To the point of Mei Guozhen, whether it is a clean official or a corrupt official, his eyesight is definitely not bad.

Since ancient times, it has been difficult to be a corrupt official, and it is even more difficult to be a clean official than a corrupt official.

is too honest like Hai Jui, the lone wolf of officialdom, everyone is afraid, it can't be knocked down or smashed, the aura of honesty protects the body, fights invincible opponents all over the world, and makes corrupt officials sweat when they move their mouths, but such officials can't do things, and officials who don't close the rules of officialdom can't do things.

It's not okay to be too greedy, I don't have the heart to do things at all, all my thoughts are on how to make money, and there are many people who make money and go crazy.

Only by wandering between the two, armed with a low degree of greed - tactfulness to protect themselves, and using their own eloquence and thinking to accomplish a thing in a thousand difficulties, these capable officials are particularly valuable practical talents, and it is precisely because of such talents that the Ming Dynasty has not collapsed.

Mei Guozhen is one of them, if you want to maintain a relatively embarrassing scale, you can still be an official to achieve the position of governor, and you can still hold a certain amount of power, what you need is definitely not only principles and character, but also human feelings, which is the same at any time.

Therefore, the faces of those squires, powerful and wealthy businessmen, in the eyes of Mei Guozhen, should not be too ironic.

Sure enough, Du Shi, who was sitting next to Kang's, spoke first.

"Futai, to contribute to the country, that is what our ancestors have been doing since the beginning, we are deeply blessed with the country, to be able to do business here, in our hearts we have always remembered our identity, remember our responsibilities, and dare not slack off one day.

But Futai also knows that this weather is getting colder, and it is not only the common people who are affected, but also those of us who are affected! Grain also freezes to death in the ground and can't grow, we have a lot of land, but there are also many tenants, and there are more mouths to eat.

It seems to be the rich party, but in fact, we know the suffering, never say it outside, knock out the teeth, and swallow the blood in the stomach, no one says that one is bad, but we people open our eyes every day, and hundreds of people have to eat, drink and lazar We have to serve, our income is a little more, but the expenses are also large! ”

Liu on the side of Du also spoke.

"Yes, Futai, what Du Dangjia said is very reasonable, we people all look beautiful on the surface, in fact, life is not better than others at all, ordinary people are poor, but they don't need any filial piety, we are different.

Doing this business, eating this bowl of rice, all kinds of filial piety in the court in that place are always indispensable, this family is dozens of taels, there are hundreds of taels, the big head is out of the family, and the small head is also divided, not to mention those tenants, those long-term and short-term workers, the subordinates of the family and the maids.

As Du Dangjia said, even if this is a bumper harvest year, hundreds of mouths are waiting for us to serve every day, the bigger the home, the greater the expenses, how many mouthfuls can really fall in our mouths? Do you say? The suffering in this can only be said to be like a person drinking water, knowing the warmth and coldness. ”

After Du Shi and Liu Shi finished speaking, everyone nodded their heads and said yes one after another, spitting out bitterness one after another.

Kang's looked at the heat, Mei Guozhen's face became worse and worse, and he hurriedly said: "Okay, don't say it again, Futai is already busy and annoying enough on weekdays, you things still use this kind of thing to bother Futai?" It's still too busy to deal with government affairs in Futai, right? ”

A group of people immediately shut up and apologized one after another.

Kang's took the opportunity to say to Mei Guozhen: "Futai, although these people don't know what to do and talk nonsense, but I have to say that there are some things here that are true, let's just say that my Kang's property in Datong has more than 100 tenants, and there are 30 or 50 people in the family and maids.

As soon as I opened my eyes every day, hundreds of people were waiting for Kang's to pay for it, and before the income came, it was spent first, and the annual situation was extremely poor in the past few years, and the harvest per mu of land fell by seven or eight percent compared with the previous years, and we are also losing money and even the family foundation has to go up to make up for the deficit, which is really difficult! ”

Seeing that Kang's family also expressed his meaning, Mei Guozhen knew that if he didn't take a dose of fierce medicine, he wouldn't say anything, and he couldn't take away a grain of grain today.

So Mei Guozhen took a glass of wine and drank it, and said slowly: "Do you know what the Tumut tribe outside this pass has reached? ”

Everyone hurriedly shook their heads.

"The weather is very cold, the harvest is poor, and I haven't traded with them for some time, so I don't know the specific situation."

Kang answered on behalf of everyone.

"The three ladies were forced to come to Datong to ask for food, the situation of this Tumut tribe has reached the verge of collapse, if there is food, it can calm the hearts of the people, let them continue to defend the border, in order to resist the Mongol iron cavalry that may come further north, and if there is no food, people are about to starve to death, who cares about the covenant?

Ladies and gentlemen, this official is definitely not alarmist, once the food is cut off, in order to survive, the Tumut people will definitely not sit still, and will definitely go south to Datong Koubian, when the time comes, Governor Wang's 20 years of hard work will not be repaid, the war in Datong will start again, the lives will be ruined, and the people will suffer, and your life will not be easy, right? ”

Mei Guozhen looked at the squires and rich people around him, and saw that they had a hesitant look on their faces, and his heart was slightly excited.

"This official is the governor of Datong, the official of the imperial court, naturally reasonable, law-speaking, but the law of Datong is only useful to the Ming people, those Mongolians don't care what you don't know about the Ming law, as long as they eat, as long as money and women, the official will not hide from you, the Datong army has been short of food.

The food of the imperial court does not know when it will arrive, the situation is extremely critical, if there is no food support, the situation will be out of control, when the Mongols go south to Koubian, the soldiers are hungry and unable to resist, if Datong is breached, Shanxi will not be guaranteed, Shanxi is not guaranteed, then the Central Plains are in danger.

As the old saying goes, there are no eggs under the nest? If Datong is finished, these acres of land, these stored grains, these gold and silver treasures, these singers and dancers, including your own lives, I am afraid that you will honor the Mongols, right? Those barbarians don't make sense, they only recognize steel knives. ”

Mei Guozhen thinks that he has said everything that should be said and what should not be said, and the next thing is to see the consciousness of these squires.

He thinks that these squires still have a little bit of the most basic overall situation and conscience, and there are no eggs under the nest?

I am afraid that a flat-headed common person understands this truth, once Datong Town is broken, it will not only be as simple as the destruction of life, how many people in Shanxi will suffer because of this, and Jizhen and Taiyuan Town will also be involved, and then the matter will be big.