Not far from the gate of the guardhouse, Xu Baolu and Wen Xun found that Li Demao was already waiting there.

Although this Li Demao is a lot old, he is old and fine. It is estimated that he is very clear about the situation of the health center, and it is difficult to say it in front of everyone, and when he goes to the health center, he knows that it is muddy water, so he simply deduces that he is sick.

Xu Baolu was relieved, and when Li Xianling approached, he deliberately said with a straight face: "You monkey spirit, you slipped away quite fast." ”

"The old man is so clever, after all, he still can't escape the eyes of the two." Li Demao hurriedly saluted, and said with a smile: "The county government has prepared a room, although it is not as generous as Wang Xing's family, but it is better to be clean, how about the two officials stay in the old man's house tonight?" ”

Xu Baolu originally planned to go to the county government to live temporarily, and waited for this Li Demao to invite. First, the county government is the property of the emperor, and no one dares to gossip when he lives in it; Second, Li Demao is his subordinate, and he seems rusty when he lives elsewhere.

Everyone understands people, and it seems a bit pretentious for him to handle Li Demao again, so he asked Wen Xun with a side smile: "Brother, how about we go to fight him tonight?" ”

"Brother Xu, don't make fun of him, I'm afraid he won't be able to hang up with an old face later." Wen Xun also joked on the side.

"Well, punish him for drinking a few more glasses of wine, and see if he dares to slip away next time."

"Haha......"

…………

When I arrived at the county office, it was not yet the time of application. At this time, it was still early before dinner time, and it was too hot to go out.

Xu and Wen got up on the third watch day today, and they were a little sleepy at this point, so they went back to their rooms to make up for sleep. When I woke up, the sun had begun to set in the west.

Li Demao ordered the family to prepare a meal early, and after the two of them dressed their faces with cold water, they were led to a secluded courtyard.

The yard occupies a small area, but an old lychee tree grows next to the courtyard wall, blocking most of the sunlight in the yard. There is a pavilion under the tree, and a stone table and stone bench are placed under the pavilion, and the arrangement is quite elegant. On the stone table, five or six dishes have been arranged, most of which are seafood and vegetarian dishes.

After the three of them sat down, Xu Baolu pointed to a small plate in front of him and asked, "What kind of food is this, it's the same as ink." ”

"The name of this thing is soy sauce, and when you stir-fry vegetables, you can put a little color on it, and when you eat seafood, you can dip it in a little and eat it better. It is said that this is a show in Guanhai City made by chance, and only then did he get ten altars, all of which were sold to Guanhai Tower. I ate it once, and I felt that the flavor was excellent, so I asked for a jar. ”

Xu Baolu peeled a shrimp, dipped it lightly in the dish and put it in his mouth, and after tasting it, he couldn't help but praise: "It tastes really good." This show is really capable, and he actually made such a magical thing. ”

Wen Xun tasted it and praised it.

This soy sauce is made by money. He only knew the general idea, so he tried a few times before he succeeded. However, this thing is the most wasteful food. He made a total of fifteen altars, and sold ten altars to Guanhailou, and each altar got twenty taels of silver. Since then, he has also had a small amount of savings.

When the wine was half-drunk, Xu Baolu opened his mouth and said: "Although Guanhaiwei has won a great victory this time, this official is even more chilling than losing the battle. The sergeants are uneven, and the armament is not of great use. In case there is another enemy one day, it is strange that Guan Haiwei will not suffer defeat. ”

Li Demao replied: "The two Shangguan, today the old man also boldly said a few fair words. The old man has served as the county magistrate of five counties, and now the situation of other health centers is not much better. Since Emperor Gaozu set the world, there has been no war in the southern guard for a long time, and the officers of the guard post have changed their methods to occupy the military households. Nowadays, half of the military households in each guard house are considered good. ”

Although Xu Baolu knew that the situation of the guard was not optimistic, he also wanted to hear how Li Xianling explained, so he asked: "My Great Chen Empire established the country with civil and martial arts, and there are more than 2 million officers and soldiers in the border defense and local guard stations, so it would be good to have one million according to you?" ”

"The situation in Jingying and the border towns may be better, but the situation in the southern health center is even more serious. The military households that remain in Guanhaiwei are also exploited by the officers in every way, or they are heavily taxed, or they serve in private service, and now everyone is proud to get rid of the military. If the people of the city have a daughter who marries a military family, they will be laughed at by everyone. Li Demao sighed.

Wen Xun next to him couldn't help but ask: "Then where did the more than 5,000 people who watched Haiwei come from today?" ”

"Of course, they came back only after paying, and some of them were full. The soldiers who fled had to support their families, and they had already made their own living, and who would come back if the guards didn't pay money? In normal times, it is rare for the health center to pay a military salary once a year, but this Wang Xing has never opened his mouth with me. Guanhai City's annual retention (1), almost fifty percent of which was given to this Wang Xing. Li Demao said.

"In your opinion, the food and salary of these fleeing military households were swallowed by Wang Xing?" Wen Xun asked.

"Not exactly. The old man learned that Wang Xing was only a thousand households more than ten years ago, and now he is already the commander of the third grade. Guan Haiwei has not fought for a long time, where did he get so many military exploits. There's a lot going on. Li County Ling replied.

When Xu and Wen heard this, they both understood in their hearts that Li Demao was insinuating that Zhang Dusi had a meritorious role in sheltering.

Wen Xun couldn't help but shoot the case and said: "In this case, this official has to participate in this Wang Xing's book." ”

Xu Baolu shook his head, signaled him to be calm, and said: "Brother, as Li County Ling said, now this guard is like a hornet's nest, whoever stabs him is unlucky. I'm going to go to Kyoto, so let's wait until I report to Li Shoufu before making a decision. ”

At this time, Li Demao's housekeeper ran over and said that Wang Xing wanted to see him.

Xu Baolu really didn't have a good temper with Wang Xing, so he said with a dark face at the moment: "I don't see it, I will be angry when I see this guy." The butler stood on one side, not knowing what to say in reply.

"Let's go for the old man." Li Demao was afraid that the housekeeper would not be able to deal with it, after all, Wang Xing was a third-grade official.

After Li Demao left the courtyard, Xu Baolu poured a glass of wine and drank it himself, and scolded: "I can't write this newspaper today." ”

Wen Xun helped him fill up the wine, and he filled it himself, and said, "Brother Xu is worried about the world, I am not as good as you in this regard." ”

Xu Baolu also raised his wine glass and saluted, and said: "Brother, you have your difficulties, you can put aside this Wang Xing matter for the time being, and the matter of Xunlingtang and Lingmei is important." ”

"There is a vast sea of people, how can it be so easy to find, and it is difficult to say whether it is still in the world now." Wen Xun had a melancholy look on his face.

Xu Baolu pondered for a moment and said, "Don't be discouraged, brother, Jiren has his own nature." When Ling Zun was imprisoned, you were demoted to Guilin Mansion as a post man, it is estimated that Ling Tang and Ling Mei were lost on the way to find you, and the elder brother might as well follow this route to find it. ”

"I have checked the yellow books of household registration in several prefectures and counties along the line, but there are still no clues." Moon Xun sighed.

Xu Baolu and Wen Xun were originally close friends, and the two of them secretly supported each other when the three divisions were interrogated, and Xu Baolu's teacher Li Shoufu and Wen Xun's father Wen Tianzheng also had a deep relationship, so it was needless to say that the friendship was needless to say. Seeing that his friend was in a bad mood, Xu Baolu changed the topic and asked, "How is Ling Zun's health now?" ”

"Although there is no serious illness, it is inconvenient to walk, and there are many hidden diseases in the body, and the pain all over the body is unbearable every rainy day." Wen Xun replied.

Xu Baolu listened and comforted: "Ling Zun will not die, and there will be blessings in the future." ”

"After the Eighteen Bachelor's case, if it weren't for the teacher's many ways to take care of him, I am afraid that my father would have died in Zhao Prison. My father often admonished me that we should not forget our roots. Wen Xun looked up at the sky and said sadly: "It's hateful that this eunuch has deep roots and killed so many loyal ministers and good generals." ”

Xu Baolu raised his glass to the sky and said, "Respect the heroic spirit." ”

"To the Heroic Spirit." Wen Xun also raised his glass and agreed.

The two of them drank the wine in their glasses.

At this time, Li Demao had already returned to the courtyard, and Wang Xing had been sent away by his clever words.

Li Demao raised his wine glass and toasted Xu and Wen respectively, and said, "Two Shangguan, this Guanhaiwei is not all mediocre. For example, this Niu Er had followed the emperor to fight the northern barbarians before, and like this commander Wei Xun, this person did have several talents, but he had no foundation in the court, so he didn't do much. ”

Xu Baolu heard that Li County's order had the intention of protecting this Weixun, so he persuaded: "Although Li County's order is a good intention, if I mention Weixun's merits in the report, it will hurt him." Let's let him be wronged for a while. ”

"Guanhai City is the gateway to our dynasty in the South Seas, and if there is a stranger, it will bear the brunt. Wang Xing is a wine bag and rice bag, unreliable. If there is another enemy one day, I am afraid that the old man will have to lead the more than 100 officials to fight. Li Demao said sadly.

Seeing this, Xu Baolu comforted him: "Li County Order is patient for the time being, and Wen Tisi and I will not sit idly by." You've had a busy day, so go get some rest early. ”

"That's good. The two superiors can only give orders if they need anything. "Li Demao is already old, and his spirit is really not very good.

So they went every man to his house.

Note: (1) Retention: After the local government collects the money and grain tax, it will withhold part of the salaries of officials, the salaries of the health centers and other expenses, which is called retention.