In order to take Shen Yue on the way, Xu Xun first told Wang Shikun that it was inconvenient for so many people to have a boat, and the Duke of Wei had chartered a big boat to come down, and he asked Wu Shouzheng to find another boat, except for a few important boatmen and sailors, the others were replaced by those under Huitong, so Shen Yue and his party were naturally not alarmed when they quietly boarded the ship from Gaoyou at night under the escort of Huitong. Li Qingniang and Ruyi pretended to be the servant girls found by Huitong who came to Xu Liang, but the little girl was dressed in men's clothes, and within two days, everyone on the boat knew that Xu Liang's nephew was raised by the family as a daughter since he was a child, and he actually fell into a sissy reputation.

It was already the end of summer, and the canal that ran through the north and south was naturally very busy. Under the sun, I saw the endless comings and goings of boats and passenger boats on the river. Although this is not the time when the Spring Canal has just thawed, but in some places where it is silted up or against the wind and water, it is still inevitable that the slender man can pull the boat to move forward, and in addition to the money customs along the road, etc., if there is no way to buy the goods, the cost of selling the goods from the south to the north is several times higher than the value of a shipload of goods.

Since Jiangdu went all the way north, it only took a month's work, Xu Xunqu counted the number of checkpoints, and there were six or seven checkpoints. If it weren't for the ship in front of it with the flag of the Duke of Wei, no one would dare to get on the ship to check, and the road would be even slower. But looking at the group of more than a dozen barefoot slender men on the shore who were shirtless and wearing only a pair of Burmese crotch pants, Xu Xun had no complaints.

At first, Shen Yue was still interested in lying on the porthole to watch the scenery on both sides of the strait, but after more than ten days, he lost the slightest interest. Especially those slender men who looked almost naked from behind, she didn't even dare to look at them. At this time, seeing that Xu Xun was concentrating on only looking over there, she couldn't help but sneer: "Hey, you've been watching for a long time, what's so good to see!" ”

"I didn't see anything, I just thought, this hot day really worked hard for them."

"Also, we've been gone for a month, not to mention hiring three slender men, it's really hard to pull fiber for them barefoot under the sun. When you go back and give money, you might as well give them two more. The little girl didn't dare to look at it, but since she was on this boat, it was already hot, and the mung bean and lily soup and so on had not been broken, thinking about people struggling to earn their lives, she nodded again and again, and then frowned and said, "I heard that the journey from Tianjin Wei to Tongzhou is even more difficult to walk, against the wind and water, and it will take five days if it is not good." ”

"If it's just us people, we won't walk so slowly, but it's easy to go to Yanjing, and the bottom bilge is not full of goods, it will be a great loss. At that time, when the ship was loaded on the dock of Nanjing, the various gifts that were being prepared on the ship of the Duke of Wei were a few boxes, but there were dozens of boxes of silk groceries and so on, and the weight was no less than those five hundred stones, how could it be fast? ”

Shen Yue knew at a young age that he would take out his private money to open a rice shop for Li Qingniang, and this trip to the capital only transferred the rice shop to Xu Zhen according to Xu Xun's instructions, which shows how shrewd people he is in his bones. Although the abacus was not at hand, she stretched out her hand into the void, and her eyes lit up for a while, and she immediately stared at Xu Xun.

"Big liar, don't just talk about Wei Guogong, don't you have anything on this boat?"

"Of course." Xu Xun smiled slyly, but he pretended to be profound, and saw that the little girl hated her teeth and stalked for a while, before he said slowly, "But I didn't bring anything like cloth and silk, but a batch of inconspicuous gadgets, and the draft was not so deep, so if it weren't for the boat in the Wei Mansion that was too slow, we should have been faster." ”

"And what exactly did you bring with you?"

Seeing Shen Yue staring at him with an incredulous face, Xu Xun explained: "I only brought a lot of bamboo and wood toys with strange workmanship, and they are not worth a few dollars when added together. There are valuable things, but they are all given by Father-in-law Fu, and I have stored in the boat of the Duke of Wei's Mansion, there are many guards over there, plus Father-in-law Fu's people have two guards there, so I am not afraid that anyone will worry about it. But these are Nanjing Shilin celebrities, such as Zhang Da Sicheng, as well as Zhang Fuhua's new poems and famous sentences, according to the original engraving, I was a month in advance, and I paid more money to order it, and it was appropriate to bring it to the capital to give it away. ”

"People give gifts and silk, but you give these worthless things?" Shen Yue almost didn't stare out of his eyes, but the next moment he suddenly came to his senses, and immediately pointed at Xu Xun and shouted, "You big liar, you are building momentum for those old gentlemen in Nanjing City, and you are also using them to build momentum for you!" You're so slippery! ”

"Thank you for the compliment!"

Xu Xun nodded with a smile, not caring at all that Shen Yue was calling himself a big liar again, and he was saying that he was slippery: "Those fathers-in-law who love money and things, Father-in-law Fu has prepared all the gifts for me, and as for some civil officials, it's really not good if they don't give them away." In this case, the courtesy is light and affectionate, and it is not the most appropriate for me to send a pen holder engraved with Zhang Weng's poems? ”

In the upper cabin near the bow, the two children were arguing; In the cabin on the same floor near the stern, two long-time friends are also arguing there. Xu Liang and Huitong have been friends for decades, so even if Huitong is almost convinced by Xu Xun, he still inevitably persuades Xu Liang to leave a way back for himself.

"How do I know that Xu Jin is a madman, and he can actually do this thing!" When Huitong was said like this, his face was a little unbearable, and he immediately slapped the table and said, "I'm not for the good of you two, those people in the long room are kept, and one day it will definitely become a scourge, it is better to use this desperate plan to get rid of it, Fu Gonggong was angry, none of them can have a good end." It was an accident, did you know about the accident? Besides, if it weren't for such an accident, would you be as comfortable as you are now? ”

"How comfortable am I, my son's ......" Xu Xun's half-cut words suddenly stuck in his throat, and he sneered angrily for a while, "If it weren't for such a coincidence, I wouldn't have settled accounts with you!" ”

"That's it, bad things are good things, if you don't find that the coffin is empty, even if you recognize each other, you will both have a mustard in each other's hearts. It's good now, it's all over, and you should thank me for it! Seeing that Xu Liangqiang turned his head and ignored him, he slapped the table coldly and said, "It's right to say that I'm the one who suffers!" According to the generation, that kid should call me an uncle, the result is good, Lao Tzu did bad things with good intentions last time, and gave him three or four times to make amends, this world is really upside down! ”

"Who made you almost ruin his big deal?" Xu Liang snorted sneered, and then turned his head, "I can tell you, when you arrive in the capital, it is the same as the previous rules, you let me let those little minions under my hands be honest, don't think that you can tremble when you arrive in the capital." There are still many people who knew you before, even if the rumors have long passed, even if the West Factory is really going to reopen in the future, you are not so easy and clever to clean the case. ”

"You don't need to say this, if it weren't for this, I think I would have chosen another path that kid gave me a long time ago, and followed Ye Guang to run errands!" Huitong angrily picked up the teacup and drank it in one go, then grinned and said, "Even if you really want to turn over and come back, if you don't get an official who is bigger than the general flag, Lao Tzu really doesn't bother to do it!" ”

When the two ends were talking lively, people everywhere on the boat suddenly felt a shock to the hull of the ship, and then slowly stopped. After a while, several people were out of the cabin. Xu Xun, who was leaning on the railing, took a look, but saw that there was another tax customs in front of him, and more than a dozen tax collectors couldn't help but stop many boats from coming down, many of which were even official ships. Seeing that he couldn't move for the time being, Xu Xun was secretly thinking about what was going on, and after waiting for a long time, the boat in front of him came over with a long plank, saying that Wang Gongzi invited him to talk.

Along the way, Xu Xun was originally worried that Wang Shikun would not be able to bear the surname and want to come, but unexpectedly, this brother-in-law of Wei Guogong actually made seasickness on the most stable Cao River, and vomited in the dark for the first few days, but now it is gradually getting better, but he still can't move casually. At this moment, Wang Shikun, who was carried to the bow of the boat on a recliner, saw Xu Xun walking steadily on the swaying plank, and after a while, he jumped to the stern of the boat and walked quickly, and he couldn't help but sigh for a while.

"This god is really unfair, why do you have nothing to do, I have to hum in the cabin?"

After complaining viciously, seeing Xu Xun handing over a bag of pickled plums with a smile, he reluctantly took it and chewed one, and then lowered his face and said: "I just sent someone to ask, and the tax supervisor Du Gonggong who was in front of the customs clearance is said to have some friendship with Zhang Heling, the Marquis of Jianning, so he got the blue eyes of the queen's mother, so he got this position." He is a new official who has just arrived in the iron face and is selfless, no one sells his face, and the ship materials and goods taxes are all determined by him, and no one can escape. There are already several official ships in front of us, what do you think we should do? ”

"What should be the tax on materials and goods?"

"According to the rules, at most a few dozen taels are enough, I'm afraid that the dead eunuch lion will open his mouth!" Wang Shikun's trip to Beijing was won by the eldest sister with great difficulty, and at this time, all the squirrels were put away, and when he said this, he paused and said, "The important thing is that the influence of the Wei Mansion on the ground of Linqing is limited, and it can't make a big fuss." ”

Xu Xun pondered for a moment, and then spoke: "In this way, you first let people go to find out who are in the several official ships ahead." When you pass the customs, you and the fourth son don't come forward, I'll deal with it. ”

Xu Xu, the fourth young master of the Wei State Mansion, who was traveling with him, also came out at this time, and when he heard Xu Xun say this, he raised his eyebrows and stepped forward and said, "If Brother Xu can't cope with it, then what?" ”

"If you can't cope with it, you can't cope with it, and when the time comes, I can't say that I will show my brother-in-law's name." Wang Shikun stopped in front without saying a word, and then looked at Xu Xudao with a smile, "Or, Brother Xu, you go for a trip?" ”

"I'm just asking."

Xu Xu smiled as if he didn't care, and just turned around and walked out of the cabin. If he hadn't deliberately befriended Wang Shikun, he was afraid that this errand to Beijing would not be his turn at all, just looking at the expenses given by his father, it was already very clear. That being the case, and Xu Xun has to toss, if something happens, look at what this kid says!

(To be continued)