On November 5 of the seventh year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Guozhen rarely did not run in the morning.

Xiaolian wiped her tears and pouted, her face was unhappy. Although she had long known that the little official would return north, and she had long known that the little official would not bring her when she returned north this time, she still felt extremely disappointed when this day really came.

When I go back this time, I don't know how long it will take for the petty officials to come back to Xinxiang. Although Xiaolian is accustomed to the southern climate and likes this newly built village by the sea, her favorite is to follow Yu Guozhen.

Serve him in life, watch him busy, listen to his breathing, and ...... when he sleeps Quietly kiss him on the cheek.

"Xiaolian is good, don't cry, if you cry again, your eyes will be swollen like peaches." Yu Guozhen patted her face: "Moreover, in order to wish me a smooth journey on this trip, you should laugh." ”

Yu Xiaolian smiled reluctantly, and then pouted: "Little official, I want to go back to Xiang'an with you." ”

"It's tiring to run back and forth."

"I'm not afraid of getting tired!"

"I mean, I'm tired of running with you...... Ah, don't cry, don't cry, play with you, I want you to follow, but here...... If you don't do it, who will preside over the affairs of the school? Yu Guozhen's expression became serious: "Xiaolian, you know how much I attach importance to the academy, this matter, except for you, I don't feel at ease with anyone!" ”

This is sincere, Xiaolian has followed him for six or seven years, and it can be said that she is Yu Guozhen's first student. From the initial basic literacy, to the later mathematics and arithmetic, nature courses, and even mechanics knowledge and some chemistry knowledge, Xiaolian has suffered a lot and spent a lot of energy in the past six or seven years. There are some truths that she can't understand, and she completely memorizes them, so she is the only one who can replace Yu Guozhen and teach the corresponding knowledge of the children in the school.

"Yes...... Be. Xiaolian nodded.

"Then don't shed tears, help me check my bags and see if I have everything with me." Yu Guozhen found something for Xiaolian to do.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Yu Guozhen came to the door, squinted his eyes at Xinxiang, who was still shrouded in mist, and sighed with satisfaction.

Nowadays, the original wooden house has begun to deform, and it is no longer as comfortable to live in as it was when it was first built, but it does not matter, after the school is built, the new dormitory of masonry and concrete structure will be built. The dormitory will be simpler, for example, the bathhouse and toilet are shared, similar to the tube building in later generations, and the area is also small. After that, formal apartments will be built, which will be in much better condition, but the rents will be slightly higher than the free wooden houses and dormitories that are prepared for very little rent today.

"Little official, the number of people who should return to the north this time is one hundred and seventeen, but it is one hundred and seventeen, please instruct!"

In a trance in front of Yu Guozhen's eyes, he seemed to see a large number of buildings rising from the ground, but at this moment, Qi Niu's voice came, Yu Guozhen calmed down, looked at the guards who were already neatly lined up over there, and couldn't help but smile on his face.

They were now wearing ordinary clothes, after all, they were about to start a long journey, and the official uniform of the houseguard looked a little strange. Everyone carried a package, clothes and the like and necessary supplies on their backs, and placed them in the package.

It was Xu Xiake, who also carried a small bag and stood next to him with a smile.

Shi Jingyan saw Yu Guozhen looking over, and hurriedly saluted him, Yu Guozhen nodded, and then Qi Niu ordered: "Let's go!" ”

This time, they went north, they took the inland plus river transport, first arrived in Hengzhou by land, then turned to Wuzhou by water, entered the Li River here, traced up along the Li River to Guilin, and then passed through the Ling Canal to the Haiyang River to enter the Xiangjiang River. The waterway is winding and long, but fortunately, Yu Guozhen and Xu Lin have been prepared for a long time, and they have their own transfer stations along the way, so supplies and the like are not a problem.

It took them two days to set off from Xinxiang to Hengzhou, and then they took a boat for 12 days before and after, and then they arrived at Lingqu, that is to say, it took half a month to leave the territory of Liangguang. Yu Guozhen missed the railways of later generations, even if it was just an old-fashioned steam locomotive, he didn't have to run for 14 days to leave Guangxi.

However, after entering the Xiangjiang River, the journey was much smoother, and their small fleet of six boats entered Dongting Lake in only four days, and then turned from Dongting Lake to the Yangtze River.

"It's a pity, it's a pity."

Xu Xiake reluctantly looked at the interface between Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River, it was evening at this time, the weather was clear, a round of red was shrouded in the river, half the river was sorrowful and half the river was red, and the scenery was magnificent.

"What's the pity?" Yu Guozhen said with a smile.

"Such magnificent mountains and rivers can't be said to meet, so naturally I feel a pity." Xu Xiake said: "Besides, this trip to Qinzhou, I originally wanted to go to Dali to see, the 100,000 mountains in the southwest, and I also wanted to see it, but it's a pity...... There's no time to spare. ”

He originally wanted to stay in Qinzhou and look for an opportunity to roam around Liangguang Yungui, but Yu Guozhen invited him to return to Nanzhili, and he also wanted to see how Yu Guozhen turned his hand over and saved Qian Qianyi, who was in prison, from prison.

"As long as Elder Xia takes care of his body, why can't he go and look around?" Yu Guozhen sighed slightly: "Don't say that it is Liangguang Yungui, that is, overseas countries, in a few years, I can arrange a fleet to take Xia Lao around, except for those vassal countries in Nanyang, that is, the countries of Europa where foreign monks come, Xia Lao is willing to go, it is not a big problem!" ”

"Huh?" Xu Xiake was overjoyed when he heard this, although his family background is good, but it costs a lot to travel around, and it is inconvenient to travel to and from many places, if Yu Guozhen really arranges the itinerary for him, then his ideal of traveling all over the world may really be realized!

"In short, Xia Lao has to take care of his body." Yu Guozhen said again.

"Alas, that's the case, the world is uneasy, I'm afraid it's difficult for me to travel if I want to." Xu Xiake rejoiced for a while, and then sighed again.

This is the experience of his trip to Qinzhou, when he went to follow Shi Jingyan such a technical master, he also escaped a few times along the way, when he came, almost every hundred miles, you can see the sneaky strongman, if it weren't for their many people, and they are all young and strong, they have to deal with the heroes who robbed the road.

Yu Guozhen was also very emotional: "The chaos in the world has been born, and it is the heart of the imperial court like Nanzhili, and it is not very peaceful now." ”

"Exactly ......"

Speaking of this, Xu Xiake looked at Yu Guozhen, thinking of Qian Qianyi's evaluation of this person, and couldn't help but say: "Yu Gongzi has the talent to go through the heavens and latitudes, why don't you take the road of scientific examination, if Yu Gongzi can take the scientific examination, twenty years later, I will have another one in the Ming Dynasty!" ”

Comparing Yu Guozhen with Zhang Juzheng, a famous minister of a generation, Xu Xiake is also very fond of him. Yu Guozhen smiled faintly, he shook his head: "I don't dare to be the praise of Xia Lao, the way of the scientific examination, I know it in my own heart, if I can't enter the scholar and the first, what is the use of having an identity as a lifter?" Not to mention ......"

Speaking of this, Yu Guozhen did not continue, he and Xu Xiake have discussed natural science along the way, and the two sides have indeed different friendships now, and because of the proposal of the "theory of evolution", the two have vaguely become academic allies, but academic allies are not equal to political allies.

If "I'm afraid the situation in the world won't give him twenty years to waste", Xu Xiake would be shocked by this.

After entering the Yangtze River, the river is flat and wide, and although there are wind and waves, it is really nothing for those of them who have experienced the wind and waves at sea. Therefore, from Dongting to Luzhou, it was only four days, and at this time, it was already November 26 of the seventh year of Chongzhen.

Since the Yangtze River turned into the West River, Xiang'an was in front of him, Yu Guozhen couldn't help but be a little excited, he had been away from Xiang'an for more than half a year, how was the situation in Xiang'an for most of the year?

In Xiang'an Town, Yu Yixuan's face was ashen and he was lying on the couch, while Yu Yiqin angrily put his hands behind his back and kept spinning around the room.

"Too much deception, too much deception!" He muttered to himself, tears faintly in his eyes.

Among the brothers of the Yu family, Yiqin and Yixuan are compatriots of the same mother, and their relationship has always been close, and what happened to his brother really made him very sad.

Yu Yixuan lay on the couch, hissing and inhaling the cold air, seeing his brother like this, he smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, now you know that this official is not easy to do...... It's just a mere inspection, and it looks like this......"

"What is he Shi Kefa, he dares to treat us like this, it is nothing more than Guozhen's absence...... If the country is here, if the country is here! ”

Yu Yixuan sighed: "Fortunately, Guozhen is not here. ”

The two brothers glanced at each other, and Yu Yixuan knew that if Yu Guozhen was there, Shi Kefa would inevitably lead to a strong backlash from Yu Guozhen if he persecuted them like this. Now the Yu family does have some forces, and it can even be said that they also have a certain connection with the Imperial Palace, but compared with Shi Kefa...... They know what's behind Shi Kefa, Donglin.

"If Guo Zhen is here, they may not dare to persecute our Yu family like this, right?" Yu Yiqin pondered for a while, frowned, and said, "After all, the relationship between Guozhen and the Donglin Party has never been bad. ”

"The relationship between Guozhen and Qian Muzhai is not bad, but now that Qian Muzhai is in prison, this line is basically broken." Yu Yixuan sighed: "It is precisely because Guozhen has some relationship with Qian Muzhai that Shi Kefa feels that our Yu family is a lackey for them to drive Donglin, so he came to ask for money and things...... It's just a matter of other things, we have to transfer our home guards, and we also need our family's printing lead...... If we should go down and Guozhen comes back, the first thing to do is to turn against us! ”

"Really...... It's really ......."

Yu Yiqin didn't know how to evaluate Shi Kefa for a while, Judge Shi Ke has always had a good reputation, and under Donglin's unremitting propaganda and advocacy, he is quite popular with the people, and Yu Yiqin also admitted that Shi Kefa, who has recently worshiped as the imperial history of the capital and guarded Anlu Chitai, is indeed not a corrupt official.

However, Qing officials, especially those who want to destroy the powerful to establish their prestige, always have huge contradictions with the local gentry. This contradiction erupted, and it was even more difficult to control!

(To be continued)