Tranquility

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, another year of peach blossoms.

On this day of rest, Tang Ning was painting at home, and Xu Lian took Tang Yu to Xu Yuan's house to visit.

Speaking of which, Xu Lian and Xu Yuan are really relatives who have not been out of the fifth service. When they were in Cangping, Xu Lian always had low self-esteem because of her status. She seldom went out to make friends.

Now in the capital, the Zhuangyuan Mansion is very big, but there are only three masters. Tao Ping became the housekeeper, and Tao Ping's cousin Tao Rui became the steward of the inner courtyard. More than Xu Lian who became a monk halfway, he is Xu Lian's right-hand man.

In this way, Xu Lian was free, and it was boring to do needlework all the time. Tang Ning told her that while Tang Yu was still young, she would take Tang Yu out for more visits, so that he could meet more playmates of the same age. It will also be a network of contacts in the future.

If Xu Lian was alone, she would definitely not be willing to go out and embarrass Tang Ning, but with Tang Yu added, Xu Lian could only be cruel and mustered up the courage to go out.

Fortunately, Tangning has already greeted Xu Yuan. Xu Yuan's inner courtyard is probably the cleanest inner courtyard in the capital. He has one wife and one concubine. Because Xu Yuan has been neglected for many years, the two have a little bit of sympathy for each other. , getting along fairly well.

Xu Yuan had a son and a daughter, the son's family was working outside, and the daughter had already married to Zhili, and she came back every year and festival; because Xu Yuan's wife was lonely, she was always keen to attend various banquets, and she had quite a status. Gao, and Princess Kang Le are of the same generation, and the two have a good relationship, so the two families often visit each other.

Mrs. Xu is a very open-minded person, she doesn't care about Xu Lian's identity, she is very happy that Xu Lian often comes to play, she also takes Xu Lian to various parties, and introduces her into her circle.

With Mrs. Xu's support, Xu Lian has become more cheerful recently, and she also likes to dress up. Tang Yu even subdued a few of his subordinates by relying on Dr. Lu's occasional pointers.

Ever since he made it clear what he wanted to pursue, Tang Ning fell into the distress of not being able to paint what he wanted in his heart. He practiced painting whenever he had time, hoping that with his hard work, he would accumulate something day after day, so his paintings His skills have improved to a higher level, and he has become more sophisticated. Since he won three yuan in a row, the value of his calligraphy and painting has skyrocketed, and there is still heat left.

Tangning had just finished painting a picture when she saw Tao Ping coming in from the outside.

"Master, someone outside said it was your second brother, and he came back to see you..."

Tangning was stunned for another moment, and then she was very pleasantly surprised. She put down her brush and ran outside.

Panting for breath, Tang Ning ran outside the gate. She saw a pile of carriages outside the gate. Standing in front of him was a black and thin Tang Yun. Tang Yun was even darker than three years ago. His cheeks were sunken and his face was full of wind and frost. It's full of yellow teeth.

Tangning burst into tears, and he yelled sadly, "Second brother, why did you become like this!"

Tang Yun looked in good spirits, he laughed heartily, and hugged his younger brother, "What kind of look, let me tell you, just like me, the chief's daughter is still crying all day long to marry me! "

Tangning sniffled, "I don't believe it, the chief's daughter doesn't look like you, does she?"

Tang Yun laughed again, put his arms around Tangning's shoulders and walked towards the door, "Haha, San'er is smart, it's true, the people there are as black as yakshas, ​​so brother, I was so scared that I ran back overnight. "

Filled with joy, Tang Ning repeatedly ordered Tao Ping to prepare bath water and food, and then led Tang Yun to the flower hall with one hand, but when his delicate hand grabbed Tang Yun's hand, his heart ached again, and he held Tang Yun's hand , just like holding old bark.

Tang Yun's experience in the past two years has almost become a master. One look at Tangning's expression and he could tell what he was thinking. What my brother has seen in the past two years, this bit of pain is worth it. I also went around the foreigner's palace, and saw their king's wife and sister, tsk tsk, the women over there are really different from ours ..."

Probably fulfilling his dream of sailing, Tang Yun was very excited. He dragged his beloved brother to chatter non-stop. Tangning also listened with relish and poured him tea from time to time.

When Xu Lian came back with Tang Yu in the evening, Tang Yun had already cleaned up. He gave Xu Lian a box full of gems, and gave Tang Yu a solid gold model ship, looking like a nouveau riche.

When Tang Ning swept through the rows of carriages in the afternoon, she knew that her second brother had earned a lot of money from the sea trip this time, so she guessed that the servants who carried the goods hadn't finished moving them yet.

"Second brother, are you going to leave this time?"

"No, I won't go to sea in the last few years. I'm not really desperate. I plan to come back to do business and open a firm in Qiongjing, specializing in reselling seafood. It's closer to San'er."

The corner of Tangning's mouth twitched, it turned out that Qiongjing was very close to the capital in the second brother's heart.

"Ah, I almost forgot, I brought back Little Silver, and now it's in the hospital, it went out to sea with me, and it's very sick, I think it's getting old, so I brought it back Pension."

When Tang Yun said this, his face was a bit lonely. He had been away from home all these years, and only Xiaoyin was with him. The reason why he decided to come back this time was to let Xiaoyin recuperate.

Tangning followed Mo Ran, and Xiao Jin did the same. Fortunately, they were all mentally prepared, and this was unavoidable.

The atmosphere was somewhat gloomy, so Tangning had no choice but to change the subject, talking about the affairs of the court, and then said that the court had sent Xia Houchun to Qiongjing to form a navy. more and more.

Speaking of this, Tangning suddenly remembered the Liulichang in the Qing Dynasty. There was a special area dedicated to seafood and other novelties, so why couldn't he create such a place in the capital, just like a wholesale market, as long as someone If you want to buy Western gadgets, you will go there to buy them.Moreover, with the deepening of exchanges with foreign countries in the future, Chinese people will know more about the West, and the business will only grow bigger...

Tang Ning's eyes lit up, and as soon as he told Tang Yun about this idea, Tang Yun was very excited. Someone in the court was easy to handle, and he wanted to go to see the place right away. After walking around a few times, he suddenly went out to find his personal servant, and He whispered a few words, and after a while, Tang Yun came back with a box.

"This is what I traded your painting for a prince in Franji. It is the painting of Sleeping Beauty in Peach Blossom Spring that you painted at home, because it is about the house at home, and I have always taken it with me. People in China are very curious about us Orientals. They always ask me what our women look like and what our houses look like, so I just showed him your paintings.

He wanted to buy it as soon as he saw it, but I didn't want to sell it. In the end, he exchanged this with me. "

Tang Ning opened the box, and inside were drawings one by one. The length, width and height were marked with Arabic numerals. Tang Ning had forgotten all her English, but she was still learning to draw, so she could barely tell what was drawn in the drawings.

The more he looked at it, the more excited he became, "Here, is this the blueprint of the ship?"

"The prince said yes. I didn't quite understand it. I only saw the real ship. It was an ordinary merchant ship they usually go to sea, not a warship."

"It's enough. Even merchant ships are better than ours. However, a big ship must have more than this few blueprints. The blueprints are incomplete." Tangning flipped through the remaining blueprints and said.

"I know, but your painting is only six inches long, and the prince said that if you want to replace it all, you have to replace it with the kind of painting you drew."

"Then change it. After I have changed all the blueprints, I will present them and ask you to be a petty official. It's just that I still have to go to sea, and I will definitely have to wait another year or a half."

"That's not necessary. I'll just change it in Qiongjing. The prince sent his men over this time, and I'll go change it with them. How about we set up a shipbuilding workshop when we get the blueprint?"

Tangning thought about it and nodded in agreement.

Although there are many difficulties, it is feasible. He first translated the Arabic numerals, and he could study English even with a simple guess. Then he asked his elder brother to make a model with wood.Anyway, there is no hurry, they have a lifetime to manage it.

In the following days, everyone in Zhuangyuan's mansion lived very contentedly and peacefully. Tang Yun traveled here and there for these years, and this time he planned to take a good rest. Yu was taken aback for a while.

It's strange to say that Tangning and Sister Cheng are both quiet temperaments, but Tang Yu can't sit still. He has been rambunctious since he was born, very lively. Tangning once wondered if his son had ADHD.

Tang Yu seems to have a natural enthusiasm for adventure. When Shu Hongyu took him, he talked about going to the rivers and lakes all day long, and now he talks about going to sea and sailing.

Tang Ning looked at the two people talking nonsense in the pavilion and didn't stop her. He has never been a domineering parent. Tang Yu's future should be chosen by himself. Anyway, as an old man, he should put down the family business first, and Tang Yu can do whatever he wants. How to toss.

Moreover, Tangning also hoped that after looking at Tang Yu, Tang Yun would want to start a family and have a child, so that he could truly settle down.

But he also knew that it was difficult for the well-informed Tang Yun to fall in love with those big ladies who stayed at home, not to mention that it was difficult for a businessman like him to marry a good wife.

Tangning sighed, turned her eyes away, and continued to read the documents. He should work hard first. He has a younger brother who is a high-ranking official, and his brother's marriage can be discussed better.

Recently, the situation in the court is very bad. Last year, the emperor suddenly got a serious illness. Since then, his health has been getting worse and worse. He himself seems to have sensed the crisis, and he has been practicing more diligently, almost treating it as the only straw. .

Years ago, the emperor suddenly said that he had a dream. In the dream, the gods told him that the reason why he was in such a catastrophe was that a corner of the fairy platform collapsed.

So the emperor made a great wish in his dream, saying that he would build a golden pagoda to make up for his previous negligence.In the emperor's dream, he decided this matter without even moving his lips. This made it difficult for the officials below. The letter of remonstrance almost crushed Emperor Jingle's dragon case. Don't worry, the golden pagoda has finally started working.

It has been three months since the construction of the Golden Pagoda started, and the money has been spent like running water. The people below finally can't sit still, whoever sees that the money they have worked so hard to save for a year will be spent in less than three months Everyone will feel distressed, except Gao Pu.

Gao Pu, the chief assistant, was indifferent, and only wanted to please the emperor. Everything the emperor said was right. He didn't dare to object when the emperor said he wanted to build a golden pagoda. Anyway, it wasn't his money that was spent.

So everyone decided to collectively kneel down to remonstrate. Everyone in the Imperial Academy had to write a letter of remonstrance. Naturally, Tangning couldn't be special. Now he was having a headache as to how to write the letter of remonstrance.

Fortunately, this matter is not urgent, it will happen during the big court meeting, and tomorrow is the small court meeting, so he doesn't have to attend.

Today's emperor is not considered diligent, and the Great Court Meeting is only once every half a month.

However, what Tang Ning didn't expect was that at the Xiaochao meeting, a censor impeached Zhao Qian for doting on his concubine and destroying his wife, causing his wife to have a miscarriage and begging to be resigned.

Tang Ning is from the sixth grade, so he is not qualified to participate in the small court meeting, but the first quality that officials need is to be well-informed. I heard it there.

It's just that the man didn't take it seriously, he just took it as a chat after dinner. After all, Yushi is always like this. There are no big reports, but small reports. He doesn't have the guts to impeach high officials. Strange.

Tangning couldn't calm down anymore. This matter was considered a trivial matter in the eyes of others, but because it was a trivial matter, removing Zhao Qian's black hat was just a matter of raising one's hand.