Summary of the previous chapter: Ma Xiaoquan persuaded Zhu Youjian to lead a team to Wei Jinzhong's territory to catch thieves, which made Wei Jinzhong very depressed. But soon, Wei Jinzhong used his clever words to defraud a piece of fiefdom from Emperor Tianqi. Wei Jinzhong
He also turned this fiefdom into a circulation place for merchants, with the purpose of competing with Ma Xiaoquan...
Ma's house, in the study.
Ma Xiaoquan tapped the desk rhythmically with his right hand. In front of the desk, stood two young men dressed in royal robes.
Ma Xiaoquan raised his head and asked with a smile: "So, old guy Wei Jinzhong is determined to go against me?"
One of the guards in Jinyi said: "Replying to the master's words, it is indeed true!"
"Yes." Ma Xiaoquan nodded and said, "You two did a good job. I arranged for you to sneak into the Jinyi Guards. It seems that the arrangement was not in vain. Well, remember, follow me, not only yourselves, but also your parents,
I, Ma Xiaoquan, will take good care of you!"
The two royal guards knelt on the ground with a cry: "I will go through fire and water for my master without hesitation!"
"Okay, go down and continue to monitor Wei Jinzhong's movements!"
"yes!"
...
Dongfang Qingxue came close to Ma Xiaoquan, watched the two Jinyi guards leave the study, and said slowly: "Ma Xiaoquan, although Wei Jinzhong has not openly competed with you, it is an indisputable fact. What are you going to do?"
Ma Xiaoquan smiled and said: "Wei Jinzhong has advantages that I don't have, and I also have strengths that he doesn't have. Hmm, who will win, I still don't know."
Dongfang Qingxue nodded: "Wei Jinzhong's advantage is that he has a much wider network of contacts than you, and your advantage is because of your true identity and experience in your world, right?"
Ma Xiaoquan nodded: "Little girl Qingxue, you are so smart!"
Dongfang Qingxue blushed and said nothing.
Ma Xiaoquan laughed and said seriously: "But my advantage is not necessarily an advantage. Well, the fiefdom thing has just come to an end. I have to hurry up to get back the merchants who have been lost in the past few days. However, recently,
I have to renovate the gathering place, repair what needs to be repaired, eliminate what needs to be eliminated, and make it into a good fiefdom. Qingxue, please help me write a letter to Zhang Jiude about this, and I want to make an appointment with him."
"Okay, I'll do it now!"
...
That night, Zhang Jiude came to Ma's house to meet and talk with Ma Xiaoquan. Zhang Jiude was a little surprised to learn that Ma Xiaoquan was going to renovate the fiefdom.
Zhang Jiude believes that renovation and new construction are actually the same trouble, not only time-consuming, but also very expensive.
Zhang Jiude raised his concerns, and Ma Xiaoquan smiled and said: "Your Excellency, you have misunderstood me. When I said renovation, I did not mean major repairs. It was just to straighten up the things on the facade. Well, it happens to be the emperor's wedding, so I can come under this guise."
If you do it, the emperor will definitely be very happy."
Zhang Jiude nodded: "I see, then let me handle this matter. Deacon Ma can rest assured that it will be done before the emperor's wedding."
Ma Xiaoquan handed over his hand: "Thank you so much, Mr. Assistant Minister. Oh, by the way, as for wages, I will pay double the usual rate!"
Zhang Jiude raised his eyebrows, nodded and smiled.
...
The next day, Ma Xiaoquan went to the court to meet Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao and put forward his request to renovate the fiefdom. Of course, Ma Xiaoquan's banner was that the emperor is getting married, so everything must be decorated with lights and decorations, right?
Zhu Youxiao was naturally very happy to have such a loyal minister who was devoted to him. Zhu Youxiao immediately approved a special fund and gave it to Ma Xiaoquan to renovate his fiefdom.
Ma Xiaoquan was overjoyed. He originally paid for it from his own pocket, but now he only paid one-third of the money. Haha, this transaction is worth it, so worth it.
...
When Wei Jinzhong learned that the emperor had rewarded Ma Xiaoquan again, he was quite jealous. He immediately left for the Yangxin Palace and wanted to use his old face and clever words to deceive the emperor. But who knew that Zhu Youxiao sternly refused this time, and also because
Wei Jinzhong gave him a slap on the wrist for disturbing his carpentry studies.
Fortunately, Wei Jinzhong was powerful in the palace, and the eunuchs responsible for spanking him were his people. After a few symbolic spankings, the eunuchs who spanked him stopped and lied about the results to the emperor.
...
In late March, only one month before the emperor's wedding, a colorful building was built in Beijing, attracting people from surrounding states and counties to come in and watch.
Wei Jinzhong has always been responsible for guarding the capital, but Wei Jinzhong has been dissatisfied since he was punished by the emperor last time. In his opinion, all this was caused by Ma Xiaoquan, and for this...
When the emperor's wedding was approaching, Wei Jinzhong made a proposal to the emperor and asked Ma Xiaoquan to also be responsible for guarding the capital.
The job of guarding the capital is not easy. Not only do you not have any rest, you also have to work overtime every day.
On this day, Ma Xiaoquan led several of his confidants, Jin Yiwei, to inspect the capital in casual clothes.
After half a day, the group was thirsty and hungry.
I happened to be passing by the Yuhe Bridge, and one of my subordinates suggested having something to eat at a small shop next to the Yuhe Bridge. Ma Xiaoquan agreed.
After entering the small shop, a few people found a quiet corner to sit down, ordered a table of delicious dishes, served two pots of soju, and sat down to drink together.
When I was in the mood for eating and drinking, there was a sudden noise from a private room next door.
Ma Xiaoquan frowned and ordered one of his subordinates: "Go over and secretly listen to what's going on."
"Yes." The subordinate nodded, got up, walked to the door of the private room, and listened quietly.
After a while, his subordinate came back and reported in a low voice: "Boss, you really guessed it right. There is indeed something going on."
"Oh?" Ma Xiaoquan raised his eyebrows, looked at each other with several of his men, and motioned to go up and get someone.
The subordinates all became energetic instantly. As long as they do a good job, the boss will definitely reward them.
Ma Xiaoquan is very popular among the Jin Yiwei. Firstly, he spends generously and never wrongs his subordinates. When he goes on errands with him, they are all popular and drink hot food. Secondly, if the task is completed well, Ma Xiaoquan will use his own money to reward his subordinates.
.
Several Jin Yiwei walked to the door of the private room and were about to push the door open. The door suddenly opened with a creak and three people walked out of the door.
"Stop?" A guard in Jinyi stretched out his hand to stop the three of them.
The three of them looked at each other and stopped. A person speaking in Beijing local dialect said: "What are your backgrounds?"
A guard in brocade clothes lifted up a little, revealing the embroidered spring knife at his waist.
"Xiuchundao? Jinyiwei?" The three of them were stunned, looked at each other, and then shouted loudly and ran away.
The Jin Yiwei were caught off guard by the sudden outburst of these three people. Fortunately, they were well-trained and after a slight panic, they caught all three of them.