"Oh? That's it." Ma Daming stepped forward and knocked on the door of Ling Mansion, and then said: "Brother Geng, I was coerced by thieves yesterday, and my life fell into the hands of others, but I have always been loyal to you."
"You must have also heard that the thief is young and has extremely high martial arts skills. In addition, he can clearly find out the past three years. It can be seen that there is probably a huge power hidden behind him. If he can be uprooted , Hehe... Then the prefect's achievements will be greatly added to."
His voice suddenly rose.
"In fact, in order not to alert the snake, I temporarily obeyed the thieves and captured two civilians. In fact, how can the 'Five Cloud Hands' and the heroes of the world compare to the noble status of Master Ling? I will see you later, Sir, When I give my explanation, I hope Brother Geng can be there to help intercede."
After General Ma Daming finished speaking, he took off a bag of gold and silver from the baggage on his horse and handed it to his colleagues.
Geng Tianba took two steps closer, stretched out his big blue-black hand to take the bag, and weighed it.
His brown and wrinkled face twitched twice, and he nodded slowly, but a trace of contempt flashed in the corner of his eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Then I will say a few more words for you later."
At this moment, the door of Ling Mansion opened, and the two of them stopped talking to each other and walked in together.
The servant in charge of the door closed the door again and inserted the bolt, and seemed to catch a glimpse of blue flashing past.
This blue color was none other than Zhao Qing. After having lunch early, she inquired about the location of the Ling Mansion and came to investigate, and happened to bump into Ma Daming and the others.
Zhao Qing was dressed in a blue shirt, with his face covered in gauze. He had already passed the gorgeous screen wall and the front hall, and stood outside the main hall.
There don't seem to be many servants in the Ling Mansion, but there are a few sword-wielding guards dressed as military attaches standing guard outside the main entrance. They take a few steps from time to time, making a rustling sound of their footsteps rubbing against the ground, and the blade and scabbard of the sword. They can be called guards. strict.
Are there any important discussions going on in the house? Just happened to find out about it.
Zhao Qing glanced at the surrounding building terrain, jumped lightly, and lay on the beams of the corridor along the wall outside the hall, preparing to explore the situation inside the house through the wall.
There has always been a saying in the world that one can peek inside a house by lifting the roof tiles. However, in many areas, especially in large households, there will be layers of mortar, mortar, etc., and the tiles are also multi-layered, making it impossible to lift the tiles to peek.
In addition, there were patrols outside, and the roof was still somewhat conspicuous during the day. Without being exposed, Zhao Qing could only give up observing the house and only listen to the sounds.
…
The main hall of Ling Mansion is elegantly furnished. On the wall of the middle hall hangs an exquisite portrait of Guan Gong facing the door, with a majestic sword standing on a horse.
A middle-aged man in his mid-forties was sitting on a sandalwood chair covered with brocade. He was dressed in luxurious clothes and had a strong look on his face.
This person is Ling Tuisi, the magistrate of Jingzhou Prefecture.
He looked at a skinny old man sitting on another sandalwood chair next to him, wearing a lion's patchwork suit and with bulging temples on both sides, and took one of the several fine blue and white porcelain tureens filled with tea in the tea tray. , drank it carefully, and said:
"General Xiao, you have come all the way to be a guest at my home. In your haste, you may have received some poor hospitality. Please forgive me."
"I don't dare to take it seriously. Magistrate Ling is out of touch. I, Xiao Fulu, am here today. I have something to ask. I heard that there have been gangsters making trouble in Jingzhou City recently? Do you need me to order the soldiers under General Xiong Qian of Jingzhou to cooperate with you?" Mr. Xiao said. replied.
As the commander-in-chief of Yichang Town, Xiao Fulu was in charge of the fourth battalion of the town and was also responsible for Shi Nanxie, Yuan'an Camp, Weichang Camp, Yidu Camp, and Jingzhou Guard Camp. The armaments of Jingzhou City were also under his jurisdiction.
The Qing Dynasty relied on culture to control military affairs. Although the general of the army was in the second rank, he did not have much advantage in status over the prefect. When General Xiao was patrolling Jingzhou, he heard about yesterday's situation and came to visit him. He wanted to help Magistrate Ling suppress the bandits and control the situation in Jingzhou City.
Most of the wealthy people from all over the country who gathered in Wanjia yesterday were stationed in Jingzhou City and were not ready to leave. The martial arts masters from several nearby state capitals will enter the city one after another within a few days and also stay in the city.
And with so many people from all walks of life coming here, both righteous and underworld, it is naturally not a good thing for the common people. There is a high probability that Jingzhou City will fall into some chaos.
But Ling Tuisi, who was the "Parent Officer" of Jingzhou Prefecture, didn't care at all about this matter at the moment. He was thinking about other things.
In fact, when he served as the magistrate of Jingzhou, he had always followed the principle of "not seeking merit, but seeking no faults". His treatment of the people was quite satisfactory and he could not be called a bad official.
If he had done all kinds of evil things in daily life, even with Ling Shuanghua's relationship, Ding Dian would not have respected him very much before Ling Tuisi was imprisoned.
For the past seven years or so, the most important thing for him is to ensure his retention in Jingzhou. To this end, he has spent nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver and given away rare and rare treasures of even greater value, which has greatly increased the funds of the Longsha Gang. Operations have been greatly affected.
However, there have been some signs that Liancheng Treasure has been obtained by others recently, and a decision must be made as soon as possible. Otherwise, Ling Tuisi could not bear to pay such a huge price and get nothing.
"Martial Arts Tournament..." Ling Tuisi murmured softly, and then asked: "General Xiao, I wonder who the number one master in the Qing Dynasty is from?"
…
Outside the wall, Zhao Qing listened quietly to the conversation between the two people: first they talked about the masters who served the imperial court, then they discussed the defense deployment of Jingzhou City Army, and finally the two briefly exchanged ideas with their bare hands and complimented each other a few times. sentence.
Then, Commander Xiao left with his men, and Ma Daming and Geng Tianba, who had been waiting for a long time, entered the house.
Ma Daming maintained a mournful tone and explained yesterday's behavior in detail according to what he said at the door of Ling Mansion. Geng Tianba agreed perfunctorily.
Zhao Qing almost laughed out loud when he heard it outside. He probably didn't have any intention of being promoted for Ling Tuisi to increase his achievements. Aren't you saying this to make people angry?
However, it can also be heard from it that Ling Tuisi still keeps secret from his subordinates the real reason why he became the prefect of Jingzhou.
"Well...Brother Da Ming, you did a pretty good job, but next time you encounter this kind of thing, you must report it to me before you do it."
Ling Tuisi took a bowl of tea from the tea tray, covered it with his robe and sprinkled a few grains of inconspicuous green powder. He stood up and handed it to Ma Daming, and then handed another bowl to Geng Tianba.
"The magistrate of Shangzhi County in Jiangling County has been reported to the governor for accepting bribes. He is likely to be transferred from here this year. You two are my trusted subordinates, and I will not hide it. This is a good opportunity."
"Chance?"
"Yes, there are opportunities for official positions such as chief secretary and county captain." Ling Tui thought.
"What advice do you have, sir?" Ma Daming and Geng Tianba asked at the same time, with a bit of excitement in their tone.
"I can't talk about advice. I just hope that you can try your best to help me with a few things, and I will look for opportunities to recommend you."
There was an edict in the Qing Dynasty that all candidates for officials, Jinshi, Juren, tribute supervisors, mountain hermits, etc. could be recommended. The recommendation from a prefect of a state is definitely not low in effect.
"The first thing is to mobilize the forces of your sect and help me find a good doctor in the world who can treat old flesh cuts." Ling Tuisi's eyes flashed and he said in a deep voice.
Zhao Qing could hear clearly from outside and thought secretly in his heart: What was Ling Tuisi planning when he tried to heal the scratch on his daughter's face?
…
