In Beijing in late April, it is the spring season when the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming.

Zhao Gongzi was in the manor outside the city, playing ball with the old man.

This manor called 'Qilizhuang' is the year before the godmother's meeting gift, when the eldest princess rewarded 12 Gan'er shops in one go, three manors, gold and silver antiques, calligraphy and paintings.

The manories that the eldest princess took out her hand were all good properties with excellent locations and abundant land. This is especially true of this 'Qilizhuang'.

In the northwest suburbs of the capital, there is the name of Wengshan in the remaining veins of Yanshan, and there is a lake under the mountain, which is called Wengshan Bo. In the past, Wan Yanliang, the lord of the Jin Dynasty, once set up the Jinshan Palace here.

After the Yuan Dynasty established the capital of Beijing, Guo Shoujing diverted upstream water sources into the lake, which increased the water potential of Wengshanbo and became a reservoir to ensure the water supply of the palace and the transportation of water to the palace.

This Qilizhuang is located on the shore of Wengshanbo Lake, adjacent to the imperial garden 'Haoshan Garden' built by Emperor Wuzong. Zhuangzi is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with 2,000 acres of paddy fields and 150 households.

The manor of Qilizhuang is located right on the edge of the lake. It is said to be a farm, but it seems a bit exaggerated. Zhuangzi is surrounded by a stone wall that is a height of several feet, and a two-meter wall made of blue bricks is added to the stone wall, and there are also arrow towers and beacons. The Zhuang Ding also wielded knives and guns, and once there was a police, they could immediately defend themselves in the village.

The Ming Dynasty Emperor was not a joke to guard the country, and the Tartars entered Kou Jinggi every three or five times, and they were killed under the city of Beijing a lot of times, so it was still necessary to have such a strict guard.

The front of Zhuangzi is the gate of the tall Wu Corridor and the eaves, and the sedan car is more than enough to enter and exit. After entering the house, there are pools, warehouses, mills, trough mills, enclosures, etc., which gives it the appearance of a farm.

In the center of the Zhuangzi, there is a stone-paved east-west road, and the carriage can go straight to the inner courtyard where the master lives.

The inner courtyard is much more luxurious, with an attic, patio, garden, stage, and even a separate small pier for the owner to sail on the urn mountain.

But at this time, the two of them are not in the manor, but on the grassy slope of the lake.

Oh yes, Wengshanbo is the Kunming Lake of later generations. However, since Zhao Gongzi occupies this place, I am afraid that the Summer Palace will not appear again.

"Originally, this was Liu Jin's manor." The old man wore a big hat on his head, big sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, and a short game specially designed for playing ball, and with a dashing swing of the club in his hand, he knocked out the small ball made of horn bones on the ground. The ball makes a graceful arc and lands on the green on the hillside...... Oh no, next to the ball.

"When Emperor Zhengde built a mountain garden, he built this manor next to it, so that it was convenient to serve with him." Zhao Liben handed the club to Zhao Hao, who was acting as a caddy on the side, and said: "Even this course was repaired by him back then. ”

Zhao Hao took the cue and looked at the holes with colored flags in the distance, and a sense of confusion surged in his heart, what is the difference between this and playing golf? The rules and gameplay are exactly the same, right? It's not bad to even pretend to be forced!

However, this is indeed not golf, but the sport of 'hammering pills' that has been invented in China for hundreds of years.

Chuiwan evolved from the Tang Dynasty polo's horseless version of 'step ball'. In the Song Dynasty, it evolved into a non-confrontational game in which players hit the ball in turn, and the goal was changed to a ball hole, and the name was changed to 'hammer pills' or 'foot strikes'.

During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the pill was very popular, and the three religions and nine streams, the old and the young, all enjoyed one or the other. However, in this dynasty, as there were more and more rules for hammering pills, it became an aristocratic game again...... From the rules of the game to the essentials of swinging, from the manufacture of bats to the maintenance of the field, the degree of professionalism and delicacy is almost not inferior to that of later generations of golf, and naturally only scholars can afford to play.

For example, this stadium is required to be a wide garden with convex and concave, steep and elevated, obstructive and obstructive, welcoming and inside, and flat outside. Another example is this club, there are ten kinds of scoop sticks, flutter sticks, one-handed, olecranons, etc., to target different situations in the game. There is also a professional companion as a caddy, carrying a long leather bag on his back.

The rules of the two are almost the same, Zhao Hao has never played golf in his previous life, and he can make up for his regrets in this life.

However, this kind of traditional project of hammering pills and shooting willows, he is not the opponent of the old man. In addition, the topic of conversation between the two was too hot, even if it was not appropriate for his cronies to guard him on the side, Zhao Gongzi honestly became a caddy for his grandfather.

~~

"Grandpa Liu will really enjoy it." Zhao Hao looked at the stadium with the mountains, as well as the blue waves of the urn mountain, and couldn't help but sigh sincerely. The powerful people of this era really do whatever they want.

Uh, no, it's dangerous. This corrupt life should be resolutely criticized! Phew, this big tiger!

"Back then, Liu Jin was so powerful that he was so angry that he wanted to get it into his bowl, but he also hit a soft nail, so he could only retreat." Zhao Gongzi was thinking nonsense, but he heard the old man say lightly: "How are you better than Liu Jin?" One-handed. ”

"Uh......" Zhao Hao was stunned for a moment, and quickly took out the thinnest bat from the leather bag and handed it to Zhao Liben.

Then he smiled bitterly: "Grandpa, it's not appropriate for you to compare me with a eunuch, right?" ”

"Comprehend the spirit." Zhao Liben smiled, stood sideways, and gently pushed the club with one hand, and hit the ball neatly into the hole.

Of course, Zhao Hao understood what his grandfather meant. The contents of the meeting of the Huai'an Caoyun General Military Office three days ago were placed in front of Zhao Gongzi, who was far away in Beijing, early this morning.

Although this kind of large-scale alliance can boost morale, there are so many people involved that it is almost impossible to keep the secret.

Zhao Gongzi knew very well the strength of the Caoyun interest group, and of course he would step up his monitoring of them. With the strength of the shipping group now, it is natural to want to pull a few Erwuzi into the water and inquire about the content of their meeting.

Of course, the reverse is also true.

To be honest, the fierce reaction of the Caoyun Group was somewhat beyond his expectations.

After all, Zhao Gongzi didn't plan to force them to a dead end, but only humbly said that he was willing to be a spare tire for Cao Yun and save the imperial court. And after the canal is opened, Jiangnan Group can also retreat to the position of a good friend, and will definitely not compete with Caoyun for share.

In the advance judgment of the strategic decision-making committee, although the conflict between the two sides is inevitable. However, at this stage, Caoyun Group is likely to take a wait-and-see attitude for the time being, and the contradiction is likely to break out after the canal resumes navigation.

This is not because Zhao Hao and Xu Wei are blindly optimistic, but because this is the best choice for Caoyun Group.

At present, the canal is cut off, 800 boats capsize, 100,000 Shihuang grain is gone, and the governor of Caoyun is already guilty. At this time, shouldn't you clean up the mess first, stabilize your position, and stand by?

The family is still full of chicken feathers and messy porridge, but they roar back to the enemy who is prepared, don't you want to die?

Does this son look like such a pure and harmless little milk dog?

Zhao Gongzi felt incomprehensible, where did Caoyun Group get its confidence, and at this time, it chose to attack instead of defending, so he was not afraid of losing even his underwear?

Now his grandfather uses Liu Jin's story to tell him that the self-confidence of the Caoyun Group comes from their vital role, their powerful power, and the erosion of filial piety to the ministers of the DPRK and China year after year.

These factors are intertwined to create an interest group that is too big to fail.

So, they are arrogant to the limit.

It is a pity that in the long history known to Zhao Gongzi, all interest groups with this idea have been crushed by the wheel of history and turned into another history of 'arrogance' on the pile of old papers.

~~

Returning to the base to rearrange the ball for his grandfather, Zhao Hao got up and patted the floating soil on his hand:

"The discussion of the Jiaolai Canal is pure nonsense, and Jiangnan Group has done careful research in advance. The canal is still there, but the water is shallow, and it is 268 miles long, which does not seem to be long. However, the lack of water and the blockage of floating sand in the two estuaries of Jiaolai are two unsolvable problems. Unless the watershed is completely excavated, then the project will be huge, and it will cost millions of taels, who can afford this? ”

"Why don't they know about it? It's just an excuse to compete for the dominance of shipping. Zhao Liben said lightly while changing the club: "Don't look down on this Jiaolai River, in the eyes of many people in the imperial court, it is much stronger than pure shipping." ”

"Where's the strength?"

"If you can take less sea routes, it means it's safer."

"Hahaha!" Zhao Hao laughed so much that tears were about to fall. "In order to save 800 miles of sea routes, I am willing to dig a crippled canal of nearly 300 miles, this is a multiple sea phobia, and it must be cured!"

"In the court of the Ming Dynasty, the most important thing is to be ignorant to the extreme, but self-righteous fools." Zhao Liben sneered and said: "The imperial court's talent ceremony, but such an ordinary fool, this Ming Dynasty will be finished sooner or later!" ”

Zhao Gongzi rolled his eyes helplessly, and said in his heart again......

"Anyway, the old man will put the conversation here with you, as soon as the discussion of the Jiaolai River comes out, your idea of cutting through the mess quickly will definitely be in vain." Zhao Liben squatted down, aiming at the distance and terrain between the ball base and the next hole, and while thinking about how to make a shot, he gloated: "Who made your kid greedy and want to do two things at once?" ”

"My grandson also wants to do it one by one, but it's easy to open the sea alone? I can't find a breakthrough, and I can't make a force. Zhao Hao said with a depressed face: "The key is that even if you open the sea with your milking strength, there is no reason to exceed the standard of Yuegang - there is a limit of forty-four ships in each of the east and west oceans every year, which is a drop in the bucket!" ”

"You, just follow your father, too honest! The Fujian lepers are not as well-behaved as you, and I heard that they have played with the boat. Zhao Liben snorted and said: "After going to sea, the owner of the ship sold the goods to the maritime merchants, and then returned in a small boat, claiming that the ship hit the reef and sank, so that the ship can be used on the new ship." As for those who have something to do with the government, they don't have to be so troublesome, they can run ten times by driving a boat! ”

"The Fujian leper is not bad, the Guangdong barbarians, the government directly arranged smuggling, when did those sea lords rebel? It's simply caused by the uneven distribution of spoils! Zhao Liben made a heavy shot, made a birdie and said: "People never take the court in their eyes, and they don't make a lot of money!" ”

"Grandchildren are such people, and grandchildren can't help it." Zhao Hao smiled bitterly and touched his nose, the Ming Dynasty cultivated an official like his grandfather, and it was really over sooner or later.