Urban Sims

Tiansheng twenty-five years, late November.

Less than a month after returning to his hometown in Haiping, Zhou Ming, who had just attended the launching ceremony of the "Battleship Type 1" warship, was hurriedly called back to Tianjiazhuang Wubao by his servants.

The edict has arrived.

"As a metaphor from heaven, the emperor issued an edict: I heard that there is a strange man named Zihua of the Tian family in Qingzhou. He has outstanding literary talent and is famous all over the world... I want to announce it. I wonder if Mr. Zihua would like to meet me?"

After reading the imperial edict, eunuch Ma Dexi was filled with emotions. In order to find the elusive Mr. Zihua, he first took people to Liangzhou. After searching for more than half a month in the vast sea of ​​people, he still couldn't find it. Then he went to Youzhou based on the news. After traveling thousands of miles, even having my butt worn by a horse’s back, I still couldn’t find it.

In the end, he had no choice but to come to Mr. Zihua's hometown and complete the task of reading out the imperial edict first.

Unexpectedly, this Mr. Zihua returned to his hometown and had just completed his wedding.

"Eunuch Ma, it's freezing and the roads are difficult to travel right now. Can you wait until I finish celebrating the New Year at home before going to Beijing to meet the saint? This matter of meeting the saint is not urgent, right?"

The emperor issued an imperial edict to summon Zhou Ming to the imperial capital Luojing.

However, it was so cold outside that Zhou Ming was definitely not happy that he had just spent a few days of comfortable life at home and was about to go to Zhongzhou, three thousand miles away, to meet the Holy Spirit.

At least we have to celebrate the end of the year, and start again in spring.

"Okay, okay, our family will spend the New Year with you at your home, and then we will go to Beijing with you to meet the saints. Tian Zihua, please stop running around. Our whole family almost got separated in order to find you. Sigh."

Ma Dexi pulled Zhou Ming's robe and said with complaint on his face.

"Haha, Eunuch Ma, you can have a good time at my Tian family this year, and heal your broken body here before you leave!"

Zhou Ming smiled and asked the housekeeper to arrange the guest room, and successfully settled Eunuch Ma and others who came to read the imperial edict.

So, the eunuch Ma Dexi and his four attendants stayed in Tianjiazhuang for more than a month.

For more than a month, they ate well and drank well. Each of them gained a few pounds. They also received hundreds of tributes. They learned to play poker and mahjong. They lived an extremely happy life. If someone hadn't reminded them, they would have almost forgotten it. The mission here.

"Mr. Zihua, this year has come to an end, and spring has begun outside. Why don't you leave early and go to Beijing with our family to meet the saint?"

On this day, when I saw Zhou Ming coming back from doing something outside, Ma Dexi, whose single chin had turned into a double chin, pulled him and said.

"Okay! Eunuch Ma, let me burn incense and bathe for five days to show my respect for His Majesty the Emperor Ming and the Queen of Heaven. We will set off early on the sixth day!"

"Okay, so good!"

…

Six days later.

In the twenty-sixth year of Tiansheng, on the twenty-second day of the first lunar month, it was early in the morning.

Zhou Ming, Li Dazui, several classmates, a hundred clan soldiers, Father-in-law Ma Dexi, four guards, plus a fleet of fifty four-wheeled heavy-duty carriages, carrying a large number of books and gifts. Go in the direction of Zhongzhou in a mighty manner.

As for the family members and women, except for his younger sister Tian Jiao who insisted on following him, Zhou Ming did not take any of them.

His wife Cui Rourou and his concubine Chu Jingling wanted to go with him, but they were both pregnant now and it was not convenient for them to travel long distances, so Zhou Ming did not agree to let them follow him. He would wait until they gave birth to the child before they went together. Zhongzhou is not too late.

Moreover, this trip to Zhongzhou had both benefits and risks, so he had to treat it carefully.

The advantage is that it can improve your reputation and expand the influence of "Mr. Zihua".

The risks are unpredictable. As the saying goes, accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger. The closer you are to the political center of the feudal dynasty, the greater the probability of getting into trouble. Of course, Zhou Ming will not take the initiative to cause trouble. What he is afraid of is villains and troubles coming to his door. They try their best to dig traps and apply eye drops, but they are impossible to guard against. If you make a wrong step, you may fall into the abyss and die without a burial.

Therefore, he brought a hundred clan soldiers with him this time, all equipped with breech-loading rifles, and was prepared to break a bloody path and escape if the situation turned against him.

…

After a journey of three thousand miles, the huge team traveled at a speed of forty or fifty miles a day. After stopping and stopping for more than two months, they arrived at Qinghe County, less than a hundred miles away from the imperial capital Luojing City.

Walking so slowly, it's not that Zhou Ming deliberately slowed down, and he didn't have the sincerity to go to Beijing to face the saint.

But along the way, I learned that "Mr. Zihua" was coming. Every county along the way seemed to be in a panic. Countless local celebrities stopped in front of the motorcade and said they wanted to see Mr. Zihua.

And those masters who set up the banquet, folded the quilt, and invited him to visit for a day or stay for a night, Zhou Ming was not very good at refusing, so he had to go.

Because those who invited him as guests were all well-known local families, including many wealthy families who had stood for thousands of years, so he had to give him face.

The enthusiasm of these families also surprised Zhou Ming. In addition to giving various expensive gifts, Guangmeiren received dozens of them, almost forming a "Yeyue Forty-Eight" singing and dancing group.

The most exaggerated thing is that the wealthy businessmen in Zhongzhou, who are as rich as the country and have countless wealth, learned that Mr. Zihua was coming, and they started a jaw-dropping "fight against wealth" competition around Mr. Zihua's motorcade.

A silk merchant surnamed Shi, in order to welcome Mr. Zihua, laid a thirty-mile-long silk carpet on the official road for people and horses to trample on, and he didn't care.

A gold and silver mine owner surnamed Zhao took out millions of gold and silver, sprinkled it on the ground, and paved a half-mile-long "gold road". After Mr. Zihua walked by, he asked passers-by to pick up whatever they wanted. This was called "Golden Half a Mile". ".

There is also a slave trader named Shi who, through various channels, obtained 108 women from different countries, including whites and blacks, and set up a "108 National Women Star Array", saying that they would be given to Mr. Zihua Enjoying it, Zhou Ming directly asked the clan soldiers to drive all these women away.

In short, the closer he got to the imperial capital, the more exaggerated and bizarre the welcome scenes Zhou Ming encountered were eye-catching and eye-opening.

Of course Zhou Ming also understood that the purpose of these wealthy businessmen's extravagance and waste to welcome themselves and try their best to create big news was not to prove how generous they were, nor was it that they were elegant and admired Mr. Zihua's talent.

The fundamental purpose of these wealthy businessmen is to gain popularity and take this opportunity to advertise and whitewash themselves. If he really falls into the trap of these wealthy businessmen and becomes their "mouthpiece" and "spokesperson", the benefits will be Yes, but it also causes endless harm.

Therefore, Zhou Ming still distanced himself from these wealthy businessmen, attacked in the east and west, separated from the large army and acted alone, playing a game of hide and seek. In this way, the team's speed accelerated a little.

Qinghe County is a county close to the imperial capital Luojing. From this county, you can reach the imperial capital in one day at most.

Before going to Beijing to meet the saint, Zhou Ming and his party stayed in Qinghe County for a few days and were guests at Cui's house in Qinghe.

The Qinghe Cui family is the main branch of the Cui family in Anping, and can also be regarded as a distant relative of Zhou Ming.

After the order was given, Zhou Ming received a grand welcome at the Cui family in Qinghe. The head of the family, Cui Jing, personally entertained him and called him "good nephew". The young talents in the Cui family all called "cousin" enthusiastically and surrounded him with enthusiastic faces. Zhou Ming promptly presented the gifts he brought, especially the sets of beautifully printed and signed comics. After the collection was delivered, there was even more cheers and screams.

For a time, the etiquette and reserve cultivated by the big family for many years disappeared from these young talents of the Cui family.

"Hehehe, I haven't seen you for many years, but cousin Zihua is still so free and uninhibited."

Seeing this scene, Cui Yunhua, who was holding a baby in her hands and dressed as a woman, covered her mouth and chuckled, feeling quite emotional.