After Fan Dazhu went back, he was anxiously waiting for Xue Tingxiang's next move.
Little did he know he didn't move at all.
Every day, he went to court with a lame leg, posing as an official, but when he turned his head, there would be news from the house that the adult made the lady angry, and how to beg for mercy from the lady.
It just makes me cry.
And because the people in the yamen are too capable, and things are reduced in the winter, Xue Tingxiang has changed from his previous positive appearance, and the number of times he goes to the yamen is less and less, and he will even ask for a few days.
He is like this, and it can make people feel at ease, and I wish he would not care about anything.
Of course, Xue Tingxiang was not idle, and would go out every three or five. Fan Dazhu also sent people to watch, but found that this Master Xue had a very strange temperament. He seemed to be very attentive to what he said that day. He was actually quite interested in disguising as ordinary people and inquiring about the past.
Fan Dazhu is really not afraid of him snooping. Maybe his words do have the selfishness of explaining for himself, and he also wants to convince the other party, but what he said is true.
After Xue Tingxiang went out a few times, he seemed to have lost interest. He actually seemed to lose interest, and he became more and more lazy in government affairs. Fan Dazhu didn't send anyone to stare at him anymore. He thought, people have the instinct to seek profit and avoid harm. Who would be courting death before being an official for two days.
A few days later, Fan Dazhu sent money to Xue Tingxiang.
The money is not much, only more than a hundred taels, but for a magistrate whose annual salary is only a few dozen taels, it is already a lot of money.
And according to Fan Dazhu, this is nothing but charcoal respect from others.
In other words, in a year, it is not just this amount. At least there is Tanjing, and there is also Bingjing. Every year, there are two hundred taels of bottom, and maybe there are more.
As for the silver, Fan Dazhu did not give it to Xue Tingxiang, but to Zhao'er.
Zhao'er didn't delay, she took it right away, and told Fan Dazhu's wife Mao Shi that she would let her master promote Fan Xiancheng well in the future, and play the role of a greedy and shallow-eyed little woman. it is good.
But Mr. Mao vomited, smiling on the surface, turned his head home and scolded Fan Xiancheng directly. This is the county magistrate's wife.
Mao didn't want to flatter such vulgar people, so the two houses were next door, and they rarely came here. But instead of looking for Zhao'er, Zhao'er came to her instead.
Zhao'er put on a pose for two days, and finally revealed her purpose.
Zhao'er told Mao that she was also in business, but she just opened a small shop selling silk flowers in the capital. But she is very interested in doing business, and she should be interested in silver, anyway, Mao has heard the meaning. So Zhao'er specially asked Mao for advice on how to make more money.
Although she didn't clearly say what she wanted to do, she was inquiring about the shady activities inside and outside the words.
Mao was so frightened by her that even she had never dared to think like this. But in order not to be embarrassed in front of Zhao'er, she deliberately concealed her surprise, but turned her head and told Fan Xiancheng about it.
Just as Fan Xiancheng was still pondering, whether it was the Madam who thought of this, or whether the Madam was granted by the Lord, the Lord took the initiative to find him.
Xue Tingxiang tried his best to hide the nature of his fear, but he pretended to be helpless when he was annoyed by the woman.
Fan Xiancheng sighed with him very understandingly. Before the two could say anything, they each sighed at the Hedong Lion at home.
After sighing, it seems that there is a common topic, and the two also have a tacit understanding. After entering the topic, Fan Xiancheng also vaguely told Xue Tingxiang that although he knew some of them, he had never thought about it and dared not move.
Xue Tingxiang didn't say anything at the time, turned his head a few days later, went to Fan Xiancheng again, and probably frankly stated his thoughts.
According to Xue Tingxiang's idea that the sky is high, he is the parent official of Dinghai County, and he should preside over everything in this county. It doesn't make sense for others to eat meat and drink soup for oneself.
These Fan Xiancheng had feelings in their hearts, thinking that when he first learned about these things, he couldn't sleep all day. It's not like what Master Xue said, others eat meat and drink soup by themselves, with their heads hanging on the shoulders, and there are no three melons and two dates.
However, Fan Xiancheng was timid, and there was no one behind him, so naturally he didn't dare to move.
But Xue Tingxiang was different. According to what he said, he was also a scholar in the Hanlin Academy, a scholar in the cabinet's official room, met the elders of the court, and drank tea with the elders. Although he was drinking, he was standing, and in the end he was considered a person who had seen the world.
There are many hidden meanings in these words, and they are probably saying that there is someone above me.
Afraid that Fan Xiancheng wouldn't believe it, he reiterated that his teacher was now serving as Zhongshusheren by His Majesty's side, serving on your side every day. If those people dare not let him join, he will let them beat eggs and fly, don't believe it!
When he said that he didn't believe it, Xue Tingxiang's young face showed a bit of greed and ferocity.
It directly shocked Fan Xiancheng.
However, there is no following about this matter, because the New Year is coming soon.
This year has been quite lively.
In the end, it is not ordinary now, and he is also a local parent official.
Not to mention the following people have to come to honor, even if it is an old hen, it is also a filial piety. If there is filial piety, Master Xue will accept it.
Now everyone has learned, don't give gifts to adults, adults are scholars, and scholars regard money as an object. But the lady likes it, just give it to the lady.
So Zhao'er had a very happy New Year. The wives of the officials below came to pay her New Year's greetings. Every day she was surrounded and held. Even Hong'er, who was obviously just a four-year-old baby, was described as a boy under the seat of the Goddess of Mercy. Wen Quxing was reincarnated, and in the future he would be the champion like his father.
It's no wonder that Zhao'er can't stop laughing every day.
Finally, this year has passed, and the weather is slowly getting warmer.
In March, rumors began to spread that there were Japanese pirates in the county, causing the common people to be uneasy all day long.
At this time, Xue Tingxiang's actions almost didn't frighten Fan Xiancheng to death.
He actually sent a batch of raw silk, silk, tea and other things from somewhere, saying that this trip was going to go to sea.
Not only that, he has recently called out the yamen in the three classes of Zao, Zhuang, and Kuai to give lectures. The main content of the lecture is that the master is as big as the sky, you have to do whatever the master asks you to do, and what the master says is what you do.
The question is aren't these crap? Naturally, what the master asks to do, let him do it.
But soon they knew what the master asked them to do.
In a small county like Dinghai County, there were no soldiers specially guarding the city gate.
Generally, they are also served by yamen servants, also called gatekeepers.
There are two city gates in total, and a few people can be sent to watch them. Of course, this also refers to normal times. In times of emergency, the local guards will send soldiers to guard them.
As for when it's urgent? Naturally, whenever there are Japanese pirates rebelling.
But this time, it was surprising. When the people from Dinghai Housuo came to take over the city gate, they were rejected. According to the gatekeepers, their master said that guarding the gate of the county is within the scope of the county government's responsibilities. There are only so many people in the guards, and they have to search for Japanese pirates, so don't bother the guards. .
The soldiers of the guard station returned without success. After the incident was reported, Geng Qianhu and others did not take it seriously. It's just that the new official of Xue Zhixian County took office as the three fires, and he used people's money to eliminate disasters for others, and he deliberately wanted to show one or two.
But they soon learned that this was not the case.
Even though Dinghai is a small county town, there are a lot of motorcades and horses going in and out of the city gates. No one has ever questioned them. But now, the guards at the gates have been deceived by searching for Japanese pirates.
This is something that can't be seen in the light, everyone knows it, and it's okay to forget it in the past. In the public, searching in front of the common people, this is not obviously looking for trouble.
It's not just about some money. Since I can come here, I'm naturally not short of money, so I'll pass by with some money. Of course, there are not many people complaining, but there is no one in charge for the time being, so naturally the complaints are not known.
On the day of shipment, there was already a curfew on the street, but when night fell, there were teams of teams heading towards the city gate.
The battle is extremely large, like a long dragon traveling in the dark night. If any common person goes out in the middle of the night, it is estimated that they will be scared to death.
As usual, the city gate was wide open, the difference was that there were some fences in front of the city gate.
In front of the fence stood more than a dozen yamen officers, all of them holding torches, and it seemed that the visitors were bad.
Seeing that they were blocked and not allowed to go, someone got out of the car and asked.
This man was dressed in black and covered his face, and those who didn't know thought it was a flower-picking thief from somewhere.
"Master, what's the matter?"
"Nothing, our master said, pass me this way, pass my gate, this gate leads to Penglai, if you want to pass through to get silver." The gatekeeper at the gate said with difficulty the limericks he heard from his own adults, In fact, my heart is pounding, I don't know if these words can bluff these people.
But the matter has come to this point, and he can only bite the bullet. The county magistrate is the sky above his head. If he dares to say no today, he will be let go tomorrow.
"Is this a fraud?" There are a few simple people who can do this kind of business. Although the owner behind them has not shown up, the errands below are not simple. So when I heard this, I understood what was going on, and said with a sneer.
"Our master said, this is not a lie. You drive all these cars here every day, and the road will be crushed. After you leave, you still have to repair the road by our yamen. Do you need money to build the road? Manage people. Don’t need money for dinner? And every time you come, our yamen has to send out all the staff to patrol around, so all the manpower and material resources don’t need money?” The doorman tried to recall the appearance of the county magistrate when he gave them a lesson, although he couldn’t learn 100%. Ten, it can be like five or six points.
"After all, you want money?"
"Our master said that this is for money, not for money..."
The doorman was interrupted.
"You masters are so famous, it's not just asking for money."
"It's okay if you think so. Our master said that you can't pass here without giving money. You should change your path."
"you-"
"Ma Liu, give him money!"
In a carriage behind, someone said. Obviously it is the head of the general responsible for escorting the goods.
Ma Liu reluctantly glared at the doorman and asked, "How much?!"
The doorman smiled, licked his lower lip nervously, and said, "Our master said, 10 taels per car, you will be charged according to the car, and you will pay as much money as you want."
This time, a total of more than 20 trucks of goods came to the firm. According to this calculation, it would cost more than 200 taels to pass through the door.
This person is irritable, and immediately scolded: "Why don't you go grab it?"
The door clerk was still dead with his head and his head dead, and said: "Our master said that we are officials, not bandits, so naturally we can't use robbing."
Ma Liu still wanted to say something, but was stopped by someone. He honestly paid the money, and the doorman ordered the people behind him to move out of the way.
When the first carriage passed by, the faceless man in the carriage asked, "What else did your lord say?"
The doorman who was looking at the banknotes in his hand said, "Our master has said a lot. Are you sure you want to listen? If you really want to listen, the cars behind today don't need to pass."
No one spoke in the car, and the convoy passed quickly.
When the convoy passed by, the doorman stopped another maddening lantern and repeated what he said before.
In order to be in a hurry, and also because they didn't want to cause trouble, almost everyone gave money to buy road trips.
So this night, the county government has gained a lot, and the doorman in charge of the cash register trembled, and in front of him hung a book bag that his master had hung up for him when he was leaving. banknotes.
The doorman couldn't help trembling when he thought of how much money was in the bag.
He didn't know how much he received, but he only knew a lot, and their master said that everyone had a share of the money collected, and a car gave them two taels of hard money. A total of more than 500 cars passed by tonight, that is to say, there were 1,000 cars coming.
How many servants are there in the yamen? He can't count it anymore, anyway, everyone can get a lot of money.
The doorman returned to the yamen with the money in his heart contentedly, while his master, Sir Xue, was leading a group of people waiting in the lobby at this time.
The hall was brightly lit, and Xue Tingxiang was sitting behind the big case, looking majestic. People who didn't know thought he was trying some big case. Seeing this doorman, his eyes lit up, and he waved his hand as if he was a miser. He grabbed the purse, flipped it around, and handed it to a little girl standing beside him.
This little girl is Xiaohong, and Xiaolu is standing beside her.
The two girls are not very old, and they only look like teens. They wear double buns and look young, but when they get the money bag, they are completely changed.
The two girls led the purse to the desk of the clerk, and saw them fall for a while, spilling a lot of silver notes. Obviously there was no sound, but everyone could hear the sound of the silver and copper coins clattering.
I saw these two girls, one was smartly counting the bank notes, and the other girl took out an abacus and started to fight. After a while, the income for tonight was calculated, totaling five thousand six hundred and forty taels.
Hearing this amount, everyone below was surprised, including Fan Xiancheng and Zhou Zhuzhu.
Xiaohong chose 1,132 silver notes and handed it to Xue Tingxiang.
Xue Tingxiang counted the stack of silver bills in his hand, and everyone's eyes couldn't help staring at his hand. He then gave it to Hu San and said, "Give them all a haircut, as the master said before."
Then Xiaohong counted another stack of silver bills and handed them over to Xue Tingxiang. This time Xue Tingxiang beckoned to Fan Xiancheng, and it was not until the other party came to him that he sat high on the chair, and patted the other party's shoulder condescendingly: "Old Fan, take these and give them to him. Master Zhou and they are divided. The master said that if the master eats meat, at least let you have a taste of meat, and he will never eat meat, so that the people below can't even drink soup. "
"Sir, I'm afraid..."
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, just do as the master said. The master will keep you in the future and get rich. There are many things."
At some point, Xue Tingxiang had already left.
Fan Dazhu was still in a daze with the stack of silver notes in his hand, and the officials below had already shared the money.
With more than a thousand taels, even if you count the people who swept the floor in the yamen, there are more than 100 people in total. One person can at least get seven or eight taels of silver, and it is only a mere two taels from the past, which is simply not the same.
The key is that the money is collected easily. In the past, it was only with a face like a grandson that he could be divided into three melons and two dates, but now he is collecting money in front of his grandfather.
If you say that you are not allowed to pass, you cannot pass, and if you have the ability, you can change your way!
Don't look at the slumped head of the doorman before, they all had the courage to talk to those men. At this moment, he is very proud and arrogant, and vividly shows everyone how to collect money before.
"Hey, as soon as I said let that person divert, his face turned black on the spot..."
"Wang Daniu, that black light is blinding fire, why do you see people's faces dark?"
The doorman who called Wang Daniu scolded him for a while: "What a black light and blind fire, it's not a torch!"
"That's right, what are you talking about, let Wang Daniu tell it!" The humane who was eager to hear the story.
"But don't look at his face, he has to pay money when he is dark, and he can't get out even if he takes a different route. Our people are watching this gate, and in the end, he paid us money... You don't I know, someone in the car was unconvinced and asked what else your master said. I said that our master has said a lot. Do you want to listen to it, but after listening to it, you will not use it today. The man didn't say anything, I guess he must be quite angry."
The yamen on the side were all laughing, and you said to each other: "That is, the master has said a lot. I will also guard the gate another day, and I will learn from them."
"You don't learn like Wang Daniu."
"How do you know we don't learn alike?"
"Didn't we compare it at the beginning? It was the master who specially picked the big cow and said that he had the style of the master, so he gave him such a heavy responsibility..."
The skinny yamen named Wang Daniu raised his head and raised his chest, as if he didn't dare to act.
Zhou Li came to Fan Dazhu's side and grabbed the bank note: "What are you in a daze, hurry up and divide it up, go back to sleep."
"Can… "
"But what?" Zhou Li glanced at all the yamen: "What else do you have to do in this situation! Okay, what should I do if the above tells me what to do, the sky is falling, and that person is still standing. "
"I'm afraid that something will happen after dawn."
"Even if there is an accident, it will be after dawn, so go to sleep first." Zhou Li yawned and swayed away.