"Get out of the way, get out of the way," the crowd was brutally separated, revealing two soap-clad servants. The oily face is oily, the clothes are oily, the oily hands are holding the oily buns, the corners of the oily mouth are still dripping with oil, the tax collectors Hou Qi and Ma Ba, Hou is thin and fat, and they are known as the "two ghosts of East Street".

Before the end of the year, the market was very lively, and the business of all walks of life was extremely prosperous, and the officials of course had to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune, and the market tax of one or two wen on weekdays rose to five or ten wen. At the end of the day, in the market of Guangdong Street, Hou and Ma can settle 1,800 texts without saying anything. Money can make ghosts grind, the two of them have been walking around the street since the beginning of the day, and when they are busy, they feel hungry, so they grab a few buns from the bun shop, and in the eyes of disgust and fear, they triumphantly patrol again.

Hou Qi aimed at the money bag on Jiang Huang's waist at a glance, bulging and swollen, and gently poked Ma Ba with his elbow. Ma Ba's eyes lit up, he stuffed the bun in his hand into his big mouth, didn't care about the oil, swallowed it twice, and asked vaguely: "That woman, can you pay the market tax?" ”

The people are afraid of officials, not to mention such ghostly filthy officials, Jiang Huang subconsciously took half a step back, shook his head with a little timidity, and said: "Not yet, dare to ask the official, how much do you have to pay?" ”

Ma Ba opened his oily big hand and shook it, and said, "Fifty Wen." ”

"What, why do you want so much?" Jiang Huang exclaimed, Jiang Huang has been to the market here, and in the past, he only paid two pennies, even if it was almost the New Year, he didn't need so much.

"A bold woman, she dared to resist taxes, collected a stall, and went to the yamen." Hou Qi shouted sharply, stepped forward and kicked the basket over, and the objects placed on the basket rolled to the ground.

Jiang An had the courage to clench his fists and rush forward desperately, Jiang Huang desperately hugged his son, and pleaded with tears: "Official, if you have something to discuss, fifty wen is fifty wen, don't do it." ”

The surrounding crowd dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, glaring at the two with hateful eyes, but no one dared to speak out to help. A pen holder rolled out of the distance and stopped at the feet of a long-robed Confucian man, who bent down to pick up the pen holder, held it in his hand and looked at it, nodded and praised: "It's also elegant." ”

Jiang Anyi heard the noise, and hurriedly picked up Yan'er and ran back. Parting the crowd, I saw Jiang Huang holding Jiang Anyong choked and crying, a fat servant holding his waist and belly to show off his might, and a thin man squatting on the ground and throwing the objects scattered on the ground into the basket.

The mother hugged her younger brother and leaned on the trunk of the tree and wept, as if she were a dry leaf, Jiang Anyi was furious, let out a low roar from his throat, and raised his leg to kick Hou Qi at his feet. Hou Qi was kicked out and rolled, and only stopped when he hit the onlookers, of course, he inevitably gained a few black legs.

Putting down Yan'er, Jiang Anyi went straight to Ma Ba, Ma Ba saw that the young man was like a mad tiger, he was frightened, and pointed at Jiang Anyi with his hand, "You...... You ......", shocked and unable to pronounce.

grabbed Ma Ba's clothes, Jiang Anyi hit his head without thinking, and the "horn" hit the bridge of his nose. Ma Ba covered his nose with his hands and let out a miserable howl, and blood "ticked" out from between his fingers. Jiang Anyong jumped straight up with joy, if it weren't for Jiang Huang's tight pull, he would have rushed up and kicked twice.

"Well done", "These dogs have long been unpacked", the crowd cheered.

Jiang Anyi let go of Ma Ba, he was stunned, these few shots were clean and neat, it was clearly a move that he often used to see demons fighting in a dream, how could he use it unconsciously, but it felt very cool.

Hou Qi "sigh sigh" for a long time, holding on to the waist of the willow snake and barely standing up, bared his teeth in pain, took out his waist knife and shouted from afar: "Good boy, you dare to beat the official, rebelled, and went to the yamen to fight a lawsuit." ”

Jiang Anyi was a little scared, and made a circle around him, and said: "Fathers and fellow villagers, you have seen today's events with your own eyes, it is clear that they are bullying others, please help you to go to the yamen to witness." ”

The crowd was surging, Ma Ba tilted his head, pinched his nostrils, and threatened vaguely: "Whoever dares to testify is an accomplice and is guilty of the same crime as this kid." Hou Qi brandished his swaying waist knife and let out an eerie sneer on the side. The people were afraid of officials, and they avoided Jiang Anyi's expectant gaze, and no one dared to step forward.

Hou Qi and Ma Ba saw that everyone was silent, and they became more and more proud, brandishing their knives to step forward to take people. Jiang Huang was so anxious that she burst into tears, Yan'er was so frightened that she cried "wow", Jiang Anyi felt that the evil fire was colliding again, and he really wanted to step forward and kill these two bastards.

"Wait", the long-robed Confucian walked out of the crowd, put the pen holder in his hand back into the bamboo basket, and said to Jiang Anyi: "The old man happened to see what happened, it is indeed these two dogs who are bullying people, and the old man is willing to testify for you." ”

Like a long drought and rain, Jiang Anyi gratefully made a gesture again and again. The crowd "buzzed" and became excited, pointing at the Confucian scholars and talking about each other.

As a servant, you have to have the ability to see who can be bullied, who can not be touched, and who must be held, this is knowledge. Hou Qi saw that the face of the person who came was like a full moon, the three wisps of ink hair were full of spirit, he was dressed in a cloth shirt, and he was not angry and arrogant, he should be a person with status.

Hou Qi didn't dare to be presumptuous, and saluted with his crossed hands: "This lord, this woman is the first to resist taxes, and this kid is even more openly beating the official errand and lawless, you have seen it, we are doing things according to the law, please don't do too much, master." ”

"Eventful? The old man has to take care of the injustice. The old man wanted to ask Chen County Order, how he disciplined his subordinates, and he waited for the small officials to be loyal to their duties, but instead fished the villagers, which was really hateful. ”

The tone of the person who came was not small, Hou Qi and Ma Ba glanced at each other, and did not remember that there was such a person in the county, Ma Ba asked tentatively: "Dare to ask who you are?" ”

"Old man Yu Zhijie."

The crowd immediately exploded, "Yu Zhijie, is Lord Yu who is a household servant in the capital?" ”

"Impossible, Master Yu has been serving as a foreign official and hasn't been home for more than ten years."

"You are not well-informed, your cousin's nephew is helping in Yufu, he said that Lord Yu went home to visit relatives a few months ago, but Lord Yu is low-key and silent."

"I'll just say that this person's popularity is extraordinary, which is admirable, it turns out that Master Yu has gone home."

"Meet Lord Yu", "Lord Yu has always been good", "Hello Lord Yu", the crowd resounded with a greeting voice.

Jiang Anyi has heard the name of Yu Zhijie, to be precise, the name Yu Zhijie is well-known in Xinqi County. Yu Zhijie, a native of Xinqi County, Texas, a twenty-seven-year-old high school jinshi, has been up and down in the sea for 20 years, successively served as the chief Bo, the county commander, and the Taishou, and is now the head of the household, and is an honest and decent official, and the official reputation is very good, and is regarded as a model for scholars in Xinqi County.

Hou Qi and Ma Ba had bitter faces, this time they kicked the iron plate, fell to the ground and pounded the garlic, and begged for mercy. Yu Zhijie glanced at them in disgust, and shouted: "Get out of here and beg for a beating, if my husband knows that you dare to do evil again, be careful of your dogs." ”

Hou Qima got up in embarrassment and slipped away, and before leaving, Hou Qi glanced at Jiang Anyi viciously, his eyes full of resentment. That look reminded Jiang Anyi of poisonous snakes, and his heart was cold, and he couldn't care about anything else at the moment, Jiang Anyi bowed deeply at the Confucian scholar and said, "Thank you Lord Yu for speaking out." ”

Yu Zhijie waved his hand, signaling Jiang Anyi to be polite, squatted down, and played with the bamboo utensils in the basket with great interest. The crowd did not disperse, and gathered in a circle, excitedly watching Yu Zhijie.

After a while, Yu Zhijie stood up and asked, "These bamboo utensils are made by you." ”

"Yes."

Yu Zhijie just wanted to continue talking, but found a circle of curious people around him, smiled and hugged his fists at the villagers, and said to Jiang Anyi: "It's not convenient to talk here, follow me to the teahouse in front of you." ”

After saying hello to his family, Jiang Anyi followed Yu Zhijie to the teahouse. When Lord Yu came forward, Jiang Huang put away his timidity and continued to open and sell bamboo utensils, while waiting for his son to come back.

When he arrived at the teahouse, Jiang Anyi thanked him again for his help. Yu Zhijie saw that Jiang Anyi was not very old, his demeanor was gentle and polite, and he was dressed in a Confucian shirt, and asked with a smile: "Have you ever read?" ”

"Xiao Ke is a child, and he will take the state college exam next year." Zheng Guo scholars first carry out the children's examination, the children's examination three levels, divided into the county examination, the government examination and the hospital examination, the first two times called the child, after the examination can be called Xiucai or students. Yu Zhizhi nodded, as a servant of the court household, I don't know how many talented people in the world have seen, and a child can't attract his attention.

Yu Zhijie said directly: "The old man likes bamboo by nature, these bamboo utensils are elegant and moving, which is refreshing, and the old man intends to bring some gifts to friends in Beijing." However, what you do is a little crude, and there is a fly in the ointment. ”

Jiang Anyi was quite embarrassed to say that the subtleties of these bamboo products were not carved enough, and the level of the inscriptions was limited, so that a discerning person could see the flaws. Jiang Anyi said ashamedly: "Xiao Ke's craftsmanship is not refined, and the things he makes are too heavy, and what the adults say is to the point." ”

Yu Zhijie asked a few words, took out the ingot silver from his sleeve and put it on the table, and said: "This is five taels of silver, and the little brother will make ten sets of pen holders, tea sets, wind chimes and other things, and send them to Yufu after the Shangyuan Festival, and then there will be another big thanks." ”

Jiang Anyi took the silver into his arms, returned to the market, and saw his family standing in place with a smile and waiting for him, and the stall had been collected. As soon as I asked, the onlookers saw that Lord Yu liked these bamboo products, and they were all sold out in a moment.

Jiang Anyi explained the reason why Lord Yu was looking for him, and took out the silver from his arms and put it in his mother's hand. Jiang Huang folded his palms and recited the sound of the Buddha, and said with a smile: "Lord Yu is really a bodhisattva who saves suffering, and my mother will go to the temple to burn incense to bless him with a long life, promotion and wealth." ”

This time I entered the city, and the bamboo products were sold for more than 2,000 wen, plus the five taels of silver given by Yu Zhijie, and there were more than seven taels of money at once. With money in his hands, he was bold, Jiang Huang took his children to "go crazy" for the first time, and when he went back, two bamboo baskets were full of food, clothing, and use.

The brothers took turns to carry the burden, Jiang Huang held Yan'er, and the warm winter sun brought the family together. Walking in the warmth, Jiang Anyi has never been calm, at this moment he is no longer worried about demons, some people are more terrible than demons, to protect the safety of their families, maybe incarnating demons will make them afraid.