Zhu Nao

The officials of the Chengdu government went to rest in their residences, and Yu Changming, Dou Ziyi and Jing Zhe also followed Zhu Nao to the back garden of the state capital.

As soon as he entered the back garden and there was no one around, Jing Zhe couldn't help but worry and said, "My lord, those officials from the Chengdu Mansion came to Langzhou to embarrass you, didn't they?"

Yu Changming also frowned.He has the same concerns.

However, Zhu Nao smiled calmly and said: "They came to Langzhou, not only wrote me a letter of commendation, but also gave me gifts, didn't they obviously want to get close to me?"

Both Cheng Jingzhe and Yu Changming were taken aback.Just now in the lobby, Chen Wu made repeated attacks. Is there such a thing as close?

Jing Zhe said: "But that Chen Wu..."

Zhu Nao waved his hand indifferently: "Don't look at his bluff, he doesn't have the slightest confidence in his words. Those words are probably his own thoughts to show off his prestige."

Jing Zhe looked bewildered.What Chen Wu said cannot be said to be groundless, why do you say he has no confidence?He scratched his head and asked, "My lord, I don't understand."

Zhu Nao glanced at him with a smile, and explained: "From the beginning to the end, he didn't dare to ask me about my identity. As long as I don't ask this question, everything else he said would be scratching my head."

Jing Zhe was taken aback for a second, and suddenly realized.Although he is dull, it is only because he is not familiar with the intrigue in officialdom.But he is not stupid.When Zhu Nao mentioned this, he immediately understood.

——Whether it's taxes or the rules and regulations of officials, these are trivial matters and cannot shake the foundation of Zhu Nao.And Chen Wu didn't even dare to mention how Zhu Nao got the Langzhou shepherd from the beginning to the end.It is absolutely impossible for him to forget to mention such an important event, it is only possible that he did not dare to mention it.

This is definitely not the attitude of Chen Wu alone.In this matter, he must represent the Chengdu government.In other words, the Chengdu government does not intend to investigate the origin of Zhu Nao, nor dare to punish Zhu Nao for his crimes.No wonder Zhu Nao said that the mission of the Chengdu Mansion's envoy was obviously trying to get close to him.

Jing Zhe was still a little puzzled: "Since they are here to make friends with the young master, why do they have such an attitude? That Chen Wu, and the guy standing behind him, their nostrils are all up to the sky! I wish I could pick up a few stones and stuff them up their nostrils."

Zhu Nao burst out laughing.Before he could speak, Dou Ziyi took the conversation first.

"The people who want to come to Chengdu Mansion are not of the same mind." Dou Ziyi said, "I just heard from the guards and soldiers that there were internal strife when they were waiting outside the city. I think there are two kinds of ideas in Chengdu Mansion, one is to win over Zhuzhou Mu, one is to suppress Zhuzhou Mu. After all..."

He didn't go on to say what he said later, everyone understood.

Zhu Nao's position as state pastor was falsely claimed, which is a felony that can implicate relatives.Yu Changming and Cheng Jingzhe are both accomplices, so naturally they are duty-bound.Although Dou Ziyi didn't participate in this matter, but in the past six months, he and Zhu Nao had the kindness of knowing each other, and he has already become Zhu Nao's confidant.Furthermore, if something unexpected happens to Zhu Nao, he, the master who was promoted by Zhu Nao, will naturally not have a good life.Now, he has stood by Junao's side without hesitation.

Zhu Nao glanced at Dou Ziyi appreciatively, and agreed with Dou Ziyi's analysis: "These two propositions were probably put forward by the two Shao Yins of their Chengdu Mansion. The person who gave the gift just now specifically emphasized that the gift was chosen by Xu Yu, and this person should be Xu Yu's confidant. As for Chen Wu and others, they should have been instructed by their other young Yin Lu Qinghui."

Dou Ziyi nodded in agreement.

Yu Changming said: "The two Shao Yins? What about Chengdu Yin himself?"

Dou Ziyi shook his head, and said: "As far as I know, Chengdu Yin Yuan Jilu is licentious, extremely lustful, and neglects political affairs. Many political affairs in Chengdu Mansion are handled by the two young Yins, and Yuan Jilu is just a plain corpse. meal."

Yu Changming suddenly showed disgust: "So, then Chengdu Yin turned out to be a fellow with Song Rentou!"

Zhu Nao smiled, and said lightly: "The same rotten wood naturally breeds the same moth."

In today's world, the imperial court is corrupt, the government is corrupt, and the mansion is extremely decayed.The appointment and transfer of officials are often not based on political achievements, but only on family connections.As a result, officials are naturally lazy in political affairs and only concentrate on forming parties for personal gain.These local officials are not locals at all, and they have only served in the local area for three to five years, and they will be transferred as soon as the term of office is up.What does it matter to the people in the territory how they live in dire straits?

Be it Song Rentou or Yuan Jilu, they are indeed all the same.

This topic made everyone fall silent, feeling very heavy.

After a while, Dou Ziyi took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and continued the topic: "Those two young ministers in Chengdu Mansion, Xu Yu is a native of Sichuan. I heard that he does not have a prominent family background, and he can be a young minister." He can be promoted all the way because he is tactful, makes many friends, is quite capable, and has made some political achievements. It is reasonable for a person like him to take the initiative to win over Zhuzhou Mu."

After a pause, he continued: "As for Lu Qinghui, he is a child of an aristocratic family, only 25 or [-] years old, and has taken up the position of Shao Yin. However, I heard that he is also very diligent and hardworking, but his temperament is a bit arrogant. With his background, he strongly advocates suppressing Zhuzhou Mu is more reasonable."

The officials of the Chengdu government tried their best to inquire about the news of Langzhou, but they didn't know that the people of Langzhou had already investigated them clearly.

Jing Zhe said: "So, that Lu Qinghui is going to have trouble with the young master? If he can be settled, the young master can sit back and relax?"

However, Zhu Nao shook his head: "Who is the enemy and who is the friend, it is still unclear."

Jing Zhe was taken aback, but didn't understand again.Just now Dou Ziyi analyzed a lot, isn't it just that Xu Yu wants to win over Zhu Nao, and Lu Qinghui wants to suppress Zhu Nao?Whether it's an enemy or a friend, why don't you understand?

Dou Ziyi thought for a while, and said: "Xu Yu's city is indeed much deeper than Lu Qinghui's. The envoys of the Chengdu Mansion have caused internal strife in front of us many times, without any regard for the face of the Chengdu Mansion. It is likely that Xu Shaoyin deliberately arranged it. He wanted to let Zhu Zhoumu knows that there are people in the Chengdu mansion who want to crowd out Zhu Zhoumu. In this way, Zhu Zhoumu will be more likely to befriend him and become attached to him."

Since this person's city is deeper, it is difficult to simply determine this person's position.In case he only wanted to use Jun Nao to strengthen his own power, but Jun Nao couldn't fulfill his wish, he might be more difficult to deal with than Lu Qinghui.

Jing Zhe scratched her hair again, her small face wrinkled into a ball.He was almost confused by this complicated situation.

Hearing this moment, Yu Changming couldn't help but click his tongue and said, "...you officials are really darker than the other."

Jing Zhe glared at him immediately: "You are not allowed to say that, Young Master!"

Yu Changming: "..." To be reasonable, your son is the one with the darkest heart.

Jun Nao stroked Jing Zhe's hair with a smile, calming down the restless guard.

He smiled lightly and said, "It's fine if you come, as long as they don't come to me, I will go to them sooner or later."

=====

The next day.

In the fields outside Langzhou City, a group of farmers are busy in the fields.

Wu Dong had just turned over an acre of land when he suddenly heard the aroma of food coming from the side.When he looked back, he saw a young and beautiful woman standing on the edge of the field, holding a bowl of rice in one hand, and beckoning to him with a smile.

Wu Dong's eyes lit up, and he ran over immediately: "Seventh Sister, why are you here?"

The woman's name is Yue Qi, and she is Wu Dong's childhood sweetheart.She handed the rice bowl to Wu Dong: "Brother Dong, I heard that you came out to work without eating anything in the morning. It's almost noon now, and I thought you should be hungry, so I brought you some food." come."

Wu Dong looked down and saw that although there was no meat in the bowl, there was solid rice and fried green vegetables, which whetted one's appetite.But he was a little embarrassed and didn't reach out to pick it up: "This is not good..."

"What's wrong?" Seeing that he refused to take it, Yue Qi took his hand and put the bowl into his hand, "Eat it quickly, while it's hot, it won't taste good when it's cold."

Wu Dong looked at Yue Qi's pretty face full of persistence, and the guilt in his heart became heavier: "You are so kind to me, but I... I don't know how to repay you."

Yue Qi was startled.

After the autumn harvest, Yue Qi had changed into new clothes, but Wu Dong was still wearing tattered clothes full of patches.In fact, the two of them used to be similar, but now there is a gap.

This year, the Yue family has a good harvest and the tax rate has been greatly reduced. The originally poor family suddenly has some extra money.The parents-in-law were happy, so they bought new clothes for their beloved daughter.But Wu Dong didn't catch up with this good time - last year, he ran away from home and became a bandit.This year his cottage was surrendered to the state capital, and he became a farm slave.He didn't plant any land last year, so naturally he didn't have a harvest this year. He has to spend more effort to reclaim the wasteland newly allocated to him in order to prepare for next year's spring planting.

The two stalemate for a while, Yue Qi asked: "Why do you say that?"

Wu Dong looked down at his torn sandals without saying a word.

Yue Qi didn't know what he was thinking, so he frowned and said angrily, "Brother Dong, have you changed your mind?!"

Wu Dong was shocked, and immediately said: "How could it be!"

The two of them were childhood sweethearts and had long loved each other.It's just that the current situation is bad and life is difficult, so the two never got married.

Yue Qi stomped her feet, her face flushed red: "Then what do you mean? You wouldn't even eat the food I cooked, and you said you didn't know how to repay me. You clearly don't want to marry me! Are you the one who left home? Did you fall in love with another girl during the year?!"

Wu Dong scratched his head anxiously: "No! How could I, I..."

Seeing his anxious look, Yue Qi calmed down a little, pouted and said, "Then what do you mean by saying that?"

Wu Dong and her looked at each other for a moment, lost the battle, and said dejectedly: "I'm afraid... I'm afraid... I'm afraid that I'm not good enough for you now."

Yue Qi was taken aback for a moment, and immediately showed an unbelievable expression.

"I am a sinful person, a land slave in the state capital. Others only need to pay ten dollars in land tax, but I have to pay twelve to atone for my sins. During the slack season, I have to go to the state capital to do handyman. I..." Wu Dong looked troubled, "Now I am not as good as other men in the village, I'm afraid I won't be able to give you a good life."

Yue Qi became even more angry when he finished speaking: "Who do you think I am?! When you became a bandit, it wasn't because my father was sick and we didn't have money to treat him, so you fell into grass. You Do you think I will betray you now? Do you think I am so heartless?!"

"No, no!" Wu Dong waved his hands again and again, his mouth was so stupid that he didn't know how to explain, "I, I..."

"If you don't want to marry me, just say so!"

Wu Dong was taken aback for a moment, but did not immediately refute.

Yue Qiqi was furious immediately, tears were already rolling in his eyes.She stepped on Wu Dong's foot hard, turned around and ran away.

Wu Dong stayed where he was, not knowing whether he should chase after him or not.

"Ouch!"

Yue Qi ran too fast, tripped over a stone and fell to the ground.Seeing this, Wu Dong was frightened out of his wits, hurriedly put his rice bowl on the ground, rushed over to help Yue Qi up, and said nervously: "Sister Qi, are you okay? Where is the injury?"

With tears in his eyes, Yue Qi didn't want to talk to him, got up and continued to run.Wu Dong was not willing to let her run, and insisted on checking her injuries. The two pushed and pushed for a while, and Yue Qi grabbed Wu Dong's arm and bit it hard.This bite woke Wu Dong up, he looked at the girl's crying face, his heart was in a ball, and he hugged Yue Qi into his arms.

Yue Qi struggled at the beginning, but gradually, he stopped struggling and began to cry while leaning against his arms.Wu Dong didn't say anything, but tightened his arms even more.

After a while, the emotions of the two calmed down.

"I haven't changed my mind. I have only you in my heart from the beginning to the end." Wu Dong whispered, "I'm just afraid... I'm afraid that I won't be able to give you what others can give you. After all, I'm a Tian slave now..."

Yue Qi snorted: "Don't make excuses there! Isn't it just to pay one more land tax? We have also survived the land tax of [-] in the past, but now you are only asked to pay [-], you are not satisfied! "

"No, no, I'm not dissatisfied!" Wu Dong quickly denied.Since the cottage he was in hadn't done any treacherous things, that is, collecting protection fees from passing business travelers, the state government punished them very lightly.Although they are farm slaves, they only pay one cent more in farm tax than others.Wu Dong was already very content with being treated so leniently.But the reason why he is awkward is nothing more than that people have a mentality of "not suffering from poverty but suffering from inequality".

Just after the autumn harvest, many families in the village are rich, but he is still poor.And in the next few years, he will have to pay more land taxes.Thinking of these, he always felt very uncomfortable.

The two looked at each other for a moment, Yue Qi understood Wu Dong's entanglement from Wu Dong's face, curled his lips angrily, and poked his forehead with a green finger: "You are so stupid! Even if you are a farm slave , It’s only five years. How old are you now? Twenty! We still have 50 years to live in the future. During these five years, you farmed the land well, and I also worked hard to weave cloth. Can the land tax still be earned back?"

Wu Dong pursed his lips.

The girl softened and sighed.She hooked Wu Dong's neck, leaned her head on his shoulder, and said in a low voice: "Brother Dong, I don't know if you still remember. It was around this time last year. The autumn harvest had just passed, and the harvest of our two families was destroyed by officers and soldiers." More than half of it was confiscated, and the rest was not enough for us to survive the winter. At that time, you decided to become a bandit. I sent you out of the village, not to mention how desperate I was. When I came back, I kept thinking, I am afraid that you will be lost if you go. Answer, I'm afraid that my father's illness won't be cured any longer, and I feel that life is meaningless...I stood by the river for a long time, if it wasn't for my relatives to take care of me, I would have thrown myself into the river that day."

Wu Dong recalled the darkest scene of last year, and his eyes dimmed.Don't say that Yue Qi thought about suicide, he also thought about it several times.

"Fortunately, I didn't go into the river that day. I waited until Zhuzhou Mu took office, waited for the tax cut, and waited for you to come back. I have never felt that life is so hopeful. What about you? You really want to die for such a small thing? make me sad?"

Wu Dong was stunned.In fact, he was also grateful when he first came back, but seeing other young men of marriageable age getting better conditions than him in the past few days, he felt ashamed and worried that he would not be able to match Yue Qi, so he became entangled.Now being enlightened by Yue Qi, he suddenly understood.

They have survived such a hard life together, why is he worried about his seventh sister?What is this little trouble now?

Zhu Zhoumu was so benevolent that he didn't let them be punished for life, but only for five years.It's only five years, how many five years are left in his life?Why stick to the present and not think about the future?

Thinking of this, Wu Dong suddenly became enlightened, and hugged Yue Qi tightly: "Seventh sister! I will go to your house to propose marriage in the spring of next year!"

Yue Qi sniffled, wiped away his tears, and pinched his face hard: "If you dare not come, I will strangle you to death!"

Wu Dong was overjoyed by her, and he grabbed her hand and kissed it.At this moment, his stomach started to growl, he smiled embarrassedly, and hurried to eat the bowl of rice that Yue Qi gave him.

……

After Yue Qi delivered the meal and went back, two men came from a distance on the ridge of the field.They stopped on the ridge and watched the farmers working in the fields from a distance.

"It should be right here. Those who reclaimed the wasteland were all bandits before and were punished as field slaves by Langzhou shepherds." One person whispered.

These two are officers and soldiers from Chengdu Mansion. Today they disguised themselves as ordinary farmers and came here on purpose to target those "land slaves".

——Since they want to shake the people in Langzhou City, they will naturally not look for those who are well off, but look for the weak points.What is a weak point?Aren't those people who have just been demoted to Tian slaves by Zhu Nao the weak point?They must be full of resentment and resentment towards Junao.

The two envoys from the Chengdu Mansion exchanged glances, smiled at each other, and walked towards the "field slaves" in the field separately...