A dead leaf fell down and landed in the small pond under the rockery in the front yard. The sunlight slanted down, casting the dry branches of the old trees in the yard onto the bluestone.
A drunkard's chair was placed in the shadow of the pavilion, and a pair of feet swayed gently on the stool in front of him.
Pang Yu lay in the pavilion with squinted eyes. She reached out to pick up the wine bowl from the small table next to her and took a sip. After putting it down, she put a few peas in her mouth, smashed them into pieces and chewed them slowly.
At the end of September, the autumn weather in Tongcheng was crisp, and it was the most pleasant time of the year. Pang Yu sat in the courtyard, thinking about nothing, completely emptying his mind. He enjoyed this feeling very much.
The small courtyard given to him by Tang Weimin used to be Liu Xiucai's foreign residence. Liu Xiucai originally planned to run away, so he sold the property at a low price. It is said that he later met Fang Yingqian in Anqing and was persuaded by Fang Yingqian to return to Tongcheng.
Liu Xiucai could not get back this foreign residence, but he and Fang Yingqian went to buy some other properties and took advantage of the vacuum caused by the departure of the former Jin gentry and got a lot of bargains.
Although this person is not a very good person, the courtyard of the outer house is designed with some taste. Because there are not many people living in the outer house, the structure is different from that of ordinary homes. The entire outside is a garden. Although it is not big, it is well-proportioned. Pang Yu I like to relax in the pavilion by the pool.
"Master, when can I buy a yard by myself?"
Pang Yu opened his eyes, and Pang Ding was sitting on the high chair opposite. This kind of chair is actually more suitable for resting than the drunken man's chair, and the weight is lighter. When wealthy families go out, they often put the high chair on the horse to prepare for the road. Used for resting on the way.
"When you are not going to sit down for a while, clean your chair. The young master will use it when he goes to pick up the official."
Pang Yu narrowed his eyes again, "Buying a house will take a while.
When everyone in the fast class can earn money, it will not be so conspicuous."
Pang Ding paused and turned his head to look at Chi Shui and said, "How could Jiao Guozha buy it? He also bought a Sanjin compound with a garden. I heard that it cost more than five hundred taels. Some people in the neighborhood were gossiping about his money. It’s not the right way.”
"You just looked at Jiao Guozhao, then why didn't He Xianya buy it?"
Pang Yu glared at Pang Ding, "If you have a little money, you don't know what you are. How did we get the money? It was paid by the gentry to the man named Huang. One day, the secret was really revealed, and the gentry came to ask us to pay back the money." Go back and see if our yamen servants can handle it. It’ll be up to you what you do then.”
"Then why do you want to live in this new courtyard?"
"damn thing!"
Pang Yu became so angry that he jumped up and slapped Pang Ding on the head, "I even competed with the young master. This yard was given to me by someone else. Who can track down the money and get it?"
Pang Ding covered his head and muttered, "Then why did Jiao Guozhao take six thousand and I only took one thousand taels.
He didn't have any ideas. If someone wants to run away when something happens in the mountains, why should he take 6,000? The 3,000 behind is to guard Wang Guohua. Anyway, Wang Guohua's legs are broken, so I can go and guard him."
Pang Yu kicked Pang Ding's calf hard, and Pang Ding screamed and shrank his feet back on the chair.
"I said you are not allowed to mention this matter again, are you afraid that others won't know about it?"
After relieving himself for a while, Pang Yu didn't want to rest his mind anymore. He picked up the wine bowl on the small table and took a sip. He turned around and saw Pang Ding huddled on the high chair, still looking unconvinced.
Pang Yu took out the chimney and shredded tobacco, lit it with a fire stick, and after taking a few puffs, he lay back comfortably on the chair, "Tell me, Master, what are the opinions in the fast class recently?"
"Of course, young master, you asked everyone to be on duty on time, but Jiao Guozhao and Mr. Shen's nephew only came to order. Everyone in the fast class said, why did the class leader have to be on duty, but Jiao Guozhao didn't?
You can go to the gambling stall to decide whether Jiao Guozhao is the class leader or you are the class leader."
Pang Yu didn't say anything. Looking at Pang Ding, he was competing with Jiao Guozha, and everything would be blamed on Jiao Guozha.
In addition to Jiao Guozhao, the personnel in the fast class are becoming more and more complex, and it is not easy for Pang Yu to manage them.
As soon as Tang Weimin came back yesterday, he hinted that Pang Yu hoped to place two relatives in the fast class. Pang Yu still has a headache. Tang Weimin's relatives must be established. If they are to be helpers, Tang Weimin will not have to speak, so Pang Yu still has to put
There were two vacancies among the original people before they could be arranged. Zhang Sili from the torture chamber and an official from the county magistrate's office also came to ask for help. It was when Pang Yu had a headache.
According to the personnel power of the county government, the clerks of each house have the personnel power of their own house. Except that the clerk cannot be appointed or removed, the clerks, assistants, and clerks are all the affairs of the clerk.
But after all, they still need clerks to do things, and it is impossible to accommodate all their relatives and friends. Among them, the easiest ones to accommodate are the three-shift yamen servants, because they have little technical content.
Now the yamen knows that Tang Weimin supports the fast class and that the income from the fast class may be higher in the future, so they all want to place their relatives and friends in the fast class. Even those who were previously in the soap class want to be transferred there.
However, because Xinzhi County was about to take office, Pang Yu relied on this excuse to postpone the matter for a while, waiting for Xinzhi County to come to see if he could get more staff.
The county government has been very busy recently, so there is no rush for those rooms.
The end of the chaos has not yet been settled. The autumn grain collection has been delayed for a while, and we have to work overtime. Now it involves the handover of the old and new magistrates. There are many people involved in the handover of each house. The most important thing is naturally the houses with relatively large assets.
, workshop, barracks.
Fish scale diagrams, yellow books, tax collections, official fields, school fields, shops, warehouses, prisons, lawsuits, etc., must be checked one by one.
The ceremonial room must organize the gentry, elders, etc. to prepare for the official reception ceremony.
There was something going on in every room. Pang Yu, who had been so busy arresting people for interrogation in the past few days, was able to relax because the quick shift hardly involved copywriting and he had no assets.
"When there was no one to help me that day, Jiao Guozhao was able to come and team up with the young master, which was a timely help.
As for the silver, the one thousand taels I gave you that day was too little. When you get married in the future, the young master will give you another thousand taels. Don’t mention the matter of Yunji Temple again in the future. If you mention it again, I won’t give you the one thousand taels.
.
Don’t ask any more questions about Jiao Guozhao, the young master has his own opinion."
Pang Ding suddenly beamed with joy. Pang Yu knew that he had appeased all three helpers that day. The matter at Yunji Temple was basically over at this point, but hidden dangers still existed.
Pang Yu rubbed his forehead and stopped thinking about those annoying things. He was about to continue to rest his mind when he heard someone speaking behind him.
"Why is Yu'er sleeping in the pavilion again?"
Pang Yu quickly stood up and said, "I'm just taking a break. I like the open space in the yard."
After saying that, Pang Yu raised his eyes and saw that both his wife and his father were there, each carrying a bag with the wooden pole at the end of the scented wax exposed.
"Mom and dad are going out again?"
The old lady nodded anxiously, "No, today I will go to a few temples to worship the Bodhisattva. You said that you have killed more than 30 people in the past month since we left. Those are people, not cats or dogs. You
Even the head was cut off... I am always afraid that if those innocent souls are not taken away, they will be reported to you one day."
The father coughed dryly and said, "Some people say that you took the thieves' money. Is that true?
If it belongs to someone else's family, you should return it to their family members. Even though they are troublemakers, those family members still have to live their lives."
"I didn't take any money."
Pang Yu bowed and said, "As an official, my son is helping the people to quell chaos, how can he take their money?"
This yard was also given to me as a reward from the household house. I don’t have dirty money to buy it, so my father can live here with peace of mind.”
My mother also advised, "Yu'er, daddy, why don't you come back and live here? This yard is bigger than before, and it's so empty."
The cheap dad said yes and said nothing more. However, since he came back, he has not lived in this new courtyard. He still lives in the original medicine shop. Although he said that he must keep the medicinal materials, Pang Yu knew that he had heard the rumors. How much
Some grudges.
"My mother is right. After these few days of busy work, I will go to the south gate to buy some maids and come back. I will also let my mother have a taste of being served, and the house will be more lively."
"Oh, that's okay too."
The old lady immediately said with a smile, "I have always heard Aunt Xu talk about wealthy families. She just used to be a flower arranger and went in to take a look.
When our family buys a few more maids, let her come to our house to have a look."
"What are you looking at?"
The father glared at the two of them with dissatisfaction, "Those who sell their bodies for sex are poor people. How can you bear to buy them and abuse them?"
The cheap lady buried her head and said, "No one is saying that we are going to mess with them. People are selling themselves in Nanmen every day. If we don't buy it, others will buy it. Maybe we are not allowed to buy it. If we treat them better, it can be considered a good deed."
.”
"Back then, Ponting was picked up by the roadside, and that was considered a good thing.
What's a good thing to buy? Our old Pang family is not allowed to buy people, we can only hire helpers."
The father spoke categorically and went out first. The mother gave Pang Yu a wink and hurriedly followed.
Pang Ding came over and said, "What are you doing, master? Why is he not happy now that our family is rich?"
Pang Yu smiled and said, "He can only accept selling medicine to make money, but dad always does good for us, otherwise he would not leave the drug store that is his lifeblood and go to pray to gods and Buddhas all day long."
"Then young master, you can't buy me a maid."
Pang Ding licked his tongue and said, "You can't buy a maid until you get married and separate and move out."
"Getting married and separating... I heard that Aunt Liu came to visit yesterday."
Pang Ding whispered, "Madam said Aunt Liu is willing to pay fifty taels."
"Aunt Liu is very good. Now for fifty taels..." Pang Yu rubbed her chin, "I just want to get married to the fairy of the Liu family."
Before he could figure it out, when the courtyard door rang, Ruan Jin entered and hurriedly came to Pang Yu, "Board leader, the magistrate of Xinzhi County arrived at Anqing Mansion yesterday, and handed over a name card to go to the government office tomorrow to meet Pi Yingju.
Jiang Fan has found their residence, not at the official residence of the government office, but at an inn not far from the government office."
Pang Yuteng sat up and asked, "Has Tongcheng Chengfa received the news?"
"The Anqing Prefecture's official department has sent someone to Tongcheng, but they are moving more slowly, so they probably haven't received it yet."
"Let Mr. Yu know that we are going to the Anjing area of Liantan. You two can go get the horses. We will set off immediately. We will stay in Liantan for the night and we must go to Anqing tomorrow."
... Anqing Prefecture is located between the Dabie Mountains and the Yangtze River, with geographical barriers to the north and south. Anqing geographically controls both water and land arteries.
Due to its special geographical location, Anqing has always been a strategic town on the Yangtze River. Once a war starts along the Yangtze River, Anqing will be a battleground.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang fought over Anqing, and the Hunan Army in later generations besieged Anqing for two years. Both sides invested hundreds of thousands of troops. In the end, the Taiping Army was defeated, and Nanjing lost its upstream barrier, and it turned to a passive strategy.
defense.
Because it was so far inland, Anqing's strategic position did not appear during most of the Ming Dynasty.
Only during King Ning's rebellion, Anqing played an important role in containing the rebellion. As soon as King Ning, who came with great momentum, was delayed in Anqing, Wang Yangming took over and the army failed in forty-three days.
Idiot Pang Er knows nothing about this. Anqing is just a place name to him.
When he came to the Anqing government office, he only regarded it as Pi Yingju's official office.
After the rebellion was over, Pi Yingju also came to Tongcheng and met Pang Yu cordially twice. This little Zaoli pacified the rebellion alone and stabilized Pi Yingju's precarious official position. Later, Pang Yu successfully completed the application matter, so Pi Yingju
He has a very good impression of Pang Yu, but this does not mean that he will definitely meet Pang Yu.
This time, Pang Yu used the excuse of being a bandit in Liantan to arrive at the county border. He pretended to learn that the new Tangzun had arrived at the county border, and then decided to rush to Anqing Mansion to pick up the official. It was not an official dispatch, so Pang Yu did not plan to do it immediately.
Go and ask for a meeting.
Pang Yu asked Jiang Fan, "Is there any more detailed information?"
Jiang Fan whispered, "Zhixian Yang lives in Fuyu Inn, with a person who looks like a friend, two people who look like domestic servants, a mother-in-law, and a person of unknown origin."
"What do you mean by unknown origin?"
"He came with Yang Zhixian and others, and they also stayed in an inn, but they didn't eat together, and they went out alone when they went out."
Pang Yu snorted and asked a few of his fast-moving men around him, "What do you think that person does?"
Several people looked at each other, Pang Yu shook his head and said to Jiang Fan, "The people in the official department of Anqing Prefecture are well-informed. Go and inquire and see if they know the identity of that person."
Jiang Fan hesitated and said, "I'll go right away, but I don't know how to handle official duties."
Pang Yu looked at the others, with shrinking looks in his eyes, and sighed in his heart. The group of people under him are all low-level government servants. They are very skilled in doing business in the market. Once it comes to higher levels, they are all two.
His eyes went dark.
Jiang Fan has achieved this level in Anqing this time, which is already considered a good thing.
"Spend a little more money and you will recognize it. Don't be afraid of spending money when doing things."
After Pang Yu finished speaking, he led a few people to Fuyu Inn. As he walked, he asked He Xianya, "Where is Wang Chaofeng?"
"He did not dare to pass on the news to Wang Dazhuang. The confession about his brother lighting a fire at Pan Yinglou's house is in our hands. Chaofeng has been hiding in the inn for the past two days and has not left the house."
Pang Yu nodded, as long as he could defeat Zaoban, he would have met the minimum requirements.
Fuyu Inn is not far from the government office, and several people quickly saw the door of Fuyu Inn.
There was still some distance from the inn, so Jiang Fan lowered his voice and said, "Board leader, the one who is about to leave is Yang Zhixian."
Pang Yu quickly looked up and saw four people walking out of the door. The first was a boy about thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a black Qingjin. Because of his thin body, the Qingjin seemed to be hanging on his body. Behind him was a boy.
There is a middle-aged man in his early forties, wearing a white Taoist robe, with a very calm expression. Behind him is an elderly man in his fifties, with a face full of wrinkles, and finally a young man in his twenties wearing short clothes.
"The one in the middle is Magistrate Yang, right?"
Pang Yu believed in his heart that the middle-aged man was the county magistrate, nodded and went up to meet him.
"Wrong class leader."
Jiang Fan grabbed Pang Yu and quietly pointed at another person and said, "That is Magistrate Yang."
Pang Yu blinked and looked at the official magistrate, almost stunned on the spot.