After getting off duty, Liu Bingyuan changed out of his official uniform and put on his regular clothes. The official uniform was given to his servants to take back, and he got into the carriage alone and left from the street.
I didn't know the official rank until I arrived in the capital. A brick fell into the crowd. Maybe the person it hit was a relative of a certain Yuanwailang.
Liu Bingyuan was only a seventh-grade censor. He could still inspect places in Datong, but his position was low and he had no power. But when he arrived in the capital, he only had a low position.
The carriage passed through several streets and alleys, and finally came to the door of a second-entry house.
Both were officials in the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Although he was not very familiar with Wang Cheng, he still knew where the other party's family lived. However, he did not expect that the place where Wang Cheng lived was much better than the place where he lived before leaving Beijing. It's only two streets away from the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
In the capital where land is at a premium, such a two-bedroom house cannot be bought without three or four hundred taels. With the salary of the imperial censors like them, it would take them seven or eight years to buy such a house without eating or drinking. .
With the meager salary of a seventh-grade censor, even if he receives some Bing Jing and Tan Jing, in the capital with relatively high prices, he can barely keep a family from starving to death. It is difficult to leave any money left, even for many low-ranking officials in the capital. You have to take on debt to live.
Before he went to Datong to inspect the place, he, a seventh-grade censor, just rented an ordinary house. Every time he went to court, he had to go out more than half an hour in advance and bypass most of the capital.
Later, I had the opportunity to inspect Datong and worked as an inspection envoy for more than half a year. Only then did I save some money, pay off my foreign debt, and buy an ordinary two-story house in the inner city after returning to Beijing.
"Master Liu, my master has prepared a banquet."
A servant had been standing guard outside the door of Wang Cheng's house. When he saw Liu Bingyuan getting off the carriage, he hurriedly came over to greet him.
Liu Bingyuan said calmly, "Lead the way."
The servant opened the door of the house and respectfully asked Liu Bingyuan to come inside.
"Brother Jie'an, please come quickly." Wang Cheng greeted him from the side hall.
Liu Bingyuan cupped Wang Cheng's hands and said, "Brother Youzhu, I'm sorry for disturbing you."
"You and I, brothers, don't need to say such outlandish words." Wang Cheng said, "The banquet has been prepared. Hurry up and take your seats. You and I, brothers, will have a good drink."
"please"
Wang Cheng enthusiastically helped Liu Bingyuan into the side hall, where the guests and hosts took their seats.
"Brother Jie'an, you and I have a full drink first, so as to catch the wind and wash away the dust for you." Wang Cheng picked up his wine glass.
Liu Bingyuan picked up the wine glass and clinked a drink with him.
After drinking, he put down his wine glass, and the maid who was waiting on them came forward and filled their wine glasses.
Liu Bingyuan glanced sideways at the maid who had just poured wine for him, and said with a smile, "It is said that Brother Youzhu's family has been poor since he was a child. In my opinion, it is purely false. Just this second house in the inner city of Brother Youzhu, And these two lovely maids are much better than when I was in Beijing."
"Haha, if Brother Jie'an likes it, both the house and these two maids will belong to Brother Jie'an." Wang Cheng said with a smile.
Liu Bingyuan waved his hand slightly and said, "I appreciate this kindness, but a gentleman will not take away people's love, so forget about these things."
"Brother Jie'an is too polite." Wang Cheng said, "As long as Brother Jie'an likes it, feel free to take it away. If you need anything else, just ask Brother Jie'an. If I can do it, I will personally deliver it to your house."
Hearing this, Liu Bingyuan pursed his lips and smiled, but did not answer.
Wang Cheng said, "Brother Jie'an doesn't believe me."
Liu Bingyuan shook his head and said, "If you don't believe it, you must ask for something from others. I don't dare to accept such a big gift from Brother Youzhu. If things don't work out, wouldn't I be evil to Mr. Wang?"
At this time, he had turned Brother Youzhu into Lord Wang, and his personal relationship had turned into a business relationship.
Wang Cheng hesitated for a moment, then smiled slightly and said, "It seems like nothing can be hidden from Brother Ji'an."
Liu Bingyuan did not answer, but picked up a piece of white meat with chopsticks and put it into his mouth to chew.
After swallowing the white meat in his mouth, he picked up the wine cup on the table and drank the wine with a slurp.
The maid standing behind him gently picked up the wine flask and filled it up for him.
Seeing that Liu Bingyuan had no intention of speaking, Wang Cheng knew that he was waiting for him to say something, so he said, "My younger brother is from Xuanfu. I received a letter from home not long ago, saying that a group of huge bandits appeared in Datong, using a business name with a tiger-character flag, and plundering places." , merchants all over the country are suffering terribly, but the local government’s fornication and cover-up has allowed such a giant bandit to harm the local people, causing great anger and resentment.”
Liu Bingyuan, who had just picked up a piece of white meat with chopsticks, paused, and the white meat he just added fell back onto the plate.
He thought of several reasons why Wang Cheng invited him to a banquet, but he never thought of it because of the tiger-character flag.
After thinking about it, he realized that it was probably Wang Cheng, the businessman in the Datong area of Xuan Mansion, who wanted to use him, the patrol officer who had just returned from Datong, to deal with the tiger-character flag in Lingqiu.
However, he was not prepared to help Wang Cheng.
The Tiger-Character Flag has been regarded as his own private territory. Even if he does not directly take action to clean up the Tiger-Character Flag, he can still use the Tiger-Character Flag to gain benefits for himself from others.
"Brother Jie'an, have you ever heard about the Tiger Flag?" Wang Cheng looked at Liu Bingyuan.
When the tiger-character flag was mentioned just now, all the white meat picked up by Liu Bingyuan's chopsticks fell back onto the plate. He then understood that Liu Bingyuan knew about the tiger-character flag, but he didn't know if the other party was willing to sell his face and help him.
Liu Bingyuan pondered for a moment and said, "I have heard of the Tiger Flag, but I heard that it is just a business in Datong. How could it be related to bandits? Could it be that Brother Youzhu and your family made a mistake."
Wang Cheng, who was sitting aside, saw that Liu Bingyuan just said that Tiger Flag was a business in Datong. He knew that the other party would not help him unless he came up with something practical.
Immediately, he reached into his left cuff, took out a bank note, and pushed it in front of Liu Bingyuan.
"What does this mean?" Liu Bingyuan frowned.
In front of him is a five hundred tael banknote, and it is the largest bank in the capital. With the money order, you can exchange it for the full amount of silver at the bank.
"This is something sent by someone from the Xuanfu. I hope Brother Jie'an will accept it." Wang Cheng smiled and pointed at the vote on the table.
Liu Bingyuan glanced at it, pushed it back with his hand, and said, "Brother Youzhu, please take it back."
Compared with this five hundred taels of silver, if he takes the Tiger Flag in the future, I believe it will bring him even more benefits, which are by no means comparable to this mere five hundred taels.
Seeing that the other party refused the five hundred taels of silver, Wang Cheng said in confusion, "Brother Jie'an knows the owner behind the Tiger Flag."
He didn't think Liu Bingyuan was an upright official like Hai Rui, and he didn't even accept the money when it was delivered to him.
Liu Bingyuan said calmly, "I don't know, I just heard people talk about it. This company called Tiger Flag has a very big business."
Seeing that Liu Bingyuan's expression didn't seem to be fake, Wang Cheng understood that the other party was dissatisfied with the fact that he had given out too little money.
Thinking of this, he reached into his right cuff with his left hand and pulled out a piece of white paper with words written on it and a large red seal.
I heard Wang Cheng say, "This is a three-entry house in the inner city. It was originally owned by a wealthy businessman in Xuanfu. Now he wants to sell it, so he will keep it with me for the time being."
As he spoke, he pushed over the house deed and the five hundred taels of silver vote.
Liu Bingyuan raised his eyebrows when he saw the house deed on the table.
A house with three entrances in the inner city would cost at least seven to eight hundred taels, and a better location would cost more than a thousand taels of silver. This wealthy businessman from Xuan Mansion bought a house with three entrances and five hundred taels of silver, which was a big deal.
