Shao Xi took out a one-hundred-gold silver note and placed it in front of Tao Qingyun. Tao Qingyun was stunned, wondering what Shao Xi's intention was.
Shao Xi glanced at him and said with a smile: "Originally, you donated all your salary to the poor people in Nanshui County. Now you saved your salary to treat me to this drink. Isn't it a loss to the local people?" Common people? You take this hundred gold, keep some for yourself to improve your life, and use the rest to help the people who live in poverty! It can be regarded as a little thing that I have done for you Nanshui County. You don't want to do this. You can refuse, otherwise you will disregard the life and death of the people and insist on saving face to protect your official reputation. If you do this, I will look down on you."
Seeing Shao Xi blocking the conversation, Tao Qingyun couldn't laugh or cry. It seemed that he really couldn't accept the hundred gold, so he thanked Shao Xi on behalf of the local people and put the banknote in his arms.
For him, this hundred gold silver note is the largest fortune he has ever seen in his life. According to the extent of his daily aid to the local people, who knows how many people will be helped by so much silver?
Shao Xi's move also moved Tao Qingyun. He didn't expect that he had lived a long time and was not as good as the young man in front of him. Tao Qingyun really felt that he was born at the wrong time.
Shao Xi saw the emotion in Tao Qingyun's heart at this time, so he picked up the wine glass, toasted to Tao Qingyun and said: "Master Tao is determined to benefit the people, so I will do my best to create more benefits for Master Tao." Convenience will give Mr. Tao more opportunities to do more things for the Jingyuan court and the people. You can rest assured and be your county guard here, and when I return to the court, I will find a suitable opportunity to recommend it to the Holy Emperor. Like you It is such a waste to have such an official in this small southern county, you should do more."
When Tao Qingyun saw that Shao Xi intended to recommend him in front of the Holy Emperor, he was immediately moved. He picked up his wine glass and stood up to toast Shao Xi. He kept expressing his gratitude to Shao Xi and his determination to devote his whole life to the Jingyuan court and the people.
Looking at Tao Qingyun in front of him, and then thinking about Cui Qi in Yujiang County, Shao Xi felt quite emotional.
Why is it so difficult for officials who are truly willing to do things for the people to advance upwards, while those mediocre people who are just sitting on a plain diet can walk in the court with ease? Isn’t it because of profit?
In the officialdom, when one person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.
In order to protect their own interests, everyone is nepotistic, and they even claim to promote the virtuous without avoiding relatives. In fact, aren't they just engaging in small circles and family power? In order to make the power in his hands become more and more powerful, and the benefits he obtains become more and more abundant.
Excluding all those who have no background and no support from the circle, they have completely forgotten that the fundamental purpose of being an official is to make the country strong and the people rich.
Shao Xi despises people who disregard the interests of the court and the people for their own selfish interests. However, there are the most people like this in the court, so Shao Xi wants to do his best to change this situation. The current situation is that at least there should be officials in the court who ask for orders for the people. Otherwise, the court will be corrupt and the country will not be a country.
Shao Xi and the others were arranged by Tao Qingyun to move into the Sheriff's Mansion that night. Just as Tao Qingyun promised before Shao Xi and others left for Southern Zhao, the largest and best rooms were reserved for them in the Sheriff's Mansion.
Shao Xi asked Tao Qingyun to prepare a large ship for him. He planned to board the ship early the next morning and go northward by water to Yuzhou. After entering Yuzhou, he would then ride overland to Lingyu Mountain.
Although Tao Qingyun was reluctant to leave and wanted to keep Shao Xi for a longer time, he also knew that Shao Xi still had important things to do and it was inconvenient to try to persuade him to stay, so he arranged for Shao Xi to have the largest official ship in Nanshui County. Xi.
That night, the two also had a long conversation, talking about world affairs, the strategy of governing the country, and the suffering of the people. Tao Qingyun's enthusiasm moved Shao Xi even more deeply, and he determined to recommend him after returning to Beijing. This person’s determination.
Early the next morning, Shao Xi and the others boarded the ship and set off for Yuzhou. After saying goodbye to a few people, Tao Qingyun stood on the ferry and watched the ship go away, feeling inexplicably sad in his heart.
I was a county guard in this remote Nanshui County. I originally thought that there would be no way to advance in my life. As long as I took good care of the local people, it was my lifelong duty. However, I never dreamed that I would encounter something like this. Such a young and promising person.
Although the time they got together was short, the two were extremely attracted to each other. Now that Shao Xi is far away and he doesn't know when they will see each other again, Tao Qingyun can only lament that life is unpredictable.
Seeing Shao Xi's boat gradually disappearing, Tao Qingyun sighed and turned back to the Sheriff's Mansion.
No matter what, the people in this county still need me, and I still have to be a good parent official of this place as always, so as not to let down the people's trust in me.
Although the official ship Tao Qingyun arranged for Shao Xi was the largest official ship in Nanshui County, it was much shabby and smaller than the official ship he had taken when he came from Yujiang County. After all, it was only a small county. This is the best official ship Tao Qingyun can find.
At least Da Qing was able to get Da Qing Pingping onto the ship, which was good for Shao Xi.
However, although the boat is small, the speed of the boat is not slow at all. This is because Tao Qingyun has arranged for Shao Xi to be the most experienced boatmen. Originally, people from Nanshui County are good at driving boats, and these few are all As a veteran, the boat was running fast and steadily along the way, which made Shao Xi very satisfied.
The official ship took the Guangling River all the way north along the waterway it came from before, passed Beiling County and returned to the Yujiang River. After traveling for a while in the direction of Yujiang County, it turned north and entered the Guping River.
Shao Xi took Lao Wu and Wu Qiu'er to disembark in Guping County, which they passed through before, and planned to head north to Lingyu Mountain by land.
After the three of them got off the boat with the horses and the big green ox, Shao Xi sent the boatman back and rode the horses and the big green ox northward along the river for a while until they came to a small town.
This small town happens to guard a lake in the upper reaches of the Guping River. This lake is called Zhiqiu Lake. The lake is wide and covered with fog all year round, making it look like a fairyland.
Because the town is adjacent to this lake, the town's name is Zhiqiu Town.
After the three of them arrived in the town, they first stayed at the only inn in the town. This inn was also called Zhiqiu Inn! Shaoqi lamented that the local people were really simple and trouble-free. They all named themselves Zhiqiu when they lived by Zhiqiu Lake.
After a few people settled in the inn, Shao Xi wanted to go out for a walk, but Lao Wu and Wu Qiu'er didn't want to go shopping. They would rather stay in the inn to drink and eat meat. Shao Xi didn't bother to care about them, so he went shopping alone on the street.
By this time, the sky had darkened, and when it was time to turn on the lanterns, the wine shops, teahouses, singing studios, and theaters in the town were bustling with activity. Today was the Chinese Valentine's Day, and many women went to the Zhiqiu Lake to worship the Weaver Girl.
In fact, there is nothing special about worshiping the Weaver Girl. Most of the women make appointments with their friends or neighbors in advance, and five, six, or even ten people jointly hold the ceremony.
The ceremony is to set up a table under the moonlight and place tea, wine, fruits, five seeds and other sacrifices on the table. The five seeds refer to longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts and melon seeds, praying for yourself or for the women in your family. The child prays for a clever mind and will be loved by her husband's family when she marries in the future.
There are also some women who go out in groups to fight for luck in the street and have a great time. There are even pairs of men and women who go to the lake to pray for a happy marriage. This small town actually has a lot of fun on the night of begging for luck. It seemed extremely lively.
Shao Xi wandered around for a while and then came to a wine shop near the lake. Although this wine shop was not big, its name was very elegant, it was called Meng Yuxuan.
I walked into the wine shop and found a seat by the window. When I turned around, I could see the awning boat floating on the lake with its lanterns hung on it.
The waiter at the wine shop knew that Shao Xi was not an ordinary customer by looking at his dress, so he hurried over to greet him. When Shao Xi inquired about it, it turned out that this seemingly small wine shop had the most famous local Huadiao wine, and the chef was best at cooking the mandarin fish produced in Zhiqiu Lake.
Shao Xi heard that since there was such a local delicacy, he might as well try it, so he ordered a mandarin duck and mandarin fish, and asked for a jar of Huadiao that had been brewed for ten years.
The waiter saw that this was indeed a distinguished guest. Ordinary guests would order three-year-old wine or five-year-old wine. The more wealthy guests would order eight-year wine at most. This guest immediately ordered the jar as soon as he arrived. After ten years of brewing, it seems that he is indeed a wealthy owner.
So he hurriedly asked the chef to quickly cook a mandarin duck and mandarin fish, and then went to the backyard to pick up a jar of Huadiao fine wine that was more than ten years old. After boiling it and putting it in a pot, he poured it into the wine cup for Shao Xi.
Shao Xi took a sip, and it was indeed mellow, sweet, and soft in the mouth. After one sip, he wanted to take a second sip, so he asked the waiter to bring the whole altar of flower sculptures over and drink while hot.
Not long after, the cooked mandarin fish was also brought up. Shao Xi picked up a piece of fish meat and put it in his mouth. He couldn't help but admire the tenderness, deliciousness, plump meat and fragrant teeth and cheeks. The chef's skills were really good.
It was originally time to eat, and the food and wine were very delicious. Shao Xi unknowingly ate the whole fish on the plate, and he also drank most of the Huadiao in the jar. .
At this time, he still felt that it was not enough, so he asked the waiter to tell the cook to fry two more side dishes. He planned to drink the entire jar of Huadiao.
Not long after, Shao Xi was so drunk that his ears were hot and his face was rosy. He squinted his eyes and held a wine cup in his hand. He suddenly felt inspired by poetry and couldn't help but recite casually:
The clouds are far away from the purple dust, and the brocade is as beautiful as the green end.
The clear breeze and bright moon are drunk, and the dream of Qionglou is Yuxuan.
When the wine shop owner heard this, he realized that this noble man actually wrote a poem about their wine shop. He quickly picked up a pen and recorded Shao Xi's poem on paper, and even ran over to express his thanks in person.
Shao Xi raised his hand, which was done casually, but the shopkeeper was really a little surprised.
At this time, cheers came from the next table.
"Okay! It is indeed a good poem! This Huadiao wine is indeed more delicious when paired with the young master's poem."
