Women Wearing Men: The Growth Path of the Bastards of the Aristocratic Family

Just now, Gu Yunji realized that although the attendant's Mandarin was stumbling, it was not because of unfamiliarity, but with a strong local accent - judging from Gu Yunji's experience as a prefect in Shaoxing for several years. , if his guess was correct, the person in front of him should be from Shaoxing Prefecture.

Since he is from Shaoxing Prefecture and is of Chinese blood, he must be much easier to get along with than foreigners such as Eberg. Seeing that he was very familiar with the operation of the Fo Lang machine gun before, he might be a rare one. "Technical Talent".

If we lure him with generous terms and persuade him to leave the Fo Langji caravan and instead work for the government, wouldn't it speed up the imperial court's firearms research and development progress?Maybe even the Folan cannon can be directly imitated.

If that were the case, they wouldn't have any need to argue with Aiberg, and they wouldn't have to worry about their advanced firearms being monopolized by the other party.

With this in mind, Gu Yunji couldn't help but be a little more enthusiastic towards Zhao Jinbao, but his enthusiasm shocked Zhao Jinbao.

Zhao Jinbao's status in the Fo Langji caravan was at the bottom. Before joining the caravan, he was just an ordinary person. He had never seen any big shots in his life. Even if he didn't know Gu Yunji's identity, he could guess it from his official uniform. His identity is not simple, he is probably a high official.

Gu Yunji looked like he was only about [-] years old. Such a young and promising "high official" not only took the initiative to talk to him, a young attendant, but also called him "brother", and his attitude was quite friendly.

Zhao Jinbao had never been treated like this before. After being a low-class person for a long time, his deep-rooted obedience to the upper-class people made him extremely frightened and uneasy. His face instantly turned red, and his mouth opened and closed into a stammer: "I, I, I... Sir , you, I..."

Gu Yunji was very helpless about this, so he could only calm down his tone and comfort him: "Don't be nervous, I just have nothing to do and chat with you. I am the prefect of Shaoxing, and I just heard your accent and my rule The common people there are very similar to each other, which made me feel very friendly, and I thought you were from Shaoxing."

Seeing that Gu Yunji's attitude was still very friendly, Zhao Jinbao gradually relaxed, showed a slightly reserved smile, and chatted with him smoothly: "My lord has a good ear, you guessed it right, my ancestral home is indeed Shaoxing Prefecture. I have been traveling overseas all year round. , there are very few opportunities to return to the country, and the official words are not good, which makes you laugh."

Gu Yunji raised his eyebrows: "Are you from Shaoxing Prefecture? That's a coincidence. Were you overseas when you were born, or did you follow your elders when you were a child?"

Zhao Jinbao smiled dryly and did not answer, as if he did not want to tell his experience.

Gu Yunji's heart moved slightly, and he vaguely noticed something. He was thinking about how to talk to him, when he was stopped by Aiberg, saying that it was getting late and it was time to have lunch.

In full view of everyone, Gu Yunji didn't feel comfortable talking to Zhao Jinbao alone for too long, so he had to stop talking and go have a meal with Aiberg and others.

After all, the two parties have reached a cooperative relationship, and the people in the caravan are quite attentive in preparing meals. In addition to the special food of Folangji, they are afraid that Gu Yunji and his party will not be used to it, so they also prepare traditional Chinese dishes, which is enough for one meal. It's a pleasure.

Gu Yunji was still thinking about the previous attendant from his ancestral home in Shaoxing. After a hasty meal, he excused himself from taking a walk to eat, left the table early, and wandered around the boat.

There were caravan sailors standing guard everywhere on the ship. In the name of digestion, Gu Yunji didn't want to make a big show of looking for people, so he pretended to search casually and saw Zhao Jinbao in an inconspicuous corner.

He immediately walked over and said with a smile: "What a coincidence, I see you again. It's lunch time, why don't you go eat?" Hearing Gu Yunji's voice, Zhao Jinbao stood up quickly, smiling innocently, Embarrassedly, she spread out the things in her hands and showed them to him: "Your Excellency, I am concerned about this. I am eating."

Seeing the half dry black bun in his hand, Gu Yunji was surprised: "You're going to eat this? I saw the sailors' food before, with both meat and vegetables. It looked pretty good. Why are you here? So bad?"

When Zhao Jinbao heard this, loneliness flashed in his eyes. He lowered his gaze involuntarily and laughed at himself: "You also said, those are sailors. They are all natives of Folangji, that's why they are treated so well. We foreigners, can Some of them are pretty good to eat, but how can you compare with them?"

Gu Yunji observed his expression and continued calmly: "In that case, why do you still work under their hands? People go to higher places, and water flows to lower places. Since you can't stay here, then change your way of life. Even going back to farming would be good.”

Seeing the hesitation on Zhao Jinbao's face, Gu Yunji took the lead and said before he could speak: "Hey - don't look down on farming. The past two years have been good, the weather has been good, and the Japanese pirates have been almost wiped out. The world is peaceful. .”

"After all, Jiangnan is the land of plenty. Even if you are farming, as long as you work hard, you won't have to worry about living a bad life."

Zhao Jinbao smiled bitterly: "The magistrate is joking. Although I am working for Folangji people now, my ancestors have been farmers for generations. How can I dare to look down on those who farm?"

"Mainly, I have been away from my hometown for many years. The land has been sold and the house must have collapsed. There are not many relatives and friends left. There is no place for me in my hometown. How can I go back? If I can go back as you said I must be very happy to farm, why do I want to be angry with those Western devils!"

Looking at Zhao Jinbao like this, it was obvious that he was dissatisfied with the Fo Langji caravan, but he had no choice but to endure it.

Seeing that his desire to return home was so strong, Gu Yunji suddenly felt that there was hope in poaching people, so he immediately answered: "What's the point? If you can't plant the land, you can do other things. I saw earlier that you know how to handle artillery. , you must be a gunsmith, right? There is no craftsman in the world, and you have a skill at your disposal, are you still afraid that you will not survive? "

Zhao Jinbao looked shaken: "That's what I said, but..."

Gu Yunji struck while the iron was hot: "Not to mention, the Zhejiang and Fujian governments are currently focused on eradicating Japanese pirates and are focused on training naval officers. To train naval officers, firearms are indispensable. The government is currently short of gunsmiths, so you are in Folangji Having studied firearms for so long, I don’t have to worry about finding something to do.”

"Gunsmiths are scarce, and skilled gunsmiths are especially scarce. As long as you are willing to come, the government will certainly be eager to get you."

Hearing what he said, Zhao Jinbao didn't know what he thought of. The hope in his eyes was extinguished instantly, and he fell silent, as if he didn't want to say more.

Gu Yunji sensed something was wrong and asked tentatively: "What's wrong? But what worries do you have? Although you are currently working in the Fo Langji caravan, you are of my Chinese blood after all. I, Gu Yunji, am an official of the imperial court and a citizen of Daxia. You and I have the same roots, so if there is anything I can do to help, just ask."

Zhao Jinbao looked even more embarrassed when he heard this. He hesitated again and again, and finally shook his head with a wry smile: "Master Gu, thank you for your kindness, but I can't work as a craftsman in the government."