After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xu He received a letter from Huzhou.
It turned out to be a letter from Mr. Jingchuan, the new governor of Huzhou, Tang Shunzhi.
The letter first congratulated Xu He on passing the examination and said that he had some free time right now, so he wanted to invite Xu He to live in Nanxun, Huzhou for a while, so that he could taste the local hairy crabs and crab hooves.
Since the last farewell to Shen Mansion, Xu He and Tang Shunzhi have often exchanged letters.
In addition to asking for advice, Xu He also talked about daily trivial matters.
Tang Shunzhi admired this little friend very much, and would send some local specialties from Huzhou from time to time. Xu He naturally wanted to reciprocate.
After going back and forth, Tang Shunzhi actually called Xu He "little friend" in front of his friends, which gradually spread Xu He's reputation in Zhejiang.
Xu He originally planned to "disappear" for a while during this period, but now Tang Shunzhi's letter suddenly moved his heart.
After settling things at home, Xu He asked after Ding Ze came back from abroad for two days, "How is things going over there in Songjiang?"
Ding Ze said: "Don't worry, I asked Wang Zhu'er and Xiao Er to keep an eye on them, and they made everything clear before they came back."
Xu He nodded and said: "Okay, we will go to Huzhou tomorrow. We will stay there for a while."
Ding Ze asked in surprise: "Huzhou? Zhejiang is often harassed by Japanese pirates. Is there something urgent that you must go to now?"
Xu He smiled and said: "It doesn't matter. When we arrive in Wuxi County, there will be an official ship from the Huzhou Prefecture Yamen on Taihu Lake to pick us up!"
Ding Ze felt a little relieved after hearing this.
It was not that he was cautious. In this era, Wuxi was under the jurisdiction of Changzhou Prefecture. Although Suzhou and Changzhou were not as corrupted by Japanese aggression as Zhejiang, they were often harassed.
General Su Song of the imperial court was even more afraid that the Japanese pirate rebellion would spread to southern Zhili, so he simply stayed in Suzhou Prefecture. The year before last, a governor died for resisting the Japanese. Most people really didn't dare to go to Zhejiang at this time.
But it's different with the official ship of Huzhou Prefecture.
Because Zhejiang is the area hardest hit by the Japanese rebellion, the province still attaches great importance to armaments.
Even the guardsmen are much stronger than those in other provinces.
With the banner of Huzhou Prefecture, no one would dare to act rashly unless they encountered large groups of Japanese pirates or real Japanese pirates.
Knowing that Xu He was going to Huzhou, Mrs. Xie and Sister Gu couldn't help but give them another round of warnings.
On the day of the trip, Xu He deliberately made the event louder, visited Chen Hua, and hosted a banquet at home for Hu Xian Cheng, Ouyang Jun, Chu Yuan and others. He did not take Xu He with him until everyone in Hailing knew that he was going out. Ding Ze went south.
Since Xu He had the status of being a juren, he no longer needed the roads set up by the yamen when he went out. He stopped and stopped along the way, stopping at restaurants, and while learning about the real people's life in the Wei Dynasty, he wrote a diary.
The contents of the diary are not limited to the content. When he sees mountains and rivers, he compares them with the book Xie Kun gave him.
The maps drawn by the ancients were relatively rough. For example, the "Mountains and Rivers Map of the Liefus of the Imperial Wei Dynasty" given to him by Xie Kun completely changed the picture from Yangzhou to Xie Defu's hometown Yiling.
The river is only marked with its name and its approximate location. In fact, the Salt River leads directly to Yangzhou, but it disappears after leaving Jiangdu on the map.
Moreover, the various checkpoints and patrol water villages on the river are extremely careless.
If you really rely on this map, you can fall into a ditch in the battle.
Therefore, Xu He's first priority was to roughly draw the maps along the way according to the scale of later generations. Of course, he did not have the energy to complete all the runs, but chatting with fellow villagers would be more reliable than the maps from a hundred years ago. many.
The second is to find out the sentiments of the people.
As long as you heard about local customs, interesting things, and output, you would write them down on paper.
The people he chatted with included common people and gentry with official backgrounds.
In this era, there are no high-speed trains, planes, or even cars and ships. The transportation is indeed inconvenient, but it also allows Xu He to calm down and take a closer look at the mountains and waters of this world.
Along the way, he not only broadened his horizons, but also became much more comfortable.
When they arrived at Taihu Lake, Huzhou's official ship had already been waiting for them.
Xu He was not in a hurry. He stayed in a fishing village by Taihu Lake for two days. According to the rules he had set, he invited local elders from the surrounding villages to learn about the local customs, and then got on the boat and sailed south.
Those who came to greet Xu He were the Zhou Ju from the third class of the Huzhou government office. This Zhou Ju was very interesting. He was originally a scholar in Huzhou. His father was a head catcher in his generation because he didn't want his descendants to stay in the minor official position and spend money. Let Zhou Ju study.
But Zhou Ju is a typical example of hurting Zhongyong. He was quite smart in studying when he was a child, but he failed to pass the provincial examination several times. In addition, his father is getting older, and the family has long been left with nothing, so he has no choice but to let his son retreat. Secondly, keep the position of head catcher first, and let the next generation talk about the rest...
In the Wei Dynasty, officials were not allowed to take scientific examinations, so the Zhou family could advance and retreat.
But this also resulted in Zhou Ju being the head catcher, which was really...
"Mr. Xie Yuangong will be held in the next week. His courtesy name is Shangbin. By order of the prefect, I am here to wait for Mr. Xie Yuangong!" After saying that, he lifted the hem of his robe and made a bow.
Xu He said with a smile: "I didn't expect that the head catcher was actually a scholar. He is really good at both civil and military skills!"
Zhou Ju smiled bitterly: "I have little talent and knowledge, and gave up halfway. I am really ashamed to be both civil and military. Now I am just incompetent in literature and martial arts. I am laughed at by the government as a scholar, and call me Black and Red Yaksha when I go out. It is really..."
Xu He didn't expect Zhou Ju to be a wonderful person this time, and his words were quite interesting. However, he was very tired after walking for many days, so he served tea to Ding Ze to see off the guests, and he wrote a diary in the cabin.
Not long after, noisy footsteps suddenly came from the deck outside. Xu He said to Ding Ze, "Go out and take a look. What's going on?"
Ding Ze went out for a while and came back with Zhou Ju.
Zhou Ju said: "Xie Yuangong is a man belonging to the water bandit Liang Qiao on Taihu Lake. When he saw a boat passing by, he came in a small boat to take a look!"
Xu He frowned and said, "Are there many water bandits on Taihu Lake?"
"There were originally many, but in recent years Liang Qiao has become more powerful and has gradually annexed some smaller forces. But don't worry, Duke Xie Yuang, they still don't dare to mess around when they see the official ships!" Zhou Ju looked out the window and watched from a distance. Xiaochuan explained to Xu He.
Xu He frowned and said, "Why don't the people in the village mention that there is such a person in Taihu when I live in Taihu?"
Zhou Ju smiled and said: "Many of Liang Qiao's men are actually fishermen from Taihu Lake. They make a living by fishing when they have nothing to do. But if there are fat sheep, they will gather on the island and rob merchant ships."
Ding Ze asked in surprise: "Why didn't the government suppress it?"
Zhou Ju smiled slightly and said nothing.
Xu He felt like he was in the clear mirror. These people probably did nothing evil. Even robbing wealth didn't hurt anyone. In addition, the local government and the government had a lot of cover for them, so it would be better to do less than to do more.
Not long after, the boat that was monitoring Xu He and the others gradually disappeared, and the vigilant footsteps on the deck also stopped.
Xu He couldn't help but look at Zhou Ju with admiration.
Even though he knew clearly that the visitors would not attack the official ship, he still organized the government officials and sailors to defend him. This is called caution.
And caution is a good quality.
