When the old man arrived, the Zhang family cleared out three courtyards for him. At this time, it was impossible for the old man to stay in an inn. They would first arrange for the main members of the family to stay in the courtyard. The guards did not need to stay in the courtyard.
After lunch, the old man and the others went to rest. After all, they had traveled for a long time. If there was anything else, they could talk about it tomorrow.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan began to arrange the fleet. Xin Er had already leaked the news that the Ning family might arrive in about ten days. They were going to travel by water. The two of them hurriedly blocked the water route.
It was impolite not to reciprocate. Wasn't Qin Province able to stop the caravan here and ask for money? If they forced Lu Zhou to take a detour, they would be unhappy if Lu Zhou did not stop them. It was only right for them to reciprocate.
They had already harvested a portion of the rice. They did not plan to harvest the rice directly. Instead, they directly transported the rice to the neighboring provinces. After the flood, some rice was replanted there and ripened earlier than here. They would use the rice here to trade with the other provinces.
The relief supplies from the imperial court had also arrived. They would be distributed according to the number of people in the household register. They would only be given three months' worth of rations. It was unknown what the other provinces would do with the rations, but Lu Zhou directly used the rations to make wine. Wine was easier to sell at the seaside.
As long as the price was lower, it would be fine. People who went out to sea could not afford to drink wine. Usually, people who went fishing would get sick when they were old. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan planned to distill some low-alcohol wine that had a higher alcohol content than rice wine. When the time came, they would sell it to the surrounding fishermen. They did not have to buy it with cash. They could trade it with fish and prawns.
During the disaster, Zhang Xiaobao did not expect the imperial court to be able to send enough things over at the critical moment. That was simply impossible. This time, the food that was sent over was only checked and directly put into the warehouse. Naturally, the quantity was not right. It was originally old grain, but there was actually sand in it.
*****
When the old man arrived at his destination and was about to take a look around, Lu Zhou was about to finish harvesting the rice and the people were about to live a good life, Cao Herui and the other two finally arrived at the yamen of Qin Province.
Cao Herui, Fan Jianxi, and Jiang Huanshi had rushed all the way here in such a short time. It had to be said that the three of them had the talent to be scouts. Outsiders didn't know how much hardship they had suffered. When there was a road, they could hitch a ride with other people's carriages. When there was no road, they could only walk by themselves.
The three of them actually managed to walk in a straight line. When they saw the yamen of Ginzhou, the three of them cried tears of joy. At this point, the three of them were wearing tattered clothes. Their bodies were covered with countless wounds, and their faces were stained with mud. The first impression they gave people was that they had escaped from somewhere else.
"Let's see how much money we have. They had to change their clothes before they could meet the Tang Governor Of Ning. If they went in like this, it seemed impossible to meet him. I have 30 copper coins here. "
Jiang Huanshi looked at the yamen in front of them, but she did not dare to go in. There were already people there who had noticed the three of them and were on guard. If they went in directly, they would be lucky if they did not get beaten to death.
Jiang Huanshi took out thirty copper coins and held them in her hand as she said to the two people.
Fan Jianxi also searched her body and found 22 copper coins. The two of them looked at Cao Herui again, waiting for a surprise or a feeling of falling into hell.
Needless to say, Cao Herui had more money than the two of them. He even had a piece of broken silver on him. In addition to the one copper coin, he also had 13 copper coins. The three of them were relieved. With this money, they could not buy a good set of clothes, but they could find an inn to stay in and change into normal clothes.
The three of them were preparing to find an inn to rest for a day, then change their clothes and come here to find the person. Suddenly, a 13 or 14 year old child rushed over. His speed was so fast that the three of them who saw hope and relaxed did not react in time.
The child ran past them, and Cao Herui's copper coins and silver coins were gone. Jiang Huanshi and Fan Jianxi were better. They did not put on their copper coins. When the child caught them, he left behind 7 copper coins for the three of them.
"Catch the thief, hurry up and catch him. Don't let him run away. He stole our money." The three of them were stunned for a moment before they reacted. Cao Herui ran in the direction of the child, shouting as he chased after him. The other two followed suit.
Unfortunately, the child's endurance was obviously better than the three of them who had traveled a long distance. His explosive power was also higher than theirs. The three of them who had been pampered before could not catch up with the child at all. The people in front of them heard the three of them. If their clothes were better and the dirt on their faces were less, perhaps someone would help them stop the child.
However, the three of them were in a very sorry state. The others looked at the children, who were dressed decently, and then looked at the three of them. They all ran away, afraid that the three of them would go crazy from poverty and catch them and accuse them of stealing their money.
After a while, the child ran out of sight. The three of them could not chase him anymore. They sat there paralyzed, tightly holding the seven copper coins in their hands, and looked in the direction of the child in a daze.
With a 'pa' sound, a half-eaten biscuit fell in front of the three of them. The bite was still stained with saliva. A few sesame seeds were embedded on the biscuit, letting people know that it was called a sesame seed biscuit.
The biscuit was closest to Cao Herui. After seeing the biscuit, Cao Herui raised his head in confusion, wanting to see what was going on. As soon as he raised his head, he saw a strong man glancing at him and saying, "This biscuit is not delicious. After biting two, you don't want to eat anymore. It's a reward for you. Hurry up and eat."
After saying that, the man was about to leave. Cao Herui could not bear it anymore. He vented his anger of being robbed and said to the man, "You snob, you dare to throw this broken biscuit to us? I should gouge your eyes out. "
"Hey? I gave you half a biscuit and you dare to scold people? This is the first time I've seen a beggar complain that it smells bad. I'll let you scold, scold, scold with all your strength. "
When the man saw that he was being scolded, he went over and started fighting with the three of them. The three of them had already used up a lot of energy to walk to this place. After chasing after a bandit, they didn't have the strength to fight with this strong man. After a few moves, they could only hold their heads and force themselves to stand there.
After all, the strong man had a good heart. Otherwise, he would not give the biscuit to others. After hitting them a few times, he shook his head and said, "Forget it. You three don't know what's good for you. Let's see who will give you something to eat. What a pity."
After saying that, the strong man walked away. Cao Herui moved his arm away and looked at the strong man's back as he walked away. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, he opened his mouth wider and started to cry.
The other two brothers also could not control themselves. The three of them hugged each other and cried bitterly. They were too sullen. When they were in Lu Zhou, they were bullied by the common people and by Zhang Zhong. They did not expect that when they just arrived in Qin Province, they would be bullied twice. Their money was robbed and they were beaten up. After that, they could not find the person they wanted to find.
Cao Herui cried for a while. Then, he said to the other two, "I think we shouldn't be so polite. Let's fight and see if we can meet the person. What can we do with seven copper coins?"
Fan Jianxi wiped his snot and tears and nodded. "Then let's go. Wait for the day when we become as strong as before, no, even stronger than before. We won't let any of them go."
The three of them quickly reached an agreement. Enduring the pain, they walked to the yamen. As soon as they arrived, as expected, the gatekeeper immediately came up to them and scolded, "What are you doing? If you want to beg, go somewhere else. Get lost. "
After that, the gatekeeper turned around and walked away. He muttered, "I gave you face, but you don't want it. If you don't want half a biscuit, don't beg."
"Wait." Cao Herui called out. When the gatekeeper turned around, he took the remaining seven copper coins and handed it to the gatekeeper.
"Brother, I have a favor to ask. We'll go to the Tang Governor of Ning and tell him that the three judges of Lu Zhou have something important to tell him. We've come all the way here to tell the Tang Governor of Ning. Brother, if you don't help us pass on the message, don't blame us for not informing you in advance if something goes wrong."
Cao Herui bribed and threatened the gatekeeper, hoping that the gatekeeper would help them. As long as they could see the Tang Governor of Ning, they believed that everything would be easy to handle. After all, the three of them were judges now. Plus, they had important things to tell the Tang Governor of Ning. Unless the Tang Governor didn't care about anything, he would be able to settle them down, change their clothes, prepare some food and wine, and find a place to rest.
The gatekeeper hesitated. He really couldn't figure out the identities of the three people. The face of the person in front of him was a little dark, but when he handed over the money, his arm was exposed. Even if it was a little dusty, it was still very fair. If they really had something important to tell the Provincial Governor, he couldn't afford to be punished if he didn't report it. However, if they didn't, it would still be troublesome.
Cao Herui also understood the dilemma of the gatekeeper. He suggested, "Brother, you don't have to report this matter to the Provincial Governor first. Let's find a supervisor first. If it weren't for the fact that we were afraid of losing the seal on the way here, we would've brought the seal with us."
"Wait here." The gatekeeper thought about it and agreed. He didn't need to go over. He just told the supervisor that the three people wanted to see the Provincial Governor. He just needed to say that the three people were sent by Lu Zhou and asked the supervisor to come over and take a look.
After saying that, the gatekeeper signaled the other three gatekeepers with his eyes and entered the yamen.
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