There was a mess outside, but Han Xiufeng was very idle.

Sending Guo Peilin, who passed by Hai'an to inspect the fields, changed into a coarse cloth robe, put on a hat, and sat by the river behind Mingdao Academy to fish. Dean Gu and other gentry took turns to accompany him, and today it was the turn of Li Zhiyong, who had just returned from Baimi yesterday, and when he saw that he had not bitten the hook after sitting for a long time, he couldn't help but talk about recruiting and training.

"Fourth master, so many young people came to defect, why didn't you accept any of them?"

Thinking that after Ji Daji and their ancestors came back, many descendants in the village couldn't sit still, and they also wanted to make contributions and join the army in groups, Han Xiufeng smiled and said: "It's not that I don't accept it, but I don't dare to accept it." ”

"It's all the children of the township, and it's the most reliable, why don't you dare to accept it?" Li Zhiyong asked puzzled.

"Because if you accept them, you have to take care of their food, don't look at the food we have now, but how many days can that food be eaten? Instead of accepting them, it is better to let each village hold a group exercise, let Lu Daming, Liang Liu, and Ji Daji Er go to each village to help practice first, and then recruit them into the camp if there is a war in the future. ”

wants to let the villages run group exercises, and let those young people practice at their own doorsteps, neither pay nor take care of food, Li Zhiyong couldn't help but laugh and said: "Educate the soldiers and the people, why didn't I think of such a good way!" ”

"It's not that you didn't think of it, you just thought that with Master Guo here, we don't have to worry about food." Han Xiufeng lifted the fishing rod, and then said: "I'm different from you, I have to think about the long term, what if Lord Guo is transferred?" Therefore, it is necessary to plan ahead and save some food and salary in case of emergency. ”

Li Zhiyong nodded: "That's right, we have to think long-term." ”

Han Xiufeng smiled and said, "If you have food in your hands, you don't panic in your heart." Now it is not as good as in previous years, the waterway is obstructed, the salt in Anfeng, Fu'an and other fields cannot be transported, and the grain outside cannot be transported. ”

Thinking that the grain produced by the salt farms has always been insufficient, and those merchants often do not let the empty boat come back when they sell the salt to Huguang, but sell the grain from Huguang to the salt farms along the coast, Li Zhiyong realized that Master Han was thinking further.

He was secretly sighing, and suddenly found that Master Han seemed to be stunned, and looked at Master Han's gaze, only to see a slender young woman, who was carrying water with Yu Sangu to water the vegetable patch by the river.

"Fourth master, fourth master......"

"Oh, where did you just go?" Han Xiufeng relieved himself and asked with a little embarrassment.

My Fair Lady and Gentleman are so good, Li Zhiyong couldn't help but look at it a few more times, and said with a smile while watching: "It seems to be the son-in-law of Dean Ren's family, otherwise he wouldn't work with the third aunt." ”

The reason why Han Xiufeng was distracted just now was because the woman's back looked more and more like Qin'er in her hometown in Ba County, and said absentmindedly: "Really? ”

"It must be, I didn't expect the daughter of Dean Ren's family to be so marked!" Li Zhiyong smiled and said: "The woman born in Yangzhou City is different, it is said that she can't do piano, chess, calligraphy and painting." Not to mention Hai'an, even Taizhou can't find a few talented women like this. ”

Han Xiufeng said with a smile: "Dean Ren has no children under his knees, so he is such a pearl in the palm of his hand, so he naturally has to be taught carefully." ”

"I didn't have a child under my knees before, and I won't necessarily be the one in the future, isn't this a continuation of the string, the third aunt is a child who can give birth to at a glance, maybe she can really help Dean Ren give birth to a big fat boy and pass on the lineage to Dean Ren."

"That's right, what you said reminded me that I can't let my third aunt do heavy work in the future."

……

The speaker has no intention, but the listener has the intention.

Su Jueming, who was squatting on the side and waiting, suddenly thought that when he and Zhou Xingyuan were in the Fairy Temple, they went to the Qinglou almost every day, but Master Han had been alone, and he didn't even have a girl to warm the bed. Thinking of those rough women in Hai'an, not to mention that Master Han couldn't look down on him, even he Su Jueming couldn't look down on him, and a thought suddenly popped up, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Han Xiufeng didn't look back at all, naturally he couldn't see Su Jueming's expression, and even if he saw it, he didn't know what he was thinking, and he was wondering if there was no fish biting the hook here, whether it was a different place to fish, Dean Gu, Yu Qinghuai and Wang Qianli actually ran along the river.

"Dean Gu, why are you here, you are always slow, look at your feet!"

"Master Han, there is something, there is a big event, someone from the Fairy Temple is here!"

"What the hell is going on?"

As soon as Dean Gu walked to his side, he said eagerly: "Two people just came, an alternate magistrate surnamed Lu and an alternate county Cheng surnamed Yang, who came with an official document from Lei Yicheng, a servant of the Criminal Department, saying that in order to raise money for Lord Lei, he asked the imperial court to set up a gold bureau in the Fairy Temple, and they are now the assistant members of the Li Jin Bureau, and they plan to collect the gold of the past commercial goods in our Hai'an. ”

"Isn't Lei Yicheng the left deputy capital Yushi, how did he become a squire of the Criminal Department?" Han Xiufeng asked subconsciously.

"I've been promoted, I should have just been promoted."

"Do the two people who came have this centime how to collect it?"

"In the past, every 1,000 Wen and commercial goods were drawn from 30 or 40 Wen," Dean Gu sat on the bench given by Li Zhiyong, and said with a wry smile: "If you only set up such a card, it is not too much to draw 30 or 40 Wen, but Lei Yicheng does not just set up a card, Fairy Temple, Yiling, Taizhou, Jiangyan...... Master Han, tell me how much it costs for a shipload of goods to come to us? ”

"Yes, but the official is big, and the imperial court is allowed again, what can we do, is it difficult to let those two alternate officials get out of the way and not let them set up cards in Hai'an?"

"The arms can't twist the thighs, so they can only let them." Dean Gu sighed lightly and said helplessly: "Fang Shimei is estimated to be poor and crazy, and he seems to be very enthusiastic when he looks like that." ”

"Anyway, he is an inspection, and he wants him to contribute, and when he receives the money, he naturally wants to share the fertilizer with them, can he not be enthusiastic." Yu Qinghuai muttered a few words, thought about it and said: "Master Han, I heard those two alternates say that Lei Yicheng's request to set up a gold bureau was a plan offered by one of his friends surnamed Qian Mingjiang. ”

Han Xiufeng groaned: "I don't think it's so simple. ”

"Why did Master Han say this?"

"Levy food and increase consumption, set up cards to collect money, who wouldn't, who wouldn't want to? It's just that the Qing Dynasty has the ancestral motto of 'never add endowment', and no one dares to mention it. Han Xiufeng looked up at everyone's thoughtful looks, and then said: "Didn't Jueming bring back a few letters from Qingjiangpu some time ago, and the letter mentioned that the imperial court asked Sichuan and other provinces to donate a large amount of money in order to raise salaries, and Huang Yushi said in the letter that this idea was thought up by Lei Yicheng. ”

"What do you mean by donating a large amount?" Dean Gu asked curiously.

Han Xiufeng patiently explained: "Bandits are in turmoil, isn't the imperial court short of silver, when I was still in the capital to do the first thing in the guild hall, the household department once played a sparse promotion of donations, and asked for donations of military merit and students, as if it was 5,000 taels of donors and 300 taels of epithets. ”

"If anyone can donate, then what books do we still read, and what fame do we go to test?" Dean Gu was taken aback.

"Dean Gu, even you think this is a bad idea, and it is absolutely unfeasible, not to mention those scientific and Taoist officials in the capital, anyway, it has caused an uproar, and this matter is over. But then again, if you can even donate someone, let alone 5,000 taels, it's 10,000 taels, and I will also donate one if you smash the pot and sell iron. ”

"It's nature, that's human!" Dean Gu thought about it and asked, "What happened later?" ”

Later, Lei Yicheng, who was the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple at the time, thought of a workaround, but he could donate the median and school places of the provincial and township examinations. It seems that a province donates 100,000 taels of silver, and the amount of Jiawenwu Township is one in the trial, and the donation increases, but the maximum number of large provinces cannot exceed 30, 20 in central provinces, and 10 in small provinces; For a state, a hall, or a county, if you donate 2,000 taels of silver, you can add one place for civil and martial arts to increase it. ”

Yu Qinghuai reacted and muttered: "If you let the direct donor come from the background, the scholars in the world will definitely not agree, let the donation of the township test and the government test will be different, one more middle amount is equal to one more chance to win, this is a matter for the benefit of all readers, and the readers will naturally not object." ”

Not only will they not object, but they will also enthusiastically donate. Not to mention those scholars, even I have to donate a few hundred taels, and I don't know who is in Zhang Luo in my hometown now, as long as someone comes forward to Zhang Luo, my father-in-law will definitely help me donate. ”

Wang Qianli sighed: "Fourth master, don't say it, Lord Lei's idea is really wonderful. Let's talk about your hometown of Sichuan, if the Sichuan officials don't take it seriously, those scholars will definitely not agree. I didn't have a chance before, but now I finally have this opportunity, and I don't donate the 30 township test amounts, which means that I can win 30 more people, and the imperial court can easily raise 3 million taels from Sichuan alone! ”

"So when it comes to setting up the gold bureau, Lei Yicheng is such a shrewd person, can he use the master surnamed Qian to offer advice?" Han Xiufeng smiled and said, "If you guess correctly, Lei Yicheng is worried about being pointed at by Qianfu, so let the master surnamed Qian bring it up, even if someone scolds him, he won't scold him all." ”

"Really!"

"If you don't talk about it, it's useless to say it. Dean Gu, did the two people who came mention the war in Yangzhou? ”

"Mentioned, good news and bad news."

"Let's start with the bad news."

"The bad news is that the bandits who divided their troops from Yangzhou really went to the capital. The good news is that the bandits besieged Liuhe, and not only did they not capture it, but they also suffered heavy casualties. Dean Gu paused, and added: "It is said that the surname of Liuhe Zhixian is Wen, called Wen Shaoyuan, a native of Huguang, who was born as a donor like you, and also worked as a former experience in the Yunsi, and then changed to the magistrate of the county. However, I have not been in charge of Liuhe County for a long time, and it seems that I arrived a year ago, and as soon as I arrived, I reduced the service and imposed strict laws, and I was deeply supported by the gentry like you. ”

"Do you know how many soldiers Liuhe has, how did he defend this city?" Han Xiufeng asked curiously.

Dean Gu said with a smile: "I heard that the two alternates who just came said that there are only one hundred and ten unworthy green battalion soldiers in Liuhe City, and as soon as he arrived a year ago, he organized and trained the township bravery, and he relied on the township warrior and the temporarily convened people to defend it. ”

Han Xiufeng nodded, thought about it and sighed: "It can be defended by a group of village warriors who have not been trained for a long time and the people who have been temporarily recruited, so it can be seen that the bandits are not so difficult to deal with." ”

"Yes, in the end, it depends on who guards it, if it were you, you would be able to keep it. But if it is replaced by Liu Liangju, but Minglun and Zhang Tingrui are greedy for life and afraid of death, even if they are given thousands of bravery, they will not be able to hold it. ”

"What can't be guarded, they don't dare to defend at all, the bandits have already run away without a trace before they arrive!"

"Several, don't compliment me, I'm just as greedy for life and afraid of death," Han Xiufeng smiled self-deprecatingly, and asked curiously: "Is there any news about Liu Liangju and Dan Minglun?" ”

"Really." Without waiting for Dean Gu to speak, Wang Qianli blurted out: "The two alternates who just came said that Qi Shan wants to attack the city, but there is a lack of artillery, and there is a lack of 10,000 catties of cannons that can blast the city wall open. But Minglun just showed his head, saying that he knew where there was a cannon and was willing to atone for his sins. ”

"Does he really know?"

"It is said that he really knows, anyway, as long as the cannon can be transported to Yangzhou City, his head should be saved." Wang Qianli sighed helplessly, and said worriedly: "Zhang Tingrui also showed his head, I don't know how much money was spent, whose way he went, but he was dismissed, and now he is used by Lei Yicheng." Master Han, do you think I should find a place to avoid first? ”

"It's expected," Han Xiufeng couldn't know what he was worried about, thinking about it and laughing: "Qianli, don't worry, he just saved his head, it's not so easy to turn over." Not to mention that he didn't dare to confront Old Ghost Xu, even if he dared to go, we wouldn't have anything to fear. ”

"Master Han, if you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what happens!"

"I said don't worry, don't worry, they have classmates in the same year, and I have fellow villagers. If they really dare to embarrass you, we only need to spend two or three thousand silver to get the imperial historian in the capital to hold them back. In short, they are empty-minded, and they don't dare to joke with their own lives, but only consider themselves unlucky. ”

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