Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 59: The Country Boy Comes to the City
Youanmen, Yongdingmen and Zuoanmen.
Seeing a handsome and elegant young man riding his horse back and forth between the three gates of the outer city, wasting at least a quarter of an hour, not only did many officials and civilians entering or leaving the city look back frequently, but the soldiers guarding the city naturally became alert.
However, the young man was not alone. When he started to make the second circle, several guards caught up with him. Soon, a gorgeous young man who was obviously a woman dressed as a man also caught up with him.
Faced with such a situation, the sarcasm and ridicule that would have come out of one's mouth would naturally be restrained a little.
As for the guards at the gate who had the sharpest eyes, when they recognized that they were the guards of the Duke of Zhao's mansion, they immediately withdrew tactfully. When they recognized that the accompanying beauty in men's clothing seemed to be the eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhao's mansion, they only dared to glance at the young man from time to time.
The gossip that had been circulating in the capital for quite a while was now like an undercurrent beneath the calm surface of the water, quietly surging among them. Soon, the news spread completely among all the guards at the three major gates of the outer city of the capital.
The future son-in-law of Duke Zhao’s mansion has come to Beijing!
Zhang Shou didn't care that he was treated as a country bumpkin who came to Beijing for the first time, because he was indeed from the countryside. Moreover, since Wu didn't agree to go to Beijing with him today, he wasn't afraid of being scolded by his mother for his embarrassing behavior like a country bumpkin.
Thinking of the Yongdingmen Tower which was almost exactly the same as the one rebuilt in later generations, and the Zuoanmen and Youanmen whose names were so familiar that they could not be more familiar, he could not help but feel infinite emotion.
It was not the Zhu family's world, but the country was called Ming.
Although it is not the capital of the Zhu family, the three city gates still have the same names, and Yongdingmen is almost a replica.
The names of the next three gates in the inner city should be the same as he imagined.
Sure enough, when he walked along the busy street to the inner city wall, he entered the city from Chongwenmen as expected.
This time, seeing other villagers paying taxes and inspecting goods at the customs before entering the city accompanied by Zhu Hong, he couldn't help but think of the information he had received while chatting with Zhu Ying these days.
Emperor Taizu rose to power with the White Lotus Rebellion; became Han Shantong's son-in-law; after conquering the world, he directly made Yuan Dadu his capital and named his country Ming; he claimed that he had a dream from heaven and rebuilt the entire capital, and the inner and outer cities were completed after several years...
These rumors among the people did not violate the imperial ban. In fact, Taizu had been publicizing these things to the military and civilians since the first day he ascended the throne.
"Ah Shou."
While looking at the buildings on both sides of Chongwenmennei Street with great interest and thinking about this information quickly, Zhang Shou suddenly heard Zhu Ying's voice and immediately turned his head.
"Rice Market Street is just north of the Dongdan Archway. Just let Zhu Hong accompany everyone there. There are a row of shops that sell grain and rice. With him around, I think those unscrupulous vendors won't dare to lower the price."
Zhu Ying habitually looked down on the profiteers, raised her head, and asked openly, "Can you accompany me home?"
After a moment's silence, Zhang Shou nodded, but then shook his head: "Of course I have to go to the Duke Zhao's Mansion, but I think I should go to see my teacher first. I asked Lu Sanlang to manage Cuiyun Room for me. I heard that Zhang Lu and others printed a book based on the teacher's manuscript I passed to them. It's such a big deal. Since I'm going to Beijing, I have to tell my teacher. Of course, the most important thing is..."
Seeing that Zhu Ying was even somewhat inexplicably nervous, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "I can't go to your house empty-handed, right?"
Zhang Shou had already prepared himself mentally when he agreed to go to Beijing with Zhu Ying. However, visiting the Duke of Zhao's mansion on the first day of his arrival in Beijing had a different meaning.
It is said that a prospective son-in-law has to bring a lot of bags when he visits his wife for the first time. If he visits right now, what should he bring?
Should we pick a few horses left behind by the rebel army in Linhai Camp and use them as tribute?
He didn't realize that he, who had once been quite resistant to the so-called engagement and tried to keep a distance from his fiancée Zhu Ying, had now vaguely developed the mentality of a future son-in-law...
Zhu Ying's eyebrows lit up immediately, and she said with a smile: "Grandma never cares about these little things. Besides, there is nothing to worry about with such a small matter. I will ask someone to prepare a four-color gift box..."
"Don't do that!" Zhang Shou was shocked and quickly spoke up to stop him. "Giving gifts can be a small gift but the sentiment is great, but doing it on behalf of others is absolutely not allowed. First, accompany me to prepare a gift for the teacher, and then we can go and see what gift to give to your grandmother."
"well."
As a poor man, Zhang Shou only gave back worthless things like new rice and vegetables when the lady from Duke Zhao's mansion sent her a valuable gift last time. Although he felt a little embarrassed, he thought about how he had been eating and using other people's things since he was a child, and he owed them all the biggest favors. Naturally, he didn't plan to ask for expensive gifts for his first visit.
Now he went to see his teacher Ge Yong first, and he also didn't want to buy anything valuable . There were many good things in the gifts given to him by those young masters, but Ge Yong had been an official for so many years, it would be a miracle if he would be interested in these.
I learned from Zhu Ying a few days ago that the old man loves sweets, so he asked Aunt Liu to make two boxes of osmanthus cakes last night.
Zhu Ying had previously had people search and find the Sheqian tea from the Duke of Zhao's mansion, and he brought more than half of the stock in cans.
He read the mathematics manuscript left by Ge Yong and made a thick notebook of notes, which he also took with him on his trip to Beijing.
At this time, he and Zhu Ying walked around a bookstore that Lu Sanlang had specially introduced, and collected the books signed by Ge Yong that had just been released today. In such a crowded place, Zhu Ying and he, standing alone, were a beautiful sight, not to mention the two of them standing side by side, and occasionally exchanging their book-buying experiences as if nothing had happened.
As a result, more and more customers came to buy books in the small bookstore, and finally it was crowded. Countless eyes were cast on the two customers. The clerk, who was overjoyed by the sudden booming business, accidentally gave the two smiling customers a very outrageous price when they paid the bill.
A book of six volumes costs half a string of coins.
Zhu Ying didn’t know what the original price was, and Zhang Shou certainly didn’t know either.
When Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying had chosen the books, each holding three books, and walked out of the bookstore, the Zhu family's guards had to struggle to squeeze out from the crowd of onlookers outside the door.
In contrast, Ah Liu just moved his shoulders slightly and was the first to step forward swiftly, first taking the book from Zhang Shou's hand, and then taking Zhu Ying's.
Zhu Ying's hands were empty, and she found that the store entrance was actually surrounded by people. She couldn't help but complain: "Uncle Hua is the same, he is always mysterious and spooky. He didn't show up when I arrived before, and this time when I went to Beijing, he wanted to stay in Rongshui Village again. It's really weird!"
"Masters naturally have personalities. Besides, there is Ah Liu!" Zhang Shou said with a smile. Seeing that the young ladies and wives around him clearly heard Zhu Ying's feminine voice, but still refused to leave, and many men gathered around because of this, he suddenly had a headache. However, what he never expected was that Zhu Ying suddenly stepped forward.
"Please everyone, please make way. My husband wants to go home with me to pay respects to the elders. If we are any later, we will miss lunch!"
“…”
Zhang Shou saw that the eyes of a large group of people were instantly filled with disappointment. In addition, the guards of Duke Zhao's mansion hurried forward to chase people away. Some men who had just been squeezed in the back were quickly dispersed by the retreating women. When he finally met up with the Zhu family guards and rode on his horse, he couldn't help but look at Zhu Ying again.
"When did I become yours? Didn't say I should go see the teacher first..."
"Yes, I'm going to see Grandpa Ge, but he's not only your elder, he's also my elder!" Zhu Ying smiled with her eyebrows raised slightly, "Besides, you were raised by my father, if not my family, then whose family is it?"
This really makes sense...
Unable to argue with the eldest lady, Zhang Shou had no choice but to set off. After all, if Zhu Ying hadn't led the way, he would have to ask where his teacher's home was.
As they walked along, they finally turned into a wide street. He saw a row of tall and imposing stone archways along the street, at least five or six of them. He asked curiously, and Zhu Ying beside him smiled and explained to him.
"Grandpa Ge has many titles and has received many awards from the court. He was born and raised in Beijing, so this memorial archway is a sight in Beijing. Anyone who comes to Beijing to take the various imperial examinations will come here to take a look at Grandpa Ge's literary talent."
