Jagged Warlord

At this time, a soldier came to report that there were some people dressed as businessmen outside, who said they were bringing inkstones to Brigadier Ma.

Ma Lianjia is a native of Donghai, Haizhou, Jiangsu Province. In 1898, he was a Jinshi in the Chinese military. Although he is a warrior, he also knows writing and ink, and has a soft spot for the Four Treasures of the Study. Around 1910, Ma Lianjia ordered the Wuyuan garrison to mine inkstones for him. Since he did not know the history of inkstones and did not have the support of the people, he could not dig out some residual stones except for regular mining.

The store that sent the inkstone to Ma Lianjia this time is a well-known store in Xiuning County.Ma Lianjia took a leave of absence from Ni Sichong and hurried back to his mansion.As soon as Ma Lianjia rode his horse to the door of his house, he saw four people, one old, three young, and a carriage waiting there.

The old man stepped forward and saluted, "Little Feng Chang, I have met Marshal Ma."

Ma Lianjia is just a brigade commander of a mixed brigade, and it is said that he is not up to the level of a commander, but the sound of a commander is very useful, so Ma Lianjia dismounted and arranged for Feng Chang and others to transport the inkstone to the inner hall .

Feng Chang carefully arranged the inkstones one by one on the table, each with the words "Xiu Ning Hu Kaiwen Mo".

As a well-known brand in Huizhou ink, Hu Kaiwen was born in Xiuning, and the founder is Hu Tianzhu from Shangzhuang, Jixi.At first, 13-year-old Hu Tianzhu came to Xiuning West Street as an apprentice in Wang Qimao's ink shop, doing odd jobs, cooking, standing at the counter, making ink in the ink shop, etc. He did everything, honest, hardworking, and eager to learn.The owner of the store was already in middle age and had only one daughter. Seeing that Hu Tianzhu was a talented person, he betrothed his only daughter to Tianzhu as his wife. In his later years, he transferred the ink shop to his son-in-law.

After Hu Tianzhu took over the ink shop, he saw the plaque "Tiankai Wenyun" in Wenchang Pavilion, the county seat, and obtained the word "Kaiwen" by means of divination, and then named it "Hu" with his own family name, so "Xiuning Hu Kaiwen Mo The signboard of "Shop" came into being.Hu Tianzhu has exquisite skills, but also can make small profits but sell quickly, and the workmanship is even more exquisite. The shape and decoration of the ink are beautiful and generous, especially the refined collection ink, which is not only practical but also good for collection, so it is very popular.As a result, Hu Kaiwen's ink shop has developed rapidly, and its reputation has become more and more famous.Not only there are Hukaiwen Ink Shops in Xiuning, Tunxi and five other counties in Huizhou, but also many large and medium-sized cities along the Yangtze River have its branches.Its products are not only sold well in China, but also exported to Japan and Southeast Asia, and have participated in exhibitions at home and abroad for many times and won awards.Among them, the most commendable is "Earth Ink", which won the gold medal at the Panama Exposition in 1915.

Hu Kaiwen Wenmo is well-known and expensive, Ma Lianjia bought a lot this time, so he spent a lot of money this time, which made Ma Lianjia a little bit painful.But Ma Lianjia wants to save face, and I am sorry to come to bargain now, so Ma Lianjia came up with an idea.

Ma Lianjia prepared dozens of new inkstones, and the staff took one inkstone of each type and each grade, and rubbed it several times on each inkstone, and the refreshing fragrance changed from light to thick, permeating the study room. .He secretly ordered his family members to mark each inkstone and carry it to the front hall.Officials of all sizes, aides, literati and scholars in the mansion all came to watch.Ma Lianjia ordered Feng Guanshi to distinguish the type and grade of ink from the ink marks worn on the inkstone.Feng Guanshi observed the color of the ink on each inkstone, sniffed the smell of the ink, and then figured out the ink marks on the observation platform, and immediately pointed out their types and grades.Ma Lianjia and others were stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "Pay according to the amount of money, Guanshi Feng has such a skill, please explain the mystery."

Feng Guanshi said: Hu Kaiwen's ink is "falling paper is like paint, and it will last for thousands of years", which is related to the ink shop's continuous improvement in raw materials, formulas, and craftsmanship.The basic raw material of ink is the soot from burning grass in tung oil and raw lacquer. The quality of the grass and the quantity of the grass lit have a great influence on the quality of the soot. There is less grass and the smoke rate is low, but the quality of the soot is fine. Add gold leaf, musk, borneol, Buddha blue pearls, snake gall, etc., among which the amount of Buddha blue is related to the difference in the luster of the dark royal blue.The ink workers of our Hu Kaiwen ink shop all have this number in mind.

After hearing this, Governor Ma praised repeatedly: "Wonderful! Wonderful!"

Feng Chang said with a smile: "In fact, many things are interlinked. If good writing falls into the hands of mediocre people, without the cooperation of wonderful brushes and paintings, it will be ineffective after all. Knowing writing and knowing current affairs are actually the same."

When Ma Lianjia heard this, his face changed immediately. He put one hand on his waist to match the gun, fixed his eyes on Feng Chang, and asked, "Who are you? Why did you say such things to me?"

Feng Chang chuckled, and replied: "I'm just an ink worker, and I'm unknown, but you should know this gentleman, right?" Feng Chang pointed to a young man behind him.

"You are?" Ma Lianjia looked along Feng Chang's fingers, and saw a young man took off his wig and the fake mask on his face, revealing his real face.

"Yan Laowu?" Ma Lianjia recognized the man.

Yan Laowu's real name is Yan Zhengao, Yantan, 74 miles south of Haizhou, ranked fifth, and the 23th generation grandson of Fushenggong Yanzi, known as "Gaowu Taiye".Grandpa Gaowu was shrewd and capable when he was young, and when he was a man, he was handsome and handsome. He was full of poetry and books. He practiced martial arts and kung fu in his spare time. .The first time he rushed to the exam, the examiner said it was magic, but he couldn't believe it was true.

After Gao Wu was elected, he was crowned as the commander of the right army of the Wuwei Youjun in Anhui. He was a classmate with Ma Lianjia. He had lent Ma Lianjia the travel expenses for his appointment, so he had no money to take up the post, so he had to go home to raise money .When I got home, I was very disappointed.It turned out that his elder brother Zhenju, who was proficient in sackcloth physiognomy, measured Ji Yang's lifespan to be 32 years old, so he gambled and squandered, and owed a huge amount of gambling debts.Grandfather Gao Wu entrusted his relatives to sue his friends, borrowed money and borrowed money. It took nearly half a month to raise enough travel expenses, but he had already missed his term of office.As a result, the post of commander of the right army of the Wuwei Youjun in Anhui Province was replaced by his classmate Ma Lianjia. For this matter, Ma Lianjia always felt that he owed Yan Zhengao.

"You boy, you have become the brigade commander. You really have the ability. The money I borrowed from you is not in vain." Yan Zhengao laughed.

"Zhengao, I've always felt guilty about this matter." Ma Lianjia looked ashamed. "Why did you come to my place?"

Yan Zhengao said: "Everyone has their own blessings. I am also the brigade commander of the National Defense Force now. I know that you are working under Ni Sichong, brother, so I came here to be a lobbyist."

Ma Lianjia smiled and said, "Fifth brother, you are better than me in bowing, horse and spear, but you are not a smooth-talking person, how can you become a lobbyist. Besides, why should I go to that kid Li Mohan?" Woolen cloth?"

Yan Zhengao also laughed and said: "You are so confused. In terms of legal system, President Li Da and Premier Li are the orthodox. In terms of strength, Premier Li defeated Japan twice and Beiyang several times. Even Duan Qirui ran away in embarrassment. Ni Sichong and you Ma Lian How can A have three heads and six arms? Can he become an enemy of Premier Li? In just a few days, more than half of Anhui has been lost."

Ma Lianjia argued strongly: "Victory and defeat are commonplace in military affairs. Didn't Prime Minister Duan also win consecutive battles in the south?"

Yan Zhengao said: "Come on, can those people in the Southwest compare with Premier Li? Have you ever seen a cannon thicker than a chimney? Do they have armored chariots that are invulnerable? Do they have planes that drop bombs from the sky? A, I kindly advise you, if you wait until you are at the end of your life, who will miss you, there are hundreds of military cadets graduating every year in the military academies to the north."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Ma Lianjia asked

"Simple, once Ni Sichong dies, you will continue to be the governor of Anhui." Yan Zhengao said

"Really?" Ma Lianjia was overjoyed