The third day of the second month of the fifth year of Tongzhi, the capital.

The weather is still extremely cold, but the wind has turned the direction, the south wind blows, the cold with a trace of warmth, a light snow on the twentieth day of the first month, a few days, it has been finished, Zuoku Hutong, a black lacquered door, the yard planted two spring plums, these days is the spring breeze letter, red and green plum blossom bones are full of branches, dotted with a small courtyard to add a lot of joy.

A young man in a cotton suit took a book, sat comfortably under the shade of the sky, and sat down peacefully in the warm sunshine of early spring, which was his rare rest in the past few days, so he was ready not to go out, just painting and drinking tea was enough.

A young woman walked over and smiled at the young man, "Master." ”

"Well, the eldest brother sent it out?"

"Yes, this son is practicing calligraphy at Mr.'s place," the young woman's face appeared worried, "Master, I don't know whether I should say this or not, people outside are talking a lot, saying that they are going to the foreign school to learn those foreign devils' things, but in the future, they will break out of the door, do not recognize their ancestors, do not be filial to their parents, just let the eldest brother go to learn the Four Books and Five Classics, why let him go to any elementary school and learn those foreigners' things!" ”

The young man smiled dumbly, "Madam, when did you become so shallow-eyed?" Your daily interactions are nothing more than the wives of your husband's colleagues in the Hanlin Academy, and these people," the young man snorted slightly, "are not good people. Of course, being a husband doesn't mean that they have a bad character, it's just, hey, they are moving against the trend, so naturally they can only say these gossips. ”

Although the young woman didn't speak, the melancholy on her face still lingered, and the husband laughed, "Madam, why do you have to worry about this, not to mention that this Western astronomical and geographical arithmetic will not make people forget their roots, even if there is this risk, isn't this still for Mr. to take to learn the Four Books and the Five Classics?" Since I set up this elementary school a few years ago, you haven't seen that the gentleman here also teaches the Four Books and the Five Classics, but you are blindly worried, so you go to study for half a day every day. If it weren't for the fact that your husband was on an errand in the Hanlin Academy, where you had a little face, you would have thought that it would not be easy for your eldest brother to go to that school! ”

"I know, isn't it true that the emperor and a cadre of the clan are going to school in it?" When the young woman said this, her face showed brilliance, "Although I don't come every day, I am a classmate with the emperor." ”

"That's right," the young man said with a smile, "although our family doesn't expect to climb the dragon and attach the phoenix, but with this Tao here, it can't be wasted." You don't have to worry, this matter of foreign affairs was decided by the Queen Mother, I, Tanhua, was also hand-picked by the Queen Mother, how did I write the article of the Spring Festival back then, Madam, you know, and some of the same years who were deposed. You will know the determination of the center and the meaning of the holy will of the Queen Mother. ”

The young woman nodded silently, "What the master said is that I have short-sightedness. ”

"Madam, you are worried about the eldest brother, don't worry, you can't be wrong."

The two of them talked about the trivial matters at home again, and the young woman said happily, "These days, there is a new Haihe cloth shop in Beijing, which is nothing unusual, but the strange thing is that the cloth of this Haihe cloth shop is exactly the same material as the cloth imported from foreigners, and the dense is not as good as it, and the price is a few points cheaper, it is really good, I have bought a good horse, and I am ready to make a piece for the lord and the eldest brother and sister in a few days." ”

"Oh?" The young man became interested, "What is it?" ”

"It's cotton cloth, I heard that it's still the cotton that we are out of here in Zhili, and it was shipped to Tianjin Wei, the guy in this cloth shop has a fast mouth, and he said that it was also spun by a foreigner's machine, but this boss is from Jiangsu, this price is cheap, and there are many people who buy it."

"After so many years of foreign affairs, in the end, some things that benefit the people have come out." The young man put down the book in his hand, "In the past few years, we have been running ordnance and cannon ships, and in the final analysis, it will not benefit the people. ”

The young woman didn't know much about these, "I don't understand these, but I just know that there are a lot of foreign goods on the market today, foreign matches, clocks, foreign flour and this foreign cloth, although it is strong and durable, but after all, the price is a little expensive, ordinary people are afraid that they can't afford much, and now this Haihe cloth shop is top-notch, and it is a lot cheaper." Sir, when you were watching the government at the Prime Minister's Yamen, you didn't have so many foreign things. ”

"It's only been two years, and this new thing has sprung up." The young man smiled, the two of them talked and laughed, and after a while, an old man came over and said, "Huang Bianxiu is here." ”

"Hurry up, please." The young man stood up, and a tall young man in his early thirties, known as Huang Bianxiu, came in and waved to the man: "Xiaoda." ”

"Brother Shulan." The man who was called Xiaoda smiled back, and the young woman also bowed to Huang Bian, and said to the two people: "I'll go down first and see if the newspaper has arrived." ”

"Please take care of yourself." Huang Bianxiu sat down with the male host, "Xiaoda, you are so talented, can you still sit down this time?" ”

"Hahaha, Zhidong is a mediocre person, how can he be called a great talent, Brother Shulan has won the award." It turned out that this person was Zhang Zhidong. (To be continued......)