"Hehe......" The old man was amused by him, but he was still reserved and didn't speak, but he was the shopkeeper on the side, and couldn't help but say: "You old man, you can't beat a fart with three sticks." If you don't talk about it, I'll tell it for you! ”

Shen Mo smiled: "In this way, you can also sit, and we will talk while drinking." ”

The shopkeeper sat down unceremoniously, poured himself a glass of 'October White', and opened the conversation...... It turned out that the old man was a native of Kunshan County, named Wei Youtian, with sons and daughters under his knees, and a family with land and property. However, there are unforeseen circumstances in the sky, and they only hate the bad guys, and there are scoundrels in the same county, Sun Wu, who vainly call the Wei family's land property 'their own business' and dedicate it to the wealthy and noble officials. The Wei family was naturally dissatisfied and sued the government. Who knew that the county magistrate also deliberately flattered the big family, and actually awarded all his land and property to the noble official's family.

There are two kinds of contributions, one is self-sacrifice, the other is this vain offering, the former still has the meaning of self-preservation, but the latter is a magic weapon to annihilate people to cling to power and invite merit to be rewarded. They use the owner's land, falsely claim to be the family business or the ownerless business, and vote for the noble official's family as a family member, slave, and village leader, relying on the power of the noble official's family, colluding with the government, and harming the people, which is very hateful!

The Wei family suffered from this, and its three sons naturally refused to accept it, and threatened to defend the family business to the death, and repelled the people who came to receive it several times, and finally caused a catastrophe, dozens of officials came and killed one on the spot, and the other two were arrested and put into prison. The old man's wife was distressed, and only the father and daughter were left, and they were also expelled from Kunshan and left to fend for themselves.

Listening to the shopkeeper talk about this, the old man was already in tears, and he choked up and took over the conversation and said: "I said that I have fallen here, thanks to the kindness of the shopkeeper, and I have allowed my father and daughter to perform here." "The signboard of 'Hua Kunshan' is not all derogatory, but also shows that everyone in Kunshan can play and sing, and there is a bite to eat wherever they go:" It's just that I feel sad and can't restrain myself, which disturbs the son's Yaxing ......"

Shen Mo shook his head slowly and asked, "What should I do next?" ”

"I'm not afraid of your jokes when I say it, my father and daughter want to practice their skills here first, and then go all the way north to go to Beijing to sue the emperor." The old man is obviously simple, and he doesn't know that there are some things that can't be said nonsense.

Shen Mo frowned slightly when he heard this: "There is a government above the county, there is a province above the government, and there is also a southeast governor in the province, why do you go to Yanjing, which is thousands of miles away, to complain?" ”

"It's not okay if you don't go to Yanjing." The old man said with a gloomy expression: "That family is too powerful, and the governor doesn't dare to provoke it." ”

"What family?" Shen Mo's heart moved, and he asked.

"Songjiang Xu family." The shopkeeper interjected: "That Sun Wu has changed his name to Xu Wu and devoted himself to being a slave in Xu Mansion, and Xu Mansion immediately gave him a large sum of silver and ordered him to open a pawn shop in his hometown and continue to do evil in order to benefit one side!" ”

"It's so presumptuous!" When Shen Mo heard this, his face sank, and he slapped the table and said, "It's just that he did evil in Songjiang, and he also stretched out his hand to my Suzhou?" ”

The two of them only thought that he was venting their righteous indignation, but they didn't think much about it, Wei Youtian continued: "It is said that Xu Ge is always the deputy prime minister of the official residence, I'm afraid the governor will also have to be controlled by him, right?" So I thought that if I wanted to make a name for myself, I had to go to Yanjing and go to the emperor to complain. ”

Shen Moxin said, I have to be that good, but don't go and make trouble for me, if you really let someone know, it will be a big mess...... The current political balance of power is what he is willing to see, which is not only conducive to Hu Zongxian's fight against the Japanese, but also conducive to his own career.

But he is not a bastard official after all, and he can't do anything to send people to secretly prevent the masses from going to Beijing to petition. After thinking about it, he said: "Old Wei, you don't have to go so far, Kunshan County is under the control of Suzhou Prefecture, and you are not suing Xu Ge Lao, but a gangster who impostored to surrender, I believe that Lord Fuzun will uphold justice for you, just go to Fucheng to complain." ”

"Lord Fuzun?" Who knew that the two of them shook their heads again and again: "Who doesn't know that Lord Fuzun is a student of Xu Ge Lao, how can his elbow turn out." Then Wei Youtian also said indignantly: "If it weren't for this relationship, then Sun Wu would not have thought of dedicating himself to the Xu family, and the county master may not be so partial!" ”

Silent this sweat, together with himself became an accomplice.

At this time, the shopkeeper suddenly said: "Our Changzhou County has a sea blue sky, and he is famous for not being afraid of power, so you might as well find him to complain......"

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted silently: "Hai Qingtian can indeed avenge the people, but he has been suspended and grounded by the Fuzun, and he is still too busy to take care of himself." "The heart said that if you sue the king of the sea yama, the small things will have to become bigger, and the big things will have to break the sky! So he had to think to dispel this thought: "Besides, he is your Changzhou County Commander, and he can't control them Kunshan County." ”

After listening to the first half of his words, the two of them showed obvious anger on their faces, and they both said indignantly: "In these years, good people have not been rewarded, and it is easy to become a good official, and they were taken down by their confused bosses!" ”

Shen Mo's face tightened, and his heart said that although I have been separated from the masses, I have never done anything bad, right? How did you become a confused boss?

It seems that you can't easily be the opponent of Qingtian, and the people don't care if you are wronged or not, and you will directly fight into the sky. Then he smiled and said: "You guys are fake news, how wise and wise Lord Fuzun is, how can he wronged Hai Qingtian, once the matter is clarified, he will be able to go out of the mountain again." Saying that, he pretended to think about it and said: "Suzhou is a high-ranking official, and he is respectful and popular, so you should ask his opinion." ”

"Really?" The two were pleasantly surprised: "Isn't Lord Hai really not cut down?" As soon as he heard that Hai Qingtian was still promising, the shopkeeper and Wei Youtian became elated, and they couldn't listen to anything else.

"Of course not." Shen Mo smiled dryly: "You have misunderstood Lord Fuzun, he is also the Lord of the Blue Sky......" He was bored to say this himself, because people would definitely not believe it.

"yes, yes." The two nodded hastily and perfunctorily, and then happily discussed, just waiting for Hai Qingtian to reinstate, and then went to Fucheng to beat the drum and voice grievances, thinking that Hai Qingtian would definitely preside over justice Yunyun, which made Shen Mo bored.

Fortunately, the two of them saw that he was interested, so they quickly stopped talking, and the shopkeeper got up and said, "Don't disturb the son, I'll give you a hot Wansan cake and make a sobering fish soup." ”

That Wei Youtian also said: "Yaxing, who just stirred up the son-in-law, now the old man will clean up his mood and sing a song for you to make amends." The daughter of the Wei family next to her sat hurriedly came over and re-erected the musical instrument with her father.

Ruohan also came over and sat down, and said with a silent smile: "Listen up." The father and daughter played the flute lightly and beat the drum slowly.

After a melodious prelude, the daughter lightly opened her lips and sang: "Sing a saffron song." Occasional leisurely walks. Let's take a look at the world. Run to Houmen. Drive through the dust. I thought about it. Although the poor and lowly are the same as the mustard. Wealth is a floating cloud. Those who suffer are not necessarily blessed. Those who are blessed are not necessarily evil. Up-to-date messages. Change with the times. It's all a spring dream. "Sure enough, the worries are heavy, and the beautiful fireworks do not eat the world...... Although the silent couple have heard the Kun dialect many times, they all have to be under the backdrop of big gongs and drums, and they are a little straight and unrhymed, but they can also be so gentle and euphemistic from listening to the cappella, clear and beautiful, and the melody is more beautiful, which makes people refreshed, and they are unconsciously addicted to it.

That night, the couple rested in a small town, in a hotel facing a clear river.

The lamp was like a bean, and he sat silently in front of the window, his fingers tapped on the windowsill, and he hummed the lyrics softly in his mouth: 'Laugh at you and drive away the glory.' Or are they him. Laugh at me running around the dust. In the end, we are us. Remembrance of the ancient capital of Fu Yuqiao. It seems that he is still immersed in the beautiful and distant water mill cavity.

After a day of playing, Ruohan was a little tired, leaned on the head of the bed and chuckled: "If Xianggong likes it, why don't we invite that Wei Liangfu from Taicang to Suzhou and ask him to sing to you every day." After inquiry, I learned that the father and daughter sang Wei Liangfu's newly modified water mill singing voice, which is currently only circulated in Taicang and Kunshan.

"Wei Liangfu is not an ordinary singer." Shen Mo couldn't help but laugh and said: "I heard Gui Youguang say that he was a five-year jinshi in Jiajing, and the official was the political envoy of Zuobu in Shandong. He said with a smile: "I see that he is going to call the old man, how dare I ask him to come out?" ”

Ruohan was surprised: "There is such a strange person? I thought ......" felt that the latter words were a bit abrupt, so I stopped talking.

But the husband and wife had the same mind, and after listening to the first half of the sentence silently, they knew what she was going to say later, and said with a smile: "Do you still think that the officials are all in power to make money, and to repair the garden after the office?" ”

Ruohan stuck out his little fragrant tongue and said, "I didn't say that." As if arguing for her husband, he said: "It can't be said so absolutely, for example, when Hai Jui is in power, he doesn't make money; Wei Liangfu did not repair the garden after he became a scholar. ”

Shen Mo shook his head and smiled: "You can't generalize from partiality, in fact, most people are still that virtue." Saying that, he got up and said: "Hey, it is well sung in the play, 'There are thousands of mansions in the house, and it is only three feet wide to sleep, and there are thousands of hectares of fertile land at home, and you can only eat three meals a day.'" 'Why don't you say those people know what to do?' ”

Ruohan said softly: "Xianggong is thinking about the Xu family." ”

Shen Mo smiled bitterly and scratched his head, lay down on the bed and said, "This matter, I am not left or right, I can only embarrass myself." ”

Ruohan leaned over, gently rubbed his temples for him and said: "I know that my husband has the splendid beauty of heaven and earth, and he has the community and the people in his heart, and he refuses to blindly go along with the dirt. ”

"Those who don't know me say what I want, and those who know me say I'm worried." Silently and comfortably felt the softness of his wife, but with a faint sadness on his face, he said: "The righteous can even be killed, but I have to protect the insatiable Xu family, it really makes people as disgusting and discouraged as eating flies!" ”

"Why?" Ruohan asked softly, "Could it be that the husband can never be an enemy of Xu Ge Lao?" ”

Shen Mo nodded slowly, closed his eyes and said, "Heaven and Earth Monarch Teacher, what can I do about the things that are normal?" Everyone can get Xu Ge Lao, but I can't be silent. Saying that, he sighed and said: "In this officialdom, I can be a hypocrite, but I can't be a real villain!" ”

Seeing her husband's tangled appearance, Ruohan hugged him tightly in distress, wanting to share his pain as much as possible, and murmured softly: "He said that Zhang Han returned to his hometown and returned to seclusion, you and I husband and wife farming and weaving, giving birth to children, how good it would be......"

The silent depression was only for a moment, and he didn't want to pass on the negativity to his lover, so he smiled with a sneer: "When it comes to having children, I think we should hurry." His hands began to reach in and grope dishonestly.

This man, Ruohan groaned secretly and said, "Fang is still sad like a child who has lost a kite, why is it like this in the blink of an eye." I couldn't help but smile and said, "What, have you figured it out?" ”

"Figured it out." Shen Mo sucked greedily and said with a smile: "Follow Madame's teachings, fame and fortune are like floating clouds for me." Zifei fish, the joy of Anchi fish? Isn't it me, the joy of fish and water? ”

"I hate ......" Ruohan was so embarrassed by his teasing that he glanced at the red candle and said, "Let's turn off the lights first." ”

"It's too late!" The silent ghost screamed, and was turned red by the waves, and King Xiang would be a goddess.

Early the next morning, he set off to leave this gentle water town and return to Suzhou City.

As soon as he returned to Suzhou City, before he could sit firmly in the signing room, Wang Yongji came over anxiously and said, "My lord, the food is gone." ”

"What?" Shen Murden was shocked and said, "Why not?!" "Thanks to the tossing and turning of the previous days, he couldn't hear these four words the most.

Wang Yongji said: "After eating, there are too many victims, and the 20,000 stones you gave have been exhausted." ”

"Damn, scare me." Shen Mo sat down and scolded: "Be more precise in the future, don't you know if this official is timid?" ”

"Hehe......" Wang Yongji laughed, and said in his heart that you are cowardly, and you dare to resist the nine families, then you will not be bold, so he said: "My lord has to approve some more food." ”

"How much food have you eaten me?" Silently scratching his cheeks, what an official is most willing to do is to help the local victims, and the last thing he wants to do is to help the victims from other places. Because the former can justifiably ask the local gentry to donate, and they can also ask their superiors for tax reductions and exemptions, and allocate relief grain, which are all squeaky and oily.

But it's a big difference when you go to the people in other places...... Your own people have not suffered from the disaster, the gentry can't help you if they don't donate, the superiors also give you tax exemptions, and don't even think about a grain of grain and grass for disaster relief. If the food from the Yicang is given to charity, the people will be unhappy and say, 'That's our life-saving food'! It can be described as thankless, and it is not human inside and out.

And the victims of the northern disaster in Suzhou City have been in the middle for three months, which means that Shen Mo has been raising them for a hundred days, and when he looks through the account books of the relief, he has already eaten 100,000 stone of grain from him before and after.

But the food spent in vain is money! This is a particularly profound understanding of the silence after the 'food crisis this spring', looking at the grain that has been washed away with a pen, he said with a sad face: "The landlord's family has no surplus grain, do you want me to fill this hole all the time?" ”

"At the moment, it seems like this." Wang Yongji said: "Last year, when Lord Wang Chonggu was in power, he supported those people for a year, and finally he couldn't stand it in winter, so he gave them the grain harvested in the autumn and let them go back for the New Year." ”

"The result?" Silence squinted at him.

"As a result, I went back for a year, and this year isn't it coming back." Wang Yongji smiled bitterly.

"Damn, lack of heart." Shen scolded silently: "It's really embarrassing for the people of Shanxi." ”

Wang Yongji smiled and said, "Do you approve it or not?"

"Hey." Shen Mo picked up the pen, and stopped again: "I can't raise idlers, I can't help it a few days ago, I will raise it for nothing, but now that I have settled down, I can't think of a way to find some work for these people?" ”

"The factories in the city are generally under-opened, and the locals are not working." Wang Yongji said: "Besides, the mechanics are all skilled work, and those northerners who are clumsy can't do it at all." ”

"Don't discriminate." Shen Mo has long discovered this tendency, the Jiangnan people of this era have an incomparable sense of superiority, and they look down on the northerners, the Bashu people, the Fujian and Guangdong people, and the northwest and southwest people.

Of course, Shen Mo also admits that people do have this capital, before the rebellion, the taxes paid in Jiangsu and Zhejiang accounted for seventy percent of the country, and now the chaos is together, Jiangnan is too busy to take care of itself, and the finances of the imperial court are immediately in an embarrassment.

After thinking about it, he said silently: "It's not a way to go on like this. In this way, the food will not be distributed first, you can find Gui Youguang, and the three of us will sum it up to see if we can find a job for them. Undoubtedly, he thought of that era, to promote employment, pull the 'base fart', the political axe would be a big deal to carry out civil engineering, although the times are different, but some methods are ancient and modern.

An hour later, in the flickering tears of Gui Youguang, he silently wiped his sweat and said: "Okay, okay, I'm ready to dredge the Wusong River, you prepare the plan, we will go to Hai Rui tomorrow, it is said that the is here, my superior should go and take a look, isn't it." ”

(To be continued)