Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang ignored it and broke into the courtyard behind the medicine shop. Dugu Wen and other Lao Jianghu quietly avoided the crowd and sneaked into the backyard. They checked the back inside and outside, but found nothing. Ye Qingyao or anyone related to Caogang or the whole family.
Just Xie Yanchang and other Caobang brothers, there were hundreds of people in the Xingjian clan, and it was absolutely impossible to hide them without any trace, so Dugu Wen could conclude that they were not in Meng Yutang.
At this time, Tuoba Chaoguang said to Dugu Xiang through the wall: "Xiang'er, do you think there is any way to help these Hequ Party Xiang Qiang people?" It turned out that everyone had already gathered in the medicine store, but He didn't take the risk of showing up in the courtyard like Shuo and Xiang.
Dugu Xiang smiled and said, "Brother Chaoguang, I need you to come forward. Come here and I will tell you what to say." However, the wooden wall panels of Meng Yutang's medicine shop are very thick and the gaps are tight, so it is difficult for Dugu Xiang's words to be heard. Tuoba looked into Guangguang's ears across the wall. Seeing this, Jiang Shuo stretched out his hand and tapped lightly on the wooden board.
With a "pop" sound, a small round hole suddenly appeared on the wall, and a small piece of wood fell to the ground opposite, startling Tuoba Chaoguang.
Jiang Shuo dug around the hole with his fingers and expanded the hole. Tuoba Chaoguang saw that the round hole was very round and smooth, with faint traces of burning around it, and he couldn't help but secretly marveled in his heart.
Dugu Xiang said: "Hey... it's not bad to have this magical skill. Now I regret giving my inner power back to Kong Kong'er." Jiang Shuo thought to himself: If you don't give it back, you will die that day, but now he learns He was a little smarter and knew that there were some truths that he couldn't tell. He just smiled and said to Xiang'er: "Teach Brother Tuoba how to help the Dangxiang Qiang people. I see that he is very anxious." Dugu Xiang came to the cave entrance and muttered. He muttered and told Tuoba Chaoguang. Tuoba Chaoguang hesitated and said, "Can this... be possible?" Dugu Xiang said, "Brother Chaoguang will know once he tries." Tuoba Chaoguang didn't even think about it. There is a better way. The little girl Xiang'er seems to be quirky. If you do what she says, you might be able to do it. So you made up your mind and walked out of the shop. One of the Xiang Qiang people said: "Get out of the way." The Xiang Qiang people saw that it was Tuo. Ba Chaoguang all bowed and saluted, and immediately gave way to a path, which seemed to be very respectful.
Tuoba Chaoguang walked up to Qimei and bowed, raised his hands and spoke a strange language, probably in Dangxiang language.
Qimei said rather coldly: "Why are you here?" Tuoba Chaoguang replied: "Brother, I'm here to help you." As soon as these words came out, Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang were both surprised. Are they brothers?
Dugu Xiang asked curiously: "Both of them are Dangxiang Qiang people. Why don't they speak their own dialect, but use Chinese?" Dugu asked: "I heard that when the Tuoba Shoujidai tribe annexed the Tang Dynasty, there were still some The young Xiang Qiang people are unwilling to leave their homeland. The two of them should be brothers. This Qimei is probably the leader of the party who stayed in Xihai, and is the same generation as Chaoguang. The Xiang Qiang people of these two parties have different choices, so naturally they cannot be called harmonious. I think Qimei doesn't speak his own language to Chaoguang, so he doesn't regard them as Party Xiang Qiang people." Sure enough, Qimei snorted coldly and said, "It's not up to the Han people to take care of the affairs of our Party Xiang Qiang people." Chao Guang said. Guang said: "Brother, this is not the time to argue. Let me have a few words with Chief Meng first." Qimei turned her head to one side without comment, bowed to him again and bowed to Guang, then turned to Meng Lu. He said: "I have heard about the name of Chief Meng for a long time. Since taking charge of Meng Yutang, he has opened medical bureaus and medicine shops all over the Tang Dynasty. It is very prosperous. Today I see him. He is indeed Zigong of the current generation." Tuoba Chaoguang said.
"Zigong" is one of the seventy-two sages of Confucius. His surname is Duanmu. He was born in a wealthy businessman's family and became a disciple of Confucius. Although his family has a lot of wealth, he is rich and benevolent.
He once raised huge sums of money to redeem slaves from the state of Lu and was revered as the ancestor of Confucian merchants. In the 27th year of the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, the sage issued an edict to posthumously confer him the title of
"Lihou" to show his virtue. Meng Lu had previously made things difficult for the Dangxiang Qiang people, but it was obviously not enough.
Tuoba Chaoguang called him a "Confucian businessman"
"Being the crown prince" obviously had a sarcastic meaning, but Meng Lu pretended not to know it and crossed his hands and said: "I don't dare to do it, I don't dare to do it...Look at your clothes, could you be from Qingzhou?" Shang Bai, a member of the party, all said. He was dressed in white, but unlike the filthy rags of the Xihai Dangxiang people, Tuoba Chaoguang's clothes were bright and bright, like a young man from a wealthy family, so Meng Lu could guess that he was a Dangxiang Qiang from Qingzhou.
Tuoba Chaoguang said: "Exactly, I am Tuoba Chaoguang. Tuoba Shouji, the Duke of Xipingbian Army in Jingbian Army, is my father." Meng Lu
He said "Oh" and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." But looking at his expression, it didn't matter.
It means "disrespectful". Although the Tuoba family in Gyeongju has the title of Duke, the foreign clans attached to the Tang Dynasty are all false titles. Khitan Li Huaixiu even named King Chongshun.
Meng Lu had no business dealings with Qingzhou, so he did not take Tuoba Chaoguang, the prince of Xiping Gong, seriously.
Meng Lu said to Tuoba Chaoguang, "Why did Tuoba Lang come to Meng Yutang here?" Tuoba Chaoguang smiled and said, "Mr. Meng misunderstood. I am not here for Meng Yutang, but just to listen." He said that his clan brother was here, so he came here to look for him." Meng Lu looked at Tuoba Chaoguang in surprise, and Chaoguang continued: "I heard that Xihai Dangxiang has a large number of good goods that have nowhere to go, so they can only sell them cheaply. , I was quite surprised, and I was about to come to show my brother a clear path." Meng Lu sneered and said: "Hey, you think I don't know what your plan is, but Meng Mou has said it first, and the nobles in Chang'an will only buy from me, Meng Yutang. Even if you send the ice silkworms to Chang'an, I'm afraid you won't be able to sell the medicinal materials." Tuoba Chaoguang said: "Master Meng misunderstood... Our Qingzhou Jingbian Army is a military household, and we don't know how to deal with medicinal materials, let alone Dare to steal Meng Yutang's business." Meng Lu looked up and down at Tuoba Chaoguang, a little unsure, and said, "Then what do you want to do?" Tuoba Chaoguang said, "My father, Duke Xiping, heard that there are ice silkworms in the West Sea. It is very popular among the nobles of Chang'an, but the saint didn't know it. He couldn't help but feel it was a pity. He also heard that the price of ice silkworms this year was as low as that of white silkworms, so he asked me to persuade my brother Tuoba to beg for plums. Anyway, they were all given away for free. , it is better to give it to the saint. When Duke Xiping goes to pilgrimage to the saint every year, he will hunt all the harvest. This year, he will pay tribute with ice silkworms..." At this point, Meng Lu shook his hands and said: "Hey... no, no, ten thousand No way..." The mop looked at the light, and it was as expected by Dugu Xiang. He couldn't help but perked up, pretending to be puzzled, and said: "Why not?" Meng Lu said: "This... how can this ice silkworm be said to be white? Damn it, my bid is not low..." A Xiang Qiang man from the Xihai Party behind Tuoba Qimei spat: "Why not? Ice silkworms are extremely rare. The best ice silkworms are produced in the mountains of Hequ. Today, Hequ For the Tibetan people, the easily available ice silkworms along the West Sea have long been dug up by the Tibetan people. The Xiang Qiang people of our party can only search deep into the remote mountains. It is summer to collect ice silkworms. Firstly, the grass is deep and it is extremely difficult to find them. Secondly, they are very difficult to find. The weather has changed drastically. On the plateau, thunderstorms can kill people!" It turns out that the winds and clouds on the He meander plateau are very fast, and the climate is changing very fast. It was clear and clear just one moment, and suddenly it was cloudy and rainy the next moment.
There are no trees on the plateau, and people on the barren mountains are extremely vulnerable to lightning strikes. People who run a little on the plateau will get flustered and short of breath, and cannot run long distances like they can on the plains. They often lower their heads and carefully search for ice silkworms, and suddenly it becomes dark. When you realize that a thunderstorm is coming, it's already too late to run away.
Every day, many Dangxiang Qiang people are bitten by poisonous grass and insects in the barren mountains, or are struck by lightning. Some even get lost and fall to death in strong winds and heavy rains, or are buried in landslides caused by heavy rains. It can be said that it is very dangerous, and it takes a narrow escape to find this place. A little iceworm.
Meng Yutang is extremely strict when collecting ice silkworms. Even if the price is low, he has extremely high requirements for quality. If there is any damage, he will not accept the goods. Therefore, the Dangxiang Qiang people gather the ice silkworms in one place and sell them to Later, Meng Yutang first sympathized with the deceased clan members generously, and then divided the money equally among the whole clan.
The purchase price paid by Meng Yutang this year is really not enough to even support the family of the deceased. However, if the price is too low, it will be used as tribute to the Emperor of Tang Dynasty. The people of Xiangqiang medicine in Xihai are somewhat reluctant. After all, Meng Yutang gave it No matter how low the price is, it is still a treasure. If you pay tribute, you will get nothing this year.
Someone immediately said: "But we have to pay tribute..." Tuoba Qimei took the lead and said: "That's right! In this case, it is better to pay tribute. I heard that the saint is very generous. If the ice silkworm gets the saint's favor, the reward will be generous. It's better than selling it for cheap today!" Although Tuoba Qimei didn't know what Tuoba Chaoguang was planning, he saw that Meng Lu looked extremely worried and knew that Chaoguang must have a plan, so he cooperated with Chaoguang and said that the cheap medicine is not as good as paying tribute. .
Meng Lu shook his head and said: "Brother Qimei, please don't be confused! How many rare things the saint received as tribute every year during the Qianqiu Festival? I'm afraid the ice silkworms presented would not be able to catch the saint's eyes at all. If How can you survive the harsh winter this year without rewards...I...I am thinking all about you!" The Xiang Qiang people in the Xihai Party whispered to each other. Most of them thought Meng Lu was right, and some wanted to persuade Tuo Ba Qimei said: "Patriarch, I think Chief Meng is polite in what he said. Although selling to Meng Yutang is cheap, it is better than fetching water in a bamboo basket and getting nothing..." Tuoba Chaoguang said: "Hey...that's a bad statement. Come on... You sold it to Meng Yutang at a low price this year, and what if he lowers the price next year? If this goes on for many years, the Xiang Qiang people of the Xihai Party will be forced to death by Meng Lu." Tuoba Qimei had already decided that Chaoguang Tuoba Qimei's tribute policy made Meng Lu submit, and he also said: "That's right! Rather than being killed by a slow knife, it's better to pay tribute and give it a try!" Tuoba Qimei is very prestigious among the tribe, and everyone listened to his decisive words and joined in. Shout: "Pay tribute! Pay tribute!"
"I won't sell Meng Yutang!"
"Old Meng Lu wants ice silkworms, go dig it yourself in the West Sea!" Amid the commotion, Meng Lu said anxiously: "Okay, okay, Qimei, is everything easy to negotiate? You think my price is low, but I can't Didn’t I say you can’t bargain? Tell me, tell me... how much will you pay before you’re willing to sell it to me?” Tuoba Qimei raised her hand and said to Meng Lu, “Just the price three years ago!” Meng Lu He was surprised: "Just now you said the price was based on five years ago, how did it become three years ago?" Five years ago, Meng Yutang suppressed other drug stores in order to compete for ice silkworms, and kept raising the price. Three years ago, it reached the highest price. When the price was high, other merchants either failed or left. After the Meng Yutang family became dominant, they began to keep lowering the price. This year, the price was only half of what it was five years ago.
Therefore, Qimei said that based on the price three years ago, that was the highest price. Tuoba Qimei Road;
"That's because you have lowered the price too hard in the past two years. You have to make up for it this year and next! The original price will be restored in three years." Meng Lu gritted his teeth after hearing this, and Tuoba said to Guang: "Brother, I think Master Meng is too It's too difficult, it's better not to sell it, listen to me and pay tribute." Meng Lu said hurriedly: "No, no, no, no..." He stamped his foot and said, "Okay, it's up to you!" Tuoba Qimei didn't expect Meng Lu He was overjoyed that he agreed, and Tuoba Chaoguang said: "We must establish a written document." Meng Lu gave Tuoba Chaoguang a hard look. He already knew that what Chaoguang said about paying tribute was probably a threat, but Duke Xiping Although it is a false title, he does have the qualifications to pay tribute. In fact, even if he collects ice silkworms at the price three years ago, he will still make a lot of money. If the Dangxiang Qiang people really use ice silkworms as tribute, they will really lose their money. He didn't dare to take the risk, so he could only grit his teeth and say: "Okay! Let's make a 'contract'!" Jiang Shuo asked curiously: "Xianger, is your idea about paying tribute? Why would Meng Lu be afraid of paying tribute when he heard about it? Like a tiger?"
