"Besides, the nobleman of Duke Xinguo's Palace promised his son that as long as his son helps him catch turtles, he will take care of us in the name of Duke Xinguo's Palace." The man said, glanced at the beautiful girl, and sighed: " These days, it’s really hard for a family like ours to survive without someone to take care of them.”
Beauty is not just a disaster. With a girl's appearance, if no one takes care of her. Even if there is no Cheng Qi, Wang Qi and Li Qi will still come to the door. Regardless of whether it is done forcefully or stabbed with a soft knife, in the end they will inevitably end up with their families broken up and their families destroyed.
If you want your family to live safely, you must have strong protection. And Duke Xinguo's Mansion can give them such protection. As long as he catches the turtle, no one will dare to embarrass them again.
The girl is still a little confused and doesn't know what the elder brother means. But the old mother had a clear mind and knew that her son was right. She had no choice but to sigh, not knowing what to say.
"Moreover, the nobleman also offered a sky-high price of fifteen taels of gold for a soft-shelled turtle. Even if his son is just for this gold, he has to fight for it." When he mentioned gold, the man's eyes lit up obviously.
Such a price means that even if he catches just one, it will be enough for him to buy several acres of good paddy fields, and his family will have enough food and clothing.
When the old mother heard that people from Duke Xin's mansion offered fifteen taels of gold for a soft-shelled turtle, she knew that she would never be able to persuade her son again. Even if other people knew how to catch soft-shell turtles, they would catch them without hesitation.
It is extremely rare for ordinary people to have such an opportunity to get rich overnight. Even though fifteen taels of gold does not seem to be a lot, it is only one hundred and fifty taels if converted into silver. But that's not how accounts are calculated. What ordinary people have the most contact with is copper coins, and they rarely even own silver, let alone gold. Gold is more precious among the people. Sometimes, even if you hold silver, you may not be able to exchange it for gold.
The man opened the wooden box and saw a dark fishing net inside. This fishing net is different from ordinary fishing nets at first glance. Not only is the mesh larger, but the ropes are also thicker. I don’t know what kind of material it is made of. Occasionally, there is a glimmer of light.
After checking the fishing net, the man showed a satisfied look on his face. Then he took out a packet of medicine from his arms, handed it to the girl, and said, "Give mother the medicine to boil. Brother, go and come back."
The girl subconsciously took it and couldn't help but look up at her brother and shouted softly: "Brother~"
The man turned back and smiled at the girl, "Brother, I'll come back as soon as I go, don't worry."
Then he looked at his mother and said, "Mom, take good care of yourself."
After saying that, he held the wooden box in one hand and walked out of the door without hesitation.
Tang Fu was so anxious that he couldn't sit still in the room and had already been waiting for the man outside. Seeing him coming out with the box, he smiled and asked, "Have you got everything?"
The man nodded, "Let's go."
Tang Fu glanced at the room behind the man. When he saw that the man was walking out first, he withdrew his gaze and followed him.
The girl stood at the door, watching her brother lead everyone away, and couldn't help but feel worried. But when she lowered her head and looked at the medicine bag in her hand, she sighed helplessly and went to boil medicine for her mother.
The man came to the river and found his raft. The man took out the fishing net, put it on his back, and pinned several things to his waist. He jumped on the raft and said to Tang Fu and others: "This raft can't carry a few people. Just wait for me here. I can catch the turtles myself."
"Wait a minute." Tang Fu immediately stretched out his hand to stop him. Then he turned back to the guard beside him and asked: "Who among you has the best water quality?"
A guard immediately stood up. He bowed and said, "Sir, I was originally a navy man. I grew up by the sea. Going to the sea is like going home."
Tang Fu nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, just follow him. If he needs help, you can help him. Even if you can't catch a fish this time, you have to bring him back to us."
"Don't worry, young master." The man replied immediately. Then he suddenly jumped onto the raft with a quick stride. Standing on the raft, he felt as if there were roots in the soles of his feet, motionless.
When the man saw that Tang Fu sent people to help him, he felt moved in his heart. This at least means that the other party cares about his life. Moreover, although this raft is simple, it can carry one more person without any problem. So, the man did not refuse and rowed the raft directly towards the center of the river.
Tang Fu watched the raft gradually move away until it disappeared from sight. The waiting time was extremely unbearable. As time passed, Tang Fu couldn't help but start to feel flustered.
About an hour later, the guard next to him suddenly shouted in surprise, "Look, sir, it seems they are back."
Tang Fu suddenly looked up and saw a black spot on the river. As time went by, the black spot became clearer and clearer, and the two of them could be clearly seen.
As soon as the raft docked, Tang Fu ran to the river desperately and asked quickly: "How is it? Did you catch it?"
"I caught it, sir. It's exactly the same as the fish in the picture." Before the man could answer, the guard quickly shouted happily.
Then he and the man worked together to pull up the fishing net dragged behind the raft. A strange fish four to five feet long was firmly trapped in the fishing net and pulled out of the water.
Everyone worked together to drag the fishing net to the shore, and then the man carefully opened the fishing net bit by bit. Tang Fu took a look and saw that it was indeed the fish in the painting.
As the restraints of the fishing net were untied, the soft-shelled turtle began to struggle violently.
"Quick, hold it down." Tang Fu shouted anxiously.
Although the soft-shelled turtle is extremely powerful underwater, after it was out of the water, it had nowhere to use its strength, and everyone quickly grabbed hold of it.
"Quick, hurry back to the capital immediately." Tang Fu immediately ordered.
"Yes, sir." After finally finding this turtle, everyone was extremely excited. Several people quickly put the fish into the water tanks that had been prepared and immediately sent them back to Xin Guogong's Mansion on fast horses.
Tang Fu laughed loudly, patted the man on the shoulder and said: "Fifteen taels of gold, I will give it to you now. Come and bring the money."
The man's face was full of joy, but he waved his hands and said, "No, no, no, no need for fifteen taels, ten taels is enough."
As he said that, he glanced at the person who went to catch fish with him and said, "If it hadn't been for this brother, let alone catching the fish this time, we might have ended up with our guts torn apart. "
Tang Fu was just happy, but now he noticed that there were scars on one of the man's arms and thighs. He couldn't help but asked with concern: "Your injuries are not serious, are they?"
The man glanced at his arm and replied with a smile: "No, they are just superficial injuries. They are not harmful. They will be fine in a few days."
Tang Fu nodded, relieved. Then he said with a smile: "Don't worry, you deserve this, just take it. As for him, there will naturally be another reward."
The man stopped trying to evade and felt relieved.
At this time, the guard took the gold over. A small gold ingot and five gold beans, ten taels of gold ingots, and one tael of gold beans. There is also a line of inscriptions on the gold ingot, "Made by the Ministry of Finance in October of the 20th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, one ingot of full color and twelve weights." The golden bean has nothing engraved on it, it is just a round bean.
Although the man was illiterate, he had heard rumors about gold. Just the golden luster made him feel excited and couldn't help but feel excited. After getting it, he put the gold ingot in his mouth and took a bite slowly.
"How is it? Is it sweet?" Tang Fu asked with a smile.
The man nodded repeatedly and replied with a smile on his face: "Sweet, so sweet!"
Tang Fu laughed and said: "The better the gold, the sweeter it is. These are the finest pure gold, and of course they are the sweetest."
"Thank you, sir." The man was also full of gratitude. He didn't expect that the noble prince in front of him would actually promise a huge sum of money. He was told to give him fifteen taels of gold, so he gave him fifteen taels of gold, not a penny less.
Tang Fu got on his horse and said to the man: "I am in a hurry to return to Beijing, so I won't send you back. But if you put it down, I will send someone to send you back safely."
"Thank you, Master." The man thanked Tang Fu again and refused kindly: "But there is no need to trouble Master, I can just go back by myself."
Tang Fu smiled slightly and said, "You still don't know how dangerous people's hearts are. If I don't send someone back with you, I'm afraid you won't be able to keep your gold."
Fifteen taels of gold is enough to make people take risks. When Tang Fu originally offered the price to the man, he didn't hide it from the other people around him in order to catch the turtle. As long as the news that the man caught the turtle is sent back, everyone will know that he must have won fifteen taels of gold. It's really hard to say what will happen by then.
Afterwards, Tang Fu ordered the two guards: "Take him and go to the county government office first. Tell the county magistrate here that this is a person from the government of my country, and let him take care of him."
"Sir, put it down, I'll know what to do later." The two men nodded immediately.
Tang Fu then turned the horse's head with confidence, picked up the reins and rode away.
And even a guard took the man to the county government office and handed Tang Fu's name card.
When the county magistrate saw Tang Fu's name card, he was so shocked that the book in his hand fell to the ground with a "clack". Ignoring picking up the book, the county magistrate hurried outside the county government office, preparing to welcome Tang Fu.
After going out, only three people were seen standing outside the Yamen. The three of them were not dressed like the second son of the Duke of Xinguo. The county magistrate was puzzled for a while, and he raised his hands and asked: "May I ask which one is the second son of the Duke? I am..."
A guard stretched out his hand to interrupt the magistrate's words and said directly: "Young master has important matters and has returned to the capital. This time we are here on your orders..."
The county magistrate is as smart as he knows what to do as soon as he hears it. He enthusiastically invited the three people into the county government office, prepared a table of good food and wine, and entertained them. Finally, he enthusiastically sent the three people out of the yamen. Until the backs of the three people could no longer be seen, he leisurely walked into the county yamen with his hands behind his back.
Tang Fu's guess was correct, there was indeed someone who wanted to kill the man.
As for why these people knew that the man had successfully caught the turtle, it was actually very simple. In the eyes of these people, if a man from a high-ranking family like Xinguo Gongfu fails to accomplish things for them, he will definitely be left with nothing to do. As long as they see that the man is safe and sound, they will know that the man must have helped Duke Xinguo's government catch the turtle. In this case, the gold will probably fall into the hands of the man.
However, after the county magistrate's actions, those with ulterior motives gave up their thoughts on the man. Since the county magistrate values men so much, they don't dare to attack men. Let alone fifteen taels of gold, even one hundred and fifty taels is not worth offending the magistrate.
As for why they weren't worried about offending Duke Xinguo's government? That's because no one would believe that the highest sect in the Ming Dynasty would care about the life and death of a fisherman.
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