Chapter 16 "Tuntian"

Qi Xuansu entered the "inn" and walked to the counter with ease, resting his elbows on the counter.

The shopkeeper behind the counter looked up at Qi Xuansu: "Sir, what kind of business do you want to do? As long as the price is right, we can negotiate."

Qi Xuansu said: "Shopkeeper, do you also do overnight stay business here?"

The shopkeeper was silent, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.

After a long time, the shopkeeper finally said: "There is a fire kiln on the second floor, it is empty anyway."

"Fire kiln" refers to the store room and guest room.

Qi Xuansu smiled: "I didn't know."

"From the tone of the guest, it seems that you are not a newcomer, but a regular customer of our "inn." The shopkeeper looked Qi Xuansu up and down.

"Newcomer" means just debuted.

Qi Xuansu did not hide it: "I can be considered a frequent customer, but I often go to Yangxiang, not online."

"Yangxiang" means the morning sun, which generally refers to the south, the south road, and the south; "online" means this area, often in the south, not often in this area.

The shopkeeper suddenly realized: "So it's a friend in the Yangxiang combination."

It means a friend in the south.

Qi Xuansu said: "No problem."

Since he was an old hand, the shopkeeper saved a lot of meaningless temptations and asked directly: "What can I do for you?"

Qi Xuansu also got straight to the point: "I want to inquire about a place called 'Bai Yutang'. The shopkeeper opened a shop on this line. I wonder if you have heard of it?"

The shopkeeper's eyes flickered: "One more question, what do you want to do with 'Bai Yutang'?"

Qi Xuansu said: "Run errands for people."

The shopkeeper asked again: "Can you tell me a story?"

Qi Xuansu said: "A full stomach story, no ghost above or below."

The so-called "full stomach story" is associated with "full" and then with "full" and "feed". Therefore, "wei" is derived from "zhong wei", and "wei" is homophonic with the surname "Wei".

The explanation of "no ghost" is easy, that is, "wu" is in front and "gui" is in the back, and it is "Wei Wugui".

If Qi Xuansu uses his real name, it will be "kong piang wan", "Xuan" on the top and Su on the bottom.

"Brother Wei, you should know the rules of our inn." The shopkeeper said, "everything is easy to talk about, the head of the stick speaks first."

"Head of the stick, easy to talk." Qi Xuansu tapped the counter lightly with his fingers, "but let's make it clear first, we don't do the Haikai reduction."

"Of course." The shopkeeper smiled, "but we don't do the smashing of the jiang here either."

"Head of the stick" refers to silver, "Haikai reduction" means to say the high price first and then lower the price, and "smashing the jiang" means to lower the price.

The shopkeeper nodded slightly and stopped speaking jargon: "Let's talk in another place."

Qi Xuansu said: "Wait, I have something else to say."

"What is it?" asked the shopkeeper.

Qi Xuansu pointed at Qin Xiang beside him and said, "Are there any rooms available? Come in one."

Qin Xiang was confused. She could understand every word of the conversation between Qi Xuansu and the innkeeper, but she couldn't understand them together. It was not until the end that she understood a little bit, it seemed that he wanted her to stay in the inn.

The shopkeeper turned his eyes to Qin Xiang. Although Qin Xiang covered most of her face with a hood, she was still recognized by the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This girl came here a few days ago."

"Yes." Qi Xuansu said, "Let her stay for a few more days until I come back."

The shopkeeper said, "It's not that I'm unlucky, what if she can't come back?"

Qi Xuansu thought for a while and said, "The 'inn' is on good terms with the Qingluan Guard, so let's notify the Qingluan Guard."

The shopkeeper's face changed: "What do you mean by guest?"

"It means literally." Qi Xuansu didn't want to say more, "Let's talk about business."

The shopkeeper's expression changed, and finally he waved to call a waiter and ordered, "Take this girl to the room where she stayed."

Qin Xiang looked at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu smiled and said, "Go, it's safe here, and generally no one will go wild in the 'inn'."

"That's natural." The innkeeper echoed, but when he said this, he remembered the incident of someone silencing a branch of the "inn" in Luzhou.

Qin Xiang followed the waiter to the guest room where he had stayed.

The shopkeeper held out his hand: "Please come this way, sir."

The two came to a separate room, which seemed to be the shopkeeper's study. In addition to a huge desk full of various files, there were two rows of chairs against the wall. It seemed that this place also served as a signing room for many people to discuss matters.

The shopkeeper sat behind the desk. Qi Xuansu sat on a chair casually and said straight to the point: "Shopkeeper, please name a price, as long as I can afford it."

The shopkeeper did not rush to quote, but said: "Since the guest knows the existence of 'Bai Yu Tang', I think the guest also understands the specialness of 'Bai Yu Tang'."

Qi Xuansu really didn't know how special Bai Yu Tang was, but he couldn't show his fear at this time, so he had to nod.

The shopkeeper continued: "So the price will not be very low, I hope the guest is well prepared."

"How much?" Qi Xuansu had a bad feeling in his heart.

The shopkeeper held out two fingers.

Qi Xuansu certainly didn't think it was two hundred Taiping coins, and couldn't help but frown: "Two thousand?"

"Yes, two thousand." The shopkeeper's face remained smiling.

Qi Xuansu was somewhat helpless. He was unable to return to Yujing, but "got off the flying boat" halfway, so he was unable to withdraw the resettlement fee and part of the regular silver. Qi Niang also intercepted his worry-free money. He only had 300 Taiping money in savings, and 500 Taiping money given by Zhao Fuan, a total of 800 Taiping money, which was still a long way from 2,000 Taiping money.

Even if he had 2,000 Taiping money, he doubted whether the reward Qi Niang would give him afterwards could cover his capital. It would be fine if he made a wasted trip, just as he was helping Qi Niang. If he lost money, that would not be very good. There is no way. Those who are close to vermilion will be red, and those who are close to ink will be black. After following Qi Niang for a long time, he has also been infected with some habits.

The shopkeeper was not surprised to see Qi Xuansu's face showing difficulty. After all, the amount of two thousand Taiping money was too large. He continued, "Of course, if the guest can't afford so much Taiping money, you can also use other methods, such as paying with work."

Qi Xuansu understood that the shopkeeper probably deliberately opened a high price and then gave another way. The fundamental purpose was to let him work for the "inn".

Qi Xuansu did not object: "I wonder what kind of business is worth two thousand Taiping money?"

The shopkeeper said: "It is indeed a big business. Brother Wei is often in the south, where there are dense populations, so the business is mainly fighting with people. It's different in our northwest. The land is vast and sparsely populated. There are not so many businesses fighting with people, but more fighting with the sky."

"Fighting with the sky?" Qi Xuansu just thought this statement was more novel.

The shopkeeper said: "There are many unexplored places in Yongzhou and Xizhou, some of which are left over from ancient times, some are man-made, and some are even broken caves."

Qi Xuansu said: "I know, but that was two hundred years ago. Since the Taoist sect returned to Kunlun, Quanzhen Taoism has taken the lead in launching a series of "reclamation" activities, which the Taoist sect calls "Tuntian."

"Sir, you are an expert." The shopkeeper gave a thumbs up, "Since you know this, then it's easy for me to talk. The Taoist sect called this exploration behavior "Tuntian" and it lasted for nearly a hundred years. The so-called Tuntian is to reclaim wasteland. According to the different identities of the people who reclaimed it, it is divided into military settlement, civilian settlement, and commercial settlement. In the Taoist sect's "Tuntian", it can probably be applied. In this way, let's not talk about Xizhou, but Yongzhou. The Taoist sect and the imperial court are military settlements. The Taoist sect occupies half of the share, followed by the imperial court, which occupies 30% of the share. The remaining 20% ​​are commercial settlements and civilian settlements. The so-called civilian settlements are actually managed by local tyrants, but in the eyes of the imperial court and the Taoist sect, they still belong to the category of "civilians". Being able to occupy 10% of the share may seem small, but in fact it is enough to eat. As for the commercial settlements, they are naturally our "inns". It is not easy for us to get this 10% share, thanks to many old relationships that have been operating for many years. "

"I see." It was the first time that Qi Xuansu heard this statement, but he could probably understand what the "inn" business was specifically.

The shopkeeper continued, "As for the share here, it mainly refers to the 'fields' that have been initially reclaimed. There are also many completely 'wastelands' that are in the hands of others, so let's not talk about this for now. What we are talking about is these 'fields' that have been initially reclaimed. Since it is an initial reclamation, the next step is deep plowing, including plowing, fertilizing, pest control, weeding, etc."

At first glance, this is just an old farmer farming, and it has nothing to do with anything else.

Qi Xuansu was a little puzzled and said, "Is this probably the job of the gods?"

"That can't be said. The gods are responsible for 'reclaiming wasteland', and the subsequent 'deep plowing' is the responsibility of others." The shopkeeper explained.

Qi Xuansu thought for a moment and asked, "So what is the commission this time?"

The shopkeeper said, "Although our 'inn' is also on the 'secret society list' of the Taoist sect, it has some relationship with the Taoist sect and the imperial court. It is completely different from the Purple Light Society, Zhiming Sect, and Lingshan Witch Sect. The 'tuntian' we are talking about today is related to Zhiming Sect."

Qi Xuansu waited for the next words.

The shopkeeper said: "The 'field' in our hands was once a Taoist site. Later, the Zhiming Sect planned here for many years and secretly spread curses, which eventually turned the living people here into zombies. The zombies can also continue to infect other living people, and eventually turn into ghosts. The zombie army formed a corpse tide, spreading to all directions, sweeping across the four directions, really like attacking cities and plundering land."

"In this case, in order to prevent the corpse tide from further expanding, the Taoist sect and the court had to choose to use the 'Phoenix Eye Jia San' to destroy it together with the zombies."

"After many years, there is only a ruin there, but there are still some zombies wandering in it. It's strange, this It seems that these zombies are endless. They are exterminated every year, and they appear every year, just like weeds in the fields. They can't be burned by wildfires, but they will grow again in the spring breeze. The 'inn' has to do routine cleaning every year. This year, for some reasons, our branch is a little short of staff, so we need to recruit people from outside. "

Qi Xuansu understood and asked, "What is the specific situation?"

The shopkeeper said, "The head office will send nine masters in the return to the true stage. They will be the main ones, and the rest will be recruited by our branch. After the matter is completed, each person will be paid 2,000 Taiping money. If the guest agrees and doesn't want to inquire about the news of 'Bai Yutang' afterwards, then our branch can also offer a reward of 2,000 Taiping money. "