Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 153 Arriving in Shanghai County for the First Time ([-])
Xu Dayong, who was following Zhao Xin, had sharp eyes. He saw the coachmen staring in a daze, and stepped forward to curse in Ningbo dialect: "Nong is familiar with the match point, then Am Zongsa came to leave his benevolent Xu with his head scratched." It's like a big-eyed benefactor!"

Zhao Xin and the others stared wide-eyed. He seemed to have heard the "Nong" and "Thirteen o'clock" in the front, but the latter was exactly the same as the scriptures.

Liu Sheng turned to Pan Xiucheng behind him and asked, "What did this guy just say? I didn't understand a word."

Pan Xiucheng said in a low voice: "It seems to be scolding those coachmen, but I can't understand it." Pan Xiucheng is from Dongtai, Jiangsu, and Xu Dayong speaks the dialect of Ningbo, Zhejiang. Only if he can understand it can he be called a ghost Woolen cloth!

When the coachmen saw Xu Dayong's clothes, they knew he was a servant.However, the family members of the family who were being stared at by me were curious, so they deserved the scolding, so the coachmen quickly bowed and apologized.Zhao Xin didn't pay attention either, he took a step forward and stepped on the cat's waist into the car.

Liu Siting asked, "What were they talking about just now?"

"I can't understand it. Xu Dayong seems to be swearing at people in local dialect. It's okay."

A group of three carriages, Shen Jingdan, Lao Huang, Zhao Xin and Liu Siting respectively.The four of Liu Sheng, who were dressed as bodyguards, could not ride in the carriage. They could only walk on foot on both sides of the carriage, pretending to be guarding the boss.Liu Zheng and Lu Shoushan trotted behind the carriage.

On Xiaodongmen Street, the bustling flow of people keeps shuttling, and there are row upon row of shops on both sides of the street.The signboards and banners of various shops are densely packed. There are soy sellers, wine sellers, rice sellers, rouge gouache sellers, restaurants, restaurants, porcelain shops, antique calligraphy and paintings, and everything; Fortune tellers, fish sellers, meat sellers and vegetable sellers, porters carrying burdens, bamboo silk sedan chairs and so on.

Liu Siting carefully opened the door curtain of a corner of the car, looked at the scene on the street and said, "It's so lively!"

"It turns out that Shanghai was so prosperous before it was opened as a port!" Zhao Xin was also very surprised to see such a prosperous street through the gap in the door curtain.

Although the vicinity of Shanghai County was very prosperous at this time, Guangzhou was the most prosperous port in this era, and even Zhapu Port in Jiaxing was more prosperous than Shanghai.Until the official opening of Shanghai in 1843, with the influx of foreign goods and the establishment of warehouses, docks, banks, and concessions, the center of Chinese and foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty gradually moved from Guangzhou to Shanghai.

There are a lot of rich sandboat merchants here in Shanghai, and they travel more ostentatiously than Zhao Xin and his group.It's just that when the vendors and pedestrians on both sides of the road saw the tall and burly Liu Sheng and others, they couldn't help but look sideways and exclaim: "These guys are so mighty!"

In southern Jiangsu, where the average height is 1.65, almost no one has ever seen someone as tall and strong as a bear like Liu Sheng; there are people like Wang Yuanfang who are less than 1.8 meters tall.For a time, more and more people looked strange on both sides of the street.The brave ones just stared at Liu Sheng and the others, pointing fingers; the timid ones peeked sideways and whispered to the people around them.

"I don't know how many bowls of rice this guy can eat in one meal."

"How many bowls? Oh, how many catties is about the same!"

"Looking at the appearance of these people, it looks like a nursing home."

"Who can afford to hire such a guy, and don't make the owner poor."

"Such a big guy, I'm afraid it wasn't changed by the mountain spirit?"

"I look like a spirit bear."

"Do you think Monk Hua, Lu Zhishen, is just like that?"

Originally, Liu Sheng and the others looked around curiously, but they didn't expect that they became the biggest strange people on the street.Although he couldn't understand what these locals were talking about, Liu Sheng saw countless eyes on the street looking at him and pointing fingers, so he quickly bowed his head, put one hand on the carriage, and strode forward.

Not to mention Liu Zheng at the back, he was afraid that the braids on his head would fall if they were not glued firmly, so he covered the back of his head with his hands and lowered his head to follow.Lu Shoushan, Pan Xiucheng, and Xu Dayong saw the scene, and hurried to the first carriage to clear the way so that pedestrians on the street could avoid it.

Fortunately, Shen Jingdan asked the sailors to drive the sandboat from the Huangpu River into the Fangbang Waterway outside Shanghai, and stopped outside Xiaodongmen.A few carriages walked east from Xiaodongmen Street, and after about one mile, they turned right into Xiangua Street; after walking a few dozen steps, they arrived at the gate of Shen Jingdan's house on Taiping Street.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Ah Si, the servant who heard the noise, already opened the door.After Shen and Huang waited for Zhao Xin and Liu Siting to get off the car, they raised their hands to invite them into the hospital.

This time Liu Siting didn't dare to jump out of the carriage by herself. She first waited for Zhao Xin to get down, and then waited for the other party to lift the curtain of the car, then she supported Zhao Xin's outstretched forearm and lowered her head to get out of the carriage; He followed behind Zhao Xin and walked into the courtyard with small steps.

When Liu Sheng and the others saw the usual arrogant Director Liu's appearance, they suppressed a smile and followed Lao Huang into the yard.Liu Zheng and Lu Shoushan also pretended to follow in with two satin bundles each.

After the courtyard door was closed, Xu Dayong, who leaned his ear on the courtyard door, nodded to several people in the courtyard until the sound of the carriage wheels disappeared.At this moment, Liu Sheng and the others couldn't hold back anymore, they covered their stomachs and laughed loudly, and walked into the front hall.

Liu Siting took off the veil wrapped around her head, looked at Liu Sheng and the others in surprise and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"It's all right." Wang Yuanfang quickly explained while shaking his hands.

"Virtue~" Liu Siting rolled her eyes and said angrily.

Ah Si, who was standing by the side, was surprised by the behavior of Zhao Xin and others. Why did the master and wife speak so casually with the servants?These guys who look like nurses are burly and scary.Fortunately, Shen Jingdan had ordered before that a few businessmen from the north would come to the family, and their conversation and behavior would be different.

Shen Jingdan saw the surprised look on the servant Ah Si's face, so he said to Zhao Xin: "Zhao Dong's house, this is my old servant Ah Si, who has been in my house since he was a child."

"Oh." Zhao Xin smiled and nodded at Ah Si, and Liu Sheng and others at the side also nodded as a greeting.

Ah Si hurriedly saluted Zhao Xin and Liu Siting before going down to get tea and snacks.

At this time, Zhao Xin took off his hat, took off his mandarin jacket, unbuttoned a button of his gown, picked up his fan and kept fanning.

"I'm soaked inside. It's already August [-]th, and the weather is still so stuffy!"

When the upper class in the Qing Dynasty went out to visit, the servants beside them ran errands, and an important task was to carry the master's bag.Many officials and wealthy businessmen have servants who are in charge of clothing bags, which generally contain one or two casual clothes, and the types of clothes depend on the season; in short, they are all for convenience and comfort.

Shen Jingdan saw that Zhao Xin's back was wet, and then he knew that he could not tolerate the heat, so he quickly took Zhao Xin to the backyard to wash and change clothes.After the two left, the others sat in the flower hall and continued chatting, looking around curiously at the furnishings inside and outside the house.

Lu Shoushan outside the door looked up at the sky for a while, and suddenly said, "I'm afraid it will rain tonight."

After chatting for a while, Zhao Xin walked in wearing a gray cotton gown.This dress belonged to Shen Jingdan, the size was too small, not only the sleeves were short, but even the lower skirt was a lot too short, it looked like a long top.But Zhao Xin didn't mind. After washing and changing his clothes, he felt much cooler.

It is said that it is not good to pretend to be a master. No matter whether the weather is hot or not, you must maintain a decent appearance when you go out to entertain guests, and you must have proper clothing and hat decorations.On the contrary, Liu Sheng and the others were all bunted, and they didn't find it troublesome at all.

Liu Siting asked Zhao Xin, "Where shall we go for a walk tomorrow?"

"Director Liu, don't worry about it. We are not here to play at all this time. You don't even have a personal maid, how can you go out? Don't forget the business." After saying this, Zhao Xin didn't look at Director Liu Turning to Lu Shoushan, he turned to Lu Shoushan and said, "The three of you will go to the newly bought yard first to have a look. There are so many of us, and if there are enough beds, see what is still missing. If you finish cleaning, come back and tell me."

Lao Huang listened from the side, and said hastily: "Don't worry about Zhao Dong's family, the furniture is enough for everyone. But the house is a bit far from here, on Sanguantang Stone Street."

Lu Shoushan said: "It's okay, please tell Master Huang the exact location."

After Lao Huang finished explaining, the three of Lu Shoushan went out.

Liu Siting also felt that the weather was a little stuffy at the moment, so she got up and said she was going to wash her face. Shen Jingdan hurriedly took her to the well in the backyard, and he helped fetch water and found a new cotton towel.The reason why he was so attentive was because when he met Liu Siting a few days ago, the other party told him that Ogito was pregnant with a son.Liu Siting also showed Shen Jingdan the images and photos of the B-ultrasound examination, and explained to him what is the biparietal diameter, femur length, fetal heart rate data, etc.

Shen Jingdan was ecstatic at the time, shouting that the Shen family finally had a son; he even knelt down to thank Liu Siting.

Right now Director Liu is coming to his house as a guest, because there is no other maid in the house in Shanghai except for an old lady who cooks, so Shen Jingdan takes care of it himself.Anyway, during the days when he lived in Beihai Town, he also learned that people like Zhao Xin are not that particular about "whether a man or a woman is close to each other".As long as the actions and words are not excessive, it is still very easy for everyone to get along.

Near dinner time, it started to rain.Xu Dayong came back with an umbrella from the old Huang's family; the courtyard of Sanguantang Stone Street was cleaned by Lao Huang.

"Boss, the yard has been cleaned up." Xu Dayong saluted and said to Zhao Xin respectfully.

"OK. We'll go there after dinner."

Old Huang suddenly said: "Zhao, Mr. Zhao's family, I don't know what your requirements are for your servants, so I didn't dare to hire them beforehand. Do you think you should send a few people from my house to serve?"

"No, we can handle it ourselves. The three of Shoushan and the others are enough. Besides, we can't stay here in Shanghai for two days."

"Then tomorrow" Lao Huang meant to ask Zhao Xin how to arrange tomorrow.

"If it's still raining tomorrow, we won't go out. If something happens, I'll ask Da Yong to come and find you two. By the way, Boss Huang, can you help me get a copy of commodity prices in Shanghai tomorrow? "

Old Huang said: "This is easy to handle, I will let the shopkeeper do it. Take it over tomorrow night."

There was nothing to say after that, everyone had a hasty dinner in Shen's house, then got into the carriage that Xu Dayong had found, and braved the heavy rain to go to Sanguantang Stone Street.

Since it was getting late and Liu Sheng attracted too much attention, the group did not pass through the city, but walked southwards around the county seat of Shanghai for more than an hour before arriving.

Sanguantang Stone Street is located in the southwest of the Great South Gate outside the county seat of Shanghai, and the yard bought by Lao Huang is on the east side of the street.Not far from the door is Qianshi Street, which is very convenient for water and land travel.In order to avoid accidents, Shen Jingdan parked a small boat on the nearby river, so that he could board the boat and evacuate at any time.

When the carriage arrived, Lu Shoushan and Pan Xiucheng, who had been waiting for a long time, went out to meet them. Zhao Xin and the others quickly walked into the courtyard after getting off the carriage.Since this place is at the junction of the city and the suburbs, the yard is not very luxurious, but it has a large area.The yard faces south from the north, and the five-bay main house has two entrances in total, with side rooms on the left and right sides; there is no sedan hall at the entrance, but a gatehouse; several straw sheds have been built in the backyard.

In addition, the west side of the courtyard is the main street, the east side is a miscellaneous courtyard, and the north side is an alley.Go west and walk more than 100 meters to the river.

"This yard was built by a businessman from Haizhou five years ago. The thatched shed in the backyard was originally a warehouse for storing soybeans. The businessman made a fortune in the soybean business and moved his family to Suzhou. I see that although this place is not rich, But it’s not shabby, so I decided to buy it for Zhao Dong’s family.” Lao Huang explained with a smile standing behind Zhao Xin.

"It's good, we don't pay that much attention."

Lao Huang's buddy, Lu and Pan carried lanterns respectively, and led Zhao Xin and others to look around the courtyard.

After reading it, Zhao Xin said with satisfaction: "Boss Huang, Boss Shen, thank you both. It's getting late now, so I won't keep the two of you. I will send someone to find you tomorrow if something happens."

Lao Huang has already told Lu Shoushan the location of his shop, and Zhao Xin will send someone to contact there directly if there is anything to do.

"Zhao Dong's family, if you all go out to play, you must tell us in advance to avoid unnecessary trouble." Shen Jingdan cupped his hands and said.

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Shen and Huang knew that Beihai Town did not have the rules of bringing tea to see off guests, so they took their buddies to bid farewell immediately.Soon, only Zhao Xin and his party were left in the yard.

Standing under the eaves, Wang Yuanfang said excitedly, "This is our first foothold in Manchuria!"

Everyone was excited and expressed their opinions one after another.

Liu Zheng dreamed of overthrowing the Manchu Qing all day long, so he first suggested setting up an intelligence station here to spy on the news of the Qing court.The others agreed after hearing it.

Zhao Xin didn't think so. He felt that although Shanghai County was prosperous in trade, it was not the center of Jiangnan.According to the preliminary situation learned from Shen and Huang, the locals are mostly sandboat merchants, and most of the rich and powerful officials, gentry and literati live in Suzhou or Yangzhou; these people are the fastest to get the inside information of the Qing court. group of people.If you really want to build an intelligence station to spy on the news, the best place is Jiangning or Suzhou.

Jiangning is where the Yamen of the Governor-General of Liangjiang is located, Suzhou is where the Yamen of the Governor-General of Jiangsu is located; Shanghai and Yangzhou only need to establish a contact point.But right now it's just lip service. If we really want to build an intelligence station, we don't have enough manpower.

Even if Xu Da used all these pirates to surrender, he could only run errands in the market to find out the news, and the circle of upper-class gentry could not enter at all.Even Shen and Huang are not enough. The status of these two people in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang business circles is only middle and low.Even if Zhao Xin works hard to support the two, it will take time for them to enter the upper circles of Suzhou or Jiangning through the literati relationship in Yangzhou in the future.

In addition, telegraph operators need to be trained. It is okay to train Liu Zheng to build a signal transfer station on Huaniao Island, but he is still needed to take care of the horses in Beihai Town, not to mention that Liu Zheng can sometimes treat people in an emergency.

As for Lu Shoushan and Pan Xiucheng, it was even worse.First of all, these two are escaped slaves from Ninggu Tower, and Dongtai is under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture, if they are bumped into by acquaintances, it will be troublesome.

"Oh! Take your time, I'm really anxious and annoying."

Everyone chatted in the front hall until late at night without any results, and finally yawned and found an empty room to rest.To be on the safe side, Lu Shoushan took Xu Dayong to live in the porter, while Pan Xiucheng took the bedding to the grass shed in the backyard.

(End of this chapter)