In the blink of an eye, in June, the last wave of Master Shen's children and grandchildren were also dismissed, and Shen Yu also received a letter from the Ministry of Officials, ordering him to return to Beijing to resume his duties.

Originally, the family was busy packing up things in Beijing, but because Anjiang entered the rainy season, the wind and waves on the river were urgent, so Shen Yu sent a message to leave ten days later.

So except for the fact that his father is gone, Huai'an feels that everything in the house is in order, and there is no difference.

Shen Yu seemed to be in a good mood, so he was exempted from a few days of homework, and asked him to put away his toys, picture albums, and all kinds of treasures that were not allowed to be touched by others, and then moved back to the East House at a lightning speed, leaving Huai'an a baby in a daze with a lone lamp, so it was not desolate. It took a long time for Hao's mother to move in with him.

The next day, it was cloudy again.

Lead clouds hung low, heavy rain poured down, and dense raindrops crackled on the eaves tiles, converging into waterfalls under the eaves.

Huai'an sat cross-legged in front of the window, facing the busy maids with his bleak back.

Shen Yu and his wife came to Westinghouse one after another, and some important newspapers and letters could not be faked, but had to be handled personally.

Huai'an looked back at his father, his mother was wearing a honey-colored short shirt and jacket, and below was a jade blue horse-faced skirt, his father was wearing a cyan straight jacket, and his hair was tied behind his head with a hairpin, which looked casual and casual.

I don't know if they have changed out of plain clothes, and both of them have a good complexion.

Seeing his son, who had always been noisy, sitting silently on the couch, quiet and scary, Shen Yu couldn't help but worry: "What's wrong today?" ”

What's wrong? Huai'an also asked himself, he seemed to be suffering from a phobia of starting school.

For more than two years, although I have to study, but after all, I am at home, and because I am young, I often lie on a bed, or be lazy to play with Zhao Pan, and I think of being sent to a private school when I enter the capital.

"Alas......" he let out a long sigh, looked at the heavy rain outside the window, and said in a deep voice: "I want to write a poem about this situation." ”

The couple stopped what they were doing and looked at him with a strange expression: "You give it, Daddy listen." ”

Huai'an rolled his eyes, shook his head: "My stomach is empty, my heart is heavy, and I think of going to school, and my head is dazed." ”

Xu Tinglan crossed his hands on his hips, and Shen Yu sneered: "It's not bad, it rhymes." ”

Xu Tinglan glared: "Children's families, why don't you go to school!" Count to three, put your stuff away. One! ”

Huai'an didn't dare to do it again, so he got up and put away the toys.

……

Ten days later, pack up and say goodbye to the two parents, and the husband and wife took Huai'an, Huaiming, Sister Peng, and Chen Yong back to Beijing by water. Shen Lu followed them all the way, and then set off from the capital to resume his post at the Baoding Guard.

Because of the cramped small courtyard in the capital, they only brought Li Huan and his wife, Sister Peng'er's nurse could not be brought, she was a native of Anjiang and a good family, it was impossible to leave her husband and children to go to the capital with her, which made Sister Peng cry.

Shen Yu hugged her in the cabin and coaxed her in circles, coaxing her for half an hour before gradually falling asleep.

Towering official ships floated on the canal for more than ten days. Huai'an saw the farmers along the shore harvesting rice under the blazing sun, the boatmen sweating like rain shouting long trumpets, the children waving bamboo poles to catch ducks, and the fishermen casting nets to catch fish...... They wore shabby shirts and endured the hardships of labor with their thin bodies, while the transport officials on the shore of the wharf were mostly hugging each other and pooping with big bellies, in Huai'an's words, like a big-bellied roast duck hanging in the stove.

The sun is setting, the twilight is dim, and the afterglow of the setting sun shrouds the banks of the Grand Canal, and the willows on the banks are lush and green. On the bow of the ship stood two figures, one tall and one short.

"When you arrive in the capital, you are not allowed to talk nonsense." Shen Yu reminded his son.

Huai'an nodded obediently.

The little one is wearing a pea-green summer shirt that looks fairer and more cute. He pointed to the pointed Buddha Relic Pagoda that gradually revealed its sharp tip in the direction of Tongzhou Wharf, and the child's voice was crisp.

"Daddy, Beijing!"

Chapter 37

After receiving the letter from Li Huan, the subordinates who stayed in Beijing to watch the house estimated the date of the arrival of the master's family in Beijing, and sent a carriage to wait at the Tongzhou wharf every day. Two carriages, one for people and one for luggage. At this time, Huai'an has begun to feel what it means to "pay for rice in the capital", and even the carriage is smaller than that of his hometown.

Shen Yu helped his wife who was holding his daughter to board the car first, and then picked up Huai'an and hugged him.

The carriage drove smoothly on the wide official road.

On the banks of the Grand Canal, you can see a row of whitewashed willow gardens, and the official road is full of BMW incense cars, probably the rich people in the city come here for autumn tours, and there is a happy image of peace everywhere.

Huai'an opened the car window and looked out, and the city in the distance could be seen with flying eaves and heavy pavilions, reflecting the prosperity of the present. He had been young and had slept unconscious when he got off the ship, but this was the first time he had taken a hard look at the glossy and noisy capital.

Tongzhou is more than 40 miles away from the capital to go, hurry up and hurry up to take more than two hours, it is already evening, the city gate is about to be locked, there will be no way back, need to stay in Tongzhou Pavilion overnight.

After everything was cleaned up, Shen Yu took the whole family to a roast duck restaurant, Legend has it that the ducks of this family were raised by the canal, and they grew up to be fat and delicious, which was different from the roast duck in the city.

After a while, the store brought a roast duck with a red color, Huai'an squinted his eyes when he smelled the fragrant aroma, and waited for Xiao Er to slice it into thin slices.

Shen Yu dipped the duck meat in the sauce, put shredded green onions, cucumber strips, rolled them up in pancakes, and handed them to Xu Tinglan, who was busy taking care of his daughter, and then Huai'an.

How could Sister Peng stand the aroma of roast duck, she stretched out her little hand on the edge of the table, and kept repeating one word: "If you want to ......"

Huai'an couldn't see it, so he took a piece of duck meat and peeled it, dipped it in white water, and carefully fed it to his sister's mouth.

Xu Tinglan touched her husband with her elbow, and then looked at Huai'an and smiled with relief.

Sister Peng tasted the delicious food in the world, squirmed her little mouth and squinted her eyes, and after eating, she wrapped Huai'an again, one bite at a time: "Okay, come again!" If you want to ......"

Huai's peace of mind has melted, and he responds to requests, it turns out that this is what it feels like to be a brother.

After a beautiful and full meal for the whole family, with the fatigue of more than ten days of travel, it didn't take long to turn off the lights and go to sleep after returning to the post house, and even Sister Peng only got up once for the night.

The next day, early in the morning, we set off again for the imperial city.

Sister Peng walked such a long way for the first time, stayed in the post house last night, and thought that she had arrived at her destination, but she was carried into the carriage early in the morning to continue the journey, and she couldn't hold back, and she cried aggrieved.

Huai'an was singing children's songs to coax her all the way, and her singing voice was dry, Xu Tinglan took pity on him for his hard work, and frequently handed him a water bladder to moisten his throat.

Entering the outer city from Yongding Gate, the moving carriage suddenly stopped, Huai'an sat unsteadily, the water bladder in his hand shook violently, splashed his face, and his front pants were all wet, fortunately it was summer, not the middle of winter in ice and snow. Xu Tinglan hurriedly took out a handkerchief to help him wipe his face and clothes.

I only heard the driver outside the carriage waving a horsewhip and shouting: "Blind things, dare to stop without looking at whose car is driving!" ”

Shen Yu lifted the curtain of the carriage and opened a gap, and Huai'an saw a group of beggars, ragged and unkempt, kneeling in front of the carriage and begging. The coachman's intimidation scared most of them away, and the scattered three or two were forced to avoid the carriage that continued to move forward.

Shen Yu lowered the curtain.

Huai'an dragged out a food box from his side, which was full of candied fruits, cakes, and candy: "Dad, give them something to eat." ”

Shen Yu pressed his hand: "There are so many hungry people, if you take out food, it will cause a robbery in an instant, then you are not saving people." ”

Huai Anxin was shocked, turned around and lifted the curtain, and couldn't close his mouth in shock. He had never seen so many beggars in his two lives combined, and he had erected rows of shacks along the street, which were filled with yellow-skinned homeless people, some were begging, some were selling, and some went to the wharf to carry bags or dig coal in the west mountains to earn a □□ of life's food.

Huai Ming and Chen Yong also looked solemn.

"The last time I came to the capital, it seems that there were not so many displaced people." Huai Ming said.

Shen Yu nodded and said: "There is a drought in many prefectures and counties in the west, the grain harvest is poor, the people are hungry, and there are more and more displaced people who have fled. ”

Not only will there be no food when you return to your hometown, but you will also have to face heavy taxes, and you will not be able to survive anyway. At least the homeless people don't have to pay taxes, and maybe they can still have something to eat.

In the end, it is a question of the tax system. The imperial court has no money, so it goes to the people to exploit it, and the taxes in many provinces have been collected in advance to more than ten years later, and the people do not occupy much land.

On the way to the inner city, Huai'an was silent all the way, with mixed feelings in his heart.

He suddenly understood his father, who was obviously idle in the countryside and had no worries about food and clothing, but he always frowned at Di Bao; He also somewhat understood Zhao Zhixian, who was a person who stood in the dirty quagmire and sheltered the people from the wind and rain.

He understood them, born in the middle of a dynasty, and had long been accustomed to its prosperity and strength, but they had entered the ranks at the time of its decline, and did not want to see it ruined, so they tried their best to save the world.

However, the rise and fall of successive dynasties and the change of dynasties all have their iron laws, and a dynasty that has accumulated frequent shortcomings and is about to run out of gas can really come back to life and restore Zhongxing?

While talking, the carriage entered the inner city and passed through the chessboard street in front of the Daming Gate, where not only the yamen is lined up, but also the merchants are gathered here, the shops on the street are lined up one after another, the cloth sheds are high, noisy and prosperous. To the south of Qipan Street, there is a long and narrow alley called Nanshuiguan, which goes to the end, is a small house with two depths, and the lintel is a five-grade regulation, which looks very low-key. And the larger one on the east side is the house that Xu Tinglan just bought and is going to tear down the wall and expand.

Huai'an didn't pay attention to the pestle and jumped directly from the carriage.

Walking into the gate, there is a square brick shadow wall, and there are three inverted seats in the front yard, one is reserved for guest rooms, and the rest is for people to live in. Walk through the front yard, enter the hanging flower gate is the main courtyard, the main courtyard is composed of three main rooms, the east and west ear rooms, the east and west wing rooms, the middle is connected by the hand verandah, enclosing a square courtyard, there is a huge lotus pot in the courtyard, the fish put in three years ago are also well cared for, and they play happily among the lotus leaves.

This is their home in the capital, Huai'an still lives in the main house with his father and mother, and Huaiming and Chen Yong live in the wing.

The courtyard is not big, and it is not as elegant as the Jiangnan courtyard, but it is better than the Xuan Xuan square, which makes people feel sparse. Huai'an jumped up and down in the yard, grimacing at Peng'er, listening to his sister's giggling laughter like silver bells, and temporarily leaving his worries behind.

When they arrived in the capital, they could no longer call slaves and maids like their hometowns, and only Li Huan's daughter-in-law could cook, but they had just entered the door, and there was a lot of chaos around, so Xu Tinglan asked people to go to the street to call a table of noodles to come back, and everyone made do with it, and put away their luggage to rest.

Huai'an was sleepy at the dinner table, but after the meal, he suddenly became energetic, everyone was unpacking and putting things away, he had to bring his sister to help, not so much to help, but to make trouble, the troublesome people had a headache, or Xu Tinglan pinched his waist and counted three more before he stopped and took Peng'er to take a nap.

Xu Tinglan shook his head and sighed: "It's really a seven or eight-year-old dog." ”

……

Ding Wei still has a great impact on the career of officials.

At the end of the mourning period, officials should first go to the ministry to report, and then enter the alternate waiting, at least three or five months, at most one or two years, always have to wait for a period of time to wait for the second appointment of the ministry, and generally can not be reinstated, can only be transferred with the same quality.

After all, the establishment of the imperial court is limited, how can there be any position that can be vacant for three years and wait for you to come back?

Shen Yu doesn't need to be a cold bench, firstly, because he is a Hanlin official with excellent grades and a noble background, and he has a saying that "non-Hanlin will not enter the cabinet", which is not a joke for the prime minister; Second, it was because his teacher Zheng Qian greeted the officials in advance.

It's really someone in the court who is easy to do, Huai'an thought.

Nowadays, officialdom is popular to engage in the practice of sitting teachers and protégés, and the relationship between master and apprentice is sometimes more reliable than the relationship between father and son, at least for Shen Yu, aside from the fact that Master Shen gave him this body and blood, his father and teacher are really not comparable.

When Shen Yu first arrived in the capital, he was taken care of by his teacher, and whenever he came to the door, his wife always cooked in person and warmly entertained him. So when he came out of the ministry, Shen Yu first submitted a prayer sticker to the Zheng Mansion.

Zheng Ge had just returned home at this time, and before he could change his crimson official clothes, he invited him to the study to talk.

Zheng Ge is old and close, and he still walks and sits upright, but he hasn't seen him for a long time, and he has added a lot of silver threads to his sideburns.

Shen Yu gave a big salute first, and Zheng Qian hurriedly helped him up. The teacher and student have not seen each other for nearly three years, and there is always a lot to say about family affairs.

Yiying tea and fruits were all brought in by Shi's mother, and asked Shen Yu: "Are the daughters-in-law and children here?" ”

"Master." Shen Yu got up and gave his wife a deep salute, and then said, "It's all here, and I will bring my mother to Beijing to serve in half a year." ”

"That's exactly how it should be!" The master was still kind and kind: "After a few days of rest, you bring them here, and the master will cook a few good dishes by herself." ”

Zheng Qian also said: "Your master and wife have been talking since last month, you should take off, and the menu was prepared at that time." ”

Shen Yu thanked him repeatedly, gladly agreed, and refused to leave his wife to leave for dinner, and said goodbye and went home.

Huai'an and Chen Yong are both practicing in the courtyard, Chen Yong is a serious character, in the past, it was Huai'an who lured him to practice martial arts, and now Huai'an can't be lazy if he wants to, Chen Yong will pull him up when he practices.

"Martial arts practice is a process of accumulation over time, and it can't be exposed to the cold at once." Chen Yong said.

Are you kidding? The purpose of practicing martial arts is to be handsome and cool dressed as thirteen, who wants to accumulate over time! I'm not going to be a general!!

Huai'an wailed all the way, and was dragged by Chen Yong to the empty front yard to accompany him to his horse.

When Shen Yu entered the door, he was wearing a cyan regimental leader's robe, embroidered white flycatcher, three-foot wide sleeves, black yarn, comfortable eyebrows, and a straight back.

Huai'an was used to seeing his father's Mai in plain clothes, so he was stunned for a moment before jumping up to meet him.

"Daddy's dress is better than the servants on the stage." Huai'an gave a sycophant.

Shen Yu had long been accustomed to his youngest son's open-mouthedness, so he just glanced at him and called Chen Yong: "Yong'er, rest the day after tomorrow, and your uncle and grandfather will pick you up." ”