On the other side, Zhao Fusheng and his old friend had reunited after a long time. After discussing the important matter of water transport, they had a chat. Xu Shizhen asked Zhao Fusheng what plans he had in the future, or which sect he planned to join. Zhao Fusheng only said," Feng Tang is easy to be old, Li Guang is difficult to be conferred. Time makes people's hair turn white. I don't want fame and fortune in the official career. If the heavens are lucky, the future generations will know me."”
When Xu Shizhen heard this, he knew that his old friend had a big plan in his mind. Perhaps the time had not come, or it was inconvenient to talk about it in detail. He did not ask any more questions and only tried his best to encourage this friend who was unable to show his talent.
After a few days of drinking, the sound of the night watch was heard on the street. The two of them said goodbye. Xu Shizhen saw that Zhao Fusheng was slightly tipsy, so she decided to send Zhao Fusheng back in her sedan chair. Zhao Fusheng refused and said," I'm 55 years old this year, and I've been in the officialdom for nearly 40 years. I don't have any favors from the top, and I don't have any heirs. I'm ethereal and have been depressed for a long time. Today, I finally have a chat with a close friend. A glass of wine is like a release, and my worries are gone. I'm extremely relaxed. Shi Zhen, look at the long street. The road is quiet and the lights are always bright. I just happen to walk along this road. I drink and sing. Isn't it happy?”Then he laughed wildly and left. His shadow staggered and his song was melodious. Xu Shizhen supported the sedan chair to watch and said,"My friend, I'm afraid you're in danger."
Zhao Fusheng sang and drank along the way, but he didn't dare to get drunk. When he entered Zhang Manor, he suddenly saw servants rushing back and forth. He felt strange and pulled him to ask what was going on.
The servant didn't recognize Zhao Fusheng and thought that he was just an old drunkard who fed his master's horse. He said,""Who else could it be? It's still that Second Miss of the Lin family. How can that make sense? The guest actually asked the host to prepare so many banquets in the middle of the night, and even said that he had to prepare dry rations for a hundred people? No wonder so many emperors didn't ask women to be officials. When women became officials, they were always so unreasonable when they gave orders.”
"Banquet? Dry rations?" Zhao Fusheng took out a handful of money and stuffed it into the servant's pocket." Brother, I wasn't home today and missed this interesting event. Why does she want to eat so much? Who is she treating?"”
The servant's chest sank. He saw the light of the money and his spirits were lifted. He leaned closer to Zhao Fusheng and said,""I think you went to drink with the old master today and didn't know about the porridge shop. I heard that this Second Miss Lin..."
The servant told him everything he knew and didn't know. He then told him that the rules of the house were strict. It didn't matter if he liked to drink, but he mustn't drink too much. If he missed a sentence or two and let outsiders know, would he still remember the one who asked the master to feed the fish? He also said that he would prepare these for the Lin family's second miss today. If he was not free, he would drink together another day.
The servant left, and Zhao Fusheng stood rooted to the spot. The porridge shop was only two hours away from here, and this incident happened right under his nose. He actually couldn't see through it. Thinking of this, he even sobered up a little. He quickly threw away the wine pot, patted away the smell of alcohol on his body, and went to Lin Ming's courtyard.
Lin Ming asked someone to send Steward Li out. Just as he was about to write a letter to Ruhai, he suddenly heard the servant girl say that Mr. Zhao had come and asked if he wanted to see him.
Naturally, Lin Ming said he would.
The two of them sat in the hall drinking tea and eating some pastries and snacks. The maids and boys naturally waited on them inside and outside the door.
When Zhao Fusheng asked about the banquet and food, Lin Ming told him about what happened at the soup kitchen today. He took out 20,000 silver notes and said,"Today, I went to the porridge shop to check and roughly estimated that there are not many disaster victims here. I agreed to them to buy 18,000 taels of silver for food. 18,000 taels is not a lot, and the food we bought is only enough for less than half a month. The remaining 2,000 taels will be used by Mister to clear the way. We must transport it within this half a month and let Uncle and the Imperial Court send relief over.”
" This…" Ru Hai had already discussed this matter before. They were a group of officials with authority, and they had spent close to two months to accomplish something that they couldn't. Now, a white-clothed young lady wanted to accomplish it in just ten days?
The Zhang family was naturally not short of money, and those who could say something about this matter were naturally not short of money. In the competition between the Zhang family and the influential figures in the capital, who would not be afraid of scalding their claws when fishing for money in a pot of oil? It was just for this mere 2,000 taels.
Even 20,000 taels might not be effective, let alone 2,000 taels. Zhao Fusheng was in a difficult position, but he couldn't say it out loud. He remembered what Xu Shizhen had said when they were drinking and thought that if the two thousand taels could really do anything, it would probably only be there. He said,"Today, I was drinking with a friend and heard a piece of news that might be very helpful."”
"Oh?" Lin Ming smiled and said," As expected, the Heavenly Dao is kind. Everyone helps those who help others. I also got a very useful piece of information just now. Mister, tell me first, and I'll tell you later. Let's compare and see which is easier."”
Zhao Fusheng's heart skipped a beat. She was a lady, and it wasn't easy for her to travel. She would either avoid people or be avoided by them. How could she get such useful information? It's really faster than the dozens of years of official information that Master Lin and I have?
It was hard to tell if she was happy or if she had other emotions, but when he thought about it later, she had a lot of courage and ability since she was young. She could see the signs. This was a good thing. If not, why would he give up a person like Lin Gong to assist this woman who should not be involved in officialdom?
Thinking of this, he was happy and smiled,""My information is definitely the cheapest.”He immediately relayed Xu Shizhen's words.
It turned out that after drinking for three rounds, Zhao Fusheng was slightly tipsy. Because it was an old friend who had relaxed his spirit, his temper seemed to have returned to the 20-year-old grade. Thinking about how things were not going well, he couldn't help but borrow a poem to satirize Zhang Caotou, who had been hiding in his shell.
Xu Shizhen didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she heard this, so she comforted him and said,"Old Zhao, why are you so angry? This power arena is like a gambling table. Everyone has their own tricks to push the cards. Old Zhang Cao Tou's martial arts spirit is naturally upright. Miss Zhang has no worries in her boudoir, so she is naturally merciful. However, as you have seen, this newly appointed Cao Tou is not dignified in martial arts and not wise in literature. He would rather die than move. His cunning is exactly the trick he uses to protect his family business.”
Zhao Fusheng's face turned red, and he burst out laughing. He scolded,""He went to relax, but he pitied the countless starving people.”
Xu Shizhen said," Not really. Although this Little Zhang Cao doesn't have the courage and ability of his ancestors, he's not completely a cold and frivolous playboy. I saw that there are gullies between his eyebrows and forehead. I think he's always worried. Think about it, he has no talent and no ability. In order to protect the family business, he must burn his heart and soul." Although we have repeatedly increased the price of the official's several probing negotiations, he also seems to be sitting on the fishing platform. Is this really the case? I think I still haven't guessed what kind of family protection card he wants. Maybe he doesn't know what he wants, and maybe he's counting on us to think for him.”
Zhao Fusheng picked a piece of tofu and smiled.""We can naturally help him think, but have you ever seen tofu in a gold frame? He wanted to take the opportunity to ask for a title to ensure his stability and wealth for several generations. He was afraid that even if he added up the weight of his water transport, it would not be enough.”
Xu Shizhen drank a cup slowly and said," Zhang Caotou has an only son named Zhang Xiangqi. He's very troublesome. He's in the prison of Dajia County." I heard that there are many gaps in the imperial court recently. Is there any way to do this? Why don't we get him in and find a position? It can also be considered as putting an 'official hoop curse' on his head.”
Zhao Fusheng was moved. This was a good idea, but…
"I'm afraid that won't work. Firstly, the water transport was worried about us and was afraid that we would scheme against him. How could he be willing to hand over his only son to us? It was not that they had never seen crimes being fabricated in the officialdom, and this was probably what they were most concerned about. Secondly, water transport has money and power. If the official position is small, he will not take it as a trap. If the official position is big enough, then we can't do anything. Moreover, the court will not allow it.”
The two of them discussed and discussed, and after a few inferences, Zhang Cao was just protecting the family business, so the key still fell on Zhang Xiangqi.
Lin Ming heard this and smiled." It's a tie between me and you. It's actually the same news." Just now, before Mister came, Steward Li was here and told me about this matter.”He then relayed the news that Steward Li had told him to Zhao Fusheng. Although it was not as comprehensive as Xu Shizhen's words, it was very clear that if the young master was successful, the old master would not have anything to fuss about.”
Zhao Fusheng remembered the servant's words and his heart skipped a beat." Steward Li was Zhang Cao's right-hand man. He had power and money to fill the gap. Why did he dare to risk his life to tell this news? He wanted to remind Steward Li but felt that it was inappropriate. In short, the most important thing at the moment was to close it. Since it was not closed yet, Steward Li's intention was not worth worrying about.
Now that he had a solution to this difficult problem, he had to probe the heart of this person in front of him. Was he ambitious or kind?
Lin Er looked at his expression and only said,"Sir, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't worry about my identity as a woman. It will be the same in the future."”
Zhao Fusheng sighed." That's right. I've often told Master Lin that you have great ambitions. If you weren't a woman, you would have long been famous. Master Lin often regrets this." " However, the current situation is extremely rare. I see that you're taking every step carefully and aren't afraid of any restrictions. Since you have such ambitions, how dare I, Zhao Fusheng, not accompany you? He was afraid that if the officialdom was too abrupt and Young Lady had the intention to retreat, it would be difficult to escape.”
Lin Er said," Sir, you're being too serious. It's not an ambition. It's just that I saw the people suffering and Uncle had something to ask of me. I tried my best to do what I could." Mr. Zhao is a great talent. I hope you can give me some pointers. There's no need to be calculative about such a small matter as a boy and a daughter. Besides, since I'm already at this stage, where can I retreat to? If the country is not healthy, the family will not return. Didn't Sir say that retreat and advance only go in one direction?”
When Zhao Fusheng heard this, he thought for a moment and laughed out loud. He bowed respectfully and said,""Since you have made up your mind, there are no more worries.”
Lin Er hurriedly said," Sir, you should call me something else. I don't have an official position now, and I'm a daughter. If I call myself a duke at the age of ten, wouldn't I be a joke?" Sir treats me sincerely, I treat you like an uncle, why bother to call you?”
Zhao Fusheng said," That's not good. Only by raising the flag can one rule thousands of miles. It's because you're young and a daughter that you have to be clear about how you address her. You don't want to lose your status and your composure."”
Second Lin bowed to Zhao Fusheng and stopped talking about the matter of address. The two of them first agreed on the matter of buying rice for disaster relief, and then discussed countermeasures with Zhang Xiangqi. It was only until the second watch that they stopped.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。