She looked at the two of them and said slowly: "Actually, what you just said is right, the little woman's name is Shen Nian, a native of the capital, and her father is a fangjia."

This was the first sentence, which surprised Lin Fan, and he hurriedly interrupted the woman and said, "Wait, you wait." Are you talking about Shen Fangjia, the former secretary of the Ministry of War? ”

Shen Nian didn't expect that Lin Fan, a small local official, would know his father's name, you must know that several years have passed since this incident, with Lin Fan's age and official position, it stands to reason that he should not have heard of it.

She nodded in surprise and whispered, "Exactly." Have you heard of my father? ”

Lin Fan was taken aback, he didn't expect it to be that person.

However, he quickly calmed down and said in a deep voice: "When I was at home, I heard my father mention that Shen Fangjia, the former secretary of the military department, was once ordered by His Majesty to secretly negotiate peace with the Manchu tribe in the north under the secret of the Manchu civil and military affairs. It's just that later, when the negotiations were about to be concluded, the peace treaty was regarded as an official document of the court by the people in the palace and inadvertently announced, causing an uproar in the government and the opposition. In order to maintain his reputation and calm the anger of the public, His Majesty questioned Lord Shen for the crime of colluding with the enemy, and the Shen family was sentenced to be beheaded. If I'm not mistaken, it should have been the sixth year of Chongping. ”

Fu Tianlin suddenly interjected at this time and said: "My Dayun is the kingdom of the Heavenly Empire, and I have never negotiated peace, why do I want to negotiate peace with the Manzhen Tartars?" In this way, isn't it equivalent to humiliating the country, how can we be worthy of our ancestors? ”

In fact, this is not only Fu Tianlin's idea, but also represents the thoughts of the people in the world.

He was born in the rivers and lakes and did not understand state affairs, but since the founding of this dynasty, all countries have come to the dynasty, and there has never been a precedent for peace talks, and the people have a pride in their hearts about the heavenly kingdom, so they naturally will not understand why the imperial court is negotiating peace. This is also the reason why the peace talks had to be held in secret in the first place.

In front of Shen Nian, in fact, Fu Tianlin didn't say a word, that is, Shen Fangjia presided over the peace, which was tantamount to a national thief, and he deserved to kill him.

Lin Fan knew what he meant, and explained to him: "Sir's words are wrong. The imperial court's move to negotiate peace is not wrong, for so many years in order to fight with Manzhen, the military expenditure of Northern Xinjiang has cost more than one million every year, but it is difficult to achieve results. Even to this day, Manzhen is still encroaching on my Liaodong step by step, in addition, from time to time breaking through the border defense and going south to plunder, after so many years, the treasury has long been overwhelmed.

"In recent years, the annual income of the imperial court is only 10 million taels of silver, but nearly half of the taxes have to be used to support the vassal kings and clans in various places, and almost all of the rest is used for the war in northern Xinjiang, which has led to the treasury really not making ends meet. Coupled with the continuous natural disasters, from the first year of Chongping to the sixth year of Chongping, Guanzhong and the Central Plains region suffered a severe drought for six consecutive years, and there was no harvest. However, the imperial court was unable to provide disaster relief, and the people starved all over the wilderness, and even changed their children to eat. In the fourth year of Chongping, Chen Xinglong, who claimed to be a descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty, gathered people to rebel in the Central Plains Province, and all parts of the north responded one after another, but the imperial court was difficult to even raise military salaries, resulting in the disadvantage of the official army and the bandits, and the successive defeats in successive battles. Now that chaos is gradually emerging in the Central Plains, the treasury is even more empty and unsustainable. ”

"And the reason why we want to negotiate peace with Manzhen is to temporarily avoid the worries of the north, free up our hands to clean up the chaos in the Central Plains, and wait until the internal stability is stable, and then fight against foreign enemies. It is a pity that there are too many people in the government and the opposition who think like Mr. Wang, and the people's sentiment is turbulent, which leads to the failure of the peace talks. Now that the situation of internal and external troubles has been formed, I really don't know when the world will be peaceful? ”

"Alas, it's a pity that Lord Shen and the people in the market are just that, but everyone in the court knows that there is such a thing as negotiating peace with the enemy country, and Lord Shen alone can't be the master, he is on the orders of the Holy Order. But His Majesty cherished his wings, and in order to calm the people's feelings and royal reputation, he had no choice but to let Lord Shen be His Majesty's scapegoat. ”

Hearing Lin Fan speak for his father, Shen Nian glanced at Lin Fan with sincere gratitude, thanking him for helping him out of the siege.

Fu Tianlin is not an inflexible person, now that he knows the truth of the matter, even if he is still puzzled in his heart, he also knows that it is not the time to say it. Hurriedly said to Shen Nian: "I'm sorry, Miss Shen." I was rude just now! ”

Shen Nian shook her head and said that she didn't care, she had experienced too much of this kind of thing, even now, when it comes to her father, people who don't know the truth often grit their teeth and scold. What can she do as a weak woman, is it possible that she can still fight against the people of the whole world.

She said hatefully: "The most hateful thing is the dog emperor, obviously he asked my father to preside over the peace." How can my father not know the discussion and the risk, if he doesn't get it right, he will leave a stench for 10,000 years, but the holy order cannot be violated, and my father does not dare to disobey, so he can only take risks. But when the matter was leaked out, the Dog Emperor not only killed my father in order to clean himself, but also exterminated my Shen family, which was really hateful. ”

In front of Lin Fan, the official of the imperial court, Shen Nian dared to scold the current saint, Lin Fan didn't know whether to say that she was bold, or whether to say that she didn't take herself as a court official in her eyes, which also showed her hatred for that person.

Lin Fan, who was ignored for his identity, had no choice but to touch his nose in embarrassment, and sighed softly: "The credit is from above, and the blame is from below!" When today's son can be seen, it is really not a blessing for the family and the country! ”

Lin Fan's words pulled Shen Nian back, she was no longer immersed in the past, and teased Lin Fan: "You are an official of the imperial court, dare to criticize the dog emperor like this, if you let others know, you will not be able to cut off a hundred heads."

Lin Fan didn't dare to delve into this topic, he was already bold at the beginning of what he said just now, how could he dare to follow Shen Nian's words. If this really spreads, hundreds of people in his Lin clan will have to fall to the ground like the Shen family.

He snorted, and in order to cover up this topic, he continued to ask: "Since the Shen Mansion was raided and destroyed, how did the girl escape alive?"

Speaking of this, Shen Nian's eyes turned red again, and he said sadly: "Back then, my father and eldest brother were beheaded for public display, and my second brother was assigned to Ganzhou to serve in the army because he was not yet fifteen years old, so he could avoid death, and my Shen daughter's dependents were filled into the Teaching Division. I was only thirteen years old at the time, but because I was good at piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, I was sold to Yangzhou to be a thin horse. ”

"Halfway through, I was rescued by my father's sworn brother and some of his friends. They escorted me from the north all the way to the south, and in order to protect me, one by one they died under the swords of the officers and soldiers. By the time I got to Huainan Road, I was the only one left. You say, I'm useless, I can only watch all this, but I can't do anything! ”

At the end, Shen Nian's crying became more and more obvious, and he couldn't control his emotions.

Lin Fan sighed and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Miss Shen, I shouldn't have asked!"

Shen Nian wiped away his tears and smiled reluctantly: "How can I blame you!" You have a duty to do it, and if it were me, I would have to ask. Otherwise, wouldn't it be embarrassing for you to let me go, but I don't even know my identity. Besides, you made me know that there are people in this world besides me who think that my father is not a traitor, and that he has done nothing wrong. And I want to thank you! But I, when I talk about these past events, I always can't control myself and let you see the jokes. ”

Lin Fan said a little apologetically: "The matter has come to this, it's better for the girl not to mind the past."

Lin Fan changed the topic and said, "The girl in Anzhou will definitely not be able to stay any longer, I don't know what Miss Shen's plans will be next?"

Shen Nian thought for a moment and said, "I plan to cross the river and go south to Jiangnan Province first." As for the future, I haven't thought about it for the time being, let's take a step at a time! ”

Lin Fan nodded: "Jiangnan Province is quite peaceful now, so it is a good place to go." However, since the girl has decided to go south, I know that the girl still has some calligraphy and paintings from him, so naturally she can't use them, so it is better for me to return them to the owner for the girl. There is also a bad reputation of the Song family in Sanxing Town, but it is mostly because the cloth village under the name of the Song family is shoddy, and it is not a big traitor, this time it can be regarded as a lesson for them, if the five thousand taels of silver have not been used up, I will also return it for the girl, what does the girl think? ”

Shen Nian covered his mouth and snickered, and said: "My lord said that it was because he didn't catch anyone, and if he couldn't find anything, it would be difficult to explain it there, why bother to go around like this?"

was debunked on the spot, and Lin Fan was also a little embarrassed. He then asked: "By the way, Miss Shen, what I have always wondered about is how the girl got the South China Sea pearl in the Qiu family's treasury in Boliu Town?"

Shen Nian was puzzled: "What South China Sea pearls, I don't know, let alone take them." I only took a few calligraphy and paintings from Qiu's house, and I didn't go to any storehouses, let alone see any pearls. ”

Lin Fan was surprised: "What the girl said is true?"

Seeing Shen Nian nodding, Lin Fan carefully recalled some details in the Qiu family, and understood what Qiu Ze's old thing wanted to do. At this time, Fu Tianlin, who was well-informed on the side, also figured it out a little, stood next to him and smiled without saying a word, looking at Lin Fan playfully.

Lin Fan smiled and said, "I see, I didn't expect Qiu Ze, an old bastard, to play this game with Lao Tzu."

Shen Nian asked with some curiosity: "What is going on with this pearl, and what do you understand?"

After sorting out his thoughts, Lin Fan said to Shen Nian: "Since the treasury of the Qiu Mansion has not been stolen, the so-called loss of pearls in the South China Sea is even more nonsense. So why did Qiu Ze do this? ”

Fu Tianlin and the others didn't answer him, Lin Fan had to ask himself and answer: "It's not difficult to figure out the joints, although the Qiu family, which is rooted in Boliu Town, seems to have a big family, but in fact, most of the assets belong to the Qiu family, the local family in Anzhou, and there are not many who really belong to the Qiu Ze family. Qiu Ze said that he was the head of the Qiu clan in Yongyang, but in fact, his status was not much higher than that of the house slaves of the main line. And this valuable South China Sea pearl can be said to be Qiu Ze's heart, and he is reluctant to show it on weekdays, but now he must have been taken by a nobleman in the Qiu family's lineage and asked him for it. If it was in the past, Qiu Ze would not dare not give it even if he was reluctant, but your appearance gave him a chance. ”

Shen Nian was puzzled: "Me?"

"That's right! Just when Qiu Ze had no choice, you appeared. Qiu's house was stolen, and he simply pushed the boat down the river, pretending that the pearl was lost, and played this good show of self-theft for us to hide people's eyes and ears. Don't forget that the thief Fu Tianlin has a great reputation in the rivers and lakes, and he has never missed, and it can be said that it is foolproof to blame you for the theft, even if the main line of the Qiu family has some suspicions, he can't go to Fu Tianlin to find out the truth, and he can't find a reason to blame him. ”

"But he did a lot of calculations, but he didn't calculate that you, Fu Tianlin, were an impostor, but left a horse's foot and fell into my hands, so that I could figure out this matter, you said that if you let him know about this matter, will you vomit three liters of blood in anger. Hahaha! ”

In the end, Lin Fan couldn't help but ridicule Shen Nian a few words and laughed.

Shen Nian gave him a strange look and said, "Die!"

Lin Fan finally stopped laughing, and when he saw Shen Nian's eyes that wanted to kill him, he covered his mouth and said, "Okay, okay, I won't laugh anymore, say the right thing, say the right thing, poof!"

Seeing that Shen Nian's forehead was faintly bruised, Lin Fan, who felt the chill, hurriedly said, "Where did the girl store the rest of the things, can you tell me the location?"

Suppressing his anger, Shen Nian said softly: "Although the calligraphy and painting are valuable, they are not easy to sell, so most of them are still there, but most of those small silver tickets were distributed by me to the refugees near Pingyangdu, and the five thousand taels stolen from the Song family are too big, but they are still kept." I'll give you the address in a moment, and you can search for it yourself! Speaking of which, this time I meant to raise some money and food for the refugees, but in fact, it didn't help much, but it caused such a big mess. I'm really shameless to stay here any longer. ”

Lin Fan comforted and said: "Current affairs are like this, no wonder the girl, the girl doesn't have to blame herself."

He hesitated for a moment, and then continued: "Since the girl has decided to go south, she might as well go south directly from Anzhou." After crossing the river, it is Jiangzhou, my home is in Jiangyuan Town, Chucheng County, Jiangzhou, where refugees are also being relieved, the girl can go to see it, just report my name, and I will be able to find a place for the girl to live temporarily. ”

Shen Nian was a little stunned when she heard Jiangzhou Chucheng, as if she was a little thoughtful, she suddenly raised her head and asked, "My lord, but you were born in the Lin clan of Jiangzhou?"