The Founding of the Red Chamber

If Mu Rong came forward to point out the disgraceful intentions of the two families, the two families would know that although Murong is a little older and not very beautiful, she definitely deserves two awards from the court.Because, Mu Rong is definitely not an ordinary woman.Facing marriage proposals from two third-rank officials, it was very unusual for a woman of such an ordinary background to be able to calm down Ruo Si.

Mu Rong made it clear directly, of course, it also made the two families feel a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, Lin Jing's subordinates were able to keep up. First, Mu Qiuting prepared a suitable gift and went to the two families to say apologetic words.Mu Qiuting's posture was very low, and the two families couldn't help but secretly said, "It seems that this is useless to be a big brother." Miss Mu can't do anything at all.

Then, Lin Jing and Tu Xiaosan persuaded the two families respectively. What Tu Xiaosan and Duan Qinchao said was, "You are in the south of the Yangtze River, but you still have a serious job. What's the rush for Miss Mu, she has always been strong, and you also saw that day Yes, it's not good to push her too hard. How about I say that Miss Mu is not an ordinary woman, so my lord should be sincere and take it easy."

What Lin Jing said to the Kong family was, "Your family, don't argue with Duan Qin. Miss Mu is a serious girl, and it's not for fun. We didn't see each other when we looked up and down in Quanzhou City. Fighting Japanese bandits and guarding the city, it is not good for your family to be like this."

Of course Kong Fanyu wanted to argue about his sincerity, Lin Jing said directly, "If your family is sincere, how can your nephew and nephew disappear and just talk about marriage with empty teeth."

Kong Fanyu was a little dazed, "Isn't it true for all marriages, if the children are not around?" They are all aristocratic families.Marriage is not the order of the parents, the words of the matchmaker.On the contrary, the Mu family's practice of wanting to see the young man makes the Kong family feel that it is strange that they are small and small, and they really don't understand etiquette.

Lin Jing was also born in a wealthy family, so how could he not know that the marriage of aristocratic wealthy families is the most important thing.However, this Confucian family is too pedantic, it is the order of the parents, so it is difficult to think about the meaning of the children in the family.Lin Jing also put on a look of surprise, and said, "This can't be, I think ordinary people discuss marriage, even though younger children are not easy to meet each other, the elders of each other should also meet the younger ones."

Kong Fanyu knew that this was the difference between a high family and a poor family, and Kong Fanyu sighed, "If Miss Mu thinks this way, she really misunderstood my family. He is the fifth younger brother in my family. My father has already sent a letter to order him to come to Quanzhou City .”

Lin Jing also sighed, "It would be misleading if we didn't tell you about this kind of thing earlier. Anyway, I don't think Sister Mu is very satisfied with the place right now, so let's take a break for your family. There are so many things, it seems that the New Year is coming, one is the imperial envoy to patrol the south of the Yangtze River, and the other is to prevent the Japanese bandits from sneaking again in the next year."

Just like Tu Lin and the two of them said, Duan and Kong are both high-ranking officials of the third rank, and the matter of proposing marriage with Miss Mu can be used as a legitimate job, and everyone dare not delay in the slightest.Moreover, at this time, Xiao He sent the letter of Tu Xiaosan to the Governor's Mansion. Governor Zhang discussed it with Mr. He. The opportunity he could take advantage of was because Kong Guogong didn't know what medicine he had taken in the court, so he had to participate in impeachment in front of the imperial court, and his character was tyrannical, so that he lost all of Lin Jing's military achievements, which made Tu Xiaosan very dissatisfied.Otherwise, how could the Xie family think of wooing Tu Xiaosan?Thinking of this stupid thing Kong Guogong did, Governor Zhang was worried, and Mr. He said with emotion, "Fortunately, both of them are loyal people." Tu Xiaosan wrote this letter himself, which is the heart of Governor An Zhang.

"Yes." In these years, the most gratifying thing for Governor Zhang is the anti-Japanese incident in Fujian and Zhejiang, and the fact that Tu Xiaosan has not lost his loyalty.Governor Zhang said, "This time, the rewards given to General Lin must be thicker." Thinking of Tu Xiaosan's direct rejection of Xie's marriage proposal, Governor Zhang felt extremely ironic.

Mr. He responded with a smile, "Don't worry, my lord, I remember." Then he summoned his nephew Xiao He to ask about Quanzhou City, because Duan and Kong are both celebrities in Quanzhou City, and the two families proposed marriage to Miss Mu, Xiao He He Ye had heard about it quite a bit, and Xiao He said, "At first, there was a lot of excitement, and everyone was vying to marry Miss Mu. Later, I heard that Miss Mu invited the two families to the restaurant. I don't know what Miss Mu said. The house is now at a standstill."

In the matter of Murong's marriage, the two families of Kong and Duan are pretty close to a tie.

The imperial envoy Duan asked Mu Rong but was unable to do so, so he had to settle down to handle serious duties.His visit to the south of the Yangtze River had to return to the imperial court to restore the order years ago, so there was no further delay, so he was finally willing to move his honor and leave Quanzhou City.

Governor Kong said in private, "Once this bad luck is gone, the Feng Shui of our Quanzhou City will be a little bit better."

In fact, not to mention that Governor Kong felt that he was at odds with Imperial Envoy Duan, even Tu Xiaosan, who was decent to Imperial Envoy Duan in face, was also relieved that Imperial Envoy Duan left.Not to mention others, Tu Xiaosan was extremely displeased with the extravagant demeanor of imperial envoy Duan, let alone imperial envoy Duan extorting countless bribes overtly and secretly.If it wasn't for Lin Jing's persuasion, Tu Xiaosan thought that Imperial Envoy Duan was a dead man in his heart, and he would definitely not give it to him.

In this way, as soon as Imperial Envoy Duan left, the entire officialdom in Quanzhou felt a lot cleaner. If one said that the only person who was reluctant to leave Imperial Envoy Duan was Zhifu Xie.

Before Imperial Envoy Duan left, Prefect Xie specially bought wine for him, and the two had a secret conversation in private.

After the Duan imperial envoy left, Miss Xie asked her father, "Is that all about Miss Mu?"

"Why do you say that?" Zhifu Xie asked his daughter with a smile.

Miss Xie said, "On the face of it, it seems that Miss Mu's family gave fifty big boards, but none of them responded. But in the end, General Lin was originally under the command of Governor Zhang. According to me, his heart , I’m afraid it’s still on Governor Zhang’s side.”

Prefect Xie made a fool of himself, and smiled, "Miss Mu's matter is just a trivial matter, and it couldn't be easier for Imperial Envoy Duan to accomplish it. Don't worry, just wait and see."

Seeing that her father refused to speak out, Miss Xie pursed her lips and smiled, and stopped asking.

Lin Jing didn't care if Governor Duan had any backhands, anyway, Murong had been training manpower in the army, and Governor Duan was just a civil servant, could he still rob people?As for other methods, Lin Jing always believed that no method is the simplest and most direct than a sword.

Lin Jing discussed with Tu Xiaosan that they should know themselves and their enemies in the south of the Yangtze River to fight against the Japanese.Tu Xiaosan said, "You mean to send espionage to the Japanese bandits?"

"No, it's just that we have sent a special mission now. How many years and months will it take for this secret mission to find out the situation of the Japanese bandits?" Lin Jing reminded Tu Xiaosan, "Why did you forget about Shuili?" The recipe for the Japanese sword was obtained by Shui Li himself from the country of Wa.

Tu Xiaosan slapped his forehead, "That's right, I forgot about him."

Lin Jingdao, "At the beginning, I didn't think about the specific regulations. Besides, no matter what the situation is with the Japanese bandits, we have to fight first. But as the war here is going smoothly, we really need to find out the situation with the Japanese bandits." Touched."

Tu Xiaosan couldn't understand for a while that Lin Jing didn't touch the Japanese bandits when the war was the most difficult. Now, in Tu Xiaosan's view, even when the Japanese bandits were leveled, Lin Jing wanted to leave and touch the Japanese bandits. Lao Di, what kind of logic is that?However, seeing Lin Jing's gloomy expression, Tu Xiaosan asked first, "Ah Jing, what's wrong?"

Lin Jing smiled, "It's not a bad thing, but everything is inseparable from the word 'benefit'. In the past, the Japanese bandits in the south of the Yangtze River were rampant, and in the end, it was for the word 'benefit'. The Japanese bandits needed many people from Zhongtu. Items, from silk and porcelain to grain and tea, are all important things for them. The benefits of the coast are big benefits. The previous situation along the coast was broken by the war against the Japanese. , after several years of dormancy. Once the Anti-Japanese War is in a quiet period and a new coastal situation is formed, it will inevitably be a new round of power struggles. Duan imperial commissioner is just an outpost. Here, we have two wars, a small victory, and a small victory. Great victory, if there is another war, I don't think it will be a big war. Therefore, after the war, Quanzhou will inevitably enter the officialdom battle."

Tu Xiaosan frowned slightly, "No matter how much they fight, they can't compete with me." Tu Xiaosan is now a second-rank general, and in the Jiangnan officialdom, he is only half a rank lower than the first-rank Governor Zhang.If he was in front of Governor Zhang, Tu Xiaosan would naturally back off, but he really didn't pay attention to these people in Quanzhou Prefecture.

There was a light smile on Lin Jing's face, and a trace of sarcasm flashed in his eyes, "Third brother, although you are a high official, you still underestimate people in the officialdom."

While Lin Jing was talking with Tu Xiaosan, he began to prepare for the winter and New Year.

If apprentice Xiaosan did as he expected, and when he stays in the next year, the brothers from other places must come over.

However, the letter from Xiaosi and the others outside the Guanwai has not yet arrived, but from time to time, I hear rumors of imperial envoy Duan being greedy and despicable.Even Lin Jing, through some channels, knew that Governor Kong was very rude, and read the book of Imperial Commissioner Duan, saying that Imperial Commissioner Duan was stealing and plundering people's property in the south of the Yangtze River.

It's a pity that this memorial was not published by Chen Qibao, and no instructions were given.

Lin Jing was doing the calculations for Imperial Envoy Duan. These days, no one carries a lot of gold and silver with them.Lin Jing also knew the imperial envoy Duan's disposition quite well. This imperial envoy liked easy-to-carry bank notes.When imperial envoy Duan returned to Beijing, since he was going north by boat, it was very easy for him to do it.When imperial envoy Duan was picked up from the boat, it is said that his appearance was still gentle and handsome.As for the things around imperial envoy Duan, there is nothing missing.Especially in terms of property, it is very clean, not at all like Governor Kong's participation in impeachment, what kind of extortion and looting of people's wealth, just around the imperial envoy Duan, it is only a hundred taels of silver, which shows that he is a clean official and a simple person.As for Wu's autopsy, nothing wrong was found at all.Therefore, it was finally judged as a shipwreck.

Commissioner Duan became a water ghost in such a muddle-headed way. As for his ideal methods that he had time to display in the future, they all disappeared with the wind of this shipwreck.The whole thing happened in the place where Huaiyang was about to leave, no matter how much we searched, we still came to the same conclusion.When the imperial court heard the news and sent the servant of the Ministry of Punishment to take over the incident of the imperial envoy sinking into the water, more than half a month had passed, even if it was winter, if the imperial envoy Duan was not buried, he would still stink.

As for what can be found on a rotting corpse, I don't know.

The method of this matter was so neat and clever that everyone thought it was strange, but even the Ministry of Criminal Justice did not find any favorable evidence that the imperial commissioner Duan committed suicide.

Lin Jing gained a lot, he said to Tu Xiaosan, "If you really don't see it, you don't know it, tsk tsk, what a fluke we fought first."

Tu Xiaosan frowned heavily, and asked, "Do you need to inform Governor Huizhang about this?"

Lin Jing took one of the letters in his hand and said, "Keep half of the bank notes, and the rest will be given to the governor as a gift during the Chinese New Year."

As a local general, Tu Xiaosan must not leave the station lightly for nothing. When Lin Jing went to the governor's mansion to pay New Year's greetings, he secretly gave Mr. He a wooden box. Mr. He opened it, and there were several letters in it, one At the bottom of the account book is a solid bank note.Mr. He took a letter casually, and after a quick glance, he knew what a terrible thing it was. Originally, Mr. He was a little suspicious of Lin Jing as soon as something happened to the imperial envoy Duan. His complexion changed, and he said in a low voice, "You are so brave, you, how dare you--" The third-rank official, on the way back to Beijing, the ship leaked for no apparent reason, and the imperial envoy drowned!This is already a shocking case, but in the end, Lin Jing dared to bring the stolen goods to the door!

Lin Jing whispered, "He was in our General's Mansion, and he was willing to leave after extorting 20 silver. What's more, when he returns to Beijing this time, he will ask His Majesty to marry him and let Sister Mu be his second wife. If he succeeds in this matter, The Kong family doesn’t have a big heart at all, so they must be suspicious. Does this kind of bitch still need to save his life? I don’t believe it, will he spend less time in Hangzhou?”

When Mr. He thought of Imperial Envoy Duan, he was also filled with disgust.Mr. He sighed, finally heaved a sigh of relief, and said to Lin Jing, "You are too courageous."

"As long as you don't tell me, no one will know about it."

Mr. He had no choice but to say, "I'll take it to the governor to have a look first."

Lin Jing rested at the Governor's Mansion.

Rao Zhang and He were already mentally prepared, thinking that it was Lin Jing who did it, but they really didn't expect that this kid would dare to share the stolen goods with him.Well, Governor Zhang is far better than Mr. He in terms of composure if he can be a first-rank official. Governor Zhang didn't look at the bank notes in the box, but first looked at the letters inside. Most of them were from several big merchants in Jiangnan and Duan Secret letters between imperial envoys, and what's more, it's a matter of collusion with each other.It can be seen from the letter that quite a few people are related to the pirates, and they all hope to be able to do "long-term business" in the future.Governor Zhang said angrily, "It's a dog that harms the country and the people!" At first, Lin Jing was somewhat blamed for his recklessness, but now seeing these letters, Governor Zhang only wished to drown him directly.

After reading the letter, Mr. He also had a solemn face. Mr. He said, "I expected that there must be a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River that is related to the Japanese bandits, but I didn't expect it to be them!"

Governor Zhang didn't mention these companies for the time being, but said, "Those Lin and Li, even though they are a little bold, are the ones who dare to do things."

Mr. He's face became more serious, "My lord, I understand what you mean. But, this matter needs to be considered slowly." These wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River have complicated relationships. Even with the power of Governor Zhang, I'm afraid they can't do it for a while. Lightly moving.

"Yeah, we have to think about it slowly." Governor Zhang's face was a little unpredictable. For a big official in the frontier, he would never let these local snakes play in his hands.Thinking that many people in this letter still donated money to the government to fight against the Japanese, and at the same time communicated with the Japanese bandits, Governor Zhang really wanted to sneer.

Governor Zhang asked Mr. He, "Are these banknotes available?" Because each banknote has its own secret key, the half box of banknotes is really hot right now.

Mr. He said, "Don't worry, my lord, Li Qing has always been meticulous in his work. Besides, this is a bank note issued by the Huo family bank in Huaiyang. I heard that the Huo family has always had some contacts with Li Qing, and his family also has a follower in General Lin's house." Military training."

Governor Zhang said, "It seems that they are not an ordinary friendship." He directly ordered Mr. He to collect these bank notes.

Half a month later, Mr. Huo's family, whom Zhang and He thought had an unusual friendship with Lin Jing, was standing in front of Lin Jing in cold sweat.In the cold weather of March [-]th, Lin Jing sat in front of the stove and poked a charcoal fire, but he didn't feel how warm it was, while Huo Dong's family was soaked in cold sweat. He was trembling and stared at the letter on the jujube table in front of him letter.

That letter, Huo Dong's family can't help feeling more fear just by looking at it.

Without him, that is, the secret letter written by Dong Huo's family to Imperial Commissioner Duan.

But how did this letter fall into Lin Jing's hands.

Thinking of the envoy Duan Qin who drowned in the icy water of the Grand Canal, Huo Dong's family felt dizzy.