典当行

城里数一数二的大当铺被唐家世代经营着，这几代人在开当铺期间接待过数不清的客人，有落魄的达官显贵，有难以为继的穷苦人家，有南来北往的客商，还有青楼卖笑的女子，但到了唐掌柜这辈却遇见了一桩怪事，来他店里典当的客人是已经过世的死人……

已经“去世”的财主冯满堂深夜来到元亨当铺典当家传宝贝玉观音，这可吓坏了当铺唐掌柜，在冯满堂解释下，才明白这里有段不为人知的隐秘。

话说，清朝末年，典当行已经相当的发达，什么奇珍异宝古玩字画，就是棉被皮袄，只要想得到的、人家看上眼的，都可以拿到当铺换成钱。

当然，当东西也分死当活当两种，死当就是东西直接卖给当铺了，活当则是在典当期限内归还当金和利息，就可以赎回典当物资。

哪个行业也都有行业翘楚，咱们今天说的这家元亨当铺就是城里头一家的大当铺，掌柜的姓唐，世代经营着这家当铺，到他这辈已经是第五代了，可以说家资丰厚，但是偏偏这个唐掌柜的为人不太厚道，就爱打些小算盘，弄些蝇营狗苟的勾当。

这一天，没什么生意上门，唐掌柜打算早早地打烊，好回家跟刚纳的小妾腻歪去。可就在这时候，生意就上门了。来的人个子不高，胖大的体格走起路来格外沉重，天色不早了，来人却戴了个墨镜，怎么这个人……，看着就这么眼熟呐？仔细这么一想，可把这唐掌柜吓得不轻，人都好悬坐地上。

这人认识啊！

进门的客人不是别人，正是月初刚刚过世的冯满堂，说起这冯财主，家底跟唐掌柜比，不但毫不逊色，甚至还略胜一筹。这就是这么个家资丰厚的财主，却突然在家里暴毙身亡，发丧的时候，一大家子人披麻戴孝的，还打当铺门口路过呐。真是活见鬼了呀。

冯财主一看，唐掌柜身子抖得跟筛糠一样的，也知道把人家吓得不轻，赶忙摘下墨镜，解释说自己是活人，不是鬼。

活人出殡，这里面，原来还藏着一段故事。

冯财主家大业大，却在早年间，因为行商跑货和城外的马匪头子秦四起了冲突，双方各有死伤，也就此结了仇怨。

这些年兵荒马乱的，秦四爷渐渐吞并了附近的几个山头，把山寨经营的人强马壮的，竟成了方圆几十里最大的土匪窝。

上个月，秦四爷放出话来，要跟冯财主算旧账，这有金钉子的打不过有枪杆子的，连当地官府都惹不起秦四爷，更不用说做生意的冯财主了。

总这么坐以待毙，早晚有一天秦四爷会找上门来寻仇，算了，这土匪所念的不过就是自己这条命嘛。

于是，灵机一动，就想出了诈死这么法子，想着人死债消，终归是消祸不及妻儿吧。

前些日子，秦四爷果然带着浩浩荡荡的马匪们，来找冯财主寻仇，看到冯家门上挂着白灯笼，院子里搭着灵堂，倒也没难为一众家眷，只是把冯家的少爷绑了票，临走放下话，让冯家五天内拿十万两银子赎人，不然就撕票，说罢就带着众马匪呼啸而去。

冯财主躲过一劫，却没想到独苗冯少爷被掳了去。连忙翻箱倒柜的凑钱，东凑西凑的，最后只准备出六万两现钱。因为还差四万两，只能把家里祖传的宝贝送进当铺，以解燃眉之急，事后周转开了，再拿钱来赎回去。

说罢，冯财主就从怀中取出个长不足半尺的小布包，仔细打开后，竟是上等和田美玉雕琢而成的玉观音。只见这玉观音，玉质晶莹剔透，雕工更是巧夺天工，饶是唐掌柜见多识广，对这宝贝也是赞不绝口。

这个宝贝，别说四万两银子，就是四十万两也买不到，真可谓是价值连城啊。

唐掌柜写好了当票，约定订期一个月，冯财主匆匆签字画押，对着唐掌柜道谢后，拿着当票和四万两银票离开，张罗着赎人的事去了。

这事纸里包不住火，冯财主一咬牙舍了房产田地，带些金银细软举家迁移了，临走前冯少爷自知，因为自己家里破了财，便主动请缨，留下前往当铺去赎回家传的宝贝。

次日，冯少爷带着钱和当票，来到元亨当铺赎回传家宝玉观音，唐掌柜却变了脸，闭口不谈赎回的事情，冷言冷语地对冯少爷说道。

“这次你们举家迁移，山高路远的不说，带着这么个东西，怕是要凭空惹出祸端来，这样吧。这东西我就是收下了，额外再资助你们家三千两，算是略表寸心了。”

冯少爷一听，腾得火冒三丈，唐掌柜这是对自家宝贝动了贪念了，上来就要跟唐掌柜拼命，却被早已准备好的伙计们给哄了出去。

次日一早，官差就来到了当铺，二话不说就把唐掌柜锁了，带回公堂。

公堂之上，冯少爷拿着当票，对县太爷陈述了唐掌柜贪图自家宝贝的毁约之事。

县太爷看到了票，当场就要判案。

唐掌柜连忙叩头道。

“大人，小民冤枉，这冯家是诬告小人啊。冯家老爷月初过世，街里街坊的人尽皆知。可您看这当票的日期，已是冯财主发丧之后了，敢问大人，已故之人如何前来典当物资，如此荒唐之事，分明是这冯家小儿信口雌黄。”

县太爷一听，竟有此荒唐之事，看了看冯少爷，又问身边师爷。

“唐掌柜所言属实？”

“回大人，冯老爷月初就已过世，此事千真万确。”

唐掌柜端的是好算计。

县太爷当场释放了他，又把“诬告”的冯少爷打了板子。但冯财主死而复生，前去当铺典当的事儿，却在街头巷尾被人们传开了。

没过几天，偃旗息鼓的马匪又开始频频出没在附近，看来大有攻城之势，整个城里也是人心惶惶。

这天，天色将晚，街上已经没什么往来的行人了。可这时，当铺门口呼啦啦走进来一帮彪形大汉，唐掌柜一看来人如此凶悍，自然不敢丝毫怠慢，忙不迭地上前招呼着。

“几位爷，来小店可是有什么物资要当。”

为首的人一撇嘴角没有答话，身旁的人上前喝骂道。

“你这老儿是眼瞎了不成，咱们爷们像是缺金短银的主儿吗？”

“是是是，恕在下眼拙，壮士勿怪！勿怪！那…敢问各位爷，所来为何呀？”

为首的汉子哼得冷笑了一声。

“掌柜的，咱们明人不说暗话，兄弟们得着口信，说您这出了死人典当的怪事。可有此事？”

唐掌柜听得汗都下来了，这是冯财主捅了娄子，正主找到自己头上来了。看着汉子们怀中隐隐显出的屡屡寒光，知道这是一帮杀人越货的悍匪，自己的小命要紧呐，连忙取出了玉观音，一五一十说了冯财主诈死的事情，并推说自己只是例行买卖，别的事毫不相干。

汉子听了，拍了下唐掌柜肩膀，笑着说：

“唐掌柜莫怕，我们也是盗亦有道之人，不能白白取了这宝贝。”

说罢，竟在唐掌柜面前拍下了一张四万两的银票，接着说。

“这件事，我等也不怕说与你知，这姓冯的祖上也不是什么好人，早年间与我等一样，都是做刀头舔血的没本生意，后来才隐没了身份改做商人，这宝贝就是他家祖上打家劫舍来的，其中还有一个奥妙”。

说罢，就把玉像凑在烛火旁，这时怪事出现了，桌子上竟显现出“人丁兴旺儿孙满堂”八个字，字迹虽然随着烛火若隐若现，但倒是能瞧得清楚。

汉子看着惊讶的合不拢嘴的唐掌柜，笑着说。

“这等底细，想必冯家老贼没有说与你知道吧。这物件虽然稀罕，但也着实是一件赃物，所以，我劝唐老板还是好自为之，取了这银票去，过你的安生日子吧。”

事到如今，唐掌柜哪还有半点怀疑，就是这稀世珍宝，在唐掌柜眼里，早已是个烫手山芋，生不出半分的心思，忙对一众人不停嘴的千恩万谢。

汉子们也懒得多言，抱起来玉观音扬长而去。

一行人出了城外，在一棵大槐树下，一位少年已经等候多时，汉子们走了过来。为首的笑着道。

“少爷妙计，我们依言而行，幸不辱使命。”

这个少年不是别人，正是前面提到的冯少爷，原来公堂上被唐掌柜阴了一手，回去后自然咽不下这口气，也是这少年经历过这场风波，也生了急智，吩咐几名身形彪悍，常在外地行走的家丁，扮作马匪模样，给唐掌柜演了这么一出好戏。

物归原主，冯少爷自是即刻动身，远离了这个是非之地。

另一头，咱们再说说唐掌柜。

假马匪走了之后。没过几天，真的马匪得了冯财主诈死的消息，竟浩浩荡荡的杀进了城来。寻不到冯财主，又听得元亨当铺出资，帮助冯家赎人，自然把唐掌柜当成冯家一伙的。

于是，抓了唐掌柜，手起刀落砍下了大好人头，之后又抢光了家里金银珠宝，连唐掌柜最喜欢的小妾，也被抓了去，成了压寨夫人。

可叹这唐掌柜，机关算尽，最后落得个身首异处的下场，昔日风光无限的元亨当铺也被付之一炬，只留下了这个警醒后人的教训。

One of the best pawnshops in the city has been run by the Tang family for generations. These generations have received countless guests during the pawnshop opening period, including the down-to-earth dignitaries, the unsustainable poor families, and the merchants from the south to the north. , and a woman who sells laughs in a brothel, but in the generation of shopkeeper Tang, a strange thing happened. The pawn customers who came to his shop were dead people who had passed away...

The wealthy Feng Mantang who has "passed away" came to Yuanheng's pawnshop's pawnshop's house late at night to pass on the precious jade Guanyin.

In other words, in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, pawnshops were already quite developed. Any kind of rare treasures, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, were quilts and jackets. As long as you could think of it, you could get money from the pawnshop.

Of course, there are two types of pawns and pawns. Dead pawns are directly sold to pawnshops, and live pawns are when the pawn money and interest are returned within the pawn period, and the pawn materials can be redeemed.

There are industry leaders in any industry. The Yuanheng pawnshop we are talking about today is the first big pawnshop in the city. The shopkeeper's surname is Tang, and he has been running this pawnshop for generations. He is already the fifth generation. The family is rich, but this shopkeeper Tang is not very kind, so he likes to play some small calculations and do some tricks.

On this day, no business came to the door, and the shopkeeper Tang planned to close early so that he could go home and go back to his concubine. But at this moment, the business came to the door. The person who came here is not tall, with a chubby physique and heavier walking. It was getting late, but the person who came here was wearing sunglasses. How could this person... look so familiar? Thinking about it carefully, this shopkeeper Tang was so frightened that everyone was sitting on the ground.

I know this man!

The guest who entered the door was none other than Feng Mantang, who had just passed away at the beginning of the month. Speaking of the rich man Feng, his family background was not inferior to that of Shopkeeper Tang, but he was even slightly better. This is such a rich man from a rich family, who suddenly died violently at home. When he was mourning, a whole family of people dressed in sackcloth and filial piety even passed by at the door of the pawnshop. What a hell.

Seeing Mr. Feng, Shopkeeper Tang was shaking like a sack of chaff, and he knew that he was frightened, so he quickly took off his sunglasses and explained that he was a living person, not a ghost.

There is a story hidden in the funeral of a living person.

The rich man Feng had a big family, but in his early years, he had a conflict with Qin Si, the leader of the horse bandit outside the city, because of the trader and ransom, and both sides suffered casualties.

In these years, the army was in chaos, and the fourth master of Qin gradually annexed several nearby hilltops, and made the people who run the cottage strong and strong, and turned it into the largest bandit den in a radius of dozens of miles.

Last month, Fourth Master Qin said that he wanted to settle old accounts with Rich Master Feng. Those with golden nails could not beat those with guns, and even the local government could not provoke Fourth Master Qin, let alone the wealthy Feng Feng who was in business. .

Always sit still like this, sooner or later, Fourth Master Qin will come to seek revenge. Forget it, this bandit is only thinking of his own life.

So, with an idea, he came up with such a way to cheat death, thinking that the debts of death will be eliminated, after all, the disaster will not be as good as the wife and children.

A few days ago, Qin Siye really brought the mighty horse bandits to seek revenge on the wealthy Feng Feng. Seeing the white lanterns hanging on the door of Feng's house and the mourning hall in the yard, it was not difficult for all the family members. The young master of the Feng family was tied up with the ticket, and he put down his words before leaving, and asked the Feng family to take 100,000 taels of silver to redeem the people within five days, otherwise the ticket would be torn up, and after that, the bandits roared away with the horses.

The rich man Feng escaped, but he did not expect the only young master Feng to be taken captive. He hurriedly rummaged through boxes and cabinets to collect the money, and in the end, he was only ready to give out 60,000 taels of cash. Because there was still a shortfall of 40,000 taels, I could only send the family's ancestral treasure to the pawnshop to relieve the urgent need. Afterwards, the turnover was opened and the money was used to redeem it.

After saying that, the rich man Feng took out a small cloth bag less than half a foot long from his arms. After carefully opening it, it was actually a jade Guanyin carved from the finest Hetian Meiyu. I saw this jade Guanyin, the jade quality is crystal clear, and the carving is even more ingenious. Rao is the shopkeeper Tang who has a lot of knowledge and is full of praise for this treasure.

This treasure, let alone 40,000 taels of silver, can't be bought even for 400,000 taels. It's really worth a fortune.

Shopkeeper Tang wrote down the pawn ticket and agreed on a one-month appointment. Rich Feng hurriedly signed and signed it. After thanking Shopkeeper Tang, he took the pawn ticket and 40,000 taels of silver and left, focusing on redemption.

This matter could not be contained in the paper. Feng Feng gave up the real estate and farmland, brought some gold and silver, and moved his family. Before leaving, Master Feng knew that because his family was broke, he took the initiative to ask Ying and stayed to go. The pawnshop went to redeem the treasure that was passed down from home.

The next day, Master Feng came to the Yuanheng pawnshop with money and pawn tickets to redeem the family heirloom Guanyin, but the shopkeeper Tang changed his face and kept silent about the redemption, and said to Master Feng coldly.

"This time your family is relocated, let's not talk about the high mountains and long distances. With such a thing, I'm afraid it will cause trouble out of thin air, so let's go. I just accepted this thing, and I will help your family with an additional 3,000 taels. It’s a bit of a slap in the face.”

When Young Master Feng heard this, he was furious. Shopkeeper Tang was greedy for his own baby. When he came up, he was going to fight with Shopkeeper Tang, but he was coaxed out by the guys who had already prepared.

Early the next morning, the official came to the pawnshop, locked the shopkeeper Tang without saying a word, and took him back to the court.

In the courtroom, Master Feng took the pawn ticket and told the county magistrate that shopkeeper Tang had broken the contract for coveting his own baby.

The county magistrate saw the ticket and decided on the spot.

Shopkeeper Tang hurriedly kowtowed.

"Sir, the common people have been wronged, this Feng family is falsely accusing the small people. The master of the Feng family passed away at the beginning of the month, and everyone in the street knows it. But you can see that the date of the ticket is after the funeral of the rich man Feng, dare to ask My lord, how can a deceased person come to pawn supplies, such a ridiculous thing, it is clear that this Feng family child is lying."

When the county magistrate heard this, he saw that there was such a ridiculous thing. He looked at Young Master Feng and asked the master next to him.

"Is what Shopkeeper Tang said true?"

"Master, Master Feng passed away at the beginning of the month. This is absolutely true."

Treasurer Tang's side is a good calculation.

The county magistrate released him on the spot, and beat the "false accusation" Young Master Feng. But the rich man Feng came back to life and went to the pawnshop to pawn, but people spread the word in the streets.

A few days later, the horse bandits who died down began to appear frequently in the vicinity. It seemed that they were on the verge of attacking the city, and the whole city was panicked.

Today, it will be late, and there are no pedestrians on the street. But at this time, a group of burly men came in at the door of the pawnshop. Seeing that he was so fierce, the shopkeeper Tang naturally did not dare to neglect at all, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

"Several lords, come to the store but have some supplies to take care of."

The person in the lead curled his lips and did not answer, and the person beside him stepped forward and scolded.

"You old man are blind. Are our men like masters who lack gold and silver?"

"Yes, yes, forgive me for being clumsy, don't blame the strong man! Don't blame it! Then... I dare to ask you, why are you here?"

The leading man sneered.

"The shopkeeper, we are not secretive, but the brothers got a message, saying that you have a strange incident of pawning a dead man. Is there such a thing?"

The shopkeeper Tang was so sweaty when he heard that, it was the rich man Feng who stabbed the lousy, and the master found himself on the head. Seeing the faint hints of coldness in the arms of the men, knowing that this is a gang of gangsters who murdered and stealing goods, and that his own life was at stake, he quickly took out the jade Guanyin, and told the story of Feng Caizhu's fraudulent death. Infer that he is just a routine business, nothing else.

The man listened, patted the shoulder of shopkeeper Tang, and said with a smile:

"Don't be afraid of shopkeeper Tang, we are also thieves and wise people, we can't take this treasure in vain."

After all, he actually took a 40,000 tael silver note in front of shopkeeper Tang, and continued.

"I'm not afraid to tell you about this matter. This ancestor named Feng is not a good person. In the early years, like me, he was a knife-head licking blood and had no business. Later, he disappeared and changed his job. Merchant, this treasure was robbed by his ancestors, and there is another mystery in it."

After saying that, he put the jade statue next to the candlelight. At this time, something strange happened. On the table, the words "people are prosperous and children and grandchildren are full" appeared on the table. Although the handwriting was looming with the candlelight, it could be seen clearly.

The man looked at the surprised shopkeeper Tang and said with a smile.

"This is the details. I think the old thief from the Feng family didn't tell you. Although this item is rare, it is also a piece of stolen goods. Therefore, I persuade Boss Tang to do it on his own and take this silver note to live your happy birthday. Bar."

So far, shopkeeper Tang still has the slightest doubt. It is this rare treasure. In the eyes of shopkeeper Tang, it is already a hot potato.

The men were too lazy to talk, they hugged Yu Guanyin and walked away.

The group went out of the city. Under a big locust tree, a young man had been waiting for a long time, and the men came over. The leader smiled.

"Young master's clever plan, we will act according to our words, and we are fortunate to live up to our mission."

This young man is none other than the aforementioned Young Master Feng. It turned out that the shopkeeper Tang had smothered him in the court, and he naturally couldn't hold his breath when he went back. It was also this young man who had experienced this turmoil and was very quick-witted. With a sturdy appearance, a family man who often travels in other places, pretending to be a horse bandit, performed such a good show for the shopkeeper Tang.

After returning to the original owner, Master Feng immediately set off and stayed away from this place of right and wrong.

On the other end, let's talk about shopkeeper Tang.

After the fake horse bandits left. A few days later, the real horse bandits got the news of the death of the rich man, and they rushed into the city in a mighty manner. The rich man Feng could not be found, and he heard that Yuanheng's pawnshop had contributed money to help the Feng family redeem people, so he naturally regarded the shopkeeper Tang as one of the Feng family.

So, shopkeeper Tang was arrested, and he cut off a good head with a knife, and then robbed the family of gold and silver jewelry. Even shopkeeper Tang's favorite concubine was also arrested and became Mrs. Yazhai.

It's a pity that this shopkeeper Tang was exhausted and finally ended up in a different place. Yuanheng's pawnshop, which used to be glorious in the past, was also burnt down, leaving only this lesson to wake up future generations.