Drive a flat boat, raise a glass of turbid wine, pass through the sails like clouds of Jindu, and see hundreds of boats competing for thousands of sails.

Rent a carriage, travel all the way, pass through the continuous workshop, and watch the businessman Jia Ruyun rich and prosperous.

When I got off the boat, I looked back and saw the misty sky, and the sails were slow, like stars and beans.

Jia Zhu sat in the car with Jia Qiong, and Brother Mandarin Duck and Parrot sat in the front room, listening to the wind and watching the rain and sitting in the front room with the coachman.

Lift the curtain of the carriage window and look at the bustling streets, where there are workshops everywhere.

Yangzhou is located at the confluence of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River, with very few hilly areas, basically vast plains, and abundant rainfall, suitable for the growth of crops.

Starting from Ma Lin in the early Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, the local officials in the Guangling area (now Yangzhou) paid more attention to the construction of water conservancy, and Yangzhou's natural geographical advantages were fully utilized.

Therefore, the planting area of crops such as rice fields continues to expand, not only rice planting, but also wheat, rice, fish, shrimp and crabs are abundant, and the planting of mulberry hemp tea and bamboo is also sufficient.

The corresponding downstream industries such as fish processing industry, textile industry, tea making, weaving industry, and pharmaceutical industry were also at the leading level in China at that time.

On the basis of developed agriculture, Yangzhou has developed rapidly, with a prosperous economy and a large number of people.

Some people even called Yangzhou: "Vulgar businessmen, not agriculture." ”

The reason for this is all because of the salt industry in Yangzhou, Yangzhou has abundant sea salt resources, and the people of Yangzhou mostly boil salt as their business, and the salt industry is developed.

"Historical Records: The Biography of Wu Wangbi" records: "Bi caused the world's outlaws, stole money, boiled seawater for salt, so there was no endowment, and the national strength was rich." ”

Along the way, looking at the workshops on both sides of the wide road, there are large scales and many varieties, including military weapons, woodware, lacquerware, jadeware, copperware, papermaking, printing, and tea-making.

I couldn't help but stop the carriage and look at the goods in the roadside shops, all of which were high-quality products, much better than those sold in Shenjing and Jinling.

It is no wonder that Yangzhou's products can be well-known overseas.

Jia Zhu Jia Qiong got out of the car, walked all the way to take a look, listened to the wind, watched the rain and drove.

There were a lot of things to see, and Jia Qiong was a little embarrassed, so she bought two bronzes in a store, which were the women's favorite Yangzhou hand-held bronze mirrors.

When the two returned to the carriage, Jia Qiong looked at the mandarin duck and the parrot, then reached out and handed over the bronze mirror, and said to the two Nunu:

"You've been with me for nearly two years, and you haven't given you anything decent. I just saw this exquisite and elegant mirror in the store, so I bought one for the two of you. ”

When the two saw Jia Qiong handing over the bronze mirror, a little blush appeared on their faces, the two of them had read some books in the past two years, and sometimes Shen Yixiu would also teach the two of them some poems.

also knows the meaning of the mirror, and understands that Jia Qiong is looking at the two of them as personal maids.

couldn't help but take the bronze mirror from Jia Qiong's hand a little shyly, and said to Jia Qiong at the same time: "Thank you, master." ”

The mandarin duck looked at the bronze mirror in his hand, frowned slightly, and then said to Jia Qiong: "Master, you give us a gift, and the servant accepts it." Ran Ye has been away from home for two years and has not seen his wife and young lady for a long time. Are we going to prepare some gifts to bring back before we go back to Shenjing? ”

Listening to what the mandarin duck said, Brother Parrot also reacted, and couldn't help but look at Jia Qiong and nodded. Although he was a beat slower, he immediately chimed in:

"Master, what Sister Mandarin Duck said is that we need to prepare some gifts before returning to Beijing, not only the wife and miss, but also the old relatives and friends of the son, do we also need to prepare some."

Jia Qiong listened to the words of the mandarin duck and the parrot, and her heart was also a little happy. It is worthy of the later golden mandarin duck and purple juan, all of them are smart and sensitive, and they are thoughtful. Then he smiled lightly, waved his hand at the two and said:

"Don't worry, Brother Fang Caizhu told me that we may have to stay in Yangzhou for a few days, and then buy some and bring them back."

Listening to the small talk of the master and servant, Jia Zhu leaned out of the window awkwardly, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, why didn't he bring two maids with him before he left Beijing, and came with two little maids.

At that time, in order to chat with Jia Qiong, he only rented a big carriage, and now he regrets it.

However, thinking of listening to the wind and watching the rain, he also followed him to stay in Jinling for more than two years, so he had to smile speechlessly, and was ready to give them some more money tomorrow and let them go alone.

Jia Qiong looked at Jia Zhu's somewhat embarrassed appearance, couldn't help but smile, and talked to Jia Zhu.

"Brother Zhu, Uncle Lin is in a rich and prosperous place like Yangzhou, and he is also patrolling the history of the salt palace, so I think he is quite favored by the emperor."

was looking at Jia Zhu outside the window, and when he heard Jia Qiong say this, he couldn't help but put down the curtain, turned inward, looked Jia Qiong up and down, and thought carefully for a while, so he said seriously:

"Brother Qiong, you haven't been exposed to this officialdom yet, and you're young, so it's normal for you not to understand this.

I didn't know, but some time before I left Beijing, Uncle Jing told me some truths, and I understood it.

Uncle's salt patrol imperial history is indeed valued by His Majesty, but there is also the wrestling of my Ning Rong Second Mansion.

If there is no exchange of other resources, and there is no saint to take pity on, how can my uncle sit firmly in this salt patrol imperial history.

This is a lack of fat, and those who want to sit in this position are like crucian carp crossing the river.

I told you that Uncle Lin's ancestors were also nobles.

The founding honor, my second ancestor Ning Rong, has the greatest credit, but the merit is high and shocks the master, it can be a double king, but if so, it is the way to die.

chose to give up the double kings, demote them to the double dukes, rest with the country, and not demote Xi Jue.

However, the ancestor once committed a crime, and then he became a demoted Xijue.

And the other kings of the county and the prince of the country have bowed down to us, so our Jia family has always been the leader of the nobles and the talker.

And in the past ten years, there have been a few things in our Jia family, and the momentum has weakened, and you should know something about it last time in that Jinxiang Courtyard. ”

Saying that, Jia Zhu looked at Jia Qiong, and looked at the mandarin duck and the parrot who were looking in the mirror with their heads down.

After a pause in thought, he said:

"Our Wuxun, like Wenchen, has many factions.

Wenchen was divided into the south and the north, and the north and south were divided into the township party of the regional state capital. And according to the college, the party is divided, you have me, I have you.

And among our martial arts, the four founding kings and our Jia family are divided into five factions, and the other princes also have their own calculations, whether large or small.

And some of the new martial artists have taken refuge in us nobles, and some have taken refuge in Wenchen.

And we have also secretly cultivated a lot of our own scholars, some martial arts abandoned martial arts and followed literature, some families had to follow literature, and some scholars chose some training.

And Wenchen is also constantly entering the army through various ways, such as arrears of salaries, suppression of merit, promotion of cronies, and so on.

Therefore, there are also many generals who have taken refuge in the past.

In fact, our nobles and Wenchen have been mixed together, you have me, I have you, large and small factions, tilting each other.

For example, our Jia family allies, Uncle Lin's Lin family, my uncle's Wang family, Aunt Xue's Xue family, and my grandmother's Shi family.

There are also some smaller noble families, but they are all like Uncle Lin's family who have broken their titles, and they can't do anything, so now they have less contact.

The difference is that we are honorables, and they are civil servants.

We have one more hereditary than them, and if we fail, we can still come back as long as our vitality is not too damaged.

And they cannot be hereditary, and if they decline, they become squires.

So they continue to suppress us, but our leaders can't continue to move forward like Wenchen, and once we fail, it means that we may have to be demoted.

You should understand what we're fighting for. ”

Hearing this, Jia Qiong nodded involuntarily.

He knew why Jia Zhu said it so vaguely, and he also knew that many questions should not be asked in front of the maid.

This may be the reason why in ancient civil and military battles, Wu Xun always lost.

If it is compared to a game, although one has a chance to resurrect, the board can be reopened;

But the other one is the flow of explosive soldiers, the front one falls, and the back one continues to rise, and you will be killed in the end.

Everyone just has a different starting point and a different foundation, but they are fighting for rights.

However, there is an emperor beyond the two sides that are fighting each other.

The three check and balance each other.

Today's dynasty is even more complicated, and there is an emperor after the emperor.

Unless you're the boss of the family and put a butcher's knife on someone else's head.

Although there are many such representatives, it does not mean that anyone can succeed.

Looking at Jia Qiong's thoughtful appearance, Jia Zhu smiled with satisfaction, and then said: "Brother Qiong, I am very optimistic about you, in our lifetime, we will be able to support each other and move forward all the way." ”

While chatting all the way, the carriage had already arrived at the official residence of the Salt Patrol Imperial History.

PS: First update