Yan Hong saw Hu Baiqi's hippie smile on his face and mentioned this matter, and hurriedly said: "Since you have a letter, why don't you tell me quickly, Brother Hu?" A penalty of three glasses of wine is required. Seeing that Yan Hong was in a hurry, Hu Baiqi took out a bag of things from his cuffs and handed it to Yan Hong. Turning his head to Jiang Zhou and Chen Keyuan, he said: "Two gentlemen, I have some wine here, let's go outside to blow the wind, and by the way, see how Hu Daye and the others are drinking." Jiang Zhou and Chen Keyuan didn't know Hu Sangongzi's intentions, so they wanted Yan Hong to be quiet and read the letter alone, so they stood up together, and the three of them walked out of the private room.

The conscience of heaven and earth said that when Yan Hong was in Beijing, he occasionally thought of Wang Cuiqiao, Mo Qing'er and Xue Yanniang in the south of the Yangtze River. Half a year since they broke up, I don't know how they are now? It's just that he has too many things to do during this time, not only did he run to Xuanda and roll around on the knife edge of the Mongols, but now he is deeply involved in the turmoil of the Xu family sending a daughter as a concubine. Coupled with the official business of opening the sea, where is the time and energy to take care of those beauties in the Jiangnan Courtyard?

Therefore, at this moment, when he heard Hu Sangongzi say that he had brought the Jiangnan letter, his heart also jumped. In the past six months, I have rarely taken care of them, but I don't know how life is going. Thinking of this, he opened the package and saw two letters inside.

Yan Hong hesitated for a moment, and first opened the letter given by Wang Cuiqiao. In this letter, there were no lingering words in the intention, just like a homely conversation between brothers and sisters who were not particularly close, talking about her business in Yangzhou Salt Shop, earning tens of thousands of taels of silver. I brought it with me again, and I heard that now the old ship owners Wang Zhi and Xu Hai and others are also making great plans in Yizhou, and the business at sea is getting bigger and bigger. After that, there is no after. It's just two pages of letterhead.

Yan Hong read this and stopped abruptly. I couldn't help but wonder a little. I wonder what is the relationship between you and me. This letter is so salty and not light. However, Wang Cuiqiao herself is a strange woman who is used to seeing the ups and downs of wind and dust. When I was in Yangzhou that day, I felt Yan Hong's warmth and thoughtfulness, so I was like a girl in my first love, and now once I separated, I quickly calmed down. After all, Yan Hong is a figure in the officialdom, and he is the No. 1 Baisheng general who can fight in the romantic field. No matter how amorous he is, he can only be his lover for a few days. How can you expect monopoly? Therefore, it is useless to pretend to be coquettish and show off your flirtatiousness, and want to exchange for some more favor. Now that Yan Hong is in Beijing, why should he be thousands of miles away and seduce him on this paper? If he comes to Jiangnan again, he will know it, but he will not be in a hurry. Just because Wang Cuiqiao understands in her heart, this letter can be written without humility or arrogance, and is as calm as water. But on the contrary, Yan Hong felt a trace of regret in his heart.

Yan Hong then opened another letter written by the Mo family. This letter is longer than Wang Cuiqiao's. But it was written in the mouth of Mrs. Liu. At the beginning of the letter, there were a lot of words, all of which were grateful for Yan Hong's great kindness. Saving the Mo family. Later, he was rambling again, and talked about a lot of the Mo family's opening of a salt store in Yangzhou. In the end, he went around in a circle, but he was asking, Mo Qing'er is already eighteen years old this year, and since the eldest young master of Engong Yan has already decided to accept her as a concubine, I don't know when I want to officially handle the entry. After all, the girl is old, and it's not good to drag it out, so it's better to serve Engong as soon as possible. saw the end, and didn't see the imaginary Xue Yanniang's sweet words, but the Liu family was forcing marriage. Yan Hong couldn't help but smile bitterly, put away the two letters, and greeted the outside: "Brother Hu, I've finished reading the letters, come in." ”

After a while, Hu Baiqi smiled and Jiang Zhou and Chen Keyuan came in: "Yan Xiaoxianggong, the beauty is thousands of miles away, this is it?" Yan Hong pouted and said, "Don't talk nonsense." Brother Hu, if this matter is almost over, then you can go back to the inn and rest for a while. I've had a few drinks, and I'm not going to the government office in the afternoon, so I'll give you a report when I go home. You can come directly to Yanfu tonight, I'll see if grandpa or daddy is free. ”

That night, Hu Baiqi took the gift list and went to the Yan Mansion to ask for a meeting. Jiang Zhou and Chen Keyuan also came with them. It stands to reason that Hu Zongxian only used Zhao Wenhua's relationship to get on the line of the Yan Mansion before, and he barely mixed up the treatment of the periphery of the Yan Mansion. But this time he recruited An Wang Zhi, but Hu Zongxian was Yan Hong's direct partner, and after Yan Hong returned to Beijing, he also gave Hu Zongxian a few good words in front of Yan Song, so this time Yan Ge boss was to save face, and he actually met Hu Zongxian's son in person. When Hu Sangongzi saw the legendary Yan Ge Lao, he was so grateful that he burst into tears, and after kowtowing and saluting, he hurriedly presented the gift list. In terms of age alone, he is also Yan Song's grandchildren, and it is not too much to nod his head like this.

Yan Song took a look, in addition to gold, silver and jewelry, there were also a lot of goods, especially some Western gadgets, thinking that Old Madam Ouyang would like it, and she was also happy. asked about Hu Zongxian's situation in Jiangnan again, nodded and said: "Hu Sangongzi, you go back to Jiangnan to sue Sù Lingzun, this Jiangnan matter is handled very steadily, and the heavenly family is very happy." Next, the matter of opening the sea, he must contribute to the heavenly family. This year, Nei Hong'er is most likely going to go to Jiangnan next time, and when the time comes, everyone will work together to complete the same thing as opening the sea, and earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for the court a year, which is better than anything else. ”

Hu Baiqi nodded repeatedly. Yan Hong interjected on the side: "Grandpa, as well as the two gentlemen recommended by Hu Junmen, Jiang Zhou and Chen Keyuan, have all made great contributions to this recruitment. The child thinks that although they only show their talents and fame, they are all talented, if they can be entrusted with important tasks, they should be the arms of opening the sea for me. ”

Yan Song pondered for a moment and said, "Since these two people are talented, it doesn't hurt to use them. There is no trouble on the side of Wu Peng, but if they are directly entrusted with important tasks, they are afraid that the court officials will seize the handle and make a big fuss. In this way, Hong'er, you go back and take them to your teacher Uncle Zhang, and ask them to enter the country to supervise and study. Since Jiang Zhou and Chen Keyuan's talent and fame were obtained by themselves, and they made great contributions under Hu Ruzhen, this insight is comparable to that of ordinary civil officials, and it must not be difficult to get out of prison. When the time comes, he will be an official in the name of the country's supervisor, and others will not have much to say. ”

Yan Hong was overjoyed, and he knelt down and said, "Thank you grandpa for your advice." Hu Baiqi followed and kowtowed: "Thank you Yan Ge for your appreciation." ”

Yan Song said: "Okay, Hong'er, I'll leave this matter to you." I pondered. These days there is a matter of opening the sea in the court. It's time to make a decision. On the one hand, you have to organize a big wedding to marry Miss Xu. But on the other side, don't keep an eye on the opening of the sea. Although you don't need to come out in court debates, after all, you are most familiar with the coastal situation, and there are some things that I, your father and uncles have to discuss with you. Now this third son Hu is also from Jiangnan, and there are two talented people, Jiang Zhou and Chen Keyuan, you have to take the time to tidy up this one. ”

Yan Hong hurriedly said: "Follow Grandpa's orders." He kowtowed to Hu Baiqi and said goodbye and went to Yan Hong's small courtyard. When Hu Baiqi saw Yan Song. The nervous vest was soaked with sweat. Now that he came out, he suddenly felt relaxed and said with a smile: "Yan Xiaoxianggong, I inquired in the inn this afternoon, and I know your majesty." It's not simple, last year, the two beauties competed for a husband, and this spring they can actually let Xu Ge give your granddaughter's family to you as a concubine? Hey, I have to say, we usually carry the name of the gentleman on our backs, and you are thousands of times stronger than me. ”

Yan Hong smiled bitterly and slapped Hu Baiqi's fat back: "Brother Hu." Don't talk like that. This has made me die of sorrow. You say, give me a granddaughter who is a good person. I can't stand it. My father-in-law is also the governor of Jinyiwei, this offends that side, is it a joke? ”

Hu Baiqi said: "Yan Xiaoxianggong, two years ago, I was instructed by you, as long as I made some contributions in the army, there is naturally nothing to worry about in the affairs of men and women." Now, I'll give you back this sentence. That's right, you are handsome and dashing, graceful, but why are you so majestic, why did this Xu Ge give you his granddaughter, it is not for you to be handsome, but because you are the hero of the Son of Heaven. As long as our buddies cooperate to do a good job of opening the sea, and you make a few more great contributions in front of the heavenly family, then don't mention Xu Ge's granddaughter, it is Xu Ge's daughter's daughter who marries you, what are you afraid of? ”

Yan Hong didn't want this former gentleman to be able to say such a rough and unreasonable way, so he couldn't help but be impressed, and spit and said, "Silence!" Brother Hu, that old Xu Ge's daughter, I don't think you have to be thirty years old if you are not forty years old, if you are interested, just go, I can't afford it. ”

That night, Hu Baiqi, Jiang Zhou, and Chen Keyuan all stayed in the guest room of Yan's Mansion, and Yan Hong also resigned from the concubines and went to talk with these people all night, talking about the situation in Jiangnan. Listening to Jiang Zhou and Chen Keyuan, since Wang Zhi was recruited and appointed as an official last autumn, Hu Zongxian's pressure has been reduced by half. Today, although the scourge of the Japanese has not been completely eliminated, there are still small groups of Japanese ronin and local bandits, occasionally burning and killing in coastal villages, but after all, Wang Zhi, who has the strongest sea power, has already stood on the side of the imperial court, not only restraining his subordinates from doing anything wrong, but also cracking down on those bandits who dare to continue to attack from time to time. In the past, the imperial court's naval divisions were insufficient to monitor the security of the sea frontier in an all-round way. But now Wang Zhi's power from the sea alone is not under the Ming Dynasty sailors, especially in terms of information acquisition and rapid action, Wang Zhi, who is accustomed to smuggling, looting, and collecting protection money, can be said to be above the Ming Dynasty sailors. In this way, the public order work in which Wang Zhi participated has also been greatly improved. In addition, when the news of the opening of the sea ban came, those private businessmen could no longer play with the officers and soldiers, and the motivation of the Japanese was greatly reduced from the source.

Today, the number of invasions by the Japanese is only less than one-tenth of that before Wang Zhizhao'an, and in terms of scale, most of them are small groups of Japanese invaders with less than 100 people, and there are only one or two ships in general. On two other occasions, the Japanese invaders had just assembled with five ships and more than 300 people, landed and burned a village, and were surrounded by the Japanese invaders directly under Wang Zhi - now called Shui Yong, a subordinate of the Yizhou Governor's Bureau, and all of them were annihilated, leaving no one behind. In this way, for Hu Zongxian, it can be regarded as solving the biggest trouble in the past. The officers and men under Hu Zongxian no longer have to serve as firefighters as in the past, and they are always running along thousands of miles of coastline to constantly extinguish one disaster after another.

When Hu Baiqi heard this, he interjected and laughed: "There is another one, just as the silver is concerned, in the past, I had to fight with the Japanese invaders, the loss of ammunition, the death and wounding of the soldiers, and the damage of the warship, it was all white silver, and I slipped out, my father was just to borrow money from the wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan, so he was so anxious that his hair turned white." Now that these have been saved, Wang Zhi still has filial piety on his side. Also, since you are strict and young, oh no, Yan Daqincha, you made such a fuss in Jiangnan, and you have treated those wealthy families and salt merchants, and now the normal business tax is also much happier. Two plus one subtract, the use of these provinces in the south of the Yangtze River is now greatly generous. But, I thought, since there is more money in the treasury, what are we going to do with two more things? My father said that although the money is not as burning his eyebrows as in the past, he still needs to train troops and build ships and buy guns, and the money spent is not a small amount, but he is afraid that the gap will be even greater. ”

Yan Hong nodded and said, "Uncle Hu is right. Wang Zhizhao is safe, and the coastal woes are not good, this thing is not bad. But this is just a buffer time for us to clean up the coast. If you think that you can put the Nanshan Mountain and relax your armaments, then sooner or later you will have to reap the consequences. To put it bluntly, if the imperial court's forces are not strong, and those private pirates find that they can make more money as robbers, why should they honestly abide by the law and do business? Therefore, in order to keep the sea open, it is necessary to have a strong sailor. ”

Chen Keyuan listened to Yan Hong's words, glanced at Jiang Zhou, and admired Yan Xiaoxianggong in his heart, he was a high-ranking official at a young age, and he really didn't just rely on the protection of his family. Chen Keyuan immediately nodded and said, "Yan Xiaoxianggong said it very well. During these days, Brother Jiang and I observed the situation in the south of the Yangtze River, and although the danger of burning and killing the Japanese was greatly reduced, the imperial court had not yet opened the sea ban at this time, and those private merchants had openly sailed in and out under the protection of Wang Zhi, and the number of ships had increased greatly compared to before. Although Wang Zhi's side released a lot of silver to Hu Daduxian every month, saying that it was the tax and silver collected, which also greatly made up for the finances of Jiangnan, but after all, when the imperial court was not formally established, these private businessmen were completely abiding by the laws and regulations formulated by Wang Zhi. I'm only afraid that this will cause Wang Zhi's power to be too strong, and the future will not be big. ”

When Yan Hong heard this, he couldn't help but be a little worried. Although Wang Zhi has not met him a few times, this person is deeply hidden, and he has the style of a generation of heroes. In the past, he wanted to open the sea to provide a way for the coastal merchants to survive, so as to cut off the source of the Japanese bandits. But now that Zhao'an has been completed and the opening of the sea is imminent, how to control Wang Zhi more effectively and ensure that the result of opening the sea is to bring more benefits to the imperial court rather than more risks, but it is a problem that has to be avoided.

Although his mentor Zhang Juzheng once said that as long as he plans in the general direction, the details will be completed by someone who understands specific affairs. However, that was when I was coping with the Kuniko exam. Now, he has been appointed as a Qincha by Jiajing Long Live Lord at every turn, and the heavy responsibility of this side falls directly on his shoulders, so what he has to do is not only to elaborate on the concept of the general direction, but also to be responsible for the results.

Yan Hong, Hu Baiqi, Jiang Zhou, and Chen Keyuan kept talking until the third watch, and they fell asleep and fell asleep. (To be continued......)