Xiangsheng prosperous

Chapter 22 Disaster Comes
At night, Qiu Mansion, Qiu Mo's boudoir.

After Qiu Mo finished washing, she twisted her hair and sat on the bed in the room.Shuanghan helped her hang her long hair on the back of the bed. The long hair was as smooth as satin, fluttering gently in the breeze.

After returning home today, Qiu Mo was going to report to Aye as a routine, so she took the opportunity to inadvertently probe Aye about Wen Weixing.

It turned out that he was the son of Wen Yanbo, the secretary of the court, and the third eldest in his family.

Wen Weixing was different from his Aye and his two elder brothers, he was a martial artist but not literary, he followed Aye to fight against the Turks at a young age, he was a man who had seen blood in battle.Currently studying the art of war with General Li Shiji, he is a key talent trained by Datang.

With her left hand, Qiu Mo held the dew bag given to her by Wen Weixing, and gently stroked the patterns on it with the fingers of her right hand, and she couldn't help being lost again.

Next to Qiu Mo, Shuang Han smoked the clothes she was going to wear tomorrow with a fume cage.Seeing Qiu Mo's ecstasy, she couldn't help leaning forward and asked cautiously, "Third lady, what happened to you tonight? That cloak you wore back, and this sachet, Why does the maid look so familiar?"

When Qiu Mo heard this, she suddenly woke up.She restrained her thoughts, raised her head to look at Shuanghan, shook her head, and said softly, "It's nothing. I borrowed the cloak. After washing it, I still have to find a chance to return it."

Seeing that Qiu Mo had regained her usual spirit, Shuang Han retreated back and continued to fumigate her clothes, and said while fumigation: "What about this sachet? Do you want to return it together?
Do you want to return this confession bag?Qiu Mo clenched her left hand tightly and brought it close to her heart.

Qiu Mo has not experienced this inexplicable sense of security for too long, it seems that no matter how difficult it is, she has the confidence to face it.Because of this sachet, Qiu Mo's worries and fears about the coming disaster in the future have also calmed down a lot.She didn't want to go back, at least not now.

It's just a chance meeting, isn't it?But the pounding heartbeat in her chest seemed to be telling her something.

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Time flies, and the years fly by.In the late autumn of the first year of Zhenguan, the frost disaster recorded in the annals of history arrived as scheduled.

In several major grain-producing areas of Datang, grain was frozen to death and food supply was insufficient.The price of grain in Chang'an has increased three or four times compared to before. Even so, it is still difficult to find a grain of rice in the market.

"The Holy Majesty has already been devastated by the problem of storing food for this winter." Wen Yanbo said to his three sons when he returned home after he went down to court.

"If this continues, I'm afraid even Chang'an will starve to death. The next matter of epidemic prevention and epidemic prevention needs to be discussed with the Imperial Medical Office." Father Wen said to his three sons.

Wen Weixing knelt beside Aye and his two elder brothers, quietly listening to their discussion of the current situation.

This frost disaster has already affected the vast areas of the Tang Dynasty and the Turks. Due to the policy of locking the country to the west since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, a large number of victims who cannot fill their stomachs are slowly gathering in large and medium-sized cities that still have food. .

At present, in a large area outside Chang'an City, starving people and shelters built by victims have already begun to be seen.If this continues, it will put a lot of pressure on the public security and medical care in Chang'an City.

Wen Weixing's eldest brother, Wen Zhen, said angrily: "When I talk about this, I get angry. The Qiu family in Chang'an Shanchuntang, I thought it was a doctor who hangs pots to help the world. Their new incense is designed to ward off evil spirits and avoid plagues. It is perfect for preventing plagues. Anti-epidemic, I didn’t expect them to limit the supply, and the fragrant pills that originally only cost 10 cents a pill are now priced at 200 cents.”

Wen Weixing was very surprised when he heard his elder brother say that, isn't all the fragrant medicines in Shanchuntang made by Qiu Sanniang?How could she do this?

"Sanlang, there is a servant outside the mansion who brought this thing and said that it is going to be handed over to you." Wen Aweng, the housekeeper of Wen Mansion, came in and reported.

Wen Aweng presented a small paper package to Wen Weixing.

Wen Weixing opened the paper bag and saw that it was the bag of dew that he had handed over to Qiu Mo before.

He was startled, and hurriedly asked the housekeeper, "Is that servant still there?"

"The little servant left only his things and left. Before leaving, he said, if Mr. Lang is free at this time, Zhang's Restaurant in Xishi is waiting for you."

Hearing this, Wen Weixing frowned and pondered for a moment. Coincidentally, he just wanted to ask her about it.He stood up and said to his servant Chang Run, "Changing clothes for me."

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Wen Weixing changed his clothes and went out, galloping on horseback.In two quarters of an hour, he arrived at Zhang's Restaurant.

Qiu Mo was wearing the clothes of a servant, and was standing by a window on the second floor of the restaurant, as if she was specially waiting for his arrival.

Wen Weixing stopped his horse, walked up the stairs, and saluted Qiu Mo: "Miss Qiu Mo."

Qiu Mo saluted him back: "Wen Sanlang, this way please."

The two sat down together, and Qiu Mo asked the waiter to leave.

"Miss Qiu San made an appointment with me, what's the matter?"

Qiu Mo pursed her lips slightly and frowned slightly, "Wen Sanlang, I have one thing to ask you for."

Wen Weixing was taken aback for a moment: "Oh?"

"I would like to ask Wen Saburo, can you think of a way to force my third uncle to make public the formula of the incense medicine I made to ward off evil and avoid plague!"

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Qiu Qianshen's recent mood can best be described by the famous sentence of the later generations, "The spring breeze is proud of the horseshoe disease, and I can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day".The incense that wards off evil spirits and avoids plague that made him think about it at first has become a fragrant steamed bun that the whole city wants to snap up.

"Husband, have you heard? It is said that the three workshops of Changming, Guiyi, and Tongshan all suffered from the spread of the disease after people died of starvation." Mrs. Tian said emotionally, tugging at Qiu Qianshen's sleeve.

At the beginning, because it was exposed that San Niangzi made the incense to ward off evil spirits and avoid plague in private, she not only lost face in front of her servants, but also in front of her husband and son-in-law.Unexpectedly, the current situation has changed, and a catastrophe from the sky made her revelation at that time extremely wise, and it was simply a helping hand from God.

"If it weren't for my good lady, we wouldn't be one step ahead of others and seized this great opportunity to make a fortune! Hahaha, my lady is indeed my lucky star!" Qiu Qian put his arms around his wife's shoulders and praised her happily. Come.

Tian Niangzi lowered her eyes with a reddish face, but she couldn't hide the smugness at the corners of her mouth. She gave Qiu Qianshen a coquettish look: "Where is my credit? It’s not that Mr. Lang is in a hurry, and the excuse is that the situation is urgent, the materials are insufficient, and the supply is limited. This incense can’t be sold at the sky-high price of 200 Wen a pill!”

Mrs. Tian's remarks were not entirely flattering Qiu Qianshen, but she really admired Qiu Qianshen's strategy.

Qiu Qianshen was very satisfied, and stretched out his hand to pinch the tip of his wife's nose: "I can't say this outside."

Then he pretended to say: "We, Shanchuntang, have always sold this pill for 10 cents a pill. There is a market price, and there are rules. Shanchuntang strictly abides by the "three merchants equal market" system ordered by the West Market Department. The fixed price was set at the beginning for 10 cents per pill, and our medical clinic didn’t overcharge a penny.”

"That's natural..." Tian Niangzi snuggled up to her husband-in-law with a smile on her face.Isn't this shop selling 10 pennies a pill?However, the daily sale is limited to 50 pills, and most of them were bought by the ones I arranged, and then sold outside the store for a price of two to three hundred. This is another story.

While the third-bedroom couple of the Qiu family were still complacent, some changes that they didn't know about were happening quietly behind their backs.

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　Xiangsheng small knowledge
　　The natural disaster in the early years of Zhenguan

　　In the late autumn of the first year of Zhenguan, a rare frost disaster swept across northern China. Several major grain-producing areas in the Tang Dynasty were severely damaged, and a large-scale famine swept across.

　　In the second year of Zhenguan, the most densely populated Guanzhong area in the country suffered from drought again, and the Guanzhong Plain, which was fertile for thousands of miles, had no harvest.

　　The ancients were very superstitious, and the ensuing natural disasters reminded many people of the court murder in the ninth year of Wude—the Xuanwumen Incident. (Author: Night Reading History Book)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)