Tang Dynasty: The poisonous scholar in the Eastern Palace, please abdicate and let the wise one take

Chapter 409 Huzhou Grocery Store

The sky was foggy, and as a gust of cold wind blew, it was as if the power button was pressed, and snowflakes continued to fall from the sky.

on the street.

Su Chen and Xu Hui walked side by side, feeling the slow pace of life in the city of Huzhou.

"I heard that Ma Yunfei sent you an invitation early this morning?"

"That's true."

Xu Hui smiled and nodded, "He said he expected snow to fall today, so he invited me to the lake to enjoy the snow."

"In addition, there are also the younger sister of the Ma family, the older brothers and sisters of the Wang family, etc., but I rejected them."

"but."

Xu Hui looked up at the falling snow and smiled, "You guessed it pretty accurately."

Su Chen smiled and said, "I heard that he was attacked yesterday, but he still wanted to invite you to go boating on Ting Lake today."

Xu Hui smiled and said, "I don't know who came up with the idea of ​​using gold juice to disgust people."

This kind of thing is scary just by talking about it.

Those who love cleanliness and have obsessive-compulsive disorder would probably faint after being poured with golden juice.

"Yes."

Su Chen sighed with a smile, but glanced at Sun Qiang, Jin Yong and others.

Yesterday, when he was chatting with Xu Qiying and the others, Xu Qizhuang sneaked out with them.

As for what they did, he did not ask, but seeing their sneaky appearance, he could roughly infer something.

"I heard that the grocery store in front is the branch opened by Brother Jin Yong in Huzhou. Brother Su, would you like to go and take a look?"

Grocery store?
Su Chen suddenly became more energetic.

The idea of ​​a grocery store was proposed previously because they were too passive and had too few information channels.

That's why Jin Yong was allowed to stay in Suzhou and set up a grocery store. Through the grocery store, he could keep track of what was happening in various states and prefectures.

Now that Jin Yong, the big boss, has returned to his original post, the grocery store has naturally been handed over.

"Go over and have a look."

The two of them came to the grocery store side by side.

The grocery store is not very big, with only three storefronts.

Among the three storefronts, there was a young man sitting there with a medical book in his hand.

Jin Yong introduced: "Most grocery stores have three storefronts, and some small places only have two or one storefront."

"In addition to the medical students from Chang'an City who are seeing patients in the grocery store, there are also three or five people including the store owner and servants who are responsible for the basic operation of the store."

"Such as the sale of some simple daily necessities and medicinal materials."

Su Chen nodded in understanding and walked into the grocery store.

Just as Jin Yong said, many daily necessities are placed on the shelves in the grocery store.

Such as low-priced soaps, toothbrushes, etc., as well as more expensive stoves, coal briquettes, and medicinal materials.

Next door are the medical students who are seeing patients.

"What do you need, gentlemen?"

The shopkeeper of the grocery store came up to us with a warm look on his face. "Although our grocery store is small, it has everything you need."

Su Chen smiled and said, "There is nothing for you to do here, let's just take a look."

The shopkeeper looked surprised, saying this as if the boss had arrived?
"The guests look unfamiliar. I wonder who they are..."

Jin Yong smiled and took out his badge, "Do you recognize this?"

"The badge of the chief shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "But I didn't do a good job, so the head shopkeeper asked you to replace me?"

Jin Yong smiled and collected his badges. "That's not the case. We just passed by here and came into the store to take a look."

The shopkeeper suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, which scared me.

"Dear guests, feel free to look around. If you like anything, I can give you a 20% discount."

Su Chen looked at the shopkeeper with some surprise.

Jin Yongdu took out the badge of the chief shopkeeper, but he only gave him a 20% discount.

You really have the talent for doing business.

Su Chen asked casually: "Has there been any news from Huzhou recently?"

The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows and looked at Jin Yong inquiringly. After seeing Jin Yong nod, the shopkeeper said softly, "A few days ago, Chang'an sent a message that a group of experienced masters were needed. The governor went to some shipyards, mobilized a group of masters, and sent them to Chang'an City."

"However, according to accurate information, if these masters want to go to Chang'an City, they must pay an entry fee of ten taels of silver."

"Entry fee to Beijing?"

Su Chen and others were all stunned.

"Where do you start talking about this?"

"You may not know that there are many shipyards in Huzhou, and there are experienced masters, so there is no need to say more."

The shopkeeper explained, "However, not all masters can be selected and sent to Chang'an City."

"Everyone knows that when you go to Chang'an City, you will be assigned to the Ministry of Works. You may even become an official in the future."

"So many old masters volunteered to go to Chang'an for a visit."

"However, if they want to catch the eye of the governor, they must get permission from the city magistrate Wu, so there is a fee for entering the capital."

"As long as they pay ten taels of silver, they can appear before the governor and will naturally be successfully selected to go to Chang'an City to assist in shipbuilding."

Su Chen was thoughtful.

The news spread, but not everyone was qualified to go to Chang'an.

Especially those who didn't pay, who couldn't even pass the first hurdle and couldn't get in front of Xu Xiaode to let him see their true abilities, how could they be selected to go to Chang'an City? "Who is this Wu Shiling?"

"The magistrate of Wu City is named Wu Quanyou. Although he is only a seventh-rank official, he is very close to the Ma family."

The shopkeeper whispered, "It is said that this person invested a lot of money in the Ma family and was recognized by Ma Yunfei, the eldest son of the Ma family."

"You may not know Ma Yunfei, but he is the son of Ma Tao, the governor of Yuezhou, and his mother is from the He clan, the eldest daughter of the second house, He Lianying."

Xu Hui looked at the shopkeeper with some surprise. He was too familiar with the Ma family.

Su Chen nodded, "Continue."

Shopkeeper: "Ma Yunfei relied on his mother's family's connections and was promoted to Sima in May this year."

It turned out that he used the back door.

Su Chen smiled. No wonder Xu Qizhuang was particularly surprised at Ma Yunfei's identity as Sima when he saw him.

It turned out that Ma Yunfei took up the position of Sima only after Xu Qizhuang left Huzhou.

This also indirectly proves the drawbacks of previous talent selection.

It is worth mentioning that due to the changes in the imperial examination system, Xu Qidan is now just a local tribute.

otherwise.

Given the Xu family's current status, Xu Qidan would not stay at home to study.

"Since Ma Yunfei took up the post of Sima, many officials have come to support him, and Wu Shiling is one of them."

"There's news that Mayor Wu has set his sights on the currently vacant position of Si Hu."

"Compared to his current position as mayor, although the position of private households has not been upgraded, it is a good job with real power."

Su Chen knocked on the table and said, "So, Wu Quanyou plundered the money of these masters and gave it to Ma Yunfei, hoping to get his help and take on the position of Si Hu."

The shopkeeper nodded.

Su Chen rubbed his head. Aristocratic and wealthy family would be more than just a corpse even after death.

Apart from those top wealthy families that were dealt a heavy hand, these counties in various places still have intricately intertwined interests.

"Among the masters selected by Xu Xiaode this time, are there any unqualified ones?"

"Of course there are quite a few."

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "As long as you pay money, you can appear in front of the governor. You can imagine the level of these people."

"I guess if these people went to Chang'an City, they would be exposed very quickly."

"When His Majesty learns of this, he will inevitably punish Xu Xiaode."

Jin Yong: "Has this been sent to Chang'an?"

The shopkeeper looked at Jin Yong with some doubt. Not only did he have the shopkeeper's badge, but he also knew a lot about their secret channels.

I think the identities of these people are not simple.

Sun Qiang patted the shopkeeper on the shoulder and said, "Have you ever heard of the saying, 'You can't recognize a great man even if you have eyes?'"

The shopkeeper: "What does this guest want?"

Sun Qiang: "Come, come, let me introduce you. This is Jin Yong, the big shopkeeper you mentioned. He made his fortune in Suzhou and later handed over the grocery store to Your Majesty."

The shopkeeper's eyes widened, "Are you the head shopkeeper?"

Jin Yong nodded silently.

Sun Qiang smiled and said, "Don't be so excited, this is the real boss behind the scenes..."

"Your Majesty!?"

The shopkeeper exclaimed, "Are you the prince?"

Su Chen nodded, "Go on."

The shopkeeper immediately took out the letter from his sleeve with a respectful look on his face, "Your Highness, I have recorded all the details of this matter and am preparing to send it to Chang'an tonight."

"Since the prince is here, there is no need to send this matter to Chang'an."

"Why?"

"Your Majesty has sent someone to deliver a message. Although the grocery store has been handed over to Your Majesty, the prince can still mobilize any resources in the grocery store at any time."

The shopkeeper said seriously, "Not only the grocery stores in Huzhou, but also the grocery stores everywhere will obey the prince."

"We are only responsible to the prince and His Majesty."

Su Chen nodded in understanding, took the letter from the shopkeeper, checked it, and asked, "Is everything in it true?"

"Your Majesty, every word is true, and the evidence has been verified."

"This letter was sent to Chang'an in the hope that someone from the Ministry of Justice would come and handle this matter."

Sun Qiang grinned, "That's a coincidence."

"Your Majesty."

"It would be better if you let us handle this matter, and you don't have to worry about it."

Su Chen pondered and threw the letter to Sun Qiang. "You guys can handle it. If anyone dares to abuse power for personal gain or resist violently..."

Sun Qiang smiled knowingly, "I will make them regret doing this!"

"Go."

Sun Qiang nodded, bowed and stepped back.

For such an interesting event, of course we have to invite Xu Qizhuang and others.

otherwise.

Who's treating us to a drink?
The medical student who had been reading a medical book seemed startled by the noise and walked over.

"Stop."

"Student Meng Shen meets the dean."

(End of this chapter)