Nanming Engineer

Chapter 24

Seen from a distance, this upright official is wearing a blue nine-python five-claw mending suit, a patch on his chest, a slim peacock rusted on it, and a bamboo-woven conical hat with a sparkling sapphire shining very brightly on the top of the hat. It is conspicuous, and there is a colorful peacock feather inserted underneath, which is impressively from the third-rank clothing color grade.Looking at his appearance, this man is about fifty years old, with a thin horse face, high cheekbones on both sides, setting off a pair of deep-set thin eyes, dense wrinkles on his face, gray temples, and combed mustache on his lips He was meticulous, with a waist-length braid dragging behind his head, his face was rosy, and there was a sense of joy in the spring breeze.

The white sails on the boat were raised high and filled with the wind. Taking advantage of the wind, the boat moved very fast, and in an instant it approached the shore where Wang Huan and others were.

There is a small pier on the shore, so small that even the trestle bridge is very short. It was probably built by fishermen to berth small boats. It is also used by fishing boats at ordinary times. There are such small piers everywhere on Hongze Lake. Yes, the tall reeds around it grow wildly, covering the pier in the middle, and it is not easy to find if you don't look carefully.

Ma Quan, who was standing at the bow of the ship, approached the conspicuous black smoke commanding the fleet. The ship was big and the wharf was small. Ma Quan turned his face away and said politely to the Qing officials standing beside him, "Master Inspector, the trestle is narrow, Please order the fleet to dock in row to load the cargo."

This upright official was none other than Li Wancai, the former deputy official of the General Water Transport Department of the Ming Dynasty, commonly known as the Water Transport Governor's Yamen.In April of this year, the Qing soldiers went south and captured Huai'an in the blink of an eye. The officials of the Ming Dynasty fled south in a hurry. All the officials, big and small, had no leader. They fled and ran away. Li Wancai moved a step slower. When he wanted to escape, the Qing soldiers had already entered the city. Together with the officials of the second and fifth sons, they became the first batch of demoted officials to welcome Prince Yu Duoduo. As a result, it was a blessing in disguise. The Qing army had a lot of positions, and what was lacking was manpower. Immediately retain the position, the official position, and also vaguely promise that if you do a good job, you will be promoted, and the position of the Governor of Water Transport is still vacant.

Li Wancai was overwhelmed with surprise, full of strength, and before the Qing court gave an order, he shaved off his hair and kept a braid, expressing his loyalty and full of energy.During this period of time, I was busy, trying to restore the governor's yamen of the water transport as soon as possible. The Manchu nobles in Beijing were still waiting for good rice from the south of the Yangtze River to support them, so there must be no delay.

While he was busy, an official document from Prince Yu's subordinate Tu Hai arrived, saying that a batch of important supplies needed to be sent north urgently and that twenty cannon ships needed to be requisitioned.The visitor had the official seal of the Qing army, which was clear and unmistakable. Li Wancai hurriedly mobilized the ship and followed the visitor aboard.

Hearing what Ma Quan said, Li Wancai immediately turned around and ordered to go down. The subordinates had their own set of operations. Soon, [-] tank boats came up to the narrow wharf one by one.

"Actually, Mr. Li, for such a small matter and you are so busy, there is no need to come here in person." Ma Quan said politely to Li Wancai while waiting for the bow of the ship to dock.

"Where are you talking!" Although Li Wancai didn't pay much attention to Ma Quan, the messenger who ran errands, what he valued was Tu Hai, the assistant leader. He inquired very clearly that Tu Hai was from Zhengbai Banner Duoduo, and who was Duduo? Ah, that's Prince Yu of the Qing Dynasty, the brother of the current regent Dorgon, who has such a good relationship that he can wear a pair of trousers. If he can get a little relationship with Duoduo, his future will be bright.Thinking of this, Li Wancai smiled all over his face, and said righteously: "This is an errand arranged by Prince Yu, we are slaves, we have to do it with all our hearts, and we can't make any mistakes."

"That's right, that's right." Ma Quan expressed admiration and flattered him: "Master Li has indeed dedicated his whole life to the Qing Dynasty. He is worthy of being a role model for our generation. I will report everything to Master Zuoling later."

He didn't say the second half of this idiom, and he will have to wait until he dies.

"Where is Master Tuhai? Introduce me quickly." Li Wancai said anxiously, looking ashore unsteadily on his feet. The springboard hadn't been set up yet, otherwise he would have jumped ashore in one step.

Ma Quan hurriedly said: "Lord Li, be careful, the shore is wet and slippery, be careful of falling into the water, my Master Zuo Ling is on the shore."

The sailors' hands and feet were nimble and steady, and a few long grasses pushed down. The bow of the ship made a "tied" sound, and it leaned against the trestle. Li Wancai didn't wait for the springboard to catch up, and rushed up with a single stride. His movements were vigorous and there was no trace of the danger. A 50-year-old man.

Wang Huan and Li Tingyu on the shore had already seen it clearly on the shore. Ma Quan was the emissary released in advance after the two discussed. In the account, he secretly stamped Zuo Ling's seal on a fake official document that had been drawn up, and then put the seal back as it was, the clothes were seamless, and the sea of ​​pictures was rough, so he didn't notice it for a while.

This set of dummy papers was originally full of loopholes. As long as the official document dissemination procedures of the Qing court are a little more complete and mature, it will be exposed after a test. Fortunately, the Qing army marched southward this time too fast, and the establishment of the government’s ruling institutions at the rear was not at all fast. Unable to keep up with the pace of the army, Huai'an is still in a mess at this time, and all procedures are simplified, and it is precisely because Wang Huan expected this detail that he boldly came up with this trick of confusing the real. Unexpectedly, it was Li Wancai's official fan. With the insight of this old man in the officialdom, he could actually see through this kind of out-of-the-ordinary order. After a good impression, Wang Huan ran out without looking at the official document very carefully, and Wang Huan's bold move was successfully implemented.

At this moment, Li Wancai jumped ashore, and Wang Huan went up to meet him. He held Li Wancai's hand, shook it tightly and said, "Thank you for your hard work, sir."

He didn't know Li Wancai, but he was happy and took it easily.

Li Wancai didn't know Wang Huan either, and he didn't know anything about the modern etiquette of shaking hands, so he was taken aback for a moment, not knowing what to say.

Wang Huanxi smiled and shook for a while, his brain twitched, and he realized in his heart that he had lost his composure. He quickly let go of his hands, turned his body sideways, nodded and bowed, and revealed Li Tingyu behind him: "This is my lord Zuo Ling!"

Li Wancai was inexplicably held by a bald head and shook his hand for a long time. After a while, he came to his senses and realized that Tu Hai was definitely not the guy who looked like a monk. He was about to have a fit when Li Tingyu walked over.

Li Tingyu is tall and strong, with a broad face and wide ears, tiger eyes are powerful, every beard on his face is full of domineering, even the fake braid hanging behind his head seems to be much more energetic.Paired with an iron armor of the Qing army's collar that was looted from Tuhai, with a treasured sword hanging from his waist, he exudes an aura of calmness and self-prestige.Li Wancai has a common problem that Ming Dynasty officials are used to being frightened by the Qing army. When they see bannermen, they are three points short. Just a dog.At this time, although he was only facing a small leader, he felt chills all over his body as if seeing Duoduo himself, and he couldn't help bowing down with a big salute.

Faced with the big gift from a third-rank civil servant, Li Tingyu, who had been in the imperial court for a long time in the Ming Dynasty, subconsciously moved his shoulders and wanted to return the gift, but when he saw Wang Huan's wink, he immediately understood, stopped his movements, and took advantage of the situation. Waving his hand, he said in a rough voice, "Excuse me, are you?"

Li Wancai hurriedly got up and said: "The governor of the water transportation department inspects Li Wancai's yamen, and according to the military order of the Prince of Yu, dispatched [-] water boats to come to listen to the order."

A third-grade civil servant actually called himself a lower official in front of a subordinate. This could only be done when a demoted official in the Ming Dynasty faced an Eight Banners officer.But after hearing this, Wang Huan and Li Tingyu's hearts skipped a beat at the same time. Water transport inspection?That was a high-ranking official from the third rank, and now he personally came to deliver a ship to him. This battle was not a small one.The two of them glanced at Ma Quan in unison, meaning that they could just ask you to bring a boat. Why did you bring such an official?

Ma Quan met the eyes of the two, but smiled wryly, not daring to make a sound.Li Wancai wants to follow along on his own, what can he do?
Li Tingyu glanced at Wang Huan again, seeing that the little monk was standing still, he blinked at himself, stretched out a hand, and shook it lightly, meaning don't be afraid, just follow the plan.

Li Tingyu sighed secretly: Damn, I am really addicted to being an actor.So he straightened his back, shook the braids on the back of his head, and was about to put on a show, but his eyes widened in an instant, and he exclaimed, "Master Li, are you a bannerman?"

Li Wancai bent over and got up, and with a shake of his head, the braids on the back were exposed. Li Tingyu saw it, so he screamed out. This Li Wancai is clearly a Han Chinese by name, so why does he have braids?
Wang Huan was also a little surprised. At this time, not long after the Qing soldiers entered the customs, Dorgon was forced to revise the order that forced the Han people to shave their hair and wear them easily in order to stabilize the situation in the country, win people's hearts, and lay the foundation for seizing Kyushu. , Changed to a loose policy that non-Manchus do not have to shave their hair, so basically no one in the whole country shaves their hair and keeps their braids.

When Li Wancai heard Li Tingyu's startled question, he became complacent, thinking that his loyalty had finally been noticed by Prince Yu's confidant, and immediately smiled coquettishly: "My lord, the braids of the lower officials are shaved and braided by myself. I think that the Qing Dynasty has been established for many years, and the habit of wearing braids has already been introduced into the customs. The lower officials are called court officials, but they are actually the emperor's retainers. How can they not recognize the ancestors' family law? So to show the loyalty of the lower officials, so Shave yourself."

These words were spoken leisurely, without any shame at all, but full of joy and enthusiasm, almost barking at Li Tingyu.

Li Tingyu was stunned, Wang Huan's face was hot, and they both thought at the same time: talent, this is a fucking talent, what are Qin Hui, Lian Zining and others, this is the real top traitor, the fighter among traitors!
(End of this chapter)