Last year, the old willows sprouted new branches, and the spring breeze blew across Qu Jiang Lake. Chang 'an had not changed. Five years later, it was not the same.
Zhang Zhong stood on the boat and looked around. He was not in a hurry to get off the boat. He wanted to see if Chang 'an had not changed after five years. Back then, he was a young man with a beautiful woman. If not for the chaos in the court, Qiao' er would have been caught.
Five years later, he was here again with the same lofty spirit. He wanted to see who would dare to treat him coldly and who would be able to catch Qiao 'er.
A gust of wind blew, bringing with it a slight chill in the spring. Zhang Zhong could not feel it. At this moment, he felt warm in his heart. He was no longer the Zhang Zhong of the past. He no longer had to worry about not having enough money. He no longer had to live in the temple to help others.
Steward Wang did not feel cold at this moment. She was already frightened. What a big entourage. Just this boat alone could not get off without twenty thousand taels of silver. She looked at the twelve luxurious carriages. The markings on the carriages represented twelve shops. Ten of them were only average.
It wasn't small, but it wasn't big either. However, the other two were extraordinary. They were Savant's Restaurant in the West Market and Complacent's Restaurant in the East Market. When someone took over them last year, they were just two slightly better restaurants. Who would have thought that after taking over, everything changed?
In just a few months, they became one of the top restaurants in Chang 'an. The top scorer came out of the top scorer's restaurant.
This, this was Zhang Zhong's restaurant? When did his family have such power in the capital?
Steward Wang was still in shock. When he looked at Zhang Zhong again, he couldn't find the appearance of that down and out boy from back then. When the person behind him draped a thin sable cloak over him, he was really high-spirited.
At this moment, Zhang Zhong, who felt the Chang 'an of five years later, slowly walked up the gangplank with different feelings. With a swoosh, the people waiting at the dock extended two long bamboo poles wrapped in red silk onto the boat. The people on the boat reached out and grabbed them. Under the bamboo poles, there were small lanterns in the shape of goldfish.
The two bamboo poles were at his waist, blocking both sides of Zhang Zhong, so he didn't have to worry about falling. Zhang Zhong slowly walked down the gangplank with his hands behind his back.
This scene made the other people waiting at the docks raise their eyebrows one after another. They had never seen someone with such extravagance, especially those two bamboo poles. Who would have thought? It was really too amazing. Just two bamboo poles wrapped in silk, but the things they emitted were definitely not ordinary.
Zhang Zhong also felt the gazes of others, and his eyes couldn't help but become moist. Before he came, his son had said, "I want my father to feel the glory of being in the center of thousands of people."
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Zhong controlled his emotions. With a faint smile on his face, he walked down step by step. Apart from the sound of water splashing against the side of the ship, there was no other movement. Everyone was watching and guessing the identity of the person who came down.
"Master, you have come all the way here. You are travel-worn, please change your clothes."
Zhang Zhong had just arrived at the docks, and he hadn't walked ten steps when the people waiting below shouted in unison again.
Following the shouts, several clever women ran to Zhang Zhong with trays in their hands. Then more than a dozen people ran around holding the wide red silk cloth, surrounding Zhang Zhong in the middle. Other people could no longer see Zhang Zhong who was surrounded.
After only a few minutes, the surrounding silk cloth was removed, and Zhang Zhong, who had changed into purple clothes, appeared in front of everyone.
Wow ~! A clamor rose. Those who were watching at the docks could no longer control themselves and let out a sound of admiration. They admired the person who changed his clothes and admired this kind of extravagance.
Zhang Zhong also didn't expect his son to arrange so many things for him. He stood there, so excited that he didn't know what to do. Fortunately, there was someone to help him. Erniu, who was behind him, put the small book that he had just taken out into his arms and walked forward.
"Master, please get in the carriage. Do you want to rest in the East Market or the West Market? Or do you want to eat in the West Market and rest in the East Market? "
"Then let's go to the West Market to eat." Zhang Zhong knew that at this time, he absolutely could not show weakness. It was not easy for his son to create such a scene. He said this in a dignified manner. Under the shadow of the umbrella, he walked towards the carriage that was about thirty meters away.
Countless pairs of eyes were watching. Whether it was envy or jealousy, they had to admit that this matter was done well. Why didn't anyone think of it before? Even the next ship could be like this.
"Aunt Wang, what should we do? Let's go over? " The person beside Steward Wang was anxious when he saw that the person who was to be picked up this time. He didn't want to wait for so many days in vain.
Steward Wang was in a complicated mood now. Just now, he was hoping that Zhang Zhong would help the Wang family. At that time, he could take revenge. Who would have thought that the other party didn't need them at all and had already arranged for people to be picked up? Looking at the other party's fleet and the two carriages he brought, he didn't know what to do for a moment.
Seeing that the other party was about to get in the carriage, Steward Wang finally calmed down and shouted, "Zhang … Young Master, the Wang family is here to welcome you. A banquet has been set up in the manor. Please get in the carriage."
Zhang Zhong turned his head and saw that the people from the Wang family had also come. Seeing that the person leading the way was actually Steward Wang, he immediately said, "This is a small matter, there's no need to trouble yourself."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone placed a brocade stool under the carriage. Zhang Zhong stepped on it and entered the carriage.
Before the fleet could move, another group of people came from the front. There were more than 30 yamen runners, escorting two carriages. Someone in the carriage shouted, "Is the person in front Brother Zhang? Anran is late, please forgive me."
After this shout, the group got closer. Zhang Zhong poked his head out and knew who had come. He got out of the carriage and waited there.
The people on the other side came over. As soon as they stopped, Cheng Lingxiang jumped out of the carriage with a happy expression. He walked in front of Zhang Zhong and said, "Brother Yongcheng, I didn't expect you to come so early. Fortunately, I rushed over. Otherwise, wouldn't I have missed it? Come, come, come, Brother Yongcheng, follow me in. I've prepared a welcome banquet for you. "
Zhang Zhong was also happy. As soon as he arrived, he saw County Magistrate Cheng. Oh, now it was Registrar Cheng. He was one of them. He also wanted to get on the carriage sent by his family. He said to Erniu, "I'll go with Brother Anran. You wait and follow behind."
"Yes." Erniu agreed readily. He thought that County Magistrate Cheng would only come after a day of rest. He didn't expect that he would directly come here to welcome them. With County Magistrate Cheng here, there was no need for them.
Cheng Lingxiang held Zhang Zhong's sleeve and walked to the carriage that he had prepared for them. He didn't care about his other carriage. The two of them entered one after another. The yamen runners greeted them and the team moved forward.
The motorcade that had been prepared behind them slowly followed behind.
It wasn't until the two teams were more than a hundred feet away that Steward Wang reacted and hurriedly chased after them.
Steward Wang was anxious. If he didn't receive them today, how could he explain it to others when he returned?
As he rushed, he also asked someone to quickly report back to the residence and tell the whole story. Zhang Zhong was taken away by the Registrar Cheng. She couldn't snatch him away. Besides, she couldn't do it. They had more people.
*****
The morning flowers had bloomed and the green grass was showing.
In Zhangjia Zhuangzi, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were lying on chairs with thick cushions. Each of them was reading a book.
After a while, Wang Juan finished reading a page. She covered it with a bookmark and closed the book. She waited for Zhang Xiaobao. When Zhang Xiaobao also finished reading this page, he said, "Your father should have arrived, right? There's still some time before he comes back. In a few days, we will have to plant spring plowing. What should we plant? "
"Yes, there's still a few days before the exams. After the exams, he can't come back immediately. If he is an official, we have to follow him. We want to be rich, but when we are rich, we have to suffer. This year, we won't plant wheat, we will plant rice. After the winter wheat is harvested, we will plant carrots. It's okay if we plant it later."
Zhang Xiaobao saw that wheat was not as valuable as rice, so he didn't want to plant it. He didn't want to plant millet either. All the dry land was changed to paddy land. There was no shortage of water here.
Wang Juan nodded, "I think so too. If we want to eat other things, we can just buy some. If we plant well, we can sell the seeds. Now, there is no County Magistrate in the county. Everything is under the Registrar Cheng and the County Deputy. It's convenient to do things. I just don't know if they will send a new County Magistrate."
"Who cares? As long as the new County Magistrate is not like Jia Shan. We should take advantage of this time to do what we need to do. If my father is really sent out, we can't do it here. Let's go out and take a look."
Zhang Xiaobao got down from the chair and followed Wang Juan. The two of them walked out.
At this time, the farmers in Zhuangzi were busy. They had to dig up the manure in their houses and then put it together with the manure from the main house. They sprinkled the manure in the fields and then plowed. The paddy land in the past did not need to be plowed. According to the new method told by the main house, they only needed to apply some manure.
Between the Clouds and the Water was not as lively as before. The Minister really did not go back. He seemed to have handed in a report to the higher-ups. He stayed there all day, chatting with the farmers and walking around. He was living a leisurely life.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan prepared to look for him. After Zhang Xiaobao's father left, the two of them could only ask the Zhang Wong Clan for the things they wanted to learn. The Zhang Wong Clan knew a lot of things, but it was not suitable for Zhang Xiaobao to learn.
Fortunately, the Minister did not leave. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan found a new teacher. Every day, they would learn for a while and come back to revise. If they did not understand something, they would write it down and ask the next day.
At this time, it was almost noon. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan went over. They could eat first and then start learning. When the two of them came to Between the Clouds and the Water, the old man was fishing. They did not know if they could catch anything.
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