The predecessor who was scumbag by me was the emperor

After one night, the weather cleared up, the snow began to melt, and the temperature plummeted. Shen Jia was so cold that she didn't want to go out, wishing she could hug the quilt and lie on the kang.

There was a knock on the door, and He Yan came in with two maids, "Master, Mrs. Wang sent two maids to serve you, and brought breakfast by the way."

Shen Jia was sitting on the kang looking at the accounts, and raised her head to glance at the two maids, they were both beautiful girls, about fifteen or sixteen years old, one was wearing red and the other was wearing pink, with delicate makeup on their faces, seeing Shen Jia looked up , Pingping Tingting leaned forward to salute, her movements were delicate and her voice was melodious, she was definitely not an ordinary little maid.

Shen Jia thought it was funny, the magistrate Wang's thoughts were too easy to guess, but he sent it to the wrong person, if he sent a few handsome young students, he might look at it a little more, "Okay, put the things down, I don't have anything on weekdays I can't come in when summoned, He Yan arranges some rough cleaning for them."

The two beautiful maids stared at Shen Jia in amazement, not knowing whether this handsome adult really didn't understand or pretended not to understand, but they came here in the name of serving, so they couldn't ask questions aloud, so they had to be wronged should come down.

After they withdrew, Shen Jia asked: "Did the Qin Zhangyuan send the beauties?"

"Give it away, there are two of them. I took a look. They are three points more beautiful than yours. They are enchanting. I don't know where the magistrate Wang found them."

"We don't care about that. They come to work in my yard anyway. Don't let them walk around at will, and they won't stay for a few days. But be careful. The water and food they bring are tasted first before being delivered. "Shen Jia didn't think that the magistrate Wang would kill him locally, but he was afraid that he would have a wrong idea and prescribe random medicine to make him do something wrong, which is also a good excuse.

Qin Zhangyuan simply dismissed the beauty, and seeing that Shen Jia had accepted her, he didn't say anything. After breakfast, the two continued to stroll around the county town, and Shen Jia told him the news that he had inquired about yesterday.

"From this point of view, it's really tricky." Qin Zhangyuan stroked his beard, saw a shop selling ready-made clothes on the side of the road, turned and walked in.

They had a lot of luggage when they went out, and they had prepared thick clothes, but it was far less cold in Chang'an than in the north, and what they packed were everyday clothes.

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up when he saw the customers coming in, and he hurriedly came out from behind the counter to receive him in person, bent slightly and said, "Masters, do you want to buy clothes? Our Tailored Clothes Pavilion is the largest tailor-made clothing store in the county. What style do you want?" clothes."

"Get out some fur coats, the thicker the better."

The shopkeeper hurriedly sent Xiao Er to get the clothes, and enthusiastically introduced: "May I ask whether the master wears it or the young master wears it. Our boss buys goods from outside the Great Wall every year. The fur clothes in the store are all the best, and they are the most warm in winter."

Qin Zhangyuan questioned Shen Jia with his eyes, and Shen Jia nodded with a smile: "Let's take them out and have a look, and the attendants also need to buy one or two more."

Fur coats are not cheap, especially if they are made into ready-made garments. Two men carried a box out, and the shopkeeper took out the clothes himself, shook them, and a raw animal grease smell came out.

Shen Jia frowned, his usual clothes were only cotton-padded jackets and fur cloaks, not leather ones, and he was not sensitive to this smell.

Shen Jia wandered around in the store and picked out the thickest cotton padded coat in the store to try on. It was as long as her calf, wrapped it thickly around her body, and instantly warmed up.

Seeing that he was handsome and well dressed, the shopkeeper said hesitantly, "Master, this cotton padded coat... it's made of three catties of cotton, it's very warm, hehe, you can buy it for your next family." People wear."

Because it was a coat, Shen Jia tried it on directly. He took off the cloak and handed it to He Yan, and put a cotton coat that looked like a quilt on his body. This cotton coat probably only has the advantage of keeping warm, and the fabric is the most common. The cotton cloth is still black, and the shape is also straight. There is only a circle of patterns embroidered on the sleeves and hem, which is really hard to see at first glance.

"Hey, shopkeeper Fu, someone has finally taken a fancy to this big quilt? This one has been in your store for three years, right? Who is so blind?" A richly dressed boy walked in with a fan, and deliberately walked around Glancing at him in front of Shen Jia, he was stunned for a moment when he saw Shen Jia's face, then covered his mouth with a fan and laughed loudly: "Hahahaha... I thought I was a local cat from somewhere, but I didn't expect it to be a local cat. Such a handsome man, how hard is it to put on this dark quilt?"

Shen Jia's eyes turned around on his fan, and she probably understood why this man fanned in winter. The inscription of his teacher, Mr. Wynn, was just an imitation. People who can be deceived by such fancy things, Probably the brain is full of grass.

He stretched out his hand to push the young man away, went to a shelf beside him and drew a belt of the same color to tie it on. His waist was very thin, the belt was about the width of a palm, and it was embroidered with exquisite flowers and birds. In the middle were two peacocks Wearing a big pearl, the colorful belt makes the whole dress less monotonous.

He went to the side and took a white fur collar with a fish-shaped jade pendant and a red orb under the collar. After finishing these, Shen Jia felt cold, so she picked out a pair of armholes made of white fur. Put a set on the sleeves, and the black cotton-padded jacket becomes elegant in an instant.

"It's so warm." Shen Jia smiled and said to Qin Zhangyuan, who nodded with appreciation, "Yes, it's pretty, give me one of these too."

The shopkeeper thought he was mistaken, and met two poor ghosts, but the belts and accessories Shen Jia picked were not cheap, even if he only sold these two sets, he could make a profit, "Hey, I'll take them for you, I remember another one that was bigger."

Seeing Shen Jia turning a blind eye to him, the Young Master said sarcastically, "Where is the idiot coming from? This Tongzhou City has never seen you like this. Are you afraid of being laughed at when you go out dressed like this?"

Shen Jia finally gave him a serious look, and said seriously: "The most important function of clothes is to keep warm. In your eyes, thick cotton clothes are not on the table, but many people can't afford them. I spend money on clothes myself. What do I like to wear? What's the matter, Mr. Guan?"

Shopkeeper Fu hurriedly came over to separate the two, and explained in a low voice: "This young master Chen is the young master of Yongchun Pavilion opposite. He was born with a golden key in his mouth. He just doesn't know the sufferings of the people. Don't worry about this master."

Shen Jia can see it. I think this young master is usually a good person, but he even speaks for his competitors. They also saw the Yongchun Pavilion on the opposite side. They also sell ready-made clothes. Knowing that the price is expensive, I entered the door of this one.

That young master Chen slapped his fan vigorously angrily, a gust of cool wind blew around him, Shen Jia didn't feel cold in a big cotton coat, but it froze the others to death.

Shen Jia couldn't help laughing, pointed to his fan and said: "Mr. Huai'an has a habit of writing, that is, the last stroke of each word will bring a little twist, which is easy to recognize, and his seal is also very interesting. It's not the word "Huai'an", who encouraged you to buy this thing, don't you think it hurts your eyes?"

That Young Master Chen stopped fanning, stared at Shen Jia with big eyes, his lips trembled, and said angrily, "You are talking nonsense! What proof do you have? This Young Master bought it for 300 taels of silver..."

"Idiot!" Qin Zhangyuan was even more angry than him, 300 taels of silver, his yearly salary is less than 300 taels, this stupid thing is just given to a liar for nothing, if this is his son, he must interrupt him out of hand.

"you……"

Qin Zhangyuan's entourage took the lead and said: "My master is a Hanlin scholar, the most proficient in literary and ink, Mr. Huai'an and my master are good friends."

Although the entourage did not mention the official position of the Qin Zhangyuan, in a county like Tongzhou, a Hanlin scholar is already of a higher rank than all the officials in the county government. Then Young Master Chen suddenly fell silent and stared at the fan in his hand for two seconds , and then angrily tore it off and threw it on the ground, and stepped on both feet in frustration.

Qin Zhangyuan didn't bother to talk to him, and asked Shen Jia: "Have you selected everything?"

"Yes." Shen Jia asked He Yan to pay the bill. Originally, he was going to buy Qin Zhangyuan and his entourage's list together, but the other party refused to let him, so he gave up.

The lunch was eaten outside, and the two found a restaurant at random. Both game and vegetables were pitifully scarce in this season. The two ordered a few random dishes, and then asked the waiter in the shop to ask questions.

"How long has your restaurant been open?" Shen Jia handed over a dime of silver, about half a tael.

The waiter put it away in a hurry, and replied with a smile on his face: "It's been more than ten years, and our boss is a well-known wealthy businessman in this city."

"Oh, who is richer than the Chen family?"

"You are talking about the Chen family in Kaibuzhuang, right? Of course it is the richest Chen family. It is the richest man in our Tongzhou. There is a second master who is a high-ranking official and a sister-in-law who is a princess. Not only rich but also noble. .”

The high-ranking official surnamed Chen, Shen Jia couldn't figure out who it was at once, but the entourage of the Qin Zhangyuan gave the answer, "It's Chen Mian, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry. , and was promoted to be the concubine later."

The little girl didn't expect these people to know so much about the Chen family's affairs, so she bent over a little.

Shen Jia suddenly realized, and asked him again: "So it's Chen Shilang's family. No wonder, it's our first time to Tongzhou. I wonder if there are any interesting places around here, or some strange customs?"

"If you are not afraid of the cold, you can go to the suburbs to climb Junluo Mountain. I heard that the Taoist temple on the top of the mountain is very beautiful in winter, with rolling clouds and cedar forests. Many celebrities and scholars like to go there."

Shen Jia asked him a few more questions, and suddenly asked County Magistrate Wang, "Tongzhou is rich and stable, so it can be seen that the county magistrate is a master of the blue sky who knows every detail, right?"

"You mean Mr. Wang? After Mr. Wang came, everyone's life is really easy. It's hard to say whether it's Mr. Qingtian, but it's not like the confused one before."

"I also heard that he distributed a batch of food to the people last year. He thought of the people even if there was no disaster or disaster last year. It is a blessing for the people to have such a good official." Shen Jia sighed.

The smile on Xiao Er's face paused, he seemed a little confused, but he didn't say anything, and then Shen Jia asked him: "Where is your hometown?"

"The villain is from Li Village nearby."

"Oh, Li Village, then the food must have been distributed, right? I remember that the old man who told me this news belonged to Li Village."

"Impossible." Xiao Er categorically retorted: "Either the person you mentioned is not from Li Village, or he lied to you. Our village didn't get any food last year."

"It shouldn't be. We passed by there and went to his house to borrow water. There is a century-old fir tree in front of his house."

"That should be my uncle's house, but..." Xiao Er was also confused, but still said: "My family has not received food."

"That's weird, maybe his family has yours."

Xiao Er's face changed, but he didn't say anything.

Shen Jia asked curiously again: "Last year, something happened in the city, right? Just now the shopkeeper of Tailoring Pavilion said that this year's life might be even more difficult than last year."

"Last year...was a false alarm. I heard that a group of refugees from the north had the disease, but I don't know the details. I didn't hear about it after that. It must have been cured."

"Oh? Refugees..." Shen Jia was thoughtful, and didn't ask any further. This little girl must know a little bit, and a breakthrough is all that's needed.

After dinner, the two returned to the county government office, and Pan Mo brothers also came back, and they gathered together in the room of the Qin Zhang Yuan to talk.

"My lord, we were inquiring about news in the city today, and we met a man who was going to bring him back, but he refused to go to the county government, and said that the county magistrate killed his fellow villager Thirty Several people, his subordinates asked him what happened, but he refused to say, he must see someone who can punish the county magistrate before he can hand over the evidence."

"Who is it?"

"The subordinates only know that he is from the north. He is in his thirties. Others call him Old Liu. He is currently pouring Yexiang in the city and lives in a broken house in the south of the city."

Shen Jia and Qin Zhangyuan said: "Why don't I take them to have a look, if they are useful, we must also protect them, Master Qin will talk to County Magistrate Wang, don't let him be distracted."

Qin Zhangyuan knew that he was going to let himself hold Wang County magistrate, so he nodded: "Okay, if people are really useful, they will be handed over to the Imperial Guards, but Wang Zhiming would not dare to snatch people from the Imperial Guards." .”

The south of the city is a slum area in the county. The houses here are very different from the ones Shen Jia and the others have seen during the day. Most of them are wooden houses, and some are simple and covered with tarpaulins. However, there are no people in these sheds. It was said that because of the snow, the county magistrate was afraid that they would have an accident, so they all moved to other places.

From this point of view, Shen Jia still quite agrees with County Magistrate Wang. If it wasn't for the problem with the two thousand shi of grain, he would definitely think that Wang Zhiming is a good official.

"It's almost here, just ahead." Passing a shanty town, Shen Jia and the others came to a dilapidated hut. From the outside, it looked like someone's abandoned house. It was so dilapidated that it was hard to imagine that people could live here.

"Here?" Shen Jia asked suspiciously.

"Yes, we followed him here, saw him go in with our own eyes, and asked the people around him, saying that he usually lives here. It used to be a Yuanwailang family, but after the move, no one took care of the house. "

"Ahem..." Standing at the door without a door, Shen Jia had already heard the commotion inside, Pan Chen and Pan Mo walked in first, and dared to let Shen Jia in after confirming that there was no threat.

The inside looked more dilapidated than the outside. The person they were talking about did not live in the house, but in a corner of the corridor. He built a small tent with a few ragged cotton clothes, and the coughing sound came from inside.

"Old Liu, we have brought someone here, come out." Pan Mo stepped forward and said.

The people inside suddenly fell silent, and after a while, a withered hand lifted the curtain, revealing half an ugly face.

Pan Chen stopped Shen Jia behind, and explained in a low voice: "This man has burns on his face, sir, don't look at it."

"It's not in the way." Shen Jia was not afraid of this, she took a few steps closer and said, "Uncle, I heard that you have something to tell us, can you come out and talk about it?"

"Who are you?" The man asked vigilantly, his voice was very hoarse, as if roaring from his throat.

Pan Mo was not polite to him, and stretched out his hand to pull him out of the dilapidated shed. Only then did Shen Jia see his whole body. There were burns on his face and hands. Judging from his appearance, he knew that the burns were very serious and he could survive. What a miracle.

He was only wearing a loose cotton coat, which seemed to be picked up somewhere, his back was bent, and one eye was still blind. If he saw it at night, he would definitely scare a group of people.

Shen Jia tried her best to keep calm, fearing to scare the other party, she replied softly: "Uncle, I am the imperial envoy of the imperial court, and I am here to inspect the Northland, you can talk to me if you have anything to say."

"Just you?" Old Liu obviously didn't believe it. He had never seen such a young imperial envoy who looked like a rich man. What can he do for him?

"Presumptuous, my lord is a doctor of the household department, a fifth-rank official, Shang Da Tian Ting, if you have something to say, if you miss this village, this shop will disappear." Pan Mo scolded.

The old head Liu knelt down, stared straight at Shen Jia and asked, "Then do you have the right to kill County Magistrate Wang?"

Shen Jia frowned, "If he commits a capital crime, I will send him back to Chang'an for trial."

"Hmph, who knows if you guys will protect each other..."

Shen Jia waved her hand, stopped him and said, "If you don't trust me, forget it, I can send you to County Magistrate Wang, or treat you as if I have never met you. Whether you want to say it is yours or not, it depends on you whether you can fulfill your wish." What is the matter, is it true, if you dare to tell lies, then this official will definitely make your life worse than it is now."

"Hehe, worse than now? What's that? I've been living for a year. If it weren't for the huge hatred to support me, I don't want to live at all. If I live like this, I'd rather die!"

Shen Jia looked around and found no place to sit, so she asked Pan Mo to take him out, and found an ordinary tea house to sit down.

Old Liu Tou should be in poor health, always coughing, and would stop to catch his breath after speaking a few words, Shen Jia poured him tea, but the other party didn't look at him, his eyes fell in the air, like nostalgia, but also like memories.

"Last autumn, a group of Tatar soldiers came from the north, about 1000 people. They attacked our town at night and killed everyone they saw. Only more than 100 people escaped from our whole town. Everyone was homeless. Walking to the south, but along the way, I met many people who suffered the same disaster as us. Later, I heard that many surrounding villages and towns suffered disasters, and the number of people who fled was several hundred.

Originally we were going to the county seat, but the county master heard that there were Tatar soldiers attacking and refused to open the city gate at all. We had no choice but to continue walking south, but no matter how many places we passed, none of the officials would take us in. They Some were afraid that we were Tatar spies, some were afraid of being implicated by us and would attract Tatar soldiers, some of them would give us food and clothing, some of them would just drive us away.

In this way, we went all the way south, and finally the county magistrate of Tongzhou took us in. We thought it was all right, and met a really good official. We starved to death and froze hundreds of people along the way, and the only ones who came here were There are more than 200 people.

County Magistrate Wang placed us in the Earth Temple in the outskirts, where the incense was flourishing, and the Earth Temple was very large. At the beginning, there were kind-hearted people who gave us food and clothing. County Magistrate Wang also generously distributed the food to us. They even said that after the winter, we will allocate some land to us, and with the help of the government, we may not be able to survive the first year, and we will be fine when there is a harvest.

We traveled long distances, and suffered from hunger and cold. Many people fell ill, and no one cared about it at first. It is normal for a few people to die. If there is a lack of medical treatment, who can fight against the serious illness?But one day, a doctor suddenly said that those who died were not suffering from cold or other diseases, but the plague..." Old man Liu couldn't help crying when he said this, and Shen Jia could basically predict what happened later It's over.

When Old Liu Tou finished speaking, Shen Jia was speechless. He asked Pan Mo and Pan Chen to take Old Liu Tou to find an inn to stay. Not easy to recognize.

"My lord, ahem...you must be the master for us!"

Shen Jia helped him up, put the cloak on him, and said, "Don't worry, County Magistrate Wang will get the punishment he deserves."

Back at the county government office, Qin Zhangyuan hadn't come back yet, Shen Jia couldn't wait for a moment, and directly killed the county magistrate Wang's study.

"Master Shen is back? Have you bought the jade pendant you wanted?" Shen Jia made an excuse to buy the jade pendant. He was well dressed, so it's not surprising that he would go out for a jade pendant.

Shen Jia said "Yes", and after entering the door, she sat next to Qin Zhangyuan, took out the account book he gave her yesterday, and threw it on the face of County Magistrate Wang, "This account book has been carefully studied by the officer, Mr. Wang has done it very carefully. , Unfortunately, a fake is a fake."

"This... this, the lower officials are wronged, why did Mr. Shen say such a thing?"

Shen Jia calmly told the news that Pan Chen and the others went to investigate yesterday, not allowing Wang Zhiming to quibble, "You don't need to make any excuses, we came suddenly, and the audit was also arranged temporarily. You can arrange a few people, but it is impossible to block it." All the people’s mouths, if County Magistrate Wang has something to say, we might as well find more villagers to ask.”

Qin Zhangyuan stroked his beard and laughed, "It's just a fake account, why is the county magistrate Wang so nervous, it's good to explain where the food is used, it can't be Lord Wang who sells it?"

"No, no, I don't dare, these grains are really used for disaster relief, but I am not greedy for a single grain of rice."

Shen Jia sneered, "Then tell me, who did the food go to?"

"This...that food..." County magistrate Wang glanced at the master, who got up and knelt in front of them, and said sadly: "You two imperial envoys, our adults care about the common people, and we never do things that are greedy for ink. When I went to one place, the people all praised them, the two thousand shi grains were indeed donated, last year there were refugees from the north passing through Tongzhou, hundreds of them, my lord took pity on them and took them in for a while."

"Oh? A refugee? From the north?" Shen Jia asked with a smile on her lips.

"Yes, it is."

"How many people? How long have you stayed?"

"About four or five hundred, I stayed...for nearly a month."

"Four, 500 people can eat two thousand shi of grain a month? Are you kidding me?"

County magistrate Wang hurriedly explained: "My lords, it's really not that the officials are cheating. Those refugees fled from the northern border. The officials were afraid that these people would continue to go south, so they resettled them. The two thousand shi grains were used to resettle them. Yes, for such an important matter, the subordinate officials dare not lie."

"The magistrate Wang didn't report such an important matter?" Shen Jia asked in surprise, "Why didn't the imperial court receive the memorial from Mr. Wang?"

"This..." County magistrate Wang seemed to have something to hide, he hesitated and refused to say.