Hukou Town is a large market town at the junction of Shanxi and Shanxi, because the ships on the Yellow River have to be transshipped here, so it is very prosperous, and the wharf is full of people, bustling with Lifu who load and drop goods and traders who sell along the river.

Shaanxi suffers disasters every year, Shanxi is not strong, the same Loess Plateau, Shanxi drought is also quite severe. Hukou Town is located in Jizhou, Binh Duong Province, and in this year of great disaster, the wharf here has become a rare place for everyone to make a living. The displaced people from all over the world gathered here, and there were even people who came here to make a living as far as Daning and Puxian.

There are many victims, and most of them are in groups with each other, and there are constant disputes over the business grabbing, and there are many fights and killings. Although there is a hundred households here, but the chief only cares about setting up cards to collect money, but where is the patience to take care of these poor people's own bird affairs, the lives of the displaced people are worthless, and the dead people are thrown into the Yellow River, and the ready-made Hukou Waterfall is washed away, which is the two pennies of the government and the people!

Li Chongnai is the sixth grade of Zhizhou, to pass through here, Hukou Yicheng has already received the roll, together with the local hundreds of households, has already been at the dock to welcome. This post surnamed Ma, in his forties, black, thin and dry, full of sorrow, if it weren't for a cyan official robe, he would look like an ordinary old farmer. The surname of the hundred households is Wang, and the ancestors have been working here for several generations, but the dough is like a rich man, and he knows that he has made a lot of oil and water at a glance.

Seeing that Li Chong was surrounded by everyone like stars holding the moon, the two hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, Ma Yicheng just gave a long salute, but Wang Baihu knelt on the ground and kowtowed a few times before getting up. Speaking of which, there is no quality, and the classic history is generally regarded as a non-entry. But Ma Yicheng has a reputation for showing talent, according to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, even if he sees the old man, he is only a trick, and although Liu Baihu is a serious six-grade military attaché, he is not a fart in front of the civil officials.

Of course, in the last few years of the late Ming Dynasty, when the imperial court almost lost control of the leaders of the various armies who supported the army and respected themselves, the situation was reversed again. But now Wang Baihu is very familiar with Li Chong's kowtow. There is no psychological burden at all.

Both sides have seen the ceremony. The group went straight to Hukouyi. Wang Baihu sued himself and went, and did not follow, Li Chong is the governor of Zunhua, thousands of miles away from here. Greet you and do your best. If you don't have to pay out of your own pocket to feast with him?

Ma Yicheng's responsibilities are related. However, he had to take on the reception work of Li Chong and his entourage, and his attitude was also courteous, and he asked the postman to help carry the luggage. Take care of the livestock, run before and after, and be so busy that your feet don't touch the ground. won a lot of favor from Wu Wei and Li Chong.

Hukouyi is located not far from the wharf, walk to it, you can see a large group of classical buildings in the distance, the radius is 100 zhang square, there is a courtyard wall, the inside is surrounded by houses, it is like a large quadrangle courtyard in general.

When he got closer, he saw two people tied to the stone lion in front of the post station, his face was scarred, and he saw Ma Yicheng coming over and complaining. Several people on the side were whipping themselves, and when they saw Wu Wei and his party coming, they recognized Ma Yicheng again, so they stopped, but they still stood aside and didn't go, with a sneer on their faces.

Wu Wei saw that the two of them were dressed in tows, with a short-sleeved armor on the outside, and their clothes were old, and they looked like soldiers, and the person holding the whip was brightly dressed and looked like a first-class servant.

Li Chong was also a little strange, the person who was bound in front of him was obviously a post guard, a kind of guard, but who was so bold that he dared to openly whip the officers and soldiers. He was well-trained in the world, and when he saw Ma Yicheng's expression was different, he knew that there must be something strange in it, and he didn't say anything.

I saw that Ma Yicheng confessed to Li Chong, turned around and walked forward, and actually arched his hand to the person who whipped the post guard, and said: "I don't know what dissatisfaction a few distinguished guests have with our post, but why should it be so." ”

Several people with whips glanced at each other, and the leader arched his hand, and sneered: "Our masters have worked hard for His Royal Highness the King, but fortunately, they have tried their best to repay the service by stopping at the post station all the way, so we were lucky not to do the errand." Partial to the birth of here, all the supplies are extremely shabby, and even the dry silver has to be asked for by our masters! These two thieves coaxed us to borrow from the state treasury, and it will take no less than ten days to go back and forth from Jizhou City, aren't they entertaining us? After that, his eyes squinted at Ma Yicheng, and the last sentence was obviously said to him, and he didn't take it seriously.

Although Li Chong didn't like publicity, and the honor guard did not accompany him, but after all, he hugged him from front to back, and he knew at a glance that he must be an official of the imperial court.

Li Chong listened to his words, he had guessed seven or eight points, and he didn't speak, Wu Wei heard that there was a "king" Yunyun in the person's words, and he couldn't help but be confused, and grabbed a postman and asked quietly: "Who are these people, why are you whipping the postmen?" ”

The postman was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders, and he didn't dare to put it down, so he glanced carefully to the left and right, and then said: "The lord doesn't know, these are the servants of the Jin Palace, and there is a steward of the Jin Palace. Alas, these uncles have to be careful every time they come, and if they are not satisfied, they will be beaten or scolded, and they will also press the horse money and discount the silver. Hukou Yi only has a few hundred taels of silver a year, the whole station has more than 60 horses, forty or fifty people, and there are many masters in the past, ushering in and sending them, all of them are self-attached to their pockets, how can there be any money left for him? After that, he suddenly reacted and hurriedly said: "Oh, I'm not complaining about the old man, capital crime, capital crime." ”

Wu Wei didn't care, he knew that the post station had serious drawbacks, and today's scene seemed normal to him. The king of Jin is the king of the Ming Dynasty who has the most descendants, and there are more than 20 kings of the same sect who have spread out from it alone, and it is conceivable that the burden of the people of Shanxi should be rare in the country.

Shanxi has a developed business tradition, it seems that the king of Jin is not exempt from vulgarity, with the halo of the clan, a large number of business to collect money, the people below take the opportunity to do prestige, extort the post station along the way, see the tone of the postman, this year I don't know how many such things to deal with.

I saw Ma Yicheng's face swelling, but he suppressed his anger, and said lightly: "What the honored guest wants is twenty taels of silver, Hukou District Xiaoyi, the monthly fund is just over this amount, and the whole station depends on this for a living, so how can I do it?" It turned out that he had known about the extortion of these slaves, and I am afraid that going to the state treasury to borrow Yinyunyun was also from his confession.

The person who spoke just now sneered: "This is none of our business, you are such a big post station, and you still have so many horses, who will believe you crying poor?" Several people laughed. He turned his face again and said: "There is no need to say superfluous words, ten taels of horse money, ten taels of dry silver, all of which must be in their true colors, if you are missing half a point, you don't have to be a postman." ”

Seeing that Ma Yicheng's face was purple, and he stood on the ground but couldn't speak, Wu Wei stepped forward, arched his hand, and said with a smile: "It turns out that several brothers are serving His Royal Highness the King of Jin, and they are disrespectful. (To be continued......)