Han Ximeng was a very independent woman when she was still in the boudoir. Xie
She became a wife and mother three years ago, and often listened to Fan Polu's reports on the clothing company's orders for exporting dresses to Suzhou Weaving. She ran a business with her second uncle Han Zhongwen, and her style of conduct was tempered by life experience.
Zheng Haizhu knew this very well, so he weighed the propriety of gentleness. When teasing the children, he praised the young master for being elegant and unrestrained like his father, and then recalled the travel scenes in Beigu Mountain in Zhenjiang and Taiwan Island in Fujian, and talked about it step by step. It's time to go back and relax the relationship between husband and wife.
Even so, Zheng Haizhu was just like a dragonfly on the water. When he saw ripples, he stopped in moderation, so as not to make Han Ximeng feel repelled by "How can you preach to me before you are married?"
This is often the case when close friends get along with each other. They should take the initiative to care about each other, but they should not invade the boundaries of her self-esteem too much.
Compared with this subtle power like embroidery, Zheng Haizhu seized the marriages of the descendants of the Liao people in Zhuangzi just as he did the canal trackers.
This time, she wants to abandon the traditional method of keeping a matchmaker and pulling fiber, and let the young men and women who know Shaoai have more or less control over their marriage choices.
To create opportunities for girls from neighboring villages to come and see each other, of course we have to rely on cultural and sports activities. Xie
Zheng Haizhu asked the hoarders to create two flat areas on the edge of Zhuangzi, not as school grounds, but as football fields and basketball courts.
Everyone knows Cuju. Although basketball has a new name and rules, its essence is to play coordination. Just like Cuju, it intersperses attacks and effectively defends. Boys who have kept up with nutrition will naturally like it. Instructor Qi Jiajun and Xu Yilong also support it and think it can be done. Increase the sense of tacit understanding of fighting in battle.
The neighboring villages were also enjoying their leisure time, and the freedom of women in the countryside was greater than that of ladies in the city of Su Songfu. Soon, Chongming girls began to appear around the stadium, from scattered to gathering places.
When it comes to watching football, there is nothing interesting about football. The main thing is watching people. It is the same in ancient and modern times.
After the young men and women watched from a distance for a while, they had to think of another way to promote their close integration.
Zheng Haizhu then spent five taels of silver and invited a folk song troupe from the county town to Zhengjiazhuang to sing for three days.
Farmers love to get together and watch the show. Xie
As soon as the stage was set up in Zhengjiazhuang, Chongming locals from all the neighboring towns gathered.
Because there were parents and brothers nearby, and the place was buzzing and lively like a market, and people from different villages were originally mixed together, the girls were not so embarrassed and shy, and they dared to chat with the young people of Liao.
Chongming folk opera is naturally pronounced in the Wu dialect. It was difficult for the Liao people who first came to Jiangnan to hear it, so local girls acted as translators.
"The song that little lady sang was really weird. She was smiling so clearly. Why did she say she wanted to knock her husband on the head?"
In front of the stage, Hua Da curiously asked his sister Hua Er.
Behind them, a local girl from Chongming with a full moon face laughed and explained enthusiastically: "It's not about knocking on the head. In our Chongming dialect, 'beat' means flushing with water."
Hua Da turned around and met those dark eyes. He couldn't help but feel his heart tremble and asked: "Then, how do you say 'beat'?"
"block."
"What do you mean by 'block'?"
"Soup."
"How do you say 'soup'?"
"hot."
"Uh..." Hua Da was completely confused.
The moon-faced girl's eyes sparkled with amusement: "To wash is to hit, to hit is to block, to block is to make soup, and to make soup is to boil. It's not difficult. I can teach you a few more times." Xie
The young girl spent two years alone. Seeing this situation, she hurriedly said: "Brother, I'm going to find Mrs. Zheng."
After saying that, he left, leaving his brother behind to plan important life events while diligently learning foreign languages.
Outside the dark crowd, Zheng Haizhu was talking to Grandma Tang.
Chongming folk songs have melodious tunes, lively rhythms and popular lyrics. Not only the peasants inside and outside the village, but also literati women like Granny Tang, Qian, and Han Ximeng who are accustomed to Kunqu opera also listen to it with gusto.
Especially Grandma Tang.
For most of her life, besides fighting lawsuits, the old lady loved reading books, and she read a lot of books, including poetry and drama books, and Feng Menglong's collection of folk songs. Living in Susong Paradise, where the publishing industry is developed, the old lady's huge reading volume can dwarf those men who only read classics and history in the court.
This time Zhuangzi came to the folk song club, and Grandma Tang was more excited than the young men and women. Xie
Because she got creative inspiration.
"Ah Zhu," she mouthed to the crowd, "the folk opera in Chongming County is as interesting as Kun Opera, Ping Tan, and story telling. Kun Opera is too elegant, Ping Tan is too short, and story telling, no matter how eloquent the mouth is, It’s not as lively as a group of people playing, playing and singing. Old lady, I’m thinking, how about we also set up a theater club in the village?”
Zheng Haizhu had this intention.
Leading the team and building infrastructure, how can we not also pay attention to literary and artistic propaganda work, as future generations will understand.
Just seeing Hua Er running happily, Zheng Haizhu pointed at her and said with a smile: "Hua Er is so beautiful, she will be the first leading actress of our Zhengjiazhuangshan Opera Society. Well, Hua Er, and your brother The girl from the neighboring village who spoke is also pretty good, with a big face, and she stands out on stage."
Tang Po agreed: "That's right, grandma is here to write lyrics for you little girls. Don't think about Lang all day long and think about the moon rising and Lang being the pinnacle of the slave family. You can also talk about it like Madam and her friends did. Buying and selling, being a teacher, fighting Tatars, opening a farm, raising soldiers, or like me, dare to go to the government office to reason with the suffering people."
Zheng Haizhu clapped her hands together and praised: "My mother-in-law can really do the job of writing a book. If the play is good, not only the characters must be good, but the book must be good as well. What kind of book can a person with no experience write about business, farming, fantasy, and martial arts history?" They are all like children's songs, and writing about lawsuits and wars is also like child's play. Mother-in-law, just do it, start writing, and the folk song club will be hung under your Women's Federation. From now on, if my Zheng family army wants to go out to fight, folk songs She has to go with her. It's not singing and dancing under the beauties' tent, but to cheer up the soldiers. Therefore, my mother-in-law also wants to write some male dramas about Lingzisheng." Xie
The two of them talked enthusiastically, but the girl Hua Er was stunned at first, then embarrassed, and with a bit of rejection, she said cautiously: "Madam, mother-in-law, can I not be an actor? My mother said that only men who are not serious should sing in operas. If I go too, no..."
"Nonsense!" Granny Tang said with a bluffing face, "Those are the common opinions of the world. Isn't it even more disrespectful to think that opera singers are not serious and to watch operas so hard that their eyes are glued to their eyes? Every time my mother-in-law goes back to Chongming County or Taicang When you go to court in Suzhou, you will inevitably be scolded by those government officials as litigators, and I just think they are just farting."
Zheng Haizhu saw Hua Er's flat mouth and expression of grievance, so he smoothed things over and said, "What my mother-in-law said is indeed reasonable. It is obviously a profession that is useful to the common people. How can it be lower than a noble scholar? Litigation He is not a litigator, but a litigator, a singer and opera singer, not an actor, but an actor. A litigator is like a private school teacher, and an actor is like a student. At least in the world created by my Zhengjiazhuang, that’s what they are called.”
Hua Er still looked at her and said, "I still like to drive your carts and feed your mules and horses. Also, when Madam's amazing spinning machine is made, I can also spin."
】
After her reminder, Zheng Haizhu suddenly remembered that the carpenter Gu Shan, who was clearly a bachelor, was not on the stage to sing today.
"Hua Er, have you seen Ah Shan?" Zheng Haizhu asked.
Hua Erdao: "Just now when I drove the mule cart to pick up Grandma Qian and the others, Ah Shan and Carpenter Hu were setting up a spinning machine. Grandma Qian was very kind and asked them to rest and watch the show together. Both of them said they didn't want to come. I'm in a hurry to do my work." Xie
Carpenter Hu is also the master craftsman in Zheng Haizhu's firearms workshop.
The Ge family father and son who were in the initial stage have now been promoted to the level of craftsmen, and they are in charge of dozens of people. Firearms workshops produce machine guns, matchlocks, and large and small cannons. Not only do they need metallurgists, they also need carpenters and cobblers to make various accessories, including gun racks and gun carriages.
After Zheng Haizhu started training the first batch of battalions on Chongming Island, he asked Wu Bangdang to bring several major types of firearms from Songjiang to observe improvement needs during actual drills, such as how to make field guns smaller and how to use the forks of heavy matchlock guns. Without affecting the efficiency of marching, how can the artillery carriage ensure rapid maneuvering behind the horses?
Several blacksmiths and carpenters from the firearms workshop also came over. Among them, Carpenter Hu recruited a canal tracker, who could speak some Shandong dialect and got along well with Ah Shan who came from Liaodong. Ah Shan helped him improve the gun carriage, and he also helped Ah Shan think about making a multi-spindle yarn carriage.
At this moment, Zheng Haizhu thought for a while and said to Granny Tang and Hua Er: "I'll go see Ah Shan and the others."
Hua Er said hurriedly: "I'll drive to see Madam off."
"No, it's only a mile away. You can just walk there. Just listen to the song."
