Chapter 51 Intelligence Network (II)
After waiting outside Jinan for a while, the person who greeted him arrived. Judging from his attire, he was also an official. He looked Huo Chong up and down and said with a smile, "Officials in Jinan have all heard of Lord Huo's name, and they all admire him very much."
Huo Chong could hear the sarcasm and strong sourness in the official's words, so he laughed and said, "I'm just a craftsman, I haven't been to school. It's reasonable for everyone to laugh at me."
The clerk was stunned, obviously not expecting Huo Chong to say that. The smile on his face quickly disappeared, and he looked at Huo Chong again.
Huo Chong did not want to continue to let people see his ignorance of officialdom, so he said: "My dear brother, I don't trust the tailors in Zibo County. This time I came to the provincial capital to make an official uniform. But I have never been to the provincial capital. Please show me the way. I don't know where the tailors who make official uniforms are in the city."
The clerk thought for a moment before answering, "Since Lord Huo has never been to the provincial capital, why don't you let me lead the way?"
Huo Chong replied, "That's great. If the tailor is far away, I can hire a car for you, so you can save some time."
The clerk didn't expect Huo Chong to be so straightforward, and said hesitantly: "...It's not too far."
"Not too far, just far." Huo Chong smiled and asked Yang Youfang to hire two cars.
Jinan is the provincial capital, and there are many vehicles coming and going. Huo Chong and the clerk took one car, while Yang Yongfang, his sixth junior brother Liu Shiwang, Qian Qing, and one of Yang Yongfang's men took another. The two cars drove into the city one after the other.
Huo Chong and the clerk were the only ones in the same car, which made things much easier. Huo Chong took out a string of 20 coins that he had prepared long ago and stuffed it into the clerk's hand, "Brother, I'm sorry to have you make this trip and lead the way. This is a small token of my appreciation."
The clerk pinched the money naturally, and his face looked a little satisfied. Just as he was about to put the money in his pocket, he suddenly remembered something. He quickly pushed the money back to Huo Chong. Before the man could say anything, Huo Chong had already pushed the money back, "Brother, this is not an official matter. You ran around and led the way. This is a private agreement between me and you. If you don't accept it, aren't you blaming me for not being polite enough?"
This was also Huo Chong's original intention. He had no idea which official uniforms were made well. If he was cheated and wore a defective official uniform, it would be a serious crime. If this official could point out a reliable tailor, Huo Chong could save a lot of trouble.
The clerk reluctantly refused several times, but finally pocketed the money. After that, his attitude became much better. He took Huo Chong directly to a tailor shop, pointed at the door and said, "Master Huo, this is a time-honored brand in our Jinan City. Even the governor and the prefect have their official uniforms made here."
Huo Chong thanked the clerk, gave the driver the fare, and asked the driver to take the clerk to where he wanted to go next. Then he got off the car.
The front of the tailor shop is not very big, but you will feel something different once you walk in. The materials on display are of very good quality, including silk, and the quality of the cloth is far better than ordinary homespun cloth.
The shopkeeper came forward and heard Huo Chong say that he wanted to make official uniforms. Although he showed a slight surprise on his face, he did not make a fuss. He just said respectfully: "Please check the official taboos, sir."
Huo Chong felt relieved after hearing this. After the shopkeeper read Huo Chong's "certificate", he invited Huo Chong in. As expected, Huo Chong only asked casually within the scope of what he could ask, and the shopkeeper answered casually. He was not arrogant because he knew, nor did he look down on Huo Chong because he did not know.
Measuring the body and making adjustments took Huo Chong half a day, and this was just the beginning. Official uniforms are not made in a blink of an eye. Huo Chong agreed on a day to pick up the clothes and found a hotel in Jinan to stay.
There was a dish in the dinner that had a main ingredient that looked like coral branches and forks, showing a translucent deep red color. Huo Chong ate two but didn't say anything. After dinner, Huo Chong called Yang Youfang out and talked as they walked, "The brother we were going to visit last time, Brother Yang has to go by himself."
"Yeah." Yang Youfang nodded.
"The dish we had for dinner was a little chewy and crispy. Is it called agar-agar?"
"Isn't that called Beef Rib? Some people also call it frozen vegetable."
"If Brother Yang knows someone who can catch this dish at the beach, I won't bother him and will just ask Brother Yang to get it. If Brother Yang doesn't know someone who can catch this dish at the beach, we will ask Brother Jinan to recommend someone for us."
As soon as Huo Chong finished speaking, Yang Youfang immediately replied: "If it is someone who went overseas by ship, I don't know him. If it is someone who is fishing for seaweed at the beach, I can definitely find him even if I don't know him. Brother Huo Chong wants to sell this vegetable?"
Huo Chong nodded, "I want to use this dish."
Yang Youfang obviously wanted to take the job by himself, and he strongly said that he had no problem. Huo Chong also let him do it, and no longer mentioned the one who was eating the sea route. At this time, Huo Chong was also worried that he was too conspicuous at this time, and it would be easy for someone to catch him. Some things can wait for a while.
When the tailor heard Huo Chong said that he needed it urgently, he used urgent means and made a set of standard official uniform for Huo Chong in two days.
On the tenth day of the tenth lunar month, a sedan chair appeared in Liujia Village with a team of yamen runners leading the way. After returning from Jinan, Huo Chong went to to ask Xu Zhixian to borrow someone. Xu Zhixian looked embarrassed, but Huo Chong felt that there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
Sitting in the sedan chair at this time, watching the villagers coming out to watch the fun during the off-season, Huo Chong even felt that he could understand why the officials of the Qing Dynasty had to be corrupt. Because the officials had to pay for their official uniforms, staff, and travel expenses. The salary of a county magistrate in the Qing Dynasty was only 40 taels of silver, and it was extremely difficult to support this money. Many poor officials in Beijing really had no food to eat, and their official uniforms were patched with many patches. This is no longer honesty, but institutional forced officials to be corrupt.
However, Huo Chong quickly cleared the thought from his mind. Many villagers knew the officials who came, and they were all puzzled when they heard that Huo Chong had become an official. Everyone's impression of Huo Chong was still stuck on the time when many officials and even officials came to the village like wolves and tigers to deal with Huo Chong, and finally arrested him.
Many people still remember that Huo Chong was locked with a big iron chain, with officials leading him in front and taking him away like a dog.
When Huo Chong saw that most people had arrived, he stepped out of the sedan chair. Seeing Huo Chong wearing official uniform and official hat, there was a burst of exclamations from the village gate.
Huo Chong stood on a high place and began to explain to the villagers that he was really locked away before. Everyone was right. But now Huo Chong is back, and he is back as an official. Because Huo Chong presented his recipe for making things at home to the court, he was rewarded by the court.
The villagers had seen Huo Chong's tricks with alcohol, and had an impression that he was good at making things. All of this made them believe that Huo Chong was really an official.
According to the rules, Huo Chong had to prepare a banquet for everyone. Although he didn't have much money left in his pocket, Huo Chong still invited everyone to dinner tomorrow according to the rules.
That night, the busiest person was not Huo Chong, who was not familiar with the villagers. Everyone around Huo Chong was called away for questioning, and the officials were invited to drink by the local wealthy families in Liujia Village.
The wealthy wanted to get the most accurate information from the officials, and Huo Chong was happy to let them do so. That night, the officials did not even go back to Huo Chong's house. Huo Chong slept soundly that night.
The next day, a big banquet was held. The wealthy families looked at Huo Chong with jealousy and awe. The rumor that Huo Chong was appointed by the prince had spread like wildfire. When the villagers heard that Huo Chong was personally received by the prince, who was the son of a great emperor, they were really shocked.
First it was Liujia Village, then Zhujia Village, and Lijia Village. People in the three villages knew about Huo Chong's experience. They also spent all the money in Huo Chong's pocket.
When the officials returned to the county, Li Tongshan arrived. When he saw Huo Chong, he immediately said, "Master Huo..."
Huo Chong laughed and said, "Brother Li, why do we have to do this? This is just external qi!"
"Since Brother Huo said so, I won't be polite. I will make things with Brother Huo from now on." Li Tongshan was quite straightforward.
Huo Chong felt relieved. If Li Tongshan didn't come, Huo Chong was going to talk to Li Tongshan about this matter in person. Without any unnecessary politeness, the two agreed on the future cooperation method for making colored glaze, especially the payment method.
Probably because Huo Chong was already an official, Li Tongshan generously said that he would give him a share of the money after the items were sold.
After seeing Li Tongshan off, Huo Chong went to Zhu Erniu's house again. Compared with Li Tongshan, Zhu Erniu was not so clear.
As soon as I entered Zhujia Village, I heard a child screaming, "Huo Chong is here! Huo Chong is entering the village!"
Huo Chong looked left and right. He had neither picked up the plaster flag nor had the traitor team lead the way. Why was he treated like this?
When they arrived at Zhu Erniu's house, the door was still closed. Huo Chong went forward and knocked on the door. After knocking for a long time, Zhu Erniu timidly came to open the door. Although it was already winter, Zhu Erniu's face was still as red as if he had been exposed to the sun in summer.
Huo Chong walked in and closed the door before saying, "Second brother, can you make some wine for me?"
"Brother, I was wrong!" Zhu Erniu replied with great shame.
"I'm not here to settle accounts with you. You've been through so much before, anyone would be angry. I'm here to talk about brewing wine."
"Brother, you really don't care about me?"
"Do you think you shouldn't be angry?" Huo Chong asked back.
Zhu Erniu didn't dare to say that he was right to drive Huo Chong away, but he was also unwilling to say that he was wrong against his will. In the end, Zhu Erniu apologized to Huo Chong again.
After hearing this, Huo Chong took out the last small piece of silver from his pocket and said, "Those black-hearted officers probably damaged a lot of things in your house. This little money is not enough, but you can take it first."
At this moment, Zhu Erniu suddenly got really emotional, holding Huo Chong's hand, tears welled up in his eyes. After a moment of sadness, Zhu Erniu asked: "Brother, if someone wants to bully me again in the future, can you come to help?"
Huo Chong answered firmly: "You are my brother. If I don't help you, who will?"
