On the ninth day of August, Shandong Province governed the capital city of Jinan, and it was not time.

At this time, the rain in the sky is still falling, although it is not very heavy, but as long as you stay outdoors for a while, you will still be soaked by the rain, even if the weather is not cold, it is not a comfortable thing. So in general, people should have gone into hiding.

But in fact, at this time, there were a large number of people waiting here at the west gate of Jinan Mansion, just look at it from a distance, you can find that the identities of these people are not ordinary, because their clothes are quite elegant, especially the middle ones, all of them are court officials in scarlet robes.

If there are people who are familiar with the officialdom of fame and fortune in Shandong, they will definitely be even more surprised if they come here to take a look, because the people standing at the gate of the city today are all those people with the highest status in the province and the government - the political envoy Gao Duzhong, the envoy Zhou Chaoxian, the commander Ye Changfei, and the prefect of Jinan. Even those who did not wear official uniforms were all first-class gentry with considerable popularity and wealth among the people - so to speak, all of them who can be ranked at the gate of this city today are well-known figures in this province, maybe when people catch a cold and cough, the whole Shandong Province will suffer from a cold.

But such a group of people who are second to none in terms of power and identity are actually waiting obediently outside the city gate today, which shows that the identity of the person they are waiting for is higher than them.

That's natural, because it's the imperial court's envoy who came, the squire who is second only to Lord Shangshu in the Ministry of War, and the governor of Shandong, Lord Lu Jinlu, who is about to become the boss of these people.

Two days ago, the leader of the Qincha team had already sent his trip to Fucheng as soon as possible, and according to the speed of the other party's hurry, it was presumable that Lord Futai would arrive from noon to afternoon today. Whatever the opinion of the new governor, the courtesy must still be considerate, so after noon this day the crowd was waiting at the west gate.

It's just that this day is really not beautiful, and the rain has not stopped since the morning, which makes the body of a cadre of officials who have been waiting in the rain for nearly an hour almost soaked, and now it looks really embarrassing.

"Lord Fantai, do you think our Lord Futai will deliberately slow down the trip here, so as to give us a dismount first?" At this time, an official suddenly asked Gao Qianzhong in a whisper.

These words made everyone else around them stunned, and then they all nodded thoughtfully: "Yes, our new Futai master has a lot of plans, maybe in order to deter us and others, he will really come to such a hand." ”

Gao Duzhong only thought about it for a moment, then shook his head and denied: "This is not enough." Although he has a plan here, he still doesn't know our attitude. If you give us a disgrace as soon as you come, it can certainly suppress our spirit, but it will also offend everyone. Even if he is a member of the imperial court, if he wants to succeed, it is indispensable for us subordinates and local gentry to cooperate. Don't think about it, how can Governor Lu be such a reckless person to become a high-ranking official at such a young age? ”

These words made several other important officials nod in unison, but everyone's faces did not improve much because of this. The purpose of Lu Jin, the governor, who came to Shandong, was already known to these local officials through various channels, and this was really not the situation they hoped to face.

After all, Shandong is not one of the three southeastern provinces, although this place is also close to the sea, but it is only a few hundred miles away from the capital, and there is the most powerful existence of the old forces here, Yan Shenggong Confucius, naturally whether it is an official, a businessman or a citizen, he does not dare to make a mistake. Not to mention smuggling at sea by taking advantage of the geographical advantages like the southeastern provinces, the people here don't even dare to go to sea to fish.

And now, Lu Zhen actually wants to open a port here to prepare for sea trade, which is really unacceptable to everyone. But they are also sent by the imperial court, and they came by the will of the Son of Heaven, can they, the court officials, still oppose it clearly?

Therefore, most of the people at the city gate at this time were quite embarrassed and entangled, and only a few merchants who were bold enough had a vision for everything to come. But this is just a heartbeat, if you ask them at this time, these people will definitely stand firmly on the side of resistance to open the sea.

"By the way, Lord Fantai only returned from Qufu yesterday, I don't know what kind of attitude there has towards this matter?" Because Ye Changfei is a martial artist, some of his words are more straightforward.

Gao Qianzhong smiled bitterly: "How can you say it clearly? Just say that everything is for us to watch, as long as we don't mess with the rules. ”

"That's to let us stop Lord Futai and make some stumbling blocks for him." Ye Changfei laughed and said, "This thing is not easy to do. ”

"Of course, it's not easy to do, so I have to look at it one step at a time." Gao Qianzhong sighed lightly. He, the political envoy of Shandong, is really a little aggrieved, because of the existence of those people in Qufu, so he has to be cautious on weekdays, and now there is a governor, it seems that he will have to be in a dilemma in the future.

After a few whispered words, everyone fell silent again, and everyone's attention returned to the flat and wide official road that stretched out in front of the city gate, waiting for the arrival of the main master.

At the end of the hour, there was finally a sound of gongs opening the road in the distance, and then the pedestrians who were still on the official road avoided and knelt down beside the road. When the people who were waiting heard this, their spirits suddenly lifted: "It's coming!" ”

The clanging of gongs and the clattering of horses' hooves drew nearer, and everyone saw a neat procession slowly approaching them. At present, there are several clean street signs, in addition to the common "avoidance" and "quiet" two cards at the front, there are also "on behalf of the day to patrol the hunt", "governor of Shandong" and "the military department of the squire" words of the brand, its momentum is really not small.

Of course, although these signs are eye-catching, they cannot compare to the shock of the more than 300 cavalrymen who follow behind. Because these three hundred knights are impressively dressed in flying fish suits and wearing embroidered spring knives at their waists, which is intimidating! Just looking at their expressionless serious faces, and the sharpness displayed by them sitting upright on the back of their horses, people give the illusion that they are killing people with sharp blades on the horse.

Even if it is now the time when the Jinyi Guards are in decline, for the magistrates and people of the Ming Dynasty, these Jinyi Guards are still extremely terrifying existences, and they are the objects they are afraid of.

The governor actually brought a three-more murderous brocade guard with him when he went to his post, which was enough to make many people feel chills. It also makes some of them secretly rejoice, fortunately their attitude is quite correct today, otherwise if they offend Lord Futai that day, I am afraid that they will really fall into the hands of Jinyiwei.

Soon, a large and richly decorated carriage also appeared in everyone's sight, and beside this carriage were four men in brocade clothes and uniforms, and from their figures and appearances, it was clear that this carriage was the center of the procession, that is, the governor's car.

After understanding this, Gao Duzhong hurriedly glanced at everyone, and then took everyone to greet him in great strides: "Shandong political envoy Gao Duzhong led the envoy Zhou Chaoxian to command Ye Changfei, and a cadre of subordinate gentry to greet Lord Futai!" ”

With his greeting, the low-hanging curtain was lifted inside, and then Lu Jin's rather young face was revealed. Although they already knew a little about Lu Jin's life, when they saw that he himself was such a young man, Gao Qianzhong and the others were obviously stunned.

It wasn't until Lin Lie, who was next to the car, stepped forward to help lift the curtain of the car, and after Lu Zhen stepped down from the carriage, everyone came back to their senses and stepped forward to salute again, saying compliments such as some adults who were really young and promising.

In the face of these flattering words, Lu Zhen just smiled indifferently, and then returned the salute: "You are exaggerating, this official can have today is just some luck and fortunate thanks to His Majesty's trust." However, it is precisely because of this that the official feels a heavy responsibility, and he came to Shandong this time to repay the grace of God. I hope that all of you and your elders can work with me to govern Shandong well and live up to Your Majesty's trust and trust. ”

"This is natural, and I will take the lead of Lord Futai from now on." Gao Qianzhong hurriedly said on behalf of everyone. The others also said that they would definitely obey the orders of the governor and make Shandong go on the road to prosperity and strength.

After greeting each other and praising each other a few words, Gao Duan Zhongcai said: "Please also invite Lord Futai to enter the city, we have already set up a banquet for you in the Luwei Pavilion in the city, and I hope that the Lord will not refuse." ”

"Thank you for your kindness, I'm ashamed to accept it." Lu Zhen didn't refuse, and responded with a smile. These are all ordinary entertainment in officialdom, and since everyone is ready to do it, it is naturally not good for him not to give this face.

Therefore, the officials and gentry gathered around Lu Jin's carriage, followed a group of Qin cha guards into Jinan City, and followed the main road into the city to the five-story Luwei Pavilion in the center of the city.

This restaurant is the most famous and high-end restaurant in the whole city of Jinan, and it is naturally full of friends on weekdays. But today, the building was silent, and there were no guests, because this place had already been chartered by the government today, and only their guests were entertained.

And this large group of people came along the street, which naturally attracted the attention of many people in the city. When they saw the banner of Lu Jin, the governor, the people were even more discussed.

Among them, there were several stout men with strange colors in their eyes, and after glancing at each other, they turned around and went into the side alleys.