Zhang Jun walked out of the inn and stretched. Looking at a bush tree next to the house not far ahead, it was covered with red bushes. I don’t know why, but no one picked it and ate it, not far from the city.
Li Chengle came out of the house and saw Zhang Jun standing there motionless, looking into the distance. He couldn't help but stepped forward and followed Zhang Jun's eyes, but found nothing. He said, "Commander, what are you doing standing here?"
Zhang Jun pointed to the tree and said, "It's strange. It's very pitiful to see that many people in Tangzhou City have no food to eat. There are trees full of tree in front of us, but why is no one picking them to eat? At least we can fill our stomachs."
After hearing this, Li Chengle smiled and said: "Commander, you can't eat too much of this thing, you can only eat it fresh. Now what the people are short of in their stomachs is rice and meat, so how dare they eat it?"
Zhang Jun nodded, then shook his head after a while: "No. Poor people don't eat it, so they can pick it and sell it for money."
Li Chengle said: "In the mountains in this area, there are bushes all over the mountains and plains. If you want to eat, just pick a few from the roadside. Anyone who wants to spend money will take it!"
Zhang Jun smiled after hearing this: "I see. Although this place is flat, there are quite a few bushes."
Li Chengle said: "That's natural. There are such trees everywhere in the nearby mountains, and there are naturally many in the flatlands."
Zhang Jun nodded. He turned around and looked at the inn and said, "Are those people not up yet? Is it possible to sleep like this?"
Li Chengle smiled and said, "Of course it's natural. We all work with the commander, who dares to be lazy? The commander said he was leaving today, so they packed up and saluted there. The journey to Dengzhou is not close, how many days will it take."
"Well, it's good that you know." Zhang Jun nodded. "The money you brought on the road has almost been spent. Come with me to a gold and silver shop to exchange for some money. After paying the room fee, we are on our way."
After saying that, he took Li Chengle out of the inn. After staying in Tangzhou for a few days, I already knew the location of the gold and silver shop, so I took my time and went there.
At this time, copper coins were commonly used in the world. It's just that copper coins are too heavy, and in many places you need to pay taxes if you bring a large amount of copper coins, so you won't carry a large amount when traveling long distances. When Zhang Jun and others left Ye County, Wang Xiaolie gave them fifty taels of silver. The gold and silver shop is in the business of exchanging copper coins for gold and silver. Gold and silver shops and bookstores in the Song Dynasty were spread all over the country. They were not ordinary businesses, but also had some official color.
Walking on the road, Zhang Jun said: "Now that the war is in chaos, I don't know how to do the business of the gold and silver shop."
Li Chengle said: "What's the point? As long as the officials allow them to do it, they can continue to do it. Who doesn't love money as an official? If these gold and silver shops make money every month, there will naturally be people to support them."
Zhang Jun nodded. After living in Tangzhou for a few days, I am already familiar with the general situation.
The person who manages Tangzhou now is a small school that used to be in the military. After the Jin soldiers retreated, he gathered more than 500 people in exile and occupied the city. After Zhao Gou ascended the throne, he also issued an official notice to them, making them the governor of the state.
Unlike Wang Xiaolie, these small official schools have no long-term plans. Occupying a city does have the effect of stabilizing the place. On the other hand, they only care about money and leave most other things alone. At this time, the city of Tangzhou was full of fish and dragons, and it was very chaotic.
When he arrived at the gold and silver shop, Zhang Jun asked his supervisor about today's silver price, then took out a five-tael silver ingot and asked him to exchange it for copper coins.
After changing the money and letting Li Chengle take it, the two slowly walked back to the inn.
In a roadside tea shop, a man watched the two people leave, got up and entered the gold and silver shop. After entering the door and seeing no one inside, the man said to the supervisor behind the counter: "Director Tan, how much gold and silver did the customer just exchange for?"
Manager Tan said: "It's not a big deal, I just exchanged five taels of silver."
The man said: "Take the silver ingot and let me see!"
Although Manager Tan was reluctant, he still handed over the silver ingot that Zhang Jun had just exchanged.
The man held the silver ingot in his hand and looked left and right. He said: "This silver ingot looks very regular and was not cast by a private person. Director Tan, you have been in this business for decades, can you tell where it came from?"
Manager Tan said: "Isn't it engraved on the silver ingot? It was cast by Henan Prefecture in Xijing. It is an official silver ingot."
The man agreed. If you look carefully at the silver ingot, you will see that there are many words engraved on it. It's just that I can't read, so I can't see anything famous.
After playing with it for a while, the man handed the silver ingot back. Said: "In the opinion of the supervisor, are these two guests from wealthy families? When they took out the silver ingots, was there any money left in their bags?"
Manager Tan said: "I'm doing business, so where do I pay attention to those things?"
The man sneered after hearing this: "Supervisor, the continuation of this business here depends entirely on our support. If you shirk like this, you are blind! As a supervisor, how can you not observe these things? Come on, tell me!" "
Manager Tan had no choice but to say: "The person who exchanged money was a young customer. He took out the silver ingot and didn't care. Judging from his appearance, he had a big wallet, and I guess there should be more in it. If you exchange money like this, you must come from a wealthy family. .”
The man listened and smiled: "That's good. With us taking care of you, you can do business here. Whatever I ask you, you answer, and the rest of the things have nothing to do with you. The war is in chaos now, so it's better to be smarter."
The supervisor sighed. After a while he asked, "Aren't you going to rob this guest of his money?"
The man said coldly: "You don't need to know these things! Okay, I'm going, don't ask any more questions!"
After saying that, the man left the gold and silver shop and returned to the tea stall. The two men sitting there asked hurriedly: "Brother Sun, how are you doing?"
The man surnamed Sun said: "The question is clear. He is a kid from a rich family. He just went to the gold and silver shop to exchange five taels of silver. According to what the supervisor said, judging from his appearance, he should still have gold and silver on him."
The man next to him clapped his hands: "You bastard, you really have a business! In the past half month, there haven't been any decent merchants in Tangzhou City. How can we survive? Look at this customer, he's so careless, it must be a good deal!"
The man surnamed Sun said: "Such a rich boy will be followed when he goes out. We should not be careless. Send someone to the inn where he lives to check. See how many people follow him and whether he has a knife or a gun. Be careful!"
The two men nodded repeatedly after hearing this, looking eager to try.
At this time, the surrounding prefectures and counties were occupied by strongmen and were in chaos, with business and travel blocked. The same is true in Tangzhou. The nominal magistrate only manages a large structure, and there are countless rats and snakes below. These people were a group of robbers, twelve of them in total. In order to have a good reputation, he randomly recruited an idler and became his brother, calling him the "Thirteen Taibao".
This group of people is a powerful force in Tangzhou City. Collecting protection fees from local merchants, robbing merchants, there's nothing they won't do. It’s just that business travel has been blocked in recent months. Although Tangzhou is located on an important road, no foreign merchants have come for several months. Without anyone to rob, these people would have been exhausted.
