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"Can you pack it up, it's time to go back!" Geng Jingzhong shouted into the room after washing up outside.

A few gentle footsteps sounded on the wooden staircase, and Li Yuzhu's petite body appeared in Geng Jingzhong's sight. "Xianggong, you should go back to the house first, the concubine has to stay here for a day first."

Geng Jingzhong was surprised when he heard this, what happened to this ship, what had been said a lot just now? Just as he was about to ask, Sun Shao's voice came from behind him: "Brother seems to really like Miss Yuzhu very much, oh, damn it, it should be called Mrs. Sister-in-law." ”

"Brother Xian came early, but you had a good time last night?" Geng Jingzhong said with a smile.

"Hey, my little brother is too much to drink, far worse than my brother. I heard just now that my brother was going to take my sister-in-law back to my house, and it was indeed my brother who was in a hurry. According to the customs of Jinling, although there is no need to marry a concubine, if the elder brother is willing to give his sister-in-law a name, some steps are still needed. ”

Hearing this, Geng Jingzhong said, "Oh, this is my negligence. Since the virtuous brother is familiar with the customs of Jinling, then you can help with this matter! ”

"Hire today? Have you seen the days, brother? Sun Shao asked.

Indeed, Geng Jingzhong was careless again. After all, this is a dowry to marry a daughter-in-law, and it is necessary to pay attention to it, so he smiled to himself at the moment, and said: "I forgot about this stubble, the virtuous brother will help you calculate, let's see if the days are good today?" ”

"This really can't be sloppy." Sun Shao said, "Brother, wait here, and the younger brother will ask." So saying, he entered a nearby shop, but after a while. And he came out with a smile on his face. "It's a good day. It's appropriate to get married, and it's appropriate to go to the dowry today! ”

Geng Jingzhong nodded and said, "It's okay, yesterday's family has already paid the ransom for Yuzhu, so let's go through this more today!" ”

"Then, sister-in-law and wife rest in peace, and the younger brother and brother will come when they go." Sun Shao said with a smile.

The two immediately went out and began to buy gifts. In ancient times, marrying a wife was not the same as taking a concubine, and marrying a wife was very formal. Need to be the right person, divination, Ming media is marrying, the man's dowry and the woman's dowry are very rich, when getting married, you need a "ten miles of red makeup" to welcome the family, the woman wears a red wedding dress, the groom wears a red hanging color and rides a horse to greet the relatives in person, the team has the priority to pass the guò right on the official road, and the big and small officials have to avoid, which is the tradition left by the Southern Song Dynasty. The woman goes to the man's house. The man needs to open the door wide and build a high wedding tent. All the doors are draped in red and hung with colors, all over the family and friends, worship the parents of heaven and earth, and then tell the ancestors, enter the genealogy, the emperor marries the queen and then pass the guò noon gate and other gates of the middle gate, in ancient times, except for the emperor, only the new champion can have this honor. Three days after the marriage, the wife is still dressed in red, and the wife is the head of the family's internal affairs, directing the wife and concubines, managing the housework, and has the right to punish and manage the concubines.

Marrying a concubine is much simpler, just take a small sedan chair, enter the man's house from the side door, will not welcome relatives, the dowry is very few, and there is generally no dowry, the man generally only invites relatives and friends in the clan, only the inner courtyard is simply hung with a few red silks, the outside can not see that the family is doing happy events, after marriage, the woman can only wear blue clothes, although the concubine is also the master in the family, but it is only stronger than the next person, and even not as good as the housekeeper or the old family can mix, if you can give birth to a man and half a woman, you also need to be able to enter the genealogy. The royal concubines agreed to enter the palace through the Shenwu Gate, although there was also a canonization ceremony, but the scale and grandeur of the ceremony were obviously not the same as the big wedding.

Although these things can be done by yourself, it is better to do it yourself in order to show your heart. This Qinhuai River is not just a red and green place, the dowry is complete, and it only costs some silver, and this time, Geng Jingzhong's personal guards have become porters, responsible for picking up the burden.

"My brother is really generous, I like my sister-in-law and Mrs. I will help redeem myself directly, but the poor little brother likes to be alone, but because of the rules of the family, he doesn't dare to redeem her privately, so he can only spend money to raise him there. Alas, I really don't know when I will be able to really make my own decisions" After the things were purchased, Sun Shao finally came to such a sentence, his face full of envy.

"Then do you know how much it will cost this Qin Huai famous prostitute to redeem herself?" Geng Jingzhong asked.

Hearing this, Sun Shao couldn't help but be slightly stunned, didn't Geng Jingzhong know yet? Didn't he already ransom Li Yuzhu? He himself was drunk and unconscious last night, and he really didn't know what was going on.

After a little hesitation, he said: "Qin Huai's famous prostitute is different from ordinary Qinglou women, her redemption price generally ranges from three to five thousand taels, and she has to be willing to redeem herself, otherwise this price will be doubled several times, my brother suddenly proposed to redeem himself yesterday, I am afraid that Mother Zhou will still slaughter you!" ”

Tens of thousands of taels, sure enough, it did not exceed his expectations. Geng Jingzhong glanced at Sun Shao, but in his heart he secretly scolded the brothel for being really black, and the ransom price was thousands of taels, which was enough for a hundred ordinary families to spend a year. Even if you go to Yangzhou to buy ten Yangzhou skinny horses, it is more than enough.

It took Geng Jingzhong a morning to give the dowry, but fortunately, the conference had been held a few days ago, and the various departments and regions of Jiangsu had also been attacked, and now they were waiting for the Qing army to attack, and they turned to the defense. During this free time, he had enough time to relax

In the afternoon, because he was busy with the dowry for Li Yuzhu in the morning, the appointment with Sun Shao's father was postponed to the afternoon. With this more thing, Geng Jingzhong is no longer in a hurry to go back, but to accompany Li Yuzhu in Tianxiangju. After a few people finished lunch, Sun Shao's father, Sun Yunjian, took the initiative to visit. Originally, Sun Yunjian wanted to have a treat, but Sun Shao said hello in private, so he changed the time to the afternoon.

Wait until Sun Yunjian comes in. Sun Shao shook his eyes slightly before he said, "Brother." This is the family strictness. ”

Sun Yunjian followed suit. Said: "In Xia Sun Yunjian, I have seen Lord Geng. ”

Geng Jingzhong returned the salute before stretching out his hand and politely said: "Uncle Shi doesn't need to be polite, I am just the head of the fleet, and I do not hold any official position, so I don't need to be called." Have a seat. "Although this Sun Yunjian seems to have some assets, his strength should only belong to the lower middle, otherwise he wouldn't not know himself. A few days ago, the family and the wealthy businessmen held a conference together, and it was impossible for him not to know himself if he participated. But there is also a possibility that he was sick and could not attend.

After entering the house and taking a seat, Sun Shao took the initiative to pour tea and water, and then stood behind Sun Yunjian, Geng Jingzhong glanced at the two of them, and then said: "I heard that Uncle Shi has six three-masted ships with more than 1,000 materials, oh, now there are three." Do you want to work with an offshore fleet? ”

Sun Yunjian didn't expect him to be so direct, so he immediately gave it up. Said: "I hope that Lord Geng will be fulfilled." ”

Geng Jingzhong said: "This is a trivial matter, the business of the world is done by people all over the world, and there is no problem in giving you more." It's just that I'm very interested in the smuggling trade on Qushan Island, and I don't know if Uncle Shi can solve my doubts! ”

Sun Yunjian also felt Geng Jingzhong's straightforwardness, and even said: "Qushan Island is facing Hangzhou Bay, and it is only sixty or seventy miles away from Ningbo and Songjiang. It can be said that it is prosperous, merchants and merchants, and the sea ships and streams are gathered here. Qushan Island is surrounded by wharves, easy to dock, and there is no sailor stationed nearby, and the patrol channel is also negligent in patrolling, it has always been an important port for private ships to go to sea in the south of the Yangtze River, of course, it is still not comparable with the Moon Port in Fujian and the Guangzhou Port in Guangdong.

However, Qushan Island is close to Songjiang Prefecture and Ningbo Prefecture, and to be precise, it belongs to the rule of Ningbo Prefecture, and the local people's private ships on the sea have a long history like those in Guangdong and Fujian, and they are not only large in scale, but also very concerted, and have become a trend that cannot be lost, and the local officials are either difficult to manage, and the other has accepted benefits, and has always turned a blind eye to smuggling and let it run freely, and for this reason, the situation on Qushan Island is quite chaotic. ”

Hearing this, Geng Jingzhong couldn't help frowning slightly, the forces on the Jiangnan side are already complicated, he said he knew, but he didn't expect this to be the case? It seems that the local forces have reached a certain level, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "How complicated the local forces are, Uncle Shi, please take your time!" ”

"There are three main forces." Sun Yunjian hurriedly replied: "The fleet headed by Zhang Yonggui, Gelji, and Lin Shida not only has a large number of sea vessels, but also controls the two inland waterways of the Qiantang River and the Yangtze River. Among them, Zhang Yonggui's power is the largest, stronger than Gelji and Lin Shida's two families, more than half a year ago, Zheng's sailors occupied Hangzhou Bay, and the forces of Gelji were cleaned, and now Zhang Yonggui's power is getting stronger and stronger. ”

"Oh, things have changed!" Geng Jingzhong said to himself. This Zheng clan also advocates maritime trade, and will definitely not stop the smuggling trade, and will even vigorously promote it. But that Gelji is a later, Manchu, and he will definitely be purged by the Zheng family. At that time, I didn't know who this Zhang Yonggui had to do with him, who could control the smuggling trade on Qushan Island for so many years, and he was still like a fish in water after Zheng Jun arrived?

"By the way, as for how many maritime merchants are there in Jinling? Uncle Shi should know. ”

Hearing this, Sun Yunjian couldn't help but hesitate slightly, and then said: "Lord Geng, maritime merchants are not allowed by the king's law, and they generally do not reveal the identity of the owner, and they are not clear below. ”

Geng Jingzhong glanced at him with a smile: "Uncle Shi seems to have reservations about me, now the governor of the capital wants to vigorously develop maritime trade, and this maritime merchant will go to the soon-to-be-established General Administration of Customs for the record, what concerns does Uncle Shi have?" ”

"Hey, look at my memory. It's rude. However, I really don't know how many maritime merchants there are in Jinling City, but there are quite a few of them. Unfortunately, I was bedridden a few days ago and was unable to attend the business conference held by the Grand Governor, and I didn't regret it until my best friend came back and told me the details. However, at present, the strength of my Sun family is only medium, and I can participate in the plan of the Grand Governor while developing. ”

"It's fine. The cooperation with the offshore fleet is so decided, and as for the development of maritime trade, you will be approached by someone at that time. Geng Jingzhong listened to his words and knew in his heart that it seemed that the families in Jiangnan were moved by his proposal and had begun to take action. (To be continued......)

PS: There is still the last chapter left, and it will be released at half past eleven in the evening!