Early in the morning, Shen Kan, who was worried about the fourth uncle, stayed at the door early, waiting for Mr. Qianzhai to come, and he didn't see anyone for a long time, but the eldest lady and the fourth wife each sent someone to tell him not to run around, and he was going to leave for Pei Mansion, the county seat, in half an hour.

Shen Kan became more and more sure that he was going to be tested by Mrs. Wu, and when this matter came to an end, he really didn't want to go, but ......

Suddenly, Cai Xiang, the old man of the Wang family, came over, and Shen Kan greeted him and asked, "What does the teacher command?"

"The master asked me to come and invite the housekeeper of your mansion and the bookkeeper Yan Xianggong to come over and discuss something, but don't let the fourth master of your family know." Cai Xiang said.

"Butler and bookkeeper?" Shen Kan understood and didn't understand a little, but he was going to Pei's house for a while, so he could only regret missing it.

Soon the two followed Cai Xiang to the school, and in the study, Mr. Qianzhai invited them to sit down, Yan Xianggong sat calmly, but Steward Shen stood aside and did not dare to take a seat.

Yan Xianggong arched his hand and said, "I came to see Mr. the day before yesterday, has your body recovered?"

"It's already good, thank you for worrying." Mr. Qianzhan smiled.

Steward Shen asked straight to the point, "Today, Master Wang even called the little one, I don't know what to discuss?"

Mr. Qianzhai said: "The day before yesterday, there was a happy edict to protect the virtuous and upright emperor's grace, yesterday when the county Ding Festival, the two Xuezheng adults and the ministers have discussed and decided, to protect your family's four masters and Tan Juren two. The old man called you here to discuss the matter. ”

"Oops! Tan Juren is afraid that he will not be able to keep it. Steward Shen shouted.

"Why?"

Steward Shen explained: "Just yesterday, the little one went to the county seat to do errands and bought paper and ink in Tan Ju's study, and I heard that the old lady of the Tan family was seriously ill."

"There is such a thing." Mr. Qianzhai was surprised, "It seems that God has gone against people's wishes, and it has come to this!" Let's talk about the matter of the fourth master, how to deal with it?"

Yan Xianggong smiled and said, "This is a great event, is there anything else to be embarrassed about?"

"Why don't you be embarrassed." Mr. Qianzhai shook his head, "He is a person, he is very happy to help others, but he is not happy to spend money on himself!" If you don't do it, a big sesame official, a big flaw, the document will be rejected, once the time is delayed, what should I do? Steward Shen, the fourth master of your family is not a stingy person, but you can ask him to spend this money to take care of the government, with his straightforward temperament, he will definitely refuse, don't you say?"

"Yes!" Steward Shen nodded frequently, "The fourth master of our family has such a temperament. ”

Mr. Qianzhai said: "So I specially invited the two of you to come, let's discuss, no matter what, we have to hurry up and give him some understanding in advance, and wait for the paperwork in the school to be successfully submitted, I hope that the journey will be smooth without resistance." When you wait, your fourth master wants to agree, hehe, the raw rice is ripe. ”

If Shen Jiaji is an official, it will be beneficial to Steward Shen and other family members, and he immediately said: "Sir's idea is good!" But I don't know how to play it? Sir, you must be confident, please inform the little one, and the little one will go to take pictures of the cat and the tiger immediately. ”

Mr. Qianzhai smiled and said to Yan Xianggong: "Is there any cash in the account room now?"

"Yes!" Yan Xianggong nodded, "Last night, Zhang Ji silk shop in the city sent eighty taels of silver, which has not yet been paid. ”

"Okay." Mr. Qianzhai slapped his thigh, "Don't take this account." Yan Xianggong, you and the housekeeper first split fifty taels, and immediately took a few people from the yamen to handle it, and when you settle the accounts this month, you will spend a sum of money casually, and you will say that I gave it. ”

Yan Xianggong said with a smile: "Mr. personally explained, there is no need to keep accounts for this matter, I will explain it to the two wives and it will be over."

"Then you two will have a hard trip." Mr. Qianzhai took the tea.

Yan Xianggong suddenly said in embarrassment: "My accent is wrong, I'm afraid it's not appropriate, right?"

It turned out that this Yan Xianggong was a native of Shandong, and after studying for many years, he did not pass the examination, so he followed his relatives to learn to do business. The business lost money, and he went to a pawnshop in Suzhou to write bills for people, and later someone recommended him to come to Shen's house to manage the accounts.

Now he has lived in the Shen family for three years, with twelve taels of wages a year, food and housing, plus four seasons clothes and New Year's rewards.

Yan Xianggong is loyal and careful, Shen Jiaji trusts him very much, and it is also a grace of knowledge, so he said that his accent is wrong, and he is worried that it will be too dazzling, in case he is noticed by someone with a heart.

"It's better if you don't have the right accent!" Steward Shen didn't care, "You almost don't go into the city, just a few people recognize you, and besides, let's go to deliver silver, and the silver will speak by itself, regardless of whether you are from Shandong or Shanxi." ”

"That's a good point." Mr. Qiansai laughed.

Yan Xianggong also smiled and said, "But how should I send it?" Sir, how many yamen does this document have to go through?"

"Oh." Mr. Qianzhai said, "Xueli, the county, the Suzhou Mansion, the two divisions, the college, the Buzheng Futai, the Zhenguo General's Mansion, these yamen ceremonial rooms and bookstores must be checked." Actually, I don't know how much it will cost, in short, fifty or sixty taels of silver can be used as many as possible, you two can adapt to the situation when the time comes. ”

"This amount of money is really nothing, let alone doing big things at the expense of small money." Steward Shen seemed to be confident, "I just ask the fourth master to learn about it, sir, you say a word, and the fourth master has nothing to say." ”

"Naturally." Mr. Qianzhai smiled and nodded.

At that moment, the two of them said goodbye and went to the account room, and secretly opened the fifty taels of silver seals sent yesterday, and Steward Shen divided the silver into more than a dozen red envelopes of one tael, as well as two taels, three taels, and five taels.

Put the red envelope away and take it with them, the two of them immediately rushed to the county seat, and as soon as they came out, they bumped into the eldest lady's carriage, Shen Kan motioned for them to walk behind, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Steward Shen said with a smile.

"It turns out that it's better to cut first and then play, regardless of the benefits." Shen Kan sighed a little for a while, this is a real friend.

When they arrived in the county, they separated, first said that the two went to the county school office, secretly found the secretary in charge of the matter, and explained the reason in private, Yan Xianggong handed the other party a red envelope of two taels of silver.

The scrivener smiled and said, "It's easy to say! The document submission has not yet arrived, this good thing is always the brilliance of learning, yesterday the adults personally ordered six school heads, gift food, probably tonight, will be sent to the county government early tomorrow morning. You can rest assured, I am at ease and do not worry. ”

After saying goodbye, Steward Shen led Yan Xianggong to find Li Charen again and gave them a tael of silver.

Li Charen was very satisfied, and said happily: "The Cheng family father and son have wine, God knows when it will be finished!" You see, it's been almost two days, and I haven't seen the paperwork. Okay, I'll go to Li Xiucai's house to urge now. ”

came out and went to the county office, Pei Zhi County was in the back house, there was nothing in the yamen, and the chief secretary and other officials were not there.

found the small official in the gift room, but still gave a favor behind his back.

The clerk accepted the gift and said with a smile: "Then I'm welcome, this is a great thing in our county, and we also have light on our faces." Now that the paperwork in the school has not been delivered, you two can rest assured, the first paperwork has arrived, and the room has been sent, and we will pass on the manuscript immediately, even if we stay up late, we have to add a clear clip to urge the master to look at it. With the friendship between the two families, the eldest lord will definitely write a statement overnight, and it will be delivered to the prefect's yamen in less than a day. ”

After coming out after the incident, Steward Shen smiled and said, "Yan Xianggong, look, your accent is wrong, but the words in this school are exactly the same."

"The official is three points shorter." Yan Xianggong laughed at first, and then sighed, "I'm worried about this journey, don't mention how uncomfortable it is." Even the county is like this, what can the government and the political secretary do? Do you want to invite the fifth young master to accompany you? He is young but steady, well-informed, and at least he is not weak-minded. ”

"That's good."

Steward Shen also thought so, in fact, not to mention Yan Xianggong, he was also stunned, especially the majestic political envoy, who had never been in at all. Unlike the major yamen in the county, they are familiar with the way, they know who to turn to with their eyes closed, and even if they don't give benefits, all parties in the county will not be embarrassed.

Although it was just past noon, the fifth young master had something to do today, and it was too late to go to Suzhou City to do errands, so the two decided to return to Shenjia Village and go again early tomorrow morning.

In the county ya's house, Pei Zhixian first concentrated on the affairs in the yamen, and set aside a day to prepare two banquets inside and outside.

Because of the exam, the inner house adopted the traditional separate tables, Mrs. Chang's mother and daughter, Mrs. Wu's mother and daughter, the two ladies of the Shen family, and their own lady and miss, a total of eight tables.

The screen was deliberately used as a partition in front, and tables, chairs, benches, pens, ink, paper, and inkstones were prepared, and four white silk pieces were taken out, and the white silk was made into four brocade papers, which were ready for the inscription of poems at the time.

There are only a few men outside, and a round table is enough.