Chapter 261: Marriage (II)
The last ray of orange in the western sky faded, and night fell on the sea. Feng Yukuan stood at the bow, surrounded by crew members. Everyone looked to the west, where there was a star that was brighter than any other star.
Under the starlight, everyone could vaguely see the hazy shadows near the stars. Although they had seen this lighthouse, which was more than ten feet high, being built several times during the day when they sailed, this was the first time they saw the light of this lighthouse with their own eyes.
"Nautical chart! Measure with level!" Feng Yukuan shouted to the lookout.
There were footsteps on the deck. The equipment had been set up long ago, and the surveyor had obtained a distance from the coastline using the level and angle measuring instrument.
Hearing that the ship was still nearly ten miles from the coast, Feng Yukuan was thinking about the route in his mind, and he didn't think of any reefs nearby that needed attention. In other words, the ship didn't have to worry about being stranded or hit, and just had to continue sailing south.
Continuing south, a new star appeared in the dark horizon in the middle of the night. This was the light of another lighthouse. With two lighthouses to guide us, we could better determine the route. In the dark night when we would never dare to sail close to the coast, the fleet continued to head south to Jimo Port.
It took two-thirds of the time in the past for the fleet to arrive at the destination carrying a large amount of Japanese sulfur ore. After the cargo was unloaded, Feng Yukuan finally felt relieved. The dock was already piled with cargo, and Feng Yukuan even had a hallucination while walking among them. Maybe he was still dreaming.
It took only a few years from the Qing court's order to ban all maritime trade to the Han regime's initiative to start maritime trade. In this very limited voyage, Feng Yukuan has transported more goods than his previous total transportation volume.
If this was not a dream, Feng Yukuan could only suspect that his previous self was in a dream.
However, when he arrived at the port office, Feng Yukuan heard the person in charge asking "When will the governor get married?" All the feelings of being in a dream suddenly disappeared, and Feng Yukuan found that he was actually in a completely real world.
Feng Yukuan no longer worries about things when he is in his 40s or 50s. The fact that Huo Chong still has no wife or children makes Feng Yukuan feel a sense of crisis.
Since Huo Chong already owned Shandong, everyone who followed Huo Chong had to consider Huo Chong's world. It would be great if Huo Chong could live to be 70 or 80 years old, but even if he lived to be 100 years old, Huo Chong would die. What would happen after Huo Chong died? Naturally, Huo Chong's descendants would inherit the family business.
The person in charge here said, "Brother Feng, we also want to propose marriage to the governor. But none of us are worthy. Brother Feng and the governor have known each other for such a long time, you are the most suitable."
Feng Yukuan did not feel anything wrong when he was told this, and he thought it was natural. After thinking for a while, Feng Yukuan sighed, "Brother Huo is such a talented man, he should find a girl from a scholarly family to be his match. But..."
"We have already captured Jinan!" the person in charge quickly responded.
Feng Yukuan patted the boy on the shoulder and thought he was smart. "Okay, prepare the donkey cart for me now!"
"No need. We already have horses!"
Feng Yukuan did not rest, but mounted his horse and rushed to Linzi. He traveled in the morning and slept at night. After arriving in Linzi, he went straight to where Huo Chong was. The guards stopped Feng Yukuan who wanted to go in directly. Feng Yukuan immediately said, "I am here to propose marriage to the governor. Please hurry up and complete the formalities and let me in."
Hearing Feng Yukuan's words, the guards did not dare to neglect and immediately rushed to complete the formalities. Feng Yukuan strode into the office and saw Huo Chong reviewing documents. When he looked up and saw Feng Yukuan, he was very surprised, "Brother Feng, how is the cargo this time?"
"Don't worry, the goods are very good. We'll talk about this later. This time I came to ask Brother Huo what kind of woman he wants to marry."
Huo Chong sighed helplessly, "Gao Pang is really troublesome!"
"So it was the No. 1 Scholar who thought of this! He is worthy of being the No. 1 Scholar!" Feng Yukuan praised sincerely. Shandong is a place with a strong learning atmosphere. Although Gao Pang is an outsider, he has the status of No. 1 Scholar, even if he is the No. 1 Scholar of the Qing Dynasty, Feng Yukuan is very impressed.
Alas... Huo Chong sighed. The significance of having children had been explained thoroughly by Gao Pang and other people, and Huo Chong himself was also very clear about the importance of heirs in this era.
If a rebel organization is not formed and the leader marries and has children, it will be very damaging to the morale. If everyone is rebelling with their heads hanging on their belts, the comrades will definitely not accept it.
Huo Chong now owns almost the entire Shandong Province, with the Daqing River in the north, the Grand Canal in the west, the Yellow River in the south, and the vast Pacific Ocean in the east.
Although this piece of land is not a good place, it is a real separatist force surrounded by mountains and rivers. At this time, the importance of whether Huo Chong has a son is revealed. As long as the situation does not deteriorate, Huo Chong dies, his followers still have a young master to assist. Naturally, there will be a core of power.
Feng Yukuan said readily, "Brother Huo, there are many good families in Jinan. Tell me what kind you want. I will go back and arrange it for you."
"I've thought about that, too. Born in a family of scholars, the better the appearance, the better, and the taller the better. But there is one thing that I'm very concerned about. Brother Feng, you know I'm going to implement a ban on foot binding in Shandong. So I want a girl with unbound feet. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain to everyone."
After hearing these standards, Feng Yukuan thought for a while and said, "I'm afraid there's none in Jinan."
"So that's why. This is not an easy thing to do." Huo Chong sighed.
Feng Yukuan thought about it and asked, "Why does Brother Huo hate foot binding so much?"
"Because foot binding is harmful to people. Brother Feng went to Japan and saw that the women there also worked very hard. What can they do if they bind their feet?"
"...Forget it, let's not talk about foot binding. Brother Huo, I will go back to Jinan now and ask if there is anyone suitable. But I think it would be nice if Brother Huo married the daughter of Duke Yansheng."
The Duke of Yansheng has great influence in Shandong, and it is also a thousand-year-old family in Shandong. Huo Chong could understand Feng Yukuan's suggestion, and was even a little happy about Feng Yukuan's change in courage. If it were in the past, Feng Yukuan would not dare to set his sights on the Duke of Yansheng even if he had ten times the courage. It takes a lot of confidence for a Shandong person to dare to propose forcing the descendants of Confucius to offer their daughter. A guy who secretly fled by sea proposed such an idea, which shows that Feng Yukuan already has enough confidence.
"Brother Feng, even if you marry her, they will say that you forced the Kong family to give up their daughter. And the women of the Kong family must have bound feet. This is fucking true. If Confucius' mother had bound feet and couldn't work, Confucius would have starved to death long ago."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gao Pang laughed outside and said, "What the governor said is really thought-provoking."
Feng Yukuan took the initiative to greet Gao Pang, "Mr. Zhuangyuan, do you think the daughter of the Kong family is not worthy of Brother Huo?"
Gao Pang shook his head, "Not really. Forcibly marrying the daughter of the Kong family will only make people think that the governor is forcibly seizing a commoner's daughter."
"We robbed him to give face to the Kong family. What kind of person is the governor? He killed Yongzheng and beheaded hundreds of thousands of government troops. If this ability is made public, won't it bring disgrace to the Kong family?"
Gao Pang felt that he couldn't reason with a ruffian like Feng Yukuan. Yes, ruffians have their own reasons. From the perspective of a conqueror, Huo Chong was already fierce enough. However, scholars would not agree with this. Even if Huo Chong became an emperor in the future, robbing a commoner woman is robbing a commoner woman. Especially when it involves the Kong family, scholars would not ignore it.
"Brother Feng, first find some women for the governor so that he can have children."
Feng Yukuan shook his head. "We in Shandong don't recognize this. Since he's a child, his father's background is very important. But if the child's mother's family doesn't have a good reputation, people will still look down on him. We have to find a good one."
