Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

"Crack!" A thin porcelain cup fell on the floor and shattered to pieces.

Probably freshly brewed tea, on a hot day, still steaming on the ground.

Yang Zilie and Yang Tongzhi went back to their house anxiously, crying out that they were thirsty.

When the tea arrived, he just took a sip when it was so hot that he yelped and threw the cup down in a rage.

Hearing Master Yang's roar, the servant who brought the tea over was so shocked that he knelt down on the ground with a plop, "Master, spare me, master, spare me!"

As a servant who has served him for many years, this servant naturally knows his master's disposition, and he looks gentle on the surface.But once angry, the attack is vicious.

This is probably because he became famous when he was young, but he has not been smooth in the imperial examination. It took more than [-] years to get a Jinshi, and it was the reason why he was awarded a Jinshi at the bottom.

Strange to say, Ma Quan was no longer afraid when he saw Lord Yang get angry.

His head was soaked by the hot mutton soup, and after taking people back to the city, he asked the doctor to apply the medicine. Now he is standing respectfully in front of Mr. Yang, just like the red-headed young man in the later generations.

The doctor's medicine is really good, after applying it, it feels cool, and it doesn't hurt at all, but the smell of medicine is really pungent.

But as soon as the cup of tea was smashed down, the unpleasant medicinal smell was instantly overwhelmed by the fragrant tea.

Ma Quanxin said: "I heard that Mr. Yang drinks three taels of silver from Mingqian Longjing, so today's cup should be enough. It really smells good."It costs so much money to drink a cup of tea, Mr. Yang is so rich.

"Go down!" Waving his sleeves to make the servants retreat, Yang Zilie frowned and looked at Ma Quan: "Ma Quan, why did you do this?"

Ma Quan waited so long for this question, he knelt on the ground suddenly, and told about the fact that he took people to the inspection department to trouble Su Mu today, but he suffered a big loss in the end.

Then he burst into tears: "My lord, all the people in Cangzhou know that the little one is yours. It doesn't matter if the little one suffers this crime, but if it spreads, if he surnamed Mei messed with me, it would be like slapping your old man in the face. "

"Don't cry, Ma Quan and you too. You were kicked out of the government office by Guan Zhizhou. My lord saw you pitiful, and thought that you have been a good person these years, so I recommended you to go to the Salt Division. That place is much better than the Inspection Division. But But you are good, it’s bad luck to visit Mei’s wealth for no reason, now it’s better, but it’s being harmed like this? The person surnamed Mei is just a small person, so why don’t you ask my lord to personally question him, what’s your dignity?”

Ma Quan was still crying loudly: "Then Mei Fugui has the audacity to manipulate the salt lords privately, this is a capital crime!"

"What private indulgence? His inspector department has the duty of arresting salt dealers. My master also interviewed him clearly. After Mei Fugui came to the inspector department, he never took a tael of salt. Now, he has the few The private salt ship has sunk, and there is no evidence to find it, what can you do to him?" Yang Zilie was in a bad mood, and thinking of the deficit of the salt government office, his voice suddenly became severe.

Seeing that Yang Tongzhi was so angry, Ma Quan didn't dare to say more.

He stood up carefully, picked up the broom to sweep the debris on the ground, and said flatteringly: "The old man is in a bad mood, but what troubles you encountered?"

Yang Tongzhi sneered: "I can't talk to you, and you don't understand if I say it, you villain don't want to make noise, don't retreat quickly."

Just kidding, that's a shortfall of more than 200 million taels, and you, a small official, are worthy of asking?

Ma Quan rolled his eyes and thought: These elders seem to be high-ranking, but they are actually the same as the people in Xialiba like me, eating and drinking, drinking, drinking and making money.It's just that we little people can kill people with a knife for 100 taels of silver, while gentlemen can do it for 1 taels.But in the final analysis, they are all the same thing, but the quantity is different.

He said cautiously: "My lord, the villain thinks that no matter what happens in this world, there is a solution."

However, Yang Tongzhi's heart moved. If you listened to it, it might be a train of thought: "Tell me."

Ma Quan: "The affairs of the gentlemen in the officialdom are actually the same as those of the villains in the yamen. In the final analysis, they are just fighting for power and profit."

"You villain is full of nonsense. Master, I am an official, and I think every day that I want to repay the king's kindness and contribute to the country and the people."

"Yes, yes, what the master said is true." Seeing that Yang Tongzhi's tone softened, Ma Quan continued: "This fight for power is nothing more than a sentence, 'I will take the benefits, and you will take the blame.' If you encounter troubles, Mr. It’s better to find someone to stand in front of it.”

Yang Tongzhi touched his chin thoughtfully, but stopped talking.

Ma Quan put down his broom and slowly retreated outside the house.

At this time, Yang Tongzhi's voice came faintly: "Ma Quan, how many people did you bring to the inspection department today?"

"Back to the elder, more than ten."

"There are more than a dozen people, all of whom are soldiers, but they can't beat Mei Fugui, a bunch of trash. You know, the inspectors are all rural soldiers, and the salt soldiers of your salt government are all fully armed, although they can't use knives. But if he is wearing armor, how can Mei Fugui beat you?" Yang Tongzhi asked nonchalantly.

Ma Quan stopped, and smiled boldly: "Master, you don't know that there are five to six thousand soldiers in the Yanzheng. If each person has a pair of armor, it will cost a lot of money. The Yanzheng doesn't have that many soldiers." For the money, just put a few pairs in the armory as a show."

"How much is a pair of armor worth?" Yang Tongzhi was a civil servant who had never led a soldier, so he had no eyes for military matters.

Ma Quan: "My lord's words are not good enough. The skin peeled from a buffalo is only enough to make two sets of armor. If you don't spare the cost, you can make each pair of armor. It takes more than ten catties to make a good armor." Fine steel, plus the helmet, boots, and cotton robe lining, are worth several hundred taels.”

"So expensive!" Yang Tongzhi was surprised.

"Of course, several hundred pairs of armor are worn by generals. There is not much iron on the armor of ordinary soldiers. It is just a solid cotton jacket with a layer of cowhide. Calculated, it is only five 60 taels. However, this thing cannot be kept privately, once it is found, it will be punished as a crime of rebellion, and the three clans will be punished."

Ma Quan suddenly got excited, and then suggested: "My lord, Mei Fugui is really hateful. Otherwise, the villain just bought a set of armor and secretly put it in his house. When the time comes, I will bring someone to investigate and say that he used to be a soldier in Datong. I brought it back privately when I was there, so it shouldn't be difficult to make him stand up."

Suddenly, Yang Zilie burst out laughing.

Laughing so freely, Ma Quan didn't understand for a moment, thought he said something wrong, stood there awkwardly, and said timidly: "My lord, what did the villain say wrong?"

Yang Tongzhi was still smiling, he stood up, walked up to Ma Quanquan, stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said softly, "You're right, Ma Quan, I can't see that you are a talented person who gives you what you want, my lord." I really didn't expect that."

Being patted by Master Tongzhi, Ma Quan only felt that the bones in his body were lightened a few taels, and knelt on the ground again, shouting happily: "Master agrees with the villain's proposal, I will do it right away, we must make it That Mei Fugui's corpse is broken into thousands of pieces."

"What are you going to do?" Yang Tongzhi asked with a smile.

"Didn't the master say that the surname is Mei..." Ma Quan was stunned.

"Mei Fugui will of course have to do it." Yang Tongzhi smiled: "But not now, Ma Quan, you go down and inquire first, find out his fault first, and I will remove him from the post of inspector first."

"Yes, yes, for a bastard surnamed Mei, you have to ruin his reputation first before taking his life. That's what makes people happy!"

Yang Tongzhi didn't explain, and after waving Ma Quan to back down, he got on the sedan chair and rushed to the Changlu Salt Transport Envoy's Yamen.

He is a local official with a low position. Although he has colluded with Liu Tongzhi and Deputy Envoy Jing for many years, in order to avoid suspicion, this is the first time he has come here today.

After getting out of the sedan chair, without posting any post, he rushed inside and shouted to the doormen chasing him, "Go and tell Liu Tongzhi and Deputy Envoy Jing that Yang Zilie from the prefectural government is visiting, and there is something urgent."

Sitting in the signing room for a while, Liu Konghe and Jing Ting heard that he was in a hurry, so they rushed over at the same time, screened back around, and before they could ask, Yang Tongzhi cupped his hands: "Liu Gong, Deputy envoy Jing, what do you want the little official to do?" May I ask, how many troops does Yan Division have now?"

Seeing his solemn expression, Jing Ting found the roster and said, "According to the system, there are [-]. It's just that there are vacancies that have not been filled, and now there are [-] left, which is too much to use."

After receiving the roster, Yang Tongzhi flipped through it, then clapped his hands and laughed: "Yes."

Jing Ting: "I would like to hear about its auspiciousness."

Yang Tongzhi: "The army needs ordnance, especially the armor is expensive. The armor of 1 people is worth more than 100 million taels. If it is placed in the warehouse, it will be eaten by moths and rats, and the sky will be dry. It will be a mess at that time. ..."

Liu Konghe suddenly exclaimed: "It's a good plan, Zilie is really talented, he can come up with such a method."

Jing Ting also understood the meaning of Yang Tongzhi's words, and his face turned grim: "It's a good plan, just set a fire to burn the armory. If we can take out the account book again, this threshold will be considered passed. Mr. Liu, You are the head of the Salt Division, now it depends on what you want."

Liu Konghe suddenly let out a long sigh: "The three of you and I know exactly what happened to the bank's deficit. Mr. Liu has a clear conscience and has never received a penny of benefits. However, this matter is very important, and he has already prepared in his heart. .If there are thunderstorms and storms in the future, if you suffer all over your body, you will die without regret! Let it go, and burn it clean!"

As he said that, tears came down, and then he cried out sadly: "Liu has read the books of sages all his life, but he never thought that he would do such a thing, to disappoint the emperor and the court."

Jing Ting and Yang Tongzhi also had hot eyes and tears at the same time.

After Liu Konghe finished crying, he said, "I have to find someone to recite the fire incident, but there is a suitable one."

Yang Tongzhi: "We've found someone. In a few days, Mei Fugui, the inspector, will come from the armory. He will take the blame."

Jing Ting breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "In the future, he can't treat his family badly."

Yang Tongzhi: "That's natural."

Thinking of Mei Niang who met at Shuiximen earlier, his stomach felt hot, but his heart was moved.

Liu Konghe: "It's up to Zilie to do it for you. Deputy Jing will make you balance the accounts. As for the memorial, let the old man write it!"