Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu entered the "inn" and came to the counter with ease, resting his elbows on the counter.

The shopkeeper behind the counter raised his eyes and looked at Qi Xuansu: "Sir, I don't know what kind of business you want to do? As long as the price is right, everything is easy to negotiate."

Qi Xuansu said: "Shopkeeper, you are still in the business of providing high-end accommodation here?"

The shopkeeper was silent, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.

After a long time, the shopkeeper finally said: "There is a fire kiln on the second floor. If it is empty, it will be empty."

"Huoyao" refers to the shop and guest room.

Qi Xuansu smiled: "I didn't know."

"According to the guest officer's tone, he is not a newcomer to the springboard, but a regular guest of our 'inn'." The shopkeeper looked Qi Xuansu up and down.

"New to the springboard" means just debuting.

Qi Xuansu did not hide it: "I can be regarded as a regular visitor, but I am always in Yangxiang and not often online."

"Yangxiang" means Chaoyang, which generally refers to the south, South Road, and South; "Shangxian" means in this area, usually in the south, but not often in this area.

The shopkeeper suddenly said: "It turns out that we are friends with the Chinese character for Yang Xiang."

It means friends in the rivers and lakes in the south.

Qi Xuansu said: "Easy to say."

Since he was a veteran, the shopkeeper skipped a lot of meaningless temptations and asked directly: "What do you want me to do?"

Qi Xuansu also got straight to the point: "I want to ask about a place called 'Bai Yutang'. The shop owner opens a store on this line. Have you heard of it?"

The shopkeeper's eyes flashed: "If you ask too much, why is the guest looking for 'Bai Yutang'?"

Qi Xuansu said: "Run errands for others."

The shopkeeper asked again: "Can you please give me a report?"

Qi Xuansu said: "Put your belly full of vines, and there will be no ghosts above."

The so-called "supporting the belly" is associated from "supporting" to "full", and then from "full" to "feeding". Therefore, the word "feeding" was derived from "supporting the stomach", and the surname "Wei" was derived from the homophony of "feeding".

It is easy to explain that there is no ghost above and below, that is, "wu" is in the front and "gui" is in the back. The combination is "Wei Wugui".

If Qi Xuansu uses his real name, it means floating vines in the air, Xuansu on the top and Su on the bottom.

"Brother Wei, you should know the rules of our inn." The innkeeper said, "Everything is easy to talk about. Boss Chu speaks first."

"Boss, it's easy to talk." Qi Xuansu tapped his finger on the counter, "But let's agree first that we won't engage in overseas sales and discounts."

"That's natural." The shopkeeper smiled, "But we don't want to mess around here."

"杵头儿" refers to money, "Haikai reduces buying" means to first raise the price and then lower the price, and "浵头儿" means to lower the price.

The shopkeeper nodded slightly and stopped talking in argot: "Let's talk in another place."

Qi Xuansu said: "Wait a minute, I have one more thing to do."

"What's the matter?" the shopkeeper asked.

Qi Xuansu pointed to Qin Xiang beside him: "Is there any room available? Come get one."

Qin Xiang was confused. Just now Qi Xuansu had a conversation with the innkeeper. She could understand every word, but she couldn't understand them all together. It wasn't until the end that she finally understood. It seemed that she was being asked to stay in the inn.

The shopkeeper turned his attention to Qin Xiang. Although Qin Xiang covered most of his face with a hood, he was still recognized by the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper smiled and said: "This girl was here a few days ago."

"Yes." Qi Xuansu said, "Let her stay for a few more days until I come back."

The shopkeeper said: "It's not because I said something unlucky, but what if I can't come back?"

Qi Xuansu thought for a while and said: "The Inn has good relations with Qingluan Guard, so let's inform Qingluan Guard."

The shopkeeper's face changed: "What does guest officer mean?"

"That's the literal meaning." Qi Xuansu didn't want to say more, "Let's talk about business."

The shopkeeper's expression changed uncertainly, but finally he called a waiter and ordered: "Take this girl to the guest room where she lived."

Qin Xiang looked at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu smiled and said: "Go ahead, it's very safe here, and generally no one will act wild in the 'inn'."

"It's natural." The innkeeper agreed, but as he said this, he remembered the story of someone being silenced at an "inn" branch in Luzhou.

Qin Xiang then followed the waiter to the guest room where he had stayed.

The shopkeeper stretched out his hand: "Your Majesty, please come this way."

The two came to a separate room, which seemed to be the shopkeeper's study. In addition to a huge desk filled with various files, there were two rows of chairs against the wall. It seemed that this place also served as a signing room. , can be used for discussion by multiple people.

The shopkeeper sat behind the desk. Qi Xuansu sat on a random chair and said straight to the point: "Take a price, as long as I can afford it."

The shopkeeper did not rush to quote, but said: "Since the guest knows the existence of 'Bai Yutang', I think the guest also understands the specialness of 'Bai Yutang'."

Qi Xuansu really didn't know what Bai Yutang's special method was, but he couldn't show his timidity at this time and had no choice but to nod.

The shopkeeper continued: "So the price will not be very low. I hope the customer will be well prepared."

"How many exactly?" Qi Xuansu had a somewhat bad premonition in his heart.

The shopkeeper held out two fingers.

Of course Qi Xuansu wouldn't think it was two hundred Taiping coins, so he couldn't help but frown: "Two thousand?"

"Yes, two thousand." The smile on the shopkeeper's face remained unchanged.

Qi Xuansu was a little helpless. He failed to return to Yujing, but "disembarked on the flying boat" halfway, so he could not receive the settlement allowance and part of the regular money. Qiniang withheld his worry-free money again, leaving him with only With the savings of 300 Taiping coins and the 500 Taiping coins given by Zhao Fuan, the total was 800 Taiping coins, which was still a long way from the two thousand Taiping coins.

Even if he had two thousand peace money, he doubted whether the reward Qiniang would give him afterwards would be able to protect his capital. It would be a waste of time. He would just treat Qiniang as a favor. There is no way around it. Those who are close to Zhu are red, and those who are close to Mo are black. After following Qiniang for a long time, I have also acquired some habits.

The shopkeeper was not surprised when he saw Qi Xuansu's expression of embarrassment. After all, the amount of two thousand Taiping money was too large. He continued: "Of course, if the guest cannot afford so much Taiping money, he can also use other methods, such as Pay for work.”

Qi Xuansu understood. The shopkeeper probably set a high price on purpose and then offered another way. The fundamental purpose was to get him to work for the "inn".

Qi Xuansu did not object: "I wonder what kind of business can be worth two thousand Taiping?"

The shopkeeper said: "It is indeed a big business. Brother Wei often lives in the south, which is densely populated, so the business is mainly about fighting with people, but our northwest side is different. The land is vast and sparsely populated, and there is not so much business of fighting against people. What's more, Most of them are fighting against the sky.”

"Fighting against the sky?" Qi Xuansu thought this statement was rather novel.

The shopkeeper said: "There are many unexplored places in Yongzhou, Xizhou and other places, which are either ancient relics, man-made, or even broken caves."

Qi Xuansu said: "I know, but that was two hundred years ago. Since the Taoist sect returned to Kunlun, Quanzhen Taoism has taken the lead and carried out a series of 'land reclamation' actions, which the Taoist sect calls 'field farming'."

"The guest officer is an expert." The shopkeeper extended his thumb, "Since the guest officer understands this, it's easy for me to explain. Daomen calls this kind of exploration behavior 'Tuntian', which lasts for nearly a hundred years. The so-called "Tuntian" means to cultivate wasteland. According to the identity of the people who opened the land, they were divided into military villages, civilian villages, and merchant villages. When it comes to Taomen's "tuntian", it can probably be divided in this way. Without mentioning Xizhou, we only talk about Yongzhou. Daomen and the imperial court are military villages. , Daomen occupies half of the share, followed by the imperial court, which occupies 30% of the share, and the remaining 20% ​​is Shangtun and Mintun. It still belongs to the category of 'people', and they can occupy 10% of the share. It doesn't seem like much, but in fact it is enough to eat. As for Shangtun, it is naturally our 'inn'. We can get this 10% of the share, but it is really not enough. Easy, thanks to many old relationships that have been in business for many years.”

"I see." This was the first time Qi Xuansu heard this statement, but he could probably understand what the "inn's" business was.

The shopkeeper continued: "As for the share here, it mainly refers to the 'fields' that have been initially cultivated. There are also many outright 'wastelands' in the hands of others. Let's not mention this for the time being. What we want to say is this Since the 'field' has been initially cultivated, it will be followed by intensive plowing, including plowing, fertilizing, pest control, weeding, etc. "

At first glance, this sounds like farming by old farmers and has nothing to do with anything else.

Qi Xuansu was slightly puzzled and said: "I'm afraid this is an errand of heaven and man, right?"

"It can't be said that the gods are responsible for 'opening up wasteland', and other people are responsible for the subsequent 'deep cultivation'." The shopkeeper explained.

Qi Xuansu thought for a while and asked, "So what is the commission this time?"

The shopkeeper said: "Although our 'inn' is also on the Taoist sect's 'list of secret societies,' we are somewhat closely related to the Taoist sect and the imperial court. It is completely different from Ziguang Society, Zhiming Sect, and Lingshan Witch Cult. And we The 'farming land' we are talking about today is related to the Zhiming Cult."

Qi Xuansu waited patiently for the next chapter.

The shopkeeper said: "The 'field' in our hands used to be an important place for Taoism. Later, the Zhiming Cult planned this place for many years and secretly spread curses, which eventually turned the living people here into living corpses, and the living corpses can continue to be infected. The other living people eventually turned into ghosts, and the army of living zombies formed a tide of zombies, spreading to all directions, really like attacking a city and plundering the land. "

"In this case, in order to prevent the tide of corpses from further expanding, the Taoist sect and the imperial court had to choose to use the 'Fengyan Jiasan' to destroy them together with the living corpses."

"After many years, there is only a ruin there, but there are still some living corpses wandering around. Strangely enough, these living corpses seem to be killed incessantly, and they are exterminated every year, just like weeds in the fields. , The wildfires are burning, and the spring breeze is blowing. The 'Inn' has to be cleaned every year. Due to some reasons, our branch is short of manpower, so we need to recruit people from outside. "

Qi Xuansu understood and asked again: "What is the specific situation?"

The shopkeeper said: "The main store will send nine masters who are in the stage of returning to their true nature. They will be the main ones, and the rest will be recruited by our branch. After the event is completed, each person will receive 2,000 Taiping. If the customer agrees, he doesn't want to pry anymore afterwards. If there is news about 'Bai Yutang', then our branch can also offer a reward of two thousand Taiping coins."