As the backyard of the Ye Mansion began to become harmonious, at least on the surface, the wife faction and the concubine faction were no longer as tense as they were at the beginning, so the porter Tao Qian also withdrew his resignation and continued to serve as the porter of the Ye Mansion.

The two factions are still distinct, Liu Qingyan and Zhong Qing are one faction, Bai Chun and Yan Qingcheng are the other faction, but Ye Daguan no longer has to suffer from splint anger.

The Yuan Day of Lin'an City is naturally very lively, with the streets of Yujie as the main street, Da Wazi and other places, including West Lake, Wulin Gate and other noisy markets, it is still like every Yuan Day in the past, and there is a festive and peaceful atmosphere everywhere.

Literati, fair ladies, businessmen, pawns and officials, as if they were all looking forward to the first day, all with joy and excitement on their faces, wearing new clothes that have been prepared for a long time, or placing friends and relatives, or playing in groups of three or five.

Even at the foot of the Phoenix Mountain, because of the late and old age of the Emperor Taishang, the palace that looked a little dull before the first day was as if it had received auspicious luck from the sky.

Lin'an is as lively as in previous years, and Yangzhou has also undergone great changes in this year's Yuan Day, which was as bland and tasteless as swallowing water in previous years, has been greatly improved this year.

In particular, the tall and thick city wall that stands up makes the whole Yangzhou feel confident all of a sudden, so that Yangzhou City is also full of lights, pedestrians laugh and laugh, and auspicious words are heard everywhere.

Whether it is Goolan Tile House, or the Tavern Inn, it is much more lively than the Yuan Day of previous years, and the oblique wind drizzle building that is the leader of Yangzhou has moved the Goolan Tile House to the place near the Twenty-Four Bridge between the Yuan Day, and with the addition of some traders and Jianghu artists, it has formed a lively place like a bazaar.

Legend has it that there are twenty-four singers in the Tang Dynasty, one by one is charming, the body is light, once came here to play the flute on the moonlit night, happened to meet Du Mu, one of the singers specially folded the plain flower to offer, please Du Mu poems.

So there is the poem: "On the moonlit night of the twenty-four bridges, where does the jade teach". As a result, the Wujia brick bridge has become synonymous with the 24th bridge.

Liu Qingyan was extremely happy today, she didn't expect that Ye Qing would come here to see herself.

So in the teahouse in the corridor pavilion with Ye Qing, I found a table facing the river and sat down, and told Ye Qing about the origin of the Twenty-four Bridges and the current grand scene.

Crowds of people and noisy voices are endless, and colorful red men and green women are either watching the bridge and admiring the river, or bargaining with the vendors like in the bazaar, or watching the story of the talented and beautiful woman being performed in Goolan Washer from afar.

Just like the scene on the Qingming Riverside map, even if you move to Yangzhou at this time, it is also applicable, as far as the eye can see, it is crowded with people, or it is a sedan chair with a top, and a carriage at the upper and lower bridges do not give way to each other.

Liu Qingyan was in a rare good mood, and her eyes were always looking at Ye Qing, who was looking at the lively scene, and occasionally revealed a trace of her little daughter's shyness and gentle attitude.

"It would be nice if we could keep doing it that way." Ye Qing looked at the light and tasteless tea, this open-air teahouse that occupied the Langting Pavilion was too picky, and it didn't prepare some good tea to sell during the festival.

"Compared with previous years, this year's Yuan Day is enough to make the people happy, safe and happy to have a hard-won Yuan Day, if you want to be like this all the time, it still depends on your Lord Ye's intentions?" Liu Qingyan mischievously joked to Ye Zhifu: "By the way, you came out today, why didn't you bring anyone with you?" ”

"Tao Qian and Song Qian accompanied them to the temple outside the city to incense ......." Ye Qing looked at Liu Qingyan, and Liu Qingyan flashed a trace of shyness on his face, bowing his head slightly without a trace, not daring to meet Ye Qing's gaze.

"Originally, I also wanted to go together, but because of the slanting wind and drizzle, the building will be ...... here today." A hint of gloom flashed in Liu Qingyan's eyes.

Ye Qing reflexively stretched out his hand to grab Liu Qingyan's hand in front of the public, but his hand just touched the back of Liu Qingyan's hand on the table, Liu Qingyan seemed to have been bitten by a snake, and shrank his hand under the table, a flush instantly rose on his snow-white cheeks, and he said angrily: "Crazy you, there are so many people, what do you want to do?" ”

Ye Qing was stunned for a moment, looked at Liu Qingyan's rare little daughter's posture, calmly withdrew her hand, and then said, "Isn't this trying to comfort you?" Now it's the first day, and you are the only one in the family who is busy, and we ....... ”

"Whoever is with you, don't be ashamed." Liu Qingyan's cheeks looked even more shy and embarrassed at this time.

It is not so much that Ye Qing ran to the Twenty-fourth Bridge to see Liu Qingyan with nothing to do today, but that Bai Chun's three daughters are creating an opportunity for Ye Qing to really invite Liu Qingyan to the door.

As for the relationship with Ye Qing, when there was just some progress, Bai Chun and Yan Qingcheng suddenly arrived in Yangzhou, so they were stillborn before they started the next great city.

And now, after Ye Qing, the head of the family, has survived several sleepless nights, he has to sleep until three poles in the morning every day, and he almost has to walk against the wall every day, whether it is Bai Chun or Yan Qingcheng, naturally Zhong Qing is the happiest, and they have begun to create conditions for Ye Qing and Liu Qingyan intentionally or unintentionally.

Even Tao Qian, the porter, looked at Lord Ye's efforts day and night, and couldn't help but sigh and persuade: "Boy, the body and bones are important, although the saint is also cloudy: eating sè, but you still have to be temperate, how can you be like you, like a hungry ghost in sè, eight lifetimes."

I've seen a woman who doesn't sleep endlessly, and the old man didn't see that when he was in the palace, he didn't see that ...... Why are you so self-motivated, not to mention that your Ye family is now in the future, you work so hard...... Could it be that all three ladies ....... ”

The porter's words were not finished, and then his left eye turned into a panda eye, and Ye Qing angrily reprimanded him for his villainous behavior, and he actually peeped into the ...... of Lord Ben's room.

The porter was punched, but he couldn't fight back, because he couldn't beat it, so he had to say angrily: "The old man still needs to peep?" As a porter, the old man naturally has to do his duty to take care of the home for Ye Qing, not to mention that your kid swaggers in pajamas every night, and then stumbles and goes back to one of the ladies' room to sleep, which is not possible with the old man's voyeurism? ”

“……。” Master Ye was speechless instantly, jumped up and broke off a Xiaoice Ling after melting snow from the eaves and handed it to Tao Qian, looking at the panda eyes in the gatehouse and said, "The ice effect is better, and the bruises go down quickly." ”

“…… The old man wants to resign. ”

"Roll as far as you want." Lord Ye turned his head impatiently and said proudly.

So today's Liu Qingyan, after Ye Qing's unremitting efforts, finally got the tacit consent of the real three hostesses in the mansion.

Liu Qingyan's heart was naturally extremely happy, but she was a little apprehensive and nervous, just like Ye Qing, who was looking at her at this time, involuntarily appeared in her mind that the situation when she first met Ye Qing was because of murder!

After throwing a few copper plates to pay for tea, Ye Qing and Liu Qingyan began to wander around the market of the twenty-four bridges as a date, just like the young scribes and fair ladies in Yangzhou City.

The 24th Bridge is in the west of the city, and the hungry people who were resettled by Ye Qing were also in the Taiping and Horse Washing Fangs in the west of the city, so the two of them walked here unconsciously, and the pedestrians on the road are also because the place is very poor, and the pedestrians are much more deserted than the 24th Bridge and other places just now.

"I've seen adults." The figure that suddenly came out of the alley startled the defenseless Liu Qingyan, and hurriedly pulled Ye Qing's sleeve and hid behind Ye Qing.

Although he was wearing a brand new shirt, it was covered with dust and so on, and even the new boots under his feet were still covered with mud, and his hair was also a little messy, and a few dead grasses still lived on it.

Seeing Ye Qing looking him up and down, Liu Keshi smiled awkwardly, hurriedly slapped the dust on his body, and then straightened his hair and said, "I'm sorry Lord Ye, the villain just wanted to see if these thatched huts were sturdy or not, so he climbed up, so ...... Thank you for your understanding. ”

"Yuan Ri is still fighting so hard?" Ye Qing stretched out his hand to help Liu Keshi pick off a dead grass on the top of his head, and then motioned for Liu Keshi to turn around, helped Liu Keshi dust off his back, and continued: "Two people will come to Yangzhou in a few days, and you will go to Guangling after the Shangyuan Festival, if there is anything, you might as well discuss it with the two of them, maybe I can give you some advice." ”

"Thank you, sir." Liu Keshi hurriedly saluted gratefully, and then said: "The villain has found out in the past few days, the terrain here is not suitable for building brick houses, and more importantly, now in Yangzhou City, especially in the days before the first day, many people have poured in, and the small people have also consulted the deputy envoy Chen Cishan Chen, and Lord Chen also sent officials to check the identities of those people, most of them are the people who left Yangzhou to escape the war, and most of these people have returned to Yangzhou from Chu, Zhen, Tai, Tong, Andong and other prefectures to ....... ”

"Why did they return to Yangzhou at this time?" Ye Qing continued to walk forward, looking at the surrounding houses from time to time, or teasing the children of the Yuan Day season who were festive but still in tattered clothes.

Liu Keshi smiled, and the whole person seemed much more confident than some time ago, and said: "Since the completion of the Yangzhou city wall, this news has spread, so these people will run back to Yangzhou, but now it is difficult to ...... Some of the houses they had when they avoided the disaster had been repossessed by the government, so the pressure on the two squares of Xima and Taiping was even greater. ”

"Can't you go back to your house if you have the deed? Or do you mean something else? Ye Qing turned his head and asked.

"The villain visited Chongguo Gong yesterday, and Chongguo Gong saw your face and allowed the villain to enter the mansion. So what the villain learned from Chongguo Gong was...... Now those houses, when Yang Jian was in office, had all been sold by the government after re-making up the title deeds, so it was impossible to get back their houses with the deeds. And the villain has been wandering around the two squares of washing horses and Taiping these days, and of course, even including the entire Yangzhou and so on. ”

Now when it comes to business, Liu Keshi seems to be much calmer and more confident than at the beginning, and the impetuousness and arrogance of being a literati have long disappeared.

Liu Keshi took out a map of Huainan East Road drawn by Ye Qing casually outside Yangzhou City from his arms, carefully unfolded it, and said: "My lord, please see, this is the map you drew at the beginning, the villain didn't believe that Yangzhou City was like this, the east is wide and the west is narrow, but after these days the villain roughly measured and judged, I found that the map you drew is still quite accurate. ”

"Don't praise me, this hasn't taken office yet, just learn to pat yourself first, it's not good." Ye Qing laughed and joked, looking at the excellent map that was kept by Liu Keshi, he was still somewhat relieved.

The edges of that map have been worn out a little bit, so it can be seen that Liu Keshi obviously took it out and flipped through it.

Liu Keshi smiled embarrassedly, and then cut to the chase: "So my lord, after comparing the map, the villain has a bold idea." ”

Liu Keshi's voice became much more serious, and it also became serious and condensed

It's a little heavier, and even the look on his face looks a little nervous because of seriousness.

"You say." Ye Qing took a deep breath, the map of Yangzhou was already in his mind, so even if he didn't look at it, he knew how the terrain of Yangzhou City was going.

"The villain thinks that if it is in the long run, it is imperative to build the outer city of Yangzhou." Liu Keshi's voice trembled a little, after all, Ye Qing not only scolded him for the first time, but even deeply hurt his self-esteem.

But it was precisely because of Ye Qing's desperate experience that he had to lock himself in his room to reflect on himself, was it really as bad as Ye Qing said?

So at this time, even if Ye Qing had already appointed him, the shadow that Ye Qing left in his heart at the beginning was still there for a long time.

"How big is it?" Ye Qing asked.

Liu Keshi's eyes lit up, he shook the map in his hand, and his tone turned into an excited tremor at this time: "To the east to the canal, to the west of the two temples, to the north to the emperor's mausoleum, and to the south of Guazhou!" ”

"Although Guazhou is a small place, it overlooks Jingkou, connects Jiankang, Jicanghai, and the big river, which is actually the throat of the north!" Ye Qing nodded with satisfaction, at this time he also had to admire this Liu Keshi, at least this person dared to think, dared to make Yangzhou a huge city, and at the same time, he could also see that Guazhou, a small land, played a strategic role in Yangzhou.

"Similarly, it is also across the river from Zhenjiang, if the Jin people commit a crime in the south, whether it is Guazhou or Zhenjiang, it can become an excellent place for my Great Song Army to attack and defend against the water, so the villain thinks that although Guazhou is far away, it must not be placed outside Yangzhou." Liu Keshi said excitedly.

Of course, Ye Qing also understood that what he said about placing it outside Yangzhou was not to completely build this place within the city walls of Yangzhou, in that case, even if Ye Qing went bankrupt and the entire Yangzhou people were exhausted, they would not be able to complete the outer city as Liu Keshi said.

But no matter what, whether it is a road or a person, Liu Keshi's implication is that it must be a confidant and a reliable person.

"Who else knows about this?" Ye Qing asked casually.

"Back to my lord, the villain only mentioned it to you." Liu Keshi said firmly.

Ye Qing let out a long sigh and glanced at Liu Qingyan, who had been silent next to him, the sweet date between the two was all disturbed by Liu Keshi who suddenly appeared, although there was regret in the heart of the beautiful woman at this time, but she was not dissatisfied.

"What about Lord Bai and Lord Ye?" Ye Qing continued to ask.

Liu Keshi pondered for a while, and finally decided to be calm, and said: "Since the adults in the suburbs of Yangzhou confessed, the villain has never revealed a word. ”

"The matter of Guazhou will be managed by you for the time being, and you will go to work immediately, as for the relevant documents, you don't have to pay attention to it, I will help you go to the ministry in person to complete it." Ye Qing took a deep breath and said, and began to wonder in his heart, after he started to reuse Liu Keshi now, would Xin Qiji's goods make fun of himself again?

"Thank you, sir. The villain must live up to the cultivation and high expectations of adults! Liu Keshi said in surprise, when it comes to the gifts between adults on the first day, children's New Year's money and other surprises, I am afraid that in the entire Yangzhou City, no one's surprise is as big as Liu Keshi's surprise on the first day of the year.

After the three of them continued to wander around the two squares of Xima and Taiping for a while, they began to walk back along the river, where there was an endless stream of boats, and from time to time the gentle and sad voice of the singer would come ashore.

Naturally, the voices of scribes and merchants are also indispensable in the bold poetry of scribes and merchants.

After signaling that Liu Keshi didn't have to follow anymore and could go back to accompany his wife, Ye Qing and Liu Qingyan finally lived a rare two-person world again.

"It's not a small amount of money to spend so much, do you really want to mobilize people like this?" Liu Qingyan frowned, her thoughts were still on the conversation between Ye Qing and Liu Keshi just now.

"It's not like you want to get a tall building overnight, whether you can do it is one thing, whether you dare to think about it is another thing, if you don't even dare to think about it, then how can you talk about rejuvenating the country and securing the country? Liu Keshi has the ambition of a literati, but he has an ambition that other literati who only focus on their careers do not have, that is, to be able to show their ideals and ambitions! Ye Qing looked at the slowly flowing boats on the river, and said to Liu Qingyan with a smile.

"How many years will it take to achieve this, it's tiring to think about." Liu Qingyan said a little depressed, after all, when she listened to it just now, she was also extremely excited, but as soon as she returned to reality, she suddenly became depressed when she thought that all of this would take time and money to pile up day by day.

"So this is what scholars lack the most, and what worries me the most: the lack of resilience. The cold window has been studying hard for more than ten years, just to set foot on the official career once, and wait for them to ...... after they really embark on the official career. Ye Qing pointed to his chest and continued: "In my heart, the breath I held back at the beginning has become slack because I have embarked on my official career. The enthusiasm for serving the country at the beginning will also be exhausted again and again because of the darkness of officialdom that they are not accustomed to, such as the deception above the court, and it will be exhausted again and again, so that they only think about mediocre and live a peaceful life in their careers, and what ideals and ambitions are left behind by them. ”

Liu Qingyan nodded thoughtfully, and then said, "Little rich is safe?" ”

"What is the reason for the literati to study hard? Is it for fame and fortune, or for the people of the world? After stepping into the official career, sooner or later his ideals and ambitions will be wiped out by reality, and there are very few people who can adhere to their ideals and never forget their original intentions. Ye Qing looked at Zhao Shichun's hand greeting Xin Qijian on the river bank not far away, and planned to pull Liu Qingyan to avoid and continue to live his two-person world.