housekeepers in each government were very discerning and naturally knew that this land was of extraordinary value, so they were the first to come to Ma Laoliu to buy it.
As a result, Ma Laoliu didn't agree to any of them, and refused to sell them until they died.
"Liuzi, sell it. The silks and satins those people wear are better than the county masters. We can't afford to offend any of them. If you sell it, wouldn't it be the same if we went to the western suburbs to buy a piece of land?" An old woman said The man persuaded Ma Laoliu earnestly.
"Mom, my father died from exhaustion while clearing up wasteland. Those are the thoughts he left for his son. No matter how much money he made, he would never sell them." Although Ma Laoliu has never read a book and is not very smart, he is It is people like him who tend to be stubborn. As long as he has determined something, no one can change it.
He determined that the land was related to his father's death, and he would not change even if his mother persuaded him.
It was obviously not the first time that the old woman had tried to persuade her. Seeing her son being so stubborn, she had no choice but to sigh: "That's fine, anyway, our family is so poor that you can't even afford a wife, and it doesn't make any difference whether we sell it or not. It's just the right time for those noble people to take revenge, and it's just the right time for our family to escape from the sea of misery and be together neatly."
After saying that, the old woman shook her head, turned around and walked into the dilapidated house.
Not long after the old woman entered the house, a man wearing coarse cloth
The old man in clothes came over with a group of people. The color of the old man's clothes was dark and light, obviously it had been washed many times. However, even though the old clothes looked old, the old man was careful when wearing them. It is extremely caring. Even when walking, you have to be smart and quick to avoid branches and weeds on the ground. Some people are afraid of being stained by weeds and scratching the cloth surface by branches.
Next to the old man was an old man wearing brocade, with deerskin carved boots on his feet, and playing with a piece of jade in his hand.
The old man tried his best to flatter the old man. He always had to pay attention to the old man's expression. Even if the old man had some inconvenience and was stopped, he would quickly stop for fear of rushing in front of the old man and making the old man unhappy with him. .
When a group of people came to Ma Liu, the old man stepped forward first, pointed at Ma Lao Liu and said: "Xiao Liu, your wealth has come. Do you know who this is? I'll scare you to death if I tell you. This is Liang Guogongfu Lan." Sir, why don't you salute Sir Lan quickly?"
The old man listened to this man's nonsense and felt dissatisfied. Before Ma Laoliu could salute, he stepped forward with a smile and said, "Brother, you don't need to be polite. I'm here to buy the land from my brother. No." Do you know if you can cut off your love?"
"Not for sale!" When Ma Laoliu heard that he was buying land again, he immediately had a bad look on these people and spat out two words coldly.
The old man had long heard of this man's stubbornness, but he didn't think anything of it.
But the old man next to him, as if his authority had been challenged, jumped out immediately, pointed at Ma Laoliu and cursed: "You don't have anything that you can see, I'm giving you face, right? The noble man bought your land, that's I think highly of you. It’s okay for you to be ungrateful, but you still dare to refuse? "
The old man chuckled twice and said nothing. The old man in front of him wanted to take credit in front of him, but he didn't know that this man's tricks were just leftovers from their games. If it hadn't been for His Highness the Crown Prince's order this time, they wouldn't have been so polite to Ma Laoliu, who refused to sell.
"Not for sale!" Facing the old man's insult, Ma Laoliu still said these two cold words.
"Liuzi, are you committing a crime?" The old man's eyes widened, as if he felt humiliated, and he stepped forward with red eyes.
And Ma Laoliu also stood up suddenly, stared at the old man fiercely, and slowly clenched his fists.
When the old man saw it, he took a step forward, stopped him, and said to Ma Laoliu with a smile: "Don't be anxious, little brother. Why don't you listen to me about the price first?"
Ma Laoliu was still a little afraid of the old man. After all, he couldn't afford to offend such a noble man, nor did he want to offend him. But it is impossible for him to sell the land.
"I won't sell it. I said, I won't sell it for any money."
The old man smiled calmly and offered a price: "Ordinary land is only thirty guan per acre at most. How about your landlady giving you 40 guan per acre?"
Ma Laoliu didn't even hum, obviously dismissive of the old man's statement.
"Oh? Still think it's too little? How about fifty dollars per acre?" The old man showed no impatience. Seeing that Ma Laoliu didn't agree, he raised the price without hesitation.
This made the old man standing aside widen his eyes. Fifty guans per acre, and you must know that his land was only sold for 25 guans. Doesn't it mean that Ma Laoliu will get one more guan than him if he sells his land now? Times?
"My lord, please don't waste your efforts. We won't sell the land." Seeing that the old man only negotiated the price with him and did not take it by force, Ma Laoliu had a good impression of him.
"Sixty dollars per acre." The old man did not explain too much to Ma Laoliu and directly chose to increase the price.
After waiting for a moment, the old man did not wait until Ma Laoliu nodded, smiled and said: "Still not satisfied? Then seventy pounds per acre."
"Eighty dollars per acre." The old man continued to increase the price calmly.
Ma Laoliu was shocked. Although he was too deeply tied to the land, he had never thought about selling it. But now that I saw the old man increasing the price without hesitation, I was stunned.
Eighty acres per acre, this is a sky-high price that has never been heard of. Not to mention land, even good farmland is not worth eighty guan. What is there in that land that attracts the noble man in front of me so much? Is there gold?
Ma Laoliu shook his head with certainty. There must be no gold in the land, otherwise he would have discovered it long ago after farming every year for so many years.
It was a bit of a slap in the face to sell it even after eighty guan. If it weren't for his scruples, how could the old man talk to Yi Nijizi so kindly?
Just when the old man looked slightly angry, Cheng Yaojin came out halfway.
"One hundred strings!"
The old man followed the sound, looked at the visitor and sneered: "Who do I think it is? It turns out to be the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion. How come you are qualified to rob it with me?"
The visitor was also a richly dressed old man. Faced with threatening words, the old man was not afraid at all. He laughed and said, "Although Mr. Liang's family status is higher than ours, everyone knows what happened this time. The nobles won’t care. So, Old Lan, you don’t need to carry out Liang Guogong to scare me.”
Knowing that it would be useless to talk to this scoundrel, Old Man Lan turned directly to Ma Laoliu and said: "One hundred and ten acres per acre. If you are willing to sell the land to me, I will ask to see the father-in-law and let you stay in my house." Find a job."
The old man later was not to be outdone, and directly offered a price: "Old man Lan just added ten guans. This is not the courage of your high-ranking Liang Guogong Mansion. Look at me, one hundred and fifty guan per acre, if you Promise, I don’t need to ask, I promise to find you a job in the house.”
Ma Laoliu was struck by these unprecedented words, which made him dizzy and his eyes were filled with stars.
