With a hundred thousand guan tied around his waist, he rode a crane down to Yangzhou.
Yangzhou has been synonymous with prosperity since ancient times, especially during the Song Dynasty. At the bustling city gate, there was an endless stream of merchants coming and going.
Soon two rows of government soldiers lined up to control the city gate and loudly announced that the north gate of Yangzhou would not be open today and that passers-by were asked to take a detour.
The noisy crowd cursed in low voices and turned around.
After a while, a carriage was escorted by soldiers and horses to the city gate. After it stopped on the outskirts of the city, the curtain was opened. After Cai Jing came out, Yang Lin followed closely. The two of them laughed and talked, and arrived at the outskirts of the city.
's shore.
Yangzhou is an important land for water transportation, with water and land extending in all directions. A small boat sailed in the distance, with a big man standing on the bow.
Cai Jing chuckled and said, "This must be Tong Guan."
The man on the bow of the ship was seven feet tall, burly and majestic. He turned out to be the eunuch Tong Guan? Yang Lin didn't quite believe it. Seeing his expression, Cai Jing smiled even more happily and whispered: "How is it? You didn't expect it, did you?"
Yang Lin couldn't make fun of him, after all, Tong Guan's identity was there, so he just smiled and said: "Tong Guan has a dignified appearance and extraordinary appearance."
There are three major characteristics of Tong Guan recorded in the history of the Song Dynasty. One is that "Yixia must be born in ten years". When he was a eunuch, he had such a beard, which was rare for thousands of years;
The second is "burly in appearance, majestic in sight", which shows that the young father-in-law is not only handsome, but also very tall and looks very majestic;
The third one is "skin and bones as strong as iron", with piercing eyes and a dark complexion. At first glance, he looks very masculine and does not look like a castrated eunuch.
The boat rowed very fast, and after a while Tong Guan arrived at the shore, with only a few servants following him. It was nothing like the overwhelming pomp he would see later.
At this time, Cai Jing and Tong Guan were not the "gongxiang" and "laoxiang" of the Song Dynasty. The two actual helmsmen of the future Song Dynasty were still the prefect and the minister. The Song Dynasty had higher positions and more power than them.
Yes, no less than a few hundred people.
Cai Jing led Yang Lin to greet him, his tone and expression were very humble, and he did not disrespect Tong Guan at all because of his status as eunuch.
"Children worship, it's hard work coming all the way."
Tong Guan smiled heartily, looking more like a man than Cai Jing, even more so than Yang Lin: "Haha, Tong Guan is just a eunuch, how dare he bother Magistrate Cai to personally come to greet him."
Yang Lin looked surprised and said in amazement: "Is this a child offering sacrifice? It was not introduced by the government official just now. The student thought that the person who came was an Angzang warrior, a general who lifts his horse and controls his strings."
This sentence is not very polite, but it is particularly pleasant to Tong Guan's ears. This eunuch is an outlier among eunuchs. He can even pretend not to care and call himself an eunuch, but what he likes most is others praising him.
His majestic body and spirit.
After Yang Lin learned that Tong Guan helped Cai Jing become prime minister in history, the first thing he did was to ask him to recommend him as the supervisor of the Northwest Army, to lead the Privy Council, and to hold military power for twenty years.
These words really tickled Tong Guan, and he asked with a smile: "This young master has a tight face, could he be Qilin'er from Magistrate Cai?"
"Hao Jiao Tong worshiped and learned that this is Yang Lin, who ranked first in the Yangzhou Prefectural Examination of the new science. His pseudonym is Wenyuan."
"It turns out to be Yang Jieyuan, so I asked you to call me Wenyuan."
Yang Lin quickly said jokingly: "I have my wish, but I don't dare to invite you."
The three of them chatted, laughed and had a banquet. They entered Yangzhou through the closed city gate. Yang Tong had already prepared wine and food in his courtyard.
The group of people came to the Yang Mansion Villa. This was a house that Yang Tong bought not long ago and had not yet moved in.
Yang Tong invited the best courtesans in Yangzhou City to perform songs and dances in the surrounding pavilions to add to the fun. He also invited the chefs from Yangzhou Gilt Restaurant to cook exquisite dishes, various seasonal fruits and vegetables, and fine wines.
Fine wines, snacks and preserves are all available.
After sitting down, Tong Guan sincerely praised: "What a house, it is both majestic in the north and elegant in the south of the Yangtze River. I didn't expect Master Cai's residence in Yangzhou to be so exquisite." Tong Guan spoke with envy, he thought it was here.
It is Cai Jing's house. I didn't expect that Cai Jing had accumulated so much wealth after being the prefect for so many years. It is worthy of being a prosperous place in Yangzhou.
Cai Jing laughed, waved his hands and said, "Wenyuan, it's up to you to do the talking."
Yang Lin clapped his hands, signaled the maids to serve the food, and said with a smile: "To be honest, the student was born in a merchant family. Although he was humble, he had a lot of money. This house has not been taken care of for many years. I learned that today the child is enshrined in front of the house.
Come here, it is really beautiful. When the family heard about this, he decided to keep the boy as a worshiper and live here temporarily, so that we can gain a little nobility."
When Tong Guan heard that this eloquent Xinke Jieyuan was a merchant, he didn't care much. His own background was also ordinary.
"Heroes don't ask where they come from. What's wrong with the sons of merchants? So many husbands in the court are poets and calligraphers. It's not up to us to solve problems for the officials."
When Yang Lin saw that he didn't refuse, he knew that this guy had already acquiesced. This house was said to be for him to stay temporarily, but in fact, the title deed had been changed and the property had become his property in Tong Guan's name.
Everyone understands these things tacitly, and there is no need to point them out. With this level of relationship, the intimacy between the three of them has skyrocketed.
Now Tong Guan is a person close to the emperor. He can often see the emperor and his words are quite weighty. Everyone's future is in the hands of this person. Cai Jing and Yang Lin kept trying to persuade him to drink at the banquet.
As they drank and drank, the faces of the two future powerful ministers were gradually revealed.
After Tong Guan got drunk, he yelled "come in" at the top of his lungs, while Cai Jing flattered and agreed with a smile. One of them started from a humble beginning, and the other rose through the ranks, and neither of them had any airs.
Yang Lin watched this scene with cold eyes, interrupting and joking from time to time to make the atmosphere more relaxed.
There is no doubt that the two people in front of me are not good people, but to blame them entirely for the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty is to overestimate them.
If Song Huizong was Zhu Yuanzhang, these two people would have died ten thousand times long ago, and the Jurchens would not have gone south to Bianliang and killed the good Tokyo to a river of blood.
), and all the daughters of the official families became sex slaves of the Jurchens.
In the final analysis, it is Zhao Ji's business. He is the emperor, and his preferences determine the actions of Cai Jing and Tong Guan.
Even if there is no Cai Jing, he will promote Fan Jing and Tang Jing.
If Yang Lin relied on his personal likes and dislikes and wrote a few acid poems to scold these two future powerful traitors, he might have left a good name in history, praising the foresight and integrity of a Yangzhou talent who was not afraid of the powerful. However,
Facing the coming Jingkang catastrophe, he became a useless angry young man.
You must know that as an angry youth, you will never have a chance to save the country. If you want to make a difference in the coming troubled times, you must have enough power.
As a prophet who has lived for two generations, Yang Lin knew that the two people in front of him were about to dominate the world at the fastest speed.
Birds follow the phoenix and fly far away, and by clinging to them, they can become a part of the power center as quickly as possible, and only then can they have a chance to rewrite history in the future.
The banquet continued, and Yang Lin gradually merged into their conversation, his face flushed, and no one could tell whether he was awake or drunk at this time.
"Lin'er hates corrupt officials the most, but he has to socialize with Cai Jingxu for our Yang family. As a father, I feel bad."
Yang Tong sighed long and short in the courtyard. Yang Sanshen next to him took it seriously and kept nodding with a grimace: "Young Master, I have wronged you."
At this time, Yang Lin didn't look aggrieved at all. The three people in the other courtyard were drunk. Tong Guan was full of swear words and polite. The remaining Yang Lin and Cai Jing were still scholars after all, and they were also a bit frivolous and dissolute.
The Song Dynasty was a nest for celebrities. The scholar-bureaucrats all prided themselves on being romantic and were proud of having sex with prostitutes. Half of the poems written in the Song Dynasty describe drinking and having fun with beautiful women.
In a pavilion in the distance, a few music theory masters were playing with their bare hands, and there was a gurgling sound of the piano, like a mountain and flowing water, sometimes gentle and slow, sometimes exciting, and the sound of the orioles reached the ears.
These popular girls are the most well-connected heads of business in Yangzhou. They are not easily accessible to ordinary people. They are different from prostitutes. Although these top-notch courtesans entertain people with sex, they do not serve as pillows and mats. Instead, they are the powerful and wealthy gentry.
At our banquets, such a woman will be invited to bring musical instruments.
Most of the people they receive are either rich or noble. When discussing important matters, they need these beauties who are generous and well-spoken to liven up the scene and take care of the guests in every aspect.
However, Yang Lin is the promising Jie Yuan, his family is rich, and his appearance is considered handsome. If he values him and redeems his life, it will naturally be the best destination. Therefore, all the beauties are staring at the new Jie Yuan, but on the contrary
The two real bosses were somewhat neglected. Although Tong Guan was a eunuch, he was also very passionate about beauties, which surprised Yang Lin. This eunuch was so unique.
The three people at the table each selected two beauties and sat next to them. The others left in dismay. Cai Jing said with a taste: "Wen Yuan is so popular with beauties that we have all become stones in the way. These beauties are eager to throw us away."
Let's kick it away."
The girl in his arms smiled sweetly and coquettishly said to him, "Your Majesty knows how to joke, but our sisters have never left your eyes."
Yang Lin also smiled and said: "Among the girls in Manyuan, you two are the most discerning."
After all, I have never experienced this kind of battle in my two lives, and I screamed in my heart that I must learn the methods of these foxy people and compare with each other if I have the opportunity. After calming down, Yang Lin saw that the time was right, and then said
: "I wonder how many days Tong Zongfang will stay in Yangzhou this time?"
Hearing this, Tong Guan stopped wiping his hands and said: "The officials are waiting anxiously. A certain family will rush back to Bianliang within seven days. The time is quite urgent. Thank you for your hospitality today. After the banquet, a certain family will
I have to go to work."
His so-called office was just to search for some ingenious gadgets and valuable calligraphy and paintings for the emperor. Yang Lin smiled and said: "We Yangzhou people may not be familiar with the treasures and offerings here. If you can trust the government officials and students, why not do it?"
Leave it to us to do it. You only need to visit the mountains and rivers of Yangzhou and discipline you for seven days before returning home with a full load."
Cai Jing also echoed: "That's true. I don't know what the enshrining is. The Yang family's business is all over the south of the Yangtze River. It is said that it is a treasure of Yangzhou. The whole Jiangnan can help the engraving."
Yang Lin spends money without feeling any pain and can take charge of his own affairs. Yang Tong, who is rich and wealthy, has no restrictions on his son's spending.
What Tong Guan cared about the most was whether he could complete the task and please the emperor. Hearing this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and told Zhao Ji's preferences in detail. Yang Lin remembered it word for word.
This is information only known to those around Zhao Ji. No amount of money can buy it, so of course Yang Lin is not willing to let it go.
After the guests and hosts had a good time, Yang Lin and Cai Jing walked out of the courtyard. Tong Guan sent them out and walked a hundred steps forward before boarding the car and leaving.
"Wen Yuan must do his best for what he promised today. This is for the officialdom, and there is no room for being tired." Although the past few days of getting along made Cai Jing feel that Yang Lin's previous reputation was questionable, he still couldn't bear it.
Just give him a warning. If this kid gets angry, everything will be ruined.
"It's a student province. Don't worry, Mr. Fu. We, father and son, can't tell each other well. It's not difficult to collect rare treasures."
Yang Lin promised to do it, and when the carriage arrived at Cai Jing's house, he was still chattering about making suggestions. Yang Lin was really impatient after hearing this, so he said he had to go to the academy and refused to go in.
Cai Jing asked his family's coachman to see him off. Yang Lin didn't want to go to the academy. If the Cai family's coachman saw him off, it would be unsightly, so he said he wanted to take a walk to relieve his hangover and dismissed the coachman. The two families were not far apart, and Yang Lin
Just walk home.
In the Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou built "Luocheng" fifteen miles from north to south and seven miles from east to west under Shugang. It included a large area of residential areas and industrial and commercial residences in the southeast along the ancient canal under Shugang into the city, forming a connected city.
"Ten Mile Long Street".
Yang Lin walked home alone. The ten-mile long street was very lively and bustling with people coming and going.
In the canals on both sides of the road, hundreds of boats competed for a swim, and the sails were like clouds. From here, most of the scenery from various places in the south of the Yangtze River were transported to Bianliang, Tokyo.
Walking further, the style of the painting changes. Rows of antique buildings are staggered and scattered. The carved railings and painted buildings are quaint and pleasant. The small windows are dim and quiet, like a villa area belonging to a wealthy family, which looks much quieter. Those
Pavilions and pavilions are built near the water, with doors opening on the street side. Most of the doors and windows on the water side are backyard doors and windows. The autumn scenery is bleak, the autumn wind is sad, and the gloomy sky seems to be raining at any time.
The autumn wind mixed with moisture blew against his face, which made Yang Lin sober up a little and quickened his pace.
Because he was afraid of rain, Yang Lin took a shortcut. The Jiangnan alley was a bit narrow, and suddenly a hurried figure couldn't dodge and bumped into his arms.
This was really serious. Just when Yang Lin was about to get angry, he saw the thin figure in front of him. He rubbed his little head and grinned in pain. He kept apologizing: "Oh, it's raining and the road is slippery. I'm in a hurry. I'm sorry."
I can’t help it, I’m sorry for this young master.”
Yang Lin saw that he was unkempt and disheveled, and that he looked like a little beggar at first glance, so he said generously: "It's okay, be careful when walking next time."
The little beggar thanked her profusely and ran away with a smile. After walking around the corner, she took out a jade pendant from her arms, shook it in her hand and muttered: "It's such a good quality, now you can make a fortune!"