1

After the downpour, the Deqing County Ya is fresh and elegant, and it is more majestic than usual.

Cao Yin ran all the way, he was so tired that he couldn't breathe, and as soon as he arrived at the door, he was impatient to ask for a report. Menzi saw that the visitor was drenched and looked down, thinking that he was a madman, and viciously blocked people out of the door. Cao Yin hurriedly took out Tongtianwat and said: "I am Cao Yin, holding Tongtianwat can freely dispatch the officials to arrest the thief, and now I come to Deqing County to report the case, you dare to stop me?" Menzi was shocked, but he didn't distinguish between truth and falsehood, so he had to introduce Cao Yin into the Menke Hall first, and asked other Menzi to accompany him to talk, and he hurriedly ran into the second hall to tell Liu Yuan, the county leader.

Liu Yuan didn't dare to slack off, and urgently reported to the county order, Jiang County was shocked, and convened a group of bureaucrats of all sizes in the county, the lord, and the history of the canon to discuss: "The first emperor has a decree, Tongtian Wat admonishes the Son of Heaven, and inspects hundreds of officials, the palace is forbidden, the government and the military camp, day and night in and out, unimpeded, those who hold the Tianwat, the temple participates in the hundred officials, the guards can not be stopped, the village captures the thief, and the tolerance is dispatched, Cao Yin is here today, I don't know whether it is a curse or a blessing." ”

This Deqing County is a luxurious and erosive slum, a den of corruption and corruption, a group of officials have their own bad deeds, listen to the words of **, each is frightened, everyone is afraid.

**Seeing that everyone was silent, he was so anxious that he paced back and forth in the hall, muttering to himself: "Could it be that the news of our misappropriation of disaster relief money leaked last month?" ”

Liu Yuan, the county magistrate, pondered for a while and said: "My lord, I am relieved, I heard that Cao Yin and the Donglin party members are entangled, which is not tolerated by the Duke of Wei, and has been demoted and expelled from the court......"

Lord Bo Wanji said, "In that case, how can we keep him?" Duke Wei is powerful, leaving Cao Yin here, you and I have lost our official affairs, and the lives of the family are difficult to protect. ”

Dian Shi Ma Shuquan said: "But, after all, he has Tongtian Wat, what reason do we have to reject him?" In case he makes trouble with the emperor, we will defy the will of the emperor, and this crime is not small. ”

**sighed: "We petty officials, no one can afford to offend, I don't think he can wait too long, it is better to go to greet him first, see what he is here for, and then discuss." ”

The group hurriedly came to the guest hall, and when they saw Cao Yinna, they bowed, saying that they were late to greet and hope to forgive their sins. Cao Yin replied and said the reason, ** learned that Cao Yin was only passing by Deqing, so he put his mind at ease, squeezed out an angry face and said: "Where did these three thieves come from, they dare to be so presumptuous, Lord Cao can rest assured, this official will send someone to arrest him." Seeing that Cao Yin was soaked, he ordered his subordinates: "Go and get clean clothes to change into for Lord Cao." ”

Cao Yin thanked him: "Thank you for your kindness," and said: "The law of the Ming Dynasty is not allowed to be blasphemed, and the three thieves must not be allowed to go unpunished. ”

** Hurriedly said: "That's, that's, come here, quickly call the head catcher and lead the people to the horse temple to catch the three evils of drilling the harrier, the king of troubled times, and the oil slippery." ”

Cao Yin said: "I'll take Kuaishou forward." ”

**Said: "Lord Cao is tired all the way, and he was frightened by thieves, and he was caught in the rain, so it is better to have a good rest, drink some hot soup, and don't catch a cold. ”

When it comes to catching a cold, Cao Yin thinks of her mother, who is seventy years old, and today she is frightened a lot, and she is poured by heavy rain, how can she stand it? Then he said: "It's okay, this matter is up to you, my mother is still at Dr. Huang's house in the countryside, I'll go and see it first." ”

**Said: "Okay, the adult is going to Tonglu to take office, time can not be delayed, I see this, after a while, the adult changed his clothes, took the coil from my Deqing County Yazhi, rode a horse to go to the post early, and waited for me to catch the murderer, seized the stolen goods and horses, and then sent someone to Tonglu." ”

Cao Yin thought to himself, this can only be the case, so he nodded and said: "It doesn't matter if you can recover the silver two, it's just that you can't indulge the wicked and break the law of the court." ”

**While rectifying the people and horses to catch thieves, while ordering the household to send two silver, the history took Cao Yin into the back hall to change clothes out, Liu Yuan brought a black horse, presented fifty taels of silver, Cao Yin took the horse, only received ten taels of silver, said goodbye** left the county government, and hurriedly rode a horse to find his mother.

2

Cao Yin beat the horse all the way to gallop, passing by a wooden bridge, saw many villagers gathered on the bridge, some sighed, some shook their heads and sighed, and then looked at the river under the bridge, the torrent was rolling, and there were people on both sides of the river anxiously searching for something. When they saw someone coming on a tall horse, they all got out of the way. Cao Yin saw that the wooden bridge was narrow, and the heavy rain had just passed, and the bridge deck was slippery, so he didn't dare to ride the horse, so he had to fall down and lead the horse slowly.

After crossing the bridge, Cao Yin looked back at the villagers and the rushing river, thinking that it was a heavy rain, a flash flood, someone accidentally fell into the water, and wanted to go to inquire, but thinking that the old mother was still waiting for him, he had to give up, rode back on the horse, and whipped away.

When he arrived at Dr. Huang's house, Cao Yin was just about to enter, when he suddenly saw two people walking out in a hurry. Cao Yin saw that one of them was carrying a medicine box, so he hurriedly pulled it and asked, "But Doctor Huang?" The man said, "It's down there." The other person parted Cao Yin and said: "Brother, if you don't have a serious illness, you can come back another day, Dr. Huang is going to save people's lives, and there is no delay for a moment." The man said, took Dr. Huang and left.

Even if he wanted to save his life, Cao Yin couldn't ask anymore, so he had to go into the house to look for his mother, and saw that there were only three patients in the house, and there was no mother. At this moment, the three patients got up and wanted to leave, and Cao Yin hurriedly asked, "Three, can you see a seventy-year-old woman coming to treat the sick?" The three of them shook their heads and said, "I haven't seen it." Cao Yin came to the door and looked left and right, thinking secretly: "It's strange, the place where she is separated from her mother is not far from here, her old man should have arrived early, how could she be missing?" ”

Just wondering, seeing the three patients walking out of the door, Cao Yin asked, "Aren't you waiting for Dr. Huang?" One of them replied, "Wait for him?" There was an old man who fell into the river, and he went to save people's lives, and it took two or three hours, to say the least, and it was dark when he came back. Cao Yin was shocked: "Old man? What kind of old man? The man replied: "I don't know, I just heard Li Lao Er, who came to call, said that there was an old man who accidentally slipped and fell into the river when crossing the bridge, Liu Wa and Liu Lao Ghost They have already gone into the water to save people, and I don't know if they have been rescued now." ”

Cao Yin, who was lost and depressed, staggered to the wooden bridge, saw the dejected looks of everyone, and hurriedly grabbed one of them and asked, "What does the old man who fell into the water look like, has he been rescued?" The man sighed and said, "Alas, there is no trace, I am afraid that it has been washed away by the flood long ago." Cao Yin asked anxiously: "What does she look like?" Another man came over with a willow stick and said, "When I was about to cross the bridge, I saw the old woman staggering in the middle of the bridge, her clothes were soaked, a black dress on her head was used as an umbrella, wearing a green silk robe, holding this willow stick. ”

When Cao Yin heard this, he suddenly felt dizzy and the sky was spinning, and everyone helped him and asked, "Do you recognize the old woman?" Cao Yin cried: "That's my mother." After that, while shouting his mother, he chased down the river frantically, and everyone just shook their heads when they saw it.

Cao Yin searched the river repeatedly for more than ten miles, until it was dark and there was no trace of his mother, so he had to wear filial piety, burn paper and incense, bow to the rolling torrent nine times and bow three times, only to cry until the sky was dark and died.

Seeing that the east was slightly white, Cao Yin stopped crying, calmed down, and thought that his mother had been buried in the belly of the fish, and it was useless to cry, with the law of the Ming Dynasty, all those who were officials died in the death of their parents, when they resigned and returned to their hometowns to guard filial piety for three years, named "Ding Wei", today's mother returned to heaven unexpectedly, I should resign and go home, Ding Wei guarded the mausoleum, and must not abolish the law and filial piety.

Thinking of this, Cao Yin got up, wiped his tears, and returned to the county town pavilion with the only relic left by his mother, the willow stick and crutches, and wrote a submission to the imperial court. After a month, the imperial court replied and allowed the invitation, so he returned to his hometown of Caozhuang, Xinzheng, bought a coffin, put the willow stick and cane in the coffin and buried it, built a tomb, erected a monument, built two thatched houses on the side of the tomb, and waited day and night to fulfill filial piety by the empty tomb.

At the end of the month, Liang Changgui, the commander of Xinzheng County, came to Caozhuang to visit Cao Yin with a group of people, and sent it to Cao Yin according to the law. When the neighbors learned that Cao's mother accidentally fell into the water and died, they sighed one by one.

3

On this day, Cao Yinlu sat on the grass and read "Han Feizi", and a gorgeously dressed middle-aged man helped an old man to the mountain. The old man shouted from afar, "Lord Cao." Cao Yin looked up and saw that it was Cao Tong, the head of the Caozhuang Pavilion, who was considered a cousin in terms of seniority, so he put down the book and got up to greet him, and said, "Why is the third uncle here?" Cao Tong pointed to the middle-aged man: "This is Cao Hui, the rich man of Cao Zhuang, your uncle, you will be called Uncle Hui." Without waiting for Cao Yin to give a salute, Cao Hui bowed first: "Uncle Ximing is an official in the court, and now Lord Cao has received the ancestral virtue, and his talent is reused by the imperial court. Cao Yin knew that the Ximing uncle in his mouth was his grandfather Cao Ximing, so he shook his head and replied: "I'm ashamed, Cao Yin's virtue is thin, how dare he compare with his grandfather." ”

The three of them sat down on the stool in front of the thatched house, Cao Yin had heard that Cao Hui had more than 200 acres of land, more than 500 acres of mountains and forests, three real estates, and a wine shop, and he was a well-known rich man in Xinzheng County. ”

Cao Tong said: "I heard that you are here, your Uncle Hui and the neighbors have made an appointment to invite you to get together, and I am here to invite, the time is set for today, what do you think?" ”

Cao Yin said: "Thank you Uncle Hui and all the neighbors, it's just that Cao Yinding is worried about the system, and it is not suitable for wine and meat." ”

Cao Hui said: "It's okay, everyone eats a vegetarian banquet, drinks herbal tea, one comes to talk about the old, the other comes to make friends, Lord Cao has been an official in the imperial court for many years, and today I came back to my hometown, and the villagers have to treat us once, otherwise, it doesn't seem that we are not close to people." ”

Cao Yin thought, the villagers are so enthusiastic, they don't agree but don't cold everyone's hearts, and if they don't know, they say that I, Cao Yin, look down on people, so he said: "That is the case, it is better for the younger generation to be respectful than to obey fate." ”

That night, Cao Hui's house was decorated with lights, and the family members were busy coming and going, full of joy. Cao Yin accompanied by Cao Tong to Cao's house, Cao Hui and a large group of people welcomed the two into the guest hall, after everyone sat down, Cao Yin praised: "What a big manor, Uncle Hui's home is comparable to the mansion of the court and the central government, so it is not enviable." Cao Hui hurriedly said: "Lord Cao has praised it falsely, the humble house is simple, and it is a blessing that my Cao Hui has cultivated for three lifetimes to welcome Lord Cao to come today." When they heard this, they all chimed in, "Yes, yes!" ”

Cao Tong reminded Cao Hui: "Do you want to introduce your neighbors to Lord Cao?" ”

"Yes, yes, I forgot when I was happy," Cao Hui hurriedly stood up, "Lord Cao, this is Cao Zhong, who works in the county government office. This is Xiucai Cao Liucai, and his uncle is Wang Nian, the prison envoy of the Shandong Provincial Department of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Cao Youli, the secretary of Yuzhou County, heard that Lord Cao had returned to his hometown, so he rushed back to pay respects. Cao Quanfu, the wealthy owner of our Cao Village, has four shops in the county. Cao Youde, our big landlord in Caozhuang, has 100 acres of fertile land and more than 300 cattle and sheep...... By the way, this uncle's name is Cao Sijiu, and he is the oldest elder in our Cao Zhuang. ”

Everyone bowed to Cao Yin one by one, and Cao Yin also returned the salute one by one.

At this time, the dishes were all ready, Cao Yin swept the table, and the vegetarian banquet was good:

Sweet and sour crispy tofu is black and white, and wolfberry stewed winter melon is white and red.

The vegetarian fried wild mushrooms are fragrant, and the aroma of the small cabbage with oil is strong.

The braised potatoes are red and bright, and the pumpkin strips with salt and pepper are yellow.

The sour and hot potatoes are shredded and shaped, and the fragrant white lotus root slices are flavorful.

The bright red sour robul acid is spicy, and the salt invades the green bitter gourd and is bitter and sweet.

Pine nuts mixed with corn are the most lovely, and red dates mixed with noodle soup are even more gluttonous.

……

The red, green, emerald and white of a table are steaming, and the house is full of sweet, sour, bitter and spicy fragrances.

Cao Yin secretly thought, Caozhuang is remote, more than ten miles away from the county seat, how easy it is to prepare such a sumptuous dinner, presumably they spent a lot of silver taels, a lot of thought, now there is a famine in various places, everywhere mourning, so it is a waste of money and food.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help frowning, but everyone was happy, and it was inconvenient to criticize too much, so I had to say: "Why do you need to spend so much, now that the country is in crisis, the people are not covered with clothes and food, I meet with the neighbors, mainly to reminisce about the past, just eat some coarse tea and light rice." ”

Cao Hui said with a smile: "Lord Cao is full of economy, and he is unimpeded by Tongtianwat in the palace official office, what a glory, the villagers of Cao Zhuang are proud of a purple-clothed official in our village, and they are all happy when they hear that the Lord is back, and they are all happy and compete to see the dignity, but it is a pity that Lord Cao is worried about the system, and has to treat each other with a vegetarian banquet, which is really neglectful." ”

Everyone said: "Yes, I snubbed Lord Cao." ”

Cao Hui said: "Please take a seat." ”

Cao Yin said: "Today is a gathering of neighbors, when the elders and young are respectful, Cao Yin is young, how dare he take a seat, I see that the number of people here is the highest and the oldest, and he should be invited to sit on the throne." ”

Cao Sijiu was wearing coarse cloth, wearing a green scarf, his hands and feet were rough, his face was full of wrinkles, and he looked at least seventy or eighty years old. ”

Cao Yin said: "We are all villagers in the township, how can we talk about the rich and the poor, your old man is not seated, who of us juniors dares to sit." ”

Cao Youli saw it and said to Cao Hui: "Since Lord Cao is so humble, let's follow Lord Cao's wishes." Cao Tong also said: "Yes, everyone gathered today is a family, I think it's good to be casual." Cao Quanfu said: "Then sit in a row with the Cao family?" "Everybody said yes.

Everyone agreed to invite Cao Sijiu to take a seat, Cao Sijiu was terrified, and he couldn't obey, so everyone pushed him to the main seat and pressed it. Cao Sijiu stood up again, and Cao Hui scolded: "Uncle Sijiu, don't you give me Cao Hui's face, is it possible that you won't even give Cao Hui's face?" Cao Sijiu saw that Cao Hui's seven-point smile concealed three points of anger, and he didn't dare to say more, so he had to sit down honestly and fearfully.

After everyone sat down in terms of seniority, Cao Hui got up and said, "Come, let's replace wine with tea and toast Lord Cao with a cup." ”

"Cao Yin Ding is worried at home, he is already an ordinary person, and this is not an official court, the elders call Cao Yin by his name." Cao Yin stood up and smiled, and suggested: "This first cup of tea, we should wish Grandpa Sijiu a long and healthy life." ”

Everyone was shocked, and Cao Youli said: "Lord Cao, oh, no, what Brother Cao said is very true, let's respect Grandpa Sijiu first." ”

After saluting Cao Sijiu, everyone sat down to eat food, and saluted each other with tea instead of wine, and the banquet was particularly friendly. After eating for a long time, Cao Yin put down his chopsticks and asked, "Folks, have you had a good harvest this year?" ”

Cao Liu asked, stood up, raised his fists with both hands, and replied loudly: "Long live the Lord and the nine thousand years old Hongfu, today my Caozhuang people are ripe and full of grains." After speaking, Cao Liucai asked Cao Youde softly: "Uncle Youde, the grain you harvested this year is 2,000 stones!" Cao Liucai waved his hand and said, "What is that, compared to Brother Cao Hui, my little food is not enough for him to stuff his teeth." Cao Hui said: "The people can have today's blessings, not thanks to the nine-thousand-year-old holy and sage. Cao Tong said: "I heard that the people all over the country are grateful to the nine-thousand-year-old sage, and have built a shrine for him to worship. Cao Hui said: "What the pavilion chief's eldest brother said is extremely true. Cao Quanfu said: "For the nine-thousand-year-old Jiansheng Temple, I will pay thirty taels of silver." Cao Youde said: "I also gave thirty taels of silver." Cao Hui said: "To build a living ancestral hall, it takes about one hundred and fifty taels of silver, since the two elder brothers have paid sixty taels, the rest of the expenses will be borne by the younger brother." Cao Tong was overjoyed: "Okay, good, I think it will be done in two or three months if the whole village is mobilized to do volunteers." Cao Youli said: "I have been to Kaifeng, and I saw that the ancestral hall of the people is quite exquisite, magnificent and beautiful, the tile is made of glass, like a coronation dress, the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands, and feet are like living people, and the intestines are filled with gold and jade jewelry, and the hairpin is filled with flowers at four o'clock. ”

Cao Hui, Cao Youde, and Cao Quanfu were shocked when they heard this, and the three of them unanimously said "ah", so to speak, it would cost five or six hundred silver to build a living ancestral hall.

Cao Tong said with a smile: "That's Kaifeng, how can we compare with our small place, the villagers built a shrine to show my Caozhuang people's love for nine thousand years old, everyone do their best, why compare." Cao Liucai said: "Yes, yes, although the younger generation does not have the financial resources of the three uncles, he is willing to write a couplet and hang it on both sides of the gate of the ancestral hall to show the merits of the nine thousand years old." The people asked, "What couplet?" Cao Liucai's expression was solemn, and his heart was overflowing, and he chanted loudly:

A generation of holy spirits is in the mortal world, the most holy and the most godly, holding the world and Ze for all generations,

The three dynasties were born in the world, and they were martial arts, and they were shining with the sun and the moon.

Everyone applauded, and Cao Youli praised: "Nine thousand years old can be literary and martial, the most holy and godly, after Wanli, Guangzong, and the three dynasties of the Apocalypse, the palm of Qiankun is far superior to the ancient monarch, and the brilliance is comparable to the sun and the moon. ”

Boom...... Just when everyone was talking enthusiastically, suddenly a loud noise came, and the whole table of dishes jumped up, everyone looked at it, it turned out to be Cao Yin slammed the table, everyone you look at me, I look at you, I don't know why.

"The eunuch sells his reputation and reputation, and brings disaster to the country and the people, although it is difficult to solve the hatred in my heart even if he is cut by a thousand knives," everyone only praised Wei Zhongxian, and no one noticed that Cao Yin's face was already covered with dark clouds.

Everyone was shocked, and the living room was suddenly silent.

After a moment of silence, Cao Tong cautiously asked, "Lord Cao, who are you?" ”

Cao Yin said: "Third uncle, elders, you don't know, that Wei Zhongxian was originally a eunuch, and he couldn't interfere in politics by law, but he deceived the emperor, played with power, brutalized Zhongliang for no reason, and arbitrarily deceived the world and stole his name, if it wasn't for this thief's design to frame me, I would not have been demoted from the court, and my mother would not have drowned in another country." ”

"Huh? Lord Cao was deposed from Beijing by the age of 9,000? Cao Tong was shocked.

"We thought you were the emperor and the nine thousand years old sent you to inspect Jiangnan, didn't we?" Cao Quanfu was horrified.

Cao Yin said angrily: "What kind of nine-thousand-year-old is he, a traitor throughout the ages, but this thief is the most hateful." ”

The happy feast suddenly became awkward.

Cao Youli coughed twice, and arched his hand to everyone: "Recently, there have been a lot of trivial matters in Yuzhou County, and I only told the county for two days of leave when I came back, and I have to go back today. Cao Zhong said: "Brother Youli is going to Yuzhou, you have to pass through Xinzheng County, I am most familiar with this section of the road, I will send you there, and there is a companion on the road." As soon as the two walked out of the gate, Cao Quanfu hurriedly chased out and said: "I'm cowardly, I don't dare to go back to the county seat alone, you two go to the county seat, don't leave me." ”

Cao Tong saw that the three of them were gone, and then said: "Lord Cao was degraded and left Beijing, and unfortunately lost his mother Ding worry, presumably he was in a bad mood, even so, we can't drink here, I think so, today's banquet ends here, and the neighbors will gather again another day." Cao Hui hurriedly said: "What Brother Pavilion Chief said is very true, today's banquet ends here. When they heard this, they all said, "In that case, I will take my leave." ”

Cao Yin was about to hold everyone back, but Cao Tong grabbed Cao Yin and said, "Lord Cao, it's not too early, go back." ”

Cao Tong's words were categorical and non-negotiable, but Cao Hui showed a very unfriendly look, and Cao Yin couldn't help but be secretly shocked when he saw it. Cao Tong saw that Cao Yin didn't leave, his face sank and he threw his sleeves away, Cao Hui turned around and went into the backyard, leaving Cao Yin alone in the guest hall in a daze.

The straight officialdom is indifferent and ruthless, and I can't imagine that the countryside is also full of frost.

Since then, Cao Yin is worried about the system, and does not go to the village to find people, occasionally some people pass by the cemetery, Cao Yin will climb a few gossips with them, so every day to guard the empty tomb, facing the green mountains and flowing water, day reading all the sons of the hundred schools, night thinking about the sages of the Legalists, day after day, year after year, year after year, year after day.