The Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 105: Eatable potato leaves

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Zhu Youjian said to Wang Mujiu, "Mujiu, go find a single guest outside, and I want to eat at the same table with him."

Wang Mujiu looked at Zhu Youzhen's expression: "Your Highness, don't worry, your subordinates will not reveal your identity." He opened the door of the room and slowly withdrew.

Before Xiao Er's tea came, Wang Mujiu came back, "His Royal Highness, the arrangements are in order."

Zhu Youzhengen took Wang Mujiu outside and sat down beside a single guest who was about 30 years old.

"Huang Er, my son is here, he wants to ask you a few questions, you have to answer the truth." Wang Mujiu put a few pieces of silver in front of Huang Er.

"Yes, yes. The villain must know everything." Huang Er quickly stuffed the broken silver into his sleeves, and then glanced at Zhu Youzhen.

"Don't be nervous, I'm just a passing guest, because Xiaoer didn't let her fill up, so I came over to ask."

"Foreigners, right? I can tell at a glance." Huang Er took a bite of the bun and ate another mouthful of food. "Just ask me. There is no information in this area that I don't know."

Zhu Youjian frowned: "Why doesn't the store let us eat?"

"There is no surplus grain--in fact, he can't buy grain either." Huang Er lowered his voice: "The son wants to sell grain? The villain can buy some cheap grain."

"We don't need it for the time being-why doesn't this grain store sell more grain? Don't they have no grain either?"

"There is also some food, but the price is low, and people don't want to sell it."

"Low? What is the price of food in Guide now?" Zhu Youzhen didn't believe that in this food shortage place, the price of food would still not rise.

"One or two silver and one stone."

"That's a lot. I remember that the grain was one or two silver and two stones." Zhu Youzhen didn't know if his memory was wrong.

"What year did the son say?" Huang Er was quite disdainful, "Shaanxi has been suffering from severe drought for three consecutive years, and the price of food is already sky-high."

"Then why is it one or two now?" Zhu Youjian didn't believe that this was a conscience discovery of the merchant.

"My son doesn't know, there is a trilateral governor of Shaanxi, Mr. Zu, who just forbids the price increase of grain. One or two is the upper limit. If the price is exceeded, the grain shop will be closed and the grain will be confiscated."

"Ah? That's amazing? Then the merchant won't transport the grain out of Shaanxi to buy it?"

"Transported out? The ancestors of the family have been prepared for a long time. Soldiers guarded all the customs clearance crossings in Shaanxi. As long as the grain is transported outwards, no matter who it is." Huang Er stroked his neck with his hand and decapitated it. Posture.

"Then anyone had their head beheaded?" Zhu Youjian didn't expect Zu Dashou's methods to be so harsh.

"Yes, I not only beheaded my head, but also showed the public. Now who dares to transport the grain out of Shaanxi?"

Zhu Youjian was silent for a while, and practiced extraordinary methods in extraordinary times. Zu Dashou's methods were a bit harsher, but without harsh methods, he was afraid that he would not be able to shock the merchants. "Huang Er, I'm going to buy some food to use on the road. Can you get it?"

"How much do you want?"

"Two stones."

"So many? If it is shipped out of Shaanxi..."

"We won't leave Shaanxi, we will go to Xi'an. Besides, there are more than 100 people in our business, and we ate in one day on the road.

"Well, as long as you can afford it."

"Price? Didn't you say that one stone of grain and one tael of silver?" Zhu Youjian felt strange.

"That's the price on the market--you can never buy five catties of grain at this price."

"How much money does it cost?"

Huang Er stretched out four fingers, "Four two."

It turned out to be a disguised price increase. But with people under the eaves, Zhu Youjian had no choice but to endure, "Okay, I'll give four or two, and you can get me two stones and grains."

"The son is joking. How can I buy two stones of grain for four taels of silver?"

"Didn't you just say four taels of silver and two stones?" Zhu Youjian felt that he was deceived by this little bastard.

"My son, when did the villain say that - if so, please ask my son to find someone else."

"Do you dare to deceive us?" Wang Mujiu was furious and stepped forward and grabbed Huang Er by the collar.

"Quite your anger, calm your anger." Huang Er slowly pulled Wang Mujiu's hand away, "Well, you don't look like rich people--I'll suffer a little, and it will be a waste of work. Two stones of grain, seven taels of silver, No matter how few, there is no discussion."

"You..." Wang Mujiu still wanted to argue with Huang Er again.

"Forget it, give him eight taels of silver to make a friend." Zhu Youzhen thought of a position that is very suitable for this kind of master who refuses to suffer and pushes the opponent into a blind spot step by step.

"The son is happy, the villain likes to do errands for people like the son." Huang Er glared at Wang Mujiu provocatively. "The villain is a soldier in the Guide Office. I don't know what the son's size is? Remember, always burn incense and pray for the son."

"Haha," Zhu Youjian conquered Huang Er, "My son is named Wang Mingxin and lives in Yansui. Now I am going to Xi'an, and I will be back in half a month. You can go to Yansui to find me."

"Huang Er, you have to dare to get some inferior grains to prevaricate, and see if I won't expose your skin." Wang Mujiu couldn't understand these gangsters, and dare to provoke.

"Don't worry about this, authentic white noodles. If there is a mistake, you can turn my head off and use it as a chamber pot." Huang Er seemed to be worried about Zhu Youzhen, "But, you have to say it, you don't want to sway it like this. The ancestor was not selfish when he came out of Shaanxi with food."

"Don't worry about this, we won't make fun of our heads. Go and go back quickly, we have to go after dinner."

"Okay, the villain will be fine in a while. The son will eat and drink first." Huang Eryi slipped out of the door, flashed into an alley, and disappeared in a flash.

Huang Er came back before Zhu Youjian's meal was finished. Behind him was a little Er who was wearing a melon hat and a blue sweat towel on his shoulders. The Er was pushing a trolley with two brand new white face bags.

Wang Mujiu opened the noodle bag, and it turned out to be excellent white noodles. He gave Huang Erbaliang silver, and then asked Xiaoer to carry the white flour on the horse's back.

Zhu Youjian and his party ran south along the avenue again. Immediately, Zhu Youzhen thought more and more wrong. How poor is this common people? How hungry is it? This way you can't see it along the avenue.

"Mu Jiu, there is a village ahead. Let's go and take a look. You let the soldiers continue to walk along the road. We will meet them in front."

Wang Mujiu confessed a few words to Li Jun, and then followed Zhu Youjian with several soldiers.

They removed the thick cotton wool that was wrapped around the feet of the horses. The fields were not as hard as the concrete roads, and the horses' hoofs did not need protection.

The farmland is full of greenery. In addition to winter wheat, there are also rapeseed, and there are also a lot of potatoes. From time to time, you can see the wide mulberry-like leaves in a whole field, but more are here in the field. Small piece, a small piece over there. I don't know if the seeds of potatoes are insufficient, or the people cannot trust the government's propaganda.

In order to prevent horseshoes from trampling on the crops, Zhu Youjian and the soldiers all came down and led the horses slowly.

"His Royal Highness, what happened to these leaves?" A soldier found that a small piece of potato leaves was missing, leaving only the bare stems swaying in the wind.

"Is it because someone's livestock accidentally ran here and ate the leaves?" Zhu Youjian was also a little puzzled. If it's a livestock, why don't you eat wheat leaves

"His Royal Highness, it won't be a livestock." Liu Lin decisively stated his discovery, "If it is a livestock, it will definitely leave footprints on this soft land, but I looked around and found no footprints at all."

"Haha, it really is for investigating, more careful than ordinary people." Wang Mujiu stretched out a thumb to him.

Liu Lin smiled shyly.

Zhu Youjian frowned, wouldn't it be someone who was doing the sabotage? Is it specifically aimed at the new crop of potatoes? "Look around to see if there is still such a situation."

"Yes, Your Highness." The soldiers agreed and searched in all directions. Zhu Youjian and Wang Mujiu waited for their message on the spot.

"There are some here too." A soldier's voice came from the southwest. There was a large thorn in the ground that blocked Zhu Youjian's line of sight.

"Go, go and see." Zhu Youjian and Wang Mujiu carefully led the horses and walked towards the thorn.

"His Royal Highness, there are people here." Before Zhu Youjian reached the thorn bushes, there was another soldier's voice.

"Everyone quickly close together to protect Your Highness." Wang Mujiu has put down the horse rein in his hand, pulled out his waist knife, and guarded Zhu Youjian.

The soldiers in the distance were also quickly returning to defense. At this moment, no one cared about whether they stepped on the crops.

Is it an assassin? Zhu Youzhen doesn't quite believe that how many people can be hidden by such a small bush thorn? Are there still people hiding under the ground

"His Royal Highness, it's an old man with a few children." The soldier over there passed the message again.

Sure enough, not an assassin, what can an old man do with a few children? Are they the gourd baby? Zhu Youjian continued to walk towards the spines.

"Your Highness, be careful, there is no one around here, but there is an old man hiding in the thorns with a child. It is too weird. Your Highness has to guard against it." Wang Mujiu still held the saber very carefully and guarded Zhu Youjian's left side. His eyes were staring at the thorns ahead.

"Come out." The soldiers surrounding the thorn bush shouted.

A thorn in the center parted on all sides. An old man with gray hair, rickets, pulled the three-and-a-half-year-old child against his thigh, and staggered toward the outside of the thorn.

Seeing that he was surrounded by more than a dozen soldiers with knives and guns, the old man made a "plop" in fright and knelt down in front of Zhu Youjian, "I did it all, please, let the kids go!"

When the three children saw the old man kneeling, they were also unknown, so they knelt beside him.

If such an old man is an assassin, unless he is from Tangmen, Sichuan. Zhu Youjian observed carefully and found a long green water stain at the corner of a little girl's mouth. The water stain hadn't dried yet, obviously it was just left.

"What did you do? What did you do?"

"Aren't you investigating the potato leaves?" The old man looked up at Zhu Youzhen, and obviously found that he was the leader of the group.

"We are indeed investigating these potato leaves." Zhu Youjian did not deny. He didn't know what the potato leaves had to do with the old man. Could this old man still eat potato leaves

"These are all I eat. It has nothing to do with the children. If you want to punish me, please punish me, the old man!" The old man moved the children who were kneeling on the ground to his side and protected them under his arms, because there were only two hands. , He moved the third child to his armpit.

"Did you eat it? Can the leaves of this potato be eaten?" Zhu Youjian was very surprised. In later generations, he only heard of melon rind, watermelon rind, eggplant stalk, water chestnut, and soaked in the thick soup of pickled vegetables. After it is fully fermented, it is taken out and steamed. It is a rare appetizer in summer, but I have never heard that the leaves of potatoes can also be eaten.