Update time 2014-12-14 18:41:31 Word count: 3296
Ling Qingyu took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly.
Although she had seen the Qingming Riverside Picture before, and had imagined the real prosperity, she was still shocked by the scenery in front of her.
Along the edge of the Qiantang River, there is a busy wharf. Ships in the river come and go, end to end, porters on the wharf unload goods, and there are various vendors selling food and groceries. From the wharf, there is a neighborhood with row upon row of houses, including teahouses, wine shops, foot shops, butcher shops, as well as silk and silk, jewelry and spices, incense, paper horses, etc., as well as medical clinics and cart repairs. , fortune-telling, face shaving and plastic surgery, all walks of life, there are all kinds of people in the market, shoulder to shoulder, and the stream is endless.
Ling Qingyu has already figured out the current era. This should be a parallel world. History turned a corner at the end of the Tang Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin did not have a yellow robe, but just became a prince. After 30 years of wars and chaos, the two dynasties of Emperor Shizong and Taizong finally unified the south and reached a peace agreement with Daliao. Another 60 years of peace and prosperity, the sea area was opened, and the restrictions on industry and commerce were gradually relaxed. The economy of Dazhou was prosperous. Ling Qingyu compared what he knew. Is this basically the Northern Song Dynasty, but it is still a little different. Because Zhao Kuangyin was dressed in a yellow robe in the Northern Song Dynasty, he always valued literature over martial arts, and the emperor behind him was unreliable. In this Great Zhou Dynasty, the position of generals is relatively Gao, but the emperor is even more unreliable than the Northern Song Dynasty. The emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty liked Wen, while the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty liked luxury goods, especially the current Emperor Xiwen, who has good jewelry and spices, and has to renovate the palace every year. The finest wood, gold, silver and jade articles are innumerable. The national treasury was empty, so the shipping was released. In the past, only licensed shipping companies registered with the government could conduct overseas trade. Now, as long as you pay a certain amount of silver, you can get a license, but no matter what kind of ship, when you come back All must pay a certain amount of spice treasures. As a result, shipping prevailed, and the port became extremely prosperous.
However, Ling Qingyu did not expect such prosperity.
Thinking of what I heard on the road, there was a severe drought in the north and floods in the south. These years, natural disasters have continued, and refugees have appeared in some places.
"Girl, girl," Zheng Xi's call made Ling Qingyu come back to his senses, and he couldn't help but chuckle. Even if this big week is riddled with holes, it won't be a problem in the short term. The most important thing now is Yes, accumulate your own strength, and then go for revenge.
"I asked." Zheng Xi ran to Ling Qingyu, wiped off his sweat, and said, "There is a boat going to Quanzhou today, and a rich family chartered the boat, but I heard that the girl is from a female household. She showed kindness and allowed us to take a boat."
Ling Qingyu nodded. Zheng Xi is Mama Zheng's son. When she came out and asked, she found out that Madam Zheng was her mother's dowry nanny. Her mother had already returned their family deeds. The eldest son, Zheng Dong, helped his mother manage the dowry shop. Son Zheng Xi followed his father to run errands on the boat. Years ago, my father dispatched Zheng Xi back to Wu County to deliver a letter, and only then did the catastrophe be averted.
After Ling Qingyu buried his parents together, he let Zheng's mother and Luxiu stay in Wu County. First, he and Zheng Dong continued to look at the remaining two shops, while watching the movements of the Lin and Wu families, and only brought Zheng Xi there. Go to Quanzhou, where my father's Fengshen is still there.
Ling Qingyu pressed his chest, and took out the banknotes from his mother's dressing box. After counting them, there were actually tens of thousands of taels. Ling Qingyu kept them in the pouch made on his chest. When he came out of Wu County, Ling Qingyu didn't bring anything else with him. , The only things I carry with me are the ten thousand taels of silver bills and the veil that my mother vomited blood before she died.
The boat bound for Quanzhou was a medium-sized passenger ship. Ling Qingyu and Zheng Xi got on the boat from the small gangway in the back cabin. Zheng Xi followed the sailors to the sailor cabin. The room, said: "I have to trouble the girl to squeeze with us."
"Trouble sister," Ling Qingyu gave a deep salute and thanked her with a smile. She was wearing a clean blue dress, and instead of a bun, she had her hair in a big braid with a small white velvet flower on it. She was tall, Although she has a plump body, she looks clean and healthy, and even her smile is simple, which makes people happy.
The servant girl liked it in her heart, so she said a few more words, and said: "My wife is the most kind. I heard from Wang Cheng's family that your servant is looking for a boat, and that you are an orphan and opened a female household on your own. Blocking the door alone, just saying that it's pitiful, or else, ordinary people, there can get on board our Fan family's boat."
Ling Qingyu didn't know how powerful this Fan family was, so he just smiled and said: "Thanks to Madam's kindness, I would like to trouble my sister to tell Madam for me. I am really grateful. If possible, my daughter would like to kowtow to Madam as well."
"That's not necessary, my wife, not anyone can see it if they want,"
"If that's the case, please ask my sister to help me convey my daughter's heart." Ling Qingyu took the maid's hand and stuffed it with a silver coin.
The servant girl weighed it, guessing it was about one or two, and couldn't help but smile more sincerely, and said: "You can rest here, our boat is fast, and we will arrive in Quanzhou in a few days."
Ling Qingyu gave another blessing and sent the maid out. Fang relaxed and began to think carefully about how Quanzhou should act.
In the main cabin of the ship, a young woman is rolling up her sleeves, holding a Jun kiln pot with plum blossoms from an old tree in her slender hands and pouring them into a cup. The clear tea soup has a delicate fragrance, which is refreshing.
"Good tea," the young man in blue praised unconsciously.
"It was brought by Mingliang. The Biluochun before tomorrow is naturally good tea." Fan Ye took a sip of tea, squinted at the person sitting across from him, eating and drinking, and said: "As Fan Ye My son-in-law, if you idle around like this every day, you won't be afraid that your uncle will be sad."
As the youngest son of Fan Zedi, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Fan Zheng has always had a bad reputation. He won the Juren at the age of fifteen, but instead of continuing to study, he began to travel around the mountains and rivers. He had countless romantic affairs. It's an anomaly in the Fan family.
"With my elder brother here, my father has always been at ease with me," Fan Zheng laughed, and joined Fan Ye again and said, "But I still want to congratulate my cousin for being promoted this time, for getting a good position."
"What a good location," Fan Ye sighed, and said, "The establishment of a shipping department in Quanzhou this time is of course a good thing for shipping management. It is controlled by the company, and it has always been controlled by the Wang family. Nowadays, because of the good fragrance and extravagance of the holy gods, Bianliang in Luoyang and the Chuanshu area in Hangzhou are all thriving with spice treasures. , as long as you and I know about it, but one or two of them have been swallowed up by the Wang family."
"That's why we set up the Shibo Department in Quanzhou this time, and asked the neutral Fan family to be the Shibo Department's envoy?" Fan Zheng played with the empty cup in his hand. Said: "Nowadays, shipping is booming, and the position of cousin is a fat vacancy."
Fan Ye glared at him, and said: "Fat vacancies, I'm afraid it's a dead vacancy! Now the royal concubine is supported by the Wang family and controls the shipping, and the empress Dong's family has Dong Shoufu, and all the directors have become the secretary of the household department. Quanzhou is newly opened. Bosi, the two families are staring at such a big vacancy, your brother and I are not careful, and I don’t know how he died, you boy, did you come here to entertain me?”
Just as Fan Zheng was about to speak, he heard footsteps outside the door, so he stopped and looked towards the door.
"Ma'am," the footsteps stopped outside the door and whispered.
Mrs. Fan Yang took a look at the two of them, put down the bead curtain, and said, "It's yam, come in."
Shan Yao entered the cabin with her head down, glanced at the hanging bead curtain out of the corner of her eye, gave a salute, and said: "Madam, that little lady, the servant has already been brought to the cabin of the servant."
"Oh," Yang glanced at Fan Zheng's figure behind the curtain, and said with a smile, "How about the little lady? Are you still polite?"
"Although the young lady is not very old, she is very polite. She looks like an honest girl." Shan Yao replied with her head bowed.
"It's also pitiful. She opened a female household at such a young age." Yang waved the yam back, hung up the bead curtain, and said with a smile to Fan Zheng, "It's rare that the sixth younger brother can show kindness."
Fan Zheng smiled but didn't answer. Before he boarded the boat just now, he saw the young lady from Wu County taking a servant around to ask if there was a boat going to Quanzhou. Shi mentioned a few words, Yang Shi really let the little lady board the boat, but after hearing this, she thought it was a debt of love for her outside, so she didn't reply, just laughed and said nothing.
"Sixth brother, you are not young anymore, it's time to find a serious marriage," Fan Ye said, frowning.
"The Wu family has proposed a few families to my father. One is the second lady of the third room of the Wang family, the other is the fifth lady of the Wu family, and the other is the concubine sister of the second concubine's natal family. Cousin, which one do you think is suitable for the younger brother?" Fan He said with a smile, but there was a trace of coldness in that smile.
Fan Ye was dumbfounded. Uncle, the stepwife, forced Fan Zheng away, and wanted to manipulate Fan Zheng's marriage. The Fan family has always been neutral in the court and never participated in the struggle for succession. Only in this way can they continue to be undefeated for a hundred years. Well, Mrs. Wu made it clear that she wanted the Fan family to join the second prince's boat. Could it be that being a man of the Fan family is stupid? Thinking of how much her uncle loved Mrs. Wu, she shook her head.
"The little lady's father was originally a sea merchant." Fan Zheng thought for a while, and said: "The little lady is going to Quanzhou, if my cousin can help, please help."
"Oh," Fan Ye said with a smile: "A woman, okay, if she also goes to sea, I can help."
Seeing that his smile was full of contempt, Fan Zheng shook his head, said nothing more, looked out of the window, saw the bustling scene, and turned his thoughts to other things, and talked to Fan Ye about the spring drought on Henan Road, that little lady, It was like a wave of water passing by, without a trace.