Oh yes.

The governor and governor saw a lot, Hu Chuyuan was still afraid of a prefect, and felt that Cao Jingwen was deliberately going to give him a little color, so Hu Chuyuan said with a cold face: "Lord Cao, please!" ”

The two entered the atrium side by side, and as soon as they entered the door, Hu Chuyuan continued to maintain a little demeanor and asked Cao Jingwen to sit on the seat, which is the position of the master's house, but this Cao Jingwen actually sat down, and he didn't give Hu Chuyuan face.

Hu Chuyuan's face was even more ugly, so he could only sit in the guest seat on the right side of the table, and then asked Wang Baotian to prepare hot tea for Cao Jingwen.

Cao Jingwen looked at this main hall carefully, and couldn't help but sigh faintly, and said: "Captain Hu, every time I come to your mansion, this official has a feeling of being in the Forbidden City. ”

Blackmail.

This rotten thing wants to blackmail!

Hu Chuyuan saw through it at a glance, sneered in his heart, and said, "Lord Cao, I'm afraid I'm wrong, right?" ”

Cao Jingwen found that Hu Chuyuan's momentum was actually more arrogant, and he snorted coldly in his heart, and said: "How can you be wrong, this official used to be an editor in the Hanlin Academy, and he has been going back and forth for several years, and he can see it clearly." ”

Hu Chuyuan said with a smile: "Lord Cao, although the materials are exquisite, there is no explicit rule in the imperial court, saying that the common people cannot use high-quality mahogany. ”

Cao Jingwen snorted: "Captain Hu, do you think I don't know, the materials used in this atrium are all golden silk nanmu, which is the emperor's royal wood...... Captain Hu, you are so bold, aren't you afraid that the official will play your family's book on the last excerpt? ”

Hu Chuyuan laughed, threw the teacup in his hand on the table with a grunt, and said, "That's good, although Lord Cao plays, I advise you to wait three years to play!" ”

"Wait three years?" Cao Jingwen felt a little mysterious, and asked again: "Captain Hu, you seem to have something to say, don't think that your Hu family is highly respected by the imperial court, and you know some dignitaries, so you dare not put the imperial court officials in your eyes." Since the official took office, he has been fair in everything, and has always regarded the law of the imperial court as the foundation of the world. Hmph, you're an excerpt, I'm up to it! ”

The more he spoke, the more ruthless he became, and his momentum was overwhelming.

Hu Chuyuan said: "Lord Cao is angry, listen to me slowly." A few days ago, Lord Zhongtang gave my third child a matchmaker, married the daughter of the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, He Da's family, and the filial piety period expired, and he got married three years later. Our Hu family is also a giant businessman in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and we always want some face, so I told the governor that this compound would be used as a dowry. Lord Cao might as well wait until three years later, and participate in the Governor's book, then it will appear that you are fair and outspoken! ”

"Ah......?" Cao Jingwen was suddenly startled, and then realized that he had stabbed a hornet's nest.

He was shocked and frightened, a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he hurriedly wiped it with his sleeve, and said with a smile: "Captain Hu, misunderstanding, misunderstanding, pure misunderstanding." I'm just going to say it casually, don't take it to heart, let's just act as if I didn't say anything and you didn't hear anything! ”

Be forgiving and forgiving.

As the old saying goes, the county officials are not as good as the current management, and they really offended this Cao Jingwen, there are no major things, but the small troubles are endless.

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly, and was about to speak with a calm face, when another steward hurriedly ran in and said to him: "The owner, Lord Mei, the governor of Zhejiang, is here, and he is in the sedan hall!" ”

"Ahh Cao Jingwen was startled again.

Hu Chuyuan and the big housekeeper Wang Baotian said: "Let's go to welcome guests!" ”

He got up immediately, and Cao Jingwen also walked out with him.

When a few people reached the halfway point, Mei Qizhao and Mei Qian walked out of the sedan hall together and walked over frontally.

Seeing Hu Chuyuan, Mei Qizhao smiled and said, "Chu Yuan, how are you doing lately?" ”

Hu Chuyuan said with a smile: "Lord Tomei's blessing, everything is going well, Lord Mei, let's please sit inside!" ”

Mei Qizhao nodded with a slight smile, and asked Cao Jingwen casually, "Governor Cao, why are you here?" ”

"Returning to the governor, the lower official is chatting with Captain Hu here, purely for small talk!" Cao Jingwen was shocked and frightened, and his back was wet again, and he understood more and more how big a hornet's nest he had stabbed.

Cao Jingwen wondered in his heart, isn't Hu Xueyan all dead, isn't the Hu family separated, isn't Zuo Zongtang gone? Ladies and gentlemen, what are you afraid of, knock if you want, cheat if you want, what a lot of fat water...... Don't be polite, you're polite, how can I live?

Entering the middle hall, Hu Chuyuan invited Mei Qizhao to sit on the table, of course Mei Qizhao did not sit, after all, he received so much favor from Hu Chuyuan, which is equivalent to rebuilding.

He pushed forward and finally sat in the guest seat, invited Hu Chuyuan to sit in the main seat, and said with a smile: "Chu Yuan, you don't have to be so polite to me in the future, do you still need to talk about our friendship?" ”

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "Of course, it goes without saying. ”

Mei Qizhao also smiled, he is the kind of person who is not very good at beating around the bush, he doesn't say anything that can't be said, and he will say it directly if he can say it.

He looked at Cao Jingwen again and asked curiously, "Lord Cao, aren't you here to chat, just talk to me about anything!" ”

"This ......!" Cao Jingwen hurriedly got up from his seat again and said, "Back to the governor, the lower official is here to discuss with Captain Hu about raising funds for dredging the canal, and there is no big deal!" ”

"Oh!"

Mei Qizhao smiled and said to Hu Chuyuan: "Chu Yuan, I also came to discuss this matter with you." ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "My lord, please speak!" ”

Mei Qizhao bowed slightly, and said: "After the Mao bandits were exterminated, due to the impact of the war, the canals in Hangzhou, Yanzhou, Jinhua and Quzhou were mostly blocked by silt, and the situation was serious, which has endangered the cultivation of spring and autumn rice in various places. It just so happened that the construction of the Hanhai Stone Pond had been completed, and the migrant workers were there, and there were still tens of thousands of taels of surplus money that had not been used up, so I wanted to use these people and money to dredge the Sifu canal, and an additional 120,000 taels might be raised. ”

Hu Chuyuan generally knew what Mei Qizhao meant, so he said: "That's okay, my family is a huge rich man in Zhejiang, the head of the local squire, and I should do something for the people of Zhejiang, if the governor wants to let the local squires raise donations, my family will donate 20,000 taels first, and in the end, there are still shortcomings, I will find another way!" ”

Cao Jingwen seized the opportunity and immediately sneered: "Captain Hu really lives up to his reputation, he has the style of his father's family, he is anxious for justice and righteousness, and he is very comparable, and Cao deeply admires ......." ”

Before he finished speaking, Mei Qizhao gave him a cold look.

Cao Jingwen shrank his neck and retreated again, thinking, is there a mistake, but he can't be satisfied?