Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2067 Foreign Aid
Seeing Master Chou's helpless expression that was almost desperate, Second Master Hao had no choice but to bring out "foreign aid" to cheer him up.

"Don't be discouraged: this time Shi Weng has specially invited experts from the capital and Suzhou. They will arrive in a few days. When the time comes, if you work together, you may be able to come up with a solution."

But Master Qiu looked embarrassed: "But this silver...even if we use sterling silver to make fake Australian silver coins-we will still lose money! If we can't further reduce the value of silver..."

Hao Erye said: "You are an old hand at counterfeiting silver. Filling ingots with lead is nothing new."

"It's easy to pour lead into ingots, but the silver dollar is so thin, how can it be filled?"

"If I have a way, do I still need to invite you?" Hao Erye scolded a little impatiently.

"In case someone cuts it and uses it, then..."

"No." Hao Erye said confidently, "The thieves expressly stipulate that silver coins are not allowed to be destroyed. They only recognize the whole one."

A few days later, Mr. Hao took a small sedan chair and, as usual, led four servants to give alms out of the East Gate, and went to Yongtai Temple to offer incense.This is the old habit of Hao Erye-although he is not a native of Guangzhou, but since he came to Guangzhou, he must come to Yongtai Temple every month to offer incense, and after finishing offering incense, he will also take a tour around the vicinity.

At this time, there are only a few neighbors in the area next to the city gate, and the rest are undeveloped hills.The hills along the road are undulating, surrounded by green trees, shaded by the sun, and there are clear streams everywhere, which is a good place for spring and summer outside the city.Many local gentry and gentry have built their own businesses in this area.

Yongtai Temple was built in this scenic spot. This temple is also known as "Eunuch Temple" because it was built with donations from Wei Juan, the great eunuch who promoted the city's shipping department in Guangzhou during the Chenghua period. "Gift amount".Because of this relationship, the temple is not only magnificent in architecture, but also has always been one of the largest religious landlords in Guangzhou, unbeaten for more than 150 years.

Hao Erye got off the sedan chair outside the temple and led the servants into the temple.He is the "noble man" here, and as soon as he enters the door, a little novice will report to him, and a monk who knows guests will come out to entertain him.

He worshiped the Buddha in the main hall, entered the incense, and donated clothes and food.While perfunctory with the Zhike monk, he looked around, seeing that the time was almost up, and asked, "Is there any guest from other places with the surname Li coming here recently?" After entering the small courtyard.

"This is a distinguished guest of mine who came to Guangzhou to offer incense. Please tell me, Master."

Famous temples and temples are all equipped with clean houses and courtyards for rich and big families to stay overnight when they play and pilgrimage, which is equivalent to a high-end hotel.It is not surprising that a merchant like Hao Erye has guests from afar living here.The monk didn't doubt that he was there, so he led the way.

Under the pass, it is called "you please".

Second Master Hao entered the courtyard with his personal servant. A servant had already been waiting for him in the courtyard, and welcomed him into the main room with a smile on his face.

In the middle of the main room is a sandalwood Eight Immortals table, and there are five or six people sitting there. There is a person standing on the left, who is the messenger who came to his shop a few days ago, and a person is standing on the right. Looking at Mian Shan, this person stepped forward. Come say hello.

Second Master Hao made a bow and said, "May I ask who is 'Mr. Four'?"

But this man said with a smile: "Second Master Hao, I haven't seen you for three years, don't you know me, Lao Meng?"

Hao Erye looked at the visitor: he was wearing a sky green lake silk taoist gown, a square scarf on his head, no jade pendants or anything like that, he was about forty years old, dressed like a housekeeper, but he was full of business savvy.

Thinking: "Three years ago? This person's accent is from Huizhou and Zhejiang. Three years ago, I went to Anhui to discuss the paper and ink business. My surname is Meng. Could it be related to that master..." He said unconsciously, "Could it be Yun Shopkeeper Meng from Heizhai?" Shopkeeper Meng's face was even more joyful, "It's brother Yu Meng Guolu, don't rush to talk about Mr. Si, and wait for brother Yu to introduce you to some senior experts. Well, standing here is the king of Qingcheng. Shaoxia Su, the word Quji, you have seen it when you delivered the letter, and you are the most jealous. Please go to the door to watch first."

Wang Su didn't say much, so he clasped his fists and went out.

Meng Guolu first introduced to the people in the room: "Second Master Hao's name is Fang, and his surname is similar to Zhi. He is eager for justice, loyal to the king's affairs, and is the most skilled in calligraphy and antiques. This time, the study of Song banknotes will be entrusted to him."

There was a sound of "long admiration" in the room, and Meng Guolu introduced everyone in the seat one by one.

An old man in the middle has white beard and hair, but he is very energetic.This is Li Daizhao, known as "Fan Li".He was originally an engraver of the treasure money bureau of the Ministry of Industry, specializing in all kinds of "mother money".Although the imperial court minted money by the Baoquan Bureau of each province on their own, the "mother money" was issued by the Ministry of Households.Then use the mother's money as a model to make the son's money, and finally the money can be made out of the mold.Therefore, the manufacture of this "mother money" is the most critical.

"Fan Li" has worked in the Ministry of Households for more than 40 years. He used all his "mother's money" to make money in various dynasties. In the past few years, he retired and lived at home for the elderly. Now most of the craftsmen working in the Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Households are his disciples and grandchildren. .

Those craftsmen who rely on their skills to make a living in the Ming Dynasty certainly had no status at the end of the Ming Dynasty. If they are worshiped by master craftsmen, they naturally have the arrogance brought by their skills. They are also used to seeing court officials and cabinet officials on weekdays, and they are all polite. Greetings.He only bowed his body with a smile, and said: "How old is Li Fugui, the old man? This time when he goes out of Beijing, he also learns how to be a member of the staff. It's a joke."

On the old man's left hand was an old lady, who looked demure and stable, holding a string of beads, like a lay woman who was eating vegetarian food and praying to Buddha. Two eyes.The old lady raised her eyes and smiled slightly, and said, "The little lady repairs paintings and repairs posts on weekdays. She has a good reputation. She was originally begging for food in the gate of the mansion. Who would have thought that half of the loess could still go on imperial errands? My nephew!" I specialize in Song calligraphy and Song painting, and please advise Jinzhi."

Although she spoke Mandarin, she had the softness of Wu dialect.

A frail man in his thirties stood up and greeted him: "Your Majesty, Liu Cheng, whose name is Jinong, was given the name Youyouzhai by friends. Erye Hao's family imitated Mei Taoist's "Spring Flooding Clouds and Dreams" and moved the capital. Could it be that it was written by outsiders? ?”

Hao Erye said: "I don't dare to do it. It's from my uncle, and my son used to grind ink and paint beside me. As for the skill of calligraphy and painting, if it takes time, it will be a hundred times better than me. Sigh!" As he said, his eyes turned red up.

Hao Erye just wanted to say something, Meng Guolu said again: "Your grievances, we all know that during the epidemic period, the young master was caught by the thieves and sent to some quarantine camp. The good boy just disappeared, but Sigh! Along the way, Mr. Er and Mr. Hao’s family have been ruined. It is said that Wang Shaoxia outside the door, his family used to be a Sichuan salt business, and it was very prosperous. Ma Niao salt came across the sea to sell six provinces. Seeing a family of hundreds of people fall down, this is exactly what the Kun Thieves are not destroyed and the Lu Nan is not over."

Lin Qiangyun and others echoed: "When the thieves first came, they were still able to buy and sell in a friendly manner. They only sold some foreign objects from the sky. Who would have thought that they would regard us as honest and honest as deceitful, burn my home, cut off my livelihood, and plunder my people. Humans and gods will kill them together.”

Hao Erye was among these "comrades", and listening to the warm words, he felt warm in his heart-he came to this risky business, not only because of the consideration of interests, but also because of the relationship of repaying gratitude, and more importantly own personal enmity.However, he was lurking in Guangzhou alone, watching all the people from all walks of life being caught by the thieves one after another, ruining their lives one by one, thinking about it in the middle of the night, he couldn't help but feel the chill of being in the snow.

On the other side, a middle-aged man stood up and said, "Living with good people is like entering Zhilan's house. It is admirable for Jinzhi to take risks and destroy his family to relieve difficulties. In Xialin Qiangyun, he will do some paper business at home."

Hao Erye hurriedly said: "I have admired the name of the Lin family for a long time, but unfortunately I can't visit. Three years ago, I was planning to go to discuss the matter of buying paper, but it was delayed after a series of disasters."

Lin Qiangyun had a look of resentment on his face: "If it wasn't for the Kun bandits messing around in the southeast of me, why did they come here, they broke their teeth and sold paper at a low price? Now, in these two provinces, Fujian and Zhejiang, the Gongzhi Lin family is nothing more than yesterday."

Another middle-aged man who looked like an old farmer at the side persuaded: "We have fulfilled the king's order to deal with thieves, so let's calm down a bit."

On this side, Meng Guolu introduced: "This is the 'Carving King' Wang Dou, and the one next to him is 'Living Insect Zhao' Zhao Jiaren."

After seeing the ceremony, all parties took Mr. Hao to sit down and served tea.

Only then did Meng Guolu explain to Erye Hao: "Mr. Si has been running around for the past few days. One is to contact the old land in the city and raise money and supplies. Second, he heard that Qi Ye in Lingao and Master Wu who came to Guangzhou have been trapped one after another. Even a few gentry in Guangzhou were killed. Now I have to be cautious, and it is inconvenient to show up. Just now you were burning incense in the hall, Mr. Si has recognized you and told us when you came back, so there is no doubt that we will."

We've chatted a few words on the occasion, so let's share the news first.Hao Erye said: "Since the robbers entered Guangzhou, they have already begun to plunder the wealth of temples and temples. Now all the temples and temples in the Taoist gates of Guangzhou have belonged to a member of the Yunji Sect of Taoism in the Song Dynasty at the Temple of Five Immortals." What kind of real people are managing it. They also teamed up with the red-haired people to enclose houses and land under Yuexiu Mountain, saying that they want to build some kind of cathedral. These three religions and nine streams seem to be under the control of the thieves. This Buddhist sect cannot escape this catastrophe. Okay, but it’s not a place to stay for a long time. And it’s inconvenient to come and go, there are many thieves in every inn, why don’t you come to my house for a while?”

Mo Doumeng said: "Jinzhi has a heart. It's just that I have heard Shi Weng say that the net in Guangzhou city is becoming more and more dense. Although our group pretends to be a family, we are not a family. Sooner or later we will be punished." See through. What's more, the movement of this business is not small, and I'm afraid it won't be able to hide it from people after a long time-even if you are close to Zhi, it is not suitable to continue to handle this matter in the city. Mr. Si contacted the old land before and bought it in another county A set of workshop yards—by the way, our big family all take the surname of Li at this time, and the head of the household is Li Fugui. When the tidying up is finished, the custom-made paper materials will arrive one after another, and I will go there for a while. time."

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Next update: Volume 180 - Guangdong and Guangxi Raiders Chapter [-]

(End of this chapter)