serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 9 First Arrival in Yangzhou
When the north is snowing heavily, the south is still a scene of late autumn. Yangzhou in November is full of autumn colors, and the Slender West Lake in autumn and winter is colorful and more graceful and moving. , and left countless moving poems such as "Wrapping a hundred thousand guan, riding a crane to Yangzhou."

The Slender West Lake in autumn and winter is more quiet and reserved, as beautiful as a landscape painting.

The boat lady in the distance gently swayed the scull, humming a Yangzhou ditty, and the tenderness of Jiangnan was expressed without words.

In the Slender West Lake, a huge awning boat floats on the quiet lake, and there are many boats parked along the lake.

In the cabin, there is a small table in the middle, with several dishes, a jug of wine, and two sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table. Two middle-aged men sit facing each other across the small table.

One of them spoke, "Brother Yucun?"

I saw that the opposite person had a round waist and a thick back, a wide face, a square mouth, sword eyebrows and star eyes, a straight nose and cheeks, which made people feel good about him. This person was an official who was dismissed from his post. Biao Shifei, nicknamed Yucun, is now working as a teacher at the home of Lin Ruhai, Lianghuai Yanzheng, teaching Lin Ruhai's daughter to read. Unexpectedly, Lin Ruhai's wife is seriously ill, and the female student is serving soup and medicine all day long. Then I went out for a walk, intending to appreciate the scenery of the West Lake in autumn and winter. I happened to meet a friend who used to be in the capital. The other party was engaged in the antique trade in the capital.

Jia Yucun came back to his senses: "Yeah." Then, he smiled awkwardly: "I was distracted by what Mr. said. According to Mr., do you intend to be a rehabilitated member now?!"

Leng Zixing: "Yes!"

Jia Yucun: "But it was the second assistant of the court who submitted a letter to join the revolution that day, just in case"

"This time is not that time!"

Leng Zixing shook his head: "Back then it was for party struggle, but today it is to win over the hearts of the gentry."

Jia Yucun sighed, raised his glass and said, "It's a pity that I have nothing to do with being in Beijing." After speaking, he drank the wine in the glass.

Leng Zixing laughed instead: "Brother Yucun, do you know why the usually bustling Slender West Lake has become so deserted?"

"Of course. It's clearly written in the mansion newspaper that the imperial court transferred border guards to the Yangzhou supervisory regiment to practice rural bravery. I also know that the military training is fake, and the investigation is true. Now I'm going to take the salt merchants into action."

Leng Zixing hurriedly asked with a smile: "Dude, do you know the origin of this person?"

Jia Yucun: "Oh?"

"This man is exactly the same clan as my brother, a descendant of the Jia family in Beijing, the third-rank uncle of the Ningguo Mansion, and the third-rank Zhaoyong General Jia Hu."

"It turned out to be his house."

With a wry smile on his lips, Jia Yucun said, "If we talk about it, it's from the same ancestry. But it's inconvenient for me to talk about his glory."

"No climbing! No climbing!"

Leng Zixing filled Jia Yucun with wine, and then filled it up for himself, "Brother, the wife of Mrs. Lin of the Guidong family, the youngest daughter of the Mrs. Tai of the Rongguo Mansion, the sister of She and Zheng Ergong, and the aunt of Uncle Jia. Now that Uncle Jia is taking office in Yangzhou, he will come to pay his respects. Why don’t you ask Mr. Lin to introduce him?”

As soon as this remark came out, Jia Yucun was overjoyed: "Really?!"

Leng Zixing laughed: "To tell the truth, brother, Jiannei was born in the Rong Mansion, and the mother-in-law is the dowry of the second wife of the Rong Mansion, so..."

Only then did Jia Yucun bow deeply: "Thank you, brother!"

"Samsung photos. Eight horses and five leaders."

The hustle and bustle of punching orders and the like came from the main room of the north courtyard of Guangling Station.

The soldiers handed over the dishes, coming in and out.

There is also a courtyard in the west, but it seems a little deserted.

The room was full of people, only a few vacant seats were left beside Jia Hu. Four dishes, a bowl of rice and a bowl of clear soup were simply placed on each table.

A total of 71 of them survived the Battle of Shoushan. Except for 20 seriously injured people who were sent to the Jia family in the capital to recuperate, the remaining 50 people followed Jia Hu to the south of Yangzhou. After the war, everyone was promoted. Now everyone The worst among them is also the chief executive of the eighth rank, and Yang Dayong is the chief executive of the sixth rank.

Li Chengyang, the general soldier of Shanhaiguan, was conferred the title of Marquis of Ningyuan.

Yang Dayong looked at the dishes on the table and curled his lips: "It is said that Yangzhou is a prosperous place, so let us eat this!"

The postman came in, looked at Jia Hu, and said to Yang Dayong: "My lord, this is Yangzhou, but it is also a post station for officials. It is a place to receive officials from the past. What are the ranks of officials, what to eat, where to stay?" There are rules for everything."

He looked at this group of thin soldiers, and then at the dishes on the table, "Well, I'll ask them to fry two good ones for you."

Suddenly, Jia Hu coughed violently.

Yang Dayong was surprised: "General! Do you want to invite Wang Taiyi over?"

Jia Hu waved his hand: "It's okay."

Yicheng's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself: "Sure enough, there is a problem!" But he didn't show his expression, and asked, "This master is."

Jia Hu: "Let's get to know each other. My surname is Jia. I'm the new minister who oversees regiment training."

Yi Cheng hurriedly knelt down, "My little one, send your respects to your lord."

Jia Hu looked towards the north courtyard, where there was still a lot of noise.

Yang Dayong: "Who are the officials over there? Why are they still called singers, is it plausible?"

Yi Cheng was in a dilemma, he hesitated for a while before he said: "That is Mr. Wang's eldest son, and he said he is sending some friends to Beijing to participate in next year's Enke examination."

Jia Hu raised his eyebrows: "Salt merchant's son?"

Yi Cheng: "Yes."

Yang Dayong: "His grandma's, this is all the men can eat in the front with the tartars. These offal are not only delicious, but also accompanied by prostitutes."

Yi Cheng: "This, this"

"It's none of your business, feed our horses good feed, and we'll go into town after eating."

Jia Hu picked up his chopsticks and started eating.

Yi Cheng: "Yes."

Yang Dayong was still unconvinced, but he had no choice but to swallow the breath with saliva, filled half a bowl of clear soup, put it on the table in front of Jia Hu, then sat down, and then began to eat.

Everyone lowered their heads to eat, Jia Hu finished the food in the bowl, drank the half bowl of clear soup, and said to Yang Dayong: "Go and change Lin San and the others to eat."

Without saying a word, a soldier on duty came from outside the courtyard and asked loudly, "What are you doing!"

"What are you doing? What are you doing?" Amidst the noise, a young man in brocade robes rushed in with a group of servants, completely ignoring the long knives in the hands of the soldiers on duty.

The postman came in hastily, and said with an apologetic smile, "Young Master Wang, this is the post station of the official family. The imperial court has a system. You should leave quickly, lest the censor know about it, and it will be very inconvenient."

With a "snap", Mr. Wang slapped Yicheng on the face, and said: "The system of bullshit, you count as one, which one is not raised by our salt merchants, talk to me about the system at this time! Bah, I smashed Guangling Station, believe it or not!"

Yicheng fell to the ground and shouted to himself: "Young Master Wang, hurry up!"

Mr. Wang didn't respond, walked forward with a folding fan, looked at Jia Hu who was sitting there, and then looked at the dishes on the table. He understood that this was the standard for entertaining civil servants of the sixth rank and military officers of the sixth rank, so he laughed. He asked, "Where are the military masters from?"

"What? Put the knife away. Get out!"

Hearing this, Lin San and the others put their knives back into their sheaths and retreated.

Jia Hu looked at Mr. Wang again, "We came from Shanhaiguan."

"Oh, so it's the frontier army. No wonder they are all good horses." While waving his fan, Mr. Wang winked at the followers around him.

The entourage said: "Our son is the eldest son of the general merchant of Yangzhou Salt Affairs Wang. I have taken a fancy to your horses, now I understand what to do?"

Jia Hu didn't seem to understand: "What?"

The entourage smiled: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, as long as you understand that it is a good thing. Our son is kind-hearted, and bought twenty horses with money, each at 25 taels." Then he took out a bank note from his sleeve and said: " This is a silver ticket of 500 taels, you will never see so much silver in your life."

Yang Dayong and the others held the scabbard tightly, their faces tense, and their eyes wide open, as if they were ready to chop this lifeless guy into pieces at any time!

Jia Hu took a deep look at Mr. Wang, then smiled and said, "Mr. Wang, look, these are all high-quality military horses, 25 taels? Are they suitable?"

Mr. Wang didn't even look at Jia Hu, he sneered and said, "Okay, I'll add another 100 taels for the money." He turned and walked out.

The attendant was startled, and said in a rough voice: "Are you poor and crazy? You don't have eyes?!" He dropped another bank note and walked out quickly.

Yang Dayong: "General?"

Jia Hu sat there without answering, but just waved his hands.

Yang Dayong was also smart, he was taken aback for a moment, and then hurried out.

Yi Cheng had a troubled expression on his face: "My lord."

Jia Hu: "Don't be afraid, I just came here, I have some things to ask you for advice."

Yi Cheng: "As long as the little ones know."

"Of course you know. Let me ask you, what is going on with this Yangzhou salt merchant?"

"My lord, there are eight general merchants in Yangzhou City, namely the Wang family, Huang family, Ma family, Cheng family, Jiang family, Bao family, Bai family, and Xiao family. Among them, the Wang family is the head of the salt merchant general merchants and is in charge of the salt merchants. Yanyin from the four provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, and Shandong. The Wang family and the Xiao family are related by marriage, and the Jiang family and the Cheng family are old relatives. This Mr. Wang is Mr. Wang's eldest son."

Jia Hu nodded, and then asked: "I heard that the salt merchant and the private salt dealer are in the same family?"

Yi Cheng's face turned pale, he just opened his mouth and made no sound.

Suddenly there was a crisp sandalwood board in the north courtyard, followed by a melodious flute sound, and Wu Nong's soft words.

Jia Hu frowned: "Speak."

Yicheng hesitated for a moment, and said: "The imperial court has an old system, and the children of salt merchants are not allowed to obtain fame, so they build academies, fund free schools, and subsidize those civilian students with better qualifications, train them to enter official careers, and use them in the officialdom. The superior status protects the interests of the salt merchants. The three members of the North Courtyard are the sons of the Wang family."

At this time, Yang Dayong rushed in like a gust of wind, and opened his mouth to curse: "This dog day is really courageous. He actually fell in love with that big white horse. It is a birthday gift for the governor of Liangjiang."

Jia Hu and everyone were taken aback.

Listening to the sound of the flute, Yang Dayong muttered: "It's so fucking absurd!"

Jia Hu: "Go, invite someone over here."

(End of this chapter)