Withdrawing from the flower hall, Lin Lian frowned, he didn't expect to be involved in this matter, knowing that the lady of the Xiao family was a hot man, but Mrs. Gu insisted that he go next, and he couldn't lose it.

Lin Lian thought that there was still half a bowl of rice to eat, and went back to the tail cabin, everyone else had finished eating and dispersed, only Zhou Pu sat there waiting for him, Lin Lian smiled bitterly at him: "It's a chore, Mrs. Gu's family is very well guarded, and the lady of the Xiao family has no place in the Gu family, so I have to take her back to be a cook......"

"Can you help with the laundry?" Zhou Pu laughed heartlessly, and he used to squat on a stool when no one was around.

"Specify that you have to add extra money," Lin Jian picked up his leftover rice bowl, and ate the leftovers cold, discussing things with Zhou Pu while eating, "Look at this itinerary, the Gu family will stay in the post house outside Jiangning City for a few days, and choose a good day and an auspicious day to enter the city." We can't spend it with them in the post house, you and Enze ride to Jiangning first, if you can find the fourth lady and Miss Su, you will say a word. After the boat arrives at the post house, I can say goodbye to the Gu family, it should be dark at that time, Zhao Hu and I can't enter the city, we will stay in the post house for a night, and then join you tomorrow when we enter the city......"

"Cheng, I'll leave with Enze first......" Zhou Pu nodded in response.

Lin Jian swept the leftovers on the table and the rest of the table, and a servant came in to clean up, and he and Zhou Pu walked out of the cabin.

Ordinary servants can only wait for the call in the stern of the boat, Yang Pu and Ma Chao are nowhere to be seen, thinking that they are going in to listen to Gu Wuchen's orders, Liu Xilin went ashore and came with his cavalry, Lin Lian squinted at these cavalry under the Dongyang Mansion Soldiers and Horses, it seems that the discipline is loose, but it is not as dull as the general government army, the itinerary has been quite difficult in the past three days, but I don't see those soldiers complaining and demoralized, Lin Lian said to Zhou Pu: "It looks very rare......

"This Shen Rong, the prefect of Dongyang Prefecture, is quite famous, Mr. Qin has talked about him," Zhou Pu said, his eyes are spicy, and he knows that the cavalry led by Liu Xilin is considered a well-disciplined and combat-effective elite, "Mr. Qin said that some people in the court called on the imperial court to revitalize the local government army, and the south side is represented by Shen Rong, the prefect of Dongyang Prefecture, and Dong Yuan, the prefect of Weiyang Mansion, which is the Yamen of the Anti-Theft Division, and I heard that Li Zhuo listened to Dong Yuan's suggestion and followed the court to implement it...... Even Shen Rong and Dong Yuan can't shout much now, but there should always be some achievements under their rule. ”

Lin Jian looked at the cavalry figure between the ancient willows on the shore, and thought to himself that the so-called sinking is difficult to rise, the Dayue Dynasty is about to rot, internal and external troubles are endless, natural and man-made disasters are continuous, and it is not one or two loyal ministers who can help them.

He said that this government army belonged to the soldiers and horses of the local governments, and they supervised grain, taxes, and various forced labor required by officials and privately. A little rectification of the department can only barely maintain law and order in the city, and the bandits in the countryside can only be handed over to the township soldiers to suppress and suppress, which also causes the rise of local tycoons.

Lin Jian has also paid attention to studying current affairs these days, and knows that Shen Rong and Dong Yuan's strategy of revitalizing the government and army is to recruit local township soldiers to fill in the soldiers and horses of each province, so that the township soldiers with stronger combat power can replace the original weak and tired government army, but the heroes and strong in various places have become a big trend, how can they easily hand over the township soldiers with the nature of private soldiers to the government to control?

At this time, the border war is endless, the people of the Central Plains are raising trouble, and a large number of rogues are also crisscrossing the localities, if the local government forcibly recruits the township soldiers, it will inevitably intensify the contradictions and add chaos, which is exactly what the imperial court does not dare to take risks at this time.

Lin Jian shook his head slightly, even if Shen Rong had the ambition to revive the government army, the Liu Xilin he found was also a general, but he was not allowed to do it, I was afraid that his achievements would be limited.

"What are Lin Juren watching here?" Gu Siming walked over from behind, put his arm on Lin Lian's shoulder, and said, "Lin Juren, I will discuss something with you, and you have to promise me." ”

The news in the countryside is blocked, Gu Siming doesn't know what happened in the forest a few days ago, only when Lin Tie is still the Lin Tie he heard before, he is a nephew who is close to Gu Wuchen, and he usually doesn't take Lin Tie in his eyes, Lin Tie saw that his attitude suddenly became eager, and he couldn't think of anything he would ask for on his head, and asked, "What is it?" Seeing the lady of the Xiao family poking her head out in the cabin to look at this side, Ruhua Yurong was a little worried, thinking that it had something to do with her.

"Let's talk to the side," Gu Siming grabbed Lin Lian's shoulders and pulled him to the side of the boat, "I heard that my aunt sent the Xiao family's lady to you, I'll discuss with you, after I arrived in Jiangning, there was no one to take care of me, can you give me the Xiao family's wife?" I came out of Shiliang County with forty taels of silver with me, and I gave you half of it. ”

Lin Jian looked at Gu Siming's triangular thin eyes, he was not very old, his face was waxy, his chin was sharp, and he really stirred up the thoughts of the little lady of Xiao Jialiang, and said, "Young Master Tang, do you think I look like a person who doesn't know what to do?" ”

"I knew you were ...... enough," Gu Siming laughed happily, "Don't you just want to get a good background after going to Jiangning?" Don't worry, I will definitely say a few more kind words for you in front of my uncle. ”

Lin Jian patiently waited for Gu Siming to finish his promise, and then said with a smile: "Do you think I will exchange my wife's kindness to me for your twenty taels of silver?" ”

Gu Siming was slightly stunned, looked at the playful smile on Lin Lian's face, and changed his face and said, "You are called a good person!" You wait, will my uncle and aunt treat me, a nephew, or you, a son of the Lin family who has been fighting with my Gu family for decades! The humiliated brushed his sleeves away.

Lin Jian shook his head slightly, thinking that a beautiful woman is a curse.

Watching Gu Siming get into the cabin, the lady of the Xiao family came over, bowed, and said softly: "Thank you Gongzi Lin for taking in the slave family......"

"If you're not happy to be this cook, why do you want to come on the boat?" Lin Jian asked puzzled.

"What can I do by myself?" The lady of the Xiao family complained, "I rushed back to my mother's house to live, fortunately, it is still somewhat useful, and I help in the tea hotel, so my father, mother, brother and sister-in-law will also take it in with gentle words and pleasant words - the county magistrate sent someone to send twenty taels of silver, saying that he would send twenty taels of silver every year, as long as I am a cook for the Gu family, does Lin Gongzi think I can still stay in Shiliang County?" ”

Lin Jian sighed slightly, it turned out that three taels of silver per month was just Liang Zuoren's opening of his mouth to increase his bargaining chips in Gu Wuchen's mind, and he could buy a good-looking girl with twenty taels of silver in the first two years, not to mention forcing the little widow to be a concubine for others? Thinking that after Gu Wuchen included the little lady of the Xiao family in the room, Liang Zuoren no longer needed to send silver to the lady of the Xiao family every year.

"Lady of the Xiao family, since Liang Zuoren is willing to pay this unjust money, let him pay this unjust money," Lin Jian said, "That's it, after you go to Jiangning, I will prepare a small courtyard for you, it is not convenient for you to live with the four of us, then you will have to trouble you with the chores of cooking and cooking on weekdays......"

"I knew that Lin Gongzi was a righteous gentleman, and the slave family would take in Lin Gongzi with righteousness, and the chores of laundry and cooking were all things within the slave family," the Xiao family's lady was heartbroken, her beautiful face was radiant, and she was even more beautiful, she hesitated for a moment, and then said softly, "The slave family's maiden name is Liu, and the cheap name is Yue'er, Lin Gongzi can call the slave family's cheap name......

"I didn't expect you to be a family with Deputy Lieutenant Liu...... Lin Jian said with a smile, after a thousand years, there may not be anything for men and women to rent together, he planned to prepare a courtyard for Liu Yue'er not for anything else, but for Gu Wuchen to see. Lin Jian could see that Gu Wuchen's thoughts about Liu Yue'er were unbroken, and he also knew that with Mrs. Gu, Gu Wuchen didn't want to take a concubine in this life, but no matter what, he put on a posture of being a clear person and self-purifying, which could make Gu Wuchen like it in his heart, and he also had a thought. In Jiangning, if you can rely on the big tree of Gu Wuchen, many things will be much more convenient.

Liu Yue'er stood at the bow of the boat and talked to Lin Lian, at this time, many people knew that this beautiful little widow was going to be a cook with Lin Lian, and they were all envious in their hearts, and their eyes were envious and annoying.

At this moment, a fleet of ships sailed from the north, the ship was full of cargo and the draft was very deep, and the bow of the pilot ship was planted with a flagpole, hanging the pennant of the Wufeng Dart Bureau, and the fleet also noticed that this was an official ship, and lowered the dart flag from the flagpole in half to show respect.

The bow deck of the leader is relatively open, and there are two rows of samurai in strong armor with swords at their waists, which are very imposing.

Zhou Puyao pouted towards the dart flag and said: "This is the largest dart line in the four counties of Jianghuai, not only the family house of Yin, Jiangning Mansion, has invited Wu Feng's martial artist to be the guardian, and even the official silver and tax silver of Jiangdong, Lianghu and other counties to Yanjing have also asked Wu Feng to transport the ......"

Lin Jian laughed, thinking that Zhou Pu had probably beaten Wu Feng's dart game, and his mind had been frustrated. Jiangdong is the main exporter of Yanjing grain, but occasionally due to the Huaishui and river water bursting in autumn, resulting in the silting of the river, or the drought makes the river shallow, the grain can not go north in time, Jiangdong in order to avoid the responsibility of delay, often to silver instead of grain to Beijing, a trip is usually hundreds of thousands of taels of silver ingots to Beijing. Lin Jian thought to himself that Zhou Pu and they were really bold, if hundreds of thousands of taels of tax money were robbed and the Cao road from Jiangdong to Yanjing was cut off, the government could specially transfer tens of thousands of troops to encircle and suppress them.

At this time, the fleet of guards of the dart bureau approached, and there was a young man in brocade standing on the bow deck of the pilot ship, he probably saw the gold-painted aconite lacquer plaque on the bow of the ship here, and shouted to this side: "On the ship, is it Lord Gu, the deputy envoy of Jiangdong?" ”

The ship stopped here, but it was impossible for the fleet to stop suddenly, listening to someone outside shouting Gu Wuchen's name, Yang Pu's son Yang Shi drilled out of the cabin to see what was going on. The bow of the boat over there was already more than half of the hull, and the young man in brocade leaned out half of his body from the side of the boat and greeted loudly: "Yang Shi, it's me, I thought you had arrived in Jiangning early!" Si Yuan and Jun Xun are also on the ship? Forget it, it's inconvenient for the boat to stop here, let's meet in Jiangning. ”

Lin Jian thought to himself that this young man might be a close friend of the Gu family, otherwise he would not call Miss Gu the name of the girl.

This brocade-clothed young man is probably also the son of an official eunuch. This Jiangning was originally a place where all the eunuchs gathered and the rich and noble, and the prefect of other places was a middle-level official from the fourth grade, but the Yin of the Jiangning Mansion was a high-ranking official of the third grade, and he was at the same level as the Jiangdong Xuanfu Envoy, the Jiangdong Inspectorate and the Jiangdong Admiral, in fact, the Jiangning Mansion was separated from the jurisdiction of the Jiangdong Xuanfu Envoy, and its civil affairs, criminal prisons, supervision and other affairs were directly responsible to the central institutions such as the six ministries and three courts of Jiangning. This is probably the only place for the disgraced officials who have been squeezed out of Jiangning to serve as the mausoleum guards to retain some face in front of Yanjing's political enemies. In addition, the military garrison of Jiangning Mansion is not under the jurisdiction of Jiangdong Governor's Office, and there is another Jiangning garrison general from the second grade. If you want to say that the town army still has some elite in the Jianghuai region, it is probably the 30,000 garrison army under the jurisdiction of the Jiangning garrison general. In addition, the Jiangning garrison general usually adds the title of secretary of the Jiangning military department, and in turn has the right to control the Jiangdong Governor's Office, and usually only the secretary of the Jiangning military department and the Jiangning garrison general is regarded as the head of the Jiangdong ministers. It was rumored that the imperial court was very likely to let Li Zhuo, the governor of Eastern Fujian, who had a meritorious service to the luxury family of Jin'an, sit in Jiangning and serve as the general of the Jiangning garrison and the title of secretary of the Jiangning military department.

Officialdom in Jiangdong is much more complicated than in other places.