The huge fortune ship gradually approached the pier, and the situation on the pier came into view.
Pang Gang had never seen such a strange scene. Hundreds of cargo ships of various sizes and sizes were docked neatly at the pier. Although there were many people active on the pier, none of them was loading or unloading or preparing to leave.
.
It wasn't until Pang Gang's fleet docked that an inspector came with more than a dozen soldiers standing on the pier, nodding and bowing to greet them. The leader of them was Mr. Huang, who had just been on the river to block Pang Gang from fishing for oil and water.
Four.
Although Huang Laosi returned to the dock faster than Pang Gang and others, when he answered the question of the Yamen, he could not find any of the leaders in the Yamen. When he asked, it turned out that all the leaders of the Yamen, big and small, had gone to eat.
The governor's birthday banquet was over. At this time, the largest official in the inspection yamen was actually him, the ninth-rank deputy inspector.
When Huang Laosi saw this scene, he was so angry that he cursed his mother, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and hurried to the dock with a group of brothers, preparing to make friends with this unexpected fleet.
Huang Laosi stood at the pier and waited for a while. The first huge fortune ship docked at the pier. Its huge body outshone all the cargo ships around it.
"Boss, what kind of ship is this? Why is it so big?" a subordinate asked curiously.
Huang Laosi squinted his eyes and thought for a while before saying: "I don't know, but I think it is probably a big fortune ship or a treasure ship from the Yongle Dynasty. Only that kind of ship can be so big."
"Head, there are people disembarking from the boat." At this time, the soldiers on the side saw a long and wide wooden plank sticking out from the boat, and they all warned.
As soon as he saw the scarlet official robe that the visitor was wearing, Huang Laosi knew that a big shot was here.
"Oh my god, the one who came down is a high-ranking official!"
Huang Laosi hurriedly led the crowd to welcome him. He knelt down and kowtowed, regardless of what happened, and said: "I see you, my lord!"
I just heard this official say loudly: "Without courtesy, everyone, please get up."
After Huang Laosi and others got up, Huang Laosi smiled and walked forward and asked attentively: "May I ask where you are from, sir? Why are you here in Hangzhou? How many days will you stay? I can do something for you."
You have to register for record keeping."
When Huang Laosi was talking, the heavily armed sergeants who had already been named also got off the boat. Each of them held a blunderbuss and quickly surrounded the young official, Huang Laosi and others in a circle. They all looked solemn.
Looking at Huang Laosi and others, the gun in his hand exuded a dark light in the sun.
Facing the aggressive gazes of many murderous sergeants, Huang Laosi felt that his calves were spinning, and his mind was also rapidly thinking about where this man came from, but he knew very well that no matter where the person came from,
Lu Shenxian is not something that a little deputy inspector like him can afford to offend.
Just when Huang Laosi's heartbeat was getting faster and faster, he heard the official in front of him say loudly: "I am the commander of the Qingzhou capital, General Dingyuan, and the general guarding the East Road, Pang Gang. I came to Hangzhou on this trip.
It's for official business, and you don't need to know what official business it is."
Huang Laosi didn't have time to wipe off the cold sweat on his forehead and said with a charming smile: "Your Majesty is just laughing. How dare I ask you this? I just wanted to let you know that today is the Governor's birthday. All the prominent people in Hangzhou have come to the Governor's Yamen to congratulate you."
My birthday is over. If you want to do business, you have to choose a date to register."
"Oh, today is the governor's birthday?" Pang Gang looked at the pier a few times in surprise and then asked: "No wonder the pier is so quiet today. Have all these people gone to the governor's office to celebrate his birthday?"
Huang Laosi said with some disdain: "Sir, you are joking. How can those who sell private goods have the right to go to the governor's yamen to drink? They can only deliver gifts to the yamen gate and then go to the city's restaurants to drink."
"Uh!" Pang Gang couldn't help but feel speechless after hearing this. He dared not believe that these gift givers were not qualified to enter the governor's office.
When Huang Laosi saw the unhappy look on Pang Gang's face, he thought that Pang Gang was a little dissatisfied, so he quickly smiled and said: "Of course, if the adults go there, they will definitely be able to go in."
When Huang Laosi said this, Pang Gang felt even more depressed. In your eyes, my brother is a third-grade general, General Dingyuan. If he goes to celebrate his birthday, he can only go in reluctantly. Even if he goes, he can only go in.
Squatting in some nook and corner and drinking with those fifth- and sixth-grade petty officials, I was so full that I put my hot face on his cold ass.
Thinking of this, Pang Gang curled his lips and was about to ask everyone on the boat to disembark and find an inn to stay first. Unexpectedly, Huang Laosi politely said: "Sir, the governor's office is very lively today. Those high-ranking officials in Hangzhou City."
We, the big salt merchants, and the grain merchants are all inside, so you can be sure that it will be lively if you go."
"Well!" Pang Gang, who was about to walk away, stopped when he heard this, turned around and asked: "Are those salt merchants and grain merchants from Hangzhou City also there?"
"That's not the case!" Huang Laosi said with a calm expression, "Those gentlemen are very capable. Sometimes even the governor has to give them some face."
Pang Gang's heart became lively when he heard this: "As the saying goes, it's better to choose the day than to hit it. Since all the famous people in Hangzhou went to the governor's office today, I might as well go there. At least I can become familiar with him and save the trouble.
In the future, we will also go door-to-door to visit.”
At this time, Huang Laosi wanted to say something more, but was stopped by Pang Gang. He took out two ingots of silver from his sleeves and handed them to Huang Laosi and said with a smile: "Okay, I know, I have worked hard for you today."
Okay, for this little money, you can take the brothers to have a drink, and by the way, take care of me and don’t let those little guys get close to my ship.”
Although there were sailors watching the ship twelve hours a day, Pang Gang still thought it would be more convenient to have a local snake to help him.
Huang Laosi took the silver with both hands. As soon as he took the silver, he knew that it was twelve taels of silver per ingot. He didn't expect to meet a noble person today. With a smile on his face, he kept nodding and bowing and said: "Thank you for your reward, sir."
, May you be blessed with good fortune and good health! May you be promoted and make a fortune! Don’t worry, there are villains who will ensure that no evil people will get even half a step closer to your ship.”
Pang Gang couldn't help but feel amused when he saw Huang Laosi's vow. He knew at a glance that this Huang Laosi was a real soldier. He expected that such a person would probably steal the boat together with him just by looking at it.
After all, he was too lazy to pay attention to him. Pang Gang waved his hand, and Huang Laosi quickly led the people away from the dock.
After dozens of steps away from Pang Gang, a soldier quietly asked Huang Laosi, "Boss, do we still need to report to the inspection master? From my perspective, this huge man in Qingzhou seems to be quite extraordinary."
Huang Laosi became angry when he heard this. He stretched out his hand and gave the soldier a crack, and cursed: "You idiot, who are you going to report to now? The inspector is drinking in Wanhua Building. Besides, let's talk about it.
, even if he reported the inspection, what could he do to that adult? You can imagine why I, Huang Laosi, recruited a fool like you in the first place.
After scolding the soldier, Huang Laosi said to a dozen of his subordinates with dignity: "Okay, everyone saw it just now. The great man gave us a reward of twenty taels. Later, everyone
Each person comes to me to receive one tael of silver, and with the rest of the money, I will take everyone to Cuihua House for a drink."
"Thank you, sir, for the wine!" Upon hearing this, all the soldiers became excited and followed Huang Laosi out to have fun.
After Pang Gang watched Huang Laosi and others leave, he took Li Xuezhu and dozens of soldiers, took some gifts brought from Qingzhou, and headed towards the Hangzhou Governor's Yamen.
Hangzhou is the provincial capital of Zhejiang. There are dozens of large and small yamen in Hangzhou such as the governor's yamen, the prefect's yamen, the salt transport yamen, the inspector's yamen, etc., but the most powerful yamen among them is undoubtedly the governor's yamen.
The governor, who began in the Ming Dynasty, is also called Futai. He is a minister who inspects the military and civil affairs of various places. His official rank is equivalent to the current provincial governor or provincial party committee secretary. He is named after "touring the world and pacifying the army according to the people".
Although in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had established a provincial political system with the three departments of capital, Bu and Yin coexisting. However, since the Xuande and Zhengtong dynasties, the power of the civilian group has expanded and the status of the military group has declined, and the balance of the three departments has been broken. It is becoming increasingly
The intensified social conflicts caused the division of the three departments and made them dysfunctional. For the sake of social stability, the imperial court had to appoint another governor to manage local affairs in a unified manner. This also reflected the ruling group's insistence on the principle of centralization and decentralization of power.
desire.
Today is the fiftieth birthday of Wu Yadong, the governor of Zhejiang. The ancients said that one knows destiny at fifty, so the fifty-year-old birthday is a big day for Wu Yadong. Today, the governor's Yamen has already organized more than a dozen restaurants and restaurants in Hangzhou.
They were all booked. A flowing banquet was set inside so that guests could have a banquet at any time during the day. However, there were only some servants and butlers there to greet them. As for the governor, of course he only greeted those with high status in the governor's yamen.
of guests.
The governor's office was very lively today. There was a long row of sedans parked in front of the door. There were dozens of them at a rough count. Hundreds of sedan bearers were sitting on the roadside, smoking pipes and chatting. They were just bragging about whose family they owned.
The old man is a big official, who has more money, whose woman is beautiful, and so on.
But deep in the inner courtyard of the governor's office, there was a lively flow of people coming and going. Hundreds of maids and servants were very busy inside. Starting from the garden of the inner courtyard, dozens of banquet tables were set up and lined up.
When we arrived at the hall in the inner courtyard, of course, the people who could enter the hall were at least officials of the same rank as the governor or important gentry in Hangzhou City, and the Yan family's grandfather and grandson who hurried back from Hangzhou City were also awe-inspiring.
reign.
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