Take the warehouse back to the end of the Ming Dynasty

Page 176

After all, I went to find things, so I carried less things.

In order to catch up with time, Zhao Wen and others chose water transport and headed directly to Jinling from the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in an official boat.

Standing on the bow of the boat, Zhao Wen looked at the nearly thousand-year-old Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "I've never been to this Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Seeing it today is really shocking."

I saw countless boats coming and going on the canal, among which there were many boats transporting grain.

Cao Huachun came out of the cabin, and said to Zhao Wen with a smile on his face, "There are still two days' journey to Jinling. When we arrive in Jinling, the first thing we need to do is to pay a visit to Duke Wei."

Zhao Wen was taken aback, and after a while, he said slowly, "Meet Wei Guogong? All right, no problem."

To be honest, Zhao Wen was very disgusted with these corrupt nobles who had been passed down for thousands of years. These people were like parasites, lying on Daming's body to suck blood.

If there were no these parasites, maybe the Ming Dynasty in history could last for decades.

These nobles and clans are the kind, they can do whatever they want, and they are No. 1 in giving birth to babies.

And when it comes to selling teammates, one by one is better than the other.

"I really want to see what kind of goods you nobles are." Zhao Wen lay on the side of the boat, looking coldly at the waves on the canal.

The current Wei Guogong is the tenth grandson of Xu Da, and his name is Xu Hongji.

Xu Hongji was considered a capable minister among the nobles of the Ming Dynasty. When the Jiashen State was changed, the King of Fu, Zhu Yousong, fled to Jinling.Xu Hongji supported Fu Wang Zhu Yousong as emperor and changed Yuan Hongguang.

But this person's vision is really bad, this Zhu Yousong is simply a complete waste in history.

After becoming an emperor, he only cares about pleasure.

Xu Hongji died in the first year of Hongguang, and his son Xu Yunjue inherited the title of Wei Guogong when he died.

Xu Hongji is a man, but his son Xu Yunjue is a coward.

When Jiannu's army defeated the four towns in Jiangbei and approached the city of Jinling, the old man saw that the situation was not good, so he and the famous Qian Qianyi, who had an itchy head because of the cold water, opened the city gate of Jinling and knelt down to welcome Jiannu into the city. .

As for Emperor Hongguang, he was abandoned by them.Although the poor Zhu Yousong escaped, he still did not escape to birth. In the end, Jiannu caught up with him and strangled him to death with a bowstring.

If the king of Zhongshan in the underground knew that his junior was such a thing, he would probably be able to live out of anger.

……

The sun rises slowly, and the sun shines on the water.

Zhao Wen came out of the cabin, stretched his waist, and looked at the canal.

A few minutes later, the ship docked at the pier.

Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun led their respective troops and got off the boat.

Because there was no official business this time, Cao Huachun did not notify the various officials in Jinling.

Although the officials were not notified, Wei Guogong's mansion still notified.

After all, Cao Huachun also came to visit Wei Guogong according to Chongzhen's oral order.

When Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun walked to the pier, Xu Yunjue, who was not Wei Guogong at this time, was standing on the pier, leading a group of people, looking at Cao Huachun who came over with a smile on his face.

Cao Huachun was wearing a black uniform and a square flat crown, and greeted him with a smile on his face.

"It turned out that the son of the Duke of Wei came to welcome him in person. The Duke of Wei really gave face to the miscellaneous family." Cao Huachun bowed his hands to Xu Yunjue with a smile on his face.

Xu Yunjue waved his hand, and said calmly, "Eunuch Cao, you don't need to do this, you don't need to do this."

When Chongzhen ascended the throne, Xu Yunjue and his father Xu Hongji went to the capital to congratulate him, so he also knew Cao Huachun.

As Xu Yunjue said, he took out a few banknotes from his sleeve, and stuffed them to Cao Huachun indiscriminately.

After all, Cao Huachun was Chongzhen's most trusted eunuch. Even if Wei Guogong was powerful in Jinling, he still had to give Cao Huachun some face.

Cao Huachun took the banknote, glanced at it lightly, and stuffed it in his sleeve.

"Eunuch Cao, please!" Xu Yunjue said with a smile on his face.

From the beginning to the end, Xu Yunjue's gaze only stayed on Zhao Wen once.

Xu Yunjue thought Zhao Wen was Cao Huachun's follower, so he didn't care.

And this time Zhao Wen also came to Jinling secretly, so he did not reveal his identity.

"By the way, I forgot to introduce you. This is a businessman from the Northland, named Zhao Wenjun, who is related to Zajia."

Cao Huachun pointed at Zhao Wen and said slowly.

"It turned out to be a relative of my father-in-law, so I said why he is so heroic and extraordinary." Until then, Xu Yunjue looked at Zhao Wen carefully.

Zhao Wen looked at Xu Yunjue, cupped his hands, and said, "I've seen the prince!"

Xu Yunjue smiled and said: "It doesn't have to be like this, it doesn't have to be like this. Now the mansion has prepared meals, specially for the father-in-law to clean up the dust, please don't delay."

"In that case, it would be better for the miscellaneous family to be respectful than obedient." Cao Huachun smiled, and then followed Xu Yunjue, heading towards Duke Wei's mansion.

Zhao Wen let out a long breath, looked at Xu Yunjue, followed behind Cao Huachun, and headed towards Duke Wei's mansion.

Wei Guogong's mansion is not far from the imperial palace in Jinling, and it can be said to be the most central location in Jinling City.

After more than 200 years of operation, the current Wei Guogong Mansion can definitely be said to be one of the most luxurious residences in the entire Ming Dynasty except for the imperial palace in terms of floor area and decoration.

What can be compared with it is the prince who has feudal vassals in various places.

When Zhao Wen entered the Duke of Wei's mansion, the Duke of Wei's mansion had already arranged meals.

Cao Huachun took Zhao Wen and entered the hall accompanied by Xu Yunjue.

After being seated, Xu Hongji sat on the main seat, toasted Cao Huachun frequently, making indirect remarks about Cao Huachun's purpose of coming to Jinling.

Cao Huachun let out a long breath, and said slowly: "It's nothing serious, this time I came to Jinling because Jinling's Jinyiwei was a little loose, and the miscellaneous family was ordered by the emperor to come here to rectify it. You don't need to be like this."

Although Wei Guogong lived with the country and was extremely wealthy, he did not do bad things in his daily life.

So when Xu Hongji saw Cao Huachun, he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

When Xu Hongji heard the purpose of Cao Huachun's visit, Jian Jian felt relieved.

"Eunuch Cao, I recently heard that your father-in-law is in the glass mirror business? Isn't that true?" Xu Yunjue put down his wine glass and looked at Cao Huachun.

Cao Huachun was taken aback for a moment, and said in disbelief: "Which dog is this who told Xu Yunjue about Zajia's glass mirror business? Zajia insists on killing him."

Wei Guogong's mansion has been operating in Jinling for more than 200 years. To put it bluntly, to some extent, even Chongzhen's words may not have the weight of Xu Yunjue's words.

Cao Huachun looked at Xu Yunjue, he couldn't understand the meaning of Xu Hongji's words, didn't he clearly want to get a share of the pie from him?

"Hehe, Lord Xiaoguo was just joking. Zajia is just a man with a handicapped body. Where has he ever been involved in business? How can Zajia do business in glass mirrors? It's all about speculation outside, why should Lord Xiaoguo care about it?" ?” Cao Huachun asked with a smirk.

"Then I may have really made a mistake!" Xu Yunjue's face gradually darkened.

After Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun left, Xu Yunjue looked at Xu Hongji who was sitting in the study, and said slowly: "Father, this Cao Huachun deliberately pretended to be confused in front of us today. Both Jinyiwei and Dongchang sold glass mirrors to our territory He said he didn't do it, is that possible?"

Xu Hongji frowned and looked at Xu Yunjue, and said in a deep voice: "Even if it's him, what do you want? This Cao Huachun bought tens of millions of taels of silver for His Majesty a while ago, and now the favor is in full swing, what can you do to him?" Sample?

I advise you not to think about it, our family is already extremely favored, there is no need to do such meaningless things.All right, you go down first, the old man is tired. "

Xu Hongji waved his hand at Xu Yunjue, and then walked towards the backyard with the support of his servants.

Xu Yunjue looked at Xu Hongji who was leaving, with a gloomy light flashing in his eyes.

……

In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun led their entourage towards the Jinling Palace after having dinner.

The six parts of Jinling are located around the palace.

Ever since Chengzu moved the capital, Jinling's imperial palace has been vacant. Although there are people cleaning it every day, the number of people is too small. In addition, it is no longer a political center, so these people who clean it are fishing for three days and drying the net for two days.

The stewards in the palace didn't bother to care about it, so they let them go.

After the capital was moved, the six departments in Jinling City also became a place for the elderly. The six departments here wrote letters to the Yamen every day and disappeared.

So when Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun came to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry, they didn't see a single person for a long time.

Looking at the empty yamen of the Ministry of Industry, Zhao Wen breathed a sigh of relief, and said slowly, "This is the yamen of the Ministry of Industry? There hasn't been a single person, not even a clerk, for half a day."

Cao Huachun said: "It's not only the yamen of the Ministry of Industry, but also the entire six yamen. The ministers in these six yamen seem to be well-known, but in the court, no one listens to their words. To put it bluntly, the six ministers of Jinling, It's not even as good as a servant in the six departments of the capital."

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Chapter 225 Chronicles of Zheng He's Voyages to the West

"Okay, let's not talk about this, let's find someone first, otherwise how can we enter the place where the Ministry of Industry keeps files?"

Zhao Wen stood in the courtyard of the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry, looked at Cao Huachun, and said slowly.

Cao Huachun smiled and said, "It's very easy to find them, just go to the Qinhuai River."

"How did you know they would go to the Qinhuai River?" Zhao Wen looked at Cao Huachun and said speechlessly.

"This is just the biggest hobby of this group of literati. This group of people has not changed since ancient times." Cao Huachun said jokingly.

Zhao Wen clapped his hands and urged, "Then let's go quickly."

"Let's go!"

A few quarters of an hour later, Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun arrived at the bank of the Qinhuai River.

Zhao Wen looked at the bustling Qinhuai River, full of brothels, and said with some emotion: "On a moonlit night at the 24th bridge, where can jade people teach you how to play the flute? What a Qinhuai River!"

I saw countless brothels and inns lined up on both sides of the Qinhuai River, and there were many porters carrying poles passing by on the road.

Cao Huachun turned sideways, looked at Zhao Wen, and said with a slight smile, "I didn't expect General Zhao to be able to recite poems? It's unusual."

"I read it in books before, but I didn't understand it very well at the time. Now that I saw the Qinhuai River, I read it out."

Zhao Wen walked slowly on the bluestone road, looking at the luxuriously decorated painting boats parked beside the Qinhuai River.

Cao Huachun walked beside Zhao Wen. He pointed to the painting boats on the river and said to Zhao Wen: "These painting boats will be open in the evening, and now the parked painting boats on the river will hang up red lanterns to attract guests after nightfall. Qinhuai The real face of the river is not the day, but the night."

Beside the Qingshiban Road on both sides of the Qinhuai River, there are countless brothels, large and small.

From time to time, there are young people who look like scholars and walk towards the inside with folding fans in their hands.

Even the air is filled with a smell of powder, and the smell of powder is so strong that it feels greasy.

Some women sat by the windows of the attic, waving gently to the pedestrians below.

Looking at the pedestrians coming and going, Zhao Wen couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as he watched the Qinhuai River, which smelled extremely strong of rouge.

"It's no wonder that under the attack of Jiannu, the small imperial court of the Southern Ming Dynasty directly opened the city gate and surrendered. No wonder Emperor Chengzu wanted to move his capital to the north. Jinling's powder is too heavy. If you stay for a long time, you will be softened by this drunken gold fan bone."

Looking at these, Zhao Wen sighed in his heart.

"Is this the first time General Zhao has come to the Qinhuai River?" Cao Huachun asked slowly, seeing Zhao Wen looking around.

"Yes, it's my first time here." Zhao Wen replied casually.

At this moment, the sky suddenly darkened.

Zhao Wen looked up at the sky, and said to Cao Huachun, "Eunuch Cao, it's going to rain now, let's find a place to take shelter first, what do you think?"

"The miscellaneous family has this intention." Cao Huachun nodded.

As soon as the two spoke, raindrops fell from the sky.

After being washed by the rain, the fat powder in the air has lightened a lot.

Zhao Wen and Cao Huachun hurried into a brothel called Jiqiu Pavilion.

As soon as he entered, the old bustard in the brothel surrounded him with several aunts.

"Hey, you guys seem to be very nervous, is this your first time here?"

A well-dressed old bustard in her thirties walked up to her with three steps and three shakes.

Zhao Wen looked at the heavy makeup and the disgusting smell of makeup on his body, and hurriedly avoided it.

"Stay away from me!" Zhao Wen frowned as he looked at the old bustard.

"Hey, are you still shy?" The old bustard led a few girls and looked at Zhao Wen with a teasing smile on his face.

Cao Huachun saw Zhao Wen's dissatisfied face, turned around, and said slowly to a follower who was following him, "Go, show our badges, and make them all shut up!"

The attendant cupped his hands at Cao Huachun, then took out his badge from his waist, and walked towards the old bustard.

"I'm doing business in the East Factory, please give me peace of mind. Now you go back to me, and you are not allowed to come out without my order." The attendant waved his waist card in front of their eyes, and said fiercely.

When the old bustard saw this scene, his face paled in fright.Although both Jinyiwei and Dongchang have been banned now, but this reputation is outside, some officials will have their calves spinning after hearing the names of Jinyiwei and Dongchang, let alone these ordinary people?