Chapter 6: Donglai Taishi Ci

  Arriving in the city of Donglai, Li Chong felt that a pair of eyes were not enough, constantly looking around, every house and tree gave Li Chong a sense of vicissitudes and antiquity, this is what a Han Dynasty city looks like, Li Chong couldn't help but secretly sigh.

  Liao Hua was still heartbroken about that one dollar, and the topic turned to money: "Brother Li, if we exchange all our counterfeit money for grain, what will we do later?"

  Li Chong sneered: "There's no 'later' anymore, once war breaks out, no amount of money can buy grain."

  Liao Hua's eyes lit up: "Then let's spend all the money today, it's a waste if we leave it!"

  Several followers immediately expressed their agreement: "General Liao's words are indeed correct, we haven't had a drink for several months, let's go to the wine house and have a drink!"

  Liao Huai waved his hand and said: "First make a leather gown for Brother Li, then go drink."

  Several people came to a fabric store, Liao Hua looked like a nouveau riche, looking around and calling the shop assistant: "Make two clothes for my young master, use the best Shu brocade, Grandpa knows goods."

  The shopkeeper looked up and down at Liao Hua's attire, smiled slightly: "This customer, recently our store has no Shu brocade."

  Liao Huagang was about to scold loudly, but Li Chong quickly pulled him back and whispered: "He's afraid you don't have money!" Li Chong secretly smiled, he was very familiar with this situation. Liao Hua's clothes were no different from those of a beggar, yet as soon as he entered the door, he asked for the best Shu brocade. The shop assistant wasn't a fool, and it would be strange if he sold it to him.

  "Ah!" Liao Hua suddenly understood and reached into his pocket to pull out a handful of copper coins, asking: "Is it enough?"

  The young fellow carefully counted and smiled apologetically: "Sir, you just need to add two more coins."

  Liao Hua didn't say another word, and again pulled out a large handful of copper coins and threw them onto the counter, shouting: "Is this enough?! And also, make a cloak with this tiger skin, quickly, do you understand?!"

  "Pal, with a smile on his face, said: 'There are ready-made ones in the clothing store, you can wear them now, and the leather gown will be done by tomorrow noon, is that okay?'"

  Liao's face sank: "I don't have time to wait until tomorrow, it must be done by noon today, the rest of the money is yours."

  As the saying goes, money can make a ghost grind, the partner was overjoyed when he heard this and promised to get it done by noon.

  When they came out of the store after changing their clothes, Li Chong smiled and said, "Does Yuan Jiao not haggle when buying things?"

  Liao Hua lazily replied, "What's the point of haggling? Didn't you say that soon the world will be in chaos and the vassals will be at odds with each other, so copper coins won't be able to buy anything anyway? Keeping them is useless."

  Li Chong gave Liao Hua a thumbs up.

  Donglai County, as a county that had not been breached by the Yellow Turbans, was still quite prosperous. Before long, several people saw an inn, which was actually somewhat exaggerated, and according to Li Chong's understanding, it should be called a hotel instead.

  As soon as he entered the door, a waiter came up to greet him. Liao Hua very skillfully took out a handful of copper coins: "Bring five catties of good wine, and whatever good dishes are left, just bring them up."

  The dishes were served, and Li Chong couldn't help but laugh at Liao Hua's "good food", which turned out to be just braised meat and fish, along with some stir-fried greens cooked in lard. After taking a bite, Li Chong found that the only flavor was saltiness, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment, thinking that this was the kind of culinary fortune he would have to endure from now on.

  However, Li Chong was very satisfied with the Han Dynasty wine. The slightly yellowish wine water was a bit turbid, but it didn't affect the taste at all. It tasted sweet and spicy when drunk, and the degree wasn't high either. Li Chong drank one mouthful after another without stopping. This was a pure grain brew, an unadulterated natural product, so he could drink with peace of mind.

  Liao Hua looked at him for a while and exclaimed: "Brother Li is really good at drinking, I thought you scholars couldn't drink!"

  Li Zhong couldn't help but laugh secretly, you haven't had a drink of 60 degrees Erguotou before, and this low-degree liquor is passed down to future generations, even a little girl can drink half a catty.

  As he sat near the window, Li didn't have to worry about others hearing their conversation. He ate while listening to Liao Hua introduce the situation in the mountain village, slowly asking some details, and before he knew it, it was already noon. Just as Liao Hua had sent someone to fetch his fur coat, a man carrying a bow and arrow walked in.

  "This is Tai Shi Ci!" Liao Hua's face suddenly became cautious and he called out in a low voice.

  Li Chong was also startled, and he didn't expect to run into Ta Shi Cai. He stole a glance at him, and saw that Ta Shi Cai was wearing a leather hat with the brim pulled down over his eyebrows, revealing a pair of bright eyes, a straight nose, and a sharp jawline. At first glance, he looked like a bold and resolute person.

  Tai Shi Zi found an empty table, ordered some wine and dishes, and started drinking by himself.

  The book records that the Tai Shi family was very poor and barely made ends meet with Kong Rong's support, which Li Chong remembered clearly. This is exactly what he found strange - it seemed that Tai Shi wasn't poor at all, and even had spare money to drink wine!

  Li Chong read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Mr. Luo Guanzhong probably just wrote it casually, Donglai County is over a hundred miles away from Beihai County, how could Kong Rong often provide relief to Taishi Ci? Moreover, when Taishi Ci was about to die, he shouted loudly: "A great man born in a chaotic world should wear a three-foot sword and achieve immortal merit. Now my ambition has not been fulfilled, why should I die?" This is indeed recorded in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms", which shows that Taishi Ci's cultural level was not low. Think about it, nowadays poor children can't even afford to go to school, let alone in ancient times.

  Tai Shi Zai got up and settled the bill, Li Chong also immediately called Liao Hua to settle the bill, and followed him.

  Liao Hua asked in a low voice: "What does Big Brother Li want to do? Taishi Ci's martial arts are powerful, but don't provoke him."

  Li Chong said in a bad mood: "What did I provoke him for? I just wanted to pull him into the partnership."

  "This can't be!" Liao Hua said resolutely: "I heard that the governor of Yangzhou, Liu Yue, and he were old friends, and Taishi Ci has already agreed to surrender to Liu Yue."

  Li Chong naturally knew this history, but he also knew a piece of history that Liao Hua didn't know. Later on, Liu Yao was defeated by Sun Ce, and Taishi Ci actually surrendered to Sun Ce, which shows that Taishi Ci wasn't loyal to Liu Yao. A fly doesn't bite an egg without cracks; what Sun Ce did, why can't I do it?

  Li Zhongzheng was harboring evil intentions when he suddenly saw someone approaching from the opposite direction, with a pair of eyes darting about wildly. At a glance, it was clear that this person was a street thug.

  "Come over." Li Chong beckoned to Pu Pi with a wave of his hand.

  "Is this young master calling me?" Pōu pí looked at Lǐ Chóng with a puzzled expression.

  Li nodded heavily and said: "That's what I'm calling you."

  Pu Pi was a bit afraid, and he walked over with a timid attitude, bowing his head and saying: "What does this young master want from me?"

  "Do you know him?" Li Zhong pointed at Tai Shi Ci.

  Pu Pi nodded: "Acquainted, Donglai Taishi."

  Li Chong smiled and said: "Steal all the money from him, I'll give you fifty more coins, how about that?"

  Pu Pi immediately called out to Qu Dao: "This young master, I'm a good person, I never do those sneaky and thieving things."

  "One hundred coins!" Li Zhong didn't even bat an eyelid.

  Pu Pi fell silent for a moment, then shook his head and said: "No way, I'm really a good person. Moreover, Taishi Ci's martial arts are too powerful, I don't have the confidence."

  Liao Hua heard that you are a good person, but you still said it out loud even though you weren't sure.

  "Two hundred wen!" Li Chong continued to raise the price.

  Pōu pí swallowed his saliva, stretched out three fingers: "If the young master is willing to pay 300 wen, I'll give it a try, but you have to give me half first." Seeing Li Zhong's angry expression, Pōu pí hastily explained: "This young master, Taishi Ci's martial arts are too strong, we need to find some people to help us. Even if we get beaten up, we need to find a few people to share the burden!"

  Li Chong heard this and nodded to Liao Hua, taking out 150 coins and threatening: "I'll send someone to follow you. If you don't do well, hum...".

  Pī Pí smiled and said: "Don't worry, young master. I'm known as the number one skilled hand in Donglai County, but... does all the money on Taishi Ci's body belong to me?"

  "This is natural!" Li Chong replied, his face immediately sinking, and he said sternly: "If you make a mistake, you know what to do."

  Pu Pu followed closely behind, knowing what was going on, and trailed after Taishi Ci as he left.

  Liao Hua opened his big eyes and stared at Li Chong, asking strangely: "How does Big Brother Li seem so familiar with these wandering knights?"

  Li Chong smiled and didn't speak. This kind of rascal is never lacking in any dynasty, and their words and deeds are similar, easy to spot.

  Liao Hua asked again: "What's the point of stealing Taishi Ci's money?"

  Li Chong said with a smile: "Tai Shi Ci is very filial to his mother, I don't believe he won't buy some clothes and food for his mother. At that time... Heh Heh... We can be good people."

  Several people stared at Li Chong in a daze, and after a long time, Liao Hua whispered: "No wonder we always lose battles, scholars are too bad." Several followers immediately expressed their agreement, fully expressing the contradictory psychology of admiration and contempt for intellectuals and stinky old nine from the proletarian revolutionaries.

  Before long, Pī Pí returned with a joyful expression, took out a purse and handed it over, Li Zhongpai's sentry also came back, indicating no objection, Li Zhong paid the bill quickly and left, following Taishi Ci.

  As expected, without much effort, Tai Shi Ci walked into a grain store, and Li Chong led Liao Hua and others to follow in. Liao Hua said in a low voice: "What a coincidence, I just heard about the Zou family's affairs in this store, I don't know what background this store has, doing such a big business."

  While speaking, Tai Shi Ci had already put the grain into his bag and reached for money to pay. As expected, Tai Shi Ci's hand went into his pocket but couldn't take out any money. With an embarrassed face, he said: "Shopkeeper, my money is lost. Can I pay later? My name is Tai Shi Ci, you should know that."