Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 318 4.114 Salt Patrol Censor Lin Hai’s wife died of sudden illness
Volume Four

4.114 Salt patrol censor Lin Hai’s wife died of sudden illness
This trip to Wuchang Prefecture to sort out the relationship with the prefect Zhang Bo and the commander Luo Gang was originally a temporary decision made because of the discovery of problems, so I left in a hurry and only took Zhao Qiying with me. However, since they were all "traveling", no matter what No matter what, we had to take the girl around. Considering that time was too tight, the two of them only casually visited a few nearby attractions.

However, once this trip started, time ran out easily. Even if the two of them didn't really go too far into the tour, two or three days passed in the blink of an eye. When they finally returned to Daye, it was already the fifth day of May and they had just entered the city. Zhao Qiying walked to the front door of the back house of the Qianhu Yamen, and saw two girls staring at each other with expressions like "You are an animal." Zhao Qiying blushed and ran to the inner house, leaving only one person to "resist".

"Hey, isn't this Mr. Qianhu? Why are you willing to come back? I heard that the scenery in Wuchang is very pleasant. If you don't have a good time, how can you be so hasty -" Zhao Yanling just said a few words in a strange way, knowing well that "it's better to say more than to say more" Someone who did it "suppressed" the girl with a long kiss.

"Yan Ling, dear, I didn't leave in a hurry. I didn't have time to tell you. When we come back, Qiying has prepared a lot of gifts for you all!" Obviously, you can't expect the girl to be "rewarded" by spirit alone. To calm down, the material must also keep up. "I just asked someone to put it in a side hall of the lobby, and I arranged for someone to clean it up."

"Hmph!" Zhao Yanling blushed and punched someone a few times. It was impossible to really compete with her eldest sister for favor, so she went to the front yard with just a few words, obviously admitting to "turning the page".

"Sister Yan Ling, you—" The girl who had been "betrayed" was about to continue when she was carried back to the room by her young master, and the "war" ended.

That night, the backyard living room.

"Brother-in-law, where is Qingwen?" After spending the whole afternoon packing her luggage and accepting the gifts, Heroine Zhao came back. She only saw someone at the dinner table with her eldest sister, discussing something, so she asked out of curiosity. One sentence.

"Okay, leave her alone, just leave her food." Zhou Yang smiled at Zhao Qiying's eyes and directly brought the topic back to business, "After we leave, there will be nothing going on at home, right?"

"What could be the matter?" Zhao Yanling curled her lips indifferently, "There were still many problems in the market, and since the county magistrate He disappeared, these things have also disappeared; but the business of Xuezihao is better than before. It’s a lot smoother, I guess he was intimidated by our strength.”

"Scared?" Zhao Yanling frowned slightly, feeling something was wrong.

"It is now being rumored privately that when my brother-in-law killed Sun Xin, he also killed County Magistrate He." Zhao Yanling said disdainfully, "They have the guts to spread some rumors, but they don't have the guts to take it seriously."

"Where is the source of the rumor?" Zhou Yang asked immediately.

"Lord County Magistrate, when County Magistrate He was here before, he was like a dog; now that there is no suppression, he actually wants to take the things that belonged to the county magistrate. He is really blind." Zhao Yanling snorted coldly, " But he has not made any moves in the market. On the contrary, many forces that originally belonged to the county magistrate have joined us, and we have not seen him have the courage to do anything."

"Brother Zhou, this won't work." Zhao Qiying shook his head and said, "As the saying goes, 'three people make a tiger', if these things are allowed to spread, sooner or later there will be a backlog of big problems."

"Simple, didn't he say that we killed He Cheng, or that he was violent?" Zhou Yang knew very well the urine nature of these turbans, that is, "When they say you are violent, you better be really violent", "He should have an outside appearance." Home? Just pick one, send someone to set it on fire, just use gunpowder packets, and send someone to his home the next day to deliver something, and treat it as an annoyance."

"Brother Zhou, is this true?" Zhao Qiying was a little puzzled, "If he insists on investigating, we're afraid."

"If he has the guts, I really have to give him a high regard." Zhou Yang curled his lips in disdain, and said with a cold snort, "Unfortunately, he didn't—is there any other news?"

This point can be referred to the famous "Donglin Party" in the late Ming Dynasty. One of their "businesses" is to help the Jiangnan wealthy families resist taxes. Anyone who wants to take money out of these people's pockets is their sworn enemy. No; but if the imperial court wants to increase taxes on farmers, then it is "my emperor's sage".

After the Manchus entered the customs, the remaining forces of these people continued the "tradition", but the Eight Banners masters were not used to their bad habits. They killed people along the way and completely solved the tax problem. The national tax revenue in the late Ming Dynasty once reached 500 million taels. None of them can reach it. During the Shunzhi period of the "Qing Dynasty", the tax revenue exceeded 3000 million; during the "Kangxi and Qianlong dynasties", it even exceeded [-] million!

"Two days ago, Xue Zihao brought a handwritten letter from the second brother of the Xue family." Zhao Yanling stood up and took out an opened envelope from the study and handed it over, "According to what he said, the things you arranged have already begun to take shape, and the results are good. ." "Oh?" Zhou Yang's heart moved, and he vaguely guessed something. He quickly opened the letter and read it at a glance. A smile soon appeared on his face, "Good boy, I gave them so many technical ideas in the first place. Finally, It’s about making two really good things!”

"Self-made firecrackers?" Zhao Qiying curiously took the letter and flipped through it, then looked at Zhou Yang in surprise, "Have they done it? And the 'ten-pound field cannon' you mentioned at the beginning has now been revealed, that is The weight exceeds expectations, and we are working hard to solve the problem? Brother Zhou, is it possible that it is so easy to create such a magical weapon?"

"Sacred weapon?" Zhou Yang laughed dumbly. Thinking of all kinds of modern firearms, if you take out any one, it would be considered "super class" in this era. "Actually, firearms are not complicated. The principle is simpler. The difficulty is in the details. In terms of implementation and processing technology, the flintlock gun - well, it is the self-generated fire gun just mentioned, is no more difficult than the matchlock gun.

The real progress of the flintlock gun is actually mainly in the concept. The only thing more complicated than the matchlock gun in terms of processing is the flintlock machine. The only difficulty in the flintlock machine is the reed. As long as this problem is solved, the matchlock gun to the flintlock gun will be completed. The progress of firing guns; as for the 'Ten-pound Field Cannon', it is essentially a matter of enlarging it and adjusting some details. "

"Really... so?" Zhao Qiying said in disbelief.

"Okay, how difficult can it be?" Zhou Yang smiled and didn't take it seriously, "Remember to write a reply in person, first explain the problem we solved in Wuchang Mansion, and tell Uncle Xue that we have solved it The entire Wuchang Prefecture business; one last thing to mention, the matchlocks are indeed lagging behind and may be dangerous during wartime."

Then, he saw the eyes of the Zhao family sisters "You are a beast"
"I don't even know, how could I have thought that you are a generous and generous person who can be relied on for the rest of your life." Zhao Qiying said coldly, "Unfortunately, I can't go back now."

"Nvxia Zhao, I wonder where you want to go back?" Someone fiercely put the girl on his lap, "I am such an excellent person, what else do you want?"

"It's true that I didn't see it." Zhao Yanling jumped to the side and said, holding back her laughter, "But - huh?"

Not only did she hear the noise, Zhou Yang and Zhao Qiying also had solemn expressions. They turned to look out the door and saw a tall figure striding towards them in the night. The expressions of the three people in the living room became more and more serious. The more surprised.

"Dongfang, why are you here? No wonder Li Xiong and Li Hu didn't report it!" Zhou Yang quickly put down Zhao Qiying and stood up to greet him. When he got closer, he realized that Dongfang Bing looked tired at this time and was covered in travel dust. He was originally well-maintained. His hair was obviously dry, "What's going on? How big of a problem requires you to be so desperate?"

"Order, Daye guards the orders of thousands of households!" Unexpectedly, Dongfang Bing had no intention of explaining. Instead, he took out a bright yellow booklet from his arms and shouted with a serious expression.

"Chen Daye guards the Thousand Households Office, Zhou Yang, the official of the Thousand Households, accepts the order!" Zhou Yang's face suddenly changed, he turned around and called the Zhao sisters in the circle to kneel down, and then he knelt down on one knee and answered solemnly.

"Order, the Qianhu Institute immediately prepares troops and horses, and arranges to obey the arrangement of the second-class guards and imperial guards Qianhu Dongfang Bing—this order!" Dongfang Bing solemnly opened the edict, read out the order and handed it to Zhou Yang , then he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Get your troops ready as soon as possible and follow me to send troops to Yangzhou!"

"Yangzhou?" Zhou Yang took the order and read it several times before asking with a smile, "I am Daye Guard Qianhu Station Qianhu. According to the rules, I have no right to send troops across the border unless there is an order from the Ministry of War. Or it can be arranged in person by an official of the same rank; your words will make me send troops thousands of miles away, and if something goes wrong, there will be no one to cry out for me!"

"Sister Dongfang!" Unexpectedly, he was joking. Dongfang Bing fell softly to the ground. Fortunately, Zhao Qiying took a few steps to catch her.

"Dongfang, what's going on?" Zhou Yang finally came to his senses, slowly took the girl from Zhao Qiying's hand, and asked anxiously.

"At the end of last month, the wife of Jiangnan inspector Lin Hai died of a sudden illness!" Dongfang Bing's tone was obviously weak, "At the beginning of the year, his only son also died of the same reason; The expedited rules are here, I don’t care what other matters you have, you must send troops as soon as possible, the sooner the better!”

"What?" Zhou Yang's face changed suddenly. He had not cared about the so-called "original plot of the Red Mansion" for too long. Only then did he realize that the "official plot" had begun!

(End of this chapter)