After recruiting a circle of useful officials in Nanjing, poaching military talents, and finding enough supporters for the Lijin Reform, it was almost mid-February.
Shen Shuren spent more than twenty days in Nanjing to lay out the plan. He could no longer delay and must return to Huangzhou to take office as soon as possible.
Over in Huangzhou, spring plowing should have begun, and the prefect Zhang Huangyan must be very busy, as he, the prefect, has temporarily taken over the work of persuading farmers to farm and improve technology.
Moreover, Shen Shuren knew that since the Lantern Festival, when he came to Nanjing to make arrangements, his father Shen Tingyang had also personally escorted the first batch of grain this year to the north since late January.
Calculating the days, it takes fifteen days to reach Tianjin by sea. If you go to Shanhaiguan for a detour, it will take another three to five days. So Shen Tingyang should have arrived in the capital by now, and he can report to Chongzhen at any time to formally request the implementation of the Lijin Reform. .
Therefore, Chen Shuren's operation does not seem to be a big risk, but in fact it only allows victory but not defeat, otherwise his father's side will not be able to move forward.
From Nanjing to Beijing, the overall situation is a big chess game, and no one can fall behind.
…
February 12, on the Yangtze River pier at the mouth of the Qinhuai River in the west of Nanjing.
There are more than a dozen large fortune ships with a tonnage of at least 400, and there are more large sand ships, majestically moored there, waiting to pick up important guests and set sail.
Of course, the sand boat belongs to the Shen family, and the lucky boat was temporarily allocated by the Zheng family in the past ten days, which shows its energy.
Other grassroots officials who needed to go to Huangzhou and Suizhou, such as Yan Yingyuan and Zhang Mingzhen, were also arranged by Chen Shuren to take the boat and take office together.
In a restaurant next to the pier, many people came to see him off, and the scene was very grand.
Of course Wumeicun is coming to see Chen Shuren and Zheng Chenggong off.
Zhang Guowei, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, and Xu Shiqi, the Minister of Personnel Affairs, also came to share some words of encouragement with Chen Shuren.
Zhang Guowei looked very confident, saying that after the implementation of the Lijin Reform, it would definitely solve the military expenditure problem of the armies of the Southeast Plaintiffs and help reduce the burden on the court.
Chen Shuren said goodbye to them one by one.
In addition to the official entertainment here, in the private room upstairs, there were also many female visitors who came to see off the female family members that the Shen family was taking away.
Mainly because Chen Shuren took away Li Xiangjun. With Li Xiangjun's reputation in the Nanqu circle, it was inevitable for the other courtesans to say goodbye. Liu Rushi and Gu Mei were here, not to mention Bian Yujing.
Liu Rushi and Gu Mei were both experienced and experienced. Liu Rushi just glanced at Li Xiangjun, and Liu Rushi was a little surprised. He secretly pulled her aside and asked a few words casually:
"Sister Li, I remember you... were ransomed by Shenfutai for more than ten days, right?"
Li Xiangjun nodded shyly: "Sister, you really forget things, there's no need to ask."
Liu Rushi: "Looking at your facial features, you should still be in perfect condition, right? Or maybe he just..." in the past two or three days.
Li Xiangjun blushed and lowered his head: "It's true. Sister, don't ask about the secret. The young master has his own big things to do when he redeems me. Maybe I'm too busy lately with all the things I have to do, so I don't want to talk about it."
Liu Rushi didn't ask any more questions, but her mind changed and she guessed that Shen Shuren was up to some big conspiracy, so he had better not inquire about it.
After Liu Rushi and Gu Mei said goodbye to her, Bian Yujing reluctantly came to her again and talked a lot of private words between sisters.
Li Xiangjun was not too sad this time. He hugged his sisters and whispered a surprise:
"Don't be sad, sister. We will still have opportunities to get together in the future. I believe that the young master will not work in Huangzhou for too long and will definitely be promoted. If I have the opportunity to return to Nanjing, I can reminisce with you."
Bian Yujing sighed: "How can a miserable person like us get the chance to run around?"
Li Xiangjun smiled narrowly, took out a deed of betrayal from his arms, and waved it in front of Bian Yujing:
"Actually, when I was planning to pack up and set off yesterday, the young master realized his conscience and asked his servant to take five thousand taels of silver to redeem you. This is a fulfillment of his promise. He said that he will not enslave you and will directly give you your freedom.
The body is.
Don’t worry too much. I saw Mr. Umemura appreciate you before, and Mr. Umemura helped him with a lot of things this time and was unwilling to accept too much money privately. Although Mr. Umemura has no intention of doing anything to you, he still gives you your freedom.
I have paid off the favor between you and Mr. Umemura at the same time. It depends on your fate in the future, just let it take its own course."
Bian Yujing's eyes widened: "When did it happen? I don't know about it myself, how could my mother agree?"
Li Xiangjun: "As for what happened last night, my mother probably couldn't bear to part with you, and wanted to make peace with you for a few days. But I must tell you, lest you get cheated. Of course my mother couldn't bear to let you go, but the young master made such a big fuss last time.
Hou Fangyu's reputation was ruined.
Mother is now frightened. She is afraid of offending him and causing him to dig up dirt on his rivals, so she doesn't dare to hold a banquet and bid to redeem herself. If the young master seems to want to redeem himself, the fixed price is reasonable, so mother will accept the defeat.
Already."
Bian Yujing stared blankly at his bond of sale, confirming that he was free, and was moved to tears: "I understand, he is indeed an upright person. He must be out of respect for his teacher, so he only dared to return the favor.
I'll be free, thank you."
She finally hugged Li Xiangjun for a long time and watched Li Xiangjun and Chen Yuanyuan board the women's boat together.
…
The fleet sailed upstream on the river, taking about seven or eight days to complete the thousand-mile journey.
We set sail in the early morning of February 12th. In order to avoid being too tiring on the journey, and because there were civil servants and women in the fleet, we would also stop in to rest at night when we encountered suitable large ports on the way.
For example, Wankou Port in Huaining County, Anqing Prefecture, and Hukou Port, Jiujiang Prefecture.
On the night of February 15th, the fleet arrived at Wankou Port.
Chen Shuren rested all night, but early the next morning, a visitor came from Huaining County to see him. It turned out to be his old acquaintance, Fang Yizhi.
Chen Shuren was a little surprised to see this uninvited guest, and quickly made way to the boat, and the two of them also reminisced about old times.
Fang Yizhi revealed the answer to the mystery straightforwardly: "I heard that you made a big fuss in Nanjing last month and caused Hou Fangyu a lot of trouble. Even Maoxiang felt a little embarrassed by being involved.
In the past ten days, I have heard from several groups of friends from Nanjing lamenting your unreasonableness, so I know your schedule and have my servants come to Wankou Port every day to inquire about it.
We are brothers, so I won't be polite to you. I have a family letter here. My mother and aunt insisted that I write it and send it to my father. I originally wanted to send it by myself, or send it with him.
Station.
But my mother insisted on being worried and thought I was going to trouble, so she told me to ask my colleagues who were going to take office in Huguang to take it with me - I remember that after you returned home and officially took office as the prefect, you should also visit my father, right? Just treat it as a drop-in."
As he said that, Fang Yizhi gave Chen Shuren a home letter addressed to his father, Fang Kongzhen, the governor of Huguang.
The two of them were of the same age, so of course they couldn't refuse such a small thing. Shen Shuren accepted the letter readily and asked casually:
"Isn't my brother working as an official in Tongcheng? It's a long way to Huaining, right? What's going on with the thieves in Anqing these days? Have the remnants of Lin Chenggong in the ravines in Qianshan been wiped out by Shi Futai?"
Fang Yizhi was speechless: "How could it be so fast! The ice and snow accumulated in the middle of winter have just melted, and the roads in the mountains are muddy and difficult to walk. The troops will not be mobilized until at least early summer.
As for me, although I can't compare with my dear brother, I was also promoted to general magistrate of Anqing Prefecture just after the year, and I have been transferred to the prefectural administration, so it is very convenient to block you."
Chen Shuren was stunned and quickly congratulated, "Congratulations... I have neglected to inquire about it, and I don't know about the news about my brother's meritorious service and promotion."
Fang Yizhi curled his lips and said, "Are you trying to be mean to me? In the officialdom of Nanzhi and Huguang, no one knows that you Shen Shuren has been promoted very quickly. My daily hard work is nothing, it is just a routine promotion."
If it were peacetime in previous years, routine promotions would not be that fast. However, in the last years of Chongzhen, the last two Jinshi, especially those who were relatively young when they passed the exam, were generally promoted faster than normal.
Historically, Wei Zaode won the first prize in the 13th year of Chongzhen. Four years later, two months before Chongzhen's death, he became the chief minister of the cabinet. He was an extremely human minister! Who let the old ministers be killed and dismissed too quickly? Woolen cloth.
Fang Yizhi came from a serious scientific background, and his meritorious service was a little less than that of Zhang Huangyan, but his starting point was much higher than Zhang Huangyan. One was a civil servant and the other was a Jinshi. In the end, he was promoted at the same speed through different paths, which is reasonable.
After hearing this, Shen Shuren poured him a few glasses of wine. The two brothers drank for three rounds and said some words of encouragement to each other: "Then I hope that this year we brothers will join forces to eliminate Lin Chong, and we will also be in Shifu." Show your face there.
At that time, don’t be like the guards in other provinces and prefectures, who only know how to drive the bandits out and drive them into the mountains at the expense of their neighbors! That’s why the thieves in the Yinghuo Mountain Area have not been wiped out for so many years!"
Fang Yizhi: "Don't worry, as long as you try your best, dear brother, Shi Futai will never protect himself wisely!"
…
After making some supplies at Wankou Port and bidding farewell to Fang Yizhi, Shen Shuren's fleet sailed for another five days and finally arrived in Huanggang County smoothly.
Zhang Huangyan was already looking forward to it. He had been helping Shen Shuren handle government affairs for two whole months. Fortunately, there were few things to do in winter and everything could be done step by step. Otherwise, Zhang Huangyan would have been really busy.
"You're so cool as a hands-off shopkeeper! You promised to come back in early February, and it's already February 20th! Spring plowing has already started half a month ago! By the time you come back, the busiest farming season has passed, and you're still trying to persuade farmers to do nothing. !”
As soon as Zhang Huangyan met, he didn't wait for his cousin to get off the trestle and stand firm before he stepped forward and punched him twice. Of course, he didn't use much strength.
Chen Shuren had a rare playful smile on his face: "You and I are both capable and work hard. I didn't live in Nanjing, but I got a lot of helpers for you this time.
They also kidnapped the eldest son of the Zheng family here to be the prosecutor of Yanfa Road. By the way, the Zheng family also brought the elite Fuzhou and Hongyi cannons to escort their young master! If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools. We have it. The cannons originally produced by the Hongyi people will not be much easier to deal with the bandits this year."
Zhang Huangyan was dazzled by what he heard. The amount of information was too much and he couldn't accept it for a while.
However, he just glanced at the dock a few times and saw the female members of the Shen family coming down beside him. Besides Chen Yuanyuan, he also saw another stunning beauty who looked slightly familiar, but whom he probably didn't recognize.
He immediately got angry and said, "You are really a loser! You promised to do business in Nanjing, but you changed your concubine again!"
Chen Shuren said with a smile: "Aren't I afraid that my sister-in-law will be jealous? If you are not worried about being bitten by your sister-in-law, I will bring you one too. But I don't like to give away women, so I'll give it to you next time if I have a chance. Whoever you like, I'll pay for it."
Shen Shu people also have principles in life, that is, they can buy women, but they will never sell or give them away.
In ancient times, it was not illegal to buy someone, and it was impossible for him to go against the world.
But according to the common sense of law that he later learned, those who traffic in women are violating Article 240 of the Criminal Law, and are punishable by death at most. Those who buy women who are sold are violating Article 241, and are punished by up to three years in prison. Consider concurrent punishment for committing other crimes at the same time).
The sin of buying is of course much lighter than the sin of selling.
Therefore, his last trace of conscience can only allow him to ensure that when others are selling, he can save people from the sea of misery. But he himself must not sell or give away (he can let the woman go on her own, but cannot give away, cannot Directly transfer a woman’s personal rights to the control of others).
Zhang Huangyan was so angry at his nonsense that he laughed: "You guys, you still pretend to be a thief with me! Okay, you must find a way to compensate me anyway, this matter is not over yet!"