"Excuse me, sir, this is the direction of Shanbu Tou Village?" a sturdy man of about 28 or 29 years old asked, standing in front of an old man while holding a maroon forest horse. Not far behind him, eight men of various ages were riding on horseback, walking slowly.
The old man was walking on the trail with a large load of dry firewood on his back. When he saw a strong man in a traditional robe coming to ask, he quickly put down the load of firewood, bowed his back and replied, "Yes, sir. Just follow the trail." Five or six miles away, there is a small fork in front of you on the right, and you will arrive at the fork in two miles."
The strong man in robes held his hand and thanked him, "Thank you for your guidance. It's just the beginning of the new year, and it's very cold here. I have a pot of hot wine and some meat, so I'll give it to you to warm yourself up!" The strong man saw the old man's clothes. He was thin and stooped, and he felt pity for him, so he took the wine bottle and food bag from his waist and handed them to the old man. When did the old man see such a battle, he was afraid of his hands and feet, so he dared to take it, "My lord has beaten me, how dare I ask you for food and wine!"
The strong man refused, put the wine bottle and food bag on the firewood pole, thanked him and left. Not far away, the oldest man on horseback smiled and said to a middle-aged man in fine clothes, "Master, I'm afraid our two brothers Fu are going to be hungry at noon."
The middle-aged man in fine clothes looked at the sturdy man who was walking by and said with a smile, "Haha, although the second brother Fu is a warrior, he has a kind and warm heart. Since he kindly gave away his lunch, how could he go hungry? Just let him go and eat with me in a while." At that moment, everyone on the horse laughed happily.
A strong man came on horseback, reined up his horse and stopped in front of a group of people, and reported, "Sir, follow this path for five or six miles, then turn right on the small fork and walk two miles and you'll be there."
The middle-aged man in fine clothes took off the wine bottle and food bag from his waist and threw them at the strong man. He said with a smile, "Second brother Fu, I will treat you to a meal of wine and meat at noon!" Fu Xun took it and looked at the crowd blankly. .
A group of people rode their horses forward. When they passed the old man, the middle-aged man in fine clothes took the reins of his horse, bowed his hands to him, and began to drive the horse away.
The nine people here are Mei Siyuan, the newly appointed Secretary of the Anxian Salt Transportation Bureau, Yun Yuan, Yun Hu, Yun Yao and his son, Fu Chun, four servants of the Mei Mansion, and four close guards brought from the Qingxi Chasi Mansion. This trip was from Fuzhou Salt Administration Bureau to Fuyang Town near Blind Mountain to find a site to build a salt farm.
"Among the six states under the jurisdiction of Anxian, Fuzhou is the most prosperous. However, as we have seen along the way over the past few days, the people are living in great hardship. From this, we can know that the people's livelihood in the other five states has deteriorated." Mei Siyuan sighed. "Why not!" Fu Zhen answered. Everyone kept talking all the way and rode slowly.
After going about five miles, he saw a small road extending to the right about a hundred feet away. Fu Zhen saw it and rode his horse forward quickly. Once he was on the small road, he was nowhere to be seen. Ba Qi arrived at the fork in the road and saw Fu Chuan driving his horse fast on the path.
"Hey~~", Fu Zhen reined in his horse and stopped, holding his hand to report, "Sir, Shanpotou Village is just ahead. I have asked the security chief to wait at the entrance of the village."
"Very good, let's go and take a look at the geography of Shanbu Tou Village!" Mei Siyuan said. A large group of people came towards the path in a mighty manner, with Fu Chuan leading the way and Yunyuan Dian following behind.
A few miles away from the entrance of the village, a skinny middle-aged man led four old men to greet everyone. He looked panicked. He was still more than ten feet away from Fu Pun's horse before he knelt on the ground and shouted, "Shanbu Tou Village." Li Facai, the chief security officer, led four clan officials to pay homage to the Chief Secretary!" These five people had obviously never seen such a scene, and they couldn't possibly know that He Pinyi, the Chief Secretary of Salt Transport, was an official. They only noticed that these nine people were dressed in rich clothes. , the robes are majestic and exquisite, he must be a big shot who can stand up to the sky, so he is kneeling on the ground at this moment, not daring to look at the crowd, for fear of causing trouble.
"Bao Zhang Li, please get up quickly! We are here to disturb you a lot, so please lead the way and clear out a few rooms for us to stay," Mei Siyuan said warmly.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Xiaomin, let's do it now!" After saying that, he stood up and pushed the old man aside. After hearing what Mei Siyuan said and receiving the hint from the security chief, the old man already understood and went to the village with all his strength. He ran away, obviously to arrange the accommodation for a group of pedestrians. Without waiting for Mei Siyuan's instructions, Fu Pun followed him on horseback.
Shanbutou Village is a large village in Fuyang Town, with more than 500 registered households and more than 2,400 people, old and young. The biggest rich man in the village is a wealthy family named Zhu, who owns nearly 2,000 acres of land at the foot of Blind Mountain. The youngest who discovered the salt mine earlier is his family's tenant. The clan steward who arranged accommodation for everyone hurried to the wealthy family named Zhu and explained the reason. The wealthy man surnamed Zhu met the old steward, listened to what he said, and said that he didn't dare to have any objections. He hurriedly called his female family members and servants to prepare food and accommodation and drove away.
The old steward got Zhu Fuhu's permission and hurriedly reported to Fu Pun outside the door. "Your Majesty, Shanpotou Village is a small rural area, and Mr. Zhu's residence is the only place suitable for hosting guests. I hope you will forgive me!"
"In other words, the old gentleman is too polite. Just take me to meet the owner of this house!" As Mei Siyuan's personal attendant, Fu Pun always does things in a rough and detailed manner.
The old steward agreed and led Fu Pun back to Zhu's Mansion.
"Young man Zhu Youzhuan, have you met your lord!" After Zhu Youhu finished speaking, he was about to bow down. Fu Chu hurriedly pulled it, took out a silver ingot from his belt and said to him, "Mr. Zhu is so polite. My lord has lunch at noon. Maybe I will rest in the treasure place at night, and I will take the trouble to clean up five clean rooms. I have five taels of official ingots and silver to cover the expenses."
"The people do not fight with officials." Since ancient times, people have been as afraid of officials as mice and cats, regardless of age or age, rich or poor. Although Zhu Youzhuan is the richest man in the village, he thinks that he is not worth mentioning in front of the officials. At this time, when he saw Fu Zhen handed over the money, he was surprised and suspicious, and said hurriedly, "The official has come from afar to work hard, and the common people are lucky enough to entertain me. How can I ask for your wealth?"
Fu Chu still wanted to greet everyone, but without saying much, he put the silver ingot on the table and hurried out.
"Master, this is the place!" Fu Zun came after everyone, still twenty or thirty feet away from the main gate of Zhu's Mansion, and pointed to the door of the mansion. Zhu Youzhuan and his family members were already waiting in front of the door. Seeing Mei Siyuan's nine cavalry approaching, he immediately knelt down and said, "Zhu Youzhuan of Shanbutou Village and his family are waiting for you, Mr. Salt Transport Administration Secretary!" This Zhu Youzhuan and that one The old steward and the security chief seemed to be well-educated people, and there was little hint of the wilderness in their words.
"Mr. Zhu, you are so polite. If you are troublesome, please get up!" Mei Siyuan dismounted and said.
Zhu Youzhuan never expected that this gentleman could be so polite and courteous, so he stood up and led Mei Siyuan and his party to the mansion.
