The quiet sound of silk and bamboo fluttered, accompanied by the singer's soft singing.

In the Yahua Hall after the governor, Xiong Wencan was sitting with his staff Jiang Shanfu for a drink.

Jiang Shanfu raised his identity, and Xiong Wencan was friends in the same year, he failed in the scientific examination several times, and he did not want to choose a promising turbid official like the county lord Bo, and it happened that Xiong Wencan was the governor of Fujian, so he was invited by Xiong Wencan to be a guest of honor.

Although the staff is not an official, they can meddle in many things, have a lot of power, and have a lot of oil and water, which is much more leisurely than being a county. Xiong Wencan also trusted Jiang Shanfu very much, and many affairs of the governor's yamen were entrusted to him to take care of.

While drinking and chatting, he talked about the new patrol Liu Mao and the new Fujian commander-in-chief Li Yanzhi.

"Suddenly there are two big men from Beijing, Dong Weng, it seems that the imperial court is very concerned about Fujian here." Jiang Shanfu said.

Xiong Wencan shook his head: "It shouldn't be what you pavilion elders mean, I heard that Liu Xunji offended many people and couldn't stay in the court, so he was sent to Fujian." ”

Jiang Shanfuqi said: "It is a beautiful difference to come to Fujian as a patrol, as long as you are safe as a patrolman for a year, you can easily be promoted to the prefect when you turn around, how can you listen to Dong Weng you say that it seems to be assigned?" ”

Xiong Wencan sighed: "Because Liu Xun has been appreciated by His Majesty, if he were someone else, he would have been sent to a smoky place like Yungui as a county magistrate." ”

Jiang Shanfu said with a smile: "It seems that Liu Xun is in the emperor's heart." What about Mr. Li? Where did he come from? ”

Jiang Shanfu handles general affairs for Xiong Wencan all day long, and he is not very clear about the affairs of the DPRK and China.

"Do you know about His Majesty's establishment of the Praetorian Guard in Xiyuan?" Xiong Wencan said.

Jiang Shanfu nodded: "I heard Dong Weng say before, I thought that His Majesty was a young man who was good at martial arts, but I didn't expect His Majesty to take the Praetorian Guard to quell the civil unrest in northern Shaanxi and defeat the Mongols." ”

Xiong Wencan said: "This Li Yanzhi is from the Praetorian Guard, His Majesty's confidant general. ”

Jiang Shanfu exclaimed: "A patrol according to the imperial history, a Fujian general soldier, one article and one martial arts, Your Majesty sent two members to Fujian in a row, it seems that the plan is not small!" ”

Xiong Wencan sighed: "What's more, I'm afraid that even Zheng Zhilong has been subdued by His Majesty, yesterday I summoned Zheng Zhilong, and learned from him that His Majesty has taken a fancy to the benefits of sea trade and wants to establish a royal sea trade firm in Fujian, Liu Mao and Li Yanzhi are most likely to escort the Royal Sea Trade Company." ”

"Your Majesty is the dignified Son of Heaven, but what kind of royal maritime trade firm has been established, this, this is clearly competing with the people!" Jiang Shanfu said angrily.

Xiong Wencan glanced at Jiang Shanfu and said lightly: "There's no fuss, a few months ago, His Majesty established a royal trading house in Zhangjiakou, and held all the trade between Zhangjiakou and the Mongols. ”

"Hmph, Zhangjiakou is only a few hundred miles away from Beijing, and Fujian is thousands of miles away from Beijing," Jiang Shanfu sneered, "There are countless gentry and people in Fujian who rely on the benefits of sea trade to feed, and it may not be easy for Your Majesty to snatch silver from them!" ”

Xiong Wencan shook his head and didn't say anything more. He knew that his staff had many connections with the local gentry, and had received a lot of benefits from the maritime merchants, and he certainly did not want to see the appearance of the Royal Maritime Trading Company.

"Dong Weng, we finally recruited Zheng Zhilong, this guy turned his head and caught up with the emperor again, I'm afraid your hard work will be in vain." Jiang Shanfu said suddenly.

Xiong Wencan said: "It can't be said in vain, at least Your Majesty and the court know the merits of this official, and Zheng Zhilong has no choice but to say that he doesn't dare to disobey Your Majesty." ”

Jiang Shanfu said: "But if he wants to help His Majesty establish the Royal Maritime Trade Firm, he will inevitably offend many people, is it necessary for us to use him to immigrate to Taiwan?" ”

Xiong Wencan said: "Why not? There are too many landless people in Fujian, and there will be trouble in life, Taiwan is very close to Fujian, and immigrants can not only let the landless people live, but also when there are more people, they can go to the imperial court to set up a patrol inspection department to govern, so it is the work of opening up the land! This is a matter of benefiting the country and the people, what does it have to do with Zheng Zhilong's offending people? ”

Jiang Shanfu sighed: "I'm afraid that those people can't tolerate Zheng Zhilong, and the matter will eventually fail, and your hard work will be in vain." ”

Xiong Wencan was stunned, he knew that what Jiang Shanfu said was very likely to happen. Help Zheng Zhilong deal with those people? Xiong Wencan shook his head, how is it possible?

offended those people, he couldn't be the governor at all, and besides, the benefits he got from those people alone made it impossible for him to help Zheng Zhilong.

Things originally developed in the direction he expected, appeased Zheng Zhilong, and immigrated to Taiwan to expand the territory, with these credits, he could rise in a few years!

At this time, the emperor actually sent someone to Fujian to set up a royal maritime trade firm, which made the originally calm and waveless Fujian dark tide turbulent. Xiong Wencan can imagine how many turbulent waves there will be in the future!

As a person with vested interests who are deeply involved in it, as the highest official in Fujian, where should he go?

"My lord, Li Yan, the chief soldier of Fujian, asks to see him!" Just when Xiong Wencan was secretly worried, a servant walked into the flower hall and said.

Xiong Wencan paused for a moment: "Let him in." ”

With a wave of their hands, the singers stopped playing and singing and retreated, and the servants began to clean up the mess.

After a while, Li Yan walked straight into the flower hall and saw the governor sitting in danger, as well as the staff standing beside him.

"Meet the Governor." Li Yanzhi smiled and arched his hand.

"I don't know if Mr. Li is visiting, is there something wrong?" Xiong Wencan asked with a smile.

Li Yan said straightly: "Governor Xiong, I have come to ask for help." ”

Li Yanzhi immediately said about the matter of recruiting troops for training, and finally said: "Training needs money and food, weapons and armor, and ships and firearms, and these can only be transferred by the governor. ”

Xiong Wencan frowned slightly: "I don't know how many troops General Li has to train?" ”

Li Yan said straightly: "I'm not going to recruit too much, five or six thousand people are enough." ”

Before Xiong Wencan could answer, Jiang Shanfu interjected: "Mr. Li is joking? Five or six thousand people, from recruitment, to equipment, to monthly salaries, do you know how much silver is needed? ”

Li Yan arched his hand: "I'm a rough man, and I don't know much about money and food, so please give me advice?" ”

Jiang Shanfu said: "The recruitment of soldiers needs to settle down with silver, each of which is considered five taels, and according to six thousand people, it will take 30,000 taels of silver. If you equip it with firecrackers and cannons, it will cost you more money. After the soldiers were recruited, they could not be allowed to sleep on the ground, and they needed to build barracks, plus the monthly food and silver for the soldiers, so that the first silver alone would cost two or three hundred thousand taels. ”

Li Yan smiled and said, "That's why I can only come to ask the governor for help." ”

Jiang Shanfu ignored Li Yanzhi anymore, turned to Xiong Wencan and said, "My lord, with the current situation of the governor's yamen, there is no way to allocate so much money and food. ”

Xiong Wencan nodded, smiled and said to Li Yanzhi: "Mr. Li, you are new to the city, it is said that since you have spoken, I have to agree." But you also heard that the governor's yamen was really powerless. Otherwise, you don't need to recruit new soldiers, just transfer some troops from various guards, and besides, there is no enemy situation in Fujian now, and there is no need to rush to recruit new troops. ”

Li Yanzhi smiled and nodded: "I understand the difficulties of the adults and take my leave." ”

Just as he was about to leave, he turned his head to look at Jiang Shanfu again: "Dare to ask this adult's name?" ”

Xiong Wencan hurriedly introduced: "This is the guest I invited, surnamed Jiang Mingshanfu Ziliang. ”

Li Yanzhi smiled and nodded: "Mr. Ziliang will have a period later." ”

After Li Yan walked straight, Jiang Shanfu sneered: "A martial artist, seeing Dong Weng not kneeling, is a little arrogant. ”

Xiong Wencan shook his head, and his expression was a little gloomy between his words: "Behind him is the emperor, there is no need to worry about him." ”

Jiang Shanfu observed his words and asked, "Is Dong Weng worried?" ”

Xiong Wencan nodded and sighed: "There is the emperor behind him, and it always feels a little bad to reject him directly." ”

Jiang Shanfu said: "But he wants too much, hundreds of thousands of silver at once, and he has to allocate a large amount of food and salary every year, how can the governor yamen take out so much silver?" ”

Saying that, he sneered: "Dong Weng doesn't have to worry, it is unknown how long this Li Yanzhi can stay in Fujian!" The benefits of sea trade are very large, and it is so easy to intervene? There are people who have to deal with them! Dong Weng, you just sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. ”

In this place where the emperor is far away, what can he do with the emperor as a backer?

The two talked for a while, and when Jiang Shanfu was just about to leave his office in the detention room, another servant suddenly came to report that someone in the city had posted a recruitment notice, and one of them was posted on the wall outside the governor's door, so he opened it and reported it.

Looking at this recruitment notice stamped with the seal of the Fujian General Army, Xiong Wencan and Jiang Shanfu looked at each other.

"Before Li Yanzhi came to see Dong Weng at this time, he had already asked people to post it! This clearly doesn't take Dong Weng in his eyes! Jiang Shanfu said angrily.

Xiong Wencan was also a little angry: "Since he wants to recruit soldiers, go over there to recruit them, there is no money and food, what do I think he will use to recruit soldiers?" ”

"I'm too young, and I don't know how thick the sky is." Jiang Shanfu's anger disappeared.

Such a person who does not know the height of the sky is destined to not go far, and maybe he will soon make a big mistake, and it is not worth being angry with him at all.

After returning to his signature room, Jiang Shanfu took care of official business for a while, and only at dusk did he leave the governor's yamen and go home in a small sedan chair.

He is a staff member of the governor, rich in oil and water, and has only been in Fuzhou with Xiong Wencan for a year, and has already bought a big mansion in the city and raised a concubine in it.

On the way home, he suddenly heard the sound of firecrackers, Jiang Shanfu opened the sedan curtain and looked out, but he was stunned and hurriedly shouted to the sedan chair man to stop the sedan chair.

Stepping off the sedan chair and looking intently, a store on the street was opening and setting off firecrackers, and the words on the plaque attracted Jiang Shanfu.

"Royal Maritime Trade Firm", six big characters!

"As soon as I came to Fuzhou, I hung up a plaque, which is clearly a declaration of war on the gentry and maritime merchants in Fujian!" Jiang Shanfu muttered.