bookcurios Chapter 176
Chapter 176
The notice board in Suining City was crowded with people. Two yamen runners stood beside the notice board, holding a gong, beating it and shouting: "The government office is recruiting craftsmen, the treatment is good, and there is no limit on the number of people..."
A man in shorts, showing his muscular upper arms, stepped forward and shouted, "The court just recruited soldiers, and today they are recruiting craftsmen. Could it be that the war situation is not good, and they want to capture us, the shrimp soldiers and crab generals, to work for the court?"
"That's right. What if we never come back? What will happen to our family?"
In an instant, the craftsmen who were planning to squeeze in to sign up retreated one after another.
The bailiff was a little angry when he saw everyone retreating: "What nonsense you are talking about! Don't you know the good news from a few days ago? If you keep talking nonsense, I will throw you all into jail!"
The craftsmen, who were originally half-believing and half-doubting, suddenly felt that the court was deceiving them to come in, and quickly turned around and left.
Gao Jianren, who had been watching the show in the crowd, saw this and looked at the person next to him. The person nodded and said loudly: "I am Yao Jianren from the east of the city. Everyone, please listen to me.
Craftsman Yao was a well-known kind man in the city, and his craftsmanship was excellent. Many craftsmen in Suining would seek him out when they encountered difficulties. Therefore, Craftsman Yao's reputation among craftsmen was extremely high.
"Everyone, even if something really happened to the court, as a member of this court, we have also received a lot of favors from the court. At least the state government has given us a lot of conveniences, right? Now that the court needs us, we naturally need to stand up."
Hearing this, a craftsman said dissatisfiedly: "You make it sound easy. You are alone and have no children, so of course you are willing to go. But we have elderly parents and young children to take care of. How can I leave?"
"It says on the list that if we go, we will be given enough rice and flour to support our family for a year, plus ten taels of silver. If we have an accident during this period, we can also give our family four hundred taels of silver as compensation."
"Four hundred taels of silver!?" a craftsman exclaimed. This is an income that many craftsmen cannot earn in their entire lifetime.
After hearing this, many craftsmen who were determined not to go began to waver. Although accidents might happen, they were just craftsmen. How could there be so many accidents?
Seeing that the situation was somewhat under control, Craftsman Yao stepped forward and handed over his household registration documents, and whispered, "I was recommended by Miss Guo from the hot pot restaurant, and there are three other craftsmen with me."
The bailiff hurriedly took the document and walked towards the government office. Soon he saw Magistrate Su coming out.
……
"Miss, the notice board at the entrance of the government office is recruiting craftsmen. We have already done what we agreed with Craftsman Gao." Su Jin picked up a piece of meat for Guo Xin and continued, "But I heard that the Minister of War and his niece came with the notice."
Guo Xin frowned. The Minister of War was Lu Jing from the aristocratic Lu family. It was not surprising that he came to Suining City for the matter of the craftsmen. After all, Suining City was not far from the border.
But why did he bring his niece here? Even though Suining City is one of the richer places among many cities, it is still incomparable to the capital.
Now she is a local boss in Suining City, and Su Zhizhou has to give her some face. Her business is going smoothly. But now that two big Buddhas have come, her wine shop and hot pot restaurant have become a living signboard of Suining City.
We must visit these two great Buddhas. If we fail to provide adequate hospitality, we don’t know what kind of difficulties we will face.
Although she is the granddaughter of a first-rank general, the incident happened so suddenly that she has not yet been officially included in the family tree or entered the ancestral hall. How can she be compared with the jewel in the crown of the aristocratic Lu family?
After an unknown amount of time, Liu You knocked on the door and walked in: "Sister Guo Xin, Magistrate Su is here, and there are a few distinguished guests with him."
Guo Xin sighed softly and stood up. Su Jin quickly squatted down to straighten the hem of her skirt which was slightly wrinkled from sitting for a long time.
She strode out the door with a smile on her face: "What is the matter with the visit of Magistrate Su?"
As he spoke, his eyes looked at the person behind the prefect. The man was wearing dark blue brocade that was embroidered with elegant bamboo leaves. If you looked closely, you could even see the gold threads between the veins of the leaves. He had a smile on his face, but it made people feel a little chilly.
The woman wore a waist-length veil with gold and silver lotus embroidered on the white veil. Although it was difficult to discern her appearance, one could still feel that the woman's figure was extraordinary.
Su Zhizhou noticed Guo Xin's gaze and quickly introduced: "This is Minister Lu from the capital. I heard that you presented the craftsman's method to the third prince, so I wanted to take a look. The one next to you is Miss Lu, Minister Lu's niece."
Minister Lu sat down first and turned his gaze to Guo Xin. "Miss Guo's reputation has long been known in the capital. Now that I have met her, I know what a remarkable woman she is. The Zhao Dynasty is truly fortunate to have you."
Miss Lu at the side took off her veil and said with a smile, "Such a wonderful woman is indeed extraordinary. I am Lu Jinshu. I have been familiar with all kinds of books since I was young, and I have also read many military books. Some of the strategies in the court were contributed by me to help my uncle."
Guo Xin did not notice the sting in the words and responded with a smile: "Then Miss Lu can be said to be a heroine, and she is as good as any man."
Seeing that Guo Xin had no idea what she meant by her words, Lu Jinshu's smile became a little stiff, and she winked at the maid behind her while lowering her head to drink tea.
On the other side, although Lu Jing was chatting animatedly with Su Zhizhou, his eyes were always fixed on the situation on the table. When he saw his niece drinking tea, he would know what it meant.
Then he said to Guo Xin: "I heard that Miss Guo is not only talented, but also good at cooking. I wonder if I will be lucky enough to taste the food Miss Guo cooks. If she doesn't want to, forget it."
Guo Xin originally wanted to refuse, but since Lu Jing had already said this, it was not easy to refuse.
So he said, "The hot pot in front of you is what I invented. If you ask me to cook a dish right away, I'm afraid it will be too late, so I will blanch some meat and prepare some sauces for you."
Su Zhizhou echoed, "I've heard that Miss Guo's stewed meat is more delicious, and the sauce she prepares is also unique in flavor. Now it's really thanks to Minister Lu."
Guo Xin stood up, picked up a pair of chopsticks, and was about to move to the other side to scald the meat.
Seeing this, the maid behind Lu Jinshu lowered her head and walked towards Guo Xin with the used tea saucer in her hand. The distance between them was slowly shortening. When she saw the right moment, her body rushed towards Guo Xin like a kite that had lost its string in the sky.
Guo Xin narrowed her eyes, took a slightly different step, turned around on the ground and dodged to the side, the hem of her skirt drawing a perfect arc in the air.
"boom"
The maid fell heavily to the ground and threw the saucer in her hand towards Su Zhizhou.