People rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles, although Zhou Xingyuan is no longer an official and cannot wear official clothes, but he is wearing a fur jacket that only high-ranking officials and nobles can wear in the capital, wearing a jade wrench finger on his hand, and a crystal clear jade pendant hanging from his waist, gentle and elegant, with an extraordinary bearing, he knows that he is doing well in Jiangning at a glance.

Han Xiufeng hurriedly got up to greet him, looked at him with a smile and said, "Brother Zhou, the junior brother is here to join you." ”

"Defect to me, Brother Han, what are you kidding."

"Not kidding."

Thinking that Han Xiufeng would not wear an official uniform for no reason, Zhou Xingyuan realized that Han Xiufeng was either sent to Jiangsu by the officials to be a candidate for trial, or he came to Jiangning to do an errand to make up for something, and immediately turned around and said: "Little Er, is there a seat upstairs?" ”

"Yes, it's all empty, two masters, please go upstairs."

"Brother Han, this is not the place to talk, let's go upstairs and talk."

"Okay, everything is up to Brother Zhou when you get to Jiangning."

Zhou Xingyuan smiled slightly, took Han Xiufeng to the second floor with ease, and walked into an antique elegant seat, only to see a few chairs in the room, in the middle is a gold lacquer square table, on the table is a Yixing sand pot, a very fine kiln, a cup of Xuanyao, a plate of melon seeds, a plate of peanuts, and two plates of preserved fruits.

"Master Zhou, what kind of tea are you drinking today?" The guy asked diligently.

"It's the same old thing, the best rain hairs."

"Okay, a pot of good rainwater!" The guy shouted outside, and asked with a sneer: "Master Zhou, do you want Xiao Taohong to sing a few songs?" ”

"No, we're going to talk about conversation."

"Okay, sit down."

Sending the guys away, Zhou Xingyuan asked with a smile while drying his hands by the stove: "Brother Han, there are no outsiders here, what is going on?" ”

"I'm really here to defect to Brother Zhou." Han Xiufeng took out the envelope from his arms and took out the official certificate from the envelope.

Zhou Xingyuan took a look at the official certificate stamped with the seal of the ministry, and couldn't help laughing: "Make up for the shortage, go to Taizhou to do inspection, this is a fat shortage!" ”

"What is the lack of fat, no matter how fat it is, it is just a nine-grade inspection, which makes Brother Zhou smile."

As he spoke, a guy came in with boiling water and tea leaves.

Zhou Xingyuan waited for the guys to make tea and walked out of the seat, and then he muttered: "I am not only helping Lord Lu to be responsible for the exchange of letters, but also helping Lord Lu draft the recitals, and I am so busy that I am so busy that I don't know where there are vacancies, what are the vacancies, and which officials have been distributed by the officials to wait for the trial." ”

"The one I made up is not a major deficiency selected by the Taiwan people, but my lack is selected by the officials."

"Brother Han, you know the rules of the yamen, even if this lack is selected by the officials, if Lord Lu doesn't nod, you have to wait."

"That's why I came to ask Brother Zhou for help."

"Brother Han, you look down on Zhou too much, what kind of friendship do you and I have, it's not that Zhou doesn't help, but this matter is really not as simple as you think."

When it came to the rules, Han Xiufeng knew that he wanted silver.

Money can be given, and it should be given to ask someone to do something, but he cannot let the lion open his mouth.

Han Xiufeng put down the cup, took out two letters from his arms, looked at him with a smile and said: "Brother Zhou, this is a letter written by Lord Duan Dazhang, the political envoy of Gansu Province, to Lord Qi, and this is a letter written by Master Huang Zhongyin, the governor of Huguang Province, to Lord Yang, the governor of Jiangsu. ”

Zhou Xingyuan couldn't hear the meaning of Han Xiufeng's words, looked at the letter and said with a smile: "Brother Han, I'll just say that the head of the guild hall before you won't do it in vain, otherwise where would you get so many letters." ”

"It's all up to my fellow villagers."

"Having fellow villagers is not the same as not having fellow villagers, and if it weren't for the friendship of fellow villagers, you might not be able to get these two letters for as much money as you spend. Be sure to put it away, it will be of great use in the future. ”

Han Xiufeng put away the letter and said meaningfully: "Brother Zhou, I don't want to wait until the future. ”

"Don't wait for Lord Qi to come back, Brother Han, do you think you have a lot of silver?"

"Brother Zhou, others don't know that you know, is it easy for me to make up for this shortage, I really don't want to wait any longer if I finally make up for it!"

"Brother Han, why are you bothering?"

Han Xiufeng just wanted to be an official as soon as possible, earn some money as soon as possible and return to his hometown in Ba County, and said bluntly: "Brother Zhou, I've been waiting for so long, I really don't want to wait any longer." I understand the rules of the yamen, I can do what I want, and I can do as much as I want! ”

"Brother Han, although you don't want to be lacking, you are a fat shortage, I don't know how many people are staring at it."

"Brother Zhou, although whether I can take office depends on the meaning of Lord Taiwan, it is impossible for Lord Taiwan not to give Lord Qi even this little face, even if he doesn't give face to Lord Qi, he can't help but give face to Qi Zhongtang. Let's put it this way, even if I wait, it's only a matter of two or three months. ”

The political envoy of Jiangning is a subordinate official of the governor of Liangjiang, but as Han Xiufeng said, it is impossible for the governor of Liangjiang not to give Qi Suzao any face, because Qi Suzao's brother Qi Liaozao is not only a scholar, but also a high-powered minister of military aircraft!

Zhou Xingyuan never expected that Han Xiufeng would climb the high branch of Duan Dazhang, the political envoy of Gansu, and looked up after weighing it and said, "Five hundred taels, five hundred taels should be enough." ”

Han Xiufeng didn't want to dream a lot at night, gritted his teeth, and asked in a low voice: "When can I go to Taizhou to take office?" ”

"Within three days."

"Okay, it's five hundred taels!"

"Brother Han, this silver won't fall into my pocket. You know what is going on in the yamen, if Lord Lu's family doesn't find out one by one, this matter is really difficult to handle. ”

"I know, Brother Zhou, I'm causing you trouble." Although Han Xiufeng said this, he was thinking in his heart that your turtle son would take at least half of the five hundred taels.

Zhou Xingyuan didn't care what Han Xiufeng thought, he held the cup and said with a smile: "Silver alone is not enough, Brother Han, you still have to lend me the two letters just now, I have to show them it, otherwise they must think five hundred taels is too little." ”

"Okay." Han Xiufeng took out the letter that Master Duan had helped write from his arms again, and immediately said with an embarrassed face: "Brother Zhou sit down for a while, the younger brother doesn't have so much silver on him, I have to go out and talk to Pan Er, and ask him to go back to the inn to get it quickly." ”

"I almost forgot to ask, where do you live?"

"Stay over there."

"Live over there in the Gongyuan, Brother Han, I didn't expect you to really find a place!"

Zhou Xingyuan seemed to be smiling, Han Xiufeng reacted suddenly, and hurriedly explained: "Where do you want Brother Zhou to go, the Gongyuan is next to the Qinhuai River, but I have neither the heart nor the money to have fun." ”

"I know what kind of person Brother Han is."

"Brother Zhou sit down for a while, I'll go back when I go."

Han Xiufeng didn't want to mess with him, so he went downstairs to find Pan Er, stared at Pan Er's eyes and said, "Brother Pan, the five hundred taels that your father gave me before I came came in handy, and the one surnamed Zhou promised to help, but it cost five hundred taels, and I don't have that much on me, so I can only borrow it." ”

Pan Erleng was stunned, and then asked with a bitter face: "Fourth brother, when he was in the capital, he called you a brother and a brother, and I don't know how affectionate he is." Say that you don't know each other if you don't fight, it's a friendship that comes out, why are you embarrassed to ask you for silver? ”

Han Xiufeng smiled helplessly: "Friendship is friendship, silver is silver." ”

"Fourth brother, the silver ticket is on you, you want me to give it to you now, but is his turtle son reliable, will he take our silver and do nothing?"

"Probably not, besides, who else can we trust except believe in him so far."

"Okay," Pan Er was more anxious than Han Xiufeng to go to Taizhou to make a fortune, and hurriedly took out a stack of silver tickets from his inner pocket, turned his back to the guy in the teahouse and nodded, confirming that it was exactly five hundred taels before handing the silver tickets to Han Xiufeng.