"The situation in Xuzhou this year is no worse than in previous years. Mr. Fang, you are worrying in vain!"
Xia Laosi is from Huai'an and has been plying the Grand Canal for more than 20 years. He is one of the most famous boatmen on the river. He was holding a pipe in his hand and casually added some golden wadding into it.
"Tamba wild rice", exhale out of the mouth, the smoke rises and falls like a smart little snake, and finally slowly floats into the Grand Canal.
Tamba wild rice is also called golden silk smoke, which is actually tobacco. Because it is produced in Luzon, it follows the pronunciation of "tobacco" in Spanish, so it is called "tamba wild rice".
Historically, Xuzhou was once the seat of a country, a prefecture, a state, and a county. It was a thoroughfare for the five provinces and a battleground for military strategists. It has always been a key point between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River.
Although today's Xuzhou no longer has the pivotal political status it did in the past, the Grand Canal flowing through Xuzhou has given ancient Xuzhou a new vitality and turned it into a prosperous commercial city.
There are many boatmen like Xia Laosi who make a living on the canal. Their whole lives revolve around this canal, and they will always revolve around the cities of Yangzhou, Qingjiangpu, Xuzhou and Linqingzhou, although they are all seen in large numbers.
People with broad knowledge cannot see the disintegrated land of the Central Plains.
Fang Yizhi is different from Xia Laosi. He is a member of a noble family. He not only has enough financial resources to visit famous mountains and rivers in the world, but also has a wide network of contacts to visit everyone and read a lot of books.
Therefore, Fang Yizhi's vision could transcend the place where he lived and studied, and project it to the scope of the world. He often exchanged letters with his good friend Hou Fangyu, and he was well aware of the changes in the situation in Henan.
Therefore, Fang Yizhi did not have the optimistic and fearless mood of boatman Xia Laosi. He sat alone on the bow of the boat with a book "Nanci Narrative" on his knees. The autumn wind on the Grand Canal blew by, blowing the pages of the book.
Open to the page "Listening to the Northern Opera makes one feel proud and lofty, and the hair is flowing down, which is enough to inspire one's courageous ambition, while the Southern Opera makes one slim, graceful and graceful".
Fang Yizhi listened to Xia Laosi chatting about the wealthy salt merchants he saw in Yangzhou, and looked at the gradually yellowing autumn scenery on both sides of the canal after September. He thought of the sentence in "Nanci Xulu" and suddenly had a thought.
A feeling of nostalgia and worry.
"The Eight Thousand Soldiers of Chu Song dispersed, and the dream soul should not reach the east of the Yangtze River. The Yellow River is like a belt in the sky, and the chaotic mountains turn back to the clouds and dragons. How majestic is the Yellow River? The Yangtze River is as vast as waves? Since ancient times, the soldiers and horses of Yan and Zhao have been fighting on the left side of the river. Today, there is a lot of grain and millet in the middle.
Luo, I really don’t know whose family the mausoleum in the world will be built for!”
Xia Laosi couldn't quite understand Fang Yizhi's eloquent words. He just looked at the northern section of the canal and asked: "Ms. Fang, Mr. Fang, you know the art of war. Please tell me what happened this year when the Eastern invaders invaded."
What's going on? Everyone on the canal road said that Donglu invaded Jizhou City recently. I don't know what happened? Are these Donglu more powerful than the Japanese pirates in the past? "
Fang Yizhi also heard the rumors on the road that the Donglu invaded Jizhou City some time ago. If it were more than ten years ago, this would have been a big news. But now everyone has long been accustomed to the Donglu entering the pass every now and then to plunder.
, not many people take this matter to heart.
"Jizhou is thousands of miles away from Xuzhou. This is not the first time that Donglu has breached the border wall and entered the border. The imperial court can always resolve the matter as it did in previous years."
Two years ago, Fang Yizhi finally passed the Jinshi examination and was able to go to Beijing to participate in political affairs. However, soon after, his father Fang Kong, the governor of Huguang, was impeached by Yang Sichang because of the defeat of Yiling Prefecture and committed suicide. Fang Yizhi suffered this blow and became depressed.
I chose to go back to my hometown in Tongcheng, Dingyou.
During the two years when he stayed in Tongcheng, he was still concerned about the political affairs of the world. He often exchanged letters with his friends in Fushe, and he did not give up his research on the study of objects.
During this period, there was also a half-truth and half-false "Tongcheng Fang family's conspiracy case". This case originated from Ruan Dacheng's exposure.
Ruan Dacheng was also from Tongcheng, and could be regarded as Fang Yizhi's "rural ancestor", but he was a remnant of Wei Zhongxian's eunuch party, and was included in the list of "countercases" in the early days of Chongzhen. Later, scholars from the Donglin party jointly drafted
The declaration "Remaining in the Capital to Prevent Rebellion" was issued to expel Ruan Dacheng.
The public announcement was signed by Gu Gao and Huang Zongxi, the grandsons of Gu Xiancheng, the founder of the Donglin Party, and a total of 140 people. Ruan Dacheng was forced to live in seclusion in Niushou Mountain outside Nanjing under the thumb of thousands of people, and did not dare to enter the city.
Although Fang Yizhi had just returned to his hometown in Tongcheng at that time and returned to Nanjing to take the exam in the autumn, he never signed the sticker. However, Ruan Dacheng contacted various incidents and insisted that the mastermind of Fang Yizhi was exposed, so his resentment deepened and he held a grudge from then on.
The Fang family in Tongcheng.
After Chuang Ni entered the Chu state, in addition to Chuang, Xian and Cao, there was also a little Li thief who was known as "Master Li" and "Young Tiger Commander". This little Li thief haunted Jing.
During the Xiangqi and Huang Dynasties, he harmed the well-dressed gentry with extremely cruel and vicious methods. It was rumored that his mastermind Hei Xiucai was Fang Yiren, nephew of the late Huguang Governor Fang Kong.
After Ruan Dacheng learned of this situation, he went around to investigate and conduct secret investigations. After careful investigation, he concluded that "Chu Chuang" military advisor Fang Yiren was Fang Yizhi's cousin who was supposed to have "died" in Yiling.
He seized this opportunity and tried to use the counter-case of Fang Shilitong in Tongcheng to completely defeat the Donglin Party and Fushe faction. However, Fang Yiren's early "martyrdom" had long been confirmed by Yang Sichang and Emperor Chongzhen
It was a fact that just at this time, another tragic incident occurred in which Chongzhen paid a grand tribute to Hong Chengchou for his "martyrdom" but was slapped in the face. How could the imperial court allow Ruan Dacheng to reopen Fang Yiren's case and let the emperor be slapped in the face again?
This matter was suppressed without any danger, but Fang Yizhi was affected by this and did not dare to return to the officialdom. It was not until his Donglin predecessor Shi Kefa was recommended by Zhou Yanru as the Xuzhou Suppressant Commander-in-Chief that he followed Donglin.
With the full resurgence of Lin's faction, Fang Yizhicai was invited to Xuzhou to serve as a staff member.
"Mr. Fang, let's go to the pier!"
The ship has sailed to the edge of the canal pier. The river is rippling and sparkling. The pier is crowded with ships of different sizes and shapes. Pieces of clouds and sails are clustered together. The canvas, oars, and stains on the deck
, as well as the shouts of the boatmen pulling strings, suddenly the busyness, excitement, crowding and prosperity of the canal city were squeezed into Fang Yizhi's eyes.
The river flowed very smoothly, but the two servants from Tongcheng's hometown still carefully supported Fang Yizhi, fearing that he would have an accident and fall into the canal.
Fang Yizhi stretched out his hand and refused their support. He lifted up the hem a little, jumped hard under his feet, and reached the river bank with a bang.
A large group of vendors crowded at the pier saw that he was well-dressed and knew that Fang Yizhi must be a rich young man. They immediately surrounded him and hawked all kinds of hot commodities to him.
Xuzhou is a canal city that connects the north and the south. Even the vendors at the dock sell fried honey, cheese, sandalwood pendants, Xuanzhou paper, and Huizhou ink. What’s more, there is a calligraphy and painting shop boy who drags and pulls them. Zhi's sleeves, unless they have a pair of poems and inscriptions by Qian Qianyi in their store, they must sell them to him.
Fang Yizhi burst into laughter, and in an instant he was impressed by the prosperity and liveliness of Xuzhou City and the shrewdness of Xuzhou people. The scene in front of him was just as Xia Laosi said, this scene was no worse than in previous years!
The hometown of my good friend Hou Fangyu is in Guide, which is now the only "city" in Henan Province on the south bank of the Yellow River that has not fallen into the hands of intruders. Hou Fangyu has recently written many letters to Fang Yizhi, in which he describes Henan The bleak scene of thousands of miles of red land and people living in dire straits, and the horrific and evil deeds of the invading army who acted in a perverse and senseless manner.
In Hou Fangyu's writing, it seems that the world has reached a point of hopelessness. He said that the intruders also wanted to use the water of the Yellow River to attack the army. Fortunately, the officers and soldiers ran fast enough, so that the intruders' plot could not be carried out. Implementation.
Fang Yizhi stayed at home in his hometown in Tongcheng. Affected by Hou Fangyu's letter, he really felt that the world was already apocalyptic. But when he walked out of his study and went to Xuzhou to see the prosperous scene in person, Fang Yizhi felt again. I can't help but feel that Hou Fangyu is really a bit alarmist.
Perhaps in some places like Henan, people's lives have indeed become slightly more difficult due to natural disasters, but from an overall perspective, it seems that the Ming Dynasty is still very stable.
He turned around and saw Xia Laosi, who was still smoking "Tanba wild rice" on the boat, and ordered his servants to get a few more taels of silver to give to Xia Boatman to commend him for his calm and capable performance along the way.
"In ancient Xuzhou, all the victory was lost. How many heroes were there?"
Xia Laosi's optimism and fearlessness and the happy nature of Xuzhou people infected Fang Yizhi, and his mood slowly came out of the gloomy cloud after his father's death.
Fang Yizhi had a smile on his face. He knew clearly that the merchants at the dock would ruthlessly kill foreign strangers, but he still bought dozens of useless groceries in one go. Of course he could tell at a glance that this was a fake. Just because Fang Yizhi was in a happy mood, he asked his servant to buy the calligraphy. He was still thinking about it when he saw Wu Weiye next time. , you must use this character to tease him.
When he walked out of the pier, he saw several officials sent by Shi Kefa waiting there. Although Fang Yizhi felt a little regretful that Shi Kefa did not come to greet him in person, but now Shi Kefa was already a noble man. I am a slayer of ministers, so I can’t compare with others!
The officials who came to greet him were all very kind. Because it was noon, they all advised Fang Yizhi to have a meal and rest before reporting to the official office.
The place to eat and drink was a restaurant near Yanzilou. Although it was just a temporary lunch, the officials who came to greet Fang Yizhi did not slack off. They specially asked the shopkeeper to invite him from the nearby Fengyue Restaurant. There were more than a dozen singers and maidens. Although this kind of pomp was far less than one-tenth of the Qinhuai Fengyue that Fang Yizhi was used to seeing, it still showed the true affection of the petty officials in fawning over Shi Kefa's friends.
The singers walked to the front of the banquet with charming smiles, and persuaded the guests to drink the cups in front of the door, poured them a round of hot wine, then tapped the sandalwood board, slowly opened their red lips, and sometimes used a lingering expression.
It is a popular piece sung with extended notes as slow as possible, and the lyrics are mostly written by Fang Yizhi's old friends who have returned to society.
"Chu Mountain is the city and Surabaya is the pond. Xuzhou's wind and moon scenery is no less than Qinhuai, which is ten miles away!"
Fang Yizhi couldn't help but be intoxicated by the peaceful scenery of singing and dancing swallows. He took the wine offered by the singers and took a reserved sip. Then he saw a musician playing the zither, and suddenly his hands itched and he wanted to
Go and play a song yourself.
Fang Yizhi drank very little wine, but he seemed to be a little drunk. He stood up with the wine glass and walked towards Qin Zheng. When he passed by the window, he suddenly heard a noisy shouting, and he couldn't help but feel
Out of curiosity, I turned my head slightly toward the window.
I don't know what happened outside the restaurant. There were many people running around and shouting something. Fang Yizhi frowned and listened carefully again before he heard clearly what the shout was:
"The Donglu captured Yanzhou on the 20th and the whole city was massacred! The Donglu captured Yanzhou on the 20th and are about to reach Xuzhou. Run quickly!"
With a clang, the wine glass in Fang Yizhi's hand fell to the ground, and he and the officials in the building looked at each other.