When Sun Houpu set up his own business and left the Sun family, half of the people in Qingyuan didn't think highly of this Sun family boy who was born as a concubine.
If nothing else, the business that the Sun family does is not a legitimate business. Most of them rely on smuggling to make a living. The shady business can be shared openly. After leaving the Sun family, it is not excessive for Sun Houpu to start from scratch. Have to start all over again!
Later, no one knew where Sun Houpu went. They only knew that he went to the north with a group of clerks and a small amount of wealth. When he heard about Sun Houpu again, he had already climbed up a high branch and became the deputy prime minister and the governor of Xia Song. Long Kuai’s son-in-law!
At that time, Sun Houpu's associates sent people to Qingyuan to inform the Sun family. Except for Sun Houpu's younger brother, no one else in the Sun family believed that his brother was doing important things outside. They would rather believe that there are people with the same name in the world.
When Sun Houpu was under the care of the Sun family, he didn't have the opportunity to climb up to other people's powerful families. When he set up his own business, he was just like a grassroots man. Could it be that the Xia family was crazy and would like such a poor boy with nothing?
However, some people would dare to falsify the posts on the Prime Minister's Office. Even Zhao Weixian, the prefect at the time, personally confirmed that the person who married Xia Song's daughter was indeed their Sun family's youngest son, Sun Houpu. Liang Chuan can testify! Only then did everyone believe that the young man who had gone out to stand on his own had really gotten lucky. The crow flew onto the branch and turned into a phoenix!
The daughter of Xia Mansion came back to meet her parents-in-law. When word of this reached Qingyuan, the local officials couldn't sit still. They could not give any face to the Sun family, but behind them, the huge mountain of Xia Song made them breathless. It would be embarrassing if they dared to pretend they didn't see it!
Duan Peng didn't have time to flatter Xia Song. Besides, it wasn't Xia Song who was here. It was Xia Song's daughter. He couldn't kneel down and lick her!
Sun Houpu returned to Qingyuan with Shitou and Xia Xue without any entourage. Qiu Fu stayed in Bianjing to take care of Xia Song. There were only a group of Sun family guys with luggage and nothing else. This kind of pomp can be said to be quite Simplicity.
Sun Houpu is very smart. The reason why Xia Song asked Xia Xue to leave was to protect his daughter. In this case, he would not dare to take Xia Xue around in the city. Xia Xue also did not like his father's name. What he had brought to her in this life I have enough troubles, and finally I can live my own life in the south, a place far away from my father!
It's a pity that there is no airtight wall in the world. From the moment Sun Houpu and others left Bianjing, many people along the way had the idea of the prime minister's son-in-law. They also wanted to cling to the powerful and give themselves a chance!
The same is true in Qingyuan. The common people don't know that this is a guard of honor for a wealthy family. Officials in Qingyuan have already blocked the road!
Sun Houpu had made acquaintance with a group of officials as early as when he was in Qingyuan, so that his family's tea could pass through unimpeded. These officials used to receive benefits from others, but now they did not expect that the situation had changed and they actually wanted to take pictures of Sun Houpu's horse. fart!
Xia Xue also didn't expect that her father would take the initiative to ask her to come to the south to meet her parents-in-law! According to her status, there is no need to take into account those etiquettes. Besides, Sun Houpu is now the head of the family, and there is no need to be a bitter wife!
Not to mention her as a daughter-in-law, when Sun Houpu was in the Sun family, he was not welcomed because he was a concubine. He has been a marginalized figure for decades. He himself did not have a good look. What would happen to Xia Xue? The treatment, just think about it.
But with Xia Xue's character, she doesn't care about these things.
Firstly, her background is too strong, and secondly, she just thinks this trip is just for fun! In her eyes, Xia Song had never taught her the three obediences and four virtues, and there was no such thing as privet filial piety. She couldn't blame her, she could only blame Xia Song for being too busy!
"It's a pity that we can't see your mother when we come back this time." Xia Xue didn't want to see the old man Sun who drove Sun Houpu out of the house, but he was very considerate of this husband who had the same problem as him.
"My mother left early. After we settle down, we will go to her hometown in Changkeng to see her, so that she can rest in peace when she sees me marrying such a virtuous wife at the foot of the spring!"
"I don't know what my father was thinking, but he actually got it on his own. I think you will collapse if you stay in my house any longer!"
"Madam, don't say that about your father. He only thinks about us. You can't arrange him like this behind his back!"
"Haha, you don't look like this at home. I see that you drink to drown your sorrows every day, and you don't have much social activities outside. Do you know what you talk in your sleep when you sleep? Do you want me to tell dad?"
Sun Houpu's face turned slightly red and he said, "Madam, you are naughty again!"
"I haven't been to Qingyuan yet. I heard that there is wealth everywhere and the people are extremely wealthy. It is like a paradise on earth. It is not inferior to our Bianjing city. I don't know if it is true or not!"
"It's a bit exaggerated to say that, but in my opinion, Quanzhou Prefecture is indeed no worse than Bianjing City, but the population is not as large as Bianjing City. It lacks the grandeur of an imperial city and lacks the emperor's air of an official. It only has the world's Fireworks, cool breeze in summer and no ice in winter, living here is much more comfortable than Bianjing!"
It's August, and the northern wind has already turned all the grass on the ground, while the south is still full of vitality. The further south you go, the more surprising the summer snow will be. There may not be many women who like the climate in the North. Not only is it cold and freezing, but the dry air also makes people's skin feel extremely itchy. It is said that the climate in the south is good for people and can produce women as gentle as water. Women from the south of the Yangtze River are as gentle and moist as jade, and their skin seems to be more delicate than that of girls from the north.
Shitou said from the side: "We people in Qingyuan are no better than you northerners. Here, men usually work outside, and women are responsible for burning incense at home and running the house. However, most women also come out to make a living!"
"Burn incense, what incense?" Xia Xue asked in surprise.
"Blessed God, why shouldn't a man pray for God's blessing while working hard outside?"
"Furthermore, we northern women don't have so many things to do. Most women just take care of the house and are busy with everything around them. They still have time to offer incense to the gods. Besides, the gods themselves have so many things to do. Where can you keep an eye on us mortals at all times!"
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
"If you worship many gods, you will naturally be protected by the gods. Have you seen along the way that there are countless mountain temples, earth temples, Dragon King temples on the roadside in our south!"
"My father said, this is because life in the south was difficult back then. There were too many natural disasters, so people would think of compromising with these gods and ghosts. If life were stable, why would there be so many things!"
“We’re almost at Xinghua ahead!”
Xia Xue looked at the mountain road ahead, feeling a sense of powerlessness in her heart!
Since Suiyang entered the south, there were either big rivers or continuous high mountains. Since Jianzhou entered Fujian Road, there have been more mountains. There is no way to connect them. A coastal place will have so many mountains. For my sake.
Xia Xue's ancestors were in the Jianghuai area, which is also a coastal place, but the vast plains in her hometown are endless, with few hills at all.
The mountains on Fujian Road are not only dense but also very desolate and primitive. There are no human beings everywhere, and there are all kinds of wild beasts screaming at night, which is really scary. I guess the southwest is not so backward.
Xia Xue began to have some doubts, how could there be a city in a place like this that could rival Bianjing?
When they arrived in Jianzhou, Xia Xue saw a different scenery. On the rolling mountains, it seemed as if someone had shaved green beards with a razor. There were tea fields on the mountains like steps, and beautiful tea ladies carried them on their backs. A tea basket, singing folk songs on the mountain, picking autumn tea diligently!
"Your family also grows tea, are you just like them?"
Sun Houpu only told Xia Xue what he did for a living, but not a word about how he made a living! Xia Song had already investigated and found out that Sun Zi made his fortune through smuggling. If he saw through it but didn't reveal it, it would be to give Sun Houpu face!
"Absolutely! All my tea seedlings are high-quality tea seedlings introduced from Jianzhou, and we use our unique local climate in Changkeng to improve the varieties. It can be said that the quality of our several types of tea is better!"
"But your Quanzhou Prefecture's tea doesn't seem to be recognized in the market. It seems that Jianzhou's tea has always been a royal gift for officials, and the price is also a lot different!"
"Nothing can be hidden from my wife's discerning eyes!"
"What a beautiful tea mountain. There are vast stretches of mountains here. The price of the tea is much more affordable than farming!"
"That's true, but tea farmers are not tea merchants. What they earn is still coolie money. All the local tea fields are uncultivated. People can only import grain from other places. In the end, the grain merchants make a lot of money. , no matter what, it’s the farmers who are begging for food in the fields who suffer!”
Xia Xue didn't see the most critical point, but Sun Houpu pointed it out. The smile on her face disappeared, and the mention of exploitation was always a bit heavy.
"After Jianzhou, we will soon reach Xinghua, which is the hometown of Brother Liang. I also met him there back then!"
When Xia Xue heard that Liang Chuan finally felt a little brighter, she said, "How did you know each other back then?"
"Back then, I heard that someone in Xinghua was selling a kind of white sugar. I don't need to tell you how valuable white sugar is. A pound of sugar is about the same price as a pound of gold. I just wanted to get this formula and see where I can sell it in the future. tea!"
"Then why didn't you get it?"
"Our third brother is such a shrewd person. Now that he has found this sugar, doesn't he know the stakes in it? He has always been the only one who calculates other people's share. Have you heard of anyone who has suffered losses from him? Even my father. I also ate his food there many times..."
Before Sun Houpu finished speaking, Xia Xue couldn't stop giggling. He had seen Liang Chuan's shrewdness many times, and Sun Houpu was also smart, but he was definitely not Liang Chuan's opponent.
Although she is the daughter-in-law of the Sun family, she has to admit this!
