Chang Yanling and Li Zushu gave Wang Pu a lot of face, the two left the bathhouse and returned to the Jinyi Wei Yamen, and began to send people to the surrounding prefectures and counties to ransom people.

Wang Pu didn't leave the bathhouse in a hurry, but called a master to rub his back.

Wang Pu lay on the soft couch naked, while enjoying the master rubbing his back comfortably, he asked, "Master, are you Gui Geng this year?" ”

"Gui Geng?" The old master was puzzled, "What Gui Geng?" ”

"Uh...... That is, how old you are this year. ”

"Oh, the official is asking how old the little old man is, the little old man is sixty-one this year."

"Old man, you've been rubbing people's backs in the bathhouse for many years, haven't you?"

"Xiao Lao'er has been in the bathhouse since he was sixteen years old to rub people's backs, and it has been forty-five years now."

"No wonder there is such a good craft." Wang Pu asked again, "In addition to rubbing his back, will the old man have anything else?" ”

The old master said: "In addition to rubbing his back, the little old man can also massage, pedicure, haircut, shaving, oh yes, the little old man can also give people cupping." ”

Wang Pu couldn't help but turn his head sideways and asked, "Do you still know how to cup?" ”

"Yes." The old master said, "The craftsmanship of cupping is a family heirloom. ”

"Great." Wang Pu turned over and sat up, no longer had to rub his back with the master, and asked, "Old man, you have a hard time begging for a life in this bathhouse, how much money do you earn a month?" ”

The old master said: "When it's good, you can earn one or two taels of silver a month, and usually it's only three or five hundred a month." ”

Wang Pu was stunned and said, "That's it? ”

The old master smiled bitterly and said, "Official, if you do what we do, it's good to have something to eat." ”

In ancient China, the status of scholars was extremely high, the status of peasants was the second-highest, and the status of merchants and handicraft practitioners was the lowest.

Wang Pu said: "Master, from today onwards, you don't have to rub people's backs in this bathhouse, you are already a servant of the Admiral's Yamen, and you can withdraw fifty taels of silver per month." ”

"The Commander's Yamen?" As he spoke, the master stretched out five more fingers and said, "Every month, the fifth ...... Fifty taels ...... Salary!? ”

"That's right." Wang Pu nodded and said, "This governor is the new Nanjing Admiral Wang Pu, tomorrow you can go to Yanziji Admiral Xingyuan to find this governor." ”

The old master said in a trembling voice: "Official, this ...... It's true? ”

"Of course it's true." Wang Pu thought for a while, and suddenly said outside the box, "Liu'er." ”

Lu Liu entered in response and said respectfully: "General." ”

Wang Pu pointed to the old master and said, "Give this old master ten taels of silver." ”

Lu Liu glanced at the old master in surprise, and then took out a piece of ten taels of silver from his waist pocket and handed it to the old master, the old master took the ten taels of silver in disbelief, looked at Wang Pu and said, "Official, this is ...... Is this silver really for the little old man? Little old man didn't dream, right? ”

"This is only a portion of the money that has been advanced to you." Wang Pu smiled and said, "But tomorrow you must go to the Admiral to report for duty." ”

"Hey." The teacher responded excitedly, "Little Lao'er will go as soon as he is already." ”

After that, the old master thanked him again and went happily.

Lu Liu was puzzled: "General, do you really want to spend fifty taels of monthly money to hire this bad old man?" ”

"You know what." Wang Pu said hehehe, "Don't underestimate this bad old man, with his clear craftsmanship, he may be able to bring millions of taels or even tens of millions of silver to General Ben in the future, hehe." ”

"Millions?" Lu Liu shook his head in disbelief and muttered, "How is this possible." ”

"I told you that you don't understand." Wang Pu said, "Quickly bring the general's clothes, after taking a bath, it is time to go to Qinhuai for ten miles, now you have to find a good location and a good pavilion." ”

Half an hour later, Wang Pu took Lu Liu and Xiao Qi to the bank of the Qinhuai River.

At this time, Wang Pu had turned into a beautiful son, while Lu Liu and Xiao Qi were wearing green clothes and oblique hats, like two unscrupulous people who acted for the tiger.

The three of them walked all the way, only to see a forest of shops on the street, and the shops were lined up one after another, so it was not prosperous.

In fact, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan was indeed quite prosperous, because a large number of peasants could not bear the heavy tax burden, they sold their fields and fled, some became tenant farmers of the privileged class, and some entered the city to become handicraft practitioners, because the trade between Jiangnan and the West at that time was very prosperous, and the workshops for processing textiles, silk, porcelain, and tea have emerged in large numbers, and these workshops need a large number of handicraft practitioners, which is actually the germ of modern industry.

There are a large number of handicrafts and industries, there are a large number of merchants and a lot of wealth, with wealth, followed by a large number of service industries, including Qinglou Jiyuan, restaurants and inns, so there is the prosperity of the entire Jiangnan, there is a small number of so-called "historians" analysis that this kind of prosperity is pathological prosperity, is the deformed prosperity before the death of the country, in fact, that is farting!

Anyone who knows a little bit about history knows that the Song and Ming dynasties were the heyday of Chinese civilization, and the principle of the Yuan and Qing dynasties being completely regressive of civilization, and the so-called prosperous Kangqian era of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was nothing more than a carefully woven lie.

In fact, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the handicraft industry and industry in Jiangnan had been quite developed, and in the field of thought, Cheng Zhu Lixue, who imprisoned the mind, was also strongly challenged by the Yangming Xinxue, which advocated a surname, and the conservative idea of valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce and the traditional ranking order of Shinong industry and commerce were on the verge of collapse.

If the Ming Dynasty could continue to develop without the interference of natural factors, it would have realized the natural evolution from agricultural civilization to industrial civilization in the southern part of the Yangtze River.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was at a critical moment of chrysalis butterfly, it was the time when various social contradictions were the most acute, and it was also the time when it was the most vulnerable and vulnerable to attack, but at this time, the Ming Dynasty suffered from the Xiaoice period, natural disasters and then thieves swarmed.

The Ming Dynasty was exhausted, and was finally taken advantage of by the Manchu Qing outside the Guan, and the industrial civilization that was about to complete its evolution was strangled by life, and the Chinese civilization regressed for three hundred years, and returned to the barbaric Mengyuan era.

Wang Pu stood on the street of Gongyuan, and his heart was full of emotion, as if there was no Manchu Qing Dynasty to troubled the Central Plains, if Jiangnan at the end of the Ming Dynasty could continue to develop, could it precede the industrial revolution in the West? Will the Ming Dynasty achieve a constitutional monarchy before England? Can the Han nation continue to stand at the pinnacle of world civilization?

"General, there's a magnificent attic over there."

Lu Liu suddenly shouted, Wang Pu turned around when he heard the sound, and saw a towering three-story pavilion standing at the head of Wende Bridge not far away, and there was a large piece of pavilion behind the three-story pavilion, which seemed magnificent, and there was a golden plaque hanging on the bottom of the three-story pavilion, with four big characters on it.

"It's really magnificent!" Wang Pu couldn't help but praise, "That's it, let's go, take a look." ”

Wang Pu took Lu Liu and Xiao Qi into the Xiaoyao Restaurant, only to see that the bottom layer of the Xiaoyao Restaurant was five rooms wide and three rooms deep, and the business area of the hall was nearly 400 square meters, almost the size of a basketball court, and forty or fifty tables of eight immortals were placed there and seemed extremely empty.

However, the business of this restaurant is obviously not very good, there are no less than forty tables of eight immortals in the huge hall, but there is only Liao Liao's business of four or five tables.

Xiao Er had already warmly stepped forward and sang loudly: "This son, please have a box upstairs." ”

Wang Pu nodded, and followed Xiao Er to the second floor, the second floor is a separate box, with a wide corridor connecting the east and west, this Dong Weng of the Xiaoyao Restaurant seems to be a person who cares for flowers and trees, and gives each box a nice flower name, such as orchid, osmanthus, chrysanthemum and so on.

The shopkeeper found a "Juhua Hall" facing the street, and said solemnly: "Three of you, please." ”

When Wang Pu sat down at the table, the shopkeeper quickly poured a cup of tea for Wang Pu with his hands and feet, and said almost along: "This son-in-law is born with a tight face, this is the first time he has come back to our Xiaoyao Restaurant, right?" ”

"Exactly." Wang Pu smiled and said, "Tell me what you have to eat and drink in Xiaoyao Restaurant." ”

The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Our Xiaoyao Restaurant is the largest restaurant in Nanjing, we have some other restaurants, we may not have other restaurants, we have ten years of Shaoxing daughter red, the fragrant Kweichow Moutai, and red wine from the West, not to mention the dishes, there are all kinds of famous dishes in the world, as long as you can say it, our master of Xiaoyao Lou will do it." ”

"Really?" Wang Pu smiled, "Is this true? ”

The shopkeeper replied confidently: "Seriously." ”

Wang Pudao: "Gong fried chicken, boiled pork slices, sauerkraut fish, will you?" ”

The shopkeeper said: "Little meaning, isn't it Sichuan cuisine, no problem." ”

Wang Pu said again: "Three fresh, fried shredded pork with vermicelli, cucumber mixed with skin, sauce beef, will you?" ”

"Huh?" The shopkeeper was shocked and said, "I haven't heard of these dishes." ”

These dishes are all Northeast cuisine, and Dian Xiaoer knows that there is a ghost, because the formation of Northeast cuisine is very late, and it was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty that a large number of Shandong people broke into the eastern part of the country and entered Liaodong before they began to form a unique flavor cuisine in Northeast China, and this time is the end of the Ming Dynasty, how could Dian Xiaoer predict the dishes two hundred years later?

Wang Pu said: "So, don't blow too big. ”

The shopkeeper complimented: "That's the son's well-informed." ”

Wang Pu said again: "The business of your Xiaoyao Restaurant doesn't seem to be very good." ”

"Don't mention it." The shopkeeper didn't have a good air, "It's all those poor and rotten Confucians from the Restoration Society." ”

"The poor sour and rotten of the Restoration Society?" When Wang Pu heard this, he suddenly came to his senses and asked, "What's going on?" ”

The shopkeeper said: "Son, you don't know, the business of our Xiaoyao Restaurant was good in the past, it was really full, and it was said to be in Doujin, but it's a pity, four years ago, those poor and rotten Confucians who were restored to the society made something "Staying in the Capital to Prevent Chaos and Public Disclosure", and vigorously criticized our Dong Weng, which made our Dong Weng discredited, and the business of the restaurant was not as good as before, Dong Weng wanted to sell the restaurant several times, but no one dared to ask for it, alas, ......."

"Stay in the capital to prevent chaos and expose it?"

This is not Wu Yingji, Chen Zhenhui, Hou Fangyu, Mao Bijiang, these idle and boring Confucian students of the Fushe Society in order to find something to do for themselves, and at the same time to make some noise to attract the attention of the imperial court, so they jointly wrote an article attacking the remnants of the eunuch party Ruan Dacheng.

Could it be that the Dong Weng of this Xiaoyao Restaurant is Ruan Dacheng and Ruan Dabeard?

Wang Pu said: "Little Er, you Dong Weng is Ruan Dacheng?" ”

The shopkeeper coughed and responded, "Exactly." ”

"Xiao Er, please go and invite your Dong Weng." Wang Pu said, "My son wants to buy Xiaoyao Restaurant." ”

"Childe, you want to buy a Xiaoyao Restaurant?" The shopkeeper was stunned and said, "You're not afraid of getting into trouble?" ”

"Trouble?" Wang Pu said disapprovingly, "What trouble can there be?" ”

The shopkeeper kindly persuaded: "Childe, you didn't know how powerful those poor and rotten people of the Fushe Society were when you first arrived, if you let them know that you bought Xiaoyao Restaurant from Dong Weng, they would definitely make trouble for you." ”

"It doesn't matter." Wang Pu said loudly, "You can go and find your Dong Weng." ”

"Hey." The shopkeeper responded, "Son, please wait, the little one will go and please." ”

Ruan Dacheng happened to be in the Xiaoyao Restaurant tent today, and he lost dozens of taels of silver in the month, and when he was shaking his head and sighing about his bad luck, the shopkeeper hurriedly entered the tent and said: "Dong Weng, there is a prince who said that he wanted to buy the Xiaoyao Restaurant, and he is waiting for you in the chrysanthemum hall on the second floor."

"Oh?" Ruan Dacheng frowned and asked, "What kind of son?" ”

The shopkeeper said: "It's quite raw, it looks like I just moved to Nanjing." ”

"It's an opportunity." Ruan Dacheng said, "Let's go, take a look." ”

Soon, Ruan Dacheng followed the shopkeeper to the Chrysanthemum Hall.

Ruan Dacheng was stunned when he suddenly saw Wang Pu, and then exclaimed: "Ruan Dacheng pays a visit to the master of the horse." ”

Although Ruan Dacheng is not allowed to be refuted by those Confucian scholars, but after all, he is a person who has passed the Jinshi, and he is also a wealthy man in Nanjing, last year Wang Pu escorted Huang Taiji to Nanjing and the military parade a few days ago, Ruan Dacheng was also mixed in the Shilin gentry, and was able to witness Wang Pu's demeanor at close range, so he recognized it at a glance.

"Huh? Horse Master! ”

The shopkeeper didn't recognize Wang Pu, so he was so frightened that he sat on the floor.

"No courtesy." Wang Pusu said with his hand, "Yuanhai Gong, please take a seat." ”

Ruan Dacheng's character collection is called Yuanhai, so Wang Pu called him Yuanhai Gong.

"Don't dare." Ruan Dacheng said respectfully, "In front of the master of the horse, how can there be a seat below." ”

Wang Pu glanced at Ruan Dacheng a few times, and it was really a bearded man, no wonder he was called Ruan Dacheng, although this guy left a reputation for Han Jian in history, he is actually a rare talent, but his talent is only limited to opera creation, and other aspects are lacking.

Many operas arranged by Ruan Dacheng are all the rage in Jiangnan, and Wu Yingji, these Confucian students of the Restoration Society, are the achievements of Ruan Dacheng, so they jointly made a "Staying in the Capital to Prevent Chaos and Public Disclosure", vowing to make Ruan Dacheng's reputation stink, and in the end, they did get their wish, Ruan Dacheng became a street rat that everyone shouted and beats.

Wang Pu asked intentionally or unintentionally: "I heard that Yuanhai Gong has some festivals with the people in the Fu Society?" ”

"It's a little bit of a holiday." Ruan Dacheng said, "But it has been many years since the incident, and I have forgotten about it." ”

Wang Pu smiled slightly, thinking that this Ruan Dacheng is actually a person without a city government, although he said that many years have passed, but his eyes clearly reveal bitter hatred, it seems that he is still obsessed with what happened four years ago, if one day he really turns his face with the people in the Restoration Society, this guy is used to deal with the people in the Restoration Society.

"Okay." Wang Pu changed the topic and said, "Yuanhai will disclose the price, how much silver is this Xiaoyao Restaurant worth?" ”

Ruan Dacheng thought for a while and said cautiously: "How about ten thousand taels?" ”

Wang Pu smiled silently, pretending to admire the calligraphy and paintings on the walls of the box.

Ruan Dacheng gritted his teeth and said, "Eight thousand taels!" ”

Wang Pu still smiled and did not respond.

Ruan Dacheng was ruthless and said, "Then five thousand taels!" Master Pony, there can be no less. ”

"Okay, deal!" Wang Pu said, "Yuanhai Gong can send someone to Governor Yanziji tomorrow to withdraw the silver, but this Xiaoyao Building still has all the furnishings, calligraphy and paintings in the building, and from then on it will be all this horse." ”

"That's nature." Ruan Dacheng flattered, "Do you want to call out the runners, cooks, bookkeepers and shopkeepers in the restaurant, and let them meet the master of the horses?" ”

Wang Pu thought for a while and said, "Just call the shopkeeper." ”

■■■

Cuifu Nunnery is a famous Fengyue resort in Nanjing.

Speaking of Cuifu Nunnery, we can't fail to mention Feng Menglong, the thirty-fourth volume of Feng Menglong's "Surprise at the First Moment", "Hearing the Life of the Field Battle Cuifuan, Quietly Watching the Yellow Sand Lane of Ni Day" written in the Cuifu Nunnery is actually the Cuifu Nunnery at the foot of the Purple Mountain outside Nanjing, a real nunnery.

The story of prostitution has always been a topic of conversation among ancient literati, and some unscrupulous literati have summed up the three ways of playing "sea, land and air" on the basis of their predecessors.

The so-called sea refers to the boat lady on the water, and everyone Zhu Ziqing also specifically mentioned the boat lady on the Qinhuai River in "The Sound of Oars and Lights"; The so-called Lu refers to the prostitution in Fireworks Willow Lane, which is the most traditional way to play, and there is nothing to say; In particular, we want to talk about emptiness, which does not refer to flying in the sky, because there were no airplanes in ancient times, and it is impossible to talk about doing that in the sky.

Everyone knows that Su Dongpo has a concubine who is the young Taoist aunt in the empty door, and the novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties also describe many empty Taoist aunts, which shows that the ancient literati had a deep empty door plot, and in fact, Buddhism is not a pure place, and the matter of hiding dirt and dirt is not groundless.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, many nunnery in the south of the Yangtze River had become semi-public places of wind and moon, but the Cuifu Nunnery at the foot of the Purple Mountain could be compared with the Nuan Ge Pavilion on the bank of the Qinhuai River, but it was because of the young abbot of the Cuifu Nunnery, Yujing Daoren, that is, Bian Yujing, one of the eight Yanans of Qinhuai.

At noon on this day, a carriage quietly approached the back door of Cuifu Nunnery, Bian Yujing, who was dressed as a Taoist aunt, had been waiting outside the door early, and when the curtain was lifted, a young woman wearing a green Luo dress and a purple coat leaned out of the carriage, Bian Yujing hurriedly greeted him, affectionately grabbed the young woman's arm, and shouted diligently: "Master, Yu'er wants to kill you." ”

The young woman stretched out her hand and gently scraped Bian Yujing's pretty nose, and teased: "Yu'er, look at your eyebrows with peach blossoms, is your spring heart moving?" ”

"Master......"

Bian Yujing twisted her small waist and coquettishly told the young woman, and the little daughter's feelings were fully revealed, and the young woman giggled.

■■■

Today, Wang Pu went to the city to do three things one after another, one is to ask Chang Yanling and Li Zushu to help redeem people, the second is to invite the master in the bathhouse with fifty taels of silver per month, and the third is to buy the Xiaoyao Restaurant in Wende Qiaotou, and now Wang Pu should do the fourth thing.

The fourth thing is to find a Qin Huaiyan who is good at dancing.

(To be continued)