In order to set off smoke bombs for the Zheng family, Chen Shuren asked his father to pretend to write a reply letter to the Nanjing Imperial College, and also made some other layouts, which took a whole afternoon.

The next morning, the Shen family prepared a car early in the morning to serve the eldest son out.

On the third day after traveling to the Ming Dynasty, Shen Shuren finally went out for the first time.

The destination is not far away, just in Liujiagang Town, Taicang, there is a Zheng family business. Zheng Hongkui stayed there while he was in Suzhou.

Liujiagang in the Ming Dynasty was the largest river-sea transport port at the estuary of the Yangtze River and also the base for Zheng He to set sail for seven voyages to the West.

The Zheng family claims to have a commercial network of "Five Merchants in Mountains and Seas". There are commercial banks responsible for purchasing maritime trade goods in Suzhou and Hangzhou. Of course, Liujiagang is also indispensable for the Zheng family's stronghold.

When he first left the house, Chen Shuren was quite curious.

Although he had some memory left by his body that allowed him to adapt to the lifestyle in the late Ming Dynasty, he could see the various situations in the market with his own eyes, and the feeling was still different.

Suzhou Prefecture is now the prosperous place of the world, with all counties and scattered prefectures under its jurisdiction, and they are all in the leading position.

As the prefecture of Wuxian, sericulture and embroidery are extremely developed;

Taicang is a major destination for river and sea water transportation, with long-distance wealthy businessmen gathering;

Kunshan between Wuxian and Taicang is a benchmark of cultural style, and "Kunqu Opera" was born here.

In order to get more familiar with the situation, Chen Shuren ordered Chen Ford to let the carriage go around the town for a little while. It was originally only a five or six miles away, but he walked for more than ten miles.

There are various commercial stores, warehouses and pedestrians along the river in the port area, and the most are rice shops, silk and satin shops, and cotton shops.

The continuous stream of grain transport ships transported grain from other places and unloaded goods at Liujiagang. Then the silk from Suhu and cotton cloth from Songjiang were loaded and sold to various places in the Ming Dynasty, or transported south to Fujian, and then sold overseas.

Seeing all this, Chen Shuren was slightly surprised: The proverb "Su Lake is familiar with the world" is so famous. How can he buy rice from outside in the country of fish and rice?

But soon he remembered a possibility: probably because the business is too developed, and the returns of other cash crops will be higher.

He then lifted the curtain with a folding fan and confirmed with Chen Fu: "Afu, go and ask what the rice price is now. Suzhou Prefecture has to buy grain from outside. Are the fertile land in the surrounding prefectures and counties all plant mulberry trees and silkworms?"

"Young Master doesn't know that many people cultivate mulberry and silkworms in the fertile fields of Su and Hu Prefectures. It's just that the texture of Hu and Su Prefectures is particularly smooth and smooth, and it is one of the best in the world. The price of a tumble of local raw silk can be more than two tumblers.

However, the soil quality of Songjiang Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture is not as fertile as that of Taihu Lake. It is mostly barren sandy soil, so it is not suitable to plant mulberry trees and silkworms. Fortunately, the irrigation is still abundant, so a small part of the cotton material used in Songjiang cotton cloth is grown in Jiangbei."

Chen Fu first answered the young master's second half question, and then went to the rice shop on the roadside to inquire about the market. After a while, he turned back and added:

"Young master, I just asked, rice this year is particularly expensive. In previous years, early rice was only 1 tael or 8 qian silver and stone, while late rice was more expensive. However, this year the surplus grain from Jiaxing Prefecture is not enough. There are also vendors from Shaoxing Prefecture, which cost three or four qian. Even Zhejiang has a severe drought, and it has not rained in summer."

Chen Shuren was shocking after hearing this number. The prices in Suzhou were indeed ridiculously expensive.

When I looked at the bustling street scene of Suzhou Prefecture, I suddenly felt that the "filters" were different. Even the dying dock workers on the street looked more and more like refugees.

The natural disasters in the late Chongzhen period were really exaggerated.

According to the "History of Ming Dynasty", from the tenth to the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, it had severe droughts every year for five consecutive years. Of course, it was impossible to have severe droughts nationwide at the same time, but at least it was a severe drought in provinces that had to be 30 to 40% of the turn of each year.

This year, even Zhejiang, which has a warm coastal climate, has suffered severe drought, and Suzhou has been affected by buying grain from outside, which is a very evil end.

Fortunately, double-season rice has been popularized in Jiangnan, and Zhejiang has sufficient rain this spring, so summer grain has been collected. The current drought will only lead to subsequent autumn grain outages.

The harvest of two seasons a year can be saved, and not too many people will starve to death.

But those provinces in the north that can only plant for one season will definitely be barren when encountering drought of the same level. No wonder Zhang Xianzhong just pulled the flag and swept so many people.

Chen Shuren sighed, put down the curtain, and was in no mood to continue walking, so he ordered Chen Fu to drive directly to the destination.

Chen Fu had just arrived and didn't know much about the young master's temper. But he was good at observing his words and expressions, so he quietly gave him a step:

"If the young master feels unbearable, I will arrange for someone to distribute some copper coins for the hungry people on the dock, or come to slap porridge tomorrow."

"No need, there are too many people in this kind of place and frequent roaming, and there will be chaos. I would rather go back and tell my father that the workload of the dock laborers should be increased. But limit the daily workload and use a few more people."

After all, Chen Shuren has received systematic public management education and knows that directly spending money will definitely cause the promotion of the mien to fight against the mien, and the management cost is too high.

Chen Fu was quite impressed when he heard this and quickly said that he would do everything as he ordered.

The carriage soon arrived at the street where Zhengjia Business is located. It is located in the northeast corner of the town, at the intersection of Liuhe and the Yangtze River, and is also the most lively place in Liujiagang.

Liuhe is an important river on the boundary of Suzhou, connecting Taihu Lake and the Yangtze River. Wuxian, Kunshan and Taicang are also distributed along the Liuhe River. The place name Liujiagang is also named after it is located at the mouth of the Liuhe River.

As he approached the Zheng family business, Chen Shuren lifted the curtains and watched casually. He accidentally saw some strange phenomena and asked the servant casually:

"Chen Fu, this place is already the busiest place in the port. How can I get the cargo store on both sides of the road? The fewer the shops are, and there are so many places to relax."

It turned out that Shenshuren saw that many of the pavements next to the road were hung with colorful lanterns. Although they were not lit in broad daylight, they could tell at a glance that it was an entertainment venue.

When Chen Fu heard this question, he immediately became energetic and explained in a tone of "all men understand":

"This place is a place where scholars from Susong and the two prefectures gather. Every year during the provincial examination, those who choose to take the Yangtze River to Nanjing's autumn examination will wait for the boat here. However, the big boat must gather enough people to set sail before they can set sail. Those who come early will stay here for a few more days.

The churches nearby are fair in price, and there are many local gentry who pay for money to run. They are considered to have a good relationship with poor scholars - the young master, the third one diagonally opposite is our own family."

The Shen Shuren nodded, but there was no more trouble. It was just some low-end entertainment venues and was not worth curious about.

...

When he arrived at the Zheng family store, Chen Shuren asked someone to hold a gift and went straight into it.

Zheng Hongkui also came out to ask about his well-being after hearing the news. Both sides were slandered for a while, and outsiders would definitely mistakenly think that the two families had a good relationship.

Chen Shuren knew history, so he had no good feelings for the Zheng family except Zheng Sen.

Of course, disgust is divided into different levels. Chen Shuren also knew that Zheng Hongkui was a little more backbone than his three brothers. He had not directly surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in history, and he also followed his eldest nephew Zheng Sen to fight against the Qing Dynasty. He was just aware of his self-protection and did not work hard.

Both sides first politely talked about Shen Shuren's illness, and went into the house to sit down. Then Zheng Hongkui asked about the follow-up arrangements:

"My nephew looks good in spirit, but he still needs to be recuperated..."

Chen Shuren came prepared and saw that the other party finally got caught and talked about the show, he quickly put on a grateful expression:

"When I talk about this, I really have to thank Uncle Shi for helping me. If you don't worry about embarrassment, I am not a good student and I don't want to go to Nanjing. Unfortunately, my father is strict and has been forcing me to study. Fortunately, the doctor said that I still need to be recuperated and can skip school for a while."

Zheng Hongkui was stunned. After a while, he realized the reversal. He was immediately overjoyed and relaxed a little bit of wary about Chen Shuren.

He thought to himself: "It turns out that he is a playboy and doesn't like to study. The stubborn rumors about this boy are probably worth it. What the Shen family needs to worry about is just a Chen Tingyang."

However, although he despised Chen Shuren, he subconsciously felt that this kid was closer. After all, the Zheng family didn't like to study, including him, Zheng Hongkui, who usually likes to make friends.

After sorting out the idea, Zheng Hongkui was still a little uneasy and further asked for details:

"My nephew, if you say nothing, what's the use of studying with your Shen family? Will you still have to donate the money to donate your official position in the future? You can still be free when you go to Nanjing and stay away from your family's control. Do you really don't want to go?"

This suspicion is very reasonable. Of course, Chen Shuren had thought of it long ago before he came.

So he just showed a smile that a man could understand and pretended to be embarrassed to explain:

"Oh, I don't want to say much about this, and some family scandals have been made public. But Uncle Shi is not an outsider. You should know that I had a bad time with my father a while ago, and I was so angry that I accidentally had heatstroke."

Zheng Hongkui responded calmly: "I heard a little."

Chen Shuren: "The cause of the incident is that I wanted to buy a sister as a concubine of 10,000 taels, but my father didn't let it go and even stuck my money. Although I'm cured of my illness, I still refuse to let it go.

If I go to Nanjing, I can’t redeem my good sisters here, wouldn’t I have to separate the two places? Although there are many smoke and willows in the ten miles of Qinhuai, I am a nostalgic person and I have to wait for the one here to let go before I can get off."

When Zheng Hongkui heard this, he immediately believed it five or six more points.

It turned out that there was a group of women in Suzhou that could not let go! Chen Tingyang didn't let him redeem those women, so he didn't want to go to Nanjing!

But then he thought about it, Zheng Hongkui had a last doubt: "How could your family be so stingy about buying a concubine?"

Chen Shuren pretended to be helpless and sighed: "Actually, I also figured it out that my father is for my own good. When he got married, he was not an official position and his family was just a wealthy man, so he could not marry a woman from Zhongming Dingshi Family. His mother was humble and was just a scholar from Ningbo Province.

Later, when my father died, my stepmother's family background was much more prominent because he had already donated the official position of the Ministry of Revenue.

My father didn't want me to follow his old path, so he kept reminding me not to take concubines and not to rush to marry early. Only when he donated his official position in the future can he marry a wealthy family. As for playing with maids and looking for flowers and willows, he doesn't care about me."

Speaking of this, Chen Shuren's tone seemed to be scheming and was just chatting with friends, so Zheng Hongkui completely believed it.

There were many scholars in the Ming Dynasty who believed that they could be high school or bought officials. They were not in a hurry to get married and take concubines, but they wanted to make a name for themselves and marry another good family.

Anyway, having no wife does not mean that you can’t play with women. You can completely solve your physiological needs through other methods.

The Zheng family completely relaxed their vigilance. After chatting for a while, Chen Shuren left a gift and stood up to say goodbye with a smile.

Zheng Hongkui sent him out, but Chen Shuren stopped him for a moment and pretended to be careless, saying, "Uncle Shi doesn't have to send him off. I have something to do. I don't rush to go back home. I want to go to the dock."

"Go to the dock? We can help you." Zheng Hongkui made some polite words.

Chen Shuren: "No, a small matter - my father wrote a reply letter to the Imperial College last night, asking me for sick leave. Today, my family happened to have a boat going to Nanjing. When I went out, I took the letter and sent it on the boat and returned."

Chen Shuren said, and naturally sealed a seal in his sleeve with fire paint, but did not stamp the seal on the fire paint, and shook in front of Zheng Hongkui's eyes, and then took back his sleeves.

Zheng Hongkui was already completely relieved of him, but he became alert again after hearing this.

He was afraid that after Shen Shuren came onto the boat, he followed the boat and ran to Nanjing directly, and quickly said, "So coincidentally? Uncle Yu happened to remember that he would go to the dock to pick up a batch of goods today, let's go together."

As he said that, the two carriages of the Shen and Zheng families drove towards the dock one by one.

Chen Shuren had just gotten on the bus, and Chen Fu, who was waiting for him to get on the bus, also stepped up. Chen Shuren was a little surprised, but still asked calmly: "Are everything ready as planned?"

Chen Fu's face looked a little ugly and explained: "There was a little unexpected just now. The master ordered to go down yesterday and let the sailors who stayed at our boat on the dock to rest, and gave them money to listen to the music and drink.

Unexpectedly, when my second brother went to check this morning, he found that there were some too diligent sailors who were obviously given a fake and were still on the boat. Last night, our people were sitting in a position at the bottom of the boat where he was tung oil, but they were repaired by the diligent sailors patrolling.

My second brother came over and told me about this matter, and asked us to delay it for a while before going to the dock, otherwise the experts in the Zheng family would see the flaws."

When Chen Shuren heard this, he immediately called out.

The plan he originally made with his father was to send all the Shen family ships on the dock last night, leaving only one one today.
To be continued...