Beijing and Suzhou are separated by more than 2,000 miles, and need to cross the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.

In order to communicate the connection between the north and the south, as early as 1,000 years ago, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty used the strength of the whole country to dig the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to communicate the connection between the north and the south. After the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, the canal was still unobstructed until the end of the Ming Dynasty, and it was the golden artery for the Jingshi to control the rich land in the south and obtain its grain, grass and silver supply.

Ji Qingwen and others went to Suzhou to take up their posts this time, so they also took advantage of the power of the canal to go south by boat.

Because he was the weaving admiral of Suzhou and had a special identity, the river admiral Yamen deliberately put an empty boat down the river.

The boat first went out of Beijing along the Huihe River, entered the waters of the Yellow River along the Huitong River, crossed the Yangtze River at the Jingzhou River and Hangou after crossing the Yellow River, and then took the Jiangnan Canal to reach the outside of Suzhou.

After getting off the boat, Ji Qingwen and his entourage entered the city from the Changmen Gate in the west of Suzhou, passed through the Jingsi Garden along the main road in the city, turned left to the Lion Forest, and then went all the way to the south, and crossed the front street to the front of the weaving mansion Yamen.

On the surface, Suzhou Weaving is a yamen that procures silk, porcelain and other daily necessities for the emperor, but secretly it is responsible for mastering and controlling public opinion in Jiangnan and handling confidential matters for the emperor.

These two responsibilities are very important, both openly and secretly, so of course, there are soldiers at the entrance of the yamen who are strictly guarded, and when they saw Ji Qingwen and his party coming over with a big grin, they stepped forward and shouted: "Who is coming?" Weaving the yamen heavy ground, do not approach. ”

Ji Qingwen enjoyed the scenery of Suzhou today, and he was in a good mood, and he was not like this soldier's nonsense, and said bluntly: "Weaving yamen? I came to the weaving yamen. Tell you, I am the new Suzhou weaving, and I came to take up my post. ”

The soldier was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly changed his face, and said with a smile: "I heard that the emperor sent the weaving admiral to come over, but I didn't expect the master to arrive so early, it was a villain's clumsiness, villain's clumsiness." However, weaving the yamen, the customs are still exquisite, I don't know if there is a document signed by the eunuch of the inner court? ”

Ji Qingwen grinned and said, "I don't have the documents issued by the eunuchs, only the emperor's holy decree, do you want to take a look?" ”

The soldier said "don't dare", so he asked Ji Qingwen to rest at the door for a while, and he turned around and went to the yamen to call people.

Not long after, the soldier brought a person dressed as a eunuch and bowed his hand to Ji Qingwen: "The miscellaneous family was originally a weaving eunuch of Suzhou Admiral, and his name was Guo Jing. Zaojin heard that Lord Ji came to take up his post, and he has been waiting here for a long time. The miscellaneous family will ask for peace to Lord Ji. ”

Saying that, Guo Jing immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Ji Qingwen three times.

The so-called "reach out and don't hit the smiling person", this Guo Jing's attitude is so respectful that Ji Qingwen has nothing to say, so he has to reach out and help him up.

But Li Yan said in his ear: "Brother Ji, this eunuch is just a fifth-grade internal official, although the official uniform complement is right, he dares to use the fabric color of the first-rank master without authorization." A person who is rude like this must not be a good person, Brother Ji, please pay attention. ”

As soon as he heard this, Ji Qingwen's outstretched hand immediately retracted, coughed lightly twice, and said, "Okay, you get up, take the official to see the yamen first." ”

Guo Jing was bored, so he had to support himself to get up from the ground, the smile on his face was a little solidified, and said, "Okay, then the miscellaneous family will lead Master Ji in." ”

Saying that, Guo Jing made a gesture of "please come in", and let Ji Qingwen into the yamen of the weaving mansion.

Suzhou weaving yamen is different from the ordinary government yamen, entering the gate, there is no main hall, back hall is different, but it is a large garden. This garden is only a palm-sized place, but it has built countless scenery such as ponds, rockeries, woods, paths, etc., and there are pavilions and pavilions located in it, which is particularly elegant and chic.

Although Ji Qingwen's residential area in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province is large, it can be compared with the weaving yamen in front of him, but it looks rough and stupid, full of the temperament of this nouveau riche.

So Ji Qingwen said to Guo Jing: "You eunuch will be blessed to live in such a good place." I don't think this place is inhabited, so it's just open to the people, and a chair is set up at the door, and the people who come in to see the scenery will receive ten copper coins each, and they will probably be able to earn a lot of money a month. ”

Guo Jing hurriedly smiled and said: "Lord Ji is joking, this was slowly built by the previous weaving commanders and eunuchs, and the miscellaneous family is just enjoying the shade under the trees planted by the predecessors." "Whoa—" he said, pointing to a two-story house in the distance, "over there is the small building where the miscellaneous family used to live, which was vacated a few days ago, and the adults sent someone to clean it up, and they can live in it." ”

Originally, Ji Qingwen disdained to live in the house where the eunuch lived, but from a distance, the small building was built on a high ground in the courtyard, and there was a pond in front of it, which happened to overlook the entire weaving mansion, which was really an excellent residence.

So Ji Qingwen agreed: "It's okay, I'll live over there." But I see that this yamen is full of gardens, and I don't know where the weaving mill, dyeing workshop, and embroidery workshop are. ”

Guo Jing smiled and said: "That kind of thing is noisy, dirty, and noisy, how can it be built next to the yamen?" I don't know where Lord Ji entered the city from, have you ever passed by Guanqian Street? These workshops are located on Guanqian Street. ”

Ji Qingwen nodded after hearing this, discussed a few words with Li Yan, and instructed Duo Jiugong and Xing'er to stay here to clean the room, and then asked Guo Jingqian to lead the way, accompanied by Huang Degong, left the weaving yamen and went to Guanqian Street.

After walking a few steps, everyone stopped in front of a small courtyard, the walls of this small courtyard were mottled, the gate was hidden, and there was no half of the soldiers guarding the door, Guo Jing casually pushed open the courtyard door and invited Ji Qingwen in.

After entering, Ji Qingwen found that the courtyard was not small, so he asked, "Gonggong Guo, is this the workshop?" Why is such a big yard with such a small door open? It's not convenient to get in and out. ”

Guo Jingdao: "This is a weaving workshop, and the dyeing and embroidery workshops are still next door. Because this is the weaving yamen has been purchased and expanded one after another, so although the inside is large, the door is still the original door. What, the door is opened smaller to prevent the weaver from bringing things out, right? ”

Ji Qingwen didn't answer, and said, "Okay, then you take us in for a walk." ”

Guo Jing said: "Lord Ji, it's morning, the weaver hasn't gone to work yet, and there's nothing to see in it." It's better to ask the miscellaneous family to invite you to lunch, and when the workers arrive in the afternoon, it's not too late to come back and have a look. ”

Although Ji Qingwen didn't like this Guo Jing, he also felt that what he said made some sense, and was just about to agree to his suggestion, but when he raised his eyes, he saw that there seemed to be someone moving in a workshop, so he said, "What is no one?" Isn't there a person there? ”

Guo Jing also felt strange, ran to the door of the workshop in person, pushed the door open, turned his head and replied: "Lord Ji, this person is not a weaver, it is Song Xiaolian......"

Filial piety? Isn't it another name for lifting people? What is a man doing in the weaving workshop?

Ji Qingwen was full of question marks and said, "Okay, you can invite him over, I have something to say to him." As soon as the words came out, he felt that something was wrong again, and said, "Forget it, don't invite him, let me go." ”

As he spoke, Ji Qingwen took a few steps forward, walked to the door of the workshop, probed in, and sure enough, he saw a man in his forties, who was squatting on the ground and carefully observing a loom in front of him, and from time to time he knocked here and there with the tools in his hand.

Ji Qingwen couldn't bear to disturb him when he saw this "Song Xiaolian" with such a dedicated and serious look, but Guo Jing on the side did not have such cultivation, and shouted at the throat of the male duck: "Hey, Song Xiaolian, our new weaving commander is here, why don't you come and see it soon?" ”

Song Xiaolian didn't seem to hear Guo Jing's voice, still holding the tools in his hand, fiddling with the loom, then slowly got up, moved his legs and feet, and said: "I have a reputation for raising people, why should I come to see the eunuch?" What a joke. ”

Ji Qingwen was quite arrogant when he heard his words, like an upright scholar, so he cleared his throat and said: "Filial piety, below is the new weaving commander." But I am not a eunuch, and I don't need you to see me, I just want to talk to you. ”

"Song Xiaolian" was stunned for a moment, looked at Ji Qingwen, and saw that he had a faint beard on his lips, and he was really not a eunuch, so he immediately tidied up the clothes on his body, and apologized to Ji Qingwen: "The student is abrupt." It's just that the weaving admiral has always been a eunuch, but I didn't expect the adult to be a bearded eyebrow, and the student is really rude. ”