Chapter 17 Rivers and lakes disaster

When they arrived at Songjiang, the boats moored under the Xiuye ​​Bridge, they all went ashore, and first went to You's house to rest.Fifth Grandma You had a big accident, so some pleasantries were inevitable.You's house has quite a few guest rooms all year round. Except for Furong, who was arranged by Grandma Seven to live with her, Fifth Grandma You insisted on inviting Hu and Qiu to stay at her house.Settle down a bit, and then go to see the old man. Because Qiu Fengyan was a stranger and an official, the old lady was very polite and asked someone to fetch a long robe and mandarin jacket. He was neatly dressed and sat with him solemnly.This time, not only Qiu Fengyan was very disturbed, but even Hu Xueyan was quite cramped. Fortunately, Grandma Qigu came one after another. She was present here, she was eloquent, kind and easy-going, and the stiff atmosphere was changed.

After gossiping for a while, Grandma Qigu got down to business, "Master," she said, "I have something important to tell you today, old man. However, I can't say it." The old man has already noticed that Qiu Fengyan is also familiar with her, so when he speaks by himself, there is no need to avoid it: "It's really a new trick!" He said with a half-smile, "Is there anything you can't say!" "It's the same for the old man. You can see my old face and thick skin." Seventh Aunt smiled and stood up, "I'll go in and talk to the old aunt first, please tell my grandpa for me!"

The old aunt is the old man's younger sister, she is also in her seventies, she is deaf and speechless, she has nothing to talk about, Qigu's grandma is nothing more than an excuse to avoid it, so that Hu Xueyan can talk about her marriage. Grandma Qigu didn't have a home, which was originally a concern of the old man, so I was very happy to hear Hu Xueyan talk about it in detail.Especially when I heard that Wang Youling, as the magistrate, condescended to recognize Qigu, who was born in the Jianghu, as a righteous sister, and felt that it was a glorious thing.All of this came from Hu Xueyan, drinking water and thinking about the source, and said many words of thanks. At the same time, because Qiu Fengyan was Hu Xueyan's representative, he had to make joint arrangements between the You family and the Wang family, so the old man asked Qiu Fengyan to thank him.The sincerity of the words is really touching.

"Master," Hu Xueyan finally talked about his own request, "I have something to do, Fifth Brother You is not here, and I have to work for you, old man, dispatch troops and generals for me!" "Oh!" The old man said repeatedly, "You order, you order!" When Hu Xueyan explained that it would be an easy task to send two escorts, but the old lady fell silent. This is strange, he couldn't help asking: "Old man, is there any difficulty?" "Yes." The old man replied, "Your brother is one of us, and Mr. Qiu is also a good friend at first sight. It's a coincidence that this happened. It's a coincidence. Let's not talk about it. It's just a coincidence." What's more, it's thanks to you telling me, otherwise, I would really do something that I'm sorry to my friend."

Hearing these words, with Hu Xueyan's shrewdness and Qiu Fengyan's worldly experience, they both noticed something strange in the words. The two looked at each other and exchanged a wink. Naturally, Hu Xueyan spoke. "Since the old man regards us as our own people, then what's the 'unfortunate'? Why not tell us!" "Needless to say! Unfortunately, Lao Wu is not here, so there will be no such incident here." The old man asked calmly, "When will Master Qiu plan to leave?" "My goods are still in Shanghai, and it will take three to five days to hire a ship to load them. I will obey the old man's orders!"

"Don't dare to obey the order." The old man said, "Please go back to Shanghai tomorrow to prepare. Today is April 14th, and we are going to sail on April 20th. We will meet in Shanghai on April 19th." "What?" Hu Xueyan didn't understand the word "we", "Could it be—" "Yes." The old man said, "I sent Master Qiu there!" "Then how dare you do it?" Qiu Fengyan and Hu Xueyan said in unison. "No!" The old man made a strong gesture, "I have to deliver it myself." As he spoke, his lips moved twice to see if Qiu Fengyan hadn't said it.

"I'm sorry, old Qiu!" Seeing the seriousness of the situation, Hu Xueyan couldn't care less, and said bluntly, "Please sit outside, and I'll have a word with the old man." "Yes, yes!" Qiu Fengyan agreed, and quickly got up to avoid it. "No need! Master Qiu, please sit here!" The old man got up and apologized, "I'm really sorry! I said something 'in the threshold' to our brother Hu. I didn't treat you as an outsider, because there are some things that, to be honest, Master Qiu still doesn't Good to know." After explaining these words, the old man accompanied Hu Xueyan to sit in the Buddhist hall—this is the most solemn and quiet place in his house. Hu Xueyan understood these festivals very well, and immediately put on a very serious face as soon as he entered. Heshi, first bowed his head and lowered his eyes, silently saluted the Buddha, and then quietly took a seat under the sutra table.

The old man sat down beside him, and said slowly: "Brother Tai, I didn't know that you were involved in this matter. If you knew about it earlier, things would be easier to do. Now, it's like having a sore. , I was about to break my head, so I had to squeeze out the pus!" Hu Xueyan listened attentively, but still couldn't figure out what the relationship between the batch of arms that Qiu Fengyan escorted had anything to do with him.But one layer is very clear, the old man's situation is quite difficult, but he can't figure out where the difficulty is.When doing things in the Jianghu, we pay attention to each other's consideration, so at this time, Hu Xueyan felt that he could not think about other thoughts for a while, and he had to express his attitude first.

"Old man," he said, "I know that you treat my affairs as your own. Since this is the case, let's discuss it as if you and I have a share in this matter. If the difficulty is only caused by You always shoulder it, even if it can be done, I don't want to." "Brother Taiwan!" The old man stretched out a hand full of calluses, squeezed Hu Xueyan's wrist and said, "I really didn't make you a friend in vain. I will tell you the story." It's just like what he himself said: it's a coincidence that things happen, and it's an unfortunate coincidence!This batch of arms was related to one of his "communist brothers", named Yu Wucheng, whose territory was in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang.

At this time, although the Taiping Army had withdrawn from Yangzhou, the "Prime Minister" Lai Hanying was still guarding Chenzhou, and he was at loggerheads with the navy of Lei Zhengcheng, the left servant of the Ministry of Punishment of the Qing Army.The Taiping Army tried its best to open up the situation, so they had secret deals with foreign businessmen in Shanghai, hoping to buy a batch of arms. "Isn't it necessary to send foreign merchants for this matter?" said the old man, "The batch of foreign guns bought in Zhejiang, the foreign merchants promised to sell them to Long Hair, and they have already accepted the Dingyang from them. The British warships were transported there. Who would have known that things had changed, I heard that the person who negotiated on behalf of the Zhejiang side was very flexible—”

"Old Master," Hu Xueyan rushed to say happily, "This person is none other than Gu Yingchun, the future 'Seventh Young Master'." "Oh! I don't know. Lao Wu has been in Shanghai for the past two months, so there is no news. Let's not talk about him, let's talk about my brother Yu Wucheng." Yu Wucheng and Lai Hanying are familiar with each other, so they are half friendly and half respectful. Lai Hanying entrusted Yu Wucheng to come and prepare to intercept this batch of arms as soon as they enter the inland river after they are transported from Shanghai.Since it was the territory of the Songjiang Cao Gang, Yu Wucheng made a special trip to Songjiang to visit his elder brother and greeted him politely. "It's my fault for being negligent for a while." The old man said regretfully, "I have neglected my business for a long time and left everything to Lao Wu, but Lao Wu has gone to Hangzhou again. Yu Wucheng is the brother who kowtowed together with Yizhuxiang back then! 50 Years later, there are only three fellow participants left, and I have to sell this friendship. Who would have thought that the flood had washed away the Dragon King Temple! Now it’s a big deal, so I have to say nothing!” "Then how is it possible?" Hu Xueyan replied, "Although Mr. Yu is your old colleague, if you have promised him, you can't put a face on it and say it belongs to your own. Don't touch it! The bachelor keeps making money, I Let's figure it out." "Brother Taiwan! There is no reason for you to worry about it. I told you the words on the threshold because I am your own person. According to the rules, you can't say it." The old man said again, "I only invite you to be a counselor. The matter is mine, so if you want to deal with it no matter what, please ask Mr. Qiu to rest assured." "How can you rest assured!" Hu Xueyan said, "Now there is only 'stand still', the batch of foreign guns will be put there first, and we can talk about it with Mr. Yu." The old man didn't answer, but leaned back, staring at the sky with his eyes tightly shut, his lips tightly closed, showing that he was wholeheartedly thinking about how to solve this difficult problem. Seeing this scene, Hu Xueyan was quite disturbed, and he was also thinking: If Yu Wucheng was not his "brother in the same camp", things would be easier; if this batch of munitions had not fallen into the hands of the Taiping Army, things would be easier.At this moment, he is not only a mouse-hunter, but he cannot let go easily, and it has become a situation where both soft and hard are difficult to control. Even he feels that it is really difficult to make a good strategy for a while. "Difficult!" said the old man, "After much deliberation, I'm the only one who is going to be tough." "Sticking up is not the answer." Hu Xueyan asked, "From what you've seen, how's Mr. Yu's friendship with that side?" "That's not clear. But in the world, a word is a word. He agreed to others, and I agreed to him. Anyway, I won't let him do this thing. Our brother's friendship is nothing. broken." "You can't say that!" Hu Xueyan said with a flash of inspiration, "I have a solution, I want you to send a special person to invite Mr. Yu, and put something on the table and say: two sides They are all on their own, and they can't help one side and hurt the other. Please tell Mr. Yu what to do." "What kind of method is this?" The old man smiled, "Doesn't that mean: I can't take care of this business, so I have to leave it alone?" "That's exactly what you said!" Hu Xueyan nodded, "If you don't want to meddle in this business, Mr. Yu can't blame you. But on our side, we can't thank you enough." The old man thought for a while and asked: "Could it be that you have other methods, such as asking officers and soldiers to protect you, and fighting head-on with Wu Cheng to understand?" "How can I do this?" Hu Xueyan smiled, "If I do this, do you still want to run around in the rivers and lakes in the future?" "So, what do you do?" "I want to talk to Mr. Yu first." Hu Xueyan replied, "I want to tell him the truth, if the Taiping Army doesn't want this item, I can let it go and let his account buy it. Find another foreign businessman to deal with, but now it is not possible, this is to ask Mr. Yu not to meddle in his own business. As for what kind of heavy gift was given there, I will give it as it is." "I heard it was ten thousand silver." "Ten thousand silver is a small matter, and I can afford to post it. I don't think Mr. Yu thinks it is so important! What I want to advise him is that he must not help Changmao. You must distinguish between loyalty and rebellion. distinct." Hearing the last sentence, the old man looked at him very carefully, and after a long time, he nodded and said: "Brother Tai, although you are empty, the ins and outs of the Cao Gang are clear. To be honest, after two hundred years, the present time This is not the time when Weng, Qian, and Pan Sanzu established their families. At the beginning of the long hair, our Cao Gang valued the two 'shows' very much. Who knows that it is becoming more and more shameless. The floor has been swept away. What is worshiping the sky and disrespecting parents, what is "men's business" and "women's business", there is a lot of nonsense. Now Liu Lichuan of the Small Knife Club is also worshiping the world. I can't understand these situations. So, if you can persuade Wu If Cheng changes his mind and doesn't help Changmao, it doesn't count as a lack of loyalty in the world. However, I don't know how you can persuade him?" "It's natural to play by ear. Even I don't know what to say at the moment." Speaking of this, one thing should be done right away, send someone to find Yu Wucheng, the old man doesn't know where he is at the moment, but the voice of the Cao Gang is very loud, as long as you explain it, the big and small wharfs are known day and night. He will find someone, and Yu Wucheng is not an unknown person, so it is easier to find him.It just depends on whether he is close or far away. He comes quickly when he is close, but slow when he is far away. The day cannot be scheduled. "I know you are anxious, but it's useless to be anxious, things can always be settled." The old man said, "It's rare to get together, let's stay for two days and talk about it." "Of course, of course." Hu Xueyan said, "The many days have been delayed, not for these two days." He is like this, and Qiu Fengyan doesn't care. The anecdotes and strange things encountered lasted until late at night. Talking and talking about Yu Wucheng, "Songjiang is the 'Tired Gang', and their gang is the 'Wang Gang', so Wu Cheng is a playboy among our group, eating whores, gambling, doing everything, doing everything. So fine." The old man said with great emotion, "How can I know that I have been happy for a lifetime, and I will suffer when I grow old!" "It's all caused by Changmao." Hu Xueyan said, "If you don't make trouble with Changmao, he is in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. Why is this? So Mr. Yu is getting involved with 'them', I really don't understand!" "Brother Tai, when you meet Wu Cheng, be careful what you say. He has a bad habit: he refuses to admit his mistakes! It's fine if he doesn't say anything, but when he says it, he goes in the wrong direction. Unless his mother tells him, he dare not refuse to listen. Otherwise, even if the Heavenly King Lao Tzu said that he was wrong, he would not accept it." "Looks like this, he is a dutiful son!" Qiu Fengyan said, "It's extremely respectable." "Everyone respects him, that's why." The old man said, "He is sixty-seven this year, and he will act like a baby in front of his ninety-year-old mother. It's really interesting to think about it." "Oh!" Hu Xueyan asked, "Her mother is still there?" "Still!" "In Zhenjiang? Or Yangzhou?" "No! How can I still live in those two places?" the old man said, "I moved to Suzhou. Last year I went to Hangzhou to burn incense and passed by Songjiang. I stayed here for a few days." "A ninety-year-old lady can still travel far away to burn incense. Is she healthy?" "It's very healthy!" said the old man. "This old lady was also a good character back then. Uncle Yu, Wu Cheng's father, was killed by the Qiu family. She brought a fruit knife to the door of the Qiu family. When she came out, she went to the yamen, but the county magistrate was a good one, saying that she had avenged her husband, and she was released in court. At that time, she was still pregnant in April, and she was born as Wu Cheng." "It turns out that Mr. Yu is a posthumous child! No wonder he is filial." "He didn't dare not be filial." The old man said again, "Wu Cheng later took care of the gang, thanks to my third aunt Yu. At that time, when Uncle Yu died, he had no son, and the gang discussed it with the fifth generation of his family. The child was born posthumously. Come down, if it's a woman, needless to say, if it's a man, at the age of 20, Yu Lao Wu will 'redeem the country'. Who knows that Yu Lao Wu has a black heart and refuses to give up at that time. Third Aunt Yu came forward again, Sue the Governor of Water Transport, win the case, and Wu Cheng will be able to 'inherit his father's career'." "According to this, this old lady is also very clear about the outside world?" "Of course! He is a very understanding person." "Do you also care about their gang?" "I took care of it in the past, but I don't care much about it these few years." The old man said again, "In the past, he not only took care of the affairs of their gang, but also took care of the affairs of the Jianghu. It is really a well-known name to mention Yu San Widow." During this small chat, Hu Xueyan had already planned a very appropriate plan, but if he wanted to implement this plan, he needed a person, and he had to discuss it with this person before talking with the old man. This person is Grandma Qigu.It was already late at night when I got back to You's house, so it's inconvenient to alarm.He got up early the next morning, washed himself hastily, then called the servant who came to serve him, and went in to inform that Grandma Qigu had urgent matters to discuss. Grandma Qigu was very generous and said that she would invite Hu Xueyan and Qiu Fengyan to her room to talk. There is Furong in the boudoir of "Miss", so Qiu Fengyan is naturally inconvenient to enter. "It doesn't matter! We are really good as a family, you go and listen together, so that I won't have to say it again later." Hearing this, Qiu Fengyan had no choice but to accompany him.Arriving at the room where Grandma Qigu lived, a table of breakfast had already been set up in the main room. People in Songjiang eat hard rice for breakfast. Qiu Fengyan was quite novel. There was not only rice but also wine. Take a big gulp. "Old Qiu, drink less, you have something to do today!" "What's the matter?" Grandma Qigu interjected, "Master Qiu is here, there is no entertainment, only wine. Uncle, don't stop him from being happy." "Lao Qiu won't be unhappy, I'll know it as soon as I say it. Seventh sister, let me ask you personally, do you know?" Hu Xueyan said, "The third widow Yu!" "Is it Master Yu's old lady?" "right." "The third widow Yu is no longer called, and everyone calls her the third mother-in-law. I met her before. She came to Songjiang last year and said she wanted to take me in as a goddaughter. Afterwards, her seniority was wrong, so she didn't mention it." "Excellent! According to this, she likes you very much. Seventh sister, you want to accompany me to Suzhou." Speaking of this sentence, Qiu Fengyan suddenly realized, and happily picked up a large glass of shochu: "Now I have to make a fool of myself!" Qigu's grandma and Fu Rong couldn't figure it out, so Hu Xueyan briefly talked about Yu Wucheng's idea of ​​using that gun, and how the old man was in trouble.These Qigu grandmas understood their intentions before he could continue talking. "Uncle, do you want to move out the third mother-in-law and force Uncle Yu?" "Yes, it means this principle. But there is a set of methods." Hu Xueyan said, "I have used this brain, the main thing is not to embarrass the old man. I want to do this, do you think it will work?" Hu Xueyan's approach was to prepare a heavy gift, dress up with Qiu Fengyan, go to visit Yu San's mother-in-law, and explain the purpose of coming when they met, because the old lady had already agreed to Yu Wucheng, so it was inconvenient to say something.In desperation, I had no choice but to ask Granny Yu for advice, what should I do?Ask her to say something. "People's hearts are made of flesh. Young uncle respects her like this. If I beat and drum next to her, the third mother-in-law will definitely intervene. As long as she is willing to say a word, Master Yu dare not refuse. Okay, I will definitely accompany you. When will you leave?" ?” "I want to talk to the old man first. Please prepare first, and we will leave as soon as we say it." "I don't have anything to prepare." Grandma Qigu said, "It's a gift for the third mother-in-law. What are your plans, little uncle?" On this level, Hu Xueyan naturally had a plan and assigned Qiu Fengyan to do it, asking him to come to Shanghai that day and tell Liu Bucai to buy two sticks of Jilin Laoshan ginseng and three other gifts suitable for the elderly. Brought to Suzhou by Qiu Fengyan, the Jinchang Inn outside the Changmen is still used as the place for contacts and gatherings. So, Qiu Fengyan followed Hu Xueyan to the old man's place, and when he said "farewell", the old man was puzzled and deeply surprised. "I thought of a way to prevent your old man from embarrassing you in front of Mr. Yu." Hu Xueyan said, "Lao Qiu and I, like Jiao Zan and Meng Liang, are planning to move Madam She out. But you always have to sing to us. double spring." It's easy for the old man to play the double reed, as long as he finds Yu Wucheng and explains to him face to face: Hu and Qiu came to the door with great trust, and he has already refused because he promised Yu Wucheng to be the first.At the same time, tell him that the third mother-in-law of Yu sent someone to look for her, and left a message telling him to rush back to Suzhou immediately, because there is an urgent matter to discuss. After hearing Hu Xueyan finished speaking, the old man bowed his head: "Brother Tai, your strategy has helped me a lot and preserved the friendship between our white-headed brothers. I am very grateful. But even though Madam She suppressed him, his You have to think about the difficulties for him, and I will handle it. You don’t have to worry about it.” "There is no reason to bother the old man." Hu Xueyan said, "To tell you the truth, there is a kickback on foreign guns. We will use this money to pay a friend of Mr. Yu. When I met him in Suzhou, I told him face to face. Talk, it will definitely be settled. Anyway, you just have to pretend to be confused." "I will pretend to be confused." The old man asked, "When are you leaving?" "Pretend to be like that. We'll leave tomorrow, and we won't come back to your old place when we turn around. I'm afraid it won't be good to see Mr. Yu." "Since I say that, I won't keep you guys. However, after we have settled the matter in Suzhou, we will stay in Songjiang for two days no matter what." "sure!" The two resigned, and Qiu Fengyan immediately left for Shanghai.Hu Xueyan was thinking in his heart, unexpectedly, there was another trip to Suzhou.Now that there is this opportunity, sister Aqiao's entanglement should be sorted out. Coincidentally, there is Furong, so she can be used as a shield. So, back at You's house, he asked Fu Rong, "Would you like to go to Suzhou for a visit?" "I'm too lazy to move, and besides, you will be back in two or three days, and Mrs. You Wu and I can talk very well, so I would rather be still than move." The hostess was also courteous to keep guests, Hu Xueyan couldn't say anything in front of Fifth Sister You, so she could only wink at Grandma Qigu. The meaning of this wink is not easy to understand, Qi Gu's grandma was straightforward, and said at that time: "Uncle, if you have something to say, just say it, what are you afraid of?" "Seventh sister!" Hu Xueyan had no choice but to say, "Please come here, I have something to say." When she said it, she naturally understood, and Grandma Qigu also thought that Furong had followed her to Suzhou. When Sister Aqiao saw her, of course she couldn't say anything. This was an excellent shield.So she quietly persuaded Fifth Sister-in-law You not to force her to stay.As for Furong, upon hearing that there was such a relationship, she immediately changed her mind and was willing to go to Suzhou with Grandma Qigu.So I packed my luggage overnight, and got off the boat early the next morning. Apart from Hu Xueyan and the two guests, I brought along a young man named Atu. birthday gift, so I took him as a "guide".