The county seat of Ba County is also the capital city of Chongqing, the whole city is built along the mountain or along the river, it is high and deep, lonely in the middle of the river, dangerous and miserable, known as "born Chongqing".

Among them, Chaotianmen, Dongshuimen, Taipingmen, Chuqimen, Jinzimen and Nanjimen are located along the Sichuan River, Qianguomen and Linjiangmen are located along the Jialing River, and only Tongyuan Gate is connected to the land. The reason why it is said at night is that it is just a customary name, and the reason may be that the wharf outside the seven gates is very prosperous, and there are many porters begging for a living on the wharf.

The whole city is divided into the upper and lower half of the city by the ridgeline, the north of the ridge is the upper half of the city, the upper half of the city is relatively flat and wide, the terrain gradually increases from east to west, except for the northeast corner of the Qianguomen area because of the low terrain close to the end of the island, and the height difference between the lower half of the city is not big and the river, the rest of the places are far away from the river, and it is difficult to use water, so the people who live in the upper half of the city are far less than those who live in the lower half of the city.

The second half of the city is lively and prosperous, restaurants, teahouses, inns, guild halls and all kinds of shops are next to each other, and the large and small yamen of Sichuan East Road, Chongqing Mansion, Baxian County and Chongqing Town Office are also located in Taipingmen from northeast to southwest, and they are not far away.

Han Xiufeng took Pan Er, who wanted to see the excitement, through Duck Ship Street, and came to the county ya, which leaned on the mountain and faced the river, sitting north and facing south, and saw an old man hiding in the south corner of the fish market mouth and looking at the county yayi gate.

Life is rare for seventy years, and the old man in front of him is really a seventy-year-old birthday star!

Han Xiufeng had never seen an old man who had lived longer than him and was older than him, so he had always been very respectful, and hurriedly greeted him and asked, "Eighth Master, you have been staying here all night to listen to the letter, and you haven't slept all night?" ”

"It turned out to be the fourth baby, who did I say, scare me!" The old man turned his head, glanced at Pan Er behind Han Xiufeng, and immediately pulled Han Xiufeng into the corner, and said eagerly: "The big head baby has made a fuss, and has been locked in, and it looks like he is about to suffer a lawsuit, if you really have to pay for it, you say I can sleep, who will come if I don't come here to guard?" ”

The father and mother of the big head died early, and they grew up eating the hundred family meals of the porters of the Sichuan Gang at Chaotianmen Wharf.

The seventy-year-old man in front of him turned out to be a porter who begged for a life at Chaotianmen Wharf, and later he was old and could not carry the goods, he was upright when he was young, he spoke and did things openly, and it is said that he had been a husband for a few years, and those Sichuan porters who begged for life on Chaotianmen Wharf respected him very much, and the big guy pooled money to provide for his pension, and he would be sent to the end of his life in the future.

He watched the big head grow up, and when he was young, he didn't marry his mother-in-law because he was poor, and he had no children and no daughters when he was old, so he has been treating the big head as his grandson all these years, and now the big head is locked and taken into the yamen, can he not be in a hurry?

Han Xiufeng could understand his feelings, and helped him and said, "Eighth Master, don't worry, the big head will be fine, at most he will suffer a little bit of flesh and skin." ”

"Four babies, don't coax me, I'm old but not old and confused, I know the truth that killing people pays for their lives. Even if the big head can save a small life, even if he doesn't die, he has to shed his skin. The eighth master's old tears fell in a hurry, and he couldn't help but look into the door of the instrument as he spoke.

"Eighth master, isn't this me here, don't worry, let's get down to business first."

"Oh, look at me in a hurry," the eighth master relieved himself, and hurriedly turned around and grabbed Han Xiufeng's arm and said, "Xiaoliu, they called all the people who could be called according to your idea at night, and the Eight Provincial Hall also asked someone to say it." ”

"Who's the trust?"

"It's not that you don't know, how many dignitaries and nobles can we recognize, and even if we do, which dignitaries can we talk to? As before, he is still Master Gu of Tuochaijia Lane. He said that this time it was a big matter, and he asked us for fifty taels, and they only got it together when it was almost dawn. ”

"Eighth Master, has Master Gu gone to the Huguang Guild Hall?" Han Xiufeng asked in his mouth, but he was thinking that this was a human life lawsuit, and asked the master Jinshi, who had been a supervisor of the imperial history in Jiangxi Province, to come forward and say peace, and it was not too much to spend fifty taels. The year before last, there was a man who returned to his hometown and wanted to go to the capital to fill the vacancy, and asked someone to repair a letter to the capital in the same year for a few hundred taels, and the reason why he only asked the Sichuan Gang for fifty taels was really for the sake of the villagers, and he probably also knew that a group of porters who sold coolies had no money.

"I went, not only went, but also came to the Yamen." The eighth master didn't dare to delay the business, and hurriedly said: "I came with the guest director of the Huguang Guild Hall, and I just went in not long ago, and I was greeted when I came to the front." ”

"It's good to come, so that you can keep an eye on it for a while, and I'll go to the yamen to find out the news."

"Wait."

"Eighth Master, what else do you have to do?"

"Datou didn't eat supper last night, he must be hungry at this time, I'll go ahead and buy a few pots of helmets, and you can help me go in."

The old man's licking of the calf was beyond words, Han Xiufeng was moved, and said without thinking: "Eighth master, your old legs and feet are inconvenient, just keep an eye here, I'll buy the pot helmet." ”

"Give you money, you can't help for nothing and have to post money."

"A few pot helmets can ask for a few copper plates, and besides, the big head is my brother!"

Han Xiufeng patted the old man's hand and was about to turn around, only to see Pan Er running in the direction of Duck Street, and after a while, he ran back panting with a few pot helmets wrapped in oiled paper.

"Brother Pan, thank you, I'll go back and count the money for you."

"It's just a few pot helmets, what kind of money." Pan Er hurriedly went to the yamen to open his eyes, grinned, and looked very bold.

The two of them said goodbye to the eighth master, and walked around the Yimen gate to the gate of the county government without slowness, the door is the family of the newly appointed county master, and he has not been in Ba County for a long time, and Han Xiufeng has been doing funerals for his uncle in his hometown before, so the two are not familiar with each other.

Menzi was about to step forward to ask Han Xiufeng about his intentions, but the soap class official who was also guarding the gate of the yamen asked with a smile: "Fourth baby, aren't you going to the capital to fill the vacancy and be an official, why haven't you left yet?" ”

Han Xiufeng nodded to Menzi and replied: "I'm going to the capital for thousands of miles, why don't you get ready?" Moreover, there are still some official documents that have not been transcribed well, and there must be a beginning and an end to doing things. ”

"Coming to Wang Jingcheng?"

"Who else can you find if you don't look for him, he's not in the house?"

"Here, it's early in the morning." The official suddenly remembered something, and kindly reminded: "Four children, I heard that the imperial court will open Enke next year, and our Ba County, including the whole Chongqing government, will also go to the capital together in the next few months, you can go with them, and the villagers will still have a care along the way." ”

Emperor Daoguang died, Emperor Xianfeng ascended the throne, this year is the first year of Xianfeng, and the new emperor ascended the throne of course to open Enke to take scholars.

Han Xiufeng knew earlier than him, but he never thought of entering Beijing with the old man, and said with an embarrassed wry smile: "Third uncle, the old man is on the right path, how can you afford me, a donor prisoner." Even if I'm not afraid of being laughed at by others, people don't necessarily want to take it with me. ”

"That's right, in the eyes of the old men, you are no different from me, go with them, maybe they will treat you as a cow and a horse."

As soon as the official finished speaking, Menzi subconsciously asked, "Huang San, do you recognize me?" ”

"The four babies have been helping in the house for six or seven years, and they used to go around every day, and they can't do it if they don't recognize it." The yamen made a look and motioned for Han Xiufeng and the two to go in, and then sighed: "Don't you know, we look at these babies who have grown up, and they count the four babies who are the most promising, literate and hyphenated, and can write and count, although he failed to get a fame, but he quietly donated his background and donated a nine-product inspection, and what he donated according to the truth is not a false title......