Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 22 Li Weijian sends beads and flowers, and Aunt Xue comes to the door in a hurry

The carriage came out of Xuanwumen, and there was a lot of noise along the way.The curtains in the carriage opened at a corner, and Qingwen peeked at the excitement outside.

It happened to be a day, and the area around Liulichang was crowded and lively.There are people selling glutinous rice, people playing diabolo, people selling woolen monkeys with glazed covers, people playing the plop, storytellers, singers, jugglers, people performing tricks, and so on.

Qingwen felt dazzled by what she saw, and she was particularly nostalgic for everything outside.Ever since she was sold into Grandma Lai's house, she rarely left the house. After that, she entered Jia's house again, and from then on she never left or left the house.It was the first time in several years to go out for a stroll in a carriage like this.

Hongyu on the other side was no less generous, chirping and pointing at the excitement outside, smiling like a flower.After saying a few words, she would praise Fourth Master Jian for being such a good boy. If she was wrong, it was because of Fourth Master Jian that she didn't know when she would be able to go out for a walk.

Qingwen secretly yelled in her heart, scolding Hongyu that her little hooves were so used to crawling along the pole.She naturally remembers Fourth Master's kindness in her heart, but she won't say it out so shamelessly. She will only keep it in her heart and repay him twice as much in the future.

Li Weijian also looked at the bustle outside with a smile. This most beautiful place in the capital was different from the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. It had a rough and prosperous atmosphere.

There is a poem from the previous Ming Dynasty that praises: The essence of the nine cities is the best, and the literature and fragrance are astonishing.

He was talking about the various temple fairs in the capital, and Li Weijian thought that when he had some free time, he would have to take a tour.It's a pity that I'm really busy lately, so I'm afraid I won't be able to be free in January or February.

Seeing the expressions on Hongyu and Qingwen's faces, Li Weijian said, "I'm not busy. I'm just going to go and order some flowers. I'll spend an hour or two and I'll take you around when I get back."

Hongyu immediately smiled and said, "Hey, Fourth Master is so considerate."

Qingwen also had a happy look on her face, she looked at Li Weijian intensely but didn't say anything.

The carriage and horses turned around Liulichang, and it became a little quiet outside. Wu Haiping, who was driving the carriage, still said angrily: "Carrying a short stick, turning around and running when the situation is not right, this must be the way of the capital. Hmm, Si'er is still soft-hearted. , if it were me, I would keep it all, and I wouldn’t even think of getting out of bed until I lay there for two months!”

Wu Haiping was angry all the way, but Li Weijian was clear in his heart. This guy saw that his market price was rising, so he rushed to flatter him.Thinking that he had deceived this guy all the way, Li Weijian said: "I know you are very skilled. Next time, you can send me back first before returning the horse. By the way, can you still find those craftsmen who dug the well?"

"Yes, those craftsmen said that when there is no work, they are waiting for work in Luoma Market."

"When we come back later, we went shopping and then went to the mule and horse market. I went to look for some good ones. After a while, I will definitely have your good ones."

"Hey, sir, please be kind." Wu Haiping responded, but he was muttering in his heart, fearing that Li Weijian was trying to draw a cake again... He didn't have much money on him.

The carriage left the city from Guangning Gate and traveled six or seven miles before arriving at a place guarded by soldiers and surrounded by wooden fences.

Two soldiers carrying flintlock guns on their backs came forward to investigate. Li Weijian showed the handwriting of Gu Weiyue, the minister of the Ministry of Industry. The two men quickly let them go, and the carriage went straight into the fence.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and the mule pulling the cart jumped up in surprise. Fortunately, Wu Haiping had enough strength and pulled the reins desperately, and then stopped the mule.

"Sir, if the cannons are fired over there, the mule will not dare to come near."

Li Weijian opened the curtain and jumped out of the carriage, saying, "I'll go to Dian Mao. You drive the carriage and stay away. I'll look for you later."

Wu Haiping agreed, fearing that the sound of the cannon would startle the mule again, so he quickly got off the car and led the mule back around.

Li Weijian strode forward, and within a moment he saw three artillery pieces approaching. A clerk stepped forward to greet them. After reading the handwriting, he immediately became more humble and led Li Weijian to the artillery pieces.

Taking advantage of the break from firing the cannon, Li Weijian hurriedly ran to the muzzle to check it out.This cannon with a carriage is about ten centimeters in weight. According to the introduction of the clerk, this is a new ten-pound cannon made by Dashun. It is as powerful as the original ten-pound cannon, but it is much lighter.

Li Weijian looked at the barrel of the cannon, but when he saw that the inner wall was smooth, he immediately had an idea.The inner wall is smooth, which shows that Dashun has a special boring machine!This thing can drill into the gun barrel, and naturally it can drill into the cylinder. Now there is hope for the steam engine, and Li Weijian is in a great mood!

Another cannonball was fired, and a knight carrying a flag immediately rode away on horseback. He ran for three miles before stopping, looking for the impact point, and waved the flag high and back.

Only then did Li Weijian see that there was a pergola on the left. Several officials inside were fiddling with the objects and looking around before raising a flag to signal.

After thinking for a while, Li Weijian understood that this was measuring the angle and using trigonometric functions to calculate the distance from the impact point.Thinking that the errands assigned by Gu Weiyue had to be done properly, he asked the clerk: "Are those members of the Qintian Prison in the pavilion?"

"Exactly."

"Well, can you give me a copy of their test records?"

"This——" The little official said, "——Master Li, the Qintian Supervisor has always been above the top, and I am just a lowly official. I'm afraid I can't say anything about this matter."

Li Weijian smiled and said, "Then who can speak?"

"I'm just afraid that Mr. Wei will have to say something."

Li Weijian thought for a while and said, "No rush, I came in a hurry today. I'll wait until I have everything ready in a few days."

Dashun has invited Western missionaries to serve as chief eunuchs and deputy chief eunuchs since Emperor Taizong Li Shiqiang. As a result, scholarship such as calculus spread in Dashun.The subordinate officials of Qin Tianjian have been hereditary for generations, and they claim to be orthodox in practical learning, so they naturally have a higher level of focus.

Li Weijian had no intention of taking any chances, so he looked at it for a while, then simply turned around and left.

On the way back to Liulichang, Li Weijian got off the car and took Qingwen and Hongyu for a walk, while Wu Haiping ran to the Luoma Market to find a well-drilling craftsman.

It's February, and the weather has been getting warmer these days. Walking around the temple fair, listening to the chattering of the two maids beside him, Li Weijian smiled.

I had been on the road all the time before, and was busy again when I arrived at Jia's house. Now I had a rare moment of leisure, and my tense heartstrings relaxed a little.

Hongyu's parents were Lin Zhixiao and his wife, and they were a little older, one year older than Li Weijian. Even though a third-class maid had very little money per month, she had very little savings.I saw something along the way, so I went over to browse and pick it up, and finally bought a paper kite, thinking about having fun in the spring;

Qingwen just came out of Jia's mother's house, but she never went to Baoyu's room. Even though she had the second-class maid's monthly report, she was reluctant to spend it.She only bought a pack of melon seeds in front of the melon seeds stall, but her eyes stayed on the pearl flower stall nearby.

Li Weijian saw it and glanced at it. The beads were only gilt and the beads were very small. He called Hongyu and Qingwen over: "Master, I am in a good mood today. You can pick a bead... Remember to choose one for Xiu Ying too."

"Hey!" Hongyu responded happily and hurriedly leaned over to pick.

Qingwen was a step late, stopped in front of the stall, turned around to face Li Weijian's gentle smile, her eyes suddenly flickered, her face flushed again and she bowed her head.She thought in her heart, she was afraid that the fourth master could not move his eyes away when he saw her, and that was why this happened... But the rubbish was stained with the light.

The two maids picked over it. Hongyu chose a peony-shaped one and put it on her bun. She smiled and asked Li Weijian if it looked good. Qingwen picked a plain one and put it on her bun. It made her face look even more beautiful. pretty.

Hongyu opened her mouth to bargain with the stall owner and cut off [-]% of the price. Li Weijian was shocked when she paid the money.Three pearl flowers cost nearly four taels of silver!If you think so, is it possible that cultured pearls have not become popular yet?He then thought to himself that this was another way to make a fortune. (Note [-])

After wandering around, the master and two maids returned to the carriage. Wu Haiping had already led an old man, two young men and three men to wait in front of the carriage.

The two younger ones immediately stared blankly when they saw the colors of Qingwen and Hongyu. They didn't come back to their senses until the two maids got on the carriage.

After greeting the old man, Li Weijian chatted with the old man: "What do you call me?" "I don't dare, the little old man's surname is Liu, and his parents were lazy, so he was called Liu Da since he was born. Do you want to dig a well? The one next to the little old man. I dare not say how many generations this skill of digging wells has been passed down. From our ancestors to the young man, we have drilled not only [-] but also [-] wells, including sweet water wells."

"No hurry," Li Weijian said, "Let me ask you, after digging two feet deep to get out the water, is there any way to seal the walls of the well?"

Liu Da was a little confused and asked: "What do you mean by this, noble man? Once it comes out of the water, it is done."

Wu Haiping said from the side: "Why are you talking so much? I just asked you if you have any ideas."

"This -" Liu Da thought for a while and said: "—there is a way. You have to pump water while building bluestones, and then seal the gaps with Sanhe soil and glutinous rice juice. I think it should be possible." After a pause. , and then said: "However, it is still cold at this time. If you go down for a long time, you may not be able to bear it. You have to wait until it gets warm in May."

May?How could Li Weijian wait?He then said: "Can't you stand being soaked in water? It doesn't matter, I have my own way to drain the water. Then you can just dig a well and seal the walls of the well."

"This……"

"Don't worry, the job is done, and the wages will be doubled."

"Hey? Thank you, noble man. Thank you, noble man!"

Li Weijian nodded and looked at Wu Haiping: "Make a note of their house and go look for it when work starts later." After saying this, Li Weijian got on the carriage.

Wu Haiping asked where the Liu family was, sent away the Liu family and his son, and then drove the carriage back to Jia's house.

....................................

Rongguofu.

In the morning, Jia Zheng met Jia Zhen in the study room, and it was indeed about what happened last night.Jia Zheng couldn't refuse, so he hurriedly sent Qingke Xianggong Zhan Guang to Shuntian Mansion. He returned before noon and said that the matter was quite difficult.

The second son of the Kou family, the young master, had posted a message early in the morning, urging the Shuntian Mansion to deal with the matter strictly. Fu Shi was fawning over Yan Xiyao and immediately served him with sticks and sticks.

The two green-skinned thugs hired by the trade could do anything with a few sticks. They only said they wanted to get Ni Er's money, so they went to ambush the private alleys of the two houses.

Ni Er, on the other hand, was stubborn and remained silent despite receiving forty sticks.

Fortunately, Zhan Guang arrived in time, otherwise Fu Shi would have used a stick.

Jia Zheng didn't like to see Xue Pan at all, and even looked down on the Xue family.However, this matter also involved Jia Qiang of Dongfu, so he had no choice but to use his strength.But at this time, he was a little helpless. After all, it was not the time to be in charge of the court, and he was facing the famous person in front of him.

A guest from the Qing Dynasty said: "Cun Zhou Gong, the Yan family is not easy to mess with. For the current plan, it is better to have Mr. Fu tell Ni Er. It will be more beneficial to keep the matter sealed, so that the matter can be covered up. past."

The remaining Qingqing customers agreed one after another.

Another Qing guest said: "Since ancient times, people have not promoted officials and ignored investigation. In my opinion, since Li Weijian is the nephew of Zhou Gong's relative, I comforted him and asked him to talk to Yan Fengzhen and withdraw the complaint, and the matter was settled." "

"That statement makes sense."

Jia Zhengfuxu was in a dilemma for a while.After passing the message to Ni Er through Fu Shi, the Jia family was not involved, but the Yan family was afraid that Fu Shi would hate Fu Shi, and his future as a disciple would be lost. It was okay to appease Li Weijian, but if he wanted to talk to the Yan family , I'm afraid I have to lose my face.

At this time, another mother-in-law sent by Mrs. Wang came to inquire. Jia Zheng felt impatient and simply ordered Zhan Guang to talk to the woman.

After hearing what she said, the mother-in-law hurriedly returned to Mrs. Wang's courtyard and repeated it after imitating Zhan Guang's words.

Aunt Xue and Baochai came here early in the morning, had a quick lunch, and found no news, so they came again.

After hearing what the mother-in-law had said, Aunt Xue immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Amitabha, thanks to my brother-in-law's protégé who is working as an official in Shuntian Mansion, I can spread the word as long as Ni Er bites him to death and doesn't say anything about it. Even if it’s exposed.”

Hearing this, Baochai quickly said: "Mom, I think it's wrong. If Mr. Fu passes the message, I'm afraid he will offend Mr. Yan. How dare Mr. Fu? I'm afraid I have to find a solution as soon as possible for Fourth Brother Jian."

"This--"

Aunt Xue looked at Mrs. Wang, and Mrs. Wang said: "I don't understand these external things, but since the master is in trouble, I think Laibao girl is right. I'd better go to Brother Jian to talk about my troubles." He hasn't been hurt at all. If my sister puts some thought into it, I'll play drums with my wife later, and it will be settled."

The matter involved Xue Pan's life. Aunt Xue became more and more anxious. She couldn't help but get up and said: "Brother Jian hasn't come back yet. The girl who followed Brother Jian yesterday stayed behind. I just happened to go and ask what happened yesterday." situation."

Mrs. Wang thought to herself, just send a maid to ask about such matters, why bother to go in person?But thinking that Aunt Xue was eager at this time, she didn't speak.

Aunt Xue was so angry that she took Baochai and the maid and her mother-in-law out of Mrs. Wang's small courtyard, walked around in a circle, and crossed the corridor to the northeast upper courtyard.

The busy maid in the courtyard saw this and hurriedly went to tell Xiu Ying.Xiu Ying came out in a panic and hurriedly stepped forward to greet her: "I've met my concubine, I've met Miss Bao."

Aunt Xue suppressed her eagerness and asked with a smile: "Brother Jian is not back yet?"

Xiu Ying said honestly: "Fourth Master was sent by the Minister of the Ministry of Industry to help test the artillery today."

Aunt Xue had heard this a long time ago, but now she pretended to admire it and said: "Brother Jian, Yunwen Yunwu, has won the trust of Minister of the Ministry of Industry. You will have a good future in the future. Your name is Xiu. Ying?"

"Yes."

"Oh, take good care of me. I wonder if brother Jian will make you my aunt in the future."

Xiu Ying's face suddenly turned red with embarrassment when her thoughts were exposed.Aunt Xue observed her words and immediately took off a gold bracelet from her wrist. She took Xiu Ying's glove and said, "You are an honest girl. I like it when I see it. Come on, I'll give you this bracelet. Look, it's beautiful." The wrist is greasy and white, so just wear it from now on."

"This...I can't have it, it's too expensive..."

Aunt Xue said with a smile: "If I promise something to someone, there is no reason to take it back. Take it, or I will be angry."

Xiu Ying was worried and had no choice but to accept it.The maid on the side saw that the quail seemed to be hanging its head, so she quickly stepped forward to remind her. Only then did Xiu Ying step aside and said, "Concubine, Miss Bao, please come in and have a cup of hot tea."

Aunt Xue nodded and said, "I happen to be thirsty while walking, so I'll ask for a cup of tea."

Note 13: China, the birthplace of cultured beads, has developed from cultivating ordinary pearls to cultivating image-shaped beads in the 1th century. According to Chinese culture methods, lead or tin Bodhisattva cores are stuffed into pearl shells and cultured in water. , wait 2 or [-] years before fishing the shells back to get the Buddha beads.

This method has high cost and low success rate.Modern breeding methods appeared at the end of the [-]th century.

(End of this chapter)