Yicheng informed everyone that there is no night ban in Hongzhu Town. There is a market in the west of the town. Although the sparrow is small, it has all kinds of internal organs and all kinds of groceries. Knowing that Chen Ping'an and his party were going to buy items for the study tour, Cheng Sheng, the Yi Cheng, offered to be the guide, saying that it would save a lot of trouble. At least those merchants would not dare to ask for excessive prices. Chen Ping'an looked forward to those who had been to Hongzhu Town once. Ah Liang, the man in the bamboo hat nodded and said that he was only familiar with the scenery on both sides of the river and had never been to Fangshi.
Yicheng looked at A Liang, the two old men, and smiled knowingly.
There are nearly a hundred large and small boats in Fushui Bay. They sail out of the bay every night and enter Hongzhu Town along the river. After a circle, they return to Fushui Bay. During this period, men will continue to board. Those painted boats are both for drunkenness and laughter.
In Hongzhu Town, although the Fushuiwan boatman girls and other brothel girls are all from Dali, the former has always been directly responsible for the management of household certificates from the Jiaofang Division in the capital. Neither her parents nor the county magistrate were qualified to change the status of the Hua Fang woman from lowly to good. Therefore, there have always been rumors in Hongzhu Town that the ancestors of the five surnames in Fushui Bay were once the royal children of the Shenshui Dynasty and a distinguished family.
Led by the local snake Cheng Cheng Sheng, Chen Pingan and the others went to the market in the west of the town. The further west they went, the more crowded the streets became. They learned that Hongzhu Town took a boat to go south for two days. For more than a hundred miles, there were town stations along the way to provide supplies. Chen Pingan gave up some ideas and did not buy too much rice, bacon and other food. However, he bought a lot of ointments and medicinal materials at a drug store to deal with wind, cold, heatstroke, and injuries from falls. minor illnesses and disasters. When it was time to spend money, Chen Pingan realized that just like his hometown town, a whole silver ingot was a rarity, so he converted the two ingots of snowflake-patterned silver into Dali general copper coins and Tianhua Yuanbao, because he had a high-grade silver ingot. The premium for the best silver was as high as two hundred cents, which made Chen Ping'an very grateful to the Xiuxiu girl in the blacksmith shop.
Because Cheng Sheng, the postmaster, is by his side, everything goes smoothly. In counties, counties, and small towns, one should not dismiss subordinate officials as officials, especially Cheng Sheng, who often works with wealthy gentry, wealthy businessmen, and detaining officials throughout the year. In the eyes of the people in the small town, those who deal with him are big shots with powerful eyes and hands. Therefore, in every shop that Chen Ping'an and the others entered, they all called Master Cheng diligently, wishing they could enshrine this Master Yi Cheng as a Bodhisattva.
Li Huai was very reserved along the way. He almost only dared to hide behind A Liang and poke his head in. A Liang teased him because he was timid and only knew how to behave in a nest. Li Huai just raised his voice and wanted to fight with A Liang for three hundred rounds, but when curious glances came from all around, Li Huai immediately lowered his head and followed A Liang sickly. With a slap on Li Huai's head, the child dared not speak out in anger, and felt very aggrieved.
Lin Shouyi still looked cold and unconcerned with matters that were not his own. It is estimated that the young man is walking on the royal road in the capital with this kind of behavior.
Li Baoping was the only one carrying her green bamboo box like a crab running rampant. She raised her head and puffed out her chest. She wished she could pull up anyone on the side of the road and tell him about her little book box.It was made by my uncle.
Fangshi consists of two north-south streets. After visiting Guanshan Street, Chen Pingan and the others were going through the alley to go to the next Guanshui Street. As a result, they passed by a deserted restaurant in the alley. In the bookstore, Yi Cheng Cheng Sheng, who was leading the way, went straight forward, but Chen Ping'an stopped. After saying hello to Yi Cheng, he smiled at Li Baoping and the others: "One person can buy one book. No matter how expensive it is, It’s no problem, as long as we can afford it.”
The store is very small, and the door is only two feet wide. After walking in, there are two rows of tall book walls on the left and right. In the innermost part of the store, there is a person sitting. A young man in a black gown was sitting on a small bamboo chair with his legs crossed. He was concentrating with his eyes closed. He was holding a folded fan in his hand, tapping his palms gently and humming a tune.
The young shopkeeper has a handsome, feminine and outstanding face, without the coppery smell of the previous shopkeepers.
When the girl Zhu Lu saw it for the first time, she was stunned. She probably did not expect to meet such a refined and elegant person in the market of Hongzhu Town.
After getting rid of his shackles, the land man from Qidun Mountain regained his status as a god and transformed from a short old man in white into a noble son of Yushu Linfeng. However, in the girl's heart, Wei Bo is still more of the same person. A disgraceful image. But the first impression given by the young master in front of him was too vivid.
Even Zhu He was suspicious. Could this person be a son of a wealthy family whose family was in decline? Compared to the two young masters of my family, they are not bad at all.
The young man did not open his eyes and said lazily: "There is no bargaining on the books in the store. Whether you make a profit or a loss later depends on the customer's discernment."
Yi Cheng Sheng said softly to Zhu He: "This shop is quite famous in our Hongzhu Town. Most of the scholars who pass by here like to come here for a visit. However, this shop owner has a weird temper and all the books he sells are far higher. Above the market price, and anyone who dared to bargain, he would chase them out on the spot. He had a noble character and was not familiar with common people's affairs. There was once a household official who paid a private visit incognito and stayed at the villain's pillow inn. I won some kind of unique book with a price of three hundred taels of silver. I just countered with a price of fifty taels of silver, so I kicked him out of the shop without saving any face. He was so angry that the official didn't calm down when he returned to the inn, and he almost gave up. The county government closed down this small shop, probably thinking that it would have a bad reputation, so it escaped disaster."
Zhu He knew in his heart that he was probably a rotten scholar who was not familiar with the world. He is the kind of person that his second son likes to ridicule the most. He calls him someone who usually talks about his feelings with his hands closed, but who will die to repay the king in times of danger. The second young master still smiled and said that he could not tell for two hundred years, and we, Da Li, will do the same.
So Zhu He has always had a bad impression of scholars outside.
This post road passing through Hongzhu Town is one of the three main post roads leading to the capital from the southern border of Da Li. If the merchants and officials of the small and wealthy families go north to the important towns and cities of Da Li including Beijing, , choose this road more often, because although the other two post roads are wider, almost every post station along the way is overcrowded and there is not enough space.There are a lot of government surveys and military fire cards, let alone staying, even through the gate, there are many officials and gentry who are not familiar with this every year, so they lose face.
Southern scholars who came to Beijing to take the exam, as they had not yet had official status, often chose this post road, often traveling in twos and threes, so that they could take care of each other, enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way, and explore the secluded places together. Fairy.
The officials who were relegated to the south were depressed and frustrated. They liked to write poems on the walls of inns and hotels, and they also liked to take this road south. Over and over again, the walls of the Pillow Inn in Hongzhu Town were filled with poems written by literati and poets complaining about traveling abroad.
Li Baoping raised her head and started looking for a book. She would glance here and there, depending on her mood. Occasionally she would take out a book, open a few pages at random, and put it back if she was not interested. The little girl finally found it. A book of landscape travel was priced at three hundred cents. I felt a little distressed, but I really liked it, so I turned to look at my junior uncle. Chen Pingan smiled and nodded.
Lin Shouyi's gaze slowly passed over the wall of books, in an orderly manner, from right to left, top to bottom. Every time he picked out a book and flipped through it, it must have started from the title page. The young man finally fell in love with an unsigned Feng Shui book with a price tag of four hundred cents. Lin Shou looked at Chen Pingan, who still nodded.
After Li Huai arrived at the store, he finally lost the hustle and bustle on the street and immediately returned to his naughty nature, just like a wild horse running wild. He was the youngest and shortest, and had to sit on A Liang's shoulders. When choosing a book, A Liang agreed, but threatened that if Li Huai didn't choose one, he would be thrown into the street when he left the shop. As a result, Li Huai chose a brand-new book at the top with a price tag of nine taels. When he looked at the price, he was so frightened that he secretly tried to throw the book away. However, he was so busy that the book was not successfully stuffed. Returning to the bookshelf, it fell to the floor.
The young shopkeeper who tapped the folding fan opened his eyes, looked at the book that had fallen to the ground, and said angrily: "I have bought it and left it, the latest edition of "Broken Water Cliff", nine taels Two coins."
Li Huai didn't dare to talk back to the stranger, so he looked at Chen Ping'an cautiously with a sad face, and the latter asked: "Will you read it if you buy it?"
< p>Li Huai nodded vigorously.Chen Pingan smiled and nodded: "Then I'll buy it."
A Liang asked: "Chen Pingan, don't you want to buy one yourself?"
< p>Chen Pingan, who was taking out money, quickly shook his head and said: "I don't know all the words, so why buy a book?"Zhu He turned to his daughter and asked, "Is there any book you want?"< /p>
Zhu Lu stood at the door of the store without moving, glanced sideways at the book wall, and shook his head.
The young shopkeeper who was about to collect the money stood up, tied his hair with an ebony hairpin, and held a folding fan with snow-white ribs. His eyes passed over the little girl in the red cotton jacket and the stern boy, and finally looked at the timid boy holding "Broken Water". The child from "Big Cliff" is smiling and playful.
A Liang grinned.
Leaving the bookstore and walking towards Guanshui Street, Zhu He’s mind was moved. He looked back and saw that the good-looking young man was leaning sideways.Leaning against the doorpost, he was watching them leave. After seeing Zhu He, the man smiled and nodded.
Zhu He turned his head and frowned. After exiting the alley, he walked quickly to the man in the bamboo hat and asked, "Senior A Liang, is there something weird about the owner of the bookstore?"
< p>A Liang held up his bamboo hat and said something truly weird, "Compared to this guy, the real trouble is still behind, but it has nothing to do with you."————
The Chongdan River has the most rapid currents, many reefs and dangerous shoals, and is famous for its wonders. One section of the river has many large and small stone pillars protruding from the water, and is known as the bamboo shoots that spring up after the rain. Only a small boat can shuttle through the gaps in the stone forest, and it is difficult for large ships to cross. Even the boatmen who grew up by the river and are familiar with the water properties would not dare to take a boat into the water easily, unless they were literati who came here because of their fame and paid a lot of money to hire them. Therefore, there is also a saying by the iron boatman of the white paper boat. Every year, boatmen and foreigners die in the stone forest waterway of the Chongdan River.
Only in the twilight tonight, there are many tourists on the Chongdan River.
The turbulent river water hit the stone pillars that emerged from the water. There was a bare-chested man sitting on the top of a stone pillar, gently throwing an empty wine bottle into the river, and there were three more beside him. The unopened wine flask.
In the distance, there is a red light getting closer and closer. It turns out that there is a rickety old man holding a big red lantern, using the stone pillar as a step for wading, and the dragonfly is touching the water and grazing over.
Suddenly, a majestic figure descended from the sky and stepped on the top of a stone pillar. The rock under his feet was overwhelmed and instantly turned into powder. He just stood in the river.
In the river, there is a middle-aged woman walking upstream. Three feet above her head, there are fist-sized snow-white beads suspended, which shine brightly and illuminate the bottom of the river. Like day.
The woman said lazily and boredly: "I have walked more than a hundred miles on the waterway, and I still can't pick up half of the treasure. Who told me that there are flower heads under the Chongdan River?"
The drinking man sitting on the top of the stone pillar glanced at the bottom of the water and said calmly: "Your Excellency is already in Red Candle Town."
The old man waved a bright red lantern and said with a hoarse smile: "Your Excellency, you are actually here. If you go out in person? What else do you need the four of us to do?"
The man took a sip of wine and said solemnly: "I hope so."