Wang Qiang and his entourage walked for more than 20 days, and on this day they arrived in the territory of Jezhou Prefecture in Shandong, and as usual, there were officials from Shandong guarding the provincial border to greet Lord Qincha. When he arrived at the post house that day, the Yamen of Jeju Mansion transferred the imperial court to Wang Qiang's court, Wang Qiang opened the book sealed with fire paint, and saw that it was the report on the situation of Baoding Mansion that he sent to Emperor Chongzhen, he hurriedly opened it, and was dumbfounded, Emperor Chongzhen made a reply directly with a red pen on his original fold, and it was a striking four big characters on his head: "Dumb and ignorant!" The red font, bloody, very dazzling, Chongzhen in the blank space of this fold for the content of the report one by one put forward their own questions and analysis, to the point that Baoding Mansion deceived the behavior, in the mention of Zhang Xiaodong and Tian shrewd, Emperor Chongzhen in their names to draw a circle, a lead line to the blank annotation: "I want Wang Qiang to come out of the palace and not know the world, but you two have lived in official positions for a long time, and you are also ignorant to this?" Or is it in cahoots with Ma De and others? This is really a deception of the king! Wang Qiang stuck out his tongue, even Zhang Xiaodong and them were on it. In the blank space at the end of the recital, Chongzhen wrote: "If you really do the duty of observing the wind, you must be slightly obedient and sneaky, and you must not believe the words of officials and subordinates, the world is chaotic, and the people's hearts are treacherous. After reading these comments, Wang Qiang thought about it a little, and suddenly understood that he had been deceived all the way, and he couldn't help but feel annoyed, why is he also a modern person, how could he be so easily deceived by these grandsons! But it's no wonder that everything they do is really good, how can you see it! He saw that Zhang and Tian were mentioned in the text, so he handed them the fold, and after the two of them finished reading it, they also sat there with an embarrassed face.

Wang Qiang raised his head and patted his head lightly, and said with a wry smile: "Brother Zhang, Lao Tian, think about it, I was indeed deceived by the local officials along the way, although the emperor is in the ninth level, it is like seeing it yourself, don't you two really see it?" ”

Zhang Xiaodong coughed and said, "Don't hide it from my brother, we have already seen that these are the consistent practices of fooling Shangguan below, and we are not surprised." ”

"Then why didn't you tell me then! let me be scolded by the emperor, and let those grandsons secretly laugh at me for being so foolish. Wang Qiang said in a reproachful tone.

"What are you going to do if we told you at the time?" Zhang Xiaodong asked.

"Me? I fucking ------" Wang Qiang thought of the emperor's intention of not allowing him to directly deal with government affairs, even if he knew it at the time, he couldn't do anything to them, so he said angrily: "Then at least I can report to the emperor truthfully, and the emperor will issue an order to deal with these bastards!" ”

Zhang Xiaodong stared at Wang Qiang and said: "Brother, be honest with your brother, if you really report to the emperor like that, it will break the rules of this officialdom, and the officials in the court pay attention to the protection of officials and officials, if we expose them this time, this notoriety spreads, then the next time it will be us who will be exposed, you think, who in this officialdom can be as clean as water, spotless, if those of us who are officials rely on the little money of the court, who can support themselves?" This one, to say something disrespectful, the emperor is also very clear in his heart. Zhang Xiaodong said it very thoroughly.

Tian Jingming also said: "Lord Wang, what Lord Zhang said is the truth. Let's talk about the matter of Baoding Mansion this time, in fact, what the emperor is really angry about is that they want to use an excuse to evade the front-line food and salary, as long as they pay the food and salary on time, it is estimated that the emperor will not be able to do anything about the Baoding Prefect. ”

Listening to their words, Wang Qiang was a little discouraged, and said after thinking about it: "But the emperor has already blamed him, so what do you say I should do next?" ”

"Hehe, what's so hard about this! Looking at the meaning of the emperor's instructions, he did not withdraw your errand, and also pointed out the method to the elder brother in the reply, that is, a private visit to the microservice. The emperor wants to know the real situation below, what about you, just follow the emperor's guidance, micro-service to observe the truth, of course, when reporting, you must be measured, not too true, not too fake. Zhang Xiaodong pointed.

"Why can't it be too real or too fake?" Wang Qiang asked.

"You can't be too real, you can't say what you see, you can talk about the following problems, but you have to choose things that don't kill your head and lose your officials, for example, this street is not in order, and the handling of the victims is not proper enough, these can be said, but they can't say the things that they deceive and deceive the king. This can't be too fake, it's just a proper beautification of the local political achievements, but it can't be too much, outrageous, the emperor can see it, for example, Baoding Mansion gives porridge to the victims, which can be more than farming at home. Such a disposition not only gives an explanation to the emperor, but also makes colleagues grateful to Dade, isn't it the best of both worlds. Zhang Xiaodong said earnestly.

Wang Qiang nodded deeply, he felt that reality had taught him a vivid political lesson, which was much more profound than the political lessons taught by high school teachers before. Several people discussed like this for a while, and then went back to their rooms to rest.

Before dawn the next day, Wang Qiang took Tian Jingming and five brocade guards to quietly leave the post house, Wang Qiang pretended to be a businessman, and several other people dressed up to look like him, and the group left Jezhou Mansion on the same day and sneaked into the territory of Yanzhou Mansion, while Zhang Xiaodong took a large group of people to Yanzhou.

Wang Qiang and others avoided the official roads and walked along the country roads, and everywhere they passed, they were full of desolation, large fields were barren, and the fields were sparsely covered with withered yellow weeds. Wang Qiang visited several villages along the way, all of which were empty, and most of the villagers had fled the famine, leaving only the sick and elderly people to stay in their houses and wait for death, and occasionally you could see the corpses of those who had died of cold and starvation on the roadside, and no one buried them.

The situation he saw along the way made Wang Qiang's heart tremble, "The life of the common people is actually so hard, no wonder there are peasant uprisings in various places, there is no way to live!" Wang Qiang's trip to Beijing originally just wanted to come out to see it, and by the way, he used the identity of the Qin Cha to make a small fortune, and there was no extra thought, but now he saw the tragic situation of the people shocking, he remembered that when he was on an errand beside Chongzhen, the emperor lamented the people's suffering more than once, and repeatedly ordered officials to be sympathetic to the people, and there was a nameless fire in his heart, and then he remembered to be deceived by Ma De and others in Baoding Mansion along the way, and he was even more annoyed, it seems that this country and society are all bad on this gang of corrupt officials and corrupt officials!

In the evening, Wang Qiang and others arrived in Yanzhou City, the streets of the city were deserted, few shops were open for business, and under the eaves of the corners on both sides of the road, there were people who fled from the disaster, dragging their children and daughters together, and the whole city was not a trace of life. The group came to a hotel, and the shopkeeper came out to look, and saw that they were rich people, so he hurriedly came out to greet them: "A few guest officers, are you here to catch up with merchant ships and merchants?" That's going to have to wait a few days, a few masters or live in our small shop first, we are clean here, all-inclusive food and accommodation, and the price is fair. A few men followed the man into the inn,

Wang Qiang asked, "Why wait a few days on a merchant ship?" ”

The guy in the shop nodded and said: "I heard that the master has just arrived in this realm, don't you know, the emperor's Qincha will get on the ship from us in two days, people are big officials, all these merchant ships and cargo ships will give way, and wait for the ship of Lord Qincha to leave, before it can sail, the merchant ships on the dock are crowded in the past two days, most of the customers in our shop are merchants waiting to get on the ship, nothing else, we are also entrusted with the blessing of Lord Qincha, business has never been so good, and it is late again, there is no empty room." How many rooms do you have? ”

"Two upper rooms, four ordinary rooms." Tian said shrewdly

"Yes." The man replied, and then the towel was thrown over his shoulder and shouted inside, "Seven old guests, two upper rooms!" ”

Wang Qiang listened to the guy's words, and muttered in his heart, it seems that the Qincha that the guy said should be himself, but he didn't expect that he would bring so much trouble to everyone when he came out.

After a short rest in the guest room, a few people came to the street to find a restaurant with a larger shop and picked up two tables near the window to order food, the restaurant was full of diners, most of them were stranded here waiting for the businessmen to take the boat, the diners gathered together, sympathized with each other, the conversation and chat were naturally inseparable from the current situation and the Qincha, and the words mentioned Zhao Qiang, the Qincha, naturally had no good words, and Wang Qiang did not hear those abusive words, only listened attentively with a gloomy face.

A few people were eating, suddenly heard a gong outside the door, a group of officers and soldiers drove over, the head of the team was a captain, the captain on a horse, with a leather whip halberd pointed around and shouted loudly: "The people on the street have listened, the prefect has an order, tonight to tomorrow all day, the main streets of the city will be under martial law, all those who go to the city to beg for food will go to the south of the school field, from tomorrow, the government will open porridge shed porridge in the school field." Listen to the shops on both sides, they must all open for business tomorrow morning, and they must all be decorated with lights, and all those who do not follow the government's orders will be strictly dealt with. As soon as the officer's voice fell, the group of soldiers immediately dispersed and began to drive away the hungry people who were living in the streets, and for a time the shouts, scoldings, and cries of children rang out. Tian Jingming glanced at Wang Qiang, which means that this time you understand how those officials along the way deceived you. Wang Qiang naturally understood in his heart, and his gloomy face did not make a sound.

That night, Wang Qiang rested alone in the upper room, thinking about the strange things along the way, he couldn't sleep over and over, he was depressed, and suddenly heard the sound of talking from the next room, and vaguely heard the words of Qincha, and couldn't help but pay attention. He crept to his feet, and found a crack in the ceiling between his room and the next room, and he stood on the bed just enough to see through the crack.

Next door is also an upper room, in front of a table of eight immortals, a young man dressed as a scholar is sitting facing west, the scholar has sword eyebrows, a heroic face, and a folding fan in his hand gently taps on his hand. Sitting opposite the scholar was a woman in a green shirt, who couldn't see her face clearly because she had her back to Wang Qiang. In the middle of the house, three men in coarse cloth clothes stood side by side, and one of them was talking, only to hear the man say: "Li Gongzi, the villagers of Yan Village, Li Zhuang and Zhao Gezhuang were already preparing to respond to the incident tomorrow, but they didn't expect that they got the news today that the government would open a warehouse for relief tomorrow, and they all retreated, and now they are all gathered in the school field to wait for relief." ”

A black-faced man on his left hand also clenched his fists and said: "Li Gongzi, I inquired clearly through the eyeliner of the government, that little eunuch Qincha will board the ship from here the day after tomorrow, and now the government is releasing grain to fool this little eunuch, once the Qincha boards the ship offshore, the government will stop giving relief, in fact, there is not much grain in the granary of Yanzhou Mansion at all, and the sacks piled up in the warehouse are all full, and they are filled with bran mixed with sand, even if they really want to help, there is not so much food at all." ”

The young scholar slowly got up and paced, thinking about it and saying: "It seems that the plan for tomorrow's incident is about to change, and the people still have a trace of illusion about the government, but if they have a bite to eat, they will easily not rebel, and in the past few days, due to the passing of the Qincha, the Yanzhou government is also careful and vigilant, and the time is not yet ripe for the incident." Tomorrow you will all go to the school grounds, and first agitate in tandem among the hungry people, and act on camera. When the government's relief is not available, and then look for an opportunity to start an incident, everything must be cautious, and when the time is not right, you must not act rashly. ”

"Yes!" The three of them clasped their fists and saluted, and then withdrew. The green-shirted woman also got up and said to the scholar Yifu: "Childe rest early, I'll go." ”

"Well, you've been working hard all day long, so you should rest early." The young scholar said in a gentle tone.

The woman nodded and turned around and walked out of the room, Wang Qiang followed the woman's figure, only feeling that her body was graceful, and she should be a first-class beauty just looking at the silhouette.

The scholar did not sleep, but took out a book from the corner of the table, turned on the oil lamp, and read it under the lamp.

Wang Qiang lay back on the bed lightly, pondering the conversation between the few people just now, and his heart beat a drum, this is obviously a few thieves planning a riot! Now that he is an official of the imperial court, it is said that he should notify the government to arrest these individuals, and naturally he can make a great contribution in front of the emperor, but if he really does this, won't he become a sinner in suppressing the peasant uprising! Although this Chongzhen is good to himself, but after all, he is a dead king, maybe he will really hang himself on the coal mountain in a few years, and Li Zicheng will become the emperor in Beijing, so can he still spare himself! It seems that this Yanzhou is a place of right and wrong, and if you want to get into trouble, it is the best policy to get out of the way.