On the Yangtze River, a beautiful pleasure boat rowed by, and it was approaching evening, and the colorful lights on the boat were first released, and the singer could be vaguely heard lighting the board with an ivory clapper, singing in a low voice.

The sound was like a cloud of smoke, intermittently hovering over the painted boats, and then returning to the calm surface of the river.

In the boat, several scribes held cups in their hands, watched and listened, and some people stepped on the deck with their boots to congratulate, nodding their heads frequently and praising them.

Among the scribes, there was an old man who leaned on a pretty woman with a Persian cat in her arms, and someone said, "Mr. Mu Zhai, you have heard the news from Beijing, what do you think?" ”

The old man who is called Mr. Mu Zhai is Qian Qianyi, and the pretty woman with a Persian cat in his arms is his wife who has only been married for three years in disregard of secular etiquette, Liu Ru, a famous prostitute in Jiangnan.

Qian Muzhai shook his head slightly, put down his wine glass and said: "Now the situation in the north is tense, the thieves are quite big, and the state affairs are difficult.

This is all because of the good ministers of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of China, and the fact that there is no famous commander in the army. I don't know, now all the armies and towns are in Qinwang, we are in Jiangnan, I don't know if we are going to raise taxes again. ”

"Yes, these northerners are really waste, they can't beat the thieves, and they can't beat the Tartars." Another scribe said indignantly.

In the parade, there are full of complaints and resentment against the court, and only in one corner, some people drink alone, looking out the window, unwilling to participate in the chaos of these people. Unlike other scribes who are mostly in the prime of life and the elderly, this person is too young, and it is Li Zhaoji's friend who has a lot of contacts, Zheng Sen, the son of the Zheng family in Fujian.

"Damu, drink less alcohol, drinking hurts your body." Liu Ru walked to Zheng Damu's side and said warmly.

Zheng Sen got up, bowed down, and said, "I'm really bored in my heart, I'm sorry for you." ”

Zheng Sen has successfully entered the Guozijian, he thought that he could make more friends with people with lofty ideals who are loyal to the monarch and patriotic during his trip to Jiangnan, but in fact he found that most of the literati in Jiangnan are boastful, and their mouths are full of fine words, but in fact, they have no talent at all.

And those who really run for the court and the Ming Dynasty are unwilling to have a deep friendship with him.

First, most of these people were born as scholars and doctors, and they looked down on him, the son of the pirate leader, and secondly, most of these people who were really worried about state affairs were dissatisfied with Zheng Zhilong's lack of dedication to the imperial court, especially this time, he was in the Guozi Prison, and someone pointed to his nose and asked, the Son of Heaven issued an edict to King Qin, and the Guangdong army has already gone north, is there no loyal person in Fujian?

Zheng Sen is young and vigorous, and every time he argues with someone, it mostly ends in disgrace.

Liu said: "Da Mu, you are a good son, you will have the opportunity to serve the court in the future, don't be depressed because of a misunderstanding." ”

"Thank you Hedong-kun for your explanation." Zheng Sen is not so easy to untie the knot, he has already written more than a dozen letters, hoping that his father will respond to the call and immediately send troops to the king, even if he does not do his best, he should show the posture of a loyal minister, but these letters, all of them are mud cows into the sea.

"I'm about to arrive in Zhenjiang, I've already arranged an inn, and when you arrive, you go to rest, and you don't have to accompany your master anymore." Liu said again.

Zheng Sen immediately thanked him, he respected Qian Qianyi very much, but he was a little disdainful of the people around him, so Liu Ruyi's arrangement was very kind.

With the sound of the boatman's horn, the boat leaned to the shore, and the banquet in the boat was nearing the end.

The people on the boat had already come down from the boat, or they stood on the bow of the boat to listen.

"There is a truth that goes without saying, a soldier should go to war.

If it is a tiger, it should walk in the mountains, and if it is a dragon, it should go down to the ocean.

Who doesn't have a father, who doesn't have a mother, who wants to tartar his hometown.

If you want to protect your family and China, be a good man who is fearless. ”

When Qian Qianyi and the others heard this song, they nodded one after another, and Liu said: "Although this song is not elegant, it is concise and to the point, singing the duty of a soldier and the responsibility of a soldier." ”

"Well, a hymn to loyalty indeed." Qian Qianyi also said.

A scribe said: "Recently, there have been many ships transporting Qinwang's army on the Yangtze River and the canal, but I don't want to, and I don't know which soldiers and horses this one is. ”

Everyone looked at each other, but no one knew that at this time, another wave of people sang.

"The big shopkeeper is Dad, and the big shopkeeper is Mom!

The soldiers follow the generals, and the grass follows the wind!

Our brothers eat the grain of the trading company, and our brothers receive the salary of the great treasurer.

How to repay the kindness of life, pick up knives and guns and go to the battlefield.

What the big shopkeeper says is what, the big shopkeeper points to us,

Whoever dares to go against the trading company, him, him. ”

"Vulgar, really vulgar!" After Qian Qianyi listened, his angry beard turned up, and said: "Where did this Qiu Ba come from, openly scolding outside this Zhenjiang City, and the Zhenjiang government doesn't care?" ”

"Tube? How to manage! In the tea shop on the wharf, someone said with a smile: "Who dares to care, this is the army of King Qin in the north, Lord Shen of the governor King Qin is in the army, the will of the imperial court, all parts of the south of the Yangtze River, must cooperate, want the ship to go out, and the people to go out." ”

And the owner of the tea shop smiled and said, "What's the matter?" There are many troops coming and going in Zhenjiang, and I have never seen a military discipline like this one, who gives money by boat and tea and takes two baskets of charcoal from my tea shop, and also gives money according to the market price.

If you don't eat the grain and rice of the imperial court, and you don't use the firewood of the imperial court, how can the imperial court care? Those who are ten of them may not beat one of them. ”

"Silence, the people who came down from the ship were all officials." Someone in the tea shop saw the dress of Qian Qianyi and the others clearly and stopped the discussion.

Zheng Sen walked over, clenched his fists and asked, "Dare to ask my father-in-law, this singing soldier is from the Oriental Trading Company?" ”

"If you go back to Gongzi, Xiao Lao'er will know that this is a Ryukyu feudal soldier, and the rest don't know, don't ask, don't ask." The tea customers stopped talking, but the owner of the tea shop couldn't hide, so he could only deal with it carefully.

Zheng Sen asked again: "Then the soldiers of this vassal army are cut off and shaved, and there are many firearms in the army. ”

"It's like this, it's said that they are all overseas fans, and their hair is an inch long. I see some people still have tattoos on their faces. Someone muttered, but when Zheng Sen looked at the man, the man stopped talking.

Zheng Sen nodded and returned to Qian Qianyi's side, Qian Qianyi asked, "Da Mu, listen to you talking to those tea guests, but do you recognize this feudal army?" ”

"If you want to return to your teacher, this feudal army is nominally from the Ryukyus, but in fact it is the soldiers and horses of the Oriental Trading Company, which students have repeatedly mentioned to you.

Although I haven't seen it below, among the soldiers and horses in the world, there is only one family that has broken hair and shaved hair, and mainly uses firearms. Zheng Sen replied.

Qian Qianyi nodded: "Just figure out your identity, let's go, go to the inn, and talk about it." ”

When Qian Qianyi arrived at the inn, a staff member of the Zhenjiang Mansion also arrived, the Zhenjiang prefect was Qian Qianyi's student, although he was not in the city, his subordinates did not dare to slack off. After listening to Qian Qianyi's questioning, the staff member added tea and said, "Mr. Qian, that feudal army is indeed from the name of a trading company in Dongfandi.

I heard that it was the Ryukyus that encountered the Japanese invaders, so I invited this army to go and suppress the Japanese invaders. When Governor Shen exterminated the four surnames of Guangdong, it coincided with the Ryukyu envoys drifting to Guangdong, and the Oriental Trading Company also participated in the battle. Its armor is excellent, its guns are sharp, and there are gunboats, which are of great benefit to the suppression of thieves.

The king of the Ryukyus, Xinfeng, dedicated to serving the imperial court, so he sent the domestic elite to the north, but the Ryukyu country has few small people, not many soldiers and horses, for the military affairs of Xiangzan, the king of the Ryukyus also funded the hiring of soldiers and horses of the Oriental Trading Company, so that they can serve under the command of Governor Shen. ”

After Qian Qianyi heard this, he nodded: "I didn't expect that there were still these inside information, the King of the Ryukyus was indeed loyal, but this feudal army really didn't know the etiquette." ”

Zheng Sen listened from the sidelines, knowing that most of what the staff said was false, and he Li Zhaoji was self-made, even if he was involved in the Ryukyus, he was not hired by the King of the Ryukyus. It's just that Zheng Sen doesn't want to say it thoroughly, because he found that his teacher Qian Qianyi has a lot of complaints about Li Zhaoji's army, and now he is incapable of serving the imperial court, which is considered a lack of success.

The staff continued: "What Mr. Qian said is that everything in the camp is in charge of Lord Shen, and the local government cannot interfere at all.

However, the military discipline of these feudal armies was good, and they never disturbed the people, and they lived in rented warehouses, except for the people and goods of the government tribe, and the rest of them were used to pay the local people, and because there was a lot of land in the army, except for some officers, few people went out of the camp.

It's that when I train on weekdays, I have a louder voice, I like to shout slogans, and then I can sing before eating and resting. The rest is nothing. ”

"Lord Shen can be in the camp?" Qian Qianyi asked.

The staff immediately said: "No, the feudal army came from Zhejiang, and all the way to the end, there were the subordinates of the overseer Lu Gonggong and the official family of Lord Shen. Lord Shen stayed in Zhenjiang for a day, and then went to Songjiang, and now the soldiers and horses have almost passed.

There were also two battalions of soldiers in Zhenjiang, who would leave within two days and take the ship of the governor of Caoyun to Huai'an. ”

"Then do you know where Lord Shen is?"

"Lord Shen should be in Songjiang now, but instead of going home to visit relatives, I heard that he passed through the door twice and did not enter, and went to Songjiang to raise a big boat. This vassal army and the Cantonese army were going to set off from Huai'an and take a boat from Yuntai Mountain to Beijing and Tianjin. The staff dealt with it carefully, but they did not hide it.

"There you go." Qian Qianyi figured out the reason and said.

Liu Ru handed Qian Qianyi a plate of snacks and said, "This Lord Shen is indeed diligent in royal affairs, which is different from ordinary officials. And whether Li Zhaoji of the Oriental Society, as Da Mu said, is a hero in the world, he has to see it before he can say. Mr. Makisai, why don't we go to Matsue? ”

"Matsue is your sad ........"

"It's okay to take a trip." Liu Ru seems reluctant to mention the past, but her attitude is indeed firm.

"That's it, let's go and take a look, and if necessary, we can also provide some help to Qin Wangjun." Qian Qianyi said. He looked at Zheng Sen again and said, "Da Mu, then Li Zhaoji is your friend, can you introduce him to the teacher?" ”

Zheng Sen immediately said: "Students should do their best. ”

Matsue Prefecture.

"Songbao, you go back and tell Lord Shen that I want to see Cheng Bi's shopkeeper today and agree on the date of departure, which is very important, so I won't go to today's banquet." After Li Zhaoji asked Song Bao about the people he was entertaining at this banquet, he said to Song Bao.

Shen Youlong invited all the celebrities in the south of the Yangtze River, such as Gong Dingyu and Wu Meicun, since they were some boastful Donglin Party members, and also some shameless people who groveled when the Qing army went to Jiangnan in later generations, Li Zhaoji didn't want to accompany them to play on the spot. The only regret is that the guest of honor at Shen Youlong's banquet, Shen Tingyang, can't be seen today.

"Oh, shopkeeper Li, today is a group of virtuous people, young and salty, if you don't go, it will be a lifelong regret." Songbao persuaded.

Li Zhaoji laughed: "Songbao, don't drop my bookbag here with me, I can tell you, if I went today, I delayed the ship matter, and your lord will not beat your ass, but your head." ”

Song Bao scratched his head and had to retreat, after he left, Tang Mu came over, he was dressed as a businessman, and his face was anxious.

"What, it didn't go well? Is Zheng Sen unwilling to come, or did you not take him. Li Zhaoji hurriedly asked.

Tang Mu said: "The son of the Zheng family is not in Nanjing at all. ”

Li Zhaoji gritted his teeth: "This is going to be a bad thing, why isn't he here, isn't he studying in Guozijian?" ”

It turned out that when he went north this time, Li Zhaoji specially arranged for Tang Mu to go to Nanjing Guozijian to find Zheng Sen and invite Zheng Sen to Songjiang to meet.

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