At noon the next day, Sun Yueling finished handling half a day's official duties, and his tired feet were sore and his legs were swollen. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

It had been a long time since the Donglin Party had been deposed, and he had participated in three meetings in the yamen this morning. Among them, there are those related to the internal restraint and discipline of the yamen, there are also reports on the effectiveness of the work of the Zhang, Quan, and other sub-patrols, and there are also those that formulate the results of dealing with some of the thieves who have been caught.

As soon as he stood up and moved his waist, Dongfang Shengping walked in and said to him: "My lord, Xu Xinsu is here, and he is waiting for the adult outside the yamen, saying that he wants to pick up the adult to go to the meeting." ”

Sun Yueling nodded and said, "Let's go, let's go out." "Since he became the leader of the Yamen of the Judges, there is nothing else, but there are a lot of entertainments, either local officials and gentlemen are invited to banquets, or businessmen and magnates are invited, which tires him enough.

As a member of the party to maintain law and order, he is not always invited, but has a choice. Some banquets that are inconsequential or related to the case can be postponed, while some important people and things have to be gone and seen.

For example, the master of this Aotian Gate, Ao Fuyong, he can't avoid it.

Out of the yamen, I saw that Xu Xinsu was already waiting there, and when he saw him coming, he hurriedly stepped forward and smiled: "My lord, the doorman will come to pick up the adult, please board the car." "Then I lifted the curtain of the carriage for him.

Sun Yueling said: "Lord Xu Helm has worked hard and has commendable ambition!" "This Xu Xinsu, wherever he is there, not only has a good relationship with the local government yamen, but is also relied on by Aotianmen as the backbone, which can be said to be a lot of ability.

Xu Xinsu said with a smile: "The adults are laughing, where is the small one comparable to the adult, you have every opportunity, and you are loyal to the country." ”

Sun Yueling smiled faintly and boarded the carriage.

The carriage drove out and headed for East Avenue in the east direction of the city.

The general rudder of Aotianmen is located in the East Street, adjacent to the Seaview Gate, and you can go directly to Lianjiang and Min'an when you go out of the East Gate, which is also the traffic point in Fuzhou City.

Came to the foot of the steps outside the helmsman of the Aotian Gate, the master of the Aotian Gate, Ao Fuyong, had been waiting for a long time, and when he saw them coming, he hurriedly greeted them, shouting in his mouth, and bowed down.

When Sun Yueling saw it, he saw that this Ao Fuyong was thin and his cheeks were pale, and he really had a weak physique. Behind Ao Fuyong stood two people, one of them was tall and thin, his face was covered with criss-crossing folds, and his hair was like snow, which was the Ao Tianxing he had seen in the city of Nanjing before; The other was a butler, dressed in a black robe, and looked quite calm.

Ao Tianxing and the housekeeper both bowed to him, Sun Yueling bowed back, and smiled at Ao Tianxing: "Mr. Ao, I haven't seen you for a long time, do you remember me?" ”

Ao Tianxing smiled reluctantly and said, "Naturally, I remember that after Nanjing was in a hurry, my deceased wife mentioned you many times. ”

Sun Yueling was stunned in his heart, and his face couldn't help showing a puzzled look. The deceased wife, who is it, could it be that Sister Juan back then?

Seeing his expression, Ao Tianxing added: "The deceased wife is the one who the adults in Nanjing City saw back then. ”

Sun Yueling understood, his heart shook, and he sighed: "Sister Juan, she ...... Passed away? ”

Ao Tianxing showed a sad look on his face, and said: "Yes, she has always had heart disease, and the year before last she finally went to ...... because she couldn't survive."

As soon as these words fell, the atmosphere became a little heavy. Sun Yueling also took a closer look at Ao Tianxing, and saw that the heroic scholar with a flying demeanor had become extremely haggard, obviously because of the death of his beloved wife, he still hasn't let go.

Xu Xinsu saw that the atmosphere was a little wrong, and hurriedly smiled: "Lord Sun's visit to Aotianmen is a very honorable thing for us Aotianmen, so why bother to say something that is disappointing." Today, we should pay a good respect to Lord Sun, and we will not get drunk and go home. ”

As soon as he said this, Ao Fuyong also laughed, and said: "That's it, I didn't expect that Lord Sun and the third uncle have long been old friends, and today the adults deign to appreciate their faces, and the third uncle must accompany Lord Sun well." ”

Ao Tianxing smiled: "That's nature. ”

While talking, everyone entered the inner courtyard of Aotianmen.

After settling down in the living room of Zhongjin, all kinds of fine dishes were served like flowing water, and in a fusion atmosphere, the guests and hosts toasted separately, and the scene became more and more lively.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Ao Fu Yong said to Sun Yueling: "My lord, we Ao Tianmen have always been doing business in the coastal area, and our business scope is as far as overseas countries. But in recent years, the red hairy fans of the West and the Netherlands, and the pirate gangs attached to Japan have come to the coast of Fujian, looting and causing trouble in the towns and villages. If the adults are sent, although we are not talented, we are willing to help. ”

Aotianmen is one of the four major business families in the world, and its prestige was reverberated in the world. can be passed on to his generation, because he has been sick since he was a child, his body is weak, and he can't practice martial arts, so Aotianmen is getting worse. In this situation, he saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart. Although he is not proficient in martial arts, his ambition is very high, and it is his lifelong ideal to revive the prestige of Aotianmen, and he does not want to see the glorious Aotianmen fall in his hands from now on.

So, although he was shallow and affectionate, Ao Fuyong couldn't help but tell Sun Yueling all the words in his heart.

Sun Yueling smiled faintly and said: "Don't worry, one of the purposes of this official's coming to Fujian this time is to suppress these pirates who are causing trouble in the sea frontier. ”

As soon as the words fell, Xu Xinsu echoed: "What the door master said is that in the eyes of these Yi people and pirates, there is still no Ming official mansion, and there is no Ming water master, who does not know whether they are alive or dead, and disturbs the sea frontier again and again, it is really unreasonable!" After a while, he said, "It's really thanks to Lord Sun that I have taken a few of the leaders of the Twenty-Eight Kou, hmph, I believe that as long as Lord Sun is in Fujian for a day, these twenty-eight Haikou will definitely die without a place to be buried." ”

Unexpectedly, Ao Tianxing snorted heavily in his nostrils when he heard this, and said to Xu Xinsu: "Twenty-eight Kou? If you hadn't provoked them, would they have attacked our merchant ships repeatedly? Don't think I don't know, all the bad reputations of Yan Siqi and his gang are due to you! ”

Xu Xinsu's face changed when he heard this, and he said to Ao Tianxing: "Proud Protector, what are you talking about?" What is the helmsman doing, is there anything that is not for the benefit of Aotianmen, could it be that Yan Siqi and his gang want to cut off our livelihood and kill our brothers, so we don't care about the advisors and let them do it? ”

Ao Tianxing was obviously not an instigator, and said angrily when he heard this: "Xu Xinsu, don't think that you have a large number of people on your ship, so you can not obey the dispatch of the chief rudder. I have repeatedly asked you not to provoke Yan Siqi and the others, but you have to be their enemy, what is the result? Our fleet has suffered heavy losses, and many of our brothers have died, all because of you! If you hadn't persecuted Yan Siqi too much, he wouldn't have taken the risk and made enemies of the government! ”

Xu Xinsu couldn't bear it, stood up suddenly, and shouted at Ao Tianxing: "Who is Yan Siqi, he is just a thief, I am just following the deployment of the imperial court and cooperating with Yu Dashuai to conquer him, is this wrong?" Are we just watching these pirates wreak havoc on the people and do nothing? Turning to Sun Yueling, he said, "Master Sun, you give a comment to see if what I said is right?" ”

Ao Tianxing saw Xu Xinsu standing up, without showing weakness at all, he also stood up and said to him: "Are you really trying to exterminate pirates?" I see that you are clearly trying to control the trade of the entire coastal area under the guise of suppressing the cowards. Hmph, you said that Yan Siqi is a pirate, but how good is your Xu Xinsu's background? Have you forgotten that you were also a homeless wanderer wandering around the islands? Raiding homes and robbing houses, plundering seafood, what do you do less than Yan Siqi? Yan Siqi has always had a good reputation and credit in the Minhai area, you are narrow-minded, jealous of others, and forced to be a coward! ”

Ao Fuyong saw that they were arguing in front of Sun Yueling, and hurriedly persuaded: "Don't say it, don't quarrel, can you say a few words?" You'd better listen to Master Sun's opinion first, right? ”

When Sun Yueling saw this situation, he was secretly surprised in his heart. In this way, the contradiction between Ao Tianxing and Xu Xinsu has reached a hot point, and it is obvious that they can't tolerate each other, otherwise they won't quarrel directly in front of him, an outsider. From Ao Tianxing's words, it was known that he was not in favor of killing Yan Siqi and his gang, while Xu Xinsu, on the contrary, was eager to cut Yan Siqi and his gang with a thousand knives.

Regardless of whether Xu Xinsu is sincere in suppressing the Kou, or selfishly monopolizing trade, he stands in the position of the judge's yamen, and naturally cannot allow pirates to cause trouble along the coast. ”

When Xu Xinsu heard this, his face was full of smugness, and he said to Ao Tianxing: "You heard it, Lord Sun has already spoken, it is impossible to let go of those pirate gangs who are causing trouble to the people!" ”

Ao Tianxing suppressed the breath in his heart, turned to Sun Yueling and said: "Lord Sun, you don't know something, that Yan Siqi is not a thief along the coast at all, but a downright person who values love and righteousness......"

"Aotianxing!" Xu Xinsu screamed angrily, and was about to say, "You actually helped the pirate to speak, do you still have Master Sun in your eyes?" I think you're clearly colluding with pirates and plotting against them! ”

Sun Yueling raised his hand to stop Xu Xinsu from shouting, and said, "Let him finish speaking!" ”

Ao Tianxing took a deep breath and said to Sun Yueling: "My lord, I don't hide it, I knew this Yan Siqi more than ten years ago, although the friendship is not deep, but from what he has always done, it can be inferred that this person is not a despicable and cunning person, but a heroic and upright temperament. After a pause, he said, "Anyone who has stayed in Fujian for many years should know, when did Yan Siqi do the business of plundering merchant ships, and when did he do anything to cause trouble to the township?" ”

Looking around at the people present, he said resolutely: "Not only did he not do it, but Yan Siqi donated his furniture to relieve the victims in the year of repeated droughts and famines in Fujian. ”

As soon as he said this, many people, including the head of the Ao family, nodded frequently, obviously believing his words. (To be continued.) )