Chapter 556: Young and Promising

"Get off the ship, get off the ship!"

"Awu, Azhao, Arong, come and move the goods; Aji, go east and look, I saw a carriage rental shop in front from the ship earlier, it's just a few steps away, rent more carriages back!"

The ship docked, and thirty-odd people landed one after another.

Yang Xu directed the personal guards to help, while he went to the bottom cabin to lead the horses.

The tall horses that had been stuffy for more than ten days stepped on the springboard and returned to land, shaking their heads, stepping their hooves, and snorting, carrying a bit of temper.

"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, I know you've suffered, eat well today, reward yourself."

Yang Xu stroked the horse's head and comforted the horse's neck, then looked at Chishan on the side, which had no complaints, and then thought of the river otters driving the ship, feeling quite envious.

"Liang Shidi truly drives a good beast..."

Snort!

Chishan snorted, proudly raising its head.

In the cabin.

Liang Qu packed his weapons and silver, and touched the white clothes on the hanger.

The touch was smooth and soft.

His face showed joy.

"Done!"

A full month.

This piece of Dragon Girl treasure finally softened from the state of being as hard as a steel plate, soft as before!

The color didn't change due to absorbing the Hanhai Blue Gold. When it didn't change color, it was still cotton white.

Texture...

"The toughness has increased."

Liang Qu held the thread end of the Dragon Spirit Gauze cut by the Green Wolf, twisted it together, and the silk thread naturally grew and reorganized.

Good thing.

The three pieces of Hanhai Blue Gold were completely absorbed, the strength of the Dragon Spirit Gauze increased, and it took some effort to pick the thread with a spirit weapon.

"I don't know if the ability to absorb the essence of the water marsh has recovered."

Before today, Liang Qu had taken the Dragon Spirit Gauze underwater to test it.

The treasure clothes had the same effect of attracting the essence of the water marsh as the Hanhai Blue Gold, but the effect was slightly worse than the single Hanhai Blue Gold. The amount absorbed in an hour was only two-thirds of it. It seems there is a loss in the middle from turning from a stone into clothes.

"Ashui, where are you?"

Xu Zishuai was outside.

"Coming!"

Liang Qu took off his regular clothes, put on the Dragon Spirit Gauze, and hurried off the ship.

Port.

Dust was flying.

Personal guard Aji rode his horse to arrive, followed by a dozen carriages.

Such a big order, the carriage rental shop manager came to negotiate in person. Yang Xu showed the credentials, bargained several times, and was about to take out the deposit.

Mistress Xu reached out and pressed it down.

"I don't know the manager's surname?"

The money that was about to be obtained had a difference, and the manager was quite unhappy, but didn't dare to flare up: "Surname Liao, what instructions does the Mistress have?"

"Do you know Liao Zhenghuan?"

The carriage shop manager was stunned: "Does the Mistress know my uncle?"

Mistress Xu said lightly: "Your uncle has to call me Auntie."

Auntie?

The carriage shop manager looked Mistress Xu up and down.

She looked quite good, not old, twenty-something, at most thirty, how could her seniority be so high?

His uncle's wife wasn't a junior from a side branch of the Xu family.

But seeing the people coming and going were imposing, it didn't look like they were joking.

"Mistress, are you from the Xu family..."

"Have you heard of Minister Xu?"

Exchanging pleasantries for a few sentences.

The carriage shop manager's expression changed slightly, and he bowed repeatedly, extremely respectful.

"I'll give you another twenty percent off!"

Mistress Xu remained silent.

The manager gritted his teeth: "Thirty percent off!"

"Fifty percent off, put it on the Xu family's account."

"This..."

The manager hesitated.

The Xu family is holding a birthday banquet, and the carriage business is just right to do.

Fifty percent off, not losing money on weekdays, can earn some fur, but at this time, not earning much is losing money.

"Hmm?"

"Fine, fine, fine, you are the elder, just treat it as the little one's filial piety to you."

Easily cutting the price in half and incidentally transferring the payment object.

Mistress Xu waved her hand lightly.

The manager directed the carriages to step forward, the carriages lined up in a row, and the coachmen unloaded the goods.

Liang Qu, who had just landed, witnessed the whole process, dumbfounded, and his steps moved toward Second Cao Shixiong Yu Dun.

"Is Mistress's connections in Huangzhou so wide?"

"Talking behind people's backs is not a good habit."

"Cough, cough." Liang Qu scratched the back of his neck, "Mistress, this disciple is just curious."

Mistress Xu explained: "My uncle's second daughter fell in love with a scholar surnamed Liao when she was young. This girl was spoiled since she was a child, her temper was stubborn, and she swore that if the family didn't agree, she would elope.

The family had no choice but to agree. Who would have thought that the east side wouldn't be bright, but the west side would be? Although the scholar didn't have the ability to read and pass the exam, he did a good business.

Over decades, my uncle gave a lot of support, and almost all the carriage shops in Huangzhou changed their surname to Liao. Earlier, I saw the manager's eyebrows were a bit similar, and when I went up to ask, it was indeed so."

The disciples suddenly understood.

Relatives!

Xu Zishuai rubbed his hands.

"Master had the final say in Pingyang Town. Now that we have changed places, everything depends on Mistress! Fortunately, this disciple has been filial, and finally waited for a good day!

Senior brothers and junior brothers, play as you like. If you see any woman on the street you like, don't be polite, carry her away, Mistress covers the sky with one hand..."

"Cover your head, the first thing is to report to the official to come and catch you!"

Mistress Xu stretched out her index finger, poked Xu Zishuai's forehead and pressed it back, pressing Xu Zishuai into an "iron plate bridge," with the back of his head sticking to the ground.

Everyone laughed loudly.

Various gifts were moved onto the carriages, and people were hired to look after the ships.

Men rode horses, women took carriages, and followed the team to the state city.

Slap!

The coachman flicked the whip.

The otter crossed its legs, lay on the flatbed cart, peeled fresh peanuts and stuffed them into its mouth, turning a blind eye to the strange looks of passersby.

"Huangzhou is very different."

Liang Qu rode Chishan to follow the carriage team, and what he saw and heard along the way was very fresh.

Perhaps it was because it was the center of a state.

The prosperity of the state city was no worse than that of Pingyang Prefecture city, and one point was particularly conspicuous.

All the rice shops and cloth shops on the street hung the name "Xu's."

Without exception.

Seeing Liang Qu paying attention to the name of the cloth shop, Yang Xu lightly clamped the horse's belly and rode side by side.

"Liang Shidi has doubts in his heart?"

Liang Qu asked what was in his heart.

From the moment he met the carriage shop manager after landing, the Xu family's sense of existence was unusually strong, which was something he had never experienced in Pingyang Prefecture.

Yang Xu laughed lightly: "Liang Shidi has traveled very little. The vastness of the world, two capitals and eighteen provinces, is so vast. Even the Northern Court's Flowing Gold Sea has now been included in our territory. However, the two capitals are independent, which proves that they are different.

The Southern Direct-Controlled Prefecture is the auxiliary capital, the place where this dynasty started, and its control over local areas is undoubtedly much stronger than other prefectures.

I remember there was an Weng family in Huaiyin Prefecture, right? They should have moved to Pingyang Prefecture now. Before moving, have you heard of it a few times?"

Liang Qu shook his head.

The Weng family had a Jiang Zongshi and did medicine business, which concerned reputation, so they should be famous.

But before moving in front of him, in the same prefecture, he really hadn't heard much of it.

Yang Xu said: "In the Imperial Capital and the Southern Direct-Controlled Prefecture, even if your clan has a Jiang Zongshi ancestor sitting in town, the sense of existence of the aristocratic family can't be high. The imperial court's decrees are unobstructed everywhere.

If you are asked to transfer grain, delaying for half a day will also lead to beheading. If you say to move from Huaiyin Prefecture to Pingyang Prefecture, you must change within a month. If you are late for half a day, you will be punished. Even a Jiang Zongshi has to move.

Outside the two capitals, it is completely different. Although the Xu family is famous for its cloth business, what they do is not just silk and satin, but everything is involved.

If they don't do it themselves, the tree grows big and branches out, letting close and intermarried small families do it.

Huangzhou is not far from the Southern Direct-Controlled Prefecture, it is not obvious yet, just that the business is done big. If you go to the northwest, it is truly a dense spider web. If an outsider enters the web and wants to climb up, it is very difficult."

Web?

Liang Qu had a deep understanding.

Yu Dun nodded: "The world is vast, nothing more than the big managing the small, the small relying on the big, uniting with each other, relying on each other. When the big one can't manage it, the sky will change, and the position will change."

Yang Xu laughed: "When our dynasty started, the Martial Saint who took the lead was nearly two hands full, and there were countless people who responded.

The princes who kept saying they were neutral, the news arrived in the morning, and they defected in the evening. Although I don't know what the reaction of the old emperor of the Great Qian was at that time, I think he changed more than one pair of pants."

"In this way, the people in the two capitals live the best?"

Xiang Zhangsong approached curiously.

"Well, not necessarily." Yang Xu shook his head.

Liang Qu didn't understand: "Why is this?"

Among the people present, except for Master, I am afraid no one is more knowledgeable than the Eldest Cao Shixiong.

On weekdays, Master also rarely discusses state affairs, quite a bit of "elderly" caution.

He never expresses opinions on things he doesn't fully understand.

"In my opinion, the people at the border live the worst, and the people in the south are second.

On the contrary, places like Huangzhou, which are neither far nor near, have the best lives for the people and are quite wealthy. It is no problem to say it is a prosperous age.

If you don't have a major illness, just go out to work, and the young and strong can eat meat every other day. At worst, you have to have tofu. When busy, not seeing meat for ten days is something to make a fuss about."

Everyone was shocked.

"Why is this?"

Yang Xu thought for a while and said: "The border is too barren, the output in the fields is too little, wishing one person could plant ten acres of fields. The south is not barren, it is even more prosperous, but there are too many people and few people with fields."

Liang Qu was thoughtful.

Hu Qi, Xiang Zhangsong and others didn't understand.

Liang Qu explained: "Cao Shixiong Xu takes a fancy to a beautiful woman and proposes to spend ten taels of silver to spend the good time of two candles. Turning around, he finds that the woman's family has a hundred acres of fertile land and lives in a four-entry courtyard. Can he get it?"

Xu Zishuai, who was listening silently, turned his head in surprise.

"No, just talk, why pull it to me?"

Hu Qi shook his head: "Not a fool, it's unlikely."

"?"

"What if the other party is destitute and has sick parents to support?"

Xiang Zhangsong slapped his palm with his fist: "Then Cao Shixiong Xu really might take advantage."

"Hey hey, really discussing it!"

"Same meaning."

"Eh." Yang Xu was slightly surprised, "Liang Shidi Liang's analogy is quite interesting. The truth is this truth. If the beautiful woman is not miserable, how can Cao Shixiong Xu get it with ten taels of silver? But if Cao Shixiong Xu takes advantage, the beautiful woman suffers."

Xu Zishuai was heartbroken: "Eldest Cao Shixiong, how can even you!"

"Eldest Cao Shixiong, tell us about Lord Xu? Should we pay attention to anything when we meet?"

Cao Rang changed the subject.

Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, From-Third Rank, in charge of banquets, recommendations, and offerings, distinguishing their styles, auditing their expenses, and the time of sacrifices, and also responsible for part of the etiquette and distribution of sacrificial meat.

A standard old scholar of civil officials.

Several people are all rough men.

If something is done wrong, wouldn't it be embarrassing?

"No matter." Yang Xu waved his hand, "Grandfather-in-law is most annoyed by these. When he was in office, the standards for officials of each rank were all different. If you made a mistake, you would lose your head. As he gets older, after retiring from the court, he becomes more and more willful. Whoever mentions etiquette and rules to him, he will pull the other's ears and spit into them."

Everyone was slightly relieved.

Doesn't like to talk about rules.

That's good.

The carriage team walked for more than ten miles, the low mountains stretched, and a building complex that was not smaller than the Weng family courtyard appeared in front of them.

"The Xu family has a Jiang Zongshi of the Perfected Form, who rarely shows up. Lord Xu belongs to the generation and seniority of the few elders on the surface. He has twelve biological brothers and sisters, and less than half are still alive today.

There are more cousins, cousins, plus descendants, descendants of descendants, hundreds of people. We don't need to remember them. When you meet people, you just follow the Eldest Cao Shixiong and bow."

Yu Dun instructed two sentences.

At this time, Mistress Xu had already gotten off the carriage and asked the gatekeeper to report.

"You are... Eldest Miss Xu?"

The gatekeeper was quite young, around twenty years old. Hearing that Mistress Xu was Xu Rongguang's daughter, he couldn't help but be suspicious.

Xu Rongguang was nearly ninety and had only two daughters, at least fifty and above.

Doesn't match!

Mistress Xu was helpless: "Is Uncle Cui here?"

"Mistress, please wait."

Seeing that the visitor knew the Xu family like the back of her hand, the gatekeeper wasn't stupid and hurriedly went to call someone.

Not long after.

The old man with gray hair and beard came out leaning on a cane. Seeing Mistress Xu, he stood still, threw away the cane, rubbed his eyes hard with both palms, looked at Yang Dongxiong again, and hesitated.

"You are... Yang Son-in-law's daughter? Where is your mother?"

"Uncle Cui! It's me!" Mistress Xu's eyebrows curved, "When I was young, Xianjing and I often ran away from the school to play. You never were willing to report me to my father. Do you remember?"

"Is it really the Eldest Miss?" Uncle Cui's beard trembled slightly, comparing repeatedly, almost shedding tears, muttering in his mouth, "I've seen you in previous years, I clearly saw you, how, how, changed, changed too much, I didn't dare to recognize you, thinking how exactly the same, exactly the same."

"Is it not good?"

"Good, good, good! Come in quickly, come in quickly." Uncle Cui waved his hand, and incidentally pulled a cane on the young man, "Go and report to Old Master Xu quickly!"

"Which Old Master Xu?"

Uncle Cui almost stopped breathing.

The gatekeeper reacted: "I'll go, I'll go!"

Mistress Xu stepped forward and patted Uncle Cui's back, inexplicably amused: "Is that your grandson? Looks a bit like you."

"Last time you came, it was my son watching the door. He accidentally broke his leg last year and is lame, so I changed to my grandson. He looks like me, but his brain is not as good as mine at all, a wooden block, far worse. Come in quickly, I'll lead the way for you." Uncle Cui waved his hand.

The servants pushed open the gate.

Everyone led their horses and walked.

Uncle Cui grabbed Mistress Xu's hand, chattered a lot, turned back and looked: "There are many more disciples this year, is this your eldest son?"

Yang Xu stepped forward: "Grandpa Cui."

"Your second son..." Halfway through, Uncle Cui stopped abruptly, "Yu Dun and Lu Gang, right? You are strong again. Being strong is good. Last time we met, it must have been ten years ago."

Mistress Xu's expression remained unchanged.

Yu Dun and Lu Gang stepped forward and cupped their hands.

Then backward, the disciples paid their respects one by one.

Although it was just an old gatekeeper with inconvenient legs and feet, shallow cultivation, and declining blood and Qi, at most four gates, he was clearly on good terms with Mistress.

Cao Rang looked backward, Uncle Cui looked seriously, wanting to chisel all the new faces this year into his brain.

It was Liang Qu's turn.

Uncle Cui was surprised by the waist token Liang Qu hung: "Hengshui Envoy?"

Liang Qu bowed: "Uncle Cui has sharp eyes."

"How old are you?"

"After this year, exactly twenty."

Uncle Cui nodded. He turned around and asked Xiang Zhangsong: "How old are you?"

Xiang Zhangsong was full of embarrassment: "Twenty-two..."

"What official position?"

"No... no official position."

Uncle Cui asked Hu Qi again: "How old are you?"

"Cough, cough."

Hu Qi looked at Mistress.

Mistress Xu found it funny: "Xiao Qi, Xiao Ba are both good children with aspirations, but some people don't take the usual path."

Uncle Cui understood, and patted Liang Qu on the shoulder with his toothless mouth.

"Young and promising, young and promising.

I think, stronger than that Huo family kid!" ===== CHAPTER 557 =====