When Xu Zhi and Zheng Boyuan left the capital, their relatives all went to Shili Pavilion in the capital to see them off.
Needless to say, the Yongning Marquis's family sent several married sisters. Those who could come on their own sent their own capable family members. Even Xu Gui, who lived far away in Hexi, specially sent one of her personal maids all the way from Hexi to see Xu Zhi off.
After bidding farewell to her relatives at Shili Pavilion, Xu Zhi wiped away her tears and sat in the carriage with Zheng Boyuan. Zheng Boyuan comforted her, "Ajiu, don't be sad. We'll go to Miaozhou, settle down, and find a chance to come back and visit everyone."
Xu Zhi nodded, looked at the gifts everyone had given her in a box, rummaged through them, and then said to Zheng Boyuan, "I used to think I was quite rich, but compared to my older sisters, I'm actually not that rich. Look at my fourth sister, she came to the capital with 100,000 taels of silver notes and asked me to use the money to get you out of the Ministry of War prison. Now that we're going to Miaozhou, she gave us a purse with 2,000 taels."
Thinking of Lin Zhining's identity, Zheng Boyuan said, "Fourth brother-in-law is a famous 'Little Mengchang' in Jinan Prefecture. Moreover, the Lin family has been operating in Gaoqing for so many years. Not to mention the output of those fields, even the most famous shops in Jinan Prefecture are all owned by the Lin family."
Xu Zhi said with a smile, "We never thought that our fourth sister would actually be able to marry into Gaoqing. I originally thought that since our fourth sister had been in Liaodong for so long, maybe she would have found someone to marry over there."
To get from the capital to Miaozhou, you need to take a boat from Tongzhou, travel south along the canal, and then disembark and take a horse-drawn carriage.
When she arrived in Tongzhou, some people she knew there learned that Xu Zhi was coming to take a boat and came to see her off. They chatted for a while at the dock before she boarded the boat and set off.
Since it was still early, Zheng Boyuan and Xu Zhi decided to take a good walk along the canal and explore the area.
The two stopped in Tai'an along the way, visited Aunt Ru, watched the sunrise from the top of Mount Tai, and continued their journey. They also went to Luozhou to see the peonies, enjoying the scenery and having a great time.
It wasn't until the day they had to report to Miaozhou was approaching that the two packed their bags and sped off.
Miaozhou is located in the heart of Daliang. It is a place with many mountains and rivers. The mountains are not steep and dangerous, and the water is not like the water towns of Jiangnan, with small bridges, flowing water and houses, where the water is gentle and you can see leisurely awning boats all the time.
The rivers in Miaozhou don't usually flood, but if there's a lot of rainfall in a year, the water level in the rivers will rise rapidly, and the raging floodwaters will destroy farmland and even houses.
If the weather is favorable, Miaozhou will have a good harvest because it has no shortage of water.
For so many years, the government offices in Miaozhou have always revolved around one thing: water management, specifically the management of the Miao River.
Zheng Boyuan had heard Xu Di mention that the frequent flooding of the Miao River was largely due to the topography of Miaozhou.
Miaozhou has a terrain that slopes from west to east, with many mountainous areas. During the rainy season, rainwater from the mountains flows down and collects in the Miao River, which then flows eastward.
Heavy rainfall in a short period of time can easily cause flash floods, which is the most basic reason why the Miao River is prone to flooding. Over the years, the people of Miaozhou have been fighting against this river that often goes out of control, but unfortunately, human strength has always been insufficient.
In the prefectural government, residences were provided for these officials from other places. It turned out that the prefectural magistrate of Miaozhou had somehow gotten his way in the Ministry of Personnel through connections in the capital, leaving the position of prefectural magistrate vacant.
Xu Zhi didn't know how her older brother had managed to snatch this position. Seeing Zheng Boyuan arrive calmly to take office made Xu Zhi feel much more at ease. After all, neither she nor Zheng Boyuan knew anything about Miaozhou.
Someone was already waiting at the government office. Upon seeing Zheng Boyuan's convoy, they quickly led it to a three-courtyard house in an alley behind the government office for accommodation.
This time, I brought not many people with me to Miaozhou. Besides Bai Ying, Bai Guo, and Bai Shu who serve me personally, there is Hong Gu and the five Jia-class guards, as well as Xi Jing'an, two stewards in charge of household chores, and all sorts of rough work women. I will hire them to do the work in the vicinity after we arrive.
Xu Zhi stood in front of the gate, looking at the somewhat old courtyard.
This alley is not long, about the width of two carriages side by side. On both sides of the alley are the same courtyards with white walls and black tiles. Xu Zhi had also lived in the back office of other prefectures before, and knew that these houses were divided into five-courtyard, three-courtyard, two-courtyard, and one-courtyard houses according to the size of the person's position.
Zheng Boyuan was assigned a three-courtyard house. After the previous prefect left office, the house was cleaned up and placed in the hands of the next occupant.
The person who brought him over was a minor official from the government office. He spoke in a Mandarin that was mixed with the local dialect of Miaozhou. After opening the gate, he said to Zheng Boyuan, "Lord Zheng, the courtyard has been cleaned. I have also brought people to repair some of the damaged parts. Please take a look and tell me if there is anything else that is not suitable. I will then find someone to fix it."
After Zheng Boyuan thanked them, he and Xu Zhi stood at the gate watching the servants unload the luggage from the car and carry it inside one by one. Bai Ying and the others had already entered the courtyard and carefully arranged the luggage they had brought.
Zheng Boyuan and Xu Zhi had no plans to consummate their marriage yet. Zheng Boyuan intended to stay in the study in the front yard and specifically instructed someone to place a canopy bed there. Xu Zhi did not object. Although she had come to Miaozhou with Zheng Boyuan, she was still a little embarrassed to sleep in the same room with him. As things were, Xu Zhi thought it was fine.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
