Ever since the news of the great victory of Qamdo reached the capital, this ancient city has become extremely lively. In addition, as it is approaching the New Year, many more scholars and people visited the capital to visit relatives and friends, which added to the excitement.
Small merchants and hawkers are pouring in, occupying the streets and alleys, and the constant shouting is about livelihood. Whether it was the young master accompanying him, the woman who opened the curtains of the carriage and revealed her profile, or the ordinary people, their brows and eyes were full of joy.
I put aside all my worries for the time being and just enjoyed the prosperity of the capital and walked through the colorful streets.
When a carriage entered the Jinchuan Gate, the sergeant simply looked at the photo post. Seeing that the identity was suitable, he handed over a map of the capital and stepped aside.
Cui Niang unfolded the map, looked at it, handed it to her son Chen Li, and asked, "What is painted on it?"
Chen Li took it and said with a smile to his mother Cui Niang and his father Chen Mu: "This is the map of the capital. It tells where to buy what goods. Father, look, this is the Qinhuai River you have asked about several times..."
Chen Mu suddenly trembled. Cui Niang stretched out her hand to twist Chen Mu's ears and cursed: "What, you actually want to go to the Qinhuai River. No wonder you tried your best to persuade us to come to the capital. Our feelings are not for our daughter, but for the Qinhuai River." The foxy enchantress in there!"
"I didn't, no, son, you killed me..."
Chen Mu was extremely aggrieved. He just asked about the junior college next to the Qinhuai River. He heard that it would be recruiting students in the spring of next year. His two sons were excellent in their studies. Mr. Zhang recommended them to study in the capital, saying that there were the best teachers here and the latest knowledge. Why don't you ask about the Qinhuai River? My son is a bad learner. He must be complaining that he didn't buy him a copy of "Water Margin" on the way. He is a black-hearted businessman. A book costs him one tael of silver. Why doesn't he snatch it? .
Chen Li looked at his shriveled father, smiled and said to Cui Niang: "Mom, this is Tongjimen Street. My sister said in letters before that she is here."
"Is this place with the sun and moon flag the imperial palace?"
Cui Niang let Chen Mu go and asked instead.
Before Chen Li could say anything, Chen Shu said first, "Yes, this is the palace. My sister said that the queen is very gentle and generous, and rarely loses her temper with people in the palace. Mother, what do you mean when we come to the capital this time? Can I see the Queen and the Emperor?"
Cui Niang smiled and patted Chen Shu's hand and said, "What are our identities? How can we meet the emperor and the queen? Your sister Chen Yu has the honor to enter the palace and serve the queen. It is her blessing. We do not have this blessing."
Chen Shu and Chen Li were a little disappointed, but thinking about it, the emperor was busy with everything, how could he have time to meet ordinary people, and the queen was a mother who cared about the world and lived in the palace for a long time, so how could she meet outsiders.
Seeing that there were more and more people on the street in front of him, and the carriage was already very crowded, the coachman stopped the carriage and said to Chen Mu and others in the carriage, "Let's stop here. The road ahead is congested, so you can walk."
Chen Mu frowned, stuck his head out from the curtain in front, and said very unhappily: "Zhang Mafu, we have agreed that you will send us to Tongjimen Street. The street is at least seven or eight miles away, will you let us walk there?"
Zhang Mafu pointed to the road ahead: "It's blocked, don't you know how to look?"
Chen Li came out, waved the map of the capital in his hand, and said: "You are doing carriage business next to the ferry. You know where Tongji Gate is. Why don't you go directly from outside the city to Tongji Gate instead of going from there?" Can you enter the city directly from Jinchuan Gate?"
Zhang Mafu spat and said, "You are so poor. You look like bumpkins from out of town. I only gave you 200 coins and I'm too lazy to do it. Just give me the money and get off the car."
Chen Mu didn't expect that he would encounter such an unpleasant thing when he first entered the capital. He thought that one more thing would be better than one less thing. Just as he was about to get out of the car, he was pulled back by Cui Niang. Cui Niang popped up and shouted loudly He shouted: "Are the grooms in the capital so unreasonable and bullying people from outside the city? Come on, try bullying someone. Come and see. The grooms are bullying people. The grooms in the capital are bullying immigrants from Shanxi..."
When the people on the street heard this voice, they immediately gathered around.
Zhang Mafu looked at the people gathered around him, and suddenly panicked, and quickly begged for mercy: "I said, can you please stop shouting, I won't charge you any money."
How could Cui Niang pay attention to Zhang Mafu?
The crowd gathered around and began to complain: "We came all the way to visit relatives in the capital, and this groom actually raised the price from the ground. The two hundred wen that we negotiated were sent from the ferry to Tongjimen Street, and now he is leaving us when we arrive at Jinchuan Gate. It's a pity that we are not familiar with the place, and the man is a weakling. He was bullied and dared not speak out, but he should never, absolutely should not insult us Shanxi immigrants as bumpkins. Wow, humiliating us like this, what is the law of heaven?"
"You're such a bold groom, you actually raised the price while sitting on the ground!"
"You don't show any credibility at all. It's a disgrace to the people of the capital!"
"Isn't this Zhang Mafu? How the hell can you treat your own people like this? What's wrong with the immigrant people in Shanxi? Are they eating your food and drinking your food? After negotiating the price, you must do what you say, even this point If you can’t do it, what qualifications do you have to walk on a horse-drawn carriage?”
The people watching continued to criticize the groom.
Chen Mu's mouth twitched in the carriage, was he a weakling? If it weren't for the fact that you mothers are here and don't want to cause trouble for your daughter, I would have whipped him long ago.
Chen Li and Chen Shu looked at their mother's figure with admiration and relieved themselves.
Zhang Mafu didn't expect this woman to be so difficult to deal with, so he quickly defended: "I just thought the road was blocked, so I asked them to walk there..."
Huang Erjin stayed in the crowd and kept staring at Cui Niang, which made Huang Erjin at the side very depressed. He couldn't help but made trouble and reminded: "Don't look at anything inappropriate."
Huang Erjin rolled his eyes at his younger brother and said, "Don't you see that this woman looks a bit like someone?"
Huang Eryue looked at Cui Niang, narrowed his eyes and said, "It really looks like he has seen her before somewhere."
Huang Erjin walked forward with a smile and asked, "Is this Mrs. Chen's Cui Niang here?"
Cui Niang was a little surprised that someone could recognize her? Judging from his appearance, he looks very strange. Chen Mu also came out after hearing this, looked at Huang Erjin who was saluting, and asked, "I am Chen Mu, who are you?"
Huang Erjin laughed, and indeed he did not admit his mistake. After giving his name, he said to Zhang Mafu, "Aren't you afraid of being punished by the government if you are so dishonest?"
Zhang Mafu was depressed, how could a trivial matter alarm the government, but seeing how many people were gathered around, it would definitely be a big trouble if it was not solved, so he quickly said: "I don't want the money, is that okay?"
"No, you have to ask for money, and you have to send them to Tongjimen Street. You cannot destroy the integrity of countless businessmen in the capital just because of you. Of course, you also need to apologize and compensate them for your mistakes. "
Huang Erjin said bluntly.
Just when Zhang Mafu was about to scold him, he heard someone comment: "Isn't this Manager Huang from Zhonghua Book Company?"
"What?"
Zhang Mafu's expression changed. Behind the Zhonghua Book Company was the Chief of Ceremonies, and the Chief of Ceremonies was from the palace. He just wanted to save some time, and he never expected to offend such a person.
"Okay, I agree. Let's go out of Jinchuan Gate and go around the outside of the city to Tongji Gate."
Zhang Mafu was afraid that things would become more and more troublesome, so he quickly agreed.
Huang Erjin asked Huang Erjin to go home first, got on the carriage directly, and said to the stunned Zhang Mafu: "Let's go, if I don't follow, who will prove to you that I have fulfilled my promise?"
Zhang Mafu stubbornly believed that Huang Erjin wanted to hitchhike, but he had no choice but to turn around. Huang Erjin said to Chen Mu, Cui Niang and others in the car: "You are here to find Chen Yuchen to take care of things, right?"
"You know my sister?"
Chen Li quickly stretched out his head and asked.
Huang Erjin laughed loudly: "More than just acquaintance, we both work in the palace, and she does a much better job than me. Let me tell you, Chen Yu is extremely smart and is now the most capable steward around the queen. You also know that the emperor originally wanted to send her to Peking, but Peiping was building a new capital, so it was delayed..."
Chen Mu and Cui Niang listened to their daughter's interesting stories and were not bored all the way until they arrived at the Yingchun Warming Pavilion on Tongjimen Street. Chen Mu and his family got off the carriage and handed Zhang Ma Fu two hundred coins. The groom's men wanted to leave. , was stopped by Huang Eryue who extended his hand: "Apologise, compensate."
Zhang Mafu's expression changed several times, and he looked at the Yingchun Warm Pavilion again. Knowing that the water here was very deep, he took out two taels of silver and handed it to Chen Mu: "I'm sorry, I was reckless."
List
Mu looked at Cui Niang, and Cui Niang returned the silver to Zhang Mafu: "As a businessman, you should respect your commitment and credit. I will return this money to you. I hope you can remember that you must have a conscience. .”
Zhang Mafu was so moved that he thanked him repeatedly.
Chen Yu was fiddling with the abacus quickly, calculating the furnace account books for November. When he looked up and saw Huang Eryue coming, he couldn't help but pick up his brush and click on it. Huang Eryue avoided it and raised his hands: "Manager Chen, when Please pay more attention to the rules in front of your parents..."
"parents?"
Only then did Chen Yu notice that his parents and younger brother had arrived in the capital. His eyes became hot, and he quickly walked out of the counter, threw himself at Cui Niang, and shouted, "Mother, I miss my daughter so much."
Cui Niang hugged Chen Yu, patted Chen Yu's back gently, and said comfortingly: "We miss you too, you won't be here anymore."
Chen Yu looked at his two younger brothers and asked, "Where is my sister?"
Cui Niang said with a smile: "Your sister also wanted to come, but they were weak and could not withstand the long journey, so they were entrusted to Mr. Zhang to take care of them. Mr. Zhang intended to recognize them as adopted daughters and teach them some writing."
Chen Yu was a little disappointed at first, but he was still very happy to hear the news. Mr. Zhang Bozhi is a famous scholar and has participated in the compilation of sociology textbooks. He is an extraordinary person.
Chen Mu looked at the people coming and going outside, rubbed his head and said, "This capital is really lively."
Chen Yu nodded repeatedly and led his family into the backyard: "Since the great victory of Qamdo, the capital has become more lively every day. When the imperial court seals the seal tomorrow, it will probably be even more lively."
When Chen Mu heard about the great victory in Qamdo, he said excitedly: "The imperial court won a great victory, and our spines are straightened. You don't know that because of this matter, Beiping City stopped work for a day, and hundreds of thousands of people were killed." , the work was stopped when it was said to be stopped, the drinks around were sold out, and even your mother’s soy milk was sold out..."
Chen Yu chuckled. The great victory of Qamdo made countless people straighten their backs. No one felt that this was a matter for the army that conquered the west. They felt that it was a matter for the Ming Dynasty and everyone else.
Hearing the laughter in the backyard, Zhu Yunwen walked in with brisk steps. When he saw Chen Mu, Cui Niang and others, he couldn't help but smile: "It seems that I came at the wrong time, disturbing you to talk about family ties."
"emperor."
Chen Yu saluted quickly, and Chen Mu and Cui Niang also pulled Chen Shu and Chen Li to salute.
Zhu Yunwen signaled everyone to stand up, looked at Chen Shu and Chen Li with a smile, and said to Yang Shiqi on the side: "Mr. Zhang wrote a letter saying that these two disciples are smart and intelligent, and asked me to take care of them more. I am afraid that the only gentleman who has such a backdoor relationship is Zhang. Now that I’m done with blogging, how about I take the first and second exams to see if they’re qualified enough for me to open the back door?”
Chen Mu and Cui Niang were so moved that they never imagined that Zhang Bozhi had done this for these two children.
PS:
Thanks to V Shameless V and Chao Yiqing for the reward. I feel somewhat deserved. I originally wanted to do more this month and more at the end of the month, but suddenly I got sick. I had a constant fever, my throat was like a knife, and I couldn’t sit still. There may be fewer updates for a few days.
But Jingxue promises that those who owe rewards or miss updates will definitely be paid back in January and February. I also ask for your understanding, and hope that everyone will pay more attention to protecting your body and try to avoid sheep. It is really uncomfortable...
