There were a large number of Song merchants gathered in Tianjin Mansion, and their residences were very close to the core area of Tianjin Mansion, the highland dotted with military fortresses and government residences.
The reason why they were allowed to build luxurious courtyards nearby was that the imperial court not only wanted to treat distant people well and show friendship, but also had a very simple military consideration, that is, in case of police, the large army bees stationed in the highlands would It surges out and can quickly catch all these unreliable goods.
The merchants of Song Dynasty knew this very well. However, it is so easy to make money in Tianjin Prefecture, and the merchants are happy but not thinking about Shu. Therefore, most people express their gratitude for this kind of treatment. They only occasionally pay more attention to the continuous military fortresses entrenched on the highlands.
At this moment, several big merchants discovered that the security inside and outside the fortress seemed to be a little stricter, and the number of officers and soldiers on duty seemed to be slightly more.
"Have any important people arrived in Tianjin?" A man dressed as a businessman asked his companions with a smile, holding his round belly when he was full of wine and food.
The companion was already half drunk, shaking the wine cup in his hand, and said with eyes: "The most important person is Mr. Shi, isn't it you? The one who is more important than Mr. Shi is probably not the emperor of Zhou Dynasty?"
The man laughed, and a group of people around him laughed too.
In the eyes of these Song people, the Zhou emperor was not as dignified as the Zhao Guan family.
Zhao Guan's family has been passed down for so many generations, and he has found several immortal ancestors including Xuanyuan Huangdi, and even went to Mount Tai to pray for Zen. Although he has been traveling south for many years, he still has some special heights in the hearts of ordinary people.
The Guo Guan family of Dazhou is a bit like a grass-headed king. Except for the army as the backbone of the Zhou Dynasty, the regime's control over local areas was very loose, and it was not as complete as the Southern Dynasties. Many people in the Song Dynasty felt that the Zhou Dynasty was like the regime of the powerful warriors of the Five Dynasties, and Guo Ning was more like a warlord leader than an emperor, with more mystery than sanctity. Coupled with the general contempt for the Qiu Ba people in the Song Dynasty, when the emperor was mentioned, it was inevitable to be a little contemptuous.
These people continued to drink and talk about their business without giving it a second thought. Not far from the balcony where they had a banquet, there was a road connecting the highlands to the residential areas where officials and soldiers lived. At this moment, several carriages were rushing past on the road, followed by more than a dozen mounted guards, all of whom were whipping their whips.
Occasionally, the wheels of the carriage hit small stones on the road, causing them to bounce violently, causing the vehicle body to sway left and right.
The driver hurriedly turned around and asked, "Is there something wrong, madam?"
The official's female family member in the car scolded: "Keep your eyes on the road and speed up!"
"Yes Yes."
The compartment of the carriage was quite large, and there were several female family members sitting in it. Sitting side by side, apart from the hostess who was driving this car, were the family members of two other officials. Also sitting with them were a famous local theater master and a female Taoist priest who was said to be a bit miraculous.
The hostess was speaking just now. After the vehicle bumped, she bit her tongue and was so painful that she burst into tears. But she ignored the screams of pain and stared at her companions and said: "His Majesty the Emperor was traveling everywhere before. Wherever he went, it was common to see chickens flying and dogs flying, and he was beheaded more times than he could count... You didn't know the reason before, but now Do you understand?"
"I understand! I understand! But our family is loyal to His Majesty. Even if we are in a hurry, it will not be our turn, hehe."
"Whoever dares to boast that this kind of thing is involved will be fine! The emperor already knows about the strange thing behind Sanchakou! In addition, the emperor can also know about the things about Zizhulin, Guibeidi, and Ershilipu just by looking at the books. Not to mention, right now, the Department of Left and Right and the Department of Records are conducting strict investigations... Just now, Your Majesty said that Your Majesty will only give you one night! Just one night! You guys, spread the word quickly! Let those damn men wipe their butts. Wipe your butt and hang yourself! Those bitches think the emperor doesn't care? Are they going too far now? They will bring bad luck to our ancestors for eighteen generations!"
The hostess was elegantly dressed, but her manner of speaking was very rude, and she was full of obscenities when she was anxious. Many of the wives of the military nobles of the Great Zhou Dynasty were like this.
In the past two years, not all officers have attempted to divorce their wives and remarry, but many of their attempts have been thwarted by their mothers-in-law. This is because most of these women control their families' fields or businesses, and they also communicate with each other, and they have their own
My own little circles. Many people are even best friends with the Queen. They often ask Lu Han to go shopping together, buy a few bags and give each other gifts... Their waists are as hard as iron rods, who can touch them?
At this time, the ladies got the Queen's instruction and cheered up one by one, saying, "We only need one night!"
The hostess glanced at her mouth and saw a woman sitting in the corner. She raised her hand and said, "Isn't that guy in your family always at odds with Old Hu, the inspector at Sanchakou and Liukou? Go in that direction!" Going right now!"
The woman sitting in the corner looked timid: "Me? Shall I go? The men from the Hu family have inhuman faces and are fierce. I'm scared!"
The hostess hated the iron, and shook her head repeatedly: "That's why I let you go! This is a chance for you to make a good sale. You must give yourself some face! Go earlier. When Lao Hu sees you in the future, he will have to nod and bow. !」
The chatter of the women faintly leaked out of the carriage and reached the outside world.
The driver was very clever and immediately used the light of the lantern on the front of the car to signal to the passenger car behind him.
After a while, as expected, a lady got out of the car in front and moved to the car behind.
Immediately, the two convoys separated, and the rear car galloped westward, upstream along Lushui.
After the carriage galloped for a moment, it passed the Sanchakou Pier that was originally scheduled to be expanded. As the car rumbled by, in a grass hut near the road, several folk bought a few cents of wine, bought some food, and were chatting around a fire.
Someone said: "I heard that there are still people harvesting grain in various villages at the moment, and they pay very high prices."
"Before I set off, the old people in the village said that this winter will be very cold, and even a drop of water will turn into ice. The army and the government are eager to stock up on more food, just in case. We work hard, so naturally we want to get more...otherwise Aren’t you going to suffer a loss?”
A young man next to him said: "Uncle Zhu, you are right. However, according to the previously agreed commission, it is not bad to take it home... at least it will not be in vain!"
"Shut up!"
The civilian husband known as Uncle Zhu glared at the young man.
The young man continued stubbornly: "No matter how much the commotion was before, it wasn't us who suffered the consequences? How can we have money if we can't start work? Besides, those who made the commotion would inevitably be punished. Zhang San from the neighboring shop, who claimed to be an outlaw, ended up with his life. It’s all gone, and your legs…”
Uncle Zhu felt a little regretful in his heart. He knew that what the young man said was right, but for some reason the crowd was so angry at that time that the chaos became more and more chaotic.
Sighing, he reached into the fire with his bare hands and pulled away a few coals.
His hands were covered with thick calluses, like a layer of armor, and they didn't feel hot. He quickly took out a dark thing and patted it twice. It turned out to be a steamed bun baked until browned.
"Eat this first. You two have good appetites, so each of you can take half."
He put the steamed bun into the young man's hand, then bowed and pulled the iron catalpa.
This iron catalpa was distributed by the government officials after they came to work in Tianjin Prefecture. The large catalpa noodles were made of high-quality iron. Therefore, farmers use it to dig soil and transport sand, and also use it to deal with small animals that occasionally escape from the river beach. At this moment, Uncle Zhu is using him as kitchen utensils.
He is very strong and his hands are very steady, but when he moves, his upper body tends to shake, and his legs are obviously unable to bear the strength. Everyone around him knows that two months ago, when he was arguing with the officials and wanted to get more benefits from everyone, he was beaten violently by the wolf-like inspection department soldiers, and his calf was broken. He still has it today. Can't get up.
Because the young man mentioned this matter, the people around the fire were a little depressed. Of course, some people are lucky because every time the Inspection Department intervenes, it will inevitably lead to a bigger conflict. Compared with the casualties caused by the soldiers of the Inspection Department, Mr. Zhu only broke two legs, which is considered Got lucky.
Not far away from the hut, there were suddenly heavy footsteps. Someone came closer and coughed lightly: "Is Mr. Zhu here? I am the local inspection officer Hu Zhonggui, and I would like to invite him to come out and have a chat."
Local inspection? These are all tough people! The last few times they had dealt with each other, they kept talking about the rules under the Emperor's feet. They simply didn't regard the common people as human beings, and only regarded them as vegetables that were beaten and rolled all over the ground!
The people living in several straw huts nearby were all in panic.
, no one answered for a while.
The speaker was not angry at all, and strode into the shack where Boss Zhu was.
Under the light of the fire, there was actually a smile on his hideous face: "Why do you eat such pickled things! Eat mine! I brought meat! And good wine!"
Hu Zhonggui spoke in a loud voice, a bit deliberately showing kindness. The people in the shed were all frightened. Who dared to eat his wine and meat? The young man who complained earlier was the cleverest and murmured: "I peed my pants, I want to go out..."
The people around him quickly followed suit and dispersed.
When they rushed outside, everyone was worried and lingered nearby, peering through the doors and windows of the shack. They felt that Hu Zhonggui's face was getting more and more terrifying.
Hu Zhonggui stared at Boss Zhu and chuckled.
(Remember to bookmark it for next time reading!)
