Tong Yangjia and Tong Tuchang ate late in Wanghailou, and neither of them brought their families with them when they came to Qiongzhou, so Tong Tuchang had no scruples, and came directly to the back house with Tong Yangjia.

There are also a few servants in the house, and when they saw the new master coming, they were busy greeting the new master.

Tong Yangjia and Tong Tuchang came to the study of the back house and waited for the servants to serve tea and go out. Tong Tuchang said: "Second uncle, I think that fellow acquaintance seems to have some opinions about you. ”

Tong Yangjia has been wandering on the rivers and lakes for more than 20 years, so he can't see Lu Shiyuan's dissatisfaction. Tong Yangjia said: "It may be that we are here to take his position." ”

Tong Tuchang asked, "What should I do then?" Without the help of local officials, it was difficult for the King of Chu to complete his task on time. ”

Tong Yangjia said: "Chang'er, the task of the King of Chu must be completed on time, this is the close asset of our grandfather." We are lonely, how can we fight with the Ma family if we have no credit? ”

Tong Tuchang bowed his head and did not speak after being reprimanded.

Tong Yangjia continued: "Two months, the time is very tight, Chang'er, you will go outside the city tomorrow to organize craftsmen to prepare." ”

Tong Tuchang nodded and asked, "Second uncle, what about the ship?" The ships patrolling the sea have all gone back to pick up the troops. ”

Tong Yangjia said: "Don't worry about this matter, you have to organize craftsmen and set off in three days." ”

Tong Yangjia thought a lot in his heart, and he was the weakest among the four strategists of the King of Chu. The Ma family's power is too strong, and this time it is a good opportunity to come to Qiongzhou. The local officials in Qiongzhou are far away from the mainland, and they don't know the Ma family at all, so they can just take them for their own use.

Tong Yangjia has already planned to have a showdown with that fellow acquaintance Lu Shiyuan tomorrow, and all government affairs will be handed over to him, anyway, his main task in Qiongzhou Mansion is iron mines. As long as the iron mine is completed, the king of Chu will be happy, and the promotion will be a matter of minutes.

The next day, Tong Yangjia sent a servant to the front to find Lu Shiyuan, a fellow acquaintance.

Lu Shiyuan entered the room and bowed his hand, saying, "I don't know what Lord Tong is looking for." ”

Tong Yangjia said with a smile: "This is in the back house, how old is Tong Mou, Yuanjia just calls me brother." ”

Lu Shiyuan was surprised when he heard Tong Yangjia say this. In his heart, he felt that the new prefect should be the first to stand up.

Lu Shiyuan arched his hand and said: "Since Brother Ziyi has a life, then it will be in Xia Tanyue." ”

Tong Yangjia Lian said that it would be better to let the servant bring tea, and talk to this Lu Shiyuan first.

It turned out that this Lu Shiyuan was born as a serious jinshi, and he was much stronger than Tong Yangjia. But Lu Shiyuan is only a third-class jinshi, and he and Wei Zhongxian are fellow villagers in Suning, Hebei. Therefore, after Chongzhen was admitted to the Jinshi for three years, he was assigned to the end of the earth as a magistrate.

This Lu Shiyuan's personal ability is also very strong, from the Thanksgiving County Order, to the Wenchang County Order, in Yazhou Zhizhou, and finally promoted to Qiongzhou Tongzhi. This is also a history of struggle for a small strong.

Tong Yangjia couldn't help but sigh when he heard Lu Tongzhi's history of struggle. It seems that there are still people in the DPRK who are good officials. He is just a showman, and if he has not done it for a day, he can be the prefect of the fourth grade. The Lu Shiyuan Jinshi on the opposite side was born and struggled for nearly 20 years before he could achieve the same knowledge of the five products.

After listening to Lu Shiyuan's history of struggle. Tong Yangjia said: "The virtuous brother is really a bumpy career. ”

You have to say that. Lu Shiyuan grinned bitterly.

Tong Yangjia knew that he had to talk to him about the main thing now. Tong Yangjia said: "Brother Xian, I'll tell you the truth. The foolish brother was able to sit in the position of this prefect. ”

Lu Shiyuan thought in his heart: "Then it doesn't need to be said, I already knew." But what do you mean by saying it today? ”

Tong Yangjia said: "Do you want to know whose way I went?" ”

Lu Shiyuan was stunned for a moment, it stands to reason that Tong Yangjia should not tell himself about this kind of very private matter.

Tong Yangjia didn't care about Lu Shiyuan, who was stunned, and continued: "Brother Xian may not know, Brother Fool turned out to be from Liaodong, and he was taken in by a clan when he was in Huguang and became his Mr. Xixi. Later, he came to Guangdong with him, and this clan was named the king of Chu. ”

I see. There is a new king of Chu in Guangzhou, and Lu Shiyuan knows about this big thing. I also heard that this king of Chu made a great effort when the current emperor Zhu Yousong fled, and later Zhu Yousong became the emperor, so he was named the king of Chu.

This is the deep contempt in Lu Shiyuan's heart, this Tong Yangjia, a scholar, is attached to the powerful, which is really despised.

Tong Yangjia continued: "Lord Lu should know that the price of pig iron in Guangdong has tripled this year, right? ”

Of course, Lu Shiyuan knew about this matter, and he said: "The lower officials know about this matter, and even our Qiongzhou Mansion has been implicated, and now there are no merchants in the city for half a month to transport pig iron." ”

Tong Yangjia nodded and said, "The King of Chu doesn't know where he got the news, there is a big iron mine in Qiongzhou Mansion. So I found Feng Zhitai, the governor of Liangguang, and asked the foolish brother to come to Qiongzhou as an official, that is, to mine this big iron mine. ”

Lu Shiyuan asked: "Brother Tong, forgive the younger brother for being rude, the prefect is the Sipin Huangtang, and Feng Zhitai has no right to appoint and dismiss him, right?" ”

Tong Yangjia knew that it was time to show Lu Shiyuan the bottom of the dew, so he couldn't stop him.

Tong Yangjia smiled and said, "Lord Lu, you don't know, the princess of King Chu is the concubine of the Huguang Ma family. ”

This sentence is like a bolt from the blue. The Huguang Ma family didn't know that they didn't know that they would marry their daughters to the clan. Unexpectedly, Tong Yangjia's words shocked Lu Shiyuan even more.

"His Majesty the Emperor personally decreed that the concubine of Qian Butang should be married to the King of Chu as the side princess."

Lu Shiyuan really couldn't figure it out, Qian Qianyi was a university scholar, the leader of the Donglin Party, and a talented man in Jiangnan, how could he marry his daughter to the King of Chu?

Lu Shiyuan also had a sense of powerlessness, when Tong Yangjia came yesterday, he originally wanted to pick a son for Tong Yangjia. This time, hearing Tong Yangjia say that his backstage is so strong, Lu Shiyuan felt a little helpless.

Of course, although the Ma family is outdated, its reputation in the court is still there, and Feng Zhitai is still the uncle and grandfather of the Ma family. There is also Qian Qianyi, Lao Qian is now a secretary of the ministry, not to mention a prefect of Qiongzhou, it is not impossible to get a prefect of Guangzhou.

Lu Shiyuan lowered his head and thought for a long time, sighed, stood up and said, "My lord has nothing to do, and the official has gone out." ”

Tong Yangjia was a little disheartened when he saw that Lu Shiyuan was shocked enough by himself.

Tong Yangjia said: "Brother Yuan Jiaxian, sit down first, the official still has something to say." ”

When Lu Shiyuan sat down, Tong Yangjia continued: "Brother Xian, don't do this. Brother Fool still has to rely on you to do the errand of the King of Chu well. The local political affairs are not understood, so in the future, the political affairs of the whole province will be handed over to the virtuous brother. I only take care of the iron ore errand of the king of Chu. ”

Tong Yangjia's true confession brought Lu Shiyuan's dead heart back to life, and he said: "But adults are prefects." ”

Tong Yangjia smiled and said: "Don't hide it from the virtuous brother, when the foolish brother came, the king of Chu said that as long as the iron ore matter is done well, it will be possible for the political envoy to be the one in the future." And the virtuous brother didn't find out why you have been wandering around in this Qiongzhou Mansion for nearly 20 years? ”

Lu Shiyuanxin said: "Do you still need to ask?" There's no one up there. ”

Tong Yangjia said: "My brother will run the iron mine well, and the virtuous brother will help my brother handle political affairs, will the King of Chu still not be able to discover the great talent of the virtuous brother?" ”

Lu Shiyuan was thrilled by Tong Yangjia's words, yes, he can attach himself to the King of Chu, and I can also enter the eyes of the King of Chu if I do it well.

But Lu Shiyuan still has a bit of a literati reserve in his heart, and he feels that it is not good to be attached to the powerful.

Tong Yangjia is now forty-eight years old and has been living in the rivers and lakes for more than 20 years, where he still doesn't know what Lu Shiyuan thinks, and feels like adding fuel to his fire. Tong Yangjia said: "The virtuous brother is full of poetry and books, and I have never heard what Deng Juan of the Song Dynasty said, "Laugh and scold you, a good official must be done by me." "This sentence?"

Lu Shiyuan was stunned, yes, he has no backstage, he has only been on this island for nearly twenty years, and he is forty-five this year, and he may not have a chance in the future if he doesn't seize this opportunity.

Lu Shiyuan made up his mind, stood up and bowed: "As soon as the adults turn over their words, they are like being empowered, and the lower officials will listen to the arrangements of the adults." ”

Seeing that he had subdued the largest local official in Qiongzhou Prefecture, Tong Yangjia was happy in his heart. said: "It's good if the virtuous brother wants to open it." I have brought more than 1,000 craftsmen with me, and I will go to mine in three days. The virtuous brother is familiar with the geography of Qiongzhou Mansion, and I just asked the virtuous brother to introduce the situation of Qiongzhou Mansion. ”