East Factory Governor

Chapter 701 What's up?
He Renlong and the magistrate of Guyuan pushed aside the crowd and couldn't help but be overjoyed to see that it was really Qin Shuhuai inside.

"The magistrate of Guyuan County, Zhang Qi, pays homage to the Lord! The Lord is here, but the official is unable to go out of the city to welcome him, so I am in a state of fear!" County Magistrate Zhang said very respectfully.

Compared to him, He Renlong, who knew Qin Shuhuai's character better, said with a big grin, "Haha, the last general, He Renlong, pays homage to the Duke! I'm here to welcome the Duke to have a New Year's Ankang wine!"

Qin Shuhuai smiled slightly, and said to He Renlong, "Hehe, I never expected to see General He in Guyuan."

"Yes, the final general was ordered by Master Hong to guard Guyuan, and he has only been here for a few days."

At this time, more and more people surrounded Qin Shuhuai, and the crowd was like a tide, regardless of men, women, old or young. After learning that the famous Duke of the State was here, they all flocked. come over.

They are all proud to see the grandeur of the country.

He is the icon of this era.

Students worship him as a sage master and a talent in the world, warriors worship him for his invincibility in decisive battles, and ordinary people worship him, respect him, and feel grateful to him just because he guards this place.

In this era, there are not so many noisy voices in later generations. Good is good, bad is bad, black and white are clear, and everyone's standard of judging good and bad is close.

You risk your life for them, and they will remember every scar you have suffered.

This is probably the so-called "pure".

Qin Shuhuai has a good face, and being admired and praised by so many people, he still feels embarrassed in his heart - although some words made his skin tingle when he heard them.

However, seeing that there are more and more people, and the ground is icy and slippery, there will be another stampede incident during the Chinese New Year, so he hurriedly asked He Renlong to maintain order, and smiled and wished everyone a new year and said some good luck Then, he went back to the county government office with He Renlong, County Magistrate Zhang and others.

On the road from the porridge shop to the county government office, people lined the road to see each other off. It was still crowded with people, but everyone who heard about the incident rushed to the place. It can be described as empty.

The yamen servants and Qiu Ba who were fierce on weekdays had an astonishingly good attitude, no one dared to shout at these common people.On the one hand, it is the fierce and bad atmosphere of the Chinese New Year. On the other hand, they have all heard that the Duke of the Kingdom is extremely strict, but he treats the people with kindness and kindness. If he sees them showing off their power to the people, maybe I can't eat and walk around.

Qin Shuhuai followed He Renlong into the county government office with a smile. Speaking of which, on the first day of the new year, it would be nice to spend it with an old friend.

County magistrate Zhang took office after the former county magistrate was dismissed because of the collapse of the Donglin Party. He took office only a month ago.Speaking of which, without Qin Shuhuai, he, the candidate magistrate who has been on standby for five years, would not be able to get on the stage at all.

When Qin Shuhuai entered the county office, County Magistrate Zhang immediately asked the master to go to Qingyulou, the best restaurant in the city, and invite the chef there to cook.

The master hurriedly went to the restaurant to find the boss, and said that the Duke of Guo wanted to have dinner at the home of the county magistrate, and the county magistrate wanted to hire a chef to help.

The boss jumped up happily when he heard it, insisting that he was the best chef in the restaurant, and then brought two of the most capable chefs to the county government office without saying a word, and told everyone he met along the way. The father-in-law went to cook, which made the bosses of several restaurants next to him look envious, and they gathered around the master book unwillingly, saying that their chef is the best chef in the city, what kind of fart is he from Qingyulou?Do you have the ability to make gestures?

When the master heard it, hey, that's great!So it was decided that each family could send a chef to cook a special dish, and let the Duke of the country taste it.

However, he stated in advance that the budget for this table is limited, and if it exceeds, he will not pay.

As soon as these words came out, he was immediately scoffed at by these bosses.

What do you call it?A big restaurant like ours is short of one or two dishes for the Duke of the country?No such scolding as you!

All of a sudden, cooks from various restaurants in the county government gathered, all eager to compete.

So Qin Shuhuai had a lively meal, almost every dish was big or hard, such as Buddha jumping over the wall, roast suckling pig, stewed bird's nest, abalone and sea cucumber one after another.

County magistrate Zhang stared straight at him. How much did the meal cost?Is my salary enough for me?
During the Ming Dynasty, officials' salaries were extremely low, and there was no such thing as reimbursement for official banquets, all of which had to be paid for by officials themselves.If there is no gray income, it is not enough to meet daily expenses, so some officials have no choice but to be greedy.

County magistrate Zhang has only been in office for a month, and the salary for this month has not yet been received, and the family is not good at all, so can you not be in a hurry?

In the end, he couldn't bear it any longer, and hurriedly went to question the master secretary on the pretext that he was in a hurry.It wasn't until the director told him that the restaurant owners promised not to charge him that he came back with peace of mind.

Qin Shuhuai knew what Zhang County Magistrate was worried about when he saw how embarrassing he was when he went out, and thought that it would be nice to be an official who can worry about the money for a meal.

But having said that, it is time to study the matter of raising the salaries of officials when we go back.Scholars like Zhang County Magistrate may have taken office with the ideal of being honest and fair, and pleading for the people, but in the face of the reality of oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea, they probably have to bow their heads.

Like the current governor of Zhejiang, Li Fu, who previously served as the prefect of Ningbo. Although he was a good official with great ambitions, didn't he have to accept bribes to achieve his ideals?
What he has seen and heard in the past two years has given him more personal experience of Daming's administration of officials and finances, and his desire for reform has become even stronger.

After drinking and eating, Qin Shuhuai said something serious.

He asked He Renlong to send troops to inform Hong Chengchou early tomorrow morning that the Demon Cult was going to withdraw its troops.During this period, soldiers from Shaanxi must not set foot in Gansu, lest the Demon Sect recur.

In addition, he asked He Renlong to notify the martial arts coalition forces stationed in Baoji and Hanzhong, ordering the martial arts members of various sects in Sichuan to take a one-and-a-half-month holiday, and each person was given 50 taels of silver so that they could return to Sichuan to handle their own affairs. Sichuan attacked many sects, Tang Sect was wiped out, and it is said that Emei and other sects are not much better. At this time, the disciples of these sects who remained in the coalition army must be very anxious. It is necessary for them to go back and have a look.

He Renlong agreed one by one.

Then he asked incredulously, "Master Guo, is the Demon Cult really planning to withdraw its troops?"

Qin Shuhuai said, "It should be, but before we retreat, we still need to be vigilant enough."

He Renlong knew that Qin Shuhuai said "it should be", so it was almost 100%.

He couldn't help sighing in his heart, the Duke of the State, with one man and one horse, could actually make the Demon Sect retreat. This kind of heroism is unparalleled in the world.

I was lucky enough to get to know Grandpa Guo once, and I really have no regrets in this life!

After the banquet, Qin Shuhuai stayed in the county government office.

Get up early the next morning and continue on your way.

Walking out of the county office, I found a group of people gathered at the gate of the county office.

There was also a large carriage with two horses, and many large boxes were loaded on it.

Qin Shuhuai was wondering when a man with the appearance of a country gentleman came up.

"My lord, this is a wish from the people of Guyuan. There is nothing valuable in it, but some local products. Please don't dislike it, my lord."

Qin Shuhuai thought to himself, you have too much local products, you have packed a carriage?

Tried to say no, but it didn't work.

Thinking about going out for so long, it would be good for Haolai to bring some local products back to coax Qing'er and two nephews, so he accepted it.

These squires also hired a coachman, saying that they were taking the Duke to the capital, so that he could serve the Duke along the way.It is too unreasonable to claim that the dignified Duke doesn't even have a waiter around him.

Qin Shuhuai didn't know how to drive a carriage either, and thought that it would be nice to have company along the way, so he agreed.

The coachman was as happy as picking up a treasure.

Guyuan is more than 2000 miles away from the capital, and it snows from time to time, so the road is not easy to walk.

Although Qin Shuhuai was homesick and hurried, it took more than ten days to reach the capital.

By then, it will be the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

It was night, and it was the Lantern Festival.

On Chang'an Avenue, there is a lively scene of "flower market lights like day".

People are wearing bright clothes, walking shoulder to shoulder on the street, and laughter is everywhere.In the Ming Dynasty, girls who were not out of the court were generally not allowed to walk around casually, but it was an exception on the Lantern Festival night. On this night, all the girls in the boudoir could come out to play, so literati often used the Lantern Festival as the background to describe the relationship between talented men and beautiful women. encounter.

There are stalls of all kinds of snacks and knacks everywhere on the street. The hawkers are sweating profusely from work, but they don't close their mouths.

There are all kinds of lanterns on the street, not only round and square, but also various lanterns in the shape of animals, which are extremely exquisite.There are more lanterns and more people in the Lantern Market. People gather there to guess lantern riddles and run dry boats. It is very lively.

Even if Qin Shuhuai was eager to go home, he couldn't help but lead the horse and watch it on the street for a while.

When I returned to the Duke's Mansion, it was already five quarters of Xu.

But it was discovered that the gate of the Duke's Mansion was full of people.

At a glance, there are at least a dozen carriages and three No. 40 people gathered here.

Qin Shuhuai couldn't help wondering, what are these people doing here so late?

Just as he was about to enter the house, he was stopped by a profuse sweat.

"Hey, I said, why don't you know that you come first, first served? Is there anyone like you who jumps in line?"

Qin Shuhuai couldn't help laughing, "Why, there are still rules when entering this country's mansion?"

"Heh, you're new here?" The strong man gave Qin Shuhuai a disdainful look, "I'm telling you, the rules in the Duke's Mansion have changed, and you don't even think about who the Duke is? Giving him gifts is such a shame." Good to send?"

"That's right, hurry up and line up. What's the matter, I'm afraid it's not because your master is powerful and wants to bully others?"

Qin Shuhuai stopped the coachman who was about to speak, and smiled slightly.

Said, "Is the government of this country really willing to accept your gift?"

She couldn't help thinking to herself: I'll go, isn't Chen Qing'er too courageous?How could anyone accept gifts so blatantly... Ah bah, you can't do that in private!Beijing officials ran to their homes in groups, what would Chongzhen think when he found out?What would those supervisory censors say?
But on second thought, Chen Qing'er is not that kind of person, is she?
What the hell is this prodigal bitch doing?
(End of this chapter)