The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 183 Widow Hu in Putian

Ou Maoren was a large landowner in Fenggu. He lost his father when he was young. In order to make a living, he gave up the imperial examination and went into business. In a few years, he earned a share of the family business and married his wife Hu.

Unexpectedly, Ou Maoren, who was only in his early twenties, died of illness just a few years after Mr. Hu passed away, leaving Mr. Hu, who was less than twenty, and his two infant sons.

Ou's relatives bullied Hu's orphans and widows and came to seize the family property. Hu's parents also wanted Hu to remarry.

Seeing that the Ou family's property was about to collapse, Mrs. Hu expressed her intention to strictly abide by women's ethics and never remarry.

At that time, no one in Putian thought that the Hu family could hold on, but the Hu family, who was only a teenager, was extremely strong. As the mistress of the Ou family, she began to take charge of the family business. In decades, she not only raised her two children , and at the same time, they seized the opportunity of maritime trade and made the Ou family's property several times larger than what Ou Maoren had been during his lifetime.

At this time, Fenggu's Ou family had become a wealthy local, owning rice, flour, grain and oil shops, countless fields, and many ships. Even Hu's political talent was well known in Putian.

"History of the Ming Dynasty" records: The Hu family is good at making judgments. "The county has been in jail for a long time. People said: 'The prefect can ask Widow Hu.' The guard will ask the question and decide with one word."

Wang Wenlong couldn't help but be surprised when he read this record in "History of the Ming Dynasty".

Even the prefect could not take care of the matter, but Mrs. Hu intervened with just one word, and the two parties immediately reconciled. Anyone with a little social experience would know what kind of good judgment this Mrs. Hu has. She obviously has great financial resources in Putian. If it weren't for a powerful party, how could it have such decisive strength?

Then Wang Wenlong immediately decided to go to Putian with Huang Daozhou and Zeng Jing.

The Hu family is both a heroic woman and an owner of industry. The cooperation between the two parties not only solves the reputation problem of the women's textile factory, but the textile factory can also have strong local support - the Ou family has sea ships, so it must be easy to lose the export relationship. Tong, if you can win over the Hu family in Putian to support you, it will be much better than going to Yinzhou to find Xu Yuanchen's widow.

……

The road from Fuzhou to Putian is the Fu-Pu Ancient Road that has existed since ancient times. It only needs to be walked along the coastline. There are no mountains. It is flat and convenient. Within a few days, Wang Wenlong followed a few people to Putian and stayed at Zeng Jing's house.

When Wang Wenlong got up early the next morning, as soon as he walked out of the door, Zeng Jing's maid came to tell him that the food had been cooked and asked Wang Wenlong to go to the kitchen.

Wang Wenlong asked Wang Pingbao to have dinner with him, and asked the Zeng family servant, "Where is your master?"

The servants were preparing dinner and boiling water to scald the chicken feathers.

Hearing this, he raised his head and said, "My master has gone out early in the morning and is going to paint the portrait of Eunuch Wu in the county."

Wang Wenlong nodded:

Fujian and Guangdong suffered a major disaster this year, namely the Nan'ao earthquake in the 28th year of Wanli. The epicenter was in Nan'ao, Guangdong and Zhao'an, Fujian. The calculated magnitude of the earthquake in later generations was at least seven or above, and there were several earthquakes in succession. Fujian and Guangdong The earthquake was even felt in Jiangxi.

Buildings in this era have no seismic resistance rating at all. They collapsed completely when an earthquake occurred. As a result, casualties were reported in dozens of prefectures and counties in three provinces. As far away as Poyang, Raozhou, Jiangxi, houses collapsed.

The damage in Fuzhou is considered small, and the closer to the south, the more serious it is.

Fuzhou Prefecture immediately sent people and resources to provide disaster relief, but Gao Yin didn't take a break at this time - he immediately sent people to collect taxes for the disaster relief materials.

Gao Yin's tax inspector was not located in Fuzhou, but in Putian. On the one hand, it gave the provincial government some face. On the other hand, all materials going south from Fuzhou had to pass through the Fuzhou Ancient Road anyway. The tax inspector was located in Putian and in Putian. There is no difference in Fuzhou.

It was a disaster for the people, and the government responded with all its strength, but the disaster relief was nothing more than a carnival for the tax superintendents and eunuchs.

Instead of concentrating on disaster relief, this group of people set up pots of jams on the roads and even had the time to hold a banquet.

As soon as Wang Wenlong and others arrived in Putian yesterday, eunuch Wu sent by Gao Yin sent an invitation. Huang Daozhou couldn't bear the harassment and went home, while Zeng Jing, Ge Yilong, Zhao Chunqing and others went to the banquet. There was nothing to criticize. Yes, people just eat this bowl of rice. The three of them are all well-known in Sanwu, and their status will naturally be raised to a higher level when they return to Fujian. They had an evening party yesterday, and they were all invited to be guests this morning.

Wang Wenlong wrote a letter to Zeng Jing after breakfast, and told Zeng Jing's servant that he was going to Fenggu and would not be able to come back for dinner tonight.

This place was in Pinghai Town, Putian in later generations. At this time, Putian County belonged to Xinghua Prefecture, and the place was remote. To go from Zhoucheng to Fenggu, one had to leave the county town and cross the sea by boat and walk for most of the day.

……

Fenggu Oujia.

When Mrs. Hu heard the news that her steward had gone to the state capital to inquire about the news, she shook her head and said: "After this great disaster, the eunuchs came to exploit again..."

She thought about it and told the housekeeper: "Send three hundred taels of food to the eunuch, and say it comes from our Ou family's disaster relief office. As for eunuch Wu, he will also send a package of two hundred taels of silver. I will go and visit him in person in two days." .”

"Okay." The manager was very respectful to Mrs. Hu and remembered to tell her to go down and do the work quickly.

While Mrs. Hu was thinking about it, she heard someone coming from outside to report: "Madam, a supervisor named Wang Wenlong from Fuzhou Prefecture came to see you with a post from the Chief Envoy Si Yamen."

Ms. Hu frowned. She didn't read much, and she had no impression of Wang Wenlong's name. But because of Xu Xueju's post, she still nodded and said, "Invite him in."

Wang Wenlong entered the room with a smile on his face, holding a large box in his hand with the brand name of Dashengchun printed on it. At this time, the drug gathering place in Fujian was in the Taijiang area of ​​Fuzhou. Dashengchun was a well-known store in it, selling ginseng. The film is famous in Fujian, and anyone who knows the goods will know it at a glance.

Wang Wenlong smiled and said: "Hello Madam Hu, small gifts are not disrespectful."

I don’t know where Wang Wenlong came from, but when he saw that he was giving such a heavy courtesy, Mrs. Hu also smiled and said: "Sir, please have a seat."

Mrs. Hu looked at Wang Wenlong and felt that Wang Wenlong was a handsome person, and he could tell at a glance that he had some skills.

Wang Wenlong also looked at Mrs. Hu. Mrs. Hu was in her fifties and well-maintained. Although she only wore dark clothes like a widowed woman at this time, it obviously did not prevent her from wearing pearls on her head and her face. After dressing up a little, Hu's eyes showed a shrewdness that was completely different from that of ordinary women at this time.

After having someone show Wang Wenlong some tea, Mrs. Hu tentatively asked, "Sir, are you from Xu Fantai's residence?"

Wang Wenlong smiled, Hu wanted to show that he knew he was from Xu Xueju just by seeing the name of the Chief Envoy Si Yamen. This was obviously to show him that he was quite familiar with Fuzhou officialdom and would not be easily deceived.

Wang Wenlong nodded and replied: "I was favored by Xu Fantai because I wrote a "History of Portugal" last year. Now I work as an aide in his mansion, and now I am the editor-in-chief of "Xun Bao".

After hearing this, Mrs. Hu realized why she had some impression of Wang Wenlong's name. Although she didn't read much, she was engaged in overseas trade. She read "History of Portugal" over and over again and told her two sons to study it hard.

The "Xun Bao" is now also famous in Fujian. Hu specially has people deliver newspapers to her from Fuzhou for a long time in order to understand the business information in the "Xun Bao".

Finally knowing Wang Wenlong's identity, her attitude instantly turned to enthusiasm, and she said with a smile: "I was wondering why this name is so familiar. It turns out it refers to Mr. Jianyang, the Portuguese ambassador. He is very talented and knowledgeable, and women like us don't listen." Thank you for your name. It is a great honor for the Ou family that you can come to our humble home today."

Wang Wenlong quickly said humbly: "I don't dare to take it as a compliment from my wife. I came here today just to ask for help."

(End of this chapter)