Chapter 20 Set internal response

Zuo Zongtang entered Zhejiang from Anhui, and he also fought steadily, seeking undefeated first.Therefore, the first step was to clear Quzhou, as the place where his governor of Zhejiang issued orders in the province. This was in early June of the first year of Tongzhi. Having established a foothold in Quzhou, Zuo Zongtang further took Longyou, Lanxi, Shouchang, Chun'an and other places, and drove away the long hairs in the areas south of Xin'an River and west of Xin'an River.Then in late November, Yanzhou, where the Xin'an and Xin'an rivers meet, was conquered.From there, they crossed the Diaotai of Yanziling, which had high mountains and long rivers, and traveled northward along the Qililong River. In February of the following year, they entered Fuyang, which is south of Hangzhou, less than a hundred miles away from the provincial capital.

To the south of the Qiantang River, the Chang Jie army of the foreign general Dekebei and the Chang'an army of Dürer Deke conquered Shaoxing not long ago.Then, the Taiping Army withdrew from Xiaoshan again.The entire East, West, and South sides of Zhejiang have been cleared.However, the rich land of West Zhejiang, that is, north of Hangzhou and south of Taihu Lake, including Haining, Jiaxing, and Huzhou, is still in the hands of the Taiping Army. At this time, Zuo Zongtang was promoted to the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang. The governor of Zhejiang was taught by Zeng Guoquan.In order to repay the imperial court, Zuo Zongtang counterattacked with all his strength. Everyone can see that it will be a matter of time before Hangzhou is restored.

At that time, the main general who attacked Fuyang and watched Hangzhou was Jiang Yili, the governor of Zhejiang Province.Zuo Zongtang himself was still stationed in Quzhou, and set up a factory to supervise the construction of warships.The battle of Fuyang was quite powerful for the boat masters.But the defender of the Taiping Army in Fuyang was the famous and brave Wang Haiyang, so after five months of stalemate, Jiang Yili still made no progress.Zuo Zongtang had no choice but to borrow the help of foreign generals to dispatch 2,500 Chang Jie troops led by De Kebei to cross the river from Xiaoshao and attack Fuyang, and finally recovered on the eighth day of the eighth month.It was also the time when Li Hongzhang, Liu Mingchuan, and Guo Songlin joined forces to conquer Jiangyin, and Li Xiucheng and Li Shixian went from Tianjing to Suzhou via Liyang to try their best to break out of the siege.

On the Zhejiang side, Jiang Yili and Deke Bei went north from Fuyang, entered Hangzhou, and at the same time divided their forces to attack Yuhang to the west of Hangzhou.The Taiping Army was repeatedly resisted by "Chaojiang" Wang Haiyang, "Returning King" Deng Guangming, and "Listening King" Chen Bingwen, but they were defeated one after another.At the beginning of November, Zuo Zongtang personally visited Yuhang to supervise the division, but Hangzhou was still guarded by the Taiping Army. At that time Li Hongzhang had gone to Suzhou and Wuxi.According to the steps he planned, he did not want to go east to occupy Changzhou, which was at his fingertips, so as not to "squeeze" Zeng Guoquan, but went to the north of Zhejiang to "squeeze" Zuo Zongtang.On the one hand, he sent Liu Bingzhang, a minister of the Imperial Academy, who was transferred to the battalion, from Jinshanwei down the coast to recover Pinghu, Zhapu, and Haiyan in northern Zhejiang. On the other hand, he sent Cheng Xueqi to attack Jiaxing from Wujiang via Pingwang.After regaining all parts of western Zhejiang, of course they can receive the supplies of the Taiping Army, collect food and taxes, and follow the precedent of Hu Linyi, the governor of Hubei, who recovered the border of Anhui, thinking that Zuo Zongtang is far south of Hangzhou, and the roads are blocked. Powers, sent agents to act as state and county magistrates in the counties recovered in western Zhejiang.

Zuo Zongtang was so angry that he jumped into a rage.Not only does Li Hongzhang take up territory, but the governor of Jiangsu has come to Zhejiang, which is too much of a deception!But for a while, he had no choice but to regain Hangzhou with all his strength. Therefore, Hu Xueyan began to plan to return to Hangzhou, with Liu Bucai playing the vanguard.The purpose of going here is to subdue Zhang Xiucai, turn an enemy into a friend, and be an internal response. This Zhang Xiucai is originally a "broken boots party". He thinks he is a man in clothes and can walk around the government.When Wang Youling was the magistrate of Hangzhou, he hated him deeply. He had wanted to become a literary official for a long time and destroy his reputation, but it was not convenient for a while, so he forbeared in his heart.

This scholar has colluded with the servants of various yamen—the servants of each yamen in Hangzhou have a bad income. Anyone who opens a shop must pay a fee to the servant in charge of the local yamen as usual. The number depends on the size of the shop. , Pay off the fees before you can open. Its name is "eat salt water".Wang Youling was keen on doing things, so he posted a notice to ban it forever. The guards in Qiantang and Renhe counties were scruples, and temporarily stopped.The two yamen, the governor and the vassal, felt that their backing was very strong, and they did not buy the magistrate's account, and they accepted it. However, it was inconvenient for him to come forward and instruct Zhang Xiucai to "eat salt water" and explain how to divide the account.

Unexpectedly, I was out of luck. I was talking to a clothing estimate shop that was about to open on Yanqiao Street. statement.Wang Youling was furious, and decided to use Zhang Xiucai to "operate" to set an example. At that time, when it was passed to the sedan chair, he was reprimanded first, and warned harshly that he must be reprimanded.This time Zhang Xiucai panicked, and once he was dismissed as a scholar, he became a white man. Not only did he have to kowtow when he saw the magistrate, but he could also be dragged on the ground and spanked, and locked in the yoke against the wall to "show the public".

After much deliberation, Hu Xueyan was the only one who asked Wang Youling to obey.He took his wife and children to Fukang Bank, and when he saw Hu Xueyan, he fell to his knees and begged bitterly.Hu Xueyan was careless for a while, and only regarded it as a trivial matter, Wang Youling would definitely obey, so he fully agreed and let him have nothing to do. Unexpectedly, Wang Youling insisted against it, saying that this matter had something to do with his prestige, he had newly signed the Supervision of Grain Road, and was also ordered to handle regiment training, raise troops and pay, orders are extremely important, if this bad habit of eliminating harm for the people does not Leather, orders are not good, how can we convince the public?

Having said it again and again, Wang Youling has taken a step back.Originally, Zhang Xiucai was going to get rid of Zhang Xiucai's reputation, beat him two hundred small boards, and gave him a name of March. Now, for Hu Xueyan's sake, to save him from suffering and being ugly, Xiucai must be dismissed. To tell the truth, Hu Xueyan had already helped him a lot, but he only thought that Hu Xueyan was unwilling to do his best, and was perfunctory.He still refuses to let go of Hu Xueyan. Fortunately, one thing is one thing, "the wicked will be punished by the wicked." Zhang Xiucai is not afraid of anyone, except for officials, only his son.Xiao Zhang is a dude, he has everything from whoring and gambling to food.The illegal money Zhang Xiucai obtained was used to support his precious son.Liu Bucai is also from a rich family background, and his qualifications are much deeper than that of Xiao Zhang, so Hu Xueyan thought of a way to use Liu Bucai to attack Xiao Zhang.After subduing Xiao Zhang, I am not afraid that Zhang Xiucai will not submit.

On the second day in Hangzhou, Liu Bucai went to the city to visit Xiao Zhang—the market in Hangzhou was still very bleak, with ten rooms and nine empty rooms, only Qinghefang in the upper city, Jianqiao in the middle city, and Yanqiao Street in the lower city. Like a look.But before dusk, all the shopkeepers lined up their doors, and it was silent at night. Except for the long hairs on patrol, there was hardly a single person in sight. However, in a few alleys, there is another world.One of them is in Jianqiao, because the aftermath bureau of Zhongcheng is located here, a group of local hooligans, under Zhang Xiucai's instigation, distributed donations and collected taxes under the guise of maintaining the local supply of long hair, just like the government.In the place of daily gathering, smoking, gambling and local prostitution are unavoidable.Liu Bucai was thinking, since Xiao Zhang is such a character, of course relying on his father's influence, being the "eldest young master" in this kind of situation, he will definitely find a chance to get close to him.

When I went there, it was just after dark, and I saw two big lanterns at the door, and a group of idlers with chests and bellies talking and laughing loudly.Liu Bucai walked over and looked in. The gate was open until the second hall. There were all kinds of snacks in the yard. The bright lights in the hall showed a dark group of people. It was obvious at a glance that it was a gambling game. It's an open gambling game, anyone can enter, Liu Bucai raised his foot to step over the threshold, and someone shouted: "Hey!" Liu Bucai stood still, and smiled with neither condescension nor condescension, "Brother called me?" he asked. "What are you doing here?" "I'll come and see Xiao Zhang." "Xiao Zhang! Which Xiao Zhang?" "Zhang Xiucai's young master." Liu Bucai replied calmly, "He and I are old friends." This time he was really pretending to be right, because Zhang Xiucai gained power, his son was very proud, no one dared to call him Xiao Zhang unless he was an old friend.The man listened to his words and waved his hand to let him in. Enter the second hall, where there are two gambling tables, one table of Pai Gow and one table of treasure.Pai Gow is probably a mold shop, so the scene is much more lively than that table treasure.Liu Bucai knew that the most taboo in the casino was to sneak around in the crowd, so he just quietly stood behind the people and stood on tiptoe to watch. The man who pushed the village was a middle-aged man with a fleshy face and shiny oil. He was wearing a large satin woolen gown with wide and big cuffs. It was obvious that this expensive dress did not belong to him.There were so many people, he was probably in a hurry to lose again, but seeing him unbutton his coat, a large piece of fluffy white fox fur was flipped open, hanging obliquely on his chest, he couldn't stop screaming, turned his head and stared at the people behind him, It's because they shouldn't be so tight and airtight, which made him feel so hot that he couldn't breathe. "Wu Dapao!" said a young man who came to the door, "I think you can take a break. Rather fight with the master than fight with the cards!" People who have lost money don't like to hear such words, but Wu Dapao seemed to dare to be angry and dare not speak up, his mouth was tightly shut, and his cheeks were puffed up, and his sullen expression was funny. "Don't listen to good words, there is no way." The young man asked the dealer, "You said to push Changzhuang, there will always be a time to stop. Could it be that you push it alone until dawn?" "Are you going to push the bank?" Wu Dapao felt a little impatient, and took out a stack of bank notes from his body, "There are more than two hundred and two taels here, and I will lose it all." "Bank notes!" The young man said to the left and right, "Are you using bank notes at this time? Which bank is open so I can exchange money?" "Most of them are Fukang's bills." Wu Dapao said, "Fukang Shanghai has a semicolon, why is it not easy to exchange?" "You really believe in Fukang! But I have to ask everyone if you believe it or not?" The young man raised his face and looked back, "What do you say?" "You don't need bank notes, that's what you said." Someone said, "It doesn't matter what Fukang is, it's all the same. If you want to gamble, you're cashing in cash." "Did you hear that?" the young man said to Wu Dapao, "You only have twenty or thirty taels of silver now. I'll hit you at the door. If you win, you push it down. If you lose, make way. Okay?" Wu Dapao thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay!" Opening the door and throwing dice, it was a "five in the first place", Wu Dapao grabbed the card and flipped it on the table, it was a big bar, and his face immediately became pale.But the young man turned over one card slowly, which was Zhang Sanliu, and the other card was still being drawn, but Wu Dapao lost his composure, and with a bang, he turned over all the cards, inspected them, and said : "Little Pai Gow does not have 'Tian Jiu Wang', it is useless if you take the Tian Pai Gow." Liu Bucai had the sharpest eyesight on the cards, and he said in a low voice, "The door-to-door win, it's Zhang Hongjiu." The young man glanced at him, touched him with his hand, and said happily: "It's really worthy!" Opening it up, it turned out that it was Zhang Hongjiu, making a pair.Wu Dapao was so angry that he even pushed the silver card forward, got up and left. "Wu Dapao." The boy shouted, "I'm pushing Zhuang, why are you leaving?" "What are you betting on if you don't have money?" "Your banknotes aren't money? I don't want those from other houses. I'm not afraid of Hu Xueyan's banknotes from Fukang! Bring them here, and I'll exchange them for you." After Wu Dapao heard this, he sat down in his original position as if he was not satisfied.When the young man was shuffling the cards, someone asked, "Uncle Zhang, do you recommend the big one or the young one?" The title of Uncle Zhang is very special, but Liu Bucai is very happy. It turns out that he is Zhang Xiucai's "precious son"-the market fears Zhang Xiucai, and everyone calls him Uncle Zhang. Now Xiao Zhang must be more expensive than his father. , so he is called Uncle Zhang.Thinking of this, he rectified and focused on Xiao Zhang. Xiao Zhang is worthy of being a dandy, he is very calm as a banker, and he only answers the man's question after laying down the cards: "Big Pai Gow is often 'friendly', so it is better to play." So Wen Wen quietly gambled on Big Pai Gow.Liu Bucai was looking for a chance to strike up a conversation, so he also placed a bet.If you don't want to gamble, you won't win or lose much, so you just bet on the door. This village pushed Liu Bucai from behind to the front, changing from standing to sitting down, like the back waves of the Yangtze River pushing the front waves.As a result, he only bet on his own door. Slowly, Xiao Zhang's village turned into a mildewed village, and Wu Dapao was elated and overturned the original - the lower door was always a "trap door", and later it became "a side". The only exception was that of Liu Bucai. One bet, ten taels of silver is placed alone at the door, which is particularly conspicuous. This is a bit of a solo anti-tune, the downwind is quite annoying, but the dealer has a feeling of kindness, Xiao Zhang took a deep look at him, and his eyes unconsciously revealed a look of emotion. Liu Bucai said in his heart: It's interesting!But he was more calm and silent. "The bet at the door will be seen at the door!" Wu Dapao roared. "I'm sorry!" Xiao Zhang replied, "If you explain first, everyone will not bet." Wu Dapao was helpless, so he had to deal with Liu Bucai: "Hey! Hey! The man who came to the door, can you place the bets by yourself? I will pay you half of the loss. Ten taels win fifteen taels." Liu Bucai asked coldly, "Who lost?" "Bah!" Wu Dapao spat fiercely on the ground, "Damn it." Liu Bucai remained silent, but Xiao Zhang felt aggrieved for him, "Wu Dapao!" He said with a downcast face, "There are gambling products, if you can't afford the bet, don't come, they are happy to bet on their door, it's none of your business." What are you doing like this?" "Okay, okay!" Someone interrupted and persuaded, "Let's all leave! The dealer is going to play the dice." As soon as the dice were rolled, Wu Dapao grabbed it and put it in his furry hand, squinting his eyes and flipped it a few times, and quickly divided them into two pairs, one in front and one in back.Someone wanted to take a look, but just as he stretched out his hand to the card, he was hit by Wu Dapao with a "click".No matter how you ask, you can tell that it is a good card. When you compare it, Tianmen is the largest, followed by the next door, and the third is the banker, and the upper door is the smallest.According to the license plate, the lower door is really a "trap door". After the compensation was over, the banker only took Liu Bucai's ten taels of silver, and said apologetically, "I'd rather compensate you." "That's right!" Liu Bucai replied calmly, "I'm also looking at the 'Thirty Years Feng Shui Rotation', and luck will change when I come to the door. Now—" He hesitated for a while, took out the gold watch, and took off the watch. The watch pendant asked, "Is it okay to take this as a pledge and borrow fifty taels of silver?" This watch pendant is a piece of emerald green jade, cut into the shape of an ancient coin, the market price is at least two hundred taels of silver, but Xiao Zhang is not willing to borrow it because it is valuable. "What's wrong? I'll lend you fifty taels of silver. What do you want as a bet?" "No! The dealer's luck has something to do with it." Liu Bucai stubbornly said, "If you don't want to bet on the head, I don't have to borrow it." In fact, he has Fukang's banknote that Xiao Zhang trusts, and he deliberately pretends to be like this to pave the way for advancement.When Xiao Zhang stopped, he had almost lost fifty taels of silver. He stood up and asked for advice on where to live, saying that he would redeem the money the next day. "What's your last name?" Xiao Zhang asked. "My surname is Liu." "Then I'll call you Lao Liu." Xiao Zhang said, "I like you as a friend. You take back the things. Fortunately, when we meet again, you just bring the money back to me any day." Handed over the piece of jade. "You say it like this, it's even more difficult for me to accept it. Where is the mansion? I will take money tomorrow to redeem it." "What do you mean redemption or not?" Xiao Zhang hesitated.He is 365 days a year, but he is away for 300 days. What's the use of Liu who "can't see the land at home"?If you go home on purpose to wait for him, but you are afraid that you will not be able to grasp your whereabouts. Liu Bucai was very vigilant, although he didn't know what was going on in his heart, anyway, it was obvious that he didn't want guests to come to his door.I intentionally left the watch pendant with him because I wanted to arrange a chance to be alone, it doesn't have to be at his house, there are better places. "Uncle Zhang," he said after making up his mind, "If you don't mind, let's make an appointment to meet tomorrow, shall we?" "Okay! Say it." "Sister-in-law Agou in Huapailou, you always know?" Why doesn't Xiao Zhang know?A Gou Sao is a well-known old bustard who presides over a huge "private family head". All the boat ladies who throw themselves into their arms on the "Jiangshan Boat" on the Fuchun River live in A Gou Sao when they land.Xiao Zhang is also very familiar with her, but Hangzhou has been besieged, and the flowers have faded, but they have never seen each other after the chaos. So Xiao Zhang asked in surprise and joy: "Sister-in-law Agou never starved to death!" "Her place is lively again. But I live behind her, very quiet." "Okay! I will definitely come tomorrow afternoon." Liu Bucai's residence was specially prepared by Mrs. Agou for him. It is just behind, a single courtyard, with a waist door, which is closed off from the front when it is bolted, and there is another door for entry and exit. "Brother Zhang," Liu Bucai changed his title, "Do you want Fukang's money?" "Oh, I forgot." Xiao Zhang took out a tissue packet from his body and handed it over, "Here are the things, take a look!" "Don't look at it." Liu Bucai handed in fifty taels of banknotes, and after the money and goods were settled, he opened the cabinet door and said, "Brother Zhang, I have a little gift for you. Let's make friends." Those "little things" are of different lengths and sizes, the long one is a stick of "Sticker", the small one is a gold watch, the big one is a pack of Luzon cigarettes, and there is also a pack of things that are less than five inches short and have square corners. , I can’t tell—it looks like a book, but Xiao Zhang doesn’t believe that he will give himself a book.Moreover, giving books to people who like to gamble is also considered "bad luck". "Look at this 'Di Ke', a good thing for self-defense." Liu Bucai raised it up and shouted, "Be careful!" Then he smashed it on the head. Of course Xiao Zhang was good at it and pinched the tail end.I don't know how Liu Bucai made the cut, but the "Si Dike" was split into two pieces, and what Liu Bucai held in his hand was a sharp short sword. "What happened?" Xiao Zhang was very interested, "I'll take a look, I'll take a look." Look at that short sword, its shape is completely different from Chinese swords, it is triangular, with a needle-like tip and blood grooves on three sides of the sword body, it is indeed a sharp weapon that can kill people. "Look, there is a mechanism in the middle." It turns out that there is a tenon in the middle of Si's gram, which is made to fit perfectly and is extremely fine. When someone attacks, Nasi's gram smashes at it. If the opponent does not grab it, he will be beaten. The dagger pierces over, protruding and unexpected, and it will succeed. Knowing the magical effect, Xiao Zhang loves it more and more. Although it is effective in self-defense, it is even more fun to present treasures and show off to others when there is nothing to do.So I couldn't close my mouth from laughing. "Here are some foreign books." It really is a book!This is not the right way to send it, Xiao Zhang cupped his hands: "Old Liu! To be honest, my good friend, I don't understand Chinese books very much, and foreign books are even more 'Master Zhao read the list', which is inexplicable." "You can understand." Liu Bucai handed the book to him, "Take it home and read it slowly by yourself." There is so much mystery in this sentence, Xiao Zhang had to take it apart and read it at that time.Open it and turn it over, and suddenly feel the blood rushing - it is a "foreign erotic palace". This time he turned his eyes away.Liu Bucai quietly brought him a chair to help him sit down, and he sat on the side far away, watching him coldly, seeing his bulging eyes and constantly swallowing his saliva, his heart became more and more calm. It was not easy for Xiao Zhang to finish watching, "Exciting!" He smiled a little embarrassedly, "Old Liu, where did you find it?" "Naturally, it's on the Shanghai barracks." "There are many people who have been to Shanghai, and they have never seen them bring these things back." Xiao Zhang said with admiration, "Old Liu, you really have a way!" "I can't help it. I don't know where to find these things. They were brought by a relative. I'll talk about this later. You should look at these two things first." These are two boxes, one big and one small, and Xiao Zhang looked carefully at them.While looking at it, I thought at the same time, it is really embarrassing to accept this gift out of thin air, and I am really reluctant to let go of that branch's Ke and that "foreign book". After thinking about it for a long time, I couldn't make up my mind, so I could only tell the truth: "Lao Liu, we are friends for the first time. You are such a good friend. I don't know how to say it. However, I am really embarrassed." "You're out of touch now. My brother, friends don't last for a day. If we divide each other like this, I won't dare to climb high in the future." "I don't know, I don't know." Xiao Zhang tried his best to defend, but, "You have to let me do my best." It seems that they have been subdued, so there is no need to spend more effort, strike while the iron is hot, "I am also honest, these things are not mine, but a relative of mine asked me to bring them." He continued, "Your family Old master, I have misunderstood my relative, not only misunderstood, but also a little wronged." "Oh," Xiao Zhang asked, "Which one is Lingqin?" "Hu Xueyan from Fukang Bank." Xiao Zhang lost his voice and said, "It's him!" "It's him. How can your old man be wronged for misunderstanding him? I don't know what to say, but I know a little bit." Xiao Zhang was waiting attentively for him to speak, but Liu Bucai hesitated to speak, which was strange, "Old Liu!" Xiao Zhang asked, "Didn't you say you knew the inside story?" ?" "Yes, I am fully aware of it. When Wang Futai was transferred from Huzhou Prefecture to Hangzhou Prefecture, I followed him from Huzhou to handle general affairs in his yamen, so I am very clear about it. However, if we talk about it Right and wrong, your old man is also my elder, so I can't talk about him." "What does that matter? It doesn't matter if your own people talk about it. Our 'old man' has a great reputation. I don't know how many people have talked about him, and I have heard a lot about him. Why do you care if you criticize him?" "I'm not criticizing him as an old man, but I blame him for being too careless and impatient. "New officials take office three fires", we should avoid him, but he bumped into "eat salt water". The notice is posted there, and the paste is all Before he did it, someone took his words seriously, like slapping him in the face—after all, he is the head of a prefecture in Hangzhou, controlling millions of people in several counties, so what about his seal? Hold it firmly? My brother, 'Think about others in the first half of the night, and think about yourself in the second half of the night'. If you are Wang Futai, do you want to be angry?" Xiao Zhang was silent.Not only because Liu Bucai speaks clearly, but mainly because of his acquaintance, it is easy to listen to everything he has to say. "That's right. At that time, Xueyan didn't have a scholar who could keep your old lady. However, the outside world only knew one thing, and the other was that Wang Futai sent official business to the teacher in the school, and even if the scholar was dismissed, he had to deal with it. This Above, Xueyan will definitely not agree, first soften and then hard, Wang Futai is reluctantly selling face." "Oh," Xiao Zhang said, blinking wildly, "I don't know that. How do you say 'soft first and then hard'?" "Kneeling softly, quarreling hard. Xueyan wanted to break off friendship with Wang Futai for the sake of your old man, but later he said that he was not enough friends and would not help. Are you wronged or not?" "According to what you say, you really wronged him?" Xiao Zhang continued, "Then why did he give me these things? It's surprising that a good man is so kind." "It's not surprising at all. Of course he has something to ask you for." "Yes!" Xiao Zhang replied generously, "I don't know Boss Hu, but you are a good friend. As long as I can do it, I will help you if you tell me." "Speaking of which, it's not that I praise my relatives. Hu Xueyan is really a good friend. Although your old man misunderstood him, he stretched his hind legs for your old man and left room for him." These two sentences are out of nowhere, Xiao Zhang doesn't know why, but the words are good, but he can always hear them, "Thanks to him." He asked, "I don't know what kind of hind legs to stretch out?" "Let me show you something first." Liu Bucai dragged out the suitcase from under the bed, unlocked it, took out a "protection book", took out a bunch of official documents, and handed them to Xiao Zhang. The ink in Xiao Zhang's stomach is limited, but the big purple clay seal of Jiangsu governor's hall can be read, and his father's name is also recognized. In addition, because the official document case is turned around, he can't figure out what he is saying for a while. what. "This official business must not be disclosed. Once it is disclosed, let Changmao know." Liu Bucai pretended to be solemn, and then said with a brisk expression, "Take it back, please keep the old lady secret." Collection, one day the officers and soldiers conquered Hangzhou, and took out official documents to see that not only did they not commit the crime of aiding rebellion, but they also contributed to maintaining the locality. Tell me, did Hu Xueyan help your old lady with this favor, is it a big help?" Xiao Zhang Fang began to understand a little bit about this, but what was puzzled was: "What about now? What should I do in front of me?" "At the moment, of course, do whatever you need to do. Shouldn't you maintain the place, and maintain it as usual." "Oh, oh!" Xiao Zhang finally realized suddenly, "This is a boat with two ends." "Yes! You are stepping on a boat with two ends. However, the boat you are stepping on will turn over sooner or later, and that boat is the most important thing." "I see." "Where's your old man?" "I'll tell him, he must be very happy." Xiao Zhang replied, "I will answer tomorrow. It's getting late, and I'm going too." Early the next morning, Xiao Zhang came to the door and invited Liu Bucai home.Zhang Xiucai has been cooking wine and waiting. In order to establish friendship, Liu Bucai not only called him "Old Man", but also gave Zhang Xiucai a big gift, which made Zhang Xiucai feel a little flattered. "Don't dare to be, dare not be! Brother Liu," he said, pointing at Xiao Zhang, "I, a bastard, have never made serious friends. I never thought I would meet you, Brother Liu. It's really a blessing for my family." "The old man said that I have never eaten wine, and my face is going to turn red." "By the way, drink, drink! With friends, the more you eat, the more you eat, and the more money you gamble." He scolded his son again, "This bastard just likes to gamble. Met him nine times." "Don't talk about him." Xiao Zhang retorted, "You went ten times and met me nine times, which is one less than you!" "Look at it, look at it!" Zhang Xiucai twitched his yellow beard in anger, "What this bastard said is so unreasonable." Liu Bucai saw that their fathers were not fathers, and sons were not sons. It was really funny. "The old man's knees are probably my brother." He said, "I have been spoiled since I was a child!" "It's all his mother's pet. The family is unlucky, and you will laugh at Sange Liu." "What are you talking about! I think my brother is really capable and beautiful. He is an excellent outsider." In one sentence, when talking about what Zhang Xiucai was proud of, Lian Rong replied: "Brother Liu, jade is not polished, and it is useless. I am a beast, I have ghosts, but I have to hone it with others. Let's talk in detail later, let's eat first." liquor." So the three of the guests and the host had a drink around the stove, and had to gossip first. When it was about the same, Zhang Xiucai pouted to his son, Xiao Zhang got up and went out of the main room, looked around, and loudly told his servant: "Guisheng, you go and tell the door that the master is not feeling well today. Customer. When asked about me, he said he was not at home. If there is business, go to the bureau in the afternoon and talk about it.” This was the prelude to letting go of idle talk and talking about secrets. Liu Bucai was prepared in his heart and only waited for Zhang Xiucai to speak. "Liu Sange, are you close relatives with Xueyan?" The word is a general word, but the title is quite meaningful. It is not called "Hu Daotai" but directly called by its name, which means: one is very familiar, and the other is an equal friend.When Liu Bucai thought about it further, it was Zhang Xiucai who seemed to be implying: He didn't think about the past, and if he had something important to say, he could say whatever he wanted. If I guessed right, it was a good omen, but knowing people and faces, but not knowing the heart, and remembering Hu Xueyan's advice: "Only talk about three points when meeting people", so I replied very cautiously: "Yes, we are relatives." "What's the name?" "Xueyan is considered to be a generation behind me." "Ah, ah, you are Xueyan's eldest relative. I should call you old uncle." Zhang Xiucai said, "You are still friends with Xiaoer. If you count it like this, the seniority is not clear. Brother Liu, we all Pingshu is the best!" "Don't dare! Don't dare! My name is Uncle Zhang." Liu Bucai didn't want to spend more time on etiquette, and said in a hurry, "Xueyan also mentioned to me that there is a friend in need like Uncle Zhang. , told me to come back to Hangzhou this time, I must come and see Uncle Zhang, and say hello to him." "It's not bad to talk about a friend in need. When Xueyan didn't have a fortune, we met every day in a tea shop. Later, he met Wang Futai like this, and his eyes became high. A group of poor Friends are not in his eyes, and we can't reach high. Friends in need have become 'nodding friends'." This was a complaint, and Liu Bucai listened quietly to him, so he naturally wanted to explain: "Xueyan is busy later, so it is inevitable that there will be omissions in etiquette, but when it comes to treating friends, I am not protecting relatives, Xueyan no matter what. The three words 'do not hurt the Tao' have always been achieved." "Yeah! He's pretty on the field." Zhang Xiucai said, "Thanks to him for not giving up, and the current world is like this. Any sadness in the past should be written off, and we can be friends again." "Yes!" Liu Bucai replied, "Xueyan also means the same thing. After all, everyone is a native of the hometown. Ye Luo returns to his roots and will always be together in the future. Now Xueyan is always leaving room for meeting each other." These words are very sweet, and they are persuading Zhang Xiucai to leave room for meeting, but there is no trace at all, which makes Zhang Xiucai, who was originally worried about helping Changmao, feel that it is time to "be a friend again" with Hu Xueyan . "I think the same way. I'm about the same age, and the times are like this. To be honest, everyone is reincarnated now. Think about the past, look at the future, and stop being confused. I have a few words!" Zhang The scholar said resolutely, "I want to ask Brother Liu for advice." Hearing this, Liu Bucai pulled his chair, moved closer to Zhang Xiucai, and looked closely at Zhang Xiucai, listening with an extremely solemn and sincere attitude. "Ming people don't talk dark words. Xueyan's backer is Wang Futai, who is no longer alive. The other backer is He Zhijun. It is said that 'the mud Buddha crosses the river, and he cannot protect himself'. In this case, I would like to ask for advice. Brother Liu San, why does Xueyan come here?" Liu Bucai didn't dare to be casual when he asked this question, the first thought in his mind was: It's better to be slow than to be wrong.So while nodding, thinking carefully, if you make up a random relationship, say that Hu Xueyan is with a certain elder in Beijing, and with a certain provincial governor, you can make up a very smooth lie, but Zhang Xiucai will never believe it. So this is a very stupid idea. Liu Bucai thought that the words were detached, but pleasant, so he replied: "The backers are all fake, and the ability and friends are the real ones. If you have skills and friends, you will naturally find backers." He added another sentence , "Uncle Zhang, these two sentences of mine are crazy. Don't get angry." "Okay!" Zhang Xiucai was quite enamored, "Liu Sange, after hearing your two words, he is also a good character!" "Don't dare, I'm talking nonsense." "Brother Liu San, let me ask you again." Zhang Xiucai lowered his voice very low, "What do you think of the overall situation?" It's not easy to answer this question, Liu Bucai took a look at Xiao Zhang——Xiao Zhang understood, nodded heavily, and said it's okay. "I used to be the same as Uncle Zhang. I seemed to be stuffed in a jar, a mass of black paint. I lived in Shanghai for a few days this time. There are many places in the barracks, and I am well-informed. After hearing a little bit, everyone is saying' This 'isn't long!" While speaking, he made a gesture, pointing to the hair, indicating that "this" refers to long hair.Zhang Xiucai didn't listen, picked up the hookah, puffed, puffed for a long time before opening his mouth. "Tell me, why isn't it long?" "It can't be said in a few words—" Liu Bucai's eloquence is very good, not to mention that the officers and soldiers fought really well, both good and one good, Liu Bucai analyzed the situation and made Zhang Xiucai's heart set.He also knew that their father and son had a bad reputation, and they had to do something shocking to the world and made great contributions to the country, so as to cover up many bad deeds and make people look impressive.Now that there is Hu Xueyan's way, how can he let it go easily? "Third brother Liu, I have figured it out. Please reply to Xueyan. When the officers and soldiers arrive, drive out Changmao and restore Hangzhou. I will be the internal response. At that time, Xueyan will help me clean up." "It's not just cleaning!" Liu Bucai replied, "At that time, the imperial court rewarded and awarded officials to fill in the vacancies. This official who got it through military merit is more beautiful than the donated class!"