Five days later, Pang Yu stood in front of the screen wall of the Suzhou Governor's Office and carefully handed the invitation to a pacesetter.
Governor Yingtian was based in Suzhou and was the highest official in charge of the ten prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River. Compared with ordinary yamen, the official office was much more dignified.
There is a stone archway on the left and right of the official office. The two characters "Junmen" are written on yellow cloth in the middle above the gate. There are camp gates on both sides of the gate. In front of the gate is a screen wall. In front of the screen wall are black antlers. Some military horses are tied to deer chai.
superior.
The people on duty in front of the gate were no longer helpers, but pacesetters holding official weapons. No one dared to gather around him before Zhaobi.
Pang Yu honestly posted in front of the door. The main business of the governor's Yamen is not to deal with civil affairs, so the access control is strict, unlike the county Yamen where people can enter whenever they want.
Pang Yu had no place to issue official documents, so he could only ask for an audience outside the door.
He directly asked to see Zhang Guowei, but the pacesetter in front of the door asked him to wait, and he waited all morning.
Neither said I would see you nor said I would not see you.
In the afternoon, there was still no one coming out. The pacesetters in front of the door were changed, and Pang Yu still couldn't enter the Yamen.
"Second brother, do you want to go eat some food first and then come back?"
Pang Yu shook his head and said, "If Zhang Guowei lets me in when I leave, I will lose my chance. You go to eat first and just bring me some dry food."
After He Xianya agreed, he turned around and told Guo Fengyou to take Xu Lengzi to dinner.
Guo Fengyou ignored him and still stood where he was.
He Xianya stared at him dissatisfied, but Guo Fengyou remained motionless.
Upon seeing this, Pang Yu said, "Guo Fengyou, you know that Captain He will soon be appointed as the head of the fast class. How dare you, a helper of the fast class, not listen to Captain He."
"The villain is here to protect Pang Bantou. Please listen to Pang Bantou's words."
Guo Fengyou replied respectfully, not caring about He Xianya's feelings at all.
Pang Yu smiled and said, "The squad leader arranged for you to go to dinner. This is the military gate of Governor Yingtian. There are guards everywhere, so there is no danger.
Bring me some after you finish."
Guo Fengyou then turned around and left. He Xianya looked at his back for a moment without showing any displeasure.
After a moment of silence, he sighed and said, "For people from our small place, there is no support in the officialdom, so it is really difficult to do things. It seems that Zhang Guowei will not see his second brother, and he wants his second brother to retreat when he sees the difficulties."
Pang Yu smiled and said, "If he hadn't seen him, the greeting card would have been thrown out long ago.
As long as he doesn't say no, we have to wait.
We have to get used to things being difficult, and when we ask for help from others, difficulty is a given."
He Xianya nodded, "I thought that a military position would be unpopular, so Zhang Guowei should have given it casually, but who knew it would be so difficult."
"What I seek is not just a military position, I seek the garrison of Anqing."
Pang Yu lowered his voice and said, "This step from civilian to official is not easy at all."
"It would be better if I didn't ask Mr. Ma for recommendation."
"We can't go to Mr. Ma directly. He is a secret friend. If he comes forward to recommend someone, he will be suspected of favoritism.
Only when Zhang Guowei took the initiative to ask him, what Mr. Ma said came into effect."
He Xianya sighed again and waited with Pang Yu outside the military gate.
Several people stood there until the official office closed, but no one came out to lead them in. Pang Yu and the others were frustrated and had to drag their stiff legs back to the inn.
Early the next morning, Pang Yu came to the door again, respectfully presented a greeting card, and then continued to wait.
..."Pang Yu, the leader of the Tongcheng team, came to Suzhou and sent a greeting letter to meet with me.
He had nothing to write about, no one recommended him, and the official did not see him.
He has been here for two days in a row. Mr. Ma has seen this man and should know something about him. Why do you think he came to Suzhou to seek a meeting?"
In the back hall of the governor's yamen, Zhang Guowei did not wear official uniform, but a black robe, with a simple scribe's scarf tied on his head. He continued to write behind the desk while talking.
The gray-haired Mr. Ma stood in front of the table and said respectfully, "When I was in Tongcheng, I did meet him twice alone. Once was during the civil uprising, and the second time was after the rogue bandits. Mainly to ask about the war guard's experience.
.
I had heard him say many times that government officials would be done with it when they reached the head of the class. They were not like the rural officials who had become officials, and they were not as interesting as those scholars. They were not very interesting.
After traveling thousands of miles to Suzhou this time, I feel that young people want to have a bright future."
Zhang Guowei raised his head and glanced at Mr. Ma, hummed in his mouth, then lowered his head and continued writing his own words, "But Tongcheng and Anqing also have a future, so why bother asking for an interview with me thousands of miles away."
"My lord is from a military background. I'm afraid he wants to join the military service."
Zhang Guowei was not surprised at all and asked casually without even raising his head, "Why does Mr. Ma think he wants to join the military service?"
Mr. Ma followed the movement of Zhang Guowei's brush with his eyes and said respectfully, "If he can study for the imperial examination, he will be able to strive for a future everywhere. He must have felt that the road to the imperial examination is blocked, so he came to see the military. Naturally, he is more likely to be a military officer."
"
Zhang Guowei's writing paused for a moment, "It does have a better future than Zaoli. Young people have talent. It's not a bad thing to find a future.
Originally, it was said that the world is in chaos, and it is the right way for a man to join the military, but he came thousands of miles from Anqing, probably not just to join the army."
Mr. Ma still didn't understand Zhang Guowei's attitude and wanted to speak, but after a moment of hesitation he kept silent.
For an undercover friend like him, all power comes from his employer, and he is most afraid of arousing suspicion from his employer, so once Zhang Guowei's attitude is ambiguous, he will not try his best to recommend him.
After a while, Zhang Guowei put away the pen, and Mr. Ma quickly caught it and carefully placed it on the pen holder.
Zhang Guowei closed his eyes and rested for a moment before asking, "A few days ago, the Huaining squire wrote to me to impeach Pan Ke for being a traitor and a traitor. In the next two days, Pi Ying wrote a letter saying that Pan Ke's great talent and virtue were lacking. Yu Susong
It will collapse at the first touch and may not be enough to defend Anqing.
A few days later, the team leader arrived in Suzhou. Mr. Ma wondered whether there was some connection between them and whether Pan Keda was really so unbearable."
Mr. Ma secretly glanced at Zhang Guowei. From what Zhang Guowei said, he suspected that Pang Yu had colluded with the government and a group of gentry to falsely accuse Pan Keda in order to run for office.
After thinking about his wording, he said, "This is what Pi Yingju said when my subordinate was in Anqing.
During the civil uprising in Tongcheng, my subordinates followed Wang Gongbi across the river to Liantan, where they were among Pan Ke's army. When they left Chizhou, only 30% of the troops and horses remained in the camp.
The beggars were arrested in a closed compartment, and Pi Yingju had to be imprisoned five times.
After such a fuss, we managed to gather hundreds of troops, but we only had less than a hundred soldiers to fight."
Zhang Guowei is in charge of the army, so he naturally knows the true situation of the army, and he was not surprised after hearing this.
Mr. Ma did not give a conclusion, but from his words, it can be heard that Pan Keda, if not completely unworthy, has little merit.
"I have been considering the post of Anqing garrison.
Anqing is located in a strategic location, and even a single defense is not enough.
But the four battalion heads in my hands are all in the south of the Yangtze River, and the land of Jiufu is also very cramped. A capable person must be guarded in Anqing to prevent the rogue bandits from coming back."
(Note 1) Zhang Guowei stood up slowly, frowning and continued, "There is news from the court. Xue Guoguan met with some gentry in Nanzhi and Zhejiang one after another. Some of them reported Zhou Yanru, and some impeached and restored Donglin. The capital
The waves are treacherous.
Mr. Yushan recently wrote a letter, asking me to be careful and to ask Mr. Yushan to remind him that Wen Tiren is not far away when he takes action against Donglin. He is now in the power of the Holy Family and it will be difficult to deal with it.
At this juncture, nothing can happen to Anqing again."
Mr. Ma's expression changed, "If Xue Guoguan comes forward, we have already made plans and will arrive at the city at any time.
The capital, Nanzhi, and Zhejiang are bound to be places of confrontation. Your Excellency is well-behaved and diligent in government affairs. It is difficult for Wen Tiren to get hold of him, but Anqing is still a worry."
Zhang Guowei nodded in approval, and Mr. Ma continued, "Anqing is isolated in the north of the Yangtze River. Without the natural moat of the river, rogue bandits can't tell when they will come.
This time the bandits invaded the country, and Fengyang was in front of them. Wen Tiren wanted to protect Wu Zhenying, so he couldn't chase after you. But if the bandits only come to Anqing next time..." Zhang Guowei let out a long sigh, "So the Anqing government is now the key point.
A very dangerous place.
Can Mr. Ma teach me?"
"My subordinates dare not, but there are only two ways to deal with Anqing. One is to push Anqing away from Suzhou and strive to put Anqing under the governor of Fengyang, or set up another governor to deal with it. No matter which one, as long as Anqing is
Just mark out a defense zone for adults.
In this way, the areas under your jurisdiction are all in the south of the river, with only small towns like Jiangpu remaining. None of them will affect the overall situation. This is a countermeasure.
The second is that we cannot wait for Anqing to move away. We should strengthen war preparations and take strict precautions while Anqing is still under Yingtian.
Pang Yu led the common people into chaos and broke up the bandits, which shows that this person is quite ambitious.
His name has been heard by heaven before, and he has made great achievements this time. If he is used by adults, he will surely stabilize Anqing.
The whole country was burned this year, and the trouble of rogue bandits has become serious. It can no longer be taken lightly. The emperor is now very thirsty for talents from neighboring countries. Pang Yu is used as the garrison in Anqing. It should be as the emperor wishes. If he can win some military merits, my lord
His position will be as solid as gold."
"The purpose of carving out Anqing is not just to protect the old man's official title. Anqing and Suzhou are thousands of miles away, and it really needs a governor to make arrangements nearby to preserve it."
Zhang Guowei closed his eyes and thought about it and said, "Is the small class leader the courage of an ordinary man, or is he brave and resourceful?"
"It can be said that an ordinary man is brave enough to fight against the common people, but this time he defended Tongcheng and used the Tongcheng strong squad, which he trained himself. The strong squad I saw this time was a hundred men and horses larger than Pan Ke. He dared to go out of the city to attack at night and attack him unprepared.
, can be considered brave and resourceful.”
Mr. Ma bowed and continued, "Pang Yu once confided in his subordinates the idea of joining the army. The subordinates have always wanted to recommend this person, but due to the inconvenience of his status as an aide, he never spoke up. It was because the subordinates abandoned the public service for personal reasons.
"
Zhang Guowei opened his eyes and looked at Mr. Ma before saying, "I have always trusted Mr. Ma. There is no harm in speaking out in the future."
Mr. Ma bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for your trust, sir, but if Pang Yu is used to guard Anqing, there is another hidden worry, and that is where Wang Gongbi is."
"But because Pan Keda is a close confidant of Prince Bi."
"That's true. Although Pan Keda is weak in battle and defense, he was promoted by Wang Gongbi after all. If he were to be replaced rashly, Lord Wang would probably criticize him."
Zhang Guowei did not answer immediately. After a moment of pause, he said, "Wang Gongbi is the second best. The first thing I want to do when hiring people is that they have both ability and political integrity. Virtue comes before talent. Bring the little team leader here and let me see you."
...Note 1: In the eighth year of Chongzhen, because Yang Erming, the magistrate of Tongcheng, wrote a letter recommending Pan Keda for his meritorious service in defending Tongcheng, Zhang Guowei promoted Pan Keda to guerrilla duty, increased the number of troops by 1,200, and remained stationed in Tongcheng.