Chapter 77: Going to Hangzhou
Zhao Yingong stood on the bow of the ship, looking at the city of Hangzhou hundreds of years ago, and was in a daze for a while. [No pop-up novel website]
For a modern person who has special feelings for the Song Dynasty, Hangzhou is an inseparable complex in the hearts of Song fans.
"Okay, I'm coming." He whispered.
Zhao Yingong left Guangzhou in January. Along the way, he first took a boat, a sedan, and sometimes a horse. The journey lasted nearly two months, and finally arrived in Hangzhou in the glorious spring of March.
Needless to say, there were bumps and hardships on the road, and we also encountered several thrills: three times we were targeted by thieves, and one time we encountered a sudden flash flood. If it weren't for the escort from the escort agency, Zhao Yingong doubted whether he could reach Hangzhou safely on his own.
His blood vessels are now filled with various antibody proteins. He carries a variety of medicines in his medicine bag - including bleaching powder and water purification tablets, anthelmintic medicine, anti-malarial medicine and anti-diarrhoeal medicine. To ensure safety, the Ministry of Health warned him not to eat any meat on the road to avoid contracting certain parasites. If you fall ill on the road, you will almost be dead in this time and space. Therefore, Zhao Yingong's life was very difficult along the way - the only way for him to supplement protein and fat was to eat the No. 10 grass ration at night: a special protein and fat supplement. Includes jerky, glass bottles of salted lard and nuts.
These terrible things made his journey even more difficult, and he saw the city of Hangzhou right in front of him. Zhao Yingong couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that when he got there, he had to take a good bath, change clothes, and then take off his long hair like a girl and wash it clean - it was inconvenient to take a shower during the trip, and his head smelled bad. Although he tried his best to maintain personal hygiene, there were still a lot of lice on his body, which made him extremely uncomfortable. There are such abominable parasites everywhere in this time and space, and the hotel is the base camp and transit point of the parasites. Bedbugs are especially rampant. Zhao Yingong had never suffered such a crime since he was a child. In the old days, even in a small town in a national-level poverty-stricken county, there were still clean hotels and decent food. Although the public security in some places is extremely poor and the city appearance is chaotic, at least you don't see lying corpses on the road or people defecating in the street.
But he saw it all along the way. Not only did he see it, but Daming often gave him a very bad impression, even worse than his worst assumptions. Zhao Yingong had seen the actual conditions of ancient society in Japan, but he always felt that this was because Hainan Island itself was a remote place and was caused by economic and cultural backwardness. Later, I went to Guangzhou for pre-adaptation training. After all, Guangzhou is a treaty port, and the Pearl River Delta has been a land of plenty since ancient times. But once you leave such a prosperous place, you will see all the dark side along the way.
When he came out, it happened to be the spring famine, which was originally the most difficult time for farmers. In some places that suffered disasters last year, their food reserves had been exhausted by spring, and large numbers of people fled the famine. Zhao Yingong was sitting in the sedan chair. Every time he saw groups of beggars on the road and farmers who were no better than beggars, struggling to work in the fields, he felt uncontrollably heavy.
He had read countless times about the chaotic situation in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties in history books, but now when he actually walked through this picture, he felt the horror and sadness of the troubled times - no, strictly speaking, it was not considered troubled times yet. , the map of hell on earth in China has not yet truly unfolded. The ground he walked on was still a peaceful place even in the early Qing Dynasty, but it was already in this miserable situation. It’s easy to imagine how ferocious the place would be when the real chaos swept through it.
Because the world has gradually become chaotic, the Foreign Intelligence Agency made careful arrangements for this trip to Jiangnan. Not only did the Qiwei Escort Bureau select a team of three men and one female escorts, but they also selected a number of professional security personnel from the General Administration of Political Security to accompany them. For the journey, try to choose Guandao Road and walk along the post station. In ancient society, this was the safest way to travel.
In order to guard against "official bandits" along the way, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau informed the Guangzhou Station and obtained several "Eight Elements" and greeting cards from the gentry officials in Guangzhou as amulets - in addition to scaring off the little devils, it saves a lot of trouble and blackmail. , you can also ask the government for help if you encounter danger. Very useful.
The bodyguard of the Qiwei Escort Bureau responsible for guarding Zhao Yingong was a distant nephew of Sun Kecheng named Sun Wangcai. Although he is said to be a nephew, he is actually not much younger than Sun Kecheng. He is a strong man in his early forties. He has a flexible mind, strong skills, and is experienced in martial arts. In Qiwei, he is also a well-spoken character. Moreover, he often acted as an "official escort": escorting outgoing officials and their families in Guangdong back home, and he had a good way of dealing with high-ranking officials and dignitaries. So this time the Foreign Intelligence Agency selected him as the security captain for Zhao Yingong. In addition, it was also used as a measure to break up and dismantle the "Sun Jia Ban" and "Jiangxi Gang" in Weizhong. The backbone of the original Weili team followed expatriates from the Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Colonial Trade to act as personal guards.
Sun Wangcai stood behind him. He knew that the elder was a valuable person and a powerful benefactor, so he greeted him very carefully and attentively along the way. He always walks at the front of the team. Whether it is hiring a manager, staying in a hotel, or booking a ship, he always goes one step ahead to check on the situation.
Seeing that the journey was safe and finally arrived in Hangzhou, Sun Wang breathed a sigh of relief. Zhejiang, especially the area in northern Zhejiang, has always been a land of plenty, and the place is affluent and much more stable than other places. There are no longer many unsighted refugees on the road. At some places he passed by, he had to ask all the men in the team to "appear" with their dicks to intimidate the wandering refugees.
"Master, it's finally been a safe journey." Sun Wangcai said in a low voice, "Do you think you will enter the city today, or stay in an inn outside the city first?"
Zhao Yingong was very reluctant to go to the city immediately, bought a mansion, and took a quick bath immediately. However, buying a house and purchasing furniture were not something that could be done at once, but the people accompanying him had a lot of luggage, so they had to find an inn first. Just settle down.
Sun Wang was used to serving old men. Seeing his hesitation, he knew what he was thinking. sidewalk:
"Don't worry, sir. This is the provincial capital where the Third Division is located. It's not a remote place. There are quite a few large and elegant inns that are dedicated to the business of gentlemen."
Zhao Yingong nodded: "Okay, it's up to you. Find a big inn to stay first."
Sun Wangcai escorted the "official bodyguards" and traveled all over the country, including Hangzhou several times. As soon as we got ashore, we quickly booked a hotel. Hangzhou is a provincial capital and a prosperous place in the southeast, with a prosperous market and a large population. As for arrogance in clothing, we should not take it seriously. The waiter who came to greet Zhao Yingong from the inn called for a four-person sedan, and also called for a two-person sedan for the female family members. A dozen other porters carried the luggage.
Everyone abandoned their boats and landed ashore, walking along the revetment for less than half a mile. From a distance, they could see the majestic city walls and towering gates. Zhao Yingong is not from Hangzhou, but he is quite familiar with Hangzhou. He knew that most of the walls and gates of Hangzhou at this time were no longer relics of the Song Dynasty - Zhang Shicheng had rebuilt the city in Hangzhou at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the layout was different from that of the Song Dynasty. But when you first see the city gate, you can't help but feel nostalgic.
There are all inns near the city gate, different sizes. The big gold-lettered signboard says "official residence", while the small one says "anyu merchant". The Laorongji Inn arranged by Sun Wangcai was naturally a platform for officials to visit. The house is tall and grand. There are many people and sedan chairs coming and going in front of the door. There was a steady stream of guys.
Sun Wangcai has rented two courtyards, one large and one small. The small courtyard has three main rooms, the large courtyard has five rooms, and there are also side rooms. They are spacious and clean, and free of all kinds of annoying bugs. It is enough to accommodate the entire Hangzhou station. The person responsible for managing the internal affairs of Hangzhou Station is Zhao Yingong's life secretary. Zhao Yingong's life secretary is unattractive and thin, but he is from Zhejiang. His hometown is in Shaoxing, but he was sold to Guangdong. The reason why Zhao Yingong bought such a life secretary with a low rating in the first place was because he would one day be dispatched to Jiangnan for activities and would need to be equipped with a local person. He named the girl "Fenghua".
"You're going to be here for a while, so you should try your best to arrange it as properly as possible." Zhao Yingong told her, "Especially let everyone do a good job in sanitation tonight."
There was no ready-made equipment in the inn, so Sun Wangcai asked his waiter to lead him out to buy new bathtubs for the elders and women to use. Others made do with the basics, so they rubbed soap locust in hot water and rinsed in the big yard.
Zhao Yingong took a hot bath comfortably under Fenghua's service and put on clean clothes. I put on a pair of Chenqiao straw slippers and walked a few steps in the courtyard. Looking at the sun hanging in the sky, I felt so happy. For the first time in these days, he felt stable - the next step was to open up the situation in Hangzhou.
Time was not abundant for him. The severe drought in northern Zhejiang in 1632 and the Dengzhou plan to be launched in the second half of the year both required the support of Hangzhou Station. Before the beginning of 1632, he must complete the basic layout in Hangzhou and obtain sufficient freedom of movement. Prepare sufficient material and social foundations for the transfer of refugees.
The material foundation is not bad - after he settles down, the Intelligence Bureau's Shanhai two-way system will soon be stationed in the Yangtze River Delta region. With the large number of new products they have, it will not be difficult to make money. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance has a special allocation for Hangzhou Station to support local industry and commerce.
How to establish one's social status is the most important thing. Zhao Yingong knew that in this time and space, businessmen were very helpless. It was almost impossible to gain a foothold in this social system without engaging in serious collusion between government and businessmen. So his first role cannot be a businessman. Roa.
