In March, the light rain is like a crisp, which is the benefit of spring in a year.

The city of Hangzhou is shrouded in a misty mist, and the small bridge, black canopy, and pedestrian cornices are looming, and the mountains and rivers are cloudy.

A sedan chair is slowly moving forward on the bluestone road.

The new tweed sedan chair is exquisitely decorated, and the sedan body and windows are all exquisite, and it is the self-use of large families at a glance. The four sedan chair bearers wore the same muslin coats, their steps were neat, they cooperated tacitly, and they were obviously well-trained.

Leading the way in front of the sedan chair are two tall and strong, cross-faced, and clothed in silk brocade; The long entourage and the little servant who followed behind the sedan chair held the umbrella of the four gentlemen made in Suzhou, and they were also full of silk.

This line of extravagant teams with the words "Poor Ghosts Retreating" written on their faces is walking on the bluestone road outside the Taiping Square at the moment. Located in the Taipingfang of Shangcheng District of Hangzhou, the rich families gathered, the official gentry gathered, so there are often people on the street to repair, the bluestone road is smooth and smooth, a group of people walk very quickly in the light rain, not long after, the sedan car turns into a side alley on the side of the road.

This side alley is called Guliu Lane, and there is an old willow at the mouth of the alley. The alley is lined with five high walls, and there are only four households in the whole alley...... This is called one body and four households, which sounds slightly lower, and it is not as good as the two households in later generations.

The speaking team came to a vermilion lacquer door, and at this time, the door had already opened the side door, and some were responsible for coming up to greet them, and some were responsible for returning to the house, cheering up and drinking: "The master is back to the house......

The sedan chair did not stop all the way, smoothly turned into the side door, and came to the sedan hall.

Chang Sui bowed down next to the sedan door at this time and said softly: "Master, you have entered the mansion." ”

After hearing the sound of "um" in the sedan car, Chang Sui gently rolled up the sedan curtain, and there were two people behind the sedan car at this time with an extremely tacit understanding and slightly lifted the sedan pole: Huang Ping Huang Zhicheng, the thirty-third man of the Hangzhou Township Test in the seventh year of the Apocalypse, walked out of the sedan chair.

At this moment, he is wearing a black gauze square scarf, wearing Su Fang's jade-colored lake silk sleeves, with a pendant hanging from his waist, a sachet on his waist, and a jade ring on his fingers.

After the old man got off the sedan chair, he entered the mansion all the way under the greeting of the big housekeeper of the Huangfu who heard the sound. Along the way, the stewards, servants, nurses, mothers-in-law, servants, and maids in the house stood in front of the door and stood solemnly and solemnly, waiting for the lord to return to the house.

The main house of Huangfu is three, there are seven or eight partial courtyards on both sides, and there are two gardens in the back house, one large and one small, covering a vast area, and the style is extraordinary.

Master Huang didn't squint, followed by the housekeeper, the long follower, and the little servant, all the way through the door of the three houses, and returned to the study of the inner house. As soon as they entered the house, four or five maids dressed in flowers and butterflies began to serve the old man to change clothes and wash, and serve water and tea.

After Huang Ping washed his face, he changed into a plain muslin soft robe, put on a pair of straw slippers under his feet, came to the back room, and tried that the water in the celadon tea bowl on the table was still hot, so he picked up some letters and famous posts on the table and read them one by one.

......

In the past six months after Huang Zhicheng was lifted, he has gradually adapted to the current life of being a master. Just like those who became popular overnight in later generations, all of a sudden your every move is watched...... The feeling of suddenly living in the spotlight was really not so easy to adapt to at first.

Fortunately, there is still a difference between the Ming Dynasty and later generations, and Master Huang soon found that he didn't need to worry about anything: in his own mansion, he was the emperor, and he controlled the life and death of more than 100 people in this house.

......

In the late Ming Dynasty, due to population growth, a large number of unemployed people from rural areas moved into the cities, and the social environment underwent drastic changes. In the Jiangnan area, even if it is a cold vegetarian family, they are the same "shame to wear cloth", "there is no burden of rice at home, and gorgeous clothes and fresh shoes".

At the same time, the trend of slavery in society was on the rise, and it was common for middle and lower classes to hire slaves, not to mention the gentry. It is common for wealthy families to have thousands of servants in their homes.

After Huang Zhicheng was promoted, according to the orders from the senior officials, he began to take root in Hangzhou step by step and establish his own connections.

To take root, the first thing is to live.

Because Master Huang has more "friends" in the three mountains and five mountains, it is estimated that there will be no fewer strange things in the future, so Master Huang's house must not be too small. Although theoretically these friends will not bother him, they must be prepared...... In case the brothers want to open Hangzhou City one day, how can it be said that Master Huang's family can also ambush a company?

In line with this principle, after Huang Zhicheng was promoted, he began to officially live in Hangzhou City. Fortunately, at this time, there is no need for the master to suffer by himself, the newly hired housekeepers, stewards, and the box office teeth are running around the city, and it didn't take a few days for Master Huang to take down the mansion in Guliu Lane.

The house is in Shangcheng District, which was taken down from the hands of a master of Zhishi, covering a vast area and suitable for Huang Zhicheng's requirements. After taking over the house, he spent a lot of money to decorate the house, which also contained some seemingly ordinary, but actually very meaningful changes.

After moving into the house, Huang Zhicheng hired more than 100 people of all kinds to fill the façade. With such a large house, more than 100 people are a little shabby in theory, but Master Huang died early and has no owner in the back house, so at the moment, this point will be enough.

While buying a house and adding property, Huang Zhicheng's most important job has certainly not been left behind: traveling.

Master Huang, who is tasked with spying on the social intelligence in the Jiangnan region, has put a lot of energy into the work of ushering in the send-off, making friends and entertaining. Since the same year of the imperial examination, Master Huang has used these original relationship networks to expand his contacts step by step.

Today, I came back from the outside world because he went to the art club early in the morning to socialize and returned in the evening.

......

Huang Zhicheng spent a cup of tea, and after reading the two letters and some famous posts on the table, he turned his head and ordered the maid to summon the housekeeper in.

The housekeeper's surname is Wu Mingzhi, who is in the year of not being confused, with a round face, and he is festive when he looks at it.

Hangzhou, a city in the Ming Dynasty with an extremely developed service industry, was just like New York in later generations, and the high-end service industry market had long been formed.

Like Wu Zhi, a professional manager who has the ability to manage a big house, Huang Zhicheng came to seven or eight as soon as he was promoted that day. There are self-recommended wild roads, and there are also regular soldiers holding a letter of recommendation from a certain master - the triennial township test is also a carnival in the service industry market, and a scholar from a poor family like Master Huang, once he is promoted, he will properly change his household, recruit troops, and configure a full set of subordinates - the so-called give me a lifter, and I can create a family......

Steward Wu is such a professional manager. He is a native of Hangzhou, and his father and brother are housekeepers, that is to say, the whole Wu family is a housekeeper, and the so-called family is knowledgeable...... It's a bit of a tongue-twisting statement. In fact, Steward Wu used to work as an errand boy in a big family in Suzhou Prefecture, and later encountered a career ceiling - any smart person would not arrange a housekeeper position for his younger brother when his brother was the manager.

Steward Wu then failed to compete with the housekeeper of the outer house. Of course, this was a non-war crime, and the lord's family also wrote a beautiful letter of recommendation for him at that time to find a job.

After investigating the background of Steward Wu, the newly released Huang Xiaolian felt that this person was very suitable for the current situation: Master Huang is different from those dicks who are lifted in the other cases, Master Huang does not lack silver, nor does he lack all kinds of ruthless methods, what he lacks now is connections.

People like housekeepers and Shaoxing masters are all the same concept, belonging to an important class that connects the upper and lower levels, and the head snake from a housekeeper family like Steward Wu is exactly what Master Huang needs, so Steward Wu went to work.

......

"Those countrymen haven't left yet?" After Steward Wu entered the inner room, before he could salute, the old man asked him.

"Back to the master, I haven't left, I'm nesting in the changing room." Steward Wu looked straight at this time and stood up.

The reason why the crossing people chose Huang Ping, a poor Xiucai, to replace him was because Huang Xiucai's family died and had no relatives. However, when Master Huang was promoted, the good news was transmitted back to Taizhou, and the few broken villages under Tiantai Mountain began to come to Hangzhou - all kinds of so-called relatives, all kinds of so-called friends, all kinds of so-called fellow villagers......

Master Huang, who originally had a ghost in his heart, naturally would not meet these people who came to fight the autumn wind. It's not that I'm afraid of showing flaws in my appearance: in this era when his face is full of wrinkles at the age of 30, Huang Ping, who has been away from home for more than ten years, will not recognize these so-called old villagers even if he passes by.

Huang Ping is afraid of some other uncertain factors, such as accidentally saying the wrong identity of what family members were back then. Besides, is it necessary for Master Huang to come into contact with these mud legs? Is it so nice to see the face of the old man?

Steward Wu knew his master's attitude towards these neighbors. As far as he guessed in private, it was about when the old man left his hometown that year, and what was the trouble with these villagers...... It is said that after the old man buried his forgotten wife, the land was sold on the spot, and he never returned to his hometown.

"Now retribution is coming, you bastards!" Steward Wu was standing in the room at this time, seemingly expressionless on his face, but in fact, he was secretly refreshed. From his point of view, his lord's attitude towards the township is the best...... Otherwise, what if a second fool from Taizhou came and became the master's henchman one day?

"Alas, let's just follow the old rules, or arrange people to manage Zhao." Huang Zhicheng thought about it, but there was still no good way. These dog skin plasters can't be killed, and they can't be scolded, and they are afraid that they will ruin their reputation and affect the "personality" they have worked so hard to establish, so they can only be handed over to Zhao Steward.

Steward Zhao is Zhao Wutian, the bandit of Pingfeng Mountain back then, and now he is an inconspicuous steward of Huangfu.

Steward Zhao is the only person in the Huang Mansion who knows the true identity of the master. As a bridge between Huang Zhicheng and Hangzhou Station, Zhao Wutian has a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, and all matters related to crossing the crowd, it is inconvenient for Master Huang to come forward, and Zhao Wutian will come forward to handle it on weekdays.