Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 121
Lin Hai was surprised when he heard this. It turned out that this person was Liu Jingting, the founder of storytelling.

This man was very famous and impressive during the Chongzhen period. He only told stories once a day. Tickets cost as much as one tael of silver, and seats had to be reserved ten days in advance.

Lin Hai glanced at the washbasin at Liu Mazi's feet and saw dozens of copper plates scattered inside. It was obvious that this was his income today.

Looking at this scene, Liu Jingting is obviously not famous at this time, otherwise he would not perform in a gathering place for lower-level people like Beiguan Night Market.

However, it had only been a few years since Liu Jingting became famous at this time. Lin Hai guessed that his skills had reached perfection and all he lacked was fame.That requires the praise of literati and officials, not just the applause of ordinary people.

Thinking of this, Lin Hai took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and threw it into the basin used to collect money.

Liu Jingting was taken aback, picked up the silver ingot, put it in his mouth and bit it, his color suddenly changed. He quickly came to Lin Hai and bowed: "Your Majesty is so generous, I would like to thank you for your kindness. This is very polite."

Lin Hai accepted his obeisance and continued: "I am Qianhu, the master of Zhongzhong Station in Zhoushan. My surname is Lin and my name is Hai. Lin wants to invite Mr. Lin to serve as a storyteller in our army. The salary is three taels per month. I wonder if Mr. Lin is willing?"

"The villain is willing to go." Liu Jingting heard that Lin Hai was an official, so he quickly changed his self-identification, and then asked, "Master Lin wants the villain to go to the army to tell stories. I don't know what kind of book he should write?"

Lin Hai asked: "Can you write your own script?"

Liu Jingting's face showed a look of confidence, he straightened up and said: "I, Liu Mazi, am not boasting. If I were to be ranked second in this aspect, no storyteller from Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places would dare to be ranked first."

In the early years of Chongzhen, Liu Jingting once wrote "Water Margin" for Zhang Dai.According to Zhang Dai's records, this Liu Mazi storyteller did not follow the original work at all, but was a secondary creation based on the original work.

It can be seen that Liu Jingting's ability to tell stories is not bad.In fact, among the four great classics, except "A Dream of Red Mansions" which was created by a few people, the other three were processed by countless storytellers. Luo Guanzhong, Shi Naian, and Wu Chengen were just the final integrators.

Although Lin Hai had not read Zhang Dai's notes, he heard Liu Jingting praise Haikou and guessed that this person had some creative ability, so he said: "Then please sir, compile a few books. I will designate the themes. There are mainly two kinds of stories. One is One is the corrupt officials who harm the people, and the other is the Tatars in Jianzhou who burned, killed and looted."

"It only takes a few days for me to take out several copies of this book about corrupt officials. But I have never seen this Jianzhou Tatar before, so I am afraid that what I say will not suit Lord Lin's taste."

"It's okay. Lin has an adopted son who escaped from the Tatar sword. I'll ask him to tell you his personal experience later. You can just make up a few stories based on this. It doesn't need to be too true. The main thing is to highlight the Tatar's character." He is so vicious that all those who listen to him will hate the Tatar."

When Liu Jingting heard what Lin Hai said, he felt relieved: "In that case, Sir Lin, please rest assured. I only need to let the villain serve in the army for one year, and the villain will take care of it. All the soldiers under Master Lin's command hate the Jianzhou Tatars." Gritting your teeth.”

He originally wanted to boast that it would only take one month, but he was afraid that he would lose this golden job that fell from the sky, so he changed his mind to one year.

"Okay, then you can come with me today."

After Lin Hai finished speaking to Liu Jingting, he then said to Ruan Mei: "It's getting late. We have to go to Broken Bridge to meet Taoist Cao Yi tomorrow morning. Let's go back to the inn and rest. This Mr. Liu, I'll sleep in your room tonight."

The reason why he wanted to recruit Liu Jingting was not just to do propaganda work in the military.Since this person is so famous in history, his storytelling skills are naturally perfect. If he is packaged in the future, he can be put to great use.

It is difficult to put your own thoughts into other people's heads, but in the late Ming Dynasty, an era of unprecedented freedom of speech, influencing public opinion was much simpler than changing thousands of years of accumulated thoughts and ideologies.

Lin Hai actually had this in mind when he came to West Lake to meet Wang Wei. Unexpectedly, he picked up a willow pockmark on the way, which was an unexpected gain.

When everyone returned to the inn, it was already late and they had been shopping for about half an hour. At this time, the Beiguan Night Market was still brightly lit.

Lin Guanhai glanced out the window behind the lamp, and suddenly had a whim: If an alien were observing the earth from a distance at this time, the eastern hemisphere he would see would be pitch black. The Beiguan Night Market in Hangzhou was probably the site of human beings in the early 17th century. The brightest light of civilization.

In the next room, Wei Zui was lying on the bed thinking about the women he saw in the fragrant market and the night market. He tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.

After a long while, he heard no movement in the bed next to him. Feng Yidao seemed to have fallen asleep, so he quietly got up and wanted to go out.

"What are you doing?" Feng Yidao's voice sounded in the darkness.

"Brother Dao, you haven't slept either?" Waizui said bitterly, "I was dazzled by the women at the night market just now. I want to find a fan to make fun of."

"You're not allowed to go." Feng Yidao said and sat up. "Master Lin brought us here as a guard. What's going on with you going out without permission?"

Hearing the words, Waizui begged: "Brother Dao, just let me go. I really can't hold it in anymore."

"If you can't hold it in, I'll hold it in." Feng Yidao opened the window and the light shone in through the window lattice, "I told you to be more careful. How many days will it take for our brothers to have a happy life since they fell off the grass? It's rare for Mr. Lin to do this now. You value me so much, please don’t ruin the future of our brothers.”

"How many good officials can there be? Have you forgotten how Shouhou's father died?" Waizui continued, "Brother Dao, aren't you still dreaming about making contributions? Back then? If you hadn't wanted to be Song Gongming, we would still be enjoying ourselves in the village..."

"Waizui, stop talking..." Feng Yidao interrupted Waizui and said solemnly, "I can't help my brothers, let alone Dagui, so I have to earn a future for these living brothers. ."

"Brother Dao, that happened so many years ago, don't worry about it anymore. Let me tell you, when you are alive, you should not think about so many football things. Are you tired of living like this? You might as well be like me with a crooked mouth. If you are drunk today, you will be drunk one day. If you die one day, you may be reborn in a wealthy family in the next life."

"You don't have to spend the rest of your life to work hard with Mr. Lin. You will definitely get rich and noble." Feng Yidao said, "Believe me, I won't make mistakes this time. Mr. Lin came from the sea, and he is different from those who are officials." Same."

"That's true. Mr. Lin is loyal. At least he keeps his word. To be honest, I didn't take it seriously at first. I didn't expect that he actually fulfilled his promise in the end."

"No, your kid also got more than 200 taels, right?" Feng Yidao said, "If you hadn't spent money randomly in Nagasaki, why would you think about your mother every day now? Seriously, how nice it is to have a daughter-in-law."

He smiled crookedly and said, "What are you talking about, wife? I think it's good like this now."

Feng Yidao said: "I watched you grow up, and now you are already a grown-up. It's time to leave a heir for your family." Hearing the words, Waizui said nothing, and after a while he said: "Brother Dao, your wife and baby are also He has been dead for five or six years, and now we are not drifting on the sea, when will we get married again?"

"I'm not considering this matter yet. It's rare that Mr. Lin values ​​me. I have to find a future for my brothers before we talk about it." Feng Yidao said and closed the window, "Go to bed quickly. Don't be exhausted tomorrow. Let's Mr. Lin seems to be in low spirits."

Waizui then lay down and said: "I heard that boy from the Ruan family said that Mr. Lin will go to West Lake tomorrow to meet a fan. What do you think this fan should look like if he can let Mr. Lin travel such a long distance? ? I don’t know how much money it costs to sleep for a night?”

"Go to sleep! Stop meddling in these other things. We just need to protect Mr. Lin."

Seeing that Feng Yidao didn't answer, he said to himself with a crooked mouth: "That boy from the Ruan family is bragging to me, saying that the girl by the West Lake is very arrogant. Even if she spends thousands of taels of silver, she may not be able to do it. Sleep with you. I still don’t believe it. Is this bitch covered in gold?”

The next morning, Lin Hai and others left Wulin Gate and walked to the West Lake.According to Ruan Mei, the inn where everyone lives is only six or seven miles away from the Broken Bridge, and Wang Wei's residence is just a little east of the Broken Bridge.

After walking for about half an hour, after turning a small slope, the West Lake in the distance was clearly visible.

Since it had snowed a few days ago, the entire West Lake seemed a little deserted. From a distance, you could see the broken bridge railings were mottled. The snow in the center of the bridge had melted in the sun, and the two ends were still covered in silver. Plainly wrapped, it looks like it is broken but not broken.

This is one of the ten famous sights of the West Lake: Broken Bridge and Remaining Snow. Ming Dynasty scholar Wang Keyu once said: "The beauty of the West Lake is that a clear lake is not as good as a rainy lake, a rainy lake is not as good as a moon lake, and a moon lake is not as good as a snow lake." According to this statement, at this time The West Lake is the most worth visiting time.

But Lin Hai didn't think so. In his imagination, Qinghu Lake in spring was the best.At that time, the mountains and rivers were beautiful, the peaches were red and the willows were green, and countless young men and women were out on the lake. It was as bustling as the Beiguan Night Market. That was the best Jiangnan in his mind.

After all, Lin Hai doesn't have the artistic appreciation of Wang Keyu, nor does he have the leisurely mind of Zhang Dai to watch the snow in the lake pavilion. He is here to do business.

As for the rest of the people, except for Ruan Mei, who is a shelf, and Liu Mazi, who is a storyteller who knows a little bit about emotions, the four rough guys can't see what's good about West Lake. Isn't it just a bigger pond?

Waizui was very interested. He wanted to catch a glimpse of the beautiful face of that girl by the West Lake, and also to see if there was a chance to seduce the little maid next to her.

Hmm... Mr. Lin eats meat, so I can't go too far by sipping the soup with my mouth crooked?
I wonder if the little maid of this peerless woman is also different. Maybe her soup has a different flavor.

After another tea walk, Lin Hai and others finally arrived to the east of the Broken Bridge. Ruan Mei pointed to a small courtyard not far away and said, "Master Lin, please look at it. That is the residence of Taoist Cao Yi."

Lin Hai looked in the direction Ruan Mei pointed, and a two-entry courtyard surrounded by bamboo fences came into view. There were two tile-roofed houses and a stable in the front, and three thatched houses in the back. There is also a tomb next to the house.

At this time, a carriage was parked in front of the courtyard gate, and several men and women were talking through the fence gate.

Lin Hai said to Ruan Mei: "Let's listen from a distance first and see what these people are talking about."

Then everyone got closer and saw clearly that the person talking inside the fence gate was a young Taoist nun in her prime, and there were several men who looked like guardians beside her.Outside the fence gate was a scribe in a square scarf and a ruffled shirt, and two of the scribe's followers.

Waizui was a little surprised when he saw this situation. Do you think that the peerless woman here is a Taoist nun?

There were not a few nuns and Taoist nuns in the Ming Dynasty who were engaged in the flesh trade. Many nunneries and Taoist temples not only sold sex secretly, but also secretly did some dirty things like pimping.

After all, in those days, it was too ostentatious for a man and a woman to book a hotel room in an inn, but it was much more secretive to go to a religious place for a tryst in the name of offering incense.This is why nuns and Taoist nuns are among the three aunts and six women, and their reputations have never been very good.

But this courtyard doesn't look like a Taoist temple, especially the thatched houses and tombs in the inner courtyard are a bit spooky and weird.

Lin Hai stopped more than ten steps away from the courtyard. At this time, the person speaking was the thirty-year-old scribe outside the fence gate. He only heard him say: "Can you make it clear? I am a descendant of the Xie family of Simen. This year's new subject Jinshi, Mr. Yushan is my master."

The little Taoist nun at the door replied: "My master has been meditating in seclusion recently. Not all old friends have been seen. Because you are Mr. Yushan's disciple, I went in specially to inform you. But the master only asked me to inform you. It is inconvenient to see guests, but I hope you will have a good life as an official and benefit the people of this place."

When the scribe surnamed Xie heard this, he could only say angrily: "In that case, I would like to ask you to honor the master. After she comes out of confinement, Xie will come to visit her again."

As he spoke, he motioned to his attendants to take out a book of poems and handed it to the little Taoist nun, and then said: "This is Xie's book of poems. Please give it to the revered master."

The little Taoist nun took the collection of poems and turned back. Lin Hai saw that she was about to leave and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Taoist nun, please stay. The master of the Mourning Hongxuan is here to visit. Please give me your respect."

The little Taoist nun turned around and looked Lin Hai up and down: "You are the Master of Mourning Hongxuan, so young?"

Lin Haidao: "Yes, I am the master of Mourning Hongxuan. I guarantee it is true."

Hearing this, the little Taoist nun said: "Then please come in with me. My master said that if the master of the mourning hall comes to visit, she will be ready to sweep the bed at any time."

As she spoke, she ordered the nurse behind the door to open the fence door. Lin Hai was about to go in when he heard the voice of the scribe named Xie coming from behind: "Wait a minute!"

Lin Hai turned around and asked, "Is there something wrong with you?"

The scholar surnamed Xie bowed his hand to him and said, "May I ask what your surname is in the immortal village of Taifu?"

Lin Hai had previously heard that this man was a new scholar and was polite, so he also clasped his fists at him: "My surname is Lin, and my last name is the word "Hai", which is the palm print of Qianhu of Zhoushan Zhongzhongsuo. I don't dare to ask for advice..."

Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, the scribe named Xie had already lowered his hands, turned his nostrils to the sky, and said with contempt: "It turns out that he is a vulgar martial artist. People like this village spirit who shoot others also have a nickname. It's strange that I, Xie Sanbin, have never heard of it." What kind of bullshit is the Lord of Mourning Hongxuan?"

　Thanks to book friend 20220704165737610 for the reward of 1000 taels of patterned silver!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)