Li Bufan was poor since childhood. He got the position of a gatekeeper three years ago and his family improved slightly. When his father was alive, he told him a marriage, but before Najib could, his father died of a serious illness and the marriage was left unresolved.

Li Bufan had no guests at home for a long time. For this supper, he specially cooked a pot of white rice, marinated some kimchi at home, and cut a piece of bacon stored last winter, and barely made a table.

Li Bufan said, "Today I met you, I am destined to be together. Unfortunately, I don't have alcohol at home, so I can't get drunk with you."

Xiao Jinyan said, "Everyone says that you are Chishui wine, and the wine is strong and not expensive, so I'll buy some."

Li Bufan said, "I am afraid that if I have money now, it will be difficult to buy authentic Chishui wine."

The middle-aged Confucian scholar frowned slightly, "Why is this?"

Li Bufan explained, "Since the beginning of this year, Hengduan Mountain has been dispatched to dispatch troops and generals. The movement is very loud. The food that can be transported in has decreased. The price of grain has soared. The government has ordered a ban on private brewing of wine. Now the only one that can buy wine in Yinyang City is Li Ji Chenji. This store is run by the prefect's brother-in-law, and it is nearly a hundred pounds per pound. The price is ridiculously expensive. It tastes like a horse urine mixed with honey. It's better not to drink it."

A middle-aged Confucian scholar said, "How much is the price of grain?"

"At the beginning of the month, there will be eight taels of rice. It won't be long before ten taels will be broken."

Xiao Jinyan thought in his mind that if it were at this price, a pound of rice would be nearly 800 cents. The batch of grains of Li Qingcheng and Zhao Langjiang would be nearly 10,000 taels of silver inside and outside.

"Why is it so expensive?" said the middle-aged Confucian scholar, "The 60,000 people in Yinyang City, and the food required only 50,000 stones per month. The imperial court transported nearly 30,000 stones of grain here every month, and some grain merchants also had nearly 20,000 yuan a month. The price of this rice is almost three times that of the capital!"

Li Bufan sighed and said a little dissatisfied, "Fifty thousand stones of grain, I'm afraid at least 30,000 stones have entered the City Lord's Mansion. I heard that the 100,000 grain silos of the City Lord's Mansion can hardly be filled. If they don't release the grain, where can the people buy it even if they have money?"

"Where is the grain merchant?"

"Since the beginning of the year, bandits have been rampant on Yinyang's business road. Seven or eighteenths of the grain transported to Yinyang have been robbed, and grain merchants dare not transport grain here. Besides, even if they are transported to Yinyang, they are invited by the city lord's mansion to the mansion before they even arrive at the rice shop. One dou of rice and two taels of silver."

Hearing these words, the middle-aged Confucian scholar frowned even deeper.

Xiao Jinyan said: "Brother, then we can't eat and drink with you."

Li Bufan smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm a month of 1.50 stone rice, and you still can't afford to eat poorly, let alone, I have other ways to eat."

The middle-aged Confucian scholar asked, "Do you also learn from them to draw the capita tax?"

When grain merchants and goods enter the city, they have to pay a certain amount of tax in the government. However, tax payments are very knowledgeable and have fewer nadors, so the city gate lieutenants have the final say. Therefore, although the city gate guards have a low position, they are quite rich in oil and water.

Li Bufan heard this and said angrily, "You are too underestimating me, Li Bufan. I, Li Bufan, have hands and feet, and don't make this black money." He pointed to a bow and arrow hanging on the wall, "When I'm not on duty, I will go hunting outside the city. After a month, I can earn a few taels of silver. The bacon you eat is also a deer I hunted in the mountains last year."

The middle-aged Confucian scholar smiled and apologized: "I misunderstood my little brother."

There was no wine, and Xiao Jinyan had eaten halfway through and said to the two of them. Not long after, he came back with a wooden barrel, opened the wine seal, and smelled the fragrance filled with red wine.

Li Bufan said, "This is Persian wine, where did you make it?"

Xiao Jinyan laughed, "It's not very difficult to find Li Ji's old wine, but I tasted the Chishui wine they sold, and it was really hard to drink, so I brought a bucket of wine over."

"It shouldn't be cheap, right?"

Xiao Jinyan smiled embarrassedly. He came here for this barrel of wine, but he didn't know what the price, so he scratched his head and said, "Wine is for friends and confidants. It's too vulgar to talk about money!"

In a moment, the three of them drank half a bucket.

Li Bufan was unable to drink, and after drinking a few bowls, he was already drunk and started to talk too much, saying that he wanted to become a swordsman that everyone admired, and to make a name for himself in the world like Li Qiuyi, a golden sword.

Xiao Jinyan thought he was a little cute.

The middle-aged Confucian scholar drank a cup of wine, but his alcoholism was not yet bottomed out. Xiao Jinyan was also a person who liked wine. Seeing him drinking like this, he knew that he had met an opponent and secretly competed with him. After drinking a bucket of wine, the two of them had no choice but to win or lose.

Li Bufan was already drunk and lying on the ground snoring like thunder.

Xiao Jinyan said, "Senior, you don't have enough time to drink this wine, why not change the place and fight again?" Since winning the cup at the Shili Changting, Xiao Jinyan has known that he knows martial arts skills. He has tried it several times but still doesn't know how strong he is. He has changed his name to senior.

The middle-aged Confucian scholar did not refuse and smiled slightly, "That's what he meant!"

It was late at night, and the two of them came to the city one by one.

Xiao Jinyan used his light skills and wanted to get rid of the middle-aged Confucian scholar. Unexpectedly, the middle-aged Confucian scholar was not slow and kept a distance from him.

When he arrived at Li Ji Chen Jiu, Xiao Jinyan deliberately showed off and said, "I'll take the lead." After that, he jumped and gently pointed his feet on the wall. He came to the inner courtyard. As soon as he landed, he found that the middle-aged Confucian scholar was standing in front of him.

Xiao Jinyan felt a stern and said, "Senior, it's true that he is hidden."

The middle-aged Confucian scholar looked at the courtyard, "but he didn't know where the wine cellar was."

Xiao Jinyan laughed in a low voice, "I am not as good as you, but my nose is worse than you." After that, he brought the middle-aged Confucian scholar to a corner where two guards were drinking.

"San brother, since the shopkeeper got these wines, he was like being possessed by evil spirits, and he had to tray several times a day. Is there any origin?"

"Lao Liu, these wines are used to entertain a big man from the capital. The prefect personally ordered him to spend nearly 100,000 taels of silver. Do you think you can't be nervous?"

The other man stuttered, "Good, what wine is so expensive?"

"Moutai, Wuliangye, Jiannanchun, Luzhou Laojiao, Xifeng Liquor, Fenjiu, Gujing Gong Liquor, Dong Liquor, Yanghe Daqu, Lang Liquor, the top ten famous wines in the world, are all in this wine cellar, what do you think?"

When Xiao Jinyan heard this, he couldn't help laughing out loud.

When the two heard something happening here, they said, "Who is it?"

Xiao Jinyan took the lead and pointed the two of them, saying to the middle-aged Confucian scholar, "Senior, we have a good time today!"

The wine cellar door was pushed open, and twenty jars of fine wine were lined up on the wine rack. Xiao Jinyan's eyes were straightened. It was not that he had drunk good wine, but the top ten famous wines in the world were all placed in front of him. Before they were opened, they were already full of fragrance. Even if he spent 100,000 taels of silver, he would not exchange it!

Xiao Jinyan said, "I will treat you tonight!"

The middle-aged Confucian scholar laughed and said, "I have seen it as a treat for the wine. Haha!"

Xiao Jinyan disagreed, "We move the wine outside the cellar. It's called stealing wine. Drinking it here in your stomach, how can it be called stealing? You're not afraid of not being able to drink me, right?"

The middle-aged Confucian scholar reached out to grab a jar of Maotai, "It's better to give it a try!"

An hour passed, and half of the twenty jars of wine had passed.

Xiao Jinyan was originally a huge amount, but when he met a middle-aged Confucian scholar, he was still slightly inferior. After drinking more than a dozen pounds of wine, he showed his drunkenness. He put his hand on the shoulder of the middle-aged Confucian scholar and patted him, "Senior, I have been drinking wine for more than 20 years and have never lost to anyone. Today, I am convinced!"

The middle-aged Confucian scholar was also slightly drunk and said with a smile, "It's okay, you haven't cheated on me, you use your internal strength to force the wine."

In the world, if you practice martial arts to a certain level, you can use internal strength to force the wine out of your body, creating the illusion of not getting drunk for thousands of cups. However, in the eyes of people who really like wine, this kind of exercise is not as good as the standard.

Wine shows character.

Xiao Jinyan is a wine lover and is even more disdainful of doing such things.

From Baima Town to Yinyang, the middle-aged Confucian scholar didn't talk much, but after a meal of wine, the relationship between the two became active. Xiao Jinyan asked, "Senior, I don't know what plans are for him to come to Yinyang City this time?"

The middle-aged Confucian scholar said, "I'll pay back a debt of love."

"Love debt?"

A middle-aged Confucian scholar said, "More than 20 years ago, I fell in love with a girl, but at that time I was determined to make achievements and let her down. After twenty years of going there, life is like a dream, alas!"

Seeing that he was now in a down-and-out manner, Xiao Jinyan probably had not had a good time in the past twenty years. However, after a drink, he felt that this Confucian scholar was a friend, so he said, "It's okay, I'll help you."

"Now she is a wife, how can she help?"

Xiao Jinyan said, "So what, the key is to look at her thoughts. If she is willing, she will grab it. If she doesn't want to, even if she gives her the position of queen, it will be futile."

The middle-aged Confucian scholar did not expect him to say such words, and he felt very happy, "You are much more real than those false Taoist masters."

"What, be a friend?"

“Don’t do it!”

Xiao Jinyan patted his chest and said, "No matter what, I'll do this drink tonight. I'll help you with this. Tomorrow, I'll accompany you to find that girl to find out. But..."

Xiao Jinyan paused, "Your outfit is probably a bit shabby. Girls always like cleaner men."

A middle-aged Confucian scholar said, "This long gown was made for me twenty years ago."

Xiao Jinyan said, "That's a different matter."

While talking, the two drank two more jars of wine. At this time, the middle-aged Confucian scholar suddenly asked, "Little brother, do you have any girl you like?"

Xiao Jinyan was stunned when he heard this, and was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "There is one, but there is also some trouble between us."

"What trouble?"

"Her father is mortal enemy of our sect. Sooner or later, there will be a big battle. I'm afraid there will be no result between us, so, hey..."

The middle-aged Confucian scholar said, "You want to live with her in the future, not with her. So what if you have a mortal enemy? At worst, you won't interact with each other until you die!"

Xiao Jinyan squirted out a sip of wine.

"The words of seniors are really enlightening."

The middle-aged Confucian scholar said, "If you decide, let go of some things. Don't be afraid of your hands and feet. In the end, you will end up in such a situation as me."
Chapter completed!