875, The Destruction of the Eight Imperial Merchants VII
At this time, Zhangjiakou was divided into two parts. One part was protected by city walls and was called Baozili (local pronunciation). The other part was a shantytown without city wall protection, surrounding the perimeter of Baozili.
Baozili is the common name of Zhangjiakou Fort. Zhangjiakou Fort is the earliest castle in Zhangjiakou, the "origin" and "root" of Zhangjiakou. According to historical records, Baozili was built during the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty and had a history of 200 years by the end of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhuzi and other people came to Zhangjiakou and found a large car shop in the shantytown to set up camp. At this time, they all disguised themselves as a caravan pulling camels.
The largest number of people in Zhangjiakou are caravans. They have many camels, which is more in line with their status.
Zhuzi and Xiaohong were entering the castle with a few people.
"Brother Zhuzi, let's pretend to be husband and wife. You are my husband. After my family was broken up, I was sold to your family as a child bride. Your family is in the camel caravan business. We are both from Jizhou. This is our identity and background.
You know it by heart. Don’t make any mistakes."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to Zhu Zhu, asking him to memorize it.
Zhuzi blushed a little. He and Xiaohong had a relationship after all. He never dreamed that his ex-girlfriend would become his superior. She actually asked him to pretend to be a couple with her. It was really dumbfounding.
"Well, this subordinate thinks that your brows are still there, sir. You look like a young girl at first glance. Isn't it too, that, too obvious to pretend to be husband and wife? Why don't you pretend to be brother and sister? This is more suitable."
Hong'er rolled her eyes at him and said, "Why, I pretended to be husband and wife with you, and I still wronged you. Naturally, I am not worthy of Captain Chen with my handsome appearance."
Zhu Zhu quickly waved his hand and said: "There, there. Your Excellency is a fairy from heaven who has come down to earth. It is my subordinates who dare not act presumptuously."
Hong'er rolled her eyes at him and said, "Humph, you know what's going on. We haven't consummated our marriage yet, so there's nothing hard to explain about it. Let's go out this time to find some work for the camel team. The couple is looking for some relatives.
Isn’t it perfectly normal?”
At the gate of the fort, there were officers and soldiers from several guard posts conducting inspections and collecting city gate taxes. Zhuzi showed the prepared road guide and quietly stuffed a piece of silver into the general flag. He entered the fort smoothly.
At that time, Zhang Wen was commanded to preside over the construction of Zhangjiakou Fort. The investment was huge and the city was built solidly.
There are strange things all around the fort. The city is three feet and two feet high. There are gates on the southeast and two sides. The east gate is called "Yongzhen" and the south gate is called "Chengen"."
When Zhu Zhu entered the city, he looked up and found that the words Cheng'en Gate were written on the city gate. They entered the city from the south gate.
Because there are East and West Taiping Mountains facing each other like a huge mouth to the north of the fort, there were many people with the surname Zhang in the local area in the early days, so it was named "Zhangjiakou".
Hong'er walked in front, and Zhu Zhu followed behind carrying a sack.
There are bustling commercial streets along the way. There are many shops along the way, which makes Zhuzi unable to see enough. He did not expect that the border city outside the wall is so prosperous.
Along the way, we passed more than 50 temples such as Qianfo Temple, Guandi Temple, Nainai Temple, Zhenwu Temple, and Chenghuang Temple. You can also see the Jade Emperor Pavilion on the north city wall in the distance.
The Wenchang Pavilion in the center of the castle is a good place for local literati to climb up, overlook, and compose poems... Wenchang Pavilion is surrounded by cross-shaped streets, and the residences of eight local giants are concentrated on the east street of Wenchang Pavilion.
Zhuzi saw that this street was full of very grand gatehouses. He couldn't help but ask, which one are we looking for?
Hong'er said: "Look, there are a total of eight mansions here, and these are the eight richest families in Shanxi. After passing Wenchang Pavilion, the largest mansion on the east street is the Fan Family Courtyard. My cousin is here
I am a middle-level manager here."
Along the way, Hong'er chatted with Zhuzi about his cousin's situation. He went to Fan's shop as an apprentice at the age of sixteen.
Later, by chance, he was assigned to serve the young master Fan Yongdou, who was not valued much. Unexpectedly, Fan Yongdou soon became a prominent figure in the family.
Hong'er's cousin Zhao Tingdong was also promoted and now works as the second housekeeper in Fan Yongdou's house, and is also the manager of the Tongfu store.
Zhuzi complained: "We are here to visit distant relatives who have not been in contact with each other for many years, so we have to get some good things. It's inappropriate for me to just carry a sack with some local specialties."
It’s appropriate.”
Hong'er said with a smile: "We came here to ask for help in order to find work. If we act like we are rich, we will be suspected. After all, we haven't been in contact with each other for so many years. If we dress more raggedly, we will appear poorer, right?
bad thing."
Soon, the two of them arrived in front of the Fan Mansion. Hong'er stepped forward and said to the servant in front of the door.
"Brother, my boss and I came from my hometown to see my uncle. Please make it convenient for you to inform me." He said and handed over a door bag with fifty coins in it.
The servant collected the door bag, weighed it with his hands, and said with a satisfied smile: "Sister, what is your uncle's name?"
"My uncle's name is Zhao Tingdong, and he is in charge of the affairs in this mansion." Hong'er said as she handed her name thorn forward.
"It turns out he is Butler Zhao's nephew. I'm sorry, please wait a moment. I'll report it right away." The servant handed over his hand and turned around to go in and report.
Zhu Zhu put down the sack and looked at the gate carefully. He couldn't help but nod. This gate was really impressive. No wonder the master wanted to attack them. These grandsons must have made a lot of money.
Zhao Tingdong is drinking tea in his duty room. At his level, there is usually not much to do. If something happens, the people below are arranged to do it. They have a lot of free time.
Moreover, Zhao Tingdong is just Fan Yongdou's housekeeper. In this mansion, there are old masters, old ladies, and more than a dozen masters of the young master's generation. Zhao Tingdong is only in charge of the affairs of Fan Yongdou's house.
After receiving the famous assassin from Hou San, Zhao Tingdong looked at it for a long time before he remembered that he did have such a distant relative.
When I came to Zhangjiakou (the place name here is also called Zhang Huan) to seek a living, my family was too poor and couldn't survive. At that time, there were fellow villagers from the same village working for the Fan family in Zhangjiakou, so I could take myself to apply for a job as a clerk. However,
, the family cannot afford travel expenses.
In the end, it was this distant relative who lent me two taels of silver as travel expenses to Zhangjiakou because they owned ten acres of paddy fields as an oil press. It was almost twenty years ago.
"They are relatives from my hometown. Please invite them to my place." Zhao Tingdong said.
Zhao Tingdong thought, maybe he encountered some difficulties in his hometown and wanted to come to me for help. After all, he is considered to be a distinguished person. In the eyes of his relatives in his hometown, he is considered a figure.
Hong'er and Zhuzi followed the servant who led the way into Fan Mansion.
Zhuzi was also a little surprised by the scale of Fan Mansion. The courtyard building is very sophisticated. The wood, bricks and stonework are exquisite. Moreover, there are several deep courtyards inside and outside, and the courtyard is lined with high walls. It is very solid.
Zhu Zhu thought to himself that he should find out the military situation in this fort as soon as possible. The big merchants here have their own armed forces, and there are local guards stationed there. But they are tough...