The daily life of the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty, thick black

Chapter 90 Questions
After the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival, the situation in Jiangnan has stabilized.

The richest man in Yangzhou was a salt merchant, and Shen Chong was assassinated just after he got involved in this business. The reason for this was mostly the incident in Caohe that day.When everyone thought that Shen Chiang was dead, but this person jumped out suddenly, eyes falling from the ground in shock.

It's just that the big cleanup has also begun. In the second half of August, as far as Gu Huaishu saw, it could be said that half of the city's shops were empty.

It's not depression, but a change of people.

Shen Qi couldn't tolerate the instability around him, so he sorted it out from beginning to end.

From the chief bookkeeper and the manager of the guild hall around Shen Yang, down to the accountants and shopkeepers in the branches of each store, they went through everything inside and out, and when the matter was over, it was almost September and a half.

In autumn, the river is full of fallen leaves, the sky is frosty and the river is white, and it is very cool on the third day of September.

Shen Chao, who was done with work, finally met Liao Fengyuan, who was not very busy, and the two sat together. Hearing that Zhang Tingyu and his wife planned to return to Tongcheng at the end of September, they simply invited them to sit down.

Gu Huaixiu and Zhang Tingyu never talked about Naluo Xuanwen.

This person betrayed Shen Chao, so he was an ambitious person, but he was a little weaker in ability and vision.Now that Shen Chao is still in Jiangning, Luo Xuanwen doesn't go out at all, just stays in the small courtyard all day, once asked Zhang Tingyu to borrow a few books to read, but he is safe.

The biting dog didn't bark, Gu Huaishu just had a strange premonition about Luo Xuanwen's existence.

It's not like he didn't have a time of great prosperity. Luo Xuanwen, who used to work under Shen Qi, can be said to be under one person and above ten thousand people. Thousands of white money are passed under his hands every day; now he has lost a finger, Although he is only left-handed, he is no longer a whole person after all, and he still has nothing. This is retribution and a price.

The reason why Zhang Tingyu was willing to save Luo Xuanwen was actually very simple.

One is that Luo Xuanwen has been by Shen Qi's side for many years, and he knows almost everything about him, including Shen Qi's whole person; Three things, this person is impatient, just like Gu Huaishu's previous assertion - he is useless, he will betray Shen Zhao at an inappropriate time, of course It was Shen Chiu who was more skilled, but if he was smart enough, he would be able to hold his breath and find another opportunity.

It is best to master such a person who is very capable and smart, but has a little fatal flaw.

It is this kind of flawed person that Zhang Tingyu takes a fancy to, and it is easier to handle.

Stupid people are too stupid to do things, and really smart people won't do things for you sincerely, so it's not counted if they have the ability? ?Smart people can rest assured when using it.

So Zhang Tingyu took care of Luo Xuanwen, and didn't worry about whether he was going to run away.

Zhang Tingyu's identity is his amulet, and he is not worried about Zhang Ying's son.

Gu Huaishu once ridiculed him as the second generation official, and Zhang Tingyu didn't like others to mention him only as Zhang Ying's son, but when it was time to use this identity, he never hesitated and never felt that he was the son of Zhang Ying. what a shame.

Thick black thick black, the essence is here.

Gu Huaixiu and Zhang Tingyu were both proficient in this way, and they knew each other tacitly, so they basically didn't mention Luo Xuanwen's existence.

Shen Chong was busy with a lot of things, and it seemed that he finally stopped looking for Luo Xuanwen.

Now, invitations have been sent over there, but it's time to enjoy the flowers in autumn.

As a wealthy businessman, Liao Fengyuan has several gardens in Jiangning, Yangzhou and other places.

Needless to say, people like Shen Chao, I heard that pearl powder is used to cook porridge on weekdays, the water for making tea comes from Hupao Spring, only the second bowl is eaten for soup, and the crystal steamed cake only eats the skin...

You have to ask where did the first bowl of soup go?It's time to worship the God of Wealth at the door; you want to ask what to do with the crystal steamed cake filling?All the leftovers of Master Shen are poured into the river, and no one will eat them...

In short, this Lord Shen spends thousands of dollars on food and clothing every day, and at least he uses his own money, so Gu Huaishou just treats him like a prodigal man.

Shen Chao has three gardens in total in Jiangning, one in the outskirts, surrounded by mountains and rivers; one in the outer city, half with flowers and plants, half with women; one in the inner city, which is quite clean, all imitating the exquisiteness of Suzhou gardens Walk.

Rockery lake stones, red maples and yellow chrysanthemums, green pools and blue tiles, carved windows, round doors...

Gu Huaixiu and Zhang Tingyu walked together, and halfway said: "Just a heavy iron abacus is so extravagant, I don't think there may be such refinement in the palace."

Zhang Tingyu shook his finger at her, "It's impossible to say that."

But this happens to be true.

In terms of delicacy and gracefulness, the northern gardens cannot be compared with the southern ones.

They walked all the way forward, and after passing the corridor, they saw a small lake, a long road stretched out, and there was a two-story lake pavilion in the center, but the long road did not reach the lake pavilion.

A few small boats were tied in front of the plank road paved with wooden planks, and there were a few oars beside the boats. Two servants and two maids invited Zhang Tingyu and Gu Huaishu to board the boat, and then they rode the boat until they arrived at the Huxin Pavilion.

Gu Huaixiu frowned, with a disgusted expression on his face, he helped Zhang Tingyu up the stairs, only then did he see the two righteous masters.

Today, they all brought the female relatives from the back garden. Shen Qi had several concubines, all of whom were born weak and full of charm; on the side was Liao Fengyuan's wife, Mrs. Liu, whom Gu Huaixiu knew.

The two of them recognized each other first, and only then did they see Shen Qi's concubines.

Gu Huaixiu could tell at a glance that the concubines like Shen Yang were all from thin horse backgrounds.

The lean horses in Yangzhou are divided into three classes. The first class lean horses learn piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing, dancing and poetry, dance prose, ink and makeup embellishment. Wealthy businessmen take care of the housework; the third-class thin horse chef is also very good.

These people are often selected from poor families, beautiful in appearance, and raised for a few years, from weak willows to support the wind, they become the state of the country and the city.Yangzhou salt merchants are the most popular in raising lean horses, so they are called "Yangzhou lean horses".

Rumor has it that the first-class skinny horses often cost thousands of taels of silver, even five thousand taels.

Isn't the one standing in front of Gu Huaishu just a bunch of skinny horses?
There were too many people, and Gu Huaishu couldn't remember the names, he only vaguely memorized a surname, and he knew that the one who was in charge of the inner house account book for Shen Chiu was surnamed Lu, but if asked who she was, he couldn't tell.

The masters in front began to reminisce about the old days and drink, but two painting boats came over the lake, and a slim girl stood below them, dancing to the music.

Gu Huaixiu frowned, but Mrs. Liu seemed to be used to it, and the thin horses beside her were even more used to it, so they didn't seem to be surprised at all.

Shen Qi was only separated by a screen, holding the jug in one hand, pointed at the dancer below with his little finger: "This is a skinny horse that was brought up a while ago, Boss Liao, how do you see it? Second Master Zhang?"

Liao Fengyuan smacked his lips, "The ones given to Lord Shen by the people below must be the best ones, I don't need the old man to judge them. On the other hand, Second Master Zhang didn't come to Jiangnan very often, so I'm afraid he hasn't seen him yet?"

I have never seen it, but I have heard a lot.

Zhang Tingyu just smiled and said, "Zhang doesn't understand."

"I guess the two of you don't understand the meaning of this."

Shen Chong shook his fingers, but stood up, walked to the railing, and tightened the lid of a jug of wine in his hand. There was a mechanism inside, and the wine would not come out after twisting it.He raised his hand and threw the jug of wine down, "Listen to my father, and do a great job, and my father will reward you with wine."

Gu Huaishu was already curious, so he only asked Shen Chao's concubines: "A unique job?"

The almond-eyed woman in a red dress with sleeves said: "Second Young Mistress Zhang doesn't know something. It's a newcomer sent up by the subordinates a while ago. His surname seems to be Su, but I don't know what his name is. The subordinates have trained me and can live Dance on the top of the abacus, use your feet to move the abacus to perform calculations, it's amazing."

What kind of eccentricity is this?

Gu Huaixiu couldn't understand.

Another person on the side said bitterly: "Isn't it because you saw that Master Shen is obsessed with arithmetic, so you voted for this chance?"

As soon as she said this, the almond-eyed woman stopped talking.

The almond-eyed woman is Shen Yang's concubine, Lu Shi, who was originally a second-class skinny horse, but because she can make good calculations and is good at arithmetic, she quickly gained Shen Yang's favor, and she has come all the way to where she is today.She originally got up because of the calculation, but today there are people who can dance on the abacus, show off, and attract Master Shen's liking, there is no way.

There are too many women in Shen Chao's garden, they are intriguing against each other, Shen Chao just watches from the sidelines and does not stop them at all.

Now, he only looks at the thin horse surnamed Su dancing on the special abacus below, with a delicate posture, icy muscles and bones, and gently beats to the music, intoxicated by it.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

This is the sound of Yuzu lightly tapping the beads to make them collide.

The thin horse with the surname Su has a soft body, quite similar to Zhao Feiyan's lithe and weak posture when she danced on the drum back then...

However, there is actually no beauty in Shen Qi's eyes, only the voice of the abacus.

One up one, two up two, three down five go two, four down five go one, five go five into one, six up one go five into one, seven up two go five into one, eight...

Snapped.

Shen Qi frowned instantly, "Wrong!"

The music stopped abruptly, the skinny horse surnamed Su was frightened, stood in the boat below and looked up at Shen Chao, only to see the legendary Shen Tie Suan looking at her expressionlessly.

After a while, Shen Chao turned around and returned to the banquet in disappointment, but said: "Women have long hair but short knowledge."

If you can't even count well, it's meaningless.

The skinny horse below didn't know what to do, the people around him didn't have instructions, and they didn't dare to do anything.

But Shen Yan shouldn't have said this, at least not in front of Gu Huaixiu.

She was listening in the background, and at this moment, the anger suddenly became hot.

Shen Qi is also a womanizer, she feels disgusted sitting here, a disciple...

Gu Huaixiu snorted coldly, and immediately retorted through the long curved screen: "I dare say you men don't have long hair, you are all thieves and monks in the temple!"

"puff……"

I don't know how many people sprayed out from upstairs, they were extremely stunned.

As soon as Zhang Tingyu pressed his eyebrows, he knew that he couldn't be kind today, he didn't have time to make a sound, and he didn't dare to make a sound.If he spoke now, it would be in favor of Shen Chao, and he might be cut into a shape by Gu Huaixiu later on.

He endured it, but Shen Qi held back.

Liao Fengyuan was at a loss as to what to do, while Wu Sidao, who had been pretending to be confused, continued to pretend to be confused.

Can Mistress Zhang Er talk to gunpowder?Same, one o'clock, who dares to choke to death?

Only being cared for?He said a word of Shen Qi, and his face could not be lowered.

Was Gu Huaixiu wrong?That's right.

Was Gu Huaishu right?No matter how you think about it, it's wrong.

Neither wrong nor right.

Shen Qi was depressed, Zhang Le talked for a long time, and only said: "Second Young Mistress Zhang is so eloquent, Shen can't say it."

Pooh!
Gu Huaixiu threw the wine glass away, frowned, thinking about it, but said: "Since you are so interested in arithmetic, why don't I come up with a question to help everyone have fun."

She can hold back badly.

The men in front were also interested, and there were quite a few maids and servants up here, all listening with pricked ears.

Gu Huaishu said: "Here is an irregular long rope that is sometimes thick and sometimes thin. It takes half an hour to burn it from the beginning to the end. Now I have many such ropes in my hand. Then, I would like to ask you, or I would like to ask Shen Boss, how can we count five quarters of an hour by burning the rope?"

As soon as this tricky question was finished, Gu Huaishu was very happy, she got up and clapped her hands, then she greeted Qing Dai: "Qing Dai, let's go boating with me on the lake, it's too boring."

The men in front frowned, unable to react.

How can we use the method of burning the rope to count out five quarters of an hour?
The thickness of the rope is different, so it is impossible to time the time evenly, and it is impossible to know how long each quarter of an hour is.This question is too biased, not half an hour, but five quarters of an hour?
Shen Chi was stunned for a moment, he was partial to these ingenious techniques, he studied them a lot on weekdays, but rarely came into contact with them.

All of a sudden, everyone upstairs was stopped by Gu Huaishu.

Shen Qi's little concubine, Mrs. Lu, also frowned in thought. She knew she couldn't do it, and when she rolled her eyes, she saw that Gu Huaixiu was about to go down.With a slight thought in her mind, she followed: "Second Young Mistress Zhang, I'll see you off...the boat for the lake tour down here needs to be replaced."

Gu Huaishu didn't think much about it, and didn't care too much. He waited until he went down and arrived at the shore of the lake again, preparing for the cruise ship. Then Lu said in a low voice: "I don't think that the second young lady is also a person who is quite good at this way. I just thought about that question for a long time, but I can't find a way to solve it... I don't know, can the Second Young Mistress explain something clearly?"

It sounded fine at first, but when Gu Huaishu turned his head, he saw Lu's expression flickering.

She suddenly understood that being Shen Chi's concubine is really not easy.

Gu Huaishu looked at Lu Shi with a half-smile, "The solution to this problem is quite simple, Madam Ru really wants to know?"

(End of this chapter)