Daming Yinghua

Chapter 127 Road Encounters
Zhang Yaofang's age is right, and he has been a staff member for many years, so he no longer has any stupid bookishness.

He understands that merchants can't afford to be early without profit, Zheng Haizhu specially sent a congratulatory gift for Zhang's family, not just because Zhang Dai and Zhang Yanke brothers paid for her private school, she must also want to make friends with members of the palace.

Fortunately, I met Zhu Yipai by chance.

Now that His Royal Highness has spoken, he, the chief minister of the palace, will easily lead him into it.

So, after inviting Zheng Haizhu and the others to drink a cup of hot tea in her duty room, Zhang Yaofang took the initiative to ask them to take a look at the Hall of Cunxin and see how the thirty or forty Shanyin lanterns in the station were hung.

The Cunxin Palace is not the harem of the inner court, and foreign ministers of the palace can enter it.

Zhang Yaofang came to the door and pointed to a peacock lantern with net flowers in Xu San's hand, saying that it was a distinguished guest from Jiangnan to deliver the lantern, and His Highness had already seen it.

The guard inspected Zhang Yaofang's waist badge, searched Wu Bangde and Xu San carefully, and let them go.

Wearing thousands of clothes, flattering but not wearing, Zheng Haizhu immediately complimented: "Uncle Zhang is really unimpeded in the palace."

Zhang Yaofang also didn't pretend to be modest in front of the juniors: "Hehe, on weekdays, apart from the political affairs in the public office in the south, the king of Lu often called me to discuss the methods of health preservation of doctors in detail, and sometimes try some medical prescriptions. I really worked hard when I came to the north."

Zheng Hai smiled: "That's great. The younger generation is still thinking that our 'Hao Ming Trading Company' will set up a shop by the canal in Jining, specializing in medicinal materials. We must come here often to ask Uncle Zhang for advice."

Zhang Yaofang's face was full of kindness and kindness: "I'm busy with work, so I'll introduce some students to you later, and go to the store to help."

Zheng Haizhu said in his heart, I understand, arrange for your disciples and old officials to come to collect the money.

What's the problem with this? Those who bring capital or contacts into the group will have to add chicken legs to the lunch box, and try to arrange it to appear in the subtitles.

"Xu San," Zheng Haizhu turned around and urged, "After returning to Hangzhou, prepare a batch of good Zhe Bawei and present it to Uncle Zhang Zhang Zhangyan."

Zhejiang Bawei is eight kinds of medicinal materials grown in Zhejiang, including Hangbaiju, Atractylodes macrocephala, and Fritillaria japonicus. Since the Han Dynasty, apricot forest masters have often been mentioned in their medical classics.

Zhang Yaofang smiled and said "OK".

Zhang Yaofang did not win a Jinshi, because his younger brother Zhang Lianfang intensively researched and collected antique calligraphy and paintings, and made friends with the chief officials of the Ministry of Officials in Beijing, so Zhang Yaofang, who was only famous for his career, was brought to Lu Wangfu as a subordinate official.

This Zhang Changshi, who has the talent of Shaoxing master, was very quick-witted when he was young, but now he also likes smart children who are savvy and can understand each other's meaning as soon as they hear it.

So I met Zheng Haizhu today. After a few rounds, he had a good impression of this self-combed girl who has been praised by his son and nephew.

In front of the Decunxin Hall, I saw many small firemen sent by the inner court, arranging silk flowers and tying colored silk.

Zhang Yaofang called a person in charge, led Xu San to try hanging the peacock lantern, pointed to the Hall of Cunxin, and said to Zheng Haizhu and Wu Bangde: "At that time, King Lu, the concubine and all the county kings, as well as the magistrate of Yanzhou, will sit In the inner hall, the hall officials of our one department and eight offices will hold banquets in the hallway outside the hall. The two of you can sit together with the old man and watch the lights and fireworks. The fireworks in the Lu Mansion are unique in Shandong."

……

After leaving Delu King City, Zheng Haizhu told Xu San: "According to what Zhang Changshi and Xiao Huo Zhe said, go to the servant shop at the west end of Yujie Street and hire three or four people to hang our lanterns in the Cunxin Hall tomorrow. You are also hired, it must be opened by the relatives of the palace, only the people there can enter the palace to work."

Xu San responded and left.

Wu Bangde and Zheng Haizhu walked a few steps side by side, and suddenly said: "If Yanzhou really has coal, don't you want to ask Zhang Changshi to intervene?"

Zheng Haizhu stopped and asked him with great interest, "How did you find out?"

Wu Bangde said: "I just asked Xu San secretly, and he said that he didn't know that Haoming Trading Co., Ltd. was going to open a medicinal material store in Jining. Your promise to Zhang Changshi was a temporary idea. With your temperament, you will not and dare not give it to Changshi. Shi eats hollow glutinous rice balls, and yesterday you told me that you wanted to get him to open a mine, but today, you asked him about the scenery of Yanzhou, and you didn’t mention coal mines alone. So I guess, you changed your mind halfway, and you took a fancy to others, and you I'm afraid that Zhang Changshi won't get a piece of the pie and will resent you if it's really done, so I give him the benefits of the medicine shop first, and it's also a reward for his nephew to take care of your private school in Songjiang.

Zheng Haizhu was very satisfied after hearing his speculation.

When he was dealing with people, Wu Bangde was able to figure it out so carefully, which shows that he is in a working state and has not fished at work.

Very good, I like partners with a saturated workload.

Zheng Haizhu stared at Wu Bangde and asked with a smile, "Who else do you think I have my eye on?"

"That little Highness."

"Yes, there are thicker thighs, why don't you hug them."

Wu Bangde's mouth twitched.As an ancient man, it was the first time he heard this slang term used by modern people, and felt that it was a bit vulgar when it came from a woman's mouth.

Zheng Haizhu continued unobtrusively: "Did you also notice that His Royal Highness is not like a happy prince who only knows how to walk dogs and fight cocks? He even wants to save money for the big lanterns for birthday banquets. You listen to him and follow his principles." The words that came out were also surrounded by one word: money. People say that if you are not in charge, you don’t know how expensive firewood is, and in the eyes of many rich and rich dandies, there is no difference between 1000 taels of silver and ten taels of silver.”

Wu Bangde nodded: "Well, there is a word of money in his eyes, which means that he wants to be in charge of the family, or in other words, wants to do something."

But he pondered again: "However, the son of the dignified county king, the little highness who is loved by the current prince, even if he is kind to you, and he really found the mine, he can't do it by himself, why should he be tied to us? At most it is you When you ask him to buy coal, his steward will give you a few copper coins per catty."

Zheng Haizhu said seriously: "He needs people to open mines, but this time, I just happen to be able to get people."

"how do I say this?"

"The kings of all dynasties, based on agriculture, disliked mining and doing business, because they were afraid that strong laborers would not farm the land. Once Yanzhou opened mines, if the vassals hired a large number of farmers, they would be reported to the capital by the inspector and censor of Shandong. And the refugees There are quite a lot of people in Xiangjiao, and they dare not hire them. So Bond, where do you think we can get hundreds of thousands of safe miners for the little Highness?"

Wu Bangde stared at Zheng Haizhu.

He likes to guess her mind, because it is a bit difficult, but not very difficult.

Her thoughts, like formations, have routines, neither romantic nor old-fashioned, neither restrained nor crazy, following the routines, you can see the guiding signs.

Wu Bangde then rubbed his hands in the early wind, took a breath to warm up, and suddenly said: "Do you want to go to Mao Wenlong in Liaodong and recruit Liao people to Lu Fan?"

Zheng Haizhu patted Wu Bangde on the shoulder: "A bosom friend."

……

The next day, Xu San went to the palace to hang lamps, and Zheng Haizhu asked Wu Bangde to visit the various private post stations in Yanzhou City, especially the guild halls of various merchant gangs, to see how these places were kept warm.

The hard work paid off, and they ran down for most of the day. Behind a large-scale inn by the Si River in the southeast of Fucheng, the two saw cinders and obvious ruts.

After guarding for a while, a buddy came out to sweep up the cinders with a broom.

Wu Bangde stepped forward and cupped his hands: "Little brother, may I ask, where can I buy coal?"

The guy stared at the two vigilantly: "What are you doing?"

Wu Bangde scratched his head: "We just moved here from Shuntian Mansion, and our house used to burn coal. We didn't expect that we couldn't buy coal here."

When Zheng Haizhu was talking, he smiled and gave the clerk a dime.

The man got the "consulting fee", and his face immediately turned cloudy. He looked at the courtyard door behind him and saw that there was no one else, so he said politely: "Our boss is from Boshan, and he knows how to burn coal. I am looking for my hometown this year. When the coal workers came over, they found ore seedlings in the charcoal mountain. Because the charcoal mountain is the place where the Lu palace sent people to cut firewood and burn charcoal, my family dug a little secretly."

Wu Bangde frowned falsely and said: "It's so troublesome, we'd better just buy firewood."

Zheng Haizhu pretended to think that her husband was worthless, gave him a blank look, and still asked the clerk enthusiastically: "Little brother, I will pay you more money, how about you take us to the place where there is coal in Chaitanshan?"

The buddy waved his hands again and again: "Hey, if you can't do it, you can go on your own."

Seeing that Zheng Haizhu's face was slightly darkened, and her eyes turned from the sleeve she had put the money in to the inn compound behind her, for some reason, she was a little afraid that the woman would change her face and yell, so she hurriedly said with a smile: "Sister, brother, actually It's not hard to find. When you reach Chaitan Mountain, you will see a river on the south slope. Go upstream, pass the gravel stalls and blue rocks, and there are several stones on the east side of the forest. Look for the black ink-like potholes. Probing with a stick, most likely it will be found."

Zheng Haizhu didn't know what a "counting stone" or a "magnet stick" was. She only felt that Wu Bangde, who was also listening attentively, was gently pulling her sleeve. He guessed that Mr. Wu, who had seen the Xishan Coal Mine in the capital, understood it quite well.

Zheng Haizhu looked relaxed: "Okay, thank you little brother."

Walking back to the avenue, Wu Bangde told Zheng Haizhu that counting stones is a layer of flaky rock formations, and a magnetic stick is a wooden stick tied with a lodestone ore. Vein hunters in the suburbs of Beijing use it to find coal exposed on the surface. Seedling.

"Sure enough, it's about the same as you guessed," Wu Bangde said, "The coal in Yanzhou is located in Chaitan Mountain. Because it is the forbidden garden of the Prince Lu's mansion, Yanzhou City is not too cold, and the people's firewood for cooking is not expensive, so the coal here is It has never been mined like Boshan.”

Zheng Haizhu was also very happy: "When Zaohua and Daniu come back from exploring the way, let's go there again in person."

It was still early at this time, the sun was only slightly westward, and it was still warm.The blue sky is like washing, reflected in the Sishui River, the blue Yingying is very beautiful.

The two saw a long bridge on the river in the distance, like a white bridge stretching across the sky, and a row of beautiful arched piers were dyed golden by the sun, which was very spectacular.

Zheng Haizhu said: "That should be the Sishui bridge mentioned by the station steward. Let's go and see the merits of the Lu Fan sage king."

When I arrived at the bridge, I saw a large stele beside the stone lion, engraved with the words "Changhong of the State of Lu".

Looking closely at the bridge body, the bluestone slabs are wide and thick, with [-] holes with beautiful arcs and fine grinding, and the vault is also very high from the river surface. The stone pillars of each pier are uniform in shape, as strong and solid as the foundation of a century-old tree.

Zheng Haizhu stepped onto the bridge, clicked his tongue and said, "No wonder it took several years to repair and cost 30 taels of silver."

Wu Bangde also patted the railing on the bridge and said: "Unexpectedly, the first prince of Lu Fan was so stupid and unscrupulous and harmed the people, and the descendants of future generations will be so sage."

Zheng Haizhu sighed softly: "Don't say that the same person will have different thoughts after a while."

After she said this sentence, she suddenly remembered something, looked at Wu Bangde and said, "What do you think of Mu Zaohua?"

Wu Bangde's face was calm: "He is a man who can be made, not inferior to a man. You are right, the intelligence officer should recruit some women."

Zheng Haizhu pursed his lips meaningfully.

Wu Bangde's eyes flashed: "What's the matter? Do you think that on the way that day, she showed compassion to save the mother and child of the refugees, and I reprimanded her too severely?"

Zheng Haizhu shook his head: "Your subordinates, how to discipline them is your business. But, let me be honest, this girl seems to be tempted by you Wu Juzuo."

Wu Bangde frowned, then sneered for a while and said, "You read too many playbooks."

Zheng Haizhu put away the joke on her face, and said sternly, "It's okay if you don't believe me right now. If it takes a long time and you get along with each other day and night, I can arrange her to go to the business company."

Wu Bangde was slightly startled.

Zheng Haizhu added: "I mean, I don't want the work of the Intelligence Bureau to prevent you from falling in love with a good girl. Even if you have to go to battle from time to time as soldiers, you still have to have a home, right?"

A hint of sarcasm surfaced on Wu Bangde's face: "Miss Zheng, Zheng Dong's family, since I left Zhenjiang, I have been with you day and night. Do you think we are in love with each other? If we talk about getting married, why don't you start a family and want to be a self-made girl?"

Zheng Haizhu was choked for a moment.

She was a little annoyed, annoyed that Wu Bangde took away her kindness, and also annoyed that she still had the mother-in-law's matchmaking instinct after all, so that she seemed to offend her partner.

Soon, she caught a trace of strange grief in Wu Bangde's eyes.

Zheng Haizhu realized that there was a reason for Wu Bangde's sudden aggressive pretext.

She guessed that Wu Bangde's fiancée mentioned earlier had a relationship with him that was definitely not as shallow as he described at the time.

Seeing Zheng Haizhu's bewildered look, Wu Bangde regretted that his words were sharp, so he looked away, looked at the turbulent river, and sighed heavily after a while.

"Azhu, I don't want to start a family because I have already met the best woman."

Zheng Haizhu said softly, "I'm sorry."

Wu Bangde waved his hand: "Go back."

The two walked in silence for a while, and suddenly heard the cry of a child from behind, mixed with the shouting and cursing of adults.

They looked back and saw a man and a woman walking over the bridge.

A woman holds a child in her hands.

The child cried heart-rendingly.

Zheng Haizhu and Wu Bangde couldn't help slowing down their pace.

When the family approached and crossed each other, the two saw clearly that the man was in his twenties, with a hooked nose, and a lump of flesh under his cheekbones, and the woman holding the baby was a fat woman, who must be over forty, with a bun The gray hair is obvious.

The doll in her hand was a girl in her early years with pigtails.

Girls talk early, and this one too, crying and babbling "Kegui, Kegui".

The obese woman put on a face and said, "Cry, cry!"

Zheng Haizhu became suspicious.

She went north from Fujian to Jiangnan and crossed Jiangxi. She understood that "Kegui" means "going back" and "going home".

And what the woman spoke was clearly Lu dialect.

(End of this chapter)