When Zheng Haizhu came to the south of the Yangtze River in the late Ming Dynasty, he often listened to Yiyang tune in addition to Kun tune.
When he was in Songjiang, Zhang Dai, who studied opera intensively, predicted to Zheng Haizhu that Yiyang tune was a high-quality tune and several famous troupes were willing to adapt to the northern language, so it would be more popular in the north than Kunqu tune.
This time, Zheng Haizhu was quite surprised to see that Prince Lu's Mansion invited the Yiyang Opera troupe.
As someone who has been traveling around for two generations, what she most likes to appreciate is the integration of cultures and an open mind.
But now, she only heard a few high-pitched words from Fang Band's lead singer before interrupting him and asking him to go with Zhu Yipai's personal entourage to the Jingguo General's Mansion to thank Zhu Yipai and his wife.
Wu Bondang understood that Zheng Haizhu wanted to take advantage of today's events to get acquainted with him in front of His Highness.
He immediately gave the two guards a favor and asked them to lead the way to Yanzhou Official Posthouse so that Zheng Haizhu could pick up the gift.
After all this trouble, it was already dark when we arrived in front of Zhu Yipai's mansion.
But the lady in charge soon came out and took the three children and the young one to the small warm pavilion in the atrium, and ordered the little maid to bring a food box, which contained pancakes filled with tofu skin and pork stuffing, white flour steamed buns, spicy spicy soup, etc.
Please politely invite Zheng Haizhu and others to have dinner first.
The mother-in-law was very kind-hearted. Although she was showing off her dignity, she gently told Teacher Fang to feed the baby slowly.
After everyone finished eating, the mother-in-law left Nuange. After a while, she led Zhu Yipai and Guo over.
Behind Ms. Guo was a wet nurse, holding a baby girl who was older than Xiaotang.
Zheng Haizhu saw that the girl's appearance was that of Zhu Yipai, who had shrunk several sizes.
"Yan'er," Zhu Yipai turned around and said, "This is the little sister that father and mother met today. Give her the cloth tiger."
Yan'er slipped down from the nanny's arms and walked to Xiaotang and said, "My mother and I picked a big one. You can sleep with it at night. It will be very comfortable. With the tiger guarding you, no one will dare to catch you."
"
Leader Fang hurriedly grabbed Xiaotang and thanked her.
Zheng Haizhu and Wu Bangdang came forward at the right time and met Zhu Yipai and Guo.
Zheng Haizhu explained his relationship with Team Leader Fang and Xiaotang, naturally referring to his own experience in Jiangnan, then opened the box and presented a handkerchief embroidered with landscapes, flowers and birds of the Song Dynasty that best embodies the characteristics of Han Yuan embroidery.
Shandong's Lu embroidery is the most famous in the north, with unrestrained and gorgeous colors and majestic patterns. It is also the hard work of skilled craftsmen of the past dynasties.
But everything has its own law of "distant fragrance and near smell". Guo has been used to seeing Lu embroidery since he was a child, and there is nothing new about it. At this moment, he suddenly saw that the Xuanhe painting calligraphy, which was highly praised by the royal family, was actually embroidered with high quality.
The silk handkerchief looked like dancing thin clouds. I suddenly felt that it was novel and elegant. I was full of praise for it. I picked up the handkerchief and gently rubbed the threads on it. I also asked some expert questions on how to cut the silk.
Zheng Haizhu gradually became more confident.
Although Zhu Yipai has a strong personality and is prone to losing his temper in official matters, his inner class concept may not be too deep. Judging from the fact that he took the initiative to invite himself and Wu Bond to follow Zhang Yaofang to a banquet yesterday, and how he treated the servants and maids in the mansion.
In terms of training, you can see it somewhat.
However, social interaction must also be done step by step.
Zheng Haizhu stared at the exquisite red copper basin of Rui Tan in the house, and did not intend to mention the coal in Chaitan Mountain in a hurry.
I and Wu Bondang will go and investigate first.
…
"Miss Zheng, most of these fields and lakes belong to King Lu, and some of them are given by King Lu to princes and generals, or as dowries for princes and counties. The land is very fertile, and the lakes and ponds are very fertile.
The output is also quite a lot.”
On the mule carriage from Yanzhou Fucheng to Chaitan Mountain in the east, Mu Zaohua pointed to the scenes on both sides and reported to Zheng Haizhu.
After Zheng Haizhu looked at the fertile fields of the village, he asked: "Who are the princes?"
"There are King Taixing, King Ningde, and King Changtai. However, the one who manages the village the best is a general who controls the country. He is the legitimate son of King Taixing. In the village of this general, the fields and orchards are very neat, and there are
It’s such a big deer park. A fellow villager said that when the deer antler is cut, the general will come to see it in person. The deer antler is not taken back to the house, but is collected by a druggist in exchange for money. Several times, he encountered Lu Bei fleeing.
of hungry people
Just give out porridge and provide disaster relief.”
Mu Zaohua answered fluently, but it was difficult for her to remember the names of several county princes so clearly.
While Zheng Haizhu was quite satisfied with the two intelligence agents, he couldn't help but sigh again. Among the princes' descendants, Zhu Yipai was indeed a bright sight.
The current generation of Lao Zhu's family, no matter those who live in the Forbidden City or the sects and vassals in various places, there are very few people who are not just worms waiting to die but are keen on making money through diversified businesses and can treat the people well.
Wu Bondang, who was on the side, listened expressionlessly all the time.
Suddenly, he saw a large bluestone standing on the roadside with the words "Yunshan Camp" engraved on it, and asked, "Is there a garrison nearby?"
Mu Zaohua said: "Daniu and I also went to explore. There were three forts with the word "camp" along the way. They were all old and weak military households. They guarded the tombs of the previous kings of Lu. They were as powerful as General Qi.
The camp is not the same thing."
Mu Zaohua's tone became cautious and her eyes lowered.
That day she met a refugee and was severely scolded by Wu Bondang. When she spoke to this "bureau chief", she no longer dared to look him in the eyes.
Wu Bondang's eyebrows relaxed: "Why are you nervous? Your investigation this time was very meticulous. Didn't you see Miss Zheng nodding her head with satisfaction?"
Mu Zaohua bit her lower lip, and the corners of her mouth quickly rose into a cheerful smile.
When the car arrived at Chai Tan Mountain, there was a strong smell of coke in the air.
Another intelligence officer, Li Daniu, pointed to the countless oval cocoon-like earthen kilns on the hilltop to the west and said: "Miss Zheng, the firewood cut from the mountain is all transported into those kilns and burned into charcoal. The mountain belongs to the Lu Mansion, and the charcoal is only
Send it to the Lu Mansion. Because the palace uses charcoal, it is very particular. There should be no firewood or wooden mouth, so as not to produce smoke when burned. Therefore, a single cave can only produce charcoal every five or six days. However, there are ten kilns in total, and the charcoal is produced in turn.
In the afternoon every day, there are big mule carts going to Yanzhou City to transport charcoal."
Zheng Haizhu squinted at the terrain of Chaitan Mountain and asked Wu Bond, "How does it compare to the Xishan Mountain in the capital?"
Wu Bangde said: "If there is really coal underneath, it will be much better to dig it out than in Xishan. The mountain road here is gentle, but I don't know if the water will be strong or not."
Zheng Haizhu said: "Let's go to the east and look for the coal seedlings he mentioned according to what the guy at the Boshan Inn said.
Going up the small river in the east, I saw the bluestone array and dense forest that Boshan mentioned.
As you walk further to the mountainside, you will see large pieces of shale.
Wu Bondang took out the coal prospecting guy.
A few black lumps are magnetite.
He found thick branches on the ground, tied them with magnets, and distributed them to several people.
But as a modern person, Zheng Haizhu doesn't really believe it.
How can coal be magnetic?
But since Wu Bondang said he had seen this method before and the innkeeper also said so, let’s give it a try.
The four of them found a large piece of shale and used a magnetic rod to probe around the rugged rocks.
After struggling for a long time, I tried many rocks and found no clues.
Zheng Haizhu thought for a while and said to Wu Bangdang: "Didn't the innkeeper say that their boss hired someone to dig coal secretly? We can just try to find their coal cave. Although the mountain is big, it is not steep, and most parts of it are unobstructed.
, they must have dug the hole near the shale that can obscure the view."
Wu Bondang felt it made sense, nodded and said: "Let's go to the highest point first so we can see clearly."
Unexpectedly, a few people had just walked a short distance along the mountain road when they heard shouts from ahead.
Soon four or five men in dirty clothes ran down, each carrying a large basket covered with Gebu.
Wu Bondang stepped forward to greet him, cupped his hands and said, "Brothers, what's wrong?"
As I asked, I took a closer look. The men's hands were all black, and their clothes were stained with black ash.
This look was familiar to him.
Coal digger.
Among the men, the older one took a look at the Confucian scarf on Wu Bondang's head. His expression was slightly evasive, and he just said vaguely: "The people from Prince Lu's Palace are driving us down the mountain."
After saying that, he called his companions and ran away in a hurry.
Zheng Haizhu is very sensitive to language. She heard these people say "King Lu
"The pronunciation is different from the pronunciation of people inside and outside Yanzhou Fucheng, but it is somewhat similar to the Boshan guy."
She said without hesitation: "Let's go and have a look."
