After crossing the XX River, there is also a gate on the other side, but it is called a gate, but it is actually similar to an archway. It can be understood as a border inspection station of the Qing Dynasty. There is already a group of soldiers waiting here.

Min Tinghao can speak Chinese, and although his pronunciation is a little difficult to pronounce, he has no problem communicating with others. In addition, they are two-class scholar-bureaucrats who pay attention to speaking in a precise and round tone, without being slow or slow. Even the Qing officials opposite have a somewhat awkward pronunciation.

, and there’s no problem at all.

Naturally, people with a status like Hong Dashou will not be ranked high. Those who are ranked high are envoys and deputy envoys who have official positions. Even though Min Tingyue was a dignified official of the third grade in the Li Dynasty, everyone had to respect him as an emissary.

But when he arrived in the Qing Dynasty, he was just a younger brother.

The person leading this group of soldiers was not an official, or rather not a serving official. His full name should be "Commissioner of a certain constitution/town commission escorting North Korea (shielding) the congratulatory envoy of Korea".

It is what is commonly known as dispatch in the Song Dynasty. It was the same in the Qing Dynasty. There were many and a shortage of officials, so even this kind of temporary dispatch was a good thing.

The person in front of me is definitely a full man, judging from the fact that the fifth-grade leader is still Mr. Qian. But for a mere Mr. Qian, regardless of whether he is in office or not, to be able to grab such a good job, either there is someone above him, or there is someone above him.

As Lin Sangwo said beforehand, the officials of the Li Dynasty, represented by Min Tinghye, sent gifts in wooden boxes one after another. This was considered a meeting gift, and there was also a "Beijing gift" when returning to China. Anyway, the first time they met, it cost a thousand taels.

The silver benefit fee is collected first.

After the officials finished delivering the gifts, the heads of various business groups and attachés such as Hong Dashou also went up to say hello, but there was no need to kneel down, just a thousand greetings. People don't care whether you kneel down or not. The escorts who have just received the first round of gifts

Committee member, we are waiting for the second round.

Hong Dashou asked Lin Shangwo, then took out two fox skins and held them in his hands. He lined up and followed the group of twenty or thirty people, bowing his head and saluting the committee member.

The committee member checked the items presented one by one, and those who were not satisfied would not be allowed to be accepted by the attendant's family. There was an attaché holding a roll of fine cotton. He must have paid for the mission, and no one taught him

There were all kinds of rules, and he looked at people with a blank expression as they ignored him.

Of course, the committee member would not do anything, but his family did not hesitate to take the man out, pointed at his face and scolded him. They also pulled the cotton cloth and threw it on the ground. They waited for the man to take out a piece of chicken.

Stop spraying people only after egg-sized red rosin.

After grabbing the red rosin, the family member continued to inspect the gifts with the committee member, and saw Hong Dashou's fox skin. The committee member snorted slightly, but when the family member went up to open it and found that there were two pieces, he nodded.

Accept it and continue receiving gifts leisurely.

After collecting two rounds of things, according to Lin Shangwo, at least three thousand taels of silver will be spent.

Just as he was breathing a sigh of relief and sighing that he had an acquaintance to take care of him, Hong Dashou saw that the family member just left had returned, picked up the cotton cloth thrown on the ground, and took it away. (This is true, although it is from Li Chao's side.

Records, but the gift was a hat.)

Finally, there are the servants. The money of the servants who occupy the vast majority of the mission is not collected by the committee member. It is collected by the officers and soldiers under him. This is why some flag soldiers are from the ninth-grade Lan Ling commander.

I have to come here to be the leader of the army.

It's also interesting to say that these soldiers are not outright targets, but so-called "fair trade."

How do you say it? There are three treasures in the Northeast: ginseng, mink skin, and deer antlers. This is our modern saying, but it was different in the Qing Dynasty.

I'm talking about ginseng, mink, and uralia.

Ula grass is a kind of sedge. After being beaten and pressed, it is made of leather and filled with Ula grass. It can be used as cotton boots for the poor. It can withstand the cold weather of -40 degrees below zero in the Northeast, and is a magic weapon for the poor to keep out the cold.

.

At first, when Li Chao envoys came to the envoy, someone sold them these straw boots. At that time, after paying the money, they actually had boots. Now it is completely different. The soldiers carried a large bale of straw and put it on the roadside. Each person had five boots.

Ten small pieces of money in exchange for a handful of grass.

The price is clearly marked, public buying and selling, are you convinced?

Jin Douji exchanged fifty Qianlong Tongbao for a handful of grass. Although he had expected it, he still looked disappointed. He thought that his rescue of Huangmi in Tieshan was already a low-cost and high-return business. Now he sees

Only after meeting the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty did they know what business without capital means, with a straw of fifty yuan.

It’s your mission that’s being slaughtered!

Do you think this is the end? Of course not. How can this little money be considered the end? It hasn’t even begun.

The escorting soldiers shouted, probably in Manchu. Then everyone stood up, but did not gather together, which meant that we were leaving, please pay!

Now even Min Tinghye could not avoid the custom, and continued to pay fifty cents per person. After taking out a few copies, a soldier stood up and returned to the team. When all the departure fees were cleared, the team was formed.

After walking no more than a hundred meters, the escort team stopped. Because the Li Chao envoy was about to pass through the "Chao (shielded) Xian Gate", the Qing side wanted to check the personnel.

Li Chao took out the passport list, and began to roll names starting from Min Tingyue. At the same time, the Qing side also had to write a document to prove that this person entered the country legally.

Every time a document is opened, the paper costs 50 yuan, and the roll call costs 50 yuan. Anyway, it’s just money!

It took more than two hours to walk just a few hundred meters, and the envoys went up and down, all of them lost money.

"You didn't expect that, did you?" Looking at Jin Douji who looked extremely stinky, Hong Dashou still wanted to laugh even though he had also been blackmailed.

"It's true that business without capital is the most profitable, and the business of being an official is the best!" Jin Douji's face was full of painful realization, and he almost had to sing it with music.

"Hey, this is just the beginning." Although Lin Shangwo paid two hundred dollars, his expression did not change at all. After all, he was a person who had been through it several times, and he was still in the mood to joke.

"Do we really have to waste thirty taels of silver on this journey?"

"Thirty taels of silver? About the same. It depends on luck, hahahahahaha."

The two of them walked in tandem, one chasing questions and the other laughing softly. It was quite harmonious.

I mentioned before that the current opposite side of Sinuiju is Andong. The reason why it is called Sinuiju is because the current Uiju is actually quite far away from it. It is simply because when the South Manchuria Railway branch line was built, the Chinese side was Andong County.

There is no city opposite. But because the railway passed by, Sinuiju was gradually formed.

Opposite today's Uiju is Jiuliancheng. After passing Jiuliancheng, passing through Shahe Ridge, Toad Pond, Wulongbei, and Tangshan, you will then pass through the border gate and cross the Goryeo Gate of the old and Ming Dynasties. There is only one Zhangjiabao on the way, that is, you will arrive at

The important town of Phoenix.
Chapter completed!