Yongzhou Prefecture Yahou Garden.

The chief bureaucrat gathered together to give the newly arrived general judge Xu Ping a pick-up.

The rumors of the conflict between Xu Ping and Cao Keming are already known to everyone, and the atmosphere is very depressing. The officials of the shogunate and some low-level supervisors all sat cautiously on the seats, looking at their noses and noses, and their hearts and minds, without saying a word.

At the top sat Cao Keming, who was almost sixty years old, his hair and beard were gray, but his body was still very strong, and he wore a silk shirt to cover his copper tendons and iron bones.

Cao Keming is a native of Yazhou, Sichuan and Shu, and followed his uncle Cao Guangshi to join the army. The party rebellion, Li Jiqian deceived and killed Cao Guangshi, and Cao Keming took a servant to secretly sneak behind the enemy and bring back Cao Keshi's body, which was highly valued. Because his mother was old and secretly returned to her hometown, she happened to encounter Li Shun's uprising, and she was promoted because of her military achievements, and later did inspections in many places and accumulated achievements. Later, he was transferred to Yongzhou to quell the rebellion of Mantong. Since then, he has served in many places, most of which are related to the rebellion of the barbarians, and his military achievements are impressive. Because of Jiaozhi's attack on Yongzhou, he was transferred back, and with his prestige, he only sent someone to Jiaozhi to negotiate, and Li Gongyun collected his troops to express his apologies.

In good conscience, this is a veritable veteran of meritorious heroes, one of the Optimus Prime of the Great Song Dynasty who suppressed many barbarians in the two lakes and two Guangzhous. Xu Ping also understood, understood that he didn't have the consciousness of whispering in front of Cao Keming just because of this. Everyone has their own division of labor and different responsibilities, even if they really look down on him in their hearts, they have to get by on face. Cao Keming didn't give him this face, so he simply didn't want it.

Cao Keming looked at the group of subordinates, turned his head to Xu Ping, who was sitting next to him, and said with a pale face: "Yongzhou is a small place, and there is no singing and dancing. A few days ago, Guizhou Tian Zhizhou sent a message, saying that he would lend us a few courtesans, why didn't he come with the general judgment? ”

Xu Ping said in a deep voice: "I went out of Guizhou with Wang Cao's envoy, and the superintendent went out on patrol, how grand?" How could it be possible to take a courtesan with you and tell the truth plainly! ”

Cao Keming shook his head again and again: "Wang Cao is a scholar with a temper, and he can only play these false things." What does it matter to take a courtesan? When you are bored on the road, you can also sing and dance. I think he is also an ignorant person, and when he came to Guangxi, he didn't make any real achievements, but he transferred that Duan Fang back to Yongzhou. Who is an official in Guangnan who doesn't know that Duan Fang's grievances with Mantong are entangled, isn't this asking me for trouble? ”

Xu Ping didn't know these secrets, and remembered that the Yongzhou officials saw Duan Fang's peculiar expression, but he was afraid that there were really many stories, so he kept silent and didn't answer Cao Keming's words.

The rank of local officials in the Song Dynasty was generally not high, and the superintendent was particularly fond of troublesome with Wuchen Zhizhou, so Cao Keming's dissatisfaction with Wang Weizheng was overflowing. He is proud of his identity, and he is not afraid that this boss will give him small shoes, at this time Li Gongyun, the king of Jiaozhi, is already old, and everyone knows that he will not live for a few years. The old and the new alternate, state affairs are inevitably turbulent, and Yongzhou is really indispensable for this old minister.

There are all kinds of fruits piled up on the table in front of everyone, which is a specialty of Lingnan, which is much richer than that of the Central Plains. But the wine and food never came up, and Cao Keming was a little impatient.

Finally seeing the official in charge, Cao Keming called him in front of him and asked sharply: "The officials have been sitting here for so long, and the wine is gone, what are you doing?" ”

The little official peeked at Xu Ping, his face was bitter, and he just said, "Zhizhou will come up soon." Today, there are not many wineries in the city, and it is not easy to procure. ”

"Go! Just go! ”

Cao Keming waved his hand impatiently.

The official liquor of each state is brewed by the minister's treasury, and a separate treasury is the minister's liquor warehouse. Yongzhou is because of the small population, and the most important thing is that Cao Keming is not good at financial management, and the minister's treasury has long stopped making its own wine, and when it is needed, it is used to buy it in a restaurant outside. The two Guangxi do not levy liquor, and allow the people to brew and sell it at will, called Wanhu liquor, and the price of liquor is much lower than that of other places, and it is not troublesome to buy.

Xu Ping looked at it but just sneered in his heart. He had already instructed his subordinates to manage the arrears, and specially sent people to guard the minister's treasury, and as long as there was money to take out, he would first receive the arrears from the military treasury.

When the minister uses money in the treasury, he must first know the state to approve the slip and pass the judgment before he can go down to the officials in charge of the treasury to spend it. Cao Keming's note came over, Xu Ping didn't look at it, just signed it and added eight words: "Zhizhou is public, and the general judgment is approved." Anyway, he made up his mind not to use the money in the minister's treasury for a period of time, and asked the secretary to strangle the money from the minister's treasury to death, and cut off Cao Keming's financial resources first. If he has the ability, he will use his own money to work, but although his money is generous, he is afraid that it is still far from being used for official business.

The expenditure of the legation treasury mainly affects the daily consumption of the governor and the general judge and their direct subordinates, and other general financial expenditures come from the military treasury, which is in Xu Ping's control and will not cause a backlash from the subordinate officials.

Xu Ping is sitting here, this little official doesn't dare to say that Xu Ping has cut off the financial resources of the minister's treasury, and tonight's wine banquet is only afraid that a few of their specific officials will have to pay for it themselves. Of course, it can be hung on the account of the minister's treasury, and as for whether it will be repaid or not, it depends on the mood of the chief. The officials of the Song Dynasty often faced this kind of thing, and many of them went bankrupt, and the errand service was a terrible burden.

After waiting for a while, the wine and food finally came up. Xu Ping took a look, the standard is extremely low, such a large group of people, all the expenses are only one or twenty times. You must know that this kind of official banquet is less than 100 guan, and it is not uncommon to encounter extravagant Zhizhou flowers to more than 1,000 guan. Kou Zhun was a local official, and he liked to eat and drink the most, often surrounding the big tent and lighting a huge candle to drink and feast with his colleagues all night, and the minister's money was always not enough to spend, which was a common scene in the Song Dynasty. Giving a general sentence is this kind of standard for receiving the wind, and if you say it, you will be laughed to death by others.

Cao Keming couldn't hold it on his face, but he also knew the situation in the minister's treasury, and he couldn't be harsh on the little officials, so he had to be cheeky and said: "Xu Tong judged that he was tired of eating wine and meat from the Central Plains, and when he came to Lingnan, he tasted more melons and fruits here, which is very different from the taste of the Central Plains!" ”

Xu Ping didn't speak, he drank when others toasted, and he took chopsticks when others ate.

For more than half a year, the wine feast ended hastily, and there was no singing and dancing, and there were no other programs.

Xu Ping returned to his residence, Gao Daquan and several of Xu Ping's entourage sergeants were sitting in the courtyard chatting, and hurriedly stood up and saluted.

Knowing that the public food in the state government had been cut off because he had sealed the minister's treasury, Xu Ping asked, "Have you eaten?" ”

Next to her, Xiuxiu was riding her baby fruit off the horse and wandering, and after listening to it, she hurriedly replied, "We have eaten!" Official, the glutinous rice dumplings we went out to eat and a kind of rice noodles are so slippery and delicious! ”

Rice noodles are later rice noodles, which are popular foods in Guangxi, Xu Ping smiled.

After sitting down in the courtyard and drinking a bowl of tea, Xu Ping chatted with these entourage sergeants, asking them where they were from, how much their family had a household registration, and whether they had enough money to support their families every month.

The Xiang army was recruited from the beginning, especially these people are not under the official command, they are all farmers near Yongzhou, only Tan Hu is the leftover from the forbidden army, homeless and unemployed, and he is considered a professional.

Speaking of military salaries, Tan Hu said with a smile: "The local price in Yongzhou is cheap, and people like me who don't have a family to drag down are of course enough to eat and drink." Everyone else has parents and wives and children, what is this enough! It is all up to the family to farm and earn a living at home. ”

The Xiang Army's Yulu is much worse than that of the forbidden army, and this situation is also expected by Xu Ping, so he has to wait until the future, if the military treasury is abundant, it will be better to give them more rewards.

Speaking of gossip, Tan Hu said: "The official uniforms of the officials are still in the shape of the Central Plains, and it is a little hot to wear here." Yongzhou is rich in ramie, and the outer cloth is very cheap, and the officials can make a different set, and it is cool to wear. ”

Silk cloth is a large source of income in Yongzhou, exported to all directions, also known as Xia Bu, in this kind of place than Xu Ping's clothes are much more comfortable, Xu Ping naturally agreed. In fact, as soon as he arrives, these things should be ready, and he has to buy them himself. Now that the minister has no money in the treasury, he can't even receive the settling-in allowance, and Cao Zhizhou didn't let him go in his eyes, so naturally there is nothing.

Xiuxiu was tired of playing on the horse, so she took the horse to the side and tied it to the manger, and also came over to listen.

Xu Ping said: "Xiuxiu, from tomorrow onwards, we will open a small stove by ourselves, every day you and Gao Daquan go out to buy vegetables and cook, my Yulu will be collected by Gao Daquan, and the account will be settled once a month." ”

Xiuxiu said: "Why? I heard from them that there is a special blister kitchen in the state government, and we can all eat there, and we don't need to cook it ourselves. ”

Xu Ping shook his head: "I'm afraid that the blister chef in the state government will not be able to fire tomorrow." ”

The various expenses of the state government are the major daily expenses of the minister's treasury, and from tomorrow, I don't know how many people will have to jump their feet. Xu Ping pondered that he should send this month's money in advance before the year, as well as the reward of the New Year's Festival, and give it full at one time to calm the anger of the people who suffered losses. The contradiction between him and Cao Zhizhou does not need to implicate other people, so that the family will not have a good time for many years.

These two Xiuxiu were flattered everywhere, and they thought that they would live a good life with the officials from now on, but they didn't expect to cook every day, and they stood aside and got angry.

Xu Ping comforted him casually, Xiuxiu was just angry and ignored him, and Xu Ping didn't bother to care anymore. In the past two years, Xiuxiu has been with Su'er every day, and she has also learned her squeamishness.

After talking about Xiuxiu, Xu Ping said to Tan Hu again: "You and Gao Daquan arrange a rotation of subordinates, you don't need all the people to follow me every day, if you have free time, it's good to make a living by yourself and subsidize the family." If you want to go out of the city, I will let Gao Daquan inform you in advance. ”

Tan Hu thanked him. The life of a soldier is not easy, if there is no extra money, and the commander does not reward him, his life will be very tense. Xu Ping can understand their hard work and make them feel comfortable.

Looking at the moon and the middle sky, Xu Ping stood up and stretched: "Let's rest early, everyone will be busy with things tomorrow morning, don't slack off." ”

The duties of the general judge are very complicated, and Xu Ping has no free time for the next month.