Chapter 16 Arms escort

As a result, Liu Bucai never came, but Gu Yingchun came with two letters transferred from Si Zhanli, one was from You Wu, written by Chen Shilong on behalf of him, saying that the trouble caused by the Cao Gang in Hangzhou had subsided after mediation.It's just that I've made a lot of new friends, and there's no time for feasting and socializing, so it will take a few days before I can return to Shanghai.Another letter is from Wang Youling, and the letter will be longer. Wang Youling received a letter from Hu Xueyan when he first arrived in Shanghai, a letter from He Guiqing from Suzhou, and a message from Chen Shilong, all of which must be answered in this letter, so he wrote a total of seven pieces of paper and recognized It is his handwriting.Such a famous person and capable person in Zhejiang official circles, who is so busy every day, can actually spare time to write such an eloquent letter, it seems that the friendship is really different.

Naturally, You Wu was mentioned first in the letter, saying that he was "feeling and ashamed", because You Wu and Yu Si handled the disputes of the Cao Gang in Zhejiang smoothly. Many gifts, well deserved.As for recognizing Qigu's grandma as a righteous sister, the beauty of a gentleman is adult, and besides, it is a double friendship between old rain and new knowledge, so I am naturally happy.Ask grandma Qigu when she will arrive in Zhejiang, so that he can send a special messenger to meet her. "Look!" Hu Xueyan handed the first two letters to Gu Yingchun, and then looked down.He Guiqing was mentioned below, saying that he only knew of Hu Xueyan's whereabouts after receiving a letter from him in Suzhou.He Guiqing thought that getting to know Hu Xueyan was "a great joy in life", and he also mentioned the ten thousand taels of silver. Now it was Wang Youling who came to praise Hu Xueyan, saying that his handling was "excellent". Enter it into the account for him, and we will settle together in the future.

In addition, there are many trivial things, the most important of which is to urge Qiu Fengyan to return to Hangzhou as soon as possible, because now there is a "good job" opportunity, and he can try to get it. "By the way!" Hu Xueyan put down the letter and asked, "Where does 'Jiumudao' live? How is his business going? I forgot to ask you yesterday." "It's all done, because the fifth brother is not here, and he didn't make an appointment on the way, so he didn't dare to set off." Gu Yingchun said again, "Liu Sanye knew that you were going to meet him, so I went to ask him out. I'll be there in a while. "

"Well, let's go to eat first, then go to Seventh Sister's place, and leave a message to invite them to come." "Then why eat outside? Or go to our place." So Gu Yingchun and Hu Xueyan rode in the carriage, Fu Rong refused to share the carriage with Hu Xueyan, so she hired another sedan chair to go.The car was slow and the car was fast, and when she arrived, she saw Grandma Qigu was discussing with Hu Xueyan about the itinerary to Huzhou with a smile on her face. "Why?" Fu Rong asked in surprise, "You want to go to Huzhou too?" "Yeah!" Grandma Qigu said triumphantly, "My brother is the magistrate, why don't I go." One of the few "secrets" never told to her.Don't talk about sister Aqiao because she is afraid of causing trouble for Hu Xueyan, don't talk about Hu Xueyan's intermediary, and recognize Wang Youling as a righteous brother. It is Qigu's grandma who feels that her status is very different. .If things don't work out, it's useless to talk about it, so she doesn't want to tell Fu Rong.

Unexpectedly, Elder Wang actually agreed, and he seemed to be extremely happy to recognize this righteous sister, of course he was overjoyed, and Fu Rong was not considered an outsider when she saw her love at first sight, so she had that complacent demeanor.Hearing her own brief explanation of the reason, Fu Rong was also happy for her, "Congratulations, congratulations!" She said with a smile, "From now on, I won't call you Grandma Qigu, but Miss Wang." "Okay, okay! I'm my own, don't make fun of me. I've got my uncle's favor. Come!" Grandma Qigu pulled her away, "Help me in the kitchen."

Gu Yingchun is from Cantonese, he pays attention to food and drink, Qigu's grandmother has nothing to do, so she spends her time cooking, so there are no guests at home, and the food is very rich. The kitchen is almost ready, and there is an aunt , a young lady, the four of them worked together and quickly served the meal. While eating, the host and guest talked about their trip to Huzhou.We only talked about half of it just now, Hu Xueyan decided to send Grandma Qigu there in person, and now we need to talk about the date of departure. This is a difficult problem. Hu Xueyan has too many things to do, and it is not easy to spare time. "It will not work after the seventh day of May. People from Suzhou will come. If you wait any longer, the weather will be too hot and it will not be suitable." He hesitated and said, " And it will take at least half a month to go and come."

"Uncle can't spare time, so we have to wait until after the autumn coolness." Grandma Qigu expressed her attitude straightforwardly, not wanting to force others into difficulties. "That won't work. It will delay your good deeds." Hu Xueyan said again, "Besides, Chen Shilong is going to get married too. This glass of wedding wine must be eaten too. There is always a way to do things. Let me think about it slowly." The topic was interrupted, and then Gu Yingchun talked about his meeting with foreigners in the morning, and was interrupted in the middle of the conversation, when Liu Bucai and Qiu Fengyan came in one after another, their faces were flushed, they came after drinking, But it might as well have a few more glasses.

"Everything is settled." Qiu Fengyan said, "Just wait for Fifth Brother You to come and leave." "It will be some days before he comes back." Hu Xueyan said, "Or you go back first." "No, no need!" Qiu Fengyan pointed at Liu Bucai and said, "I am with Liu Sange, and I am very happy, eating, drinking, and wandering around every day. This kind of carefree life is rare, Fifth Brother You Just come back slowly." Hu Xueyan was angry and funny, "You are really 'drinking foolish'! One thing is to go to work early, people wait for the foreign guns to be used, and the matter of collecting and transporting arms, how can you be free and easy? It's really 'quiet and slow' Langzhong'! Besides," he showed Wang Youling's letter to him, "Xue Gong is so enthusiastic, don't miss this opportunity."

After reading the letter, Qiu Fengyan nodded and said: "Xuegong's kindness is really appreciable. However, if Fifth Brother You doesn't come, I can't leave. Going back empty-handed, what's the trick? I have to let others get on the board first!" This is not bad, so Hu Xueyan encountered another problem.Grandma Qigu saw them facing each other with sad faces, and couldn't help but ask, "Uncle! What is it for?" "Lao Qiu wants to carry foreign guns back, and he is afraid that the road will not be safe, so he asks Fifth Brother to make arrangements along the way for him. As long as he enters the border of Zhejiang, it doesn't matter." Hu Xueyan said, "It was the same as last time. We must wait for Fifth Brother to come. Dare to leave when it’s done.”

"It's such a thing! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Upon hearing this, Hu Xueyan and Qiu Fengyan cheered up, and said in unison: "Seventh sister! Do you have a solution?" "It's not a big deal." Qi Gu's grandma blamed Gu Yingchun again, "You know this, but don't mention it in your stomach, it's true." "It's possible to be negligent for a while." Gu Yingchun said with a smile, "Stop gossip, and come up with a way if you have a way!" Grandma Qigu's method is very simple.She is familiar with all the competent people under You Wu, as long as she finds one of them, everything will be solved easily.But unfortunately, Gu Yingchun went to run it himself, but he didn't find any of them.

"It doesn't matter!" Grandma Qigu was really masculine, and said without hesitation, "There are prominent people on this road, and they all know me. I'll send Master Qiu there." This is really shocking!First of all, Gu Yingchun was worried, "A ship of arms is not fun!" He said, "Whether you can carry the heavy burden, think about it yourself." "I've thought about it. It's all right." Although her tone was calm, Hu Xueyan could tell that the calmer she became, the more stubborn she seemed. He knew her temper very well, and when he realized that Furong wanted to talk, he hurriedly cast a blocking look at her, and then pretended to be happy and said: " Great, great! If Seventh Sister is on the team, it will be a smooth journey. Lao Qiu, let Seventh Sister take you there." Qiu Fengyan knew that what Hu Xueyan said must be reasonable, so he naturally pretended to be excited and grateful accordingly, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Grandma Qigu, it's just a laborious step, so I feel uneasy." "There are not many roads, just go to Jiaxing for a visit." "Slow down!" Hu Xueyan had an idea, "I have a way. Seventh sister, you simply go to Hangzhou and take care of that big event." "Then—" The incident happened so suddenly that Grandma Qigu couldn't figure it out for a while, "Then, what about you, grandpa?" "I'm sorry, I can't accompany you on this trip—" Hu Xueyan's plan is that Grandma Qigu recognizes her brother-in-law, and You Wu must be there, coming and going, trudging in vain, and he can't spare the time, so he might as well take this opportunity to do this important event early, so that Go matchmaking with the old patriarch of the ancient family.As for the You family brothers and sisters and Wang Youling, there must be someone to take care of them, he has also thought about it, and he can ask Qiu Fengyan. Qiu Fengyan is of course willing to help.Grandma Qigu and Gu Yingchun also felt that this arrangement was very appropriate.It's just a ship of arms, and it's really inappropriate to entrust grandma Qigu for insurance. Except for her own confidence, no one thinks it's too inappropriate. Looking for an opportunity, Gu Yingchun pulled Hu Xueyan and Qiu Fengyan aside and said, "Uncle, do you really trust our guy? She is 'female Zhang Fei', and you are Zhuge Liang. Do you have some clever plan?" "Miao Suan dare not say, there is a plan. If I want to go to Songjiang myself, I will go to the 'grandfather' to bring in reinforcements." "Wonderful, wonderful!" Gu Yingchun was overjoyed, "It's really a clever calculation!" "Take it easy! Take it easy!" Hu Xueyan hastily stopped, "You know Seventh Sister's temper, you can't let her know about this. I'll go quietly, come quietly, a whole day and night is enough." "So, when are you going to leave?" "Leave today." "I'll go with you." Qiu Fengyan said, "I've long admired the name 'Old Man', and want to meet him." "Alright! But the waterway is uneven, I want to go by land, and I'll ride a horse to catch up with the sun, can you?" Qiu Fengyan didn't know how to ride a horse, so he couldn't walk with him, so he had to give up in dismay.When I got back to the house, I saw that Liu Bucai was making a gift list for Qigu's grandma, and Fu Rong was Qigu's grandma's counselor. After opening a long list, Grandma Qigu took it in her hand and looked it over, and said to herself: "It costs six or seven hundred taels of silver to prepare everything." Then she called out, "Uncle!" "How about it?" "Are you free?" she asked. "I mean can you spare a couple of days?" Hu Xueyan looked embarrassed, so he asked first: "What do you want me to do for you, let's discuss." "I want to ask you to accompany me back to Songjiang." After saying this, Gu Yingchun couldn't help asking: "What are you doing back in Songjiang?" "Going to get things, the weather is hot, my single clothes are still at home, and I still have some jewelry, I will use them when I go to Hangzhou." "Then you don't need my uncle to accompany you?" "I always want to tell the old man about this important matter, and your matter." "Mine?" Gu Yingchun was surprised, "I don't know it myself!" "You're such a wooden person!" Grandma Qigu said bitterly, "Is my uncle your big matchmaker?" "So that's what happened!" Gu Yingchun replied with a smile, "If you didn't say it was about the two of us, how would I know?" Speaking of this, Qiu Fengyan said happily: "This time, I can go too." Grandma Qigu naturally didn't understand what he said, so Hu Xueyan half explained, half concealed and said: "Old Qiu has mentioned to me several times that I want to meet the old man, but there has never been a chance. Now we can go together." "Oh, that's great!" Grandma Qigu also asked, "Uncle, what about you?" Before Hu Xueyan opened his mouth, Gu Yingchun and Qiu Fengyan looked at each other and smiled with secretive expressions, which made Grandma Qigu feel very confused. She opened her eyes and stared at Gu Yingchun. "Tell the truth!" Hu Xueyan was afraid of causing misunderstandings, so he revealed the truth, "I wanted to see the old man, ask him for two people, and send Lao Qiu to Hangzhou. Seventh sister, it's not that I don't believe you have a way, it's because I feel that the heavy burden is so heavy, why put it on your shoulders? If something happens, the fifth brother will blame me, saying: "Lao Qi is passionate, and he does things for his friends, regardless of the consequences. Why don't you think about it carefully." I can't explain this. Seventh sister, you are a sensible person, and you must understand my situation with Lao Qiu!" "That's nothing! Just get things done. Uncle doesn't need to explain it like this." Hearing her understanding, Hu Xueyan was very relieved, "I said you are a sensible person, you really are a sensible person!" He turned to Furong and asked, "What about you?" "We made an agreement." Grandma Qigu hurriedly replied, "Let's go to Songjiang to play together. Let's choose a date to leave now!" Furong took the imperial calendar and saw that the next day would be a good day for a long trip. The time was too tight, but Furong was very superstitious about these things. If she didn't leave tomorrow, she would have to wait another five days. In order to accommodate her, We had to catch up. "You're fine, hire a boat for us, big or good!" Grandma Qigu told Gu Yingchun.Hearing Grandma Qigu's voice, Gu Yingchun Sairu obeyed the general's order, promised to turn around and leave. "Wait, wait!" Liu Bucai stood up in a panic, "I'll go with you." Now Fu Rong said, "Third Uncle!" She also said in a very hasty tone, "Don't go! There are many things here, and I ask you to do them." Liu Bucai stood helplessly, turned around and replied, "Say it quickly! I have something urgent to do." "Huh!" Fu Rong was surprised, "Suddenly there is something important, third uncle, you should say it!" "Oh!" He said anxiously, "Auntie, don't ask me any more questions, just tell me what you want me to do." "I also want to buy some odds and ends to take away. I can't finish it in a few words." "That's it. You ask Xueyan to make an order, and I'll be back right away to buy it for you. The Yi market is late, so you can buy it all. If you don't buy everything, you can make it up tomorrow morning." Seeing that his whereabouts are surreptitious, Fu Rong wants to keep him to tell the truth.But Hu Xueyan couldn't see it, and stopped Furong, so Liu Bucai hurried away with Gu Yingchun as if he had received an amnesty from the emperor. "Strange!" Fu Rong murmured, "My third uncle, does things that others don't understand. I don't think it's a good idea." "Forget it, forget it!" Hu Xueyan said, "I'm going to see two friends from the bank. If you want to buy something, I'll bring it for you. Actually, I'll know it even if you don't tell me. Foreign goods." "Yes! I want to give it away. However, it must not be too expensive. If you buy it, I don't want it." "Look at you," Hu Xueyan said with a smile, "Seventh Sister is one of my own. Be more polite, what will you think after hearing your words? Gifts for others should not be expensive. It turns out that they are giving away some worthless things!" "That's not the case," Grandma Qigu turned to Fu Rong, "Expensive things are not necessarily good, and cheap ones are not necessarily bad. Gifts are all for use, and it depends on whether people will buy them." Hu Xueyan smiled, "Seventh sister, you are really good at talking now." He said, "Old Gu is a good eloquent, finally you have a good teacher in this regard." "Who wants to worship him as a master? Unless you are a little grandpa, it's almost the same." "Okay, okay, don't compliment me." Hu Xueyan went out with a smile. Not long after he left, Liu Bucai walked in with a smile on his face, with a very smug expression on his face, saying that he went to the "Flower Fair" and won more than two hundred taels of silver. What is "Flower Fair", this is the first time Furong has heard these two words.Grandma Qigu understood it, not only did she understand it, but she was also fascinated, so she explained to Furong that the "Flower Fair" is similar to the "White Pigeon Ticket" in Guangdong. There are many people in the land.The gambling method is to open one of the thirty-six doors, and two of them will never be opened, so in fact, one of the thirty-four doors is guessed, and the one who guesses correctly pays twenty-eight. "This kind of bet is not fair. To be fair, one pays thirty-three, one pays twenty-eight, which is equal to five more." Grandma Qigu said, "Later, I wanted to wear it, so I didn't gamble. This kind of bet is not I know how many people have been harmed! Especially women without knowledge!" "Originally!" Fu Rong said, "What does it look like when a good woman from a good family goes to the flower fair to gamble? If you lose money, the house will naturally be noisy." "It's not just about losing money. I don't know how many people have ruined their reputation for the sake of 'praying for dreams'." "What?" Fu Rong was very puzzled, "What does it have to do with 'Qi Meng'?" Furong is also superstitious about these tricks. Grandma Qigu thought it was just a good way to persuade her, so she started from the beginning: the main organ of the flower fair is called "general tube", and there are "tubes" in various places, and there are also door-to-door solicitors, called "navigation boats".The gambling method is to open once a day in the morning and evening, called "morning tube" and "evening tube".The two cylinders in front of the case cannot be opened, so the thirty-six doors are actually only opened with thirty-four doors. "Thirty-six gates are thirty-six people. It is said that they were originally the thirty-six thieves giants in Liangshanbo, but over time, the names of Song Jiang, Wu Yong, etc. have been completely changed. The identities of the thirty-six people are different. Individuals have a 'natal star', there are those who fly in the sky, crawl on land, and swim in the water, like the twenty-fifth, whose name is Lin Taiping, who is the emperor, and whose natal star is a dragon." "You can only choose one of the thirty-four schools. How do you choose the method? This is fine, or that is fine. If you can't make up your mind, then you have to pray for a dream. Dreaming about the dragon, of course, will bring peace to the forest. Heigou is going to bet on the twenty-eighth Robinson." Grandma Qigu paused and asked, "Do you know where to pray for Mengmeng?" "In the temple, of course." Furong replied. "No! On a grave in the wilderness." Fu Rong was shocked, "Is it night?" she asked. "Of course it's at night, how can anyone pray for dreams during the day?" "Sleeping on the grave at night?" Fu Rong kept shaking her head, "Don't scare people to death!" "For the sake of money, you have to be bold, not only on the grave, but the newer the better—" This is because of the saying that "new ghosts are big, old ghosts are small". The new tomb means that the people in the tomb died not long ago, and the souls are easy to gather. Hearing the sound came.Then bet according to the dream omen, nothing will be missed. "So, is it working or not?" "How can it work?" Grandma Qigu said, "For example, you dreamed of a yellow dog, and I dreamed of a black dog. Each bets his own, and one of them doesn't work. Everyone has their own state of mind, and everyone has their own dreams. , everyone must be spiritual, unless all thirty-four doors are open. How can there be such a reason?" "Speaking thoroughly!" Liu Bucai, who was a three-fold gambler, praised the case, "Gambling depends on calculations! 'Touching the machine' is not enough evidence." Fu Rong also nodded thoughtfully, and then asked: "Then, how do you say it's a breach of reputation?" "Think about it, if a woman sleeps alone in the wilderness, is there someone who won't be spoiled?" "Ah!" Fu Rong was terrified, "Speaking of this Huahui is really harmful! Third Uncle, don't go there either!" "Don't worry, this kind of gambling is for people who don't know how to gamble. I won't be fooled! I just like to gamble and I just want to see and see." Liu Bucai said again, "Today I won more than two hundred taels of silver, which is not enough. It's strange. When I met a wonderful thing, speaking of it, I really admire it." Hearing this, Grandma Qigu was happy at first, "Say it, tell it!" She held a cup of tea to Liu Bucai, "The wonderful thing you said must be wonderful!" What Liu Bucai was talking about was a character he saw with his own eyes in a "separation tube".This place is very large in scale, and among the gamblers there are quite a few well-to-do wealthy households, who gamble very heavily. Among them is a rich widow whose husband's family name is Liang, and she is a fourth-ranker, so they call her "Mrs. Liang Fourth". Mrs. Liang's fourth flower-playing club is different, and she specializes in one class. This class is ranked sixteenth among the thirty-six classes, and it is called Li Hanyun.The strange thing is that she specializes in this class, but she doesn't open it in the general manager. After more than a year like this, she has already lost tens of thousands of silver. This afternoon, she went there in a sedan chair as usual, and since she was a big family, she naturally received her hospitablely. After a cup of tea, the deacon who was assigned to the room smiled and asked, "Fourth wife, please hand over the note!" As usual, the "tip" on which door Huahui will open is sealed, and it will not be revealed until the main tube is opened.If this is not the case, the total number of bets on each door can be counted, and the door with the least bet is lightly selected to open.Having said that, there are drawbacks.Mrs. Liang Si heard the question from the deacon at this time, and she said angrily: "It's a trivial matter to lose the money. I don't believe that I won't win even once. I always have to wait once before I am convinced." "I advise the fourth wife to change to another one!" said the branch deacon, "There are really ghosts in the bet, if it doesn't open, it will definitely not open." "I'm sure I'll hit it today. Look," Mrs. Liang took out a handful of papers from her towel bag, "I'll hit thirty-four doors today. Could it be that I still won't hit it?" "How can there be such a way of gambling?" The deacon said with a smile, "Fourth wife, don't you think about it. Thirty-four gates, only one gate, you will pay you twenty-eight, and you will lose four gates. What kind of abacus is this? ?” "Of course, how much is the bet. It's my important door, and I win." Mrs. Liang Si said, "I have to win once before I can give up." The branch deacon, listen to her words, this is the last time I come back to the flower gambling fair, it is a pity to lose such a big family for nothing.But at this time, it is inconvenient to persuade them, and only use a pen to record the bets placed on each door. After finishing the notes, there were only thirty-three. Mrs. Liang Si was surprised, she thought about it carefully and said: "I counted thirty-four notes when I got off the sedan chair, and I probably lost one of them. Zhang, can you go find it for me?" The branch deacon was very scheming and worked day and night, so he was extremely sophisticated about the fraud above, so he made a plan in his heart at that time, and he found this note, so he couldn't give it to her. Sure enough, I found it under the threshold, but my reply to Mrs. Liang Si was like this: "I have searched everywhere, but there is nothing!" "No, forget it! Did you just open that door? I don't think there is such a coincidence in the world!" One of the divisions was to "eat all" Mrs. Liang Si, and on the other hand, he was afraid that she would not come to the first middle school today, so he opened that door alone, opened the note he picked up, and saw that it was the thirty-fifth door Zhang Jiuguan, Immediately notify the chief tube to send out Zhang Jiuguan. "I've been here with Mrs. Liang Fourth." Liu Bucai said, "Seeing that her thirty-three notes were unpacked, the first one was opened to be Zhang Jiuguan—" Grandma Qigu was impatient and interrupted him and asked, "What's the point? It's so strange!" "There are still many strange things! Don't be impatient, listen to me!" Liu Bucai said again, "Open the second envelope, and it's still Zhang Jiuguan." "What about the third letter?" Grandma Qigu asked, "Could it be Zhang Jiuguan too?" "It goes without saying! Zhang Jiuguan and Mrs. Liang won a total of more than 12,000 silver until the thirty-third letter was opened. If they lose for more than a year, they will win back their money in one fell swoop!" When the mystery of this story was revealed, Fu Rong was dumbfounded and said in disbelief, "You really thought of such a vicious method?" "This Mrs. Liang's brains can be compared with my uncle's!" Grandma Qigu said eagerly, "We really want to get to know her!" "That's easy," Liu Bucai said, "Just go to the distribution tube a few times, and you'll definitely meet her." "Forget it!" Fu Rong hurriedly dissuaded, "This kind of flower fair is very harmful to people. If you guess your mind like this, your life span will be shortened by a few years. Since you have already quit, don't go there." "That's true!" Liu Bucai felt very remorseful, "It's no fun to bet on such things if you don't gamble with your mind. If you gamble with your mind, it's really called 'a strong player has a strong player', and he will never be sure. I think It’s really boring to think about it!” "According to this, Mr. Liu, you also want to wash your hands and quit gambling?" "You listen to him!" Fu Rong curled her lips and said to Qi Gu's grandmother, "Our third uncle said that we should quit gambling, there must be seventeen or eight times." Liu Bucai smiled embarrassedly, and Qigu's grandma laughed at him: "Although I haven't quit, I always think about quitting, which is quite rare!" "Why is it rare?" Someone outside the door spoke, and when everyone turned their faces to look, it was Qiu Fengyan who had slipped out at some point and now slipped back again. So Grandma Qigu retold the story she had just heard.Qiu Fengyan was also full of praise for Mrs. Liang Si, so it was said that after ten o'clock, Gu Yingchun and Hu Xueyan came back one after another, the boat was hired, and the things Hu Xueyan bought were directly sent back to the inn.It was agreed that at noon the next day, we would meet at Grandma Qigu's place and get off the boat together.