Whether it was the Wei Dynasty or the Zheng Dynasty, there were a large number of post pavilions and they were widely distributed. There were post houses. According to the rules of the court, officials themselves could rest and stay in the post pavilions, and requisition cattle and horses.
The horses must be for military use, so ox carts can be requisitioned. Su Zi's status is from the sixth level, but he is an observation envoy, so he can be treated twice as much.
Twenty people drove ox carts, very close to each other, forming a small convoy and heading towards Shun'an Mansion.
Since we don’t have to pass through the city of Mingde Prefecture, we have to walk straight ahead from the official road, and we have to walk on small roads and climb over mountains and ridges in the middle, so I bought some food and water beforehand to prepare food on the road, and be prepared if I don’t catch up with the hotel.
, just preparations for spending the night in the wild.
When they reached Guyang Road, at nightfall, they found a hotel in front of them, which was a particularly pleasant surprise.
"I didn't expect that there is a hotel in this sparsely populated place! Seeing that the lantern is still on, someone must have opened it. Sir, let's check in at the front!"
The chief of the guard took a look and made a suggestion to Su Ziji.
Being able to stay in a hotel, Su Ziji naturally didn't want to sleep in the open air, so he nodded: "Okay."
As for the people on the bullock cart following behind, some looked at each other and expressed joy, while others were simply happy that they could finally relax on the soft bed.
When I looked at the sky, it was raining here and there, making it slightly cool.
The shop owner had already come out to greet him. When he saw people and cars approaching, he hurriedly greeted him. He was smiling and humming, but when he saw that he was an official, he immediately knelt down and murmured: "It turns out that he is an official. I would like to pay my respects to you..."
"It's nothing, let's all get up." Su Ziji knew the innkeeper's scruples and said gently: "You are the innkeeper and I am the guest. If you come, we will give you ten taels of silver first, give our people a night's accommodation, serve wine and food, and
Hot water, tell me if you run out."
Seeing a gold ingot being thrown over, the boss took it and looked at it. He saw that it was a piece of official silver with a fine white background. His eyes narrowed with a smile: "Please come in quickly, guys, please clean up the room quickly. Also,
Kill one of the pigs you raise to get fresh food."
At this time, the price of goods was about ten to twenty yuan a night. For more than 20 people, it was about 500 yuan. A fat chicken only cost 30 yuan, and top-quality pork was 20 yuan per catty. It can be said that ten taels of silver were more than enough to pay the bill.
, everyone who followed immediately looked happy, this time they had a good meal.
Immediately, someone moved a water tray to wash everyone's face. In the moment of confusion, Su Ziji said to the chief: "Take the people and secure the oxcart. Don't get lost."
"Yes!" The chief led others to clean up the chores, and the guards naturally went in first.
Just then, a boy and a girl, both unkempt and eleven or twelve years old, came in and begged: "Masters, please give me something to stutter, my sister hasn't eaten all day."
Given a bite to eat, people couldn't help but sigh. This incident of encountering a beggar in a hotel could actually happen even in this wilderness.
The waiter frowned at one glance and scolded him. However, Xun Sichen, who came in first to check the situation, stopped the waiter and said, "No need."
He walked aside again, took a steaming big steamed bun that had just been served, and threw it into the beggar's arms.
"Go and eat!"
Su Ziji walked in one step later, happened to see this scene, and couldn't help laughing.
"Mr. Su, it's rare that there is a cubicle there, why don't we go sit there?" Just as he was about to sit down in the lobby, Xun Sichen pointed to a table in the corner separated by a screen and said.
It's said to be a partition, but it's actually in the lobby, separated by a screen. I don't know where the shop owner learned his elegance.
Xun Sichen explained: "You and I are eating here, but they can't let us go."
Su Ziji glanced at the people who were coming in one after another, and nodded: "Then go inside."
Experienced people had checked everywhere and the tea. There was indeed nothing wrong with it, so everyone sat in a staggered position.
Zhang Sui had an acquaintance in the team, so he didn't answer Su Ziji's call to go to the cubicle, but sat here in the lobby.
Because they checked in late, even though they were killing pigs and chickens, they didn't have much food to eat. They only had steamed buns, soy sauce meat, tea, and wine. The guards didn't dare to drink while on the road, so as not to cause trouble, and the tea was provided free of charge.
Everyone was talking, laughing, eating, drinking, and soon finished the meal.
It will take time to clean up the empty house later. While the shop owner and the waiters are busy in the back, people are drinking tea and resting in the front.
Cen Rubai had just gone out and took a roll of something from somewhere and handed it to Su Ziji.
"This is?"
"Sir, this is the situation in Shun'an Mansion. I summarized it on the boat before. You can take a look at it now."
Cen Rubai said: "Shun'an Mansion is indeed in deficit of 700,000 taels. Now the prefect is Qi Hongxin, who has been newly transferred and is also worried about this matter."
"These are not hidden things. You can know them immediately when you go there. Now that you know them in advance, you can think about how to get started."
Su Ziji didn't care about the loss. He was surprised when he heard the name "Qi Hongxin" and asked: "Qi Hongxin, have you ever been a capital official?"
Cen Rubai seemed to have noticed something, but did not show anything strange. He nodded: "More than ten years ago, he served as a capital official, and later he was sent to work as a county guard, and then as a prefect. In short, he has always been working in the county and has never been promoted.
Yes, but in fact, being an official has a clear name and a very good reputation."
In the previous dynasty and this dynasty, counties were also divided into several ranks. The chief of a large county was a county magistrate, who was from the sixth rank and was a second-grade Jinshi.
The same goes for counties. A large county is called a magistrate, and a small county is called a county governor.
For more than ten years before Qi Hongxin, he either served as the governor of a small county, or was moved to a large county to be the prefect of a prefecture. In short, he always hung around in the same rank. No matter how busy he was, promotion was not his concern.
After receiving a positive reply from Cen Rubai, Su Ziji immediately began to think deeply.
"Qi Hongxin happens to be my last target. The emperor transferred him to Shun'an Prefecture as the prefect, and also sent me to Shun'an Prefecture to get together with him. What is the purpose of this?"
"What I did before should not be hidden from this emperor. Is this an opportunity for me to take revenge?"
"Or, are you taking the opportunity to observe me?"
Seeing that everyone was eating and drinking, and everyone was talking and laughing, Su Ziji was startled when a crisp sound suddenly came from his ears.
Taking a closer look, it turned out that Xun Sichen's face turned pale, he threw the tea cup and shouted: "Do it!"
The guards sitting across from the soldiers drew their swords and stabbed the person sitting next to them. The cold light was harsh, but the people they suddenly attacked reacted faster than the guards. They gave way first and then drew their swords.
.
"You...ah!" One of the guards still smiled ferociously, but he missed the target. Instead, the soldier dodged and slashed diagonally, slashing half a foot from the shoulder.
The guard's face was filled with disbelief. He opened his mouth, but a mouthful of blood spurted out and he fell down.
The two teams, who were originally partners, actually fought with each other. For a moment, the hall was filled with howls of terror, which was so horrifying.