Guo Si'er lay down on the grassy slope, waiting for the sound of the horse's hooves to be far away, and Fang Zhan climbed up tremblingly. The first thought was to go back to Yangzhou City to report to the official, but when he walked for a long time, when he arrived outside Yangzhou City, he remembered the words of the robbers, they were in Yangzhou City, and the horses must have made people get off the croton.

It is a matter of life and death for the master, Guo Si'er is naturally twelve points careful, thinking that even if the gang of gangsters didn't find out that he ran away, he would come to the yamen to block it; With only a small servant on his body, he only has a few gold melon seeds and broken silver from the master, how can he make the official government come forward to save the master? Because of his scruples, he picked up the old deeds, took a few copper coins and changed clothes with a beggar, and went around the yamen, and sure enough, he found some sneaky people asking people about a small house. He was so shocked that he couldn't do anything about it, so he thought of Wei Xin, the organizer of this pearl meeting. Immediately, he did not stop in Yangzhou, and hired a car to return to Jiangning overnight.

After telling this encounter, Guo Sier cried again.

Cao Hao always stared at Guo Si'er's expression, this statement did not seem to be fake, but it still made people suspicious, and asked: "You said that you were originally a beggar, not the son of the Wang family, so why are you still like this?" If it were an ordinary person, if he encountered such a calamity, he would have fled long ago! ”

Guo Si'er was crying sadly, but when he heard these words, he immediately raised his eyebrows and looked angry, because he saw Cao Hao sitting next to Wei Xin, dressed well, I didn't know what his identity was, and he was afraid of offending him and offending Wei Xin, so he didn't dare to reply, just wiped his tears with his sleeve, and said to Wei Xin: "Fifth Master Wei, the youngest father died when he was a child, he was a beggar on the streets of Jinan, and he almost froze to death on the street one winter, and it was my owner who saved the little one. My owner is the most kind-hearted, this Yizhou generation, who doesn't know that our owner is a good person. The little one has received the life-saving grace of the owner, how dare he lose his conscience and avoid it! ”

Wei Xin nodded, and casually asked a few more details that he had just mentioned. Most of them are upside down, left and right, Guo Si'er answered them all, and it is no different from what Fang just said.

Cao Hao understood in his heart that it seemed that what Guo Si'er said was the truth, so he motioned for Cao Fang to take him down first.

"Childe, if it is as this little guy said, it means that the other party has already premeditated, step by step, he came to this pearl side, and bought the mountain bandits, I am afraid that the surname of the Wang Dong family is worrying!" Wei Xin said.

"The mountain bandits in Yangzhou?" Cao Hao was very strange: "I haven't heard that there are any deep mountains and old forests near Yangzhou, how can there be mountain bandits raging?" Does this Yangzhou magistrate care? Speaking of this, I understood a little in my heart: "Maybe it's not a mountain bandit in Yangzhou, or maybe it's not a mountain bandit at all!" ”

"Childe said very well, Yangzhou is a prosperous place for fireworks, and there are salt merchants everywhere, and the fish and dragons are mixed, maybe which gang and faction came out to do some businessless under the guise of mountain bandits." Wei Xin nodded and said.

"This matter, don't worry about it for the time being, go home and accompany the old man and the old lady for a few days, and when the money from the [***] money village arrives, then set off south!" Cao Hao had an idea in his heart and explained to Wei Xin.

"How? Anyway, [***] Qianzhuang's silver money is set to be given on the fifteenth, and there are still several days now, if the son plans to go to Yangzhou to check, the little one will naturally follow! Over the years, I have made a lot of good friends in Guangdong, and there are two in Yangzhou! The little one knows that the son is sympathetic, and wants the little one to do his filial piety in front of his parents. But doesn't Childe know about my old man and old lady? If the little one really lives at home for a few days, I am afraid that I will have to tell the little one a daughter-in-law to be tethered, and then cry and wipe away tears to prevent the little one from going south! If that's the case, the little one will have to complain about the son! Wei Xin hurriedly shook his head and said.

Cao Hao looked at Wei Xin's bitter face, and knew that he really didn't like to stay at home, so he nodded in agreement.

Cao Hao thought of the house, he went back to Jiangning for more than two months, and he had never stayed overnight, nor did he go out to Jiangning. Always think of an excuse to put your parents at ease.

*[***] Money Bank, Inner Ledger Office.

After checking the last account, Han Jiangshi pushed open the abacus, took out Zhang Qianhong Xue Tao's note from the jade box on the side, and said to Cheng Wenkui while picking up the pen and writing: "The silver money here is not enough, and I have to bother my uncle to go to Yangzhou and allocate some silver from Xinyunzhuang." ”

Cheng Wenkui took the note, saw that it was written one million taels, and frowned: "Miss has only mentioned one million from Xinyunzhuang, and now she wants to mention one million, which is not very safe." Although Wei Gongzi's silver here is urgent, our deposit silver has gone to the 500,000 taels, and there are still 200,000 yuan, according to the old man, it is enough for the business here. Besides, the silver on the side of the pearl merchant can be recovered in three or four months at most, and Bengali also has more than 100,000 taels, so why go to Yangzhou to withdraw the silver again? In the end, it is better to put the silver here than to put it in Yangzhou. ”

Han Jiang said: "Well, I know this. I have a million taels, but I am ready to borrow it from Wei Wu. ”

Cheng Wenkuiqi said: "Borrow it again?" ”

Han Jiangshi nodded: "They just received a million dollars, and they still came to borrow money from us at this time, but why?" It is undoubtedly a big deal that overwhelms the cost, but it may not be only a shortage of silver. I expect that they are reluctant to press their own money, and want to borrow, and the interest is rolling, I am afraid that they can't afford it, so they find us and want to save money. 500,000 I'm afraid it's a stone to ask for directions! After eating the sweetness, they have to come. The more they press, the more they earn, and they want to make more, so they naturally want to press more. Let's just make some money. ”

Cheng Wenkui heard this, but still did not raise his eyebrows: "Having said that, Miss, alas, it's not the old man who said it, you are really impatient today." Knowing that they want money, why not give them some money? Even if you don't expect the Cao family to protect and help, you shouldn't offend them. In the Jiangning realm, if you offend them, it will be a dead end. At that time, we can really only go back to Yangzhou. ”

Han Jiang's family disagreed, and said with a faint smile: "Then go back to Yangzhou, after all, my uncles just want some silver, but here the Jiang family wants all my belongings!" If the Cao family can help clean up the Jiang family, I would rather give them 500,000 taels! But you didn't see what Master Cao meant? It's not even a little troublesome. He's not human, and I can't figure him out. Look, 500,000 taels can't get into his eyes, even if I give him a million, he is afraid and won't help half of it. Right now, since they don't want to ask for money if they don't want to be favored, in Jiangning, except for our family, no one can afford it and can afford it. Unless they don't want to do that business anymore, they'll have to come to us. He doesn't want to take favors, so why should we lose money for them? ”

Cheng Wenkui looked at the corners of Han Jiang's eyes and eyebrows with stubbornness, and couldn't help but shake his head: "How can it be so simple?" ”

Han Jiang smiled: "But it's not as troublesome as my uncle thought." Uncle thought, if the Cao family wants to swallow our family property through their son, will the uncles in Yangzhou agree? They'll have to be in a hurry than I am! No matter how powerful the Cao family is, the Cheng family is not at the mercy of others! ”

Cheng Wenkui couldn't convince her, and he didn't dwell on this matter anymore, but he still persuaded: "It's just that your frizzy surname still has to be grinded." You, I don't know who to follow, it's different from your parents, but a little like our old lady. ”

Han Jiang sighed and said abruptly: "It's a pity that I'm not from the old lady's branch, otherwise why be afraid of them?" Anyway, there is still silver in the capital, and if they force me again, I will go to the capital to find my third uncle. ”

Cheng Wenkui was also silent.

Han Jiang was silent for a moment, and said, "Let's bring some silver, there is no money-making business in Yangzhou now." The bonus of twenty and a half here, although it is not much, but if they do well, they can also turn over more than a million taels, so they might as well gamble. ”

Cheng Wenkui nodded and said, "Since Miss said so, I will go to Yangzhou tomorrow to withdraw silver." ”

* Cao Hao returned to the weaving mansion, first went back to his house to change his clothes, rinsed his mouth with salt water, and covered the smell of wine, and then went to Kaiyang Courtyard to greet his parents.

In the upper room, the Li family was sitting in the main seat, and Cao Yi was sitting with him, listening to the two daughters-in-law reply. Seeing Cao Hao coming, the two daughters-in-law hurriedly leaned down to say goodbye.

Cao Hao saw that the daughter-in-law who was the leader was from the Cao Yuan family who had accompanied her man into Beijing to give gifts last month, so he asked, "When will you come back, Brother Yuan?" ”

Cao Yuanjia replied: "Back to the uncle, the slaves and maids are the docks where Shen Zheng arrived, and they will return to the mansion when they are young." The slave man just went to ask the uncle for peace, but because the uncle was not there, he went to the treasury first and put the gifts brought back from the capital into the warehouse! ”

Cao Hao nodded, because it was all housework, and he didn't ask too much, so he went into the inner room to see his father.

Cao Yin sat on a chair in the middle of the room, draped in a piece of clothing, and was holding the volume of "Du Gongbu Poems" to read.

Yesterday, Cao Hao proposed to accept Mrs. Gao's proposal to come to Jiangning, Cao Yin thought about it all night, and really couldn't think of a better way than this.

Cao Hao greeted his father and asked a few more words about food.

Cao Yin thought that his son was here for the Li family's affairs, so he rubbed his brows and said, "What you said yesterday has been carefully thought about by my father. I haven't consulted your mother yet, but she is sure she willing. Now that I think about it, it was my father's negligence, and you think very well! ”

Cao Hao didn't expect Cao Yin to compromise so quickly, he thought that he would have to persuade him a few more times, but he was slightly surprised to see him respond like this. The last time I saw my grandmother was when he was seven years old. Unlike her grandmother, who is old, her grandmother Gao Taijun is not very old, not a few years older than Cao Yin. And because her husband died early, Gao Taijun lived with her sister-in-law Wen, and it was really hard to say whether she would like to come to Cao's house. If the old man is unwilling to come, I am afraid that he will still agitate and encourage his mother's side. Cao Hao thought about it in his heart, glanced at his father, and saw that he was also pondering, I don't know if he also thought of this.

"Father, tomorrow my son plans to go to Yangzhou!" Cao Hao remembered what was going on, and said to Cao Yin: "There is a pearl merchant in Shandong who is in trouble over there, and my son and Wei Xin want to go over and take a look!" Originally, he wanted to make up a lie casually, but the words were told truthfully for some reason.

Cao Yin thought of the box full of silver tickets yesterday, and frowned: "Is it the idea of playing a prescription?" Could it be that there is an official involvement? ”

"This son doesn't know, it's just a little strange, according to the little guy who came back to report the news, the other party seems to have invited the mountain bandits to come forward and tie up the pearl merchant and his entourage and guards!" Cao Hao said this, and told the general situation in Yangzhou.

Cao Yin thought for a moment and said, "Although there are no mountain bandits near Yangzhou, there are several gangs of bandits on the river nearby. In the past two years, I sent troops to suppress once, but I don't know where there was a mistake, I only caught some small fish and shrimp, and the big heads ran away, I don't know if it's them! ”

Cao Hao felt that something was wrong, if it was a Jiang bandit, if he went to the shore to pick up the business, I don't know if it was a taboo? Where did the horses come from? If there was one, then the scale of their water village would definitely not be too small, otherwise where would there be a place to put horses?

Cao Hao pondered for a while, and then said: "There are also many bodyguards in the major salt merchant families in Yangzhou, and it is not difficult to pull out a team of 180 people!" It's just that the salt merchants are rich, and they shouldn't take on outside work for money. It's better to carefully inquire about those who are out of the way at the inn and dock! ”

This is indeed a sincere teaching, Cao Hao nodded in response. Cao Yin originally wanted to persuade his son to be careful, first send someone over to investigate carefully, and then go over, but after thinking about it, this Yangzhou is still the boundary of Jiangsu, and it is close to Jiangning. He didn't say much, just took a pen and paper from the cabinet, wrote a handwritten letter, and handed it to his son: "Among the salt merchants in Yangzhou, the Cheng family of She County is the leader. The ancestors of the Cheng family once took the lead in donating military salaries when they were in Ping Sanfan, and they made great contributions to the imperial court! Over the years, his family has also been the largest contributor to the donations. Carefully calculated, his family and my family have been friends for several lifetimes. This is a letter I wrote to their family, if you go to Yangzhou, if you need manpower, you can go to their house! ”

The Cheng family in this county, recently said that Cao Hao has been a big name for a long time. The reason why he and Wei Xin fought the idea of [***] Qian Zhuang was also related to the relationship between the Han Jiang clan and the Cheng family. Han Jiang is the granddaughter of the Cheng family, and it is this Cheng family that is relied on behind it. The Cheng family is a family of salt merchants, which has been passed down for several generations, and there are many children in the family, and the family assets are not ordinarily strong. Even if she doesn't have enough money on hand, it's good to get in touch with the Cheng family through her. It's just that I didn't expect that this Cheng family is still one of the Cao family's family friends. Over the years, I haven't seen how they have traveled to and from Jiangning. No wonder with the hat of the No. 1 salt merchant in the south of the Yangtze River, no one has made up their minds, it turns out that they smashed the silver and registered in front of Kangxi, and they are really rich.

(To be continued)