Before leaving Beijing, Qiao Songnian always thought that Songjiang Mansion was a famous land of fishing and rice, a rich land. I don't know how happy I am to make up for the lack of the prefect of Songjiang, and my relatives and friends in Beijing have congratulated them. So much so that when you go out of Beijing, you will give more than others when you go out of Beijing.

As a result, after taking office, it was discovered that Songjiang Prefecture was rich but also had high taxes, and the counties of Huating, Louxian, Nanhui, Qingpu, Fengxian, Jinshan, and Chuansha under its rule were all in deficit, and the main halls of those prefectures and counties were rarely able to do it for two years because of taxes, and almost all of the main halls of nearly 100 prefectures and counties in the past few decades were reformed because of taxes, and only a handful of them were promoted from the prefect to the governor or even the prefect.

There is one county that is not in deficit, and since the "relaxation of the sea ban" in Shanghai County, the merchants and gangs of the coastal provinces have gone to operate handicraft, cotton spinning, sand boats, and other industries, which can be called "the capital of the river and the sea, and the capital of the southeast." However, with the sub-patrol Su Songbing Beidao Yamen moving to Shanghai County, major and small matters in Shanghai went directly to the Daotai Yamen, and did not come to the prefect's yamen to report, so it gradually became the "directly governed county" of the Provincial Bureau.

It's just a deficit, and those magistrates who have managed to deal with the shortage also levy grain and increase consumption, which makes people angry and resentful, and even forces the people to rebel...... Although Qiao Songnian has only been in office for a few days, he has already found that this is a mess, and it is not easy for him to do this as a prefect.

But no matter whether it is good or not, whether it can be long or not, since he has arrived, he has to be a director, listen to the reports of a few magistrates in the morning, and summon the local gentry in the afternoon. Thinking that tomorrow will be the fifth day of the eighth month, which is the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival of the Spring and Autumn Festival, I should lead the professors and instructors of Fuxue and the students and gentry of Fucheng to go to the Temple of Literature to worship.

I was so busy that I was about to go to the signing room to rest for a while, and my friend Master Xu walked into the flower hall with a letter.

"Uncle Xu, whose letter is it?" Qiao Songnian got up and asked.

Master Xu presented the letter, presented a silver ticket with a denomination of eight hundred taels, sat down and said with a smile: "Young Master, you must not have thought who wrote this letter. ”

The signature on the envelope is well-known, and it is mysterious, but when he took out the letter and opened it, Qiao Songnian was happy: "It turned out to be Han Si from the Chongqing Hall!" ”

"The letter was brought by the shopkeeper Wu of the Shanghai branch of your fellow countryman 'Rishengchang', and this silver ticket is also the shopkeeper Wu's filial piety to you."

"Where's the shopkeeper Wu?"

"He waited in the concierge for more than an hour, and when he saw that you were so busy, he retired first, saying that he would come to the door another day." Master Xu was originally the long-term entourage of Qiao Bangxian in the criminal department, and he stayed in the capital for more than ten years, often helping Qiao Bangxian send letters to Huang Zhongyin and other colleagues, and even went to the Chongqing Hall more than once, thinking of Han Si and couldn't help but smile: "When I went out of Beijing, I heard Huang Yushi say that Han Si was just a fellow from Liupinzhou, but I didn't expect that now he is a deputy from Wupin, young master, his official luck is not ordinarily prosperous!" ”

"There is Huang Yushi in Beijing and Guo Peilin in Taizhou, and he is a competitive person, can this official fortune be prosperous?" Qiao Songnian looked at the letter and scolded with a smile: "It's mysterious, and it's not well-known." said that he came to Shanghai to do food, but the ghost knows what he is here for. ”

Master Xu was stunned and muttered: "The bandits not only occupied Jiangning, but also divided their troops to the west, the waterways were obstructed, and the Huai salt could not be transported...... Young master, he shouldn't be selling salt to Shanghai, right? ”

"Our Songjiang Mansion is the place where Zhejiang salt is introduced, and if he really goes to Shanghai to traffick, it will be lively." Qiao Songnian put down the letter and thought about it, then shook his head again: "It is impossible to sell Huai salt to Shanghai, after all, Yun Shao can't understand the danger of Huai salt, where to sell more Zhejiang salt, even if he dares to do this, Guo Peilin will not agree, if the East Window incident is investigated by the imperial court, it will really be a good intention to do the wrong thing." ”

"What were you doing in Shanghai that day?"

"Maybe it's really here to get food, or maybe it's here to find foreigners."

"Looking for a foreigner?" Master Xu was taken aback.

Qiao Songnian explained with a smile: "Uncle Xu, think about it, the diversion of Huai salt has not been completely lost, but the waterway is blocked, and the salt cannot be transported. If we find a boat that can transport salt to Huguang, won't the danger of Huai salt be solved? ”

Master Xu blurted out: "The foreigners' boats don't dare to stop them!" ”

Qiao Songnian didn't think that the dignified Lianghuai Yun vice president would personally come to Shanghai to buy grain for those stove households in the Lianghuai Salt Farm, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the second speculation was closest to the truth, and he couldn't help laughing: "As long as you can hire more than ten or twenty foreigners' ships, how much salt they have in the two Huaiyun Divisions can't be transported, but the foreigners are two-sided and three-stabbed, and this deal is not so easy to fight." ”

"Dealing with foreigners is not a trivial matter."

That's why he didn't dare to show it, so he made it mysterious. Thinking about it carefully, Guo Peilin is really lucky, he can meet Han Si who is both familiar and reliable when he is sent to Jiangsu, and Han Si happens to be a donor, even if such a thing as finding a foreigner to hire a foreign ship leaks out, he can stay out of it, and Han Si is not afraid of being ruined. ”

If Qiao Songnian's words were spread, nine out of ten people would not believe it.

Master Xu was convinced, because he had seen the world after staying in the capital for so long, and he knew very well that as long as he negotiated with foreigners, he would become the target of public criticism, and he would not even end well. If you get too close to foreigners, those clear streams will impeach you for "losing your national body" and even accuse you of having "two hearts".

As long as there is a little bit of unconformity with the Qing Dynasty etiquette system, or a little compromise is made, it is "loss of power and humiliation of the country", and it is intolerable not to kill heaven; If the negotiation with the foreigner collapses, the foreigner takes the opportunity to make trouble, and there is no good fruit to eat.

In short, if you want to be an official of the Qing Dynasty, if you can't deal with foreigners, don't deal with foreigners, otherwise you will really be pointed out by thousands of people, ruined and ruined, and even stinking for 10,000 years!

Because of this, the previous prefects of Songjiang, the governor of Jiangsu, and the governor of Liangjiang all respected foreigners. The reason why Wu Jianzhang's Taoist platform is so stable is not because of how outstanding he is and how diligent he is, but because he is very fat but no one envies him, at least the officials who entered the imperial examination are not stupid enough to grab and fight.

Thinking that Han Si came to Shanghai and was likely to negotiate with foreigners in the face of the world's disapproval, Master Xu said worriedly: "Young Master, no matter what, it's an old acquaintance, do you want to give him a wake-up?" ”

"Han Si is so shrewd, what we can think of he can't think of? What's more, the letter said that they were here to do food, how can I mention this awakening? Qiao Songnian thought for a while, and then said: "Besides, the transportation of salt is a matter of merchants, even if the news of finding foreigners to help transport salt leaks out, he must have a way to stay out of the matter, otherwise it will not be so mysterious." ”

"Well, he should have come prepared."

"What exactly is he doing in Shanghai, we don't have to guess or care, the Confucian teachings he mentioned in the letter, you remember to help ask during the autumn festival tomorrow."

"Help that Gongsheng surnamed Ren find an errand in Fuxue?"

"It's not a big deal, this little face still has to be given."

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