Xiaoyaoshanjun

Chapter 127 Obtain the treasure
Tian Buli returned to the Hu family's ancestral home from the pharmacy.

There are three storefronts near the ancestral home, where Huer usually sells canned fermented tofu.

After Tian Buli came in, Huer, who was drinking tea in the store, quickly stood up.

"Second father, I bought some hot tea, you drink it."

"No." Tian Buli sat down and said, "I should go back now. You can go back by yourself when you want to. Your father and brother will be back soon."

Hu'er didn't want to go back. He wanted to be free and easy in the city without his parents to supervise him.

My parents are doing fine and I don’t need to worry about them. I can eat and drink enough here, work when I want to, and sleep when I want to.

Tian Buli didn't need to accuse others of being unfilial, because he knew that Hu Yuwei and Dou Niang didn't take their son seriously at all.

"I'll tell your mother that your business here is pretty good, and I'll help you pay your mother the gift this month. Just say it's from you, and keep some money for yourself to eat and drink, and buy yourself some clothes you like."

After hearing this, Hu Er was moved and said, "Thank you, Second Dad!"

Tian Buli smiled and said, "Your mother and brother are both very good. Don't be lazy. I have taught you everything you can learn. As long as you work hard and don't be cheated like before, you will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life."

When Hu'er saw Tian Buli talking about the past again, he said shyly, "Second father, please don't talk about that. Hu'er knows he was wrong."

Tian Buli nodded and said, "Okay, I won't say much. You should do your work well in the city. I'm leaving first."

Hu Er said quickly, "Second Father, aren't we selling too little of this fermented tofu? My uncles and his friends said that this is not profitable."

Tian Buli said coldly: "If they knew everything, they wouldn't follow you for a living. You have to understand that your mother's relatives are here to make money, not to help you."

"I have already given the tofu business that was originally given to Bao'er to your uncle. They were dissatisfied with the low profits and came to interfere with the moldy tofu business that I gave you."

"Don't pay attention to them. Keep using the people I found for you. Don't let them interfere in the business. From now on, just use the tofu from the village."

"As for the price, don't worry. I have planted bamboo in the mountains. I will use clay pots this year, and when the bamboo is ready next year, I will use bamboo tubes to store the moldy tofu."

"Okay!" Hu'er had no idea, but when he heard Tian Buli speak, he came up with an idea and agreed directly.

Tian Buli found a sack to pack the medicinal herbs he bought, then said goodbye to Hu'er and went straight home.

The matter of the medicine furnace has not been investigated to any conclusion. From what has been investigated so far, it is unknown who the first owner of the furnace was, but he did not show any outstanding abilities in the following decades.

At present, my fortune is still a little bit. It recovered a little after I killed the Infant-Swallowing King last time, and there has been no change since then.

There should be only one King of Infant Devouring. Demons and monsters rarely coexist, and there is no distinction between male and female.

Some monsters will appear when they are supposed to.

However, County Magistrate Gou deserves to be criticized for not even conducting an investigation.

Tian Buli returned home quickly, rested for a few days, changed into scholar's clothes, and went to the neighboring Macao County to look for someone.

Macao County is larger than Yanque County. I read the county annals a few days ago. Yanque County had less than 200,000 people forty years ago. Over the past forty years, due to good weather and good harvests, the population has skyrocketed to one million.

The Hanjiang River flows near Macao County, connecting the east, west, south and north.

Going west around the foot of the mountain is Yanque City, going east over the mountains and ridges is Songzhou, a populous province, going upstream are several upstream counties and Qitian Prefecture, and going downstream are divided into many rivers leading to different places.

The escort agency in Yanque City is responsible for the business of Yanque City, while Cao County is occupied by multiple horse gangs, just like taxi drivers who do not allow outsiders to come and steal their business.

The distance between the two places is about one day's ride on horseback, which is about 100 kilometers.

Due to the distance and strong local protectionism, the rules and territories on both sides gradually stabilized after the coordination of many lives and governments.

The Fuyuan Escort Agency was almost wiped out before, but with the help of County Magistrate Chen, it was able to regain its footing.

County Magistrate Chen had no intention of destroying the Fuyuan Escort Agency from the beginning to the end, but there was no need to offend Hanlin Shen at the time, nor did he persuade Hu Yuwei to be magnanimous.

It was Tian Buli who advised Hu Yuwei to be magnanimous. The Fuyuan Escort Agency was not unaware of Magistrate Chen's tolerance, but even if they wanted to be grateful to him, Magistrate Chen had never taken the Xia family seriously from the beginning to the end and did not want to have anything to do with them.

The only time County Magistrate Chen had lost face during his years in Yanque County was probably the last time he raised his sword and used all his strength in front of everyone but only left a minor wound on the demon, which was a disgrace to him.

Now County Magistrate Chen is serving as the county magistrate in Cao County, which is considered a promotion.

Leadership positions in wealthy departments such as the canal and the grain transport system are considered lucrative.

From a small and poor county to a large and rich county, even if you are still a county magistrate, it is a promotion.

The salary has not changed, but the living quarters will obviously be much better, and the number of people available and departments to manage will increase by two or three times.

It was already afternoon when Tian Buli arrived. He stood on the stone bridge heading to the opposite side and looked at Cao County opposite.

There are many simple fortresses and houses crowded together near the wharf outside Cao County. It is located under a "卜"-shaped water vein. The larger of the two river branches flows downstream, and the smaller ones enter the city.

The stone bridge under your feet is six meters wide and three hundred meters long, more than ten meters above the river surface, with a bridge pier every four or five meters. The ground is made of white stones, and many carriages and merchants pass by.

As soon as Tian Buli reached the highest point in the middle, he saw a large and magnificent ship passing through the center of the river. It was obviously a treasure ship belonging to high-ranking officials.

At this time, there were many officers and soldiers guarding the bridge nearby, perhaps to prevent anyone from spitting or throwing things down.

Tian Buli always thinks of things that are logical and funny. He smiled and continued walking under the bridge.

There were quite a few people selling fish under the bridge, and the line of fish vendors stretched for dozens of meters with no end in sight.

Tian Buli took a look and saw many fish and shrimps that he couldn't name. It was so cold today, and most of the fish on sale were big fish that were an arm's length long. Catching such big fish was usually a bit risky.

While looking around, he suddenly realized that someone was watching him. Tian Buli looked over and saw a group of porters who were basking in the sun near the carriage and sacks looking at this side.

Seeing Tian Buli looking at him, the dozen or so men waiting for work all smiled, but they didn't seem to be embarrassed.

Tian Buli has also done hard labor, but he is also very aware of the need to guard against certain groups.

It is better to have less trouble than more, so I didn't care whether I could tell the locals from the outsiders, and went straight to the city gate.

Tian Buli had only taken a few steps when he felt someone following him.

This time he was wearing loose clothes that were convenient for exercise, and were also the clothes of ordinary scholars. If he wore a Taoist robe, it would certainly save a lot of trouble, but it would also easily attract a lot of attention.

He just followed them, most likely wanting to steal some money. After all, he had been eating well recently and looked rich.

Tian Buli smiled, and when he reached the city gate, he was quickly stopped by someone.

"Where are you from?" The soldier who was shouting looked Tian Buli up and down, his voice was much more reserved and polite.

Tian Buli took out his pass.

"Come in!" The soldier quickly let the man go without taking any money.

After Tian Buli went in, the idle people who were watching from a distance quickly dispersed and did not continue to follow him.

The attitude of the soldiers determines whether they are easy to mess with or not.

If the gatekeepers politely make way for the people to enter, they are most likely beings that should not be provoked.

If the entry procedures take more than ten minutes, you won’t feel relaxed once you get in.

Tian Buli often went out, and when County Magistrate Chen was around, he gave him a pass that allowed him to come and go freely.

Hanyang Province prohibits the free movement of population. Many people find it difficult to enter the city without a formal reason, and they cannot leave the city within a hundred miles in their entire life.

But ordinary people also need to go into the city to do business. No matter where you are, there are always some places where the city walls are in disrepair. As long as you give some people money, these people can take people in and out of the city.

If caught, it's a death sentence, but basically no one cares.

They cannot move around without any documents and cannot get a household registration in a new place. Most of them end up working as farmers for local tyrants and becoming hidden residents.

As the population spreads outward, the attitude of allowing departure but not arrival is adopted in various places. Towns and villages will be established in places with a large population, and at that time there will be an opportunity to be registered as a household.

However, the land would also be registered and taxed, and most people don’t actually want to register anything.

Population growth is one of the achievements of the county magistrate, and the court will also have officials to inspect the population and land to guard against such things.

Tian Buli asked around and found out that there were several Cao families.

This is really confusing.

The most common family in Macao County is Cao. One-fifth of the people in the city have the surname Cao, and most of them are from the same clan and ancestor.

The Cao family has one main family, but there are many large and wealthy families.

Tian Buli didn't want to go door to door asking, so as it was getting late, he went to find County Magistrate Chen.

Magistrate Chen naturally would not refuse such a small matter, and he called on several families with the surname Cao to send an official to answer the question.

Soon Tian Buli met Lu Xiuying, the daughter of Luyang Medical Clinic, a fat woman who had already become a grandmother.

Lu Xiuying was brought here by the housekeeper in a carriage. When she saw Tian Buli and the county magistrate, she quickly knelt down and spoke.

"Meet the county magistrate!"

County Magistrate Chen smiled and said, "Stand up and talk. This is Taoist Priest Tian. He and I both came from Yanque County. He has something to ask you. You must answer honestly and don't hide anything!"

Tian Buli stood up and pulled a chair for the old woman to sit on.

"Madam, please sit down and talk. May I ask if your father has ever run the Luyang Clinic?"

"I dare not! I will just stand and speak." Lu Xiuying said quickly: "My father once opened a clinic, and I have worked in the Cao family for decades with my superficial medical skills. I have many children and grandchildren."

When Tian Buli found the man, he asked, "How is your father's medical skills?"

Lu Xiuying thought about it seriously and quickly replied, "Not really. I just remember that we had run the business smoothly for more than ten years. Later, my father said he didn't want to do it anymore and handed the business over to my brother and the apprentices in the store. At that time, I had already married and moved to Cao County. When I heard the bad news and went back, he had already died."

Tian Buli asked, "Who was your master?"

Lu Xiuying shook her head. "As far as I can remember, my father has known some medical skills. I don't know who he learned them from."

Tian Buli sighed, "That's all. Sorry to bother you."

"It's okay." Lu Xiuying looked at Tian Buli, "I have heard about the Taoist priest in this city. Does the Taoist priest know my father?"

Tian Buli smiled and said, "I'm young, so of course I don't know him. But when I was sorting out my things, I found that my ancestor knew Doctor Lu, so I looked for his descendants."

There was nothing else to do. Tian Buli gave some silver to the old lady, chatted and had a meal with County Magistrate Chen, then rested in the county government office and prepared to go home early the next morning.

As I walked out of the county government office, I saw the old lady I had met yesterday walking towards me with a young man.

"Taoist Priest!"

Tian Buli stopped and asked, "What's the matter, Auntie?"

Lu Xiuying took out a silver bracelet and said, "This is the dowry my father gave me. He said that if there is anyone in the family who can practice Taoism in the future, I will give it to him. My children are useless. Since the Taoist priest is here, I will give it to him to avoid trouble."

Tian Buli took the bracelet and suddenly felt an electric current entering his finger from the bracelet.

Lu Xiuying also suddenly let go of her hand and took a step back in surprise.

Tian Buli held the bracelet that released a weak electric current with one hand. This thing must be an extraordinary item!

Without any hesitation, Tian Buli took the bracelet into his arms and said calmly, "It seems your father is also a cultivator."

Lu Xiuying sighed and said, "It's just right to give this thing to the Taoist priest, so that I won't cause trouble to my children and grandchildren after I am buried."

Tian Buli smiled and said, "Don't worry, Auntie. If you have any troubles in the future, just send someone to Tianjiazhuang to inform me. As long as it is not a crime, I will definitely help you twice."

Lu Xiuying breathed a sigh of relief and said gratefully, "Thank you, Taoist Priest!"

(End of this chapter)