But the bright moon shines on the ditch

Returning to Anqing Kiln in the evening, Bai Li brought the hot evening meal from the kitchen to Xiao Qingyuan and served Liang Peiqiu.

The summer season is long and it gets dark late, so Bai Li simply pulled up the curtains and laid out the meals one by one on the long nanmu table. He placed two celadon vases with peonies and roses in them, and half of them were burning lamps. The candles were arranged in a mess, and I asked Liang Peiqiu to come and see them.

Liang Peiqiu stood up from behind the desk and briefly glanced at the table. The light was still good, so she moved to the window with a pile of books.

Seeing Bai Li's eyes twinkling and blinking at her from the side, she suddenly realized something. She glanced at the objects on the long table and reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Bai Li was simple and could not see the incomprehensible expression on the big boss's face, and said happily: "I saw how the tea banquet was arranged in the restaurant, and I followed suit. The boss seems to be in a better mood, and he can eat more."

Liang Peiqiu accepted it with a smile.

However, according to her taste, the celadon vase with red peonies was a bit bold and bold. It was placed in front of the table as if Wang Yunxian was watching her while she was eating, which really made her appetite go away.She reluctantly swallowed her food, then got up and ran outside. From the high and low bottles and jars on the verandah, she picked out a narrow-mouthed vase made of coarse pottery with cracks, and replaced it with celadon. In this way, she had an old-fashioned style under the setting sun. The large carved windows bring out the beauty of the mountains and rivers and make you feel happy.

Afraid that the little girl Baili would be sad, Liang Peiqiu wanted to comfort her, but saw her lying on the desk, flipping through the file seriously.

Liang Peiqiu walked over, picked up a handful of green bamboo shoots with chopsticks, and asked her, "Are you literate?"

Bai Li shook her head shyly: "They know me, but I don't know them." She was actually very envious when she saw her boss busy in the sea of ​​books on weekdays. "In a family like mine, few girls are literate. You are really good, boss." sharp!"

Liang Peiqiu didn't want to say that it was actually because she was raised as a boy that she had the opportunity to read and write, so she smiled and replied: "I am average in knowledge and can only slightly understand words."

"This is also very powerful!"

Liang Peiqiu saw her eyes flickering and looking longing, and said: "Then if you are willing, I can teach you to read and write when I have time."

"Really? Boss, you are so kind to me!"

The little girl was so happy that she couldn't help but jump up and down a few times. She realized that she had lost her rules and hurriedly lowered her lower body to urge Liang Peiqiu to eat quickly.

Liang Peiqiu told her not to be restrained and that she could read the books on the shelf as she pleased.

The clouds on the horizon turn red, and the mountains rise and fall like a mirage.She couldn't help but think about what Qi Guang said at the county government office during the day.Suddenly, she heard a very low sigh that sounded like a question. Looking back, Bai Li was smiling at her: "Master, did I disturb your thoughts?"

"It's okay, what's wrong?"

"Oh, I don't know if I read it wrong. Are these two documents written by the same person?"

Liang Peiqiu leaned over and took a look. One of the items she had was a manuscript on the Baicai reform written by Xu Zhiliu during his lifetime. The handwriting was slightly sloppy, but he could tell that it was a self-contained regular script style.

The other thing she brought back from Zhou Qiguang today is a collection of records of the new atmosphere in folk kilns after the New Deal. The running script is elegant and typical of Zhiyong style, somewhere between cursive and regular script.

The two letters have similar fonts, but their styles are completely different. Anyone with a discerning eye can tell at a glance that they are two completely different handwritings.

Bai Li was not surprised when she got the answer, and stuck out her tongue: "It doesn't look like it was written by the same person, but some of the words are quite similar, which makes me a little unsure."

"is it?"

"Nuo, look at this word. I think you wrote, Dongjia, that your last point is used to fall on the hook, but the points of these two people are behind the hook. And this word, why is there a break in the middle of the horizontal line? Okay. Weird, you’re all disconnected.”

Liang Peiqiu didn't pay attention at first. Everyone's writing habits are different. The same position of dots and hooks can't prove anything. However, the habit of cutting across the middle is different from most people, and she also deliberately imitated Xu Zhiliu and slowly developed it. accustomed.

She couldn't help but take the two documents and compare them one by one. The handwriting was indeed very different, but if she analyzed it carefully, she found that the writing habits were exactly the same, such as the position of dots and hooks, and the left-right structure of the font, writing right first and then left. In this way, the focus of the last stroke is different, and the weight of the pen and ink is also different.

She was not sure who wrote the document given by Zhou Qiguang, but the consistency with Xu Zhiliu's writing habits made people inexplicably creepy and weird, and gave rise to a sense of strangeness.

This was Bai Li's unintentional move. Maybe the little girl didn't expect any connection between it, so she gave it up after looking at it for a while.Liang Peiqiu's heart seemed to be troubled, and the hot meals no longer tasted good.

After finishing the evening meal, Baili came over with some soup and medicine.During the rainy season, her leg pain never went away. In addition to external application, she had to add a few doses of decoction for oral administration.

Bai Li made an appointment with Shi Nian to pick up the medicine on the street in the afternoon.

Since I started acting in front of An Jiu at the beginning of the year, I was severely injured once in the snow, and I also suffered from some physical problems at that time.Liang Peiqiu gave him the prescription that Wang Yunxian went to Qimen to ask for. After the treatment, he was in good health. So he went to the pharmacy to prepare a few more medicines and secretly gave them to Liang Peiqiu. At the end, he joked that she had a tail when she came in and out. This little thing was enough. I'll do it for her, tell her not to be polite, just prepare a few more red envelopes for the New Year.

Liang Peiqiu smiled slightly after hearing this and asked him how he was doing.

Bai Li said: "He originally came from Hutian Kiln. Isn't it the same as going back home? Dadong Xu's family valued him very much and transferred him to the front yard. Now he is in and out with Manager Zhang all day long, and he can take care of himself. Simple kiln maintenance."

"How about Ayao?"

"Because He Li returned home, there were many people gossiping in the streets. Xu Dadong's family was so angry that they detained people at home and were not allowed to go out."

Liang Peiqiu knew Xu Zhong's temper well. The thunder was loud but the rain was light, and he would be fine after being angry for a while.What's more, Ah Yao is the treasure in his heart, and he won't let it go no matter what.

No matter what, with Ah Yao assisting and Zhang Lei in charge of the kiln affairs, even if Xu Zhong had to drink and pretend to be crazy to hide his edge, the Hutian kiln could still operate normally.

The most important thing facing us now is the establishment of the Ceramics Industry Supervisory Committee.Trying to remove the cancer of Sanyao Jiuhui is like pulling a tooth from the tiger's mouth. It is impossible to get past An Jiu.However, what can be done to make Anjiu willingly have his teeth extracted?

When there were too many messy things, some seemingly important and not-so-important things were forgotten. Liang Peiqiu took care of the kiln affairs again, checked the current debts at the kiln one by one, and had a charter in mind.

At midnight, she patrolled the kiln as usual.

She was now used to walking up and down the mountain on the Lion Road. She no longer felt lonely late at night. On the contrary, the quieter the night, the clearer her mood became, and she felt a rare sense of freedom.

Suddenly she heard a series of footsteps, and she didn't know what was going on. She ducked to the side and hid behind a tree.

Soon, a figure slowly walked out of the fork in the dark alley ahead.

Even though the moonlit night was slightly dark, Liang Peiqiu still recognized the other person at a glance - he was not a stranger, he had met him four or five times, and they had just had a verbal battle in the afternoon. It was the newly appointed Fuliang County Magistrate Zhou Qiguang.

The magistrate is so laid-back, why don't you go out for a walk alone in the middle of the night without sleeping?But Gongguan Road is not close to Shizi Lane, and it takes half a stick of incense to walk...

Just as he was curious, another figure appeared closely behind him.

Still an acquaintance.

Wu Yin quickly stepped forward, walked side by side with Zhou Qiguang, and whispered something.The corners of the man's lips moved slightly, and a laugh escaped.

No temptation, no prejudice, no external things, just a very clear laugh.

Liang Peiqiu was suddenly shocked.

Seeing that they were going in the opposite direction to hers, she did not hide anymore, came out from behind the tree, and walked back along the way she came.The heat of the day was gone at night, so it was a little cooler just wearing single clothes.

Her shoulders shook unconsciously, and her feet moved a little faster, stepping through the water-filled pits, making the soles of her shoes and leaves rustle.

Two figures not far away stopped together.

Wu Yin asked: "What's wrong?"

Xu Zhiliu looked back, shook his head to indicate that nothing was wrong, and repeated what he had just said: "I want to know every move she makes."

"Don't worry, we've already sent people to keep an eye on her. As luck would have it, my people went over and found another group of people staring at her. Who do you think it is?"

Xu Zhiliu didn't care about his teasing, except that An Jiu didn't think anything of it.He didn't expect that after more than a year, An Jiu's suspicion would become worse.

Even though he personally taught Shi Nian a lesson in front of him and beat him to the point of dying, he later expressed his loyalty to him many times in Beijing and presented imperial porcelain.After achieving this level, you still haven't gained Anjiu's trust?
Does she really want to get on top of him?

"But their supervision is very lax. I think An Jiu will withdraw those people soon."

"is it?"

The smile on Xu Zhiliu's face faded, "Maybe he will become suspicious again before withdrawing."

As soon as Wu Yin heard this, he knew that he was going to take action, and he couldn't help but feel worried for Liang Peiqiu.

A good woman, whoever she deceived had a bad relationship, but she offended this one.Ever since he learned about Liang Peiqiu's true identity, Wu Yin seemed to have had an enlightenment, and had a deeper, perhaps non-existent, understanding of what had happened between Xu and Liang. From his perspective, Xu Zhiliu's hatred grew deeper. The deeper the love, no matter how much you take revenge on the other person, it will probably be a tragedy for the hero.

But who can say for sure? Wu Yin is a bachelor and can only talk on paper.

/
Half a month later, the imperial kiln fired the first batch of winter porcelain according to the Imperial Household Office's protocol, and the results were jaw-dropping.

In fact, during the four or five years that An Jiu came to Jingdezhen, he never took care of the kiln affairs. Apart from taking advantage of the opportunity to show off his prestige and make money, all the menial and hard work was left to his subordinates, including hundreds of thousands of finished products of Wanshou porcelain. The general manager controls the eyes.

The chief manager nodded, and he nodded also, pretending to be somewhat knowledgeable, or pretending to be sophisticated so that others could not tell the difference.

However, the quality of this batch of winter porcelain would make even a layman scream in agony when he saw it, not to mention that the chief steward came here carrying thorns on his back to ask for instructions.

Not only is this quality comparable to seven or eight of Wanshou porcelain, even one or two is considered inferior.

At first glance, the quality inside is uneven. Some porcelain is rough, the glaze is mottled, and there is no fire at all. Some bowls and bottles are even obviously damaged, and the inscriptions are also written in a mess. There is no standard at all. It is different from the original one. What An Jiu saw was extremely different.

An Jiu was so angry that his whole body was shaking, and he kicked the chief steward: "You want me to take these to report to His Majesty? Tell me, what happened!"

The general manager's back hurt from rubbing the floor, but he didn't care about it. He crawled to the ground and knelt down and begged for mercy: "Sir, please have mercy on me. Please listen to my explanation. It's not the kiln craftsmen who are negligent, but the fact that the craftsmanship system has been removed." , the fate of craftsmen also changed accordingly. In order to attract outstanding craftsmen, the people offered high prices, and some masters of the imperial kiln factory..."

This is just one of the reasons, but before the chief manager could finish speaking, An Jiu said, "Is it possible that the royal kiln factory can't compare with the private kilns? How much can they give you, even several craftsmen can do it?" Can’t hold me?”

The chief manager did not dare to make a false report and counted the numbers with trembling fingers.

An Jiu's brows deepened: "Can't Shuyu Kiln Factory afford this?"

"I could afford it before, but now... I'm afraid it's difficult."

An Jiu realized that the situation was beyond expectation, and the guards on his left and right carried him to the imperial concubine's couch. He leaned on it and his voice was almost like a fully-stretched bow string: "Don't beat around the bush with me."

The chief manager sighed and had no choice but to tell the whole story about the Qinyin that was deeply hidden in his heart.

If it is true that there is no funding for this matter, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will definitely be doomed if there is a fuss. So if they say they will allocate funds, then they will definitely allocate funds.As for the amount of money, let’s not mention it for now. In short, it will not be enough to hire a few old craftsmen.

Besides, the craftsmen of the imperial kiln factory can put a small yellow flag on their shoulders when they go out, and they will be looked down upon wherever they go.It was a card given by the royal family. Even if it was slightly lower than the market price, there were still many people rushing to do it, and few people would change jobs.

Therefore, this amount must be in huge shortfall and has been for some time.

When An Jiu heard that he had not been paid for more than half a year, his heart skipped a beat. He immediately jumped up and rushed straight to the door of the general manager like a cheetah that had been gathering momentum for a long time. He wanted to kick the general manager to death on the spot. .

Zhou Yuan held him tightly and motioned to the left and right to hold the chief manager farther away to avoid accidental injury.It wasn't until Anjiu vented his anger on the flowers, plants and trees in the garden that he snuck back again.

"What is the reason? You are not allowed to hide it, please explain it to me clearly!"

The chief manager fell to the ground like a mourning heir, with a look of unspeakable pain.

He has been in charge of the imperial kiln factory for more than ten years. Ever since he came to this area, the funds allocated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs have never been fully paid to the factory.

Although he was not from a noble family, he was able to take on such an important position because he had some connections in the family. When he returned home, he told the adults, but was only told to keep quiet.

He knew that this was the imperial court's rigid way of doing things, and that exploitation at all levels was inevitable. Being able to get seven or eight was already a sign of weakness for an official, and he should be satisfied.

He is timid by nature and does not dare to cause trouble, so he is content with the status quo.

Perhaps considering him to be a well-informed and knowledgeable person, the neighboring fraternal units have never given him any trouble, so he has become more secure in his position.

In the first few years, the funding was relatively easy to obtain, but when the turnover was really insufficient, it would not be inconvenient to demolish the east wall to make up for the west wall.

The main thing happened at the beginning, and it was difficult to recover. At that time, it was not that he had not thought of reporting to the court, but how could he, a low-level official with no rank, report to the court beyond his superiors?Can he get out of Jiangxi alive?
He knew the answer was no.

In addition, in the past, there was a craftsmanship system, and the status of craftsmen among the people was not high. Even if Jingdezhen was famous as the back garden of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the emperor liked it, the craftsmen were just low-class slaves working for the emperor.He gave as much as he could without daring to complain, which also contributed to his "contentment".

Until Wanshou last year, hundreds of thousands of pieces of royal porcelain were delivered to the local government. The quantity was so large that it was difficult to calculate the cost.Perhaps it was also because the amount was too large, and those "hands" didn't have enough money to make money from it. They deducted and deducted the money from the already small amount, and in the end, all he was left with was a piece of chicken feathers.

In recent years, border wars have continued, the economy has been in recession, and the national treasury has been in deficit.To celebrate the emperor's longevity, Liubu almost emptied his family fortune, and now there is nothing left.

He knew how difficult the situation was. Even if he shamelessly asked for money, the superiors would not give it to him. So he took out a small amount of the gold silver as a deposit, first sent it to the private kiln where Wanshou porcelain was fired, and left a little for the imperial kiln factory. Turnover expenses and everything else will be put off first until the end of Wanshou, when we have to face reality.

Unexpectedly, Dongling porcelain followed closely, and Qinyin was once again in short supply. This time it was really worse, and there was no feather left.

The craftsmen were owed half a year's wages and had long been clamoring to leave.When I heard that winter porcelain was coming again, how could I still be willing to do it?As soon as the man left, the factory was in turmoil, and the superiors kept coming every three days to speed up the progress. He could only bite the bullet and let the cucumbers and eggs come in. As a result, he got into a big disaster. He lost the wood, the wood, and the glaze. , burning a bunch of money-losing goods that cannot be sold to the public, let alone bearing the title of royal porcelain, who dares to buy or sell?It can only be broken on the spot!

By now, he knew very well that whether or not he talked about this matter, he would not be able to leave Jiangxi alive. Instead of doing this, he would rather fight to the death.So he came to see Anjiu carrying thorns on his back.

As soon as he finished speaking, he threw himself at An Jiu's feet, crying and begging for help. He was willing to come forward to correct these corrupt officials in Jiangxi, just to save the lives of his family.

An Jiu fell silent.

Ignoring whether he is an official in Jiangxi or how many officials there are, can he get rid of this black gauze hat on his head first?Anjiu thought feebly, how many days had he only lived a good life?

The silence lasted for a long time, so long that everyone thought he would not speak again today, An Jiujiu spoke up: "Can my family wealth make up for the lack of silver in Wanshou porcelain and Dongling porcelain?"

As soon as these words came out, not to mention the chief manager, Zhou Yuan and others were stunned.

The chief manager shook his head and said he didn't know, he had to do a detailed calculation, so Anjiu ordered someone to bring a table of Eight Immortals over and ordered all the stewards in the accounting room to bring the account books and settle the accounts immediately.

In the back garden of the imperial kiln factory, the abacus made a sound of falling beads and tinkling bells.

At midnight, the chief manager reported back to Anjiu and reluctantly nodded.

It means it can be delayed for a while.

But this matter will explode sooner or later if the root cause is not eradicated.

An Jiu also knew the seriousness of the problem, but it took time to think of a solution, planning and arrangement, and now that the fire was burning, how could he wait?I can only endure the pain and cut the flesh first.

"To the outside world, it is said that the funds are allocated by the superiors. We will first invite the craftsmen who have left to come back; we will make up for half of the shortfalls in the folk kilns where Wanshou porcelain is fired, and the remaining half will be pledged; we will then use part of it as a deposit for winter porcelain to see which folk The kiln is willing to help with the firing, hand over the winter porcelain, and have a good year. As for the rest, I will find a way."

The Grand Steward Company claimed so.

An Jiu said again, "What I heard here today, whoever dares to leak the slightest bit of information, I don't need to say more about the consequences."

He put on the "bloodthirsty" coat again, as if the coat was tailor-made for him. He could put it on and take it off with ease, and could change it easily without giving anyone any illusion of kindness in his life.

Zhou Yuan called the guards to guard the palace, and after tightly fortifying the surrounding area, he carried out boxes and boxes of gold and silver jewelry from An Jiu's secret room under the dry well.Without any room for surprise, he hurriedly knocked on the door of several Jiafu banks in Huibang, exchanged cash overnight, and distributed the money one by one the next day.

However, the results were not satisfactory.

There are only a handful of private kilns willing to fire winter porcelain, and the two major Qing kilns, Hutian kiln and Anqing kiln, are not included.

This matter was causing quite a stir. An Jiu knew that he couldn't hide it, and he didn't want to hide it either. He immediately called Liang Peiqiu to the imperial kiln factory to talk.To prevent accidents, it was specifically stated that no one was allowed to enter or exit.

Liang Peiqiu just learned from Wang Yunxian that last night a rich man disturbed half of the city's banks to exchange money.If he hadn't seen the white silver being carried to the Anqing kiln with his own eyes, he would have thought that the Hulu from the north were attacking and the rich man was in a hurry to run away.

This was because he was running the bank himself and wanted to follow the path of the Huibang bank, so he inserted a hidden stake to receive the news as soon as possible.If not, he wouldn't have known something big happened in the town.

But Liang Peiqiu seemed to have expected this, so she called the accountant to do the counting, and saw that only half of the balance was paid.

The purpose of the remaining half is obvious, which is to pledge.

What is staked is money, and what is pledged is people.