The Bookish Scholar of the Red Mansion

While waiting for customers, Chen Heng was not idle. On his desk is a painting newly sent by Xue Biao. This man was really hateful, so he took his sister Bao Qin to hide in Guangzhou. Not only am I enjoying my leisure time in this world, I also don’t forget to send paintings to make fun of my old friends.

The reason why I say this is because of Xue Biao’s paintings. It depicts a pair of people sitting under a wooden pergola on a sunny day, with green vines spread like blue clouds above their heads. Surrounded by wild grass and colorful flowers. Xue Biao and Bao Qin were respectively wearing cool summer clothes. Between the two wooden chairs, there was a small table with various fruits and tea on it.

Xue Biao was lying on a wooden chair, holding a leaf fan and shaking it gently, with his legs crossed and his face full of comfort and pride. Bao Qin, who is wearing men's clothing, can still see her expression even though her back is to the viewer. I saw my good second brother holding snacks in his left hand and teasing the white cat on his lap. Looking at the faintly raised corners of his mouth, one can also see Baoqin's happy mood.

At the signature in the upper left corner, Xue Biao wrote the words Half a Day's Leisure and stamped it with his own seal. There is a blank space left, obviously waiting for me to leave words and poems. The more Chen Heng looked at it, the more he hated it. If he hadn't thought that this painting could be left to his children, used as a family heirloom, and sold for money in the future. He could not wait to pick up a pen and write directly in the blank space: 'Abominable, abominable'.

That's all, that's all. With Xue Biao's current reputation, this painting would be worth a huge amount if kept for a few years. It would be good to leave it to his daughter as a dowry, Chen Heng thought in such a philistine way. He simply smiled and picked up the pen, swiping ink on the blank space: the landscape is leisurely and the people live in the bustling city of Guangfu. I don’t know whether autumn or winter will bring spring flowers into bloom after summer rain.

Poems are ordinary, but Chen Heng's handwriting is truly outstanding. In just twenty words, he used regular script for the first sentence, and then moved to running script and cursive script for the rest, just like the floating clouds blown by the sky, it can be said that it was completed in one go.

Especially in the last sentence, starting from the word rain, Chen Heng learned from Yan Zhenqing's cursive calligraphy, which vividly displays the wildness at this moment. Poems are written on paintings, and cursive writing is flying everywhere. It not only combines the word leisure in Half a Day's Leisure, but also resembles a heavy rain about to pour on the pergola. It was as if he had transformed into an angry God, punishing a pair of idlers under the pergola.

I don’t know if future generations of painting appreciators will understand the envy of my own inscription and signature. After Chen Heng chuckled to himself, he wrote down the year, month and day at the end, and his current location, and finally stamped his seal.

After finishing such a chore, Chen Heng found the tools and hung them directly next to the bookshelf in the study room to dry. Next to Half Day's Leisure, there are also many paintings sent by Xue Biao. The two of them are each other's best companions and are truly rare confidants.

Half Day's Leisure has just been hung up, and Xinda's knock on the door has already been heard: Sir.

Come in. Chen Heng picked up a hand towel and wiped it before taking steps to stand next to the desk. After a while, Xinda led a handsome-looking man in ordinary clothes.

Chen Hengduo glanced at the other party to confirm that he had not seen the other party. He asked: I wonder who you are?

Sir. The man hurriedly flicked his elastic sleeves and saluted with a half-bowed body. Pan You'an, this little man. When I was in the capital, I was lucky enough to get acquainted with Manager Chen. This time when I was out on business, I happened to pass by Songjiang Mansion, so I thought of being cheeky. Come and pay homage to Brother Chen and your lord.

Chen Heng didn't expect it to be this person. When he heard Pan Youan's words of passing by, he couldn't help but smile to himself. How could there be so many coincidences in the world! He seemed to know why Xinda brought Pan Youan to see him. He did say that day that this person could be a good friend.

When Pan Youan heard Chen Heng's chuckle, his heart couldn't help but tighten. He sneaked out of Jia's house this time, so the news shouldn't spread so quickly. To be honest, I am a dispensable person in the Jia family. The affair wasn't discovered on the spot, so it wasn't worth the effort of a few gentlemen to arrest it.

You escaped secretly. Thinking that he might use this person in the future, Chen Heng directly pointed out Pan Youan's difficulties.

Before hiring someone, the first thing to consider is to know the basics. Compared with reliability, ability is not necessarily the most important. When you have enough resources at your disposal, even a pig can fly. What matters is whether the person using it is at risk of betrayal.

Pan You'an was able to fulfill his friendship with Siqi by dying and abandon the family fortune he had earned. He was obviously a person who valued emotions. As for whether he will get carried away and act emotionally. Then it depends on your own discretion in employing people. After all, no one is perfect and there is no need to seek perfection.

Sir...sir...please forgive me. Pan You'an didn't expect that his true identity would be exposed by Chen Heng with just one word. He knelt on the ground in a panic to show his identity as a slave of the Jia family.

Since we want to use this person, we have to help Pan Youan get rid of his worries. Chen Heng accepted the gift with peace of mind and said: It doesn't matter, I won't interfere with the affairs in Jia's Mansion. He then said deliberately, You ran out of Jia's Mansion and passed by Songjiang Mansion. Where are you going? ?”

Of course I am here to seek refuge with you, sir. Pan Youan rolled his eyes and heard Chen Heng sitting back at his desk. His smart mind struck, and he immediately replied: I'm afraid adults will laugh at me if I say this. I have no place to go between heaven and earth now, and I just want to ask Manager Chen for advice.

He also has a good sense of proportion. He knows that his future destiny must be handled by Xinda. Chen Heng nodded as he sat in his seat and glanced at Xinda. Thinking that Xinda is now able to stand alone, Xinda really needs a capable person to help him. He said loudly: In a few days, there will be a banquet at home. Since you don't have a good place to go, let's help him deal with the matter first.

Pan You'an raised his head and saw Chen Heng pointing at Xinda. He quickly turned around and kowtowed to Xinda, I am willing to obey the steward's orders.

Does this mean you want to make him a domestic slave? Xinda looked at his brother on the desk, but Chen Heng blinked, obviously rejecting Xinda's suspicion.

Pan Youan escaped from Jia's house this time just to find a free world. Our family doesn't have to force others to do anything difficult, and has to force them to bow their heads and sell themselves before they are willing to help.

After looking at each other, Xinda understood what Chen Heng meant. He immediately helped Pan You'an up from the ground and said, Follow me first and deal with this matter before we talk about the future.

Hey, okay. Pan You'an nodded and replied, his face full of joy after being relieved of a heavy burden.

Afterwards, the two of them carefully said their goodbyes and left, leaving the space in the study to Chen Heng without disturbing them too much.

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During lunch, Chen Heng told Sister Lin about this matter, and both the latter and Zhen Yinglian were a little worried. When running a family well, the most taboo thing is to suddenly use people with unknown origins. After hearing her husband say that this person would not belong to her family, Sister Lin nodded with relief and asked, What is so special about this person that he deserves to be supported and helped by my husband?

Chen Heng smiled and commented: He's just a miserable man. After that, he talked about Pan Youan's affair with Siqi, emphasizing this man's character of attaching great importance to love and justice.

Lin Daiyu nodded, but could not see the importance of love and righteousness for the time being. But she is inevitably a little uncomfortable with men and women who have a private life. Fortunately, this matter was entrusted by her husband, and she still said that she would find a way to find Jia's mother to come to Pan You'an and Siqi's slave contract.

Pan Youan's status in the Jia family is not worth mentioning, but Siqi is sister Yingchun's eldest daughter. Without Jia Mu's intervention, it would have been difficult to succeed. Speaking of Jia Yingchun, Daiyu thought of another thing and said to Chen Heng: Ms. Gong, do you still remember Sun Shaozu.

Zhongshan Wolf, how could he not remember? While nodding his head, Chen Heng explained to Yinglian on his right: This man is the fiancée of the eldest daughter of the eldest daughter of the Rongguo Mansion.

Zhen Yinglian has been following Daiyu every day recently, and she has gradually become familiar with the relatives in the family who will be moving around in the future. The eldest daughter of the head of the Rongguo Mansion was none other than Jia Yingchun.

Daiyu also nodded towards Yinglian and said with a smile: I'm afraid you don't know that this person was imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment before I left the capital.

Zhen Yinglian shouted softly and asked Chen Heng's question: There is such a thing. What serious crime has he committed?!

Chen Heng thought for a while and asked: But what about the Maritime Affairs Department?

That's right. Daiyu was not surprised that Chen Heng could guess, At that time, the Ministry of Punishment had already arrested a group of petty officials and officials who had done evil, and the Sun family was also deeply involved. I heard that the Ministry of Punishment intended to severely punish these people. It probably won’t be released.”

With so many people involved in the case, it is inevitable to catch the small ones and magnify them. Chen Heng could understand the thinking of the Ministry of Punishment. Otherwise, if he really punished all the noble disciples of the capital, there would be heads and rivers of blood.

Then what will she do? Zhen Yinglian asked worriedly, Have their two families gone to the point of exchanging marriage certificates?

I've already changed the straw stickers. Daiyu sighed. Her uncle Jia She didn't know why she went crazy before, because she was anxious to get married. If Sun Shaozu hadn't been imprisoned suddenly, the betrothal gift would have been brought to Jia's house.

When Zhen Yinglian heard this, she was filled with emotions. Although the grass post is different from the fixed post, it is not as formal as the latter. But as soon as the post was posted, Jia Yingchun was considered to be half of the Sun family's daughter-in-law in name only.

Chen Heng became interested in Jia She's reaction and asked about Jia She's reaction. Sister Lin saw that her husband was interested in watching the excitement, so she couldn't help rolling her eyes and said softly: What else can I do? My uncle naturally wants to regret the marriage, how can the Sun family agree? Before I leave Beijing, They were having a quarrel.

I don't know what shortcomings my uncle has for the Sun family, but there are times when he can't make any noise even if he behaves violently. But if the commotion continues like this, it will be hard to see how Sister Yingchun will come out to meet people in the future and find another person to remarry.

This problem is also easy to understand. After all, Sun Shaozu was not dead yet, so Jia She, who had received five thousand taels in vain, wanted to cross the river and burn the bridge. The eating phase is really unsightly and seems to add insult to injury.

There are some things that can only be done after the person is dead. At least he can fulfill his family's reputation of valuing love and righteousness. Chen Heng shook his head, his father was mediocre and his daughter was weak, there was nothing he could do about it.

Eat, eat. Chen Heng quickly called to the two ladies to use their chopsticks.

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There wasn't much going on in the afternoon. Only Xiao Ping came over with the list of people to be recruited for corvee service and asked for instructions on the next step. Chen Heng took a look at the list in the study and found to his surprise that in addition to the 8,000 people from Huating County, there were also 3,000 people from Lou County, 2,000 people from Jinshan County, and three more people from Fengxian County. Thousands of people were there.

In total, there are sixteen thousand people. Chen Heng really felt strange. He originally thought that Zhen Zijing and others would make trouble in secret. The original thought was to use more methods and efforts on my own to fill this gap in numbers.

How come the trio is holding back the group and working so hard on this matter. Chen Heng was a little hard to understand. Looking at the troubled expression on Xiao Ping's face, he asked strangely: You are doing this job very well, why are you still looking so sad?

Xiao Ping said distressedly: Sir, go ahead with this number. I'm afraid our 200,000 taels won't last for a month. Not only will we not be able to pay the people, but we won't even have enough money to buy stones.

Chen Heng laughed, it turned out that this was what Zhen Zijing and others had in mind. He waved his hands hurriedly: It's okay, just keep doing your work. When it's time to buy stones, buy stones, and the granary's expenses, we also ask someone to record the details. If that doesn't work, assign a few more accountants to supervise them. Other things , leave it all to me.”

Yes. Seeing that Chen Heng was holding the pearl of wisdom, Xiao Ping didn't hesitate to ask more questions and directly said goodbye and left.

As the chief clerk, he always does things like this. Don't ask questions that shouldn't be asked, just do your job well. Anyway, if something goes wrong, the boss will take the blame, but he will still be the safe and secure county administrator.

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Even if Chen Chixing is extremely capable, he still can't generate so much money and distribute it to the people. The steward of the Zhen family couldn't help but mutter to Zhen Zi, Just relax, wait until he has no money or food on hand. Naturally, Asking to come to our house.”

Zhen Zijing quickly poured tea for the steward. Since the case of Lao Zhao's family was handed over to the Criminal Department, he also hated Chen Heng. This time, I did my best to serve Huating County because I wanted to see Chen Heng end up in despair. Hearing what Manager Zhen said, he asked again: Then when he comes to our house, will we help him or not?

The eldest young master in the mansion has spoken... Manager Zhen put down the teacup, started to shake his head, and said proudly, Next spring will be the old lady's eightieth birthday. If he brings gifts and sincerely comes to ask for help, we can also Lend him two hundred thousand taels.

Zhen Zijing laughed loudly, You are really smart. Wait until next spring, so what's the harm in giving Chen Heng 400,000 taels. The most important difficulty facing the port now is the construction period.

Have all the big households in the city been informed?

Don't worry, manager. In Songjiang Mansion, no one dares to sell our family's face. I can guarantee you that no one will risk offending our family by lending money to Chen Chixing.

Manager Zhen nodded and said gloomily: Humph, let's see what kind of monkey he is. He dares to come to our territory to cause trouble.

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November 15th is a good day to travel far. Fifteen thousand male corvee recruits from the four counties have already embarked on the rural road to Chuansha Hall under the organization and arrangement of the Huating County officials.

These men said goodbye to their families with joyful faces and were not very worried about the unknown future. Master Qingtian of Huating County had promised them that, considering that the new year was approaching, the monthly payment for this corvee would be paid every half month. There will be a holiday from the 29th to the 5th day of the New Year, allowing everyone to go home and reunite.

If you are still worried about such a generous corvee treatment, there is really no reason to explain it. As for Chen Heng's credibility, it is still very useful in the hearts of the people at this time. People's hearts have always been like this. When they have initial trust in a person, they will always choose to believe first. They only hope that Chen Heng can live up to the expectations of the people.

Zhen Zijing took half a day off today and specially took Xu Biao and a group of close associates to stand on the first floor of Yunjian. Look at the people wearing thick winter clothes and walking out of the city gate with joy.

In a month at most, that person surnamed Chen will have to beg in front of us. He said very confidently. Others did not have the backing of Zhen Zijing's family background, and they would not dare to speak nonsense against a county magistrate.

Zhen Zijing didn't care if no one catered to her. He had his back to the Zhen family in Jinling, which could be said to be his back to a big tree so he could enjoy the shade.

The excitement at the top of the city cannot escape the eyes of those who care about it. Many people are secretly paying attention to the excitement at the back gate of the Huating County Government Office. The onlookers who were hiding had watched Pan Youan stop at the door for a long time.

The new face of this county government office seems to be waiting for someone. The Huating County Magistrate has been preparing for today's banquet for a long time. Everyone is curious about what kind of person he is that deserves the magistrate to spend so much time entertaining him.

After a while, two valuable carriages came running on the official road in the distance. The first car stopped in front of everyone's eyes. A man in rich clothes walked out from under the curtain raised by the servants. He took a few steps to get off the horse stool. The man asked Pan You'an, who was coming up to him, You are quite cool. Where is Manager Chen?

Pan Youan asked about the physical characteristics of today's distinguished guest from the list prepared by Xinda. Seeing that the young man spoke the dialect of Yangzhou, he immediately replied: Master Wang, your Excellency and the steward have been waiting in the house for a long time. A little while ago, the steward heard that there were new guests coming, so he returned to the house to do some business.

It's quite lively. Wang Shouyi, who came from Yangzhou, smiled, walked past Pan You'an who was bending down to wait, walked to another carriage, patted the carriage with his hand, and said angrily: We are already at the end of the field, why don't you get down? ? It’s not good to keep the host waiting for a long time.”

There was a vague commotion in the carriage. After a moment, a folded fan came out and opened the hanging curtain. A handsome girl dressed in men's clothing then leaned forward and jumped out of the carriage in a few steps.

She stood in front of Wang Shouyi and Pan You'an, opened the fan and said softly: Cousin, you and the Xue family are acquainted in Yangzhou. Do you think my men's clothes look better? Or does Xue Baoqin's men's clothes look better?

Wang Shouyi shook his head. Although his cousin's appearance was outstanding, Xue Baoqin had always been known as the most beautiful woman in Yangzhou. Although no one has seen Xue Baoqin in disguise in these years, she is so well-known that her cousin can compare her to her at will.

Seeing his cousin's reaction, Xia Jingui became annoyed and said arrogantly: If you don't tell me, I will ask Mr. Chen myself soon.

How old are you, and you are still acting like this? Wang Shouyi felt a headache and held his forehead, Be careful that you won't get married in the future.

Cousin is talking nonsense. My family has so much money. If you really want to tell me, there will be many men who want to marry me. Xia Jingui made a face at his cousin, then asked Pan You'an who was following him closely, and said directly, You said yes? no.

Master Xia's words are true. Pan Youan's way of treating people and guests was honed very well in Rongguo Mansion. Just one sentence made Xia Jingui smile.

The three of them immediately wanted to accompany them and walked towards the house, when suddenly another carriage came from behind. Cousins ​​Wang and Xia suddenly became interested. He simply stopped at the steps to see who was coming.

Unexpectedly, this man was also an old acquaintance with Wang and Xia. Just when they leaned out of the carriage, Wang Shouyi and Xia Jingui had already walked down the steps and went up to greet them: Zhang Shibo, are you here in person?

Mr. Zhang is the head of the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce. He was a little surprised to see these cousins. He nodded towards Wang and Xia and said curiously: In the capital, I have some friendship with Mr. Chen. Why are you here too this time?

Before Wang Shouyi could answer, Xia Jingui rushed to reply: Uncle Shi, we also have friendship with Mr. Chen.

Mr. Zhang laughed loudly and suddenly realized: Ha, I forgot that your family was also present when we purchased the Western ships.

Xia Jingui looked a little helpless and said angrily: What's the use of being here? I can't take over your Shanxi Trading Company.

Zhang Shangde smiled and shook his head, saying something rude. Merchants from Shanxi and Shanxi have always been tight-knit. Few people can grab what they want to buy. Just as these people were about to accompany them, several more carriages came speeding up on the official road in the distance, and no one knew who the guests in the carriages were.

Hooray, tomorrow is Friday. Ha ha ha ha.