The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

The army had already entered the city gate of Tianjin Wei, so Xue Pan rode on his horse and looked left and right.I just feel that the streets are narrow and sparsely populated, many shops are closed, and there are not many small vendors walking on the street.After all, the hustle and bustle of the capital is much worse.

Xue Pan pursed his lips, unable to hide his disappointment.

Lin Mozhi leaned forward and said with a soft smile: "Actually, looking at it from another angle, there are quite a few people in Tianjin Wei, but this economic and business matter is obviously not as prosperous as the capital city, isn't it possible that Uncle Xue has a place to use his skills?" ?”

Xue Pan squinted at him lightly, hummed twice and did not speak.

The barracks mentioned by the King of Nan'an was built downstream of Tianjin Wei's wharf.All the households within a radius of ten miles have been relocated, and it looks more and more empty and desolate.

Standing by the water, Xue Pan carefully looked at the pier in front of him, frowned and said, "Is this pier too small? It should be turned into a seaport."

The king of Nan'an County patted his horse and walked up. Hearing this, he immediately asked, "Harbour?"

"It is convenient for sea ships to enter and exit." Xue Pan said casually, and then asked: "I don't know this, so it's possible that the sea ships and gun boats you built have never been launched?"

A look of embarrassment flashed across Nan'an County King's face.Xue Pan knew that he had hit the mark unfortunately, and immediately shut up embarrassingly.

Lin Mozhi on the side smiled and said, "There's no rush for this. Wait until the sailors are almost done training. Just let them go directly into the sea."

Saying that, he winked at Xue Pan calmly.Xue Pan nodded clearly, knowing that there might be some reasons he didn't understand, so he didn't ask any more questions.

All the way into the barracks without a word, I just felt that my vision became more and more open.The golden sand beach and the blue water are quietly in front of you. Not far away are dark green tents, and groups of soldiers are practicing.

Xue Pan sighed and asked, "Where is my residence?"

The king of Nan'an County shook his head helplessly, pointed at the extravagant and exquisite tent that was twice the size of other tents and said with a smile: "It is specially prepared for you. It is the tent where the local nobles brought by the Holy Majesty from Mongolia lived." , much more comfortable than our military tents!"

Xue Pan heard that it was what Tu Zhen meant, with a tacit understanding on his face, he led a group of servants carrying a lot of luggage into the luxurious tent.But I saw that the inside has been arranged more delicately.

The soft and smooth Persian carpet embroidered with sapphire blue and silver threads is spread on the ground in one piece. In the middle is a large carved mahogany bed with a brocade quilt on it. , looks extraordinarily elegant.There is a large pear marble case on the ground, on which there are various pens, inks, papers and inkstones, and pen holders and pens.There are also two ink paintings written by famous artists on the wall, and beside them are swords inlaid with gemstones and a jade flute made of Lantian jade.

Seeing this, the King of Nan'an let out a soft cry, and said with a smile: "No wonder everyone says that the young master is a person whom the Holy Majesty puts on top of his heart. Seeing him today, he is really extraordinary!"

On the other side, Lin Mozhi frowned worriedly, and sighed, "Would it be too extravagant? If other soldiers in the camp see it, I'm afraid they will feel dissatisfied."

Xue Pan waved his hands carelessly, and said with a smile, "I can manage a lot. I'm afraid they will be dissatisfied since they received the order from the Holy One to send me over, and they don't care about it anymore."

Seeing this, Lin Mozhi couldn't say anything more.

Xue Pan directed Zhaocai, Jinbao and others to pack up all kinds of luggage brought from the capital.No matter how delicate the two big men are, they are also looked after from the outside, so it is inevitable that they will be a bit clumsy when doing things in the inner house.Seeing this, Xue Pan sighed again: "It would be great if we brought Hongxiu and Tianxiang over here. You are bound to be inconsiderate in your work."

Lin Mozhi shook his head, and said helplessly: "You can rest! Do you think the days are not comfortable enough?"

As he said that, he had to introduce other generals in the camp to Xue Pan.

For a while, Xue Pan had no choice but to follow Lin Mozhi and enter the handsome tent again.At that time, other soldiers in the battalion also got the news, and most of the generals gathered in the handsome camp.Seeing Xue Pan stepping in, he sized him up critically.

The King of Nan'an went to the back of the local case, cleared his throat, and said with a smile: "Presumably all the brothers have also received the imperial edict. This is the military training instructor specially selected by the Holy One, and he will be in charge from now on." About naval drills."

After a pause, he added: "The military training lesson plan adopted by everyone years ago was drafted and written by the young master and Supervisor Lin. After three months of implementation, it has achieved results, so this king specifically asked the Holy Admiral Xiao The Marquis called over. I hope our sailors will come in handy as soon as possible. By then, we will be so powerful that we will be crowned Marquis with military exploits at our fingertips."

When everyone heard the words, they looked at him quietly again.After a long while, a big man with a dark beard asked in a rough voice: "Young Master, who has delicate skin and tender meat, is pampered, can he eat it? The soldiers in the barracks have worked so hard! You must know that we generals all set an example. If Xiaohou If you don't have this rigidity, if you can't bear to cry, then it won't be beautiful!"

All the generals burst into laughter for a moment.Lin Mozhi's face immediately darkened.The King of Nan'an also looked at Xue Pan with some embarrassment.

Xue Pan sat on the grand teacher's chair beside him indifferently.Looking around with a sarcasm, he casually fiddled with his nails with one hand, and said: "So that all the generals will know - the order I received from the Holy One was only to ask me to come to train soldiers, but he didn't say that I should go with all the generals. Drill. Of course I don’t need to suffer. I don’t need the generals to bother.”

All the soldiers were dumbfounded for a moment.After looking at each other for a long time, one of them questioned: "If the young master can't take the lead and lead by example, how can he be able to convince the people? If he can't convince the people, impeach the leaders of these tens of thousands of soldiers?"

Xue Pan shook his head disdainfully when he heard the words, and said with a dull face: "Why should I obey the crowd, and why should I lead these soldiers? The emperor's order is for me to train soldiers. If you don't obey, you will be disobeying the order." ——Your rebellion is naturally copying your entire family, so what does it have to do with me? Why should I wrong myself for your lives?"

A speech blocked everyone speechless.

Nan'an County King and Lin Mozhi looked at each other and smiled.

Those soldiers wanted to say something, but they saw Xue Pan stood up a little bored, and when he waved his hands: "I'm quite tired from the journey. I won't write with you. When I start training, I will invite Nan'an." Give me a word from the county king, and I will follow up here."

With that said, he walked out of the handsome tent with his hands behind his hands in a contented expression.When I returned to my luxurious tent, I ordered loudly on purpose: "This journey is full of wind and dust, which makes me very uncomfortable. To attract wealth, make treasures, and boil a pot of hot water. I want to take a shower and change clothes."

The two Zhaocai immediately responded, and turned to the direction of the cooking camp.

The rest of the generals just walked out of the handsome tent, seeing this shape, their noses were not noses and eyes were not eyes, they kept snorting coldly.Angrily scolded in his mouth: "Arrogant and extravagant, arrogant and extravagant..."

After everyone dispersed, Lin Mozhi glanced at Nan'an County King with a smile that was not a smile, and said softly: "This farce just now is what you wanted to get rid of, right? But obviously, Pan'er is not a player who plays cards according to the rules. People. The prince seems to have done useless work!"

The king of Nan'an County smiled and said, "I just hope that the young master can integrate into this barracks as soon as possible. Now it seems that the effect is pretty good."

Lin Mozhi sneered and shook his head, and walked towards Xue Pan's camp.

As soon as I opened the curtain and entered the tent, I heard the sound of water, but it turned out that after Zhaocai and Jinbao went to the cooking camp, in order to save trouble, they only spent a few silver coins, and those who threatened and lured them directly sent them to the camp. The hot water that was boiled by others was brought over for use.At the moment, he is carrying the wood and pouring water into the tub!

A screen with a hundred butterflies and flowers stood in front of the bathtub, and Xue Pan was sitting on the side of the beauty couch holding a cup of freshly brewed tea.Seeing Lin Mozhi's figure, he immediately waved and smiled and said, "Come here and sit down, you've been tired all day. There's still extra hot water that's useless, why don't you wash it too!"

Lin Mozhi shook his head with a smile, and said, "I won't. Let's talk about it later!"

Xue Pan knew that Lin Mozhi had a slight obsession with cleanliness, so he was probably trying to resist the stickiness this time.He immediately smiled and said: "I don't know what your habits are, so why bother to be polite to me! It's fine if you say it's troublesome, but now hot water is readily available, and all kinds of things are readily available, so you can do whatever you want." .”

Seeing this, Lin Mozhi was also quite tempted.

Xue Pan immediately ordered Zhaocaijinbao to bring in another replacement bathtub, and erected another screen for cranes to drink water.All the necessary affairs are complete, and this is called recruiting wealth and treasure, and the two go outside the account to guard.He went to the back of Jinping, took off his clothes, and soaked in the hot water.

The hot water spread over his body, Xue Pan sighed comfortably, squinted his eyes slightly and leaned his neck against the edge of the bathtub, and said, "It's so comfortable!"

Lin Mozhi on the other end also spread himself in the water enjoying himself, and couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard Xue Pan's words. "You are so comfortable, the envious eyes of those soldiers outside are all red."

Xue Pan chuckled, and said triumphantly: "What kind of situation is this? If you are like this, you will be envious. After a long time in the future, don't you hate me to death?"

Lin Mozhi shook his head and persuaded: "You also restrain yourself. After all, we have to get along for at least a year. If you offend everyone, what should you do?"

Xue Pan shook his head nonchalantly, and said, "Don't worry, I know what's going on."

Hearing the words, Lin Mozhi could only sigh helplessly, and stopped talking.

Not long after, the water temperature gradually cooled down. Xue Pan was about to ask Zhaocai to come in for more water, but he heard the rustling sound of clothes being put on from the other side.He couldn't help raising his eyebrows and asked, "It's so easy to wash it clean, don't you want to wear the dirty clothes from before?"

Lin Mozhi opened his mouth and replied: "I just came here to talk to you. Who would want to take a hot bath again. There is no change of clothes at this moment, so I have to wear it patiently and wait until I come back Change the camp tent."

Xue Pan immediately laughed and said, "Why bother! Your tent is not a hundred and eight thousand miles away from mine, just ask Zhaocai to pick it up and it will be over."

As he spoke, Lin Mozhi could not allow him to refute, and immediately raised his voice and shouted, "Fortune."

Zhaocai, who was guarding the door of the tent, walked in immediately, bowed and asked, "What do you want me to do, sir?"

"Go to Mo Zhi'er's camp and get a clean change of clothes."

Zhaocai agreed, turned and left.After a while, he came back with a set of clean clothes.He exchanged it with Lin Mozhi.

Xue Pan also stood up and came out, casually changed into a set of clean clothes, put on his shoes and turned out of the screen.Holding a dry towel and handing it to Zhao Caidao: "You help me wipe my hair."

Lin Mozhi, who had just changed his clothes, immediately smiled and said, "How can Zhaocai do such delicate work with rough hands and hands. If you are really embarrassing, you will not feel better when the time comes. Why don't you If I come to help you wipe it, it can be regarded as repaying your love for asking me to take a bath."

With that said, he took the dry towel from Zhaocai's hand, walked up to Xue Pan and wiped it gently.

Xue Pan narrowed his eyes slightly and teased, "You're good at calculating now, and wiping my hair is worth the price of taking a bath. If that's the case, you can wipe my hair every day from now on."

"Then get water for me to bathe every day!" Lin Mozhi said nonchalantly.

Xue Pan smiled and said: "It's not difficult, it's just a matter of effort."

While talking, the two Zhaocaijinbao had cleaned up the dirty water after bathing.At this moment, he was standing in front of the two of them with a respectful face, and asked softly: "The journey has been exhausting, and the two masters must be tired. Can you set up a meal now, so that the two masters can rest after eating."

Xue Pan nodded in agreement.

But after a while, two Zhaocaijinbao walked in carrying a half-person-high food box.When the two put the food in the food box on the table one by one, Lin Mozhi couldn't help asking in surprise, "This food..."

Xue Pan chuckled and said, "I'm afraid I'm not used to the food in the military camp, so I specially brought a master chef from the Fuyuan Hall to cook for me. You might as well eat here too!"

Lin Mozhi shook his head again and sighed, "It's really flamboyant."

"It doesn't matter, I reported it to the Holy Majesty. Even if you want to defend your home and country and make contributions, you should try your best not to wrong yourself. Now it's not impossible to get some delicious food and drink, so why bother deliberately embarrassing yourself?" What about myself!" Xue Pan said, suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly ordered to Zhaocai: "You ask the master to bring those guys to cook some delicious dishes, no matter the taste is fine, but the ingredients must be good, all of them are delicious. Bring me some delicious cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks. The money is naturally on my own account. They have worked hard all day long. I am new here today, and I will treat all the soldiers in the camp to eat It's the seats."

Zhaocai responded in a low voice, then turned around and went out to collect.

Lin Mozhi glanced at Xue Pan with a half-smile, and said softly: "I said, why do you care so little about the provocations of those generals, but it turns out that you have a plan in your mind! But also, no matter where you go, money can make ghosts push you away." Most of the theories of grinding are common. It depends on whether there is anyone who can eat people with soft mouths and short hands. You can divide them without any effort. It’s just that this method is good for those villains who are greedy for money. But Most of the men in the army are hot-blooded, straightforward, and I am afraid they will not buy Pan'er's face."

Xue Pan chuckled lightly, but did not answer.He got up and poured a glass of wine for Lin Mozhi, and said, "Although the rule in the military camp is that alcohol is not allowed, I guess they are referring to the pure wine made from grain. The nephew made from these fruits is not among them. You can drink too Two cups, it's time to relieve fatigue."

Lin Mozhi shook the glass lightly, held the quilt up to his nose and sniffed it for a while, and praised, "The color is really good. I'm afraid the caravan brought it back from overseas!"

"You understand. There are only a few dozen barrels in total, and I am reluctant to sell them. I only gave half of them to Tuzhen, and kept the rest for myself. Either I drink them at home, or I give them away during festivals. There is nothing better than this." Xue Pan said, and picked up a chopstick of eggplant gills, put it in his mouth, and chewed it carefully.

Lin Mozhi was a little hungry after a day of tossing around.So he didn't talk too much, and started to eat food.

The two of them ate two mouthfuls, only to hear the sound of talking outside, then the curtain shook, and Nan'an County King came in in casual clothes.Seeing the happy appearance of the two, he shook his head again and again and said: "This is really enjoyable, you are so carefree, you don't even call me. I have to find the taste by myself."

Lin Mozhi just opened his mouth and hadn't spoken yet, when he saw Xue Pan put down his chopsticks, and smiled pointedly at the King of Nan'an County, "The King of Nan'an County is an old man in the army, so naturally he wants to share joys and sorrows with the soldiers. Suffering, lead by example. Why should you hang out with me, a playboy who wants to enjoy pleasure and can't endure hardship?"

Hearing this, the king of Nan'an County knew that Xue Pan had seen through the prestige of himself and some of the soldiers, and immediately said to Xue Pan with a wry smile: "Even if I don't do this, those soldiers also think so. Why don't I just poke him?" Come out, everyone clarified it face to face, so as to avoid hidden dangers in the future, which is not conducive to the training of soldiers. If this trivial matter delays the grand plans of the Holy One, isn't it my fault? For the sake of the court, I'm sorry Xiao Wang, who is in the place where the young master is, is not going to accompany him again."

Before finishing a sentence, he bowed respectfully to Xue Pan.

The king of Nan'an's speech was upright and upright, and with such a condescending attitude, Xue Pan couldn't care less about it, instead he appeared to be narrow-minded.Immediately stretched out his arms and asked: "Xue Pan is cautious. If the prince doesn't dislike it, let's sit down and have dinner together!"

The king of Nan'an hooked his mouth, lifted his clothes and sat down at the table.Zhaocai immediately brought over a pair of bowls and chopsticks.

After eating for a while, everyone went back to their tents to rest without mentioning it.

Before dawn the next morning, the horns in the camp had already blown.Zhaocai immediately went into the tent and called Xue Pan up, but Xue Pan waved his hands in a daze and said, "I haven't slept enough yet!"

"My lord is going to train soldiers. Now the battalion of soldiers has gathered in the martial arts arena, and they are only waiting for me. If my lord has not arrived for a long time, how can I make it happen?"

Hearing this, Xue Pan squinted his eyes and smiled lightly: "Come here, I'll tell you Qiao Zonger. If they wait impatiently and start making noise, you'll be like this..."

Zhaocai listened carefully, and saw Xue Pan lying back under the quilt to sleep again, so he had to tiptoe out.

At that time, all the soldiers in the martial arts arena had arrived, and they stood quietly aside with their chests raised.At first, he was very patient, but after waiting for a long time, Xue Pan was still missing, so he couldn't help feeling suspicious.Even whispered.

The generals who had long been displeased with Xue Pan's actions were still worried about his cannibalistic behavior last night, but after reluctantly waiting for a long time, Xue Pan was not seen.Can't help but croak.

The bearded black man stepped forward, clasped his fists and said: "In military affairs, the discipline is strict, there must be no delay. Now Mr. Xue did not arrive for the first morning exercise, please forgive me for not accepting it."

The armored King of Nan'an also frowned dissatisfiedly. Just as he was about to speak, he glanced at Zhao Cai who was rushing over below, and asked quickly, "Where's your master?"

Zhao Cai's face froze, he hesitated for a moment, and then he said bravely: "My uncle said, he is still sleepy and doesn't want to get up. Ask the soldiers to carry a [-]-kilogram load on their own and rush for ten kilometers. Breakfast—my uncle told you to practice first, and he will come after breakfast."

All the soldiers were in an uproar when they heard this.The sound of clamor almost shook the sky.Several generals reprimanded angrily: "This Xue Pan is too rampant. There is no child's play in the army. What does he think of this place?"

"It's just a dandy full of copper stink. Relying on the favor of the Holy One, he went to the army to mess around. We can't tolerate such a frivolous and unrestrained person."

"..."

Seeing the excitement of the crowd, the King of Nan'an could only sigh, and said to Zhao Cai: "The army is no better than the outside, so let your uncle come out quickly!"

Zhaocai cleared his throat, and said expressionlessly: "Our uncle said that he is just a dandy with no ambitions. This time, he went to the army to train recruits, and it was just because of the Holy Majesty's will. Sensibility. I also know how heavy I am, so naturally I can’t compare with other heroes. I heard that the most elite soldiers always obey the orders of their superiors and absolutely obey them. They never ask why and complain. Noise. Now my uncle is training soldiers by order, so he is your boss. He has given the order. If the soldiers push back and resist, there is nothing they can do if they refuse to obey him. He is a dandy who can't eat hard. If the soldiers also Just like him... He has no position to say anything. It's just half a catty, so don't be arrogant in front of him from now on—don't say anything about anyone."

All the generals were flushed red by Xue Pan's words.Among them, the bearded man with the most fiery temper clasped his fists and said, "General, please order me to personally lead the soldiers to carry out a heavy-duty assault. I must not let a dandy make fun of no one in our army. Hard work is the same as a dandy."

For a while, all the soldiers asked for orders. The King of Nan'an saw it, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "That's all. If that's the case, I don't need anything. Today has been a lot of time, so you can start practicing immediately." .Remember, the ten behind will not have breakfast."

All the soldiers agreed, and immediately brought their subordinates to equip themselves, and began to rush with heavy loads.

The King of Nan'an stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the chaotic sky ahead.At that time, the shouts of killing were about to break through the sky, and everyone ran wildly like chicken blood, and they worked ten times harder than before.Shaking his head uncontrollably, he sighed, "Such a simple aggressive method has actually succeeded."

Lin Mozhi said with a leisurely smile: "Although Pan'er is usually careless, he has a lot of arrogance in his chest, but he will definitely do the best in whatever he takes over. Although his methods are sometimes It’s extreme, but it’s undeniable that the results are good.”

The King of Nan'an chuckled softly, "Since that's the case, I'm relieved."