Lu Ming

It is said that Master Bu was the last Jinshi in the third list during the Wanli period.Although his grades in civil servant examinations are mediocre, Master Bu is upright by nature, loves to study scriptures, and has a deep understanding of the ways of sages... In other words, he is rigid and unsuitable for an official.

Fortunately, the Bu family in Xianyou County is considered a well-off family. Although there are not many Jinshi in the family, there are many scholars, so there is no shortage of him as a moral gentleman.So Mr. Bu's official career is relatively satisfactory: he has been transferred among the deputy positions of various yamen, and has never been a chief official.

After he turned 40, Mr. Bu, who was a bit of a madman, found that he could not get used to the sleazy dog ​​in the officialdom. Coupled with the fierce faction in the court, he found this job near his hometown and planned to finish it in one term. , I went back to my hometown to teach and educate people.

I don't want to receive such an official document at the end of the day.What upset Master Bu the most was that this official document was supposed to send him to a senior official to deal with errands.On the official documents are the signatures and approval documents of the two major yamen, the Fuya and the Fuya. They have already opened up their joints, and they are waiting to finish their errands and spend their public money to befriend the pirate surnamed Cao!

That's why Master Bu scolded corrupt officials and pirates in his study.

Just when Master Bu decided to write a booklet to scold Xiong Wencan for being a traitor, and then hang up his seal and leave, he was persuaded.

It was a junior who came from afar to persuade him.The name of this junior is somewhat famous in later generations: his name is Fang Tangjing.

However, this Fang Tangjing of the Ming Dynasty was not the famous lawyer in the late Qing Dynasty, he was just an ordinary failed scholar.

Fang Tangjing came all the way from Hangzhou. He was a guest of Master Bu who was close to Tongnian's family.This time, Fang Tangjing came to Fujian to visit Master Bu on behalf of his master. In addition, his main purpose was to visit Taiwan—Hangzhou Station also created a wealth myth locally, so many people with a keen sense of smell Literati and bureaucrats have sent people to Taiwan for research.

So when Fang Tangjing learned the reason for Master Bu's anger, he hurriedly began to persuade him, planning to urge him to go to Taiwan together: anyway, it's public money, so if you don't go, you won't go.

Chapter 362

It should be said that Fang Tangjing's position as guest minister was not given for nothing.Compared with Qing Ke, who is only responsible for making jokes and making jokes, Ke Qing's status in the Dong family is equivalent to that of a master. He is a person who is qualified to participate in the decision-making of certain things and is given important responsibilities.

Fang Tangjing is like this.Not only is he a literati funded by his boss, but he is also married to his distant niece, so he can be regarded as a real person... Otherwise, his boss would not have entrusted him with the task of investigating the gangster's lair.It is extremely important to know that this represents the future strategic investment direction of the family.

To be able to shoulder this burden, Fang Tangjing is naturally a sophisticated, tactful and shrewd person.So when he learned the reason of the matter, he hurriedly ran to persuade Master Bu who was about to run away and make fun of the crowd.

Fang Tangjing had many reasons to persuade the master.This is one of them: a guy like Xiong Wencan, if you scold him, you scold him. Anyway, the old Xiong is a low-ranking official, and he will leave in a few years, and he can't do anything to the local aborigine Master Bu.

But other people should be careful when scolding: Mr. Bu is outstanding, he is magnanimous and noble, but the family wants to live here after all, so it would be a troublesome thing to offend those half-sized native officials by firing map guns.

During Fang Tangjing's lingering in the Bu family, Master Bu liked this young man very much because of his good conversation and knowledge, even though Fang Tangjing was already 30 years old.

So after listening to Fang Tangjing's advice, Master Bu also regained consciousness a little.He is a bit old and angry, but he is not angry enough to disregard the interests of the family.

After he figured it out, Master Bu generously said: Then let those bastards go, master, I am writing a letter to the emperor this time, only to impeach the two bastards surnamed Xiong and Jiao.

In the next step, Fang Tangjing gave Master Bu another idea: Since the surname Jiao is going to be sprayed, it is better for the master to go to the senior officials in person.It is said that if you don't go into the tiger's den, you can't catch the tiger's cubs. In this way, Master Bu may be able to find some clues in the military purchase case, and it will be powerful when sprayed in the future... After all, there is nothing wrong with that official document on the surface, Master If you really want to poke the chrysanthemum of your immediate boss, you must have evidence in hand to do it well, right?

Sometimes it is important to change the perspective of thinking: the same problem is often solved in this way.So when Fang Tangjing interpreted this official document from a different angle, Comrade Bu Daxing, an old cynical youth, suddenly felt that his words made sense: he needed to go to the dark den of thieves, and after he came back, he would kill all the scum!

Ever since, a visiting group with different ideas was formed in this way.The members of the regiment are as follows: Master Bu, the head of the regiment, and Fang Tangjing, the deputy head of the regiment;

After packing up and preparing, the group of five officially set off on June 1629, 6.Everyone first took a boat from Xinghuafu to Quanzhou, and then boarded the boat to Dayuan easily.The liner departs from Quanzhou and goes south to Xiamen. After arriving in Xiamen, it forms a group with other merchant ships and then sails directly to Dayuan.

Apart from the fact that some workshops in Xiamen Port were emitting black smoke, which made Mr. Bu feel uncomfortable, everyone had a relaxed time along the way.

The upper class cabin of the liner is very comfortable.There are not only clean beds, but also such wonderful things as thermos pots and water-proof thermos cups.Being able to make hot tea on a rocking boat, although it is inevitable to mutter a few words about "extraordinary skills", but after all, Master Bu drinks a lot of tea.In addition, the red tomato sauce fish cubes poured over rice also made everyone full of praise.

Enjoying the sea view all the way, and at night, I went out of the cabin to watch the bright lighthouse of Penghu.After chatting with Fang Tangjing like this, Master Bu entered the Taijiang Passage at noon.

The bustling Taijiang River can always dazzle people who arrive for the first time.However, people's attention is different: just as Fang Tangjing and the servants were pointing at the "Haidilao" on the left side of the ship and clicked their tongues, Master Bu had a gloomy face and looked at the "Haidilao" on the right side of the ship with his hands behind his back. city.

Located in the middle of Dayuan Island, the imperial city is full of folds and brilliance.In the 17th century, this building wrapped in blue light and red bricks reflected by large-format glass curtain walls was very majestic and majestic, with some fantasy colors.

However, it was this building known locally as the "General's Mansion" that Master Bu looked at with a cold face for a long time.It wasn't until the boat entered the Taijiang River that he turned around and said to Fang Tang Jing, "Wrapping the wall with red bricks is an act of arrogance!"

"Hehe, Song Weng (Bu Daxing's name is Songming), don't ask for full blame. This place has always been a place for outsiders, and the Cao family just recruited them. How can a savage know about the taboos of the court?"

Fang Tangjing didn't take Master Bu's faultfinding seriously in his heart.Now it is no longer the style of the founding of the country. Now the world is extravagant. Rich people without fame all wear silk, cars with two horses, and rich families with high walls. Those rules set by Taizu Zhu have long been thrown out of the sky.

Even in Xinghua Mansion, where Master Bu lives, there are people who violate the rules in clothing stores and mansions everywhere. When you go out, you can see wealthy businessmen with luxury cars and multi-person sedan chairs shouting at the fans of luxury slaves. rampant...

However, Mr. Bu usually turned a blind eye to these things, but now he went to this place where he didn't understand the rules of the Ming Dynasty, but he wanted to accuse him of overstepping the rules... Fang Tangjing couldn't help but shook his head in his heart: Maybe this old man is very good at Cao Da The general has long been disgusted with it, and now he has to pick some thorns before he is willing to give up.

……

After placating the master with a smile, Fang Tangjing hurriedly called his servants to pack up and salute to prepare to disembark.He tricked Mr. Bu into coming here to take advantage of Mr. Bu's work—so that he could investigate some projects that are not open to the public here.Looking at it now, it is not so easy to be famous. This old man is too worrying.

After the fleet entered the Taijiang Inland Sea, they went their separate ways along buoys of different colors.The passenger ship that the visiting group took here crossed the sea to the Chikan Wharf on the other side.

When Master Bu saw the cranes, railroad tracks and trucks emitting black smoke on the pier, he was silent this time, probably because there were too many enemy troops.

The newly built customs hall on the Chikan Wharf is very impressive.The large-span buildings with the same specifications as the various payment halls of later generations made the new Ming people keep looking up: they couldn't figure out why there were no columns and beams in such a tall, spacious and transparent house?Why didn't the top come off?

The newly disembarked passengers lined up to the entrance of the hall. Guided by several big caps with various police equipment hanging around their waists, the visiting group followed the big characters marked under their feet to the public window.

After seeing the female clerk who was also wearing a big cap, a sky blue short-sleeved shirt, and blue epaulets in the public window, Master Bu, who was queuing up to register, was obviously a little uncomfortable.Avoiding the exposed neck and arms of the short-haired girl opposite, Master Bu silently recited "See no evil" while filling out the form with his head bowed.

However, gentlemen are rare creatures after all, so other people in the regiment are quite curious about female civil servants.Needless to say, the long-time follower and the boy looked like Brother Zhu when they registered, and even Fang Tangjing waved his folding fan a few times before starting to fill in the form.

After filling out the form, there are some routine inquiries and the inspection of the infrared thermometer.Seeing the weird man in a green robe and mask hitting his forehead with a beam of light, Master Bu was taken aback again.

Temporary guests like them do not need to be locked up in quarantine camps, but daily routine infrared temperature measurement and designated accommodation are necessary.

After learning that the strange thing happened just now was that the doctor was visiting a doctor, Master Bu couldn't help but cursed a few more words in his heart—he didn't know anything about infrared rays, so he naturally regarded this kind of behavior as a kind of indigenous magic like witchcraft.

After all the procedures were completed, the visiting group was finally brought to the living room.

The living room is dedicated to business reception, with sofas and coffee tables inside, and it is actually the VIP waiting room of the future station.

Sofas are no secret.Due to the low technical content, sofa shops have been spread in big cities like Fuzhou.Traveling through the public takes the core technology thick spring as a shareholder, and Mingren shareholders are responsible for recruitment and production.

The people who visited the group were naturally knowledgeable, so they didn't make a fuss.

Soon, two reception staff came in through the side door.The man at the head is tall and also wearing a big-brimmed hat.As soon as the man came, he stretched out his hand with a smile, and shook hands with Master Bu who was not used to it.And the other ordinary-looking man, wearing a gray linen suit, remained silent from beginning to end, acting like a follower.

The visiting group now knows that anyone wearing a big cap is a "gentleman" here.

The person at the beginning introduced himself as Ma, and was the head of the reception section of the customs.After reviewing Master Bu's official documents and surveys, Section Chief Ma nodded, and then communicated with Master Bu in Mandarin with a little Min accent.

Section Chief Ma first stated that this side already knew the news that Master Bu was coming, and had already made preparations.So with regard to this arms purchase case, the two sides can start substantive operations starting tomorrow.

Master Bu has no objection to this point.

Then there is nothing to talk about.Section Chief Ma enthusiastically led the members of the visiting group out of the customs, and led them to the Taijiang Hotel, which is specially used to receive VIPs.

Taijiang Hotel is at the back gate of the customs, and there is only one main road between the two sides.The four-story Taijiang Hotel is considered the best building in the accommodation area, and you can overlook the style of Taijiang from the window.Most of the guest rooms inside are suites, which are specially prepared for the rich people of the Ming Dynasty with their servants.

After helping Master Bu and the others to complete the check-in procedures, Section Chief Ma told the guests: A military staff officer will come to deal with this matter tomorrow, so that everyone can rest at ease.Before leaving, Chief Ma also kindly reminded everyone: Please read the accommodation guide carefully.

Accommodation guides were common in later generations, but in the 17th century Daguan was a rarity.So after Mr. Bu entered the door, he let his servants be busy, while he himself picked up the beautifully printed accommodation guide with great interest, and sat on the sofa to read it.

Chapter 363

The content of the accommodation guide is divided into several parts.

The first part is to introduce the facilities in the hotel and suites.The text in this booklet is the same as all the texts Master Bu saw after he came to Da Yuan, they are all vulgar characters with few strokes.

After Mr. Bu read the first part of the booklet fluently, he learned and sold it now, and directed the boy to the bathroom to put hot water for him... the old man wanted to take a bath.

Lying in the pure white bathtub, feeling the delicate touch of white porcelain, accompanied by the steaming mist, Master Bu let out a long and comfortable sigh.

Naturally, a large bathtub of more than one meter will not be made of porcelain. Not to mention the high difficulty, even if it is fired out of porcelain, it will not be able to bear the weight of water and the human body.In fact, Master Bu regarded the enamel surface as white porcelain.Ming people bathed in wooden barrels or stone pools, so it is normal that Master Bu has never seen the bathtubs of later generations.

This kind of bathtub, which is the most common in later generations, has a very high technical content in this era.Due to the lack of a welding technology tree, the sanitary ware factory needs to first use sheet metal technology to make the whole piece of thin steel into the shape of a bathtub, and then spray the surface to enamellize the inside and outside of the bathtub to make a finished product.

The bathtub, which is no more common in later generations, is currently not exported except for personal use due to many technical difficulties and high scrap rate, which is why Master Bu has never seen it.

After taking a comfortable bath and calling the servants to come in and rub his back, Master Bu found that his only regret was that he didn't bring a maid with him this time - usually these jobs are done by the little girls.

Putting on a moon white single and rush sandals and slippers provided by the hotel, Mr. Bu sat on the single sofa, took a sip of the orange-flavored soda in a classic Coca-Cola glass bottle, and then opened the accommodation guide to continue studying.

The second part of the guide lists all the attractions in Tainan in detail.These attractions include the famous Taijiang Night Market, industrial tourism in Kiln District, and the beautiful natural lagoon, as well as some high-end local restaurants and shopping malls.

The guidebook not only marked the locations and sketches of the above-mentioned places, but also wrote out various bus stops, private car rentals, and walking tours, which is very considerate.

"I'm not afraid of people thinking about it." After Master Bu muttered, he turned to the next page.

This page is full of caveats.Including what you need to know when staying in a hotel, what you need to know about health inspections, what you need to know about emergency help, etc.

After Master Bu finished reading all the contents, he called the long attendant and the young servant over again, and told them to go to the service desk downstairs, and exchange all the money they brought with them into local currency.

Although Mr. Bu said that he despises Cao's gang in terms of ideology, it doesn't mean that he has no wisdom in life.On the contrary, the old cynic is still very clear about the truth of being under the roof, especially a square person like him who is used to doing things according to the rules.

So when he saw the currency exchange instructions in the guidebook, he followed suit in time: During the period of residence in Dayuan, foreign business travelers must exchange the money on hand to the local currency at the designated place before consumption.This kind of exchange is two-way, and the money can also be exchanged back before the business traveler leaves.

This article is essentially a monetary policy of abolishing the two yuan and changing the yuan. It was implemented after the general assembly was held at the beginning of this year: since January 1629, within the scope of the directly-administered territory of the empire (Taiwan Island), national daily consumption is no longer allowed to use The old system of silver money was forced to convert to a mixed currency system of silver coins + banknotes.

The long follower and the young servant went downstairs carrying the burden of money.There are many places designated by the Ministry of Finance to exchange money, including banks in commercial areas, savings points in residential areas, and the front desks of foreign-related institutions such as Taijiang Hotel.

So the two servants left for about half an hour before returning.

After a "crash", Bu Gui, the chief follower, dumped the banknotes and silver dollars in the bag onto the table: "Master, all of them have been changed."

"Well, let me take a look." Master Bu put down the tea bowl at this moment, sat up, and picked out a shiny silver coin from the pile of banknotes on the table with two fingers.

What caught Master Bu's eyes was a silver pancake the size of a walnut with no hole in the middle.

First, there is a dense circle of straight teeth on the edge of the silver cake.On the next outer ring, a flying dragon with complete horns and claws is engraved inside; this lifelike, scaled and bearded flying dragon just circled the silver coin, connecting its head and tail, looking very delicate.

The following is the pattern that surprised Mr. Bu: in the center of the silver coin is a head portrait of a man who is about [-] years old.This man wears a crown on his head and a gown with bare neck, his resolute gaze squints into the distance, solemn and domineering, not angry and majestic.

Although Mr. Bu said that he used copper coins and silver ingots on weekdays, he immediately guessed the purpose of this head portrait by relying on his keen political sense: this is to announce the year, just like the Emperor Tongbao on the copper coins. A word is a truth!

Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Master Bu turned the silver coin over with trembling fingers.

There is also a flying dragon on the outer ring on the reverse side, but the dragon head and tail are opposite to the front side.The pattern in the middle of the silver coin is simple and clear: the traditional Chinese character "Yiyuan" surrounded by ears of wheat and rice.

Underneath the two big characters "One Garden" written vertically, are the Arabic numerals "1850" in the new calendar that Master Bu doesn't know.

"Is this money exchanged at the counter? Is there a name?" After carefully looking at the silver coins, Master Bu closed his eyes for a while to catch his breath, then slowly opened his eyes and opened his mouth to ask.

Seeing the master's question, the chief follower, Bu Gui, hurriedly replied, "Master, I exchanged money from the cabinet. I heard from the imperial court that the money official's name is Yinyang, and his nickname is Cao Datou."

"Cao Datou...huh...Cao Datou." Master Bu laughed angrily at this moment: "I can't get away from that General Cao, what a proper name!"

The boy beside him, Bu Mo, is not very old, so he is not good at winking.Seeing his master laughing, the child thought that the master really liked this exquisite silver pancake, so Bu Mo hurriedly picked up a silver coin with two fingers, puffed up his cheeks and blew it vigorously by his mouth, and then put the silver coin on the master as if offering a treasure. Ear: "My lord, listen to this tone! The imperial court said that it is anti... oh, anti-counterfeiting, no other family can make such a loud one."

"Do you still need to listen to it?" Master Bu shook his head, driving the long echo from the silver coins out of his ears, then he stared at the fine hair molded out of Mr. Cao's image, and said leisurely: "It's the pattern and color, which craftsman in Ming Dynasty can cast it? Hmph, this one can be exchanged for a tael of silver, right?"

The chief follower, Bu Gui, had already sensed the master's displeasure at this time, so he hurriedly replied respectfully: "Yes, the total amount of silver in this garden is seven cents and two cents, and we exchanged one tael of silver on the counter."

Master Bu snorted coldly and said: "It's not a loss, this kind of work, seven yuan is worth one or two."

Comrade Bu Daxing's words subconsciously pointed out the real price of Yinyang right now.In fact, since this "Cao Datou" was released at the beginning of the year, its exchange rate with ordinary silver taels has never fallen below 110%.

That is to say, in private exchange activities other than official exchange points, each silver dollar can always be exchanged for more than one tael and one penny of silver.

Exquisite patterns, precise and consistent individual weights, anti-scratch teeth on the edge, and the unique buzzing sound, these technological contents attached to silver coins, just like the ZIPPO windproof lighter to the scythe, were quickly discovered. People discovered and recognized it, making the price of Cao Datou firm for a long time.

After checking the silver coins, Master Bu looked at the pile of colorful banknotes on the table one by one.

The patterns on the banknotes are similar to those of the silver coins. On the front is a bust of Mr. Cao, and on the back are the banknote denominations in traditional characters and various flowers.

It’s just that according to the denominations, these images have also been changed into marshal’s clothes, suits, Chinese tunic suits, etc., and the shape of someone’s head is also constantly switching among styles such as big back, three to seven points, and middle points... It seems that Mr. Cao This time, I really put my heart into it. I was afraid that there would be no materials for future generations to issue new banknotes, so I took many high-definition electronic version digital photos.

Master Bu quickly saw the trick from the pile of banknotes: the larger the denomination, the larger the volume of the banknotes.Except for the smallest "one-point" denomination, which is a middle-aged man in his 40s with a big back, the patterns on the other yuan-jiaofen, although the costumes have changed, are still General Cao.

After carefully reading all the banknotes, Master Bu laughed again.

However, the master was not laughed at this time.Mr. Bu is a scholar-bureaucrat, and he is well aware of the series of scandalous operations after the issuance of "precious banknotes" in Ming Dynasty.Including the insane behavior of the government not accepting the treasure banknotes issued by itself when collecting taxes, including the failure of the treasure banknotes to die, Mr. Bu is very clear about it.

So when he saw the banknotes on the table, he easily thought of the nature of the banknotes: they were "treasure banknotes", no matter how beautifully printed they were, they were evil things used to search for the people's favor.

"Let's see how it ends!" Master Bu couldn't help but feel much better after he smirked twice. He was already imagining how these unlearned and incompetent pirates and officials would be devastated in the future.

……

After inspecting the banknotes, Master Bu became in a better mood.Stretching, I turned my head and looked out the window, and found that the sky was covered with fire clouds, and the Taijiang River was shrouded in golden light—it was time for dinner.

"Lock Yinyang, bring some banknotes, let's go to the restaurant!"

After knocking on the apartment opposite the door of the corridor and calling Tang Jing's master and servant, Master Bu and his party went downstairs to look for food.

Taking out the accommodation guide in his sleeve, and following the map along the way, Master Bu easily found the nearby food street.Then, at the instigation of Fang Tangjing, the master entered a century-old Xingang Society indigenous shop with a white-bearded old man as a signboard.

This fried chicken shop opened by a naturalized Xingang Society member has a very good business.Mr. Bu and his party sat on the novelty train seat, ate the signature Savage ancestral fried chicken, ate burgers, ate old Newport chicken rolls, drank homemade Coke and coffee, and finally ate ice cream.

Afterwards, everyone unanimously expressed their opinion: It seems that the naturalization of the savages of the Xingang Society is still meaningful, and the fried chicken tastes quite good.

Chapter 364 Agreement of Intent

After dinner, the sky had already darkened.After Mr. Bu and his party left the restaurant, they noticed that the street lamps on the street were lit up one after another.

The street lamps are like signals. While lighting up both sides of the Taijiang River, the brilliance like a galaxy on the ground also attracts a large number of people.

Workers in blue overalls, agricultural workers in flowered T-shirts, clerks in white shirt jackets, short Japanese people with the same black hair and Japanese haircuts, and blond Fanren... Most importantly, wearing Girls in cool clothes.

Master Bu and the others couldn't help being surrounded by the sudden crowd and walked towards the place with the brightest lights.All the way along the way, there were girls in T-shirts and shorts showing their arms and legs. They looked at Mr. Bu blushing and cursed Cao's licentiousness and impoliteness in his heart.