In order to set off a smoke bomb for the Zheng family, Shen Shuren asked his father to pretend to write a reply to the Nanjing Imperial College, and also made some other arrangements, which took a whole afternoon.
The next morning, the Shen family prepared their car early in the morning and waited for the eldest young master to go out.
On the third day after traveling to the Ming Dynasty, Chen Shuren finally went out for the first time.
The destination is not far away either, in Liujiagang Town, Taicang, there is a Zheng family business. Zheng Hongkui stayed there when he was in Suzhou.
Liujiagang in the Ming Dynasty was the largest river-sea transshipment port in the Yangtze River Estuary, and was also the starting point for Zheng He's seven voyages to the West.
The Zheng family claims to have a business network of "five merchants from mountains and seas". There are trading houses in Suzhou and Hangzhou responsible for purchasing sea trade goods. Of course, Liujiagang is also indispensable for the Zheng family's stronghold.
When he first went out, Shen Shuren was quite curious.
Although there was a part of the memory left by his physical body that allowed him to adapt to the lifestyle of the late Ming Dynasty, it was still a different feeling to see all kinds of things in the market with his own eyes.
Suzhou Prefecture is now the most prosperous place in the world, and the counties and scattered prefectures under its jurisdiction are all leading the way.
In Wu County, which is a prefecture, sericulture, embroidery, and luxury curios are extremely developed;
Taicang is an important center for river and sea transportation trade, where wealthy long-distance businessmen gather;
Kunshan, between Wuxian and Taicang, is a benchmark for cultural trends, and "Kun Opera" was born here.
In order to become more familiar with the situation, Shen Shuren ordered Shen Fu to take the carriage for a short circuit around the town. The original journey was only five or six miles, but it ended up being more than ten miles.
Along the riverside in the port area are various businesses, warehouses, and crowds of people. The most popular ones are rice shops, silk and satin shops, and cotton cloth shops.
A steady stream of grain ships brought grain from other places and unloaded it at Liujiagang. Silk from Suhu and cotton from Songjiang were then loaded onto ships and sold to various places in the Ming Dynasty, or they were transported south to Fujian and then resold overseas.
Chen Shuren looked at all this and was slightly surprised: "Suhu is familiar with the world" This proverb is so famous, how can there be a reason why in a land of plenty, one has to buy rice from outside?
But he soon thought of a possibility: it was probably because commerce was too developed and certain types of cash crops were more profitable.
He opened the curtain with a folding fan and confirmed with Shen Fu: "Ah Fu, go ask what the price of rice is now. Suzhou Prefecture has to buy grain from outside. Could it be that the fertile fields in the surrounding prefectures and counties are all planted with mulberry and silkworms?" "
"Young master, I don't know. The fertile fields of Su and Hu'er Prefecture are indeed used to plant mulberry and raise silkworms. Because the texture of Hu silk and Su silk is particularly fine and smooth, one of the best in the world. The price of a load of local raw silk can be as much as that of other places." More than two loads.
However, the soil in nearby Songjiang Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture is not as fertile as that around Taihu Lake. It is mostly barren sandy soil, which is not suitable for growing mulberry and raising silkworms. Fortunately, irrigation is still abundant, so kapok is widely planted. Less than half of the cotton used in Songjiang cotton cloth comes from Jiangbei. Planted."
Shen Fu first answered the second half of the young master's question, and then went to the rice store on the roadside to inquire about the market. After a while, he came back and added:
"Master, I just asked. This year's rice is very expensive. In previous years, early rice only cost one, two, eight, silver and one stone, and late rice was more expensive. But this year, the surplus grain in Jiaxing Prefecture is not enough, and there is also rice sold from Shaoxing Prefecture, which costs three dollars. Two or four cents. Even Zhejiang is experiencing a severe drought, and it hasn’t rained since the beginning of summer.”
Chen Shuren was shocked when he heard this figure. Prices in Suzhou are indeed ridiculously expensive.
When I looked at the bustling street scene in Suzhou Prefecture, I suddenly felt that the "filter" was different. Even the dying dock workers on the street looked more and more like refugees.
The natural disasters in the later period of Chongzhen were really exaggerated.
According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", from the 10th to the 14th year of Chongzhen, there were five consecutive years of severe drought every year - of course, it is impossible to have a nationwide drought at the same time, but at least 30 to 40% of the provinces will suffer from drought every year. Severe drought.
This year, even Zhejiang, which has a mild coastal climate, experienced a severe drought, which affected Suzhou's purchase of grain from outside. This is the end of the evil.
Fortunately, double-cropping rice has long been popularized in the south of the Yangtze River. Zhejiang still has enough rain this spring, so the summer grain harvest has been harvested. The current drought will only lead to the failure of the subsequent autumn grain harvest.
With two harvests a year, we can maintain one harvest without starving too many people.
But those provinces in the north that can only grow crops for one season will definitely be devastated if they encounter a drought of the same level. No wonder Zhang Xianzhong just pulled the flag and took over so many people.
Shen Shuren let out a long sigh, put down the car curtain, and was not in the mood to continue shopping. He ordered Shen Fu to drive directly to his destination.
Shen Fu had just arrived and didn't know much about the young master's temper. But he was good at observing words and expressions, so he quietly said:
"If the young master feels that you can't bear it, I will arrange for someone to distribute some copper coins to the hungry people on the dock, or ask someone to come and give out porridge tomorrow."
"No, there are too many people in this place, and there are frequent movements, so trouble will occur. I would rather go back and tell my father to increase the piece rate wages of the dock workers. But limit the daily workload and use a few more people."
After all, Shen Shuren has received a systematic education in public management, and he knows that directly throwing money will definitely lead to feuds and feuds, and the management costs are too high.
After hearing this, Shen Fu was quite impressed and quickly expressed that everything would be done as ordered.
The carriage soon arrived at the street where Zheng's business is located. It is located in the northeast corner of the town, at the intersection of Liuhe River and Yangtze River, and is also the busiest place in Liujiagang.
The Liuhe River is an important river in Suzhou, connecting Taihu Lake and the Yangtze River. The three prefectures and counties of Wu County, Kunshan and Taicang are also distributed along the Liuhe River. The place name Liujiagang is also because it is located at the mouth of the Liuhe River. And got its name.
Approaching Zheng's shop, Shen Shuren raised the car curtain and watched casually. He accidentally saw some strange phenomena, so he casually asked the servant:
"Shen Fu, this is already the busiest part of the port. Why are there warehouses on both sides of the road and fewer shops? There are so many places for leisure."
It turned out that Chen Shuren saw that many shops along the road were hung with colorful lanterns. Although they were not lit up in broad daylight, they could tell at a glance that they were entertainment venues.
After hearing this question, Shen Fu immediately became energetic and explained eloquently in a tone that "every man understands":
"This place is where scholars from Suzhou and Song Dynasty gather to take exams. During the year of the provincial examination, those who choose to take the Yangtze River waterway to Nanjing Qiuwei wait for the ship here. However, the big ship has to gather enough people before it will sail. Those who come early will , so I stayed here for a few days.
The prices in the halls nearby are fair, and many of them are run by local gentry who provide money, so they have formed a good relationship with the poor scholars - Young Master, the third one diagonally opposite is owned by our own family."
Chen Shuren nodded, but there were no more details. It was just some low-end entertainment venues, not worthy of curiosity.
…
When they arrived at Zheng's Trading Company, Shen Shuren asked someone to bring him a gift and then went straight inside.
After hearing the report, Zheng Hongkui also came out to express his condolences. The two sides exchanged words for a while, and outsiders would definitely mistakenly think that the two families had a good relationship.
Chen Shuren knows history, so he has no good impressions of anyone in the Zheng family except Zheng Sen.
Of course, there are different levels of antipathy. Shen Shuren also knows that Zheng Hongkui has a bit more backbone than his three brothers. In history, he has not directly surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. He also followed his eldest nephew Zheng Sen to fight against the Qing Dynasty. Contribution.
The two parties first exchanged a few polite words about Shen Shuren's condition, then entered the room and sat down respectively. Then Zheng Hongkui asked endlessly about the follow-up arrangements:
"My nephew seems to be in good spirits, but he still needs to be recuperated..."
Chen Shuren came prepared, and when he saw that the other party finally took the bait and talked about drama, he quickly put on a grateful expression:
"Speaking of this matter, I really want to thank Uncle Shi for helping me. To put it bluntly, I am not good at studying, and I didn't want to go to Nanjing. Unfortunately, my father was strict and kept forcing me to study. Fortunately, that day The doctor said that I still need to recuperate and I can skip school for a while."
Zheng Hongkui was stunned for a while, and it took him a while to figure out the reversal. He was overjoyed and relaxed his guard against Shen Shuren a little.
He thought to himself: "He is indeed a playboy and doesn't like reading. The rumors about this naughty boy are probably true. The only thing the Shen family needs to worry about is Shen Tingyang."
However, although he despised Shen Shuren for being a fool, he subconsciously felt that he was closer to him. After all, none of the Zheng family members liked to study, including Zheng Hongkui, who usually liked to make friends with bad guys.
After straightening out his thoughts, Zheng Hongkui was still a little unsure and asked for further details:
"My nephew, to put it bluntly, with your Shen family's wealth, what's the use of studying? Do you still have to donate a little money to become an official in the future? You can be at ease in Nanjing, and you are far away from the control of your family. You You really don’t want to go?”
This suspicion is very reasonable. Of course Shen Shuren had already thought of it before he came.
So he just showed a smile that any man can understand and explained in a pretending to be embarrassed:
"Well, I didn't want to say more about this matter. Some family scandals have been made public. But Uncle Shi is not an outsider. You should know that I had an quarrel with my father a while ago, and I accidentally suffered from heatstroke out of anger."
Zheng Hongkui answered calmly: "I have heard a little bit about it."
Chen Shuren: "What happened is that I wanted to buy a girl as a concubine for 10,000 taels, but my father refused to let go and kept my money. Even though I have recovered from my illness, I still refuse to let go. .
If I go to Nanjing, and I can't redeem my good friends here, wouldn't it mean that we have to separate the two places? Although there are many smoke and willows in Qinhuai even ten miles away, I am nostalgic, and I have to wait until I let go of things here before I can leave. .”
When Zheng Hongkui heard this, he immediately became more convinced.
It turns out that there are still a group of women here in Suzhou who can't let go! Shen Tingyang won't let him redeem those women, so he doesn't want to go to Nanjing!
But after thinking about it, Zheng Hongkui had one last doubt: "How could your family be so stingy in buying concubines?"
Chen Shuren pretended to sigh helplessly: "Actually, I also figured it out. My father is doing it for my own good. When he got married, he didn't have an official status yet, and his family was only very wealthy, so he couldn't marry a woman from the Zhongming Dingshi family. My late concubine came from a humble background, and was just the daughter of a talented scholar from Ningbo Prefecture.
Later, when my late concubine passed away and my father remarried, my stepmother's family background became much more prominent because she had already donated her official position in the Ministry of Household Affairs.
My father also didn't want me to follow his old path, so he always warned me not to take concubines, and not to rush into marrying early. Only after I donate my official position and get married can I marry a wealthy family. As for playing with maids and looking for flowers, he didn't care about me. of."
Speaking of this, Shen Shuren's tone seemed to be completely devoid of any pretense and he was just chatting with his friends. Zheng Hongkui completely believed him.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were many scholars who believed that they could go to high school or buy an official position. They were not in a hurry to get married and have concubines, but they just wanted to wait until they could get ahead and then marry a well-matched man.
Anyway, not having a wife does not mean that you cannot play with women. You can completely solve your physiological needs through other methods.
The Zheng family completely relaxed their vigilance, and after the two sides chatted for a while, Shen Shuren left a gift and stood up to say goodbye while laughing and talking.
Zheng Hongkui saw him off, but Shen Shuren stopped him and said casually: "Uncle Shi, there is no need to see him off. My nephew has some things to do. He is not in a hurry to go back home. He has to go to the dock."
"Going to the dock? We can help." Zheng Hongkui said casually.
Chen Shuren: "No, it's a trivial matter - my father wrote a reply to the Secretary of the Imperial College last night and asked me for sick leave. Today my family happened to have a ship to Nanjing, so I took the letter with me when I left. , send it to the ship and return.”
As Chen Shuren spoke, he naturally put an envelope in his sleeve that was sealed with wax but without a seal on the wax, flashed it in front of Zheng Hongkui's eyes, and then took back his sleeve.
Zheng Hongkui was already completely relieved about him, but he became alert again after hearing this.
He was afraid that after Shen Shuren delivered the letter and boarded the ship, he would follow the ship directly to Nanjing, so he quickly said: "What a coincidence? Uncle Yu also happened to remember that he has to pick up a batch of goods at the dock today, let's go together."
With that said, the two carriages of the Shen family and the Zheng family drove towards the dock one after the other.
As soon as Chen Shuren got into the car, Shen Fu, who was waiting for him to get in, also stepped up with a quick stride. Chen Shuren was slightly surprised, but still asked calmly: "Is everything prepared as planned?"
Shen Fu looked a little ugly and explained: "There was an accident just now. Yesterday, I ordered the sailors who were guarding our ship on the dock to be let out to rest, and I also gave them money to listen to music and drink.
Unexpectedly, when my second brother went to inspect this morning, he found that there were some overly diligent sailors who were still on the ship despite being given leave. Last night, one of our men obviously sat down on the bottom of the ship where hemp and tung oil had been applied. It was actually repaired by the diligent patrolling sailors.
My second brother came over hurriedly and told me about this just now, asking us to delay for another moment and a half before going to the dock, otherwise I am afraid that the experts of the Zheng family will see the flaw."
After Chen Shuren heard this, he immediately screamed secretly.
The original plan he made with his father was to send out all the Shen family's boats at the dock last night, leaving only one boat today.
Then this item was temporarily discovered during the inspection before sailing: "During the last docking for maintenance, the bottom of the boat was not brushed with enough tung oil for maintenance. In the event of strong winds and waves, there may be water seepage, and it must be re-inspected to postpone the sailing." .
This will give the Zheng family an opportunity and let Zheng Hongkui take the initiative to say, "Our Zheng family happens to have a ship to Nanjing, why don't we help you carry this letter."
This letter only had fire paint added, but no additional seal was added to the fire paint. It was just an ordinary private letter with a low confidentiality level. Therefore, as long as the Shen family's messenger boarded the Zheng family's ship, he would definitely take the opportunity to open it. , and then re-seal the paint after reading it secretly.
In this way, the smoke bomb that "Shen Tingyang really wants Shen Shuren to take long-term sick leave" was actually passed on to the Zheng family.
It's a pity that God's calculations are not as good as those of man.
In order to keep the secret as much as possible, the Shen family and his son knew that the fewer people who knew about this kind of thing, it would be impossible for ordinary sailors on their ship to know the inside story.
They originally thought that as long as they gave the sailors some money, found an excuse to take a day off, and transferred them, they would be able to successfully carry out sabotage.
Unexpectedly, a guy appeared among the sailors who volunteered to work for his master without overtime pay. He also stayed on the ship at night and diligently inspected, and as a result, he temporarily repaired the damaged tung oil anesthesia area!
When Shen Fu's second brother Shen Shou went to the ship to secretly inspect and confirm the acceptance early in the morning, he saw that the position just damaged last night had been repaired. He was dumbfounded and had to quickly remove the sailor who had worked overtime and did bad things, and then urgently carried out the damage a second time. .
On the other side, while Shen Shuren was chatting with Zheng Hongkui, he hurriedly notified Shen Fu who was waiting outside and asked him to delay for a while.
After Chen Shuren figured out the situation, he couldn't help but rub his temples with a headache: "How can we delay it now?"
Fortunately, Shen Fu and Shen Shou had already thought of a solution just now. Shen Fu said quickly: "Fortunately, I just inquired about it. Today, Master Biao happened to be holding a meeting at the Goulan restaurant that our family opened on the dock. Many people were invited." Guest - Young Master, do you still remember? It was the home-owned Goulan store we passed by on the way here this morning.
The carriage will pass by there in a while, please remember to open the curtain. My second brother has already informed the young cousin, and he will be seeing guests off at that time. I happen to see you, so take advantage of the opportunity to say goodbye to the Zheng family and say that you ran into relatives and friends on the way. I want to listen to a few songs along the way. Anyway, the letter delivery is not urgent, and our ship will not leave port until noon."
"Young master cousin? Which young master cousin?" Shen Shuren was still a little confused. He still didn't fully recognize his relatives at home.
Shen Fu did not doubt that he was there: "He is from the Zhang family in Ningbo, the late nephew of the late wife."
"Okay, let's do it this way." Shen Shuren thought about it for a while and nodded to indicate that it was feasible. Thanks to the Shen family's power in Taicang, which is also well-connected, there are many backup resources.
As soon as he decided on his plan, Shen Shuren opened the curtain of the carriage and pretended to watch the entertainment venues on both sides of the road.
After walking for a while, the carriage slowly passed by the Shen family's own Goulan store that they had met earlier. Then they saw several young men coming out, arm-in-arm, and said goodbye.
One of them, a young man who looked like his host, glanced at Shen Shuren and naturally exclaimed: "Hey? Is this a cousin of the Shen family in the car? Why are you here today? Please come quickly."
Shen Shuren also looked surprised and quickly stopped the car. Naturally, the Zheng family's carriage behind him was blocked by the road and stopped.
Chen Shuren got out of the car and exchanged greetings, then turned to Zheng Hongkui: "Uncle Shi, if you have something to go to the dock, I won't delay you. This is my cousin, Yuyao Zhang Cangshui. He is going to Nanjing to take the exam. He is passing by Taicang temporarily. We are waiting for the ship. We happened to meet each other on the road today, so I took the opportunity to listen to two songs to reminisce about old times before leaving."
Zheng Hongkui was originally here to monitor Shen Shuren, so he was not willing to leave first.
So he quickly said that he was not in a hurry. The Zheng family's ship would only be unloaded in the afternoon, so he could just be there before the unloading was completed.
So Zheng Hongkui also shamelessly entered the bar and listened to the music together.
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