books44 Chapter 212 and the State Health Department
Chapter 212 and the State Health Department
Chapter 212 and the State Health Department
"Bang!" Xu Yingjie slammed the wine bowl in his hand to the ground, shattering it into pieces.
Ma Deyun quickly advised, "Young Master, please don't be angry. Things have already come to this, there's no use in getting angry."
Xu Yingjie was on the verge of tears. His beloved girl was getting married, and the groom wasn't him.
Sun Feng cursed and said, "Young Master, we can't let that idiot Wang get so cocky. I'll take my brothers to smash up his wedding."
Xu Yingjie waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let's discuss this further."
"Young Master, that fool Wang is just making trouble for us! The Wanma Benteng residential complex was just about to be completed when he sent people over and said we didn't have the building permits and couldn't guarantee the quality and safety of the buildings, so he wouldn't let us sell them. Isn't he just trying to cut off our source of income?" Yang Shan said angrily.
“It’s all my fault! That idiot Wang is clearly targeting me.” Xu Yingjie said, “Don’t worry, my three brothers, I’ll invest in the community myself, and I won’t let you lose money. Anyway, Hanshan Guard doesn’t have a garrison, so after I buy it, I’ll use this place as the garrison.”
Ma Deyun quickly said, "No! Young Master, we invested together back then, how can we let you bear the losses alone?"
Yang Shan and Sun Feng nodded repeatedly, agreeing that the young master was truly righteous.
Xu Yingjie said with a smile, "We brothers don't need to be so polite. I know that your families have been extorted a lot of money by Wang Shazi, and you're short on cash lately."
"Thank you, young master!" the three talented men said repeatedly.
Xu Yingjie asked, "Brother Sun, have you recruited all the men?"
Sun Feng said with some difficulty, "Young Master, the common people are unwilling to be transferred to military service, so it will be difficult to gather enough men in a short time."
The Hezhou Garrison Command comprised nine garrisons: the Left Naval Garrison, the Right Naval Garrison, the Right Garrison Commander, the Guangyang Garrison, the Right Cavalry Garrison, the Zhennan Front Garrison, the Tiger Guard Right Garrison, the Eagle Guard, and the Shenyang Right Garrison.
After the Hezhou Guard was split into two, the four guards—Zhennan Front Guard, Huben Right Guard, Yingyang Guard, and Shenyang Right Guard—were transferred to the Hanshan Guard.
The garrisons were corrupt, with impersonation, ghost employees, and so on. The four garrisons should have had more than 20,000 people in total, but when Xu Yingjie counted the people in Hanshan, there were only more than 2,000, and they were all old, weak, sick and disabled.
Left with no other option, Xu Yingjie had to use his own money to replenish the ranks. However, the people were unwilling to transfer to military service, and with the large-scale development of Hanshan, construction sites were everywhere, making it easy to find work, so few people were willing to join the army.
As a result, Xu Yingjie, the first commander of the Hanshan Garrison, was practically a commander without any troops. Xu Yingjie treated the three talented men well, and each of them, including Ma Deyun, was given command of a garrison, becoming a commander of the third rank. Although military officers were not valuable in the Ming Dynasty, for Ma Deyun and the others, it was like a meteoric rise. The three talented men were also deeply grateful to Xu Yingjie.
"Never mind, never mind! I'll write a letter to my father and ask him to find a way to transfer some people from other places," Xu Yingjie said calmly.
The three talented scholars were dumbfounded. Damn, they used to think they were so great, but now that they were hanging out with the young master, they realized how vast the sky was and how boundless the earth was. No wonder he was the heir of the Duke of Dingguo; with just a letter, he could mobilize troops from other garrisons to reinforce the area.
……
Lord Wang is getting married again, and everyone in Hanshan knows this. Of course, this time, Wang Wenzhou's wedding is not a grand affair. Wang Wenzhou wanted a more lively celebration, but Zhang Shifang and Liu Rushi both disagreed, so Wang Wenzhou had to compromise.
Zhang Shifang disagreed with a lavish wedding because she was already against her husband taking a concubine. Liu Ru disagreed because she was afraid that her nemesis, Wang Wenzhou, would cause trouble at the wedding, which would be too embarrassing.
After the wedding ceremony, the groom and two brides were supposed to enter the bridal chamber, but Zhang Shifang suddenly said, "My two sisters, don't rush to the bridal chamber. First, serve tea to the mistress."
Wang Wenzhou's face darkened, and he cursed, "Ugly freak, what do you mean?"
Zhang Shifang said calmly, "Husband, we cannot break the rules. I am your lawfully wedded wife. If you take a concubine, the concubine should serve tea to the mistress first."
Zhang Shifang turned around, looked at Xu Fo, and said, "Xu Fo, do you think what I said makes sense?"
Xu Fo smiled wryly, nodded to Wang Wenzhou, and said, "My dear husband, your wife is right. Quickly have your two brides come over and serve tea."
Wang Wenzhou leaned close to Liu Rushi and whispered, "Rushi, if you don't want to serve tea, then we won't. With me here, that ugly monster won't dare to bully you."
"Sigh..." Liu Rushi sighed softly, what could she do but be a concubine?
Liu Rushi pulled off her veil, poured a cup of tea, and knelt down: "Sister, please have some tea."
Ge Wei quickly did as she was told, holding the teacup in both hands and kneeling on the ground.
Zhang Shifang took the teacup, took a small sip, and suddenly cried out, "Ah!"
"Pfft!" Zhang Shifang splashed tea onto Liu Rushi's face and said coldly, "How did you pour this tea? It's so hot, are you trying to scald me to death?"
"Damn it!" Wang Wenzhou immediately got angry, quickly stepped forward, pulled Liu Rushi up, and tenderly wiped the tea off her body.
"Ugly freak! What the hell do you mean?" Wang Wenzhou cursed.
Zhang Shifang said calmly, "Husband, your concubine doesn't know the rules!"
Liu Rushi was so angry that her eyes were filled with tears, her fists were clenched, and she stared at Zhang Shifang with her eyes fixed on him.
Wang Wenzhou was heartbroken. He couldn't bear to see his beloved girl being bullied by others.
"Slap!" Wang Wenzhou slapped Zhang Shifang across the face.
"Slap!" Zhang Shifang slapped Liu Rushi across the face as well, and said coldly, "Kneel down! Serve tea!"
Liu Rushi bit her lip hard, her chest heaving with anger as she gasped for breath.
"Wang Wenzhou, you either divorce her or divorce me!" Liu Rushi suddenly said to Wang Wenzhou.
"Hmm!" Wang Wenzhou nodded, pointed at Zhang Shifang and said, "Ugly freak, I'm divorcing you!"
"Son-in-law! Stop fooling around!" Xu Fo said, his face pale as he grabbed Wang Wenzhou's arm.
"Mother! We can't keep this shrewish wife! Otherwise, she'll bully our Ruru to death!" Wang Wenzhou said with a wry smile.
"My dear son-in-law! No!" Xu Fo's face grew paler and paler, and he suddenly clutched his chest and collapsed to the ground.
"Mother!" Liu Rushi rushed over immediately.
"What's wrong?" Wang Wenzhou asked in surprise.
"Mother has a heart ailment!" Liu Rushi cried, tears streaming down her face.
Damn it! A heart attack! In the Ming Dynasty, there was no cure! Wang Wenzhou broke out in a cold sweat. If his mother-in-law died of anger, wouldn't Ru Ru immediately turn against him?
“My dear son, listen to me! Stop being silly! I’ve never asked you for anything before, but this time, you must listen to me!” Xu Fo said softly to Liu Rushi.
"Yes! I promise you!" Liu Rushi nodded solemnly.
Zhang Shifang was terrified. She hadn't expected things to escalate like this. She had only wanted to put down Liu Rushi's arrogant attitude, to stop her from constantly instigating her husband to divorce her. She truly didn't know that Xu Fo suffered from heart disease.
“Mother…” Xu Fo had stopped breathing, and Liu Rushi threw herself on her body and cried loudly.