In the following days, Han Xiufeng was very busy, and he wanted to go to Jixian Academy to read the secret edict and be Sushun's "friend of the scene"; I want to go back to Nanyuan to train my troops in order to be perfect; I also have to take the time to go to Tianjin to keep an eye on how Seng Lingqin handled the blockade, although he always runs outside, but there are not many people who can see him, and he has never been on the music, so that many civil and military officials in Beijing do not remember that there is such a Fengchen Yuanqing as him.

It is precisely because he is too busy that it is rare to see him once in the pillar and Yu Tiesuo who stayed in Nanyuan, and he can only go to Wang Qianli for official matters, and he usually comes to Ren Yuer for private matters, especially family affairs.

In the past six months, Ren Yuer has lived a very comfortable life in Nanyuan.

Or accompany Bao Er, a missionary disguised as a Hui from Xinjiang, to visit the palace and temple in Nanyuan, and teach Bao Er Chinese language and writing while learning English language and writing from Bao Er. Or work with Lian'er to take care of the vegetable field not far from the old palace. Sometimes they lock the courtyard door, change into the clothes of foreign women, make coffee, and eat their own Western pastries.

As the Shuntian Township Examination was about to start, she and Lian'er disguised themselves as men and ran to the city in three days, wanting to see the demeanor of the students of Zhili.

Today's capital is not as tight as before, the money is getting tighter and tighter, the money on the market is getting less and less, the price of grain is getting more and more expensive, and in addition, I don't know how many people have fled to the capital from all over the country in recent years, and many people have taken risks without food, and robberies have occurred frequently in broad daylight. Wang Qianli was afraid that she and Lian'er would make a mistake, and he didn't care about her like Han Xiufeng, so he simply asked Zhu Zi and Yu Tiesuo to take turns to accompany them into the city.

"Miss, why do all those showmen go to the bookstore, they don't read books on weekdays, and they will take the exam in two days, is it too late to buy books and read books now?" Lian'er leaned on the side of the car window, looking at the students who were scrambling to run to the bookstore and asked.

"What miss, what did you tell you before you came out?"

"I ...... I said I leaked, it's the young master. ”

"That's pretty much it." Ren Yu'er smiled, then lifted the curtain and asked, "Brother Zhuzi, is the court letting go of the chief examiner, deputy examiner and fellow examiner?" ”

The pillar who was dozing off next to Feng Xiaobao eased his senses, looked back at the lively bookstore and said, "It should be, the shopkeeper seemed to have said this when I had lunch in the hall yesterday." ”

"Please help me to inquire about who the chief examiner and deputy examiner of this township examination are."

"Okay, I'll ask."

Feng Xiaobao knew that although this little aunt and grandmother were daughters, she had read a lot of books, and she was very envious of those who read, so she stopped her horse and looked back and smiled: "Young master, you are full of knowledge, if you don't take the exam as said in the play, maybe you can really get a fame." ”

"Ben...... If Master Ben can get into the examination room, he can wait until today! Ren Yuer couldn't help laughing.

"Young master, why can't you get in?" Lian'er asked curiously.

Thinking of the scene of the search when the candidates entered the examination room, Ren Yu'er couldn't help but smile: "I'll take you to the gate of the Gongyuan in a few days." ”

Lian'er hadn't seen that scene, in fact, Ren Yu'er had only heard of it and hadn't seen it with her own eyes, but Feng Xiaobao felt that this little aunt and grandmother were too bold, and she dared to see anything, dare to say anything, and was about to ask if she really went to Gongyuan in a few days, when the pillar trotted back.

"Young master, I have inquired, the chief examiner of Beifu this time is Bai Zhongtang, and the deputy examiners are Lord Zhu Fengbiao, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Lord Gui Cheng, the left deputy of the Imperial Palace. There are several examiners, I only remember the fourth brother once mentioned the old man Yin Gengyun Yin, I heard those candidates say that the chief examiner, deputy examiner and fellow examiners went to the Gongyuan early in the morning after receiving the decree. ”

Ren Yu'er groaned: "Those candidates must have gone to buy Bai Zhongtang, Lord Zhu, and Master Cheng's articles." ”

"What do you do by buying adult articles?" Lian'er asked curiously.

"I want to know the preferences of a few adults." Ren Yu'er thought about it, then took out the money bag and handed it over: "Brother Zhuzi, I'm sorry for you to run again and buy a few copies for me." ”

This stumped the pillar, and said with a bitter face: "Young master, I don't understand how to buy other lines and articles!" ”

"We will buy whatever you see people buy."

"Okay, I'll see if I can buy it."

……

At the same time, Han Xiufeng was sitting in the Jixian Courtyard looking at the secret folds in Liangguang, Liangjiang and other places in the past half a month and the secret edict issued by the emperor.

However, there are some excerpts that are nothing if you don't look at them, but are more anxious when you read them.

For example, on the matter of calling the group to practice "cracking down on the arrogance of the people, making them uneasy and fleeing from China, and eliminating the Tianjin Peace Treaty invisibly", Huang Zonghan said in the newspaper that it was a foolish thing.

On the 20th of last month, the militia regiments of Jiangcun and Dagang besieged Guangzhou, "from Zi to Mao, the fierce battle lasted for four hours, and they used guns and artillery to kill many Yi soldiers, and took advantage of the victory to ascend to the northeast corner of the city wall and the Tongxin Tower, and the regiments on the North Road rushed into the west gate."

On the 8th of last month, the Xin'an County Regiment bravely attacked and suppressed the Yi soldiers who went to post notices, and many people were wounded and killed.

On the 11th of last month, Xiyi drove more than 10 steamers and more than 40 board boats to retaliate and capture the county seat of Xin'an......

It seems to be very uplifting, but there is no mention of how many regimental exercises were dispatched, what weapons were there, how many roads were divided, who led which roads, and how the battle was fought; And how many soldiers were injured and how many soldiers were killed are also ambiguous; How much the regiment has lost, what the morale is, and whether it can fight again, there is also no mention of it.

As for the most important Xiyi's reaction to this, whether he was angered and prepared to hunt down and clear the disobedient Tuan Yong, or whether he believed that this was a plan to report and revenge at the behest of the imperial court, he didn't know anything.

In short, this is not a war report at all.

Han Xiufeng was really in no mood to look at it anymore, and was regretting that he had entrusted the non-person, and when he shouldn't have handed over the Guangdong branch to Huang Zonghan at that time, he came in in a hurry.

Seeing Su Shun's sweaty appearance, Han Xiufeng hurriedly got up and helped pour tea.

"Don't be busy, I'm just here to take a look, and I'll leave in a while." Su Shun picked up the folding fan on the table, shook it off with a bang, and asked with a smile while fanning: "Zhixing, I went to the Huguang Hall yesterday, and when I came back, I passed by your Chongqing Hall, and I heard from the people at the entrance of the alley that your Chongqing Hall was also full of candidates who came to take the exam. ”

"Why would an adult ask about this?"

"I think it's strange, this is the Shuntian Township Test, not the Sichuan Township Exam, why is your Chongqing Hall full of candidates?"

Han Xiufeng reacted and explained with a smile: "Don't misunderstand, adults, although there are many places in Shuntianfu and there are many medians in the Wenwu Township Examination, our Sichuan is too far away from the capital, even if there are fellow villagers who want to impersonate themselves to come to Shuntianfu for the examination, they can't afford to toss it for thousands of miles." ”

"I just asked casually, and I didn't mean anything else." Su Shun said that he would not drink tea, but he still took the cup.

Thinking that the examiner this time was his nemesis, Han Xiufeng felt that he should make it clear, sat down and said with a smile: "I'm not afraid of adult jokes, sometimes it's really difficult to be an official outside for a long time." Just like in Beiwei this year, students from Wanping, Gu'an and other places couldn't find a place to stay, so they came to me with letters from local gentry.

Zhang Zhidong, who had been a poor student in Houyitang for a few months, also asked his classmates and fellow villagers who came to Beijing to come to me. Shi Zanqing, the prefect of Tianjin, was even more excessive, relying on the fact that he was not only my elder, but also worked with me in the Yongding River Yamen, not only asked me to help those Tianjin candidates from poor families find a place to live, but also let me take care of the food of those candidates! ”

Shi Zanqing is not only a capable official, but also a notoriously incorruptible.

At the mention of Shi Zanqing, Su Shun couldn't help but smile and said: "He is relying on you, but you can't help other people's favors, but you can't help his favors!" ”

"So I can only consider myself unlucky."

"As the saying goes, help people to the end, send Buddha to the west, the few Tianjin candidates he entrusted you to take care of, do you think there is a bit of real talent and learning?"

"My lord, you can ask me about this, I am only a shallow learner, I only know that their handwriting is okay, and the article looks smooth, as for whether the article is good or not, I really don't understand."

"If you don't understand, someone understands, find someone who understands to help you take a look!"

"I really didn't think about this, my lord, you see I'm so busy, I can't be busy with my own errands, so I have time to take care of them. Again...... Besides, snobbery, who have no relatives and no reason with them, why should I bother with this? ”

"Zhixing, Zhixing, I didn't say you, you are already in the official residence of Fengchen Yuanqing, why are you still the same as before."

"Where do you start with that, sir?"

Su Shun put down the teacup, looked at him with a smile and said, "Although you are a civil official, you have been leading the troops before, and you don't have much to do with scholars." Later, he set up Houyi Hall to investigate the situation, not only did he not deal with the scholars much, but he also guarded the readers like a thief. But at this time and at that time, now that they are all in Fengchen Yuanqing, they can no longer make friends with people who don't study like before. ”

"Aren't I busy, and besides......"

"You're busy in the world, aren't I busy? Zhixing, to be honest, is a great reader, even if you don't make friends, you can't offend. ”

Han Xiufeng didn't know why he asked why there were so many candidates in the Chongqing Hall for no reason, but he could hear that he was sincere in making friends with readers, because in the past two years, Zeng Guofan had recommended many scholars from Huguang to him, and he treated them all with courtesy, either helping to find errands or hiring them as friends.

However, in Han Xiufeng's opinion, it is both a good thing and a bad thing that he is so polite and virtuous, after all, most of those scholars from Huguang have never been officials, and they have not even been able to get famous.

But Han Xiufeng could only put these words in his heart, looking at his very serious and sincere appearance, and hurriedly arched his hand: "What the adults said is that scholars are very powerful, and they can't be offended." ”