Chapter 85 Dress Up
During dinner, He Xi wandered back. He went out empty-handed, but came back with a bunch of baggage in his hands. Regarding He Xi's functional role in Yazhou, the executive committee did not go into too much detail. It only said that his job was "free research" and that his personal action funds were listed separately and did not need to be reported to Qiu Yuan. Keep accounts. Although it was not stated explicitly, everyone had some idea of this, so no one paid too much attention to where He Xi went or what he did. Some things, knowing too much is not a good thing.
"You've been out for a day, what good things have you bought?" Malico asked jokingly.
He Xi lifted the package in his hand: "This is all prepared for you. One package per person, everyone has a share."
"You're so polite, you even bought a gift!" Maliko reached out to take the bundle from He Xi's hand.
He Xi looked at the baggage before handing one to him: "This is for each person. Everyone's bag is different."
Maliko was confused and felt that the baggage was light and fluffy. When he opened it, he couldn't laugh or cry - inside was a blue satin shirt with a round neck and big sleeves, and a neatly folded square scarf. This outfit was the standard daily attire for scholars in the Ming Dynasty.
Several other people have also unpacked their own baggage, and as expected, they are all wearing similar Akito clothes. Only Zhao Xiaoruo's baggage contained a lot of content, including several sets of dresses and a set of bright red robes that were very eye-catching.
"I also bought based on your figure. The size may not be so accurate, but fortunately these clothes are wide enough, so they shouldn't be too different in fit." He Xi looked at the stunned group of people with a smile and said: "You might as well put it on and take a look first. By the way, Xiao Zhao, you can try the red one. The others are all easy to buy, but this red one is out of stock. I went to several stores to buy it."< br>
Zhao Xiaoruo spat: "I'm not a bride now, why are I wearing such red!"
He Xi smiled and said: "You just don't understand science. This kind of red robe with large sleeves was only worn by ladies in the Ming Dynasty. The other pink, light purple, and light green ones were all worn by ordinary people. ”
Zhao Xiaoruo's face turned red and she said, "I'm not a lady..."
"We are not Ming people either." The smile on He Xi's face gradually faded: "But since we have come to Yazhou, to this city where Ming people live together, we should find a way to blend in here instead of looking out of place. .”
"But our mission is to transform this era, how can we be assimilated by it?" Zhao Xiaoruo retorted unconvinced.
"Understand first, then transform. Real knowledge comes from practice. If we don't integrate into this era, how will we know how to transform the current society?" He Xi persuaded her earnestly: "It's just a change of clothes. Is it that difficult?"
So with He Xi's unremitting efforts, everyone went back to their rooms to change clothes. The first person to change clothes and reappear in the yard was naturally He Xi, who was already familiar with it. He changed into a green straight jacket and put on a square scarf. He did look a bit like a scholar of this era. It was just out of personal habit that his face was shaved too clean, which always looked a bit weird. .
Soon everyone changed into their own clothes and came out. They were basically straight jackets, Taoist clothes, and crane cloaks that were commonly worn by scholars in the Ming Dynasty. Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, they all felt so novel and couldn't help laughing.
After a while, the door of Zhao Xiaoruo's room also opened with a creak, and she came out wearing the bright red robe, with her hair in a simple bun, which looked quite ancient. Zhang Guang opened his mouth and was stunned.
"It's not bad. It will be perfect with the accessories." He Xi nodded and approved Zhao Xiaoruo's dress: "I don't know your preferences, so I didn't prepare jewelry for you. Let's go to the city to buy some tomorrow."
After He Xi finished speaking, he nudged Zhang Guang with his elbow. Zhang Guang turned around and said, "Buy, buy, buy! Buy now! Buy them all!"
Old handyman Yang came in just in time with a pile of rice bowls in his arms. When he saw these guys, he screamed in fright and almost smashed all the bowls on the ground. Fortunately, Feng Annan next to him had quick eyesight and hands to help him. Old man Yang said tremblingly: "I thought there was a thief in the house suddenly..."
He Xi bought Mingren's clothes for everyone, not just for fun. At the work meeting that night, He Xi made a suggestion to everyone to visit people from all walks of life in Yazhou: "You two who are engaged in business should continue to be responsible for the trade and visit more local merchants to see what we can use Lao Mu and Xiao Feng can go around the garrison when they have time. Although the Yazhou garrison is a scumbag, we can be prepared by collecting more information. As for the people in the political circles, I will find ways to contact them. Xiao Zhao... It would be great if I could take the wife route. From tomorrow I would go to more shops selling cloth, women's clothing, and jewelry in the city. It would be best if I could catch up with a few official ladies to roughly divide the work. That's what I thought for the time being. If you have any opinions, you can put them forward and let's work it out together." "What about me? What should I do?" Zhang Guang asked after hearing the whole story. .
"You? Do you still need special assignment?" He Xi said with a narrow-minded expression: "You just need to follow Xiao Zhao. This is your job."
All joking aside, He Xi’s suggestion is not nonsense. As an outpost sent to Yazhou by the Executive Committee, everyone in the working group has the function of collecting information and acting as espionage personnel. However, most of them work part-time. Only He Xi It's just a full-time job. As for how to complete the information collection and sorting work quickly and comprehensively, this is the time for the members to show their abilities. If this work is done well, it may not lead to any outstanding achievements, but if it is not done well and leads to loopholes, it will be recorded on the blacklist by the executive committee, and the future will be worrying.
As the leader of the working group, Malike agreed in principle with He Xi's suggestion, but made a small adjustment - Zhang Guang followed He Xi instead of Zhao Xiaoruo. Maliko's reasons are also very good. Since Zhao Xiaoruo is going to take the route of concubine, it is inappropriate for Zhang Guang to follow her around the city. After all, the two are not husband and wife now, which makes Mingren who pays attention to etiquette see this. What do you think?
Of course, if no one objects, Zhang Guang probably wouldn't mind changing his role from a scholar to a domestic servant, but after all, this is a very serious intelligence activity, not a couple having fun cosplaying, so Ma Li After Ke's suggestion was made, Zhang Guang did not express any objection.
At this time, Feng Annan raised a question: "With our current cultural level, what should we do if our pretense of being a scholar is exposed? Just talk about me. I can count the Ming Dynasty poets by name on one hand. What should I do if I have to recite a poem incorrectly?”
He Xi shook his head and said: "You can't be too rigid in your life. If you wear a scholar's clothes, you must be able to recite poetry, right? We must learn to make full use of our advantages!"
Feng Anan said blankly: "What advantage do we have? We have guns?"
"You're rich!" He Xi said with an expression of resentment: "I heard that we negotiated two big business deals today, earning nearly ten thousand taels. Is this true?"
"That's right, but the two commercial banks did not pay that much cash. Most of them still had to be traded in kind. They only left more than a thousand taels of silver here." Maliko explained to him.
He Xi nodded and said: "Isn't that enough? More than a thousand taels of silver will be divided among the seven of us. Each of us has one or two hundred taels of silver. This is no longer a small amount in Yazhou. If you can't pretend to be a scholar, you can't pretend to be a scholar." Can’t you pretend to be a rich man? Just throw your money at him when you get into trouble. You don’t need to be taught this, right?”
"Wouldn't this be too extravagant and wasteful?" Mu Xiabai's thinking is still more conservative, and he doesn't agree with He Xi's overly unrestrained approach.
"Whether it counts as extravagant or wasteful depends on the results of our work, not the means of our work." He Xi patiently explained: "If we spend a lot of money and find no information at all, then it must be a waste." But if you can get some useful information or establish some interpersonal relationships that can be used, then the money will be well spent. Just like you used to be a soldier, even if you haven't fought for decades, you still spend money on defense. It increases every year. I remember that the country’s annual military budget before crossing over was more than 800 billion, right? There was no war anyway, do you think it was a waste to spend so much money?”
"How can it be a waste? This money can't be spent! Without so much military expenditure, the Yankees would have ridden on our necks long ago!" Mu Xiabai bounced up as if his tail had been stepped on.
"The same goes for our intelligence work. The effect may not be visible on the surface, but it is real. We are the clairvoyant eyes and ears of the Executive Committee. The information we collect will serve as the basis for future decisions of the Executive Committee. "He Xi looked around the crowd and said in a deep voice: "As long as the money is spent wisely, it will be worth it."
"No wonder the executive committee gave us the privilege to intercept the cash received from Yazhou within the limit of three thousand taels." Qiu Yuan, who was in charge of the property, seemed to have suddenly realized it at this time.
After lifting the psychological barriers of the members, He Xi took the time to conduct a simple intelligence gathering skills training. The main content was nothing more than some details of dealing with people and observing their behavior. However, after He Xi's professional point of view, everyone had a clear vision. I felt suddenly enlightened, and I was no longer as resistant to intelligence work as before.
The next morning, the members of the working group went to various places in Yazhou City according to their agreed division of labor arrangements.
(End of chapter)