Chapter 299: A Small Tour of the Qujiang River (Part 1)
Early the next morning, a carriage stopped at the gate of Qingxu Palace. After a while, Guo Song came out of the small gate with a few followers and led a few horses.
Today Guo Song changed into a new suit of clothes he just bought, a light green sweatshirt, a black gauze hat on his head, a leather belt around his waist, black leather boots, and a long sword at his waist. In addition, he has a tall and straight figure.
, a pair of sharp eyes that can see through people's hearts, which makes him even more extraordinary.
"Junior brother, get on the carriage, you don't need to ride a horse!" Zhang Leili pulled the curtain and shouted.
Guo Song got on his horse and said with a smile: "Senior brother, just follow me as your bodyguard!"
"I can't afford to have a bodyguard like you follow me."
Zhang Lei took another look at Kang Bao, who looked like a black bear, and secretly smacked his lips, where did the junior brother find such a majestic figure.
He pulled the curtain and ordered: "Let's go!"
The driver flicked his long whip, and the carriage started slowly, turning around and driving towards the gate of the square. Guo Song and his entourage followed on horseback.
Qujiang Pool is the largest lake in Chang'an City. Half of it is inside the city and half is outside the city. On the east bank of Qujiang Pool is the royal garden Furong Garden. There are countless pavilions and pavilions in the garden and countless spectacular palaces. The Furong Garden faces the water on one side.
It is surrounded by city walls and is heavily guarded, making it impossible for ordinary people to enter.
Every summer, the emperor, his concubines, and children, protected by thousands of guards, would come to the Furong Garden to spend the summer.
The huge emperor's team will not walk through the streets. They will go through the passage between the walls. The Chang'an city wall is divided into two inner and outer walls. The two walls are separated by a hundred steps, and a hundred-step wide passage between the walls is formed in the middle. No matter whether they come from the outside
When returning to Beijing or going to Qujiang Pond for vacation, they all go through the passage with a wall. Thousands of people gather there, and the people of Chang'an cannot see them at all.
To the west of Qujiang Pool is an ordinary garden, which is a vast area for leisure and outings for scholars and common people. To the south of Qujiang Pool is an area for the elite, with hundreds of various gardens and houses built, all owned by relatives of the royal family and powerful officials.
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Of course, ordinary people can also take a boat trip. There is a cruise ship dock in the northwest corner with a variety of boats and boats. You can charter a boat as a family, or you can buy a ticket to board a large boat.
However, whether it is a pleasure boat or a sailing boat, it cannot get close to the Furong Garden on the east coast. There are palace guards' boats patrolling the coast.
There is an artificial island in the center of the lake called Qingqiu Island. There are piers on both sides to park boats. Regardless of status, this island only values money. As long as you have money, you can drink in the island's restaurants and enjoy the scenery, or even stay on the island for one night.
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Being next to Furong Garden, the price is of course extremely expensive. First of all, the fee to go to the island is 100 guan per person, and then whether it’s drinking or accommodation, it’s several times the price in the city.
Although it is expensive, big businessmen with lower status are willing to pay to come here to enjoy the life of the powerful and satisfy their vanity.
The carriage stopped at the pier in the northwest corner. Guo Song and his entourage also turned down. Zhang Lei came out of the carriage and smiled at Kang Bao and others: "The boat is relatively small and cannot seat so many people. You can choose a few.
If you want to take a boat trip around the lake, I will charter a separate boat for you. If you want to eat and drink on the shore, you can go to the best restaurant in Qujiang. You can eat and drink as much as you like, and I will pay the bill!"
Kangbao and others all looked at Guo Song. Guo Song smiled and said: "There will be many days of boating in the future! It's rare that proprietor Zhang is so generous. Just eat and drink with open stomachs. Even if you eat tens of thousands of taels of silver, his eyes will be blind."
Blink."
Everyone laughed, and the fat on Zhang Lei's face trembled. He quickly estimated in his mind that even if he eats delicacies from the mountains and seas, drinks the best Meishou wine, and makes a few pink balls for fun, he will still have to spend thousands of dollars.
He patted his chest and said, "You can go eat and drink. I still have a few bottles of the best Meishou wine in my carriage, which I have given to you."
Everyone was overjoyed and quickly saluted and thanked Zhang Lei. Zhang Lei pointed to a painting boat and said to Guo Song: "That's the painting boat. Junior brother, get on first. Your sister-in-law's boat will come directly later. I will take them to Qu."
Jiang Restaurant, will be here soon."
Zhang Lei took his two personal guards and Kang Bao and others to Qujiang Restaurant.
Guo Song boarded the painting boat alone. The painting boat was actually quite small. It could seat more than a dozen people. The interior was very elegantly furnished. There were also two maids serving tea and water. Compared with other painting boats and cruise ships, it seemed more expensive. Of course, the price
Not cheap either.
"Excuse me, is this Master Zhang the boss?" the boss of the boat stepped forward and asked with a smile.
"I am a friend of proprietor Zhang. He goes to the restaurant and will come over soon."
"My surname is Qiao. Everyone calls me Qiao San. I have been sailing in Qujiang for almost thirty years. If you need anything, please just give me your orders."
Guo Song smiled and nodded, "Is this your boat?"
"This is not my boat. This kind of boat is very expensive and I can't afford it. I'm just a boat captain."
"How much does it cost to rent this boat for a day?" Guo Song asked again.
The boatman made horoscopes with his hands and said in a low voice: "It's either expensive or rich to rent this boat. The minimum payment is 80 guan for a day, and we will also be given some tea money, which is about 100 guan in total."
"What kind of boat?" Guo Song nodded to the boat next to him.
"Sir, it's really incomparable. That kind of painted boat is very light, and it rocks when you get on it. If you're in a bad state, you'll get seasick. But it's not cheap. It costs twenty guan for a day, and five guan for a small wupeng boat. In the end,
The cheapest one is the Datong Cruise, which costs 500 cash per ticket, takes a bunch of people you don’t know, and then goes around twice and it’s over, less than an hour.”
“It’s actually quite expensive.”
"Of course it's very expensive. Locals don't really take boats because they find it too expensive. Mainly people coming to Beijing from outside the country want to see what the royal gardens look like and what the palace where the emperor lives looks like. We are not surprised.
, when An Lushan's army entered the capital, there was no one guarding the palace. We even went to the Daming Palace for a tour together. In fact, it was just that. Living alone in such a big palace was so scary!
"
The boss of the boat was very talkative and boasted to the highest pitch.
At this time, Zhang Lei hurried over and said with a smile: "Everything has been arranged, let's go!"
"Aren't you waiting for sister-in-law?" Guo Song asked.
"Your sister-in-law's boat is waiting for us at the mouth of the lake, and we'll go pick them up."
Guo Song was a little puzzled. He could go to the garden house and go directly by land. Why did he have to take a boat and hire such an expensive boat? However, thinking of Zhang Lei's wealth, he didn't bother to ask.
The two of them got on the boat. The boss of the boat stretched his pole and the boat slowly left the shore.
At this moment, several servant-looking people came galloping over on horseback, waving and shouting: "The ship is back!"
The boss of the ship clasped his fists and said, "Sir, this ship has been chartered by a guest. I'm sorry!"
"Fart! Come back to me quickly, or else I'll make you look good."
Several servants yelled and began to threaten the boss of the boat. The boss of the boat looked at Zhang Lei with embarrassment, and Zhang Lei waved his hand, "Ignore them, just sail the boat!"
This kind of boat disputes often happened, and the boat boss had seen it many times. In the end, it was the proprietor who came forward to quell the dispute. He had to sigh secretly, pretend to be deaf and dumb, and punt the boat away.
Several servants cursed each other on the shore and had no choice but to turn around and report to the master. Speaking of which, these people were stupid enough to jump on the boat and chase the boat back, but they didn't think of it.
Guo Song soon felt the comfort of this boat. The hull was very heavy and very stable. As the boat rowed along the waves, he did not feel that he was sailing at all. The water was as clear as a mirror and the breeze was gentle. It was refreshing and pleasant. After a while,
, the unpleasantness caused by the group of people just now disappeared.
There was fragrant tea and fine snacks on the table, and the two maids served very attentively. They must have received generous tips.
"Where is their ship!" Zhang Lei suddenly pointed at a passenger ship and shouted.
Guo Song was startled, who were they? Besides Li Wenyu, who else was there? Guo Song immediately realized that they should be Zhang Lei's two children and wet nurse.
The boat slowly approached and the boat was set up. Two young women were seen coming out of the boat canopy. Guo Song said "buzz!" and the girl in the back with a white dress as white as snow turned out to be Xue Tao.
He suddenly understood that the two senior brothers had made arrangements so that he and Xue Tao could be together.
Li Wenyu was very skilled. She came over lightly and took Xue Tao's hand to get on the boat. However, she went back. She suddenly glared at Zhang Lei and said, "Damn fat man, why are you still standing there?"
Zhang Lei reacted and ran over quickly. He tilted his body and almost fell into the water.
Xue Tao was also stunned, "Sister, what are you doing?"
Li Wenyu said with a smile: "The boat is too crowded and can't accommodate so many people, so we won't go."
Xue Tao suddenly saw Guo Song coming out of the house. He was so embarrassed that he quickly called out: "Sister, I'll sit with you."
"Let's talk about it next time!"
Li Wenyu had already removed the planks of the boat, winked at her, and then said to the boatman: "You just follow my boat."
The passenger ship sailed towards the south bank as soon as it swayed.
Xue Tao had no choice but to straighten his hair and give Guo Song a Wanfu gift, "Brother Guo, long time no see."
Guo Song scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "I just came back yesterday. I was originally going to be a guest at your home tonight to see you. I didn't expect that I really didn't know what to say? My senior brother hid that from me. You
Are your parents in good health?"
Seeing his incoherence, Xue Tao couldn't help but feel amused, so he pursed his lips and said with a smile: "My parents are both in good health, why don't you invite me in to sit down?"
Guo Song slapped his forehead and blamed himself: "Look, I'm really confused. It's windy outside. Miss Xue quickly came in and sat down."
Xue Tao's eyes flashed, he glanced at Guo Song affectionately, and walked into the cabin gracefully.