Fang Jie has been a little idle these days. There is nothing else to do except going to the Martial Arts Academy to study with Professor Qiu Yu every day. On the fourth day after Prince Yi's case, a customer suddenly came to the shop. The person who came was about twenty-five or six years old, dressed in brocade clothes, and accompanied by two burly men. These two people are definitely not servants. Although they are dressed in ordinary clothes, their straight posture when walking shows that they have military backgrounds.
This young man has an extraordinary appearance, and his inverted triangle figure is even more eye-catching. He looks kind and gentle, but he can't even hide the pride and coldness between his eyebrows.
Fang Jie¡¯s newly hired servant led them in. After the young man came in, he casually glanced at the furnishings in the room and then raised his eyebrows. Fang Jie's shop has two floors. The tailors moved out not long ago, so it's still a little messy. There are no decent calligraphy and painting decorations in the living room, just a few pots of evergreen plants in the corner.
Fang Jie bought the abandoned house on East 18th Street for almost just a fee. The recently hired craftsmen are repairing it. The yard was too dilapidated, with weeds all over the ruins. Moreover, the craftsmen really didn¡¯t dare to enter easily due to its reputation. If Fang Jie hadn't asked Qilin and Nie Xiaoju, two door-god-like people, to guard the place, the craftsmen might not have dared to take on this job.
¡°Later, the craftsmen found out that the person who bought the house was Mr. Xiao Fang, who was famous all over Chang¡¯an City, and many people came to persuade him with good intentions. Fang Jie just smiled and said thank you, but had no intention of stopping. The land deed of this house was in the hands of the Chang'an Mansion. The Governor of Chang'an knew that Fang Jie wanted to buy it, and he kindly persuaded him. However, Fang Jie was resolute, and the Governor had no choice but to send someone to complete all the procedures.
It has been abandoned and no one cares about the house. In addition, it had been spread that Fang Jiefang was granted the title of first-class countryman by the emperor, and the governor of Chang'an was also happy to be a favor. It's just a token amount of money to keep someone's mouth shut. In fact, it's no different from giving it away for free.
In order to reassure the craftsmen, Fang Jie also asked the Chang'an Prefecture to allocate a team of government officials to inspect the work. The craftsmen were nervous at first, but after two days they gradually felt relieved when nothing happened. In fact, the so-called haunted houses are mostly the product of rumors and rumors. Fang Jie never believed in ghosts and gods, and nothing changed even after he was reborn. The trouble in that house back then was probably due to the struggle in the market and the fight for family property.
People in this era have far more respect for ghosts and gods than Fang Jie. The longer the rumors spread, the more tragic they became. As time went by, the house was abandoned and no one cared about it.
Two days later, the craftsmen¡¯s worries have faded a lot. Fang Jie set up a little trick and asked Big Dog to bury a wooden box in the house and then dig it out. The wooden box was bought at a flea market and is decades old. Write another so-called suicide note from the old owner of this house, and find someone to make it so that no one will suspect it. Fang Jie made up a desolate story, attributing all the murders to the attempt to seize the family property. After the craftsmen dug out the box, the will spread. They had no doubts about this kind of thing, so their worries became even lighter.
What¡¯s interesting is that when they heard that there were no evil things in this house, many people sighed and wondered how Fang Jie had gotten such a big advantage.
The house occupies a large area, and Fang Jie plans to build a workshop in the backyard for people to live in. In the future, ready-made clothes will be made here. Anyway, only a small part of the money Wu Daodao financed will be enough.
Because I planned to move there in the future, there was not much decoration in the shop. When the young man came in, he found that the shop was quite shabby, and he was obviously a little disdainful.
When Fang Jie came down from upstairs, the young man clasped his fists and said with a smile on his face: "I have met Mr. Xiao Fang. I am Lu Ou, the tooth general under General Luo of Yongzhou in Southwest China. I am here to visit."
Hearing the words General Luo, Fang Jie suddenly understood. It was no secret that the emperor planned to send him to the southwest, so it was natural for Luo Yao's men to visit him. However, the arrogance on this man's face was clearly visible even though it was hidden, which made Fang Jie feel a little disgusted.
He knew that the people under Luo Yao were very proud, and even looked at the other soldiers and generals with contempt. The people in the left vanguard certainly think that they are the best army in the world, and Luo Yao is naturally the best general in the world. Fang Jie didn't resent the troops having this kind of temperament, but he resented how overly pretentious these people were. This is Chang'an, not Yongzhou in the southwest. If you still act like I am the best in the world when you arrive in the imperial capital, then this person is by no means an unfathomable person.
The tooth general is of the fifth grade, and the Ranger General on Fang Jie is also of the fifth grade. Although the former is a real lack and the latter is a false title, there is no need for Fang Jie to be inferior to others. The title has basically nothing to do with the military position. There are many people who carry the title but are just minor officials of the fifth and sixth grades.
?For example, the Xie family in Jiangnan, Xie Fuyao's family now has at least a dozen counties and several county princes. Xie Fuyao's father is still the hereditary Duke of the country, but he is just a sixth-rank local official. Officials such as county magistrates and county magistrates still have to bow how they should.
Therefore, Fang Jie doesn¡¯t really feel that his status as a first-class country boy is too awesome, or that he has a solid military position.
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After the guests and hosts were seated, Lu Ou looked at Fang Qing with some impolite eyes. When he saw clearly that this young talent who was very popular in the capital had some stubble on his chin, the tooth general named Lu Ou involuntarily raised the corner of his mouth, and the disdain in it was obvious. Or to hide it, he lowered his head and took a sip of tea.
Fang Jie didn't bother to pay attention, smiled and asked, "General Lu is here, do you have any advice?"
Lu Ou raised his head and smiled and said, "I don't have any advice. I just heard that the Holy Admiral left the matter of going to the southwest to Lord Xiaofang, so I came to visit."
This is very straightforward, and you can understand it without thinking about it. Because you are the imperial envoy appointed by the emperor to go to the southwest, so I came to see you. If you didn't have this identity, who would come to you to talk nonsense. Masters in the officialdom always speak vaguely and never express their thoughts directly. But this person didn't even bother to blur it out, and it was no different than saying it directly.
Fang Jie was not angry either. He smiled lightly and said, "General Lu should go to the Ministry of Rites first. Officials from the Ministry of Rites are preparing for the ceremony."
Lu Ou couldn't help laughing and said, "How many people are there in the Ministry of Rites?"
Hearing these words, Fang Jie's face changed and he glanced at Lu Ou with cold eyes. Perhaps because he realized that what he said was too disrespectful, Lu Ou leaned back to avoid Fang Jie's sight and explained: "What I mean is that the Ministry of Rites is currently short of manpower and they are all busy. Since Mr. Xiaofang, you are As an imperial envoy going to the southwest, it¡¯s better to discuss some matters directly with you.¡±
"Is there anything you want to discuss?"
Fang Jie asked.
Lu Ou's heart tightened just now when he saw Fang Jie's eyes, and then he realized that the young man in front of him was also a soldier. That kind of cold look can only be seen by someone who has killed many people.
"About the eldest princess"
Lu Ou was stopped by Fang Jie in the middle of his words. He glanced at Lu Ou and said calmly: "About the eldest princess, it's not time to discuss anything yet. Your Majesty just asked me to go to the southwest to have a look and reward me by the way. What does the soldiers stationed in the southern border have to do with the eldest princess?"
Lu Ou was angered by these words. He was silent for a while and suddenly smiled: "Master Xiaofang is right, it really has nothing to do with the eldest princess."
He waved, and the two followers immediately came over and put down the gift boxes they were carrying.
Lu Ou said with a smile: "This is my first visit and I brought some southwest specialties. They are not valuable, just for freshness. If Mr. Xiaofang doesn't dislike them, just accept them."
Fang Jie said calmly: "This imperial capital is too big, with a hundred-mile city and millions of people Merchants from all over the world gather here, and they can sell everything. I have never been to the southwest, but there is a shop three miles west of this shop. There are many merchants from Yongzhou in this market. I heard that it takes at most a month for them to transport goods from Yongzhou to the imperial capital. General Lu can actually travel faster than professional merchants. This must be a specialty of the southwest. It¡¯s really fresh.¡±
Lu Ou was really angry at Fang Jie's words, and the fire in his heart suddenly emerged. Fang Jie actually compared him with those despicable businessmen, and what he meant was that they came in such a hurry and came to ask for help, and were more anxious to get benefits than those businessmen. Moreover, they came in a hurry because they were not at ease.
"Master Xiaofang has never been to the southwest, so he might have been deceived by some unscrupulous businessmen. I heard that some people brought local products from outside Gyeonggi Province into the imperial capital, and I dared to say that they were specialties from the southwest, and there were actually many people buying them ¡This businessman is really shameful.¡±
The meaning of the words is obvious, it is to say that Fang Jie has no knowledge.
Fang Jie hummed and said, "It's true Some people are so eager for quick success and want to get rich by deceiving people. Today they want to sell you fake goods, so they come to sell you door-to-door sales, but they are very flattering. They cheated people. Then leave immediately and pretend you don¡¯t know him when you meet him face to face. It¡¯s better to be honest, right?¡±
Lu Ou's expression changed. After being silent for a while, he stood up and said with a smile: "I'm being too presumptuous to bother you today. I actually came here to ask Mr. Xiao Fang for a favor. General Ye Jinnan was sent by General Luo to the capital to do things. Take charge, I'm just a subordinate. General Ye is the fourth grade general. I'll invite Mr. Xiao Fang to have a drink at Hongxiu tomorrow night.??Master Xiaofang, please don¡¯t refuse. "
"Tomorrow night?"
Fang Jie frowned and did not pretend to be embarrassed: "I made an appointment with Mr. Huai of the Ministry of Rites to listen to music at the Red Sleeve Recruitment. If you don't mind, can we come together?"
Lu Ou was not a sociable person to begin with, and his expression became increasingly gloomy. Holding back his anger, he smiled, said goodbye and turned around to leave.
Fang Jie sneered coldly, turned around and said to Big Dog: "Give General Lu the things he left behind and let him count them. Don't let people say that we are cheap and took someone else's "local specialties""
He stood up, stretched out and said with a smile: "Three days for a treat and one day for a call, how can you treat me so casually? You want to treat me to dinner, have you made a reservation?"
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At the intersection of East 23rd Street, Guixian Tea House.
Lu Ou walked in with an angry face. Under the guidance of the waiter, he entered a private room and slammed the door. He sat down with a livid face, picked up the teapot on the table and drank a few sips directly from mouth to mouth. The tea was still hot, but he didn't really care.
The person sitting across the table glanced at him, couldn't help but smile and said, "What, you're exhausted?"
Lu Ou said angrily: "A fifth-grade ranger general who can't stand up to the stage actually pretends to be noble. If this kind of thing is placed in the southwest, I will kill him with a knife! When I get to the imperial capital, I will be treated like this. What a big fart." Guan'er, just fucking dare to show your face to me."
Sitting opposite him was the older man who came with him.
This person¡¯s name is Ye Jinnan, Luo Yao¡¯s confidant.
"you are wrong."
Ye Jinnan smiled and said: "Fang Jie is not just a cat or a dog. I have asked you to know about this person first before contacting him, but you refused to listen and thought that you could bribe him with two thousand taels of silver I I didn't want you to go like this, I knew you would run into trouble. This is the imperial capital, and people have high standards. Besidesdo you know who he is? You just put 20,000 taels in front of him. He may not be moved either.¡±
This means that Fang Jie is not here. If Fang Jie was here, he would not tell him. Are you not tempted by twenty thousand taels of silver? That's absolutely impossiblebut for two thousand taels, do you really think I'm ignorant?