In the eighth year of Wanli, it is the third day of the tenth lunar month.
At this time, the Mid-Autumn Festival has passed more than half a month. If we were in the north, the autumn mood would have already been strong. However, in Yongzhou, which is close to Guangxi, the weather is still a little hot.
Fortunately, since he and Liu Xin parted ways, Gao Pragmatic had been walking by water all the way, and the strong wind on the boat did not make him feel uncomfortable. Even the southern scenery reminded him of the feeling of walking by the river in his previous life. After all, he was a southerner in his previous life.
It was this kind of relaxing time that made him like taking a boat. Every day when he had nothing to do, he would sit on the second floor of the boat and look at the green water and green mountains. It was so comfortable.
However, the servants who came with him were not as relaxed and relaxed as he was. During the half-month boat trip, many of these northern men suffered from seasickness. Especially in the first few days, many of them almost suffered from seasickness. All spat out.
Although more people did not vomit as badly, they were also top-heavy and groggy all day long. Gao Pangshi felt at that time that if he encountered any water bandits at this time, the servants he took as his guards might not be as good as him in fighting them.
At least he loved to swim in his previous life, and his skills were superb. If he couldn't survive, he could still dive into the water to escape. Unlike this group of guys, who could still climb ashore after falling into the Xiangjiang River, they could only be counted on two hands.
In the past few days, he often thought of Liu Xin, not with any intention of admiration. In fact, his attitude towards Liu Xin was limited to a feeling of "meeting an old friend in a foreign land". In fact, he simply felt that Liu Xin was quite pitiful.
Unlike herself, she has no motivation to change this era, nor does she have the prerequisites to change this era, yet she has traveled here. It's like a goldfish thrown into a glass tank by the hand of fate. Although there is water around it, it understands that this is not its real home at all.
Full of melancholy and no one to talk to.
Although he and Liu Xin had known each other for a long time, they really didn't communicate much. In addition to being very smart when she was a child, Liu Xin didn't leave much of an impression on him. If she had to say that she did, it would be "this The little girl speaks so directly."
That's not a good impression.
During this trip, he learned her true identity and understood her "childhood" directness as if she was aloof.
When she traveled through time, she had just graduated from college. She neither understood nor liked the Ming Dynasty, so she would naturally be resistant and unwilling to integrate.
Until the last time we met in Nancheng, the capital, the little girl had grown up and finally behaved like a lady of this era, except that she didn't have her feet bound.
At that time, Gao Pragmatic just thought that Liu Xian had ignored the matter or was too doting on her. Later, he came to his senses after learning about her origins. This was probably just her last persistence.
It's hard for Gao Pragmatic to imagine how lonely a time traveler who doesn't want to integrate into this era must feel. So on the way together, Gao Pragmatic deliberately paid more attention to her.
Only then did he realize that Liu Xin, apart from being more "lively" when talking to him, not only rarely communicated with other people, but also clearly showed a kind of indifference.
If I had to describe it, it would be a kind of "polite alienation".
Although he wouldn't do it, he could understand.
Another day later, the fleet finally traveled along the Xiangjiang River and arrived at the boundary of Guangxi. According to the boss of the ship at the Xiangkou Station in Yongzhou Prefecture, ahead was Huangsha Town, which belongs to Quanzhou, Guangxi. There is a water station in the town, which is the Xiangkou Station. The end of this line of post is Shanjie Ma Post.
Since the Xiangjiang River here narrows and there are many stepped ups and downs on the river, it is not possible to sail by boat. You have to take a horse and post to Quanzhou, and then change to a water post again to Guilin.
However, as soon as the fleet arrived in Huangsha Town, Gao Qingshi discovered that something was wrong outside Shanjie Ma Station. There was a bustle of people outside Nama Posthouse, with at least five to six hundred people gathering in a noisy manner.
As the fleet got closer, the captain of the ship smiled and bowed to Gao Pingshi, "Sir, it should be the people from the Quanzhou Guard Qianhu Station who are here to welcome you."
Gao Pangshi was surprised. The group of people in front of him, who were no better than the beggars, were actually the defenders of Qianhu Station here.
I'm afraid the beggars have better discipline than you.
Gao Zhang, who was the leader of Gao Pragmatic's entourage this time, had been staring at this group of people for a long time. When he heard what the ship boss said, he couldn't help but frown and said to Gao Pragmatic, "Sir, if all the officers and soldiers in Guangxi With this look, I can understand why Guangxi has never been able to settle down."
Gao pragmatically moved his lips, but finally said nothing.
The group of disciples of the Beggar Gang, and the officers and soldiers from Qianhu Station finally appeared in the fleet. A group of officers began to shout hurriedly to the whole fleet, but they seemed to be a little unable to do what they wanted. They kept making noises for a long time, but they could only manage to form a rough fleet. shape.
Unfortunately, even this formation was still crooked and twisted, which made Gao Zhang, who had trained with Qi Jiguang for more than two years, want to go up and hit people with a whip.
Seeing that his face was ugly and he looked uncomfortable all over, Gao pragmatic couldn't help but asked, "Gao Zhang, what are you doing?"
Gao Zhang was startled, then smiled bitterly and said, "Master, I just remembered Qi Zongrong's words. He said that if an army cannot even arrange a neat battle formation, no matter how brave the soldiers are individually, they can only fight. Fighting with a favorable wind will definitely be unreliable at the critical moment.”
Gao Jingshi nodded with deep understanding. He agreed with this point, otherwise he wouldn't have emphasized the queue so much in the first place. In fact, that's all he knew.
At this time, the fleet is ready to dock, and the formation over there has been completed. It can only be regarded as that they are all standing together, so there is no need to line up or anything.
The ship docked, and the servants of the Gao family, who had finally managed to escape from massive seasickness, filed off the ship, posed as guards of honor, held up the avoidance and sky patrol cards they had brought from Beijing and used them for the first time, and played Guangxi patrol cards. According to the censor's banner.
The leader of the beggar army was shocked by the servants of the Gao family. He originally wanted to come up to greet him, but he actually held back.
It wasn't until Gao Pingshi walked down the pier wearing the blue official robe with Xie Zhi patches and a tight face that the Qianhu trotted up with a few subordinates, and when he was two feet away, he He knelt down, knocked his head on the ground, and said loudly, "Zhong Dashan, who is under the command of the Guangxi Dusi, the right guard of Guilin, and the actual magistrate of Qianhu Station of Quanzhou Guard Qianhu, pays homage to Zhongzhi, Zhizhi, Jin'an."
As he knelt down, several people behind him also knelt down quickly, and then the flower soldiers from the guard station they brought also knelt down in a chaotic manner.
Gao Pragmatic was stunned by the phrase "Jin'an", because "Jin'an" is usually only used for elders or highly respected people.
He looked at the fifth-grade Qianhu who had bear tattoos on his chest, coughed slightly and said, "Zhong Qianhu, please get up."
Zhong Dashan felt so comfortable when the inspector spoke to him so politely that he felt as if he had lost a few pounds. He quickly kowtowed again and said flatteringly, "Point directly in front of you. How can you stand and talk in a humble position?"
Gao pragmatic was speechless for a while, then he simply turned cold and said, "Get up, I don't want to lower my head and talk."
Zhong Qianhu was taken aback and said quickly, "Yes, yes, yes." Then he got up.
Gao Pragmatic said again, "Everyone, get up."
The few at the back saw that thousands of their families were devastated, so how could they dare to neglect them? After hearing this, they quickly got up, but they seemed a little at a loss and didn't know whether to ask the soldiers behind them to get up.
Gao pragmatic didn't want to embarrass them anymore, he just asked, "Why are you coming to Huangsha Town when you are not in Quanzhou, just to welcome me into the country?"
Zhong Qianhu felt that Gao Pragmatic was a little uncertain and did not dare to neglect him. He quickly nodded and bowed and said, "Being the first to welcome Zhizhi into Guangxi is a blessing for my humble position." When he said this, seeing Gao Pragmatic's expressionless face, he quickly The topic changed back to "It's certainly a blessing for me to welcome you here, but I do have something important to report."
Gao pragmatically said, I have just entered Guangxi, and you, a thousand households in a thousand-household office, have important things to report.
But after all, this was also his duty as the censor, so he nodded this time and asked, "Since there is something important, just report it as soon as possible."
Zhong Qianhu bowed again and said, "Zhongcheng learned that Zhizhi will be in Guilin in the near future. He sent someone to express his apology to Zhizhi. Zhongcheng said that he could not come due to illness and could only wait for him in Guilin. Please Zhizhi." Qian Haihan, once he points his finger at Dinggui, he will definitely apologize in person."
Zhongcheng is one of the elegant titles of the governor. The reason why he is called "Zhongcheng" is because the governor usually carries the title of right deputy censor of the capital. The deputy censor of the capital is equivalent to the deputy chief of the censorship in the previous generation, censor Zhongcheng. Hence the name.
Gao Jingshi knew that the power of the inspector-general was greatly expanded now, and usually the governor would be courteous. However, he had never heard of such a thing that the governor had to welcome the inspector personally when he took office.
He secretly wondered whether this was a polite comment from Zhang Ren, the governor of Guangxi, or whether Zhang Ren was really a bit hypocritical because of his own background.
However, Zhang Ren was a veteran of Jiajing for twenty-six years and was a native of Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture. He and Xu Jie belonged to the Township Party and were one of the local officials in the Xinxue Party. He had no reason to be afraid of him.
As for being sick, Gao Pragmatic naturally didn't believe it, it was just a lie.
Gao Pragmatic couldn't figure out the situation for a while, so he could only say politely, "It doesn't matter, I am a latecomer, so I should go to Guilin to see Zhongcheng."
Zhong Qianhu said again, "I heard that Zhongcheng is seriously ill this time. If you are worried about it, I have been prepared and can send troops to escort you at any time." He himself is a guard, so of course he cannot leave the country at will. , so we say sending troops.
However, Gao Pragmatic's focus is not at all on sending troops to escort him. His group of people are not reassuring at all. It would be good to send two reliable guides.
Gao Pragmatic is concerned about another thing: "You just said that Zhongcheng is seriously ill and seriously ill."
"Yes, point it out." Zhong Qianhu bowed again and said, "Zhongcheng has been ill for more than a month. I heard that his condition has been getting worse. It is really worrying."
The whole state is under the jurisdiction of Guilin Prefecture and is less than three hundred miles away from Guilin City. If Zhang Ren is really seriously ill, it would not be surprising for Zhong Dashan to know about it.
However, Gao Pragmatic has never been an honest person, and he still has some doubts. As soon as he took office, Zhang Ren fell ill and became seriously ill. If what Zhong Qianhu said was true, it was almost exactly the news that he was coming to Guangxi to take office. When the news reached Guangxi, Zhang Ren fell ill.
What a coincidence
