This is very serious, those children and stewards of the Yan family, just one by one, you make up a little, I make up some, in the end, several generations of extremely rich families, immediately made up 400,000 taels of silver. You must know that as the saying goes, the landlord's family has no surplus grain, and if he can make up 400,000 cash, the Yan family is already unfortunate, and he is the leading maritime merchant in Ningbo.

The old housekeeper of Yan Gan breathed a sigh of relief, there are 400,000 taels of silver, at least enough to compensate the military guards, after all, the military guards can't expect us to use the buying and selling price to compensate for the ordnance money, and the remaining silver can still be dotted up and down.

As soon as he relaxed his strength, a burst of exhaustion hit, you must know that he is also in his sixties, and as soon as this emotion is tightened and relaxed, he will naturally be unable to bear the energy. waved his hand to let these Yan family's children and stewards send the cash over as soon as possible, and sent them away.

These children of the Yan family are not without brains at all, at this juncture, they naturally don't dare to make more trouble, otherwise, I'm afraid it will really be like what the old housekeeper said, how can there be eggs under the nest, and they will go away one by one, originally coveted the position of the head of the Yan family, but the old housekeeper said something, thought about it carefully, and understood that the current position of the head of the family is a big fire pit, and whoever sits on it is unlucky.

Seeing that everyone dispersed, Miss Yan cried in the hall, tugging on the sleeve of the old housekeeper Yan, and crying whining, at this time, she felt that she was useless, what the first lady in Zhejiang, but it was useless at all.

Looking at her with loving eyes, the old housekeeper sighed softly, Miss Yan has grown up in the eyes of the old housekeeper since she was a child, she is really like a granddaughter, but unfortunately, the family business is big, and the children's morale is also high, and it is difficult to find even someone who is willing to think about things plainly, the silver of the Yan family is not rained from the sky, not picked up by the wind on the ground, it is all earned back by one or two!

"Miss, do you know why the master wanted to befriend that Zheng Guofan in the first place?" Yan Gan suddenly asked, Miss Yan whined and shook her head, Yan Gan smiled bitterly, reached out and stroked her hair, "Miss! You see today, these housekeepers in each room came to ask for the crime one by one, first, the head of the family is not there, and secondly, because Miss You are a daughter, have you ever thought about what would happen if the young lady standing here today had been engaged to that Zheng Xiaoxianggong? ”

If it were usual, this kind of words would definitely make Miss Yan angry and purple, but at this time, she didn't even have the strength to be angry, she just shook her head sluggishly.

"These days, you must have vaguely heard the name of the Zheng family's little minister, and many Sanwu celebrities, I heard that even Huating Dong Qichang and Chen Jiru are living in his house, that Dong Qichang is Nanjing Township Test Yayuan, Chen Jiru is the eight years old Xu Ge old praised Fengyun Qilin'er, this kind of person, even the governor of Zhejiang may not be willing to embarrass others, do you know why?"

Yan Qingwei was dazed, the old housekeeper sighed, and told an allusion to Ningbo Mansion fifty years ago.

When the old housekeeper was only ten years old, Ningbo Mansion had a government officer, arrogant and domineering, and married his sister to the prefect at that time as a concubine, for a time, the whole Ningbo behind the name of the second master, which means that on the ground in Ningbo, the Ningbo prefect is the largest, and he is the second, in fact, the two masters are not enough to describe his domineering, that Ningbo Mansion believes in the rule of inaction, all day long with Mrs. Ru in the back garden to eat and play and play, the second master of the government is the second master to do.

In the past few years, the second old man made Ningbo Mansion angry, and he angered a scholar at that time, who was just a twenty-year-old Xiucai, gathered hundreds of literati, rushed to the mansion, and forcibly pulled the second old man from the mansion to the street, and then pumped his mouth with the sole of his shoe, and his mouth was full of blood.

Later, someone sent a message to Ningbo Mansion, and Ningbo Mansion heard that someone had beaten his brother-in-law, and ran out angrily, but before he could speak, hundreds of literati surrounded him, and the leader said, Old Father, this dog Cai, Pingyu bullies men and women, runs rampant in the township, and oppresses me and other scholars.

The Ningbo Mansion was frightened by hundreds of literati, and shook Suo Suo and took the sign, exempting the second master from being in charge, but the leader Xiucai was not satisfied, and forced the Ningbo Mansion to write a document to exile the two masters [for the people], that is, exile them outside the nine sides, and make neighbors with the Mongolian Tatars.

This matter was disturbed in that year, and finally the whole Jiangnan knew about it, and Ying Tianfu sent officials down to check, and finally said a few words without pain or itching, but it was over, and the Ningbo Mansion, the following year's official assessment, was demoted to a civilian.

At that time, the old housekeeper of Yan Gan was only in his early tens, and he envied the prestige of the scholar at that time, thinking that he would also study in the future, and then he really did his job wholeheartedly, and was selected to accompany his young master to study, and since then he has developed all the way, until now, who dares to see him as a housekeeper? Who doesn't know that the old housekeeper has served two generations of family heads before and after, that is the most useful, the Yan family's big and small things, it is not uncommon to hide the children of the descendants below, but it is never hidden from the old housekeeper, in fact, almost all the big things of the Yan family have the shadow of the old housekeeper behind them.

"This kind of thing, people who read books call it a broken boot array." Yan Gan smiled slightly and said to Yan Qingwei: "Let me tell you another story, during the Wuzong Dynasty, the commander of the Dongchang and Jinyi Guard, Pingyu Bo Jiangbin, instigated Emperor Wuzong to go south, and when he arrived at Yangzhou Mansion, he passed on the decree and asked for treasures and antiques among the people. ”

This is really a thing in history, the emperor asked Yangzhou to report to the big households, to donate money, as a result, Jiang Yao said that there are four rich families in Yangzhou, Yangzhou Bank, Yangzhou Mansion, Jiangdu County, Lianghuai Salt Transportation Division, Jiang Bin, who is also Dongchang and Jinyiwei, saw that the emperor couldn't scare him, and naturally wanted to save face for the emperor, so he said that he wanted to draft a show girl in Yangzhou, but he still didn't buy it, saying that Yangzhou Mansion had three show girls, and said that he dragged out the first three daughters of his family, which made Jiang Bin, who was the governor of Dongchang and Jinyiwei, look depressed. The commander of the Jinyi Guard is also afraid that the literati will play hooligans! In the end, I had no choice but to do it.

These businessmen are all good at learning, look, Jinyiwei, Dongchang, what a prominent unit! There is no way to encounter a scholar making trouble, with this kind of example, how to use it without learning, so the government and business collude, as long as the scholar is admitted to the exam, someone will send it to the field shop, just to hang it in the name of others, so as to be exempt from paying taxes.

Yan Gan's old housekeeper Chunchun was kind and seductive, and said: "There is no one in Zheng Xiaoxiang's family, but an old father, and he went south from Shuntian Mansion to Jiangnan, Jiangnan has no powerful relatives, if he is engaged to his family, he is not afraid that he will bully Miss You, this is also the way of husband and wife, the lord loves you, otherwise those big families, your surname is Jiaozi, how to serve those aunts and mothers-in-law, how to get along with those sisters, how to manage those housekeepers and sisters-in-law." ”

When Miss Yan heard this, although she was a little shy, she thought that her father had no news now, and she didn't know life or death, and she felt her father's love more and more, and she couldn't help but cry again.

"He is not very old, although he is full of talent, in the end he is still a child, as long as you are willing to put down your body and coax him well, it is a lifetime of happiness, not to mention that he is a celebrity and a celebrity, and you will have face when you go out, even if you encounter this kind of thing today, he will stand behind you, those who want to make trouble, you must also weigh it, whether you are qualified to offend a talented literati leader, if you can be promoted in the future, it will be better, presumably at that time, it will be ten years later, Miss, you also have enough time to tie him firmly, even if you marry a concubine in the future, you are not qualified to fight with Miss you, after all, you will be your mother...... Miss, listen to the old slave's words, life is not a book of talented and beautiful women, it is a wealth of rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea! ”

Steward Yan broke the way of husband and wife and told her about it, although it is not good, it is too realistic, and there is no lingering compassion of a talented and beautiful woman's book at all, but it is a word for word, if an ordinary woman is not taught, I am afraid that it will take a lifetime to slowly understand these means in life.

"Woooooo Miss Yan cried loudly, tears rolling down, "I know it's wrong, I know it's wrong." ”

Steward Yan sighed, "Alas! It's a pity, now ...... I'm afraid that people are not happy to deal with our Yan family. ”

Miss Yan sobbed and said, "Then how can it be, the house they live in is still given by our family." ”

Steward Yan's face was pale, "Miss, don't say this in the future, it was sold by the old man, although the title deed of the house of a few thousand taels was only sold for four hundred taels, but it was indeed a matter of money and goods." When I said this, I sighed in my heart, Miss has never experienced wind and rain! If not, you won't say such a foolish thing, people love people, people accept your love is called human love, if you don't accept your love, then it's not kindness, but hatred.

When the master and servant spoke, Steward Yan suddenly remembered that the last time Zheng Guofan came to report the news, he refused to tell the secret of the Yan family at that time, and Yan Dazhang had already taken people to Zhenhai and Ningbo Liangwei at that time.

If you confide in Zheng Xiaoxianggong about it, there must be a way!

Old housekeeper Yan suddenly felt that it was really unwise for him to refuse to say it at the beginning, and Zheng Xiaoxianggong looked at him as a friendship, if he said it, he would have to think hard to help the Yan family, but he refused to say it at the time, but it hurt someone's heart!

But at that time, Steward Yan did have a hardship that could not be said, firstly, the two families only relied on some kindness, and there was a little bit of involvement, and secondly, such a large amount of business, not a day or two can be done, Yan Dazhang wanted to buy all the way to Ningbo Wei, Zhenhaiwei, Guanhaiwei and other military guards, to fight up and down, and then to flush the account of 500 Fran machine guns, floating away from the accounts of the imperial court, and then gathered together, loaded with their own big ships, and asked Ningbo Zhenhai and other guards to escort all the way to deter pirates at sea, Then sent to Ryukyu Island Naha, although the Ryukyu Kingdom is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but the sea ships of the military guard are not easy to dock directly, at this time it depends on the relationship between the Yan family itself, and the waters near Ryukyu and Korea are also the most chaotic.

The Ming Dynasty traded with many countries in the South Seas, most of which were transited in Naha Port of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and when the Yan family transported the cannons to the Ryukyus, they had to make a little bit of a difference in the Ryukyu Kingdom, and then send the goods to Kyushu Island.

These things have been done all the way, and it has not taken two months, and it is absolutely inappropriate. Naturally, you can't tell Zheng Guofan, the so-called [if the king is not secret, he will lose his ministers, if the minister is not secret, he will be harmed, and if he is not secret, he will be harmed] If there is any mistake, it is not just the bad luck of the Yan family, such a big thing, unless Zheng Guofan is the son-in-law of the Yan family, otherwise, no matter how important he is, he still will not tell him.

Old Butler Yan's regret is just an outward manifestation of panic because the head of the family is not there.

This little year of the twenty-third month of the month is definitely the most depressing year of the Yan family for so many years, and when it came to the night, several dogs raised by the Yan Mansion barked one after another, one after another, as if they were going to eat the moon, and after a while, a servant sent a letter to the old housekeeper Yan Gan's room in a panic, and there was a belt attached to the letter.

The old housekeeper's eyes froze, how could he not recognize that this was the pig dragon belt used by the head of the family, Yan Dazhang, and others could not imitate it.

At this time, he had almost concluded that the head of the family was afraid that he had been robbed by Li Yufu, the king of the sea hell that Zheng Guofan said.

He was also a little worried when he heard the news from the obedient official, but this time the goods were not trivial, the Yan family brought the first three hundred sturdy sailors in the family, each with a sword, as well as a firecracker, and even fifty soldiers on the military guards changed into ordinary people's clothes on the Yan family's sea boat, although those military guards have cooperated with the Yan family for decades, but this transaction is indeed very large, and it is normal for people to be uneasy.

And at the beginning, the obedient official saw that the Yan family's ship seemed to have only one mast, and it was slow to death at sea, that was because the route was from Tianjin to Ningbo, if it went to sea, the Yan family had a three-masted clipper, and it was also equipped with a soft tail sail of the Franco machine, and there were cannons on the ship, and they were not afraid to encounter pirates.

With such strength, the Yan family was careless, and was gathered hundreds of ships by the jade dragon Li Yufu, and suddenly appeared in the sea area of Ryukyu Island against Naha, because they had already seen the port of Naha, the sailors were slack, and as a result, the fleet of the jade dragon rushed out coldly, and the Yan family's ship didn't even have time to open a shot, it was robbed, when Yan Dazhang was tied to the boat of the jade dragon, he lamented repeatedly, but he was pecked by the geese all year round, he should have thought of it, five hundred Franco cannons, wealth and silk are moving, I'm afraid, Even the people of the Ryukyus Kingdom are tempted! Otherwise, he would have been ambushed outside the port.

Five hundred Francophone cannons, at this time only the Ming court has such a big hand, this wind was secretly released, red-eyed people don't know how much, at the beginning, this batch of goods came out of the Ming Dynasty, there were Ming military guards on the sea to escort the sea ships, slowly and leisurely, to the Ryukyu country is almost approaching, Ningbo Zhenhai two guards of the sea ships to turn back.

Holding the pig polong belt and letter in his hand, the old housekeeper of Yan Gan put on a single coat and ran out, and a mother-in-law who was waiting outside hurriedly took a cotton jacket and chased after him.

When I arrived outside Miss Yan's boudoir, the old housekeeper didn't have time to call the maids below, and shouted in an old voice, and after a while, a woman wearing a brocade skirt with brocade jackets and a small vest with gold flowers everywhere went downstairs, but it was the Zixiao girl who was seen by the obedient official last time, and she was the big girl who was responsible for training the maids, and led the old housekeeper upstairs.

When the old housekeeper saw Yan Qingwei, he gasped for a while and didn't have time to explain clearly, so he directly put the belt of the pig polong on the table, Miss Yan's eyes were not very good, and she didn't see clearly for a while, so she went up to look at it, and fell down, but fortunately, the Zixiao girl next to her grabbed her.

"This ...... This is Daddy's belt, which has never been left by his body, is it that Daddy has already ......" She covered her mouth vigorously and sobbed in a low voice, what should I do? What to do?

Old Butler Yan only took a breath at this time, and the Zixiao girl next to him hurriedly offered a cup of tea, he drank it in one go, and then asked Zixiao to drive away the little maids on the left and right, and then took out the letter that was clenched in his hand.

Yan Qingwei rushed over and snatched the letter in her hand, unfolded it and took a look, but as a result, it was tragic, I couldn't understand it, and it was a text on it, and I could only vaguely see what [abduction, body substitution, seizure, sniping, collapse] cried loudly at the moment.

The old housekeeper went to read the letter carefully, and read it over and over again, but it was useless to turn it over and over again, and if you can't read it, you can't understand it. I'm afraid no one will search the whole Ningbo, even if the sea Kou Wangzhi was rampant a few decades ago, doing business with me also depends on saying that I can write Chinese characters, you must know that most literate people can write Chinese characters. When the twentieth year of Wanli, the Ming Dynasty invaded Korea, the Ming Dynasty sent troops to rescue, and after two years of peace talks, the entire Ming Dynasty did not even have a person who could understand the words of the Ming Dynasty, and as a result, the monkey Toyotomi Hideyoshi was mistakenly written as the king of the book on the national letter, and the monkey felt insulted, so he didn't say a word, and he did it with the Ming Dynasty again.

However, the old housekeeper suddenly remembered that the last time the Zheng family Xiaoxiu came to ventilate the news, and then quarreled with the young lady, it seemed that he had said two words?

He wasn't quite sure, but at this time, hope was better than no hope, so he reminded Yan Qingwei, "Miss, last time the Zheng family's little minister came, it seemed to have told you something and what it seems to be this language, Zheng Xiaoxiang is a big capable, and he is brilliant in his belly, and the lord also said that he is a star descending to earth, so he must know this word!" ”

"Then, we'll go to Taohuawu outside the city to find him now." Yan Qingwei wiped a handful of tears and stood up.

At this time, in the dead of night, what are the good officials doing?

He and Chen Jiru Dong Qichang drank too much, talked nonsense, or carried him back to the room with a big head, Xiaoqian waited for him to clean his face and wash his feet and wipe his body, he slept like a dead pig, and then felt thirsty, so he shouted in a daze, and then, there seemed to be a figure, slender walked over, reached out and helped him sit up from the bed, leaned on his plump and soft arms, and brought water to feed him to his mouth.

(To be continued)