Just as Zhao Xin was busy fighting with the Spaniards, in the early morning of November 8, 1794, a flat-bottomed sailboat carrying a load of 700 stones slowly sailed into Matigou Port 35 miles southeast of Jinzhou City in the fine snow.

It is located at the mouth of the Xiaoling River, and is one of the four most important commercial ports in Liaodong Bay in the mid-Qing Dynasty. The other three are Tianqiaochang Port 70 miles southwest of Jinzhou City and known as "Xihai Yanzi"; the other two are located opposite the bay and belonging to Niuzhuang.

In the late 19th century in another time and space history, with the rise of Yingkou Port and the opening of the Jingfeng Railway, these two seaports in Jinzhou also declined.

Because the two harbors are not far apart, since the Kangxi period, the Qing court required merchant ships from Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to dock at Tianqiao Factory in order to facilitate management, and Matigou is the docking place for merchant ships in Zhili and Shandong.

In addition, the two ports also have different types of goods in terms of input and output types. The entrance goods of Tianqiao Factory are mainly made of medicinal materials and tea from the south, while the export goods are soybeans and melon seeds; because Matigou only docks on northern merchant ships, the entrance goods are mainly wheat, and the export goods are mixed grains produced in western Liaoning.

On the deck, the bow of the boat, Lao Liu, loudly told the helmsman a few words, then hurried into the lower cabin, came to the door of a cabin, and knocked on the door several rhythmically on the door panel.

With a creaking sound, the door opened a gap inward. Standing behind the door was a strong man with wide arms and round waist. When he saw that the person coming was the bow of the boat, he flashed and let the other party come in.

In the relatively spacious cabin, there is a Eight Immortals table and three square stools placed close to the left bulkhead. On the table is not only tea sets, but also a kerosene lantern produced in Beihai Town is also placed. The bright lights make the house very bright. Inside the Eight Immortals table is a camphor wooden box for two people to pack clothes and luggage; on the right side of the house is a carved elm arhat bed, with bedding on it stacked randomly.

Next to the Eight Immortals table, a middle-aged man in his thirties was holding a white copper tobacco pipe commonly known as "Jing Ba Centimeter" and smoking. When he saw the bow of the boat come in, he asked faintly: "What's the situation?"

This man has a long and thin face, high cheekbones, a mustache, a unified hat on his head, a sauce-colored high-collared robe, a stone-blue batulu vest, a beautifully embroidered purse and sachet hanging on his belt, and a pair of black cloth shoes with a thousand-layer sole.

After entering the door, Cha Laoliu was about to bow to the middle-aged man when he saw the man wave his hand and said in a hoarse voice: "Give me aside, I have something to say."

Cha Laoliu bowed and said with concern: "Master Zhang, you are going to dock. According to the new regulations here, the Beihai soldiers will first get on the ship to check the people and goods later. We can only get off the ship afterwards."

"Well. There won't be any accidents, right?"

"Don't worry, the villains have traveled three times after August. When checking later, don't give the North Sea soldiers money. Someone has done it before, but he was arrested and imprisoned for two days before he released it."

"I've remembered it. You can go busy." The middle-aged man named Zhang nodded.

Half an hour later, when the ship entered the berth, just as the anchor cable was removed and the springboard was put on, two North Navy soldiers wearing revolvers and a guy wearing a gray cotton robe and a leather hat walked onto the deck from the Narcissus door.

Cha Laoliu walked up to the three of them with a smile on his face and bowed to them, saying, "I'm sorry, three sirs."

The two North Navy soldiers didn't say anything, and the guys wearing fur hats bowed perfunctorily and said, "Cha Lao Liu, you are doing a good job in the grain business. Since August Day, this has been the fourth trip, right?"

Cha Laoliu explained: "Mr. Ma, the food on Tianjin market is almost every two days, and the refugees begging outside the city are almost over 5,000. Our boss wants to buy another ship of sorghum before the sea is frozen. Alas! This winter is not easy, and it may be that many people will starve to death..."

It is said that since the late Ming Dynasty, Tianjin was densely populated and thin. Because there were many saline-alkali land, even in the harvest year, the harvest season was not enough for the people to eat. Therefore, from the Kangxi period, businessmen begged to issue dragon tickets, allowing local merchants to sail to Liaodong to buy sorghum, millet and other miscellaneous grains.

After the Northern Navy launched the Liaodong offensive, the government and the country were shocked. Jiaqing, who had just succeeded to the throne, hurriedly transferred the Eight Banners of the Jingying to Zhili. The Green Camp in Shanxi went to Shanhaiguan to guard it, and then transferred the Green Camp in Henan and Jiangsu to enter Shandong to ensure the transportation of the canal. Such a large-scale military operation naturally required large-scale purchases of grain in the local area, which also caused the grain prices in Zhili and western Shandong to soar.

Although the Qing court has repeatedly ordered coastal provinces to prohibit trade between maritime merchants and Beihai Towns in recent years, the degree of corruption in the administration of officials in various places within the pass is already very serious.

With the help of his "hard work" with his elders for many years, the Qing Dynasty's officialdom in the late Qianlong period was filled with incompetent and stupid people, corruption, bribery, and perverted the law. Especially in the face of the situation where the building was about to collapse, all from the capital to the local officialdom were profit-making, and even to the point of blatant blatant. The newly appointed local officials were like hungry tigers coming out of the forest and could not wait. Therefore, as long as the oil and water were enough, the officials of coastal provinces, roads, prefectures, and county officials turned a blind eye to the behavior of maritime merchants.

The bow of the boat Cha Lao Liu is such a role. His boss is the famous wealthy family in Tianjin - the Shuixi Cha family.

The Cha family started out as a salt seller. In the Ming Dynasty, it was a wealthy man in the capital and was once prominent. During the Yongzheng period, Cha Siting was convicted by Yongzheng on the grounds of "rebellion of the test questions" for participating in Longkodo's clique. The Cha family in Tianjin, who was of the same origin and descended from the Cha family in Haining, suffered a great disaster. However, after the incident, they still operated the salt industry and their wealth remained unabated.

The Qing Dynasty had strict management in the salt industry, not only set up salt yamen, but also the affiliated salt merchant organizations were also perfect. The names of salt merchant organizations in each district were different. Guangdong, Guangxi, Lianghuai were called "Zhongshang", Shandong was called "Gangtou", Zhili was called "Gangshang", and Chajia was the Gangshang in Changlu area.

As the person in charge of the regional salt merchants, the official grain ships of the Salt Merchant Office will be handed over to their management and operation; if they have the qualifications to sail, they will naturally have the confidence to participate in the maritime trade. In recent years, grain prices in the north have soared, and the Cha family's ships have also been running between Jinzhou and Tianjin and made a lot of money. Even though the Northern Navy occupied Jinzhou, the Cha family's ships still plucked up the courage to run secretly.

By the way, like the descendants of the salt merchants in Yangzhou, the descendants of the Cha family also have a high cultural literacy and are keen on building gardens. In "Suiyuan Poetry Talk", Yuan Mei called the Cha family's Shuixi Village, Yangzhou Xiaolinglong Villa, and Hangzhou Xiaoshantang "the three major private gardens of the Qing Dynasty."

However, Cha Laoliu came to Jinzhou this time and showed that he was buying grain, but in fact he was shouldering an important task.

Eight days ago, Cha Shanchang, the head of the Cha family, summoned him to Yangliuqing's mansion and introduced Mr. Zhang in person, asking him to go to Jinzhou again, and sent Mr. Zhang safely to the ashore in the name of buying grain, and then sent the person back to Tianjin Port.

Cha Shanchang didn't say what his identity was named Zhang, but Cha Laoliu saw that Cha Shanchang was very polite and respectful to Mr. Zhang. In addition, the other party spoke Beijing Mandarin and dressed in style. He guessed that it might be a relative or housekeeper of a high-ranking official in the capital. He also wanted to establish a relationship with Beihai Town to do business.

In order to fulfill the instructions of the head of the family, Cha Laoliu not only gave the cabin where he lived for Mr. Zhang, but also asked the chef to cook food for him alone. However, Mr. Zhang's focus was obviously not on living and eating. During the days he went to sea, he had to inquire about some Matigou Customs affairs, and at other times he either slept soundly in the cabin or went to the deck to smoke, and often frowned and looked worried.

The inspection was completed in less than a stick of incense when we arrived on the shore. After all, the ship of Cha's family has been here many times, both the personnel and the ship have been registered, and there has never been any illegal records.

Mr. Zhang and his subordinates were also said by Cha Laoliu that the new accountant in the Cha family was responsible for the maritime trade business and passed the inspection smoothly. Having said that, if they wanted to get ashore, they had to go to the customs to apply for a temporary identity card first, otherwise, let alone going to Jinzhou City, there would be no chance to stay in an inn on the pier.

However, when Cha Lao Liu arranged the matter on the ship and then took Mr. Zhang and his servant to Matigou Customs to apply for an ID card, an accident happened. The man surnamed Zhang had just walked into the customs yard. After learning from Cha Lao Liu that the office of the customs officer was located, he actually walked up there.

Cha Laoliu wanted to dissuade him, but the strong man who followed Mr. Zhang raised his hand and stopped him. He was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.

The person in charge of Matigou Customs was surnamed Ma, and he was a small supervisor of the Ministry of Trade in Anping Port. According to the new civil service system of Beihai Town, it belongs to the 15th level. After the establishment of the Jinzhou Military Control Commission, it was transferred here to prepare for the establishment and management of local customs, and collect entrance and export taxes.

Although Mr. Zhang was forcibly breaking out, he didn't dare to enter the business room outside the door. He stood under the two steps and raised his ears. He heard someone in the room seemed to be talking, so he tidied up his clothes slightly, held his hat, took a deep breath, and bowed properly and said, "Zhang Yonghe, a native of the capital, was entrusted by someone, and asked to see the magistrate of the government office if you have any important matters!"

The soft whispers in the room came to an abrupt end after a ten-thirty-year-old door suddenly opened inwards, and a middle-aged man in his thirties walked out. This person was the chief of Matigou Customs.

"What's wrong with you?" Guan Guan Ma is from Yangzhou, and his tone is mixed with a bit of Yangzhou accent.

Zhang Yonghe raised his head and saw that the other party was wearing a grass-green "suit" divided into two pieces, and the top had four pockets. Based on his limited understanding of Beihai Town, he knew that all officials were wearing four pockets of tops, so he bowed and said, "I am Zhang Yonghe, a native of the capital. This time he came to Jinzhou, he was entrusted by an adult in the court, and a letter was submitted to the master of the seal in Jinzhou by your army."

After saying these words in one breath, a layer of white sweat appeared on Zhang Yonghe's forehead and neck, and his heart beat loudly. The reason why he broke through this time was that he had no choice.

Because he has an important mission and time is tight, no one knows anyone in Beihai Town, so when he is on the boat, he always thinks about what to do after getting ashore.

Originally, he thought of doing this after he came to Jinzhou City, but he was worried that the military control committee in Beihai Town was as strict as the imperial court, and that he would not delay the big thing if he was kicked out and missed the matter. After thinking about it, he made a decision.

The middle-aged man on the steps looked at Zhang Yonghe and blinked. After a while, he realized what "Palm Print" meant, and he was suddenly a little amused and crying. He was about to ask someone to knock Zhang Yonghe out when someone in the room behind him said aloud: "It's a coincidence that I'm here today. Lao Ma, please let him in."

Director Ma Guan slapped his forehead and thought to himself, why did I forget this great god? This matter is up to him!

Zhang Yonghe carefully walked over the threshold and walked into the office room. Because it was snowing outside, a bright horse lantern was lit on the table in the house, revealing the little bit of light around. Only then did he notice that the person he was talking to was actually a young man in his twenties.

This man is of medium figure, with beautiful eyebrows and eyes, but his skin is a little dark. He is wearing a dark blue robe and long gown, with a gray buckle jacket on the outside, with a slight whisker under his jaw, and his head is also naked, looking like a young master from a wealthy family.

Zhang Yonghe looked at the young man in a daze, feeling that the other person looked familiar, and for a moment he couldn't remember where he had seen it. While he was confused, Guan Ma said to the young man: "You talk to you, I'll go around the port. If you have any questions, you can shout. Everyone outside the yard can hear it."

The young man laughed and said, "Lao Ma, what do you think of me? Besides, Lao Zhang is here."

Zhang Yonghe turned his head to see the young man's eyes and saw a thin man sitting behind the table in a corner of the office room, wearing a short slap, sitting upright with his sleeves, but his eyes were staring at him like an eagle, and he couldn't help but shivering.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! After Ma Guan went out, he closed the door casually. The young man did not sit down, took a clean cup of tea from the table, grabbed some tea from the tea box, and then carefully picked up the steaming kettle on the cast iron stove and brewed a cup of tea. Then he placed the tea cup on the Eight Immortals table, and then signaled to Zhang Yonghe to let the other party sit down.

Seeing that the other party's tea making moves were like flowing water, Zhang Yonghe thought that if this young man changed his clothes and put a white towel on his arm, he would be like a waiter in the teahouse.

Slowly, the one who runs the hall... By the way! In Tianhuixuan, in the southeast corner of Houmen Bridge, there is a runner from Yangzhou who looks exactly the same as him! At the beginning of spring, he spent every day in the teahouse from morning to night, and the two of them would sometimes make a few jokes. Later, Heshen defected and the capital was martial law, and he has never seen him since then. The shopkeeper said that his relatives in the capital had found other livelihoods.

Seeing Zhang Yonghe's expression suddenly change, the young man smiled slightly, looked at the other party's eyes and said, "Mr. Yong Er, we haven't seen each other for some days. Why? If you don't go to Tianhuixuan to have tea and talk about the mountains, why are you here to Jinzhou?"

"Zhang Yonghe" looked at the young man in disbelief and said in surprise after a moment of surprise: "Are you... Guisheng?"

The young man nodded slightly and said, "Okay! Master Yong Er, you haven't forgotten yet."

"Why are you here? Ah! I understand!" Yonghe reacted in an instant, and his mouth was so open that he could stuff a steamed bun. Not to mention, the other party must be from Beihai Town.

This young man is nothing else, but Chen Guisheng, who was the servant of Chen Jingdan's family at the time, and later became a young follower with Zhao Xin! It's just that Baiyun Canggou, the young follower who jumped back then, is now the person in charge of the Jinzhou front line of the North Navy Intelligence Bureau.

The reason why Gui lurked in Tianhuixuan Teahouse a few days ago was to get an extremely important account book from Li Qiucheng. Although Dong Xinchen, the shopkeeper of "Huang Shengtai" on Qianmenwai Street, could collect and transfer it on his behalf, the Intelligence Bureau was worried that the extra layer of transmission would be more risk, so Guisheng started a run in Tianhuixuan through other channels and directly contacted Li Qiucheng.

"I was already working for Beihai Town, what's so strange?" Chen Guisheng ignored the other party's surprise expression, but said with a smile: "How come your second master Yong Er, why did you have a Han surname that hide your eyes and ears? Tell me, who did you entrust and what letter did you send?"

Yonghe was about to speak, when Chen Guisheng suddenly raised his hand to stop and said, "In this way, let me guess first, see if I'm right, don't mind if I say something wrong.

Your mother was the nanny of Prince Jia Yongyan. From this point of view, you are considered his nanny brother. Now that Prince Jia has succeeded, your status and status are naturally different, and it will definitely rise.

You just said outside that you were asked by an adult in the court to deliver a letter. Well... you can let the emperor's nanny brother come to Jinzhou in a heavy snow. Not to mention the ministers of Manchu and Han, even the prince is not qualified. So, are you helping Jiaqing deliver the letter?"

Guisheng followed Zhao Xin for several years, and not to mention anything else but Zhao Xin learned his tone and expression by eight or nine points.

"Who are you?" Yonghe's eyes suddenly widened, as if he saw a ghost, and the other party was guessing. In a panic, more sweat came out of his forehead.
Chapter completed!