The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 77

On December 6th, Concub!ne Tan came to the provincial capital. Guiliang also sent officials to greet her and presented her with eight dishes. Almost everyone laughed at him inwardly. In the past, I was innocent, but he wanted to put me to death to vent his resentment for failing to borrow money; now that I bow to Yuanmen, he is more polite. A face that changes instantly, like an actor on the stage.

The expense is definitely not enough anymore. I stayed in Baoding for nearly twenty days. After paying all the rent, entertainment, servants and horses, and gifts and packages, I was unable to get on the road. Chonghou sent a copy of "Mao Shi" (three hundred taels), which can be regarded as a generous gift, but it is still not enough. So he wrote to Bian Zicheng, the agent of Jizhou magistrate, and asked him to borrow 200 taels of silver. Bian Zicheng is the eldest son of Fang Bo Bian Guanghe. Guanghe and I were brothers who exchanged posts. When we were officials in the capital together, Guanghe borrowed one or two hundred taels from me several times, sometimes without repaying it. I never asked for it. Bian Zicheng's younger brother Bian Baodi is in charge of donations in Shaanxi. The difference between the donation and the donation was more than 100 taels. I also paid for it, and he has not sent it back to me so far. Because I have this kind of relationship with their family, I wrote to him to borrow money; I thought he was working in a lucrative job, so he wouldn't turn down the two hundred taels. Unexpectedly, he wrote back and said how he was so poor, so he sent a hundred taels. Isn't this too heartless and unjust? I wanted to give it to someone to take it back intact, but I was worried about leaving traces afterwards. And now that my luggage is empty, I can't afford to lose the energy, so I have to stay and pay him back when I take office in the future.

I said goodbye and went on the road. Guiliang sent two Ghosh to escort me to the junction of Jingxing, which was considered thoughtful. I also wrote to him on the way to report my whereabouts and to fool him.

When I arrived in Pingding Prefecture, Shanxi, Wang Yanting, the governor of Shanxi Province, sent a special messenger to pick me up. He wanted to invite me to the provincial capital, but I declined on the grounds that it was inconvenient to take my family around the provincial capital. Yan Ting and the feudal lord Hengfu each gave me one hundred taels as travel expenses.

On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, I went to Tongguan to celebrate the New Year. Guan Yin was Gu Gusheng, and Guan Dao was Cai Xiaoshi of the same year.