Insufficient balance

  What a mess on the canal in Jing could stir up, Xue Chongxun probably had an idea, but he didn't bother to ask about the specific situation and just did his own thing. At the current speed of information transmission, by the time news from Dongdu arrived in Jing, the reform of the grain transportation system would have been on track. Just thinking about the awkward faces of those "benevolent scholars" when they received the news made Xue Chongxun extremely happy.

  After staying in the headquarters for half a month, Xue Chongxun had arranged for officials such as Liu An to be responsible for specific matters such as preparing warehouses, recruiting soldiers and servants. What he himself needed to do was to formulate laws and appoint temporary officials and generals, which required personal attention because those officials who were personally promoted by him would have a factional imprint in the future, which would be very helpful in expanding power and influence.

  He held a brush, writing and revising at the same time, very seriously formulating the laws of canal transportation word by word and sentence by sentence. He spent the whole day doing this.

  It was getting late in the evening when Liu An came again, chatted for a while about official business and then took his leave. Xue Chongxun saw off Liu An and returned to the study, where he saw the servant girl who attended to the writing instruments pouring water into the inkstone to grind new ink. He called out: "No need to prepare more ink, we'll stop here for today, tidy up the study and take a rest."

  That little girl nodded and took the inkstone to clean it. Xue Chongxun walked to the desk, sorted out the papers on it, and when the girl came in, he said, "These papers are useless, burn them."

  "Yes, Lord Lang, I'll burn these papers first and then clean up the table," said the servant.

  Xue Chongxun sat down in the chair, stretched his waist and let out a breath, feeling quite tired, but because he had done a lot of proper things, he felt fulfilled. His mood was relaxed, and only then did he notice that all day long, he had been listening to the little girl who was serving him, who was over ten years old, about the same age as Pei Niang... She really made Xue Chongxun think of Pei Niang, her thin and weak appearance was very gentle.

  "What's his name?" Xue Chongxun asked casually.

  She was originally burning paper, and when Xue Chongxun asked her a question, she stood up and solemnly knelt down to greet him: "In response to Master Lang's words, I am surnamed Jiang, and my name is Cai Niang."

  "Hmm, quite festive for a regular gathering, not bad, not bad." Xue Chongxun said with a smile. Seeing her still standing there with her hands down, he added, "Just do your thing and answer me at the same time, there's no outsider here, just be casual."

  At this time, Cai Niang said something that was somewhat unexpected by Xue Chongxun: "Lang Jun can speak freely, but I cannot."

  Xue Chongxun was immediately drawn in by this sentence, and couldn't help but turn his head to take another look at her. After a moment of contemplation, he seemed to have an idea and said: "This sentence has meaning... But thinking about it like that, even if I'm right about you, I still can't be casual, I need to pay attention to my identity, use the tone I should have, say what I should say, in order to be proper, right?"

  Cai Niang smiled and said: "Usually, masters don't speak to their servants like Master Lang is speaking now."

  Xue Chongxun laughed and nodded: "You say that, I think maybe I'm a bit of an emotional person?" He pondered, thinking about how he spoke to officials like Liu An, of course using his brain; even with someone as close as Yuwen Ji, his own woman, could he just speak casually? Can't just say things that others don't want to hear for no reason.

  Perhaps it's because Cai Nang is still young, even if the people serving in the sedan chair are of high status and have more experience than ordinary girls, but she still can't understand what Xue Chongxun means by "a person with a romantic temperament". She doesn't know how to respond, so she just stays silent. When you don't know what to say, it's best to say nothing at all; saying the wrong thing is more embarrassing than an awkward silence.

  Xue Chongxun was used to such situations, and sometimes he would say some inexplicable things to the slaves around him, just because they couldn't understand... They naturally didn't know how to respond.

  He sighed and said, "Let me tell you a story."

  As a high-ranking official, telling stories to someone of her status made Cai Nang feel particularly honored, and she said with great delight: "I'm listening."

  Xue Chongxun's face was somewhat despondent as he said, "In the past, there was a person who especially wanted to tell the truth, but couldn't. Guess what he would do?"

  Cai Niang innocently shook her head, completely unable to understand what Xue Chongxun's story meant.

  Xue Chongxun didn't care about her and said, "He will find a tree hole, then say the words into the tree hole, and then block up the tree hole. This way his secret won't be known to anyone."

  The little girl said seriously: "Then why doesn't he find someone trustworthy to talk to?"

  Xue Chongxun didn't say anything, glanced at the papers that had been burned to ashes, picked up the draft on the table and walked out of the study. At this moment, it suddenly started raining outside, so he walked along the eaves towards the outside.

  After a while, San Niang walked over with two umbrellas in her hand and said, "I saw that it was raining, so I had someone bring the umbrellas over." Xue Chongxun nodded and handed the paper in his hand to San Niang: "Help me take care of this, I'll need it tomorrow."

  Returning to the inner house, Xue Chongxun had dinner and since the rain hadn't stopped yet, he suddenly wanted to take a walk in the rain. It just so happened that there were no scheduled visitors for the evening, so he grabbed an umbrella and went out with several guards.

  Luoyang's prosperity is comparable to that of Chang'an, with a dense population and thriving commerce, making it one of the most important hubs for trade between East and West, and one of the greatest metropolises of the Tang Dynasty.

  Xue Chongxun strolled around for a while, and suddenly saw a street performer's stall on the side of the road. Many people with umbrellas were watching, and a strong man was dancing with a large knife, looking very impressive. Xue Chongxun himself practiced martial arts, so he was more interested in this kind of performance. He didn't notice the people teasing cats and monkeys next to him.

  "Take a look," he said and walked over to take in the view.

  That sturdy man had a broad face, round arms and thick waist. He wore a sleeveless jacket, deliberately exposing his dark muscles on his shoulders. After dancing for a while, he clasped his fists and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I've made a fool of myself. My wife is ill and needs money for medical treatment. We have no choice but to ask you all for some reward money. My wife and I would like to thank all the kind-hearted people here."

  Xue Chongxun heard him say this, and only then did he notice a woman wearing a bamboo hat, holding a hat with both hands, begging for money at the edge of the crowd. She was fair-skinned, but had an ugly birthmark on her face, and her fingers were strangely curled together, unable to hold the hat, so she was hugging it with her arms. Just now that strong man said his wife was ill, could it be that she had a paralyzed finger or something?

  She begged and walked to Xue Chongxun's front, when Xue Chongxun saw that there were only some copper coins inside, he stretched out his hand and touched the silver ingot in his waistband. Suddenly, he thought of something and grabbed a gold ingot and took it out. The woman was stunned as soon as she saw Xue Chongxun holding a large piece of gold in his hand.

  Everyone usually uses copper coins in their daily lives, and it's rare to see gold or silver. Gold and silver are almost used for savings, but seeing Xue Chongxun holding that thing, the people around him were also very surprised. Which family's prodigal son is this? Is money spent like this?

  Xue Chongxun smiled and said: "Call your good man over, I want to have a few words with him."

  The woman didn't say a word, and walked over to the strong man, whispering a few words in his ear. The strong man turned around, glanced at Xue Chongxun, and must have also seen the gold on his hand, but his gaze completely ignored Xue Chongxun's hand.

  A sturdy man walked over and clasped his fists together, saying: "What can I do for you, sir?"

  Xue Chongxun looked around and said, "May I have a word with you in private?"

  The thing in Xue Chongxun's hand, I'm afraid even if the strong man sold his skills for a lifetime, he wouldn't be able to afford so much money. However, the strong man didn't show any particular enthusiasm, after all, who would be foolish enough to play with gold? There must be something fishy going on. The strong man then called his wife to watch the stall and took Xue Chongxun to a nearby alleyway, where there were fewer people, before saying: "What's this about?"

  "Just now I saw your handwriting, have you been in the army?"

  Zhuang Han suddenly became vigilant and glanced at the ornament on Xue Chongxun's waist, saying: "Having been to a foreign country, having been a not-so-big-or-small head... without a place to go, still have to go to a foreign country, can't get through now, why is there a problem with so many refugees going?"

  Xue Chongxun smiled and said, "Don't be nervous, even if I were an official, it's not worth my while to personally run out onto the streets to argue with you, right?" As he spoke, he glanced up at the sky. "It's almost dark, and you two have only earned a few dollars for the whole day. Life is tough."

  Zhuang Han relaxed a bit after hearing this and said, "Since it's not about getting back at me, and we don't know each other, let's just be straightforward. What do you want me to do? How much are you offering?"

  Xue Chongxun picked up the gold in his hand: "This is my own pocket money for your settlement, and the official salary will be paid by the government in the future. Are you willing to join the army?"

  Soldiers recruited are not the same as conscripted soldiers, the government will provide horses, military equipment, food and grass, and there may be additional benefits such as military pay. In short, it's not a free service, generally it can support a family. For people in Chang'an Luoyang city, to get such a job, you need to have some connections. It is obvious that Xue Chongxun finding him was a good thing.

  Zhuang Han couldn't help but feel a surge of joy, and he sized up Xue Chongxun, "You said you could calculate it?"

  Xue Chongxun heard this and thought to himself that he was not as slick as those in the official circles. He didn't mind, only saying: "It's a matter of one sentence, but all those tricks you played are just for show, I don't know if you have the ability to take this money."

  "Look at that, I can do it all! Outsiders watch the excitement, insiders watch the door, since you're an expert, now let me show you a few moves with some real skills."

  Xue Chongxun said: "I'll play two tricks with you, if you can win my gold, take it away. Are you willing to be a soldier and follow me as the commander?"

  "Really?" The strong man said in surprise, "We just met by chance, can things be so easy..."

  "A man's word is his bond." Xue Chongxun pulled him to the performance stall, handed the gold to the woman with a birthmark on her face, and said loudly: "Everyone here, bear witness that I made a bet with this good fellow for this piece of gold. If he wins, the gold belongs to him."

  The surroundings suddenly became noisy, and people were delighted to see the novelty. At this time, the woman asked in a low voice: "What if he loses?"

  "What can be done?" Xue Chongxun laughed and said, "Haha, Auntie, you're not as familiar with the Jianghu as your husband is. He didn't ask, but you reminded me, aren't I asking for trouble myself?"

  The third daughter reminded: "Just a little will do, use a wooden stick."

  Xue Chongxun smiled and said: "Alright, let's listen to her. We can have fun without risking our lives, we'll stop when it's time."

  The sturdy man brought two wooden sticks as long as his arms, and then began to exercise his muscles, with thick and powerful limbs, and muscles bulging one by one. He was also half a head taller than Xue Chongxun. The onlookers were very impressed with the sturdy man and cheered loudly.