"We are the newly transferred ship of the master of Guangzhou Daotai. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info" The old man stood at the mouth of the bridge and said in a Hunan dialect, "There are three boxes of books in it, as well as the old man's luggage." You have to carry it to the outside of the dock and give one or two or five pieces of silver! Seeing that the people were not moving, Xiao Xi Nu shouted in a sharp voice: "Didn't you hear it?" Why do they stand like donkeys tied to each other? ”

Several people on the shore laughed, and a man in his thirties smiled: "Back to the two of you, you ran to the wrong dock!" This is the unloading dock of the thirteen lines, and we don't unload other goods - one or two or five dollars! How many smoke bubbles are enough to burn? Do you think this is Hankow, Jiangning? ”

As he spoke, a middle-aged man stepped out of the cabin again, only about forty years old, described as clear, not tall, wearing a black satin six-in-one melon skin hat, and a dark Baturu vest and a gray poplin robe. He only glanced at the people on the shore and ordered: "Don't fight the price, hurry up, I will go into the city yamen in the afternoon." He ignored it and stood on the bow of the boat and looked at the scenery of the North River. The old man asked, "How much do you want?" ”

"Five taels! , or a Xianfeng silver dollar! ”

"Nonsense!" The old man scolded with a smile, "Lao Tzu has been walking on the dock for thirty years, how can there be such a price?" Give you two taels, it's cheaper for you! ”

"You haven't been to Guangli in the past ten years, have you? Who is still waiting for a master like you on the docks--two?! The man smiled disdainfully, and pointed to a large barge with cargo boxes stacked like a hill in the distance, "We are waiting to unload the cargo, and when we get to the dock, the three hundred oceans will be in our hands!" Is it called a flower child for two taels of silver? ”

The Daotai surnamed Guo seemed to be in Guangzhou for the first time, standing on the bow of the boat and groaning, looking at Yangcheng in the distance depressed on the earth with slightly confused eyes. With his eyes, he searched Baiyun Mountain, Gushan Mountain, and Humen...... But the rain and fog are thick, the sky is too dark, the whole city is shrouded in a haze and fog, looking south is the endless Pearl River tributary, stretching and fragmenting until the mouth of the sea, the palm coconut shadow in the blur asks, as if the tide of the sea rises and falls, the big and small reef islands are sinking and floating, like the water and the sky are flowing. It's as if the whole earth is drifting, so miserable that people don't know where they are...... Hearing the words "Three Hundred Oceans", the muscles in his cheeks trembled and he turned around. The man staring at the shore asked, "Is it unloading opium?" Can you check it out? ”

"Back to adults, it's medicinal herbs!" The man smiled slyly, he seemed to be a little timid The official's cold eyes arched his hand on the shore and said, "It's all foreign goods, and they come from London." There is a man from India, the box is nailed tightly, and I don't know what kind of medicine it is. He took a step forward and asked, "Dare to ask your lordship's surname, Taifu?" I also want to say a word to the adults, this dock trip is thirteen lines - not the villains make it difficult, the foreigners on the ground, even the court officials can't inspect it at will, the villains hold Bao Sanye's bowl, it's not easy to eat this mouthful of foreign rice, the lord will give five taels, and the little ones will also bear it! "I'm Guo Songtao, the head of the household department." The official said. "I was ordered to come to Guangzhou Road, and I haven't assigned an envoy yet-this is not Hong Kong, and officials are not allowed to inspect the ground of the imperial court!"

"Sir, you are auspicious! It's really the guest who said that if you lose a little bit, you will have a small head! Wang Xiaoliu," the man hurriedly called a companion on the side, wanting to send the old man away quickly, "Hurry up, send the big man's salute to the outside of the dock, a Xianfeng silver dollar!" "This price is a bite to bite.

"Okay. Give him that price. Guo Songtao glanced at the boxes, "Don't delay entering the city." ”

"Yes."

When Guo Songtao arrived at the governor's yamen, it was already Shen Zhengshi, and the people of Guangzhou had already used new words. It's called "four o'clock in the afternoon". There were still five or six county orders waiting in the concierge hall, he was a high-ranking person and a new person, everyone was originally talking and laughing, but when they saw him come in, they all closed their mouths and sat upright, sucking their mouths and eating tea without saying a word. Guo Songtao also felt speechless. He handed his hand to the porter, and sat down with his eyes closed in contemplation. Who knew that the wait was half an hour, and there was not even a reply. Guo Songtao pursed his lips, called the official who poured the tea and asked, "What kind of guest is Ye Zhitai seeing, so long?" ”

"Lord Hui," the official was respectful, carrying a teapot and bowing his waist with a smile, "The small one is the door government, the door government is the signing room Goshha, and then the head is Master Hu, and there are several floors away from the production table!" Tea is not good; The small ones will be changed for you. We control the army and see people at any time. He bowed again and withdrew.

Guo Songtao had no choice but to wait patiently. After another moment, there was still no movement, and I couldn't help but feel anxious, and said to myself: "Even if I went to Beijing to see the Minister of Military Aircraft and the Prince Belle, it was not so difficult to wait, how could there be such a way to wait?" ”

"Your Excellency is new here, isn't he?" A fat man sitting by the glass window, wearing a tonic, with his sleeves rolled up high, holding a tea bowl and smiling: "If you are tired, you can walk in the courtyard, and you can sleep with a kang in it, we have been waiting here for four days, and you have only waited for a while. What's the hurry? ”

Waited four days! Guo Songtao was stunned, looked at a few people, knew that it was not a joke, and sat down dejectedly: "I didn't expect Ye Zhitai to be so busy, I should have come to the ...... of a letter earlier" As soon as he opened his mouth, several people communicated with the official valve, the fat man was Cen Chun, the white face next to him was He Xiangzu, the Gaoyao county order, and the spring bench in the north was from Huizhou, Maoming and Hainan, one was called Pan Shaoying, one was called Huang Kejia, and the other was called Kang Bizheng, all of whom were county orders. After greeting for a while, Jiang Zhongyuan learned that it was Ye Mingchen who was going to hold a meeting and summon the orders of the counties to guard the defense. Jiang Zhongyuan asked: "Dozens of prefectures and counties in Guangdong, just call all the old brothers to a meeting to set up defenses?" Is it coastal defense, anti-epidemic defense or bandit prevention and security? ”

"What else is there to defend the coast today? Foreigners occupy Hong Kong and make trouble in Kowloon in the New Territories, as long as they don't enter Guangzhou City, there is no fart defense! Maoming County Ling Huang Kejia was very witty, and said with a strange smile, "Hurry up, we all come day and night, and we are waiting like this!" If you ask other county magistrates, they all have houses in Guangzhou, so they will stay here for a long time to inquire, and wait at home when the meeting will be held and when they will come. We don't have this belongings, and the governor's yamen will have a sub-case, and it is also comfortable to eat and live! The fat man Cen Chun said with a smile: "Da Shuai has his old man's charter to respond to all changes without change." Seeing that the foreign affairs called the thirteen lines to go, there were bandits looking for Xu Guangjin's military gate, and the rest only needed to pay taxes after the grain was paid, and a jar of scorpions - a cover was not asked. ”

Everyone burst into laughter. Guo Songtao felt uncomfortable as if he was stuffed with a mess in his heart, and joked about the national shame, these people were too heartless. When he turned his face to look, the doorman who took over the book, Goshha, walked out of the signing room, hurriedly turned around, and asked, "Have you handed over my handbook?" ”

"Lord Hui, how dare you be sloppy in this kind of thing?" Na Goshha was picking his teeth, threw away the toothpick and said with a smile, "Ye Zhitai has the temper of his old man, who dares to urge him?" Dozens of county orders, more than 200 provincial officials in Guangdong, are waiting for his old man! ”

Guo Songtao sighed and asked, "What are you busy with now?" (To be continued.) )