In the past, when the world was peaceful, at the end of each year, the imperial court understood the hardships of the Beijing officials, and often gave them double salaries.

Now the world is not peaceful, the imperial court has no money, not only no longer give double money to Beijing officials, or even only half a salary, and what is issued is either worthless iron money, or even worthless official tickets.

The cost of living in the capital is large, and the silver that Ren He brought from his father-in-law's house is about the same as early. Because he couldn't pay the rent, he had moved six times in the past two years, and the rented house was getting smaller and smaller, and the servants were even more dismissed, leaving only an old mother who was washing and cooking.

Seeing that the family was about to open the pot, he didn't want his wife and children to starve, so he went to the mansion last afternoon, and planned to borrow some from Ji Yunfei, Jiang Haoxuan and other fellow villagers, but he was embarrassed to speak after sitting all afternoon.

In the morning, I heard my mother say that there was almost no rice in the tank, and I couldn't pull my face to borrow it from my fellow villagers, and I was about to take the gold and silver jewelry that my wife usually didn't wear and had been pressing at the bottom of the box, when there was a knock on the door outside.

After packing up your things and going out and opening the door, you can see that Yu Youfu is actually blessed.

Ren He was surprised, looked at the carriage behind Yu Youfu and asked, "Uncle Yu, you are a rare guest, you always come to the door, is there something wrong?" ”

People are in good spirits on happy occasions, and Yu Youfu, who is getting his son's wish to be the official above, arched his hand and smiled: "Master, there is indeed something to do today, and it is a great joy." The fourth master asked me to ask you, do you want to change your errand? ”

"Change errands, Uncle Yu, I don't really understand......"

"The fourth master said that Nanyuan lacks a commissioner, if you want to, Master Ren, hurry up and go to Nanyuan with the car."

The appointment of the chief is equivalent to the chief of learning to walk in various ministries and institutes, and it is not a real shortage, and it is not issued to officials. But Han Si is now Fengchen Yuanqing, and if he is there, he will have an errand committee, and if he has an errand, he can make money!

Ren He didn't expect Han Si, who was in a high position, to remember him, and he felt very uncomfortable, but when he thought of his wife who was coaxing the baby in the room, he hesitated and hurriedly said, "Yes, I am willing!" ”

"Then you have to quickly change into your official uniform, I'll wait for you at the door."

……

At the same time, Rong Lu, who had been honestly at home for a few months, was taking a family member to ride a fast horse to Nanyuan with Yongxiang.

Han Xiufeng sat in the Nanyuan General Administration's office on the inside of the big red gate, and asked in a low voice while looking through the roster of Nanyuan civil and military officials piled up on the case: "Is there any arrears of money and food for the defense of each gate, the Xiao Cavalry School, the vest and the gate army?" ”

Wang Qianli put down the money and grain account book in his hand, raised his head and said with a smile: "Fourth master, Nanyuan is the yamen of the Internal Affairs Bureau, if even the civil and military officials of the Internal Affairs Department can't receive money and food, wouldn't the officials of various ministries and institutes starve to death." ”

"That's true, but even if they can get the full salary, it may not be enough for them to support their families."

"The gate army is okay, although there is no food and silver, but each person has at least thirty acres of supporting land. As for those defenses, Xiao cavalry schools and their vests, the amount of food they receive every month is customized, even if that money and food are not enough to support their families. ”

"I can't even support my wife and children, so I won't have the money to buy horses, armor, and weapons?"

"One or two horses, one or two bows, and one or two sets of armor are enough for a gate, and if Shangguan really comes to proofread, they will quickly go to someone else to borrow it." Wang Qianli thought for a while, and said helplessly: "Actually, those men who have a field don't come to be on duty, and they don't even bother to plant those thirty acres of land, either idle or doing small business outside. If there were really officials to inspect, they would spend dozens of dollars to hire someone to take care of it. ”

"So there is no one to guard the nine gates of my Nanyuan, and no one to check the entrances and exits?"

"The big red door has it, after all, it's a façade." Wang Qianli paused, and said helplessly: "I don't know how much the palace wall has collapsed, even if the other eight gates are guarded, it is useless." There are cats on the front fence and lackeys on the back fence, and anyone can come in as long as they want to. ”

Nanyuan said that it is very important, it is very important, after all, Nanyuan is a royal garden, there are so many palaces and temples in the garden, and it can be called the gateway of the capital.

It's not important to say that it's not important, because the emperor has never been here since he broke his leg while riding a horse in Nanyuan when he was the prince, and he even rarely ordered the princes and ministers to come to the temple in Nanyuan to worship with incense, not to mention that it can't be compared with the Old Summer Palace, and even the royal gardens that the emperor rarely goes to like Xiyuan and Jingshan are not as good as the emperors.

Han Xiufeng sighed lightly, and was about to ask how many sea households, garden households, craftsmen, soap servants, and temple households were registered in the garden, and Defu, who had just been promoted to a third-class guard, walked in with a waist knife in his hand and said, "Lord Yu, Nanying Dusi Wang Hedong, Qianzong Gukui and other sixteen people ask to see. ”

"Is there one named Zhang Xiaobao?"

"Yes, they're waiting outside."

"Let Wang Hedong, Gu Kui and Zhang Xiaobao come in."

"Huh!"

……

As soon as Wang Hedong and the three of them followed Defu into the lobby and were about to bow down, Xu Jiu walked in with a knife in his hand and said, "Lord Yu, Master Ronglu and Master Yongxiang, the leader of the white flag, ask to see you." ”

"Please."

"Yes."

Hearing that Zeng's top boss Yongxiang was also here, Wang Hedong and Gu Kui subconsciously turned around. And Zhang Xiaobao, who came to the capital from Sichuan with Han Xiufeng, looked at Xu Jiu, who he was most familiar with.

Rong Lu walked into the lobby and saw Wang Qianli and several green camp military attachés lined up on both sides, and immediately realized that this was not the place to call brothers and sisters, and hurriedly bowed his hand and said, "Rong Lu greets my lord." ”

"I'm not an outsider, so there's no need to be polite." Han Xiufeng pointed to the chair closest to the public case, smiled and greeted, "Sit, sit down." Yongxiang, don't stand, sit down first. ”

"Thank you, Lord for your seat."

"Dequan, please come over with Master Wan and Master Temulun."

"Huh!"

"Wait, by the way, let Yongtai, Orhai, Fuchun, Changge and Twenty-one all come in, and let Xiaoshan guard outside."

The name of the flag man is very arbitrary, such as the twenty-one mentioned by Han Xiufeng, which is not a number but a blue feather guard, who has been in the "Houyi Hall" for four years. There is also a banner man named Eighty-two, who not only won the title of Jinshi in the gold list, but also served as a cabinet attendant and even a servant of Siqing.

The old man Wan just mentioned, his full name is Wan Shixuan, he sounds like a Han man, but he is actually from the Shumulu clan in Manchuria, because there is a man named Wan Xianfeng in his ancestor, so their branch takes "Wan" as his surname.

And this Wan Shixuan and the Mongolian Temulun are both translators of the imperial examination, but they are proficient not in Manchu but in Russian. On the surface, he is the head of the Russian Pavilion of the Rifan Academy, but in fact he is a member of the "Houyi Hall", and has been working in the "Houyi Hall" for three or four years.

There were more and more people, and it was impossible to sit in the lobby.

Just as they humbled each other to stand behind, the pillar and the remnant iron locked. Immediately afterwards, Yu Youfu led Ren He in.

After Ren He, who was a little restrained and a little nervous, finished saluting, Han Xiufeng looked around at everyone and said with a smile: "Everyone is almost here, let's get down to business." ”

Wang Qianli tacitly presented an excerpt drafted last night, Han Xiufeng took it and looked at it, and said slowly: "You must be very puzzled, why did the emperor order his official to be stationed in Nanyuan, instead of doing an errand in Fengchenyuan outside the Xihua Gate. Now I can tell you, because the emperor ordered the official to rectify Nanyuan, and this errand cannot be returned to the government if it is not completed! ”

Rong Lu was confused, thinking to himself that the civil and military officials who should be summoned to Nanyuan should be rectified, what are you doing calling me and Yongxiang over? Wang Hedong and the others were also confused, only the most well-informed pillar and Yu Tiesuo were happy.

Han Xiufeng didn't want to sell it to them, so he said bluntly: "Zhonghua, you are no longer a Hubu Langzhong who is idle at home, but a Zhili candidate who appreciates the top belt of the four grades, and you will come to Nanyuan from now on to listen to it!" ”

"Lord Han, you're not joking, are you?" Rong Lu couldn't believe it was true.

"How can I make such a joke with you?" Han Xiufeng asked rhetorically, and then said, "Yongxiang, I just drafted the Dao excerpt, and I plan to be promoted to the chief lieutenant of Nanyuan. ”

The chief lieutenant of Nanyuan is the general manager of Nanyuan in the mouth of the people, the martial rank is the fourth grade, and the commander-in-chief of the nine gates inspects and guards matters, although it cannot be compared with the deputy general of the previous infantry army commander Yamen, but in Nanyuan, this is an official who is about the same as Nanyuan Langzhong.

Yongxiang was overjoyed, and hurriedly got up and said, "Lord Xie is protecting, Lord Xie is carrying!" ”

"Don't thank you yet, wait until I'm done." Han Xiufeng motioned for him to sit down, and continued: "Wan Shixuan, Temulun, I plan to promote the two of you as the outer langs of Nanyuan. Ji Lu, I plan to promote you to be the head of Nanyuan, you have been sitting on the cold bench in the bookstore for three or four years, even if you have no merit and hard work, it is your turn to be promoted. ”

"Thank you, sir!"

"Defu, Yongtai, Orhai, Fuchun, Changge, and Twenty-One, I plan to protect the five of you for the defense of Nanyuan. After the emperor's permission, everything is sent by Yongxiang. ”

Isn't being a guard just trying to let it out, and they were only basket guards before, and Defu has only just become a third-class guard, not a second-class guard or a head guard, not a promising Qianqingmen guard or a royal guard, and it is not easy to be a defense of the top five products.

They were so excited that they hurriedly rushed forward to kneel down and thank them.

"Don't do this, this is what you deserve," Han Xiufeng smiled, and his gaze suddenly turned to the pillar and the iron lock: "Ding Zhu, Yu Tiesuo, you are experts in catching thieves, I plan to protect the two of you acting Nanyuan Yuancheng, this is the official position of Zheng Liupin, if there is another robbery in the garden after taking office, I will ask you!" ”

"Don't worry, my lord, with our brother here, if anyone dares to come to Nanyuan to steal, see how we clean him up!"

"Okay, it's up to you from now on."

Wang Hedong realized that as long as everyone present could be promoted, he was excited, so he saw Han Xiufeng looking at him and said: "Hedong, in the excerpt I just drafted, please transfer you back to Heying, and let you continue to be the capital of Heying; Xu Jiu, Gu Kui, Zhang Xiaobao, I plan to promote you as the president of Heying, as for the dozen or so brothers outside, what position they occupied before and what position they still occupy after they are transferred back. ”

Transferred from the patrol camp back to the river camp, it seemed that they had suffered a big loss, but in fact they did not lose at all, because they had no backing in the infantry army's yamen, and they had few soldiers under them, and they could not make any oil and water, let alone be promoted.

Confirming that he could continue to work with the fourth master in the future, Wang Hedong said excitedly: "Fourth Master Xie, I know that you won't ignore us." ”

"There's nothing to thank you for, I haven't finished yet." Han Xiufeng's face was straight, and he looked around at everyone: "Protecting you, or transferring you over, is not for you to enjoy the blessings, but for you to have important errands for you to do." ”

How could Rong Lu, who was still thinking about it, miss this opportunity to turn over, and said eagerly: "If your lord has any orders, just show them." ”

"To sum it up, there are two things, the first thing is military training."

Han Xiufeng took a sip of the teacup and said very seriously: "According to the regulations, I have one captain in Nanyuan, ten members of the defense team, eighteen members of the Xiao Riding School, seventy-two vests, and thirty-six men in the gate army. But the defense, cavalry school, horse armor and gate army guarding the gate outside are obviously not of great use, so they should be dismissed and dismissed, and they should be transferred, so the vacant vacancies must be filled quickly. ”

"Fourth master, are you saying that let them all get out of the way, and not one of them will be left?" Yongxiang asked subconsciously.

"Leave not a single one." Han Xiufeng nodded slightly, and then said, "Zhonghua, you are the commander of the door, and these things will be handled by you." The garrison of the Nine Gates of Nanyuan will also be under your command in the future. ”

Rong Lu wanted to lead the troops very much, but when he thought that this was not just leading the troops, but retraining a new army, he couldn't help asking: "My lord, how can I let them go, where can I find someone to fill the vacant vacancy after they leave?" ”

"It's easy to let them go, just send them to Tianjin to play. As for who to find the vacant vacancy, it will be simpler. There are countless people who have no errands in Beijing, not to mention recruiting a hundred or ten, even if it is not difficult to recruit a thousand people. ”

"If it's just a simple head, but this is recruitment, their riding and archery skills are all wasted, and it's not so easy to recruit so many soldiers who can go into battle at once."

"As long as you know how to ride a horse, it doesn't matter if you can drive a strong bow or not." Han Xiufeng put down the teacup and continued: "But the character must be good, and you can't ask for one who is cheating and cheating." Then only recruit soldiers, and the vacated defense, Xiao cavalry school, etc. are vacant first, give them some hope, as long as they practice well and do a good job, then the official can have a fold to play. ”

Rong Lu thought for a while and said with a sad face: "It's easy to recruit soldiers, but according to the rules, they have to bring their own horses, armor and weapons to serve on errands. Those who have money do not want to serve as soldiers to eat food, and those who have no money cannot afford to buy horses, weapons and armor. ”

"Horses are not a thing, there are several stables in our house, and hundreds of horses are raised, even if they are not willing to take them, I can also ask the emperor to transfer two or three hundred horses from the horse farm outside the entrance of the Taifu Temple; As for the weapons, they were all issued by the garden, and they did not need to pay for them themselves. ”

"That's easy."

"Yongxiang, Defu, did you hear it, from now on, you will all listen to Master Ronglu's dispatch."

"Huh!"

Seeing that they bowed down in unison to receive the order, Han Xiufeng nodded with satisfaction, and then turned around and said, "Hedong, just now I said that I would transfer you back to the river camp, but in fact, I asked you to come back and rebuild the river camp." This person has gone from thrift to luxury, from luxury to frugality, those old brothers before, if they can use it, hurry up and draw up a list, and I will transfer them back from the patrol camp. I'm used to having a peaceful life, and if you can't go into battle and can't fight, forget it. ”

Wang Hedong groaned: "Fourth Master, how many people do you plan to want?" ”

"Four hundred, four hundred, including you."

"I estimate that there are only 100 people who can still fight."

"If it's not enough, let the brothers go back to Wanping, Gu'an, and Liangxiang to recruit from their hometowns, the soldiers are very fast, give you half a month, no matter what you think, you have to recruit all the people for me before the end of the month."

"Yes!"

Han Xiufeng motioned for him to sit down, and then looked at Wang Qianli, Wan Shixuan, and Temulun: "The second thing is to raise money and food, this errand can only bother the three of you." ”

Temulun couldn't help but ask: "Dare to ask my lord, how can the subordinate raise this money and grain?" ”

"First find out how many sea households, garden households, craftsmen, soap servants, and temple households are in the garden, and how many hectares of land in the garden are privately cultivated, find out who occupies more land, and find out who has the audacity to let those people into the private planting, and then investigate and deal with it in conjunction with the Criminal Division."

Han Xiufeng touched the corners of his mouth, and said lightly: "Let them return the stolen goods, and after returning the stolen goods, they will pay a sum of atonement money, and this matter will be fine." If the evidence is ironclad but they don't admit their guilt, then don't be polite to them. No matter where he is, no matter how much he has a backer, the law should be dealt with as such. ”

"But in this way, you will offend a lot of people, fourth master, you have to think carefully, maybe you will offend the entire Internal Affairs Office!" Wan Shixuan couldn't help but remind.

"If you don't offend them, you have to offend the emperor, does my brother want to offend the emperor, or do you want to offend them?"

"The emperor naturally can't be offended."

"That's it, bold check, I'll stand up to the sky when it falls."

Wan Shixuan realized that Han Xiufeng had the "Shang Fang Sword", otherwise he would never dare to say this, so he thought about it and asked: "Fourth Master, what about those people, what will happen to those people after the investigation?" ”

"They have planted all those lands, some of them for decades, and to drive them away is tantamount to driving them to a dead end. They are the same people of the Qing Dynasty, and the emperor is benevolent, and he must not want to see so many people die and their wives separated. We can't go against the holy will, we can only turn a blind eye and let them continue to plant. ”

Han Xiufeng pretended to weigh it for a moment, and suddenly changed his words: "But this is the royal palace after all, if they are allowed to be white, where is the royal prestige?" In this way, you will privately make a set of money and grain inventory, and we will levy how the land and silver are levied in the locality, and collect more or less land rent to help the army. ”

No need to ask, this must be what the emperor meant!

Wan Shixuan no longer had any scruples, and immediately bowed down and said, "The lower official obeys the order." ”

"Ji Lu, from now on, you will be under the command of Master Ronglu, and you will have full authority to handle the money and food for the Eight Banners and the Gate Army; Yes, I bother you to help with the river camp affairs, and specialize in handling the river camp money and grain. ”

Without waiting for Ji Lu to bow down to receive the order, Ren He hurriedly said: "Lord Xie will carry it, and the subordinate will obey the order." ”

"Okay, that's all for today. All in all, in the future, our Nanyuan will be divided into three major parts, one is to garrison the Eight Banners vest and the gate army, led by Zhonghua's elder brother, assisted by Yongxiang and Defu; One is the river camp, which is taken care of by Wang Hedong and assisted by Xu Jiu, Gu Kui, Zhang Xiaobao, etc.; Then there is the money, food and the affairs in the garden, which are handled by Wang Qianli with full authority, assisted by Wan Shixuan and Temulun. ”

Han Xiufeng stood up and continued: "As for the Yuan Cheng and the deputy officials in the garden, the three of them will be assessed when they check the fields, and those who can use them will be retained, and those who can't be used will get out!" ”

Wan Shixuan was secretly frightened when he heard this, thinking that the fourth master did not turn Nanyuan into a "Houyi Hall", but turned Nanyuan into his "Yiyan Hall"!