Ministers and others get married by decree

Chu Lou suddenly realized.I was speechless, most of the boat!

No wonder it is said that in the three years of the Qing Dynasty, the magistrate was ten thousand taels of snowflake silver, which shows that Suzhou and Hangzhou are indeed rich.

Just because there are so many people leaving the city today, when they finally arrived at the pier, it was already broad daylight.Chu Lou helped the carriage to stand up, and in front of him was Jishuitan, the main wharf of the section of Tonghui River at the northernmost end of the Grand Canal.

Chu Mansion at this time.

The little servant Shitou was crying and kneeling in the outer study. The current Zhongyong Huihou and Yipin Zhenguo General Chu Zhihai sat at the desk reading the letter, and the eldest son Chu Yuan stood beside him and followed him with his head down.

"This bastard, how old is he? How dare he talk about breaking into the rivers and lakes..." Chu Zhihai laughed angrily.

"Master, I really don't know." Shitou raised his sleeves and wiped away tears, aggrieved, "Brother Lou even sent me to make mung bean lily soup for him in the tea room, saying that I want to drink it in the morning... I'm afraid the pot will burn, Don't dare to leave without permission..."

Chu Zhihai put down the letter, sighed and asked him to get up, "Your brother said that you won't be punished. Everyone has slipped away, and I can't stop worrying about it!"

Shi Shi was about to get up, when the mistress shouted softly from behind: "Who told you to get up, kneel!" He was startled, his knees softened, and he knelt down again.

The Chu family's father and son felt dizzy when they saw Ning Shi angrily bypassing the stone and entering the room.

Ning's birth was extremely beautiful, even though his face was full of anger, it was still eye-catching.She grabbed the letter paper from the elder son's hand, swept it hastily, and then fell into a chair beside her, crying with her handkerchief in her hand.

"What kind of an enemy did I make? You don't even want me to live a good day!"

Chu Zhihai raised his forehead and waved to his son, Chu Yuan carefully slipped away with the stone.He had to go to the imperial city on duty this early in the morning, and he hadn't even eaten yet.

Ning really feels sorry for herself.

The youngest son's letter clearly stated that although he said that he was going to pay his respects to the master's birthday in a high-sounding manner, he added something at the end of the letter, "Father must ask mother to never show my son carelessly"... Why did she look at carelessly?Even if he doesn't like Zuo Yushi's daughter, he won't run away!She had already agreed with that lady!

Ning's eyes were red from crying, and she really looked delicate and coquettish.Chu Zhihai didn't bother with her, as expected, the crying gradually subsided after a while.

"Master," Ning came back after crying, "I thought about it, Brother Lou is used to hanging out with that kid next door, Liu Jingyu, if he can sneak out, that kid must be involved, you go and talk to Mr. Liu Ge about it." Say it!"

Chu Zhihai couldn't help but laugh: "Ma'am, if Brother Lou runs away without hearing from him, I have another reason to go to Mr. Liu Ge, but my son's letter clearly stated that he just went to the Weiyuan Escort Bureau to celebrate his master's birthday. You If I want to go to Elder Liu Ge again, I just want Brother Yu to be beaten up. What does it look like for you, an elder, to argue with him, a junior?"

Ning raised her eyebrows and said angrily: "I don't care! If it wasn't for him, my son would have gotten out of your iron cage?"

Chu Zhihai choked, and spread his hands helplessly: "Your son really has this ability. My subordinates went around and found shoe prints on the wall of the old alley, and your son turned out from there."

That wall was in the courtyard where Chulou lived, and there was a one-person-wide alley outside the wall, and beyond it was the back garden of Liu Ge's hometown, so it was called Ge Laoxiang.

In fact, he could guess that the boy next door, Yue Mo, helped a little.It should be known that there is a corner gate of his house at the end of the alley, guarded by vicious dogs, who will bark if anyone misbehaves and kill them.It was impossible for his son to kill his own dog with a ruthless hand, and he couldn't beat him again and again. He could only climb two walls in a row and leave Ge's hometown.

He sighed: "Ma'am, the most urgent thing is not to settle accounts. I will go back to Xihaizi to station in the past few days after handover. You hurry up and send someone to Jiangnan to make up a birthday present for Brother Lou and his master. Now that the child has gone, You have to take care of him anyway."

When Ning heard this, she got anxious, stood up and said, "What? See what you mean, let him stay in the south? But he is about to be seventeen after the new year, so he can't find a door Marriage? No one is here, how can I find out for him? The second child is already settled!"

As soon as she was in a hurry, she revealed the real reason to Tulu, and she couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

After all, the aunt is not competing with the concubine, so it's really ugly to say it.

Chu Zhihai was speechless for a while, and said: "This matter is so settled, I don't have time to discuss it with you, it's serious to prepare the gift list quickly, madam!" After saying that, he walked away.

Ning was filled with resentment, twisted her handkerchief and sulked for a long time, and finally went back to the backyard to prepare for the birthday gift.This is about the height of one foot and one foot higher than the height of the devil. No matter how rampant Ning is in the backyard, he still can't get Chu Zhihai's idea.

By this time, Chu Lou was already standing on the high bow of the tank boat, still wondering why no one came after him.He looked around and saw that this was the main wharf of the section of the Tonghui River at the northernmost end of the Grand Canal - Jishuitan.

I saw that the dawn mist had just subsided, the water vapor was steaming on the broad river, and countless large and small boats sailed in and out of the port.

Countless tank ships, passenger ships, cargo ships, cruise ships, the big ones cover the sky and block out the sun, mighty and heavy, and the small ones can weigh dozens of tons, densely packed like crucian carp crossing the river.

The wooden pier hundreds of meters long and wide below was crowded with people. The trackers closest to the shore were naked with shiny black arms, pulling the ropes with grim faces, and shouted loudly, one after another; in the distance tens of meters high wooden A string of seven or eight red lanterns hung from the lamp post, and the porters below the lanterns lined up to deliver grain bags.

Farther away, there is a neat row of small two-story buildings, where restaurants are lined with fences, and the office of the Water Transportation Department is also located here, where soldiers from the guard and businessmen from all over the world are crowded.

Chu Lou was dazzled.This scene can be said to be unprecedentedly grand and covered with water, and it is not much worse than the pier in his impression of later generations!

"It's just that there is no air-conditioning, it's too hot." Once the excitement passed, he became sluggish again.

August is the hottest day, especially in the cabin.

Chu Lou tried his best to poke his head out, wanting to feel a bit of coolness, but it was a pity that the sun was shining outside, and the heat wave was rolling.The cabin he lives in is on the side of the pier, and it is extremely noisy. It can be said that it is hot and noisy, which is really difficult.

The water boats used for the official transport were mainly used to transport the grain collected from various places, not to carry passengers, so the space left for the passenger cabin was very small and the layout was very simple.In terms of benefits, there are only two points: safety and speed.

The imperial court set up Huimin warehouses in various places.Cao Chuan bought surplus millet at a low price in good years and stored it in Huimin warehouse along the way; in bad years, he sold the accumulated millet at a low price to regulate grain prices in various places.

The tank boat that Chu Lou took transported grain from the south of the Yangtze River to Beijing. Some tank boats transported grain to Jiangnan Road, and they could return with a full ship of official salt to earn some income.In contrast, the tank ships that went directly to Beijing had less oil and water, so these ships would also carry passengers back to earn some money.

"Bingxue cold Yuanzi, mung bean licorice ice—"

His eyes lit up, and he stretched out his hand to beckon to the selling woman, "Ma'am, bring me a bowl of cold yuanzi!"

Seeing this, the woman in sackcloth carried a load to the bottom of the building and shouted at him: "Young gentleman, just throw the basket down, five cents."

Chu Lou turned his head to look for it, and sure enough, he found a hanging basket in a corner of the cabin, which made him feel novel.He grabbed one end of the straw rope, threw copper coins in, and dropped the basket.

The woman scooped up a bowl of ice-cold glutinous rice balls and put them into the basket. Chu Lou carefully pulled them up, but the bowl was stable. He lifted it up and saw that there was a groove at the bottom of the basket, which was just right for the bowl.

"Auntie, how can I return this bowl to you?" He raised his head and shouted.

The woman took up the burden again: "Little Master, eat! Wait for me to turn around and ask for it!" Then she left.

Chu Lou sat down by the window and carefully looked at the bowl of glutinous rice balls. There were crushed ice floating in the sugar water, sprinkled with sweet-scented osmanthus, and the glutinous rice balls were lovely.

I don't know if it's because of the long-term business of the wharf. The tank boat is about to leave, and the woman just came back from a circle. Looking at her brisk steps, she must have sold a lot of sugar water and food in the burden.

Chu Lou returned the bowl and wiped the sweat off his brow. There were just some crushed ice in the iced glutinous rice balls, how could it compare to the ice bowl at home?

Suddenly, a loud chant came from outside, the end of which dragged on for a long time, and then it seemed as if a hundred people were shouting together, and the whole pier roared, as if a switch had been turned on.

He felt the whole cabin vibrate suddenly, and saw the pier outside the window start to move.He couldn't help but walk out of the cabin, and walked along the narrow passage to the bow. The water surface three meters below was densely packed with towed boats. Then slowly and gradually away from the pier.

The tank boat finally entered the deep waterway, and Chu Lou looked at the pier in a daze.

He really wants to go to Jiangnan alone?

"Little Xianggong," a man dressed as a junior official came over and said with a smile, "There is no wind at the moment, you'd better go back to the cabin, and I'll call you out for a good meal at night."

Chu Lou returned to his senses, and nodded politely at him: "Please, my lord."

The little official was amused, and hurriedly waved his hands: "Young minister is too flattering, I'm just an official in the department, and I can't afford the word 'adult'. If you don't give up, let's see how I presume you, call me third brother Chang Bar."

Chu Lou grinned: "Third brother, you call me Xiaolou."

Chang San couldn't help being even more happy when he heard him yelling affectionately: "Hey!"

The two chatted as if they hit it off.

Chu Lou asked: "Third brother, there are many passengers besides me on this return flight, right?"

Chang Sandao: "That's not it, there is never a shortage of passengers, especially this trip, the river will be closed when the next trip is made, and if it gets cold early, maybe this is the last trip of this year. We have only seven passengers in the cabin. The eight rooms are all fully occupied, and even the cargo hold is crowded with foot passengers, but they are only charged for food.”

He thought for a while, then suddenly smiled: "I roughly remember that there is a little lady who lives in the cabin diagonally opposite you."

Chu Lou looked at him in surprise, a little puzzled.

This Chang San is a lowly official at any rate, there should be many big men on the tank boat, why is he so unruly to a little lady?

Chang San met the young man in front of him with a worried expression, came to his senses, and hurriedly explained: "Little brother Lou, don't get me wrong, we are not the kind of disrespectful people! It's just that the little lady I'm talking about is probably not a daughter of a decent family. It's just a joke... don't take it to heart!"

After all, he was a little annoyed, because Chu Lou had a bright and cheerful personality, he completely forgot the other party's age, and thought it was his colleagues who used to talk dirty.

Seeing Chang San's uncomfortable face, Chu Lou changed the topic calmly, but he didn't take it seriously in his heart.

Not to mention that Chang San didn't know the girl's background at all, even if she was from Goulan Wasi, so what?Don't people work legally with the qualification certificate issued by the state, they are just asking for a living!

After sailing for three days, there were only three or two boats on the broad river, and the distance between them was quite far.

From the cabin, you can see the river at a glance, and the scenery on both sides of the river gradually transitions from towns and villages to rolling green hills.At this time, the daytime is not as sweltering as it was in the capital, and there is always a cool breeze blowing, which makes people feel open and spacious.