In February, the willow trees by the river are already covered with tender buds, and occasionally a branch of apricot blossoms is scattered and open, and the oncoming wind is like the hand of a twenty-eight girl, gentle and sweet. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Xu Ping rarely uses guides in the capital, and when the family is not with him, he always uses two elderly van soldiers to accompany him. In fact, most of the officials in the capital who are similar to him are like this, except for official business. Only those officials who pay special attention to their status, not to mention the ministers, others such as the Imperial Historical Observatory and the internal and external ministers, will be more flamboyant when they travel. Of course, the most publicized are the military ministers, especially some of the generals who lead the troops in Sanya, who hug each other as soon as they go out.

It's not just about keeping a low profile, it's also about realistic considerations. Although the capital is large, there are too many officials in the city, and you will meet them on the street from time to time. Officialdom is etiquette, and there are clear regulations that some officials should give way to others, and this is not just to give way to the lower ranks, but some positions are deliberately promoted so that they can run rampant on the streets.

The most typical is the Imperial History Tower, not only the Imperial History, but also the miscellaneous Imperial History, the scale of the travel guard is large, the level is high, basically except for the encounter with the Zaizhi, everyone else has to make way for him.

Another example is the internal and external ministers, who are also more than one rank higher than ordinary officials. The lowest Zhishe people's courtyard, on the road, even the commanders of the three yas have to make way for him, you must know that many of the commanders are envoys with knots.

Xu Ping served as the deputy envoy of salt and iron with the county marquis, and once he prepared a guard of honor to travel, it was inevitable that he would often have to give way to some officials of six or seven grades on the road, which was very embarrassing. It is better to be light and simple, and treat yourself as an ordinary person, which not only avoids the ugliness when giving way to officials who are much lower than yourself, but also gives others a humble impression.

Lu Fang and the others followed behind Xu Ping, and they were all surprised to see how simple his entourage was. I think that when he was in Yongzhou, although Xu Ping was not publicized, as long as he went out, how could there be one or twenty people with him.

A group of people sighed in their hearts, the capital is really the capital, and only when they arrived here did they know how humble their official position was. Even a dignified county marquis, a figure who can bring 100,000 soldiers in the frontier, is only like this in the capital.

Lu Fang has been promoted to ambassador because of his military exploits, but the others are still just small envoys. What is a Little Emissary? In the front division of the palace, almost all the soldiers are small envoys. In Yongzhou, you can be a role in the village, and in your own territory, you can only be an ordinary soldier in the capital who is equivalent to the emperor's guards.

This is the capital, where there are as many powerful people as dogs and high-ranking officials gather.

Lu Fang, Shi Quanbin, had already known each other when he was in Yongzhou, and he was very affectionate when he reunited in a different place, and he came out of the yamen early and did his best with Xu Ping as a landlord.

The spring breeze blows across the water surface of the Bianhe River, and the lazy spring light makes people sleepy.

"Let's go to Changqing Tower, Xiangguo Temple is lively."

Shi Quanbin shouted loudly, asking for Xu Ping's opinion.

According to Xu Ping's thoughts, it is best to go home, no matter what you eat and drink, your home is much better than the restaurant outside. But the guests came all the way from Yongzhou, of course, they had to take them to see the prosperity of the capital, otherwise some people might think they were stingy. As for which restaurant, in Xu Ping's eyes, they are all about the same.

A few people got off the royal street and detoured from the side road to the back gate of Xiangguo Temple, where Changqing Building, one of the seventy-two main stores, was located.

Just after leaving the Royal Street, he saw Han Qi walking on the road with an old servant in his hand. Zuozangku and Daxiangguo Temple are next to each other, thinking that he has finished today's business and just came out of the yamen.

Xu Ping saw it and shouted loudly: "Zhigui, don't be in a hurry to go home, let's go have a drink together!" ”

Han Qi heard Xu Ping's voice, hurriedly stepped to the side of the road, walked closer and arched his hand: "Yunxing is so interested today." Where are these guests from? ”

"It's my subordinate when I was in Yongzhou, the bridge and road army, and I just transferred to the capital."

Han Qi listened and greeted a few people.

Shi Quanbin also came up to see him, and invited Han Qi together.

Han Qi was not hypocritical, and ordered the old servant to go home alone, and he followed Xu Ping and a few others.

There were not many guests in Changqing Building today, so everyone found a small pavilion by the window to sit. Shi Quanbin instructed the little guy who came up to greet him: "Invite a few guests from other places today, your best dishes, just come up, and count the money together in a while." ”

He asked Lu Fang and the others: "What kind of wine do you drink?" The spirits in the capital were brewed by Vice Envoy Xu's family, which was much better than that in Yongzhou. The wine in Yongzhou has not been passed on by Deputy Envoy Xu, and it is not authentic. ”

Lu Fang and several people said together: "We are all martial artists, so naturally we drink spirits!" Usually the drinks are as bland and tasteless as water, and I am impatient to drink! ”

Shi Quanbin smiled and ordered Dr. Wine to bring two bottles of the best spirits.

After a while, the store first put on some small vegetables and fruits and other pressed wine, and then took two bottles of spirits, and introduced: "Our Changqing Building, the spirits are all from the Xu family's restaurant outside Wansheng Gate every day, the most authentic, guests can enjoy it with peace of mind!" ”

Shi Quanbin pointed at Xu Ping and said: "The Marquis of Yongning is here, and the wine in his house will be true or false when you smell it." Don't bring some miscellaneous wine, you can't fool the connoisseurs! ”

Dr. Jiu had long felt that Xu Ping was a little familiar, but Changqing Building was closest to Yujie, and there were many officials who usually drank here, Shi Quanbin said it, and then remembered that this was Xu Ping, and hurriedly came up to greet him.

After seeing the ceremony, Dr. Jiu pointed to the wine bottle and said, "This bottle is still from the county marquis's family, so naturally it can't be wrong!" Since the county marquis's house started selling wine, we all went outside the city every day to pull wine, where was it like some restaurants to steal and play tricks! ”

Xu Ping smiled and nodded.

In the past two years, with the rise of the Xu family's status, the market for liquor has gradually expanded, and the slightly larger restaurants in the city have liquor for sale. This is a unique business, and I don't know how many people in the city are jealous, and they speculate that the Xu family has earned a lot of money by selling liquor over the years. There is no technical difficulty in baijiu, and it is no secret that the brewing method is slowly spreading, and there are several restaurants secretly brewing their own.

It is not difficult to brew liquor, but it is not easy to make good liquor, which shows the importance of Xu Ping's family heritage. Really good liquor still has to go to Xu's house to buy it, and the liquor in other homes just has a strong taste.

This kind of noise just opened up the market and brought more wealth to the Xu family, and Xu Ping did not deliberately block it. Nowadays, in the capital, the best liquor in the liquor industry comes from the Xu family, and the cheapest liquor also comes from the Xu family. The sweet sorghum planted in a large number of factories in Xujiamu Manor every year does not know how much low-grade liquor can be produced by using the incense method, and the cost is almost negligible compared with other families who use grain to make liquor.

The liquor bottles sold by Xu Ping's family are specially designed, and they are specially designed to be burned in a special cellar in Ruzhou, and there are special channels for recycling. This is also a measure taken by Xu Ping to raise the value of his own liquor by drawing on the experience of his previous life.

In the liquor industry, the Xu family has firmly grasped the two main sources of profits of the highest-end high-priced liquor and the largest amount of low-priced liquor, and the bigger the market develops, the more the Xu family earns and wealth.

With the passage of time, the brewing technology of liquor will be mastered by more and more people, and more and more people will be accustomed to drinking liquor, and there will be a steady stream of money flowing into Xu Ping's family.

After the wine was put away, Dr. Jiu put on a set of special wine dispensers and wine glasses, and said to a few people: "See, only the familiar households of the Xu family's liquor have this kind of wine vessel, which is really made in the Xu family's special cellar!" ”

"Sure enough, it's true, your restaurant is a sincere businessman!"

The crowd laughed together, opened the wine, and poured it together.

After drinking three rounds, Han Qi said to Xu Ping: "In a few days, I will be transferred out of the third division and will no longer supervise the left treasury." ”

Xu Ping was stunned: "Oh, where are you going to work?" ”

"Replace Ming Ho and serve as a pusher in Kaifeng Mansion."

Xu Ping hurriedly congratulated Han Qi on his promotion, the official of Kaifeng Mansion, whose status is higher than that of ordinary governors of large states. Because there is no general judgment in Kaifeng Prefecture, the civil officials of the Jiedu and the state are also different from the general state government, and the pusher is the right and left hand of the prefect, and the power is also great and the responsibility is heavy. As a pusher for the last two terms, it is possible to hold important positions in the court.

Ming Ho was really unlucky this time, he was on duty several times, even if he was not responsible, he was also affected, and he was sent to Ren Zhizhou on the outer road, and he didn't know when he would be able to return to the court.

Xu Ping also understood why Han Qi didn't say a word and followed his people to drink, and became the official of Kaifeng Mansion, so he had to use the power of the bridge and the Xiangjun to repair the bridge and pave the road. These box troops were transferred from Yongzhou, Xu Ping's old subordinates are different from ordinary box soldiers, they can't be transferred casually, and Han Qi also has to pull the relationship early.

At this time, when the dishes came up, Shi Quanbin warmly greeted Lu Fang and a few people to drink, introducing all kinds of Beijing delicacies.

Xu Ping looked out of the window and saw a crowd of people outside, and flower petals flying in the air from nowhere.

It's the spring of the year again, the season of going out to enjoy the flowers, the flow of people here in Daxiangguo Temple is like weaving, and the weather is very peaceful.

Lu Fang, who was opposite, drank wine that he had never drunk before, looking at the bustling market that he had never seen before, his eyes were a little confused.

With the arrival of spring, his subordinates in Yongzhou were also transferred to the capital one after another to start their new life. In Yongzhou, Xu Ping did not deliberately cultivate talents, but he did not expect that one day he would have to borrow their strength. But for these people, it is not a turning point in their fate, and they can see the scenery of life that they have never thought of before.

Xu Ping took six years to change the face of Yongzhou, how much time will it take to change this empire?

Xu Ping didn't have an answer in his heart, he could only take the people who were willing to move forward with him, and slowly walked forward step by step. (To be continued.) )