Lu Ming

Page 309

In addition, as the beginning of the canal, this is also a gathering place for surrounding fishermen.Everyone at that time knew that besides the rice shops outside the Wulin Gate, there were also many fish boats.Along the river, there are many fish shops, and the sound of shouting and accounting can be heard across the river.

At this moment, Wu Fazheng, wearing an eternal green shirt representing the identity of a scholar, with his hands behind his back, was standing outside the pier, staring at a lively place, pondering endlessly.

Wu Fazheng arrived at the canal wharf early in the morning.

He came to meet Du Shaowei.

We made an appointment before to gather at the pier this morning, and then go to Shanghai Port for a few days together.

It would be after eight o'clock in the morning, and Du Shaowei had already met with Wu Fazheng.But Ji Xiang, who had agreed to go with him in advance, suddenly felt cold and had no choice but to recuperate at home.

Even so, the total number of tour groups on this trip has reached as many as six...Master Geindu's trip this time is really "on a business trip", so naturally he will not save money for the family... Not only did he bring a small The servant and the long follower also brought a personal maid to serve them along the way.

This is also what the title should mean.

Nowadays, a certain Cao's power is developing rapidly and has infinite power.Although he is still living in the southeast for the time being, anyone with a discerning eye (who has read a few history books) can tell that this official has the potential to swallow up the world... and the Ming court is unfavorable and plagued by various diseases, so it cannot suppress the evildoer in the southeast.

In this situation, the ones who were pushed out by the major Tu tribes to be Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jin were no longer some humble bastards and illegitimate sons.For example, Du Shaowei is the eldest son of the second wife in the family, and his father is a dignified scholar in the second list and a retired magistrate.

Therefore, there are no fools for the young master who is truly educated as an heir.Du Shaowei seemed to have had a good talk with Wu Fazheng before he proposed to go to Shanghai Port. In fact, this kind of inspection activity has long been an important inspection project established by the clan, and Young Master Du is just pushing the boat along the way.

In the tour group, Wu Fazheng still only brought the middle-aged male servant with him.As a landlord, Du Shaowei naturally couldn't keep Wu Fazheng, a foreigner, busy.So as soon as he arrived at the pier early in the morning, he directed his servants to move the boxes and luggage into the cabin.

The boat was hired by Du's family yesterday. It is a double-decker passenger boat, enough to hold all the guests.Young Master Du seems to have a lot of luggage, but it is actually necessary: ​​his family has a lot of close friends in Jiaxing, Shanghai and other places, and these are important contacts. When he is on a business trip, he naturally has to stop by and ask for information.

By the time I finished my work, it was already around ten o'clock in the morning.On this side, Young Master Du went out of the cabin to search, and found that Wu Xiucai was still on the pier, seemingly "watching the scenery", so he got off the boat, walked up to this friend who was two years older, and joked: "Brother Wu" hangs around 'Is there anything I can get from this place where the fish is sober?"

"My dear brother was joking."

Wu Fazheng came back to his senses, shook his head and smiled and explained: "Brother Yu also came here along the canal a few days ago. It's just that the trip was in a hurry that day, and he didn't see this 'palace view' in time, so he became suspicious."

"Oh?"

Du Shao heard the words, and followed the handle of the fan in Wu Fazheng's hand to look.The next moment, Du Shaowei was startled for a moment, and then a complicated expression appeared on his face: "This matter is a long story, let's take a closer look."

Speaking of outside the Wulin Gate, lively areas can be seen everywhere.However, the place that Wu Fazheng has been staring at for a long time is really a bit special-this is a temple, and the plaque on the door is three words: Caogong Temple.

Before staring at the bustling temple where vendors gathered in front of the gate, Wu Fazheng thought about it, but he couldn't find the story of a certain Cao surnamed prince in the Jiangnan area from the allusions.But the real scene in front of him is not fake... Wu Fazheng, who was startled by the answer that finally popped up in his mind, really felt a little "it's not that I don't understand, the world is changing fast".

Wu Fazheng's guess was correct.Mr. Du first told him exactly: This is the living temple built by the local people in Hangzhou for Cao.

Wu Fazheng was dumbfounded when he heard this.

From the perspective of sacrificial offerings, it's actually not a big deal.For thousands of years, almost every military general named in the history books has built more or less temples dedicated to incense among the people.

One of the elder brothers is naturally Guan Sheng, whose mansions are spread all over the country.Secondly, there are many temples for generals like Zhao Yun and Yang Jiajiang in various places.Unknown military generals like Liu Meng and Jiao Zan also had temples built in their hometowns to offer sacrifices.

What surprised Wu Fazheng was that it was not actually a sacrifice, but this "Caogong Temple", which seems to occupy a large area, is a living temple!

Stuff like Shengci is more difficult.Generally speaking, only a small number of civil officials who have built dikes and bridges and made great contributions to the cultural governance of a place have this treatment.For example, Fan Zhongyan who built the "Fan Gong Dike".

In another special situation, those who were forced to build a living ancestral hall due to some kind of pressure... Wei Zhongxian’s public ancestral hall project was vigorously launched across the country a few years ago. It was demolished everywhere... This doesn't count.

Hearing Wu Fazheng's slightly surprised feeling, Mr. Du sighed and sighed while shaking the folding fan lightly.

Someone spent a lot of money to demolish the Wulinmenwai business house before, and then built a temple in this place where every inch of land was expensive. It really caused a storm in the city, especially among the gentry.

But at that time, the gentry, who were belatedly aware, counted their fingers and found out: Leaving aside the hidden dangers at the political level, in terms of merit alone, the Cao family can afford this ancestral hall!

You know, over the years, the Cao family has been repairing dams, opening workshops, building roads and bridges in various places, and using work as relief to absorb hungry people.The number of low-level poor people directly or indirectly rescued by it has already exceeded one million, even if it is only counted in the south of the Yangtze River!

The so-called moisturizing is silent.With enough effort, success will come when conditions are ripe.

Nowadays, many hungry people who were stuffed into the bilge and transported away in the past have long since changed, returning to their hometowns with red faces and "participating in local construction".

These people, who brought a large number of "industrial workers" from Shanghai and other places, were Cao's basic base in Jiangnan, the core area of ​​Ming Dynasty, and they were natural propaganda machines and "advanced class" with combat effectiveness.

People at the bottom only care about whether they can survive tomorrow, who cares who is sitting on your dragon chair!

In just a few steps, talk a few words.When the two of them strolled to the Cao Gong Temple, Du Shaowei, who had a sad expression on his face, had already transformed the complex mentality of the gentry over the past few years to Wu Fazhengdao to understand... It's not that he has to flatter Cao's stinky foot, it's really Unknowingly, the market is already unstable, so I have to make plans early!

In fact, for this ancestral hall, the people who traveled through time also looked confused at the beginning.

However, after investigation, it was found that there was no force behind the emergence of the Cao family's ancestral hall. It was indeed established by the people who benefited from the Cao family's spontaneous fundraising.

This is awesome!The first time they heard the confirmation news, the old lairs of the crossing people far away in the new area were also blown up.

The appearance of the Shengci greatly encouraged the entire time-traveling group—everyone's hard work over the years was not in vain, and "our great cause" received the hardest feedback.

Of course, the two native talents who were standing in front of the shrine gate didn't know about the internal mentality of the people and the resulting strategic confidence.Wu and Du are serving as the gentry reserve, their current mood is of course hot and sour, not good.

At this moment, as if to make a footnote to Du Shaowei's words, another convoy drove from the east and stopped in front of Cao Gongmiao.

This is a luxury convoy of four vehicles, consisting of Yishui's new four-wheeled glass-windowed carriage with two doors.

The four-wheeled carriage with a spring chassis that is popular nowadays is far superior to the traditional two-wheeled carriage in terms of passability and comfort... However, the price is high, and the horses that pull the carriage are said to be shipped from Tianzhu, and even rich people can't afford it , usually only by car rental.

What is different from the standard rental model is that today's four cars, the tall white horses pulling the carts have no variegated colors, and the interior and exterior decorations are inlaid with bamboo and decorated with jade, which is full of personal taste.Anyone with a discerning eye can tell that it is a private car.

The next moment, with a soft drink, the driver in silk lightly reined in the horse and parked it in the open space in front of the temple.Immediately afterwards, the rear door of the front car opened, and eight or nine servants with big arms and waists quickly got down.

When these people got out of the carriage, those who carried the burden, those who sold incense and paper money, and the idlers who kept their eyes open and wanted to get closer to the luxurious carriage, were all pushed aside.

After that, the servants opened the doors of the two cars with black lacquered glass windows in the middle, and the maids in gold belts and jade, and the old mother began to go to the field one after another.

The maids who got out of the car were holding all kinds of god-worshiping gift boxes in their hands, and the lids of the boxes were all opened.In addition to all kinds of occasional gifts, the most eye-catching thing is the box of incense candle silver. There are probably hundreds of taels of small silver ingots that are neatly made of filigree.

And the old lady who got out of the car turned around and hugged a four-year-old young man with a jade lock on his chest and a jade pendant on his waist from the car.

In the end, an elegant middle-aged lady surrounded by jewels and emerald greens, stepped gracefully on the steps, bent down on the servant girl's arm, and got out of the car.

"It's such a grand occasion, I don't know which female relatives."

Rao Wu Fazheng was born into a rich family, but seeing the family's face, he shrank his neck after all... He has not socialized with various models in Hangzhou recently, and has a clear understanding of the new carriage.

"Senior Huang's residence in Yushi Lane, this should be the eldest lady and the young master."

Du Shaowei is a native of Hangzhou. Looking at the glazed kerosene lanterns on the four corners of the carriage, he knew which gentry it was: "The major shareholder of Shanghai Meilin Canned Food Factory is as rich as an enemy."

"Oh……"

Wu Fazheng was surprised, and asked casually: "This family of noble gentry also worships Duke Cao?"

"It's not that screwdriver who is ignorant and foolish!"

Young Master Du's expression was full of impatience: "It's all right to ask Mr. Cao to pay back his life. I don't know who made it far-fetched and just rumored that Mr. Cao has the ability to give birth, so it attracted a bunch of fools and fools to pay for it." Xiangqiuzi... Humph, the atmosphere is smoky!"

Wu Fazheng was not interested when he heard this.After taking a deep look at the eye-catching signboard above the temple gate, he finally said calmly: "It's getting late, I'm afraid the boat is about to sail, let's go back to the cabin."

Chapter 675 Changes ([-])

At night, the moon sets and crows crow, Jiang Feng catches fire, and passenger ships sail with their tails in the middle of the night.

It is different from the scattered fishing boats in the past.In the past few years, a dragon-like night fleet has quietly appeared in the ancient Jiangnan water town.

The leading pilot ship has two flags hoisted on the mast.

The left vertical flag said: "Jiangnan Passenger Terminal".

The vertical flag on the right reads: "Hangzhou Public Transport Corporation".

The flat-bottomed passenger boat with a square head and a square brain is undoubtedly the work of a traveler.This is a general-purpose passenger ship built by Shanghai Neihe Shipyard. There is a combination of pinyin and Chinese on the side of the ship: "HK-038".

Hangzhou passenger ship No. 38.

On the Yuhangtang River where the moon is dark and the stars are thin, No. 038 is leading a long string of various civilian ships sailing eastward quietly.At the bow of 038, a night navigation lamppost composed of large kerosene lamps and glass reflective hemispheres tore through the night sky and illuminated the river ahead.

This bright lamp post is not the only source of nighttime light on the Tang River.

Over the years, the Jiangnan Passenger Terminal has not only absorbed refugees, dredged waterways, and cleared up bandits.Nowadays, on the main river from Hangzhou to Shanghai, there will be a small river lighting point on the bank every certain distance.

The relay-style "land lighthouse" provides precise positioning services for the night fleet, greatly increasing the safety and speed of night sailing.The project indirectly promotes the flow of personnel and materials in the delta area.

Similar to this kind of public service projects with the thinking of later generations, these years have been appearing in the land of Jiangnan.

The natives were naturally puzzled at the beginning... "How many days can I do this kind of job of burning money for nothing?"

However, with the passage of time, the original doubts have long since dissipated.Although the aborigines can't understand how social welfare projects participate in the economic cycle, this does not prevent everyone from "seamless prostitution".

Thus, there is a Hangzhou-Shanghai passenger and cargo fleet at 12 noon every day.In fact, the bus company only dispatches one shuttle boat, but the indigenous boats are now used to following behind and "rubbing the road".

The benefits of such large-scale public welfare projects are not impressive on the surface.But subtly, it will affect the public's views on a certain event, a certain person, or even a certain force.Over time, water drips through stones, and when the penetration is in place, the work will be done easily.

Of course, how could the indigenous elites who established a unified empire thousands of years ago fail to see the support of the people behind these big projects?

However, this is of no use... The huge gap in strength has caused the elites to see it but be powerless to stop it.The anxiety of boiling frogs in warm water has long been a topic in some groups.

Of course, this also includes Comrade Wu Fazheng, a reserve member of the gentry.

Under the bright kerosene lamp, Wu Fazheng wrote the last stroke on the white paper with his vigorous pen, and heaved a sigh of relief.

Next, he picked up the cap of the copper pen on the table and put away the tip of the pen, then tapped the table with his fingers habitually, and began to check the words he had just written.

The content of the article is quite complicated, most of which are what Wu Fazheng has seen and heard along the way, and some of his personal opinions and thoughts are interspersed during the period.

To put it bluntly, it is Wu Fazheng's diary.

And he has accumulated a lot of manuscripts in the past few years, with an article every day.Wu Fazheng planned to return to his hometown one day in the future, after sorting out the manuscript, he would find an opportunity to publish it... He had already written the title of the book on the hard cover: "Journey to the Southern Regions".

After carefully checking the article, Wu Fazheng solemnly put away the manuscript.Next, he unscrewed a delicate silver lid and took a sip of Longjing tea in a glass travel mug.

Screwing on the lid, Wu Fazheng looked at the "travel mug" in his hand again.He likes this transparent water cup very much, especially the "thread" of the inner ring of the cup lid. After screwing it on, it fits perfectly, and the water does not leak, which is extremely ingenious.

...he liked everything about this cup except for that weird "Thermos" seal on the lid.

Putting down his cup, Wu Fazheng glanced out the porthole.

The moonlight is not clear tonight, and the river is dark.But Wu Fazheng knew that in about half an hour, there would be a brightly lit courtyard outside the window.

At that time, there will be lampposts and flickering lights in the high places of the courtyard.

Wu Fazheng, from Shanxi, knew that it was the "light language" to communicate with the fleet... He had seen the Ming army on the border pier using lights.

About half an hour later, around 11:[-] p.m., within the time Wu Fazheng expected, the lights outside the window really lit up.

Wu Fazheng's mind is like a bright mirror now: this set of message posts relayed by lights is arranged according to the half-hour journey by boat.

However, judging from the meaning, the "pier platform" probably extends from Hangzhou to Shanghai.

"Handwriting is not small!"

After finally muttering something, Wu Fazheng turned off the lights and fell asleep in the slightly shaking cabin.

In the early morning of the second day, with the noisy sound breaking into the cabin, Wu Fazheng knew that Jiaxing had arrived.

When they arrived in Jiaxing, the boat hired by Du's family stopped at the pier and separated from the fleet.After Wu Fazheng washed and dressed, he disembarked with Du Shaowei and began to visit Du's relatives and friends in Jiaxing.

This series of doors is two days.After Young Master Du's seniors in Jiaxing had finished visiting, the passenger ship set sail again... It was still noon, and it was still traveling behind the liner from Hangzhou.

After another day of stopping and stopping like this, the boat stopped after arriving at Songjiang Mansion.

When they got here, the ship hired by the Du family was sent away even though it had fulfilled its historical mission.Du Shaowei and his group settled down at the home of a nobleman in Songjiang on the spot.

The gentry family, surnamed Zhao, is a close friend and relative by marriage of the Du family.Du Shaowei is in the Zhao family, and he came here according to the treatment of his nephew and master.So after Du Shaowei entered the door, the master of the Zhao family not only entertained him kindly, but also specially allocated a yard for the tour group to live in.

In the next few days, it goes without saying that Young Master Du will visit relatives and friends again.

As the head of the "public" tour group, Du Shaowei's burden on this trip was not light...not only did he represent his family in the circle for the first time, but he also secretly conveyed the political stand he represented.So this trip, Du Shao's first priority is to communicate with the inside of the circle.

As a good friend, Wu Fazheng and Du Shaowei's intentions are well known.He was fine, so he accompanied Du Shaowei to run around in the next few days, spent a lot of time, and finally completed the task satisfactorily.

After everything was over, finally, one day in mid-August, the tour group set foot on the road to Shanghai Port in the light boat of Zhao Jinshen's family, guided by the second steward of Zhao Jinshen's family.

The current Shanghai coastline is far from being extended to the extent of future generations.With less than 300 years of river sand accumulation, seaside land such as the later Pudong International Airport was still a place for fish and turtles to swim in the Ming Dynasty.

In the same way, the "Shanghai Port" that people talk about is only a new port city developed in coastal fishing villages in recent years.

On this side, after the boat sailed for half a day, the second steward standing at the bow pointed out to Du Shaowei with a smile: "Master nephew, Shanghai Port is five miles away."

Before the ship arrived at Shanghai Port, the scenery on both sides was already different: the increasing number of vehicles of all kinds, as well as the small red brick buildings appearing on the river bank from time to time, as well as the glass windows and the flat cinder road, all heralded the Shanghai The port is not far away.

"Well, it's really good to enter the country."

Du Shaowei, who was shaking his fan, compared his memories of coming here a few years ago in his mind, and couldn't help but conclude the development speed around Shanghai Port.

Not long after, the light boat finally reached the outskirts of the port.At this moment, Wu Fazheng, who was originally silent, finally became surprised and began to look around.

Aboriginal people who have never seen large-scale industrial scenes will never forget this shocking scene that will never be forgotten.

The huge square red brick building, the thick red brick chimney that goes straight to the sky, billowing thick smoke into the sky.

Along the coast, there are many towering tower cranes, and countless large ships are moored under them.The iron arm that shone with metallic luster grabbed the cage like a ghost and hoisted it into the black box like a long dragon.

In the next moment, the long train, emitting black smoke, drove quickly along the rails on the mirror-smooth concrete floor.

At the same time, thousands of people are constantly working in various parts of the port.