"Sir!"

Several people stood up, their eyes unblinkingly looking at the figure that appeared at the door, tall, handsome, with a gentle smile on their faces, who else could it be if it wasn't Lian Zining?

"Sir!" Xiaoqing had already thrown herself into Lian Zining's arms, and the maids around her were stupid.

Qinglan looked at him, looked at him and looked at himself, suddenly his eyes were sour, tears were pouring down, but his heart was warm and extremely ironing.

February 28 of the fifty-third year of Zhengde.

It has been snowing heavily for two days, and there is no sunny day today, and the sky is still gloomy, and a gloom is pressing on people's hearts, making people a little breathless.

But there is also a benefit, the sudden cold and low temperature expelled the warmth, a while ago the dirt road turned snow like mud road, a foot can pull out three catties of mud, if you are in a hurry, from the warm shed outside the east gate to the capital is only 30 miles of road to get the ink for most of the day.

The two days were good, but the temperature dropped, and the road surface was frozen, and it was hard and covered with thick snow.

In the distance, the sound of broken horses' hooves and rolling wheels could be heard, and a convoy was coming from the direction of the capital.

The size of the convoy was not small, there were more than 100 knights, all fully armed, their armor was a little old, and the color on it changed from bright red to dark red, but this dark red was like the color formed after throwing cloth into blood and soaking it for a long time and then drying it in the sun. It seemed terrifying, and they sat upright on their horses. He pursed his lips and said nothing, like statues. His eyes were cold, and an invisible murderous aura seemed to be spreading. He is a man who does not know soldiers. It can also be seen that they are elite soldiers in a hundred battles, and they don't know how much blood they have under their hands.

The knights were clustered around a carriage, not small, like a small house, with four horses pulling it, but it was only large enough, but on the outside it was quite old and not luxurious.

It's just that if the capital really knows how to do it, the rich family can see it. The timber used in this carriage is extremely precious, and because of this, it is extraordinarily heavier, with a few more horse-drawn carriages.

There were two official lamps hung in front of the carriage, swaying in the cold wind, one of which read the eighth jinshi of the second class of the Jisi Branch, and the other on which was written the book of the Ministry of Soldiers.

These two official lights, taking them out, are scared to death!

The wooden sliding window made of the finest rosewood was pushed open a slit. A pair of large bright eyes peeked out, and then quickly closed the window and shrank in.

In the carriage, there is a different kind of luxury.

The four walls are made of agarwood. It is because it does not use spices, and naturally exudes a faint fragrance, refreshing people's hearts and lungs. It makes people feel very comfortable. There are some reliefs carved on the car wall, which are quaint and indifferent. The floor was covered with a fine Persian carpet, and a small table was fixed in the middle. Upholstery was placed on both sides. On the inside of the carriage, there are two raised dark compartments, which are used as pillows if they are covered with futons.

At the corners of the four walls, about three feet from the board, each has a small platform with a copper heater fixed on it, so that it is freezing on the outside but warm on the inside.

There is a layer of big golden Baixi brocade on the ground, the color is gorgeous and hot, Lian Zining only wore a white silk coat, wrapped in a big coat outside, and looked at Qinglan with a smile, Qinglan because she wanted to look outside, so her body was twisted, and the whole person knelt and crawled in the position of the window, which was like a bright moon.

Lian Zining couldn't help but reach out and gently pinched it, even if it was through the satin clothes, he only felt that the hand felt smooth and comfortable, and it was not enough to pinch it, so he reached out and pinched it heavily.

Qing Lan turned her head with a sigh, snorted softly, glanced at Lian Zining with silky eyes, and then shrank back, leaned on his arms, pouted and said, "Husband, why are you so light-hearted?" ”

Lian Zining pinched her little nose and laughed: "It's not because my good lady is coveted." ”

"Humph!" Qinglan's eyes seemed to be dripping with water, she glanced at him, exclaimed, and covered her mouth in disbelief: "Husband, what's wrong with you, ...... again"

"Little Biesheng is newlywed!" Lian Zining laughed lewdly, hugged her in his arms, and then turned over and pressed up: "Good lady, let us go to Wushan again, cloud and rain." ”

"Don't, don't!" Qinglan's face was red, and she whispered, "There are still people outside!" ”

"What are you afraid of? You don't know how tight this car is, but it's screaming inside, and you can't hear anything outside. Lian Zining smiled, his hand had already reached into Qing Lan's obscene pants, and he bent his fingers so lightly.

Qing Lan suddenly shuddered, and a deliberately suppressed moan came out of her throat.

She has a sensitive physique, and she has been separated from Lian Zining for a long time, and this is the time when her love is intense, and she is so slightly teased, there is a kind of coolness that is almost like flying into the sky.

Lian Zining smiled and stepped forward.

It's another cloud and rain.

After half an hour, Fang Ziyun stopped raining.

Lian Zining leaned lazily on the cushion, Qinglan leaned on his arms, her face flushed, panting slightly, like a kitten, with fragrant sweat on her forehead and her hair wet.

When Lian Zining returned home, everyone was naturally extremely happy and surprised, needless to say. When asked, Lian Zining just said that he missed his family, and it happened that there were Khan kings of the northeast and Jurchen envoys who made a pilgrimage to the Son of Heaven, so he came back with everyone and came to meet him secretly. Kang Su's three daughters did not doubt him, Qinglan knew, but she would not say it.

The family happily ate a meal, talking until late at night, and when it was time to rest, Lian Zining wanted to sleep together, but Qinglan was so thin-skinned how to agree, just dropped a sentence I will go back to rest first and run away, but Xiaoqing and Kang Su really thought about him, and half-pushed and half-pushed, so they also tricked Lian Zining into bed.

One night ridiculous. Lian Zining tasted the taste of tenderness.

On the twenty-seventh day, I spent a good day at home. Good students accompanied them for a day.

Of course, the news of Lian Zining's return home. It's top secret, he even sneaked in with Liu Liangchen and then sneaked into the inner house, only Qinglan and the others and the few personal maids in the inner house knew about it. Even Zining had already focused on those maids, and gave an order, if anything was wrong, he would be killed immediately.

He has always been cautious in his work, but he is not afraid of leaking rumors.

On the twenty-eighth day, early in the morning, he asked people to go to the Shangshu Mansion of the Ministry of War to borrow the official lamp, and then went out of the east of the city surrounded by these veterans of the Wuyi Army who stayed in the Jingnan camp.

There are these people to guard. Even Jiang Bin's Jinyi Wei is not enough to see a thousand households, not to mention that people are coming and going on the business road to the east, and he doesn't dare to do it openly at this time.

For such a time alone, Lian Zining also made up for Qing Lan well, and after a few clouds and rains, Qing Lan's body was so soft that she couldn't even move her little finger.

Lian Zining gently rubbed her hair, sighed suddenly, and said in a low voice: "Qinglan, I'm not at home these days. I'm sorry for you. ”

"Our family, why bother saying these unseemly words." Qinglan smiled gently, and leaned into Lian Zining's arms again: "As long as the husband is still thinking about these women in our family, how bitter it is." It's all worth it. ”

Lian Zining gently pinched her face: "Don't worry, the situation will change soon." ”

Qinglan is such a smart woman, naturally she understands what it means. Immediately sat up, looked at Lian Zining and said, "Husband, what do you mean?" ”

Her voice trembled with excitement. Looking at Lian Zining's eyes, they were full of expectations and hopes.

Lian Zining smiled: "Many words. Guarding a few of them, I can't say anything, but I can tell you, after all, you are the eldest woman, you are the main room, and when I am not there, you have to make up your mind. Qinglan, do you know your husband's ambitions? ”

Qing Lan looked at him, the light in her eyes flowed, and she suddenly smiled: "Are you finally willing to tell me what is in your heart?" ”

Lian Zining smiled bitterly: "I wanted to tell you before, but I was afraid of scaring you." ”

"We are husband and wife, between husband and wife, what can't be said? As a monarch in this life, I will bear everything you have, and I will support you in whatever you do. No matter how perverse that idea is. Qing Lan smiled lightly, leaned into Lian Zining's ear, and whispered: "Of course I know my husband's ambition, my husband wants to be that, above everyone, Ninety-Five Supreme!" ”

"That's right!" Lian Zining smiled faintly: "This time, for my husband, I took advantage of the general trend of leveling the Haixi Jurchens and forcing the Jianzhou Jurchens, and led the Northeast Khan Dynasty to worship the Son of Heaven, and laid out everywhere, which was the opportunity for the White Lotus Sect to suddenly erupt, and finally succeeded in abolishing the governor of Nuergan and sat on the throne of the commander of the capital of Nuergan. ”

Qinglan pursed her lips and smiled: "I know this, now this news is spreading all over the capital, saying that you are already the first feudal official of the Ming Dynasty." ”

"That's true." Lian Zining said: "This is the turning point for the husband. This slave is in command of the envoys, and the five generals under his command have jurisdiction, and I myself have two of them, holding hundreds of thousands of male soldiers, and even better is that it is far away from the Beijing Division, it is easier to control, and I have come to this point, and the position under the butt of the husband is equivalent to sitting firmly, and if the court wants to move me in the future, I have to risk breaking my muscles and bones, and the world will be in chaos. ”

Lian Zining held her hand, word by word, and said solemnly: "After coming back this time, outside Beijing, I have already made an oath that I will never put you in danger again." This time I brought you out to make sure that you were safe. ”

The convoy continued to move eastward, and along the way, there were convoys of scholars, civil officials, and businessmen who saw the two official lights and these knights, and they were all shocked to give way and hide aside, and some even knelt on the side of the road to kowtow, and the road conditions were not difficult to walk, so that by the evening, they had arrived in Wuqing.

Wuqing is almost located between Tianjin and Beijing, 60 miles to Beijing in the west, and only more than 30 miles to Tianjin Sanwei in the east, which is the main transportation route between the two.

Wuqing belonged to Youzhou in ancient times, called Yongnu County, from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was a frontier, and it became an inland country in the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, this area was quite a remote and impoverished area before the Sui and Tang dynasties, but later with the excavation of the Grand Canal, it also became important. Since the Sui Dynasty, Youzhou has been an important frontier town to resist the Turks, and Youzhou is vast and sparsely populated. The products are not abundant, and they are transported to Tianjin by canal or sea with rice, silk and bamboo, tea sugar and all kinds of things from the south of the Yangtze River. Then it was transported to Youzhou and the important town of Biansai through the Lu River and Ji Canal. At the same time, the cultivated cattle, war horses, leather, and medicinal herbs in the north of the Saibei. Yongnu County, that is, Wuqing County, is rich in fish, salt, iron, jujubes, chestnuts, silk cloth, etc., also arrived in a steady stream of the capital Chang'an and Jianghuai areas.

In the Two Song Dynasty, this place was once deserted, and in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, it was prosperous again.

Especially after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing, and there are so many dignitaries and dignitaries in Beijing, so many people, if you just rely on the output around Beijing, I am afraid that people will starve to death every year. Moreover, the demand for various luxury goods and other goods in the south of the Yangtze River in the capital is very large, all of which depend on the canal for transportation.

The canal is south and north, must go to Tianjin Wei, from Tianjin Wei to the north, must go to Wuqing. In the twenty-third year of Zhengde, the imperial court also set up a banknote customs in Wuqing, with an annual tax of nearly 200,000 taels of silver, which can be regarded as a source of wealth.

Leaning on the Grand Canal, a great river of gold and silver. It can be said that the important towns on both sides are all stained with light, Wuqing is no exception, I don't know how many merchants come from the south to the north, and there are a lot of cargo ships that stop here every day to rest or come down to buy or directly unload the goods here. It is because this county town is not big, but it is full of people coming and going. Extremely prosperous.

The city is also full of shops, and it is a bustling scene.

Lian Zining's convoy entered the city. Naturally, it caused a great sensation, after all, Wuqing is a small place. Where have you ever been such a big official? Moreover, with these cavalry guards, these businessmen are all from south to north, and their eyes are quite vicious, so they can naturally see whether they are fake or not.

Before entering the city, he alarmed the Wuqing County Order and the General Office of the Banknote Customs, which was only a seven-product order, and the General Office of the Banknote Customs was subordinate to the Ministry of Households, and it was only the head of the Ministry of Households, but only six products. These two are considered to be the masters of one side in the realm of Wuqing, and they are the kings and hegemons, but at this time, they are Bi Gong Bijing Before coming to the convoy, he first kowtowed, and then he confessed, saying that he didn't know that the distinguished guests were coming, and they were far away to welcome Yunyun.

At this time, the steward of a Dai Mansion who came with the team came forward and said, saying that my family is still driving with Yue, but this time it is a noble person in the mansion who has come, but he wants to see what business can be done here, and he does not need to be too polite.

Guest?

The Wuqing County Commander and the head of the household department looked at each other, and thought about it, the military department Shangshu Dai is just a daughter, what other distinguished guests are there? It's just that this lady who married Wu Yibo as his wife and was canonized by the imperial court is also a character who can't be provoked.

After welcoming them into the largest and most luxurious inn in Wuqing County, he confessed and left.

The convoy was quite large, and the inn was all booked, and some of the guests who had lived in the original were also persuaded by the store's kind words, of course, it is needless to say that they lost a sum of money. The businessmen who were kicked out were naturally very dissatisfied, and some of them with backgrounds were quite arrogant and lit up their backstage, but after seeing the two official lights, they all turned into stuffy gourds and left in a hurry without saying a word.

Even those Jinyi Wei spies who had been staring at this convoy all the way did not notice that from this large convoy, a carriage was also quietly separated, and three or four men dressed in gray cotton jackets like ordinary rich family entourages blended into the flow of people, and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

The carriage left Wuqing County and continued south.

The men around him were dressed very ordinary, and even a little tattered, but in fact, they were the best players in Wu Yi's army, and the veterans and soldiers who were killed on the battlefield also had more than a dozen lives under their hands.

And in that carriage, the people sitting were naturally Lian Zining and Dai Qinglan.

Lian Zining knew that if he came out with such fanfare, he must have been watched by someone from Jinyiwei, but at this time, without Jiang Bin in charge of affairs in Beijing, they would not dare to make their own decisions, even if they stared, the intensity would not be too great. And Lian Zining deliberately led them to the direction of Wuqing, and asked them to investigate in Wuqing, and they couldn't find out the reason for the investigation.

And Lian Zining is with Dai Qinglan who has quietly gone out of the city.

Their destination was Tianjin Wei.

Tianjin Wei is not far from Wuqing, and the road condition is very good, although it is already night, but there are still a lot of businessmen on the road back and forth. Not far from the official road is the Grand Canal, the water is sparkling at night, and the big boats are almost connected from end to end, and the river flows endlessly, which is extremely lively.

In the middle of the day, that is, at eight o'clock in the evening, I arrived at Tianjin Wei.

If you want to talk about commercial cities, Tianjin Wei here can be said to be the first in the entire northland.

Tianjin has been stretching for a long time, and at the time of the Xia Dynasty, it belonged to Jizhou. At the time of the Zhou Dynasty, it belonged to Youzhou. At the time of the Warring States Period, it belonged to the Zhao State and the Yan State. During the Western Han Dynasty, it belonged to Yuyang County.

And the real development of this area began since the opening of the Grand Canal of Emperor Yang of Sui.

Tianjin's natural conditions are quite superior, the plain is vast and deep, the river is dense, known as the lower tip of the nine rivers, there are more than 300 large and small rivers, among which the Haihe River is the most, and the east flows into the sea. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao levied more than 100,000 people, excavated canals, and changed more than 300 large and small rivers on the Haihe Plain from diverting into the sea to unifying all flows, and initially formed a fan-shaped Haihe River water system. Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty ordered the digging of the Grand Canal with a total length of nearly 3,000 li to connect the Haihe River, the Yellow River, the Huai River, the Yangtze River and other water systems, laying the foundation for Tianjin's status as a shipping hub extending in all directions, and providing unique conditions for Tianjin's development.

The south goods are transported to the north, and the north goods are transported to the south, all of which pass through Tianjin.

After the middle of the Tang Dynasty, Tianjin has become a wharf for the northern transportation of rice and silk from the south.

During the Song and Liao dynasties, the Haihe River was called the "Boundary River" at that time, and it was the border of the Liao and Song dynasties. To the north of the Haihe River, it belongs to Wuqing County, the capital of Liaoyou; To the south of the Haihe River, it belongs to the Northern Song Dynasty, Gaoyangguan Road, Qianning Army and Cangzhou Qingchi County. The Song Dynasty set up many military strongholds south of the Haihe River - "Zhai" and "Pu", such as Nigu, Shuanggang, Sannu, Nanhe, Shawl, Duliu, etc., to prevent the Liao army from moving south.

In the second year of Jin Zhenyou, the Jin army occupied the entire north of the Huai River, set up "Zhigu Village" in this place, and sent the capital to complete Yan You, and the deputy capital to complete Yan to bite and defend, and the name of "Zhigu" began to see the historical books, and Tianjin also became an important military town in southern Jinan.

In the nineteenth year of Yuan to Yuan, Haicao was opened, and Zhigu became a hub for transportation, for which a special transportation hall and Linqing Wanhu Mansion were set up in Dazhigu; And built a granary such as Zhigu Guangtong warehouse. In the first year, the east and west temples of Tianhou Temple were built in Dazhi and Sanchakou respectively. Salt brine gushed out in the area of Hou Sanchagu, and 18 households such as Gao Song and Xie Shi were allowed to set up stoves to cook salt here; Two years later, the "Sanchagu Division" and the "Dazhigu Division" were set up to manage the Zhigu Salt Farm.

Yuan Yanyou set up "Haijin Town" in direct estimation in the third year, and ordered the deputy commander to make Boyan guard.

During the Jin and Yuan dynasties, due to the establishment of the capital of Beijing, the transportation of goods between the north and the south was more frequent and the volume was also larger, and Tianjin began to develop.

In the second year of Jianwen, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, raised troops to fight for the throne with his nephew Zhu Yunwen, and led his troops to cross Henan Factory from Zhigu and attack Cangzhou. Jianwen captured Nanjing in the fourth year, seized power, and changed the yuan to "Yongle" the following year.

On November 21 of the second year of Yongle, he set up a guard in Zhigu, and ordered Huang Fu, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, Chen Xuan, the secretary of Pingjiang, and the commander of Lingyun and Huang Gang, the commander of Tongzhi, to build a city here, and gave the name "Tianjin", which means "the place where the Son of Heaven crosses the river".

On December 9 of the second year of Yongle, Tianjin Left Guard was set up, and on November 8 of the fourth year of Yongle, the right guard of Qingzhou was changed to Tianjin Right Guard.

There are 5,600 soldiers per guard, and 16,800 soldiers for the three guards in Tianjin, which shows that this place appeared as a military city at the beginning, but after the Yongle Emperor established the capital Beijing, Tianjin has been greatly developed. Not to mention anything else, just one thing - the transshipment of grain, the opening of the Cao transport, whether it is Haicao or Hecao, the grain in the south of the Yangtze River has to be transported to Kyoto through the Haihe River, after the establishment of the capital Beijing, the task of transporting grain in Tianjin is more arduous.

In the tenth year of Xuande, the imperial court set up a special agency to manage the transportation of water in Tianjin, and at that time, there were 10,000 grain ships on the Grand Canal, and five or six million stones of grain were transferred, and the prosperity scene was breathtaking.

After Zhengde opened the sea for 25 years, Tianjin began to develop at an astonishing high speed.

Due to natural geographical reasons, the merchant ships of North Korea, Fusang and other countries mostly drove ships into the Haihe River, and then docked in Tianjin.

Even many Franco, Dutch, and even merchant ships from the South Seas docked here.

But anyone who wants to go to the north to do business must choose to go ashore in Tianjin. (To be continued.) )