Kowloon wins

Chapter 287
Is this going to go?

On the 45th day of the first month in the [-]th year of Kangxi, the sky was snowing heavily and the north wind was howling. Standing on the steps outside the government office, Hong Qing couldn't help but look back at the plaque on the lintel, feeling a little bit reluctant in her heart. , a bit of melancholy, and even a bit of inexplicable melancholy, all because he is finally going back to Beijing—since he arrived here in mid-May last year, more than half a year has passed in a blink of an eye. It was long, but what was left to Hongqing was an unforgettable memory. There were both gains and losses, but overall, the gains definitely far outweighed the losses. It can be regarded as a successful local experience.

The rectification of the salt affairs has been basically completed. Although it is a pity that Liu Ba Nv was not captured alive, Ba Ye escaped the disaster of destruction, but killing Liu Ba Nv was already a heavy blow to Ba Ye Well, without the big purse of Liu Ba Nv, Ba Ye must have lived a not-so-short period of hardship. This can be regarded as barely expressing the anger of being plotted by Ba Ye several times. It’s enough to take it easy, but don’t be in a hurry; another regret is that I couldn’t find Wu Sidao’s whereabouts. She had already left Gaoyou, and her whereabouts had long since disappeared. Such a result made Hongqing quite unwilling, but she had no choice but to leave it for future calculations.

It is a pity that there is, but compared to the income, it is not worth mentioning. Not to mention other things, since Chen Biao was captured, Hongqing has followed the vines to transport the salt from Lianghuai to pull out all the moths in the yamen. After coming out, from He Mingfu to the generals below, a total of nearly a hundred corrupt officials were eliminated, and then with the full cooperation of the new salt transport envoy Ji Huaijin, the salt affairs were reorganized and deposed. The nest merchants only retained the general, transportation, and field merchants, re-determined the market salt price, which was reduced by 250% compared with the old market price, and doubled the quota of Lianghuai salt transportation envoys. And re-planned the areas of the general merchants, and clarified the rights and responsibilities to prevent buck-passing.After such a rectification, the Lianghuai salt transportation alone can increase the annual revenue of the imperial court by [-] million taels, and the people can also benefit from it. It can be regarded as a good result. At the end of the month, as soon as Hong Qing's chapter arrived in Beijing, the old man read it without any ambiguity. He didn't even have a court meeting, and only had a brief discussion with the grand scholars.

In the eyes of the people in the court, Hongqing has made great contributions to the matter of salt affairs, but Hongqing himself doesn't care much about it. In his mind, the most important thing is to manage Yangzhou well. An achievement that makes him proud—not to mention the fruitful harvests in summer and autumn, nor the success of the Yanhe River governance, but the fact that he personally presided over the Fuzhong Township Examination made Hong Qing feel very happy. Nothing else, classmate Hong Qing's previous life At that time, I was lazy in studying. Although relying on my extremely clever brain, my grades have always been quite good, but I have never been less than a child when I was criticized by the teacher for not doing my homework. The master's addiction, actually has more than forty Juren disciples, which really makes Hongqing feel a little bit smug, and what makes Hongqing even more proud is that the response to his selection of scholars this time is unanimously applauded by the people, and no one has it. Those who disagree, even though Hongqing himself has not published any great works yet, he has already gained considerable fame in the literary world. It has to be said that it is a surprise. It is hard to say how other people react, but Hongqing herself has no Don't steal and laugh a few times.

"My lord, it's snowing heavily, you'd better get in the car first."

Hong Qing was a little crazy thinking about it for a while, she hadn't set off for a long time, Li Minxing, who was guarding at the side, had to raise something in a low voice when she saw this.

"Ah."

No matter how much reluctance she had, she still had to leave. Hong Qing glanced at the lobby for the last time, turned around resolutely, bent down and got into the carriage. The guards rode their horses and surrounded Hong Qing's carriage and drove slowly all the way to the north gate.

It's time to go back to Beijing, and it should be a lot of trouble after thinking about it!

Thinking of the tricks that Eighth Master did when she was not in Beijing, Hong Qing couldn't help but feel angry. She didn't intend to be very polite to Eighth Master, but she had to be careful about how to do it. Strategy, but no matter how you say it, Hong Qing is absolutely unwilling to give up such an important territory as the Ministry of Industry, and the battle with Baye is bound to become fierce. Ba Ye's control over the Ministry of Industry has become the primary issue that Hong Qing must consider right now.

Difficult, really difficult!

Although Hong Qing has not been in the capital for more than half a year, she has a lot of eyeliners, and she knows everything about the capital. In the current Ministry of Industry, except for Dai Zi, a stubborn old man who is not very obedient In addition, Shen He and other Hongqing's confidantes were either demoted or beaten to the end. At most, there were only a few handwritten notes who were not very useful. In other words, Hongqing's staff in the Ministry of Industry The foundation has almost been uprooted by the Eighth Master. It is obviously not so easy to turn the situation back. What makes Hong Qing even more troublesome is that the Eighth Master's cleverness is that he did not put all the vacancies in the Ministry of Industry into his own pocket, but It was extremely generously distributed to the elder brother, the prince and others. In this way, if Hongqing really wanted to take it back to the Ministry of Industry, it would definitely touch the interests of most elder brothers. If there is a danger of all elder brothers joining forces to attack, the consequences will be unbearable.

throw in the towel?This has never been Hong Qing's style!Although the third master should be quiet and not move now, Hong Qing has no such worries. It is difficult for the third master to show up, so Hong Qing has to do his part. As for whether he will steal the third master's limelight?The answer is no, the reason is very simple, the better Hongqing does, the more beneficial it will be for the third master, nothing else, the old man is the master of sages, and what he is thinking about is definitely not the current generation, but the big The inheritance of Qing's foundation, of course, hopes that the future generations will be better than the next generation. Of course, the third master's performance so far has been very good, at least much better than other elder brothers, and it is time to hide his strength and bide his time It's time, no matter how much you show your edge, not only will it not be icing on the cake, but it will easily arouse the old man's suspicion. At this time, it is even more necessary for Hong Qing to show a tough posture, so that a good balance between soft and hard can be formed, and neither will be caught Brother Zhu took advantage of the situation to bully him, so that he would not be forgotten by the old man because of his obscurity. Hong Qing had already discussed this point many times in the correspondence with the old master, so he knew it very well, but now the difference is nothing more than It's just how to do it.

"Little prince, little prince."

Hong Qing was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even know when the carriage had stopped. It wasn't until Li Minxing's soft calls came from beside the carriage curtain that Hong Qing woke up from her contemplation. .

"What's the matter?"

With the sorrow of parting and heavy thoughts, Hong Qing's mood was not very good. The interruption of her thoughts made her mood worse. mean.

"Little prince, you should take a look for yourself, the people of Yangzhou have sent you here."

Li Minxing followed Hong Qing for a long time, so he could hear the impatience in Hong Qing's tone, but the matter was very important, but he didn't dare to make decisions without authorization, so he explained lightly.

"Um?"

Hearing this, Hong Qing couldn't help being taken aback, not for anything else, just because he didn't intend to disturb anyone when he left this time, and he didn't even let the new prefect of Yangzhou who came to take over come to see him off, for the sake of convenience I didn't want to make a big noise that disturbed the people, but I didn't expect that there were still people who heard the news. I couldn't help being a little surprised, but I didn't think too much. Look, I was stunned immediately - the gate of the city was full of people at some point, a large area of ​​black crows, I couldn't count how many people there were, even though it was snowing heavily in the sky at this time, the common people It is neatly arranged, silent, but solemn.

"Fathers and folks, Ben Baylor is here to be polite!"

Seeing so many people coming to see them off, the corners of Hong Qing's eyes became moist immediately, she couldn't sit still anymore, she hurriedly got out of the carriage, clasped her fists together, saluted with choked words .

"Master Imperial Envoy, when the grassroots heard that you were leaving, they were extremely reluctant. They knew that you loved the people dearly and didn't want to disturb us, but if the grassroots didn't come to see you off, they would never feel at ease for the rest of their lives. The grassroots and others are not respectful, so please invite the imperial envoy to drink a few bowls of wine, and talk about the feelings of the grassroots and others."

Seeing Hong Qing's appearance, a white-haired old man holding a wine bowl, accompanied by two young men holding wine jars, walked out of the crowd tremblingly in front of Hong Qing , bowed his body, and spoke earnestly.

"Old man, your reputation is too high. Ben Baylor has only been in Yangzhou for half a year, and he has no merit to speak of. I really dare not be loved so much by all the folks."

Seeing the old man tottering in the heavy snow, Hong Qing didn't dare to neglect her, hurriedly stepped forward, stretched out her hand to support the old man's arm, and said softly and modestly.

"Your Imperial Envoy is too humble. Although you have only been in Yangzhou for half a year, you can punish rape and evil, restore the peace of Yangzhou, repair rivers, build bridges and pave roads, and promote water conservancy. , I also ask the imperial envoy to drink up the wine to show our gratitude, sir, if you don't drink, the grass people will kneel down for you."

As soon as the old man raised his hand, the two young men who were waiting beside him immediately stepped forward, knocked off the seal of the wine jar in cooperation, and then poured the fine wine into the bowl. While speaking, he made a gesture to kneel down and beg.

"Old man, this is absolutely unacceptable, it's enough to have a drink, you should hurry up and ask for it."

Seeing that the old man was about to kneel in the snow, Hong Qing panicked immediately, and quickly reached out to help him, stopping the old man from kneeling, and then, stretched out his hand to take the full bowl of wine, and held it up high On the top of his head, he gestured to the people, then he raised his head and drank the fine wine in the bowl. Finally, he touched the bottom of the bowl and handed the empty bowl to Li Minxing who was following him. Once again, they bowed to the people who came to see them off, and said earnestly: "Ben Baylor has already received the kindness of the fathers and folks. It's snowing and it's cold. Come back earlier. If it's freezing , that's all Ben Baylor's fault, let's leave now, Ben Baylor bid farewell to the big guys."

"Congratulations, Mr. Imperial Envoy!"

"Bon voyage, my lord imperial envoy!"

"Master Imperial Envoy, go slowly!"

……

Facing Hong Qing's salute, the tens of thousands of people who came to see him off all knelt down in the snow, kowtowed to the Prime Minister to see him off, and as soon as this happened, Hong Qing's eyes immediately turned red and tears flowed down his face. It couldn't stop flowing down, didn't dare to stay any longer, waved his hand, got into the carriage again, and after a while, following Li Minxing's shout, the not very long cavalry started slowly, gradually drifting away Disappeared in the heavy snow, and the people all over the city are still staring at the direction where Hong Qing and his party are going away...

(End of this chapter)