Chapter 147: Cruise boats on Qingchuan Lake

Qingcui Villa is named after it is located on the banks of Qingchuan Lake and the edge of Cuiwei Mountain. Here, it is rippling with blue waves, desolate grass, and mountains, with clear springs and streams, and rabbits flying. It is actually a first-class destination for Jingzhou Prefecture. The villa is hidden in the scenery of the lake and mountains, with magnificent pavilions and spaciousness, with overlapping pavilions, but it is also clear and quiet, without staining of dust, with a worldly style, and is actually a summer resort.

This is a villa of the Xu family, a wealthy family in Jiangbei. The Xu family and the Qu family are family friends. Qu Yanwu came to Jiangbei to take office and felt a little frustrated, so he couldn't stay in the Governor's Mansion and lived here. He moved back a few days ago and prepared to be the headquarters of the imperial envoy Qin Lei.

Qin Lei was also very satisfied with this yard. Although due to lack of vocabulary, he could not express the feelings such as "I borrow the breeze and brightly from the moon, and I watched the flowing water and quietly from the mountains." However, the endless praise of "Good, Good, Good," still made the accompanying Mr. Xu feel very proud.

Qin Lei lived here.

Spring comes early in the south, and April is full of fragrance. This is the season of blooming flowers. When I woke up in the morning, Ruolan, who was wearing only a thin shirt, opened the window, and the fresh air with a faint fragrance came to her nose. The little girl couldn't help but be intoxicated by the charming fragrance and stretched beautifully.

Qin Lei lay on the brocade quilt, looking at her with a smile and stretched her arms, showing the beautiful curves, and couldn't help but sigh: "This is life." Ruolan then realized that she was a little unrestrained, so she quickly withdrew her hands and covered her mouth with a smirk.

The little girl stepped on the soft carpet with barefoot feet, looked back with a naughty smile, and said softly: "Master, you are up."

Qin Lei laughed and said, "If you can't get up, how can you see Xiao Ruolan's beautiful figure?" He turned to the point of being serious: "But to be honest, why is your little waist so thin? In the words of scholars, it's 'Yingying is not worth holding'."

Although Ruolan was relaxed, she was still a shy person. She could not withstand Qin Lei's teasing like this. She blushed and said, "I'm making fun of me again." As she said that, she stepped forward to put on Qin Lei's shoes, served him to wash and change clothes, and went to the front hall to have meals.

The little eunuch Huang Zhao was waiting in the front hall. Qin Lei deliberately alienated him for a while, but in order not to let him have the despicable habit of being arrogant and arrogant. Once he arrived in Jiangbei, Shi Gan wanted to run around for Qin Lei's safety and could not follow him all the time like he was on a boat. Qin Lei liberated Huang Zhao, who had been helping the kitchen in the kitchen.

Qin Lei grinned at him and joked: "People say that the chef is fat in the kitchen, why are you still like bean sprouts?"

When he saw Qin Lei again, Huang Zhao felt like he was crying. After a while, he choked and said, "They bullied me and asked me to do the work of three people alone, and had to eat their leftovers." He was originally the eunuch in charge of the Prince Long County Mansion. He usually called on the servants and was domineering. He was demoted to the kitchen all at once. In the eyes of others, he naturally lost his favor. He didn't try to deal with him. What if he didn't try to deal with him?

Qin Lei sat down with a smile and said, "If it weren't for this, how could you know where your power came from, and how would you know the sorrow after losing power?"

Huang Zhao was also a person with a raised eyebrow and immediately understood the prince's intention and shouted in his heart: "It turns out that the prince still wants to use mine." The feeling of aggrievance suddenly swept away, and he kowtowed repeatedly: "Thank you for your teachings. I have recorded it."

Qin Lei asked him to get up and said in a gentle voice: "Come back and be your supervisor. In the future, you must be a dignified person. You must learn from the poor styles of the palace people."

Huang Zhao cried, "I only realized the prince's painstaking efforts today, and Huang Zhao will live up to the prince forever." Qin Lei never laughed at him because of his physical disability, and always treated him as a normal subordinate. This respect made Huang Zhaoming feel within five.

Qin Lei smiled and said, "Get up and wipe your face. Then make a handover with Shi Gan." Huang Zhao quickly got up and took the order to go out. Qin Lei then took the chestnut porridge offered by Ruolan and slowly started drinking it.

After he finished his meal, Huang Zhao also came back. He reported with respect: "There are 173 servants and 421 guards in the mansion, but one person is not sure what rules should be arranged?"

Qin Lei took the tea, rinsed his mouth, and spit it back into the copper basin. He asked in a low voice: "Yun Yi?"

Huang Zhao nodded and said, "I wonder if Miss Yunyi is arranged according to Miss Ruolan's level, or what?"

Qin Lei said with a funny look: "I picked up a wild girl on the road and treated it as a low-level maid. By the way, I'll find her a job of washing clothes and carrying water in the backyard, and I'll never keep an idle person." Huang Zhao responded with a strange expression and thought to himself, this man is really... so good at playing people. That's a girl who feels blasphemous when she looks at her.

Huang Zhao went down to work hard, and soon Shen Bing came. Qin Lei waved his hand and took him out of this small building called "Baoyue". When he came out, he saw a curved corridor surrounding the pavilion and courtyard, decorated with flowers, trees and stone peaks. From the window of the curved corridor, they all became a rich picture scroll.

There are countless wisterias coming up along the wood, with figments and woven into countless flower pendants, purple and blue, as bright as clouds, attracting countless butterflies, bees, orioles, etc. During the wandering period, the two of them were walking in the birds singing and the fragrance of flowers, but they were talking about some great topics.

"Yesterday's conflict was indeed caused by the soldiers of Jiangbei Guards' attack on the guards. Gu Pei went out and made a promise to pay ten days before sending the soldiers who were in trouble back to the camp. What's so annoying is..."

Qin Lei held a vine and said with interest: "What can make Lord Bing feel angry?"

Shen Bing looked weird and said, "Then Gu Pei made a wish in the name of His Highness."

The smile suddenly solidified. Qin Lei grabbed the vine and pulled it hard. Countless blue and purple petals fell down, alarming countless birds. Let the petals scatter on his body, Qin Lei said coldly: "Why do these people always think I'm easy to bully?"

Shen Bing's expression remained unchanged and continued, "When Qu Yanwu returned yesterday, he did not return to the Governor's Mansion, but went to Xu's house to stay, and Zhuo Wenzheng also followed."

Qin Lei patted the petals on the shoulder and nodded, "Has the Xu family investigated the information clearly?" Qin Lei knew nothing about the Xu family except that he knew that it and the Shen family were one of the four major players in the canal transport industry.

Shen Bing said without hesitation: "They are from generation to generation in the south. Since they were digging the canal a hundred and seventy years ago, they have mastered the southern Thousand Mile Waterway. The amount of wealth should be among the top five in the Qin Dynasty. Most of their children are officials in the two southern provinces, and the governor of Shannan Xu Dancheng is the highest official title."

Qin Lei looked at the blue sky cut by the vines and said leisurely: "That is to say, the Xu family is extremely powerful in the south?"

Shen Bing simply said: "It is deeply rooted and the leader of a hundred schools of thought."

Qin Lei whispered: "The strong dragon does not suppress the local snake. If you can, just bypass it." He obviously didn't want to mention the Xu family anymore, so he asked: "Have Shi Meng and the others sent back any information?"

Shen Bing nodded and said, "I have already contacted it, the problem is very serious."

Qin Lei exclaimed lightly, feeling a little weak: "When will I encounter something not serious?"

Shen Bing knew Qin Lei so much that he ignored his whining and said in a deep voice: "The development of Zen Buddhism in the south has become a prairie fire. From officials and gentry to peddlers and pawns, they all have their devout believers."

As he said, he couldn't help laughing: "The two of them were asking about Zen Buddhism everywhere and saying some annoying things, which aroused public anger and were chased out of eight streets. Finally, they stole the clothes they hung from others, put on makeup and hid in the toilet, and then escaped the disaster."

Qin Lei imagined the scene at that time and also said happily: "It seems that the name of Boss Shi, the head of the fan troupe, is not a false saying, and the way he thinks is so erotic." Qin Lei knew that the negative thoughts of Zen Buddhism seeking the next life had a very market in the pain of the south and could spread rapidly. It is not surprising that Qin Lei knew that the negative thoughts of Zen Buddhism that seek the next life had a very high market in the pain of the south.

He scratched his head, brushed the petals from his hair, and sighed and said, "I want them to try to penetrate into the Zen Buddhism and find out whereabouts of Zhishan and several leaders. I don't believe that this fat monk can be so ungrateful."

Shen Bing nodded and responded.

Qin Lei continued to instruct: "I'll leave it to them. You should concentrate on doing two things. First, no matter what method you use, find that Gong Liangyu for me, regardless of life or death. Second, focus on monitoring Qu Zhuo and the others, I want every move in their mansion."

Shen Bing asked softly: "Do you have any problems with these two people?"

Qin Lei shook his head and smiled, "On the contrary, I am ready to cooperate with them."

After arranging the work of his subordinates, Qin Lei seemed a little idle. He wanted to go out for a walk, but considering that everyone was tired from the journey, there was no arrangement on his itinerary today. It was not a trivial matter for the prince to go out. If it was a temporary aroused, it would mobilize the guards. Although they would not feel resentful, their emotions would always be affected. There was no need for such bad rules, and Qin Lei would not do it.

After giving up the idea of ​​going out for a trip, Qin Lei wandered around the garden. Fortunately, there were mountains, water, flowers and grass, and it was not boring to play. As he walked, the scenery gradually faded and the grass became sparse. When Qin Lei asked, he arrived at the area where the people worked.

He had no interest in how the rice was made and how the clothes were cut. He was about to walk back. When he turned his head, Yu Guang swept to the back of the rockery and seemed to be a figure facing away from him, as if it was the girl Yun Yi. Qin Lei immediately became interested and tiptoed over.

After entering, I found that the infinitely beautiful back twitched slightly, as if crying. Qin Lei held his breath and wanted to hear what the girl said. Unfortunately, the girl just sobbed silently, without saying anything in a word.

Qin Lei finally couldn't hold back his cough and the girl Yun Yi was so smart that she was so scared that she was crying that she looked back with a gloomy look, and then she realized that it was the hateful person. Yun Yi knelt down in a little anger and whispered: "I will meet the prince."

Qin Lei smiled and said, "Yun Yi, are you satisfied with your new job? Don't worry, Gu has already greeted you, no one dares to bully you."

Yun Yi felt a bitter breath and said sadly: "I want to go home." Yun Yi already knew that the best way to deal with Qin Lei's spiritual ravage is - you say yours, I say mine.

Qin Lei's face turned dark and he said softly: "I ignored this matter, don't worry..."

Yun Yi thought Qin Lei suddenly turned around, looked up to the west, and found that there was no sun rising. She couldn't help but feel anxious, and her little head turned quickly, thinking about countermeasures.

A serious voice continued: "As long as you do it seriously, you will have red envelopes to get by the end of the year. You will be able to make up for the travel expenses to go home."

Yun Yi felt relieved and said happily: "Thank you, Prince. I can do things with my heart."

Qin Lei nodded and said with satisfaction: "Do it well, I really like you." After that, he left with a sway.

Miss Yun Yi looked at Qin Lei's back stupidly and suddenly realized that she had done what she had done and what she was doing now. She did not achieve the goal of changing her job at first, but she pretended to be pitiful and happy in vain. She couldn't help but have a new understanding of Qin Lei's nonsense kung fu.

The joy that Yun Yi brought to Qin Lei made him feel very comfortable this day, and he had an extra bowl of supper.

The itinerary on the second day was to go to the lake. Before dawn, Qin Lei couldn't wait to go out. After a few steps of the carriage, he arrived at the Baili Qingchuan Lake.

The sun was not rising, and the fog on the lake was thick, but it was not a good time to raft. Qin Lei ignored these things and, under layers of protection, boarded the five cruise ships leaning against the shore with the guards.

A thick fog floated from the middle of the lake, and immediately enveloped five cruise ships. When the fog drifted, the five ships had long disappeared.

Among the grass on the shore, several heads were exposed on the treetops. Looking hard into the lake, I found that the cruise ships were moving further and further away, and they all showed their bodies, turned a blind eye to each other, and went to the boats.

After temporarily getting rid of his stalking, five pleasure boats scattered. One of them headed straight for the island in the middle of the lake. About a quarter of an hour, a small green island appeared from the fog. As we approached, a bird cry of "Water and Waves" suddenly came from the cruise ship. After a while, the reeds on the side of the island swept open, and a small boat sailed out. When we got closer, two powerful men from Kong Wu whispered: "The lower official Qin Youde, Qin Youcai will meet the fifth prince."

Hearing these two names, the crossbow arrows raised flat on the cruise ship were all put down. A soft ladder hung in front of the two of them. They looked at each other and turned over and jumped onto the cruise ship. Then they saw a handsome young man wearing a black and golden king robe smiling at him among a group of black guards.

When the two saw it, they knew that they had not admitted their mistakes. They bowed to him and said, "I am going to see the prince."

Qin Lei nodded and said, "Get up, thank you for your hard work, sir."

Just as the two were about to avenge the crime, Qin Lei jokingly said, "Please come out too."

Youde and Youcai, two brothers, realized that they had discovered it. They were embarrassed to smile. Qin Youdedao, who was curled bearded, said: "The news is too tight recently, and Lord Xue does not know how to do martial arts, so our brothers took the initiative to leave him behind."

Qin Lei nodded and smiled, "Be careful, there is no big mistake."

Qin Youcai sued Qin Lei, so he turned around and whistled in a hurry and short manner. Another small boat slowly walked out of the reeds, but the one who rowed was a literati in blue.

When the scribe also got on the boat, two plainclothes guards came down to the two small boats. The yacht slowly drove into the mist.

In the cabin, the genius in blue salutes respectfully to Qin Lei: "My minister Xue Naiying bows to the prince." Qin Lei asked him to get up and smiles: "Three people change and dry clothes first. It's so uncomfortable." The three of them came over in the dark in the middle of the night and were soaked in the dew mist all night. They were already wet and very uncomfortable.

The three of them didn't expect that the prince was so careful and thanked him with gratitude. Then they moved to the back cabin. A guard brought the hot water towel and asked the three of them to wash it. Then they turned around and closed the door and went out.

The three of them took off their wet clothes and took towels dipped in hot water to wipe their bodies. The two strong men were obviously from the army and moved very quickly. They wiped them clean in a short while. They took off the two sets of inner and outer clothes on the hanger and put them on, and they felt much more comfortable.

The curly bearded Qin Youde moved his muscles and bones, lowered his voice to Lord Xue, who was still rubbing his body slowly, said, "Old Xue, this clothes are not only inside and outside, but also have all the shoes and socks." Xue Naiying nodded and did not speak.

Another yellow-bearded Qin Youcai also whispered: "Isn't it a bit too much for the prince to attach so much importance to our families?"

Although the curly beard didn't speak, he also looked at Xue Naiying, which seemed to be just as thoughtful as he was.

Xue Naiying finally wiped the shriveled little body, slowly took the underwear on the clothes hanger, and chuckled, "You are talented, you really waste this name..."

After hearing his joke, Qin Youcai was not angry. He touched the yellow beard and laughed: "You have to ask my father about this matter, don't talk about anything irrelevant, say it quickly."

Xue Naiying tidied up her underwear and pointed to the long gown on the clothes hanger. Qin Youcai quickly took the clothes off and put them on his sleeves. After he had enough teased Qin Youcai, Xue Naiying whispered: "This prince is a little bit of a deal. We are the queen mother and are better to us, to show respect for the queen mother. Don't think that this master is weak and can be bullied. I heard that this master killed a thousand god bow camp outside the ancient city. He also killed the Li family's five hundred Tiance army on Taozhu Street. For this reason, he was still on the Golden Palace. He shot the general of Tiance Li Qing, who was the first-class killing god."

You and You De knew that Xue Naiying was stationed in the canal wharf and had a good news. He must have said it correctly. In fact, that's the case, but the number continued to expand as the canal went south, and it grew several times larger.

After Xue Naiying's preaching, when they saw Qin Lei again, the two of them couldn't help but feel respectful.

After Qin Lei was given a seat, the three of them first asked the Holy Empress Dowager Feng Tie Health before getting to the point.

Qin Lei looked at the three of them with a smile and said in a clear voice: "Before coming, the emperor's grandmother looked for the orphan, saying that when Jiangbei came, it was necessary to find several old friends and convey her greetings. The emperor's grandmother said: 'It's time for a few kids to get married, and she won't take her daughter-in-law to show her to the old woman.'"

When the three of them heard this, they couldn't help but burst into tears. They stood up and faced the north, bowed three times and bowed nine times, and sobbed, "Empress Dowager..." but they burst into tears.

Qin Lei looked at the three people who were crying, and slightly envied the late Wenzhuang. How charming the old man should have been, in exchange for the loyalty of these iron-minded men throughout his life.

After the three of them were in a stable mood, Qin Lei said warmly: "The emperor's grandmother said that when you return to Beijing, you must go to the palace to see her. If you don't want to suffer on the riverside anymore, wait until Gu finished the work, and go back to Beijing with Gu."

The three of them cried for one time, but they would not easily have the second one. They said gratefully: "Thank you for your kindness, and I will definitely live up to your entrustion, even if you are crushed to pieces, you will never refuse."

Xue Naiying clasped his fists at Qin Lei and said, "Your Highness, the three of us are half-boys who were following the Empress Dowager to raise the wounded number at the head of Zhongdu City. Thanks to the grace of the Queen Mother, after the war, we wanted to enroll in school and the soldiers. This is why we are today. We have so much kindness from the Empress Dowager. So, if you have any questions, you will be sure to ask me to wait for the head of your neck, and you will never be vague."

Qin Lei laughed and said, "What do you want your head to do? It's not good-looking."

After a few people laughed, Qin Lei said seriously: "I only knew the names of the three from my grandmother, but I don't know what positions the officials are now?" Of course he knew, but it would be better to be confused at this time.

Qin Youde, who was curled beard, bowed and said, "Xiaguan Tianju is in the position of the commander of the Dongying Army under the tent of the Marshal Zhennan. He commands 20,000 Dongying Navy."

Huang-bearded Qin Youcai bowed and said, "Xiaguan Tian lives in the tent of the Marshal Zhennan, the commander of the Nanchang Army of the Xiajian Army, and commands 30,000 Dongying Infantry."

Xue Naiying also bowed and said, "Xiaguan Tian is in the position of the Nanshi Department of the Canal. He is in charge of the Thousand Miles of the South Canal in name."

Qin Lei heard this and said with a smile: "Why did Lord Xue say this? The Nansi of the Canal does not care about the South Canal, so who will take care of it?"

Before Xue Naiying could speak, Qin Youcai interrupted and said, "The prince doesn't know that everyone is in charge of the 4,000-mile Grand Canal, and only the canal yamen cannot."

Qin Lei was happy, looked at Huang Beizi with interest, and asked, "How do you say this?"

Qin Youcai was about to speak, but Xue Naiying glared at him fiercely. He shrank his neck and laughed at Qin Lei, "Let me let the miser tell you, I won't interrupt."

Xue Naiying smiled apologized to Qin Lei and said seriously: "Although General Qin is a bit exaggerated, our Canal Department does not have the canal." Then he told Qin Lei that it was the original.

One hundred and seventy years ago, in order to ensure the supply of grain and grass in the Jingji area, support several grain-deficient provinces in the east, and also to transport a large amount of surplus rice in the south to avoid "salary rice hurting farmers", the Qin Dynasty imitated the Grand Canal of Qi, communicated with several large rivers such as Luoshui and Xiangjiang, and built a 4,000-mile-long canal in its territory. Once the canal was completed, it immediately strengthened the connection between the north and the south and maintained national unity. It also quickly made the weak Qin State at that time feel in trouble and became a great country that could run alongside Qi and Chu.

This canal is like an artery connecting the north and south, transporting rich southern products to the north at all times, ensuring the prosperity of Zhongdu and the stability of the Eastern Front. It also has a gradually prosperous trade industry, which uses the canal to flow the whole country's wealth and increase the country's wealth.

This canal with infinite wealth naturally attracted countless flies to chase odor. The officials of the prefecture along the way set up checkpoints and exploited merchant ships. There were also four major families who controlled shipping in sections, monopolized transportation, and raised prices. Both sides could not be managed by the small canal temples, and they did not dare to take care of them.

Xue Naiying said in pain: "The cost of goods transported from the south to the north will increase by more than five times. This difference will be eaten by all the disasters along the way and the four major worms."

Speaking of this, I remembered that Qin Lei's uncle's family was also one of the four major disasters. Just as he was about to apologize, Qin Lei waved his hand and said, "Mr. Xue is right, it is the four major worms." Qin Lei then knew the source of the huge wealth of the Shen family.

Qin Youde, who was beside him, said, "Your Highness, the people along the river not only do not get any benefits from the canal, but also have to bear countless labor service, which has long been extremely miserable."

Qin Youcai was not willing to be lonely and said: "In order to ensure the profits of the canal, these people have set up many checkpoints in the mainland, so that those who want to go through land will pay more taxes and force them to go up the canal."

Qin Lei said strangely: "Since that's the case, why is the national treasury not full?"

Xue Naiying said contemptly: "Our Prime Minister Wen used the excuse of silting rivers and wrote to various provinces along the river to convert river taxes on the spot to silt expenses. He directly opened the door to convenience for these people's corruption and abuse of power. Over the past ten years, no cent of the money was sent to the treasury, but no cent of the money was paid into the river."

Qin Lei said deeply: "It's true, it's difficult to walk when you come. There are several river sections that cannot be passed without any fibers." Then he asked in a deep voice: "Mr. Xue, is this canal really hard to return?"

Xue Naiying firmly said: "No, as long as the canal rights can be taken to the central government of the court, we can truly use its income to dredge the river channel. Within two years, the canal will be restored. Within five years, the court will be able to get out of today's dilemma."

Qin Lei sighed and said, "I can't wait. If I can't hold on for these few months, there will be chaos along the canal. Even I, Daqin, may even be in a mess."

The three of them are already in dire straits, so how could they not understand the meaning of Qin Lei’s words, “canals”, “government”, and “empty”. These three mountains are pressing heavily on the southern provinces, and the two provinces may be crushed at any time.
Chapter completed!