When he was done with all this, it was already dinner time, Liu Cheng walked to the thatched hut under the embankment and was just about to have lunch, when he saw Xu Xianming, who was sent to the Zhizhou Yamen and the local gentry mansion to deliver the invitation for the completion ceremony of the embankment, standing at the door of the thatched hut and asked casually: "How is the invitation?" ”

"Your Excellency!" Xu Xianming's face was not very good-looking, and he was obviously treated badly: "The situation is not very good, some people say that the head of the family is not at home, and some people are closed, and there are even house slaves who scold and let dogs bite!" Speaking of which, Xu Xianming lifted the hem of the cheongsam, revealing the bloodstained trousers underneath. What about Lord Lu and Ma Juren? “

"These two accepted it, and said that they would definitely arrive that day, and Ma Juren also rewarded the villain with a tael of silver!"

"I see!" Liu Cheng laughed: "These two are smart people, it seems that there are many fools everywhere, and there are few smart people, so it doesn't matter!" Anyway, it would be nice to have a few window dressers, and it would be enough to have these two! “

"My lord, the villain has heard something in the city!" Xu Xianming looked at the left and right people, and lowered his voice and said: "During this time, many gentlemen in Dunzhou have a lot of complaints about Lord Lu and Ma Juren. “

"Oh? Why is that? Liu Cheng frowned when he heard this, it was common for local officials to have conflicts with the gentry at that time, after all, officials represented the interests of the imperial court, and it was normal for them to have conflicts with the gentry who represented the interests of the local government; But conflicts with gentry leaders like Ma Ziyi are rare, because everyone's identities are similar and their interests are generally more consistent.

Xu Xianming saw that Liu Cheng was interested in his news, and his spirits were also lifted, and he hurriedly whispered: "My lord, many local gentry said that Ma Ziyi had gained your benefits, and he had joined forces with a martial artist and lost the gentry's dignity. lost the face of Yanzhou Shilin. “

"Huh!" Liu Cheng laughed: "Dare to love that Ma Ziyi got the news of this canal, and the benefits were swallowed by a few close people around him, but the other gentlemen didn't get half of it, no wonder these hypocrites hate him so much!" “

"My lord, will this cause chaos!" Xu Xianming was a little worried, obviously those vicious dogs left a lot of shadows on his spirit.

"It doesn't matter. Am I a person who is afraid of chaos? Liu Cheng laughed: "The more chaotic the better, if those gentlemen and gentlemen hug together, I really have no way to take them, now that they are in chaos, I have a way to clean up them, eat fruit with me, eat whip against dry, I want to see whose world this is in Junzhou!" Come! “

"Your Excellency!" Du Gu, who was accompanying him, hurriedly stepped forward.

"You go find a few stonemasons and prepare a blank stone tablet!"

"Yes. My lord! ”

Liu Cheng turned around, looked up and down at the young man in front of him who he was originally going to train as a secretary, now it seems that the other party is better at intelligence gathering, every time he goes to Dunzhou City, he can bring himself a bunch of mixed news, although most of them are useless, but occasionally he can still find some useful information from them, it seems that he should find an opportunity to mention what kind of information the other party needs.

"Obviously, these days, you go to the teahouse and wine shop in the city of Yanzhou. Pay more attention to the affairs of those gentlemen! Just when Xu Xianming was a little hairy by Liu Cheng's gaze, Liu Cheng spoke: "Also." Focus on those useful things, what is the Zhang family's father-in-law picking up ashes, the Li family's daughter-in-law stealing people and other news, don't pay too much attention to it! ”

"Yes, yes!" Xu Xianming was flushed by Liu Cheng's words, and hurriedly retreated.

Looking at the departing figure of his subordinates, Liu Cheng shook his head. He sat down on the maza, took off his straw sandals and leggings, and shouted, "Bring the foot-washing water and dinner, I'm going to starve to death!" ”

Horse House, back garden.

In ancient China. A typical patriarchal family is "filial piety" as the core, according to the etiquette every morning and evening children have to go to their parents, in the morning to see and greet each other, in the evening to serve and go to bed, Mafu is no exception. That night, Ma Ziyi returned to his wife's house and was gossiping, when the servant from outside came in and spread the word that the second young master came to greet him, "Well, come in!" Ma Ziyi nodded.

A moment later, a man in his thirties walked in, he was Ma Ziyi's second son Ma Rencheng, compared to his brother and younger brother, Ma Rencheng was much worse in the scientific journey, and he didn't even get into the show in his thirties, so he could only stay at home, and he was the least pleasing to his father on weekdays.

"Meet the two adults!" Ma Ziyi knelt down and kowtowed to Ma Ziyi and his wife: "Is my father okay these two days?" “

"It's okay, get up!" Ma Ziyi nodded, Ma Rencheng stood up at this time, the father and son said a few more words, Ma Ziyi saw that his son did not leave as soon as usual, but stood there without a word, so he asked directly: "Do you have anything to do today?" ”

Ma Rencheng's face showed a trace of embarrassment: "Father, the child has heard some gossip outside these days, some of which are about our family, and I don't know whether to talk about it or not." Speaking of this, he deliberately stopped, only when Ma Ziyi would ask, and then continued. But I didn't want Ma Ziyi to make a joke: "Gossip in the market, what should be said, it's not early, the old man is going to rest, you can step down!" “

Ma Rencheng didn't expect his father to answer like this, he froze there for a while, neither advancing nor retreating, or Ma Ziyi's wife Cai Shi saw her son frozen there pitiful, pushed Ma Ziyi, and persuaded: "Old thing, just listen to what the child says and what's in the way, as if you don't listen to the drama on weekdays, those are not all short in the parents." ”

Ma Ziyi snorted coldly, but didn't speak, Cai Shi knew that Ma Ziyi had agreed, and hurriedly glanced at Ma Rencheng. Ma Rencheng hurriedly made a smile and said: "What my father said is that the gossip in this market is not worth anything, and the child is also funny, but a few days ago I heard that someone hooked up with Liu Dusi and his father, and the child thought that Liu Dusi was just a rogue soldier, and he relied on the power of Yang Zhijun to do mischief on weekdays, and there would be evil retribution when he was young. “

"Shut up!"

Ma Rencheng was proud of what he said, but he was frightened by Ma Ziyi's interruption. I saw that my father's face was full of iron, obviously he was extremely angry, Ma Rencheng was used to being scolded by Ma Ziyi at home on weekdays, and he couldn't say a word of the words he had prepared under the prestige, and knelt down as soon as his knees were weak, and shouted: "The child has angered his father." Damn it! Then he kowtowed again and again.

"Little brute!" Ma Ziyi stood up, pointed to Ma Rencheng who was kneeling on the ground and shouted: "You are not as good as your two brothers, this article is fate, I don't blame you, I thought it would be okay to stay in Yanzhou to learn to run a family business, and keep my duty." But I don't want you to be a little brute, you can't even keep this bit of duty, go to mess around with those indiscreet characters, and be poured a few bowls of ecstasy soup and say some lawless words. Come to someone, take the family law. Look at the old man who killed this rebel son first, just if he had never given birth to this son, lest the family business be defeated by him, and he would not have the face to see his ancestors and ancestors underground! ”

As soon as Ma Ziyi's words fell, a servant waiting outside the door had already come to a wooden stick that was one person tall and had the thickness of an arm. It turned out that although the Ma family was a scholarly family, the ancestors were the children of military families who followed Taizu Conglong, which was also common in the Ming Dynasty. For example, famous ministers Li Dongyang, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others are all from military families. The ancestors of the Ma family knew that it was not easy to inherit the family, so they set up family rules. If there are children who are unscrupulous and corrupt the family style, they will not be arrested by the government, and their own family will be beaten to death by family law, so as not to leave a disaster to the family. Ma Ziyi put the wooden stick in her hand, and she was about to beat it down with a single move. Although Ma Rencheng had children of sixteen or seventeen, he couldn't help but be distracted when he saw the family law, and hurriedly walked two steps behind Cai's and shouted: "Mother, help!" ”

As the saying goes, "a woman is soft-hearted", although this Ma Rencheng is far inferior to his two brothers. But staying by her side every day, sooner or later, in Cai's eyes, she is much more endearing than the two sons who are studying as officials in other places, she hurriedly got up and opened her arms to protect her son behind her, and scolded in her mouth: "Old thing, if your son just says a word, you will fight and kill, so even I, the mother, will be killed." ”

"Get out of the way, what do you know as a woman!" Ma Ziyi said angrily: "This little beast only knows about drunken women and playing in his life, but when he suddenly said such a thing today, he must have been tricked as a gun." You ask him, am I right? ”

Cai Shi snorted coldly, turned his head and said softly to Ma Rencheng: "You say, these words are really what others asked you to say?" ”

Although this Ma Rencheng is a gentleman, he still doesn't dare to lie in front of his parents, and said in a low voice: "The child was invited by Master Zhao last night to go to Yihong Mansion to play, and he listened to what Master Zhao and a few gentlemen said at the banquet——。 At this he lowered his head and could not say any more.

Hearing Ma Rencheng's answer, Ma Ziyi raised the stick again and shouted, "How? Get out of the way and let the old man kill this little brute!" “

Cai Shi didn't get out of the way, but took a step forward and pointed at Ma Ziyi's nose and scolded: "What kind of animal grows short, he is a small animal, so you are an old beast?" ”

"This-" Ma Ziyi was choked by his wife's robbery, and was speechless for a while, but Cai's counted down like a cannon: "You are also a person who has read the books of sages, your son doesn't understand those ghostly methods, and he was tricked by outsiders. ”

Ma Ziyi was speechless by Cai's words, standing there holding a stick and frozen, neither beating nor putting down. Seeing this, Cai snatched the stick lightly and skillfully, turned to Ma Rencheng and shouted softly: "You too, you are messing around with those unsuccessful friends outside on weekdays, your father is also for your good, why don't you come to kowtow to accompany you?" ”

Ma Rencheng hurriedly ran over in small steps and kowtowed twice in front of Ma Ziyi: "The child is not successful, it makes his father angry, please be careful of your body, and dissipate your anger!" ”

Ma Ziyi got down this step, although her face was still not good-looking, the anger in her heart had gone seven or eight points. He also knew that his second son was not smart, and if some things were not dissected and understood, sooner or later he would fall into the trap. He sighed and said: "Okay, I can't blame you all for this matter, I see that your career is not smooth, and you rarely talk to you on weekdays in matters of fame, but you don't want to cause this matter today, it is good to explain it to you today, so as to save trouble in the future." Do you know what Liu Dusi is doing? ”

"I heard that the embankment is being built to house the thieves who have been appeased."

"Yes, but do you know that after this embankment is repaired, one side can be irrigated, turning a barren land that is no more than a few buckets per mu into a fertile land with a yield of two stones per acre?"

"This kid has heard of it, too." Ma Rencheng said: "I heard Master Zhao say last night, and now there are rumors in Dunzhou that your father has colluded with that Liu Dusi to forcibly occupy the people's land-" Speaking of this, Ma Rencheng's voice lowered, and obviously the words behind him were even more unbearable.

"It's not a rumor!"

"What?" Ma Rencheng could hardly believe his ears and looked at his father with wide eyes.

"Zhao Laosan is right, I did reach an agreement with Liu Dusi, he informed me of the scope of the land that can be irrigated in Pitang, which is about to be excavated, so that I can buy those worthless slopes at a low price in advance; And I support him in collecting taxes to carry out the project. In addition to me, there is also Lu Zhizhou who has reached an agreement with Liu Dusi, I have already bought three hundred and fifty dumps of land, presumably Lu Zhizhou will not buy much less than me. “

"Father, why are you doing this? Why-" Ma Rencheng's expression was a little confused.

"There's no why, because it's the right thing to do!" Ma Ziyi made a gesture, and Cai walked out of the door lightly to close the door, and at this time, only Ma Ziyi and Ma Rencheng, father and son, were left in the room. Ma Ziyi's face became serious: "Rencheng, what you say next for your father is to keep in your heart, and you can't say it to a third person, you know?" “

"The child understands!"

"Hmm!" Ma Ziyi nodded: "Let me ask you, our Ma family has been established in Dunzhou for more than two hundred and forty years since the sixteenth ancestor Xuande Gong came to establish a foundation. “

"Naturally, I read poetry and books diligently, and I am strict in my house!" Without thinking, Ma Rencheng said the answer that he had memorized in Zongxue since he was a child.

"It's not!" Ma Ziyi shook her head.

"That's a lot of good deeds, and the yin virtue is profound?"

"Not really."

"That's talented, and the career is smooth!"

"Not yet." (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for your tips, monthly passes and support, no matter whether the subscription is strong or not, for the sake of these book friends, Weber also has to write books seriously, I hope it will get better in the future.