When Wu Shigong returned to the yamen, he happened to meet Xu Yimu escorting more than 40 people back.

Pulling Xu Yimu aside, Wu Shigong asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Xu Yimu told Wu Shigong about the matter. It turned out that these people were all people who did not listen to the advice of the Terracotta Division and insisted on picking up items on the ruins. After understanding the reason, Wu Shigong confessed to Xu Zhimu: Screen these people, and if they are people who go to others to pick them up, they will immediately be escorted to other yamen for judgment as the crime of theft and robbery. If they are only picked up on their own property, they should be locked up in the yamen and released at night when the yamen is set off, so that these people will be sober and sober. He took special care of Xu Zhimu, did not beat and scold those who were locked up, even if their relatives came to the yamen to rescue, and did not collect any red envelopes, he had to patiently explain to these relatives that they would be released at night. Because this is a sensitive period, we must not provoke any popular uprising.

Xu Yanmu hurriedly nodded in agreement. Wu Shigong then pouted at the middle-aged man and woman, and said to Xu Yanmu: "Those two will lock them up for three or four days, and you can do whatever you want." Give them some gruel to drink, and don't starve. However, don't scold either. Wu Shigong didn't dare to do things absolutely. Since the pair of middle-aged men and women dared to roar at themselves as officials, they must also have some confidence. Before figuring out the background of those two people, Wu Shigong didn't want to do anything to them. Besides, the contradiction between them, that is, the quarrel between them, is not a great enemy of life and death, and after giving these two people a little hardship, Wu Shigong will also let the two of them out.

After listening to Wu Shigong's arrangement, Xu Yanmu immediately comprehended the two people into the escort team and escorted them to the yamen together. At the time of the breakup, Xu Yanmu reported to Wu Shigong that the notice of requisitioning the carriage from the Carriage and Horse Carriage had been notified to President Lin of the Carriage and Horse Carriage Guild.

Wu Shigong was about to go back to the yamen to rest and rest, when he suddenly heard someone calling him in the distance. Wu Shigong took a look, that person he knew, and it was his eldest brother Wu Shixun's personal servant. After calling the little guy over for questioning, it turned out that his eldest brother Wu Shixun wanted to have lunch with Wu Shigong. Now, Wu Shigong's eldest brother Wu Shixun is waiting for him in the restaurant opposite the yamen.

It is impossible for Wu Shigong to naively think that his eldest brother invited him to dinner for the sake of brotherly affection, it must be his eldest brother who has something to find him. After returning to the yamen to change into civilian clothes, Wu Shigong followed the little guy to the restaurant, and after the brothers said a few polite words, under Wu Shigong's continuous questioning, his eldest brother Wu Shixun finally said his intentions:

It turned out that Wu Shixun didn't go to work in Taifu Temple. One of the most important things about this temple is the annual review of the number of horses. Anyway, there are a lot of cats in it, and every year Taifu Temple can pull out a batch of horses. Sell it on the market and let the officials of the Taifu Temple divide it as a welfare. But if these horses are sold piecemeal, it is too troublesome, and the return of funds is slow. On the one hand, these horses can't see any light, on the other hand, the mule and horse market always have to make money, so the income of Taifu Temple will be less.

This time, after the explosion of Wang Gongchang, the horses of the carriage and horse shops in Nancheng suffered a lot of losses. In addition to those horses that were killed and injured, there were also many horses who were frightened and maimed under the collision. And this time, the number of horses in the hands of Taifu Temple is relatively large, about 310. Therefore, Taifu Temple wanted to sell all the horses in his hand to the carriage and horse dealers. But the first few times it was not negotiated. Because there are two differences. The first disagreement is that the price of Taifu Temple is relatively high. The price of the temple was twenty-five taels of silver per horse. This is the market price. But the carriage and horse dealers refused, they felt that the price was too high. There is a question of wholesale and retail prices. The second disagreement is that Taifu Temple wants the chariot and horse shop to pay the money in a lump sum. And because the loss is relatively large this time, the car and horse shop wants to pay in installments.

And this morning, President Lin of the Chariot and Horse Guild was negotiating with the officials of Taifu Temple, when President Lin's subordinates reported to President Lin and told him that the Nancheng Terracotta Division was going to requisition the carriage of the Chariot and Horse Guild. As a result, Chairman Lin suspended the negotiations and went back to the carriage. Knowing this news, the officials of Taifu Temple remembered that Wu Shixun was the eldest brother of Wu Shigong, the acting commander of the Nancheng Soldiers and Horses Division, so they asked Wu Shixun to ask Wu Shigong to help press the carriage and horses to reach the deal of Taifu Temple.

Knowing the intention of his eldest brother Wu Shixun, Wu Shigong thought about it. In fact, when Wu Shigong and his father-in-law Xue Lian discussed yesterday, they calculated that it would indeed take 1,500 carriages to clean up the ruins, but his father-in-law Xue Lian promised to settle 500 carriages from Beijing, so Wu Shigong only needed to requisition 1,000 carriages from the carriage and horse shop. And the expropriation time is not so long, it only takes four months to negotiate. Weishenme Wu Shigong asked Xu Zhimu to send a message to the carriage and horse dealership, saying: What about requisitioning 1,500 carriages for six months? This is also a reason to ask for a sky-high price and pay back the money on the spot. Wu Shigong also estimated that after the carriage and horse shop got the news, he would quickly send someone to bargain with him. Therefore, solving the problem of the eldest brother Wu Shixun is also a matter of favors. Moreover, it is not without his own interests, Wu Shigong is a little greedy for these horses. So, Wu Shigong basically agreed. However, his words did not say death, but promised his eldest brother that no matter whether the result was good or bad, he would give his eldest brother a clear message within three days.

Wu Shixun was greatly relieved after listening to Wu Shigong's answer. came to Wu Shigong today, on the one hand, Wu Shixun still has the mentality of a literati, and he doesn't want to talk about any business nakedly; On the other hand, I am worried that Wu Shigong still has some thoughts about his own wealth. And if Wu Shigong refuses, Wu Shixun will be embarrassed in Taifu Temple. Now that there is a result, Wu Shixun is relieved. So, the two brothers had a pleasant lunch. When they were about to break up, Wu Shixun politely asked Wu Shigong when he would return to Wu Mansion with his daughter-in-law? Hearing this inquiry, Wu Shigong blinked his eyes and was stunned for a long time. The new daughter-in-law has a rule of returning to the door after three days. Could it be that the son-in-law also has this rule? So, Wu Shigong only vaguely agreed.

Sure enough, as Wu Shigong expected, President Lin of the Carriage and Horse Guild came to visit Wu Shigong with a meeting gift of three hundred taels of silver just after noon. As soon as they met, President Lin poured bitter water, telling about the tragic experience of the carriage and horse shop, which was almost tear-jerking. Wu Shigong didn't care about President Lin's mouth and spit lotus flowers, called President Lin into the inner hall, and the two negotiated behind closed doors. After more than an hour of fierce bargaining, Chairman Lin finally left the Yamen of the Terracotta Division with a smile on his face.

The contents and explanations of the agreement reached by Wu Shigong and Chairman Lim are as follows:

The first point is that the Soldiers and Horses Division will requisition 1,200 carriages from the chariot and horse dealers for a period of four months. President Lin of the Carriage and Horse Carriage Guild organized the carriages of the various carriages and horses to gather at the site of the ruins on June 15;

The second point is that the chariot and horse company will spend 7,750 taels of silver to buy 200 horses from the Taifu Temple. Pay as soon as you arrive. That is to say, the carriage and horse dealer will buy three hundred and ten horses for twenty-five taels of silver each, and give one hundred and ten of them to Wu Shigong;

The third point is that because the number of carriages requisitioned by the Terracotta Division this time has accounted for nearly half of the total number of freight carriages in the carriage and horse industry, the freight of the carriage will increase. However, in order to ensure that the increase in freight does not affect the daily life of the people, the Terracotta Division will stipulate that the freight of horse-drawn carriages will be increased by up to 50%. And, by the end of the year at the latest, the freight rates for horse-drawn carriages will return to their original standards. Of course, with the support of the government, the carriage and horse dealers will definitely increase the freight of the carriage by fifty percent and keep it until the end of the year;

The fourth point is that the ruins of the houses transported by the carriage will be sorted out and disposed of by Chairman Lin himself, but the ruins of each house will be disposed of by President Lin to the Soldiers and Horses Division, that is, Wu Shigong himself, for the disposal of three coins of silver;

The fifth point is: after the carriage has finished transporting the ruins of the house, the empty carriage returning to the city, if the carriage and horse dealer arranges to transport the goods, will hand over half of the freight to the Soldiers and Horses, that is, Wu Shigong himself. Vice versa.

President Lin is of course very pleased with this agreement. Although this agreement gave Wu Shigong a lot of benefits, the carriage and horse shop did not suffer a loss, and even in the disposal of the ruins of the house, Chairman Lin himself had a lot of benefits. In addition, if the number of chariots and carriages can be properly arranged, the big chariots and horses owned by President Xianglin will stage a good show of big fish eating small fish, and swallow up those small chariots and horse shops.

And Wu Shigong is also very satisfied with this agreement. Although Wu Shigong gave up part of his interests to Chairman Lin, he also completely handed over those miscellaneous things to President Lin to do. You can free up your hands to develop new sources of income and save your own time.

After President Lin left, Wu Shigong called Shumo over and asked him to go to the Yamen of Taifu Temple to inform his eldest brother Wu Shixun that the transaction had been completed.

After doing all this, Wu Shigong lay on the chair and wanted to relax completely, when a small official of the Terracotta Division ran in in a panic and said to Wu Shigong: "Lord Commander, there is a fan from Dongchang looking for you outside." ”

Wu Shigong felt a little strange in his heart, the people from Dongchang are here, what is there to panic about you, a little official? He didn't know that in the Ming Dynasty, there was no one who didn't panic when he saw people from Dongchang come to visit for no reason.

Wu Shigong got up and went out to greet him, but he didn't expect the fan of the East Factory to smile and be very polite. He saluted Wu Shigong, handed over a greeting note and said, "Commander Wu, our Lord Baihu will hold a banquet tomorrow to welcome you to your appointment." Li Qianhu of Jinyiwei will also accompany him. Commander Wu is invited to enjoy the light. This is our post from the Lord of 100 Households. ”