Zhou Xingyuan took the five hundred taels of silver borrowed by Han Xiufeng Guan Pan Er, and sent someone to call Han Xiufeng to make the Taiwan Yamen in the afternoon of the next day. It stands to reason that the new official must bow to the platform when he arrives in the province, but I don't know if he is too young as an official, or if the master of the platform is too busy, and he was not summoned after waiting in the gatehouse for nearly an hour.

However, the matter was finally done, and the scribe of the Yamen of the Taiwan Maker found the official document of his acting maritime security inspection department from a pile of official documents, asked him to cancel the official certificate in front of Zhou Xingyuan, and then drafted an official document in front of the two of them and handed it to the family members of the Taiwan system, and asked the family members of the Taiwan system to take it in and cover it before sending it to Taizhou.

Han Xiufeng didn't want to waste time in Jiangning, and he didn't go straight to Taizhou, and after saying goodbye to Zhou Xingyuan, he went back to the inn to pack his luggage, went to Xiaguan Wharf and hired a boat to rush to Yizhen County under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Mansion first. After settling the boat money, I found an inn to settle down, and then changed into official clothes and went to the county government to visit the county master.

Yi Zhenzhi County Du Sen didn't expect that the Hai'an Inspection under the jurisdiction of Taizhou would come to visit him, and Han Xiufeng didn't expect that the dignified county hall would actually smoke opium, and he actually had to be addicted before he had the spirit to speak.

"Brother Han, do you want to have a few bites?"

"Master Xie Du is good, Xiufeng really won't."

Du Yisen put down the cigarette gun unsatisfied, took the hot towel from the maid's hand and wiped his face, and asked embarrassedly in official dialect with a Zhejiang accent: "Let my brother laugh, I can't eat a few bites." By the way, what did you just say? ”

"Master Du, Xiufeng has nothing to do but go to the Three Treasures Palace, and I took the liberty to visit me today, I want to ask you to help inquire about someone."

"Ask who, is it true?"

"Exactly."

"Yi is really easy to say, who is that person's surname?"

"The surname is Zhang, the name is Dejian, Mr. Zhang was Xiufeng's friend when he was in the capital, but when he was in the capital, he didn't expect to be sent to Yangzhou Mansion for inspection, so he remembered that he didn't ask him where his family lived in Yizhen."

Although the grade of Hai'an inspection is not high, it is necessary to guard the waterway of transporting salt, and the patrol hall of the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Division originally located in Hai'an has been abolished, so Han Xiufeng's inspection is far from being comparable to the inspection in other places, and Du Yansen is also willing to make this friend.

He pinched one nostril and sniffed, and asked, "Brother Han, does this friend of yours have any fame?" ”

"This friend of mine is full of wealth but has no intention of pursuing a career and has not achieved fame."

"It's not easy to find just the name, and there's no need to worry, brother, I'll let my family help you ask first."

"Master Xie Du." Han Xiufeng got up and made a gesture, and then said with a smile: "Master Du, there may not be many people who know Mr. Zhang, but there must be no fewer people who know Wu Wenxi, and Mr. Zhang is the friend of Wu Wenxi and Lord Wu." ”

"It turned out to be Lord Wu's behind-the-scenes friend, Brother Han, why didn't you say it earlier, it's easy to find!" The Wu family is a noble family, not to mention the county master, it is the Yangzhou prefect who treats the Wu family with courtesy, Du Sen immediately raised his head and said: "Du Liu, what are you doing in a daze, hurry up and help Master Han inquire." ”

"Okay, I'll go."

As soon as the family walked out of the second hall, Du Yansen asked curiously: "Brother Han, you have just been out of Beijing for a short time, and you are better informed than your brother, tell your brother, what is the official residence of Lord Wu Wenxi now?" ”

"Lord Wu is now a Sichuan salt tea ceremony, not long after he went to Sichuan to take office, Lord Wu stayed in our Sichuan Hall when he came to Beijing to meet him."

"What about Wu Wenxi's brother, Lord Wu Wenrong?"

"You can't call Lord Wu anymore, you have to call Wu Zhongtang respectfully! Wu Zhongtang's holy family is thick, from the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou to find the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, as a result, the Taiping bandits in Guangxi and Guangxi are getting more and more fierce into Hunan, Wu Zhongtang has not had time to go to Fujian to take office, he was ordered to find the governor of Huguang, I went out of Beijing when the emperor just issued a decree, and I don't know whether Wu Zhongtang has arrived at this time. ”

Wu Wenrong was the biggest official in Yizhen going out, Du Yansen thought about it and asked, "Brother Han, have you ever seen Wu Zhongtang?" ”

"Wu Zhongtang's official residence is a product, a very good minister, I can see a small nine-grade inspection, but when I was in the capital, I could often see Wu Daotai, and I also gave a ride when Wu Daotai went to Sichuan to take office."

"Seeing Wu Daotai is the same, Wu Daotai is in good health?" Du Yansen cared about Wu Wenxi's body, but in his heart he was thinking that it was different in the capital, and he could reach an adult who would never be able to tie up in a small place like Yizhen.

"Okay, Wu Daotai is in good health, everything is fine."

"Wu Zhongtang and Wu Daotai are officials abroad, and I don't know how many teenagers have never returned to their hometowns, and now Liangguang and Huguang are ...... It is said that even Yungui is not peaceful, and I estimate that it is difficult to get a letter from home. Brother Han, otherwise, I will set up a banquet for you first, and after eating, we will go to meet several clan elders of the Wu family, and those old ladies must want to know the news of Wu Zhongtang and Wu Daotai. ”

"It's better to be respectful than to obey orders, everything is arranged by the master."

"Okay, that's it!"

……

Wu Wenxi is now a Sichuan salt tea ceremony, and the Han family, the Duan family and even the scribes and servants of several yamen in Ba County have all joined the shares to do side tea trading with the Yu shopkeeper, Han Xiufeng finally made up for the gap and happened to be sent to Yangzhou Mansion for inspection, so he naturally wanted to visit Wu Wenxi's master Zhang Dejian's family.

In addition to wanting to take this opportunity to consolidate the relationship with Zhang Dejian, Han Xiufeng also had a consideration when he came to Yizhen first.

The four of them were new to the city, and they were not familiar with the place, and they couldn't even understand the local dialect of Taizhou. After thinking about it, he could only ask Zhang Dejian's family for help in Yangzhou Mansion.

The county master of Yizhen County wanted to take this opportunity to befriend the Wu family, Han Xiufeng was happy to do this favor, and hurriedly asked Pan Er to go out to buy another gift, and he couldn't go to meet the elders of the Wu family empty-handed.

After eating wine at the county office, Du Yansen immediately asked his family to prepare a guard of honor for traveling.

He is the largest in Yizhen's one-third of an acre, and regardless of whether Han Xiufeng, the nine-rank inspector, is qualified to sit in a sedan chair, he just asked his family to hire one. Han Xiufeng didn't want to lose his black gauze hat because of his greed for this vanity, so he politely refused Du Yansen's kindness and resolutely did not sit in a sedan chair. Seeing that he insisted on not taking a sedan chair, Du Yisen simply asked his family to find two boats and took Han Xiufeng to take the boat together.

The official went to report first, and the patriarch of the Wu family heard that there were people in the capital, and heard that there was news of Wu Wenrong and Wu Wenxi, so he was not only happy but also excited, and asked the two famous children to hurry to the river and wait, let the other children all come to the ancestral hall, and let the people hurry up to prepare the dinner.

Han Xiufeng and Du Yansen rushed to the river not far from the Wu family, and after going ashore, they followed the two meritorious sons of the Wu family to the Wu family ancestral hall, and were really flattered to see that the Wu family was so enthusiastic, and hurriedly took the ceremony of the younger generations to meet several elders of the Wu family.