These outsiders, businessmen, and landlords, who have been in and out of the county government these days, have long attracted the attention of Lu Jiang and the others. When Lu Chengyuan heard that Xu Liang had asked these people for sponsorship for the formation of a patrol battalion, he was so angry that he came to Wang Zhixian's house angrily.

"County Zun, I don't know what Lord Xu has been doing these days, I don't know if you know?" Lu Xiancheng was obviously very angry, and when he saw Wang Zhixian, he didn't say a word of politeness, so he asked straight to the point.

Wang Zhixian frowned when he heard this, dusted off his official robe, as if he wanted to clean the dust on the official robe, and asked, "Lord Lu, tell me, what is this Lord Xu doing again?" ”

Lu Xiancheng shook his beard on his lips, and said angrily: "County Zun, the lower officials learned that this Xu Liang actually called all the wealthy businessmen in Jianchang to the county government and openly asked for money, such a blatant bribe, it is really unheard of, and it is simply a shame for my Ming officialdom." County Zun, don't you care if something like this happens? ”

Wang Zhixian's right hand imperceptibly pinched the thick pile of silver tickets in his sleeve, raised his eyes and said, "Lord Lu can't say nonsense, do you have real evidence?" ”

Lu Xiancheng listened, knowing that this Wang Zhixian had always favored Xu Liang, and seeing that this Wang Zhixian was so obviously protective of Xu Liang, he could even cover up such a thing, so he smiled coldly at the moment, and said with a righteous attitude: "As long as you find a bitter master to come out of this matter, it can be proven." If the county can even tolerate this kind of immorality, then, as a county and county official, the court official, will never be in the same stream, hum, this official will go back to the fold and play, and he must refer to Xu Liang! ”

When Wang Zhixian heard this, he was very displeased in his heart, and said with his sleeves brushed: "What is the name of Lord Lu, there is no shortage of Qing officials in the Ming Dynasty. You wait, the county will call Lord Xu here, the merits will be known, just ask. ”

Xu Liang came over soon, Wang Zhixian said Lu County's words in front of Lu County, Xu Liang looked at Lu Chengyuan with angry eyes in surprise, and said, "Where did Lord Lu start with this?" ”

Lu Chengyuan saw that Xu Liang was still pretending to be confused in front of Wang Zhixian and himself, and couldn't help but be even more angry, and said coldly: "What, what this official said is not the truth?" ”

Xu Liang immediately called out to hit the sky, "This, this, alas, Lord Lu, this time you really wronged the lower officials, the lower officials invited the rich businessmen and landlords involved in the case to come to the yamen, it was really because there were still a few old cases in the yamen that had not been resolved, and the lower officials wanted to clean them up as soon as possible, so they were called to come over for questioning." Xu Liang pointed to Wang Zhixian and said, "This matter has also been reported by the lower officials and the county lord." ”

Wang Zhixian nodded, "Yes, this is allowed by the county." ”

Lu Chengyuan asked: "Hmph, what can't be put on the table openly, and you have to call them into your Lord Xu's main library one by one to discuss secretly?" Who can say what you did in the secret room? ”

When Xu Liang heard this, he also became angry, and shouted: "Lord Lu, what you said is too ugly. The lower official also wanted to act in a serious and serious manner, but, hmph, Jiang Dianshi, who came with you, returned the notice sent by the lower official without saying a word, and the lower official also asked the reason, hum, Jiang Dianshi said, it was Lord Lu that you gave the order, and all the notices that came out of my main bookstore will not be issued, yes or no? ”

When Lu Chengyuan heard this, he chuckled in his heart, why didn't I know about this? It seems that Jiang Zhunan has misinterpreted what I mean. Lu Xiancheng's face turned red, and he changed the topic and said: "Okay, then I won't talk about this matter, this official just wants to ask Lord Xu one word, has the money raised to form the patrol battalion been raised?" ”

Xu Liang was stunned for a moment, and secretly said that this old man Lu had heard something, glanced at Wang Zhixian, and replied very shamefully: "Yes, the lower officials have raised the silver taels to form a patrol battalion, why does Lord Lu also have to ask?" ”

Lu Xiancheng sneered coldly, "It's good to admit it, then the official has to ask you now, how did this money come from?" ”

"The rich donated voluntarily!" Xu Liang sneered in his heart, Lao Tzu has long been guarding against you, and replied without hesitation.

"Donate? Haha," Lu Xiancheng laughed for a long time and shouted: "Bold Xu Liang, have you been an official for more than ten years to supervise the imperial history?" You can say such a brazen thing as an official of the court, and you can actually say it casually? ”

"What did Lord Lu say?" Xu Liang saw the signs of Lu Xiancheng about to run away, and said with a surprised face: "These officials in the world are looking for Jianchang rich households to inquire about the case, and at the end of the day, the lower officials said casually that the lower officials are raising money to form a patrol battalion for a while, and those rich households are all patriotic and have generously donated and vigorously donated. ”

"Huh?" Lu Xiancheng was shocked: "What did you say? Got a donation receipt? Hmph, show it to me! ”

Xu Liang snorted coldly, turned around and strode back to his main book, took some receipts and brought them to Lu Xiancheng.

Lu Xiancheng looked at it for a while, his angry tone was blocked, and he returned the receipt to Xu Liang without saying a word, and snorted, as if he had suddenly suffered a serious internal injury, and coughed loudly,

Xu Liang walked to Wang Zhixian's side, gave Wang Zhixian a reassuring look, and stood comfortably to watch Lu Xiancheng cough violently.

Lu Xiancheng finally stopped coughing, although he was reluctant in his heart, he had to bow his hand to Xu Liang with a red face, and said curtly: "It seems that the official is still impatient, and he blames Lord Xu, and I ask Lord Xu for forgiveness." ”

Xu Liang pretended to be very generous and waved his hand and said, "Lord Lu is too polite. ”

Lu Chengyuan's expression was full, his eyes rolled, and he turned his head and said, "Well, since this silver is clean, then the official will be relieved." It's just that, Lord Xu, such a large amount of silver is placed in your hand, in case there is a mistake, wouldn't it be a mistake to form a patrol battalion. According to the official's point of view, Lord Xu still handed over the silver taels to the household, which was managed by the household in a unified manner, and the patrol battalion only had to withdraw money from the household, I don't know what Lord Xu thought? ”

When Xu Liang heard this, his lungs were about to explode, he still had a good impression of this Lu Chengyuan, at least this old boy looked upright, with light sleeves, and he was still thinking about the people to some extent, but he didn't expect that this old man could not frame himself, and in a blink of an eye, he put his mind on the silver raised. Hmph, if you hand over the money that Lao Tzu has worked so hard to get to the household management, wouldn't that mean that Lao Tzu will hand over the silver to him Lu Chengyuan? Shameless, shameless!

Xu Liang endured his anger and said word by word: "There is Lord Lao Lu who is concerned, but the lower officials have already found a candidate for the management of the money and grain of the patrol battalion, so there is no need to trouble the household." ”

"Oh, I wonder which Mr. Tent Master Xu is looking for?" Lu Xiancheng was disappointed in his heart and asked with concern.

"Heh, in fact, you also know this person, Lord Lu, it is Mr. Ge Qiaoge, the former head of Jianchang." Xu Liang said.

Lu Xiancheng was stunned for a moment, and said curtly: "It turned out to be Brother Ge, then, the official is relieved." ”

Lu Xiancheng laughed for a while, and said with concern: "However, the matter of food and salary for soldiers and horses has always been complicated, if Lord Xu is not enough manpower, don't be polite to this official, there are a few Mr. Hufang under this official, and he is still very experienced in managing rice and money." ”

It's not endless?! Xu Liang's anger surged, and he was about to scold.

"Hey, Lord Lu," even Wang Zhixian couldn't stand it anymore, and shouted: "The approval document says that the patrol camp raises its own food, and I see that there are a lot of things in the yamen that can't be busy, and the people in the yamen should not interfere in the affairs of the patrol camp." ”

Lu County Cheng saw that Wang Zhixian, the lord of a county, had spoken, so he stopped talking.

Since this incident, Lu Chengyuan's impression in Xu Liang's heart has changed sharply, and when Xu Liang saw him on the road, he didn't see this person, turned his head to look away, and walked quickly. Under his influence, the third-class officials did not treat this Lu Xiancheng who offended their top boss very well, although the awe was undiminished, but everyone had a businesslike look. How could Lu Chengyuan and Jiang Zhunan not know this attitude of the people below? secretly gritted his teeth with hatred for Xu Liang, but he couldn't help others for a while, so angry that he could only stare dryly.

As soon as it was dawn on this day, Xu Liang was dressed in a new green official robe, brought the head catcher Hu Xiaoyong and four catchers, and came to the Jianchang River wharf early in the morning.

In the morning, the water of the Jianchang River is still cold, but the boatmen and porters on the river are busy, playing oars and carrying bags, and they are in full swing.

"What a lively dock." Xu Liang couldn't help but sigh.

"Isn't it?" Hu Xiaoyong on the side echoed: "My lord, look, there are only so many ships coming and going early in the morning, day by day, year by year, how many ships should there be?" I also heard that there are a few scoundrels in the upper reaches of the Jianchang River who have set up a bamboo pole in the middle of the river to collect the passing money of the ships. ”

"And that kind of thing?" Xu Liang praised, "These people have good brains. ”

"Huh?" Hu Xiaoyong didn't expect that Xu Liang not only didn't get angry when he heard it, but also praised others, and he didn't understand what the adults meant for a while, so he smiled and didn't dare to answer nonsense.

Xu Liang squinted slightly, looked at the boats of different shapes and sizes coming and going on the Jianchang River, and said in a solemn tone: "Xiao Yong, in the future, the patrol battalion will also set up a checkpoint at the mouth of the Jianchang River to collect the passing money of passing ships. Moreover, we are only allowed to collect the rest of the messy bamboo poles on the river, and you can let me get them all to squat in prison! ”

Hu Xiaoyong's heart trembled when he heard this, and he responded in awe, standing carefully behind Xu Liang, and looking at the river with a solemn face.

Before long, a small boat without a canopy drove over from across the river, and Xu Liang saw the tall figure standing straight on the bow of the boat, with a kind smile on his face. He waved his hand and shouted, "Brother Xing! Xu Liang is here to pick you up! ”

The group of people on the boat saw the tall and thin man standing on the dock waving from a distance, and they all stood up, Xing Zhongshan in the lead looked angry, turned his head and said to the four or five former Wan'an County catchers behind him: "Xu Liang is now the head of a county, you will see him in a while, you have to pay attention to the etiquette, don't let people see jokes." ”

Several people behind him agreed violently. Another young man in a short shirt in his early twenties squeezed over and said happily: "Hey, Xing Zhutou, the one standing behind my third brother is also the head catcher from Jianchang County, right?" Hehe, after meeting for a while, what kind of scene should Wan'an's catch meet Jianchang's catch? ”

If Xu Liang stood closer, he would recognize this young man in a short shirt as Xu Liang's second brother, Xu Qing, the second young master of the Xu family.