lady, please calm down

Chapter 185
The first day of the twelfth lunar month.

Chen Jingyan took office.

At this time, the candidate for Caizhou's next magistrate is still pending, and there is no news for a long time.

For the time being, the prefect Chen Jingyan and the general judge Shu Jiguang are respected in the government office.

The rank of the general judge is not high, and his main duty is to supervise the local officials for the imperial court, also known as "supervising the state".

Although he can usually assist the magistrate to deal with it, but now that the magistrate has not taken office, his general judgment seems insignificant.

On the second day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Chu hosted a banquet for his elder brothers at his residence, and there must be some planning during the banquet.

On the second day, Chen Jingyan took advantage of the fact that the magistrate was not yet ready, and appointed a group of officials to take down key positions such as headhunter and postman.

At present, officials at all levels have a very strong local consciousness.

Leaving aside the fact that Chen Jingyan brought people with him when he took office, now he blatantly lets Tongshan people rob Caizhou officials, which can't help but arouse the attention of the local rich.

As a member of the gentry and petty officials, Cai Yuan naturally knew this well, so in the next few days, he visited the Liu family, the Sun family, the Nie family, the Zhu family and other big families in Caizhou.

The Liu family and Tongshan Xu Bang are relatives of their sons and daughters. Although Xu Bang was not involved in the promotion this time, they still sent a letter to their in-laws in general, the content of which was to excuse the Tongshan family.

However, the Sun family had contacted the Four Seas Trading Company as early as the opening day of the Watermelon Festival on the first day of June this year, and became the first batch of tradable shareholders when the company went public.

The head of the Nie family has just died, and there is only one widow in charge. The family seems to be in discord and chaos.Cai Yuan had a quick meeting, but couldn't talk deeply.

Zhu's family is exactly the family of Zhu Da, the commander of the Jing'an Army.

Cai Yuan expressed his understanding of the concerns of the local gentry, and explained the actions of the Tongshan family.

The four families treated Cai Yuan's visit with courtesy, firstly, the Four Seas Trading Company is now well-known and prosperous in Tongshan, and several companies are interested in cooperating with the trading company.

Second, everyone knows that Cai Yuan represents Chen Tongzhi and Chen Dutong, one of them is in power and the other is in charge of soldiers.

Now that they have put on a low profile, there's no need for them local snakes to fight to the death with this group of dragons crossing the river. Wouldn't it be better if they could make a fortune together?
In the end, the Liu family and the Zhu family successively sent people to the Shizipo Securities Trading Hall to buy some stocks of the firm as a sign of 'boarding', forming a loose alliance of interests with the Tongshan family.

On Chen Chu's side, the older brothers were in place, and they were finally able to let go of their hands and feet to deal with the affairs of the troops under the jurisdiction of the left-behind division.

However, he issued the first official document of the army as the commander of the left-behind department, but it was about a seemingly insignificant matter.

The official document said: Caizhou Left Guards Division is located in an important border area, but the sergeants are slack in drills and not good at martial arts.In order to combine work and rest, the sergeants take turns to rest for two days every ten days
After seeing the official document, Ma Maoxing, the commander of the Ningjiang Army, and Zhu Da, the commander of the Jing'an Army, submitted petitions and replied to obey the order.

In private, they still go their own way. The sergeants of each army eat two meals a day with clear soup and little water. How can they have the strength to do exercises every day?

Kou Shizhong, the commander of the Wuwei Army, saw the official document, but he didn't even bother to reply to the petition, and scolded: "Chen Xiaoer, I don't know anything about military affairs, so I'm going to make a fool of myself."

Next, Gong Rui, Kou Shizhong's confidant and Marquis Yu of Ruiziying of the Wuwei Army, said with a smile: "I think this kid is here to show his prestige, and the new official will be a firemaker."

"Don't care how many fires his mother has, anyway, we won't be able to burn our military guards."

Kou Shizhong with a rough face finished speaking, looked at Gong Rui and asked, "The three deputy hundred commanders he sent to your camp are all heads, is there any change?"

"No abnormalities have been found so far." Gong Rui replied.

"Okay, keep people watching them."

"Yes!"

Although no army other than the Zhenhuai Army actually carried out the daily exercise order, they all tacitly followed the order of taking a rest every ten days.

Who thinks there are too many holidays.

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Weishi.

The barracks of Team A of the Ruizi Battalion of the Wuwei Army learned that they would rest for two days after tomorrow, and all the soldiers hid in the smelly barracks to discuss holiday arrangements.

"Old Meng, where are you going to rest?"

"I'm going home, are you?"

"What's the point of going home, let's go to Zhenyang County for a drink!"

"Eating wine? Do you have money?"

"Uh"

One sentence from Lao Meng choked the robed Ze who wanted to drink.

Seeing this, Chief Secretary Qin Dachuan laughed aloud, and said to Liu Siliang, the deputy head of the hundred who was packing his bags, "Brother Siliang, do you want to go home?"

As an officer, Liu Siliang was different from other adults. Not only did he not live in an officer's dormitory with better living conditions, but he lived with these big soldiers in the smelly Datongpu barracks.

And he is very generous, if anyone encounters some difficulties, as long as he opens his mouth, the fourth brother will more or less lend the other party some money.
In addition, the fourth brother can often get some rare food, such as Luliuwei instant noodles, candies, sausages and so on.

There were not many of these things, but on those sleepless, hungry and cold winter nights, whenever Liu Siliang whispered, "Brothers, my mother-in-law sent me a few pieces of instant noodles, let's share and try" was a revelry in the barracks that did not dare to be publicized.

Four or fifty people live in one barracks, and a few pieces of instant noodles are passed around from hand to hand, and what each person can eat is only the size of a finger.

But this kind of generous sharing of friendship quickly accumulated Liu Siliang's prestige among his brothers.

At the same time, it also gave everyone a vague but yearning impression of Luliuxu.

After a long time, everyone couldn't help being curious about the generosity and loyalty of Liu Si's family, so someone asked jokingly: "Si Liang brother, you are so rich, are you the son of some rich family?"

Liu Siliang chuckled and said, "I'm not a rich man. My family has been working in the fields for eight generations. I'm here today because of my boss."

Then, he will talk about Luliuxu in the past, Luliuxu after the owner came, the canteen at Luliuxu, the big drama at Luliuxu, and the watermelon festival at Shizipo
All the soldiers were fascinated by what they heard, but they still couldn't believe that such a good place really existed in the world.

Let's go back to this side.

After Qin Dachuan asked Liu Siliang where he wanted to go, Liu Siliang tied up his bundle, looked around at the people in the barracks, suddenly smiled, and said, "I want to go home. If you guys are free, you can come with me to Luliuwei to play around. There is enough wine and meat. Ha ha, is anyone going?"

Qin Dachuan and Lao Meng, who had long been curious about Luliuxu, looked at each other and said in unison: "I'll go!"

With the two of them taking the lead, two or thirty people immediately shouted, "Brother Si Liang, I'm going too."

"Liu Dutou, if you don't mind making too much noise, I'd like to disturb Dutou's family too."

"Brother Four, can you take me with you?"

Liu Siliang laughed and waved his hands, "Go together, go together! If we go, I will take care of the reception."

Hearing this, everyone laughed and surrounded Liu Siliang and walked towards the barracks.

As soon as he walked to the door, he saw Zhengbai Changjiang Shuquan standing outside the door.

Everyone's footsteps stopped.
Although no one said it through, everyone could feel that the Wuwei Army was wary of airborne officers like Liu Siliang.

And this Jiang Shuquan is the confidant of Yingyu Hou Gong Rui, and Gong Rui is the confidant of Kou Shizhong.

Sure enough, after Jiang Shu looked at everyone expressionlessly, he said, "Vice Chief Liu, where are you taking the brothers?"

Liu Siliang didn't panic, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Go back to the capital, brothers rest and have nothing to do, so I'll invite them to my hometown to have a drink and have fun."

"Oh? Since that's the case, I'm fine. How about going with the brothers?"

Jiang Shuquan's words made all the soldiers look at each other in blank dismay. Jiang Dutou clearly wanted to monitor the fourth brother. It seemed that the matter of going to Luliuxu this time was about to go to waste.

But he didn't want to, Liu Siliang chuckled and said: "Since we all have a taste for elegance, it's great to go together."

"Hehe, then I will bother you."

With Jiang Shuquan's joining, the atmosphere became a little more depressed, but they still went to Caizhou City first as planned.

All of them are sergeants, and they are lightly dressed, and they just entered the city when it was dark at the end of Youshi.

After Liu Siliang and his party marched into the city, they went straight to a restaurant called Cuihuaju.

More than 20 people fought for three tables before sitting down.

Afterwards, the price of the wine and vegetables was brought up, the sergeants couldn't help being speechless, and even Jiang Shuquan was secretly startled. The three tables probably cost two or three pennies, Liu Dutou is so extravagant!
"Eat and drink, brothers, don't stand still."

When the food and wine were served, Liu Siliang greeted the stiff-looking sergeants.

How can you not be restrained, more than half of these 20 people have never been to a restaurant of this level to eat or drink in their lives.

After being reminded by Liu Siliang, Lao Meng said with a smile: "Brother Siliang, then I will not be polite."

Immediately move the chopsticks, eat a bite of meat and shout "delicious food", drink a mouthful of wine and praise the wine.

Jiang Du looked a little gentler, and he didn't forget to say, "It's costing my brother."

Here, the lively scene of three tables sitting together attracted the attention of many people. Not long after, someone found Liu Siliang in the crowd, and immediately soldiers from the Zhenhuai Army came to toast with Liu Siliang.

Immediately, there was an endless stream of people who came to chat and toast with Liu Siliang.

It wasn't until the end of the Xu Dynasty that Liu Siliang dismissed the robes of the Zhenhuai Army one by one, and sat back among the sergeants of the Wuwei Army with a reddish face.

Qin Dachuan, who was full of greasy food, wiped his mouth indiscriminately, smoked another bowl of wine, and said in admiration: "Brother Siliang, there are so many people who know you!"

Liu Siliang, who was slightly drunk, smiled and said: "They are all my brothers from the Zhenhuai army. Today they are also taking a bath. They just met here. If you don't have a few drinks with them, they will not agree."

Qin Dachuan nodded, but then found Hua Dian, and couldn't help but wonder: "Brother Si, why are the sergeants in the Zhenhuai Army so rich? Can they all come to such a restaurant to drink?"

Liu Siliang didn't expect the other party to look at things from such a strange angle, so he thought for a while and took the opportunity to say: "They live and eat in the barracks on weekdays, and there is nowhere to spend their usual salary. Why don't you come out for a while before Xiumu? Just now, a brother of mine said that tonight, the wine shop in Caizhou City will almost be booked by the brothers who suppressed the Huai army."

"Can they still go to the hook bar?"

Qin Dachuan was even more astonished, but Jiang Shuquan looked at Liu Siliang, and asked after hesitation: "Brother Liu, do ordinary soldiers of the Zhenhuai Army pay the same salary?"

Liu Siliang immediately lowered his voice and said, "Well, ordinary sergeants are paid all the time. Besides, there are also subsidies."

"What is a subsidy?" Jiang Shuquan asked.

"Uh, it's actually a salary, but Chen Dutong was worried that the Zhenhuai Army's salary would be too high, which would offend other armies, so he borrowed the name of the subsidy to issue the Zhenhuai Army's ordinary sergeants a monthly salary of five hundred dollars."

Liu Siliang took a look at Jiang Shuquan, and lowered his voice, "If you are an officer of Dutou's level, you will be paid three times a year, plus two meals a year for meat, oil and rice."

"."

Jiang Shuquan felt bad when he heard the words.

His salary should be two rounds, but the actual payment is only one round, and half of it is worthless handover.

At the same time, he also understood what Liu Si and his wife meant when they said 'Chen Dutong was worried about offending the other troops'. The salary was high, and it was impossible for the sergeants to be unhappy.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Shuquan asked in a low voice, "Brother, why is Chen Dutong so kind to his subordinates?"

"Hey! Your Excellency once said in private that serving as a soldier and eating food is a job of hard work. As long as he is there for one day, he will not want his brothers to shed blood and tears."

"It's a good one to keep my brother from bleeding and crying!" Jiang Shuquan was a little excited.

Lao Meng, who was at the same table, said eagerly: "Since Lord Dutong is so kind, why don't you practice this method in our military guards!"

"."

Several people sitting there looked at Lao Meng at the same time, like watching an idiot.

Liu Siliang kept silent, and finally Qin Dachuan explained Lao Meng's confusion in a low voice: "Silly boy, Mr. Kou of our military guard has the final say. How can Chen Dutong do this in our army!"

After saying this, everyone at the table fell silent.

They also carry guns and serve as soldiers. The Huai army can afford to eat wine and meat, and can afford to go shopping. As for their military guards, I am afraid that ten or eight people can't make up enough money for a meal at a roadside stall!
At this time, Liu Siliang sighed, looked left and right, and said carefully: "I'm telling you something, don't let it out."

"Fourth brother, tell me."

"Do you know that in the first month of Chen Dutong's tenure, he paid [-]% of the salary to the commanders of the various armies. In order to make the brothers feel better, the lord directly reduced his own [-]% of the fire consumption. Unexpectedly, the salary in our hands has not increased. Tell me, who on earth ate up the [-]% of the good intentions of the lord?"

'Boom! '

As soon as Liu Siliang finished speaking, Qin Dachuan couldn't help but punched the table. Although he didn't dare to name and curse people, he couldn't hide the anger on his face.

Jiang Shuquan sat in silence for a long time, and finally sighed, "I've heard about this too. Hey, my lord, don't treat us like human beings!"

At night time.

The Zhenhuai Army Guest House is located inside the south gate.

In the twelfth lunar month of winter, it is freezing cold outside.

In room C[-] of the guest house, it was as warm as spring.

Because of what they said during the banquet, the soldiers of the Wuwei Army were not in a high mood and were not very interested in chatting.

But the 16-year-old Mao Tou was very excited, jumping up and down on the big kang in the bunk, "Brother Si, how warm is it in this room and on this bunk?"

"Hehe, Maotou, this is a kang with a fire dragon burning underneath it." Liu Siliang explained while lying on the kang.

"Hey! How much firewood did you get that day!"

"It is said that the entire guest house needs a thousand catties of firewood just for burning the kang a day."

"Scary! How much, how much does it cost us to stay for one night?"

"This kind of room costs twenty cents a night."

"It's cheap?" Qin Dachuan couldn't help saying.

Although the No. [-] room is an ordinary shop, the bedding is clean, the room is warm, and there is free hot water for feet before going to bed. Twenty yuan is really not expensive.

Liu Siliang smiled, sat up cross-legged, and said, "Lord Dutong doesn't expect to make money here. This guest house was built for the convenience of the soldiers of the Zhenhuai Army. If I didn't have some relationship, we wouldn't be able to live here."

"How convenient are the soldiers?" Qin Dachuan also got up and sat next to Liu Siliang, and then Maotou, Lao Meng and other sergeants gathered around and sat down.

Jiang Shuquan, who had been feigning sleep with his eyes closed, also opened his eyes.

"Ha ha."

Liu Siliang took out a handful of watermelon seeds from nowhere and put them on the kang for everyone to eat freely. Then he said: "You also know that there are many Tongshan people in the Zhenhuai Army. They leave their hometowns to serve as soldiers, and their families are unavoidable. This guest house is for receiving parents and daughters-in-law who come to visit relatives."

Speaking of this, Liu Siliang smiled mysteriously, and said in a low voice: "The B-category rooms are single rooms with bathrooms, which are specially set up for the reunion of soldiers and husbands. They not only have a six-foot-wide bed, but also a double bathtub. If the wives of soldiers from the Zhenhuai Army come to visit, not only will the room fee be waived, but a box of sausages will also be provided for free."

"What are you doing for the intestines? For food?" Maotou asked in a daze.

The married sergeant chuckled, while Lao Meng slapped Mao Tou on the back of the head, scolding: "The child asked what you are doing!"

Here, eating and laughing together, Jiang Shuquan lying alone on the other side with his head resting on his arms, looking at the roof, suddenly interjected a sentence in a complicated tone, "Hey, since I joined the army, I have heard the words from Shangguan repeatedly, but I have never seen it. It is only now that I know that there is such a thing in this world."

(End of this chapter)