Not far from the Yamen of the Inspection Division, the post shop is a small courtyard built by the river, with only six rooms including the kitchen. There are not many shop soldiers, including Wang Ruhai, there are only three.

If there is an official document to be sent to Hai'an, it will be handed over to the general shop in front of the state government, and the shop soldiers of the general shop will be sent to Shilipu in the east of the city, and the shop soldiers of Shilipu will be sent to the military shop in the east of the city for twenty miles, and then sent to Huangcun by the military shop, and then sent to Jiangyan by the shop soldiers of Huangcun, and then to Magou, Baimi, Qutang and then to Hai'an.

If it is an official document sent to various salt farms or Dongtai, Rugao and other places by the Yamen of Yunsi or Huaiyang Road, it is sent to the post shop in Rugao and other places in the south if it is sent to Fu'an, Anfeng and even Dongtai and other places after it arrives in Hai'an, and it is sent to the post shop in Rugao in the south, and vice versa.

Wang Ruhai doesn't know how many official documents he has to send from the south to the north in a year, but he rarely receives officials who come from the south to the north, because dozens of miles further south is the county seat of Rugao, and the officials and masters will only pass through Hai'an, and will not stay in Hai'an, a poor mountainous area.

Although Zhang Guangcheng is not an official master, in Wang Ruhai's opinion, he is more important than those official masters who pass by Hai'an.

The best rooms were cleaned up, and even the new bedding that had been planned for his son's wife-in-law was taken out. Breakfast was the meat buns and the rice porridge that his mother-in-law got up before dawn to steam, and the tea that was given to Zhang Guangcheng was given to him by the inspection master a year ago.

Maybe it's because people are in good spirits on happy occasions, Zhang Guangcheng is also more generous than when he was in Taizhou, he just rewarded Wang Ruhai with more than 100 yuan, and he was sitting in the room at this time looking at the silver that Pan Er had just sent thoughtfully.

The old servant who came from Hujiaji in the morning couldn't help but say, "Second young master, this matter is a little strange. ”

"What's wrong?"

"Think about it, the four masters of Anfeng, Fu'an, Jiaoxian and Zhangcha and Salt Division came to Hai'an, it is impossible not to know that you are in the post shop, but they obviously know that you are here, obviously they are here to send you silver, but they don't come to the post shop, and they don't even send their families to say a word, but they ask Master Han to hand it over, don't you think it's strange?"

"What's weird?" Zhang Guangcheng looked up and asked.

The old servant muttered, "The ambassadors must have given more than this bit of silver. ”

"Suspicious!" Zhang Guangcheng scolded with a smile, got up and said, "It's not a small tone to pay back this bit of silver." You don't want to think about it, how can there be an official in the world to come to see a cloth cloth, a few ambassadors don't come to see the reason for the cloth clothes to be strange at all, if you really come to see my cloth clothes, then it's strange. ”

"Second Young Master, if you find out where the salt leaked from, can they dare not come?" The old servant said unconvinced.

"They must have known about my father's illness, and if they did, how could they worry that I would find out where the salt was leaking. Even if I am worried, it is only the old man Huang of the Fu'an Salt Division who will be worried, and it is not about Anfeng, Jiaoxian and Zhangchachang, how can the ambassador of Anfeng, Jiaoxian and Zhangchachang worry that I will investigate? ”

"Don't worry why they're giving money?"

"It may be that the four of them are in the same breath, and they don't want to make a big fuss. If I were the ambassador of the nearby salt farm, I wouldn't want anything to happen to my neighbors, otherwise the court wouldn't have a good time. ”

Zhang Guangcheng thought for a while, and then said: "What's more, Master Han's family said very clearly, this thousand is ours, and Master Han also has a thousand taels." In other words, the four of them gave 500 taels to make a good relationship and buy peace of mind. And five hundred taels is really a drop in the bucket for their salt officials. ”

"You know, I'll be over later."

"If it weren't for my father's illness, how could I have suffered this dumb loss!" Zhang Guangcheng muttered, and then ordered: "Sixth uncle, didn't you promise to give Li Xiucai two success salts before." When Hai'an's affairs are done, you will let Li Xiucai find someone to go to Hujiaji to transport his two successful salts away. ”

"Second Young Master, I mean, will they send more than two thousand taels?"

"Sixth Uncle, do you suspect that Master Han has embezzled the silver that others gave us?"

"Knowing the face but not the heart, who knows if he has swallowed it privately."

"You, you really live the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain. You don't want to think about what kind of silver this is, if Master Han really wants to swallow it privately, he won't share it with us, he doesn't send someone to send the silver, where will we know. ”

Zhang Guangcheng thought for a while, and then said: "It's not that Master Han won't swallow it privately, even if it does, we have to swallow it in front of him." ”

"Why?"

"Things have come to this point, we and Master Han can only advance and retreat together, and we must not be suspicious." Zhang Guangcheng touched his beard, and then changed his words: "Sixth uncle, I promised Li Xiucai to divide him with two percent of the salt after taking down those smugglers, and when the matter on Hai'an's side is completed, let him find someone to go to Hujiaji to transport the salt away." ”

"Really give, really give two percent to Li Xiucai?" The old servant was taken aback.

"If people don't have faith, they won't stand, how can I do that thing that goes back on my word, promise to give him two percent of the achievements, and this thing must be done in a beautiful way, so that the people of Hujiaji and even Hai'an Town will know that Li Xiucai has made great contributions, and they will all know that I, Zhang Guangcheng, am a person who counts his words."

"Second young master, that's two percent, not two boats!"

"I'm not a three-year-old child, can I still tell the difference between two percent and two boats?" Zhang Guangcheng asked rhetorically, looked at him with a smile and said: "You can give as much as you should to others, and you can't be petty." By the way, after the matter here is done, he will go back to Taizhou with us, and when we get to Taizhou, we can't have a place to live, so you quickly ask someone to go back and help him rent a yard near the yamen, and you must treat each other politely. ”

"Second young master, he ......"

"Don't give him or don't him, do as I say."

……

At the same time, Han Xiufeng was talking to the two green battalion soldiers that Su Jueming had found from Taizhou in the signing room on the left side of the second hall.

"Lu Daming, what will happen if you don't go back?"

"Master Han, it's okay if the little one doesn't go back, the brothers in the camp are all looking for a living outside, otherwise how can they support their families with that little money."

"You're not in the camp, and your officers don't care?"

"He can't wait for us all to get out, and he doesn't have to pay us when everyone is gone."

Han Xiufeng thought about it and asked, "What if Shangguan goes to the camp to order troops?" ”

Speaking of this, Lu Daming couldn't help but smile and said: "It's easy to do, I know that the official is coming, so the battalion officer quickly spends money to hire someone." There are coolies carrying salt on the Taiba, as long as they are willing to spend money, they will have as many soldiers as they want. In fact, it doesn't cost a lot of money, first, those coolies are easy to use, and second, they can't be hired for a few days, and Shangguan will let them get out as soon as they leave. ”

You can't have the heart to hurt others, and you can't have the heart to defend people.

No one knows if those private tyrants will retaliate, and Hai'an is a small town that doesn't even have a city wall, and the Yamen of the Inspection Department has a courtyard wall, but the courtyard wall is not only not high but also not strong. If those private lords hold a grudge and quietly touch Hai'an, they will really not be able to stop those soap archers led by Yu Youfu and the big boss.

Han Xiufeng didn't want to have his life to make money and spend his life, he only planned to spend some money to buy the shotguns of the two green battalion soldiers in front of him, but he didn't expect that they not only dared to sell guns, but as long as they could afford the silver, they even dared to sell their lives as deserters.

Thinking of the soldiers in Chongqing Town, it seems that they are all begging for a living outside, and it should be nothing to do digging the two corners of the Taizhou garrison camp, so I can't help but smile: "Since it's okay if you don't go back, you stay in Hai'an to serve the officer, you have two bird guns, and four were captured from the private lord the night before yesterday, go back and pick a few honest and reliable archers, and let them learn how to shoot guns with you." ”

"Master Xie Han will enjoy the food, and the little ones will definitely teach them."

"Not only teach them how to fire, but also how to fight."

"Master Han, don't worry, the little ones are doing this, as long as you give the small ones a month, you can definitely train them into elite soldiers who can fight!"

"Okay, that's it, you don't want to live in the Foreign Affairs Office anymore, and you will live in the yamen in the future."

Thinking of the twenty taels of silver he just received yesterday, Liang Liu couldn't help but ask: "Master Han, you are still short of people here, if there is a shortage of people, let my cousin come, he not only makes a shotgun, but also makes a good knife, which is famous in the camp for fighting, and three or five people can't get close to him." ”

"Your cousin?"

"Well, he hasn't married his mother-in-law at the age of twenty-six this year, and he is so poor that he can only go to Taiba to carry salt. Master Han, you are good, let him come to Hai'an to work for you. ”

Han Xiufeng weighed it, raised his head and said, "Then let him come, but if he is not as good as you say, don't blame the official for letting him get out of the way." ”