The Founding of the Red Chamber

Near the end of the new year, a son of the magistrate Wang outside the pass came to bring back new year's goods. Wang Dalang didn't come alone, he came with Youfu.Seeing that they were all covered in big leather robes, Tu Xiaosan couldn't help asking, "Why are you here?"

Blessed is dressed like a rich and rich man. Looking around, he saw that it was his own talent and said, "Third brother, you have been gone for more than half a year. We are not at ease. Little Si and Xiao Niuzi are not at ease. Look, it’s the Chinese New Year again, let’s take advantage of the business of old Shen Luxie, and drop by. Come and see Third Brother, Ah Jing, and Er Qing, and celebrate the New Year with you too, so you won’t be deserted.”

Tu Xiaosan said, "It's not deserted here at all. You say you are so far away, how can people be at ease."

"It's okay, who dares to get our ideas, we brought a caravan of 200 people and headed south together." You Fu took out an oiled paper bag from his arms, which was wrapped in several layers, and when he opened it, it was a stack of letters. Said, "This is written to you, Ah Jing, by A Teng, Anian, Xiao Niuzi, and Princess Nianqing."

Tu Xiaosan pursed his lips, thinking that Xiao Si should also write a letter to himself, but in the end, after You Fu took out the stack of letters, he didn't take any more letters. Tu Xiaosan said in his heart, Tu Xiao Si is heartless Yes, why don't I remember to write a letter to your brother and me.Wang Dalang was a meticulous person, and he said hastily, "Xiao Si wrote a box of letters to Third Brother. He wrote so many letters that he couldn't fit them in his pocket, so he put them in the box. The box is in the back of the car. I'll go and see." move down."

"It's not in a hurry." Tu Xiaosan falsely said, "He doesn't have any serious business even if he writes a letter, it's nothing more than spitting."

Wang Dalang looked at Tu Xiaosan not in a hurry, because when Lin Jing read the letter, Tu Xiaosan wished he could stick his neck in front of the letter.Wang Dalang smiled, and went out first to have someone unload the truck, and took a box of letters from Tu Xiaosi down to Tu Xiaosan.

Tu Xiaosan couldn't help being happy when he saw the small box that was one foot square, and said, "Xiao Si is going to change his career to be a scholar."

Blessed said, "Third brother, you don't know, you don't know what's going on when you're here, we miss you now that you're gone. Our brothers have been together for life and death all these years, and we have never been separated like this. I I heard from Xiao Niuzi that Xiaosi always calls me brother in his dreams."

Tu Xiaosan unconsciously placed his hand on the mahogany box containing the letter, stroked it lightly, and smiled, "I'm always by your side, when will you be able to stand alone? Tell me, how about going outside the customs? "

Youfu smiled and said, "Third brother, just don't worry, the little four is good, he is not what he used to be now. Hanzhou City has Ateng A Nian, Jinzhou City has our brothers, and Longcheng has Governor Shi , everything went smoothly. Even our business is getting more and more prosperous."

Tu Xiaosan asked, "Is it still peaceful?"

"It's quite peaceful. It's just that the place outside our pass is large, and several official roads are patrolled by our people day and night, and the bandits on the side have been told to clean up. As long as it is a business that bought our safety flag, it has never been out. It’s a matter. In the past, there were merchants doing business outside our customs, and they were always trembling, but now they say that although they have to spend some money to buy the safety flag, it’s worth it, so don’t worry about it.” Since the unification of the three cities outside the customs , the business of the Ping'an Banner is getting more and more prosperous, so, fortunately speaking, it is really well done.

This is also a major source of income from outside the customs. Basically, as soon as they leave the customs, it is like selling amulets when Tu Xiaosan and the others were bandits. Now they have changed their name to Ping An Qi.If a business traveler buys a safety flag, the journey will be safe and sound.As for not buying, then you have to resign yourself to fate.

In addition to the matter of the Ping'an Banner, there is also the Taiping Inn in Linjing's three-city chain, which is really the most peaceful inn.Of course, this inn is not mandatory to stay in, you can stay up to you, mainly because Lin Jing has good taste, tidying up the inn, it is true, ordinary merchants want to live, probably can't get a room.

In addition, big or small businesses outside the customs, of course, the kind of roadside stalls that are too small, just pay some management and sanitation fees, which is only one or two hundred yuan a month.For other businesses, there is no need to pay court taxes now, the taxes have long been in the hands of Tu Xiaosan, Lin Jing and the others.

Therefore, the present outside the pass means that the source of wealth and the army have long since changed hands.

As for whether the imperial court knew about it or not, Tu Xiaosan, Lin Jing and his gang had already bribed Governor Shi, not to mention the others.In fact, the main reason is that in the perception of the imperial court, the outside of the customs has always been a barren land with some native products (ginseng, deer).As long as Guan Wai handed over the offerings to the palace on time, and Guan Wai could maintain a balance of income and expenditure, the imperial court would recite the Buddha's name.Otherwise, if he reported a drought, flood, rain and snow disaster, the imperial court would have to pay for it.

Hearing Youfu and Wang Dalang talk about things outside the customs, Tu Xiaosan was completely relieved. After the reception banquet was ready, everyone had a lively dinner together. Youfu, Wang Dalang and their party lived in Haiyan. down.

As a result, the two of them actually made a big business a few years ago.Youfu said to Lin Jing, "The coast is full of Japanese bandits. I heard that most of the rich people have moved to Fucheng. How come there is such a rich man!"

"What's wrong?" Lin Jing flipped through Nian Xia's mansion newspaper, and asked You Fu casually.

Youfu pulled the chair under his buttocks towards Lin Jing, and said, "Ah Jing, you won't believe it. The ginseng we brought is a few hundred-year-old ginseng. Such old ginseng, in the Outside of our customs, it is good fortune to have a thousand silver. In Hangzhou, I just sold three and left two. I thought it was for you and the third brother. But the former third brother said that you There are two from the governor here, and the medicinal properties of this thing have a limited number of years. I just thought about selling these two too. Hey, I really saw the rich man. The rich man in Hangzhou offered five thousand , As a result, in that small county of Jiashan, someone actually offered [-]."

"Such old ginseng is hard to come by." After saying this, Lin Jing said, "Did Zhang Qianhu buy it?"

Youfu nodded, "I heard from my supervisor that the shop that buys ginseng is a thousand households."

Lin Jing smiled slightly and said nothing.Youfu was always shrewd, and said, "Tell me, could it be that Zhang Qianhu came to buy ginseng after he found out that we lived with Third Brother?" This is a common bribery method in the officialdom, and it is not uncommon.

Lin Jing shook his head, "You have only been here for a few days, how would he know about our relationship. There are so many people coming and going to Third Brother's place, he knows who is close and which is not? He will never spend tens of thousands of dollars rashly because of this. Two silver coins. He bought this ginseng either as a gift, or to keep it for himself."

"That Zhang Qianhu is really rich." You Fu smacked his lips and said, "The manager of his family spent tens of thousands of silver without blinking an eye."

Lin Jing smiled, "His family was originally a merchant, and they were engaged in the tea shred business. Now that he is a thousand households in Jiashan, his family is naturally making great progress, and it has gone a step further."

Blessed said, "This merchant is from a family background, so he can also be an official?"

"You have been an official for several years before, how come you don't even know this? As long as you are not from a lowly family background, you can be an official through the imperial examination, but after becoming an official, your family is not allowed to do business." Lin Jing laughed, Thinking of something, You Blessed said, "You are also coming to the south of the Yangtze River, pick some earthen things and go back."

You Fu said, "This time, I originally wanted to sell some silk back home. The price is too high after the new year, so we can talk about it after the new year."

Lin Jingdao, "You still have to search for fine silk in Hangzhou and Jiangning. If it's ordinary silk, there are weavers in the county."

You Blessed said, "Ordinary silk is fine. Those high-quality silks are too expensive, and they are too limited. The really high-quality ones are not available to us. If you want to get some ordinary silk, it is very easy to sell. "

Lin Jing said, "In the next year, I will ask Jiang Xiancheng to accompany you for a walk, and introduce you to several big weaver households."

Blessed, he is planning to live until the Qingming Festival next year, and by the way, get some Mingqian tea to go back outside the pass.Even though Haiyan is a county seat, because of the two big victories against the Japanese this year, the temple fair in Haiyan was also very lively.Fortunately, nothing happened, and I went out with Wang Dalang for a stroll.However, a few years ago there was news that Fujian was looted by Japanese pirates, and quite a few counties along the coast were attacked.

Tu Xiaosan said, "These pirates are really hateful."

Lin Jing said, "I have no conscience in what I said, but I'm still glad that we didn't suffer here. Hey, it seems that Governor Zhang can't leave." Tu Xiaosan went to Hangzhou to pay New Year's greetings, and heard that Governor Zhang's term of office expired this year, I don't know if he will be transferred.

Tu Xiaosan said, "I think Governor Zhang may be transferred to be the governor of Fujian."

"At this juncture, why is Governor Zhang willing to go?" Lin Jing said, "For one thing, he has just completed his term as governor in Zhejiang Province, and he is familiar with the situation in Zhejiang Province. Moreover, Zhejiang Province has only just won two victories. If I have been to Fujian, and I am not familiar with the place. The twigs and twigs in the Guangguan field have not been around for a year or so, so I can't figure it out. As long as Governor Zhang has no problem with his mind, he will not go to pick up the mess in Fujian now."

This new year, because of the arrival of Youfu and Wang Dalang, it is extra lively.After the New Year's Eve dinner, everyone played cards and played around the stove together until after midnight before they went to sleep.

Tu Xiaosan went back to his room, and took out the letter from the mahogany box that sealed his apprentice Xiao Si, Lin Jing smiled and said, "On weekdays, I see Xiao Si's carelessness, but he is a first-class person with a good temperament."

"That's right, Xiaosi is the most like me in this way, with affection." Tu Xiaosan touched the letter as if touching his own younger brother, and said to Lin Jing in a trembling voice for a while, "A Nian and A Teng probably also I miss you, but they are all shy people, so it is not easy to write so many letters."

Lin Jing was a little disappointed, "Both of them, it's probably the first time they have been away from home for the New Year."

"It's the first time. We lived in the mountains before." Tu Xiaosan said, "However, there was you at that time. I probably miss you now."

Lin Jing said, "They are not too young anymore, they should support themselves."

Tu Xiaosan put the finished letter in another box, put his nervousness back a bit, and said to Lin Jing, "Yes, it's a good time for us to come to Jiangnan this time."

"Yeah, it's getting late, let's go to bed. Someone will come to pay New Year's greetings tomorrow morning." Lin Jing said.

New Year's greetings on the first day of the new year are mainly for the apprentice to sit in the mansion and wait for someone to come to pay respects.After the second year of junior high school, I just picked some posts from the lower officials' houses to see which one was pleasing to the eye, and the apprentice went to have a drink at the opera.

By the eighth day of the eighth day, the year belonging to officials is over.

The first mansion newspaper after the year shocked the entire Jiangnan officialdom. The shock was not due to the re-election of Governor Zhang, but the resignation of the Governor of Fujian. My lord, you are in charge of the fight against the Japanese.

Jiangnan officials were quite shocked by the court's move.

What surprised Lin Jing wasn't that both Zhejiang and Fujian were under Governor Zhang's control, what surprised Lin Jing was: When did Chen Qibao become so bold?