Yinxiang ate two pieces of chilled watermelon and lay down on the couch for a while. He was drowsy, and suddenly, in a daze, he heard someone talking in the courtyard. Then, as soon as the curtain rang, Yinxiang sat up, rubbed his eyes and asked, "Is the fourth master back?" - Oh! It's the fourth brother! And I said that when you come back and tell them to call me, will you come back from the river? As he spoke, he pushed the watermelon plate.

"I don't eat it." The fourth elder brother Yinzhen sat opposite as he spoke, looked at Yinxiang in a coarse cloth short coat, and said with a smile, "I haven't been so hot since the beginning of summer, you are the prince, and you ignore civil affairs, why bother looking for this crime?" After that, he poured two cups of herbal tea, handed Yinxiang a cup, and plucked the floating leaves on his head with the lid of his own bowl, and slowly took a sip.

Yinzhen is twenty-seven or eighteen years old, with two locks of beard, very neat clothes, bottomless black pupils with a silver plate like a white face, which looks like a calm and solemn feeling. Yinxiang is nine years younger than him, and because he has been ashamed since he was a child, he relies on this fourth brother to take care of him. In front of Yinzhen, Yinxiang was still a little childish. Seeing that Yinzhen was still wearing four dragon coats and a Dongzhu hat on a hot day, Yinxiang couldn't help but smile and said: "I've never seen the fourth brother bare-chested, what are you afraid of when you take off, and you're not a girl!" ”

"Mama Xie said the same thing, but I'm used to it, and I feel uncomfortable playing shirtless in the house by myself. This is all from Teacher Gu Badai since childhood, and I can't help it. Yin Zhen got up as he said and said with a smile, "I don't think you have anything important." I still want to see He Yifei. Yinxiang said with a smile: "There is no important matter, I saw a ridiculous thing today and wanted to say that I would like to make the fourth brother happy, and I will talk about it when you ask about the river worker." ”

Yin Zhen smiled and nodded and went back to the upper room. After a while, Yinxiang listened to the summons, "Lord Belle asked He Yifei to go over to speak", and saw a second-grade official walk into the upper room with a handbook in both hands. Yinxiang took a bamboo recliner to the courtyard courtyard, lay down at the west entrance of the hall, shook a banana fan, and took a cool dip in the courtyard with bare feet.

It's a lot of stuff going on in the upper room. He Fantai is in charge of the two politics of the province, the people and the finance, and just talks about how many migrant workers are used, how much money is spent, and what expenses are made. Yin Zhen just listened, occasionally got up and paced two steps, without saying a word. Yinxiang was not interested in listening, but he heard Yinzhen ask coldly: "That's all?" Do you ponder for a long time, and then prevaricate me with these empty words? He Fantai said: "Fourth Master Mingjian, this section of the river work alone cannot be repaired with the power of a province!" After collecting this year's fire consumption, I have been complaining for a long time, and I can't get another million at once. The fourth master, you are in charge of the household, and if you pluck the hair from the household, you can get seven or eight hundred thousand. ”

"You're dead to this heart!" Yin Zhen sneered, "I told you to find a salt merchant, but you told me to find a household, can you hide that trick from me?" - Don't you want to get the fire back from the salt merchants? In the end, it is still a pit for the court! I've been here with the Thirteenth Master for half a month, and I know very well about your family, why don't you hide it from us! Even if there is a little shortage, just ask these salt merchants! Let them have some blood, I think it's fair! ”

He Yifei smiled and said: "How dare the students disobey the fourth master's order? No, it's like squeezing pus, a hundred salt merchants donated 30,000! Yin Zhen angrily threw the silver donation post and threw it on the ground, frowning and thinking about his thoughts without saying a word.

"Fourth Master, don't be angry!" He Yifei saw that his face was not good, and he hurriedly explained, "They have always been like this, and they still have face for the fourth master!" Count on the salt merchants, that's plucking from the iron rooster! Today, the prefect of Wen Fengming also said a public case. Shi Shilun came to Tongcheng to receive the seal, and the first day he called more than 20 salt merchants and asked them to exchange money to repair the academy, but only donated more than 140 taels of silver. This Shi Shilun is also strange, he took a few smuggled salt sellers today, and let them go on the spot without asking. Ren Mingyu and other fifteen salt merchants went to the Wen Governor's Mansion to complain. The salt merchants have roots in the province and Beijing, and they can't afford to provoke them! Yinxiang couldn't help but be stunned when he heard it, but he heard Yinzhen say: "These salt merchants are so ignorant, okay!" You put out a sign from the yamen of the feudal division to block the luck. You need to pay for the road, and you need to pay for the bridge! I have to tell these bastards to make up 1,400,000 silver! You write an excerpt for the rest, and I will play it to the emperor! ”

"This ......"

"What's so hard about that?" Yin Zhen said, "As soon as the Yellow River collapses, the bridge is gone, the road is gone, and the transportation is broken." How do they go to transport salt! ”

He Yifei hurriedly said: "It's not that the clan is embarrassed, I'm afraid of causing trouble." Ask the fourth master...... Give a word, give the slave a strong courage......" "Success! Yin Zhen said, and without hesitation, he wrote a few lines and handed them to He Yifei, "Listen, I'm in charge of this matter." I'm not a person who rubs sand in my eyes! If you break again in the autumn flood this year, you don't need to ask for a decree, Yu Chengchan, the governor of the river before learning, put on a flail and come to Beijing to see me. Do you hear that? ”

"Wow!" He Yifei hurriedly kowtowed, "Remember! ”

"Let's go down on an errand!"

Yinxiang saw He Yifei bowing down but stepping out, standing under the eaves and sweating, so he sat up straight, greeted with a banana fan, and shouted: "Lao He, come here!" ”

"Thirteenth Master!" He Yifei had seen Yinxiang several times, and knew that although the two princes who came to Anhui had different personalities, they were both very loved by Emperor Kangxi, so he hurriedly came over to greet Yinxiang and said with a smile: "Thirteenth master, are you enjoying the cool?" This place is not as good as Beijing, and it is like a fire cage in summer, so I was transferred from Shaanxi......" Yinxiang waved his fan and smiled: "Pull it down!" I didn't call you to fan me to cool off! Let me ask you, what do you do with Shi Shilun's matter? He Yifei didn't expect Yinxiang to ask about this trivial matter, because he didn't touch his head, he smiled and said: "What's the matter, the thirteenth master cares about the salt policy?" Shi Shilun released a few smuggler salt dealers, and was taken by the Ren family and sent to Wen Fengming. ”

Yinxiang couldn't help but be taken aback, obviously, he didn't expect that this Ganzi salt merchant would have such a big power in the local area, and the case that the government had decided, he would dare to take people privately and sue him at the top! After thinking about it, he sneered and said, "Lao He, tell the person surnamed Wen when you go back!" - Tell him to let him go! Shi Shilun's case was broken, and he was told to leave it alone. Shi Shilun is a member of your thirteenth master's disciple and a student of the fourth master! You weigh up, huh? ”

"Shi Shilun is a well-known Qing official, and I don't plan to embarrass him at all." He Yifei smiled and said, "The thirteenth master didn't hear what the fourth master said, and the river workers' silver hasn't landed yet!" This silver has to be taken out of the pockets of these salt dogs, and you can't give it without a face......" said, because he saw Yinzhen pacing out, he said again, "You said no, fourth master?" ”

Yinzhen originally heard Yinxiang say that Shi Shilun was his "subordinate" and his "student", so he felt funny and paced out to listen to the excitement. Seeing that He Yifei asked himself, he said coldly: "I see that you are unconscious, and the thirteenth master is also a Qincha!" Can't even do this idea? ”

"Listen, Lao He." Yinxiang was not as serious as Yinzhen, patted his thigh with a fan, and said with a smile: "Shi Shilun is both a Qing official and my subordinate, he released people, and if you catch him again, don't you sweep my face?" You can't bet on any of those people. If the salt dog makes trouble and refuses to give money, then what is your water and fire stick for? Go back, skin your dog, take a bath, wake up, and do as I tell you. The salt merchants didn't follow, so they went to Beijing Sipai Lou to find the fourth master, and I was also successful! Get out! He Yifei didn't dare to refuse, so he promised to withdraw without a promise.

Yin Zhen smiled and asked: "Shi Shilun is the son of Jinghai Marquis Shi Lang, where did you get this disciple?" Besides, why did you pull me in again and insist that I accept this student? Yinxiang stood up with his boots on his feet, and said with a hippie smile: "I don't regret accepting this student to manage the fourth brother." Fourth brother, you have a bad spirit, saying that it is my own door, and I am afraid that they will bow their heads and be contemptuous, so I climbed your big tree. So he told everything he had seen and heard in Tongcheng County today.

"No wonder you stopped He Yifei from nagging like this!" Yin Zhen laughed happily and said, "Shi Shilun can be said to have a father and a son!" On the day Shi Lang conquered Taiwan, he didn't even buy the account of the scholar Li Guangdi, and almost killed the Fujian general Lai Ta, raising a son is such a strange temperament! He sighed and added, "Yes! The disadvantage of the salt administration is not that these hawkers who carry it on their shoulders, but that the salt road and the salt merchants are the silverfish of the salt administration. The jackal is in charge, and Ann asks the fox? He said, looking thoughtfully into the distance, and said nothing. Yinzhen has such a temperament, saying that he is a cold person, sometimes talking and laughing, and talking endlessly; He is said to be cheerful and cheerful, and sometimes sits in silence all day without saying a word. Therefore, the Chinese martial arts officer of the dynasty did not dare to offend this confidant brother of the crown prince, nor did he dare to easily curry favor with him, but he actually respected the ghosts and gods and stayed away.

After a long time, Yin Xiangcai asked again: "Fourth brother, are you on the river all day today?" Yin Zhen sat upright on the chair where Yin Xiang was lying just now, slowly shook the fan, and said, "Check the river workers in the afternoon, and go to Fang Bao's house in the morning to have a look." Fang Bao is a well-known scholar in China, and it is a pity to suffer such a big loss with Dai Mingshi. Fortunately, Nian Qianyao, who was ordered to take people, is really a slave under my door. I saw that he ordered Wen Fengming to enclose more than 100 members of the Fang family in four houses, and several of them were killed by heat. The Buddha has compassion, which is too much. I taught Nian Qianyao a few words, except for the offense Fang Bao, none of the family members are allowed to hurt! Yinxiang knew that Yinzhen had converted to Buddhism, so he couldn't help but smile and asked, "What crime did Fang Bao commit?" ”

Yinzhen glanced at Yinxiang and said coldly: "Dai Mingshi's "Nanshan Collection" contains nonsense that slanders the Qing Dynasty and misses the former Ming Dynasty. 'Before reading the Di Bao, this person has been corrected in Beijing's West Market. Fang Bao wrote a preface to his book. It seems that the Fang Bud who wrote the preface is also too much water and less face-it's hard to live! Yin Zhen paused for a while and said slowly, "There is a drama in this case!" Fang Bao can only be regarded as having some involvement, and there is no major crime. In fact, it was because he posted to the Yamen of the Domain, overthrew the former Qian County Order, and offended the salt lord here. This place can't stay for a long time, let's take care of things these days, and we have to hurry back to Beijing! "The eighth son" refers to the eighth son of the emperor, Yinxi, among the twenty-four sons of Kangxi, only this "eighth master" is the most popular, needless to say, the academic character is needless to say, it is the first class, that one is elegant and elegant, generous and benevolent, steady and generous, and even belongs to foreign ministers in and out, and no one admires and admires. Prince Yinren is benevolent and cowardly, and Kangxi has revealed his dissatisfaction with him several times. If it really collapses because of this incident, not only the fourth elder brother Yinzhen, but even the third elder brother Yinzhi and the thirteenth elder brother Yinxiang, who are known as "***", will definitely step on the feet of this "eighth master", don't think about having a peaceful life in this life.

Yinxiang has always been pungent and bold, bold and uninhibited, and after listening to Yinzhen's words, he couldn't help but turn pale.

"You don't have to worry." Yin Zhen smiled and said, "The car has its own road to the side of the mountain, and the boat will naturally go straight to the bridge!" It's just that our prince is too angry, if he is really weak, he is still a curable disease. Sometimes I'm so impatient that I don't follow the rules! For example, last time, the emperor was too slow to dispatch military rations for him, and after saying a few words to him, he took Narsu, the king of Pingjun, out of anger, and ate his ten whips, which made the emperor even more unhappy. Alas......" he sighed, and said with emotion, "I don't want to do these things. Anyway, the sky is falling, and there is a high top, so let's talk about everything back to Beijing. ”

A few days later, Yinzhen and Yinxiang got up and headed north. Because they wanted to take advantage of the cold to hurry, neither of them wanted to swagger, so they each rode a horse, pretending to be in Beijing to take the exam, with only Gao Fuer, the housekeeper of the Four Baylor Mansion, with them, and the rest of the people with chariots and horses and honor guards, followed far behind. On the evening of the third day, I saw a Zhuangzi in the distance. Gao Fu'er pointed his finger on the horse and said, "The front is Jiangxia Town!" ”

Yinxiang originally thought that Jiangxia was a big town, and it must be populated, with shops and commercial ports. I didn't want to look at it, but it wasn't like that. It is a large town, and the green trees are swaying among the green halls and tiles, and the blue and green fields are very spectacular. Gao Fu'er went into the town for a long time, came out and clapped his hands and sighed: "Two masters! At the beginning, the villain ran a single gang here, and after more than ten years of work, the town became unrecognizable. Now there is not a single shop, and it has become the residence of Liu Ba Nu's family! I can't even find a place to live! Please show the two masters, should we go to the East Ten Mile Temple to rest? ”

"Liu Ba Nu!" Yinxiang suddenly remembered what Fifth Brother Zhang said under the melon shed in Tongcheng, and couldn't help but be stunned. He has such a large family property and occupies such a large town as a house! How much money does it cost to move the original store? Seeing that Yinzhen was silent, Yinxiang said: "Fourth brother, since he is a solid family, he must be kind and charitable." I don't think we can borrow a night tonight! Yinzhen was on the horse for a day, feeling tired and didn't want to run anymore, so he instructed Gao Fu'er: "Wouldn't it be annoying for our large group of people to seek accommodation." When you go to the back and look for our people, you will go with them to the Shili Temple to fight sharp. I and your thirteenth master will go into the town to stay, and tomorrow you will pick you up, and other people will go together in Lijiazhai. I can't ride a horse, so you ask them to buy a bamboo chair and sedan chair. I went to Lijiazhai to change to a sedan chair. That's it, there you go! ”

Gao Fuer listened to it and felt that something was wrong. But he knew that Yinzhen had never been the same, and no one dared to refuse, so he answered and left.

The two brothers dismounted and crossed the Zhai River, and when they entered the village to see, there were still traces of the town in it. It's just that the west side has been walled, with the original street as the boundary, half of the houses in the east area have been demolished, and the rest are like newly built warehouses, row by row are neat, "on the street" not far from a place lit with "angry dead wind" lamps, there are dozens of servants on the watch, some guard the warehouse, some guard the door, very neat and orderly. Yinxiang couldn't help but sigh: "Fourth brother, I'm afraid you don't have such a powerful faction in the Zhuang Yuan in Tongzhou, right?" As he was talking, three Zhuang Ding came in front of him, glanced at the two of them, and asked, "Where did you come from?" What's the matter with coming to Liu's house sooner or later? Yinxiang said with a smile: "We are the ones who entered Beijing, we missed the stay, and we want to spend the night, so we will rush tomorrow morning." ”

"It's all Liu Baye's house, and there are no shops." The chief said neither softly nor hardly, "Fifteen miles to the east, there is a ten-mile temple, you go there." Yinxiang smiled: "It's convenient." You can't be the master, take us to see you Liu Baye. What do you think? We don't owe anything for the house and food! ”

"They want to see the eighth master!" The chief couldn't help but smile and turned back to the two people. The two men laughed too. One said: "We are still five or six stories apart from the eighth master!" We can only reply to the minions of the servants of the eighth master's housekeeper. It's so easy for you to meet the eighth master! ”

Yin Zhen couldn't help but glance at Yin Xiang, obviously, he didn't expect this rich man to have such a big fortune. Just when he was helpless, an older elder smiled at the head: "Seeing that these two are both scholars, and they are not thieves, why should they be so serious?" The first one said, "If there are empty houses, there are a hundred more people living in the two houses." It's just that you didn't hear Wu Tou'er say that the eighth master has a distinguished guest tonight. The women in the teaching workshop that Mrs. Ren purchased in Jiangnan also live in the West Courtyard, how can she keep male guests? He groaned, looked at the sky and saw that it was already dark, and felt that it was a bit too much to drive the lodging people to the wilderness at this time, so he said: "In this way, old king, you take the two of them through the west courtyard and go to live in the courtyard next to the old tomb of the Zhang family in the north - if you two are not afraid of ghosts, you will live there - the old tomb of the Zhang family is to the north, and it is close to the official road, and it is more convenient to go on the road from that side tomorrow." ”

"What the hell are we afraid of!" Yinxiang couldn't help but smile, "If it's a male ghost, catch him and let him fan us to cool off; If it's a female ghost...... We are lonely among the guests, just to have fun with us! He smiled and said, "Well, the Bodhisattva bless you to go to two female ghosts to haunt you tonight - the old king, you can take them there!" With that, he smiled and led people on patrol.

Yinxiang walked behind the old king, passing through one courtyard after another, some of them were brightly lit, some were pitch black, and there were vaguely several former restaurants, tea shops, and pharmacies, and you could vaguely see the prosperity of Jiangxia Town in the past. Yinxiang couldn't help asking: "What's the name of your master, so rich?" Buying this town is about the same as buying a city! ”

"The head of our family is the in-laws of the first master of Bo'an in Beijing, called Liu Ba Nu." The old king muttered, "This money is all the dowry when Mrs. Gu came to the door, and there are two million taels of silver in total!" I was originally a farmer here, and I had no way to sell the land to others, so I had to be a slave to others. Yinxiang smiled: "Your head of the family is also interesting, why did you choose such a good name, a good man, and call him Liu Ba Nu!" The old king said: "The ancestor of the head of the family opened a foreign goods store, also did silk and porcelain business, donated a Taoist platform, and served as a real prefect. The first seven in front of him are all sisters, and he is the only seedling, so he is afraid that he will not be able to keep it, so he has such a strange name. ”

Yin Zhen walked in front and listened while thinking, and asked, "What kind of person did you say about Master Ren just now?" What is he doing when he procures so many Le Fang women? My father is doing business in Beijing, why haven't I heard of this master! The old Wang Tou was surprised: "Master Ren can eat well in Beijing, and he can go around, as long as you pay attention, you will be able to inquire." I heard that the woman who purchased the music workshop was given to Brother Jiu. Last time, Master Jin of the Ministry of Industry, and Meng Guangzu of the Third Elder Brother's Mansion all took the letter of Master Ren and lived here. At that time, the town was not abandoned, and the pomp and circumstance were ...... ......"He just smacked his lips, but he couldn't describe it."

In fact, Yinzhen knows very well in his heart that the ninth elder brother Yinyu is the most intimate of the eighth elder brother, Jin Chengyu, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, is the person of the eldest elder brother, and Meng Guangzu is the doorman of the third elder brother Yinzhi. It's just that these groups of people have different furnaces, how can they all be linked to Ren Bo'an? I was thinking about it at a loss, and I heard the old Wang Tou say: "I've arrived in the West Courtyard, there is a Lefang woman who is purchased by the old man, let's not talk, go over quietly, it is the old tomb of the Zhang family." ”

The three men led the two horses into the west courtyard, and sure enough, they saw that the houses were all candlelight, but there was no sound in the courtyard. Occasionally, you can hear the sound of washing in the room, but no one speaks. After passing through the East Clamp Road, and then going out from the north gate is the Zhangjia Cemetery, the old king sighed and said with a smile: "It's finally here!" ”

Before the end of the sentence, he heard the "bang" of the east door of the middle road, and suddenly opened, and then a basin of bath water splashed over, Yinxiang jumped back in surprise, and was caught off guard. Drenched from head to toe. A woman's voice scolded: "The surname is Hu! You are a bully! Along the way, I came back and forth again! We have the rules of music, singing and not selling body, this is the first word! A woman takes a bath, what are you doing here left and right? As he spoke, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old woman jumped out of the door of the east house, with her wet hair, wearing a pair of flowered trousers, wearing a moon-white kan'er, with a few freckles on her melon seed face, and anger between her delicate eyebrows, with snow-white arms. The woman came to Yinxiang and was about to scold again, only to see that she had made the wrong person, and she was stunned for a while, but she didn't say anything.