He Xiong was impatient to waste time with him, so he stood up and said goodbye, then left the yamen and headed straight for the city gate.
In the woods outside the city gate, two hundred soldiers were leading their horses to graze, waiting for He Xiong to join them...
In Taiji Village, Old Man Tai had no idea that his "reinforcements" had arrived, and was currently drinking tea and chatting with a few guests who had suddenly visited him.
Previously, there were only horse-drawn carriages lingering on the dirt road outside the village. When villagers approached to inquire, the carriages would leave.
But as the corn cobs in the field became more and more golden and almost half-dried, people who could no longer bear it began to come and visit.
For example, the three people in front of us are all wealthy gentry in the city.
They clearly like the corn in the fields and want to plant it on a large scale next year, but they don't want to buy it at a high price, and their words are unpleasant to the ear.
"Grandpa Tai, I heard that corn is very picky about the soil and requires a lot of labor! After planting corn, the yield of other crops will be reduced!" A country gentleman with a goatee spoke in an exaggerated tone, as if the Tai family had suffered a great loss.
Another wealthy country gentleman chimed in, "Yeah, corn isn't as good as sorghum. At least we've been growing sorghum for years, so we're familiar with it! This corn is a new thing, after all. I heard it's seeds shipped from the south? Can something from the south be grown in our north? It's impossible!"
The third squire was smarter. Seeing Mr. Tai puffing on his pipe with droopy eyelids, he smiled and said, "You two don't have to worry so much. After all, Mr. Tai has already planted crops here, and they look good. I just don't know what they will be like next year or the year after next!"
The other two got his hint and started to make up for it.
The man with the goatee replied, "That's exactly what I'm worried about. So, after the autumn harvest, I'll trade the sorghum for corn seeds and help Grandpa share two thousand kilograms of the burden. If there's any problem with the corn, Grandpa won't suffer any losses."
The portly one immediately said, "Me too. I'll help the old man carry the three thousand pounds."
The third squire, fearing he would not get any advantage, quickly said with a smile, "I have a lot of land at home and harvest a lot of sorghum. I will share the 5,000 kilograms."
"Oh, no, I have quite a bit of land, so I'll share the five thousand catties too," the goateed man regretted. The wealthy squire quickly followed suit, "Yes, five thousand catties too!"
The three of them were about to start fighting over it while talking, completely forgetting that this was the Tai family and that Grandpa Tai had not agreed.
It was obvious that they did not take the Tai family seriously at all, as if the fact that they could come and say a word today was already their greatest sincerity and respect.
Tai Jizu and Tai Jizong listened with unhappy expressions and looked at their father from time to time. With just one word from their father, they could throw these people out immediately.
Fortunately, Tai Jiye brought Yong'an into the city, otherwise the uncle and nephew would have taken action immediately and would not have tolerated it at all.
Old Master Tai didn't seem angry at all, and he knocked his pipe on the table.
The three gentry looked over and found that Tai Jia had not said anything at all. They were a little embarrassed, but there was no panic in their expressions.
Old Master Tai said slowly, "The three masters came to visit us today, thinking that our Tai family was in trouble and wanted to help! That's not necessary, because our family's corn doesn't need anyone's help to share the burden!
“I don’t know how many people in and outside the city rushed to buy it. Not to mention exchanging sorghum for one catty, even if it was one catty for five catties, I still refused!
"There's really no need for you gentlemen to worry so much. This corn is a treasure, not a burden!"
The three gentry didn't expect the old man to be so straightforward. Now that someone had raised the price so high, wouldn't their previous criticisms become a joke?
The three of them blushed. The smarter one gritted his teeth and replied with a dry laugh, "I see. We were indeed worrying too much. We didn't help the old man, but instead caused him trouble. But, old man, we have a lot of land at home, and we really want to try this corn and exchange some seeds..."
Mr. Tai waved his hand to refuse before he could finish.
"I'm sorry, sir, the corn seeds are so popular that almost all the corn outside the village has been reserved. Let alone giving them to you, I'm afraid we don't have enough for ourselves!"
Goatbeard was annoyed when he heard this and shouted, "Impossible! How could tens of thousands of kilograms of corn be ordered out?
We don't ask for much, just a thousand pounds per person. It doesn't matter who you trade it with, so don't be ungrateful!"
The wealthy squire chimed in with a sullen face, "Yes, we're all from Tai'an, we'll see each other every day. You can't be so unkind, old man. And the price of five catties for one catty is too high. I've heard it's cheap in the south, some families even feed their pigs with it. One catty of sorghum for one catty of corn is already pretty good!"
Tai Jizong couldn't hold it in any longer and started cursing, "Since you are such a lowly thing in the south, why don't you go there and exchange it? Why are you coming to our house and making such a fuss? Do you think our Tai family is easy to bully?
"Get out of here! I've really learned a lot. This is the first time I've seen someone who doesn't bow down when asking for help and thinks he's a god! Who does he think he's a fool? He's cheating and deceiving people, and he's not afraid of the gods above his head. He might get struck by lightning in the rain!"
"You..." The three gentry stood up angrily after their fig leaves were torn off.
Unfortunately, before they could curse back, seven or eight people rushed in from outside the door.
It turned out that He Shan brought three or four veterans with him, plus Tai Yonglu, Tai Yongyue and Chen Ruiyang who were holding slingshots, and none of them had empty hands.
Even Zhuzhu is holding a small wooden stick, looking fierce and aggressive, with a grinning sesame ball following beside her!
Seeing this, the three gentry knew they would gain nothing today, so they threw their sleeves and walked out.
"Let's go, let's not bother with these peasants today!"
"Yes, the Tai family is no better than that. They are just a bunch of idiots who dig for food in the dirt!"
They walked angrily as they talked, but the big black horse and the big white horse were guarding the door, spitting at each of them with their lips twitching!
"Bad luck, bad luck!"
"Where did this dead horse come from!"
The three gentry were furious and pulled up their sleeves to rub the dirt, but the more they rubbed, the stinkier it became. I really don’t know what the two horses ate!
Tai Yonglu, Tai Yongyue and Chen Ruiyang who were following behind laughed so hard that their stomachs hurt and they almost rolled around in the yard!
At this moment, an old soldier came running to report the news, "Grandpa, General He Qian is here!"
The Tai family was pleasantly surprised and went out to greet them, only to see He Xiong arriving with a large group of people.
As soon as He Xiong dismounted, he saw several gentry with unhappy expressions, so he asked loudly, "Uncle, what's going on with these three people?"
The old man didn't exaggerate and replied, "I don't know what happened, but they suddenly showed up wanting to trade for several thousand kilograms of corn. I told them it was all sold out, but they didn't believe me and caused quite a scene."
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