Yingbao took advantage of the fact that Master was standing alone at the bow with his hands behind his back, gazing at the distant mountains, and approached him and asked, "Master, who is that person?"
Zhou Wuchang glanced at his little apprentice and said, "Don't be so curious, kid."
Yingbao was a little anxious when she saw that her master was perfunctory. She pulled his sleeve and said, "Master, please tell me quickly, and I will tell you the dream I had last night."
Zhou Wuchang had no choice but to say, "That man's father and I are old acquaintances, so he came over to say hello. You don't have to ask who he is. We won't meet again anyway."
Yingbao heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and without planning to tell her master about her dream, she turned around and went back to the cabin.
The merchant ship arrived at another large dock the next day. The eldest brother said that this was the dock of Chengzhou County.
Chengzhou County was the fiefdom of the rebellious prince.
Yingbao ran to the deck and looked towards the dock.
The port is very busy, no different from other state capitals.
In fact, every city in the Daqian Dynasty was relatively prosperous, and as long as the city dwellers were not lazy or gamblers, they could basically live a rich life.
The poorest are just the farmers who cannot leave the land. Their ancestors have been working in the fields for generations. The more honest and hardworking they are, the more miserable their lives are.
The boatman brought the sampan to the shore and began to unload the cargo.
This ship is a merchant ship, carrying goods from the north.
The goods were tied up with straw ropes, so it was impossible to see what was inside.
But the porters at the dock had a great deal of difficulty moving the stuff, as if it was quite heavy.
Two words suddenly appeared in Yingbao's mind: steel.
Could these goods be iron and stone
She glanced at her master and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that his eyes were not on the goods.
No matter whether he is as hard as stone or not, as long as the master does not collude with King Cheng, it will be fine.
Although the imperial court was corrupt, there were still strong troops outside, and it was no problem to destroy a rebellious vassal king.
Without mentioning anything else, let’s just talk about the general named Zhong in the northwest, who was very good at fighting.
It’s a pity that General Zhong was tortured to death by the emperor.
In order to prevent the Western Army from becoming dominant, Da Qian kept issuing orders to the Western Army, asking them to attack Xixia today and Fang La tomorrow. Before they could even catch their breath after defeating Fang La, they were assigned to the north to attack the Liao Kingdom.
The war with the Liao Kingdom was not over yet, and the Jurchens went south to invade Daqian again, so the Zhong family army was sent to rescue Taiyuan again.
As a result of the repeated troubles, the son of the commander-in-chief of the Western Army died on the battlefield, and my father was also exhausted to death.
In the end, the morale of the Western Army was low, and the army was like a pile of loose sand.
Many soldiers fled, and many officers disappeared as well.
However, the Western Army is still the most capable fighting army in this dynasty. With a little reorganization, it can become a good sword.
Yingbao once dreamed that in her previous life, it was Xiao Mo who took over the Western Army and eventually became the most powerful general in this dynasty.
However, his power was feared by his uncle's family, and even his aunt, the queen, wanted to get rid of him.
And the methods of those people are completely useless in the face of absolute strength.
At this moment, it seems that Xiao Mo has not yet become the commander-in-chief of the Western Army, and the vassal kings should still be preparing for future rebellion.
After the cargo ship unloaded its cargo, it loaded more cargo.
These cargo owners all do business from the north to the south. They travel together and purchase goods together for the sake of safety.
Bandits are rampant nowadays, especially on the roads that merchants must pass through, where they are simply as numerous as the hairs on cattle.
Those robbers rob people today and go back home to farm tomorrow. Even the government cannot catch them because they are local villagers.
Yingbao knows this best.
"Weigh the anchor! Sail!"
Following the captain's shout, the boatman raised the anchor and rowed the boat away from the dock.
The merchants gathered together to talk, all talking about their respective purchases and sales of goods.
Yingbao was bored and had to go back to the cabin.
A few days later, the merchant ship finally arrived at the Qinchuan County Pier, and Yingbao followed her master off the ship.
Because he was carrying boxes and cages, he called a ox cart at the dock to go into the city.
After entering the city, she did not plan to go back to the hospital, but jumped off the ox cart and ran to her own shop.
As soon as I entered the store, I saw Erni and my cousin there.
"Oh! Yingbao, you're back!" Erni was stunned at first, then immediately ran over and hugged Yingbao: "You've grown so tall! You're almost catching up with me."
Yingbao stretched out her hand to compare with Ernijie, who was still far away. "Ernijie, you have grown taller, look what I brought you."
All her things were placed on the ox cart, and now they had been moved down by the second brother and taken to the shop.
The eldest cousin hurried over to help and tried his best to invite Master Zhou and others to come in for a cup of tea.
Zhou Wuchang waved his hand and declined.
Zhang Min wanted to stay, but was glared at by the senior brother.
After seeing off the ox cart, Jiang Chengcai came in and talked to his little cousin.
"Why did you take so long?" Jiang Cheng brought a glass of honey water to his little cousin. "Jiang Jie also went out to study with his master last year. He said he would be back in two years."
Yingbao took the honey tea and took a sip, then asked, "Is Magistrate Wu gone too?"
"Yeah." Jiang Cheng nodded, frowned and said, "As soon as the great commander left, the county lieutenant came to our house and made trouble for us."
"County lieutenant?" Yingbao had almost forgotten what the county lieutenant's name was.
Jiang Cheng: "The county lieutenant said that he and Chen Guanglu were close friends, and that Chen Guanglu's family was destroyed because of our frame-up, and he asked us to pay money to control him."
"What happened next?" Ying Bao frowned and asked, "Did you give him money?"
Jiang Cheng: "No, Chen Guanglu was the one who harmed people first. The evidence is irrefutable. Even if we go to court again, I am not afraid of him."
He told this to his father-in-law a while ago, and Manager Qiu told him not to worry, as he would take care of everything.
Erni continued, "Yingbao, you don't know that Chen Tiantian and her mother have returned to Qinchuan County, bringing her mother's child with them. I saw them at the entrance of the alley a few days ago. They were wearing veils on their faces and glared at me when they saw me. Ha! Who is afraid of her!"
Yingbao scratched her forehead, feeling tired.
As soon as Wu Daozi left, many evil spirits emerged. Fortunately, he still had his master.
She thought of the golden knife in her master's hand and the ruler in her own hand, and her heart suddenly calmed down.
What are you afraid of? You have a master too.
If Chen Guanglu and his family really dare to do anything, I will use my master's golden knife to kill them.
Last year, the master killed a school officer, but still no one dared to show their teeth.
Just as I was thinking about it, I saw my aunt coming out from the backyard. When she saw Yingbao, she cried out and hurriedly pulled her up and down to look her up and down: "You really change every year. Yingbao is eight years old this year, right? You have grown so tall."
Yingbao felt embarrassed when her aunt looked at her, so she quickly opened the box and took out the gift.
Each person received a piece of Jingzhou's flowered cloth, and some pearl and silver hairpins were given to my aunt and Erni, and of course my eldest cousin's wife as well.
I also bought a tiger-head hat inlaid with jade pieces and a set of little tiger clothes and shoes for my eldest cousin's nephew.
As for Hongxiao and Zhang Yuying, Yingbao also brought them gifts.
"Mother!" A round little head poked in from outside the shop and timidly asked Jiang Yunniang, "Is my second brother home?"
Yingbao took a look and saw that it was Zhang Xiaolang, Zhang Yuying's half-brother.