Du Zhongxiao smiled bitterly: "The official is coming at the right time. This morning, someone bought strong wine from the Wu family's restaurant. It was clearly stated that the method of making wine was stolen from my house. How could the world be cut off with just one word from the government?"

Mei Yaochen had just stepped down from the position of Xiangcheng County Magistrate, and was not unfamiliar with what Du Zhongxiao said. However, Xiangcheng is a mountainous area, much poorer and desolate than Linying. There are not many merchants in the county, let alone a large family like the Wu family. In the past two years, Mei Yaochen has been mostly disaster relief in Xiangcheng, and he has dealt with many of the forces that hoarded goods. Unexpectedly, there are such things here.

Looking at the sky, Mei Yaochen said, "My friend, I'm sorry, your method of dealing with this matter is wrong. Lingzun is a Jinshi from the village in this prefecture. You are also a scholar. From the beginning, you have to ask the government for help. According to what you said, the Wu family is rich and powerful. You fight to the death and compete with them in business. Aren't you attacking the enemy's strengths with your own shortcomings? You use wine lees to make wine, then buy porridge and donate charity, and do good deeds, which is what the officials should advise. If the government does not support you, do you let the power do whatever you do? It's not early now, so you prepare a banquet here and invite the county magistrate Fan to come. I told him. If the government comes forward, I don't know how much you work hard."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head when he heard this: "The officials don't know that the Wu family also has strong relatives. He has a cousin, He family, in Changshe County, and he was a Jinshi of the same year as Su Tongzong of our province, so it's not easy to force him too much. Because of this, it's not easy for me to make things difficult for the magistrates. Besides, they are all ordinary people, and they all have their own abilities to find some food and clothing to live, so how can they get enemies with me?"

Mei Yaochen smiled and said, "Who has no relatives and friends in life? Although relatives are just helping each other once or twice, the Wu family has been doing so, has the He family been helping him? I know that it is not such a person. Don't worry, stealing your wine recipe is wrong first, and the county will not sit idly by. As for what you said about doing business with peace of mind, have you never heard of any business or traitor? There are not many honest people like you. If you open a restaurant here, it makes it difficult for the Wu family to do business. Don't they regard you as an enemy."

Speaking of this, Du Zhongxiao didn't know how to do it. He immediately ordered the servant to prepare a table of good dishes and took Mei Yaochen's name to invite the magistrate Fan Zhen. Mei Yaochen went to Xuzhou to visit relatives. He lived in an inn outside Linying City. He originally planned to visit Fan Zhen in the afternoon. Now that the Wu family had the method of stealing wine lees, he invited the magistrate over. This was a gathering of literati, and the Wu family's affairs were arranged by the way.

Mei Yaochen is the nephew of the governor of this prefecture. No one would say anything about his identity.

After finding a quiet little pavilion, I set up a table of good dishes, and the arrival of Du Zhongxiao and Mei Yaochendan and other magistrates Fan Town.

Nearly noon, Fan Zhen changed into casual clothes and brought two men to "Zuixianju". He and Mei Yaochen were old friends. When they were studying in the Beijing Museum, they often sang poems and answered. After not seeing each other for several years, they were naturally particularly intimate.

After leaving the two to the pavilion, Du Zhongxiao bowed and said, "The small place is shabby, and the two officials have arrived, and the turquoise is shining. There is no good food at this time, so I have to prepare some fish and some fruits, so I don't wonder if it's simple."

Fan Zhen said: "I am the lord of a county. When I go to the people under my rule to drink, I can't help but talk. I am so well-behaved that I am in your restaurant. I keep collecting lees to make wine, buying rice and serving porridge. I am very well-behaved. A few days ago, I heard from people that the county calls you father and son a kind person, which is very popular. Today, Sheng Yu came to visit relatives from a long way to make friends, and by the way, he can also see how your restaurant is doing."

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly bowed and thanked: "Xiaomin learned the grace of the county officials, and got rid of the prison, and even started such a restaurant. He was very grateful. He also thought of thanking the county government office, but the officials were busy with government affairs and were never allowed to see him."

Fan Zhen smiled and said, "I am an official and you are the people. Naturally, you must avoid suspicion and avoid gossip. As long as you abide by the law with peace of mind, why should you meet each other?"

Mei Yaochen saw the two of them talking nonstop and said, "I haven't seen Jing Ren for several years. I'm about to tell you the parting, why are you talking nonstop here? It's very cold outside, so let's sit down and drink a glass of wine to warm up our bodies."

The three of them sat down, and Mei Yaochen said again: "I heard that the wine made from wine lees in this restaurant is very powerful. Let's try it today."

Fan Zhen shook his head: "The wine here is strong, but it's spicy, but I can't get used to it."

After hearing this, Du Zhongxiao hurriedly said, "Liquor is different from water wine. As long as it is sealed tightly, you will not be afraid of being rancid. Moreover, after being stored for a long time, the aged wine will not be as difficult as new wine, and it is much softer. I started making wine several months ago, and over time, I also have a few bottles of aged wine. Today, two officials come here and try it? This kind of wine will never be eaten again."

Most scholars in this era have a good wine. After hearing this, Mei Yaochen applauded repeatedly and asked Du Zhongxiao to get it quickly.

Chen Jiu was specially put away. Du Zhongxiao stood up and went to get it himself, accusing Fan Zhen and Mei Yaochen.

When Du Zhongxiao went out, Mei Yaochen said to Fan Zhen: "This little official Du spoke very humble, but he wrote a good article. A few days ago, an autumn poem made many literary friends admire him. Have Jing Ren read it?"

Fan Zhen said: "I have read it. There are some ancient styles, and they are very old-fashioned, and they are not like a young man."

After studying in Guange for many years, Fan Zhen was very familiar with the older generation of literati and was proficient in the current writings. He did not agree with the ancient literati advocated by young and powerful literati such as Ouyang Xiu. This is the difference in schools. People liked by Ouyang Xiu and Mei Yaochen, but he did not like it.

Mei Yaochen sighed: "When I talk about the old-fashioned article, I felt this way when I read it. If I hadn't really seen this person, I always thought it was written by a scholar in the past decades. He had experienced the world and had to be open-minded and might have read Buddhist scriptures. But I met his father Du Xun in the capital a few years ago. At that time, I failed the exam together and the two of them got drunk. I talked to Du Xun and knew that this person could never write such articles, otherwise he would have thought it was his father who caught the knife and made a name for his son."

Fan Zhen nodded repeatedly: "That article does not match his age at the age of less than twenty. I don't know what happened at that time. Sheng Yu, we scholars all know that sometimes we can't explain it clearly when writing essays. After the time comes, we can't write the same articles. This is the case with the autumn fu written by Du Xiaoguanren. The articles are old-fashioned and mature, and they are not like a teenage scholar. In my opinion, writing such articles will be of no benefit to him. If he is praised too much and indulged in it, he will probably cut off his future progress."

Mei Yaochen disagreed with Fan Zhen's words. He chose ancient and strange words by himself, and he liked this kind of article. However, Mei Yaochen's writing style was too strange, and many failed imperial examinations were proof of it. On the contrary, Fan Zhen represented the pulse of the times, and he was the top scorer of this year according to the initial ranking. As for the influence of later generations, that is another matter. Ouyang Xiu, the original author of "Autumn Sound Fu", was the same. He first learned Han Yu's ancient Chinese, failed twice, and then went to high school after working hard. Therefore, the same article was different from that in Mei Yaochen's eyes. Fan Zhen had read the article, but he didn't even think of praising Du Zhongxiao.
Chapter completed!