After hearing this, Ma Ziqiang sighed: "Okay, then let's only see him." ”

So, not long after, You Qi's nephew Li Ji came to Ma Ziqiang, said to the younger generation, and said, "I have seen the elder in the evening." ”

"The virtuous nephew is the nephew of Mr. Chu Bin. When there is no formality. ”

Ma Ziqiang said with a smile, and asked Li Ji to serve tea, and after asking Li Ji some gossip, he went straight to the point and said: "I don't know what the virtuous nephew has to say here?" ”

Li Ji said: "There is a rich businessman in Songjiang, who is related to Mr. Xu, does overseas business, and has a daughter who is very good at poetry, so it is inevitable that he will have a high heart, Yan Ning is a talented concubine, not a wife of a Zhuang household, so the rich businessman wants to offer his daughter as a concubine because of the talent of his uncle, and he gave it to his uncle with two percent of Haili, thinking that it is a dowry, I don't know that Ge Lao may contribute to this?" ”

"If it can be done, this rich businessman will give half of it to the elder of the pavilion as a gift of thanking the coal, and give another 200,000 taels of silver for the elder of the pavilion."

After Ma Ziqiang heard this, he knew that this was a bribe for him and the Zhang family, and it was obvious that You Qi of the Zhang family was already willing to accept this bribe, and hoped that he, Ma Ziqiang, would also accept this bribe, so it was not easy to refuse directly, so he had to smile and say: "May Yu Cheng do this!" ”

Li Ji was overjoyed, and only after flattering Ma Ziqiang for a while did he leave.

And after Li Ji left, Ma Yi asked Ma Ziqiang: "Father, do we really want to accept this half-Cheng Haili gift and 200,000 taels of silver?" ”

Ma Ziqiang said: "Our family's dividends are all obtained because of power, not what we should have, so whether we should give it up or not is not up to us, but more powerful people have the final say, so we will accept it first and talk about it after returning to Beijing." If you don't accept it now, you will startle the snake. ”

"You Qi's matter, I will also ask Yuanfu for instructions in person after my father returns to Beijing."

Ma Yi said yes.

Then, Ma Ziqiang said: "Tell me to go down, and in three days, the servant will go to Huating to meet Mr. Xu." ”

Ma Yi continued to say yes.

Three days later.

Outside the Xu family in Huating, there are cars and horses, and the official ships are like forests.

And Xu Jie took a group of officials and gentry out of the ten-mile long pavilion to welcome Ma Ziqiang.

"It's a big disturbance, it's a big deal!"

Seeing this, Ma Ziqiang first sighed to Xu Jie and other official gentry, and said this, and then came over to salute Xu Jie: "The old gentleman has always been well? ”

"There is Lao Ge's old concern, and the old man is quite tough, but the molars are a little loose this year."

After Xu Jie said with a smile, he said: "The elder of the pavilion cherishes the people's strength, and he will be a good assistant in the future." ”

"Shame!"

"The servants came to inquire about the people's situation under the entrustment of the Holy Order and Yuan Fu, but it was also to ask the people's suffering, and now that the people of Jiangnan are rich, they are also glad that the prosperity of the country is in sight!"

After Ma Ziqiang said a few words on the scene, he greeted Xu Jie for a while, and then accompanied by Xu Jie, he went to Xu's house and officiated as a guest, and then after the banquet, he talked with Xu Jie in the study in the name of appreciating the gold and stone, and talked about the real purpose of his coming to Xu's house, and said: "Old gentleman, the courtesy of the Nanzhi gentry is too heavy!" ”

"As long as the world can be safe, especially Nanzhi, and there is no fighting, these gifts are nothing, they are just a public opinion."

Xu Jie said with a smile.

Ma Ziqiang said: "It's just that Yuanfu may not be willing to accept this public opinion, and the restructuring must continue to be changed." ”

"The ancestral system may not be so good, but if it has been reformed, it is easy to become a sinner through the ages."

Xu Jie suddenly suppressed a smile and said.

Ma Ziqiang arched his hand and said, "What the old gentleman said is true. ”

Xu Jie then asked: "Pavilion Elder went south this time, what did Jiangling explain to Pavilion Elder about it, do you have to say it, what system will be changed next?" ”

Ma Ziqiang replied: "I was about to ask the elder for advice!" ”

Xu Jie was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "The old man is an old man under the forest, and what is good to teach, but it is just the words of the village, and the words of the old pavilion are inevitably suspected of discussing politics." ”

"The old gentleman is no better than others, not to mention that this is not a public discussion of the forum, but just a private chat."

Ma Ziqiang said with a smile.

Xu Jie said: "The ruler, Jiangling also!" The old man just wants to know what system Gangneung is going to change next! Why, Qian'an refuses to reveal anything to calm my heart? In the thirty-second year of Jiajing, Zihonglu also has my power to roll call. ”

Ma Ziqiang smiled: "What the old gentleman said is true. ”

Then, the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin dropping.

After a long time, Xu Jie had to open his mouth and say: "That is, in private to you Qian'an, the old man dares to make a time, you are different from Jiangling, you know the truth of being lenient for the government, when you know that you really want to reform, it is better to withdraw the factory guard and cut the army." ”

"The importance of disturbing the people in the factory and the guard, Qing knows it, and it costs a lot of money, especially now that the factory and the guard are multiplied, it is not beneficial to the country and the people;"

"As for the soldiers, it's too redundant! Yungui and other fetters are in bondage, why should they build more military posts, which will make Tusi uneasy and increase the number of soldiers? ”

"The old gentleman's words, the servant will transfer to Yuansuke to know."

Ma Ziqiang replied.

Xu Jie was stunned for a moment, and then he had to put the tea cup on the table and rub his temples: "Old!" As soon as I talk a lot, I don't have enough energy, and my head is dizzy, please forgive the old man for not accompanying him! ”

Xu Jie said and let his son Xu Kun help him out.

"Congratulations to the old man."

Ma Ziqiang stood up and stood up.

And Xu Kun said to Xu Jie after helping Xu Jie leave: "Father, this Ma Tongzhou, why did half of Hailijia 200,000 taels of silver fall down, and he couldn't ask half a sentence from his mouth?!" ”

"Do you want to, just send someone to impeach him and let him be a scholar, I have never seen such oil and salt not entered!"

"Where is it so easy to pry open the mouth of an old man?"

"If he can pry it open, can Jiangling let him enter the cabinet regardless of his previous suspicions?"

"It's enough to let him know what we mean!"

Xu Jie asked a few words with a smile, and said: "Don't mention what he said, the Son of Heaven is not strong, and the Daoyan officials have not yet reached the time to suppress the cabinet ministers!" ”

"Yes!"

After Ma Ziqiang left Xufu, his face sank, and after returning to the boat, he said to his son Ma Yi: "It's time to do the right thing!" Send me the "Di Bao" that I haven't read recently! ”

Ma Yi handed over a stack of "Di Bao": "It's ready." ”

Ma Ziqiang raised the gold-inlaid coffin, looked at the "Di Bao" carefully, and said for a while: "Gangfeng helped his mother to return to his hometown, has he arrived in Nanzhi?" ”

Saying that, Ma Ziqiang said: "Next, no one will be seen, go directly to Xianxia Pass and wait for Mr. Gangfeng!" He sent me a handwritten letter to him, saying that his father was waiting for him. ”

"Yes!"

Xianxia Pass is the only way to enter Fujian from Zhejiang in this era.

If Hai Rui wants to return to his hometown quickly from Caoyun, he will go to Zhejiang, and then return to Hainan from Zhejiang to Fujian, so Hai Rui will indeed pass through Xianxia Pass.

Ma Ziqiang waited for Hai Rui not long in Xianxia Pass, and as soon as he saw Hai Rui, he went to Guanxian to pay a big salute to the coffin of Hai Mu, and then greeted Hai Rui to his house with a smile and said: "Although the servants were ordered to inquire about the place, in fact, they couldn't see a cultivator, they kept a close eye on me, so I had to rely on Hai Gong." ”

"What the elder said, the contemptible people understood, and the contemptible people asked for the elder pavilion, but they also knew some truths."

The Nanzhi gentry did not dare to provoke Hai Rui, so it was convenient for Hai Rui to contact the common people and investigate the real situation of the people.

And Hai Rui here, as he spoke, handed a pile of lead mountain notes with various types of words to Ma Ziqiang.

Ma Ziqiang asked Ma Yi to take it and handed it to him, and asked Hai Rui: "The public will first talk about the public's own teachings, in the opinion of the public, is it feasible to increase the commercial tax?" ”