After bidding farewell to Governor Lu, Qi Yu and Peng Wenchang returned to the post house.
The results of this trip were very fruitful, so both of them felt better.
According to Qi Dalang's practice, he should spend a lot of money when he is in a good mood.
So, on the way home, Qi Yu went to a local delicatessen and bought a small roast suckling pig. In addition, I also asked the waiter to pack up a jar of good rice wine and deliver it directly to the post house.
The guy was very smart. As soon as he heard that they were from the post house, he guessed that they were officials. How could he dare to neglect them?
From beginning to end, Peng Wenchang could not say anything and could only watch from the side. After Qi Yu had settled everything, he asked: "Sir, when did you learn the Cantonese dialect? "
Unlike the Han merchant I met when I was buying a pocket watch, this hawker was a genuine southerner. Unexpectedly, Mr. Qi could actually communicate with him.
How strange!
Qi Yu was stunned and didn't know how to answer.
In fact, I studied in college here in my previous life, and through continuous exposure, I learned some Cantonese. Unexpectedly, it will come in handy now.
However, the truth cannot be told.
Qi Yu could only prevaricate half-truthfully: "When I went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, I lived in the same courtyard as a Nanyue Juren. Over time, I learned a few things from him."
"Oh I got it!"
But why buy so much wine and meat at once?
Could it be that the adults are greedy?
Qi Yu chuckled and said: "Greedy is just one of them, there is another other."
"Then, what's the second one?"
"Sir, have you ever forgotten tomorrow's holiday?"
festival?
ah!
Tomorrow is Chinese New Year!
Because there were so many twists and turns during this period, it made people nervously forget the years. If it weren't for Qi Yu's special reminder, Peng Wenchang would have forgotten about the upcoming New Year.
Only then did he realize that he finally arrived at Guangdong Mansion two years ago, in just two months, which could be described as lightning speed.
Such speed is due to two major factors.
One is that the north wind is strong, and the other is that it follows the ocean current. The two factors are superimposed on each other, which is why it has the amazing speed before.
And tomorrow morning, the group of people will set off for Qiongzhou. In this way, won't they have to celebrate the New Year on the boat?
When the New Year was mentioned, both of them sighed with sadness, and began to feel sad in their hearts.
New Year, this is a festival of reunion and warmth, but now we are in a foreign land, lonely, how can we not feel sad?
Compared with Qi Yu and Peng Wenchang's sadness, Huang Fei and Leng Qing's emotions were much more stable.
From the moment they set sail until nightfall that day, the two of them never sighed.
They have been away all year round, and the concept of year has long been lost in their minds. According to Leng Qing's words, isn't the year the same twelve hours? Eat and sleep the same?
All right!
I'm not as big-hearted as you.
Qi Yu still went his own way, trying his best to create an atmosphere of New Year as a comfort.
He opened the rice wine, filled it for the three of them, and cut roasted pig to go with the wine, thus preparing a simple New Year's Eve dinner.
"Eat...drink..."
"Do it!"
On the surface, he was laughing and joking, seemingly very happy, but in his heart he was thinking about his family in the north.
Has mother made dumplings at home? What stuffing?
When a lady sleeps alone in a bed alone, will she think of herself?
Is Xiaotong good at martial arts and literary talent?
Has your precious son learned to kowtow to his ancestors?
He just didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't help himself when he thought about it. Unknowingly, Qi Dalang was a little drunk.
In a daze, he took out the pocket quiver and smiled at Huang Fei: "Brother Huang, do you know that this thing you gave me unintentionally changed my life."
Yeah?
Huang Fei shook his head and said with a smile: "I only know that it saved your life at the most critical moment, that's all."
"Haha, what you said is not comprehensive. Without it, I would not be able to kill King Yan; without him, I would not be able to come to Qiongzhou; without it, I would still stay in the capital today to celebrate the New Year with my family... ..." Qi Yu shook his head and talked drunkenly.
Are you talking nonsense?
Why did you bring up the matter of killing King Yan?
Peng Wenchang looked wary and reminded quickly: "Sir, please be careful what you say after drinking!"
…
The distance from Yangcheng Prefecture to Qiongzhou Prefecture is not too far, only seven or eight days of sailing.
Not surprisingly, on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Qi Yu officially set foot on this land.
Alas!
Is this Qiongzhou?
Is this the case in Qiongzhou?
Alas, it is so desolate here.
If I use the most popular word to describe it, it would be: shabby.
Not only was it shabby, it was also primitive.
Everywhere in the field of vision is overgrown with weeds and thorns, and the walkways feel like there is no place to stay. Perhaps because of the earthquake and tsunami, the original official road was no longer visible.
The four of them and the accompanying shipwright went through thorns and thorns all the way, forging ahead and exploring the road as they went.
After walking forward for a while, I came across a simple shack set up at the edge of a field. If it weren't for the smoke rising from the kitchen, it would be hard to tell that this was a place where people lived.
Hearing someone passing by, a wary-looking man emerged from the shack. He was unkempt and dressed worse than a beggar. If he had put on a straw hat, he would have looked like a living primitive man.
Looking at the big from the small, this is the local people's livelihood and the current situation.
In short, there is no tile above to block the wind, and no place for a cone below.
It's okay to be poor and backward. What's terrible is that there are still dangers in the grass.
We had just walked less than a mile away when we encountered three major mountain winds, the thickest of which was almost as thick as an adult's arm.
Fortunately, Leng Qing and Huang Qiyan had quick hands and chopped them into pieces in time, otherwise they might have been bitten by it.
Qi Dalang's scalp felt numb for a while, and he couldn't help but sigh: This place is too primitive!
Although Qi Yu was mentally prepared for the barrenness of Qiongzhou, he was still shocked by the scene in front of him.
Frankly speaking, it is more difficult to achieve outstanding political achievements here than to reach the sky.
However, it depends on the human effort, so there is no need to be depressed.
Once it comes, make peace with it and face it calmly.
Not long after, several people entered the official road of Shanghao. After identifying the direction, they headed towards the location of Qiongzhou Mansion Office.
The government office is not far from the pier, just over a day's journey away. If you work hard, it's possible to get there in one day.
"Oh, it would be great if there was a carriage!" Qi Yu looked at the panting Peng Wenchang and said with emotion.
Although Mr. Peng is in good health, he is getting older after all, and it is indeed a bit too much for him to travel such a long distance.
However, the old gentleman waved his hands indifferently and said with a self-deprecating smile: "There was a saying that reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. This kind of hard work can be regarded as a benefit to oneself." . But I didn’t expect that when I was young, I didn’t dare to leave my family and travel far away, but when I was old, I actually realized it.”
"Ha ha……"
After walking for a while, we entered a residential area.
Everywhere you look, you can see collapsed shacks, displaced refugees, and old and young people who are sick and without medical treatment.
It is not difficult to see from this that the current situation is not optimistic.
Since we are walking, it is better to take a look around and find out the real situation.
Qi Yu decided that the group should not reveal their identities and conduct a private visit in the name of a Yangcheng businessman.
There are two purposes for doing this:
First, through the reflections of the people, we can understand their current urgent needs and the current situation of their lives.
Secondly, you can also learn about the local disaster relief situation and see whether the officials are doing anything.
The idea is good, but difficult to implement.
What troubles Qi Yu is that the local aboriginal residents all speak Fujian, and less than one-tenth of them can understand Cantonese, let alone Chinese in the Central Plains.
Poor communication!
As a result, Qi Yu couldn't figure out the real situation after asking more than ten people.
Just when I was feeling at my wits' end, I suddenly heard a burst of shouting and noise in front of me. I looked up and saw a large group of people gathered there. It seemed that some kind of conflict had occurred.
what's the situation?
Qi Yu frowned and said decisively: "Let's go over and take a look!"
