June 5th, noon.

Near Liujiagang Wharf, there is a tram in the old place.

Another leisure time for literati gatherings, listening to music and discussing political views.

The old faces of Chen Shuren, Zhang Huangyan and Gu Yanwu are as usual, but the scholars who are playing the show downstairs have changed one after another.

Most scholars who came to Taicang just passed by, waited for a boat to go to Nanjing to take the exam together, and set off after getting enough people.

Zhang Huangyan Gu Yanwu should have set off, but because he had a great time with Chen Shuren, he stayed there. Anyway, he came to Nanjing early and had a literary meeting with others every day, so there was no difference.

In the past few days, Chen Shuren has been in his heart and is looking for cases that can be used for the situation.

But he also knew that it is useless to think about creative work behind closed doors, just to talk to people more and understand the market. And the tile shop is originally a place with the most news in the market.

On the other hand, while he was not so nervous these days, he also had time to plan. "After Yang Sichang's affairs are done, he should ask Mr. Yang what benefits he wants, how to enter the official career and quickly climb to the layout for the anti-Qing Dynasty."

The several chats with Gu Yanwu also deeply inspired Chen Shuren, which made him very rewarding, and gradually adjusted his goals. He had a goal in his heart about what he should ask for or buy an official position in the future.

For example, in the days when I first traveled, Chen Shuren hesitated for a question: Should I save Chongzhen? Should I go to the northern front line to become an official in the future and do my best to stop Li Zicheng?

Although Chen Shuren knew that Chongzhen was a cheater and would kill ministers indiscriminately, the more critical the ministers were, the more they were unable to turn things around, and whoever jumped out to do things would be more likely to be in danger of life.

But as a Han man, Chen Shuren obviously did not want the Qing soldiers to be put into the pass.

Because he knew that once the Qing soldiers entered the pass, the impact would not be as simple as the northern compatriots suffered. It would also lead to the collapse of people's hearts.

Many Han people will have a collapse in their will to resist on the spiritual level. They will feel that "the north cannot be defended, so why can the south be defended? The Southern Song Dynasty was also destroyed back then."

Those fence-bearers who follow the crowd may even think of "There are few examples of successful unification from south to north from ancient times to the present, so it is better to vote."

War and dynasty change have never been a game. Playing games can easily control "mortality" while real politics and people's beliefs are very difficult to operate.

Therefore, professionals like Chen Shuren are very cautious about whether to give up Chongzhen in the future.

It depends on how much he can solve the problem of the resistance of the Chinese people in the next few years and ensure that the hearts of the people are not dispersed, and then he can make decisions in a realistic manner.

After meeting Gu Yanwu, after several days of training, Chen Shuren quickly saw a possibility:

In front of him was the most powerful ideological theorist in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. He invented the theory that "those who destroy the country will be planning for it, and every man will be responsible for the world."

Unfortunately, Gu Yanwu's theory came a little late in history. Before the fall of the main territory of the Ming Dynasty, the people's will to resist had already dispersed.

However, now that Gu Yanwu has known himself in advance, is it possible to give him some advice and work hard in this direction in advance, summarize this set of ideological weapons that encourage the people to resist the will of the people, and further optimize and improve it?

If it can be done, it can offset the impact of the people brought about by the fall of Beijing.

Therefore, whether to save Chongzhen or not, you cannot just slap your forehead. You must first make up for the corresponding options and then arrange the tricks.

Practice is the only criterion for testing truth.

War is a major event of the country and its survival, and it cannot tolerate any subjective likes and dislikes.

Now, I gradually figured out this question. Chen Shuren also has a clearer understanding of the future route of buying or seeking an official:

In this mess in the north, I have no strength to be too ambitious yet. In the next few years, let’s first see if I can help Yang Sichang surround the thieves of Zhang Xianzhong, especially those who are surrounded by Zhang Xianzhong, who are not firm in their opposition.

First, this can prevent the future large rear bases that will be destroyed too badly by Zhang Xianzhong.

After all, when the Southern Ming Dynasty was first established in history, it was said that it had half of the southern territory. In fact, the imperial court could control the Jianghuai River and Zhejiang, which was equivalent to four provinces. Huguang and Sichuan were completely disrupted by the Zhang Xianzhong faction.

To put it bluntly, in the south where "Yi, Jing, Yang" land was the only thing that the Southern Ming court could use, and Jing, Yi was a thief.

If you can prevent Huguang and Sichuan from being seriously damaged in the future, the Yangtze River will unite the hearts of the people and raise the banner of fighting against the "destroy the world". The situation will be very different.

Moreover, if you take the route of suppressing thieves and officials, as long as you choose the initial jurisdiction well, you will choose a place that is inconvenient to communicate with the central government of the court and is blocked by other thieves and enemies.

At the same time, control the attitude and rhythm towards the court, and do not make any obvious excuses. Then you can completely close the door and focus on farming and building bases to crack down on thieves to expand their territory.

Isn’t it beautiful to have the title of great righteousness as the banner of the Ming Dynasty, and to have the real benefits of completely controlling the local area, and gain both fame and reality?

...

During the current affairs discussion with Zhang Huangyan and Gu Yanwu, after secretly figuring out the big problem, Chen Shuren was almost at the corner of the door and asked Yang Sichang for an official position.

After a roundabout way, I revolved around how to complete the important task of Mr. Yang as soon as possible, and then came to the door to seek credit.

But after the brothel meeting ended on this day, Zhang Huangyan and Gu Yanwu's jokes and laughter suddenly woke up Chen Shuren.

It turned out that these guys were tired of holding a meeting in this self-operated tram of the Shen family, so Zhang Huangyan began to joke:

"Cousin, your family is so rich, and you will go back to hold a meeting here, and don't change the place."

Gu Yanwu also agreed with Zhang Huangyan's words in his heart, but he was originally a white piao, so he helped Chen Shuren smooth things over:

"Why do you have to worry about Cangshui? Even if we are talking about current affairs, we have exchanges with us and other 'Great Scholars' here. Although it is a humble room, it is also a virtuous person. It doesn't matter if the sister who sings the songs. After all, this is the property of the Tsai Brother, so it's good to be convenient."

Zhang Huangyan knew the family background of Chen Shu, so he smiled and explained: "Brother Tinglin doesn't have to save money. He just hides a sweetheart in the golden house and is so stingy that he can't search for her husband. If he really wants to invite us to listen to music, how can he spend extra money?

You don’t know, but my uncle said that he had bought a sister in Rikayuan, Kunshan since the beginning of the year, with 300 taels a month, and would give her any songs or not.

That time he was carried back by his servants by his heatstroke. He heard that he was in Lixiangyuan and wanted to ask for favors from the madam. He delayed the cage and gave him some time to collect money to redeem himself."

Speaking of this, Zhang Huangyan also turned to his cousin with a slight face and said, "To be honest, have you tried to "not hold a meeting for free and not allow the beauty to show up again"?

Cousin, it’s not me that you really have to listen to your uncle in this matter. You can’t be too careful with those sisters. You will buy an official and marry a lady from a noble family in the future. Whether these courtesans or top names, even if you have money to redeem themselves, they will at least be concubines, right? Who would be a maid without a name?"

After hearing this gossip, Gu Yanwu was also aroused some curiosity, but that's all.

However, Chen Shuren himself was suddenly reminded to feel a little embarrassed.

He was not willing to let women show up in public. He had forgotten about this since he traveled through time.

He was so busy that he couldn't even worry about it, so he had no time to miss a woman.

At this moment, when his cousin reminded him, he remembered that his maid, Qingzhi, seemed to have mentioned to him that he had booked a song in Rikayuan, Kunshan. The original owner of the body before he traveled through time seemed to be fascinated by the girl, and insisted on redeeming her as a concubine and making trouble with the family.

Chen Shuren thought about it and dealt with his friends: "What's the big deal about singing a song occasionally? I don't think I have to go far away in Kunshan, just to listen to a song, I'm afraid you will feel tired..."

When Zhang Huangyan heard this, he couldn't help laughing: "What's the trouble? It's just a neighboring county. I'll arrive in half a day by boat. Brother Gu is from Kunshan. For him, he just went back to his hometown for a walk."

Gu Yanwu seemed too enthusiastic, but he also said, "If you go to Kunshan, your brother will naturally have to fulfill the friendship of the landlords and live in my house."

Within words, Chen Shuren had already figured out the plan: in Taicang these days, he did not find a case of "snatching to buy maids/industry, and fighting for registration time difference", because Taicang's entertainment industry is not developed enough.

In this case, going to Kunshan might have a miraculous effect. Since I have also booked a very high-ranking sister in the circle, I might be able to find out some insider information from that channel.

For example, "Are there any beautiful and beautiful girl from a wealthy family who has recently been struggling to be sold because of her family's decline?" If you can find out one or two such cases and choose one with the right time and progress, will it be fine?

Of course, buying a woman is secondary to him. He just wanted to commit crimes and make trouble for the Nanjing Ministry of Justice.

Moreover, buying a woman causes trouble is one more advantage than buying a land and a manor, that is, it is more in line with his evil young character, and when he is slapping the Zheng family in the future, it will be less likely to be suspected by the Zheng family.

The woman you bought does not have to destroy others' families, and forcibly accept it as a maid, and can act according to the situation. If you are not beautiful enough, you will send her to take care of her stepmother, aunt or sister.

Kunshan is the Daming Entertainment Center. There are Yangzhou thin horses sold every day, and you can always find cases that can be hit by the car.

After thinking about everything, Chen Shuren made an appointment and would be in Kunshan in a few days. I would invite everyone to visit him a few more times and listen to the music and discuss politics together.

After the appointment, the literary meeting that day ended.

...

After returning to the mansion, Chen Shuren immediately ordered Qingzhi to prepare his luggage. He wanted to go out and rushed to Kunshan that afternoon.

Shen Fu, who is responsible for external affairs, is also asked to prepare a car.

When Qingzhi heard the word "Kunshan", she couldn't help but feel sad for a few seconds, but she still held it back. Youyou said, "But do you think her body is already big? Finally, I can't help but go to see Miss Chen?"

She is a maid in the room, so she naturally knows which women the young master has seen before. If she gets it back, she will definitely be more favored than her.

In order to keep it secret, Chen Shuren is too lazy to explain more. Anyway, he is the maid in the inner house and will not communicate with outsiders. There is no need to say more: "I have other serious things, don't worry about this. Just follow me and be careful in doing things, and you won't treat you badly in the future."

After all, Qingzhi had a humble identity and was not qualified to be jealous, so she silently prepared everything, but just asked carefully:

"Young Master, since you have heatstroke, your whole body has changed a lot. I know you have forgotten a lot of things. You won't forget about Miss Chen, right? Do you need me to remember it for you?"

Chen Shuren was shocked. He really forgot. After all, when he took over the body, the more recent memories he had, the more he was missing. However, he knew that Qingzhi was jealous. Even if he said he had forgotten, Qingzhi might not believe it, but instead caused trouble.

He hesitated for a few seconds, without saying anything, but his eyes showed that he was in deep thought.

Qingzhi knew him very well, stared at his expression and observing his expression, and saw the flaws, and couldn't help but feel warm:

"I didn't expect you to forget that Miss Chen. It seems that there is really a serious matter this time. Don't worry, I won't miss the situation. I will never tell you this. Let me tell you about Miss Chen's identity and origin..."

Qingzhi was in a good mood and realized that her master had forgotten the vixen outside. How could she feel bad? So she also helped Chen Shuren recall the memories with a very elegant style.

The girl Chen is the top player in Rikayuan, Kunshan and is also a very famous existence in the Kunqu opera circle today. She is named Chen Yuan. The one-fold "The West Chamber" she sang is unique in the Kunqu opera world.

Chen Yuan turned fifteen half a year ago, and her adoptive mother Chen planned to ask the famous scholars from Suzhou to bid for a cage. At that time, Chen Shuren's predecessor wanted to redeem himself and stop him, so Chen offered a high price of 10,000 taels.

Unfortunately, the Shen family obstructed Chen Shuren from taking the girl from the Liyuan as his concubine and stole his money. This matter was given up. However, Chen Shuren also relied on the pocket money he had at his hand, and first sang the song at a price of 300 taels per month - he could only listen to the song but not sleep.

In exchange for Chen's delay in Chen Yuan's cage and gave him time to raise money. He packed a bag for several months, spending one or two thousand taels.

When Qingzhi talked about the ridiculous things that her body had done, Chen Shuren shook his head secretly. He didn't even have to bed and spent so much money on a woman, and he was really willing to give up his book.

Qingzhi cooperated so much to help him provide information. Chen Shuren was not a disgusted man, so she whispered to the maid in private: "Don't worry, I won't buy her back this time. If I want to buy it, I'll buy it separately. I'm just asking her for some information."

If Chen Yuan can’t find out, he will ask the madam again, and he will always find out.

After lunch break, everything was about to stop, and Shen Shuren drove along Liuhe and headed straight to Kunshan.

It took more than 30 miles from Taicang to Kunshan, and the carriage arrived in more than an hour. When I found the location of Lixiangyuan, I could only find a girl to accompany me to have supper in the evening.
To be continued...