In order to set off smoke bombs for the Zheng family, Shen Shuren asked his father to pretend to write a reply letter to the Nanjing Guozijian, and also made some other layouts, which took a whole afternoon.

In the early morning of the next day, the Shen family prepared the car early in the morning and waited for the eldest young master to go out.

On the third day after traveling to the Ming Dynasty, Shen Shuren finally went out for the first time.

The destination is not far away, just in Liujiagang Town, Taicang, a Zheng family business. During Zheng Hongkui's stay in Suzhou, he stayed there.

Liujiagang in the Ming Dynasty was the largest river-sea transshipment port at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and it was also the base for Zheng He's seven voyages to the West.

The Zheng family claims to have a business network of "five merchants of mountains and seas", and there are commercial houses in Jiangsu and Hangzhou that are responsible for purchasing maritime trade goods, and this Liujiagang is of course indispensable to the Zheng family's stronghold.

When he first went out, Shen Shuren was a little curious in his heart.

Although there is a part of the memory left by his physical body, which allows him to adapt to the lifestyle of the late Ming Dynasty, he can see the market with his own eyes, and the feeling is still different.

Suzhou Prefecture is now the prosperous place of the world, and the counties and scattered prefectures under its jurisdiction are also leading the way.

As the prefecture-governed Wu County, sericulture embroidery and luxury treasures are extremely developed;

Taicang is an important place for river and sea transportation and trade, and long-distance wealthy businessmen gather;

Kunshan, between Wuxian and Taicang, is a benchmark for cultural fashion, and "Kunqu Opera" was born here.

In order to be more familiar with the situation, Shen Shuren instructed Shen Fudi to let the carriage go around the town a little, which was originally only five or six miles away, and he walked more than ten miles in a daze.

The port area along the river is full of all kinds of commercial houses, warehouses, pedestrians like clouds, the most is the rice shop, silk village, cotton village.

A steady stream of grain ships brought grain from other places and unloaded them at Liujiagang. Then the silk from Suhu Lake and the cotton cloth from Songjiang were loaded on ships and sold to all parts of Daming, or they were transshipped south to Fujian and then resold overseas.

Shen Shuren looked at all this, and was also slightly surprised: "Suhu is familiar with the world" This proverb is too famous, how can there be a reason why the land of fish and rice has to buy rice from outside?

But soon he remembered a possibility: it is estimated that the business is too developed, and the income from planting other cash crops is higher.

He lifted the curtain with a folding fan and confirmed with Shen Fu: "Ah Fu, go and ask what the price of rice is now." Suzhou Prefecture has to buy grain from outside, and the fertile fields in the surrounding prefectures and counties are all planted with mulberry and silkworms? ”

"The young master doesn't know that the fertile fields in the two mansions of Su and Hu do grow mulberry and silkworms. Just because the texture of the lake silk and the silk is particularly smooth, it is one of the best in the world, and the price of a load of local raw silk can reach more than two loads of foreign places.

However, the nearby Songjiang and Yangzhou Prefectures are not as fertile as those around Taihu Lake, and are mostly barren sandy soil, which is not suitable for growing mulberry and silkworms. Fortunately, irrigation is still abundant, so kapok is widely planted, and a small half of the cotton used in Songjiang cotton cloth is planted in Jiangbei. ”

Shen Fu answered the second half of the young master's question first, and then went to the rice shop on the side of the road to inquire about the market, and after a while, he turned back and added:

"Young master, I just asked, this year's rice is very expensive. In previous years, early rice only cost one tael or eight coins of silver and one stone, and late rice was more expensive. But this year, the surplus grain in Jiaxing Mansion is not enough, and there are still those sold from Shaoxing Mansion, which cost three, two or four dollars. Even Zhejiang has suffered a great drought, and it has not rained since the beginning of summer. ”

Shen Shuren was shocked when he heard this figure, the prices in Suzhou were indeed ridiculously expensive.

When I looked at the bustling street scene of Suzhou Mansion, I suddenly felt that the "filters" were different. Even the dying dock workers on the street looked more and more like homeless people.

The natural disasters in the later period of Chongzhen are really exaggerated.

According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", from the tenth to the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, there was a drought for five consecutive years and every year - of course, it could not be a nationwide drought at the same time, but at least it was the turn of three or four percent of the provinces every year.

This year, even Zhejiang, which has a mild coastal climate, can have a severe drought, so that Suzhou's grain buying from outside has been affected, and it can be regarded as the end of evil.

Fortunately, double cropping rice has long been popularized in Jiangnan, and Zhejiang has enough rain this spring, so the summer grain is harvested, and the current drought will only lead to the failure of the subsequent autumn grain harvest.

Two harvests a year can save one season, and not too many people will starve to death.

But those provinces in the north that can only grow one season, in the face of the same level of drought, will definitely be thousands of miles away, no wonder Zhang Xianzhong casually pulled the flag and coerced so many people.

Shen Shuren sighed, put down the curtain, and was in no mood to continue shopping, so he told Shen Fu to drive directly to the destination.

Shen Fu had just arrived, and he didn't know much about the young master's temper. But he was good at observing words and feelings, so he quietly handed over a step:

"If the young master feels unbearable, I will arrange for someone to scatter some copper coins for the hungry people on the dock, or someone will come to give porridge tomorrow."

"No, there are too many people in this kind of place, and there are frequent wanderings, and there will be chaos. I'd rather go back and tell my father to raise the piecework rate for dock workers. But to limit the amount of work per day, it is necessary to use a few more people. ”

After all, Shen Shuren has received systematic education in public management, and knows that directly throwing money will definitely cause Shengmi to fight against rice, and the management cost is too high.

When Shen Fu heard this, he admired it in his heart, and hurriedly said that everything was done as ordered.

The carriage soon arrived on the street where the Zheng family's business was located. Located in the northeast corner of the town, at the confluence of the Liuhe River and the Yangtze River, it is also the most lively place in Liujiagang.

The Liuhe River is an important river on the boundary of Suzhou, connecting Taihu Lake and the Yangtze River. The three prefectures and counties of Wuxian, Kunshan and Taicang are also distributed along the Liuhe River. The place name of Liujiagang is also named because it is located at the mouth of the Liuhe River.

Approaching the Zheng family's business, Shen Shuren lifted the curtain of the car all the way and watched casually, and inadvertently saw some strange phenomena, so he casually asked the servant:

"Shen Fu, this is already the busiest place in the port, how can there be fewer warehouses and shops on both sides of the road, but there are so many places to relax."

It turned out that Shen Shuren saw that many of the roadside shops were hung with colorful lanterns, although they were not lit in broad daylight, but they could be seen at a glance that they were entertainment venues.

When Shen Fu heard this question, he immediately came to his senses, and explained in a tone of "men understand":

"This place is the place where the two prefectures of Susong and Song gather to catch up with the exam, and every year of the township test, choose to take the Yangtze River waterway to Nanjing Qiuqiu, and wait for the boat here. It's just that the big ship has to gather enough people to set sail. If you come early, you will spend a few more days here.

The church in this neighborhood is reasonably priced, and most of the local gentry are subsidized to operate, which can be regarded as a good fate with the poor talents - young master, the third one diagonally opposite, is opened by our own family. ”

Shen Shuren nodded, but he didn't make any more troubles. It's nothing more than some low-end entertainment venues, and it's not worth being curious about.

……

When he arrived at the Zheng family firm, Shen Shuren asked people to hold gifts and went straight inside.

Zheng Hongkui also came out to ask for warmth when he heard the news, and the two sides were false and wronged for a while, and outsiders would definitely mistakenly think that the relationship between the two families was good.

Shen Shuren knows history, so he doesn't have a good impression of anyone in the Zheng family except Zheng Sen.

Of course, there are also three, six, nine and so on. Shen Shuren also knows that Zheng Hongkui is a little more backbone than his three elder brothers, and he did not directly surrender to the Qing Dynasty in history, and followed his eldest nephew Zheng Sen to fight against the Qing Dynasty, but he often protects himself and does not contribute to work.

The two sides first politely said a few words about Shen Shuren's condition, entered the room and sat down with the guests, and then Zheng Hongkui asked about the follow-up arrangements:

"The spirit of the virtuous nephew looks good, but I still have to recuperate......"

Shen Shuren came prepared, and when he saw that the other party finally took the bait and talked about the meat, he also hurriedly put on a grateful expression:

"Speaking of this, I really want to thank Uncle Shi for helping me. If I am not afraid of being embarrassed, I am not a material for studying, and I don't want to go to Nanjing, but unfortunately my father is strict and has been forcing me to study. Fortunately, Lang Zhong said that day that I still need to recuperate, and I can skip school for a while. ”

Zheng Hongkui was stunned for a while, and it took a while to understand the reversal, and he was immediately overjoyed, and he relaxed his vigilance against Shen Shuren.

He secretly thought in his heart: "Sure enough, he is a sloppy bag and doesn't like to read, and most of the naughty rumors about this kid in the market are true." What the Shen family needs to worry about is just Shen Tingyang. ”

However, although he despised Shen Shuren's straw bag, he subconsciously felt that this kid was closer. After all, the Zheng family doesn't like to read, including him Zheng Hongkui, who usually likes to make fox friends and dog friends.

After straightening out his thinking, Zheng Hongkui was still a little unsteady, and further asked for details:

"Virtuous nephew, to put it mildly, with your Shen family's family business, what is the use of studying? Will you still be able to donate that little bit of money to the official in the future? You can have a good time when you go to Nanjing, and you are still away from the control of your family, so you really don't want to go? ”

This suspicion is very reasonable, of course, Shen Shuren had thought of it long before he came.

So he just showed a smile that a man could understand, and pretended to be embarrassed to explain:

"Alas, I don't want to say much about this, some family ugliness has been publicized. But Uncle Shi is not an outsider, you should know that a while ago, I had an awkward quarrel with my father, and in my anger, I accidentally suffered from heat stroke. ”

Zheng Hongkui answered quietly: "I have heard a little." ”

Shen Shuren: "The reason for the incident was that I wanted to buy a sister as a concubine for 10,000 taels, but my father didn't let go and returned my silver." Even though I'm cured, I still won't let go.

If you go to Nanjing, you can't redeem those good sisters here, wouldn't you want to separate the two places? Although there are many smoke willows in Qinhuai for ten miles, I am nostalgic, and I have to wait for this side to be put down before I can leave. ”

When Zheng Hongkui heard this, he immediately believed five or six more points.

It turns out that there are still a group of women in Suzhou who can't let go! Shen Tingyang didn't let him redeem those women, so he didn't want to go to Nanjing!

But after thinking about it, Zheng Hongkui still had one last doubt: "How can your family be so frugal in buying concubines?" ”

Shen Shuren pretended to sigh helplessly: "Actually, I also figured it out, my father is for my good." When he first got married, he didn't have an official body, and his family was only very rich, so he couldn't marry a woman from Zhong Mingding's family. Xian Yan came from a humble background and was just the daughter of a talented person in Ningbo Mansion.

Later, when the ancestor died, when my father continued the strings, because he had already donated the official position of the household department, my stepmother's family background was much more prominent.

My father didn't want me to follow his old path, so he kept telling me not to take concubines, and not to be in a hurry to marry early, and to wait for the future to donate officials and marry again, so that I could marry a high-ranking family. As for playing with maids and looking for flowers and willows, he doesn't care about me. ”

Speaking of this, Shen Shuren's tone also seemed to have no city government, and he was completely chatting with fox friends and dogs, so Zheng Hongkui completely believed it.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were many scholars who believed that they could go to high school or buy officials, and they were not in a hurry to marry a wife and concubine, but wanted to hold back to get ahead and marry someone who was in the right place.

Anyway, not having a wife doesn't mean that you can't play with women, and you can solve your physiological needs through other methods.

The Zheng family completely relaxed their vigilance, and after chatting for a while, Shen Shuren left a gift and got up to say goodbye with a smile.

Zheng Hongkui sent him out, Shen Shuren also stopped him for a moment, and pretended to say casually: "Uncle Shi doesn't have to send it, the little nephew still has some things, he is not in a hurry to go home, he wants to go to the dock." ”

"To the docks? We're here to help. Zheng Hongkui was casually polite.

Shen Shuren: "No, it's a trivial matter - my father wrote a reply letter to the Guozijian Siye last night, asking me for sick leave." Today, my family happened to have a boat to Nanjing, so I took the letter with me when I went out, and I sent it back on the ship. ”

Shen Shuren said as he naturally shook the envelope in his sleeve that was sealed with fire paint but not stamped with fire paint in front of Zheng Hongkui's eyes, and then withdrew his sleeve.

Zheng Hongkui was already completely relieved of him, and he became alert again when he heard the words.

He was afraid that after Shen Shuren sent the letter to the ship, he would follow the ship and run directly to Nanjing, and hurriedly said: "Such a coincidence? Uncle Yu also happened to remember that he was going to pick up a batch of goods on the dock today, so let's go together. ”

As he spoke, the two carriages of the Shen family and the Zheng family drove towards the dock one after the other.

As soon as Shen Shuren got into the car, Shen Fu, who was waiting for him to get into the car, also stepped up with an arrow. Shen Shuren was slightly surprised, but still asked calmly, "Everything is ready according to plan, right?" ”

Shen Fu's face was a little ugly, and he explained, "There was a little accident just now. The lord ordered him to go down yesterday and let the sailors who stayed on our ship on the dock go out to rest, and gave them silver to listen to music and drink.

Who knew that when my second brother went to inspect this morning, he found that there were a few sailors who were too diligent and were still on the ship after giving leave. Last night, our men had obviously sat in a position at the bottom of the ship to make up for tung oil, but they were actually repaired by the sailors who were diligent in patrolling.

My second brother came over and told me about this in a hurry just now, let us delay for a while and a half before going to the dock, otherwise I am afraid that those experts in the Zheng family will see the flaws. ”

When Shen Shuren heard this, he immediately secretly screamed.

The original plan he made with his father was to send out all the Shen family's boats on the dock last night, and only one was left today.

Then this one, too, happened to be inspected before sailing, and it was temporarily found that "the last time I returned to the dock for maintenance, the bottom of the ship was numbed and maintained, and the tung oil was not brushed enough, and there was a possibility of water seepage in the event of strong winds and waves, so it must be overhauled and postponed to set sail."

In this way, we can take advantage of the situation to give the Zheng family a chance, so that Zheng Hongkui took the initiative to propose, "Our Zheng family also happens to have a boat to Nanjing, so it is better for us to help you carry this letter."

And this letter only added fire paint, but did not stamp the letter on the fire paint, it was just an ordinary private letter with a low level of secrecy. Therefore, as long as the messenger of the Shen family gets on the Zheng family's ship, he will definitely be taken the opportunity to open the seal, peek at it, and then reseal the fire paint.

In this way, the smoke bomb of "Shen Tingyang really wants Shen Shuren to take sick leave for a long time" was really passed on to the Zheng family.

It's a pity that people are not as good as heaven.

In order to keep this kind of thing as secret as possible, the fewer people who must know about this kind of thing, the fewer people will know, and it will be impossible for the ordinary sailors on their ship to know the inside story.

They thought they would be able to wreak havoc by giving the sailors some money, finding an excuse to take a day off, and transferring them away.

Who knows, there was a guy among the sailors who volunteered not to take overtime pay and took the initiative to take the initiative to be 996 for the owner, and he also stayed on the ship at night to inspect diligently, and as a result, the tung oil hemp part that had just been destroyed was temporarily repaired and repaired!

When Shen Fu's second brother Shen Shou went to the ship early in the morning to secretly check and confirm, he saw that the position that had just been destroyed last night had been refilled, and he was dumbfounded, so he had to quickly transfer the sailor who worked overtime to do bad things, and then urgently sabotaged it for the second time.

On the other side, he also took advantage of Shen Shuren and Zheng Hongkui chatting, and hurriedly notified Shen Fu, who was waiting outside, and asked him to hold on for a while longer.

After Shen Shuren clarified the situation, he couldn't help but rub his temples with a headache: "How can I delay now?" ”

Fortunately, Shen Fu and Shen Shou had already thought of a way just now, and Shen Fu hurriedly said: "Fortunately, I inquired just now, today Young Master Biao happened to have a meeting at the Goolan that our family opened on the dock, and invited a lot of guests-Young Master, do you remember?" It's the hook bar opened by the house we passed on the way early in the morning.

The carriage will pass by in a moment, and you remember to lift the curtain. My second brother has already informed the young master that when the time comes, he will just be sending guests out and happen to see you, so you will take the opportunity to say goodbye to the Zheng family, saying that you will meet relatives and friends halfway, and you should listen to a few songs by the way, anyway, there is no hurry to send the letter, and our ship will not leave the port until the afternoon. ”

"Young Master Cousin? Which table young master? "Shen Shuren is still a little weak, and he still doesn't recognize all his relatives at home.

Shen Fu did not doubt him: "Ningbo Zhang's family, the distant nephew of Mrs. Xian." ”

"Okay, then do it." Shen Shuren pondered for a moment and nodded to indicate that it was feasible. Thanks to the Shen family's power in Taicang, it is also intertwined, and there are a lot of resources behind the spare tire.

As soon as he made up his mind, Shen Shuren lifted the curtain of the carriage and pretended to watch the street scene of the entertainment venues on both sides of the road.

After walking for a while, the carriage slowly passed by the hook fence opened by the Shen family that he had seen in the morning, and then saw several young men come out with their shoulders buckled and said goodbye.

One of them, who looked like the son of the host, glanced at Shen Shuren by the way, and naturally exclaimed, "Yo? Is it the cousin of the Shen family in the car? How can you be here today, please hurry, please hurry. ”

Shen Shuren also showed a look of surprise, and hurriedly stopped, and the Zheng family's carriage behind was naturally blocked and stopped.

Shen Shuren got out of the car and said a pleasant greeting, and then turned to Zheng Hongkui: "Uncle Shi, if you have something to go to the dock, I won't delay you, this is my cousin, Yuyao Zhang Cangshui, who is going to Nanjing to catch the exam, temporarily passing by Taicang and waiting for the boat here." Today happened to meet on the road, and I listened to two songs by the way to reminisce about the old days before leaving. ”

Zheng Hongkui was originally here to spy on Shen Shuren, where was he willing to go first.

So he hurriedly said that he was not in a hurry, and the Zheng family's ship would not be unloaded until the afternoon, so he would arrive before the unloading.

So, Zheng Hongkui also followed the cheeky entry into this hook column and listened to the music together.

——

5,000 words chapter, ask for votes and comments, if you feel that the pace is slow, you can spray it.