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Volume Three: The Wind Rises in the Southern Kingdom Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Virtue and Benevolence

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    Twenty days later.  Hanking Weaving Workshop.  At the beginning of the founding of Dashun, the founder Gao Yigong and Taizong Li Jin both came from rough backgrounds and experienced hardships to achieve great achievements. They were well aware of the suffering of the people and had very little self-reliance.  In particular, Emperor Gao Yigong ordered the abolition of the eunuch system in view of the serious castration disasters in the previous dynasty, and established an ancestral precept to limit the number of maids in the harem to less than one hundred for future generations.  Although this restriction was gradually broken later, the size of Dashun Palace was much smaller than that of previous dynasties. The reason is simple: in the earliest planning, only the size of the harem at that time was considered. When later emperors wanted to expand it,  , but found that the surrounding land had already been occupied by residential buildings. If large-scale construction was to be carried out, the impact would be too great. As a result, we had to adopt the method of purchasing and expanding small plots, which was very costly.  Therefore, the Imperial City of Hanjing is not only much smaller in scale than the imperial cities of previous dynasties, but its shape is not symmetrical and regular along a central axis like the imperial cities of other dynasties in history. Instead, it is an irregular polygon. If  Viewed from the air, the entire imperial city looks like an enlarged paramecium.  The Weaving Factory is named after the Weaving Factory City of Hanking, which is a city near the expanded imperial city. Since the residences of many middle- and high-level female officials are located nearby, it has become the best silk, satin, and silk fabrics in Hanking and even the country.  Where clothing, makeup and jewelry stores are located.  A light two-seater carriage passed through the street, immediately arousing the admiration of the people on both sides of the road!  The carriage's exquisite structure, beautiful decoration, the driver's agility, and the four majestic horses all prove that this carriage is worth at least fifteen thousand taels of silver!  Which palace Bingbi or some other noble person is inside?  This itching feeling almost takes out the hearts of those idle people.  "Mother, look at that bridle, reins, and saddle. They are all top-notch goods. These alone are worth hundreds of taels of silver!" An idle man leaning on a stone pillar outside Rongbaozhai looked at the stop.  The carriage beside the road couldn't help but exclaimed, no wonder he was like this. The harness of the four horses was not only exquisitely made, but also mixed with gold and silver threads. Together with the white manes of the four horses, they looked extremely gorgeous.  .  Another idle man on the side sneered after hearing this, and said: "Bah! Hua Wu, your eyes are really white. The real value is the four horses. If my tricks are not broken, all four horses will be lost."  It's a first-rate horse, and you can't even buy it without a thousand taels of silver. It's really useless to use it to pull a cart! I don't know what kind of wealthy people are sitting in it!"  While he was talking, a man in a brocade robe jumped out of the carriage. He was about thirty-four or five years old, with slightly dark skin and an impressive appearance. Behind him was a servant in green clothes. It was Chen Zaiqi.  The waiter outside Rongbaozhai hurriedly greeted him, reached out to take Chen Zaixing's cane, and said with a smile: "Master, please come this way!" He rushed ahead and opened the door curtain for Chen Zaixing.  When Chen Zaixing came in, a waiter had already brought him a hot towel. After Chen Zaixing scrubbed it, he drank two more sips of hot tea. Then a shopkeeper standing beside him smiled and said, "I dare you to ask this gentleman, why did you come to the small room today?"  , I wonder what the trumpet can do? " Chen Zaixing glanced at the hall and saw that the hall of Rongbaozhai was not big, but the decoration was very elegant. It didn't have the splendid feeling of an ordinary jewelry store. He couldn't help but feel secretly.  He nodded and smiled at the shopkeeper: "I heard that Rongbaozhai is a first-class shop in Hanking. It claims that as long as you can afford the price, there is nothing you can't buy. It's really extraordinary when you see it today.  "I don't dare, it's all because of you, the trumpet is just a way to make a living!" The shopkeeper smiled slightly, and then his tone became louder: "But since it was opened in the Wanli period of the previous dynasty, there were four hundred trumpets in my account.  I dare not say that there is nothing that cannot be bought, but if there is something that I can¡¯t buy in Han Dynasty, I am afraid that only the palace can buy it. To put it bluntly, it is the empress in the palace,  Bingbi also frequents our shop! " "Okay, okay!" Chen Zaixing clapped his hands and smiled. He took a green cloth package from the attendant behind him and handed it to the shopkeeper. He said with a smile: "I have a few rough stones here.  I want to make a few playthings, but I don¡¯t have the right craftsman, so I have to worry about your craftsman. As long as the work is done well, you can ask for the price, and I will never bargain!¡± The shopkeeper took the cloth bag and put it away carefully!  On the tables on the side, as soon as he opened the cloth bag, the shopkeeper's movements stopped. He froze there with a fanatical look in his eyes. More than ten rubies of different sizes were revealed in the opened cloth bag.  and emerald.  Chen Zaixing looked at the shopkeeper's expression with a satisfied smile on his face.  "How?" Chen Zaixing's words woke up the shopkeeper. He hurriedly smiled at Chen Zaixing and said, "I'm sorry, sir, these gems are too precious. I'm afraid I won't be able to make the decision. I dare you to come to the inner room and wait for me."  Would you like the big shopkeeper to take care of it? " "Then please lead the way!" Chen Zaixing stood up, and the shopkeeper hurriedly led the way. Chen Zaixing looked around and sawThere are many courtyards in Rongbaozhai. It doesn't look like a jewelry shop, but more like a family of officials who have been passed down for hundreds of years. I can't help but be secretly surprised.  The shopkeeper took Chen Zaixing and his party to a private room, asked the servants to bring tea, and said with a smile: "Sir, please wait a moment, our boss will be here soon!" "Wait a minute!" Chen Zaixing took a sip of tea and pointed.  He pointed to the tea in the cup and asked with a smile: "Is this Longjing in Hangzhou before the rain?" "Your Majesty, you have good eyesight!" Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up, he raised his thumb and smiled: "Yes, this is the year.  The first new tea is Yuqian Longjing. Today, Empress Zhaorong Lin is from Zhejiang. She likes this tea best and it is also the most popular in the palace. This kind of Yuqian Longjing is available in the market for a tael of silver.  There¡¯s no need to sell it!¡± Chen Zaixing smiled slightly and said, ¡°Forget it, give me some black tea. I¡¯ve lived in a foreign land for many years and I¡¯m not used to drinking this anymore!¡± The shopkeeper was slightly startled when he heard this, and was about to give an order.  He asked his subordinates to change the tea as instructed, but heard someone outside laughing: "I see, but I don't know where the guest officer is from? It's better for me to prepare some tea that suits your taste!" While speaking, a person  Ying walked in from the door and saw that she was wearing green clothes, with fair skin, handsome appearance and petite figure. If she looked closely, she turned out to be a woman dressed in men's clothing.  "I come from a rough background, but I don't have much requirements in this regard. I don't dare to work for you!" Chen Zaixing stood up and bowed to salute the woman.  When the woman saw Chen Zaixing's face, her expression suddenly changed, and she asked in surprise: "It's you! Bachelor Chen, it's you!" "Yes, it's you! We haven't seen you for many years, and Zhou Weixian's style is even better than before!" Chen Zaixing stood  He straightened his body and smiled at the owner of Rongbaozhai in front of him.  Chen Zaixing and the proprietor were the only two people left in the elegant room. The dozen or so dazzling red and sapphires were scattered on several cases, but they seemed not to have seen them.  "Scholar Chen, when you resigned and returned to your hometown, I thought it was just a temporary mood, and it would come back after a few years at most. Unexpectedly, unexpectedly!" When the woman surnamed Zhou said this, she couldn't help but lower her head.  , with a slightly sad look on her face. It turned out that this person's surname was Zhou Mingjin. She was also a female official in the palace back then. She and Jiang Qingyue were close friends in the boudoir. She also knew that Chen Zaiqi failed to pursue Jiang Qingyue and abandoned his official position to return to his hometown.  Now that I see that the handsome and handsome Hongwenguan bachelor now has dark and rough skin, he has obviously suffered a lot, I can't help but feel a little sad.  Seeing this, Chen Zaixing hurriedly smiled and said: "Zhou Weixian, I didn't expect that after all these years, you have become a wealthy businessman and have such a big family business! It's really amazing. Why didn't I see that you had such ability back then!"  "Bah!" Zhou Jin spat and said with a smile: "Why is Wei Xian not Wei Xian? I am no longer in the palace. I was not selected for the selection of pens, so I became a small weaving official."  , thanks to the love of the sisters in the palace, this Rongbaozhai was opened. Why did Academician Chen come to my small room today?" Chen Zaixing did not answer Zhou Jin's question and casually took the dozen coins.  The rough gemstone was pushed in front of Zhou Jin and said with a smile: "What do you think of these goods?" Zhou Jin glanced at Chen Zaixing, then picked up a rough gemstone from a table, looked at it carefully for a while, put it down, and then picked it up again.  After looking at four or five gems, he raised his head and said, "These are all first-class goods, but you don't really come here for these gems today, right?" Chen Zaixing smiled slightly and put the dozen or so rough gems on the table.  Wrapping it up again, he pushed it in front of Zhou Jin and said, "If you like it, just take it!" Zhou Jin was slightly startled, but did not take the small cloth bag. Su Rong asked, "What are you doing here this time?"  "For what?" "I have some properties in Myanmar over the years. Where do these gems come from?" Chen Zaixing said in a low voice, "You should know what happened in Myanmar recently, right?"  Jin shook his head blankly and said in a deep voice: "The British took action and launched a coup. If possible, can you help me go to the palace and find out if Dashun will send troops, so that I can make plans in advance!  "Then why don't you ask her directly?" Zhou Jin realized that he had said the wrong thing as soon as he said it, and quickly smiled and said, "What's the problem? I'll send someone to send a message to the palace later for you."  Ask. Where do you live in Hanking? I asked for news and sent a message for you!" Chen Zaixing pushed the cloth bag with the gems over and whispered: "You can take these first and return them to the palace later.  It¡¯s useful. I lived in Luming Pavilion when I was in Han Jing, and your people will know it as soon as I ask!¡± Luming Pavilion is located on the bank of East Lake in Han Jing, across the lake from the imperial palace, and only six meters away from the central location of the imperial court.  Seven miles away, there are no residential buildings around, so it is a quiet place.  Because the transportation here is convenient, the scenery is beautiful, the food is quite good, and it is not far from the North and South Yamen,Young officials from the imperial court often came here to gather and dine. Over time, this place became a gathering place for the upper class in Han Dynasty. Even many wealthy businessmen and businessmen often came here to be arty when they had important business.  This Luming Pavilion is different from ordinary restaurants. Because the people who come and go are either wealthy businessmen or dignitaries in the court, many people go in and out secretly and do not want others to see their whereabouts. Therefore, this Luming Pavilion is composed of dozens of rooms facing each other.  It is composed of multiple courtyards, each with its own different entrance and exit paths. These noble people will not be bumped into by others when going in and out. As for the increased expenses, they are not concerned about it.  Each courtyard is named after a phrase from the Book of Songs, and is very elegant. Fatan Courtyard is one of them.  Chen Zaixing stood at the courtyard gate, as if waiting for someone. It was getting dark and it was already dinner time, but Chen Zaixing still stood at the courtyard gate, motionless, with no look of worry or boredom on his face. He seemed to be watching the distance.  The beautiful scenery of East Lake is average.  Finally, with the sound of horse hooves, two carriages appeared in the distance. The two carriages were painted black and similar in shape. From a distance, they looked like they were poured out of the same mold, coming in a row.  In the blink of an eye, the two cars arrived in front of Chen Zaixing, and after stopping, one person from each got out.  Chen Zaixing hurriedly greeted him, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Today we have two distinguished guests who have taken the trouble to come here. This humble face is really impressive!" The two people got off the carriage and replied in unison: "The second-ranked gentleman has seen the trick, how dare you, the villain?  No!" As soon as they finished speaking, the two noticed each other's presence. After looking at each other in disgust, they snorted at the same time and turned their heads to look at the lawn on one side.  .  The two of them are tall and short, one is thin and the other is fat, one is white and the other is black, as if they were born to be enemies, but the clothes they wear are all brown silk gowns, which are exactly the same.  Seeing the performance of the two people, Chen Zaixing couldn't help but laugh secretly in his heart, but with a smile on his face, he walked between the two people, grabbed their arms respectively, and said with a smile: "Brother Kong, Brother Liu, I'm going to invite you today."  The two of you came here for a business deal, so you two bought me some face. How about you put aside your previous grudges?" The short and fat man turned around, snorted coldly, and cupped his hands to the tall and thin man.  "Forget it, for the sake of the second best man today, I will not deal with this kind of cotton, human flesh dealer, scum of the saint's disciples, hypocrite." "You!" The tall and thin man was furious when he heard this, with a black face.  Suddenly it swelled to purple, and he pointed his halberd finger at his opponent and cursed: "A certain family is the Kong family of Qufu, a direct descendant of a saint. You dare to slander my family's clear voice. I swear today that I will never break up with you!"  The two of them came forward to fight, and Chen Zaixing hurriedly grabbed him and said repeatedly: "You two stay here, you two stay here." Fortunately, he had been mining in Myanmar over the years, and his muscles and bones were as strong as steel, otherwise he would have been dead now.  I can't hold it any longer
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