Brocade tears

Tianjin Wei had nothing to say all night, and the next morning everyone rushed to the pier to board the boat again.There were a lot of goods on the ship, all of which were to be transported to Jiangnan for this voyage.This horse boat is actually the ship of Jinyiwei, and it also transports the food and baggage of Jinyiwei. In addition to some crops such as sorghum, sugar beets, rapeseed, and sweet potatoes that are only cultivated in the north, there are also a lot of them used to make protective gear and horse gear. Leather, a part of pig iron for forging, and a small part of very dangerous gunpowder are carefully wrapped with oiled paper and tarpaulin to prevent moisture or accidental fire.

When Guo Dayou saw these gunpowder, he thought of Wu Yongtong, the owner of Tianxiang Pavilion, who smuggled arms.

Guo Dayou talked about the matter with Meng Kuang and Lu Jingshi on the boat, and said: "I don't know where that part of the arms was transported. I only know that it was transported out of the city as wood and sand for construction. It is certain that this batch It was impossible for arms to be transported into the city from other places in the first place, so they must have been made in the capital. There are only two places where they can be made, one is Wang Gongchang Fire/Pharmacy Bureau, and the other is Shenji Camp.”

"The fire/powder bureau of Wang Gong Factory originally provided fire/powder firearms for the Shenji camp, and the admiral of the Shenji camp is also in charge of the fire/powder bureau of Wang Gong factory." Lu Jingshi said.

"Yes, so apart from Admiral Song of Shenji Camp, other people in the palace are also involved in this matter." Guo Dayou said, "If Shenji Camp wants to talk about the real affairs, there are only two admirals and one admiral's minister. , an admiral and military official. The admiral of the Song Dynasty was only an admiral and was controlled by his inner ministers. But now the admiral of the Shenji Camp is Su Min, and the eunuch of Bingbi, the chief inspector of rituals, has always been at odds with Chen Ju."

"Su Min... this person is really mysterious. I don't know what background he has, but he has been promoted very fast and his seat is very stable. Chen Ju dare not touch his brow, and even Zhang Cheng, the eunuch with palm prints, is afraid to touch him. I can't really control him." Lu Jingshi frowned and said, he has been in the palace for so many years, especially in recent years, he has gradually come into contact with the eunuch's power center, he does understand many things, but the most core thing, he still can't get in touch with it. arrive.

Guo Dayou laughed, and said, "Who is the person behind Su Min? Luo Qianhu and I have already met."

Both Meng Kuang and Lu Jingshi looked at him questioningly, and Guo Dayou said, "It's the current sage."

Meng Kuang and Lu Jingshi looked incredulous, Meng Kuang waved his hands to express his incomprehension, and Lu Jingshi also said, "How could Your Majesty sell arms to the Japanese?"

Guo Dayou explained: "Don't worry, just listen to me. Your Majesty probably didn't know about the arms sale. He just asked Su Min to help him raise money. Your Majesty, you also know that since the death of Chief Assistant Zhang Juzheng So many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are not all raised from His Majesty? Originally, the money from the treasury was also transferred into the internal funds by him, and he also set up tax supervisors and mine supervisors to search all over the country. I have never seen an emperor who loves money like him. This Su Min was promoted step by step by earning money for the emperor, and he was able to become the eunuch who was in charge of ceremonies and supervised the Shenji camp, all because of this ability.

But Su Min should also have his own plans, how could he not make money for His Majesty?After a long time, it is natural that the hands and eyes are open to the sky.In addition, he was the admiral of the Shenji Battalion, so he set his sights on the ammunition of the Shenji Battalion.This ammunition is a good thing, and every Yidi overseas is willing to pay a high price to buy it.As long as you win over Admiral Song and seal his mouth, the smuggler army will be invisible, and no one will be able to control him anymore.The smuggler can earn a lot of money after going out, some of it is used to please His Majesty, and some of it goes into his own pocket, why not do it?The Japanese have long since stopped making troubles along the coast, and the Shenji Camp's annual quota of ammunition is so large that it can't be used at all, and the Shenji Camp doesn't go out to fight, so those ammunition piled up in the warehouse is also a waste, why not sell them for money?They can go out and trade with Portuguese and red-haired people. It's just a business. No one will be troubled by money. For eunuchs, nothing is more important than making money. "

Guo Dayou's last sentence obviously offended Lu Jingshi, he immediately reacted and quickly added: "Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you."

Lu Jingshi shook his head indifferently.

Meng Kuang gesticulated to change the subject, and asked, "Then what's going on with using a child to frighten Admiral Song's horse?"

"I'm afraid it was done by the Japanese lurking in Beijing. Admiral Song may want to expose Su Min's smuggling of military weapons to the Japanese, but Su Min found out, so he asked the Japanese to intimidate Admiral Song, warning him not to be like a car with a mantis, or a tree with a mayfly. Otherwise, like that child, he would be trampled under the horse and his head was bleeding. This is probably why the Japanese are eager to transfer the ammunition out these days. Because of their frequent movements, they have instead attracted the attention of Zhang Dongwei, the elder of the Thirteenth Taibao. The inspection office under the fourth hand is in charge of the entry and exit of the Nine Gates of the capital, but if there is any abnormal situation, it will be reported to them, and he will notice that it is normal." Guo Dayou said.

Speaking of this, he paused, suddenly remembered something, and said:

"Wait, there may be another possibility. I remember this admiral Song, Song Faming. This man is an infatuated widower. His wife died early, and he has never remarried or married a concubine. He has only one son under his knees, who happens to be seven or eight years old. It is as old as that child. Could it be that they are using the fact that the child startled the horse to threaten him to be obedient, because Song Faming's son is in their hands."

Lu Jingshi and Meng Kuang are unknown, some information is only known to Luo Xun and Guo Dayou, Meng Kuang has not been in the patrol station for a long time, and not all the officials in Beijing have come into contact with, so he cannot be like Luo Xun Like Guo Dayou, he knows the details of most of the Beijing officials.

But if it is really as Guo Dayou guessed, then this Admiral Song is really sympathetic.

……

From April [-]th to [-]th, the horse boat set off from Tianjinwei, and went south along the canal quickly. After passing Cangzhou, it left Beizhili, entered Dezhou and went to Linqing, and entered the Shandong Canal section.

After entering Lu, Guo Dayou fell into a state of sentimentality. He had served as a soldier in Ludi for many years, near Linqing and Liaocheng.Just on the day of arriving in Linqing, the horse boat had to dock again to load and unload cargo.Guo Dayou then proposed to disembark and go to Linqing City for a walk. He felt nostalgic and wanted to see his old friends in the city.

These days, Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang both took turns to watch the night, but they never saw the strange fishing fire they saw on the night of the [-]th.Meng Kuang suspected that he had been delusional, maybe it was really just a dream.In this way, I hide this matter in the corner of my heart and no longer worry about it.

But these few days are busy on the road, the horse boats hardly stop at the nearby docks, except for sailing at night, they are sailing during the day.After docking at night, they also missed the curfew time and could only spend the night on board.By the time of Linqing, the women were indeed exhausted.After a long time on the boat, people will feel uncomfortable. Even though this is traveling on a calm canal, the frail Meng Yan still gets seasick, and she can barely support herself by relying on the medicine she prepared herself.But the medicines he carried with him were exhausted, and he was able to disembark with difficulty. Meng Kuang decided to take the women into the city to relax and buy some necessities.

Linqing is a small place, but it has all internal organs, and its status is very special.Because the canal connects Henan, Shandong, and Hebei through this place, this place is the joint of water transportation. This place and Liaocheng in the south are known as "the throat of the water, the elbow of the capital of heaven" and "the one city in the north of the Yangtze River".Every year, the banknote customs tax here accounts for the bulk of the water transport tax.The amazing thing is that many legendary novels that are popular in the market today have the background of the stories happening here.Such as "Water Margin", and "Jin Ping Mei", a wonderful book that has been passed around in recent years.

When getting off the boat, Meng Kuang asked Guo Dayou who he was going to visit, and Guo Dayou smiled and said:

"Yu Shenxing, the former minister of the Ministry of Rites, is from Liaocheng. He retired to his hometown last year. His home is not far from Linqing. It takes only an hour or two to get there from Linqing. I knew him well in Beijing and passed by here. And go and see him."

Meng Kuang was a little surprised that Guo Dayou would have such a close relationship with such a great literati. Guo Dayou probably guessed what she was thinking, and explained: "I'm half of his fellow townsman. I care about each other in Beijing. It's not good to make more friends." Disadvantages. Although this old man is a little old-fashioned, he is also a true temperament. The point is that he has a higher understanding and understanding of the court situation, and I often ask him for advice."

They still led horses and drove carts into the city from the pier. The city of Linqing was far less lively than Tianjinwei, but the commercial atmosphere here was still strong, a scene that could be seen in towns along the canal valley.The most distinctive specialty in Linqing City is probably donkey-hide gelatin. Dong'e County is very close to here, and vendors selling donkey-hide gelatin can be seen everywhere in the city.

Donkey-hide gelatin is a great tonic, mainly tonifying qi and blood, and it is especially precious blind medicine for women.It's just that those with weak spleen and stomach must take it even more.After entering the city, Meng Ai went to the pharmacy to purchase and dispense medicines. He also bought a lot of donkey-hide gelatin, all of which were of good quality.There are many women in their group, whether it is Sui'er, Meng Yan himself or Bai Yuyin, all have symptoms of blood loss, and Ejiao is a good thing for them.

Sui'er has had her period for the past two days, and her body is uncomfortable, and she has been feeling weak all the time.Meng Kuang felt sorry for her being very sad on the boat, but he didn't dare to get too close to her, so he could only keep a distance with great restraint.Taking care of Sui'er was left to Meng Yan and Bai Yuyin.Meng Kuang also didn't want to get too close to Bai Yuyin, even though Sui'er jokingly asked her to "sprinkle both the rain and the dew" and play the scene of Ehuang and Nvying well, so as to avoid Guo Dayou's suspicion, but how could she play an intimate scene with her second sister-in-law? Both are awkward.And even if Sui Er knew that they were acting, she would still feel sour and jealous after all, and felt uncomfortable, Meng Kuang was extremely unwilling in his heart.

Just having said that, why did Bai Yuyin hand her fried cakes to eat in Tianjin Wei that day?Maybe it's because she also thought she wanted to act; maybe she was gentle and considerate, but she just wanted to take care of her "little aunt".No matter which one it was, Meng Kuang felt that she might have oversimplified things, and she might really have to continue the lie of "E Huang Nv Ying".

They settled in an inn in Linqing City, because Guo Dayou wanted to visit friends, they would stay in Linqing for two days.Check in in separate rooms at the inn, Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang share one room, Lu Jingshi and Han Jiaer share one room, Meng Yan, Sui'er and Bai Yuyin share one room.Guo Dayou packed his bags and took his horse out of the inn to visit friends. He will not come back tonight.Meng Kuang's task is to stay and protect the rest.

Lu Jingshi took Han Jia'er out of the inn to play around the streets, Meng Yan and Sui'er were not feeling well, and planned to stay in the house to rest.Meng Kuang went into the house to accompany his sister and Sui Er, while Bai Yuyin planned to borrow the inn's kitchen to boil donkey-hide gelatin for Meng Yan and Sui Er. Maybe they would feel better.Meng Yan and Sui Er didn't want to trouble her, but she smiled and said:

"You are all my younger sisters. I will take care of you as an older sister, so why stop me? It's okay, I'll cook it up and serve it soon. You two are weak, take care of them, don't worry."

After finishing speaking, he took a pack of donkey-hide gelatin and went downstairs.

"Oh, Sister Bai is really a very heart-warming person. When I get along with her these days, I am really considerate and considerate in every way. Every time I think of her life experience, I feel pain in my heart. Why don't you say that this good person is not rewarded? She My life is really bitter." After Bai Yuyin left, Meng Yan sighed.

"Qing, your second brother redeemed her because he knew her background." Sui'er asked.

"En." Meng Kuang nodded.

"However, your second elder brother has been investigating your father and brother's affairs all these years, so why did he find out about Bai Yuyin's affairs? Bai Yuyin's father caused the family to suffer because of exposing King Lu. Could it be that your father and brother's affairs have something to do with King Lu? Is it related?" Sui'er frowned and thought.

"Maybe the second brother did find out something, but for some reason, he never mentioned it to us." Meng Kuang glanced at Meng Ai, who also shook his head. They really didn't know the existence of Bai Yuyin at all, let alone Did Bai Yuyin's life experience involve his family's blood feud?

"Aren't you going to ask her?" Spike said, "Maybe she still has something to tell us."

Meng Kuang was stunned for a moment, while Meng Ai asked, "Sister Xiaosui, why do you say that?"

"She still hides the account book that can restrain King Lu, but she didn't tell us where we are. Of course, I don't mean that she has to tell us everything, but this obviously proves that she still hides a lot of things. .” Sui Er said.

"Maybe Guo Dayou is here, so she can't tell. I'll ask her while Guo Dayou is not here." Meng Kuang stood up and said, "Lu Wang's people are still hunting her, let her be alone." It's not safe downstairs. You wait inside, I'll go down and see her."

Meng Yan and Sui Er nodded, Meng Kuang left the house and went downstairs to find Bai Yuyin.She walked all the way through the front hall of the inn, and as soon as she stepped into the backyard, she suddenly heard the crisp sound of "cracking" dishes, and Bai Yuyin's exclamation suddenly came from the kitchen in the backyard.Meng Kuang's heart skipped a beat and he rushed into the kitchen.In the kitchen, Bai Yuyin was hugged from behind by a fat man with big ears. She struggled desperately, but was entangled endlessly.That man was drunk during the day and night, with his arms open and his chest open, his appearance was extremely wretched.With a smirk all over his face, he fumbled with Bai Yuyin's body with his hands, and called out, "Beauty, come with me." For some reason, there were only Bai Yuyin and him in the kitchen, and the rest of the cooks were nowhere to be seen.

Not caring so much, Meng Kuang rushed forward, grabbed the wretched man's arm, twisted it in the opposite direction, and heard the toothache sound of fracture, the man suddenly howled in pain, Unable to resist, Meng Kuang pulled Bai Yuyin off his body along the way. Meng Kuang kicked his knees, and the wretched man smashed his knees to the ground, and let out another howl of pain.

Meng Kuang finally pulled the bun on his head, and slammed him hard against a wall. With a muffled sound, the guy collapsed to the ground and passed out.

"Second sister-in-law... are you okay?" Meng Kuang asked aloud.

The next moment, Bai Yuyin threw himself into her arms and hugged her tightly.Meng Kuang froze, and subconsciously wanted to push her away.Hearing her sobs and feeling her body trembling with fear, Meng Kuang's heart ached, and he slowly raised his hand to caress her back, comforting her:

"Don't be afraid, it's alright."