Chapter 242 Arriving in Tianjin for the First Time on Mission
As the journey was smooth, the official ship that Sun Shaozong was on set out from Datong Bridge Wharf in the morning and arrived near Sancha River Mouth in Tianjin Prefecture shortly after noon.
I would like to explain here that the word "Tianjin" was given by Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty, meaning "the place where the emperor crosses the river", to commemorate the time when he led his troops south from here to attack Cangzhou Prefecture.
Since it is the Great Zhou Dynasty now, there is naturally no chance for Emperor Yongle to appear, and there is no "Battle of Jingnan" to take place.
Therefore, the word "Tianjin" cannot be mentioned.
In fact, even the name "Tianjin Prefecture" was given after Emperor Guangde ascended the throne. Seeing that this place was becoming increasingly prosperous due to the intersection of sea and river transportation between the north and the south, he upgraded this place to a prefecture in the second year of Guangde and named it "Tianjin", which means the ferry and gateway to the capital.
As for the governor's office, it was not until the fifth year of Guangde that it was moved from Chengde Prefecture.
As an emerging northern city, Tianjin can be described as vibrant, but correspondingly, its management inevitably appears somewhat lax.
At least the dirtiness of the Sanchahekou wharf is much worse than that of the Datong Bridge, and it is even more incomparable with Yangzhou, Nanjing and other provincial capitals famous for water transportation.
By the way, the above comments were all made by Sun Shaozong after he stepped on duck poop at the dock.
The book does not elaborate.
However, after the official ship docked, Sun Shaozong did not know how the food and accommodation would be arranged for the time being, so he ordered the accompanying officials and attendants to wait on the ship, and went to the governor's office alone to hand in a sign.
However, the person who got the news and came out to greet him was not an official from the Governor's Office, but Zhao Wutong, the co-magistrate of Tianjin Prefecture.
After a chat with Zhao Wutong, I learned that although the Governor's Office had issued an official document summoning officials from all over the country, the reception task was handed over to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Governor turned around and assigned the task to the Tianjin Prefecture.
"Alas~ Otherwise, everyone would say that Sansheng did evil and went to the provincial capital."
Zhao Wutong spread his hands and said with a wry smile: "There are so many mothers-in-law and grandmothers here. No matter who assigns the task, we local officials have to shoulder it."
In fact, this statement refers to the county magistrate's office, but it can also be used for the prefectural yamen.
"Lord Zhao came to complain to me, but he found the wrong person."
Sun Shaozong laughed : "Don't forget there is another sentence after this: He has committed many evil deeds and is attached to the capital city - above you are only the governor and the two officials, but the old ladies above us in Shuntian Prefecture are more numerous than lice on a beggar's body!"
While chatting and laughing, the two of them left the Governor's Mansion again, and saw two blue woolen sedan chairs already prepared outside the gate.
Zhao Wutong made way for the sedan chair in front of him and said, "Please come in, Lord Sun. I have already booked two inns nearby to accommodate you colleagues."
I saw that the sedan chair was not big and there were only two bearers standing next to it.
Sun Shaozong shook his head and said, "Since it's not far, Brother Zhao, would you mind walking with me for a few steps? It's really inconvenient for me to sit in a sedan chair with my size."
Zhao Wutong looked at Sun Shaozong's burly figure and knew that what he said was true, so he had no choice but to walk side by side with him.
In this way, the need for gongs to clear the way was eliminated, but the dozen or so yamen runners guarding in front and behind made it even more conspicuous, attracting the attention of the people in the city, and those who were curious about the situation pointed fingers and talked about it.
Seeing this, Zhao Wutong's behavior and speech became a little awkward, and it was obvious that he was not used to being watched like this on the street.
Fortunately, the inn was not far from the Governor's Mansion, only about half a quarter of an hour away. As soon as he stepped over the threshold of the inn, Zhao Wutong seemed to have lifted a heavy stone from his heart, and he started chatting and laughing with Sun Shaozong again.
"In fact, to be honest, everyone in Jinmen Prefecture, from the prefect to the common people, is looking forward to the opening of the Governor's Office as soon as possible."
I originally thought that he said this to curry favor with the Governor's Office, but looking at the emotional look on his face, it didn't seem like he was saying it against his will.
So Sun Shaozong asked curiously, "Why is that? The above are the Governor-General of Zhili and the Governor of Hebei. For you in Jinmen Prefecture, there shouldn't be much difference, right?"
"Lord Sun doesn't know."
Although Zhao Wutong, like Sun Shaozong, was an official of the fifth rank, he was also the second master in the Jinmen Prefecture. In terms of power alone, he was probably slightly better than Sun Shaozong, the third-ranked governor.
But the governor of Shuntian Prefecture was considered half a Beijing official after all, and his salary was .
In addition, Sun Shaozong was so young that one could tell at a glance that he must have a background, so Zhao Wutong always spoke with a hint of flattery.
He then smiled and explained: "Since the founding of this dynasty, the four battalions of the capital have often come here to train soldiers and horses. After the establishment of Jinmen Prefecture in the second year of Guangde, this practice has never been stopped."
"Those arrogant soldiers and generals dare not act recklessly under the emperor's feet, but they are unscrupulous when they come to our Jinmen Prefecture. They cause trouble almost every month. Unfortunately, Hebei and they are not under the same jurisdiction, so it is really difficult to deal with them."
"Now that Lord Zhou has been promoted to the Governor-General of Zhili and has also assumed the title of Minister of War, it will be much easier for us to deal with it."
It turns out that Jinmen Prefecture is also the place where the four battalions of the capital city train their troops. I just don't know if my cheap brother has ever come here to train his troops. If so, given his temper, I'm afraid he will definitely cause trouble here.
As the two of them were chatting here, someone naturally called the store owner and arranged for Sun Shaozong to check in.
But after a while, the shopkeeper came forward timidly and said with a bitter face: "Master Zhao, the east wing was just occupied at noon. Do you think we can give this master another courtyard..."
"Um?!"
When Zhao Wutong heard this, his face immediately darkened.
Although he was under pressure from the Governor's Office and the Sansi Yamen, he was still the second master of the government office after all. This time he was acting in the name of the Governor's Office. Who would have thought that he would rent an inn and dare to sublet it to others privately?
Especially since this happened in front of Sun Shaozong, isn't this tantamount to bringing shame to the capital? !
Therefore, Zhao Wutong immediately became angry, threw his sleeves, and yelled, "Are you blinded by the money? You dare to sublet the room I booked in advance to others without permission!"
Then he shouted, "Come here, drive those blind people out!"
The innkeeper stamped his feet anxiously: "Sir, this cannot be done, this cannot be done..."
But how could those yamen runners pay any attention to him?
He rolled up his sleeves, took the ruler and the street whip and went to the backyard to chase people away.
“What a big mouth!”
At this moment, several valiant men rushed out from the backyard. The leader sneered and said, "We were just in the Governor's Mansion, where we had good food and drink and were well entertained. Now we are staying in a crappy inn. We have run into some idiots!"
As he spoke, he pointed his nose at Zhao Wutong and sneered, "This lord is so powerful, may I ask if he is the governor, the governor, or the governor in person? But when I look at the color of the official uniform, why is there something wrong?"
Before he finished speaking, several burly men around him burst into laughter.
