After chatting about the affairs in the officialdom and talking about the war situation, Huang Zhongyin and other officials in Beijing are too far away from Liangjiang and Huguang, but they are very close to Tianjin Prefecture, and they know the war in Jinghai County well. Han Xiufeng introduced them to the wars in Jiangning, Yangzhou, Shanghai and other places, chatting and chatting, and unconsciously chatted about the third watch.

Ji Yunfei knew that he had been tired and sleepy all the way, and proposed to rest earlier. Huang Zhongyin, Ao Tongchen, Ao Xixian and others were as good as a stream, took the charcoal tribute prepared for them by Han Si, and went home unsatisfied.

Datou, Su Jueming and Xiao Shandong stayed up until the third watch, and Ren Yu'er and Cuihua had already rested in the champion room upstairs in the backyard. The hall has never stayed with female dependents, and the shopkeeper Wen knew that it was inconvenient for the two of them to live here for the two newcomers, so he specially asked the wife and daughter who came to help cook at night to stay and serve, Han Xiufeng really didn't have anything to worry about, so he quickly washed his face and feet, and rested in the champion room next to the front yard.

I haven't slept well on the way back to Beijing, Han Xiufeng is really tired, and returning to the hall is like returning to his own home, this sleep is very sound, and he didn't wake up until noon.

After washing up, I walked to the front hall, and saw that the shopkeeper Wen was drinking tea with Director Zhang.

"Fourth master, you are up, I dare to call you when I see you sleeping so soundly......"

"It's okay, Director Zhang, why are you here?"

"Shopkeeper Wen will say it first, and I'll talk about it after I'm done." Curator Zhang put down the teacup and smiled.

Shopkeeper Wen reacted and hurriedly said: "Fourth master, Lord Peng sent someone to pass the word early in the morning, saying that the emperor may have to summon him in the next few days, so you should hurry up and prepare." ”

"What about people?"

"Let's go, I heard that you left before you got up, but don't worry, I understand these rules, and I gave him a reward of two taels." The more the shopkeeper Wen thought about it, the more excited he became, and said with his eyebrows fluttering: "Isn't it the first time that your sister-in-law and Datou's fiancée Cuihua have come to the capital, I asked my wife and my second girl to go out with them." Those brothers who live in an inn outside the city are also coming to the capital for the first time, so I asked Lao Yu to go to them with your eldest follower, take them into the city for a walk, there are a lot of leftovers last night, and when they are tired, I will take them to the hall for a light meal, and let them recognize the door by the way. ”

"They're going to look at the guns, and they probably won't all go into the city."

"I know, so I'm going to take turns taking them into town."

"It's best to arrange it like this, Shopkeeper Wen, I'm bothering you."

"What's the matter, it's an internal matter." Shopkeeper Wen estimated that the people who were wandering outside should also come back for lunch, and immediately arched his hand and said: "Fourth master, Director Zhang has something to do with you, I'll go to the kitchen to see what the lunch preparation is, and you can talk to Director Zhang." ”

"Okay, let's get busy."

Seeing the shopkeeper Wen away, Han Xiufeng beckoned Director Zhang to sit down, and asked with a smile: "Brother Zhang, what's the matter, but it's okay to say it." ”

Director Zhang knew that he was busy, and said straight to the point: "Zhixing, there are two things to do here, one is the matter of your certificate, I helped you inquire with friends in the ministry, and they said that this fee will cost 1,000 taels." Shi Zanqing, the newly appointed Tongzhi on the north bank of the Yongding River, must know that he spent 1,800 taels in order to receive it! ”

"A thousand taels is a thousand taels, so you bother."

"The family doesn't talk about two families," last year's Sichuan tea business did well, Director Zhang really regarded Han Si as his own, smiled slightly, and continued: "Then there is Peng Yangchun, who came to eat with me last night, he has a particularly good colleague who is going to be released in the next few days, and nine times out of ten he will be distributed to the Yongding River Yamen, begging me to help his colleague walk your way, if it is really distributed to the Yongding River Yamen, please take more care of it." ”

"That colleague of his, too, is a guard?" Han Xiufeng asked curiously.

"The second-class guard, although he was born with a blue flag, has nothing to say, he is righteous, and he can stick a knife in his brother's ribs. It's just that he is alone in the palace for dozens of members of the family, and this life is miserable, and he can't take out the silver to make some money, otherwise he wouldn't be a second-class guard to the point of being a capital secretary. ”

"What is the name of this colleague of Peng Yangchun?"

"Yongxiang, Guaerjia Yongxiang." Seeing that Han Si was thoughtful, Director Zhang said in a low voice: "Zhixing, Peng Yangchun is not a person who doesn't know the importance of things, if this Yongxiang is unreliable, he will definitely not ask me to intercede." ”

"Brother Zhang, otherwise, you go back and talk to Peng Yangchun, so that he can take that Yongxiang over for a trip."

"That's good, see you first, talk first."

As they were talking, there was a sound of footsteps outside, and the two looked up to see that it was the shopkeeper Yu who was engaged in tea trading, who had returned from shopping with Chen Hu and the eight brothers of the old Taiyong camp.

The first time they came to the hall, Chen Hu and the others were a little nervous, until they saw Han Xiufeng looking at them with a smile, they were not as restrained as before, and hurriedly came to the hall to meet them. Director Zhang knew that they had something to say, so he left a sentence for him to do, and he helped to put it on first, so he left first regardless of Han Xiufeng and Shopkeeper Yu's retention.

Han Xiufeng and Chen Hu actually didn't have anything to say, so after a few simple questions, they asked Shopkeeper Yu to take them around the hall, and then returned to the champion room in the backyard to write a letter to their families.

As soon as it was written, the ink had not yet dried, and Datou, Ren Yuer and Cuihua came back, and as soon as they came back, they went to the champion room to meet them.

"Fourth brother, Cuihua and I bought you a pair of shoes, your original pairs are almost broken, try this pair!" The big head took out the shoes from the package and said as if offering treasures.

Han Xiufeng took the shoes and asked with a smile, "Cuihua bought them for me, right?" ”

"How do you know?" Big Head asked subconsciously.

Han Xiufeng scolded with a smile: "Because I am the only one who has bought things for you all these years, I have never seen you buy things for me, so I don't need to ask if I bought it from Cuihua, not from you." ”

The big head suddenly realized that this was indeed the case, and said with an embarrassed face: "Fourth brother, I'm not stingy, I used to have no money!" ”

"Teasing you, I didn't say you were stingy." Seeing Cuihua looking at the shoes in his hand, Han Xiufeng simply sat down and took off the old shoes, and was trying to see if the new shoes would fit, Ren Yu'er suddenly looked at the letter he had just written and asked, "Fourth brother, do you plan to let your sister-in-law bring Shichang to the capital?" ”

"Yes, I can't go back for a while, so I can only let them come over for a reunion."

"Great!" The eldest head was the happiest, and asked happily: "Fourth brother, can you ask my sister-in-law to help me bring the eighth master, I used to make a few dollars without interest, but now that I have money, I have to give him an old man's old age!" ”

The eighth master died a long time ago, but he never dared to tell him.

Han Xiufeng knew better than anyone that he not only had a bad braincase, but also had a tendon in his brain, how could he dare to tell him the truth easily, so he pretended to be relaxed and said: "Take the eighth master over, you can figure it out!" ”

"What's wrong?"

"How old is Eighth Master this year?"

"Seventy...... Seventy-three or seventy-four, I don't remember much, anyway, seventy. ”

"That's it, you don't want to think about how far Ba County is from the capital, can the eighth master withstand the toss at a great age?"

"Also, Fourth Master, since you can't take it, can you help me bring some more silver to the Eighth Master?"

"That's okay, I'll help you write a letter later, let my father-in-law put it on first, and save the trouble of remitting money to and fro."

Without waiting for the big head to speak, Ren Yu'er couldn't help but ask: "Fourth brother, the bandits have all been killed to Zhili, it is said that it is more than two hundred miles away from the capital, and it is closer to Gu'an County, where you are going to take office, is it appropriate to pick up your sister-in-law at this time?" ”

Han Xiufeng put on the new shoes that Cuihua helped buy, stood up and walked two steps, said to Cuihua that it was just right, and then turned around and said, "Originally, I was also worried that I didn't dare to write to your sister-in-law easily." I heard Huang Yushi last night that Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang are now at the end of their crossbows, not to mention whether they can break through the siege and kill the capital, I'm afraid they can't even say whether they can retreat with their whole body, so there is nothing to worry about. ”

"Don't worry about the bandits of the north?" Ren Yuer will be skeptical.

"Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang are from Guangxi, and most of their subordinates are old thieves in Guangxi, and the northerners do not accept them, plus after they captured Cangzhou a year ago, they actually slaughtered and slaughtered the city, and none of the men, women, and children in the city were left alive, not to mention the local gentry, even those desperate people would not rebel with them."

Han Xiufeng paused, and then said: "So their people are getting fewer and fewer, and there are more and more soldiers and horses in the imperial court and villagers recruited from all over the country. Jinghai was so far away from Jiangning, they went deep alone and had no reinforcements. As long as Seng Lingqin and Shengbao are steady, they can starve them to death even if they are hungry. ”

"Nothing to be timid?"

"There's nothing to worry about, besides, what am I doing, I'm a dignified person who knows the same five products, is it possible that I can't even keep my mother-in-law?"

Ren Yuer suddenly found that Han Xiufeng had changed, and he was no longer the Han Xiufeng who wanted to go home before, and then looked down at the letter he had just written, Ren Yuer suddenly realized that he didn't want to go back to his hometown before, but wanted his wife and children who were far away in his hometown. Now that he can bring his wife and children, he can naturally continue to do it.

In fact, Han Xiufeng also thinks so, but there are some other considerations. It wasn't until last night that he really understood what it meant to be "involuntarily in officialdom".

In the past few years, the officials in Beijing have not only had a hard time, but also have a bad career. If it weren't for Xiang Rong's attack on the bandits and becoming the minister in charge of Jiangnan's military affairs, not only Huang Zhongyin, Ji Yunfei, Jiang Haoxuan and others would still have to go into debt to get by, but even Xue Huan and Liu Cunhou would not have thought that they would be able to get ahead like now.

But people have no long-term worries, no one knows how long the Jiangnan camp can last, and no one knows how many days Xiang Rong, the minister of the Qin Mission, can do, so Huang Zhongyin and Ji Yunfei and other fellow villagers must take precautions.

In short, now this official is not only for himself, but also for his fellow villagers, even if he can't do it like Xiang Rong, he has to maintain a good relationship with Guo Peilin, Qiao Songnian, Xu Naizhao and even Peng Yunzhang and other local officials and important ministers of the imperial court.

Thinking of this, Han Xiufeng muttered again: "When the official is appointed, the south bank of the Yongding River knows that there is something to do, and it is estimated that he will not be transferred as frequently as before in three or five years." But that's fine, I'm really scared of being tossed, and in the future, as long as I can not move the nest, I won't move the nest. ”