"But if that's the case, I'm afraid that the gentlemen of Yanzhou will be a little unpleasant." When Ma Rencheng said this, he realized that he was a little disrespectful to Liu Cheng in his words, and hurriedly explained: "My lord, I didn't say that you didn't come forward well, it's just-" The more he explained, the more he felt that it was wrong, and his face couldn't help but turn red.

"Needless to say, I know you don't mean anything." Liu Cheng made a gesture to signal his subordinates to retreat, and said in a low voice: "With all due respect, the reason why those gentlemen spread those unpleasant words is nothing more than coveting the benefits of this Pitang Bureau, as long as you don't give up the position of the head of this Pitang Bureau for a day, they won't shut up for a day, saying that you colluded with me, Qiu Ba, to bully and oppress the gentry is just a rhetoric, even if you draw a line with me, they can find other reasons." It's easy to keep them shut up, it's good for you to let this head of the Pitang Bureau out, but can you let it? ”

Listening to Liu Cheng's words, Ma Rencheng's face became red and white, and he was obviously fighting fiercely in his heart. As a child of a family with a good Confucian education, Ma Rencheng instinctively revered the comments of the local gentry, and in the Ming Dynasty society, where there were no newspapers, radio stations and other media, the comments of the gentry could be said to represent the local public opinion, and it was not an exaggeration to say that "a thousand people pointed out and died without illness". But letting Ma Rencheng give up the position of head of the Pitang Bureau, especially after he has tasted the sweet taste of power, it is like taking a piece of meat from his heart.

"Brother Ma, the eldest husband only needs to act happily and without shame, why care about the comments of the two or three mediocre people? After you served as the director of the Pitang Bureau, you built water conservancy, the family business prospered, thousands of people looked up to you, and the country and the family have great benefits, if you replace that Zhao Laosan, can he do better than you? Speaking of this, Liu Cheng suddenly lowered his voice: "If you don't do the main business of the Pitang Bureau, what will Mr. Ma think?" ”

Heard Liu Cheng's last words. Ma Rencheng's face changed suddenly, and he couldn't help but think of his father's cold face to him in the past and the kind smile he had after becoming the head of the Pitang Bureau. Like most parents, Ma Ziyi is quite strict with this not-so-outstanding second son on weekdays, and often deals with it according to family law. However, Liu Cheng became his lucky star after he came, and since he became the head of the Pitang Bureau, he has not only increased a lot of wealth for his family. and tasted the taste of holding power, and his father's words also had the meaning of letting himself be regarded as inheriting the Ma family's family business. As the saying goes, the eldest husband can't be without power for a day, and the younger husband can't be without money for a day.

"Good!" Ma Rencheng nodded: "I'll discuss with my father when I go back, and strive to make all the money and grain levied for the repair of Pitang independent, and the Pitang Bureau will be in charge independently." Lord Liu, don't worry, as long as I am in this position for one day. You don't have to worry about someone here embarrassing you! ”

"You don't have to bother Mr. Ma about this, you just need to do this." Liu Cheng whispered to Ma Rencheng.

"Lord Liu has a good means, I'll go to Lu Zhizhou tomorrow."

"Good!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "With Brother Ma's words, the official will be relieved." Wang Xingguo! ”

"The villain is here!"

"You pick ten clever men, and follow Ma Gongzi in the future, and his words will be the same as mine, do you know?"

"Yes. My lord! Wang Xingguo answered, waved his hand and stood behind Ma Rencheng, pressing the knife. Ma Rencheng suddenly felt a little more confident, and said with a smile: "Thank you, Lord Liu!" ”

"Hehe, why do you have to say the word "thank you" between you and me! Liu Cheng tapped Ma Rencheng with his finger and tapped his chest, and the two couldn't help but look at each other and smile.

For Lu Boqi, in recent months, he has been painful and happy, the so-called pain refers to a lot of troubles in the state, and it is no wonder that there are thousands of people like Liu Cheng digging embankments and repairing ponds, and various gentry are vying to buy farm houses in the section of the canal, which naturally has many more incidents, and there are many life lawsuits, just yesterday there were more than a dozen lives, which made Lu Boqi, who believes in the rule of inaction, quite a headache; But watching the canals continue to extend on the fields he bought, and the dry land that originally depended on the sky for food became the river beach land that protected the harvest from drought and flood, Lu Boqi felt that all the hard work had paid off, and even Liu Cheng, a troublemaker, felt much better.

On this day, Lu Boqi got out of the hall, asked the cook to fry a few dishes of side dishes, scalded a pot of wine, and called the master to drink together. After a few glasses of hot wine, Lu Boqi only felt a little hot on his body, so he uncovered his clothes, gently knocked the wine glass twice with chopsticks, and sang: "I am a loose person in Wollongong, relying on yin and yang to protect the world." The first emperor went down to Nanyang to drive three times, and he counted the Han family's business by three points——"

"The proprietor sings well——!" The master added a glass of wine for Lu Boqi and said with a smile: "Listening to the master's singing, isn't it like the Marquis of Wu, although he is in the official mansion, he always has the ambition to return to the forest?" ”

"Deserved, deserved!" Lu Boqi took a sip and stroked his beard under his chin: "Zhuge Wuhou is the first person below three generations, the old man has been traveling for half his life, and he has achieved nothing, where can he dare to compare with Wuhou?" It's just that Mr. has a saying that is true, these days, the old man is indeed a little tired, and often thinks of the bamboo forest spring in the back mountain of his hometown. ”

"That's what the proprietor said!" The master stroked his somewhat gray hair and sighed: "I'm also nearly half a hundred years old, and I'm too lazy to find the next proprietor." Speaking of which, he is also a little sad, after all, he is not like Lu Boqi who has already bought hundreds of good land, as long as he sells it, it will be more than 100,000 taels of silver into his pocket, and his life after returning to his hometown will be a lot harder.

Lu Boqi was about to open his mouth to say a few words of comfort, but when he heard someone outside report that the second son of the Ma Mansion asked to see him, he immediately frowned, and snorted coldly: "I just sat down to have a few drinks, and I came to a disappointed disgust!" “

"The proprietor, this person is Ma Ziyi's son, and the overall situation is important!" The master hurriedly persuaded him, everyone knows that the Ma family is a prominent family in Yanzhou, and the first key to being an official in ancient times is not to offend the big room, otherwise the political affairs will not be implemented, and maybe it will cause death. Lu Boqi also knew, and after venting a few words, he ordered Ma Rencheng to be invited to the study, and he and his master arrived later.

Ma Rencheng sat in the study for a while before he saw Lu Boqi come in from the outside with his master. Hurriedly got up and saluted: "Meet Lord Zhizhou!" “

"That's it!" Lu Boqi sat down in the main seat, and did not signal Ma Rencheng to sit down, and asked directly, "What is the matter with you?" ”

According to the etiquette of exchanges between scholars and doctors in the Ming Dynasty, it is very rude for Lu Boqi to use "you" to directly call a child of a family like Ma Rencheng, who has a meritorious reputation, and obviously he is still angry about the dozen heads sent to the yamen in the name of Ma Rencheng yesterday.

Ma Rencheng is not a fool, he naturally knows why Lu Boqi is angry, and he took out a piece of paper from his sleeve. He handed it over with both hands and said with a smile: "Yesterday's incident caused a lot of trouble to the old parents, and I hope that I will be able to do it with some heart." ”

The master handed over the paper to Lu Boqi, he glanced at it, but it was a gift list, his face looked a little better, and he sighed and said: "This official is a few years older than you, so I will teach you a few words, and you have also read the sage book." It's just for a few acres of land and more than a dozen lives, I also know that this is not your hand, but is that Liu Qiuba a good match? You kill with his knife. I'm afraid it's not so easy to get rid of it, right? ”

"The old parents are taught!" Ma Rencheng smiled slightly: "It's just that the competition with Zhao Laosan is not for the acres of land, but that Zhao Laosan wants to change the direction of the canal, not to mention that the direction of the canal is determined in advance, even if it can be changed." There are too many people involved, and it's not up to the next person to do it. When Zhao Laosan saw that he didn't agree, he brought more than a dozen evil slaves and robbed the seal. Occupying the office of the Pitang Bureau, I had no choice but to go to Lord Liu. ”

Listening to Ma Rencheng's defense, Lu Boqi was also dumbfounded, he knew very well what the other party did not say about it, the land that everyone bought at a low price in advance was on both sides of the predetermined river canal, if the river canal changed direction, the river beach land that was originally guaranteed by drought and flood will become a slope land that is not worth a few pennies, and at that time it is not only their Ma family who will lose money, you Lu Zhizhou is a little unkind to accuse him of this.

"Then, then this is a bit too much, more than a dozen lives, why don't you want to find another way to find Liu Cheng's killing star?" Lu Boqi's tone softened a lot.

"Who's that for? Zhao Laosan's subordinates are all involved in life lawsuits, and there are seven or eight gentry watching behind him, are you willing to send someone here? ”

"This-" Lu Boqi was speechless, and muttered after a while: "But this is also a dispute within your Pitang Bureau, and there is no trouble, and I am not very easy to meddle as a state official." ”

"What my parents said was that it was a bit difficult for you to speak. But now that the person is dead, and his identity has been determined to be a fugitive, then Zhao Laosan will not be able to speak now, and he will not be able to speak in the future, and he will not be able to be confused. ”

Listening to Ma Rencheng's words, Lu Boqi glanced at the master, saw the other party nodding slightly, knew that what the other party said was true, and sighed and said: "That's the only way, but it's not an example, it's not an example!" ”

"That's nature, that's nature!" Ma Rencheng was relieved when he saw Lu Boqi, and hurriedly said with a smile: "There is another matter in the future, I want to discuss it with my old parents." ”

"Oh, what else?"

Ma Rencheng didn't answer, but asked: "Dare to ask, what are the plans of the old parents after this term?" ”

"Naturally, it's homecoming!" Lu Boqi sighed: "If you do it again, I'm afraid that this old bone will be tossed and scattered by you!" ”

Ma Rencheng snorted and said with a smile: "Old parents, although our soil in Yanzhou is thin, the people are thick, why don't you stay?" “

"Stay?" Lu Boqi was stunned when he heard this, glanced at the master on the side, and asked, "What do you mean by this?" “

"Old parents, please forgive me for saying bluntly, you have been traveling abroad for nearly 20 years, but I am afraid that there will be fewer relatives in your hometown, and you will have to re-establish your business after selling your land, why not take advantage of your legacy in this position of Zhizhou to take root in the land of Dunzhou?"

"What does the virtuous nephew mean to let me gain a foothold in Dunzhou?" Unconsciously, Lu Boqi's title for Ma Rencheng also became a virtuous nephew, and he became a lot of affection.

"Yes, how much land do you have in Juzhou now?"

Lu Boqi hesitated for a moment and replied, "Six hundred and fifty." “

"My lord, if you want to return to your hometown, so many fields will have to be cashed out, how can anyone in Dunzhou buy so many fields at once with so much cash? It definitely won't sell. Besides, even if the ditch is dug well, it will have to be operated for several years before it can be turned into a high-quality mature field; After you return to your hometown, you have to buy land again, and you have to give money to the Chinese people, the contract money of the yamen, between this in and out, I am afraid that you will lose 10,000 taels of silver. “

"The virtuous nephew is clear!" Lu Boqi smiled slightly, he was not a fool, when he heard Ma Rencheng carefully calculating the accounts in front of him, he understood that the other party must have something to ask for, but he put his mind at ease and was ready to sell at the price.

"Let the old parents laugh!" Ma Rencheng said with a smile: "But if you stay, it will be different, Noldo's idyllic house, a good life and a good business, isn't it far better than a tiring boat and a long journey, moving to a foreign land?" “

Lu Boqi smiled: "What the virtuous nephew said is wrong, it is said that Yanzhou is my foreign land?" Although Liang Yuan is good, it is not a place to stay for a long time, the fox will die in the first hill, the horse will accompany the west wind, you are still young, there are some things you don't understand. ”

"This-" When Ma Rencheng heard this, he couldn't help but secretly hate himself for saying the wrong thing, so he had to throw out the last trump card: "If the uncle of the Lu family is willing to stay, he can also add a chair to this Pitang Bureau." ”

"Oh?" Lu Boqi's heart moved, and he said with a smile: "Fang Caixian's nephew said that he asked for this official, but he didn't know what it was? “

When Ma Rencheng heard Lu Boqi say this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the matter had already become seven or eight points, and said with a smile: "The little nephew wants to ask the adults to separate the taxes collected for the construction of Pitang and manage them by the Pitang Bureau itself, so as to avoid paperwork exchanges, delay time, and miss the construction period." ”

"It turns out that this guy has made a big detour, and he actually made the idea of that money and food." Lu Boqi thought secretly in his heart, but his face pretended to be noncommittal: "This matter is very important, and let me think about it for a few days before replying." ”

Ma Rencheng saw that Lu Boqi played Tai Chi, after all, he was still very inexperienced, and he threw out his trump card prematurely, so he couldn't help but get anxious, stepped forward and grabbed Lu Boqi's sleeve and said: "My lord, this Pitang Bureau is by no means limited to one place in Liminpi, in the future, when there is a drought in spring and summer every year, the water will be released and the grain will be harvested after the autumn, and the benefits will be more than billions?" Wouldn't it be better for you to stay in the bureau than to go back and be an ordinary squire? (To be continued.) )