Chapter 80

On the sixteenth day of the first month of the sixth year of Chongzhen, there has been no snow for several days, and on the official road at the junction of Qingzhou Mansion and Changyi, the snow has been trampled by people and horses to turn into dirty stains. There are fewer displaced people than in the past, and occasionally some Kuaishou patrols from Qingzhou Mansion can be seen.

A group of 200 displaced people from Henan, from several neighboring villages, were struggling to make their way through the wind and snow, hugging each other in the process of wandering, fighting against the locals, and sometimes even robbing something.

More than a dozen horsemen on horseback came from the direction of Changyi, and the homeless people hid on the side of the road to get out of the way for the riders.

The riders were unflagped, and except for two or three men in scribe's uniforms, all dressed in strong suits, escorted two wagons rumbling past. In the carriage sat Yang Yunnong, an adjutant of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who made a special trip to Jinan to visit Xu Congzhi.

Xu Congzhi is quite bold, he is a Jinshi in the thirty-fifth year of Wanli, this science is full of talents, Shi Fenglai and Zhang Ruitu in the first class, Qian Longxi and Cheng Jiming in the second class, Zuo Guangdou, Yang Lian, Xiong Wencan, and Liu Yulie in the third class. Xu Congzhi is also in the top three, although he is not as good as Qian Longxi, but he is also more prosperous than the average official fortune in the same year.

He first went to Tongcheng as a magistrate, successively served as the prefect of Jinan Prefecture, and then served as the right political secretary of Shandong Buzheng to participate in politics, supervise the grain road, sub-guard the deputy envoy of the road, and prepare the road, and now he has finally become the governor. Basically the ordinary civilian officials in the local area have been served, during which he participated in the pacification of the Wenxiang Sect rebellion, and went to Jizhou alone in the first year of Chongzhen, and quelled the rebellion in Jizhou. In the original time and space, he and Xie Lian held on to Laizhou, and finally died in the shelling of the Hongyi cannon at the head of the city.

Chen Xin didn't know about Xu Cong's deeds in guarding Laizhou. But judging from Xu Congzhi's previous resume, he attaches more importance to this person, of course, he himself is not suitable to visit directly, after all, Xu Congzhi can't talk about any friendship, and it is very faceless to go to eat a closed door, and the military general goes to visit the local magistrate without permission, in case he is impeached by Xu Congzhi, it is indeed ill-intentioned, it is a big trouble.

Fortunately, there is a Department of Foreign Affairs. Deputy Director Yang Yunnong has a distant nephew who is a staff member in the Yamen of the Shandong Governor, and he can speak in front of Xu Congzhi, so he went to test it first, Xu Congzhi has the intention of contacting, and Yang Yunnong set off before the New Year. Hurried to meet the governor of Shandong.

The carriage creaked away, and the refugees returned to the rotten official road, and on the tail of the refugees, four monks dressed in rags appeared, and their square robes were old and dirty, with wide sleeves and square styles, hence the name square robes. Since the Song Dynasty, monks' robes have been roughly in this style.

They all wore monk's hats on their heads, and some short hair roots could be seen on their temples, and one of them had gray temples, obviously old.

A monk of about thirty spoke in a low voice to the old monk. A Henan accent, but the thing he said was Liaodong, "Forehead." The minions have been here, and a few miles away. It is the boundary of Changyi County, and that side belongs to Denglai. ”

"Call it one more time, and we'll cut out your tongue." The old monk slowly raised his head, revealing an old face, which was none other than Li Yongfang, the dignified and golden Fushun concubine.

For this outdated old traitor, Huang Taiji's reuse this time is an opportunity, Li Yongfang is old, and he no longer has much pursuit of power, but he hopes to fight for better conditions for his sons, especially the fifth son Bayan.

Huang Taiji is also very clear about Bayan's status in Li Yongfang's heart, and letting Bayan enter the palace on duty is not only a favor, but also a disguised hostage-taking. Li Yongfang is a traitor, and he will not be accepted by the Ming Dynasty again in any case, Huang Taiji is not worried about Li Yongfang's surrender, but he is worried that Li Yongfang will not be able to endure the torture. If it weren't for the continued restoration of Dengzhou's intelligence network, Huang Taiji would not have directly let Li Yongfang go out.

The four of them followed behind the displaced people, and the Henan refugees did not pay attention to them, because several monks looked poorer than them, and after walking a few miles, they came to a roadstop.

This is the place where it borders with Changyi, there is a wasteland full of shacks around, there are a few large cauldrons boiling gruel next to the roadcar, there are some first-arrived homeless people queuing, the fragrance wafts out, the group of homeless people in Henan can't hold it back, more than a dozen strong people rush up and can't help but say that they push away the people in front of them, and they are going to grab the porridge bowl.

Before the first one grabbed was cold, a group of soldiers in red clothes and short clothes rushed out next to them, waving two-foot sticks and beating the homeless people in front of them, more than a dozen people suddenly hugged their heads and ran away, and when the head one escaped, he was still holding the porridge bowl, hiding in the crowd behind, drinking it in his mouth while running, and most of the porridge in the bowl fell on his clothes.

A few soldiers chased the bowl into the crowd, wielding sticks all the way, and the homeless people were about to rush up, when there was a great confusion and ran into the fields on both sides, and some women and children cried on the ground.

The man who served the bowl ran to the end after a while, and hid behind Li Yongfang with a smoke, Li Yongfang saw several soldiers chasing after him, and hurriedly dodged to the side, the soldiers pushed away a few monks, the homeless man squatted on the ground and drank a few sips, and was so hot that he opened his mouth and sighed, and the soldier waved a stick and hit him on his back and legs, he covered his head with one hand, and drank porridge with the bowl with the other hand.

A soldier went to grab his bowl, but the homeless man clung to it, and several soldiers would not let go, and finally the soldier dragged him to the ground and pulled him back to the porridge shed. Two women cried and went to pull the soldiers and beg for mercy from the homeless people on the ground, but the soldiers ignored them and dragged them directly to an open space behind.

When they walked back, Li Yongfang breathed a sigh of relief and almost capsized in the gutter. He looked at those Ming soldiers carefully, they should be the soldiers of Dengzhou Town, and this was also the first time he saw Denglai soldiers. They wore short military uniforms with large lapels and plackets, which did not use cloth buttons, but seemed to be of brass, with a leather belt tied around their waists, a belt with a waist tag on it, a dagger in its sheath, a waist knife also hung on the hook of the belt, a soft military hat on their heads, and an armband sewn on the upper left arm.

"All the folks, come here, don't be afraid, come around." A peaceful male voice sounded over there, and Li Yongfang saw a man wearing the same style of black clothing, standing high on a wooden platform, beckoning the homeless people to come over.

Li Yongfang and the others slowly walked closer, and the man said to the audience: "Did you come here together?" Is there a leader who comes out to speak. ”

A few people in the front row cautiously agreed, and the person immediately changed his Henan accent and smiled: "It turned out to be a fellow from Henan." We are from Henan, and we will not come to Denglai for a year and a half. ”

There was a buzz among the group of homeless people, and the Henan accent immediately relieved their tension, and a woman asked loudly in the front row: "I said big brother, what kind of official are you?" ”

"I'm here, I'm just a missionary in Dengzhou Town, and I'm not an official, just to help the people do something."

The woman smiled, "Hi. Speaking of which, we are all from Henan, why are those soldiers so fierce, let our Wang brothers go, they are all fellow villagers in Henan. We just ran here, and we will take care of each other in the future. ”

"Of course it will." The missionary smiled, "But fellow villagers, I also want to tell you that our Denglai place is not as good as the outside, and we have to talk about rules in everything we do." This is the soup kitchen. Everyone has a share, and it is not necessary to eat in the front, and that Wang brother will rob other people's teams as soon as he comes, and he will not be wronged when he is beaten. ”

An old man among the homeless people leaned forward and said, "This official." The Wang brother was also very hungry, and asked the official to raise his noble hand. We all heard in Texas that the chief soldier of Dengzhou was a blue master, saying that entering Tunpu could give the poor a way to live. Those who have made a special trip to defect, please let the official set us all up in one fort. ”

The homeless man over there had been pressed to the ground by several soldiers and beaten with sticks. It was a much longer stick, and it was beaten so loudly that the missionary said unquestioningly: "If you break the rules, you must be punished, and I can't do anything about this, so you must also remember, if you are afraid of being beaten with a stick, you must remember the rules." As for the tunpu, naturally everyone will be arranged to go in, but there are so many people here, and none of the tunbao can be settled, so they can only be divided into four or five different tunpu. ”

The old man was embarrassed and said, "But we are all neighbors and strangers, and we must not be bullied once we are separated." ”

The missionary shook his head helplessly, "Then you can't take it, those forts are full of people, you can't drive them out, if you really don't want to separate, just eat a full meal here and turn around." ”

A group of homeless people looked at each other, they had walked nearly a thousand miles to get here, how could they turn around and go back, a few old men muttered, looking like the patriarch, and the other young ones were waiting for them to decide.

The missionary was silently observing, and another man in civil affairs clothes was talking to him in a low voice. After a while, the old men finished their discussion and agreed with the missionaries to go to a different tunpu.

The missionaries immediately told them to eat, and several soldiers took sticks and told them to line up to receive gruel in order, and the homeless man who had been beaten with a stick touched his butt and walked over again, and was last in line, and wanted to eat again, but the soldiers did not pay attention to him.

Li Yongfang and the others actually had golden beans hidden in their shoes, and there were also cakes in their bags, but they didn't dare to show that they were different, and they also lined up behind them, and it took them a long time to receive a bowl of porridge, and after a bowl of hot stomach, they still made them feel very comfortable.

Li Yongfang peeked at the missionary while eating, and saw that he and several other people had been muttering, secretly alert in his heart.

After everyone finished eating, someone instructed them to put the dishes and chopsticks away, and began to distribute them in the open space just now.

As Li Yongfang expected, those people in Dengzhou Town had to separate the most familiar ones, and the old men just now were divided into one fort, with them there were only five or six young families, the others were weaker families, and the others were also drawn out of their respective circles, and finally mixed into five tunpu. Under the deterrence of the surrounding Dengzhou soldiers, the displaced people only protested slightly, and finally accepted the arrangement, and then were taken by several civil affairs officials to register, and after the registration was completed, they lived in the shacks outside the area, and waited for some more people to go to their cantonment together.

Dengzhou Town's method of co-opting the displaced people is actually to break up the original clan relationship, so as not to affect the control power of the grassroots tun chief, and there will be no township party groups with absolute dominance in each tunpu, Li Yongfang understood after a little thought, he was just surprised by the proficiency of those Dengzhou town officials, there was almost no trace, and he did not feel much persecution.

Hou Jin used high-pressure and terrorist means to suppress the captured Hanmin, and Li Yongfang felt that it was also very effective, and it was difficult for him to compare the advantages and disadvantages for a while.

A clerk walked up to the monks, and the subordinate with a Henan accent stepped forward and said to the officer: "This lord, we are monks from Youfang, and we have heard the name of Penglai Wonderland for a long time, and we hope to go there to visit Wuzen, and we don't want to enter Tunbao." ”

After hearing this, the officer looked at them one by one, "Take out the degree." ”

Several people at the same time from the bosom of the degree of the degree, respectful hands handed over, the clerk slowly walked to Li Yongfang, up and down look at Li Yongfang, reached out to take his degree, is a piece of parchment paper, on the left side of the written "Ministry of Rites for the degree of the matter will be to the Ming law, the monk does not give the degree of the hairpin shaver staff eighty If there is a parent, the parent should be guilty of the abbot of the temple and the private degree of the practitioner and the same crime and return, now fill in the Xin word No. 367 degree to pay the monk Wei Fangde, the receipt of the certificate must be given to the giver." ”

In the middle is written in small letters: "A name Wei Fangde, twenty-nine years old, is the son of Wei Dafu, who is a native of Lehuai Bao in Wuqing County, Tianfu, in May of the forty-sixth year of Wanli, and is willing to enter the Guangji Temple to preside over Fuzheng as a teacher, see naturalization in this temple...... On July 18, the 46th year of Wanli, Shangshu Xiao of the Ministry of Rites, and Wang ...... of Zuo Shilang"

The clerk looked at it carefully, Li Yongfang and the others were calm, without any nervous looks, until the clerk returned it to him after reading it, and Li Yongfang carefully took it and put it away.

"Show me the baggage." The clerk pointed behind Li Yongfang.

Li Yongfang hurriedly handed it over, and the clerk put the burden on the ground and looked at it, there were three cakes, two scriptures and a monk's robe, a little broken silver and a few small bottles, the clerk picked up a small bottle and sniffed it in his nose.

Li Yongfang and the others were calm on the surface, but in fact, they were already worried, and they were all engrossed in this official, and there were two people who were observing the surrounding horse pens, and if there was an accident, they would snatch the horses and escape.

The clerk sniffed several bottles, then poured them out and stepped on them with his feet, "You are astringent and astringent, and you are not allowed to sell these prostitute drugs in Denglai." ”

Li Yongfang didn't know that these bottles were this thing, so he had to nod his head again and again, and the official pointed to a few people: "Since you don't want to enter the tunpu, you will go on the road by yourself, and the porridge shed behind will not receive you, if you want to eat, you will have to pay silver." After entering Denglai, don't go to the tunpu barracks everywhere, and if you catch a military stick, it's light. ”

The official didn't have the heart to use it on a few monks, and after saying that, he went to receive the dozens of newly arrived homeless people.

Li Yongfang and the others were relieved, but fortunately, the preparations were very complete, he took seven of his subordinates, first arrived at Karaqin, and then went to Zhangjiakou to enter the customs. In fact, he most wanted to pretend to be a businessman and go to Denglai more smoothly, but because of the reason for shaving his hair, he could only shave his braids together and pretend to be a monk, so that he could explain the past without hair and hairless. On the way, he grew a short hair pile, which looked like many wandering monks at this time, which could cover the color of his scalp, and the weather was still cold at this time, so he could cover it with a hat.

After they arrived in Beijing, they left four people, and connected with the sitting detectives in Beijing, and let one of them rush to Dengzhou with the northern goods first, and Li Yongfang himself pretended to be a monk to go, this Du Mu was robbed after killing a few monks in Yang Village, including those hundred battle ointments were also grabbed that time.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the system was implemented better than other household registration systems, and the annual income of monks and monks reached as much as 200,000 taels, accounting for 20% of the national administrative income, while the real estate deed tax was only 100,000 taels, and the Fanbo city tax was only 70,000 taels.

Li Yongfang relied on this thing to pass the pass, immediately put away the degree, led a few monks to hurry first, and when he walked past those homeless people, it happened to be the homeless person who grabbed the bowl was registering, he couldn't write, and the clerk was asking his name.

I only heard him reply: "Our name is Wang Zhanqing, who was a child, and is twenty-eight ...... this year."

Li Yongfang and the others did not listen to the excitement, and continued to walk, after passing this sentry area, the road immediately became better, it seemed that it had just crossed the border and became a good road, not far away there was a tunbao with a fort wall, and a tiger head flag floated on it.

At this time, Li Yongfang let out a long breath, "It's finally time to Denglai." ”

PS: Ask for a monthly pass.