Urban Sims

Chapter 131 Imperial Decree to Beijing
Tiansheng twenty-five years, late November.

Less than a month after returning to Haiping's hometown, Zhou Ming, who had just attended the launching ceremony of the "Battleship Type I" warship, was hurriedly called back to Tianjiazhuang Wubao by his servants.

The decree has come.

"As a metaphor from the sky, the emperor said, I heard that there is a strange man in Qingzhou named Zihua named Tian, ​​who has outstanding literary talents and is well-known all over the world... I want to announce it and see him. I wonder if Mr. Zihua would like to meet me?"

After reading the imperial decree, the eunuch Ma Dexi was filled with emotions. In order to find Mr. Zihua, who was erratic, he first took people to Liangzhou. After searching in the vast crowd for more than half a month, he did not find it. Then he went to Youzhou according to the news. Zhouzhou, traveled thousands of miles, and the buttocks were worn out by the horse's back, but they still couldn't find it.

In the end, he had no choice but to come to Mr. Zihua's hometown and finish the task of reading the imperial decree first.

Unexpectedly, this Mr. Zihua actually returned to his hometown, and he just got married not long ago.

"Eunuch Ma, it's freezing cold and the roads are difficult to walk. Can you wait for me to spend the New Year at home before going to Beijing to meet the saint? Isn't it urgent for the saint to be here?"

The emperor issued an imperial edict to summon him, the imperial capital Luojing, Zhou Ming must be going there.

However, the weather is so cold outside, and he has only lived comfortably at home for a few days, and he is going to go to Miansheng in Zhongzhou, which is three thousand miles away, Zhou Ming must not be happy in his heart.

At least we have to celebrate the end of the year, and start again in spring.

"All right, all right, our family will spend the new year with you at your house, and then we will go to Beijing with you to meet the Holy Spirit, Tian Zihua, don't run around anymore, in order to find you, our family's bones almost ran away Slightly."

Ma Dexi pulled Zhou Ming's robe and said with a full face of complaint.

"Haha, Eunuch Ma, you should live well in my Tian family this year, and raise your broken bones here before leaving!"

Zhou Ming smiled and asked the housekeeper to arrange the guest room, so that Eunuch Ma and others who came to read the imperial decree were accommodated.

Therefore, the eunuch Ma Dexi and the four guards lived in Tianjiazhuang for more than a month.

For more than a month, they ate and drank well, each of them gained a few pounds, and received hundreds of tributes, learned to play poker and mahjong, and had a very happy life. If someone reminded them, they almost forgot Come here on a mission.

"Mr. Zihua, this year is over, and spring is beginning outside, why don't you start earlier and go to Beijing Miansheng with our family?"

One day, seeing Zhou Ming who had returned from a business trip, Ma Dexi, whose single chin had turned into a double chin, pulled him and said.

"Okay! Eunuch Ma, let me burn incense and bathe for five days to show my respect to His Majesty Ming Emperor and Empress Dowager. On the morning of the sixth day, we will set off!"

"Okay, so good!"

……

six days later.

In the twenty-sixth year of Tiansheng, on the twenty-second day of the first lunar month, it was early in the morning.

Zhou Ming, Li Dazui, several classmates, a hundred clan soldiers, Eunuch Ma Dexi, four guards, plus a convoy of fifty four-wheeled heavy-duty carriages, carrying a large number of books and gifts, Hao Go in the direction of Zhongzhou in a mighty manner.

As for the family members and female relatives, Zhou Ming did not bring any of them except his younger sister Tian Jiao who insisted on following her.

His wife Cui Ruan and his concubine Chu Jingling really wanted to go with him, but they are both pregnant now and it is inconvenient for them to travel long distances, so Zhou Ming did not agree with them to follow, and they will go together after they give birth to their children Zhongzhou is not too late.

Moreover, this trip to Zhongzhou has benefits as well as risks, so he has to treat it with caution.

The advantage is that it can improve one's reputation and expand the influence of "Mr. Zihua".

The risks are unpredictable. As the saying goes, being with a king is like a tiger. The closer you are to the political center of a feudal dynasty, the greater the probability of getting into trouble. Of course, Zhou Ming will not take the initiative to provoke trouble. They try their best to dig traps and apply eye drops, but they are impossible to guard against. If you make a wrong step, you may fall into the abyss and die without a burial.

Therefore, this time, he brought a full hundred clan soldiers, all equipped with breech-loading rifles, and prepared to kill and escape if the situation was not good.

……

On a journey of three thousand miles, the huge team traveled at a speed of forty to fifty miles a day, stopped and stopped for more than two months, and arrived at Qinghe County, which is less than a hundred miles away from the imperial capital Luojing City.

Walking so slowly, it's not that Zhou Ming deliberately slowed down, and he didn't have the sincerity to go to Beijing to face the saint.

But this way, when they learned that "Mr. Zihua" was coming, all the counties and counties along the way seemed to be blown up. Countless local celebrities stopped in front of the convoy, saying they wanted to see Mr. Zihua.

And those masters who set up the banquet, folded the quilt, and invited him to visit for a day or stay for a night, Zhou Ming was not very good at refusing, so he had to go.

Because those who kept him as guests were all well-known and famous families in the local area, and there were many wealthy families who had stood up for thousands of years, so they had to give that face.

Zhou Ming was also surprised by the enthusiasm of these families. In addition to giving all kinds of expensive gifts, Guangmeiren received dozens of them, and it was almost possible to form a "Yueyue 48" singing and dancing group.

The most exaggerated ones were the wealthy businessmen in Zhongzhou who had innumerable fortunes. When they learned that Mr. Zihua was coming, they started a jaw-dropping "wealth fight" competition around Mr. Zihua's motorcade.

A silk merchant surnamed Shi, in order to welcome Mr. Zihua, laid a thirty-mile-long silk carpet on the official road for people and horses to trample on, and he didn't care.

A gold and silver mine owner surnamed Zhao took out millions of gold and silver, sprinkled them on the ground, and paved a "gold road" half a mile long. After Mr. Zihua passed by, he asked passers-by to pick them up at will. ".

There is also a slave trader surnamed Shi who, through various channels, brought in 108 women from different countries, including whites and blacks. Enjoy, Zhou Ming directly asked the clan soldiers to drive all these women away.

In short, the closer you are to the imperial capital, the more exaggerated and bizarre the welcome scene Zhou Ming encounters, all kinds of eye-catching, eye-opening.

Of course, Zhou Ming also understands that the purpose of these wealthy businessmen, who spend extravagantly, welcome themselves, and try their best to make big news, is not to prove how generous they are, nor is it that they are vassals and elegant, admiring Mr. Zihua's talent.

The fundamental purpose of these wealthy businessmen is nothing more than to catch a hot spot and take this opportunity to advertise to whitewash themselves. If he really falls into the trap of these wealthy businessmen and becomes their "speaker" and "spokesperson", the benefits Yes, but it also causes endless harm.

Therefore, Zhou Ming distanced himself from these tycoons, moved east and west, and acted independently from the main force, playing a game of hide-and-seek. In this way, the speed of the team accelerated a little.

Qinghe County is a county next to the imperial capital Luojing. Once you arrive in this county, you can reach the imperial capital within a day at most.

Before going to Beijing Miansheng, Zhou Ming and his party stayed in Qinghe County for a few days, and stayed at Cui's house in Qinghe for a few days.

The Qinghe Cui clan, the main branch of the Anping Cui clan, can also be regarded as Zhou Ming's distant relatives.

After ordering people to put up the greeting card, Zhou Ming received a grand welcome at Cui's house in Qinghe. The head of the house, Cui Jing, personally entertained him and called him "Nephew".The young talents in Cui's family were all "cousin and cousin" enthusiastically, and surrounded him with enthusiasm. Zhou Ming presented the gifts he brought in time, especially the sets of beautifully printed and signed comics. After the episode was delivered, there was even cheers and screams.

All of a sudden, the etiquette and restraint cultivated by the big family for many years disappeared from these young talents of the Cui family.

"Hehehe, I haven't seen you for many years, cousin Zihua, you are still so unrestrained."

Seeing this scene, Cui Yunhua, who was dressed as a woman and was holding a baby in her hands, covered her mouth and smiled softly, quite moved.

(End of this chapter)