When people go into the river to fish, people naturally come to the river to buy fish. It is said to be a fish market, but in fact it is very simple, just find a relatively flat and suitable place by the river. Or it is a place where people come ashore more intensively after fishing.
When such a fish market is bustling, people's heads will tremble, but once the crowd disperses, it will quickly return to its original state of desolation, as if the excitement just now was an illusion.
The fishermen gradually come ashore with their catch, and the fish market officially begins. The fish buyers stood with their swords in a ready position, glaring at the people who came up with their catches, as if they were looking at pieces of fish meat.
There is no clear price tag, no bargaining, and even the power of setting prices is not in the hands of the people. There is no other way. The only people who can buy fish here are servants sent by powerful families nearby.
If the people refuse to sell fish to them, then no one will be willing to buy their fish. They are all fresh catches that have just come out of the water. People can't sell them to counties dozens of miles away, right?
If the fish were just brought to the county seat like this, the fish would probably die. Who else could they sell it to?
Therefore, as long as the fish buyers do not go too far, even if they deliberately lower the price, people will still have to sell the fish to them.
But it was not without exception. A thin man wearing shabby clothes stood behind the fish sales team with a basket of catch on his back. He hesitated and did not step forward.
Several people passed him one after another, but he did not move.
But in the end, the fish in his basket no longer looked as lively as before. The man still had to join the fish buying team and come to the fish collector.
The fish buyer was a young man wearing brocade. He looked to be no more than twenty-two or three years old. He had something wiped on his face and looked oily and pink. The most special thing is that he has two dark circles under his eyes, which even the powder can't hide. At first glance, they are caused by excessive indulgence.
Logically speaking, it is impossible for a person who looks like a rich man to come to this fish market. After all, such a noble man still can't stand the strong smell of fish. But this guy just came and acted like a fish buyer. I don’t know what his plans were.
The young man glanced at the man with a faint smile, then lowered his eyes and glanced contemptuously at the man's fish basket, and said casually: "They are all dead goods. They cost a penny each. Give him money."
When the man heard this, he immediately became angry and waved his hands to stop him: "Wait a minute! You gave others ten cents a fish, why did you give me a penny a fish? Besides, my fish is bigger than other people's, why did you give it to me?" Me that much?"
The young man chuckled and said: "Lao Wu, it's not that I'm bullying you, but that although your fish is indeed a little bigger than others, it's about to die. You said, this dead fish can compete with Is there one price for live fish?”
"Nonsense, this is obviously a live fish, but where are the dead fish?" The man's eyes widened, veins were bulging on his forehead, his hands were clenched into fists, and his knuckles were tense and white. If the young master in front of him hadn't been powerful, he might have been unable to bear it and rushed up to beat him.
When the guards around the young master saw it, they all stepped forward to guard the man. The young master didn't pay attention to the man's anger at all. He leaned back lazily and said jokingly: "Your fish is alive now, but if you just put it in the basket like this, it won't be there in a few hours." Is he dead?"
"In a few hours, shouldn't it be your business whether the fish is alive or dead?" The man was a little confused and did not turn around for a while.
The young master chuckled and shook his head: "No, this is your business."
"Then according to what you said, other people's fish will die differently? Why did you give them ten cents for each fish, but only one cent for me?" The man was very unconvinced.
"No, no, no, you are wrong." The young master waved his hands repeatedly and retorted: "Their fish will be put in the water, so their fish will live and not die. Since they will not die, then naturally It’s the price of a live fish. But I will put your fish in a basket. Without water, the fish will die. So your fish can only be sold at the price of a dead fish. "
Although the man was honest and did not understand the young master's treacherous tactics, at this time he realized that the young master was simply playing tricks on him. He shouted angrily: "Cheng Qi, you have gone too far!"
Cheng Qi was yelled at by the man, and he no longer pretended to be harmless. He immediately lifted the chair and stood up, with a ferocious expression on his face and said sternly: "I'm so over the top, what can you do? In the past, you had that rip-off steward taking care of you, do you really think you are a nobody? Let me tell you, then The steward has been taken care of by me. From today on, I will personally come to collect your fish, and the price is just this, one penny a fish. Do you want to buy it? Oh, by the way, I would like to remind you that I have already I have said hello to everyone who collects fish, no matter who collects your fish, it will be a penny per fish.”
The man's face was livid with anger. If no one buys his fish from now on, even if he humbly buys the fish to this person, it will be of no use. At a penny a piece, he couldn't make much money in a day, and it wasn't even enough to feed his family. Besides...
Looking at the angry man, the young master was extremely relieved and said viciously: "I want to take your girl as my concubine, because I am looking down on you. For a person from a family like yours, you should keep your eyes open." Take a good look, how many people are willing to officially take a concubine? Why don't you give some money and buy it directly? I'm giving you face, but you don't take advantage of it quickly, and you even refuse to marry your sister over. This young master has lost all face in the county. Just wait for us, we must obediently give you this girl as my concubine!"
An old man nearby saw that the smell of gunpowder between the two was very strong, and he quickly spoke out to smooth things over: "Master Cheng, Master Cheng, please calm down. They are all from the countryside. The mother of this child is sick again now and is waiting for money." Take the medicine to treat the disease. Master, please give him a sincere price and be generous and spare their lives."
Cheng Qi turned his head expressionlessly, staring at the old man without saying a word. Just when the old man started to panic and wanted to avoid Cheng Qi's gaze, Cheng Qi said, "If your granddaughter is more beautiful than his sister and you send her to me as a concubine, then I can let you go." Him. But, do you have it?"
Hearing this, the old man knew that Cheng Qi was determined, so he turned his head shamelessly, turned around and retreated into the crowd. Others did not dare to speak for men, especially those with daughters at home, and they did not dare to get angry.
This young man's lustful reputation is well-known throughout the county. Those concubines who were taken back by Cheng Qin rarely survived more than a year. I heard that they were all tortured to death by Cheng Qi. However, the Cheng family lost a large amount of money afterwards, and because of the Cheng family's power in the county, no one dared to speak out.
Cheng Qi dismissed the old man who spoke for the man lightly. Others were afraid of Cheng Qi's power and no longer dared to speak for the man.
Seeing everyone's cowering look, Cheng Qi had a smile on his face, looked at the man and said, "Just tell me, you can buy it for a penny a piece."
"Don't buy it!" the man said without hesitation.
Cheng Qi was not angry, but even happier. He waved his hand towards the man and said, "Then get out of the way quickly and don't block the people behind you. Next~"
The man had no choice but to step aside with the fish basket. He was so angry that he wanted to leave right away, but his seriously ill mother urgently needed money for medicine, which made him feel as if roots had taken root in the soles of his feet, and he could not leave just like that.
One after another, common people passed by the man carrying fish and exchanged them for copper coins from Cheng Qi's hand.
The man and his fish are like the loneliest existence in the world, rejected by everything around them.
At this time, the sound of horse hooves gradually grew louder and appeared in his ears, making people unable to help but turn around and listen to it.
I saw a dozen horses already coming to the man.
Such movement naturally attracted everyone's attention. Someone next to Cheng Qi glanced at the horses, and their expressions suddenly changed. He quickly leaned into Cheng Qi's ear and whispered nervously: "Master, these people have a lot of background."
"How do you know?" Cheng Qi looked back at this person in confusion.
"Those are all military horses, and they are all rare horses."
Cheng Qi was suddenly shocked. Although he was lustful, he also knew what military horses meant.
Since the Ming Dynasty was constantly facing threats from the grasslands, war horses had an extraordinary status as the first strategic material. The imperial court had a ranch dedicated to training war horses, and every war horse was recorded. It is extremely difficult for people to get a war horse privately, and if they don't do well, they will be punished. Therefore, most of the horses used by the people are not war horses, but inferior horses.
In this way, people who can blatantly use war horses must be rich or noble and have a strong family background.
After hearing this, Cheng Qi quickly stood up and hurried forward to greet him. Seeing that the other party ignored him, he bowed his hands and asked, "May I ask where you are from and what you are doing here?"
Tang Fu sat on the horse and did not speak, but kept looking at the people fishing. A guard beside him was sitting on horseback, leaning down with a whip in hand, and asked Cheng Qi: "Are you in charge here?"
Cheng Qi saw that the other party didn't even ask about his origins, and it was obvious that he didn't take him seriously. But he didn't dare to get angry. Instead, he had to be careful. The Cheng family still has some status in the county, but that's all. He also keeps a few horses at home, but they are just bad horses and are not qualified to keep military horses at all.
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