The visitor is an old man, and he is also a scribe when he looks at his clothes and listens to his tone, as if he is on an errand in the Yamen of East Sichuan Province. He had supper, and as soon as he entered the door, he talked about going to the capital to confess, and talked with Han Xiufeng for nearly half an hour before leaving a handwritten list to say goodbye.

Pan Er and Zhuzi were hungry, but they didn't dare to disturb Han Xiufeng to talk about business with others, and waited for Han Xiufeng to put away the list before taking a bowl of rice.

"Fourth brother, what did you and Sixth Uncle just say about the seal knot, and what else do you have to seal the money?" The pillar asked curiously.

"Confession is not as simple as going directly to the capital to hand over the household license to the ministry," Han Xiufeng put down the dishes and chopsticks, looked up at the pillar, and then looked back at Pan Erdao: "Donating my background and official title is just the beginning, if you want to fill the vacancy, you must first take the donated household license to the county government and ask the lord to issue two documents indicating my surname, age, appearance, and prove that I am innocent, I have no taxes in arrears, and I have not committed adultery. ”

When it comes to whether he can fill the vacancy, Pan Er is particularly concerned and subconsciously asks: "Has this been done?" ”

"I did it as soon as I returned to the city, and the uncles in the officer's room were very helpful, and I presented it without saying a word. The eldest master's entourage is not very easy to speak, especially that Zhang Biao, who is eating in a yamen, and is embarrassed to reach out and ask for money, but fortunately, he doesn't ask for much, and he finally got things done after giving 500 yuan. ”

"It's good to do it, otherwise there is no official document from the yamen to go to the capital."

Han Xiufeng nodded slightly, and continued: "It's not enough to have an official document from the county government, and when the capital wants to find a few fellow villagers and Beijing officials above the seventh grade to seal as a guarantee, it will prove that my life history is true." At first, I thought it was simple, thinking that when I got to the capital, I would just find a few fellow Beijing officials to help, and it would be a big deal to make some money. After listening to what Uncle Sixth said just now, I realized that all provinces have a seal ending in the capital, and they need to be stamped to the end of the seal, and the price of how much money is charged for stamping is also clearly marked. ”

Pan Er seemed to understand and asked: "Yin ending, and this yamen?" ”

"Yin is not a yamen, how to say, it's a bit like a fellow villagers' association. The sixth uncle has been to the capital, and he said that some of the senior officials in the capital have sent Bing Jing and Don't pay respect, but those minor officials in the Qingshui Yamen have not, and they all point to the alternate officials who go to the capital to pay for the money to collect the seal money. In order to prevent the low-grade Beijing officials from starving to death, the head of each guild advocated this seal to help the alternate officials in their respective provinces who went to the capital to surrender to handle the insurance uniformly, and the seal money collected was distributed to the Beijing officials in the same township on a monthly basis, so they had to give as much as they wanted, and there was no way to bargain. ”

"Fourth brother, do you know how much money this seal will cost?"

"According to the size of the official position, I am only a nine-grade inspector, and I am the smallest official, Uncle Liu estimates that it should be enough to give thirty or fifty taels."

"Thirty or fifty taels is fine, if it's three or five hundred taels, then they are really called black-hearted."

"Thirty or fifty taels is just a seal on the surface, and I don't know how much it will cost to make up for the shortage!" Han Xiufeng sighed lightly, frowned tightly and said, "If you go to the Ministry of Officials to confess, you have to give the door bag, and if you don't give the door bag, you can't submit it." After passing the level of Xu officials, you must also honor the old men of the Ministry of Officials, otherwise you will not be able to choose for decades in the capital. ”

Pan Er subconsciously asked, "Fourth brother, have you estimated how much silver it will cost to make up for this shortfall?" ”

Han Xiufeng groaned: "What I want to make up for is only a nine-grade sesame seed shortage, and a full count of 1,000 taels should be enough." ”

Pan Er asked, "How many taels do you have?" ”

"One hundred and eighty taels, if I can't take the downwind boat to transport Yunnan copper, I will have to pay fifty taels for my own travel, and I have to save everywhere."

"It's only one hundred and eighty taels, where is this enough."

"yes, that's why I'm worried." Han Xiufeng sighed again, with a sad expression.

Pan Er reacted suddenly, and immediately grinned: "Fourth brother, I don't know about others, you and I know, with all your skills, there must be a way, this lack will definitely be filled!" ”

Now that he had talked about money, Han Xiufeng didn't want to go around in circles anymore, and said bluntly: "Brother Pan, just now I heard you tell the pillar that we are now grasshoppers on a rope, and that we will be in the same boat in the future. This is really on the point, you even brought the luggage, as soon as the ship carrying copper arrived, it was going to go with me, this walk is thousands of miles, I can't make up for this shortage, not to mention how to pay back the silver that my uncle owes your family, it's not worth it just to run around and be tired. ”

Pan Er had already made up his mind not to see the rabbit and not scatter the eagle, how could he be fooled by this, and actually comforted: "Fourth brother, it is in the sky to make things happen, you have your own natural appearance, and you will be able to make your wishes come true." ”

Han Xiufeng wouldn't let him fool around, stared at him and said, "No matter how capable you are, you can't make up for this lack if you don't have money." Brother Pan, let's tell the truth, how much money did you bring with you this trip. ”

"Fourth brother, this is you filling the gap, not me!"

"It's all said and done, what's the difference between me making up and you making up?" Seeing that Pan Er was scratching his ears and cheeks and wanted to change the topic, Han Xiufeng continued: "Brother Pan, I know best what kind of person your father is, but he can't let you go so far with your hands empty. Besides, this money won't let you spend it in vain, so you should lend it to me, and when I make up for the lack and earn money as a Shangguan, I will return it together with the principal and interest owed by my uncle. ”

Pan Er was going to have a showdown after being forced to go on the road, but he didn't expect Han Xiufeng to bring up the matter of money now, and just now he did say things like "grasshoppers on a rope", "sharing hardships" and "helping each other in the same boat", and he couldn't be self-sufficient.

He weighed it and simply gritted his teeth and said, "Fourth brother, my father gave me some money before I came out, but the sum of those money tickets is less than forty taels." I don't know if you don't go back, no matter what happens at home or on the counter, my father doesn't care about it now, it's all my eldest who has the final say. ”

Han Xiufeng asked quietly, "Your brother won't give you money?" ”

Pan Er pretended to hesitate for a while, patted the table and gritted his teeth and said: "Fourth brother, it is said that family ugliness should not be publicized, since you asked, there are no outsiders here, and I am not afraid of being laughed at by you and Zhuzi." Changxi didn't like me early, his mother-in-law is not a good thing, I don't know how much money I have been greedy from the cabinet over the years, my father is an old fool, he believes what Changxi says, making me like a stepmother! ”

"No, I thought it was good to have a drink at your house that night."

"That's for you to see, the person who says the front and the back is him! I don't believe you asked someone to go and inquire, how many times have I fought with him over the years because of money? This time, my father originally planned to give more entanglement, but he was ruined again...... "The more Pan Er said, the more he was angry, the more he said, the more aggrieved he became, and in the end, he actually had a handful of snot and tears, as if the family was unfortunate.