After the Lantern Festival, Zhao Hao and his family left the capital on an ice cart.

The eldest princess also wanted to go south with him, saying that she was reluctant to be separated from her daughter. This made Empress Chen, who had always been nosy, a little uncomfortable with it, and she reminded her that this would put a lot of pressure on her son-in-law and affect the relationship between the young couple.

But the eldest princess still insisted on her own way, saying that my son-in-law is my godson. He has no biological mother, and I, his godmother, am attending the wedding in his biological mother's place. He is so happy that he can't wait... Empress Chen was unable to refute her, so she let her go.

Zhao Liben was going back to take care of the wedding, so of course he was included in the list. He knew that Ning An was just pretending to destroy Guo, and the ink on the armistice agreement between the two sides had not yet dried, so the old man had no choice but to agree to let her go with him.

According to reports from Tianjin, affected by the cold wave, the floating ice in the Bohai Bay has penetrated more than ten miles into the bay, and sea transportation at Dagukou has been completely cut off.

In fact, when we entered Beijing last year, the floating ice in Bohai Bay was very serious. At that time, Elder Niu used all his strength and spent a whole day to cover a short distance of seven or eight miles of floating ice. Even with such a slow speed, the hull was hit by several large holes from the moving floating ice. Fortunately, there was a watertight compartment, so there was no major problem.

So if we weren't in a hurry, the bay would be completely unnavigable after it freezes over in the winter.

In fact, considering that with the coming of the Little Ice Age, the sea ice in Bohai Bay will become more and more serious, and the number of days of suspension of navigation will become longer and longer each year. This golden route, which has in fact replaced the Grand Canal and connects the north and the south, will suffer direct losses of more than 100,000 taels for each day of suspension. Therefore, since it obtained the shipping rights three years ago, the Royal Shipping has been actively looking for ice-free ports to keep the winter shipping smooth.

Under the guidance of Mr. Zhao's scientific theories, they quickly found Caofeidian, which was across the bay from Dagukou.

This alluvial delta, located in the south of Luanzhou, Yongping Prefecture, Zhili, was named after the "Cao Fei Palace" built on the sandbar by Emperor Taizong of Tang to commemorate his concubine, Cao Fei. The water depth at its southern edge is 70 to 80 feet, with huge waves and smooth waterways. What's more rare is that it is not frozen in all seasons and leads directly to the Yellow Sea without obstruction, making it the only choice for winter sea transportation.

According to the research of the researchers of the Mariners Academy, in the Yuan Dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China, when there was no maritime ban, the ships that transported grain from the south to the north and entered the capital all entered the Luanhe and Chaobaihe Canal from here. However, the Republic of China abandoned maritime transportation for 180 years, and the canal fell into disrepair and was seriously silted up, and it was no longer accessible to ships.

This was a piece of cake for the Jiangnan Group, which started out as a large-scale engineering company. However, the "River Dredging Project Plan" was ruthlessly rejected by the board of directors. This was the capital area. Would tens of thousands of people gather together to rebel? At least in the Longqing Dynasty, the impact must be taken into consideration.

As a result, the Luanhe River Canal Improvement Project was shelved indefinitely. However, after winter, the ice bed can still be used to travel freely on the frozen river surface. Royal Shipping was flexible and would dock and unload at Tianjin when Dagukou was not frozen. During the ice period, it would dock and unload at Caofeidian instead. This ensured that except for the twenty days before and after the Chinese New Year, the fleet would flow continuously, earning high profits for the group.

Of course, this is a low EQ statement.

The more EQ-savvy way of saying it is that it can keep the main artery of goods flowing between the north and the south unobstructed, and promote the prosperity and stability of the Ming Dynasty!

~~

So Zhao Hao and his party took an ice cart via Chaobai River to Luan River, and it took them three days to arrive at Caofeidian Shacankou.

In the fierce north wind, the sea was vast and turbid sea water was beating against the concrete pier. This port, which was further north than Dagukou, was indeed not frozen.

At the dock, Elder Niu had been waiting with his fleet for a long time. In order not to delay the young master's trip, he went to Jeju Island to repair the boat and spent the past few years in New Port City.

Zhao Hao apologized for this, but Elder Niu said happily that the joy of celebrating the New Year in Xingang City was beyond the imagination of the young master. Except for not being able to gamble openly, it was a paradise for men.

When Master Zhao heard this, he felt no wavering in his heart.

He has been hearing the song "Feeling My Body Hollowed Out" in his ears recently, and he is tired and has dark circles under his eyes...

Perhaps because he was too aggressive on his wedding night, the wives overestimated his ability. Moreover, they were newlyweds, tasting the ecstasy for the first time, and were eager to compete, so it was inevitable that they would ask for too much and stay up all night.

After more than half a month of revelry, even Mr. Zhao, who had a lot of money, was a little worried about the loss. He would rather chat with Elder Niu in the wheelhouse than go back to pay taxes.

But he was not in a hurry, but others were. The two of them chatted until around seven o'clock, and Qianyi asked him to go back and rest.

When Zhao Hao saw that it was Xiao Jing's maid, he felt relieved. After all, Zhang Xiao Jing's fighting ability was slightly weaker, not as crazy as the little princess, and not like Jiang Xueying, who always wanted to squeeze him till there was nothing left...

He said goodbye to Elder Niu and followed Qian Yi back to his bedroom.

The heater was on in the bedroom, it was as warm as spring, the light from the glass lamp was hazy, reflecting on the red big window, making the spring atmosphere more intense.

As soon as Zhao Hao entered, his eyes almost popped out of his head. He saw Xiao Jing wearing a low-cut silk pajamas, revealing a deep cleavage, and lying on her side with her chin propped up on the head of the bed. The alluring sight made him feel like a moth flying into a flame.

What's even more terrible is that there is another person in the **. Li Mingyue is also wearing a short nightgown, revealing a pair of white and straight long legs. When they gently cross each other, you can see that her ten toes are painted with red nail polish, which is dazzling white and eye-catching red under the light. How can it be so charming?

"Are we playing doubles today?" Young Master Zhao asked in surprise.

Zhang Xiaojing was so embarrassed that she covered her face with a bright red pillowcase, but Li Mingyue poked him with her toes and said in a tender voice, "Brother, do you dare to try two against one?"

"What's wrong with that? I'll beat ten of them!"

Master Zhao immediately threw away the idea of ​​sneaking a nap, grabbed Li Mingyue's slender feet, and pounced on her.

~~

The scenery was beautiful all the way and it was already early spring in February when we arrived in Jiangnan.

After the fleet arrived in Chongming, Mr. Zhao directly changed to a ship to Guangdong. He had been away from Chaozhou for two months and was really worried. Anyway, he had already attended the wedding, so he would not return to Xiuning with the main force. It was not because his body was exhausted...

Ning An was not interested in going to Xiuning either. She planned to stay in Suzhou for a while and return to Beijing in the summer. Of course, where she went after she separated from everyone else was unknown to outsiders.

Zhao Liben and Zhao Hao did not go to Suzhou, but instead boarded the Science Ship and continued southward to Hangzhou Bay. They then headed northward along the Qiantang River, passed the Fuchun River, entered the Xin'an River, and arrived at Xiuning, the hometown that Mr. Zhao had never returned to.

The mountains of Huizhou blocked the cold current from the south. At this time in Xiuning, rape flowers are in full bloom, like a gorgeous yellow carpet covering the mountains and fields outside the suburbs. The white walls and black tiles of the Huizhou-style buildings built around the water are located in between, forming a beautiful picture with sharp contrast and saturated colors.

This kind of fairy-like experience of wandering in a painting immediately made Zhao Hao and his wives feel like they were back home. It also made the subsequent grand Hui-style wedding and the cumbersome ceremony of recognizing ancestors seem less torturous.

After all the wedding matters were settled, the old man let the poor young couple go. Mr. Zhao then took the five ladies on their honeymoon.

Together they climbed Mount Huang and Mount Jiuhua, toured Qiandao Lake and Fuchun River, and walked along the misty West Lake with oil-paper umbrellas to pay tribute to Su Xiaoxiao...

The biggest characteristic of young people is that they are full of energy. They travel around in the mountains and rivers during the day, and gradually have more and more fun at night. Ever since the little princess dragged Zhang Xiaojing out of line that day, new tricks have emerged one after another, making Mr. Zhao overwhelmed and exhausted, as if he was willing to sacrifice his life to accompany his wife and not be afraid of being torn to pieces.

Fortunately, oh no, unfortunately, this honeymoon tour group soon disbanded.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the leap month of February, and Jiang Xueying went back to Suzhou first. Although she had daily correspondence with the headquarters, at this time of turmoil, she, as the president, could not leave for too long and had to go back to calm people's hearts.

She also found out that she had not had her period this month, so the accompanying doctor checked her and confirmed that she was pregnant. She then decided not to make a fuss anymore and happily went back to Suzhou to take care of her pregnancy.

Li Mingyue wanted to say that finally no one was competing with her, but she found out a few days later that she didn't have her period...

This made everyone sigh that the two were indeed natural rivals, competing even over such things.

However, Li Mingyue didn't want to go to Suzhou, so she settled down in a garden by the West Lake... That was one of the many love nests her mother bought in Jiangnan. Li Mingyue planned to live here for a month to settle down, and then continue to travel around Jiangnan!

After settling Li Mingyue and leaving Zhang Xiaojing to accompany her, Zhao Hao took Sister Ma and Sister Qiaoqiao, who were inseparable from him, to Ningshao, Taiwen and other prefectures for inspection. Under such difficult circumstances for Jiangnan Group, these four prefectures still strongly demanded to join Jiangnan Integration, and the conditions were basically ripe. Of course, Master Zhao had to give them a positive response.

Of course, in addition to the inspection, they also took the opportunity to give Sister Ma and Sister Qiaoqiao a honeymoon. Since their marriage, the two have basically given in whenever possible and have no sense of existence at all. Zhao Hao saw it with his eyes and felt pain in his heart, so he naturally wanted to compensate them well. So after the inspection, the three of them went to Ningbo to visit the newly completed Tianyi Pavilion, and went to Wenzhou to visit Yan** Mountain...

When those three were not around, Sister Ma and Qiaoqiao were the most relaxed. They showed Zhao Hao their care and concern, and gave him the sweetest reward, allowing Master Zhao to enjoy the bliss of the world without feeling tired. This level of deity is beyond the reach of the young girls at present.

Sister Ma felt that Zhao Hao was obviously worried. She initially thought that he was thinking about Chen Huaixiu. But it didn't seem like that, because Zhao Hao was always asking about the news in the capital...

It is the duty of a qualified secretary to be concerned about the young master's needs. She carefully reviewed the reports from the capital. At the beginning of the year, there was always no excitement. The matter of the Ministry of Revenue setting up a shipping office was temporarily shelved due to the young master's operations before and after the New Year.

The only big deal was that "in late January, the emperor got sick."

But Emperor Longqing has been ill for a long time, and it seems that there is nothing special to pay attention to.

Then, as soon as the emperor claimed to be ill, Gao Ge Lao was ordered to return to work. He said that he could not let His Majesty worry anymore, so as not to affect the recovery of the emperor. Everyone knew that this was just an excuse for him to be unable to bear the loneliness.

It’s just that this time the emperor was ill for a long time, and he didn’t get better until the middle of this month.

However, according to the latest news, the palace has announced that a court meeting will be held on the 22nd of this month, and His Majesty will attend the court to reassure the people.

So the world is peaceful, right? I really don't understand what you are still worried about. Is Gao Huzi going to stir up trouble again?

p.s. Write another chapter.