"Excuse me, please tell me. I am on guard at Lingqiu and want to see Governor Xu."
Huang An stood outside the gate of the governor's office, smiling with the servant at the gate.
"Lingqiu defense?" The officer frowned.
Compared with the officials who came to see the governor, a Lingqiu garrison was not conspicuous. Even though he was a fourth-grade general, in the eyes of the Yamen officials, he was not as important as the Lingqiu County Magistrate.
"Yes, yes." Huang An nodded repeatedly.
The yamen officer looked him over and said, "There are too many people who want to see the governor recently. You can wait outside!"
Huang An turned around and glanced behind him.
Indeed, many civil and military officials were waiting outside the governor's office. There were also many carriages and sedan chairs parked nearby, and several horse-tethering posts were full of horses.
He knew that these people also came to see the governor, otherwise there would not be so many officials gathered at the Yamen Gate, including many military commanders with a higher rank than him.
"Excuse me, could you tell me that I really have something important to see the governor?" Huang An bowed his hands to the government servant in front of him.
The yamen officer said calmly: "Everyone who comes to see the governor has something important to do. Please go in and report. Should the governor be busy with official duties? Just wait and see! When the governor is free, he will naturally summon you."
"I really have something important to do, and I have to see the governor. I'd like to trouble myself and go in to inform you."
While talking, Huang An took out a piece of broken silver and stuffed it into the hand of the yamen servant through his sleeve.
The yamen servant who took the silver weighed it with his hands. After Mo Yue gave it a few cents, the stiff expression on his face softened a little, and he said, "Okay, you wait here, I'll go in and give you a report."
"Thank you." Huang An hurriedly handed over his hands to express his thanks.
The yamen servant turned around and walked towards the yamen.
At this time, Xu Tong was sitting in the back hall of the Yamen, accompanied by Zhang Wenhe.
Naturally, the yamen servant was not qualified to enter the back hall, but he brought the message to Xu Tong's long attendant.
"Sir, the guard at Lingqiu said that he has something urgent to ask for, and he is waiting outside the yamen."
Xu Tong frowned.
Naturally, he knew that Lingqiu Guards was only a fourth-grade military general, so he couldn't catch his eye. The generals who could catch his eye must at least be a general guarding an area or a guard commander.
"Sir," Zhang Wenhe said, "Huang Shoubei of Lingqiu has always wanted to curry favor with you. Although he failed to handle the matter last time, the tiger-character flag is in Lingqiu. Maybe he has brought some information about the tiger-character flag this time. There was news about Qi, so the student thought it was better to meet him."
Xu Tong twirled his beard and said: "I was busy dealing with the impeachment before and didn't have time to clean up the tiger flag. Well, let him come in!"
"Yes." Chang Sui agreed and retreated from the room.
Changsui did not ask someone to take the message outside the yamen, but went to deliver the message himself.
"Who is the guard of Lingqiu?"
Standing on the stone steps in front of the yamen, Chang Sui shouted.
Huang An hurriedly took a few steps forward, cupped his fists and cupped his hands, and said, "This official is Lingqiu guard Huang An. May I ask, did the governor summon this official?"
Changsui did not speak immediately, but looked him up and down, and said in a calm tone: "You are just a fourth-level guard. Originally, my master did not intend to summon you, but I spent a lot of time before my master agreed to meet him. do you understand?"
"Yes, yes, yes, I understand." Huang An took out a silver coin and put it into the Chang Sui's hand.
The silver this time was not the kind of broken silver that was given to the government officials, but silver cast into silver ingots, one ingot weighing five taels.
Chang Sui put the money away casually and said, "You are sensible, come with me!"
With that said, he turned around and walked back to the governor's office.
Huang An hurriedly followed, taking a wrong step to follow behind.
The Chang Sui beside Xu Tong led the way, and Huang An followed carefully all the way to the back hall.
"Your Majesty, Huang An, pays homage to the Governor." As he spoke, Huang An knelt down and kowtowed.
If a fourth-grade civil servant meets a second-grade governor like Xu Tong, he naturally does not need to kneel down, even if he is a high-ranking official.
But for generals, unless the generals of a town come to see the governor, as for generals of other ranks, they can only kneel down and salute when they see the governor.
Xu Tong picked up the tureen and took a sip of tea, then slowly said: "Get up!"
"Thank you, sir." Huang An stood up.
Zhang Wenhe, who was standing next to Xu Tong, said to Huang An: "Master Huang is so anxious to see the governor, what do you mean?"
"Please, sir, save me." With that said, Huang An knelt down on the ground again.
Zhang Wenhe was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then said: "Master Huang, please tell me if you have anything to say. Even if the governor helps you, you must know what happened."
"Yes, yes, yes, the official was negligent." Huang An said, "The official heard the rumor that General Zhang wanted to transfer the official away from Lingqiu and move him to Tiancheng Guard to serve as a commanding officer. Please ask the governor Your Excellency, help a bunch of lower officials."
Zhang Wenhe said: "The commander of Tiancheng Guard and Lingqiu Guard are both at the fourth level, and you are a general from Tiancheng Guard. It is not a bad thing to be able to return to Tiancheng Guard to serve."
Huang An had a bitter look on his face and said: "It's true that the subordinate is returning to the Tiancheng Guard, but he is not the commander of the Tiancheng Guard, but the commander of the Zhenlu Guard. Now there is only an empty shell of the Zhenlu Guard. I am afraid that if I go to Tiancheng Guard, I will no longer be able to serve the imperial court or the governor."
Zhenlu Guard was a guard station established between Datong Zuowei and Grassland during the Hongwu Period. It was moved to Tiancheng Guard during the Zhengtong Period and only retained one name.
Historically, the commander of the Tiancheng Guard was also the commander of the Suppression Guard. Among the military positions below the commander, the only official position of the Tiancheng Guard was left.
Zhang Wenhe looked at Xu Tong.
Xu Tong put down the bowl in his hand and asked, "Is it possible that you have received the official document from the General Military Mansion?"
Huang An shook his head and said: "Not yet, but the Bingbei Road has already agreed. As long as the Ministry of War agrees again, the official will be transferred from Lingqiu to Tiancheng Guard."
"You are quite well informed." Xu Tong said, and then added, "Do you want me to go to the Ministry of War to smoothen your relationship and let you stay in Lingqiu?"
Huang An bowed and said, "I swear to follow the governor to the death, and I ask the governor to save me this time."
Zhang Wenhe on the side said: "Sir, Lingqiu is the home of Tiger Flag. If Master Huang goes to Tiancheng Guard, I am afraid that Liu Heng will be more difficult to deal with."
Huang An hurriedly answered: "Xiaguan is willing to stay in Lingqiu to keep an eye on the Tiger Flag and Liu Heng in Lingqiu."
Xu Tong pondered for a moment and said: "I will go to the Ministry of War to help you negotiate. You don't have to worry about this. You can stay in Lingqiu with peace of mind and keep an eye on the Tiger Flag for me."
"I thank you, sir." Huang An was overjoyed and kowtowed hurriedly.
"Okay, if you have nothing to do, go down!" Xu Tong picked up the tureen and did not drink. He just used the lid to stir the tea inside.
"Yes, I am resigning."
Huang An stood up, bowed and walked out.
After he left, Xu Tong said to his attendant: "Bring this man's gift list, I want to see it."
Chang Sui was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Master, this Master Huang does not have any gift list."
"So he came here empty-handed?" Xu Tong's face turned cold.
Chang Sui said: "As for me, I really came empty-handed."
Xu Tong snorted coldly and dropped the tureen in his hand heavily on the table, causing the tea inside to splash out.
