Beijin is the most important ferry in Changsha, and is the only place where the waterway from Jiaozhou to the Central Plains passes. The ferry is crowded with boats and merchants, making it very lively.
In the afternoon, a large flat-bottomed river boat nearly ten feet long and three to four feet wide sailed slowly into Tianjin from the north.
The river boat arrived at the shore, and the passengers got off the boat one after another. Among them was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a green scarf and a long jacket. Behind him was a guard with a knife. Both of them had faces.
With a look of dust and fatigue.
After passing through the crowded crowd, they came to a small black awning boat painted with black bamboo strips. The middle-aged man raised his voice and asked the boatman: "Boatman, the two of us want to go to Longqiu, Pingcheng. Do you want to go to Longqiu, Pingcheng?"
Do you know how to get to Pingxiang Longqiu?"
As soon as the boatman heard the other party's foreign accent, he immediately knew that good business was coming to his door. His dark face was immediately filled with a smile and he replied: "Of course I know. The two guests only need to take a small boat and transfer from the Xiangjiang River to the Liuyang River.
Land at Pingxiang Qudu, then walk three or four miles northeast, and you can reach Longqiu before sunset."
The middle-aged man nodded, and without even asking how much the ship cost, he got on the ship with the escort.
The boatman was so happy that he punted the boat away from the shore and said, "Are the guests going to Longqiu to visit friends? The Liu family of Longqiu is a member of the Han Dynasty clan after Changsha was crowned king. There have been many high-ranking officials of two thousand stone in the family.
There have been two three princes in the dynasty, and they can be regarded as the leaders of Changsha's crown clan."
The middle-aged man and the guard looked at each other and smiled. The Liu family of Longqiu was indeed a high-ranking family, but compared with their master's family, it was far behind.
Their head family is the world-renowned Deng family of Nanyang. Since Emperor Guangwu re-established the Han Dynasty, there have been twenty-nine nobles, two duchess, thirteen generals and below. Fourteen people have been awarded two thousand stones, and two are listed in the school.
Twelve people, forty-eight people are governors of prefectures and counties, and the rest of the servants, generals, officials, and ministers are incomparable.
During the more than 100 years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Nanyang Deng family had two peaks. The first time was naturally the head of the twenty-eight Yuntai generals who assisted Guangwu in reviving the Han Dynasty, Taifu Deng Yu.
The second time was Deng Sui, the empress of Emperor He of the Han Dynasty. After the death of Emperor He of the Han Dynasty, Deng Sui took the throne as the queen mother, making Emperor An of the Han Dynasty the puppet emperor for a full sixteen years. Although after Deng Sui's death,
The Deng family in Nanyang was immediately liquidated by Emperor Han'an. However, after the death of Emperor Han'an, Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne and immediately vindicated the Deng family. The Deng family quickly recovered and by the time of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, another mother, Yi Tianxia, was born.
The queen, Deng Mengnu.
A family with two queens can prosper like this. The number of wealthy families in this dynasty that can be compared with the Deng family is no more than one palm.
The boatman thought of the recent rumors in the streets and said: "Speaking of the Liu family of Longqiu, a gentleman named Liu Zhongda has recently attracted praise from the whole county and is called 'virtuous Liu Jun' by everyone. He is a descendant of the Liu family of Longqiu.
.”
"But Liu Jing and Liu Zhongda, the son of Liu Yilang?" the middle-aged man asked quickly with a surprised look on his face.
Liu Jing's father was an official, so he was called Yilang. He traveled thousands of miles this time, and his main purpose was Liu Jing.
The boatman said: "The villain only knows that he is the queen of Situ Liu Gong."
The middle-aged man nodded, that's right, Liu Jing's great-grandfather Liu Shouguan was a Situ. Then he asked curiously: "I wonder what this Liu Langjun has done to get a good reputation from the whole county of Changsha?"
The boatman then told the two people about Liu Jing's "working hard to support customers" and "quality of letters to save his neighbors" that he heard from the alley.
I have never seen such a virtuous gentleman."
The middle-aged man looked ridiculous when he heard this. The Liu Jing he knew was a mediocre young man who only knew how to have fun and was not good at studying. Such a mortal transformed himself after returning home and became the "virtuous Mr. Liu". This was really too great.
It's too absurd and unacceptable.
"Hearing is deceptive, but seeing is believing." Thinking of this, the middle-aged man closed his eyes lightly and said no more.
Realizing that the guest seemed to have suddenly lost interest in the conversation, the boatman kept silent and buried his head in rocking the oar.
Arriving ashore from Qudu, we skirted a hilly area and Liu's Wubao was looming in sight. At this time, the sun was setting in the west, just as the boatman said.
Before the two of them got close to Liu's Wubao, they were stopped by two Liu family members wearing short clothes and wearing sandals and carrying swords.
The middle-aged man said calmly: "The master of my house is the Deng family of Nanyang. He is a taboo, and he was an official in the imperial court. He once served as a minister in the same palace as the late nobleman Liu Shang and Liu Zigao, and they had a close friendship. Recently, the master of the house heard that Liu
Yilang's eldest son Liu Yuan and Liu Boming passed away due to illness, and I am specially sent to attend the funeral."
In view of the dilapidation of Nanyang County, Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao split off several southeastern counties of Nanyang County and established Zhangling County soon after he took office.
It's just a joke in his eyes, he doesn't admit it at all, and still thinks of himself as the Deng family of Nanyang.
Liu's guest did not relax his vigilance because of the other party's words, and said cautiously: "In this case, I will lead the way for you and others."
The middle-aged man nodded and said "Okay". A big family has its own rules. If it were the Deng family, the interrogation would only be stricter.
Walking into Liu's Wubao, the surrounding scenery gradually overlapped with his memory. Liu Shang died of illness ten years ago. He went to the funeral with his master Deng You and stayed there for more than ten days, so he was no stranger to Liu's Wubao.
As a close official of Deng You, he knew the deep relationship between Deng You and Liu Shang. Even Liu Shang's funeral was jointly organized by Deng You and the head of the Liu family. Unfortunately, once Liu Shang passed away, the bond between the two families was broken.
Only Liu Jing is left.
When he came this time, in addition to attending the funeral, he also had a more important task, which was to inspect Liu Jing. If Liu Jing failed to pass his inspection, it would be difficult for the two families to have any intersection in the future.
Mrs. Zhang was very surprised to see the Deng family from Nanyang. The two families had not been in contact with each other for almost ten years. Liu Yuan passed away some time ago, and no one from the Deng family came to mourn. She thought that the friendship between the two families was over. It must be because of the delay in news.
, it’s too late.
"Young man Zheng Dang, please pay your respects to Mrs. Liu." The middle-aged man bowed respectfully.
"Prisoner Zheng, please call me." Zhang didn't dare to entrust him. Ten years ago, Zheng Dang was Deng You's prison slave. He was responsible for the household affairs and was the chief steward of the Deng family. He was not comparable to ordinary slaves.
Zheng Dang greeted Lai Ci again, and then said: "When the master heard about Liu Jun's death, it was too late, and he felt deeply uneasy, so he told the villain to apologize in person."
After saying that, he took out a box from his bag and presented it in front of Zhang's case. Zhang opened it and saw five gold cakes neatly placed inside. They all weighed one kilogram and were worth at least 60,000 yuan.
The above is equivalent to the Liu family's three years' savings, which shows how extravagant Deng's money was.
Mrs. Zhang was almost dazzled by the bright gold cake in front of her, and said: "This is all the fault of Zhongda. When he heard the bad news about his brother, he was so confused that he forgot to inform Mr. Deng."
Lai Ci, however, was not moved by the money. She frowned lightly. Today, the money given to people for mourning is generally between a hundred and a thousand yuan. Although Deng's family is wealthy, the standard should not exceed this much. I'm afraid
It's because the person who came here is not kind.
Zheng Dang asked: "Why don't you see Liu Langjun? On the way here, I heard that Liu Langjun 'works hard to support guests'. Is he still working in the fields at this moment?"
Mrs. Zhang looked embarrassed and said, "I made Supervisor Zheng laugh. Today is the wedding of the Huan family in Changsha. Zhongda went to attend the wedding with his brother Liu Yuanlong. But he will be back soon."
"That's it." Zheng Dang nodded.
Mrs. Zhang saw that the two of them were covered in travel and looked tired, and it was getting late, so she said, "Jian Zheng has come a long way to work hard, so I will have the guest room tidied."
After that, he asked Song's wife Zhou to tidy up the east wing of the vestibule for the two of them.
Zheng and Dang thanked each other and left with Song's wife Zhou.
Mrs. Zhang couldn't put it down holding the gold cake, and couldn't help but said to Lai Ci: "Zhongda is really rude for not informing Mr. Deng." I'm afraid she is more concerned about the chance of almost losing the gold cake.
Lai Ci guessed: "After Zhongda came back, he never mentioned the Deng family. There must be something going on that we don't know about."
In fact, it is not difficult to guess. The Deng family is one of the most wealthy families in the world, while the Liu family has declined. Liu Jing will definitely feel a huge psychological gap when he visits the Deng family, even if he is not ignored.
Liu Yuan went through many twists and turns when he married her. It was so difficult to marry a woman from the Lingling Lai family, let alone a daughter from the Deng family in Nanyang.
Zheng Dang's coming here may not only be as simple as paying condolences.
However, Lai Ci was not too worried. Uncle Ji was excellent in everything from his family background, character, talent, and appearance. For such a talented young man, what did it matter even if his family fell into decline for a while.
Lai Ci firmly believed that Uncle Ji's future was limitless. If Deng was blind and dared to break up the marriage, he would be ridiculed by the world in the future.