Bachelor

Chapter 170
Sitting in the cabin, no one spoke, and there was the sound of gurgling water under my feet.The pier after a busy day quieted down. With the ups and downs of the river, there was a "creaking" sound on the boat, and even the oil lamp on the table shook slightly.

The sails were lowered heavily, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, there were sparrows flying in fright, plulu flying past the top of the mast, and occasionally a few bold flat-haired animals skimmed across the water, pecking at the grains floating on the river.

It was supper time, and the air was filled with the smell of food, as well as the fishy smell of water and the musty stench of rotting cabbage leaves.

This is the northern terminus of the Jinghang Grand Canal, Tongxian County.It is also the most prosperous big wharf in Shuntian Prefecture, Beijing.The reason why it was named Tongxian at the beginning was the meaning of water transport Tongji.

The original name of Tong County is Tongzhou, and it was called Lu County in the Western Han Dynasty. It was later renamed Tongtong Pavilion, and then "Lu" was changed to "Lu", and it was called Lu County at first.During the reign of Hongwu, general Xu Da captured Yuan Dadu, renamed Lu County Tongzhou, and had four counties under its jurisdiction including Wuqing and Xianghe.The ancient place name of Lu County finally came to an end and became a historical term.Later, when Chengzu built the city of Beijing, the scale of the capital expanded rapidly, and Tongzhou became a satellite city on the outskirts of Beijing, so the establishment of the state capital was abolished, the state was abolished as a county, and it was placed under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture.

Because of Tongxian's geographical advantages, dozens of government agencies for the imperial government's management of water transport and water transport bureaus in coastal provinces are located in Tong County. There are hundreds of ships of various sizes docking on the wharf all year round. The bow and stern of the ship are more than ten miles away, and on the shore is a warehouse with no end in sight.The city is under the red clouds, the gate is near the Lushui River, and Baoan rides a horse, most of whom are from the imperial capital.If you want to know how strong the national power of the Ming Dynasty is, you can see it when you visit this place.

There are two people sitting in the cabin, both of them are dressed as merchants, one is sixteen or seventeen years old, a frail young man.One person is 50 years old, with a white face and no beard, thin and energetic.The clothes of these two people are very simple, and they look inconspicuous, but they have a sense of confidence and calmness in their gestures, and this kind of temperament cannot be cultivated without countless big scenes.

The expression on the older man's face looked a little anxious, but on the surface he still pretended to be calm.But the movements of his hands revealed the uneasiness in his heart.

At this moment, he is really playing with a piece of broken silver in his hand. This piece of broken silver is not big, it only looks like two or three pieces. It looks as if it has just been cut with scissors.

The old man seemed to have worked hard on his fingers for many years. In the five fingers of his right hand, the ingot of silver flew up and down, flying up into the air for a while, and shuttled back and forth between his fingers for a while, but no matter what tricks he conjured up, it was as firm as glue. glued to the hand.

The young man was stunned, and it took him a long time to retract his tongue, "Bi Gong is good at kung fu, I heard that you also have martial arts. But you are a noble man, and I have never seen you fight with others. Now I know, you All martial arts are in the fingers. But I don’t know whether to practice the eagle claw or the yang finger?”

"What is a yang finger? I haven't heard of it. Do you have this kind of martial art?" The old man froze, raised his finger, and firmly placed the silver coin on the tip of his middle finger.

The young man continued to tease: "So you don't know this martial art! Then, what about the sticky flower finger, the Wuxiang Jie finger, and the Duo Luoye finger?"

The old man was even more stunned, shaking his head again and again: "Jingyuan, excuse me for being ignorant, I have never heard of the martial arts you mentioned. I learned iron sand palm. Seeing that your body is getting better every day, it should be the same. The master in your mansion has studied for a few days, or we have played tricks?"

"I don't want it anymore. A gentleman uses his mouth but not his hands. I only learn martial arts to strengthen my body. If I really want to fight with others, I don't want to die too fast." The young man shook his head repeatedly.

These two people are Sun Dan, Sun Jingyuan and Bi Yun, father-in-law Bi. They have been sitting in Tong County since yesterday, staying on this big boat and drinking the northwest wind, not daring to leave for a while.Because, the dozen or so big boats behind him were full of more than 30 taels of silver.The silver has just been raised from Zhengde's Neizang Mansion, and many of the silver bars are still newly minted.

This is the last bit of personal money in the hands of the emperor, and it will be used for funerals. If there is an accident, Sun Dan and Bi Yun will not have to go back to Beijing, and they will jump directly from the boat into the river, and die a happy and easy death .

He came here this time and brought a lot of masters from Dongchang, just to sit here and wait for Ping Qiuli to take the bait.But because of his secretive behavior, it is not easy to openly show Dongchang's brand.Tongxian Wharf is full of fish and dragons. The garrison, major yamen, wharf gangsters, and brokers who beat the autumn wind all have red eyes when they look at the boats on the river.It doesn't matter if there is an accident at that time, if Bi Yun is exposed, this matter will be ruined.

Therefore, after going to Tong County to manage all the forces, Bi Yun and Sun Dan hid in the cabin together and did not show their faces.Sun Dan was better, young people dozed off a lot, at worst he straightened his body and fell asleep.But because Bi Yun was old and had something on his mind, he couldn't sleep no matter what.If it wasn't for him being a well-learned person with great skills in nourishing qi, anyone else would have been unable to bear it.

Seeing Sun Dan sleeping soundly, Bi Yun was very envious.I can't sleep in the first 30 years, and I can't sleep in the next 30 years. The ancients will not deceive me.

Seeing that Sun Dan rejected his proposal for a martial arts competition, Bi Yun casually threw the ingot of silver into the wooden box next to him, and said "Ding": "Jingyuan, that family member of yours is good at martial arts, but they don't know How about eloquence, can you really lure Ping Qiuli here? I think that person is also a cunning person, not a good person. It is appropriate to find an honest person to take care of the house. In my opinion, you should find a chance to arrest him Let it go."

Sun Dan nodded, feeling very satisfied, this Bi Yun is indeed an old man, and his knowledge is naturally extraordinary: "Don't worry, Mr. Bi, Feng Zhen is a calm person, and he is very reliable in doing things. With the Guo family's signature, he will definitely be able to take that I earned it in Pingqiu. As for Feng Zhen, I originally planned to find an opportunity to find him a job when I became an official, and it would not be in vain for him and me. In other words, he is as good at things as he is, Wu Yi And why is it so hard to find a strong person.”

"That's fine, Feng Zhen is also lucky to have a master like you." Bi Yundao: "If there is a chance in the future, I will recommend a eunuch who knows everything from the palace to be your housekeeper. What do you think? Those who come out of the palace are used to serving others, and they are easy to use. They can be used as book offices for you every day, and it is also convenient to walk among the concubines. The palace will weed out the next batch of old people who don’t need it every year. Most of these people are unwilling Yes, if you meet someone without family, the evening scene will be very bleak."

Sun Dan was taken aback: "No, I, Sun Dan, don't have the guts to use a servant. By the way, Bi Gong, you can be considered a talker in the palace. Arrange a few ways out for the emeritus servant who is pleasing to the eye. Isn't it a little effort?"

Bi Yun smiled wryly: "Huawu is red for a hundred days, who can say clearly what will happen in the future. In the future, if there is a new master in the palace, maybe I will not like my old Bi. If you are lucky, you will be driven out. If you are not lucky, you will be killed directly." It's also possible. At that time, Jingyuan will have to trouble Jingyuan to collect the old man's body. Those of us who have been stabbed have left the palace, which is not tolerated by the world. It is really not easy to live like a human being. Especially people in the scholarly community , as soon as our names are mentioned, there is disgust on the face. It is rare for Jingyuan to be intimate with the old man and treat me as a normal person."

Bi Yun spoke heavily, and Sun Dan stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder: "Old Bi, although you are a servant, you are not much lower than those who raise people to win the Jinshi in terms of knowledge. It is common for you to take the imperial examination and rely on the number one scholar." If you put aside the disparity between you and me, Sun Dan just regards you as an ordinary scholar, a gentleman who is also a teacher and a friend. There are many disabled people in this world, and they are fate. No one is better than you. Who is superior."

Bi Yun was moved in his heart: "Jingyuan is the real gentleman. To be honest, when I am with you, I have used some tricks before. I am ashamed, ashamed. It is fate that you and I met. In the future, no matter the situation No matter what, it's a friend after all. Don't talk about the nonsense of being rich and not forgetting each other."

Sun Dan looked at Bi Yun with a smile: "How did Mr. Bi treat me so scheming back then, tell me?"

Bi Yun chuckled and said, "I thought you wanted to curry favor with me, and wanted me to speak well for you in front of the general, so that you could get an official job. But you have known each other for so long, and you didn't mention it at all. In fact, depending on our relationship, it is not difficult to be a chief official in some unimportant yamen. I understand that if you want to take the imperial examination to become an official, you will do it in a magnanimous way, but I have Bi Yun. The heart of a villain."

"Bi Gong stays in the palace all the year round, and he has seen more tricks and schemes than Sun Dan has eaten. Sun Dan really admires your knowledge, but he doesn't think about anything else." Sun Dan laughed loudly: "What's the point of pleasing you Use, to put it bluntly, I'm not afraid of offending you, relying on your wild ways to be an official, your future achievements will be limited. Sun Dan is not talented, but he also has the ambition to be economical and economical, and he is absolutely unwilling to make any money in an official position Go home and become a rich man after personal gain, that kind of life is too boring. In this life, you have to leave something in history so that this experience is not in vain.”

Bi Yun murmured after hearing the words: "Leaving a name in history, Jingyuan has good ambitions, but it's a pity that it's not easy for me, a useless person, to leave such a mark in history."

"Yes, I will. With Bi Gong's talents, it is normal to assist Ming Jun in the future and do some business."

Bi Yunda felt excited, and said with a smile: "I hope that I won't be included in the biography of a courtier in the future."

"Even if Bi Gong wants to enter history, he must be a figure like Zhang Chengye."

The two clapped their hands and laughed at the same time.

Just smiling, through the window opened outside the cabin, Sun Dan saw a group of people rushing over.The leader was Feng Zhen, followed by Ping Qiuli and other employees from Ping's Bank.

The laughter stopped.

After waiting for the rabbit all day, the rabbit finally bumped into it.

(End of this chapter)