Daming Junior Scholar

With a face flushed with embarrassment, Hu Di quickly said: "I'm really ashamed, Hu was reckless for a while, but he admitted the wrong person. I don't know if this gentleman is...?"

"I'm next to Tang Yin."

"Ah? You are..." Woody stared, stood up suddenly in surprise, pointed at Tang Bohu and said, "So the master is that Tang Bohu?"

Although this name is only left to the common people for the 'fraud case', the name Tang Bohu is still quite prestigious among the princes and literati, so when I heard that the person sitting opposite me was not Xu Shilang as I imagined, but Tang Bohu Hu Di immediately became agitated, and even He Jiaan couldn't care less about it. He walked around the table and came to Tang Bohu's side, holding his hand in admiration.

It wasn't until he had said enough that he realized that he seemed a little too excited. After sitting back in the chair, he suddenly asked curiously: "Isn't Mr. He actually a disciple of Mr. Tang?"

"Why, it's not like?" He Jiaan smiled self-deprecatingly, and it seemed that he was not the first person to ask himself this question.

"No, no." How could Woody dare to say that He Jiaan was wrong, he quickly shook his head, and said with a smile: "It's just that I feel a little incredible."

"Hehe, sometimes I also feel a little unbelievable, but you are indeed right, I am really Mr. Tang's apprentice."

During this meal, the three of them kept talking about the relationship between He Jiaan and Tang Bohu. After eating, Tang Bohu found an excuse to go back to rest, but He Jiaan left Woody behind. Walking slowly along the corridor.

Woody knew in his heart that He Jiaan wanted to tell him something, but he didn't know where to start, and he didn't mean to urge him. After walking for a while, He Jiaan said slowly: "Hu Di Sir, do you know the purpose of my trip to Paju this time?"

"This..." Woody thought for a while, and asked tentatively: "I heard that Mr. He is going to Paju to re-establish the Ming Navy?"

He Jia'an nodded and said, "Not only is it necessary to form a navy, but also to resist Japanese pirates, build forts along the coast, and govern Paju. It's a heavy workload."

You are so busy, you are obviously showing off, I would like to go to Paju to form a navy like you, but the emperor must agree to it.

There was obviously some jealousy in his heart, but it didn't show on his face. Woody laughed a little, and then boasted: "Mr. That's when the Japanese pirates perish."

"Thank you, Mr. Hu, for your kind words. It's just that building a navy is not something that can be completed in a short while. There are some things that I would like to ask Mr. Hu for help."

"Master He, please tell me."

He Jiaan coughed lightly, and said seriously: "Whether it is to build a warship or a navy, a lot of manpower is needed. The population of Paju is not very large, and it is definitely not enough to recruit people locally, so I plan to ask Hu Your Excellency, can you recruit some manpower and sailors for me?"

Sure enough, I guessed it right. He Jiaan really asked for help because of the lack of manpower. But if you recruit some craftsmen, this kind of thing is not a problem. Anyway, where to work is not for money. will go wrong.

But this sailor...

Woody hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help sighing softly: "To tell the truth, Mr. He, the craftsman's problem can be solved, but the sailor, I'm afraid it's not easy to recruit."

"Oh? Why?" He Jiaan asked curiously.

"Think about it, my lord. The sea is different from the land. It's not that I, Hu, have a bad mouth. But after a ship goes out to sea, there may be strong winds and waves. Maybe a wave will blow over and the entire ship will be gone. The danger of being a sailor is real. It’s huge, but there’s another way to try it.”

After talking for a long time, there was still a button left, He Jiaan asked curiously: "What way?"

"Add money."

"How much should I add?" He Jiaan immediately understood that Woody wanted to use money to gather people, but he had already thought about this problem before he came, and he had greeted Zhengde in advance, so he heard Woody's words At the time, he didn't seem much surprised.

"This..." Hu Di calculated, hesitated and said: "According to what our Wei near Suzhou said, each soldier's monthly salary is three taels and eight taels of money, I think adults should at least get five taels of money."

He Jiaan finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the price, the price did not exceed the bottom line in his heart, and he was completely able to bear it, but he hesitated for a moment on his face, then nodded and said: "I also think Master Hu's words are reasonable. How about I pay six taels of silver for sailors and craftsmen for a month, and I can guarantee three meals a day, with meat in every meal."

what?

Six taels of silver a month?And you can still eat three meals, with meat every meal, isn't this a great condition?

Woody could imagine that if he announces the conditions, the gates of the Suzhou Yamen will probably be smashed. Just when he was surprised, He Jiaan added: "There are still , as long as Master Hu recruits someone for me, I will give you five coins on behalf of the Navy."

Five yuan per person, five taels for ten people, so what about one hundred or one thousand?

When he thought that this huge sum of money might fall into his own pocket, Woody's eyes immediately brightened a lot, with a shy expression on his face, he murmured, "How much does Master He need to recruit?" manpower?"

"Craftsman, as long as one can build a ship, I'll take them all. As for the sailors..." After making up his mind, He Jiaan reported a number: "The first batch of 5000 people will come first."

Chapter 1161 Goodbye Li Fu

Chapter 1161 Goodbye Li Fu

Although Suzhou has a rich population, Hu Di will still feel a little bit hard if he has to gather so many people at once, but he doesn't feel too much pressure in his heart. After all, the salary paid by He Jiaan is here. Maybe as long as this recruitment notice is sent out, the applicants will squeeze through the threshold of their own yamen.

And what moved Hu Di even more was the money that He Jiaan promised himself. This money does not need to be taken from the public account. If he could really recruit that many people, it would be as many as several thousand taels.

After bidding farewell to He Jiaan, Hu Di quickly returned to his yamen. He Jiaan had said beforehand that he only gave him three days. No matter how many people he recruited, he would take them to Paju directly, and the rest Some people have to wait for his notice to decide whether to recruit or not.

It doesn't matter whether others go or not, what I care about is how much money I can get, so as soon as I get back to the Yamen, I recruit all the masters and Yamen servants under my command, and ask them to quickly write many notices, and then quickly distribute them. Going down, not only Suzhou City, but also the surrounding counties must be sent.

The yamen servants who were always lazy at first became extremely efficient because of Woody's repeated roars. Before it got dark, the whole Suzhou, including the following counties, was already covered with red notices for recruiting soldiers and workers. See Seeing the number written on the notice, the nerves of some caring people were jumped immediately. After nightfall, almost every family discussed this notice, and there were even anxious people who prepared dry food and walked towards Suzhou in the dark Come.

These people were not the only ones who arrived in Suzhou in the dark. When night fell, a medium-sized merchant ship sailed from the pier. After stopping, Li Fu got off the ship with a dead fish face. After a certain distance, I came to the big boat that I was originally on. As soon as I got on the boat, I couldn't wait to ask: "Where is Mr. He?"

Probably even the sailors on the boat didn't expect that Eunuch Li got off the boat so late at night. When he heard him asking about He Jiaan's whereabouts, he quickly reached out and pointed to the shore: "Grandpa, Mr. He has already gone ashore during the daytime."

"What, he went ashore?" Li Fu, who was planning to settle the accounts with He Jiaan, did not expect He Jiaan to go ashore to rest. , snorted heavily: "Tell the kitchen to prepare some food and wine for me and send them to my cabin."

Just as Li Fu was about to leave, the sailor on the side said awkwardly: "I'm really sorry, Eunuch Li, the cook on the boat is not here either."

"What?" Li Fu stared and asked forcefully, "Where did they go?"

"Master He treats guests today. Everyone on the boat went to the shore to eat, and only a few of us who finished eating are left on duty here, but they probably haven't finished eating yet. If my father-in-law wants to go, go forward from here..."

"Don't eat." Before the sailor finished speaking, Li Fu swung his sleeves heavily and went directly into the cabin.

When He Jiaan heard the news that Li Fu was chasing after him, it was only a short while later, the freshly cut duck was brought up on the table, and Xu Wen, regardless of his physical fatigue, took it and ate it with big mouthfuls up.

Xu Wen didn't feel any surprise about the delicacies on the table. Ever since he ate the first meal with He Jiaan, he knew that he would be able to eat good food every day with He Jiaan. The delicious food on this table can make up for the shortfall that I have spent with Li Fu in the past few days.

"I said Brother He, you have to be careful this time. I see that Li Fu's face has been very ugly these days, and he might be holding his breath to find trouble with you."

"Do what you're afraid of." He Jia'an didn't take Li Fu seriously at all. Anyway, as long as he was careful and didn't let Li Fu catch him, he wasn't afraid of him at all. Right now, he was being favored by Zhengde. On the one hand, the navy has not yet been built, and on the other hand, the Japanese pirates have not been driven away. If Zhengde dared to use his own sword, no one would be willing to work for him in the future.

With a bite of food, He Jiaan turned the topic to what he said to Woody today. Xu Wen knew about the monthly salary that He Jiaan offered, but when he heard that He Jiaan actually wanted to give Woody a benefit, he felt ashamed. But I was a little surprised. According to my own thinking, these things should be done by Woody. How could he ask He Jiaan for a favor?Is this clearly corruption?

But when he heard that the money was not what Woody wanted at all, but He Jiaan offered it to him, the expression on his face suddenly became more bewildered, and he asked in puzzlement: "Why did Mr. He do this?" ?”

From Brother He to Master He, although there is only a difference of two words, it reflects Xu Wen's contradictory and complicated heart at this time. These local officials, you see, although the monthly salary I give is relatively high, for them, the money has nothing to do with them, no matter how high it is, they are just eager for others to get it, so naturally they will not work hard to help us do it. "

"It's different now. Although it cost more money, the manpower was gathered very quickly. When we arrive in Paju, our warship can be built very quickly. The money will not be wasted."

After hearing He Jiaan's words, Xu Wen also felt that it made sense, but he still couldn't turn the corner. Why are they all officials of Ming Dynasty? Why do they have to collect money when recruiting people? How about collecting money to install a fort?

After hearing Xu Wen's words, He Jia'an couldn't help but smiled and said, "This actually doesn't have much to do with people, it only has to do with one's own conscience."

One sentence immediately made Xu Wen feel awe-inspiring, thinking about what He Jiaan said was true, how much greedy Woody can be?How much can I be greedy for?If He Jiaan wanted to be greedy, it would be hundreds of thousands or millions of taels of silver, it seems that his own structure is too small.

Looking at He Jia'an with complicated eyes, Xu Wen couldn't help laughing, and then said: "I don't care, but tomorrow you should worry about someone finding fault with you."

"What are you afraid of? At worst, send him to the pharmacy."