Under the verandah by the west wall of the county ya, Cheng Lu Chengyuan of Jianchang County, and Jiang Zhunan, the history of Jianchang Dian, stood side by side, coldly watching Xu Liang and Ge Qiao leave.

Lu Xiancheng sighed and said to Jiang Dianshi: "Although I have taken the top spot today and temporarily overwhelmed Master Xu, I have also offended Wang Xian, and I think it is a little more than worth the loss." ”

Jiang Dianshi smiled and said contemptuously: "Brother Lu is too worried, Wang Xian also occupies the position of a magistrate, and he has no responsibility at all, if he offends, he will offend, what else can he do with you?" ”

Lu Xiancheng said worriedly: "After all, he is the lord of a county, today we directly summoned a county official by passing him, he didn't say it on the surface, and he was definitely unhappy in his heart." Alas, it's too late to say anything now, and as soon as the money in the armory arrives, I still have to think about it up and down, and those officials have to be won over if they can be wooed. ”

"Brother Lu is too worried," Jiang Dianshi said with a smile: "There is Lord Zuo Governor Yushi in the capital to stand up for you, do you still need to go to great lengths to win over those Zixu officials and miscellaneous officials?" ”

When Lu Xiancheng heard this, he frowned, and when he saw Jiang Zhunan's smiling face, he said: "Zhunan, you must not have this attitude, you remember, it is a taboo in officialdom to only have superiors in your eyes and not tolerate subordinates, and you must not do it." ”

Jiang Zhunan saw that Lu Xiancheng had a stern face, and couldn't help but hold back his laughter, listening to it, but he was quite unimpressed in his heart.

What kind of person is Lu Xiancheng, that is the old oilman who has been up and down in the Ming officialdom for more than ten years, how can he not see the thoughts of Jiang Dianshi, and said bitterly at the moment: "Zhunan, maybe you don't feel anything when I say this now, you look at me, why have I been trapped in the Inspectorate for more than ten years?" There is no achievement in the official career, and it was not until this year that the Lord of the Left Governor Yushi released a Jianchang County Cheng, heh, this is a lesson of blood and tears! ”

Xu Liang returned to the Xu Mansion and arranged everything, and at that moment, everyone in the Xu Mansion was busy according to the tasks they had received.

After another three days, Xu Liang, accompanied by Ge Qiao, personally came to the selected patrol camp camp on the edge of the Jianchang River to inspect. Xu Liang stood at a high place to check it, nodded with satisfaction, and secretly said that this Xing Zhongshan vision can be really good, look at it, this camp is located at the junction of the Jianchang River water system and the Poyang Lake water system, surrounded by water on three sides, only a land in the northwest leads to the direction of Shanjiao Town, the terrain is more than two meters higher than the surrounding swamps, and it can be attacked and defended, which is a dangerous key.

More than a dozen soldiers recruited by Hu Xiaoyong around Jianchang County have gathered in the camp, led by Xing Zhongshan and Xu Qing, and are clearing the weeds and rocks around the camp.

"Lao Ge, when will the plasterer we invited be in place, we have to strive to build the camp before the year."

"My lord, my subordinates have recruited nearly 100 craftsmen from various towns in Jianchang, and it is expected that they will be able to arrive here the day after tomorrow," Ge Qiao said: "Don't worry, before the year, our camp will be built." He thought for a moment and said, "It's just that there is something you have to know first. ”

"What's the matter?"

"We don't have much silver in our hands," Ge Qiao sighed and said: "Originally, we had nearly three thousand taels of silver in our hands, but we just bought weapons, land, grain and grass, military uniforms, quilts, bricks and tiles, and after spending this time, there were not many silver taels left." ”

"Well," Xu Liang nodded, his family knew his own family affairs, originally he falsely accused the rich family of Jianchang with more than 3,000 silver, which looked like a lot, but at the beginning of the patrol camp, there were too many places to spend money, and when he looked at the account book every day, he felt that the silver in his hand was like flowing water, and it was flowing straight out. He squinted at the two passenger boats in the middle of the river that were heading for the upper reaches of the Jianchang River, grinned, and laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" Seeing this, Ge Qiao asked curiously.

Xu Liang raised his hand and pointed to the two boats in the river, and said: "Deputy Envoy Ge, arrange it tomorrow, find a few soldiers who are familiar with the water, buy two or three fast boats, and from tomorrow onwards, collect ship taxes on all ships entering and leaving the Jianchang River. ”

"Yes!" Ge Qiao replied, and he asked in a low voice, "My lord, is this collection of ship tax a single cargo ship?" The private ships of the rich and the official ships of the official government are not collected? ”

Xu Liang was stunned for a moment, thought for a while, and said, "Isn't the rich man's private ship a ship?" Collect, how can you not accept it? Well, as for this official ship, if they clearly play the official ship flag, then forget it, let's be careful and low-key, don't accidentally plant this business into the hands of a big official before it opens. ”

As soon as the new head catcher Yan Qi returned from the investigation of the case in Qiujin Town, he heard a report from his subordinates that the master of the book had summoned. At the moment, he didn't care about taking a sip of tea, and hurriedly ran to the county government master's bookroom, and when he entered the door, Yan Qi showed a respectful smile on his face, and said, "My lord, are you looking for me?" ”

"Well," Xu Liang nodded, closed a piece of Wen Jiàn in his hand, raised his eyes and said to Yan Qi: "Don't just stand, sit." ”

"Huh." Yan Qi happily agreed, found a chair by the wall in the house, and sat on half of his buttocks.

"Old Seven, you have been the head catcher in Jianchang County for half a month, right? How's it going, are things going well? ”

"Still, okay." Yan Qi said with a smile, he said gratefully: "Speaking of which, I have to thank the adults for giving Lao Qi this opportunity, if there is no appreciation from adults, how can we be where Lao Qi is today." ”

"Heh, my brother, don't be so polite." Xu Liang said with a smile, "Seeing that the Chinese New Year is approaching, find a time to go to my house for a drink." I called Brother Xing and a few of them, and a few of us from Wan'an County gathered separately a few years ago. ”

"Oh, that's good!" Yan Qimei smiled and responded.

"I called you here today to do something." Xu Liang said again.

"Please command, sir!" Yan Qi stood up with a swish, his head held high, and his eyes were solemn.

"According to the whistle officer, there are a few broken houses in the upper reaches of the Jianchang River that have a few bamboo poles in the middle of the river, and they are blatantly collecting money from passing boats, and you take a few brothers to put those people in prison in the name of obstructing river transportation." Xu Liang Zhengse said, he squinted slightly, and sneered: "On the Jianchang River, there is only one that collects ship tax, and that is my patrol battalion." Others, hum, are all indiscriminate charges! ”

The boatmen on the Jianchang River soon discovered that the scoundrels in the upper reaches of the Jianchang River who had forcibly inserted bamboo poles to collect the boat fare were gone, and vaguely heard that people familiar with the matter said that they were arrested by Yan Qi, the new head catcher of Jianchang County. All the boatmen all clapped their hands and applauded, but the mood of the highlight did not last long, they soon found that from Poyang Lake into the Jianchang River at the confluence of the water system, side by side in the middle of the river parked five fast boats, the boat and the boat were connected with bamboo poles before, all the boats that want to enter and exit the Jianchang River estuary have to stop and pay the five to ten wen ship tax, in order to enter and exit, the boatmen want not to pay, but seeing the other party's clothes and armor are clear, sharp knives and guns, after inquiry, they know that it is the checkpoint of the newly established patrol battalion, and they know that this is a regular official family, I had to pay the money obediently.

After Xu Liang heard that Yan Qi had sent all the people who had collected the boat fare to prison, he called Yan Qi and praised him very much. boasting and praising Xu Liang, he found that although Yan Qi had a smile on his face, it was very far-fetched, and he couldn't help asking, "Why are you crying and mourning?" ”

Yan Qi's lips twitched a few times, and he wanted to say something but didn't dare to say it.

"If you have something to say, if you have a fart, let it go, and twist and pinch what it looks like!" Xu Liang shouted.

"My lord," Yan Qi was excited by Xu Liang, raised his head and said angrily: "My subordinates heard that the head of the sixth house and the scribes have all received the New Year's red envelopes from the household, and the subordinates heard about it and followed to receive it. ”

"What red envelope?" Xu Liang said in surprise: "Why haven't I heard anyone talk about it?" ”

"The subordinates have already dealt with the control clearly, Lu County Cheng let the household give each Xu official a New Year's red envelope ranging from one or two to five taels, hehe, even the ambassador of the warehouse, Ku Da Ming has a red envelope to take, we are strong, soap, there is no fast three shifts!"

Xu Liang stood up, looked out the window, and said in his heart This must be Lu Chengyuan's idea again, hmph, just win over a group of scholars and officials, without the help of people below, what can a few weak scholars do, this Lu Chengyuan, the amount of energy is still a little smaller.

Xu Liang thought for a while, a smile hung on the corner of his mouth, and he said to Yan Qi: "Old Seven, you go back and tell the brothers below that Lord Lu does not send New Year's red envelopes to the brothers, as a Shangguan, this official guarantees that each of them can get the New Year's red money, well, you find a time to go to the street to charter a restaurant for me, this official wants to feast all the brothers in Jianchang County to have a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in advance!" ”

"Oh, that's good! The subordinates will do it. Yan Qi perked up when he heard this, his chest straightened, and he replied loudly with a grin.