The Suzhou branch of the Wuhe Escort Bureau is located in the county town of Xingying County, which is adjacent to Heqing County. During the days when the escort was still resting in the Huafu of Heqing County, three letters had already arrived, asking when the escort team led by Zhang Bashun would arrive.
After being able to reach Xingying City, Zhang Bashun originally wanted to wait for all the bodyguards to recover from their injuries before embarking on the journey. He was really afraid that one day the people from the bodyguard office in Xingying County would go crazy and send people to Washington to see the person of this bodyguard.
All of them have been nourished by the good food and drinks in Washington and have become fat and strong, and their bellies have grown a lot. I don’t know what they will think.
It was only three days' journey from Heqing County to Xingying County. Zhang Bashun was worried about the injuries of the injured escorts on the cart, so he asked the driver and horsemen to walk slowly on the gentle road. The three-day journey was dragged to five days, which was still more than half a day.
, only then saw the battlements of Xingying County.
Just like the Heqing County City, the Xingying County City also had a bleak scene. Wei Changpan opened the curtains and looked out. He could vaguely see some signs of the past prosperity from the closed shop doors on the street. The door panels were made of fine wood.
Covered with a thick layer of dust, the signboards are also very sophisticated. Many store signs have inscriptions that are mediocre at first glance.
Within three to five years, Suzhou's vitality would be hard to recover. This was only possible when the imperial court reduced taxes for the entire territory of Suzhou for two to three years. Zhang Bashun and Wei Changpan said: Our Emperor Yao is a hero who is determined to open up new territories.
We need money to recruit troops and buy horses. Where does the money come from? Do we have to rely on taxes from the three states of Jiangnan, Su, and Hui in the south of Dayao?
Huizhou and Suzhou are so depleted that they can no longer squeeze out any more silver. Only Jiangzhou is richer than the former two combined. Therefore, in this disaster year, two million taels of silver can be squeezed out for military expenses and escorted to Beijing.
, it is extremely difficult. Among the two hundred taels of silver, one hundred taels were originally intended to provide relief to Huisu and Suzhou. Now they are all used as military expenses, that is, they are taken from the mouths of thousands of hungry people.
Food, therefore the great Yao Lie Emperor's reputation among the people in Huisu and Suzhou was no longer as good as before.
"The hospital still thinks that Suzhou can be restored to its vitality in three or two years. If that person does this," Zhang Bashun stretched and yawned, resisting sleepiness and said, "In five years, no, ten years, if Suzhou wants to return to its original state,
Disaster."
Although the escorts are not escorted, keeping vigil is an iron rule set by Zhang Wuhe, the founder of the Wuhe Escort Bureau. No escort leader dares to violate it easily. There are many injuries in this escort trip, and it is difficult to teach someone to use crutches.
He also stayed up late with his knife in hand, so Zhang Bashun only slept for less than two hours for three nights in a row before setting off on the road. The car was bumpy and he started to snore.
"Boss, you don't have to keep vigil anymore if you feel guilty in Xingying City." Gu Shengyang propped himself up with one arm, and Gu Sheng, who was nearby, quickly brought a straw pillow stuffed with rice husks to cushion his back, "Thank you for your hard work these days.
"
"Lao Gu, we two brothers are very different from each other. It's hard work for a bodyguard. It's hard for a bodyguard. I remember when you and I were still working as bodyguards under the chief bodyguard, you didn't imitate the old hen in the middle of the night vigil.
After pecking at the rice, I fell asleep. Several times, the head escort confiscated my lunch and had to use my purse to buy some food. Now that I am getting older, I am being polite here.
?”
Zhang Bashun teased Gu Shengyang, who had lost his arm, and recalled the time when both of them were stupid escorts.
How long ago was that? Twenty years? Maybe thirty years. The two martial arts realms were on the threshold of the second floor. With the pitiful monthly salary of five taels and five cents for the third-class bodyguard in the escort agency, they could only stay in the escort agency for food and accommodation.
Inside, if you occasionally can't satisfy your cravings and go to the restaurant outside the Escort Bureau to have a toothpaste, then most of the food for the next month will not see any oil or meat, and you will have to thank God for a spoon of spicy food.
The two of them worked in the Wuhe Escort Bureau for two years, and Zhang Bashun finally crossed the threshold in martial arts. He was still young at that time, and it would not be difficult to go up to the next level in the future. The chief escort chief, who was still the escort chief at that time, took him
After being promoted to the top, he became a second-class bodyguard, and his monthly salary was two taels more. As for Gu Shengyang, although his martial arts realm was still lagging behind, he had served as a bodyguard several times and was doing well outside, so he was generous.
He became the first second-class escort in the Wuhe Escort Agency with a first-level martial arts.
Times have changed, and Lao Gu's sons have all come out to work as escorts. Lao Gu thinks that his sons will inherit their father's business and become famous in the army and escort bureau. On the contrary, he has sent his two sons to book schools since they were young.
To put it simply, how many of the county magistrates, county guards, governors, and those officials above the temple who Zhang Bashun could not reach were not scholars?
The Golden House, Thousand Zhongsu, and Yan Ruyu are all in the book. No matter how hard the scholars spend their money, Zhang Bashun has been a bodyguard for half his life. Because of the pain of not having enough knowledge, there is not only half a basket but also half a basket. This kind of suffering can no longer be suffered by his children and grandchildren.
go.
The two little bastards were pretty good at it. The older one already had a reputation as a scholar, while the younger one was only over ten years old. His writings had been repeatedly praised by the master of the book school, saying that he was expected to go one step further than his elder brother.
The reputation of being a scholar is already within his grasp.
The poor scholar studied literature and the rich practiced martial arts, his grandmother's. Zhang Bashun got angry thinking about it. He was serious about studying the Eight Classics, pen, ink, books and paper. The husband was busy and rushed to take the exam. How can he not spend money? The eldest son Qiu Wei failed once, and now he has passed the exam.
I have lived for three years, and I am counting on the date to be within these two days. I don’t know how sure I can be this time. If I win, it will be a great event for the old Zhang family to honor their ancestors.
Along the way, Zhang Bashun paid a lot of attention to the stack of banknotes in his wallet, wondering where he could exchange them for cash. He always felt that the more than three thousand taels of pension money was burning through the wallet, and he was afraid that he would still get wet every time.
My body was soaked with sweat and turned into a ball of paper.
"You're so polite." Gu Shengyang's loud scolding brought him back from his thoughts, "Why don't you pee and look like you can't even raise your eyelids in front of me, and you still have the nerve to laugh at us."
The two looked at each other and immediately burst into laughter, the sound shaking the roof of the cart.
"One last thing to say to you before entering the city." A few hundred steps in front of the city gate of Xingying County, the motorcade stopped at the side of the avenue. Zhang Bashun asked the people in the first four cars to get off and said one last greeting.
, "If the people in charge of the escort agency find out about our private work, it doesn't matter if we can't keep our position as the head escort. If you all work one by one, starting from the third-class escort or even the first-class escort, you won't be able to keep the little money you have on hand. You will die.
Those who are dead are dead, and those who are alive should live well."
Wei Changpan was in the crowd, and he uttered a loud and soft "Yes". He wanted to say something, but Wu and the escorts from the Escort Bureau quickly got into their respective carts, leaving him alone to say something.
Stop again.
"Stop dawdling, little brother Wei, come up quickly." Zhang Bashun stuck his head out of the first big car and greeted him.
When his head popped out of the big car behind him, Wei Changpan finally walked towards the first big car. He carefully protected the ebony box on his chest that contained the handful of ashes left by Zhou Yongan after his death, and climbed into the car.
Five carts of Wu He's escort team entered Xingying City unimpeded. Perhaps Xingying County was in such a state of poverty that it could not even afford the money and food for the soldiers guarding the city, so the city gates were left open during the day to allow people to come and go.
The scenery in Xingying County City is generally the same as that in Heqing County City. The area is still in depression.
There are a few places that have benefited from this natural disaster, and their doors remain as glorious as ever, and even become a little more extravagant.
Except for the porridge factories set up in Gaomen Courtyard and Xingying County, only the pawnshops and grain stores are doing a prosperous business. The Suzhou branch of Wuhe Escort Bureau is also one of the few in Xingying County that is still operating well.
make a living.
The group of people arrived at the Wuhe Escort Bureau branch. There were only seven or eight old, weak, sick and disabled people with missing arms and legs left guarding the huge place. They were all former Wuhe Escort Bureau bodyguards. They retired when they got older and also
Or they suffered irreparable injuries while fighting with others, so the escort fed and fed these people well.
Among the seven or eight people, the only one among the seven or eight people was a thin middle-aged man dressed as a scribe who was holding a pen and writing urgently. When he saw Zhang Bashun and his group coming in, he immediately put down his pen and ink and walked to Zhang Bashun in three and two steps. He stretched out two
He clenched his arms and shook his hands up and down, and said with a look of ecstasy:
"I've been waiting for you, Mr. Zhang. I'm currently writing my fourth letter to Heqing County. If you don't come, then of these people, I will have to ride a horse to Heqing County."
"How many people does escort Zhang bring?" The middle-aged man dressed as a scholar looked behind Zhang Bashun hurriedly. He saw several escorts who were still injured and a few people who were very different from what he expected. He suddenly felt distressed.
Face said, "Why are these people here? Half of them are injured, how can they escort the escort?"
Zhang Bashun told him about the fight with the bandits in Wuniu Mountain. Basically, there was no change, except that the date was moved forward a few days and the place where the two sides fought was moved to the front of the Woniu Mountain Pass. It would save effort to make up another story.
It is much more and more credible, because nine percent of it is true and one percent is false, and Zhang Ba's words can be spoken smoothly.
Zhang Bashun, who had originally planned to spend a lot of money, never thought that the middle-aged scribe would believe him without much effort, and then complained to him about the situation where bandits were rampant in Suzhou. What happened to Zhang Bashun was definitely not an accident. It turned out that Wu He Escort was in charge
Most of the hilltops that we have a good relationship with have now changed their font sizes. Some hilltops can change owners as many as three times in one month. Wuhe, the Suzhou branch of the Escort Bureau, who is responsible for handling local gangsters on the black and white roads, has suffered terribly. Since last year's New Year,
From the first day of the new year to today, I can't count the number of dead and wounded escorts on my fingers and toes, otherwise I wouldn't have dispatched personnel to the Jinzhou Escort Agency again and again for no reason.
Zhang Bashun's team of bodyguards, guessing that their luck was really bad, actually fought with the king of Wo Niu Mountain and lost so many people, but the bodyguards and goods were still intact. The middle-aged scribe sighed, "Come here."
The rich people begging for bodyguards are squeezing their heads, just because Wuhe Escort Agency can still do nothing serious in bodyguards in this world. If you change to another agency, you can't protect even half of us.
If I had known that I had gone to study, the middle-aged scribe complained and went to the escort office to get a knife.