Speaking of surprises, Zheng’s Seventeenth House was not our default destination. We originally wanted to have lunch in Jiaxing or an ancient town in Suzhou. But my brother-in-law wakes up early, so he naturally eats breakfast early. The most important thing is a bowl of seafood noodles. Science tells us that pasta only stays in the stomach for 2 hours.

So, because we couldn’t get up early, and then we had to finish the buffet breakfast elegantly, we hurriedly visited the market and bought some seafood (I am still relatively sensible, there are many varieties, but the quantity is small, Unlike the second sister...) I went back to the hotel to move my luggage... Not long after setting off, my brother-in-law became hungry.

He said he was looking for a place to have lunch, but he had no choice. He was the driver and he had the final say. Search on Baidu to see if there are any ancient towns nearby?

The second sister found a "pseudo-ancient town" called Luotuoqiao (why do you say that? There is a reason, friends, be patient and read below.), I like to shop around, and I also like to look in detail According to the information, my brother-in-law was possessed by a hungry wolf and disliked my indolence, so he decided to use the second sister’s navigation guide. He refused to look back despite my repeated offers to go to Room 17 nearby.

Facts have proved that I was right again. If he didn’t listen to me, my brother-in-law would be starved to death, if it weren’t for the accompanying Saqima.

After walking around, we found that Luotuoqiao is a street office and there is a stadium in Luotuoqiao. There is no ancient town, at least we didn’t find it.

After all these twists and turns, my brother-in-law listened to my suggestion and came to this ancient town called Zheng's Seventeenth House.

We ate at a nearby farmhouse. We were used to eating cheap seafood, but here we felt it was too expensive and there was a huge gap. Fortunately, we are not hungry. The chef here is very good at cooking, so we can’t be too picky about food when we are away from home.

After lunch, my brother-in-law went to sketch again, and we went to Shiqifang Ancient Town for a stroll. My second sister and I paid 20 yuan for tickets. We were the only ones buying tickets, and I felt inexplicably unhappy. If I hadn't discovered the unique ancient buildings here from the Ming and Qing Dynasties after entering the hospital, I would have always felt kidney-deficient.

I originally thought that here was a merchant named Zheng, who was the richest in the world, married a 17-room concubine, and gave birth to a group of children, so there was such a village...

In order to write an article and be cautious, I checked Baidu specifically, but found that it was completely different from my guess. As a proud and arrogant person like me, I suddenly feel that I am so tacky, making malicious assumptions about others, and my vulgar taste breaks the bottom line.

Compared with those ancient towns in Wuzhen, the buildings here are more unique, the environment is clean, and there are fewer tourists. And I also feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity and intimacy with these courtyards.

Part of the history is excerpted below. Friends who are interested can search for a detailed introduction. It is really good.

The seventeenth house of the Zheng family is where a branch of the Zheng family lived for generations after they moved south. In 806 BC, King Xuan of Zhou named Zheng Huan Gong, Ji's younger brother and friend, as the king of "Zheng Guo" in Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province.

During the Five Dynasties, the society was in turmoil, wars were frequent, and the people were in dire straits. The Zheng family moved south three times.

According to the "Zhu Juan of Zheng Chuan" written by Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, a branch of the Zheng family "moved to Lingxu Township (today's Pupu area of ??Zhenhai) when they were traveling to the south of the Song Dynasty. They chose the roadside of Yangtang in the mountains and called it Luyanzheng. It was passed down six generations later. , living in seventeen houses, the ancestor Ben, Mingbei also presented Dengshilang, and Jin was granted the title of Linlang." Later, they multiplied into a clan. Most of the existing "Seventeen Houses of the Zheng Family" were built between the Qianlong and Guangxu years of the Qing Dynasty. There are currently 335 households with 1,024 people living in the Zheng Family Houses.

The seventeen-bedroom building covers an area of ??60,000 square meters, and the existing construction area is more than 40,000 square meters. Most of them were built from the Qianlong to Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. Today, there are Hengde House, Hengxiang House, Sanfang Hall, Dazu Hall, Back Hall Building, Standing House, Xinfang, Sifentou, Laolu Family and Dallong. There are more than 10 single-entry and multi-entry courtyards with two-story brick and wood structures, such as "Four Waters Returning to the Hall", East Lane, Houxinwu, and Riverside.

The horse head wall, wing rooms, stone carvings, archways, etc. have certain characteristics. The architectural styles of the wing rooms and the hall are integrated. Outside the group of walls, the walled river surrounds the city, with green water and weeping willows. Every house has a port, surrounded by bridges, there is a street in the house, and a market in the street.

The building has the style of a Jiangnan water town, and has a palace-like layout and structure. The central axis and the horizontal axis are very obvious. After successive expansions, the building scale is magnificent, with exquisite craftsmanship, painted beams, cornices, and fine carvings. .

The house still retains the woodcut handwriting of the inscription written by Prince Cheng during the Qianlong period: "The smoke in Qi Shui half contains the beauty of spring." The villagers still retain the "Imperial Edict" plaque carved on the archway stone from the Qing Dynasty.

As the saying goes: There are three treasures in the seventeenth room. The chess poles are the most and the highest and can be seen in Ningbo; if it doesn’t rain for three years in the seventeenth room, the river will not dry up; the seventeenth room has the most horse head walls and one The level is higher than the first level and cannot be blown by typhoons. There is a street above the house, a market in the street, and a store, shop, square, and fire department in the market. There is a river around the house, every house has a dock, and there is a big river outside the small river, leading directly to Ningbo. The water is flowing under the small bridge, ducks are playing in the water, willows are brushing on the bank, and the reflection is horizontal.

I didn’t see the ducks playing in the water. They were probably being renovated. The chickens, ducks, geese, peacocks, pigs, and sheep in the courtyard were all locked up. It was very pitiful.

I took some photos at random, and the scenes burned into my mind were very pleasing to the eye. Without further ado, please take a look at the photos!

I must write about this snake. I have never looked at a snake for more than 5 minutes.

In fact, when I broke into this place, I saw a wagtail facing it, but they were closer, hardly more than 10 centimeters. I thought it was novel, so I wanted to take a photo of it. At this scene, who would have thought that as soon as he raised his phone, the wagtail flew away.

I looked at the snake intently, as if it were an old acquaintance. It was strange that it was not afraid of me, and I was not afraid of it either. Later, the wagtail thought I "flew" away (perhaps birds would guess this way about humans), and flew to the snake again. I thought this was my chance, but as soon as I raised the phone, the guy realized that I hadn't left, so he flew away again... …

In desperation, I had to leave behind the precious figure of the little silver snake. It looked at me for a long time, and then it probably felt bored, or realized that it was not the person it was waiting for, or it felt that the person it was waiting for had become disabled due to reincarnation, and it no longer cared about me. So, it struggled a few times and swam away in a hurry.

It’s not that I’m superstitious, but I feel that this place really has some intimacy. For example, the snake seems to be a friend who has been waiting for hundreds of years. For the true love that I drove here, it I've been waiting there for a long time...

Perhaps, passing by a place and meeting some people are God's best arrangements, or it may be an agreement made in the past life and this life. Inadvertently, Keep your appointments and practice them without realizing it.

Although encountering these seventeen rooms is unexpected, it is actually a surprise. Life is full of surprises and surprises. A good attitude will always lead to a good life.