Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 84 Found Ma Xianglan?

Relying on the attraction of the Gou Shao yarn machine to the textile workshop, and the full assistance of the two sycophants Hu Zanzong, the prefect of Suzhou, and Pan Ruzhen, the governor of Zhejiang Province, Master Zhang's fundraising and relief work in Suzhou went very smoothly. In two days, Young Master Zhang raised 15 taels of cash from Suzhou and Hangzhou gentry officials. In addition, there were more than 32 taels of registered pledged donations from the Suzhou-Hangzhou Weaving Workshop. Facing this figure, Young Master Zhang himself was scared With a big jump, I thought that this Jiangnan is too rich, right?The annual income of the treasury is only more than 400 million taels. How come I got nearly 200 million taels without going to many places in the south of the Yangtze River?

"Hey, Mr. Imperial Envoy, you are an upright official. All the money you received has been handed over to the imperial court. The amount seems amazing." In the end, Pan Ruzhen, the governor of Zhejiang, told the secret in front of Young Master Zhang in private. Pan Ruzhen said with a smile: "Other places Officials collect taxes for the imperial court. The total amount is actually quite a lot, but officials themselves can eat fire, but the government still needs expenses, right? Yamen servants, masters and officials’ families all have to spend money? The poor officials in Beijing will send some ice and charcoal, right? So the amount of money handed over to the treasury will of course be less."

Facing such an explanation, Young Master Zhang could only smile wryly, helpless—after all, Young Master Zhang is not Bao Qingtian, nor Zhu Chongba, who kills officials like hemp, but a corrupt official in the 21st century who has to issue invoices when he visits Footwashing City.

In the early morning of June 23, Master Zhang once again received an urgent report from Song Jin Kuaima, the supervisor and eunuch of the East Factory. There was good news and bad news in the emergency report. The good news was the 100 million taels of silver donated by Yangzhou salt merchants. The account has already arrived, and the fundraising errand of Young Master Zhang has actually been completed; the bad news is that because the government bought a large amount of food for disaster relief, the grain merchants in Yingtianfu took the opportunity to raise the price. One stone, and there is still a rising trend, so Song Jin asked Young Master Zhang, whether to continue to buy?The answer given by Young Master Zhang is: continue to purchase, expand the scope of purchase, expand the purchase area to Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Songjiang and Yingtianfu, and send Jiangnan literati who volunteered to be supervisors to these five states. cities, let them supervise the procurement of disaster relief food throughout the process.

The order was issued in official documents, but some words could only be communicated verbally by the messenger. Young Master Zhang rewarded Dongchang fanzi five taels of silver and said: "Go back and report to Eunuch Song. It is normal for grain merchants to sit on the ground and raise prices. As long as the increase is not too ridiculous, we will accept it as it is. The key is to put an end to official corruption during the grain purchase process. Anyone who is caught will be arrested and killed one by one, so that the Jiangnan literati who supervise the relief have nothing to say. Please rest assured, Eunuch Song, our trip to the south of the Yangtze River will not be in vain, the good show is still to come, even if we don’t play tricks on the disaster relief money, I will keep it safe so that Eunuch Song will not return empty-handed—and you things Brothers in the factory, I will not let you work in vain, understand?"

"Of order." The Dongchang Fanzi who delivered the letter agreed with his hands clasped, and left happily.And Young Master Zhang declined Pan Ruzhen's kindness to invite him to visit the Lion Forest with him, and quietly called a few cronies, and ordered: "Brother Xiao, Bo Jue, you two put on plain clothes, prepare six fast horses, and go to Songjiang with me." I will visit Master Xu Guangqi at the government office, I will go today and come back tomorrow. Zhang Shitou, Song Xiance, Chen Jianhuang, and Lu Wanling, you all stay in the imperial envoy’s camp. If anyone visits, say that I have a cold by accident and need to rest in bed. See you, do you understand?"

Several of Young Master Zhang's cronies nodded in agreement, but Zhang Shitou was in a hurry, and hurriedly asked, "Master, why didn't you take me along? Then who will serve you in Songjiang Mansion?" Young Master Zhang smiled and replied: " It's okay, let's hurry up, we can go to Songjiang Mansion this afternoon, stay in Songjiang Mansion for one night, and come back from Songjiang Mansion tomorrow, so we don't need to take care of it in such a short time. Besides, there are too many people going, but it is too troublesome."

Zhang Shitou originally wanted to try to go with him, but Young Master Zhang had already made up his mind, so Zhang Shitou had no choice but to agree.At that moment, Young Master Zhang, Xiao Chuan, and Bo Jue changed into plain clothes, took six fast horses that rode in rotation, and quietly left the imperial envoy's camp through the back door. It never occurred to me that Young Master Zhang and the others just got out of the back door, and they looked up. Seeing Zhang Qing, also in plain clothes, leading two fast horses, guarding the door with a half-smile.Young Master Zhang was taken aback, and quickly asked, "Master Zhang, what are you doing?"

"Why, of course I'm staring at you." Zhang Qing said with a smile: "I saw you changing clothes and leading the horse just now, so I knew you wouldn't do good things, so I also signed two horses here like you Watch it, and prepare to follow me to see what you are doing that is outrageous. ... Don't blow your beard, you don't have a beard, and don't try to drive me away, you can't drive me away."

"Well, I'm afraid of you, so I'll let you go." Young Master Zhang helplessly raised his hands in surrender, and asked again: "But, can you ride a horse?" Zhang Qing smiled, put his hand on the horse's back, jumped up lightly Riding the horse well, judging by the posture, the riding skills seem to be a bit more proficient than Young Master Zhang.Young Master Zhang sighed dejectedly again, got on his horse again, and led Zhang Qing, Xiao Chuan and Bo Jue to Songjiang at full speed.

Thanks to the developed economy in the south of the Yangtze River, the official road between Suzhou and Songjiang was built very flat and wide, and the horses ran fast and steady, so Young Master Zhang worked hard all the way, and arrived at Songjiang Fucheng very smoothly, but that is so. Well, when Young Master Zhang and his party arrived at their destination, the sun had already set on the top of the Western Mountain, and it was getting dark.Time was running short, so Young Master Zhang and his party didn't care about admiring the scenery of the Songjiang River, so they went directly into the city. But when they arrived at the gate of the city and were about to pay taxes, a huge grain transport convoy came out of the city, and immediately took Young Master Zhang and the others into the city. The road into the city was blocked tightly, and the young master Zhang and his party, who could not reveal their identities, had no choice but to let the grain trucks leave the city by the side of the road.

"Trouble, how long does it take for this grain convoy to go?" The irritable Zhang Qing couldn't hold back anymore, and couldn't help muttering: "Whose grain team is this?" , how do you transport so much food at once?"

"Probably because the price of grain in Yingtianfu has risen. Seeing that it is profitable, Songjiang merchants will transport grain from Songjiang to Yingtianfu to sell." Young Master Zhang recalled the news sent by Song and Jin in the morning, and saw that the grain trucks were all packed. Holding the banner of 'Fan'ji's company, he casually asked the driver who was transporting grain in front of him: "This little brother, your big shopkeeper must be the largest grain merchant in Songjiang Prefecture, right? Now the grain in Songjiang Prefecture can be sold for a stone." How much did you sell for?"

"My lord, you're wrong." The coachman replied casually, "Our shopkeeper's surname is Qian, not Fan. It's a Shanxi elder named Fan who bought grain in Songjiang and asked us to send it to Wusongkou Wharf for loading. .Master Fan is rich, he has charged us all the food in Songjiang, and now the rice in Songjiang is sold for seven yuan and five stones."

"So expensive?" Young Master Zhang was taken aback. His first reaction was that there were profiteers maliciously hoarding grain and deliberately inflating the grain price in the south of the Yangtze River, intending to kill him severely.Annoyed, Young Master Zhang called Xiao Chuan to him, and whispered in his ear: "Brother Xiao, go ahead, find a few grain carts by the way, make some marks on some grain bags, and wait for them to be caught." When it comes to who is maliciously driving up food prices, let's deal with him properly." Xiao Chuan nodded and led his horse away.

After finally waiting for the grain carts to leave, Xiao Chuan also came back from the front, and reported to Young Master Zhang in a low voice: "Brother Zhang, I just sneaked into the team pretending to be a grain escort, and when they weren't paying attention, I was on a few grain bags. Dip your finger in cinnabar and write a few characters of 'ancient', then you can take care of it." Young Master Zhang nodded, waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's go to the city."

…………

Young Master Zhang and his party entered the city smoothly, but what Young Master Zhang and the others didn't know was that when they were waiting to enter the city just now, several pairs of eyes were staring at them darkly on the city wall above their heads.One of them, a middle-aged man with a Shanxi accent and dressed as a businessman, asked in a deep voice: "He is Zhang Haogu? Is there any mistake? Isn't he the imperial envoy who raised funds for disaster relief? Why did he come to Songjiang Mansion?"

"Absolutely." Another businessman with a local accent replied in a low voice: "I met him in Wuxi. Even if our grand lord was dismissed from office and imprisoned by him, even if he turned into ashes, I would not admit his mistake." ! It’s just why he came to Songjiang Mansion, I don’t know.”

The middle-aged man with a Shanxi accent nodded, stopped talking, but was pondering in his heart, "Sibeile and Mr. Fan both said that if anyone gets Zhang Haogu's head and dedicates it to them, they can reward 3 taels of silver! Now With 3 taels of silver in front of me, is it worth my risk?"

…………

Even in this era, Xu Guangqi is a well-known celebrity in Songjiang Mansion, so Master Zhang and his party easily found out his address, but after careful inquiry, Master Zhang's nose was almost out of breath. It turned out that Xu Guangqi did not live in Songjiang City Li, but lives in Xujiazhuang, ten miles northeast of Songjiang City.Annoyed that he inquired about Xu Guangqi's residence when he was not at the city gate, Young Master Zhang and his party hurried out of the city from the north gate and rushed to Xujiazhuang without stopping.Of course, because of this accidental mistake, Young Master Zhang was scolded by Zhang Qing, "What a waste, why don't you find out where Mr. Xu lives first when you come here? It's a waste of money to enter the city. It's too much money." The place is free, if I am as stupid as you, I might as well buy a piece of tofu for four pennies and kill myself."

"Okay, you're not my daughter-in-law, why do you care how much I spend?" Young Master Zhang retorted angrily, but before he finished speaking, Zhang Qing rushed up to grab Young Master Zhang's handsome face with a blushing face. Face.

During the fight, Master Zhang and his party finally arrived at Xujiazhuang at the moment when the sun was about to disappear from the horizon. This is a very typical village in the south of the Yangtze River, with small bridges and flowing water, shaded by weeping willows, quiet and elegant, and the scenery is very beautiful. The young master Zhang who was covered in dust was very happy, and wanted to leave a good impression in front of Xu Guangqi, so he ordered: "Before it is completely dark, let's find a place to wash our faces, and then go to see Xu Guangqi." Your Excellency." Zhang Qing and Bo Jue, who were also covered in sweat and dust, shouted in unison, while Xiao Chuan pointed to a small mountain not far away and shouted: "Brother Zhang, there is a stream over there, how about going there to wash your face?" ?”

"Okay, let's see who arrives first, the person who arrives last is responsible for washing the feet tonight!" Young Master Zhang yelled, and took the lead in rushing over.Zhang Qing was furious, scolded Young Master Zhang for being cunning, and hurriedly chased after him. Xiao Chuan and Bo Jue followed closely, but they didn't run very far. Suddenly, Xiao Chuan realized that something was wrong, and hurriedly called out: "Mr. Zhang, brother Bo!" , No, stop quickly."

"What's wrong?" Zhang Qing asked back in surprise.Xiao Chuan smiled and didn't answer, just pointed to the small woods next to the short hill, Zhang Qing and Bo Jue looked closely, but saw red and white clothes hanging in the woods, it seemed that someone was taking a bath there - looking at the color of the clothes, it seemed Still a woman.Knowing this, Zhang Qing and Bo Jue didn't call it bad, but just smirked with Xiao Chuan, watching Young Master Zhang rushing into the minefield in front of him.Sure enough, when Young Master Zhang rushed to the side of the woods, a woman rushed out of the woods and shouted loudly: "Sister Xiang, hide quickly, a man is coming! Riders, go back quickly, my sister is taking a bath here. "

"Ah!" Young Master Zhang and another girl screamed at the same time.Immediately afterwards, Young Master Zhang turned his horse's head in embarrassment, and rushed back scrambling.And here Zhang Qing, Xiao Chuan, and Bo Jue were already laughing so hard that they fell off their horses and asked together: "Brother Zhang (Master, Young Master Gou), do you see that, is he pretty?"

Young Master Zhang also knew that he had been fooled, and shouted loudly with his face flushed: "I see, she is very beautiful and has a good figure, how is it?" The woman also heard what Young Master Zhang said, and yelled angrily: "Sister Xiang, that apprentice has already seen you, come up and get dressed, and settle accounts with him!" Qing and the others were out of breath laughing, and followed Young Master Zhang to Xujiazhuang.

In addition, after looking for a place to wash his face in a hurry and rearrange his clothes, Young Master Zhang and his party entered Xujiazhuang on foot. With the last light before dark, they successfully found the gate of Xu Guangqi's house with an ordinary appearance.When Young Master Zhang knocked on the courtyard door in person, a white-haired old man came out from the yard, dressed in coarse cloth and long clothes, his face was scorched black, as if he had just come out of a kitchen fire, the old man looked at Young Master Zhang and asked: " This young man, who are you looking for?"

"Dare to ask, old man, is this the residence of Xu Guangqi, the former censor of Henan Province?" Young Master Zhang asked politely, clasping his fists.The old man nodded his head in agreement, Young Master Zhang was overjoyed, and saluted again: "The troubled old man told me that Zhang Haogu, who was born late in Linqing, Shandong Province, asked to see Senior Xu, please do see him."

"Shandong Linqing? Zhang Haogu? Could it be that you are the imperial envoy Zhang Haogu, who was sent to the south of the Yangtze River to raise funds for disaster relief?" The old man asked in surprise.Young Master Zhang was taken aback, and when he was about to ask the old man why he knew him, a sharp exclamation sounded from beside him, "Sister Xiang, that's him! It's that prostitute in green robe and square scarf who peeped at you taking a bath!"

"No way?" Young Master Zhang cried out incessantly. When he turned his head to look, he saw two gallant women each holding a long white hook that looked like a huge scythe, staring at him angrily.One of them was a young girl in red with a slender figure, much taller than the medium-sized Young Master Zhang, her two beautiful legs were thin and long, very attractive, her rather pretty pink face was flushed, Straightened the long white hook at Young Master Zhang, and asked another woman angrily: "Sister-in-law, can you see clearly, is this prostitute peeping at me?"

"Yes, that's him!" Another woman nodded.The red-clothed girl roared angrily, and the long white hook smashed head-on at Young Master Zhang's head, "The pervert, die!"

God is really short-sighted. The wicked Young Master Zhang encountered danger twice after he came to this era. Xiao Chuan, one of the thirteen Taibao of Jinyiwei, was standing by, so before the girl in red's long white hook hit Master Zhang's head, Xiao Chuan's Xiuchun knife had already caught her long hook, and the hook intersected. However, Xiao Chuan's Xiuchun steel knife did not cut off the white wooden pole of the girl in red.The girl in red didn't hesitate, the long hook dragged, and the iron long hook cut Xiao Chuan's wrist again, the speed was almost unimaginable, Xiao Chuan didn't hesitate, rolled on the spot to avoid the iron hook, embroidered The slender and beautiful legs of the girl in red that Chun Daofu went to chop off again.Never thought that the long white hook in the red girl's hand suddenly tilted back, and the tail of the rod hit Xiao Chuan's face head-on. It was only at this moment that Xiao Chuan discovered that there was an iron ring on the tail of the long white hook , The iron ring carries the wind, if it hits the face, at least the cheekbone will be smashed.Unprepared, Xiao Chuan quickly retracted the knife and poked the iron ring. By chance, the tip of the knife inserted into the ring and made a loud noise. He was very lucky to block the fatal blow.

Xiao Chuan and the girl in red were playing fast, so fast that people couldn't breathe. They were dazzled by the sight of Young Master Zhang and the others, and it was too late to shout to stop it. The old man in the coarse cloth did not scream until now. , "Girl Ma, don't get me wrong, speak slowly if you have something to say."

"Girl Ma? The word Xiang in her name? Could it be Ma Xianglan?" Young Master Zhang's eyes lit up, and he subconsciously connected the beautiful girl in red in front of him with Bayan Qinhuai.And Xiao Chuan also jumped up, holding his sword across his chest and shouting: "Surname Ma? White gun? Shizhu Chieftain Ma Qiancheng Ma General, chieftain wife Qin Liangyu General Qin, who are you?"

"You know my father and mother?" The girl in red was also taken aback.Xiao Chuan laughed, folded his knife and said, "It turned out to be General Qin's daughter. No wonder he is so powerful. I admire him from a humble position. Xiao Chuan from a lowly position is currently serving hundreds of households in Dongchang. Before the Bloody Battle of Hehe, Beizhi had met Miss Ma's uncle, General Qin Bangping, in Shanhaiguan several times, and he admired General Qin very much. After General Qin died for the country, Beizhi also cried a few times."

"So you are my uncle's friend." The red-clothed girl's hostility towards Xiao Chuan was greatly reduced, and she finally withdrew her white gun.Xiao Chuan pointed to another beautiful girl and asked: "Miss Ma, just now you called this lady your sister-in-law. Could it be that she is the wife of General Ma Chao Ma Xianglin and one of the only two female generals in my Ming Dynasty?" Zhang Fengyi, General Zhang?"

"I'm Zhang Fengyi, and I don't dare to be called a general." Zhang Fengyi kept a straight face and didn't give Xiao Chuan a good word, then pointed at Young Master Zhang who was dumbfounded and shouted: "Who is this pervert? Why did you peek at my husband's sister?" Ma Xiangling taking a bath? Still yelling on the road to ruin my sister's reputation?"

In the eyes of everyone, Young Master Zhang yelled with grievances, and shouted indiscriminately: "I am wronged! I am more wronged than Dou E! I didn't see it at all! If I really saw it, a girl as beautiful as Miss Ma, I would Why are you willing to run back right away?"

(End of this chapter)