The conversation that night was as secretive as the parties involved, and later generations could only rely on speculation to concoct various versions. Whether the third elder of the Shen family killed his ancestors or not, whether Shen Mo used the topic to avoid the inheritance of father and son, and it is also the first of the five mysterious cases that lingered behind Shen Mo for a long time, I don't know how many Shi family ink artists have been fed. However, at that time, this was only an unknown secret, just like the ocean-going ship slowly sailing in the East China Sea, which was not at all conspicuous in the billowing smoke and dust raised by the wheels of history.

This three-story sea vessel, "Ning Bo", is one of the ten super passenger ships under the Royal Second Escort Company, and the route of the nose is from Da Nang, the 14th political secretary of the Ming Dynasty, the political envoy of Annam, to the largest port city in Asia, Nanzhili Shanghai Prefecture. It is also recognized as a golden passenger route, so the parent company equips it with the largest and most luxurious sea vessels. Unlike the previous convention of focusing on cargo and not considering the comfort of the passengers, the builders of this sea vessel put all their efforts into creating a luxurious and comfortable space. It boasts a luxurious dining room that spans three decks and 10 first-class cabins are two-story suites with fine wood panelling, high-end furnishings and a variety of other high-end décor suitable for on-board furnishings. The floors were covered with expensive boss carpets, wooden tables and chairs, and the furniture was too heavy to lift.

Even the forty premium cabins are all suites, the bathrooms are also separate, and the decoration is not as luxurious as the first class, but it is also much more luxurious and comfortable than the top cabins on other ships. These 50 luxurious cabins, plus restaurants, Chu halls, casinos, theaters, and gymnasiums for distinguished guests, occupy three floors above the deck, and their width and comfort can be imagined. Of course, the fare is several times higher than that of other ships, but it is still difficult to find a ticket, and it usually takes months to book in advance.

It is said that the lower deck is a common cabin, a 20-person dormitory, just like other ships, and of course the ticket price is cheap. Most of the passengers are immigrants who plan to create a new life in Indochina, immigrants who have returned to their hometowns to visit relatives, and small businessmen. However, the lowest layer is not connected to the upper three layers, so neither side can feel the other's presence.

The reason why the Ningbo is widely sought after is that it breaks the relatively closed boat environment and expands the activity space of passengers to public areas such as restaurants and gambling halls, which not only makes the journey no longer boring, but also creates excellent networking opportunities for people to be successful. The passengers of the first class and the senior class are either rich or expensive, and the most recent is also the big manager of a multinational company, and they don't want to see each other on weekdays, but in this half-month journey, everyone can look up and not look down, which can be described as a golden opportunity to shorten the distance. Therefore, no matter how high the price is, there are people who are willing to pay.

The journey was long, people really needed companions, day and night, and it was easy to close the distance, and within a few days of sailing, the passengers got to know each other, and then they were like every previous voyage. People began to take turns to hold drinking parties in the eastern capital, singing songs every night, and they never got tired of it.

This day coincides with the sixteenth day of the winter moon, and the yellow, orange and orange full moon hangs on the sea, and the silver glow reflects the vast expanse of blue, which naturally gives people an excuse to feast. Today's east is Lu Xianggong, who lives in Tianzi No. A house, is a close branch of the Lu family in western Zhejiang, was sent to the Indochina Peninsula to develop the family business in his thirties, and now in ten years, the Lu family's industry has spread all over the island, from spices and medicinal materials to cane sugar and rice, from raw silk wood to gem mines. It's all-encompassing. Moreover, he also married the sister of the king of Siam as his stepwife, and became the national merchant of Siam, the largest country in Central and South China.

However, what everyone on the ship values most is not his status as a Siamese uncle, but his status as a son of the Lu family.

Since the Yan family was removed, the Lu family has been added to the Nine Families, and it has been nearly 20 years. Although it is a backward among the nine families, it is one of the nine major families in the southeast after all!

The nine families in the southeast seem to have nothing in the hearts of ordinary people. But in the hearts of the middle- and upper-class gentry and wealthy businessmen, it is definitely a high-ranking existence. There is a saying that has spread far among the gentry. It is called "the surname Zhu north of the Huai River, and the surname Shen south of the Huai River." , this Shen is naturally the old Shen Ge who has been missing for many years, and no matter how great Shen Ge Lao's ability is, he can't control the southeast with the power of one person, he realizes his will through the nine families.

When Shen Ge Lao disappeared, the authority of the southeast naturally fell into the hands of the Nine Families, and it is said that the Nine Families had a very secret council, which was the body that coordinated and unified the opinions of the Nine Families. This council is the supreme power of the southeast, and no one dares to disobey the decisions it makes, and what it wants to do, it will definitely be able to do. Even the feudal governors of the southeastern provinces, the first thing they did was to worship the wharf, if they didn't enter the eyes of the nine families, it was best to resign directly, otherwise the end would be ugly.

Moreover, the Nine Masters are still the pioneers of the Ming Dynasty's outward development. In the hearts of overseas Chinese, the powerful Nanyang Company is said to be the business of the Nine Great Families. So whether your foundation is in China or Nanyang, if you can make friends with the upper echelons of the Nine Families, the future will basically be a sentence after a break.

Lu Xianggong has long been accustomed to being held by the stars, and he is also very experienced in dealing with people. The background of the children of the family and years of training have made him hide his pride deep in his heart, and what he shows is a cluster of flowers. But after all, everyone wants to be tied to him, and there are too few people who are worthy of his admiration.

If he hadn't found a pair of interesting characters, he wouldn't have bothered to hold tonight's party. Although there is still a little time before the banquet starts, it is now the beginning of the lanterns, and the guests are basically here, drinking tea and laughing around him, guessing the riddles, but the "father and son" are missing

"Then the two of them are too big." Seeing that Lu Xianggong looked at the spiral staircase from time to time, someone couldn't help but be indignant and said: "Lu Xianggong dares to be late for a treat." ”

"A quarter of an hour until six o'clock." Seeing that Lu Xianggong's brows were slightly twisted, someone quickly remedied: "But we came early." ”

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The Chinese people just couldn't help but chatter, and while people were talking, they saw a middle-aged man wearing a blue poplin robe, a rain-soaked azure buckle vest, and bronze skin and phoenix eyes, with a handsome descendant wearing a blue shirt, trimming eyebrows, and a face like white jade. It was the middle-aged man who said his nose, he clenched his fists and smiled: "The people outside the square are lazy, and they have to wait for a long time. ”

As soon as he opened his mouth, those strange eyes returned to kindness, and people felt in their hearts that they had just fallen into the inferior, how could they look at such a self-styled true celebrity from the eyes of the world?

Keenly aware of the change in the atmosphere, Lu Xianggong smiled, his vision will not be wrong, this is a very unique person. He patted the empty seat next to him and said, "Brother Yutian, if you are late, you will punish yourself with three glasses first." ”

"That's nature." The middle-aged man known as Brother Miantian sat down generously, without the slightest hint of being flattered. He drank three glasses of spirits in a row, and his face did not change color and his heart did not beat.

provoked everyone to applaud one after another.

There were only some cold dishes on the table before, and after drinking three glasses of wine in silence, Lu Xianggong said to the restaurant steward standing aside: "Let's serve hot dishes......

The beautiful maid held the exquisite dishes, and after a while, the well-known specialties in Jiangsu and Zhejiang such as Jinhua fire tui, Hangzhou bamboo shoots and turtles, Songjiang dregs and yellow birds, Jiangyin roasted grubs, Taizhou Tianmo bamboo shoots, Suzhou MI dipping carved dates, Wuxi sugar pickled pork ribs, Shaoxing daughter red, Huzhou bayberry wine and other rare delicacies were put on the table. Although everyone here is accustomed to seeing the world, they are still surprised

Many of them had already held a banquet, and they knew that the ingredients for these dishes had not been made on the ship for a long time, and the ship had not docked in the past few days, but they didn't know where Lu Xianggong had conjured it up.

"Before toasting, explain first, so as not to misunderstand the boatman." Lu Xianggong picked up the wine cup and said with a smile: "Yesterday, the fleet of the Han family passed by, and people begged for some ingredients, and there happened to be a famous chef who made Huaiyang cuisine on the ship. He said it lightly, but on the vast sea, everyone knows how much energy it takes to do this.

Everyone was stunned, and they all raised their glasses and touched Lu Xianggong crisply. In the face of these dishes and drinks, which are both beautiful and fragrant. Everyone was appetizing, and after moving the chopsticks, they understood why Lu Xianggong deliberately mentioned the chef Although the level of the dishes on the ship was high enough, this table was three points higher.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Although it is no longer "everything is inferior, only reading is high." But people still like to do something gentle...... Or rather, vassal elegance.

Lu Xianggong is naturally the master of the order, he thought about it for a while, and said: "Let's do one" Lian Li Zhi Li Zhi is a kind of Four Book Order, and the Four Book Order is the most popular wine order" Lian Li Zhi, the requirements are slightly higher, each person has to say two sentences in the four books, the last word of the last sentence and the first word of the next sentence, form a word, and the word of the next person should be the same as the part of speech of the previous person. Although it is a little difficult, the wine order itself is very popular, and everyone here is a veteran of the wine table, even if you can't do it yourself, you should listen to others. He then began and said, "My first order is that the road is not far away, and the ginseng is also lu." ”

"Ginseng ......" someone couldn't wait to applaud: "Good! ”

"The next step is to deal with Chinese medicine."

"..."The next one is that Yutianfu" He smiled and thought for a while, before he said: "The treasure of the princes is three, and the Guo of the seven miles." ”

"Thirty-seven." Lu Xianggong nodded with a smile and said, "Sure enough, it's not difficult for Brother Yutian." ”

Brother Yutian shook his head and said with a smile: "I'm old, I can't turn my brain." ”

The next two couldn't answer, they all obediently admitted their differences, and the third thin man said to him: "Zang Wuzhong, just in case, the wind is dancing and wearing." Wind! ”

"Good!" People applauded: "Li Yuanwai is worthy of being a Jinshi, and his knowledge is solid." ”

That Li Yuanwai smiled modestly: "I'm ashamed, I'm about to return the four books to Sage Kong." "It is the Fujian Jinshi of Longqing for five years, and in the first year of Wanli, he was released to Tianshui Zhi County, and he caught up with Zhang Juzheng in the national examination into the law, he was a poor county, and he couldn't complete the task if he was killed. Twenty years ago, this must have been a big news, but in the current southeast, there is nothing unusual, and there are many people who abandon Confucianism," Anping said. It is no longer the personality concept of scholars, and scholars who can get rich in business will also be looked up to. Of course, the old people will still sigh and say, "The world is going down." Li Yuanwai finished speaking, and there was a fat-headed and big-eared Boss Hu below, and everyone was waiting to see him laugh, but who knew that he laughed and said: "I don't know, my mother's life." Knowing the mother. After speaking, he confessed: "I happened to hear someone." ”

"But you escaped the disaster." Everyone laughed.

After a round of turns, half of them came up to each other, and half of them drank. It was time for Brother Yutian to give the order, and he smiled and said, "Then use the four books to guess the riddle."

I'll start with a "born to speak." , play a sentence in the four books. ”

"I'm just drinking!" The next one surrendered directly, and then said to his bow: "Brother Sima, you can drink it too." ”

"I have it!" Brother Sima had a flash of inspiration, and said excitedly: "But" Zi is silent,? ”

"How?" Everyone asked with a smile.

"Zi is silent, this person" is born to speak. Isn't it "weird, huh?" Brother Sima said proudly.

Many people shouted in an uproar, and Lu Xianggong couldn't hold back and squirted out a sip of tea, and hurriedly coughed to cover up the past.

"Isn't that right?" Brother Sima said with wide eyes.

"It can be explained, too." Brother Yutian smiled.

"This mystery is too penetrating" The descendant behind him couldn't help laughing: "Born to be able to speak, yes" Zichan said. , how is it better than yours? "The sound is as good as a silver bell.

Brother Sima thought about it for a while, and said with a smile: "It's much stronger." He was about to be punished for drinking, but Brother Yutian spared him and said, "Just talk about it." ”

However, as soon as the latter was stirred, he still messed up the order, and he couldn't do it, so everyone shouted to punish him. There are all some top-notch characters here, and they have long seen that this posterior is a woman, but people have to dress up as men, so they take the opportunity to embarrass her.

"Who said that the order must be punished." But the later life didn't bird them and said, "I can still fight back." "The meaning of the countermeasure is that she challenges the whole table alone, and if she wins, the whole table drinks, and if she loses, she drinks the whole table alone.!