There was not a single star in the pitch-black night sky. A small sedan came hurriedly down the invisible street, and a dim lantern was carried in the hands of a sedan bearer walking in front.
The four bearers had obviously walked a long way, and everyone was breathing heavily. If the light was brighter, you could definitely see the sweat on their heads, but the people in the sedan seemed to be too slow.
Slow, but still shouting "It's too slow, hurry up!" from time to time.
After walking for another quarter of an hour, the sedan stopped at the side entrance of a courtyard of the governor's Yamen. The people in the sedan hurried out and knocked on the small door immediately after getting off the sedan. Soon a porter carrying a lantern opened the door.
After he came out, the two of them said a few words, the concierge let him in, and then the small door was closed again.
In a dark study room, Wu Yadong, the governor of Hangzhou, was sitting on a chair. Although he was still holding a teacup in his hand and the tea in the cup had already cooled down, he was still sitting there without any notice and remained motionless.
Suddenly, a servant's deliberately lowered voice came from outside, "Sir, Master Song is here."
"Oh... quickly... let him in quickly." Wu Yadong, who was distracted, quickly stood up, but unexpectedly, his hand shook, and the teacup fell to the ground with a crisp sound, and the contents of the cup
The tea spilled all over the floor, but at this time Wu Yadong was no longer in the mood to care about this. He frowned and kicked the tea cup aside.
Soon a thin figure walked in, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Song Xinghe, has met the Governor!"
"No courtesy, get up quickly!" Wu Yadong did not be polite to Song Xinghe, but asked directly: "Commander Song, how was your conversation with him, and what did he say?"
Song Xinghe said with a gloomy face: "Sir, Pang Pang did not agree to evacuate Hangzhou. He said not to treat him as a fool. His murderer must be handed over, and the food must be sold to him at market price, otherwise he will never
Will be evacuated."
"boom!"
Wu Yadong banged the table and said angrily: "Shame on the rebellious people! A vulgar warrior dared to threaten the Hangzhou government. It is simply lawless. These rebellious officials and traitors really deserve to be killed. Mr. Song, you have
Is there any way to kill him?"
Song Xinghe shook his head and said: "Sir, if we want to send troops to kill this person, we must send troops to encircle and suppress him. But where can we find watermen?"
Wu Yadong gritted his teeth and said: "If we can't fight at sea, then send troops to Shandong by land. I don't believe that he won't even leave his hometown. As long as we send people to threaten Qingzhou by land, he will definitely retreat in a hurry."
"Not even on land." Song Xinghe explained with a wry smile: "Not to mention the trouble of sending troops across provinces, even if we have an official document from the court approving us to send troops to Qingzhou, even if we have an official document from the court, we
How many troops can be sent? If you send too few, you will only die. If you send too many, we will have no soldiers. Moreover, I know Pang Gang well. He is famous for his good training and bravery. If he wants to threaten Qingzhou,
We must send at least 20,000 troops, but do we have that many troops?"
Wu Yadong sat slumped on the chair. He had been in the officialdom all his life. If he were to pick up evil people, play tricks in the sleeves and officialdom conspiracies, he would never lose to anyone. But facing things like this now, he could only
He stared.
He originally thought that after being immersed in official circles all his life, he would be able to deal with a mere warrior from out of town, and that with just a little strategy, he could make that vulgar warrior irrecoverable.
But there is a saying among the people that when a scholar encounters a soldier, he can't explain why. Now Pang Gang didn't play tricks with him at all, but just hit him with his fist. This time, the governor who was conceited and learned a lot
The adults sat on the wax immediately.
songs
It's nonsense.
After being silent for a long time, Wu Yadong sighed: "Commander Song, do you have any way to make that reckless man retreat?"
songs
He will know what he has decided to do, and he will not give up until the goal is achieved."
Wu Yadong was silent. There was silence in the dim room. Only the wick of an oil lamp kept swaying with the breeze...
Early the next morning, when Pang Gang was having breakfast with the three girls Li Xuezhu, who had just woken up, soldiers outside the door came to report that Song Xinghe was outside asking for a meeting.
After hearing the report from the soldiers, Liu Rushi and Chen Yuanyuan just lowered their heads and drank the gruel in their hands without saying a word. Li Xuezhu asked curiously: "General, isn't that Song Xinghe the original commander of Qingzhou? What is he doing here?
"
"He's very talented at what he does. He must be here to be a lobbyist. You eat slowly, I'll go see him first." Pang Gang reached out and grabbed the face towel on the table, wiped the rice grains from the corners of his mouth, put it down, and stood up.
...
Still in the small hall on the third floor, Pang Gang sat behind the desk and asked with a smile: "Commander Song, what kind of good news have you brought to me today?"
At this time, Song Xinghe looked indifferent. He looked at Pang Gang and said solemnly: "Mr. Pangda, I am here to express my concern about your assassination at the dock on behalf of Governor Wu, and I will do my best to hunt down the assassin and his culprit.
"
Pang Gang had no reaction on his face after hearing this, and just asked silently: "What else?"
"And..." Song Xinghe gritted his teeth and said, "You can buy grain directly from the grain merchants, but you can only negotiate with the grain merchants on the price."
"Yeah!" Pang Gang's face slowly turned cold after hearing this: "Does Governor Wu still want to take advantage of those grain merchants to take advantage of Pang?"
"Oh, Mr. Pangda, don't get me wrong." Song Xinghe knew at a glance that Pang Gang was thinking wrong, and hurriedly explained: "That's it, the price of food in Hangzhou is not determined by Master Wu.
You must also understand that Mr. Wu can only try his best to broker your business, but as for the price, there is nothing he can do."
"It seems that the governor is not omnipotent." Pang Gang laughed sarcastically after hearing this.
Song Xinghe smiled bitterly. The forces in Hangzhou were complicated. Although Wu Yadong was the governor of a province, he could not cover the sky with one hand. Those businessmen were independent of each other. Wu Yadong was not afraid of one or two alone, but if all the businessmen united
That is a very huge force, especially the price of food, which is beyond Wu Yadong's control. Now Song Xinghe is just sitting silently on the chair waiting for Pang Gang's answer.
Pang Gang pondered for a long time before nodding and said: "Okay, although the governor cannot force the grain merchants to sell grain to me at a fair price, it is always good to summon the grain merchants in Hangzhou to meet with me.
That’s okay.”
"That's no problem." Song Xinghe nodded in agreement.
"Okay, let's do it." Pang Gang stood up, "When Master Wu sends Pang's murderer to Pang's ship, I will lift the blockade of the dock. However, I hope to be able to do so within two days.
I will meet the grain merchants on this ship in the future, and I will ensure their safety."
What else could Song Xinghe say, he could only silently agree.
After sending Song Xinghe away, Pang Gang started scratching his head again. Now the grain merchants were holding on to the grain in their hands. If they were to sell the grain to him, it would be almost impossible for him to bleed without bleeding.
How can we prevent them from ripping us off? This is really a problem!
Pang Gang patted his head and walked to his room with a headache...
In the lobby of the Hangzhou Governor's Yamen, Governor Wu Yadong, Inspector Xi Lianglin, Chief Envoy Tang Zhonglin, Magistrate Chen Hai and others gathered together to discuss matters in secret.
"Master Wu." Tang Zhonglin asked: "Will Pang Gang really withdraw his troops as long as he hands over the murderer?"
"Yes," Wu Yadong nodded: "Commander Song and Pang Gang talked twice and finally reached an agreement. He made two demands. One was to hand over the real culprit behind his assassination, and the other was to arrange the city
The grain merchants here will gather on his ship, and as long as these two conditions are met, he will withdraw his troops."
"These two requests are not too outrageous. I think you might as well consider it." Chen Hai, the magistrate of Hangzhou, hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly. He has the lowest official rank among those present, so he was cautious when speaking.
.
After a while, the chief envoy Tang Zhonglin said slowly: "It is not impossible to arrange for the grain merchants to meet with him, but the first point is a bit difficult. If it is spread, it will have an impact on the reputation of the government."
"We can't take care of so much now." The inspector Xi Lianglin said fiercely: "Now all the merchants on the dock are complaining. This matter will fall into the ears of the court at any time. Judging from the temper of the current emperor, we will all
He will be dismissed from his post and investigated."
After hearing this, everyone nodded in unison. For them, the sky and the earth are not as big as the black gauze hat on their head. If even the black gauze hat is gone, everything will be over.
A ferocious look flashed in Wu Yadong's eyes and he said, "That's it. Tonight, Governor Chen, invite all the Yan family's grandsons out for dinner, and then send someone to kill them secretly. You must do it neatly, and remember not to give
They caught the clue. Then they told the outside world that they had met an assassin, and then divided half of their property and shop among several other salt merchants. Presumably this way they would have nothing to gossip about."
Chen Hai felt disgusted in his heart, why should he do such dirty work again? But who asked him to have a low-level position? He had no choice but to stand up and said: "Yes, I will obey your orders!"