When Tayinbu died in the Lutou River, the city of Guangzhou was full of lights, and he was very jubilant, and today was the 50th birthday of Bai Jia, the wife of General Hahamu of Jingnan.

Bai Jia's family didn't want to organize this birthday banquet because he had just come to Guangdong, and he didn't want to organize this birthday banquet, and Hahamu also had no intention of doing it because the Taiping army attacked Guangzhou, and the place was not quiet, but the various families under it made a fuss, saying that which of our sisters-in-law can live as long as the general's wife? Therefore, this birthday banquet must be managed, and it must be specially organized, so that all families in the city can also take advantage of the general's wife's birthday to be happy, and rush to the fatigue of the way south, so that adults and children can enjoy it once. (Author's note: Manchurian women have a very short lifespan, most of them are no more than forty.) ）

The various families under it are making a lot of trouble, Hahamu thinks about it, it is rare for Mrs. to have a fifty birthday, and I don't know if she can live to sixty, if you don't do it this time, I'm afraid there will be no next time. His husband and wife are also affectionate, so he called the house to Zhang Luo, how many congratulatory gifts to receive is secondary, the main thing is to celebrate once, after all, the big guy has traveled thousands of miles from Beijing to Guangzhou to guard the imperial court, and there is no one who is not wronged in his heart, and he took this opportunity to appease them a little.

For this reason, Hahamu specially allocated 30,000 silver to distribute to his subordinates, and they also had wine and food during the birthday banquet. Of course, the money spent is naturally not his private house of General Jingnan, and he has the official supply of Guangdong in the outer city.

General Jingnan invited guests, and this guest list was naturally exquisite, except for the leaders in the eight banners of the city and the old people over 60 in the banner, those civil and military officials in the outer city who were above the fifth grade had to be invited regardless of whether they were in the flag or not.

The most important person in the outer city is, of course, the monk Kexi, the king of Pingnan, and Li Shutai, the governor of Liangguang. All three of them belong to the Han military banner. It is also the vassal king and the governor, and the official face is bigger than Ha Ha Mu, the general of Jingnan, so the three of them are handwritten by Ha Ha Mu. The rest will be written by the master.

All the officials above the level of the two feudal clans of Ping and Jing were also invited, and those who could come must come, and those who could not come must also prepare a generous gift and send it to someone else. Xu Erxian, the chief soldier of Zhaoqing, and Wu Liuqi, the chief soldier of Chaozhou, couldn't come, but the gifts they sent made Hahamu's wife Bai Jiashi dazzled.

I received a post from Hahamu. Shang Kexi didn't say anything, so that people prepared a generous gift and went into the city before the feast. Geng Jimao said a few strange words, it was nothing more than that this hahamu was collecting money in the name of longevity. After all, the things that should be prepared are not pulled at all, and the gifts that he specially prepared by his own concubine Fujin are all first-class good objects. A single one can be worth a thousand taels of silver.

Li Shutai was very dissatisfied. First, Hahamu asked him to raise the money distributed to him, and second, at the moment of the war, the Manchurian soldiers and the Han soldiers were fighting against the Taiping Kou, but the city was holding a birthday banquet, so that the front-line soldiers would know what they would think?

But like Geng Jimao, dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, Li Shutai still prepared a generous gift, and General Jingnan Hahamu is not offended. But there is no need to offend, after all, people are really Manchurian. And he is a fake Manchurian (Han army). Besides, the war to encircle and suppress the Taiping Army also requires the cooperation of the Manchurian Eight Banners, so this face must be given, and it must be given big.

For this reason, Li Shutai specially invited his wife to attend Bai Jia's birthday banquet. His wife is the daughter of Taizu Nurhachi's brother Shuerhaqi, although Shuerhaqi was killed by Taizu because of his crime, but his daughter still loves the women of the Xinjueluo family, an authentic royal family, otherwise outsiders would not call Li Shutai a concubine.

In terms of seniority, the current emperor has to call Li Shutai's wife an aunt, calling him Li Shutai's uncle, and now the emperor's aunt has come to congratulate the wife of General Jingnan's family on her birthday, and this face is so big that it goes to the sea. After Ha Ha Mu and Bai Jiashi knew about this, they were also very happy and felt that they had a special face

There are many guests invited, and it is the birthday of General Jingnan's wife, the pomp must be big, and it is estimated that there will be no less than 100 tables in the rough step, plus the wine and food in the flag and the red envelopes of the subordinates, the number is very large.

The Jingnan General's Mansion has just moved from Jiangning, and the manpower and use in the house are in urgent need, and the manpower is easy to handle.

Just when Bai Jia's family was worried about this, Zhu Guorong, the prefect of Guangzhou, came forward to contact the Han merchants in the outer city and asked them to supply all the expenses needed for the birthday banquet of the General's Mansion free of charge. As a result, as soon as the Han merchants in the outer city heard that they could have a relationship with the Jingnan General's Mansion, they sent the good things in the store to the Mancheng General's Mansion without money, and they were happy that Bai Jia's family let people praise Zhu Guorong for doing things.

After Hahamu knew about this, he also praised Zhu Guorong, and rewrote Zhu Guorong's invitation with his own hands, so happy that Zhu Guorong carried the post in his arms like a family heirloom.

Among the many merchants, the newly opened Dadong Rice Store in Nancheng also supplied a new batch of Zhancheng fragrant rice to the Jingnan General's Mansion free of charge.

According to the Eight Banners system, Mancheng and Hancheng do not interact with each other, and Han people are not allowed to enter Mancheng without reason, except for officials and gentry. Therefore, when Song Ying drove a carriage full of fragrant rice to the gate of Manzhou in the name of Dadong Rice Company, he was stopped by the Manchu soldiers guarding the door.

"What for?"

The Manchurian soldiers guarding the gate saw that the carriage was loaded with rice, and knew that it was sent to the Jingnan General's Mansion, so they did not deliberately check it, but just asked casually.

Song Ying replied with a smile: "Back to the Manchurian military master, I am a buddy from Dadong Rice Bank, and I came to deliver fragrant rice to the General's Mansion on the order of the shopkeeper." ”

The leading Manchurian soldiers glanced at Song Ying up and down, stretched out their hands and signaled, "Show me the sign?" ”

"Brand?"

Song Ying was stunned: What brand?

When the Manchurian soldier saw that Song Ying didn't have a brand, his face couldn't help but sink, and he scolded: "The General's Mansion is procuring outside, where is there any reason not to give a brand?" If you don't have a sign, and if you don't have a general's house to accompany you, you won't be able to enter this city, so let's go! ”

After listening to the words of the Manchu soldiers, Song Ying realized that when the Manchurian officials' families went to the outer city to buy things, they either had people from the palace with them, or they had a sign on the house to verify their identity, so that they could prove their identity.

Together with the Manchurian soldiers, there were some messengers sent by the Guangzhou government, who were responsible for maintaining order at the city gates, and had no status here, let alone power, and were shouted at by the Manchurian soldiers from time to time, so they all hated the Manchurian soldiers in their hearts. Seeing Song Ying standing there with a look of embarrassment, the Manchurian soldiers were about to be angry again, and the battalion soldiers led by him hurriedly stepped forward and waved at Song Ying, and persuaded in a low voice: "Let's go, don't stand, the iron system of the imperial court, this city is not allowed to enter without a reason, but it is not the Manchurian military master who embarrass you." Hurry up, don't rub in, if you move slowly, be careful of the Manchurians robbing your things. Your shopkeeper is really, if you want to tie up with General Jingnan's Mansion, you have to find someone to find a way first, where is the reason for sending things like this? ”

"Yes, yes, what the poor said is that my shopkeeper is careless."

Song Ying nodded and pretended to leave, but he was anxious in his heart, he couldn't enter the city, how could he investigate the situation of the defense in the city.

was panicking, but saw several more carriages coming behind him, and on the front carriage sat a young man dressed as a bannerman. Seeing Song Ying in front of him and the carriage loaded with fragrant rice, and then looking at the appearance of those Manchurian soldiers, the young man couldn't help laughing, knowing that this must be another merchant who wanted to curry favor with the General's Mansion but had no way to get a brand.

The young man stood on the carriage and asked Song Ying, "What is on the cart?" ”

Song Ying didn't know who he was, but seeing that those guys were very respectful to him, he thought that this person might be a subordinate of the General's Mansion, so he said: "A batch of fragrant rice that just arrived in Zhancheng wanted to send it to the General's Mansion, but the Manchurian military master didn't let me in." ”

"Champa's fragrant rice?" The young man's eyes lit up when he heard this, he jumped out of the carriage and walked over, reached out and grabbed a handful of fragrant rice from the carriage and sniffed it, nodded, and said to the Manchurian soldiers: "The general's wife likes fragrant rice the most, you let him in, and I will vouch for him." ”

"This"

The Manchurian soldiers looked at each other, they knew this young man, and knew that he was a clothed servant of the general's mansion, so they dodged out of the way and motioned for Song Ying to drive the carriage into the city.

"Thank you to a few Manchurian military masters!"

Song Ying was relieved, and hurriedly drove the carriage into the city after the young man. After a while, the young man suddenly stopped, turned around and said to Song Ying with a smile: "I helped you, how can you thank me?" ”

Song Ying didn't know what he meant, so he quickly took out two silver ingots from his arms and handed them over: "A little heart, please accept it!" ”

"Heh, you're a good guy." The young man laughed, "My name is Qin Yi, my father is the steward of the General's Mansion, and in the future, you can find me if you have anything to do with Dadong Mixing." ”

When Song Ying heard that this young man was from the Jingnan General's Mansion, she was also happy, and said with a smile on her face: "Then I will have to take care of the small shop more in the future." ”

In the General's Mansion, Qin Yi is just the son of a clothed minion, but now he is called Qin Gongzi, which makes him very happy, he nodded and said: "Care is for sure, but it depends on whether you can be a person." ”

"Don't worry, the little one will be a man, and my shopkeeper will be even more able to be a man, if I can get through the road of the General's Mansion, my shopkeeper will definitely thank Gongzi Qin heavily!"

"Nacheng, I will personally send the fragrant rice to the house, and I will also tell my father that he will say a few good words for your Dadong Mixing Mrs., which is indispensable for the benefits of your family. Let's go, you follow me, don't follow the fork, without me leading the way, this city is not something you can walk blindly, be careful of losing your head. ”

Qin Yi said and went back to get into the carriage and motioned for the coachman to drive. Song Ying followed unhurriedly, sitting in the car and not daring to do anything, but the rest of her eyes looked and looked at the street she passed, and remembered it silently. (To be continued.) )