Uncle Hong Lou Rong

Chapter 211 The Most Beautiful Voice

"How to send it?"

Although Qin Zhong is young, he is not as ignorant of money as Baoyu and the others.He clearly knew that the trip he sent could be exchanged for more than 500 taels of silver, and 500 taels was not a small sum anywhere.There are nearly [-] craftsmen in the kiln factory in Ping'an Prefecture, and the annual wages of ordinary long-term workers are only [-] Wen, which is only about three taels of silver.

Even if the artisan in charge of fine grinding is only seven or eight thousand dollars a year, it is only five taels of silver a year. 500 taels can hire a hundred skilled craftsmen.

How could Qin Zhong not be distressed.

Brother Rong said: "It's not a way to go on like this? If you don't give it once, you can give it dozens of liang of benefits, no matter how big the family property is, it can't support it. Although the price of cement objects can also rise, it will take a few more Double the price, although our Ningguo Mansion is not losing money, the projects in various places will be delayed."

Qin Zhong asked in a low voice: "Hongze Lake is still waiting for the cement to be used. We sent the things to the Ministry of Water Transport. How should the river government account?"

Brother Rong said: "Account? Naturally, they should go to the Ministry of Water Transport for an explanation."

He calculated in his mind how to do this.

Are you dragging these things directly to the Ministry of Water Transport to make trouble?Don't talk about whether you can see the Governor of Water Transport, even if you do, so what?As long as the Governor of Water Transport said to conduct a thorough investigation, and then... in the future, if you want to deliver goods from the canal, you should give money.

Or go directly to King Zhongshun and cry miserably?

It doesn't seem to work.As the production of the kiln factory in Pinganzhou gradually entered the state, the transportation of the Grand Canal was not very convenient.If the application for cement can be included in the scope of sea transportation, then this problem will really be solved.Who cares how corrupt the officials of the Ministry of Water Transport are, anyway, they can't afford to go by sea, and they don't even need to hire merchants to ship by sea.

He remembered that Baochai said that Xue Biao's family had a shipping license.

In the future, you can directly invite Xue Biao's sea boat to send cement from Ping'an Prefecture to Jiangnan by sea.He doesn't believe in the nonsense that sea transportation is dangerous. In the Ming Dynasty, it was mostly sea transportation. Could it be that the sea was not dangerous in the Ming Dynasty, but it was suddenly dangerous in the Yan Dynasty?
Earlier, Mongolian Yuan was also shipping by sea. Could the ships at that time be more developed than Dayan's ships?

Brother Rong thought about it carefully, and when he thought of Haiyun, he suddenly had an idea.He smiled lightly and said, "You don't need to worry. Eat and drink well today, and get a good night's sleep. Get up early tomorrow, and the matter will be resolved."

"Ok?"

Brother Rong laughed, but didn't answer.Instead, he asked a few people where the ship carrying the cement docked, and his expression became even more mysterious.In the evening, Brother Rong met an old farmer in Taoyuan County, Huai'an Prefecture.

"You guys are so patient, you have actually been by my side for several months. Could it be that your church has arranged tasks for you? For example, absorbing the congregation and the like."

The old farmer grinned and showed his big yellow teeth, and said with a smile: "The disciples in the teaching school have their own duties. We are the agricultural envoys, responsible for teaching the children in the teaching cultivation skills. It's just that we have encountered more important things recently, which is more important than teaching farming skills. Skills matter more."

Brother Rong could clearly see that the old farmer's mouth was full of tartar stones, and he could even smell the bad breath coming out of his mouth when he opened his mouth.He moved his head back slightly, but he could guess what the old farmer was going to do.Is it nothing more than looking for that little sparrow?It's a pity that the happy little maid in front of others is unwilling to go back with you to be a Buddhist mother.

He said: "Let's stop playing charades with each other. I want to know if there are any personnel from your holy religion in the water transportation department? Especially those who are on duty in Taoyuan County. Please cooperate with me to do something, and I can do it too." Do you a little favor."

The old farmer's eyes were fixed, and he asked in doubt: "Master Ming knows what the envoy is going to do?"

Brother Rong pretended to be stupid and said: "I don't know, but you have been by my side. I think this matter must have something to do with me. You must have heard about the cement kiln in Ningguo Mansion. The Ministry of Water Transport is too bullying. I always have to pay for it." A place."

The old farmer asked: "How does King Ming want to proceed?"

"It's nothing. I heard that officials in various sections of the canal often guard against themselves. They not only demand high benefits from passing merchant ships, but also steal merchant ships' goods and sell them off. It is said that a lot of grain that is sent to Tongzhou warehouses every year will also be stolen. So I would like to ask The brothers of Shengjiao stole the cement objects of our Ningguo Mansion from the boat."

"This..." The old farmer was stunned for a moment, never expecting such a thing.The master asked outsiders to steal him?He really couldn't understand the reason, he said: "It's not because he doesn't want to help His Majesty King Ming. Although there are congregants in each section of the Ministry of Water Transport, they are all insignificant officials. Besides, as far as I know, the Ningguo Mansion's Sending tens of thousands of catties of goods, how can it be stolen by manpower."

No way.Due to the regulations of the Ministry of Water Transport, small merchant ships on the Grand Canal cannot carry more than [-] catties of cargo.So these tens of thousands of catties of goods, even transported by nearly a hundred ships.

"If you can't steal it, then destroy it. It doesn't matter if the boat sinks into the river, or it can be burned clean." Brother Rong said calmly, glanced at the old farmer lightly, and chuckled.He said again: "Even... If your holy religion has the ability, even if you transport all these hundreds of taels away. I don't care!"

The old farmer said: "Although we are also jealous, but if you want to transport it away, the congregation in Taoyuan County can't do it. If the Holy Cult wants to buy this treasure in the future, it is only serious that Lord Ming can do it conveniently."

Brother Rong said indifferently: "Ningguo Mansion is not responsible for the sale of Tianwu. In a few days, there should be merchants in Ping'an Prefecture to take out. You can go to the merchants to buy them yourself."

The old farmer nodded in response.Seriously said: "Sir, are you really going to sink these good things?"

"Sink, the louder the movement, the better."

The old farmer said: "Then after an hour, there will be small officials from the Ministry of Water Transport who will patrol the merchant ships and check illegal goods such as illegal salt."

Brother Rong grinned and said, "It's easy to say, it's better to invite some brothers from the Holy Church to act as guards on the ship."

"..."

That night.

The heads of the people on the river boat moved secretly, and boxes of cement were moved from the boat to the shore in the dark night.All the boats were quietly empty, and no one noticed.

The boatman who came back from Taoyuan County after drinking too much wine suddenly saw the movement ahead and shouted loudly.

Under the darkness of night, the crowd was surging, and many people who came with lanterns saw the scene.All of a sudden, they were in a mess and wrestled together.Someone shouted: "A thief is caught, a thief is caught."

"Shut up, we are inspecting your merchant ships." Someone shouted, took out the token of the Ministry of Water Transport's inspection of the water and took a photo before putting it on the lantern. "The official suspects that there are private salt hidden in these wooden barrels, and must be sent to the yamen for investigation."

"No." All the boat guards were startled and did not dare to fight again.He had no choice but to cry out his grievances loudly, "It's really wronged. We are natural objects sent by the Ningguo Mansion to the Hongze Lake project. Where did we get the private salt?"

"To shut up."

On the attic not far away, Jia Rong watched what happened below with a blank expression.I saw that someone pushed the wooden barrel filled with cement, and the wooden barrel was broken and the cement ash was scattered all over the ground.

Then, the boatman yelled, alarming everyone around.The people who came after hearing the sound saw that these people were fighting each other, but they didn't know what happened.

Brother Rong said something lightly. "It's time to drop the token."

Sure enough, it didn't take long for a petty patrol officer to fly out with a sign on his hand, making a harsh jingling sound.The man shouted again: "The Ministry of Water Transport is doing business, everyone should disperse."

Following this shout, another person scolded: "I don't want to send things to the Water Transport Yamen for inspection, so let's smash the inspection now."

Bang.

Twice...

Buckets of cement were smashed on the ground, and there was no illegal salt in them that they said they were looking for.

"It's time to get angry!" Brother Rong said again.

At this time, a person came behind Jia Rong, and said politely: "Don't worry, if you are angry now, how can you make others hate the water transport officials."

Sure enough, the boatman didn't dare to say anything, and he didn't get angry.

Jia Rong only looked at the people below who seemed to be communicating with each other. After a while, several boat guards went over and pushed together again.It was such a coincidence that the lanterns and torches landed on the boat canopy and the rope paper, and a raging fire suddenly ignited.

Seeing that things are not going well, some patrolling officials slipped away.As the noise came, there were shipkeepers who wanted to put out the fire, but they didn't want to be burned.The sound of pain resounded through the sky, and he jumped into the river, scaring everyone on the bank from approaching.

As the fiber rope was burnt, the boats behind them all slammed into the flames.Just watching the raging fire like a wave of fire, it also ignited the nearby ships.Afterwards, the canal was covered with flames, and dozens of fire boats were heading downstream along with the waves.

Brother Rong asked: "The person who was burned will be fine, right?"

The old farmer smiled and said, "Don't worry."

Jia Rong let out a groan and asked, "There must be kerosene on the boats."

The old farmer said: "The boats in your Ningguo Mansion's transportation of heavenly objects are already coated with something to prevent water and moisture, so they are easy to catch fire. It doesn't need to be so troublesome, it has already been calculated. When the boat on fire runs into a wall downstream, all the boats will hit the wall. In one place, at least half of the ship would be destroyed by a fire.”

"That depends on God's will."

The old farmer smiled and said, "Could it be possible that your lord has forgotten the person who just jumped into the river?"

Well, it looks like the dozen or so boats are going to burn out.Brother Rong nodded, the show is over, it's time to go back and rest.Laughed: "In the future, if you need help with anything, and it is within our ability, as long as it does not damage the Jia family's reputation and interests, I will definitely want to help."

The old farmer hummed.

Brother Rong said again: "I only recognize you in this matter. Don't ask me anything. I will never make the request. Otherwise, don't blame me for being a dishonest villain."

"..."

Sure enough, after the old farmer left.Jia Rong guarded the window and saw all the boats crowded together on the river.One of them crashed into the river bank, causing a chain reaction when it poured down.The fire spread, and the night was ignited by a raging fire.

Jia Rong, who was standing on the attic, seemed to be able to hear the crackling sound of the flames burning the wood.

The most beautiful and beautiful voice in the world.

That night, after he breathed a sigh of relief, he finally had a good night's sleep.

When I wake up, I feel refreshed and comfortable.After washing it casually, I came to the window, and the cement on the pier on the river bank was still there.A smile couldn't help but appear on his face. They shouldn't be able to hide this account from the Ministry of Water Transport.

"uncle……"

"Master, something is wrong."

Suddenly there was an urgent knock on the door, Brother Rong frowned and opened the door, and saw Qin Zhong and others coming over.Ask: "What makes you panic."

"Our boat is gone, all the boats are gone. The dozen or so barrels left on the pier are also unusable."

As long as the mouth of the barrel is opened, it must be damp in this weather, and of course it will not be used.Brother Rong secretly said that it would be better if all the cement could not be used.

Brother Rong nodded secretly, and said: "I see, will you continue to rest in Taoyuan County today, or go to Lema Lake with me?"

"But those goods, what can we do?"

"What should I do?" Brother Rong curled his lips and said, "Everything is gone. Of course, we have to go back to the kiln to continue transporting. Duan Yu and the others in Hongze Lake are still anxious to wait for the cement to be used. I don't know if the kiln will deliver it this month Has the cargo ship set off, and how much has been delivered? Sigh... when will the sluice and dam of Hongze Lake be repaired?"

"Master?" Qin Zhong saw that there was no expression of grief and indignation on Jia Rong's face, and suddenly remembered what Jia Rong said yesterday, about sending the cement to the Ministry of Water Transport.Could it be that the uncle asked someone to do what happened last night?Qin Zhong couldn't help being shocked, and was about to ask.But he swallowed the words in time.

Brother Rong said lightly: "Go back. If the next batch of goods hasn't departed yet, Jia Yun will not deliver them for the time being. Wait for my letter and see the situation."

"Oh!"

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, only feeling that Uncle Rong's reaction was strange.But they didn't dare to think too much, they all remembered what Uncle Rong said yesterday.They looked around one by one, and finally persuaded Qin Zhong to return to Ping'an Prefecture as soon as possible.

After Qin Zhong and others left, the old farmer came in with a bag of things.

"Inside are the clothes of the officials patrolling the canals, as well as the tokens of the canal patrolling. Although the loss of a few congregants' official status in the canal transportation, it is worthwhile to complete the work of Lord Ming."

Jia Rong squinted at him.He said with a strange smile: "Don't say that there is nothing there. If you want me to help you, you can say it now. I told you yesterday, but I can't damage the reputation and interests of my Jia family. Of course, if you want me to help you, you can say it now. It is absolutely impossible to become King Ming in your holy religion."

The old farmer was not angry at all when he heard it.He said with a smile, "Whatever your lord says is what you say. The Holy Cult doesn't want to burden your lord, but you are also worried about your daily safety. I wanted to send you a female bodyguard for personal protection."

"Protection? Do you mean supervision? Are you afraid that someone will take her if I turn around?" Brother Rong joked. "I often have Forbidden Palace Guards and Jin Yiwei by my side, so it's easy to deal with one person."

"My lord knew that I was following outside day and night, but he didn't let anyone arrest me. So your lord is not that kind of person." The old farmer laughed, "If you want to hurt me again, I'm afraid I will be arrested when I'm in Yangzhou. Take it."

Brother Rong put his hand on the old farmer's shoulder, but he suddenly smelled the strange smell in the guy's mouth, and let go again.Taking a few steps back, he said with a smile, "You never thought of harming me, and even gave me a gift. Why should I harm you? This time I have to help you again, and we only have gratitude in our hearts."

It's strange to say, shouldn't the rebels all be vicious?Jia Rong felt that the old farmer in front of him was very cute, but his only problem was bad breath.It stinks.

He said again: "I'm done with my work, I should go to Lema Lake to sing. You better not follow, there is no better than Jinling."

The old farmer showed hesitation on his face, seeing Brother Rong's sincere face, as if he really thought about him.He hesitated and said, "Then let's wait for the uncle to return in Jinling."

"Yeah."

Brother Rong laughed and said, he knew that this guy still wanted to find a chance to meet their Holy Mother of God, but he didn't dare to reveal Xiao Que'er's identity to himself.well……

(End of this chapter)