As soon as the king and his entourage entered the valley, Li Kun was instructed by his Lao Tzu to run back to the mountain to report the news. Li Guangxiong and Li Guanghao, the two old men, had not woken up from drowsiness, and after hearing the news, they quickly got up from the couch to wash and take care of it. Then he rushed to the empty field in front of the ancestral hall with the people who could be found temporarily, and waited to welcome the arrival of the main book. When the king went to the mountain under the guidance of Li Zhensheng and Li Zhenxing brothers, the two sides met, and the king asked for a request and pulled the second elder to greet and admit his relatives, and finally called the second brother and the third brother affectionately.

As soon as this party recognized his younger brother, Master Wang's eyes turned and he aimed at the group of people he had seen a long time ago, a group of people who were tied into zongzi and lying unconscious at the door of the ancestral hall. Master Wang smiled and asked as if puzzled: "Second brother, these people ...... What's going on? ”

"Oh, Brother Wang is asking these brutes? Hmph, they are the bandits who stole into my cottage last night to steal grain and kidnap people! After the old man finished speaking, he suddenly slapped his head and reacted, and bowed his hand to the king's master book to plead guilty: "The king's book forgives, the clansmen hate their hateful behavior, and they are heavier when they arrest people, so ......"

"Oh, it's them" Master Wang nodded clearly, and raised his hand to help Li Guangxiung: "Second brother, why should you be like this, such a villain, everyone will be punished." The people of Lijiazhai shot with hatred, even if it was heavier, it was reasonable and appropriate, understandable, understandable. ”

On the side, Li Guanghao saw that this matter had been successfully erased, and he was overjoyed, and stepped forward to say to the second brother and the king master: "Why did the second brother let the king master book bask in the sun here?" The king has worked hard all the way, and how about going to the house to drink a cup of coarse tea? ”

Wang Zhushu laughed when he heard this: "Lijiazhai has green mountains and green waters, outstanding people, this tea soup may not be a rough word." Let's go, let's go, the old man is really thirsty. Coarse tea can be slowed down, just add a pot of water first. ”

"Hehe, my Li Jiazhai doesn't make your guests thirsty. The king is please, the home is being repaired, and some messy ones are still being forgiving. The two old men beckoned the king into the house to rest. Li Zhensheng looked at the air, slowed down and fell behind, grabbed his son and hid under the shade of a tree on the side, and asked quickly.

Before Li Chenglin could explain a few words to his father, the officials who came with the king came over under the leadership of Deng Tiezhu. Deng Tiezhu bowed his hand slightly, and said what he meant: "Brother Li, the king master instructed me to wait, since Guizhai has been robbed, let us follow to the scene of the theft, and go back to give an explanation to the county lieutenant." I also asked Brother Li to find someone to show the brothers a way. ”

"Ah, Deng Zhutou is in a hurry, why rush for a while, it's not too late to take a break and then go." Li Zhensheng didn't mean to shirk, he didn't understand the arrangement of his brothers and nephews, and he was completely polite.

Deng Tiezhu was aggrieved when he heard this, and the soles of his feet were blistered all the way away, why didn't he want to find a place to sit down and rest and drink a glass of water. But when he went up the mountain, the king solemnly instructed, and just now before leaving, he gave a look again, for fear that he would forget. No matter how tired he is, how dare he disobey the orders of the king and the king of Hades. With a businesslike attitude, he said seriously: "It's not too late to watch the scene before resting." Brother Li forgive me, if I let Master Wang see the brothers and just rest and not investigate the case, I will go back and tell Zhang County Lieutenant, brothers...... It's hard to explain."

"So...... Hey, Kun'er. Li Zhensheng still had something to ask his son, and when he looked around, he saw Li Kun coming from behind the ancestral hall, "Kun'er, you take these messengers to the stolen grain depot to take a look." By the way, what about your third uncle? Why can't you see him? ”

"Ao, the third uncle is counting the losses at the grain depot. Second uncle, are you looking for him? I told him to come over. After Li Kun finished speaking, he turned around and waved his hand: "A few poor masters are going here." He led Deng Tiezhu and the others in the direction he came.

As soon as the few people left, Li Zhensheng turned around and began to ask Li Chenglin again, but before Li Chenglin could say another word, he heard Li Zhenxing's loud voice behind him shouting: "Second brother, the king called you." Second brother! What do you say, the king's book calls you. Interrupted several times, Li Zhensheng glared at the fourth child angrily, and left the two of them into the house angrily. Leaving Li Zhenxing and Li Chenglin's uncle and nephew to look at each other and snicker. After laughing, Li Zhenxing waved his hand lazily to Li Chenglin: "Hey, you kid will run again." Old man Wang said that he wanted to meet our brothers, you go to the grain depot to have a look, and if the third child is finished, let him come over quickly. ”

Is Li Zhencai busy? The answer, of course, is no. After discussing the matter with Luo Yun in the morning, it only took Li Jiazhai less than half an hour to arrange everything. Just waiting for the patriarch Li Zhensheng to come back, although it was a bit surprising that such a big official as the king master book came with him, but it didn't have any impact on them. After all, just like Luo Yun said to everyone at that time: "We didn't lie to people!" It's that when the party who suffers from a street fight finds someone to complain, he knows to shed a few tears and pretend to be a bitter master, not to mention that we have indeed suffered thieves, suffered losses, and almost hurt people! What's wrong with the grievances we have become! ”

"What's the matter, brother?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong with you! Ten stone of grain! Ten stones! 1,200 pounds of wheat! It's enough for a family to eat for a year! It's gone, it's gone! These people, I'm going to chop them! Don't stop me! Li Zhencai, who was crying bitterly, stalked his neck and sprayed at Deng Tiezhu, who accidentally broke the peace, and stretched his arms to pose in a desperate posture, which frightened Deng Tiezhu and hurriedly jumped away. Then Li Kun and others, who had been ready for a long time, rushed up and grabbed Li Zhencai, comforting and consoling, coaxing, scolding, and scolding, the scene was chaotic. The Li family was busy here, and Deng Tiezhu, who was left dry, touched his nose depressedly, blocked the door and couldn't walk, and he couldn't get in. His eyes wandered to the thick latch that had been cut off, the door of the grain depot where half of the door pages had fallen off, and the rest was nothing.

Li Chenglin, who was hiding outside the courtyard wall, saw that the yamen had finished circling around the grain depot, and when he saw the opportunity, he ran into the courtyard, pretending to be worried about his feet and shouting at a group of people from the Li family who were working hard: "Third uncle, third uncle!" My dad is back. Hey, third uncle. You let Jean, third uncle. The king of the county is here, and he wants to see you......"

'Boom-', and the scene fell silent in an instant. Deng Tiezhu and the others hid aside to steal fun when they saw that the name of the king's master book could have such an effect, and they could usually see this effect in the errand room.

"Cheng'er, who are you talking about, the king's master? Is the king in our village? Li Zhencai was addicted to the exercise, this expression, this cringe-inducing virtue looked in Li Chenglin's eyes, and he really thought that he hadn't received the news before.

Li Chenglin held back his heart and said with a serious face: "Well, the king is here with my father." I'm drinking tea at my house right now, and the Lord says I want to see you. Uncle, wipe your face and come with me. ”

"Ao, yes, I can't let the king wait for me, I'll go." After saying that, Li Zhencai pulled out his feet and went out, and Li Kun chased after him with a broken rag: "Third uncle, third uncle, you wipe your face first!" ”

Deng Tiezhu felt that he had nothing to do, so he went back. Before walking, I passed by the main entrance of the warehouse and glanced in, and saw that it was dark and opaque, and I could vaguely see the grain piled up into a hill. 'And so many?' It seems that Lijiazhai has not been affected by the drought this year. But will people borrow it? I can't buy food even if I have money these days. He shook his head, whether to borrow or not, and how much to borrow is a matter for the king's book. Deng Tiezhu felt that he had nothing to do with him, but seeing that the sky was getting dark, he would definitely live in Lijiazhai tonight. No matter what you say, you will definitely be able to eat a full meal today and tomorrow. Thinking of this, Deng Tiezhu couldn't help but snort proudly.

In front of Li Zhensheng's house is the Li family's meeting hall that is still under construction. In the main room in the backyard, there were more than a dozen people sitting around the king. In addition to the two old ladies, the three brothers of the Li family, Li Jian and several relatives of his uncle and maternal uncle are also listed. These are all some faces in Lijiazhai, holding the position of Wu Chief. The matter of borrowing grain has not been told to the whole village, and such a big thing cannot be hidden. Now that the king's book is here, he just took this opportunity to spread the word through these clansmen.

Master Wang put down a cup of tea, moistened his smoking throat, and asked a few words about the living conditions of each family, seeing that Li Zhensheng didn't follow up, he found an excuse to find the brothers in charge of the Li family. In fact, the main thing is to let Li Zhensheng take the initiative to borrow grain, after all, the government still has to save some face, and it is not easy for people to think that the government forcibly borrowed it. If this causes the dissatisfaction of the Li family, as soon as the words spread out and reach the ears of Yushi, even a good thing will become a bad thing.

gave Li Zhensheng several glances one after another, Li Zhensheng didn't know what he was thinking, he saw it but didn't say it immediately. The angry Wang Zhushu poured tea into his stomach vigorously, and he couldn't wait to drink up the water stored by the Li family.

Due to the limitations of geography and knowledge, people in this era are often more concerned about family interests rather than the general interests of the country. It can't be said that they are selfish or wrong, after all, the court and the state are too far away from them. A member of a family may never have the opportunity to see what the emperor looks like and what the prime minister looks like in his life, but he definitely knows what his father looks like and what his brother looks like. Relatives and estrangement are clear at a glance, the nature of people is there, and there is no need to ask which party's interests are protected?

When Li Jiazhai had no worries about food and clothing, Li Zhensheng's kind mind attacked, and he naturally thought of taking out some of his own food to help others. This help is for the common people who have no food to eat, not the imperial court, and borrowing food from the county government is just a medium to find because it does not have the strength to maintain fairness. However, when Li Zhensheng came back this time, he saw that something had happened to his family, the grain depot had been stolen, and the grain had suffered a loss. Just looked at Li Zhencai's crying cat-like face, and took it for granted that he no longer had the strength to help others. So at this time, Li Zhensheng has to think about the family, and he can't take care of the face of the king's bookkeeper.

At this time, more than a dozen people in the room only heard the sound of drinking water but did not speak a single person, and everyone's eyes were staring at Li Zhensheng. The king obviously has a request, but how to say this 'request' depends on the attitude of Li Zhensheng, the patriarch.

After being silent for a long time, Li Zhensheng had a gloomy face, and turned his head to look at the third child beside him: "What happened in the village last night, tell me in detail." ”

Li Zhencai, whose eyes were red and swollen and was desperately rubbing the corners of his eyes, was suffocated when he heard this, squinted at the second brother with an ugly face, and peeked at the top of the king's book, thinking: Second brother, don't blame me. So while blinking his eyes and enduring the itching of his eyeballs, he added fuel and vinegar to tell the story of last night in detail. Although Li Zhencai ordered a lot of secret words that the Li family knew well, after all, the Li family didn't expect that the power of the two tigers joining forces was so great, and it also involved Luo Yun's 'ancestor' predecessor who had never shown up, so Li Zhensheng listened to it and listened to it in the same way as Master Wang. However, the Li family present here has long been instructed: Luo Yun's two tigers must be hidden. So after listening to this version of Li Zhencai's story, there was no strange look on his face.

By the time Li Zhencai finished telling the story, the smell of food was already wafting in the small courtyard. Everyone in the room couldn't help but sniff, and the stomachs of Deng Tiezhu and the others were even more angry because of the fragrance.

"Alas, I didn't expect that there would be such thieves and kidnappers and daring villains under the rule of Xugu County. It was our county government that was unfavorable and made the two brothers suffer. The king blamed himself, although he knew that it was a polite remark, but everyone couldn't really admit it. The two old men hurriedly tried to persuade again, and the others also talked obliquely, only leaving all the sins on the shoulders of those villains who are still unconscious.

Master Wang peeked at Li Zhensheng and still lowered his head and didn't speak, and sighed secretly in his heart: I gave up this old face for the people of the county. Raising his head and pouring a cup of herbal tea, his face was full of sadness and tears, such an old man made such a pitiful expression, and before he spoke, he first let people cry a tear of sympathy, only to hear the king master book with a crying voice said: "Don't hide it from the two brothers, the old brother originally came here to hear Zhijie say that the Li family still has surplus grain, so he discussed with Miao County Ling and wanted to come to borrow some." Brother doesn't know, outside this cloud mountain...... Miserable......"

Li Zhencai was shocked by Lao Wang's cry, and couldn't help but shiver on a hot day, knowing that if he let Wang say this again, their brother's business of wanting to make favors would be completely ruined. I didn't calculate that their arrangement not only deceived Master Wang, but also deceived his soft-hearted second brother together, but unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to explain it to the second brother for half a day. Time waits for no one at the moment, taking advantage of the time when the two old men comforted the king's master book, Li Zhencai hurriedly poked the second brother with his elbow, and saw Li Zhensheng turn around, pursed his lips and squeezed out five words from between his teeth: "You come to borrow food!" ”

Seeing that Li Zhensheng hadn't reacted yet, Li Zhencai said again in a suppressed voice, and glanced at the Wang Zhushu who was closing his voice. Li Zhensheng came back to his senses at this time, no matter what, he provoked this matter, and he couldn't let Master Wang sing a one-man show here by himself. "Father, third uncle. It was I who proposed to the king that I would lend the surplus grain in my village to the yamen, but ......"

Old Man Li waited for a long time for his son's words, and he was still allowed to say anything. The two old men felt that something was wrong as soon as they opened their mouths, and at this time they interrupted Li Zhensheng when they opened their mouths, and even saved the effort of pretending to groan, and said directly to Li Zhencai, who was waiting for him: "San Lang, how much food do we have?" There may be some left to send to the king's book. ”

Hearing his father say this, Wang Zhushu looked at it with an expectant face, Li Zhensheng naturally didn't want to say anything, he knew that the third brother was the most unwilling to suffer, and he would definitely not agree to borrow food, and felt that it was better to let the third brother come forward to say that the difficulties in the Qing clan were better than him going back on his word, so he looked at Li Zhencai. He thought of this as the biggest obstacle to borrowing food in his heart, and once he understood the abacus, he became the hardest working actor in this play of borrowing food.

Li Zhencai had already calculated how much he could borrow in his heart, and the numbers naturally came as soon as he opened his mouth, but the old man was in a hurry to grab it just now, if he didn't delay it for a while, it would seem that they would be eager to send food out. But in the end, he has no experience, Li Zhencai pondered for a little longer, and the eyes of the king master bookkeeper's original hope dimmed, and said with a wry smile: "Virtuous nephew don't be embarrassed. Li Jiazhai has encountered a great disaster, and he still needs to protect himself, where can he take care of it...... Poor people in the county, if the relief grain does not come down, they can only eat the seeds in the righteous barn......"

"Master Wang doesn't have to be like this, I'm just thinking about how much food I can take out of the seeds left in my Li Jiazhai. Originally, this number was always in my heart, but last night...... The grain depot is in a mess, and the little nephew is stupid and slower to calculate clearly. Seeing that the time was almost up, Li Zhencai began to report to the bottom.

is the real bottom, according to Luo Yun's words, since you want to exchange for the greatest favor, you must be willing to invest the most food. The popular point is that the child is reluctant to catch the wolf. "Because of this year's catastrophe, the imperial court has exempted us from taxes and grain. Therefore, my Li Jiazhai deducted the winter grain prepared by each family, and there was indeed a lot left in the warehouse. I figured I could get it out...... About 100 stone of grain wheat, and about 10 stone of corn, beans, and so on. These...... Does Master Wang think it's enough? After Li Zhencai finished speaking, he looked at the master of the king. In fact, this figure is less than the amount of grain paid by Li Jiazhai in previous years, but in this year's disaster, if Li Jiazhai does not leave more grain and hand over all the grain according to the amount of previous years, it will make Wang Zhushu feel that they are more than that. It's too much, and the number is just right.

Sure enough, Wang Zhushu was happy to hear that there were more than 100 stones of grain, and he and Miao County Ling only wanted to let the county support the next batch of disaster relief food from the imperial court, and did not expect to rely on the Li Jiazhai family to help the people of the county. It should be enough to go back and ask for some from the big families in the county. Unexpectedly, the king was about to cry a few more times, and he almost didn't know what to say when he was excited: "Oh, the virtuous nephew is really ...... Deeply aware of the righteousness. The Li family is noble, if the people of the whole county can do this, why worry about this God. ”

Seeing that the favor was half in hand, the two old men exchanged glances at each other, stroked their beards and smiled with relief: "The king's book doesn't have to be like this, my Li Jiazhai is located under the boundary of Xu's county, and I have been able to worry about food and clothing for many years, not thanks to the rule of the king's master book and the county commander." Jiro is my son, how can I not know his thoughts. As soon as the drought started, he shouted that he wanted to go out of the mountains to release grain to save people, but where could my Lijiazhai afford to support the people of the county, so he had to live his life behind closed doors. This kid is a dead eye, and he can't put grain on his own, so he thinks of lending grain to the county government. Alas, brother, don't complain about my brother, I only look at my own children. At first, I really didn't agree to borrow food, but who knows when this drought will be the first to happen? It's good to have enough to eat. But I figured it out last night when I made a fuss with those gangsters. Instead of cheapening the wicked people, it is better to take it out and save some good people. I told my third brother this morning that when Erlang came back, I would discuss with him about borrowing grain. I didn't expect you to run away in person, not to mention anything else, in front of your brother's face, I ...... this food We'll load your car now! ”

The more the old man talked, the more he was emotionally engaged, and his face was as red as if he was drunk when he didn't drink. Regardless of the fact that it was getting dark, he waved his hand and took his two sons out to carry food. The master of the king on the side hurriedly grabbed the old man's arm and waved his hand to let Li Zhensheng and the brothers sit down: "Brother, brother's heart brother has received it." The grain will be loaded tomorrow, are you loading the grain now to drive the brother away?! Master Wang pretended to be angry and lowered his face, and without waiting for the frightened old man Li to ask for guilt, he relaxed his cheeks and smiled and hugged the old man's shoulder: "Alas, it's a pity that there is no wine." Otherwise, the elder brother will definitely get drunk with the two younger brothers, and Fang Xie will be happy! ”

As soon as Li Zhenxing heard that he could drink, he immediately put down his chopsticks and stood up: "Oh, it's rare for the king to come and want to drink, how can the Li family, as the master, not satisfy the wish of the king master?" Wait, I'll go and dig up the wine from my eldest nephew's house! After saying that, Li Laosi was afraid that someone would stop him, so he jumped out of the door in a few steps, and disappeared in an instant with his cloth shoes. Leaving a room full of people crying and laughing and not sitting there.

Wang Zhushu heard a figure that made him curious, blinked his misty old eyes and swept around the juniors such as Li Huan, Li Kun, and Li Chenglin who were present, and asked in a confused manner: "Aren't the grandchildren of the elder brother all here, who is this 'big nephew' talking about?" ”