After leaving the North City Gate, Zhou Chong's carriage moved slowly, and on both sides of the road were shacks built by the victims. Today's weather was not good, and most of the victims took refuge in their huts after receiving the morning porridge, and only some children would play in the open space between the shacks.

These children are big and small, the big ones are only eleven or twelve years old, and the small ones are at most as big as Duo'er, but compared to Duo'er's chubby appearance, these children are abnormally emaciated, the cheeks on their faces are sunken, their eyes are particularly large, their hair is dry and yellow, and even because their hair is too dirty, it has been knotted into strips, which look like they are braided.

The children of these victims were wearing clothes of indistinguishable colors, which were loose and loose, and at a glance they knew that they were made of adult clothes. In addition, if you look closely, you can see that these children have chilblains on their faces, ears, and palms, and some of them are even black and purple, but even so, these children are still having a good time, and the smiles on their faces are innocent and bright, no different from the way Duo'er laughs.

Although Zhou Chong had heard about the situation in the disaster camp for a long time, he couldn't help but feel a little sad when he saw these children today. In the next generation, these children should stay in warm and bright classrooms to study, but now because of the famine, they and their parents have come all the way here just to be able to eat a bite to eat.

Xu Shenzhong, who was in the same car, saw that Zhou Zhong had been staring at the children outside, and his face was also very heavy, so he explained: "Wenda, you don't have to think too much, although the children outside are pitiful, but because of the method you came up with last time, my father has solved the problem of silver, and the food purchased is enough for these victims to support the spring of next year, and at that time, the relief food of the imperial court should also come down, it can be said that the reason why these victims can survive is that Wenda You are indispensable!" ”

Regarding Xu Shenzhong's praise, Zhou Chong shook his head with a wry smile and said: "Brother Shenzhong is polite, I just came up with an idea, the most important thing is to have an official like Lord Xu to promote this matter, otherwise I am alone, even if there is a good way, it will be useless." ”

"Wenda is right, but it's a pity that there are too few good officials like Lord Xu in the world!" Li Zheng next to him also sighed a little emotionally, and then his face changed, and he said with some resentment, "It's hateful that the eight tigers in the court are in charge now, and His Majesty is unclear, resulting in the government being completely controlled by a group of villains, and the righteous man and gentleman can't get promoted, sometimes I really can't wait to lift the three-foot sword and sweep away the treacherous villains above the court in one fell swoop!" ”

Regarding Li Zheng's somewhat radical remarks, Zhang Kuang and Xu Shenzhong both agreed greatly, and they opened their mouths to criticize the treacherous court headed by the Eight Tigers, and the words were also very sharp, which surprised Zhou Da. In his impression, Xu Shenzhong has always been a humble gentleman, and Zhang Kuang is also a good-tempered person, but these two people are now the same as Li Zheng, and they are angry when they mention the Eight Tigers and others led by Liu Jin, as if the other party is their father-killing enemy.

Zhou Chong liked to read books in his previous life, and he also knew more about the affairs of the Zhengde Dynasty, although the evaluation of Liu Jin and these people in history has always been very poor, but in Zhou Chong's view, in the upper-level struggle of a country, there is no good guy or bad guy at all, some are just a conflict of interests, and only the person who wins the victory after the most Lu is qualified to judge right and wrong!

It is precisely because of the above thoughts, so Zhou Chong does not have any personal likes and dislikes for Liu Jin, of course, this premise is that the other party does not hurt the people around him, otherwise if someone hurts his relatives like the Song father and son, then whether the other party is a good person or a bad person, it is unforgivable in Zhou Chong's opinion!

The merit monument is erected next to the main road north of the disaster victims, and this road is the only way for the disaster victims to reach Songjiang, so it is more appropriate to erect the merit monument here. When the carriage stopped next to the merit monument, Zhou Zhong felt a sense of relief, because he finally didn't have to listen to Li Zheng and the others scolding Liu Jin for these traitors.

Today is the inauguration ceremony of the merit monument, and it is Xu Shenzhong's father Xu Zhifu personally presiding, and all the famous rich businessmen and gentlemen on the monument have also received invitations, although most of the people who received the invitations are unwilling to come, but for the sake of Xu Zhifu's face, they have to come.

A monument of merit has been erected on the side of the road, and a small pavilion has been built on top of it to block the invasion of rain and snow. The whole stele is about six feet high, under the stele is a lotus sitting platform, but the stele body is covered by a huge red silk cloth, so that people can not see the appearance of the whole stele.

Zhou Zhong and they got out of the carriage and found that a large group of people had gathered in front of the merit monument, most of them were rich businessmen and gentry who were famous on the monument, and there were also some idlers like them who came to see the excitement. These people gathered in groups of three or five, pointing at the merit monument with each other's ears, and when they met other acquaintances, they would also say hello, and the scene looked quite lively.

Xu Shenzhong didn't like to be lively, so he pulled Zhou Chong and the three of them to a corner, pointed out the people on the field to help them introduce, and compared how much money that Master Wu had donated, how much money Jiang Juren had donated, and so on.

Just when Xu Shenzhong was helping Zhou Chong introduce them, today's protagonist was finally late, only to see a carriage of the government stopped, Xu Shenzhong's father Xu Zhifu got out of the carriage, and there was also an old man in a green shirt with gray hair and an ancient face who got off with him, and after getting off the car, the two stood side by arm, it seems that the identity of this old man is not lower than that of Xu Zhifu.

Just when Zhou Zhongzhong guessed the identity of the old man beside Xu Zhifu, Xu Shenzhong smiled into his ear and said: "Wenda, Wang Shibo was so angry with you last time, and you are very busy for your brother, but it is best to take the time to see his old man's house, otherwise you will have to suffer!" ”

Zhou Chong was stunned for a moment when he heard Xu Shenzhong's words, and then thought that this old man's surname was Wang, and his prospective father-in-law seemed to be surnamed Wang, so he immediately understood the identity of the old man, and immediately said: "Thank you Brother Shen for reminding me, I have been busy with family affairs for a while, and I forgot to visit Uncle Wang, which is really damning!" ”

Hearing Zhou Chong's confession, the smile on Xu Shenzhong's face became stronger, and he reminded again: "Wenda, if you go to visit Wang Shibo, it is best to give him a copy of the manuscript of Journey to the West, the last time I saw him, I found that Wang Shibo was reading your Journey to the West, but he only had the first ten manuscripts in his hand, if you can give him the later manuscripts for tasting, it will definitely make Wang Shibo turn his anger into joy, maybe he can spare you this time!" ”

Zhou Zhong also thanked Xu Shenzhong again for his kindness, but when he thought of going to see his future father-in-law, he was still a little worried in his heart. In addition, there is the fiancée who has never met, he just heard Bang'er say that the other party is not only virtuous, but also very beautiful, but before he saw it with his own eyes, Zhou Zhong was still a little uneasy, and his appearance was okay, after all, no matter how beautiful he was, he would be tired of seeing it one day, but if his temperament was not compatible, he would have to suffer in this life.

With apprehension about his married life, Zhou Zhong raised his head and looked at Master Wang next to Governor Xu's mansion, but what he didn't expect was that Master Wang also happened to see him and Xu Shenzhong, and the eyes of the two just collided.

Zhou Chong has already been married to the Wang family, and he has to visit the palace every New Year's holiday, so Master Wang is naturally very familiar with the original Zhou Chong, plus he is angry with Zhou Chong, so his eyes looking at Zhou Chong are also full of unkindness.

Feeling the unkindness in the eyes of the future father-in-law, Zhou Zhongzhong was also a sigh, the old man must not be offended, otherwise there will be hardships in the future, so I saw him cheekily show a flattering smile to the old man Wang, and then bowed slightly. It's a pity that Master Wang's anger is not so easy to dissipate, I saw him glaring at Zhou Chong and turning his head, ignoring Zhou Chong's flattery.

Seeing that the future old man was so stubborn, Zhou Zhong was also mourning for his future life, saying that his daughter was like a father, judging from Master Wang's performance today, she must be a stinky and hard temper, so it can be seen that Miss Wang is not expected to be as virtuous as Bang'er said.

When Zhou Chong was secretly worried about his marriage, Xu Zhifu and Wang Lao had already walked into the pavilion side by side, and then Xu Zhifu came forward to speak, the content was nothing more than thanking the rich merchants and gentry for their generosity, donating money and property to let the victims outside the city tide over this difficult time, all of which were old-fashioned things, and basically had no substance.

Finally waited for the prefect Xu to finish speaking, and then the old man Wang stepped forward and said: "Today's merit monument is completed, it is actually a major event in Songjiang Mansion, the old man was entrusted by the prefect to unveil the merit monument, which made the old man feel deeply honored, and the old man also invited a great benevolent person who donated the most money to unveil the monument with the old man!" ”

When Master Wang said this, he paused deliberately, and there was immediately a lot of discussion below, many of them added a lot of donations later for the sake of face, but later the government did not announce the list of additional donations, so in addition to knowing how much they had donated, they were not clear about the amount of donations from others, and naturally they didn't know who donated the most?

Seeing that he had successfully attracted the attention of everyone below, Master Wang showed a satisfied smile, and then said loudly again: "Now I have to invite Master Song Qiansong!" ”

"Boom~" Hearing the name 'Song Qian', it was immediately like an explosion of the pot, and the discussion was one after another, and most of the people showed expressions of disbelief.

In contrast, the Song father and son were proud, only to see the black and fat Master Song walking through the crowd with square steps, bowing to the people around him as he walked, and the smile on his face was about to bloom. Donate 2,000 taels of silver at once, for today's effect!

Zhou Chong saw Master Song coming out of the crowd, the expression on his face was stunned at first, his eyes were round, and after a long while, he suddenly burst out and said: "Your sister, I didn't expect Lao Tzu's idea to be used by this bastard in turn!" ”