After Ma Yun finished speaking, she looked at Liu Xin triumphantly. That meant, don't show off, I know everything you know.
Zhao Yun was relieved: "Thank you, Madam." Obviously he accepted the words Ma Yun gave him.
Suddenly, Liu Xin looked at Ma Yun's stomach as if he had discovered the New World, and said, "Well, you don't want the name I chose. It's okay for me to name my own child."
Ma Yun glared at him: "Come on, it's nothing to you." She looked like a shrew.
Liu Xin turned his head helplessly, just in time to see Dian Wei's big yellow face, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly, alas, my first name is all over, it's all the fault of naming you!
Returning from the outing, return to the Prefect. Liu Xin called everyone together, and what he saw in the wild today shocked him. The drought this time was much more serious than he expected: "Everyone, what do you think of this severe drought?"
Tian Feng said: "My lord, I went to the surrounding counties to find out. Many places are unable to carry out spring plowing due to lack of water, and some places have begun to have refugees. Fortunately, adults have a foresight and built a lot of ditches, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous."
Liu Xin said anxiously: "Nevertheless, it is inevitable that the summer harvest will reduce production. I don't know if there are any refugees entering the county?"
Jushou said: "A large number of refugees have not been discovered yet, but there are already a lot of people who have come to Hejian to find relatives and friends."
Zhao Yun interrupted and said: "Yes, some people from Zhaojia Village came from Changshan yesterday to take refuge in me and Uncle Fan. The wheat seedlings in Zhaojia Village's fields were all dead."
"Zhao Yun, you have to settle these folks. If you have any difficulties, just tell me." Liu Xin looked at Tian Feng and Jushou again: "Mr. Tian and Mr. Ju, you two must be prepared to help the refugees. You can launch it if necessary. The squire donates money and food. Also, the increase in the number of refugees is likely to cause turmoil in the market. We must strengthen inspections to prevent criminals from taking the opportunity to make chaos. By the way, how did the matter of contacting and buying horses last time I explained to you?"
Tian Feng said: "Good horses are mostly produced in the north. There is a merchant surnamed Zhu Mingfu in this county. He just brought a letter back saying that there is a merchant who sells horses all the year round in Youzhou. He has hundreds of good horses in his hands. Seeing the famine is approaching, I would like to sell the horses at a low price, but the buyer needs to come personally."
Liu Xin knew that in the era of cold weapons, cavalry was the most powerful unit. The conflict in the first month caused more casualties because there were too few cavalry. But there are not many horses in Hejian, and it is not easy to buy them. Now I heard that there are hundreds of good horses, and immediately said, “purchasing horses is a top priority. It shouldn’t be delayed for a long time. I’ll take someone there now.”
Tian Feng said: "My lord, this matter needs to be considered for a long time. The court does not allow private sales of military horses. If it is thirty or fifty horses, it can be covered up, but hundreds of horses will be difficult to handle."
"This..." Liu Xin couldn't help thinking. He bought the horse to deal with the upcoming turmoil, but he didn't want to be charged with rebellion.
Jushou thought for a while and said, "I think it can be like this. Bring more people. When I go there are pawns, and when I come back, I will dress up as a cavalry."
Liu Xin slapped his thigh: "Good idea, it should not be too late. Go and prepare now, and leave early tomorrow morning."
In the early morning of the next day, Liu Xin said goodbye to Ma Yun, took Dianwei, Xu Chu, and Zhao Yun, ordered 500 Feihu soldiers, and set off for Youzhou. At the gate of the city, Zhu Fu had already been waiting there.
Liu Xin looked at Zhu Fu with a short stature and a chubby face. It seemed that he was born with a smile. He couldn't help but think of the smiling tiger Zhu Fulai, the Liangshan hero in the Water Margin, and asked casually: "Is there an older brother named Zhu Gui in the shopkeeper Zhu? "
Zhu Fu replied with a grin: "Back to the lord, Zhu Gui is the younger brother of the villain. The villain is a trader, going north and south. My younger brother is a sitting man and runs a hotel at home."
Liu Xin couldn't help being amused. There are really two brothers, Zhu Fu and Zhu Gui. This person asks and answers ten questions, and it really is a good material for business. Liu Xin asked again: "Which county in Youzhou is the merchant you mentioned? Who is the last name?"
Zhu Fu still smiled and replied: "This merchant is called Su Shuang, who is actually from Zhongshan County, Jizhou. He has a friendship with another merchant called Zhang Shiping. The two of them have been in the north for horse trade together all the year round, and now live in Zhuo. Within the county."
Liu Xin seemed to be familiar with these two names, but he couldn't remember it for a while.
On this journey, I saw the creek dried up, the seedlings dried up, and the vegetation withered, creating a desolate scene. From time to time, I met people in groups of three to five, helping the old and the young, fleeing famine. Liu Xin's team brought a hundred carts. In addition to money, there were a lot of dry food and drinking water. Naturally, they couldn't make it fast. They walked straight for half a month before they came to Zhuo County. Zhu Fu had walked this way many times, and soon found Su Shuang's village.
Su Shuang's Zhuangzi was the same as in other places, cracks appeared on the ground, and the big tree at the entrance of the village had few new buds, drooping its branches listlessly. Hearing that someone was willing to buy his horses, Su Shuang was very happy. He knew that if it didn't rain, so many horses would die of thirst if they didn't starve to death for a few months. There was almost no difference in price between the two sides. These Ma Sushuang did not make a penny, but the horses were not fed well during these times, and they were a little weak.
Knowing Liu Xin's identity, Su Shuang was even more enthusiastic. That night, Su Shuangfei wanted to host a banquet at the village. Dian Wei and Xu Chu finally took the opportunity to take a swig.
Seeing the arrogance of the two, Su Shuang repeatedly praised: "The two are really good drinkers! They have a good fight with Zhang Tu, who kills pigs in this county."
Dianwei blushed and said, "Oh, is there a drinker in Zhuojun that can compare with me? I would like to see and see."
Liu Xin suddenly remembered and asked, "Is this person called Zhang Fei?"
Su Shuang asked strangely: "It's Zhang Fei, does your lord know this person?"
Liu Xin thought, this opportunity should not be missed, but to see if this Zhang Fei is as powerful as the legend, so he vaguely said: "I have heard a little bit, but I have never met before. I don't know if Shopkeeper Su can help introduce him."
Su Shuang laughed and said, "If you have any difficulty seeing him, I will accompany him tomorrow."
Everyone was drinking and talking here, and there was a hearty laughter outside: "Brother Su, there is a rare guest at home, why don't you call me."
Su Shuang quickly got up and greeted him out: "Brother Zhang, what brings you here."
Liu Xin listened and said in his heart, could it be that Zhang Fei has just come to talk about Zhang Fei. Thinking of this, he got up and greeted him, but he was a tall and thin man who was about forty years old and born pure and white.
When Su Shuang saw Liu Xin come out, he introduced: "This is the prefect of Hejian Liu, this is my righteous brother Zhang Shiping Zhang."
"Look up for a long time, up for a long time." The two greeted each other and took their seats again.
Zhang Shiping said, "Brother Su, you are not interesting enough. Why don't you call me when selling horses? There are more than 300 horses in my house. I have nowhere to go." Turning to Liu Xin, he said, "Master Liu, if you are willing, Buy the horse in my house, too."
Liu Xin was obviously anxious when he saw Zhang Shiping, without the sleek appearance of a businessman, so he said: "The shopkeeper Zhang didn't come early. I just bought more than 300 horses from Shopkeeper Su. I'm afraid it will be difficult to buy more."
Zhang Shiping quickly said: "The price is easy to say, the price is easy to say. I still have thousands of catties of iron in my house. It is cheaper to sell it with the adults, okay?"
Liu Xin knew that this age of iron is the most rare. Thousands of catties of iron is not a small amount. He hesitated a little and said, "Okay, then I'll be cruel and buy it all." Everyone was overjoyed.
The next day, Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping took Liu Xin and his party to Zhangfeizhuang. From a distance, I saw a big man standing at the entrance of the village, staring at the road in a daze. Su Shuang pointed with his hand: "Look at you, the big man at the entrance of the village is Zhang Fei."
Zhang Fei has always sold wine and killed pigs for a living, and he has some wealth in his family. But these days, the drought is getting worse and worse, and the people are almost unable to survive. Who else would come to buy meat and drink? Zhang Fei watched the business day by day, and could not help sitting bored at the entrance of the village, secretly worried, and suddenly saw a cloud of smoke rising in the distance.
Zhang Fei quickly stood up and heard the sound of horseshoes on the road. Some time ago, there were horse thieves in various places. He had heard the news. Although he was extremely powerful and excellent in martial arts, he did not have a weapon to suit his hand. Seeing that battle, the number of people totaled 800 people, and he couldn't help feeling anxious.
Liu Xin's team has indeed become cavalry now. There are more than two hundred horses in the team, carrying iron, and it looks like there are nearly a thousand people from a distance. The horseshoe quickly arrived at the entrance of the village in a blink of an eye. When Liu Xin took a closer look, Zhang Fei looked almost the same as the legend. He was eight feet tall, with a leopard head and eyes, and all his beards stood upright like steel pins.
Seeing this person staring at him intently, Zhang Fei was about to get angry, but when he saw that there were two people in the team he knew, he asked: "Zhang Shiping, Su Shuang, who are these people? You brought me to the village. ."
Liu Xin didn't wait for Su Shuang to answer, and shouted: "Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide ahead? I am Liu Xin, the prefect of Hejian, and I am here to look for you."
Zhang Fei sternly shouted: "I have never met you, what are you looking for me for?"
Liu Xin had already arrived close to him, rolled over and dismounted, arched his hand at him, and said, "I have heard of the name Yide for a long time. I have two brothers who are very good drinks. I specially brought them to come and compete with you."
Zhang Fei was always addicted to wine, so he would be selling wine while killing pigs. He heard that someone was asking him to fight for wine, and he became excited: "Okay! If you want to drink, just follow me to the farm."
Liu Xin knows that drinking too much alcohol is harmful to his health, and he is very restrictive and does not drink. As for Zhao Yun, Liu Xin has always treated him as a child, and naturally would not let him drink. The errand of drinking with Zhang Fei naturally fell on Dian Wei and Xu Chu. For both of them, it was in the right place. Three people come and go, push the cup and change the cup, drink from morning to dusk, all drunk. Liu Xin and Zhao Qu took the flying tiger soldiers and stayed at the village.
Early the next morning, Zhang Fei shouted loudly in the yard: "Happy! It's been a long time since I drank so happy."
Dianwei and Xu Chu also said in unison: "Zhang Zhuangzhu has a good drink! It is the opponent of the two of us."
Zhang Fei said, "Unfortunately, you are leaving today. Who can accompany me to drink so much in the future. I really envy you two, you can drink like this every day."
Dianwei said: "In fact, neither of us can drink like this every day. As the adults said, you should drink in moderation, and only one half full will do."
Zhang Fei said: "I usually just want to drink half full, but no one in this village can accompany me to drink so much."
Xu Chu said: "That's not easy, just go with us."
Zhang Fei seemed a little tempted: "I'm leaving, what about this Zhuangzi? Without Zhuangzi, how can I make a living?"
Dianwei said disapprovingly: "As long as you follow my sire, you need to do what the Zhuangzi does."
Zhang Fei was a reckless temper, and said immediately: "Okay, I will go with you. You and I are in the same spirit, how about becoming brothers with different surnames?"
In fact, this was Liu Xin's plan. Knowing that Zhang Fei was a good wine, he asked Dian Wei and Xu Chu to fight with him. The three of them really fell in love with him. Liu Xin listened to the three of them not far away talking about the end of justice, but it was a big accident. He quickly stood up and shouted: "Hold on!"