West Lake, Hangzhou

After a light rain, the scenery of the West Lake is particularly beautiful, which can be described as the tender buds spitting green, and the spring forest is in full bloom.

There is a very large pavilion next to the West Lake, called Sijun Pavilion.

Legend has it that there is a smart and beautiful woman, because her husband went out to do business for several years and did not return, the woman will come to this pavilion every day to look at the west and wait, and finally the husband still did not return, and the woman finally died because of excessive melancholy, in order to commemorate the woman, people changed the name of this pavilion to Sijun Pavilion, and also became the favorite place for the literati of Hangzhou.

It's just that Sijun Pavilion, which used to be crowded with people in the past, looks a little deserted today, and there are only a few people wearing long robes who look quite generous sitting there.

The person at the head is about fifty years old, with a long white beard and a rather majestic national face, but now his eyes are flashing with an indescribable worry, this person is the current governor of Zhejiang, Pan Ruzhen.

There was a stone table in the Sijun Pavilion, on which were placed several delicate refreshments, Pan Ruzhen sat at the stone table, and next to him sat two richly dressed men, while two women dressed as maids were standing with their hands down and waiting, and two maids were squatting in another corner of the pavilion to make tea.

The weather in Hangzhou in May was already a little muggy, but not long ago there was a light rain, and the cool breeze kept blowing, blowing people cool.

Pan Ruzhen took a sip of the teacup, a bitter and then sweet taste swirled in the tip of his tongue, and he couldn't help but exclaim: "What a dragon well before the rain, it is indeed worthy of its reputation." ”

A middle-aged man in a royal blue robe smiled and said: "Lord Governor is so knowledgeable, although the Longjing is good before the rain, but it also needs to be a person of taste to be able to taste its wonders. ”

"Ren Gong is right, as the so-called Maxima is often found and Bole is hard to find, this Longjing is everywhere, but there are not many people who can taste its wonders, from this point of view, the governor is worthy of being a model for our Jiangnan gentry."

Facing one rainbow fart after another, Pan Ruzhen just smiled lightly, and said: "Xu Yuanwai and Ren Gong have won awards, speaking of which, the two of you are the models of our Hangzhou gentry. ”

Xu Yuanwai and Ren Gong glanced at each other quickly, and then immediately separated, the two naturally knew what Pan Ruzhen was looking for them this time.

Ren Gong nodded and said, "Lord Governor, please speak." ”

Pan Ruzhen retracted the smile on his face and slowly became serious: "At present, the rogue is rampant, and three state capitals including Anqing Mansion, Huizhou Mansion, and Ningguo Mansion have been captured one after another, as well as more than ten cities, and hundreds of people and gentry have become ghosts under the sword of the rogues.

Benfu has just received the news that the Liukou has begun to gather troops, and it is estimated that it will not take long to rush towards Hangzhou Mansion, and at present, Hangzhou Mansion is short of military equipment.

It is Benfu who plans to recruit Qingzhuang Township to defend the city, but how can he not have enough money and food, so he has to invite two people to come, can he give some money and food for the sake of hundreds of thousands of people in Hangzhou Prefecture, so that Benfu can recruit the township to defend the city? ”

Although Pan Ruzhen said these words with a smile, his eyes looked extremely serious, and with his Chinese face, a non-angry and self-authoritative bearing jumped out.

Ren Gong and Xu Yuanwai were also shocked when they saw Pan Ruzhen's appearance, of course they knew that although their governor looked very talkative, if anyone thought that he was weak and could be bullied, it would be wrong.

Knowing that if there was no blood today, I am afraid that it would not work, Ren Gong thought about it mentally and said: "Since the governor has opened his mouth, how dare the grass people refuse, so let's do it, the grass people will donate 300,000 taels of silver and 50,000 stone of grain to the imperial court on behalf of the salt merchants in Hangzhou." ”

Xu Yuanwai also said: "On behalf of the maritime merchants of Hangzhou Prefecture, the grass people also donated 300,000 taels of silver and 50,000 stone of grain to the government. ”

If others heard it, they would probably be shocked, and as soon as they opened their mouths, they donated 600,000 taels of silver and 100,000 stone of grain, which is not a big deal.

Ordinary people must be satisfied when they hear this number, but Pan Ruzhen slowly shook his head after hearing it: "This is not enough. ”

Ren Gong was slightly stunned in his heart, 600,000 taels of silver and 100,000 stone of grain, such a price is not low, in his opinion, if you defend the city, it would be good if you could use half of these things, and the rest was the hard work for Pan Ruzhen and the officials of Hangzhou Prefecture.

It stands to reason that this amount should be a lot, why is Pan Ruzhen still not satisfied.

Just as he was thinking about it in his heart, Pan Ruzhen's voice sounded in his ears: "Benfu still wants to ask you for something." ”

Ren Gong asked puzzledly: "I don't know what it is?" ”

"It's not an important thing, I just want the two of you to go back and say, from tomorrow, the families and guards in the hands of the Salt Merchants Chamber of Commerce and the Maritime Merchants Chamber of Commerce will all be handed over to Benfu for the time being, and they will participate in the defense of the city together with Benfu's supervision battalion and city guards, and they will be returned to you after the Liukou retreats."

"What?"

Ren Gong and Xu Yuanwai were shocked.

To tell the truth, when they reach their status, they don't pay much attention to the yellow and white things of money, silver, grain and grass, and they can earn it again at any time when they are gone, but people are different.

Ren Gong and Xu Yuanwai, one is the president of Zhejiang's largest salt merchants' association, and the other is the head of the maritime chamber of commerce, both of which are profiteering industries.

Since it is a profiteering industry, it is inevitable that they will be exposed to blows from the open and the covert while obtaining huge profits, whether it is to deal with those smugglers or the murderous pirates on the sea, they need to master a team that can fight, and this team must be loyal and brave.

Such a team is the guarantee that they can gain a firm foothold in their respective industries, for them, money, silver, food or something will be given, and it is a big deal to earn it back after a while, but if the armed forces in their hands are handed over, it will be different.

Without the armed forces, they are like toothless tigers, even if there is more money and silver, they are the object of slaughter, but now Pan Ruzhen actually wants them to hand over this life-saving talisman that they have passed down from generation to generation, like the root of life, how can they give it up.

"Your Excellency, I'm afraid this is not good." It is a matter of his own net worth and life, and Ren Gong is no longer polite, and said in a deep voice: "Besides, we are just a businessman, and there are only a few family members in the family." Let them take care of the home and care for the home, but if you let them guard the city, I am afraid that you will miss your big business. ”

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Pan Ruzhen's face immediately sank.