The carriage stopped at the gate of the Song Mansion, and the old man who drove the carriage waited patiently for his employer to get on the car. Zhao Yuanzhen stretched out his hand to straighten Song Ting's clothes, took out a stack of silver tickets, stuffed them into the purse around his waist, squeezed his hand gently, and said goodbye: "Xianggong, go goodbye, you must take care of your body."

Song Ting stretched out his right hand, hooked his index finger, scratched the wing of her nose, and said with a smile: "I will have a rest every month, and I will come back to see you when the time comes." So are you, take good care of yourself. You're still weak, don't forget to eat more ginseng soup......"

The two of them talked to me and me for a while, although Zhao Yuanzhen was reluctant, but she had to let go, and said with a forced smile: "Xianggong, you go."

At this time, there were three daughters standing at the door, Youjian, Snow Goose, and Qingzhu, but Xiaoman was nowhere to be seen. Song Ting walked in front of Youjian, she held the sword in her arms, although her eyes were cold, her words were gentle: "I know what you have to say, you don't need to say more, you can leave with confidence, I will take good care of the princess."

"Thank you." Song Ting clenched his fists and bowed.

"Don't mother-in-law, get out of ......" Youjian said impatiently, his pretty face was frosty, and he wanted to say the word "roll", but he felt that it was inappropriate, and he paused slightly, and said, "Hurry up!"

Song Ting got into the carriage, and the burden was already on the car, and the burden contained a lot of candied fruits and the like, all of which were for him to eat on the road. He lowered his head and touched the bulging purse, and looked at the food, his heart was hot, and he was a little reluctant.

The carriage had not gone a few steps before it stopped, and he lifted the curtain to see that at the corner of the alley stood a pretty girl with a burden on her shoulders, with bright eyes and bright teeth, looking forward to the brilliance, she waved her white wrist vigorously, but did not call.

After she got into the carriage, Song Ting lowered the curtain and asked suspiciously, "Xiaoman, what are you?"

As soon as Xiao Man put down his burden, as soon as he sat down, he picked up a banana, tore the skin with his hand, opened his cherry mouth and took a bite, muttering indistinctly: "Princess...... Let me...... Together...... Woohoo......"

Song Ting snatched the banana from her hand and said with a slight annoyance: "I know how to eat, can I make it clear before eating?"

Xiao Man chewed the banana in his mouth for a long time, swallowed it in his stomach, and then grinned: "The princess asked me to go to Yongtai with you, and let me serve you."

Hearing her say this, Song Ting thought in his heart: This time I went to Yongtai to be a master, although it was inconvenient to bring a female dependent. But without Xiaoman, she is really not used to it, especially when she gets up early in the morning, she helps comb her hair. I'm used to being served, and I'm really a little inseparable from her.

Facing Xiao Man's stunned gaze, Song Ting stuffed the banana she had eaten into his own mouth, chewed it, swallowed it into his stomach, and then said, "It's not impossible for you to follow me." But when you get over there, you have to listen to me, you know? ”

Xiao Man nodded like a chicken pecking rice, and said, "Xiao Man understands!" Everything is under the orders of the horse master! ”

"When you get to Yongtai, you can't call me Master Ma again." Song Ting said with a slight annoyance.

"Then what should I call the horse master?" Xiao Man's eyes blinked, and he asked suspiciously.

"Call me...... Just call me Uncle. ”

"Okay, Master Pony."

"Huh?"

"Yes, uncle."

After the two discussed some things, the carriage had already left Yangzhou City and headed southwest.

Along the way, Xiaoman chattered non-stop, although the road was bumpy, but there was beauty, and Song Ting did not feel tired and hard. In the afternoon, when it was close to unitary, the carriage finally entered the county seat of Yongtai.

Yongtai County is not more prosperous than Yangzhou City, and the roads are not as spacious as Yangzhou City. The streets here are cramped, pedestrians are crowded, and there are many people called Hanako on the streets; The houses are dense, but there is no pattern, the chic courtyards of large families and the tiled houses of ordinary people are mixed together, a mess, and there are even thatched huts full of them.

There is only one street in Yongtai County, and you will go straight south along the street to the entrance of the county office.

Song Ting got out of the car with Xiaoman and paid for the car. At this time, the sun has reached the West Mountain, and it is not far from the evening, Xiaoman carried the burden, looked around with the lotus canopy, and said three times, "Tut...... Oh uncle, it's too poor and remote here. ”

Song Ting didn't answer, looked up, and saw that above the gate of the county ya, there was a golden plaque with four big characters of "Yongtai County Ya". The gate pier is set at the gate, and on both sides of the door, there are two stone lions, which are majestic and lifelike; The drum of grievances is set up next to the stone lion on the right, and the drum of grievances is set up under the monument, and Song Ting led Xiaoman to look closer, only to see the words on the stele clearly, which is written as "false accusation plus three grades", "five hundred flogging" and so on.

There were two soap class officials standing in front of the gate of the county ya, and when they saw Song Ting and Xiaoman coming forward, one of them said: "The county government hall, no trespassing!" Another said: "If you want to sue, today is not the time, come every three, six, or nine!"

Song Ting was stunned for a moment, then took out the letter from the prefect Wu Kui, and told the two that he had come to find the prefect Wu Ruxiong after the prefect's intentions. As soon as the two of them heard that they were ordered by the prefect, they didn't dare to slack off anymore, and immediately called Menzi out.

Menzi led Song Ting and Xiaoman to enter the county government gate, but suddenly stopped, explaining that the female dependents could not enter the hall, and they would wait in the women's room in the backyard first. Song Ting let Xiao Man go to the backyard with that doorman.

After Menzi took Xiaoman to the backyard and came out, he continued to lead Song Ting into the second hall, and when he arrived at the door of the signing room, Song Ting saw a sign erected in front of the door, which read, "Idlers stop". Menzi asked Song Ting to stand outside the door and wait for him to go in to report.

In the signing room, Wu Ruxiong was playing chess with a middle-aged scribe at this time. Menzi went in and whispered a report, and after listening to the report, Wu Ruxiong said to the middle-aged scribe: "Scribe Zhong, go down here first today." The middle-aged scribe knew that the county lord had something to do, so he consciously got up and saluted and retired.

That Wu Ruxiong was obese, with a fat head and big ears, a round face and a leprosy beard, wearing a green seven-grade official uniform, wearing a long-winged hat, and the official uniform was painted with flower and bird patterns. He invited Song Ting into the signing room, his eyes narrowed into a slit with a smile, like Maitreya Buddha.

Song Ting showed him the letter from the prefect Wu Kui, he opened the prefect Wu Kui's handwritten letter, and after reading the letter, he said with a smile: "Since it was the clan uncle who asked you to come, then I will appoint you as the master of the criminal name." As for the monthly money...... Two stones per month, four thousand yuan, as for the rest...... I'll talk about it later, anyway, follow me, the benefits are great! After speaking, the smile on his face became sly, and he patted Song Ting's right shoulder with his thick and fat right hand.

After receiving the award, Song Ting immediately thanked him.

As the name suggests, "Xing Ming" refers to Xing Punishment and Xing Law, and "Master" is a staff member, who has no grade or rank, and is not in the stream, in fact, he has an employment relationship with the master, so Wu Ruxiong can set the monthly money of the Song Dynasty in one bite. The monthly money is 4,000 wen, and there are two stones of rice, this kind of treatment is definitely preferential, not to mention, there are other benefits and subsidies.

Before being admitted to the Jinshi, it is actually not bad to be able to get a master's career, and in history, Li Hongzhang, Lin Zexu and other big figures have also been masters. The master can advise the master, draft documents, draft the recital, handle the file, approve the cut, participate in the secret, and liaise with the officialdom...... And so on, it can even be said that as long as you can gain the trust of the master, it is actually equivalent to holding great power, and one or two sentences can decide the case, and even determine the life and death of people.

Although the name of "Master Xingu" is not as good as that of "Master Qiangu", after all, "Master Qiangu" is in charge of money, grain, taxation, etc., but the influence of "Master Xingming" is much greater than that of "Master Qiangu".

Song Ting naturally did not dislike the position of "Master of Criminal Name", but felt that it was better than "Master Qiangu", what he was not good at was managing money, and the money in the family was handed over to the princess's wife, and he would feel a headache if he was asked to manage money.

"By the way, you don't have a place to live yet, do you? Do you bring your family with you? Wu Ruxiong suddenly asked.

"I brought only one servant." Song Ting replied.

"Oh......" Wu Ruxiong twisted his leprosy beard and muttered for a moment, and then said: "In this way, there is a chic courtyard next to the sixth room, which is a little smaller, but it is more than enough for two people to live." I'll let Cao Zhutou take you over in a moment. ”

"Thank you, Lord Prefectural." Song Tingyi said.

"Thank you," Wu Ruxiong patted him on the shoulder again, and said with a smile: "Take care of your own people, you should ...... By the way, tonight I will call Master Ding, Shi County Lieutenant, Ye Dianshi, Zhong Shuyi, and Cao Zhutou to pick up the wind and wash the dust for you. You should follow Cao Zhutou around now, get familiar with the environment, and then we will have dinner together in the evening. ”

Wu Ruxiong immediately called Cao Zhutou and asked him to take Song Ting to the small courtyard to settle down first, and then lead him around.

Cao Zhutou walked into the signing room. Song Ting saw that he was tall and burly, with a little black mole between his eyebrows, a fierce face, and fierce eyes, and his glaring made people feel frightened. But his words were very respectful, and when he came in and listened to Wu Ruxiong's instructions, he immediately hugged his fists at Song Ting: "Master Song!" Then, the two exchanged a few words, and Song Ting learned that his name was Cao Bin.

Song Ting came out of the signing room with Cao Bin, and after leaving the second hall, Cao Bin was going to take him directly to the small courtyard, but Song Ting went to the women's room in the backyard first and picked up Xiaoman.

That Cao Bin couldn't help but be stunned when he saw that Xiao Man was so delicate, Xiao Man looked at Cao Bin like a fierce look, and was so frightened that he took two steps back. Cao Bin immediately clenched his fists and said very humbly: "Cao is really embarrassed to scare the girl."

Song Tinglian said a few words that it was okay, stepped forward and took Xiaoman's hand, softly comforted a few words, and the three of them went to the small courtyard together. The small courtyard is on the west side of the six rooms, and a bayberry plant and a few clusters of small bamboos are planted in front of the door, which is lush and green, and it is also elegant.

The so-called six rooms refer to the six rooms corresponding to the six departments, such as officials, households, rites, soldiers, xing, and workers, and the six rooms perform their own duties and assist the county order in managing many affairs in the county.

A county-level unit, the county order is the number one, but a county is so big, there are many affairs, just a county order, it is impossible to cover everything, and many small departments such as six rooms, three shifts, the whole team is at least one or two hundred people, this is to undertake the orderly operation of a county.

In addition to the chief bookkeeper, county lieutenant, canon and other positions appointed by the imperial court, other positions such as master, head catcher, scribe, and secretary are actually called "officials", not "officials", and are appointed by the county order, which in fact has great power.

Cao Bin took a copper spoon and opened the door of the small courtyard, and the inside was clean and tidy. Song Ting put down the burden, and Xiao Man took out a thin jacket from the burden to make the bed, probably because she came to an unfamiliar environment, and she was silent a lot.

After Song Ting instructed Xiaoman about some things, he followed Cao Bin around the entire county office. The whole county government sits in the north and faces south, enters the gate, is the lobby, the second hall, the east side of the lobby is the prison room, the back of the charge room is horizontally and vertically distributed with the officials, households, rites, soldiers, Xing, workers six rooms, the west side of the six rooms is the backyard, the small courtyard, and then go deeper, and after a few courtyards, it is the prison where the prisoners are imprisoned.

It was getting late, night was coming, and I couldn't see what the scenery was, Cao Bin said: "Master Song! The county lord will set up wine in the spring breeze building tonight to catch the wind and wash the dust for you. Shall we get over here? ”

"Well, let's go." Song Ting followed him out of the gate of the county government.