Counting nine cold winters, Hai'an, a town that really can't find any pastime, looks extremely cold.

The northwest wind whined outside, and the old elm tree in the yard swayed in the wind, and its branches whipped in the air like whips. The row of translucent icicles hanging from the eaves were frozen and solid, and they did not move in the wind.

There was a stove in the second hall, but although the previous inspections did not make less money, in order to leave a good reputation, they all adhered to the way of "officials do not repair the government", the walls were cracked early, the windows were broken early, the doors were not closed tightly, and the cold wind drilled into the house, and you had to wear thicker when sitting by the stove.

Despite this, Fang Shimei still didn't want to leave this yamen that had been in disrepair for a long time, but the two letters sent by the eldest lord in the morning made him realize that this inspection agency would not be able to take care of it for a few days, and when the new inspector selected by the Ministry of Officials arrived with a vacant new inspector from Beijing, he had to hand over the official seal, pack up the bedding and leave.

It's not good for a year, Fang Shimei felt very uncomfortable, and was frowning tightly, when his cousin pushed the door and walked in.

"Brother, what's so urgent?"

"I can't do this errand for a few days."

"Ahh Fang Shijun was stunned for a moment, and he didn't care about closing the door that was crackling in the wind.

Fang Shimei took the letter into his arms, got up and walked over to close the door, turned around and explained with a bitter face: "The state yamen sent two letters, one was written to me by the eldest master, and the other was sent to Taizhou by Zhang Ertuo from the Taiwan Yamen, saying that the new inspection will be in office in the next few days, and let me send someone to Jiangyan to wait, and when the inspection is brought here, I will hand over to the other office." ”

"Brother, you haven't been in charge of the inspection for half a year, how can you say that the new inspection will come!"

"It's not half a year, it's been four and a half months."

"That's right, it's only been four and a half months!" The more Fang Shijun thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became, the more he thought about it, and said hatefully: "Zhang Er didn't tell us that when he was in Jiangning, he patted his chest and vouched for us, saying that he could act for at least a year, how could he talk and not talk!" ”

"He's just a family member of Taiwan, and he's not a Taiwan-making adult, so he doesn't count."

"He said that it doesn't count, but our silver will not be spent in vain, a full two thousand taels! It's only been four and a half months, and I haven't even earned back the capital! ”

"It's useless to say anything now." Fang Shimei sighed and muttered: "Isn't the new inspection still unattended, he hasn't arrived for a day, and your brother and I are still inspecting for a day." Don't complain here, hurry up to Li Xiucai, and say that I want to hold a birthday, ask him to write a few more invitations, and write them so that Chu Chenggui and them can invite those township covenants and keep them right. ”

"Brother, you just had your birthday last month."

"Last month was my birthday, and tomorrow is the birthday of my old lady, and the old lady has to do it when he is not around, and if you don't do it, you can't do it if you want to do it when the new inspection arrives."

Fang Shijun reacted and hurriedly said, "Okay, I'll go find Li Xiucai." ”

"Go ahead, by the way, explain the kitchen, and let the kitchen prepare a few tables of wine and food."

"Yes, brother, I'm going."

……

The area under the jurisdiction of the Hai'an Inspection Department is quite large, more than 100 miles from east to west along the Yunyan River, and has jurisdiction over five large and small towns and more than 250 villages in Hai'an, Huji, Qutang, Baimi, and Jiangyan. The gentry under his jurisdiction will only befriend the old man, not his inspection. The people under his jurisdiction are poorer than the other, not to mention that they usually have nothing to do, even if there is anything, they don't dare to see the officials, and those people don't see the officials, so he naturally can't get any benefits from this inspection.

However, this lack is not that there is no oil and water at all, but there is no ability to fish.

The east side is the angle of the two Huai salt transportation divisions and the tea field, and the northeast side is the Fu'an field and Anfeng field of the two Huai salt transportation divisions. And those smuggler salt dealers are more rampant than the other, not only are they numerous, some even have shotgun blades, and the two soap subordinates and more than a dozen archers of the inspection department yamen do not dare to step forward at all, so they can only turn a blind eye.

Thinking that in the past four and a half months of acting Hai'an Inspection Division, he has really guarded the mountains of gold and silver to eat, and he can only rely on his birthday to collect some money with a group of poor ghosts, Fang Shimei didn't mention how much money he had.

was thinking about what to do in the future, Fang Shijun came back from his errands, and muttered as soon as he entered the door: "Brother, it's all explained, anyway, it's the last birthday here, the wine can be mixed with some water, and the food doesn't need to be much better." ”

"That is, you can't do it back and forth."

"Brother, did Zhang Er say what the new inspector's surname is?"

"It was mentioned in the letter, and it was also written in the letter of the eldest master," Fang Shimei added two pieces of firewood to the stove, looked up and said: "The surname is Han, called Han Xiufeng, the word Zhixing, a native of Ba County, Sichuan, and a prisoner." ”

"Did you mention what the surname Han looks like?"

"Mentioned, in the body, white face, beardless, Daoguang was born in the fourteenth year, and he is only twenty-two this year."

"It's only twenty-two to fill the vacancy, or to bring the vacancy out of Beijing, brother, so the surname Han has a bit of a background!"

"It's a big deal, Zhang Er said in the letter that this old man Han is the nephew of the Gansu political envoy, and the governor of Jiangsu and the political envoy of Jiangning happen to be the same year as the Gansu political envoy, and they are out of Beijing with a vacancy, so this face system can not be given to Taiwan."

"Why is he coming to steal our jobs when he's so big, and where are we going when he comes?" Fang Shijun asked with a bitter face.

Fang Shimei frowned tightly and said: "I'm also worried about this, Zhang Er said in the letter that there are two ways for us, either stay in Taizhou and wait for the commission, saying that this old man Han is not a bad thing, with the help of the governor and the domain, maybe one day he will be promoted, and I will be able to continue to act as the Maritime Security Inspection Department as soon as he leaves." ”

"What if he doesn't leave?" Fang Shijun thought for a moment and asked, "What about the second way?" ”

"I went back to Jiangning and waited for the commission, saying that if there was an errand, I would be close to the commission, and if there was a vacancy, I would be close to the commission."

"There are so many people in Jiangning waiting to be commissioned, can Zhang Er believe this?"

"So I think it's still reliable to wait for the commission in Taizhou, the eldest man is old, and now he doesn't care much. Although there is no shortage of acting agents in Taizhou for a while, as long as you go to the state government every day, the errand committee for collecting taxes and handling river works should be indispensable, at least not like in Jiangning before. ”

Fang Shijun said helplessly: "That's the only way, anyway, I'll listen to you." ”

Fang Shimei nodded, and then advised: "You can just know about the new inspection in the past few days, don't tell those people below, if it spreads, it won't be able to do it on this birthday." ”