After staying in Shanghai for four days, Wang Naizeng finally figured out why Han Si sent two officials in other places, but why Han Si only sent Su Jueming in Shanghai.

Because although Han Si was transferred out of Songjiang early, the official reputation and connections in Songjiang Mansion, especially in Shanghai County, were too good, so good that if there was anything outside the concession, he could go to Xue Huan, Liu Cunhou and fellow villagers such as "Tiger" and "Little Tiger" who were quelling the chaos.

If you encounter anything in the concession, you can not only go to Wu Jianzhang, who has already changed Su Songtaidao, but also ask Sun Fenghe, the magistrate of Shanghai, to help the gentry and merchants on the list given before coming. You can't do an errand without money, and if you don't have enough money, you can go to Zhou Xingyuan, a county in Shanghai County who handles the donation of silk tea. In the concession, there is even a western-style building called "Sichuan Guild Hall", which is actually a private residence, and it is next to the racecourse of foreigners.

If you want people and money, this errand will naturally get twice the result with half the effort.

Finally opened his eyes, Wang Naizeng, who was really shocked, can understand the true meaning of "time is not waiting for me" better than anyone else, not only asked Su Jueming to go to the Shanghai branch of "Rishengchang" to send back the first message to the capital, but also sent Lin Qingyuan, who had translated for Han Si, and the six interpreters that Lin Qingyuan helped find, to the boat hired by Wu Jianzhang with coaxing. Along with the people sent to the capital, there were also foreigner newspapers and books that Wu Jianzhang and the local gentry had collected for help as soon as they arrived in Shanghai.

By the time Gu Jinyan arrived in Shanghai from Hai'an with his family, Ren Yu'er and Lian'er, Wang Naizeng had already arranged the affairs of Shanghai and was planning to go to Ningbo by boat.

When they came out of the capital, most of the civil and military officials who took office brought their families, Wang Naizeng didn't feel any inconvenience, but the next itinerary was different, so he looked at the people who rushed here: "Be careful, the boat to Fujian Jueming has already helped you find it, there will be a sand boat tomorrow, and a foreign ship the day after tomorrow, do you plan to leave tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?" ”

Gu Jinyan really wanted to go to work as soon as possible, but thinking of the errand he really had to do on this trip, he muttered: "Mr. Wang, the ancients didn't get a tiger in the tiger's den, so let's leave the day after tomorrow and take a foreigner's ship to Fujian." ”

Wang Naizeng nodded with satisfaction, and asked with a smile: "Miss Ren, what are your plans next?" ”

Wang Naizeng was reluctant to take Ren Yu'er, and Ren Yu'er also didn't want to run around with a man who was really not familiar, so he said without thinking: "Mr. Wang, the little girl has to find a foreign doctor in Shanghai to help Lian'er treat her illness, or you go first, and when Lian'er is cured, the little girl will take Lian'er to Guangdong to find you." ”

"Go to Guangdong...... I don't think it's necessary, because the next trip is not counted in my heart, and I see that Miss Ren might as well stay in Shanghai for a few more days. Wait for Naizeng to come back from the errand, and then pick you up and Lian'er to return to Beijing together. ”

"Mr. Wang, if you are busy, I won't bother you to pick it up."

"How can this be done, Dong Weng entrusted Miss Ren to Naizeng, and Naizeng naturally wants to take care of Miss Ren."

"Don't bother Mr. Wang, the little girl can take care of herself."

"In that case, let's talk about returning to Beijing later. After all, Ningbo, Xiamen, Fujian, Macao, Hong Kong and other places are not as good as Shanghai, and it will take six or seven months to turn around. ”

"The little girl will retire first." Ren Yu'er felt that she was finally free, squatted slightly and said a blessing, and walked out of the living room like this.

The trouble was thrown away, Wang Naizeng was also relaxed, turned around and smiled: "Jueming, I will go to the Citi Concession for a banquet, and I will stay with Wu Jianzhang in the evening after eating, and Ming'er will board the ship from him early in the morning and set off, you don't have to send it, just take care of the errand assigned by the fourth master." ”

"Jue Ming understands."

"That's it, let's go first, we'll see you another day."

Wang Naizeng said that he would take Yang Nianjia, the second son of Yang Qinghe, the shopkeeper of the "Houyi Hall", out of the Sichuan Hall, and got into the Western carriage sent by Wu Jianzhang, and when Su Jueming and others helped load the luggage, they went straight to the Citi Concession.

When I arrived at the garden house behind Qichang Foreign Bank, it was already dark.

Wu Jianzhang prepared a large table of wine and food, and while courteously inviting him to the table, he asked with a smile: "Mr. Wang, why don't you stay in Shanghai for a few more days, you have to leave after only four days, this is too hasty." ”

"The errand assigned by Master Han is here, and Nai Zeng doesn't dare to stay for a long time."

"Since Mr. Wang must go, the lower officials can only send a certain amount of entanglement to express their feelings."

"Lord Wu, what are you doing here?" Wang Naizeng glanced at a few rolls of silver dollars neatly wrapped in oil paper, sat down and said with a smile: "Before leaving Beijing, Master Han gave a lot of entanglements, how can Naizeng ask for your entanglements, and besides, you and I not only meet in Pingshui, but also have helped me so much in the past few days, and this silver money can't be collected by anything." ”

"Mr. Wang, this is a little bit of my heart."

Wang Naizeng knew very well why he wanted to send silver dollars, because when he left Beijing, he brought with him a few edicts from the Inner Affairs Office. Xiyi's gunboat arrived at Dagukou, and the emperor was angry that Qiying didn't do a good job of the errand back then, and some princes and ministers didn't know whether they wanted to exonerate Qiying, or didn't dare to offend Qiying's protégés.

Although the edict was very long, Wang Naizeng remembered the general content clearly.

One of them is that someone has played Su Song, Taidao, Wu Jianzhang, and Tongyi to raise thieves. It is said that Liu Lichuan, the leader of the thieves, once managed the accounts for the province, and the bandits were all trained in the province. At the beginning of the incident, the Dao was the first to be trusted, and the dependents were sent to live in Yichuan, and all the Dao had three or four hundred thousand silver in stock, and they were all thieves. Hired towing vessels. It's called donation. The actual compensation is paid for the tariff, and there is an old knowledge of Guangdong cargo ships to Shanghai. It is exempt from paying taxes. So that the merchants were not convinced. The tariff and silver are hidden. Transported back to their place of origin by sea......

One is to impeach him for partnering with foreigners to open a banner and prosper, and the thieves and bandits will receive food and ammunition from this line. and repeatedly met with bandits on the ship, etc. It is called the Shanghai rebel bandits, and it has not been extinguished for a long time. Yingmi Eryi was obstructed again, if it weren't for Wu Jianzhang's coercion, how could he go to Hucheng and not recover.

There were also people who impeached him for being a fellow villager with the leader of the thieves, Liu Lichuan, and the bandits met with the province whenever they came to the ship, and so on.

The emperor was furious, and Huang Zong and Han Xun sent Ming officials to go to Shanghai on other official matters, quietly, according to the various plots involved in the fold, one by one. According to the facts, it is played by the gallop, and there is no need to be untruthful...... In other words, the emperor sent a messenger to investigate him, and pretended to go to other places to run errands, but only passed through Shanghai.

As soon as he saw the edict, and when he just understood what the edict was saying from his friend Mr. Huang, Wu Jianzhang was really frightened, and he really thought that a catastrophe was coming.

However, since Han Xiufeng dared to let Wang Naizeng show him, it meant that he already had a way to deal with it.

Under the mention of Wang Nai, who had been a friend of Duan Dazhang for ten years, Wu Jianzhang not only breathed a sigh of relief, but also realized that the minister of Weifu's private visit was not difficult to deal with, as long as he could grasp his whereabouts in advance, the rest of the things would be easy to do. What's more, Jingguan has never seen much of the world, and he can fool the past by giving three or five thousand taels.

But such a big favor, whether Han Xiufeng, who was far away in the capital, or Wang Naizeng, who was sitting next to him, didn't think about giving it away in vain, looking at his appearance of wanting to speak and stopping, Wang Naizeng said bluntly: "Lord Wu, as long as the 'little military machine' of my family Dongweng can be stable, I guarantee that you will be fine this time, and you will be fine in the future." ”

"Mr. Xie Wang, I want to thank Master Han even more, if it weren't for Master Han taking me to heart, if it weren't for Mr. Wang, you came all the way to report the news, how could I pass this level so easily, I really might die and I don't know how to die!"

"Lord Wu is serious, even if Huang Zonghan finds out something, when the case arrives in the capital, my family will try to help you clear your grievances, but it will be very troublesome to get there." Wang Naizeng didn't want to go around in circles anymore, so he picked up a piece of fish meat and said bluntly: "I, Wang Naizeng, won't ask for your silver, and my Dongweng won't ask for it, as long as you can help with Lord Wu next." ”

"How can I help, even if I want to help Master Han, I can't help it!"

"You can help, to sum up a total of three things, one is the new deputy member of the Jiang Customs Su Jueming, that is, the family before my family Dong Weng, if you encounter any trouble, you can help as much as possible, and it is convenient for you to travel."

"This is natural, as long as I, Wu Jianzhang, can do it, there will never be two words."

"Then I'll thank you on behalf of my family," Wang Naizeng arched his hand, and continued: "Second, my Dongweng wants to borrow a foreign-made steamship for two years, together with the shipwrights and sailors, I don't know if Lord Wu can help me think of a way." ”

Jianghaiguan had purchased one before, but later the official army went to war with the foreigners and was captured by the foreigners. Now that the charter of the concession land has been re-signed, the officials and soldiers have reconciled with the foreigners, and even attacked and suppressed the rebellious parties entrenched in the city together, Wu Jianzhang felt that he should be able to get the ship back from the foreigners if he wanted to find a way, and even if he didn't come back, he had to find a way to get one, after all, this was not only a life-saving benefactor but also a matter explained by the "little military machine".

Seeing that Wu Jianzhang also agreed, Wang Naizeng continued: "Then Naizeng is going to Macao, Hong Kong and other places to procure some things, and there are few people under him who are familiar with the interpretation of Macao, Hong Kong and other places." Lord Wu is a native of Guangdong, and he has worked in the Thirteen Lines, I wonder if I can recommend a few to Naizeng? ”

"I wonder if Mr. Wang wants it now, or if he plans to wait until Macau, Hong Kong and other places to find it?" Wu Jianzhang asked subconsciously.

"If you can find the best now, I really have no choice but to ask Lord Wu to write a few letters, and when Naizan arrives at the place, I will take your letters to visit."

"There are two trustworthy fellow villagers here in Shanghai, but I don't know if they are willing."

"Lord Wu, Naizeng thinks that as long as you go and talk to them in person, they should be willing." Wang Naizeng smiled and took out a token from his arms.

Looking at the words "Great Qing Internal Affairs Office" on the token, Wu Jianzhang realized that the person in front of him was not just Han Xiufeng's friend of the scene, so he hurriedly got up and said: "Mr. Wang put it down, Jianzhang will go and tell them later, they will definitely be willing." ”

"This is bothering Lord Wu, Nai Zengming'er took them to Ningbo to visit a friend early in the morning, and then went south to Macau."

……

At the same time, Han Xiufeng was sitting in Qingxian's public house, thinking about whether Eunjun and the eldest who had just become a father would arrive in Tianjin at this time, and when they would receive people and things from Shanghai.

A few days ago, Wang Naizeng sent back a 100,000 urgent news through the "Rishengchang" Shanghai branch, and someone else handed over the sign early to ask for a meeting to report to the emperor, but Han Xiufeng felt that it was inappropriate to report rashly, and he had to find out the ins and outs of the matter before reporting it.

This calmness and caution made Qingxian admire, thinking that if the old man could have kept an eye on it back then, he would not have come to this point if he could be as cautious as Han Xiufeng.

Seeing that Han Xiufeng took out the translated official document again thoughtfully, Qingxian couldn't help but say: "Fourth master, Mr. Wang said that the foreigner's concession has been rumored, and even the foreigner's mansion newspaper has published it, I don't think this news should be false." ”

"Brother Qingxian, you haven't dealt with foreigners, you don't know anything." Han Xiufeng put down the official document and said with a wry smile: "The foreigner's newspaper is different from our newspaper, it is printed and sold for money. Therefore, I like to include and publish some shocking news, so that people are willing to read it and pay for it. ”

"So foreigners' mansions are used to reporting bad news or not good news?"

"In a word, foreigners' newspapers are used to reporting worries but not good news, unlike us who like to report good news but not bad news." Han Xiufeng paused, and then said: "Even if the news is true, let's just present it like this, if the emperor asks about the ins and outs, how can we go back then?" So you can't be in a hurry, you have to get things straight, otherwise you might really make a big joke like Cezanne. It's a big joke that is small, but it's a big decision that affects the court! ”

Thinking that there seemed to be another "little military plane" coming to visit him in the afternoon, Qingxian reminded: "Fourth master, Cao Yuying's matter can't be delayed any longer, if it drags on any longer, he may really send someone to report to the official." What are you busy with, the emperor knows, but Shuntianfu, the infantry commander Yamen and the Five Cities Procuratorate don't know. If you don't hurry up and think of a way, there will definitely be a lot of uproar at that time, and those imperial historians will definitely swarm to impeach you, and even if the emperor wants to protect you, he will have to give Kedao an explanation. ”

Han Xiufeng muttered: "If you want to talk about impeachment, I'm not afraid, but the matter of 'Houyitang' can't be known to everyone because of this." ”

"Yes, why are we hiding it so much, in the final analysis, it's not that we are worried about being known by foreigners, but what we really want to prevent is actually that bunch of pedantic Qingliu."

"Running errands for the imperial court, but you have to guard against Han Zhan Kedao, it's ironic to think about it."

"So you have to hurry up and think of a way, you can't let Cao Yuying spoil our business, let alone let him ruin the emperor's business!" Qingxian wants "Houyitang" to do a great career more than anyone else, because this is also the only chance for him and even his family to turn over.

Han Xiufeng could understand his mood, got up and said, "Isn't it not ten days, wait for two more days, and then have a showdown with him when he is ready to report to the official." ”