Chapter 70

Pan Wenji looked at the sky and saw that there was still light, so he asked the old servant in the house to open a warehouse and take two 20-year-old ginseng, several other precious medicinal materials, and a load of good charcoal.

Everything I needed to bring was ready, and the housekeeper hurriedly said that the car was ready.

Pan Wenji asked his entourage to follow him out and get on the prepared donkey cart.

The carriage was replaced with thick curtains, and it was covered with three soft cushions of different materials, and was filled with Pan Wenji's favorite incense.

The anger in Pan Wenji's heart was not gone, and he made an invisible gesture towards the housekeeper's deliberate efforts to please him.

The butler was also an old slave in Pan's house, and he was also flustered this time. He never thought that the master would be so concerned about his friends who came from afar.

This friend has been in office for several years, and it is impossible to return to his previous position. But his master is different. When his term is up, he will definitely be transferred to the state magistrate.

Because of his anxiety, Pan Wenji only felt that the journey became far away.

He raised the curtain and shouted to the driver, "Speed ​​up quickly."

The driver looked embarrassed and said, "Master, there are many people on the road, so we can't go faster."

The donkey cart wasn't much faster. No mule-drawn carriages or horse-drawn carriages.

Pan Wenji knew that it was useless to be impatient, so he suppressed his impetuous mood, rubbed his tired temples, and stopped urging the handlebar pose.

He should have thought long ago that Pang Boyi reported good things but not bad things. As his friend for more than 20 years, the two of them had not seen each other for seven or eight years, and they mostly exchanged letters. This letter is slow, and I rarely see one in a month or two. The two of them always only exchange interesting things they see every day, or comment on the situation in the world.

In the past few years, the topics that Pang Boyi talked with him gradually changed from big ambitions to trivial matters, farmers and people...

After the donkey cart drove for a long time, the sky turned completely dark.

The boy sitting outside raised the curtain and came in to ask if he wanted to light a lamp in the carriage.

Pan Wenji shook his head. Lights were lit on the street outside and hung high on the eaves. The lights were dim all the way, and there was no need to lift the curtains to let in light.

After a while, the donkey cart came to a halt. The boy jumped off the edge, moved the footstool, raised the curtain and shouted: "Master, Pang's Mansion has arrived."

Pan Wenji came down and saw a lamp lit at the door. Let the servant call someone, then go up and knock the door button.

There was a "squeak" sound.

The wooden door was opened.

The boy who opened the door was a boy of fourteen or fifteen years old. Seeing that Pan Wenji was coming, the boy quickly saluted him and invited him in.

"Why are you alone? Where is Uncle Pang?" As soon as Pan Wenji came in, he felt that Pang's mansion was very deserted. Ruoda's front yard was empty, not even a servant.

The boy worriedly said: "Pan Langjun, Uncle Pang is taking care of Langjun in the house. Langjun has been unable to sleep for two days. We servants can only worry."

Pan Wenji paused: "I didn't go to ask the doctor. ?"

The boy replied honestly: "Please, the doctor said this is a stubborn disease that is difficult to cure, so he prescribed medicinal soup and tranquilizing pills for headaches."

He arched his back and led the way briskly. Soon, Pan Wenji and the boy who led the way arrived in front of Pang Boyi's house.

The house was not closed, and Pan Wenji was eager to see his friend, so he entered without letting the servant in to inform him. He walked straight to the room where he was resting, crossed the curtain, and saw his friend lying on his side on the couch, squinting his eyes. Uncle Pang was sitting on his knees at the foot of the couch, listening to the sound, he got up and saluted Pan Wenji.

"Pan Langjun."

Pan Wenji nodded kindly and asked softly: "Asleep?" "

Just fell asleep." After Uncle Pang finished speaking, he sighed lowly, with sadness in his eyes.

Pang Yi's health has been deteriorating in the past two years, and their travel expenses are actually spent on medical treatment.

When Pan Wenji saw his friend, the candlelight was dim, but he had white hair on his temples.

"When did he get his head disease? In these years, he always reported good news but not bad news, but I didn't know anything."

Uncle Pang whispered: "Da Lang doesn't want you to worry."

They didn't spend much time in front of the bed . After talking, he came out of the house and stood in the corridor at the cold air outlet to wait.

Uncle Pang continued: "Da Lang has had a headache for five years. At first he thought it was just because he was tired, and he would be cured after just two days of rest. But later on, when he had been ill for a long time, he realized that the headache was difficult to treat. However, Dalang used to be worried. There were so many things to worry about that I couldn't take good care of my body. Later, when I became an official, I often had headaches for half a year before I left."

Pan Wenji clenched his fists and said angrily: "He didn't even let you say it when he came to the county? I can't hide it."

After winter, Pang Boyi's headache could not be hidden.

It's just that the wind blew for half an hour on the beauty's back in the corridor at night, and the next day my head hurt so much that I couldn't think about food or tea, so I couldn't stand up to the persistent Uncle Pang.

Pan Wenji suddenly said: "Uncle Pang, please wait for two days, I will go find the doctor."

"I would like to thank Pan Langjun." Upon hearing this, Uncle Pang bowed with tears in his eyes.

Lang Jun has suffered too much these years. He is suffering from mental illnesses, but no one can cure him.

...

at night.

There were still lamps lit in Xu Yi's room. He was worried that lighting up lamps would hurt his eyes while reading at night, so Xu Yi lit two lamps. Next to his right side was a small charcoal basin, which A Xu lit for him.

A Xu thought how could Lang Jun not use charcoal in such a cold weather.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to pour hot water for Xu Yi into the house, A Xu shouted loudly: "Lang Jun, it's late, you'd better go to bed early."

Xu Yi said: "I won't keep this account, I will forget to count tomorrow. It's very troublesome to count again."

After saying that, he looked at A Xu, "You should learn arithmetic quickly, so that I can leave the accounting work to you."

A Xu lowered his head in shame: "It's all. It's my fault. If I had learned it earlier, Lang Jun wouldn't have to work so hard."

Xu Yi shook his head and said calmly, "Okay, go back to the house and sleep. You don't have to watch over me."

A Xu knew that Xu Yi didn't want anyone to be around. No one bothered me, so I quietly walked out of the room with the pot in hand, and then gently closed the door.

As soon as he left, Xu Yi returned his focus to the account book.

The daily living expenses, the medicinal materials purchased, the medicinal materials sold, the medicinal materials consumed, the money obtained, the capital, and the final profit.

Xu Yi did not go out of his way to make a ledger that was inconsistent with the current situation. He listed it vertically and divided it into three parts, one for outgoing accounts, one for incoming accounts, and one for profits. Although it is not as clear and convenient as modern forms, it can be understood clearly when shown to others.

In the past few days, he had taught Ah Xu and Ah Jin how to read account books, but the two of them were still too young to understand and were not suitable for getting started.

No way, he can only do it himself.

After recording the accounts, it is already Haishi. This is the time when yin and yang are handed over, and it is suitable to rest and sleep.

No matter how busy Xu Yi is, he will never be busy beyond this point. He stood up and reached out to check the hot water that A Xu had poured before leaving. It was still warm, so he took the plain cotton handkerchief and twisted it to wipe his face and hands.

Then he blew out the lamp, took off his outer robe and got into bed.

The place where the feet rested under the quilt was warm, and there was a hot water bottle inside. It was made of tin and looked like a giant water chestnut. The price is not cheap, a Tangbaozi on the market costs hundreds of dollars.

Xu Yi of the Xu family used Tang Pozi, but Ah Xu and Ah Jin were determined not to use it. That would be too bad of a rule.

The next day, when Xu Yi woke up, Mrs. Tang was already cold.

He got up and dressed, came out with his robe on, and saw Ah Jin washing the clothes he had changed out of yesterday. She rubbed the robe in her hands back and forth with her small hands. When she heard the sound, Ah Jin looked up and saw Xu Yi looking at her. He raised the corners of his mouth happily and shouted, "Lang Jun." "

Lang Jun, brother is making breakfast. You can eat it later." Ah Jin said, getting up and wiping his hands to pour warm water for Xu Yi to rinse his mouth.

Xu Yi looked helpless, but he couldn't resist these two children.

After Xu Yi washes up, the red bean porridge made by A Xu is also ready. He scooped out the porridge with a large spoon and brought it to Xu Yi's face. He placed the chopsticks and spoons and divided the dishes into two plates. One was sweet and sour pickled garlic cloves, and the other was dogwood spicy cabbage.

Xu Yi still wanted to eat the latter, so A Xu asked Mrs. He to learn how to pickle vegetables. Xu Yi liked spicy food, but unfortunately there were no chili peppers in the Song Dynasty, so he used dogwood instead.

This time, peach meat was added to the pickled spicy cabbage. It has a refreshing fruity sweet aroma and a sour and spicy taste. It is appetizing and not greasy. Eat it with red bean porridge. Xu Yi can eat two bowls. .

After making two bowls of porridge, Xu Yi peeled off the boiled chicken and tasted it slowly.

He didn't like egg yolks, but Xiao Huang did. After giving the yolks to Xiao Huang, Xu Yi ended his breakfast.

...

After Xu Yi came to the Song Dynasty, he had been groping around the county town and did not go out to develop maps of the county town outside.

Although Yanting County is quite good, every time he passes that official road, he always wonders what kind of county he will get to if he continues on this road.

Will it be like Yanting County, full of the smell of fireworks, and a completely different feeling from the modern commercialized ancient town? The pace here is naturally slow, but it is also hard and busy everywhere.

What is different from the common people is that the soldiers guarding the city here are lazy. The officers and soldiers guarding the city sit leisurely in the city wall tower, drinking tea brewed by their maids. The horse kept in the manger has not been taken out for a long time. If the horse supervisor in charge of food hadn't drained the fat water into his pocket, the horse might not have been raised as a pig.

Naturally, these have nothing to do with Xu Yi.

He just sighed that it was indeed the Song Dynasty. This was still the early Northern Song Dynasty, and strong military horses were rare in Shu.

On the road, the most common things I see are cows, donkeys and mules.

The rich and powerful families also raised horses. These horses that could fall into the hands of wealthy families were all thin and weak horses that could not be used as battlefields. You can use them to transport goods and pull carriages. They are naturally stronger than mules, but ordinary people cannot buy them.

The Yaren have long had a firm grasp on the supply of goods and only leaked it to powerful people.

Like Xu Yi...he had only seen him once from a distance.

Xu Yi put back his scattered thoughts, Axu Ajin was packing his luggage for the trip.

He was going on a long trip to Zitong County.

This matter starts from yesterday.

Uncle Tang was a foot trader when he was young. As he grew older, he seldom engaged in the foot trade business. However, it's not that it doesn't touch it at all.

Yesterday he came to Xu's house for tea and talked about how he was going to Zitong County to purchase goods the next day. A medical clinic asked him to go to Zitong County to buy a batch of medicinal materials.

This Zitong County is a very important key county in the Shu Road. One end is connected to the Central Plains and the other end leads to the Western Regions. There are many things there that are not found in the Central Plains or Shu. It is a place where merchants will pass through.

Therefore, the price of medicinal materials there is naturally lower than that at the Fucheng Medicine Store.

However, the road to Zitong County is full of mountains, rivers, and ravines, making it very dangerous. Without the accompanying caravan and accompanying guards, it would have been difficult to pass safely.

Uncle Tang came to visit because he thought that Xu Yi, as a doctor, could give Xu Yi a copy if he went to buy medicinal materials.

He said, "Xu Xiaolang, if you need anything, I can buy it for you and bring it back to you."

Xu Yi stood up with a smile, cupped his hands and asked, "How many days will it take for Uncle Tang to return from this trip?"

"Six days." Uncle Tang said.

It would take at least two days to go here. To get to Zitong County, you need to travel and rest for half a day, and then contact the drug dealers. All of this takes time.

Xu Yi thought slightly. It only took six days, which was a few days shorter than he thought.

He thought about it and asked: "Uncle Tang, can you have one more person on this trip? I want to go to Zitong County to have a look in person."

He added that going to Zitong County to buy medicinal materials requires someone who knows how to know medicine. Being passed off as good or fake.

After hearing this, Uncle Tang was instantly moved.

He said that he would arrange this matter and asked Xu Yi to bring only the gifts for going out the next day and the dry food for the two days to Zitong County.

So, the next day, Xu Yi had to make an impromptu trip.

Naturally, you can't do this with two children. A Xu and A Jin are also sensible, and are only responsible for preparing the gifts. A Xu is baking white flour pancakes in the kitchen early in the morning, with two kinds of fillings, one is sweet sesame filling, and the other is salty rice pancake. Dried vegetable stuffing.

Ah Jin made two small brocade bags. She knew only needlework but not embroidery, so she made the simplest styles.

"Mr. Lang, the sachet is ready." Ah Jin prepared the sachet and showed it to Xu Yi.

Satisfied, Xu Yi took the sachet to the kitchen, selected several medicinal materials, and put them into the sachet.

One is tied around the waist and the other is placed close to the body.

Not only that, he also brought prepared first-aid pills, pills to treat diarrhea, etc., everything he could think of.

If you really need medicine on the road but there is none, you can only hope for the best and look for it on the spot.

Soon, Xu Yi went out carrying a bag half as tall as a man. There was a change of clothes and a knife in the bag.

The wooden bow was not convenient to carry with him, so he did not mount it.

When he arrived at Uncle Tang's house, Uncle Tang was ready. He brought more things, including a bamboo box for luggage and two empty boxes.

Uncle Tang said with a smile: "I have been entrusted with a lot of things to bring with me on this trip. Some small items cannot be put together with other goods."

Xu Yi nodded and agreed with him.

They chatted for a while in the house about what they should pay attention to on the road. Xu Yi asked: "Which car should I take later?"

"You and I are in the same car." Uncle Tang joked, "The rest of the people are Rough man, if you ride in the same car with them, you may not be able to rest well."

Xu Yi was stunned for a moment, and then laughed.

Then a mule cart drove to South Street to pick them up.

The driver was a strong man with two thick black eyebrows and a half-inch scar on his jawbone. He had a fierce expression and a violent air on his body.

In winter, he only wore short brown cotton cloth, with a thick wolfskin draped over it, and a scimitar on his waist, which was not like the style found only here in Sichuan.

Entering the carriage, Uncle Tang introduced this person to Xu Yi in a low voice: "This man driving the car is a veteran. He has been traveling on Shu Road for many years and is very familiar with the road to Zitong County. As businessmen, we will inevitably encounter evil people. He Yeah... like this."

Uncle Tang made a gesture of cutting his neck, reminding Xu Yi that this man had blood on his hands and was not to be messed with.

Xu Yi nodded calmly, the world outside was more dangerous than he thought.

This time, he regarded it as an advance practice.

When they came out of the county town, there were already three mule carts and two donkey carts waiting outside.

When Xu Yi felt that the mule cart had stopped, he opened the small window next to him and looked out. At this sight, he was slightly stunned.

In the waiting motorcade, Xu Yi saw an acquaintance - Zhang Tiegou.

Zhang Tiegou keenly felt that someone was looking at him, and his eyes swept over him sharply.

He froze.

"Brother Xu?" He shouted and walked quickly towards him.

His move made everyone else in the convoy notice this unfamiliar face.

Others looked doubtfully at Uncle Tang, who organized the team this time.

Uncle Tang introduced cheerfully: "This is Dr. Xu. Despite his young age, he has extraordinary medical skills. This time we are mainly going to purchase medicinal materials. With Dr. Xu here, we can save a lot of trouble." "

Hearing what he said, the eyes of those people did not decrease, but their gazes towards Xu Yi became more intense.

A young man who can be recognized as outstanding by Uncle Tang is naturally different. I just don’t know whether such a young doctor can withstand the physical strength of joining them.

"Master Tang, are you sure you want him to follow?" Someone said hesitantly, "This guy looks like a white-faced scholar, can he withstand our fast-paced trip?"

After a while, Uncle Tang said: "It doesn't matter, Doctor Xu can't Delaying the trip."

He looked up and looked at Xu Yi with recognition in his eyes.

They were talking softly on one side, and Xu Yi and Zhang Tiegou on the other side also started chatting.

The two asked each other why they were in the merchant team, and Xu Yi learned that Zhang Tiegou, in addition to being a hunter, also had a part-time job as a guard for the merchant team.

When guards encounter dangerous situations, they can die at any time, so the cost of hiring them is not low. It is winter and the wages are even higher, five hundred coins a day. This trip takes six days, and Zhang Tiegou can earn three guan of money, which is equivalent to three taels of silver.

For ordinary people, three taels of silver is a lot.

This time there were three guards in the caravan including Zhang Tiegou.

Zhang Tiegou laughed heartily. Now that there is one more Xu Yi, there are four people.

But he knew that he couldn't say this to others.

The group of people did not talk for too long. After everyone had tidied up, they all boarded the mule and donkey carts. Several merchant vehicles slowly entered the official road and headed towards the Shu Road in the mountains.

...

Not long after Xu Yi left, a mule cart stopped outside Xu's house.

An old man with white hair got out of the car. He was strong and energetic, looking at Xu's house so close to the Pang Mansion, feeling a sense of melancholy in his heart that things were unpredictable.

His husband had been looking for a doctor for so long, but the two families were actually so close together.

If they knew that it was Dr. Xu who made the Xiaoshi Pills, they would have to thank the Street Department for their supervision.

Guan Gouben also didn't know about it. He had homemade medicine at home, so he didn't need to worry about it. The yamen below were responsible for it.

And this yamen officer happened to be the yamen officer who was responsible for the disaster in South Street last time. When he thought about it, he thought of Xu Yi. Then he sent his subordinate Zaoli to South Street to inquire, and he found out.

Uncle Pang straightened his sleeves, took two steps forward, and knocked on Xu's door.

After a while, a child trotted out, opened the door a crack, and looked at him with vigilant eyes.

A Xu pursed his lips and asked, "My father-in-law, who are you looking for?"

When Uncle Pang saw the child, he knew he had made a mistake. This was indeed Dr. Xu's home.

He said with kind eyes: "I came to see Doctor Xu to treat my husband."

A Xu said: "But my husband has traveled far away and will not be able to return home until six days later."

Uncle Pang was stunned and asked anxiously : "Can you tell me when your husband left the house and where he went?"

Six days... six days...

this is too long.

No, he has to chase the person back.

Uncle Pang was thinking about it, and when he heard the child say that Doctor Xu had just left the house and was going to Zitong County, he hurriedly left.

"Huh?" A Xu wanted to call him to stop him, but the father-in-law moved quickly and there was no trace of him being an old man.

"Strange, who is this person?" A Xu muttered in a low voice, closed the door full of doubts, and returned to the house to find his sister A Jin.

Uncle Pang left outside Xu's courtyard, got into the car and closed his eyes. Dalang had been suffering from headaches for several days and couldn't sleep every night. He could only sleep for less than an hour a day with his eyes closed. If he stayed up for another six days, I was afraid that Dalang's body wouldn't be able to support him.

He regained his composure, immediately let the handlebars leave the city as quickly as possible, and chased people in the direction of Zitong County.

He was riding in a mule cart arranged by Pan Wenji, and he swung his whip obediently on the handlebars and drove faster. The wheels of the vehicle rolling over the road caused dust to fly, and the carriage swayed unsteadily from side to side while traveling at high speed. During the turbulence, Uncle Pang held on to the window of the carriage and did not say stop without saying a word.

"Drive, drive, drive -"

The caravan slowed down as it entered a sparsely populated narrow road with dense trees on both sides.

This narrow road has a steep valley on one side and a bottomless canyon on the other. If you are not careful, the vehicle may fall into the abyss.

After all, this kind of thing has never happened in this rugged land.

But Uncle Tang's caravan was unhurried, and the other people following the caravan were already familiar with this winding and narrow road.

They even came to chat with Xu Yi leisurely and elegantly.

"Doctor Xu, Doctor Xu."

Outside the carriage, someone came closer. The person who came to see Xu Yi was the youngest in the group.

Oh, now the second youngest.

When he saw Xu Yi opening the curtains, he asked curiously: "Doctor Xu, how did you get Mr. Tang to agree to go with you?"

Xu Yi raised his eyebrows: "I think Uncle Tang made it very clear, I am a famous person." Doctor, I can check the medicinal materials for you."

The man was puzzled: "But we have also bought medicinal materials before, and we have never seen Mr. Tang bring a doctor like you."

He looked at Xu Yi and asked with some regret. , "Do you really have no other abilities?"

Xu Yi asked with a smile: "What is your name, and what abilities do you have?"

The young man was not defensive. When Xu Yi asked him, he replied without hesitation: "My name is A Leopard, ability is not considered, but I am strong and can carry two hundred kilograms of goods. "

The two hundred kilograms in the Song Dynasty were about seventy-two kilograms heavier than the modern one, which is two hundred and seventy-two kilograms."

This guy can carry such a heavy load at once, which can indeed be described as "strong".

You must know that Xu Yi practiced martial arts every day after coming to the Song Dynasty. He regained 50-60% of his previous skills, but he could only carry more than a hundred kilograms (currently weighing a kilogram) on his back.

With admiration in Xu Yi's eyes, he said: "Brother Abao has such magical power, which makes people hope."

"Hey, I know how to survive, otherwise Master Tang will not let me join the caravan." Leopard smiled heartily.

When he returned to the parallel team, an older man asked him if he had asked anything.

Abao was startled, he didn't seem to ask anything.

Xu Yi saw them off and lowered the curtain with a slight smile in his eyes.

In the carriage, Uncle Tang looked at him with a meaningful smile while stroking his beard, and said, "I didn't expect you to be quite cunning when traveling."

"Uncle Tang, please don't laugh at me." Xu Yi showed a shy expression, a little bit He lowered his eyes sheepishly.

Uncle Tang said: "That's fine, but you must be on guard against others. We have seen thousands of people in this industry, and we will always encounter a few people who are vicious and scheming, and they are the ones who do things secretly. The most hateful thing, even more intolerable than the robbers who came down from the mountain."

As he spoke, Uncle Tang thought of the past and couldn't help feeling that he was old. If he had been in the past, he would have cursed and made other people miserable.

Xu Yi poured the tea in front of him and said, "Uncle Tang, the past is so fleeting and unimportant."

"That's all, I don't want to be talked about by you, a late student." Uncle Tang took his tea, shook his head and asked, "Is this your first time out of the county?"

Xu Yi nodded: "Yes."

Uncle Tang smiled and said: "Then enjoy the scenery of this canyon more and ignore me."

Xu Yi laughed dumbly.

More than a thousand years later in his previous life, he once imagined traveling by car through this thousand-year-old Shu road.

The road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the blue sky.

This poem that has been passed down for thousands of years illustrates how difficult this long road connecting ancient Qin and Shu was. [Note 1]

Its terrain is so steep that when people step out of the carriage, they feel the fear of the giant thing coming from nature. In Xu Yi's eyes, he could only see this vast wilderness. Except for the traces of this road that were dug by man, the rest were the changes of nature over hundreds of millions of years. At this time, he looked so beautiful in this rolling valley. Small.

Wait for the convoy to reach a place with a wide view.

Uncle Tang shouted to stop the team.

Everyone was resting on the spot. Zhang Tiegou came over to Xu Yi: "Brother Xu, have you brought food?"

Xu Yi nodded: "Do you want to eat the pancakes that A Xu prepared for me?" He asked, and opened the half-man tall pancake. Package, there is another package inside.

At this time, Xu Yi saw not only the neatly stacked clothes, but also a package containing more than a dozen pancakes, as well as the still hot soup.

Xu Yi touched the pancake, which was also hot: "..."

He raised his lips slightly, took out two pieces of pancake, and handed one to Zhang Tiegou.

The pancake was as big as an adult's face. Zhang Tiegou said "Eh" when he took it, "Is it hot?"

"Yeah." Xu Yi didn't say much.

He thought for a while, then took out two more pancakes and sent them to Uncle Tang.

Following him this time, he asked Zhang Tiegou and found out that in addition to hired guards like him, there were also hard laborers like Ah Bao who were paid, and the others had to pay "protection fees", no more, no less. Fifty cents each.

If you return when you are safe, you will have to pay another fifty coins.

But Uncle Tang didn't accept his share.

They ate, solved three urgent problems, and rested for half a quarter of an hour before Uncle Tang urged them to prepare.

We started again, this time moving at a faster pace.

Uncle Tang said that they had to reach the first inn before dark.

The post station is a government-run hotel. You can stay in it as long as you pay a fee. It has a high safety factor. They can also feed mules and donkeys there.

Not long after they left, Uncle Pang's mule cart also arrived at the resting place.

He got off the mule cart and squatted down to check the fresh track. He knew that the team in front was not far away.