Chapter 188: Leaving the Hometown and Entering Beijing
Chapter 188: Leaving hometown for Beijing
At the beginning of August when summer turned to autumn, Suzhou Prefecture welcomed a new branch guard, Su Songdao. In other words, the original Taoshi master was leaving, but the imperial court allowed him to take up an official position and still gave him a crown and belt as usual.
Show dignity to the veteran.
From March of the beginning of the year to August now, Master Shi Lunshi only served as Taoist priest for five months before he sadly resigned. This was probably a result that no one had expected in advance. A generation of capable ministers were defeated in Maicheng, and so
People sigh.
The handover was completed within a few days. Mr. Shi had nothing to do and did not want to stay sad for a long time. He boarded the ship in a low-key manner that day and was about to leave for his hometown.
It is said that the right gate was recently built in the west of Suzhou City and Litang was opened. The water channels of the new city gate are wider and easier to navigate than Changmen, and can also lead to the canal. Therefore, people who are close to the city will not go to Changmen if they want to leave the city.
Master Shi's ships took this new road and sailed.
In the cabin, Master Shi and Mr. Gao sat across from each other and talked, "Now that I have accomplished nothing and returned home, I am afraid that I will delay you, so I would like to recommend you to go to a friend's place to set up a curtain."
Mr. Gao said with emotion: "Don't worry, Dong Weng. I also plan to go home. In the future, I will write down what I have seen and heard in these years into a book, and my travels around the world will not be in vain. But Dong Weng, do you really want to go away like this? Not even a person."
There was no farewell ceremony."
Lord Shi said sadly: "The times are bad, what can you do if you don't go back?"
I didn't say a few words, but I heard the noise of people outside, shouting and screaming one after another.
Mr. Gao pushed out the window and looked out, and saw hundreds of people gathered on the bank and running along the river. Someone shouted: "Sir, go slowly! I am grateful for my kindness and would like to practice it with a small amount of wine! I hope you will not hesitate to give me a favor and make your heart happy."
think!"
Mr. Gao suddenly became excited and turned around and said: "Look, proprietor, this is the people's heart! The people's heart is gratifying! There is a scale for right and wrong!"
Master Shi, who was sitting upright, couldn't help but glance out a few times, with mixed feelings in his heart. Not all people in Suzhou Prefecture are unruly people. A good official like him is a good official after all, and the eyes of the masses are
Sharp.
Master Shi was so excited after being recognized that he got up and walked out of the cabin to the deck. He felt even more ashamed and sighed to speak.
Unexpectedly, someone snatched Mr. Shi's line and shouted loudly: "Elders, why are you like this! How dare I be an official! Please come back!"
Mr. Shi, whose eyes were full of tears, was indulging in sentimentality and could not extricate himself. He suddenly heard this unfamiliar but unforgettable voice. He was so dizzy that he almost spit out a mouthful of blood. Mr. Gao behind him could not help but look up to the sky and was speechless.
Next to it is a large ship with a length of more than ten feet from bow to stern and a side height of six or seven feet. On the bow of the ship, with jade standing in the wind and clothes fluttering, who is it if it's not Li You?
Mr. Shi and Mr. Gao had also noticed this parallel ship just now, but they didn't think much about it. Who would have thought that it was Li You's ship? In fact, Li You didn't expect that Mr. Shi was quietly leaving in the boat next to him.
It can be said that enemies never get together. The two of them happened to meet together again, just like when Mr. Shi took office.
It turned out that the group of people on the shore were all here to greet Li You. But they shouted to Sir to move slowly, which made Master Shi think they were seeing him off, which was very pretentious.
Mr. Shi packed up and left today, but how could Mr. Li also leave? It was a coincidence that the two enemies left Suzhou Mansion on the same day. God can be quite funny sometimes.
For Li You, important official matters such as changing the road in Suzhou Prefecture were no longer his concern. The imperial court ordered the replacement prisoner to enter school in October. It was already mid-August and he couldn't leave without leaving.
Fortunately, the water and land project in Xicheng has been completed, so Mr. Li became the second person to build a new city gate after King Wu Helu built the city and opened it two thousand years ago. From the 7th year of Jinghe, there was one more gate in the eight gates of Gusu, a famous city in the world.
Right gate, so his mark and name have been firmly engraved in Suzhou Mansion.
The Zhao family held a funeral the day before yesterday, and Li You sold another favor. He didn't care about good or bad luck, so he officially opened the newly built water and land gates on this day to let the Zhao family's funeral procession out of the city. This also gave the Zhao family a big face and won the boss Zhao Liangyi.
Two letters from each other.
Apart from this, the pawnshop had asked Mr. Huang to take care of it, and the family affairs were entrusted to Zhao Liangli, a senior official, so he had nothing to worry about.
When he entered Beijing this time, Li You brought 500 taels of silver with him, and he was accompanied by three people. Needless to say, Zhang San was the one who followed him, and the two people who were more than usual were Xiaozhu brother and sister.
Xiaozhu's elder brother was a strong man named Han Zong. He did heavy work all year round and had a lot of strength. Moreover, he had served in the capital and had some experience. After seeing him, Li You thought he could be used, so he kept him by his side as a long-term worker.
Sui, part-time bodyguard and thug.
As for Xiaozhu, at the suggestion of Aunt Jin, the whole family collectively decided to give it to Li You to take with him on the road. Because the master has many inconveniences outside, he always needs someone to take care of him. Xiaozhu, who comes from a poor family, can endure hardships and is in good health.
He is also smart, so it is best to go out with the master.
What's more, after Aunt Jin has an extra daughter in her room, she has a nanny and a nanny, so there is no shortage of Xiaozhu as a maid.
When the people of the Li family watched the happy farewell, Xiaozhu, who had evil intentions, followed the master and made a bet: when the master returns home next time, will Miss Xiaozhu still be a girl?
The big boat Li You took was of course not his, but borrowed from the Song family. The boat was named Xiaolou. It was wide and large, with two floors inside and outside, and was comfortably furnished. It was specially built for long-distance travel.
Coming back to the topic, Mr. Shi inadvertently did not realize that he was being sentimental. He saw Li You's big boat slowly passing by his own boat. He shook his head and returned to the cabin. He could no longer be angry with that person.
Mr. Gao was afraid that the proprietor would feel depressed, so he pretended to be angry and said: "Opportunistic people can only seek fame and reputation! People in the world often feel that this is wrong!"
Over there, Li You didn't go ashore either. He just stood on the bow of the boat and exchanged a few words with the people on the shore before waving his hand and leaving. He and Mr. Shi said goodbye to Suzhou Mansion one after another.
The capital is more than two thousand miles away from Suzhou, and it takes about a month to travel by canal waterway. After crossing the river in just two or three days, I suddenly felt that the scenery on both sides of the river had changed. Along the canal, there were big cities along the way, including Yangzhou, Huai'an, Xuzhou, and Jining.
Linqing and other places are, of course, also where major customs offices are located.
It's a pity that Li You didn't have enough time. He only had to hurry and didn't have the time to slowly travel around the mountains and rivers. He only arrived at Linqingzhou, Dongchang Prefecture, and got off the boat for a day.
Without him, this is the hometown of Chen Xundao. Among the stack of letters Li You carried, one was a letter from Chen Xundao, asking him to take it back to the Chen family along the way.
In addition, Li You also made a small fortune. When he was anchored in Yangzhou, he met a businessman who was familiar with the Song family. He was about to sell goods north, so he took the opportunity to go with Li You and gave Mr. Li fifty taels of silver as a gift.
Because Mr. Li has a seventh-grade official status, although it is nothing in the world, one practical advantage is that he can get tax exemption after passing the customs, which saves the merchant countless troubles. Not for the sake of acquaintances, fifty taels will never buy seven
It was made by Mr. Li as an amulet.
There is nothing else to say on the way. One day in mid-September, before dark, I heard the boatman say: "Master Li! We are almost at Tongzhou Pier!"
Li You let out a long breath and finally reached the terminal. Even Li You, a southerner who is accustomed to water, couldn't stand it after being on the boat for a month.
Tongzhou is located east of the capital and is the northern terminus of the canal. It is known as the Royal Pier. People and things who want to enter the capital can disembark here and transfer overland.
Seeing that it was too late today, Li You had to stay in Tongzhou for one more night before going to Beijing tomorrow.