in spring

Chapter 324 News from afar

Chunying immediately stood up, paused, took a deep breath, and asked, "How? Where is he... now?" His voice trembled slightly.

Mo Han hurriedly said: "Today I was talking about business with someone outside, and I met a familiar businessman who came over from Liujiagang, saying that a foreigner with red hair and green eyes came from England and had just been there. Ceylon, a few months ago in Sadi Port, Bangla, we met our Daming mission! The foreigner said that there was civil strife in India, the king was seriously ill, and several princes fought, and the third prince who had the upper hand was cruel Tyrannical, actually sent troops to attack our Daming mission!"

There was a bang in Chunying's head, she shook her head desperately, calmed down, and hurriedly asked: "Are there any casualties in the mission?! Where are they now?! Since the foreigners said they had seen the mission, they should have escaped, right? ! Why did the third prince attack them?!"

"The merchant didn't know what to say. He only said that the mission was staying on the treasure ship. They had prepared a large amount of fresh water and were planning to return home. The king of India was afraid that they would leave, so he sent someone to chase them and promised to open the port to Daming. The merchants entered, and the two sides are discussing the matter of direct trade between the two countries in the future, but the three princes are making a lot of noise in the capital, I am afraid that the Indian minister who is in charge of negotiating is not in the mood to talk." Mo Han frowned, his face He couldn't hide his worry, "The foreigner also mentioned that the third prince holds the military power in his hands, and he cannot be easily moved. Even if the king personally takes the place of the prince, the third prince will not buy it. The life of an official, as well as missions from other countries were involved. This kind of civil strife has always been the easiest to kill, and our Daming Mission will not get involved, right?"

"What does this kind of thing have to do with our mission?" Chunying barely suppressed her intense heartbeat, "Since he is willing to negotiate, it can be seen that the matter is not in jeopardy, at least the king is not hostile to our Daming. As for the third prince, Since we are still making noise in the capital, it can be seen that the influence is not too great. When our mission signs a trade agreement and sails away, even if India falls apart, what does it have to do with them?" At that time, even if the three The prince tore up the agreement after taking office, and the responsibility was also on the Indian side, so the envoys would not be reprimanded by the emperor.At most, the merchants of Ming Dynasty earn less money, dignitaries can't eat curry, and wear less gems, what's the big deal? !

The heartbeat gradually returned to its original frequency, and Chunying began to ask more important details: "When did these things happen? How long ago did the foreigners see our mission's ship? From there to Daming, at least It will take a few months, right?"

"It happened in summer, when we were still in Beijing. The foreigner didn't come by sea. After leaving Sadi Port, he entered Burma, entered Kunyang Prefecture by mountain road, and then came by water along the Yangtze River. Now It's the flood season, and he walked very fast, earning a lot of money along the way. Many merchants have already rushed to Liujiagang for a batch of high-quality puerha in his hand."

This British man is smart enough. When he came to China, he wanted to sell Western goods in exchange for Chinese goods, but he directly sold Chinese goods, sold them to Chinese businessmen, and earned Chinese money.Chunying finished her slander, and then thought: If Hu Fei and the others could enter Burma by land like the British, and then cross the border of Yunnan to return to China, then they should return to China soon, right?It's a pity that they still have treasure ships, so there is no reason to leave such a big thing in a foreign country...

Chun Ying secretly sighed regretfully, and then asked: "Did the foreigner mention that the embassy had discussed with the Indian businessman? Was it about to sign a contract?"

"The merchant didn't say anything." Mo Han hesitated, "How about... let's ask that foreigner too? He's here to collect silk and porcelain, and the price can't be high, but he only has tea and a few bags of gems in his hands. , the gemstone has already been taken away, and we don't sell tea, otherwise it would be easier to talk to him with business."

Chunying said: "Then let's sell it to him. The two hundred pieces of silk and satin that were recycled are all bright in design and quality, but the design is from five or six years ago. They cannot be sold in Suzhou." I can only press the bottom of the box when I go out, and I am not reconciled to discounting the price. If the price is not cheap, I will not take it down. I originally planned to ship it to Shanxi and Gansu for a try, but I didn’t think it was too much trouble, so I simply sold it to him! He A foreigner, how can he know what is fashionable?! One tael and five taels of silver is cheaper for him!" If it was five years ago, it would have sold for two or three taels of silver!

Mo Han hurriedly responded when he heard the words, and Chunying sat back to read the accounts, but couldn't calm down, so she simply threw away the accounts and thought carefully about Hu Fei's situation in the mission.

Since they can sit together for business negotiations, the mission should not suffer much damage, especially Prince Wen, who leads the mission, is absolutely unscathed. Hu Fei is a smart man, and he will always remember to stick to the mission. After King Wen's death, it is unlikely that he will be injured.So no matter what, this negotiation will not last for too long. India has civil strife, so naturally it has no energy to discuss business with foreign countries. Maybe sign a draft contract in a hurry and it's over?And the mission has been attacked, so naturally it won't stay there for too long, maybe it's already halfway there...

Chunying's mind was full of thoughts, and she turned and turned. Finally, when Mo Han came back two days later, she immediately went up to him and asked, "How?! What did the foreigner say?!"

Mo Han was a little out of breath: "He said that the people of the mission were very angry because of the attack, and scolded the ministers sent by India. In order to beg them to calm down, India agreed to many requests. The negotiation only took It was completed in a few days. When he left Sadi Port, someone from the Indian capital had already come to urge the minister to go back, but he heard that someone in the mission seemed to be sick, so he never set a return date. He entered After arriving in Myanmar, I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

Chun Ying was greatly relieved, Hu Fei's status was not to the point where the entire mission had to postpone the trip because of his illness alone, so it could be seen that he was not ill, so at least he should be the deputy envoy, right?Maybe it's King Wen?I heard that this noble man is not too young. It must be very hard to be hunted down, right?Getting sick is inevitable!

Chunying let go of half of her heart, and carefully calculated the days. One or two months is enough for King Wen or any member of the eminent mission to recover from illness. Now it is almost the Mid-Autumn Festival, and they should have left the port. On the way home.I just hope that their journey will be uneventful.

Chunying silently prayed for Hu Fei, and then said with a smile to Mo Han: "You have worked hard, go down and rest, and when someone comes up from Liushuzhuang, I will tell him the news, so that Grandpa Zhang and the others will be happy too. If If everything goes well, brother Xiao Fei will be back by the end of the year at the earliest, next year at the latest."

A look of suspicious embarrassment flashed across Mo Han's face, he hesitated for a while, and then knelt down and said, "I did something wrong, so I apologize to the girl."

Chunying was startled: "What are you doing? Get up!"

But Mo Han insisted on refusing to bring it up: "Young one...you misappropriated the 20 taels of silver obtained from selling the silk and satin without reporting it to the girl. This is an unjust act. Please punish me." Then he offered to do business with foreigners. The profit obtained, of course, is 20 taels less.

Chunying hesitated: "Why did you embezzle this money?" This is a very critical question!
"The little one...found his parents. Both of them are doing hard work on the Liujiagang wharf. The little one couldn't bear it, so he had to pay a high price to buy them back. Now they are outside the door, without the girl's approval, the little one can't bear it." Dare to let them in." After saying that, Mo Han took out two pieces of paper from his bosom, and put them in front of Chunying.

Chun Ying took it and saw that it was Mo Han's parents' contract of prostitution, she couldn't help feeling soft-hearted, and was about to ask him to take the contract back, but suddenly stopped.

Mo Han is Hu Fei's servant, and his parents are also Hu Fei's sons. Let's deal with it when Hu Fei comes back. After all, there is still a "master" of Hu Fei who is eyeing Hu Fei's property.He accepted the deed with a smile, and said, "Why are you being polite to me? Since we are your parents, we are our own. Isn't there an empty room in the front yard with sundries? Clear those sundries to the empty room in the back yard Go, let your parents live there temporarily. You are always away from home, and Mrs. He and I are a little frightened at home, but now that we have two more people, I feel more at ease. "

Mo Han kowtowed excitedly: "Thank you girl!" Regardless of Chun Ying's frown, she turned around and pulled her parents in.

Chunying glanced at the two old men and sighed secretly.Mo Han's parents should be only in their forties, but they didn't expect their hair to be grizzled, thin and dark now, his father was wearing his clothes, and the mother's clothes could be seen from the clothing store. Bought it, it can be seen how desolate they are these days.Then he stopped them from bowing down and said: "Since they are Mo Han's parents, they are their own people. The two old people can stay here at ease. Let's rest for a few days and talk about other things later. I just don't know how to address you?"

"The little one's surname is Yao, and the girl can just call the little one Lao Yao."

Chunying smiled: "Then call it Uncle Yao and Aunt Yao. Our family is not as big as a rich family, and there are not so many rules. You can relax a bit." Then he said to Mo Han: "Today's matter, although it is a matter of urgency, But if you encounter other things in the future, you can’t do the same. Twenty taels is not a small amount of money.” After a pause, he asked casually, “Speaking of which, when you go back to Liujiagang, have you ever been to Changshu? Young Master Hu, can you come to the door and make trouble again?"

Mo Han has been doing business with Chunying these days, and when he came out to negotiate with people, he also practiced a pair of piercing eyes. He immediately caught some hints in Chunying's expression, bowed his head and said: "Master Hu has been released, Grandpa Zhang invited you The servants of the county government ate wine, and now as soon as Young Master Hu came to Liushuzhuang, the servants would find him troublesome, so he didn't dare to go again, so he only rented a house in the town, and the family squeezed together He lived by selling his old lady's jewelry. It's just that he has a bad mouth, always yelling that the second young master is not filial to his mother and not friendly to his brother. Grandpa Zhang is half dead with anger, but there is nothing he can do about him."

"How can there be no way?" Chunying said with a gloomy face, "There are quite a few people in Zhuang, and he knows everyone, won't you call him a face and lead him to cause trouble? Wait until he becomes Thousands of people hate it, but are you afraid that someone will believe his words?!" Damn Hu Peng, don't you think it's too late? !She glanced at Mo Han lightly: "You have found your parents back, so you think you have less hatred for him?"

Mo Han looked down, and hurriedly said: "If it wasn't for him, how could my parents have suffered so much?! If you want me to spare him, I won't even if the girl wants to!" He immediately went to Changshu.

Chunying smiled and called him to stop, and asked him to arrange the life of his parents first, and then let him go to Changshu when the old man's complexion improved, but he was not allowed to follow Aunt Yao and Uncle Yao.After returning to the room, after thinking about it, she couldn't help but feel a little tired. Could it be that this is the scheming of the master?
Before Mo Han went out, Lu Yougui had already arrived.As soon as Chunying received the letter from the pier, she rushed over immediately, saluting happily to her father: "I hope my father is back, I have a lot of things to tell my father!"

"Damn girl, think about what you want to say to me first!" Lu's mother's gloomy face appeared behind Lu Yougui, and the latter looked helpless: "Your mother is worried about you, so she insisted on following..."

Lu's mother glared at him, and continued to scold Chunying: "The wings are so hard, how dare you..." Before she finished speaking, Chunying quickly gave Mrs. He a wink, signaling her to move.Aunt He greeted her with a smile on her face, and interrupted Lu's mother graciously: "Greetings, madam, how is your journey? Go home and rest first, the girl has already ordered you to go down and prepare the food and drink, just wait Let's welcome the master and wife!"

Lu's mother couldn't help but feel a little dizzy when she heard her words: "You...what did you call me?"

"Madam!" Mrs. He said with a look of reason, "Our family is considered a respectable family in Suzhou City now, of course you are a wife!" Then she helped Mama Lu to walk forward, and called her to stand by the pier from a distance. The first-class bearers came to serve.Mother Lu is floating, how can she care about scolding her daughter?In this way, she was supported all the way up the sedan chair.

Chunying secretly smiled, turned her head to meet her father's knowing eyes, blinked, and smiled again.

(End of this chapter)