Yanyuan Yamen, vestibule.

Jia Qiang held a stack of drawings in her hand and talked with three honest men with dark and rough faces.

I don’t know what was said, but they communicated for two or three hours.

At first, when they were summoned by the Yanyuan Yamen, the three men were frightened and did not dare to speak.

But when he saw that the noble man only asked about their blacksmith's craftsmanship and nothing else, he gradually let go of his guard and started discussing.

It is interesting to say that if what Jia Qiang planned was a large-scale and heavy industry, then most of the Yangzhou craftsmen would be unable to do it.

But what he wanted was crude and simple. The only thing he paid attention to was that he put a lot of skill into the details of the joints.

For Yangzhou blacksmiths who have always done delicate work for wealthy salt merchants, this is not a difficult task.

Speaking to the end in one breath, Jia Qiang said warmly: "In terms of craftsmanship, it shouldn't be too difficult. The key work must be done carefully, and it must be done according to my drawings, without any deviation."

Even civilian boilers will explode if there is a problem with the pressure.

But as long as you pay attention to a few details and don't boil the water dry, you're basically foolproof.

In her previous life, Jia Qiang even modified it once with her own hands and used it when drying cloth, so she remembered it in detail.

The three experienced blacksmiths nodded and said, "Don't dare to delay the uncle's affairs!"

Jia Qiang nodded and said: "Withdraw fifty taels of silver first, if you don't have enough, you can come to us regardless of what you need or if you have any trouble. You will be used in many places in the future, so you don't have to be polite. Butler Wang

…”

Steward Wang is an old man from the Yanzheng Yamen, and he has followed the Lin family twenty years ago. However, the Lin family is honest in running the family, so it is not as arrogant as the Lai family in the Jia family.

Furthermore, I have seen the way Jia Qiang turns her face and refuses to recognize anyone, so she hurriedly smiled and said: "Since I have given orders, there is no problem."

The three old blacksmiths were naturally overjoyed when they heard this and hugged the Yanyuan Yamen's lap. Life will be better in the future.

After the three people left, Jia Qiang was about to go back to the small study when she saw Li Jing walking in through the side door, carrying two Jinsha gang members behind her.

However, seeing Jia Qiang actually in the vestibule, the serious and cold expression on Li Jing's face immediately melted, she stepped forward and said with a smile: "Why are you here?"

Jia Qiang smiled and said: "We just agreed on some small things..." and patted some dust on her shoulders, and said with pity: "You have been running around and working hard these days, why are you doing this? I am not in a hurry.

"

The two of them walked inside and talked.

Li Jing laughed softly and said: "We are new to Yangzhou. If we only want to visit for a while, we will naturally not be in a hurry. But I have great ambitions in my heart, and I can't help much, unlike Miss Lin. I just want to receive more reliable people."

Man, be my eyes and ears."

Jia Qiang smiled and said: "That's it, it's been a big help. But is there any effect?"

When talking about business, Li Jing suppressed her smile and said seriously: "I have visited many of my father's old friends in the past few days. Unfortunately, some of them are no longer as loyal and willing to be poor as my father said, and have become the support of other families."

Some of the thugs have died of old age, and some have retired from work... Fortunately, I finally met two. They are both friends that my father made when he was running escorts in Jiangnan twelve years ago. One

There is Zhang Shun, a gangster nickname who has a white stripe in the waves, and Sun Yan, a gangster nickname who is on the drum in Yangzhou..."

"etc!"

Jia Qiang had a black line on her head and said: "I recognize this white stripe in the waves for the time being, and the other one is also called the Drum Flea. They thought they were fascinated by the Water Margin. How can it be called the Yangzhou Drum Flea?"

Li Jing chuckled and said: "If they weren't so lonely, they would have been coaxed away by the salt merchants to work for their lives. Now Master Zhang and his two apprentices are making a living in the river with a boat, and they will ignore anyone who comes to invite them.

.When he encountered a gangster who robbed merchants on the waterway, he still took action. If it weren't for his superior skills and experience in the world, he would have been harmed by others all these years. It was only because my father accidentally saved his mother that he became a

The brother who refused to change his head after having his head cut off. In the early years, his father invited him to come to Beijing to join the Jinsha Gang, but he couldn't worry about his mother and was worried that he would not be acclimatized, so he delayed. Later, he gave up to his mother, but he had no face to go to Beijing to bother my father again.

Now that I heard that my father has come to Jiangnan, and I still want him to help me, is there any reason why he should not respond?"

Jia Qiang sounded like she had a sense of loyalty in the wilderness, and asked with a smile: "What about this free-spirited person?"

Li Jing's face changed slightly, and she sighed and said: "This Jianghu man still doesn't want to enter the officialdom. He said that he would come to visit my father immediately when he lives alone in another courtyard."

Seeing Li Jing looking at him carefully, Jia Qiang was not annoyed and said with a smile: "He is indeed a stubborn person... Go and tell him, just say that your father is too injured and cannot move for a while. Secondly, the court will ask him to

The Salt Administration Yamen has been abolished. No, the emperor's decree has been issued. Although the Salt Administration Order is temporarily in effect here, it is no longer a Yamen. If he still refuses to come, forget it. As long as the left and right are willing to obey orders and do things, it doesn't matter whether they come or not.

.What about the fleas on the Yangzhou drum?”

Mentioning this person, Li Jing couldn't help but laugh and said: "I definitely wouldn't have guessed that the flea on the Yangzhou drum is actually a woman."

"woman?"

Jia Qiang was really surprised, because the flea on the drum was a thief!

Li Jing smiled happily, but she twitched her lips again, lowered her head and whispered softly: "She is the madam of a brothel in Nancheng, Yangzhou. My father and her back then..."

Jia Qiang clicked her tongue when she heard this and said, "Then her skill is stealing peaches in a brothel, right?"

Li Jing heard Jia Qiang's contempt and displeasure, and hurriedly said: "Please don't misunderstand me. If she is really a harmful madam in an ordinary brothel, how dare I mention her and taint my ears?"

Jia Qiang asked curiously: "In addition to beating and scolding women to receive guests, does this madam have other skills?"

Li Jing smiled and said: "Other people run brothels, and there are mostly good-looking girls in the brothel. But the top lady in the brothel she runs is forty years old, and she is extremely ugly. If there are really good-looking ones, Sun Yan will admit it."

But as far as I know, since the brothel opened, it hasn’t received a single transaction."

Jia Qiang looked strange and said, "Then, how do they live?"

Li Jing chuckled and said: "This Yangzhou Prefecture is a strange place. Other places hold oiran beauty pageants. Yangzhou Prefecture is tired of beauty pageants. It has started holding ugly contests a few years ago. The winner will win gold.

One hundred taels. The people under Sun Yan have won the top three prizes every year! But..." As she spoke, the smile on her face gradually faded away, revealing a somewhat tragic look, which surprised Jia Qiang, so she slowly said: "

These two hundred taels of gold, even if they live frugally, are not enough to feed and take medicine for so many of them."

Jia Qiang frowned and said, "With so many people, how about food and medicine?"

Li Jing said: "I originally thought that my father was being dishonest, but after learning about Sun Yan, I realized why my father still cares about her. She is clearly just an ordinary person... You don't know something, then

Sun Yan runs a brothel, but the girls she picks up are either cripples or abandoned babies, or they are some extremely ugly and homeless ugly women. How can you use just that little bit of ugly gold? So, Sun Yan

So he selected some smart girls as his children and taught them the art of stealing. But there were also rules, that is, he never stole from poor people, and the amount he stole at one time was not allowed to exceed one hundred taels, so as not to cause serious trouble.

They just want to survive, not to get rich. With this rule, they have lived stably for so many years. However, they can hardly live anymore..."

When Jia Qiang heard this, she suppressed the emotion on her face and said, "Why is this? Could it be that I often walk by the river and finally encounter a water ghost?"

Li Jing smiled bitterly and nodded: "Sun Yan... Now I call her Aunt Sun. When she heard that my father was coming, she recognized this family... Aunt Sun had a proud disciple named Sun Qin who was arrested for stealing.

She was broken into by the eldest son of the Qi family in Yangzhou Prefecture, but was captured on the spot by the experts around him. She was originally going to be sent to the official, but she didn't expect the eldest son of the Qi family to recognize her makeup. After washing it, she fell in love with her at a glance.

She had to be forced to be a member of the house. No matter how many ways Aunt Sun asked, she could not get the eldest son of the Qi family to open his mouth. Now that she found out that my father and I were in the Yanzheng Yamen, we recognized our marriage on the spot. She also said

As long as we don't dislike her, she will serve as our eyes and ears in Yangzhou Mansion, and she can keep track of all the news. She only asks us to rescue people from the eldest son of the Qi family."

Jia Qiang asked: "What's your name?"

Li Jing hurriedly said: "Call Sun Qin! Master, look..."

Jia Qiang nodded and said: "I know about this. You go to see your father first and talk to him about these two people. I'm going to a banquet tonight, and there seems to be someone from the Bai family in the host hall. By then, I

Let me ask."

Li Jing was overjoyed, but before she could say anything, she saw Xue Yan striding over, panting, and said to Jia Qiang: "Second Master Qiang, our girl has asked you to speak!"

…

"Zhong Luan, Zi Ming, Zixun and Yuan Cheng, please don't bring out the courtesans you invited. Since you want to give the guests from the capital some dignity, you'd better go to Mingyue Fang. I've sent someone to book this boat, and we'll wait.

Let's go there together in half an hour. I've invited some other famous people to come, so that there will always be enough occasion."

In Pingshan Hall, a young man sitting at the main seat, who was obviously a few years older than the four Xu Zhens, suddenly spoke.

Xu Zhen raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this and said: "Brother Qi, that Jia Qiang is a noble son from the capital. Like us, he has no fame. Liu Mingyue, the oiran of Mingyue Fang, has always only interacted with famous poets like you, Brother Qi.

, like me and Ziming, even if we give her ten thousand taels of silver, she may not be willing to take care of her. If she is the company tonight, what if Jia Qiang sees her beauty and touches her and kisses her?

, wouldn’t it be a bad thing if Miss Mingyue spat in his face again?”

The "eldest brother Qi" mentioned by Xu Zhen is Qi Yun, the eldest son of Qi Wanmin, the head of the Qi family, the head of the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou. His younger brother Qi Yan is Xu Zhen's good friend "Ziming".

Hearing what Xu Zhen said, Qi Yun said displeasedly: "Zhong Luan, although this east road is for Jia Qiang to receive the wind and wash away the dust, who will Miss Mingyue sit with? Of course she will be the best in poetry. Besides, Miss Mingyue is

Mr. Qinghuan, please stop using those dirty words and curse words on her. Is it possible that people like me still do the sinful act of forcing women?"

When Xu Zhen heard this, he looked vaguely amused, blinked, and said with a smile: "Since Brother Qi has spoken, how dare I disobey him? Brother Qi will take charge today. Ziming and I will just start the fight from behind.

"

When Qi Yun heard this, he looked at his useless concubine with contempt, and shouted: "Why don't you get rid of all the troublemakers you invited!"
Chapter completed!