Sui and Tang Dynasty Generals

Chapter 34 Hairpin
In winter in Gan County, there is heavy snow!

The place that the Li family found for the Fuji family was located west of Xin County, not far from the Li family. It was a residence with two small courtyards.

Although there is no habitable house in the front yard of the house, it is spacious. Although the backyard is small, there are rooms everywhere. Not to mention that the old man has two sons, even if he has three sons, there is enough room for them to live in.

Regarding this quaint house, both Grandpa, Zhang, Tao and others were extremely satisfied.

They originally thought that it would be good to have a place to stay, but they never expected that the Li family would find such a good house for them, the Fu family, and that the downtown area is right outside the alley.

In the past few days, Zhang often dragged Tao and Tai to go shopping in the downtown area. Although they had no money, they could still see something new.

"When do you think Erlang will arrive in Xin County?"

It was daybreak. Zhang, who was clearing the thick snow in the backyard, straightened up, wiped the sweat from her forehead, looked at Grandpa and Old Liu and asked.

Upon hearing this, Tao stopped what she was doing and looked at her sister-in-law Zhang, her eyes revealing worry.

"From Huaiyang to Yan County, you can take a boat on the Yongji Canal, but coming from Pengcheng... is not that easy!"

Aong wrapped himself in a woolen blanket and shook his head.

If Zhang was just asking, then when it came to Erlang, Aong was waiting and hoping that Erlang would come to Xin County as soon as possible.

In the past, whether in the hometown or moving to the village, because of Erlang Furui's business, the family never had to worry about food and drink. Although they were not rich, at least they had money in their hands and did not panic when encountering problems.

But now, the Fu family has given most of their savings to Dalang, and the rest is all used for the Fu family's boat trip and travel.

If the Li family had not stored a large amount of food for the Fu family in the house after purchasing it, and had not sent servants to deliver bundles of wood every two days, the Fu family would have had problems with food, let alone surviving the winter.

Outside the city, the land and forests within dozens of miles all belong to wealthy families. If the people in the city want firewood, they have to buy it from those wealthy families on a daily basis. This is also one of the sources of income for the wealthy families.

The Fu family had no savings to buy firewood for daily needs.

In Aong's eyes, although the Li family also has its own mountains and forests and has no shortage of firewood, the Fuji family cannot rely on the Li family for everything, and it is not a good idea to continue like this.

"Mother, I'm going out!"

"Mom, I'm going out!!"

While everyone was chatting, Fu Zihou, Fu Zhi and Tai Shi walked out of the house.

Fu Zihou was eating hot millet cakes with his sword on his waist. Since he picked up the sword in Kuangcheng, his mother Tao never stopped him from taking the sword on the way to Xin County.

"Hou'er! If you can't wait for your father today, go to Li's Mansion earlier. You haven't been to Li's Mansion to see Cai'er in the past few days!"

When the old man saw Fu Zihou, he did not forget to give him some advice.

Fu Zihou nodded when he heard this, then followed his cousin and his wife out of the backyard, left through the front gate, and closed the door.

on the street.

Looking at the busy streets, people were not affected by the falling snow. Even in the snow in the alleys, a path was trampled out.
Fu Zihou has been memorizing the route to Li's Mansion and the South City Gate in the past few days.

Because his cousin Fu Zhi was going to the Li Mansion to attend elementary school, and his cousin Tai was also going to the Li Mansion to learn some female skills, at the intersection, Fu Zihou said goodbye to his cousin and his cousin, and walked towards the city gate alone.

"Come, come, take a look! Take a look at this excellent craftsmanship!"

"Take a look at these treasures from Bohai..."

Fu Zihou looked at the small vendors on the street. Among the dazzling array of goods, his attention was always focused on things suitable for gifts.

There are many types, but there has never been a hairpin that Fu Zihou likes.

It was not until he passed by a shop that Fu Zihou stopped and found that there were many people in the shop on the side of the road, and most of them were women.

Thinking that this shop might be selling women's things, Fu Zihou couldn't help but look up and look at the shop's sign.

"Goguryeo's rare treasure!"

Looking at the words on the plaque, Fu Zihou was a little surprised, and then he couldn't help laughing.

He was somewhat curious whether this shop really sold rare Korean treasures. Thinking of Li Cha, Fu Zihou immediately walked towards the shop.

After a few breaths.

On the street that Fu Zihou had just left, in the busy city, four men, each leading a horse, walked through the street.

If Fu Zihou saw two of them, he would be frightened.

Because these two people were Cao Zhan and Cui Luxing, whom he had met in Kuangcheng a month ago.

I don’t know what Cao Zhan, Cui Xingli said to a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man had a look of expectation and curiosity in his eyes. Another man seemed to be pointing ahead, saying that the Li Mansion was not far ahead...

Inside the shop.

Fu Zihou came into the shop and saw that many women were walking together. However, most of them were looking at the goods and whispering to each other with very varied expressions.

Next to each item of merchandise, there were two maids or waiters guarding it.

This was the first time that Fu Zihou had seen goods being sold in this way, so out of curiosity he stepped forward and looked at the goods among the crowd.

Then, he took a look, just a glance, and saw that it was Fu Zihou who was already prepared, and his breathing paused.

Looking at the prices of those goods, Fu Zihou finally understood why those women who were traveling together all had excited looks on their faces, but no one was willing to pay.

"This way of eating is too ugly!"

Fu Zihou looked around the shop and found that any random piece, even the cheapest brush, cost nearly a thousand coins.

From fox fur coats costing tens of thousands of coins and fox white fur coats costing hundreds of thousands of coins to black stone costing three or four thousand coins, Fu Zihou looked all the way and smacked his lips at the price of each item.

So expensive, only a fool would...

Complaining in his heart, Fu Zihou had no intention of continuing shopping and was about to leave when he suddenly saw an exquisite hairpin a few steps away.

The hairpin is made of smooth wood and has a pearl pendant. The exquisite craftsmanship of the entire hairpin made Fu Zihou so impressed that he couldn't take his eyes off it.

Fu Zihou couldn't imagine how beautiful it would look if such a hairpin was inserted in Li Cha's long hair.

"Good stuff! The price is one... ten thousand... thirteen thousand coins!!!"

However, when he walked forward and saw the price, Fu Zihou was stunned. He looked at the two maids who were guarding the hairpin with confusion.

Girl, are you robbing me?
"Young Master, do you want to buy this hairpin as a gift for your sweetheart?"

The maid looked at Fu Zihou's dazed look and asked with a smile. It was obviously not the first time for the maid to see a young man like Fu Zihou. After all, this hairpin was quite famous in Xin County, and many girls and scholars would come here to see it. "Excuse me, is this where the sword is stored?"

Fu Zihou paused cautiously and asked in a low voice.

Seeing this, the maid looked at Fu Zihou, smiled slightly, and shook her head.

“This hairpin…”

Fu Zihou looked at the hairpin, hesitated for a long time, and finally sighed, reluctant to part with it.

Without any other solution, Fu Zihou didn't want to embarrass Li Cha too much, and he didn't want Li Cha to be wronged or laughed at because of him.

Fu Zihou could not lose face in his two lifetimes for letting a woman be laughed at because of him, all because of her lack of money.

"Go slowly, young master!"

Fu Zihou listened to the voice of the maid behind him, shook his head, and walked out of the shop in silence.

After a while.

In a shop called "Zhi Ku", Fu Zihou came to the shopkeeper and took out the sword at his waist.

The so-called pawnshop became popular in the Han Dynasty and reached its peak in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In some places, it was also called "pawnshop".

Many celebrities and officials would exchange precious items they carried with them for money at the pawnshop when they were away, and then use the money to redeem the pawned items later.

After all, it is impossible to carry tens of thousands of dollars with you when you are outside. Not only is it inconvenient to travel far away, but it is also easy for people to see you and notice you.

"Shopkeeper, I want to exchange this sword for fifty thousand coins!"

Fu Zihou handed the sword to the shopkeeper, looked at it reluctantly, and said to the shopkeeper.

"fifty thousand?"

The shopkeeper was in his thirties. When he heard Fu Zihou's words, he immediately looked at Fu Zihou as if he were a fool. He casually picked up the sword and was about to shake his head and laugh at him when he drew the sword. The shopkeeper's smile disappeared, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He looked at the sword in his hand carefully.

"An ancestral sword, a rare treasure! It was created by the master Qi Wu Huaiwen. It was once owned by his son, and then given to others!"

Fu Zihou said to the shopkeeper.

In fact, Fu Zihou did not know the origin of this sword, nor had he seen any Qi Wu Huaiwen, but he vaguely remembered that this man was a sword-making master in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, who was very good at forging swords with the "steel pouring method".

At present, Fu Zihou can only increase the value of the sword as much as possible in this way.

"Do you have any proof?"

The shopkeeper naturally would not easily believe what the young man in front of him said, but looking at the pattern on the sword and the blade, he knew that the origin of this sword was indeed not simple.

"Looking at the sword, it must be a master. Do you need proof?"

Fu Zihou shook his head and then pointed at the sword.

"Shopkeeper, look at this sword. If you sell it, given the man's admiration for swords, will anyone pay 50,000 yuan to buy it?"

Fu Zihou asked the shopkeeper back.

My father said at the time that he happened to see a man who was in urgent need of money and food, and was trying to exchange the sword for money and food. My father said that the man looked very anxious at the time, and he finally exchanged it for money.

He spent a total of two thousand three hundred coins and some food to buy the sword.

But both my father and Fu Zihou knew that the price of this sword was more than that.

However, at that time, Huaiyang County was in turmoil. Located halfway between Jiangdu and Luoyang, Huaiyang was constantly levied grain by the Sui Dynasty, resulting in famine everywhere and many people starved to death.

Officials from all over Huaiyang were reluctant to sell grain as they saw the grain prices rising, forcing many households in the city to sell all their belongings in exchange for expensive grain to feed their families.

During the Sui Dynasty, the most outrageous phenomenon was that the more severe the famine was, the more likely it was for officials to embezzle.

For example, the court ordered the opening of granaries to release grain for disaster relief, but during the transportation of grain, officials could use normal means to delay time.

As long as the grain leaves the granary, the more people who starve to death, the more grain will fall into the hands of officials, and the people who are delayed in getting food will cause the price of grain to become higher.

The higher the grain price, the more eager the officials are to embezzle more grain and the more reluctant they are to sell it, ultimately forcing more people to spend more money to buy grain.

This vicious cycle is also the reason why there is food shortage everywhere in Huaiyang County.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, even if my father were a merchant, it would be difficult for him to buy this sword.

"At most ten thousand dollars!"

Being able to be the shopkeeper in a pawnshop, he would naturally not be affected by Fu Zihou's words, so he shook his head at Fu Zihou.

Looking at the sword, the shopkeeper actually knew that if there was a suitable opportunity, someone would really buy it for 50,000 coins. If it was ten years ago, when the world was stable, the price could be even higher if it met the children of prominent families.

There is no man in the world who doesn't like swords, and even the shopkeeper himself is no exception.

But at the moment, the shopkeeper knows that this is not a prosperous time.

Not to mention 50,000 coins, even 20,000 coins would be impossible to get.

"Ten thousand coins is too little, at least fifteen thousand coins! And I will redeem the sword within three months!"

Fu Zihou came back to his senses and looked at the shopkeeper and spoke seriously.

If there is only 10,000 coins, then there is no point in pledging the sword. It is better to wait a little longer.

"Fifteen thousand?"

The shopkeeper frowned.

Perhaps the shopkeeper had seen too many people coming to pledge their belongings, and looking at Fu Zihou's eyes, he roughly judged that Fu Zihou's bottom line was 15,000 coins.

Looking at the sword, the shopkeeper hesitated for a long time before nodding. He knew that the young man would not be willing to abandon such a good sword.

"to make!"

The shopkeeper finally said, and then asked the waiter to bring the paper, and told Fu Zihou that in three months, he would need to pay an additional 1,500 coins to redeem the sword.

Fu Zihou secretly thought that he was a vicious person, but he had no choice but to agree.

I will definitely redeem this sword someday.

(End of this chapter)