This year is exceptionally hot, and as soon as March begins, the heat is unbearable. Don't talk about people, even the local grass and trees are a little caught off guard, as soon as the flowers bloom, they can't wait to thank them, the leaves are crazy to grow, and this spring is red, thin and green manure.

The sun has gone down, and the heat is still steaming on the ground, and the cool breeze blows on the mountain, which is entangled with the heat on the ground, giving people a very wonderful feeling.

Xu Ping accompanied Shi Quanbin and brought Tan Hu and two accompanying soldiers to the town below the mountain.

It has not yet reached the rainy season, and the water passing through the town is as docile as a little lady of any family, flowing unhurriedly, and it is crystal clear. The willows that have been moved in are already flourishing, and the willow branches are gently fluttering on the water, enjoying the coolness of the water. Plantains and kapok on the side of the road have escaped the scorching heat of the day and are recovering their spirits.

Shi Quanbin looked at the increasing flow of people on the street and exclaimed: "I didn't expect that there is such a prosperous place in Lingnan." Before I came, the official family also mentioned to me that in the past few years, people have proposed to withdraw and merge Ruhe County, why not only has no one mentioned it this year, but there is also a faint meaning that this place is regarded as a large county in Lingnan. Let me see if it's really as lively as Lingnan officials say. ”

Xu Ping said: "What's so strange about this? There are thousands more people in the county, the household registration has more than doubled, and the number of merchants who come and go is not lively. ”

Shi Quanbin nodded, looking left and right.

The grading of counties is basically based on household registration, and according to the rules, statistics must be counted once every three or five years to determine whether the county will be upgraded or demoted. How can it be so strict in practice, and there are many places where the copyright registration has not changed for one or two decades, and it is nothing more than officials copying the old books every time for various reasons. If the population changes too quickly, Duan Fang has no time to sort it out, so he has to wait for him to leave office and count it together as the basis for his political achievements.

Unknowingly, in front of a restaurant, Xu Ping said: "Pavilion Chief, how about picking up the wind for you here?" ”

Shi Quanbin looked at this restaurant, there was a two-story bamboo and wood building in front, and there was a colorful building outside the door, and there were two rows of female prostitutes sitting behind the colorful building. The weather in Lingnan is hot, and the prostitutes are lightly dressed, which is faintly alluring in the dim light of the evening. There is a large plaque above the gate: "Renhe Building".

Shi Quanbin nodded: "This restaurant is still magnificent, a bit like the capital." ”

Xu Ping couldn't help laughing: "The cabinet chief doesn't know, the nearby natives call this town 'Lingnan Xiaokaifeng', and they can't wait for everything to be related to the capital." This restaurant is run by the Yongzhou government, and it is named after the Kaifeng Zhengdian 'Renhe Building'. Not far from here, there is a restaurant opened by a merchant, the name is simply called 'Kaifeng Zhengdian', opposite it is a restaurant opened by some local chiefs, the name is more domineering, called 'Saikaifeng'. ”

Shi Quanbin couldn't help laughing, this kind of place that prospered overnight likes to be so straightforward, but it's a pity that the Kaifeng City they learned was just what they imagined.

Passing through the color building, several people did not squint at the female prostitutes sitting on both sides, provoking the group of women to chatter endlessly. Shi Quanbin is an internal servant, and he has one less object on his body than a normal man, how could Xu Ping provoke a woman to annoy him.

The supervisor Tong on duty got the news of the little guy, hurriedly greeted him, saluted, and asked, "The general judgment is going to feast in our store?" I don't know how big a pavilion to get? ”

"Backyard, the best and quietest place, remember not to let idle people come."

Director Tong agreed, and instructed the little servant to lead Xu Ping and the others to the backyard and arrange the wine and food by himself.

This restaurant is under the name of the Yongzhou Legation Library, and the three directors manage it here. Two of the three had not been public officials before, and were forcibly arrested to do this errand. Without exception, they are all from wealthy families in Yongzhou, and in case of poor management, they can ensure that their families can afford to lose.

Catching a big household as an errand is a common problem of the Song Dynasty government, those who have the ability can also mix well, and those who don't have the ability will go bankrupt if they are not careful. This is a legacy of five generations, and the warlords in power at that time continued to explore, and finally summed up this set of the most secure way to scrape money, which is much more effective than digging three feet into the ground to the small people, and it will not cause social unrest. I have to admit that although the warlords of the five generations did things simply and rudely, they really dared to think and do things, and they successfully summed up a lot of refreshing administrative experiences, which were much more reliable than the literati and bureaucrats had imagined.

The biggest trouble for Xu Ping is that the development here is too fast, and this set of experience is starting to be unable to keep up. Yongzhou is just a small border state, how many big families can there be? If the family has money and the ability to do business, this kind of person is even rarer, and the talent is far from keeping up with the development of the situation.

Moreover, this method is still based on scraping land rather than social development, and although it can ensure that the government does not lose money, it is also not conducive to local economic development. In order to truly develop the locality, Xu Ping still has to consider cultivating reliable business talents, and various industries cannot be operated by eating large households.

Skirting the hall along the side corridor, the backyard is dotted with flowers and trees, and the bamboo grove is dotted. The stream brought in from outside meanders in the middle of it, and the sound of gurgling water adds a bit of elegance.

In the meantime, the heat disappeared at once, and the cool breath wrapped people with the fragrance of flowers and herbs, and the comfortable feeling penetrated straight into the bones, as if entering the fairy cave at once.

Shi Quanbin couldn't help but shake his body: "I didn't expect there to be such a good place here, compared to the scorching heat outside, here are two worlds!" ”

Xu Ping said: "What the cabinet chief said is that this is the best summer resort in the town. There happened to be a stream of groundwater coming out of the back garden, which led to this stream during the repair, forming this cool world. ”

"Good place, good place!"

Shi Quanbin nodded again and again, and walked inside with the little guy who led the way.

Not far away, there is a pavilion in front of the bamboo forest, in which there are bamboo tables and chairs. A few plantain plants are planted on the side of the pavilion, and the style is graceful, accompanied by a few four seasons laurel, exuding a faint fragrance.

The little servant entered the pavilion, put the horse lamp in his hand on the table, and led the kerosene lamps hanging on the pillars around him with velvet, and the hall was lit up at once.

Shi Quanbin stepped forward, didn't sit down at first, turned around and looked at a few lights, and asked Xu Ping: "Yunxing, what kind of oil do you use for the lamps here?" It was surprisingly bright, and there was no black smoke. ”

Xu Ping said casually: "Kerosene, now we all use this oil here." ”

Shi Quanbin shook his head: "Such a good thing, why haven't you seen it in the palace?" Is this a specialty here in Yongzhou? Squeezed out of what? The former magistrate was so damned that he didn't even confess! ”

Xu Ping chuckled in his heart. That's right, in this era, there are all good things that must be used by the emperor first, why did you forget it? The sugar cane plantations were popularized, but they didn't think about making a few tributes and sending them to the palace.

Seeing that Shi Quanbin was still there and amazed, Xu Ping had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Don't hide it from the pavilion chief, this oil is not squeezed out, it is steamed from the charcoal." When I distilled coke, I made this oil by the way, how can I offer this pickled thing like charcoal to the palace? I didn't expect what you said about this section. ”

Hearing this, Shi Quanbin immediately changed his face and said with a smile: "It turned out to be made by Yunxing, when I was in Beijing before, everyone said that you were clever, but I didn't expect it to be like this in Lingnan." You're right, how can something like charcoal be offered to the palace? But this oil looks clean, I will also bring two barrels when I leave, you prepare a few more lights, and go back to the palace so that the officials can also look at it. ”

Seeing Shi Quanbin lightly unveiled, Xu Ping hurriedly took advantage of the situation to step down, nodded and said, "This is simple, I will prepare two large buckets for you to carry." Anyway, your future road will be waterway, and it won't be troublesome. When you return to the palace, if the emperor thinks it is easy to use, you can bring me a letter again, and pay some tribute every year. ”

Shi Quanbin came to make friends with Xu Ping, not to ask for trouble, so he won't mention it anymore after he said it.

Sitting down on the bamboo chair, Shi Quanbin looked left and right, and said: "This place is elegant, I don't know if there is a name?" ”

"I didn't think about this section, if the cabinet chief is interested, how about a name?"

Literati love to show off, not to mention such a good pavilion, even if a stone is pleasing to the eye, it will also have a name, vassal elegance. Xu Ping is different from the literati of this era, and he does not have this habit.

With the help of the light, Shi Quanbin looked at the bamboo shadows around the pavilion, shook his head: "Enter the water and move the light, and take time out of the green shadow spring." Li Changji's poems are self-contained, this sentence writes bamboo especially see Qingqi, this pavilion is between the bamboo shadows, why don't you call it 'green shadow'? ”

"The cabinet chief's witty words are naturally good. Tomorrow I will find a master craftsman and engrave my name. ”

The whole city of Yongzhou is Xu Ping, a jinshi, it is rare to see orthodox literati in this era, Xu Ping's daily days are mostly buried in various documents and account books, and the poetry and elegance have long been forgotten. All of a sudden, there was no spirit to accompany Shi Quanbin here, so he just casually agreed.

Shi Quanbin didn't care, he lowered his head and read it twice, and the more he read it, the more proud he became.

Tan Hu took two soldiers with him to spread out around the pavilion, one was on guard, and the other was farther away, so as not to disturb the interest of the chief and guests.

Xu Ping sat down opposite Shi Quanbin and asked casually, "Pavilion Chief, what kind of wine do you want to drink?" ”

"What wine do you have here?"

Xu Ping was a little embarrassed: "It's not as good as the capital, I had all kinds of good wine at home at that time, so I can't do it here." There are also several kinds of liquor, but none of them can compare to the taste at home. ”

Shi Quanbin laughed when he heard this: "As I expected, although your family is making wine, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and I am afraid that there is no good wine when I come to Yongzhou." Fortunately, I brought a few bottles of imperial wine with me, you see, this is the lamb wine drunk by the queen mother and the official family in the palace, and we just enjoyed it. ”

After saying that, he took a bottle of wine from his bosom like a trick and touched it about a liter.

Sometimes Xu Ping also admires people of this era, they can put anything in their arms and sleeves, although there are hidden pockets and the like in it, they are still not used to it after trying it a few times.

As for the lamb wine, Xu Ping is no stranger, this is the first expensive wine in Kaifeng City, and it is also the best tonic wine. With the best lamb meat and rice brewed together, there are also a lot of medicinal herbs added to it, and hundreds of Wen a bottle are sold in the capital, which is really not something that ordinary people can afford to drink.