serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 28 Jinling
Changmen Wharf.

Jia Hu's fleet left the dock and headed towards Jinling along the canal.

The prefect of Suzhou led the officials of various government offices in the prefecture to line up like a ceremonial ceremony, and stood on the pier respectfully to send the fleet away.

Fu Cheng took out his pocket watch, the pointer had already pointed to the three quarters of the clock, and said softly: "My lord, the new Futai King is coming soon."

The day before yesterday, a bill from the Ministry of Officials came from the Yamen of the Governor of Liangjiang. The new Governor of Jiangsu, Wang Hetang, will arrive in Suzhou this morning.

Touching the name card in his bosom, Master Li, the magistrate of Suzhou, who already had a surname, had a ruddy face at the moment, with a smug look, looked at the fleet on the river, and replied: "Got it."

In the distance, the travel-worn Wang Hetang stood silently on the embankment, followed by only four entourages disguised as Ti Xing Si Fanzi.

Because of his improper handling, it almost caused a mutiny, if not for Liu Fang's calm judgment, it would eventually lead to a catastrophe.

He also knows that officials are greedy for ink.

But I didn't expect it to be so serious. The treasury has no money, and the treasuries of the provinces are also in a mess. The Ministry of Households dare not press too hard, because the local officials will double the exploitation of the common people.

Jiangsu is an important place for money, grain and taxation in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

With an inexplicable mood, he accepted the emperor's will and went to Jiangsu to serve as governor.

The Jiangsu Fan treasury is short of 150 million taels, and Suzhou Prefecture, which has the most deficit, is already three 10,000+ taels!
Originally, the emperor meant to use the prefect of Suzhou to set an example to kill chickens and monkeys, but the intelligence of the Criminal Division and the scene in front of him made him difficult-the prefect of Suzhou took refuge in the Jia family.

Those who move the Xungui lineage at such a sensitive moment will definitely cause another storm.

Thinking of this, Wang Hetang's face was very solemn.

Jia Hu's official ship is a three-story ship, and Lin Daiyu's cabin is located on the third floor, spacious and bright, very comfortable.

Daiyu sat by the window, staring at the river outside in a daze.

Xueyan directed the women: "Put this one on the table, hey, don't put that one on the floor!"

The women carried the cages and boxes, and went in and out.

Wang Momo approached the boxes and opened them one by one. There were three boxes full of satins and silks of various patterns, and the last box contained two pieces of Su embroidery, "The Picture of Eight Immortals on Longevity" and "The Picture of Infinite Life Buddha". It was a gift from the prefect of Suzhou to Jia Mu.

The table is full of opened jewelry boxes, which contain various kinds of emerald, gold and jade jewelry.

While counting the presents, Wang Momo said, "Second Master is so caring. I prepared a gift for the girl to go to Beijing so early, and it's still so delicate. The servants of Jia's family are all high and low. Especially those servants born in the family for three or four lifetimes."

Lin Daiyu looked at the river outside the window, slightly dazed. Jia Hu said last night that he would send her to Beijing after the Lantern Festival, knowing that he was doing it for her own good, but when she thought of being like a duckweed under the fence, her heart felt desolate and she hesitated for a moment. Said: "Mommy, I don't want to go."

Wang Momo hurried over and said softly: "This is my wife's wish. Besides, there are three girls in the Jia family, and by the way, there is also Miss Shi Da. You can relieve some boredom when you are together." After a pause, "I heard from the master that the second master will return to Beijing before autumn."

Daiyu listened and froze there for a long time, unable to make a sound.
At this time, Jia Hu next door was a little absent-minded. Yesterday he received an urgent letter from Lin Ruhai, and Yang Yansheng had disappeared.

This made Jia Hu startled and angry. Yang Yansheng, who was supposed to be executed immediately, revealed an important piece of information before his execution. Some people in the court colluded with the Manchu Tartars, which forced Lin Ruhai to save his life for the time being. Cunning, people who say they want to see the cabinet will say that in order to convince Lin Ruhai, Ma Maocheng, the right servant of the Ministry of War, provided the Manchus with the Qingshan Pass, Xifeng Pass, and the defense maps of the fortresses around Yanggao, Shanxi, and the strength of the defenders. intelligence.

Although he didn't know if it was true or not, Lin Ruhai had no choice but to put him in prison temporarily, and sent the matter to the capital in an expedited way of [-] miles. Unexpectedly, something happened that night, and Yang Yansheng was replaced from the prison.

Originally, Daiyu had promised to stay in the old Lin family house for a few more days, but she had no choice but to leave in a hurry, and she couldn't go to Jinling either.

The beautiful land in the south of the Yangtze River, the imperial state of Jinling.

As the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, Jinling suffered from military disasters many times. Perhaps thanks to the extraordinary Fengshui, it was able to rebuild its prosperity from the rubble and smoke every time. It even succeeded in the Northern Expedition during the Ming and Zhou dynasties and restored China.

After nearly a hundred years of peace, this place has become a gentle and rich town, and Shili Qinhuai is a famous place for fireworks, which has bred countless dudes.

In front of the government yamen, an old man ignored the warning eyes of the yamen servants, went straight to the big drum in front of the door, picked up the drumsticks, and knocked on it.

The onlookers crowded over excitedly.

After a while, the door opened and the team leader came out.

It suddenly became quiet outside.

The old man put down the drumstick, went to the steps and knelt down, took out the paper from his pocket, and held it high above his head: "I beg Master Qingtian Li to be the master of my little master!"

The team leader squinted at the old man in front of him, then at the crowd of onlookers, and said, "Master Li? The magistrate here is no longer named Li."

The old man stared blankly at the team leader: "Why, why?"

The team leader rolled his eyes and said to him: "Let me tell you, for your case, Mr. Li has been interned. It was the seal that was picked last night. Now he is going to Beijing to wait for his release."

The onlookers were all commotion.

Among the crowd, the servant of the Xue family smiled, turned around and walked out.

The team leader shouted loudly: "What's the noise!" Then he squatted down and said: "The case of the young master of the Ni family can only wait for the new magistrate to come."

A gleam of light flashed in the eyes of the old man, and then it dimmed again. He murmured, "Can it work? The Xue family is the king of Jinling. There is still a relationship in the capital."

The squad leader opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Xue's old house.

In the conference hall, a woman in her 40s was sitting in the hall and flipping through an account book, and then she pointed at the middle lines with her hand, and said to the accountant next to her: "These shops should be dealt with quickly, and the losses will be lost."

The accountant quickly took the account book: "Yes." Then he picked up a pen and made a note on the back.

The woman picked up another account book and looked through it, sighed for a while, and then said to the accountant: "Except for the pawn shop, rice shop, salt shop and spice shop, all other shops have been dealt with."

The accountant took over the account book and looked at it: "Are you in a hurry."

The woman said: "Nowadays, it's not as good as a moment, and keeping it will only increase consumption. Xue's family is an imperial merchant. According to the regulations, Pan'er has to enter the department to settle the old accounts and then calculate the new ones. In addition, the imperial court selects female officials to pretend to be princesses." The princess is going to attend school as an attendant, and just goes to Beijing to wait for election."

After a pause, "Perhaps the Xue family will stay in Beijing in the future."

Hearing the words, the accountant sighed in his heart. The Xue family had been one of the most wealthy businessmen since the previous dynasty, and they were even given the official position of Ziwei Sheren in this dynasty. Unfortunately, the owner of the family died in the capital for no reason. "Overlord", with extravagant temperament, spends all day fighting cocks and horses, traveling in mountains and rivers, and relying on the help of relatives to get a false name in the household department. Since then, the Xue family's business has plummeted.

After autumn, because a servant girl beat someone to death, the deceased was named Feng Yuan, a local gentry, if the prefect of Jinling was not afraid of the Jia family and Wang family in the capital, Xue Pan would have been taken to prison long ago.

The woman was the younger sister of Wang Ziteng, the military governor of the capital, the younger sister of Mrs. Wang's second wife in Rongfu, the mother of Xue Pan and Xue Baochai, and Aunt Xue.

At this moment, the old housekeeper hurried over, "Madam, that old servant of the Feng family has gone to the government office to file a complaint."

Aunt Xue sighed softly, "Have you accepted it?"

"No. I heard from the young man that because of the uncle's case, Li Zhifu was interned, and the seal he picked last night has already gone to Beijing. It seems that Uncle Du Zhong took the initiative to settle the case."

Aunt Xue nodded.

The old housekeeper hesitated for a moment, and said, "Madam, the uncle ordered someone to pay another 500 taels from the cashier."

Aunt Xue stood up loudly: "Go, find that evil person!"

"Yes." The servant outside the door responded and ran out.

(End of this chapter)