Before leaving Yangzhou, Zhang Ning replied a letter to Luo Yaoniang. About four months after leaving the capital, he received a total of two letters from her. One was brought to the Yangzhou government office through official messengers delivering official documents, and the other was through correspondence.
An acquaintance of the businessman on the canal; this time Zhang Ning replied, just in time to give money to the officer who delivered the official letter of promotion. Originally, according to the legal system, officers who had official duties were not allowed to bring personal belongings, but out of interest (a letter
Letters can charge anywhere from three to five cents of silver, which is quite a lot of money). This kind of thing happens all the time. Zhang Ning only gradually became aware of these things after he became an official.
Zhang Ning couldn't help but smile as he reread her two letters. Various scenes of quarrels with her appeared in his mind. Unexpectedly, the letters she wrote were in order, and she did not ask him whether he was promiscuous with women.
, and he did not write anything unflattering. There were a few classical Chinese sentences in the narrative from time to time, which seemed quite polite, giving the illusion of "respecting each other as guests".
Zhang Jingjing sat for a while, reached out to dip his pen in the inkstone, held up his sleeve with one hand, and a line of "Miss Luo's Yajian" fell on the paper like flowing water, and then he said greetings, etc., explaining that he was going to Nanjing.
Matters of employment.
...This time I went to Nanjing no longer alone, I brought three followers with me. I handed over official documents to Wu Yong, had a drink and gave me fifty taels of food; the garden where Wu Yong lived, "Wu Garden", changed owners.
, itself is a public property.
He took the time to go home again, and the uncle and the others talked about some family matters as usual. Zhang Ning repeatedly warned: Don't collect money and things at will. If there is no reason, you can't collect a penny; if it's a festival or a birthday, etc., the value
You can accept less than ten taels, but you can't accept more than that. You can't avoid it by consulting him for such miscellaneous matters.
No one in the Zhang family has ever been an official, so they are afraid that their eldest uncle and cousin will be praised for accepting any amount of money. No one’s money is given to them for free. If they do not do anything after taking the money or are unable to do anything at all, what will happen then?
Not long after, an official under Hu Butang came to Beijing and discussed some matters in secret. He said that the secret letter was written by Emperor Jianwen. The emperor was very concerned about it and asked him to follow the clues and find a way to investigate. As expected, this promotion was not
It's pie in the sky, but I have something to do for him... Maybe I got the key person's letters a while ago and killed Peng Tianheng to make the emperor angry, which was too pushy.
Zhang Ning had access to the files in Wuyuan and was busy checking the files of the former interviewer in Yangzhou. Unexpectedly, there were personnel files in other prefectures, but he didn't find what he was looking for. Is there anything hidden in this matter?
The inside story? He thought about it and simply wrote to Hu Butang directly to ask about the matter. The reason was that he doubted the details of Biyuan and the two people. If Hu Butang didn't want to tell, he could just find an excuse to get over it. Anyway, he should ask.
fine.
...The government courier delivers information very quickly, and Zhang Ning received a reply half a month later. It is incomparable with private messages. It takes Luo Yaoniang's letter an average of one or two months to be delivered.
Zhang Ning took the letter from the courier, opened it and looked at what seemed to be Hu Ying's handwriting. He glanced at the courier who had not left yet. He quickly put down the letter with both hands and asked someone to get water to wash his hands.
He just sat down and read. After pretending to be a ghost, he thought to himself: It's best for this guy to explain the meeting in detail when he gets back. See how much I respect Hu Butang!
Sure enough, the origin of Miao Ge is a bit mysterious. In the final analysis, this woman, who doesn't even have a name in the birth certificate, is just a prostitute in Biyuan, but she was targeted by Zhang Ning... Although she got some clues from Xie Juan , but Zhang Ning's doubts about Miao Ge's details were mostly based on intuition. In short, this matter was a bit coincidental.
Hu Ying mentioned in the letter that her former Yangzhou interviewer had been convicted and imprisoned. After interrogation, he asked about their origins. But Zhang Ning actually only cared about one of the Miao songs. That Miao song came from a witchcraft sect in Yunnan. The "Anti-evil Sect" was a woman who was recruited by the former envoy when he was an official in Yunnan. Soon after he established Biyuan, he placed the women there as geishas.
The Shengui Sect itself was one of the targets of the secret investigation by Hu Ying and his gang, but it happened that Miao Ge was related to this messy sect. It was no problem but also a problem. After reading the letter, Zhang Ning secretly exclaimed that something was wrong.
As expected, within a few days from Wuyuan, two Jinyi guardsmen and several military followers came to see Zhang Ning. They all dressed in casual clothes and showed their Beizhen Fusi waist badges. They got to the point directly. The purpose is to arrest people, arrest two people: Xie Juan, Miao Ge. Can Zhang Ning stop the Jinyiwei? Others come and say it to save face, because the person to be arrested is a subordinate of the Southern Zhili interview envoy, even if they don’t say hello, they will arrest him directly. What can you do with the factory guard? Not only can't he stop him, but he has to send someone to follow him to help.
After sending off the Jinyi Guardsman, Zhang Ning sat in a chair and was in a daze for a long time.
He had seen those people working in the Jinyiwei Yamen in Beijing. At that time, they were quite polite to the three members of the Zhou family. They did not use punishment but only intimidation. Think of the former Yangzhou interview envoy who was accused of everything when he was interrogated... Miao What kind of treatment will Ge receive if he is taken to prison?
Suddenly, it was as if a basin of cold water had been poured on him, and he thought to himself: What on earth am I doing these things for? Zhang Ning's mind showed the skillful posture of a slender beauty making tea, and he felt very uncomfortable for a moment.
At first, he wanted to be an interview envoy in Yangzhou to get back the handle of Taohua Poetry and eliminate hidden dangers; then when he got the things back, the situation was quite chaotic. This Xie Juan, I felt that Xie Juan could not easily harm others, and Miao Ge was at the breaking point... and it ended up like this.
It is too easy for people to go too far and forget their original intention.
Xie Jun was punished, but Zhang Ning couldn't feel the pleasure of revenge. Maybe anger and hatred are like this. As soon as the anger burns out, he wants to take revenge; but if the revenge is really successful, what can he get? It can't be empty. That’s all.
Zhang Ning realized that he was not suitable for this line of work at all. Emperor Jianwen and his ministers were none of his business. Hu Ying's team was as dirty as the work of factory guards. Why would you mess around with him? It's a big deal to become a corrupt official. If you are greedy for dirty money, you will be punished at every turn in this line of work, so you really can't do it.
Now I have no choice but to hang out and drink, and look for opportunities to be transferred from the position of the Shenma interview envoy. It is business. I want to be a seventh-grade county magistrate or something. In the future, I will be able to become an official of about the fifth grade. I will be careful to embezzle some money to buy a house. Then I will be better. Just take a side job as a merchant to make a living.
Then he remembered Su Liangchen, a talented man from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, who was in Nanjing these days, so he invited him to drink flowers, wine, sing the wind and admire the moon to relieve the negative energy. During the dinner, Zhang Ning accidentally expressed envy of his leisurely tone. Unexpectedly, Mr. Su was smart enough to hear it. To put it another way, Ping'an's official career is flourishing. If I could change it, I would be very willing... In this world, people who are ambitious and want to do something will have good land and mansions and a stomach for writing, music, and poetry.
Later, Lao Xu told Zhang Ning that he wanted to settle down as a tenant. Zhang Ning agreed without much thought. Lao Xu added: "Boss Xie of Yangzhou Biyuan was arrested, and someone must take care of that place..."
At this mention, Zhang Ning immediately understood the mystery and asked: "Old Xu wants to be the leader of the secret agent?"
There was no one else around, so Lao Xu nodded: "I was thinking that Boss Xie is a craftsman, and he can do it. It proves that the position does not require high status. As soon as I settled down, taking over Biyuan was just a matter of arrangement from the boss...
If my boss has other arrangements for a candidate, then that’s it, I’ll just mention it casually.”
Because the assets in Biyuan's name are relatively rich in that position, it is better to give them to outsiders than to own people, so Lao Xucai said it without any pressure. Maybe in his opinion, it was the best of both worlds, and Zhang Ning had no reason to be unhappy.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Ning was not happy at all. He advised: "It's risky to do that business. Didn't you think Xie Juan was arrested?"
Old Xu smiled and said: "That's because Boss Xie doesn't know how to do things. In my opinion, working as an errand in Biyuan is much easier and safer than when I was a military attache..."
Zhang Ning pondered for a while, thinking that the flow of water in his mind goes down and people go up. It is true that being the boss of Biyuan not only improves his status but also materially. Lao Xu was quite generous in doing things a while ago, so there is no reason to treat him wrong.
Be kind. As for whether Lao Xu will be scrutinized in the future, unless Zhang Ning is unlucky in advance, no one will easily check him. Zhang Ning sighed slightly and said: "That's fine, you want to go to me
Let me arrange it for you. Now I have the power to arrange a spy leader from the state capital to my position... Although you and I have not known each other for a long time, I do not treat you as an outsider. To tell you the truth, I have no intention of continuing to conduct interviews.
Ambassador, he will probably leave office in a while, so you can take care of yourself after arriving at Biyuan."
Lao Xu hurriedly asked: "My boss is very successful in his official career and has just been promoted to the fifth rank. Why..."
"This fifth grade is fictitious." Zhang Ningqiang smiled and said, "You don't need to ask more, I don't have this ambition."
Lao Xu said: "I'd better not go on Biyuan's errand."
"Why don't you go?" Zhang Ning said, "Since you think that position is good, you can do it with or without me. The transfer of officials has little to do with the spy leader. The former Yangzhou interviewer was convicted and imprisoned, and Xie Jun was not moved.
?”
"When I first brought this up, I thought my boss would be an interviewer, and I would also be working for you below." Lao Xu said, "Now that my boss has said that this is not his ambition, what's the use of me going there? It seems like disloyalty."
Zhang Ning smiled and said: "Speaking of loyalty or disloyalty, I have told you a long time ago that it is better for the relationship between people to be light. If you think I am okay with people, there is no need to be grateful to Dai De'an. You know it in your heart."
At some point, just don’t add insult to injury. Everyone has his or her own ambitions, and I won’t stop you.”
"This..." Lao Xu suddenly looked embarrassed, "What ambitions does this old man have at his age? But staying here for a few years will be a drag on my employer. In this case, Wenjun will be entrusted to his employer to take care of him."
Zhang Ning nodded calmly: "There are countless young talents in Nanjing. I saw the right one. Wenjun was also satisfied and gave her a home." Seeing that Old Xu's expression was a little sad, Zhang Ning, although young, advised, "Life is a gathering."
It’s normal to separate things, so don’t worry about it too much.”
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