MTL - Feng Xing-Chapter 23

For two consecutive days, Zong Yue's face was cloudy and uncertain.

Dewang was cautious and suffered several temper tantrums.

The following day reported the news, Dewang beat him to death and refused to report, forcing Decai to the front.

"Your Highness, Sir Fan left Yangzhou today and traveled to Taizhou from the Tongyang Canal."

Although it was reported to Fan Jinchuan on the surface, it was actually reported to Fang Fengsheng, but now Fang Fengsheng did not even dare to mention the word Decai.

"Also, there's news from the middle of the capital, and it's time for you to return to Beijing, Your Highness."

"Leave tomorrow."

"That side..."

Zong Yue glared at him, but De Cai immediately fell silent.

After a while, Zong Yue said: "Let Zhao Zhuoyang keep an eye on her. When she dies, send a letter to Beijing."

"Yes."

Decai withdrew, and Dewang found an excuse and followed him out secretly.

"Are you really sending messages to Lao Zhao like this?"

"Otherwise how to pass it on?"

"I think His Highness is probably duplicity. If you really spread the word like this, wait until the woman surnamed Fang dies before spreading the word. I guess the person who spread the word is probably dead. You must not harm Lao Zhao."

Decai sneered: "You worry a lot."

"What do you think is the matter with our Highness? There are so many beauties in the world, but you can choose to compete with that woman surnamed Fang."

Seeing that Decai didn't speak, Dewang kicked him and asked him what's wrong, until he saw Decai's eyes looking at his back.

"Dian, hall, Lord, slave, slave..."

"Prepare the horse."

The wharf outside the city, the water system in Yangzhou is well developed, and you can go anywhere by water, so the local shipping industry is extremely developed.

There are countless salt ships passing by here, which can be called a grand sight.

Dewang rode behind him all the way, thinking that Zong Yue must be going to the pier, but who knew that the pier was ahead, so he tightened the reins and stopped.

The steed roared, attracting passers-by to stare.

Seeing the black steed, the man's face was cold and dignified, making people afraid to look directly at him.

"go back!"

Zong Yue turned around, and the group of people behind him could only follow suit.

You said this toss again, what exactly is it for? ! But De Wang dare not say this.

From Yangzhou to Taizhou, you can go directly through the 'Tongyang Canal'.

The Tongyang Canal, also known as the Salt Transport River, runs through more than a dozen salt fields all over Taizhou, bringing countless conveniences to salt transport and water transport.

Whenever it is time to transport salt, three or four ships or five or six salt transport ships are connected in series to form small fleets. These small fleets are brought together and stretch for dozens of miles. The fleet sails against the current from east to west. If the wind is not in the right direction, thousands of sails will be launched, and boats and boats will follow one after another. Or teams of trackers carrying ropes, shouting chant and struggling to move forward.

It was also after walking like this and seeing all the scenes along the way that Fan Jinchuan and Fang Fengsheng had the initial impression of the upcoming Taizhou.

The world's salt comes from Huainan, and Taizhou is the birthplace of southern salt.

When they arrived in Taizhou City, they surprised the whole group again.

Not only is Taizhou city not like a county, but it is more prosperous than ordinary prefectural cities. There is also the water network all over the city, the Tai dams built by using the moat to connect several nearby rivers, and the salt water all over the Tai dam. Pu, and a large number of salt merchant ships.

But all of this has nothing to do with Fan Jinchuan. On the way here, Fang Fengsheng gave him a general description of the local situation in Taizhou.

Because there are many salt fields in Taizhou, each salt field has a salt field ambassador, and there are Taizhou Salt Affairs Branch, Taiba Supervisory Office, Approval Inspection Office, etc. The salt affairs form a system of its own, which is different from the local prefecture and county offices.

In other words, this is a place where there are more salt officials than local officials.

After Fan Jinchuan and others arrived, people from the county government came to greet them.

Hu Nanchun, the county magistrate, came forward in person, accompanied by the county magistrate, chief bookkeeper, pianli and other assistant officials.

After a little rest, Hu Nanchun personally invited Fan Jinchuan to the banquet, and Fang Fengsheng, the master, naturally wanted to accompany him.

The banquet is very rich, and there are actors performing songs and dances.

It seems that the banquet here is inseparable from singing and dancing. Fan Jinchuan disliked it very much. It was because Fang Fengsheng pulled him down repeatedly that he put away his displeasure and chatted happily with Hu Zhixian.

After drinking half a round, the scene was already hot, the county magistrate surnamed Liu gave a slight wink, and the girl who was holding a pipa and singing a little song before went to Fan Jinchuan and Fang Fengsheng.

"No, no, absolutely no." Fan Jinchuan waved his hands again and again.

Feng Sheng smiled at Hu Zhixian, poked him with a folding fan from below, and said, "Since it's a kind gesture from Huzhi County, my lord should accept it, it's just drinking."

Fan Jinchuan looked at her with his eyes, she blinked at him, and he was silent without saying anything.

Hu Zhixian and Liu Xiancheng exchanged glances, and they were even more attentive in persuading them to drink.

Fan Jinchuan is not good at drinking, and has already played Fang Fengsheng countless times, but it is a pity that Fengsheng's attention seems to be on the singer. The two sometimes whispered to each other, sometimes drank a glass of wine together, and had a great time.

"Brother Fang Xian..."

Hu Zhixian said: "Fan Zhixian, I respect you."

…

Just one cup after another, it can be clearly seen that Fan Jinchuan is drunk.

Fang Fengsheng was no better than him, his face was flushed, the singer was very conscientious, and she often persuaded him to drink.

"Look at us drinking and forgetting about business. Today we have to hand over the big seal. Fan Zhi County is fine, shall we go to the lobby?"

Liu Xiancheng interjected: "Why bother, you are here, Master Fan is also here, just order someone to bring the big seal."

"That's okay."

Not long after, someone came with a big seal.

Hu Zhixian came to Fan Jinchuan himself with the big seal. He seemed to have drunk a lot, his feet were floating, and his face was flushed.

"Come here, Fanzhi County, after receiving this seal, you will be the parent officer in charge of this place in the future, and I can step down and go to another place. Speaking of it, this is also fate, fate."

Fan Jinchuan looked at him with drunken eyes, and then at the big seal, as if he couldn't react.

He reached for it when a hand blocked it.

The fingers are slender, the joints are like jade, and a dark red Buddhist bead hangs down from the big sleeve. With jade hands and green shirt, it is particularly eye-catching.

"and many more."

Fang Fengsheng was still holding the wine glass in his hand, and looked over: "The magistrate Hu seems to be very impatient. Before handing over the great seal, you need to know the number of things and things, so don't be in a hurry."

"I'm not in a hurry, but I plan to go back to my hometown before going to another place to take up the post, so..."

"Master Fan is quite drunk today, let's talk about it tomorrow, and talk about it tomorrow."

"This-"

Fang Fengsheng had already stood up, and helped Fan Jinchuan: "Are you alright, sir? I'll help you to rest now. I don't know if Huzhi County has arranged a place for you to rest?"

"Of course it's arranged."

Hu Zhixian was very embarrassed holding the big seal in his hand, but he also ordered someone to lead Fang Fengsheng and his party down.

After the two left, he looked very bad, waved the two singers away, and then sat down behind the table angrily.

"My lord, how can this be good? These two people don't seem to be easy to fool?" Liu Xiancheng asked with a smile on his face.

"The one surnamed Fan is a nerd, but the master surnamed Fang is difficult to deal with. I saw that he never refused to come, and thought he was a drunkard. I didn't expect that the drunkenness did not go to his head."

"That-"

"Activate the second method."

Hot water handkerchief sobering up tea, the two servant girls wanted to take off Fan Jinchuan's shoes again, but he waved them away.

Shouting to be Xiao Qi, Feng Sheng looked at it and wanted to laugh.

After waving the two servant girls back, she walked to the bed and said, "Brother Zijin, are you really drunk? Then I'm leaving?"

At this time, there was movement on the couch.

Fan Jinchuan sat up, and it was obvious that he was quite drunk, but his mind was still clear.

"Brother Fang Xian, what exactly do you mean?"

"Didn't Brother Fan see that Huzhi County is anxious to leave with you?"

"Then you're going to drink and play with the singer?"

"If you don't follow the trend, how will you know their purpose?"

"You mean—"

"Now that you know their purpose, Brother Fan must be careful when you submit the order tomorrow. Don't take it rashly if I don't say anything. As for the rest, it depends on what they do. But let me see, probably It’s because some old accounts are unclear, so those people try to get away with it, and want to plant these accounts on you. This is an old trick of these people, and it’s easy for those who have just taken office to fall into their trap. "

Fan Jinchuan nodded again and again and said yes, probably because he was drunk and his mind was clear, but he couldn't control his movements, so the way he nodded made people laugh.

Fang Fengsheng smiled and planned to leave.

"My dear brother, don't rush away!"

"What is it?"

"I want to tell you what you did just now, brother. Even if it's to find out their purpose, you shouldn't play with prostitutes. Beware of drinking..."

"Xiao Qi, quickly wait for your young master to rest, and I will also go to rest."

"Brother!"

The next day, the second hall of the county government.

Fan Jinchuan led Fang Fengsheng and others, while Huzhi County led officials and clerks of all sizes.

They held the big seal in their hands, as well as many books and accounts, which recorded all the properties of the Taizhou county government. Including the number of serving officials, houses, money, grain and horses, as well as prisoners in prisons, bank and granary balances, etc., a total of 31 items.

In fact, nothing else matters, the key is money and food.

It happened that on the eve of the county magistrate's departure, the previous season's tax, grain, and tax and silver were collected in advance. What should I do if I have nothing to hand over to the seasonal food class? You can only lie about the bad harvest first, or fill it in yourself.

Because once the big seal is handed over, it means that everything is clear, and there is no accountability after the event.

Fan Jinchuan sat behind the big case.

He is the magistrate's lord, and this is the first time he has officially appeared in front of his subordinates, so he should maintain the majesty of being a lord. As for other matters, I can only leave them to Fang Fengsheng.

Fortunately, Feng Sheng was well prepared, and she seemed to be quite proficient in these things. She took the account book, brought Zhiqiu Uncle Yu, and the clerks of the sixth room to check, and Fan Jinchuan was accompanied by Hu Zhixian to drink tea.

It took a whole day to check the other trivial matters. The next thing is money and food. I can't rush this thing, I can only wait for tomorrow.

On the next day, Fang Fengsheng led people to take inventory, and the amount of money in the treasury could be matched with the account, and there were some minor mistakes, so it didn't have to be so serious.

After that is the granary. In fact, silver is nothing more than grain, and food is the most important thing. In addition to the granary in the county government, there is also grain in Changping granary. This Changping warehouse is to store the grain intercepted by the local county government every season. When the grain is cheap, the grain is increased to buy, and when the grain is expensive, the grain is reduced to sell. If there is a disaster year, it can also be used for disaster relief, which is very important.

So not only Fang Fengsheng, but even Fan Jinchuan was very cautious.

Chang Pingcang was not in the county office, and a group of people drove there.

The yamen servant in charge of the Changping warehouse saw the adults coming and opened the warehouse, only to see that there were bags of grain densely packed in the warehouse.

Seeing this, Fan Jinchuan smiled.

Hu Zhixian said: "Fan Zhixian can rest assured now, Mr. Fang has so much food, I'm afraid you guys can't count it. I'll ask someone to find some people to help you."

"Then thank you, Master Liu."

It was still a boring counting and counting. During the counting, Fan Jinchuan also asked people to open the grain bags to see that they were indeed grains that had not been hulled. Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Fang Fengsheng.

Fang Fengsheng gave him a calm look and continued to count.

Bag after bag of grain was counted and put back in place.

In the middle of the lighting, Feng Sheng gave Uncle Yu a wink, and Uncle Yu walked forward with a pair of sharp iron tools.

Everyone was curious about what he wanted to do, and saw that he quickly and accurately pierced the grain bag. When the tip of the iron is pierced, the grains will slip out of the bag. This iron seems to be specially made, but the grains are blocked by the tail of the iron, so that all the grains will not leak out.

Hu Zhixian's face suddenly turned pale.

Feng Sheng stepped forward, took a look, and called Fan Jinchuan: "My lord, come and see."

Fan Jinchuan went to look, and saw that the thing that slipped out was not grain, but sand.