Hongli was sent to return to Beijing, and it was the third day of April. At this time, the edict to implement the new policy was already known to the whole world, and the streets and alleys of Nanjing City were posted everywhere with proclamations of the Governor of Liangjiang and the Governor of Jiangsu to explain the new policy. Li Wei was illiterate, so he called Huazi to put the formula, and compiled Yongzheng's decree into two parts: one was originally packaged and bound into a book and distributed to the schools and palaces of all counties and prefectures, and was taught and taught every three days. In addition to the prefects and county orders to comprehend the holy will every exam, they also have to deal with the exam papers sent by Li Wei and Yin Jishan every Friday. What was posted on the street was not the original text of the edict and the court. Li Wei ordered his staff to compile the holy decrees and court documents, and all those related to the new policy, into drum words, Taoist feelings, lotus flowers, and official words, and a large number of stereotyped prints. The theaters opened and added official dramas, and the tea shop restaurant sang "Ode to the Emperor's Grace" before the text of the storytelling and singing, and even the Fengyue people on the Qinhuai River picked up guests, which was also given free to each guest. Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are really even fishermen and woodcutters are well-known to Yongzheng New Politics, and everyone knows it. Hongli lives in front of the post house in the east of the Confucius Temple, because it is the most lively place in Nanjing, the governor's yamen has set up a lantern shed, all kinds of lamps are also the slang works of Li Wei's subordinates, attract visitors during the day and night, guess the lantern riddle guessed and there is no prize for the lottery, only a lottery ticket is issued, with a lottery ticket, you can return to your hometown in Yicang to pay a liter of grain. Even the slogan of the propaganda oracle printed on the back of the lottery ticket:

Ladies and gentlemen, you listen, the Son of Heaven is very kind. The consumption limit is taken from the people, and the surplus silver should be returned to the public. Civil and military officials take the incorruptible, and the incorruptible officials are used for the people. Those who are endowed are all those who come to the lawsuit, and the white-haired and yellow-haired children enjoy peace......

Now the big mansion has set up a righteous warehouse, and the harvest time is poor. The rich family is benevolent and accumulates yin and skull, and the poor family is blessed and healthy. The hairpin is rich and noble, and although it is a gentleman, it also pays food. It should be known that our emperor is planning far away and planning Pingyang for the world.

…… All these kinds of things have provoked the peasants from the eight remote towns and four towns to enter the city, and the lantern shed is trapped all day long. Half a month ago, Hongli ordered people to secretly collect these lottery tickets and present the samples directly to Yongzheng, and wrote a secret fold to praise it:

The sons and ministers calculated that a lottery ticket was exchanged for a liter of rice, and one million pieces were issued, and only 10,000 stones of surplus grain in the south of the Yangtze River were paid. It is not to be valued by the grain of ten thousand stones.

Today, after receiving the will to return to Beijing to report on his work and visit Chatian Wenjing's impeachment, he was returned to Zhu wholesale. is still the very familiar pen of his father Yongzheng:

Li Wei Gongzhong's voice I know it, and his intelligent nature is difficult for people to learn. The provinces that have already transcribed the folds can be handled by their reference. It is difficult to generalize everything in the world, that is, such as Shandong, today's disaster relief, although it is difficult to raise 10,000 stone grain. Long-sleeved good at dancing, rich and good, Li Wei is the master, but he also pays attention to the government affairs office on weekdays.

In addition, send a few copies of the newspaper to read. Because Er is about to leave Ning and go to Henan, there are many inconveniences on the way, and these reports have not yet been sent to the central province. And to the opening, you can continue to read without interruption.

Hongli picked up a few copies of the newspaper that he handed over with the sealed box sent by the court, but in fact, there was no important content. In addition to the news that the eighteen provinces were limited to returning to the public and the officials who were absent from various places to maintain integrity, what is striking is that Hu Shili, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, personally escorted Yun to Baoding, and handed over "Seth Hei" to Li Fu for "strict supervision". Li Fu's excerpt on the impeachment of Tian Wenjing's "Five Unforgivables" did not publish the original text, but only published a headline. There is also a military intelligence report from General Altai, saying that Lobu Buzang Tenzin died of illness, and the remnants of Luo's old department have been taken in by Celing Alabutan. The power of the Dzungolkha Mongol army has been reduced to zero, and now it is frequently transferred. There has been another order to Weiyuan General Yue Zhongqi, ordering him to be on guard. There are also two, one says that Yang Mingshi has been appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and the other says that Sun Jiagan has been returned to the imperial history of the left capital by the Yungui Guanfeng envoy, and set off to return to Beijing Yunyun on the same day.

He read these newspapers against Zhu Pi in the study, and his heart was a little apprehensive. Some time ago, the "Eight Masters Party" made a big fuss in the Qianqing Palace, and he made urgent reports here to five or six cases a day, and he was well aware of the incidents issued by the Beijing Division. Li Wei, Yin Jishan, Fan Shijie and others came to ask for peace every day, and went around the bends to inquire about the news of the inner court, although Hongli calmly coped with it, but his heart was not very solid. At first, he was worried that Prince Lian would disrupt the situation, and then he was afraid of raising a big prison to govern the party. Everything is calm, and I feel that I have been in the province for a long time, and I wonder if someone will play right and wrong in front of Yongzheng. The important thing is that Yongzheng trusted himself more, and in order to keep track of the overall situation of the provinces and borders, he personally sent the samples of the unsent Di newspaper. Hongli couldn't help but admire his father's meticulousness, and he also faintly realized that Hongshi's government affairs in Beijing were not in line with the emperor's wishes. Therefore, putting down the postponement paperwork, Hongli was completely relieved in his heart. But when I saw four men dressed up outside the hall coming in from the second gate, they didn't come into the house, so they lined up in the patio in front of the steps, and drank a fat "Woo", and said: "Four princes, the slaves Xing Jianye, Xing Jianmin, Xing Jianzhong, and Xing Jianyi have accompanied the master to practice recruitment!" ”

The four brothers of the Xing family were originally from Shandong, and during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors of the seven-generation family of catching fast, and their father Xing Lianzhu sent his four sons out of the book to Li Wei to run. In order to test the martial arts ability of the children of the Xing family, Li Wei specially transferred them to the Nanjing Governor's Yamen to listen to the use, and Qia Hongli designated him to practice martial arts every single day. When Hongli saw them arrive, he immediately took off his outer robe, and only put a rose purple Baturukan shoulder on the inner moon-white robe, changed into a pair of corduroy soap boots, hid the corners of the robe in his belt, and walked out of the hall with a full eyebrow stick in one hand, and said with a smile: "I'm afraid that today is the last time to practice the style, I will go back to Beijing, and tomorrow will meet with Nanjing officials in three days, and I will have no time to play - how to practice today?" ”

"On the orders of the master!" Xing Jianye said with his hands crossed.

"You've already learned how to do it." Hongli smiled, "Let's change the trick today." Today, I will practice the stick, and you will go up one by one, and whoever can take this stick from my hand will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver! As he spoke, he took a silver ticket from the page of his boot and placed it on the steps in front of the window, and pressed it with a stone. Come over and set up a portal, one-handed stick and a move to spread the net all over the sky, the body drips and spins more than a dozen circles, one hand "raises fire to burn the sky", and the other hand holds the stick into the Qin Emperor's negative sword style, and suddenly the courtyard is full of wind.

When the four brothers saw him start so neatly, they couldn't help but applaud and shouted in unison: "Okay!" ”

That Hongli danced excitedly, and a stick was hooked, picked, squeezed, pulled, pryed, collapsed, and stabbed in his hand...... As light as a lamp grass, sometimes the stick is like a shaft, and the whole body is flying and spinning in the air and kicking; From time to time, he made progress and jumped, his hands danced upside down like a windmill, he jumped and kicked with fists and feet, and even the flowers and plants next to the patio were driven by the wind like the wind. These four brothers didn't make a move for a while, standing next to them and looking at it for a while, they had already seen that Hongli's stick method came from the inner court, although they had been pointed out by the big inner guards, but they committed "palace disease". As much as he danced in the air, he was just a good look, and the four of them felt that it was not difficult to take the oak stick from his hand. But considering that he is the "prince" today, he is willful and conceited, how can he be good if he has swept face? Xing Jianye was looking for a way, and the fourth Xing Jianyi had already entered the scene and shouted: "Fourth master, offended!" "In Hongli's stick shadow, he jumped around, saw that Hongli's lower plate was unstable, and flew to kick Hongli's hind legs. Hongli hurriedly supported a stick and a fish to fly, his body hung in the air, who knew that Jianyi was a false move, his left leg lunge, his right foot was hooked violently, Hongli lost his support and had landed. Jianyi saw that he was about to fall and climb, so he stopped his left hand and held Hongli, Hongli was stunned, and the stick in his hand had been shaken by Xing Jianyi's right hand and flew out three zhang high. The stick fluttered into Xing Jianyi's hands. Hongli took a step back with a smile and said, "No need to compare, even you have taken it away, let alone your brother?" It's so good, I can't even splash water when I dance, how did you get in? Ouchi masters don't have this ability either. ”

"The Ouchi guards are letting the prince go." Xing Jianyi smiled and said, "There is no perfect stick method in the world, he specially splashes water on the place where you dance, so naturally he can't splash it." The villain owes twenty taels of gambling silver, and this leading silver ticket is too hot, so he is presumptuous! Hongli couldn't help laughing and said, "I see! You lost the money and your eyes are red? Ok, good, good! is so sincere, your master should help you pay it back! As he spoke, when he turned around to take the silver ticket, he couldn't help but be taken aback: it turned out that the colorful objects on the steps that were pressed under the stones had disappeared, and I don't know who replaced them with a Xue Tao note, and there seemed to be words on the stains! Hongli carefully took out the note as if he was afraid of being burned, with a frozen smile on his face, he shook his fingers and unfolded it, and a poem was written on the paper:

He is diligent in government and pays back, and endures listening to the old song Wagtail Plain. I would like to tell you that you will be devastated on the way north!

When I looked closely, it was the paper I used to use, and the ink was moist and stained to the touch, obviously just written. In broad daylight, in the heavily guarded Qincha Palace, in front of a few martial arts masters, this thief calmly entered the study to inscribe poems, and exchanged silver tickets silently, without a trace, without a trace, not only bold to the extreme, but also unbelievable.

The brothers of the Xing family were stunned for a moment, and immediately knew what was going on, Xing Jianye and Xing Jianmin grabbed a few steps and protected Hongli, Jianzhong Jianyi flew up to the house with a roar, and the two of them put their hands on the pergola on the back of the house to look around, but they saw that the Qingtang Washer was one after another, and the alleys and streets were twisted and turned, and sometimes there was the sound of children's rattling laughter, and there was a spring scene inside and outside the courtyard, the Taiping world, how could I see a thief's shadow? The four brothers searched Hongli's study again, and then invited Hongli, who was initially frightened, to go in. Seeing that Hongli was stunned and refreshed, the four of them were all stunned. Xing Jianye lowered his head and said with a red face: "I'm shocked, the little ones are incompetent, and I really can't prevent such snitches in Nanjing!" ”

"Maybe it's done by someone who goes undercover in this station." Hongli saw that they were ashamed and embarrassed, so he turned around and said for them: "Besides, you all stared at me and Jianyi, and didn't pay attention. Don't be so depressed and die like Lao Tzu Niang, this is a hundred taels of silver, and the lord will still reward you! Saying that, he handed over another silver ticket, where did the four of them dare to take it? Just as he didn't pay attention to it, someone came in from the door and reported: "Li Wei, the governor of Liangjiang, and Fan Shijie, the political envoy of Jiangnan, have come to worship." Hongli shoved the silver ticket into Xing Jianye's hand, stood up and said, "Call in." ”

After a while, I saw Li Wei wearing a wide robe with nine pythons and five claws, and a brocade robe on the outside, slowly walking in. He had recovered from a long illness, and had been suffering from phlegm and wheezing, thin as hemp stalks, and carrying his clothes empty. Fan Shijie behind him was as stocky as a stone, his face was red from eating, and his face trembled when he took a step. Then two maids and an old woman followed silently, and after passing the second gate, they stood along the wall. Li Wei waved his hand at them and said, "You guys are here first." He turned around and went to Hongli Qian'er, who came out, and said, "Slaves Li Wei and Fan Shijie give their masters a greeting!" He kowtowed with Fan Shijie.

"Good! Get up! Hongli held his hands on the steps, and asked with a smile while letting the two of them into the house: "What about Jishan?" I thought he would come, but why are you two? He looked at Li Wei's face again and said, "Your face is still pale, and your spirit is much better." I asked Yang Mingshi to get you two catties of good white fungus, and he replied that he had returned to Beijing, and he had asked Jiang Yunzhou, the political envoy of Yunnan, to do it, and it would be delivered in a few days. That thing is called Cui'er with rock sugar to boil, and it can be tonified at any time, which is the most beneficial for the body. "It's a loss for the master." Li Weifu said with a smile, "The white fungus came from the post this morning, and ** also attached a letter saying that it was the master's grace. Yin Jishan will not be able to come this time, the Qingjiang estuary where the Yellow River silted up last year, blocking the transportation, this spring to transport 200 stone grain to Zhili Shandong. The Yellow River cauliflower flood came over, and if it was not cleaned up as soon as possible, it would be a big mistake. Ji Shanzheng convened the people of the river yamen to discuss the matter, as well as the Jianshan Dam project, the spring soil pine, and the construction of civilian workers - these are all fat shortages, and the most honest people must be used, and the governor must also worry about it. I told him, 'You have to get something like Huang Zhenguo of Henan to control the river and build a dam, and this autumn there is a mistake in the western border of Jiangsu, or it will collapse, and Lao Tzu will not care about decades of face-to-face friendship, and you must be impeached. Silver, now the consumption is limited to the public, some are. Those river workers you sent dare to hack me with this new deal money, I have to ask the king to kill him! 'I can rest assured that Jishan is a hundred people, but the ugly words are in front, and the picture is not smooth: - I set up a glass of water and wine for the fourth master in the evening, and Jishan will definitely come. ”

Fan Shijie was quiet, listening to Li Wei's words, he looked around, and said with a smile: "Jishan is also busy with this, the old minister Yin Tai sent a letter in Beijing, and the eldest lady Jin sealed a decree and asked him to write a poem Jiqing." His mother is fiftieth birthday, and he has to pay for a birthday gift. told me that he wanted to ask the fourth master to take him back to Beijing by the way, and said that he could neither publicize it nor make his mother feel cold. I said, 'You make this difficult for the fourth master.' The fourth master is a man of heaven, can he carry Old Minister Yin behind his back to help you stuff your mother? You're not a joke! Thanks to you, you're still a college tanhualang! ......" he said that Hongli was like falling into a fog, and Li Wei hurriedly smiled: "Jishangong's mother is a little lady, so naturally she can't be with the seal...... Yin Tai's old husband is very jealous, Yin Tai is old-fashioned, and now Jishan is such a big official, his mother is still in Tsing Yi Jing Hai at home, standing and waiting for the old man's wife. There is nowhere to say about this, only to suffer yourself......"

Hongli couldn't help but nod and sigh when he heard this. Li Wei changed the subject and asked, "What about the master's entourage minions?" Ye is practicing kung fu with the Xing brothers here, and they are not waiting in front of him? Hongli smiled: "You Li Wei is the first capable official in the world to control thieves, what else do I have to worry about?" Since they were leaving in the next two days, I sent them out into the street to buy books. The emperor is still hot, I have written to General Heilongjiang, asking him to catch live bears and send them to Beijing to get gall, and I will bring some real bezoar back from here. And my mother, too, brought something, and the rest of the people were packing their bags in the backyard. But it seems that you can't stay open at night here, and in broad daylight, a few people have thieves stealing my money under their noses! As he spoke, he handed the word to Li Wei.

"Really?!" Li Wei was taken aback, took the paper with both hands and looked at it, he didn't recognize half of the words, so he handed it to Fan Shijie and said: "Old Fan, Niang Xipi, this thief is too faceless, I always don't know when I said a lot of words, and I came to the fourth master to make my ugly." You are a literate person, read it to us! Fan Shijie was surprised and amused, read the poem, and said: "This thief doesn't seem to have bad intentions, remind the fourth master to be careful on the road." He is so capable that it is unknown whether he intends to serve the imperial court. "Ge Laozi!" Li Wei gritted his teeth and scolded with a smile, "This is all done by Gan Fengchi and his family, scattering heroes to hold a banquet in Nanjing, and provoking these indiscriminate thieves from other provinces to make trouble!" Mama Hei accompanied Duanmu Liangyong back to complete the marriage, and originally planned to ask them to escort the fourth master by the way, but now it seems that only the slave will personally send you back. Then he pointed to the few servants standing in front of the second gate and said, "These are a few relatives of Mama Hei's family, she is old, and she asked her family to come and wait for Duanmu." Duanmu and they went back to Shandong, and I left these people, and these girls can play and sing. Waiting for the fourth master on the road is better than a man's rough hands and feet. Fan Shijie looked at the Xing brothers with a smile and said, "How about it, don't you brag about 'fighting all over Shandong'?" This time, I'm waiting for your old man's family law board! Li Wei beckoned the girls in.

Hongli saw that the four of them were blushing, and hurriedly stopped Fan Shijie from speaking, and said: "At that time, we were engrossed in practicing kung fu, it was careless, why should we be too responsible?" When I returned to Beijing, I was escorted by them, Li Wei, don't worry, this thief is definitely not here for my life. You also sent it in person, for a small post so much, not afraid that people will laugh at your young master? Seeing that the middle-aged woman had entered the house with four girls, she stopped talking, and when she looked closely, the middle-aged woman was about forty years old, with an ivory hairpin on her bun, a long face and a high nose, and she could tell at a glance that she was also a beautiful child. But the two women are still young, only at the age of fifteen or sixteen, they are all full, sprinkled with flowers and green pants, goose yellow piping embroidered shirts, their appearance is not very handsome, but they stand together, like two yellow flowers Tingting Yu, there is a unique style. Hongli is young and talented, but because he is a minister outside, he is concerned about things, and it is inconvenient to carry red and green around him, and there are only a few men waiting all day, seeing them standing in the study with a shy face, he suddenly felt refreshed, and asked with a smile on the folding fan in his hand: "What is your name?" ”

The middle-aged woman was blessed before she came out and said, "The little woman's surname is Wen, Wen Liu's family." The master called me the Wen family. Then he pointed to the two girls and said, "These two children are twins, and they are both daughters of little women." The one with the cinnabar mole on the center of the eyebrows is the sister, and the master named him Yanhong, this is the younger sister, called Yingying. ”

"Master?"

"Oh, it's Mama Hei," the Wen family said, "Mama's family name is Fang." Yongle was defeated during the Jing Dynasty, and our family was the servant of the Fang family at that time. The Duanmu family was because of the kindness of adopting the descendants of the Fang family, and the Fang family recognized the kindness, saying that they were masters and servants, but in fact, they should not be slaves. It's our Wen family, it's an authentic low-door head. ”

She didn't finish speaking, Hongli already understood the relationship, and she couldn't imagine that Li Wei boasted all day long about the two families of Duanmu and Hei Mama in the martial arts! Thinking about it, he smiled and said: "It is not only the Fang family, but also the defeat of the Jing Dynasty, it must be Fang Xiaoru, after the loyal ministers and martyrs, they have supported each other for more than 300 years, which is also a good story!" Saying that, he took a cup to eat tea, the Wen family did not wait for the order to take off the pot from the tea hanger, Yan Hong plucked the tea, carefully brewed three cups and brought it over with a plate, Yingying poured the hot water in the pot into the basin, refilled the cold water, soaked three towels on the rope, wrung it out while it was hot, the three just drank two sips, and the hot towel was sent up. Hongli couldn't help laughing and said: "The errand in the house still needs a woman." The few male servants I have brought with me are all faithful, and they are like fools in these things. Seeing Li Fan and the others laughing and getting up to say goodbye, Hongli hurriedly said: "Don't be busy leaving, I still have something to do." It's going to be sooner or later, and I'll go to see Li Wei's porridge field later. Aren't you going to invite me again in the evening? And they went together. ”

"Yes!"

Fan Shijie and Li Wei glanced at each other and sat down again. Hongli took a gilded wooden box from the bookshelf, squeezed the mechanism with his hand, opened it with a "snap", and took out a fold of a yellow silk cover. The two of them saw at a glance that it was Yong's usual approval of the please An Fold, and hurriedly stood up. Li Wei asked, "Does the emperor have a secret message?" Hongli nodded, handed the excerpt to Fan Shijie and said, "Read it to Li Wei." Fan Shijie saw at a glance that it was the emperor's handwriting, hurriedly bowed, and read respectfully:

Eighteenth. Recently, I have been feeling uneasy physically and mentally, my body is burning all the time, and my head is dizzy like a ghost. You can pay attention to the visit, there are good doctors in medicine and surgery, people who have attained deep cultivation, or Taoist priests or Confucian scholars and laymen who preach. If you encounter fate, you must be enlightened, so that it is good to be happy, and you can't be forced to take advantage of it. Generously gifted to settle his family, while playing and hearing the same time to be sent to the capital, I am useful. Try your best to ask for it on my behalf, and you don't have to have any doubts. You recommend non-people, I don't blame it, I have my own way of trying. If anyone from another province can reach it, I will secretly play the name and origin, and then I will send it to the governor of the province to visit and investigate. It cannot be regarded as a written engagement. You can pay attention to the broad question, to the vice-intention. Be discreet.

Li Wei and Fan Shijie couldn't help but be shocked. Looking at the date, it was October 25 last year, and before that, they didn't know how many times they had asked for peace, and they all approved "I am safe, don't read it". "Doing a good job is better than good medicine" and other words, I can't imagine that there is such a will for Hongli, which seems to be impatient to seek a doctor!

"We'll talk as we go." Hongli smiled, took back the fold, because he saw an old man patting the dust behind him, so he called in and said: "Old Liu Tou, these three are new to the study to wait for pen and ink, just next door to this study to clean up a room for them to live." The two girls are still young, and they tell their families not to wronged them. He smiled at Yanhong and Yingying: "If you come, you will be safe, you don't have to see anything outside, what is lacking is what Lao Liu wants." I'm going to go out to Master Li's house, polish the ink for me, and come back for me to write. The books on the shelves are messy, I know it in my own heart, don't tidy it up. As he spoke, he came out with Li Wei. The Xing brothers glanced at each other and followed.

Fan Shijie said as he walked: "Fourth master, you are in civilian clothes, we are dressed like this, it is not appropriate, can we go back to change clothes and wait with us?" Li Wei smiled and said, "I have all kinds of clothes in my sedan car at any time." Uncle Fan, if you want to be called Huazi or the king of Fengyue upstairs, I will immediately dress up like a fish! Fan Shijie was used to being scolded by Li Wei, and said with a smile: "If you want to be a little flower, I will pretend to be an old man." If you want to pretend to be a little king and lead a horse, I'll play an old king! The two of them quarreled, causing Hongli to laugh uncontrollably. At one time, the two of them came out of Li Wei's official sedan chair, Li Wei wore a black satin six-in-one melon skin hat, a black satin gown, a betel nut purse hanging from his waist, and a pair of sunglasses on his thin face. Fan Shijie wore a gray felt hat, a gray poplin robe and a green cloth gown - but he looked like a housekeeper. The three of them looked at each other, couldn't help laughing, and when they left the post house, they didn't take the main road, but stepped on an alley and strung out of the alley, and went northeast - Li Wei's porridge field for the poor was set up on the shore of Xuanwu Lake not far from the grain depot.

In April, the south of the Yangtze River is already a green flower, from the post station to the north is actually the suburb of Nanjing, but see the loess road on both sides of the willows swaying, the warm breeze is pleasant, the cauliflower that keeps the head is rippling in the slanting sun in the west, occasionally there are vegetable fields, planted with eggplant seedlings, green pepper seedlings, shallots, radishes, cucumbers, beans, green shoots and other vegetables and vegetables, verdant and flowing. The children were by the canal for watering vegetables, some fluttering butterflies, some catching insects, some playing in the water, and sometimes slipping into the water, being thrown mud and sand by a group of horned boys on the shore, fighting in the water, crying, laughing, making trouble, scolding, and spanking by adults pulling their sons like mud monkeys...... An idyllic farmhouse. The three relatives and nobles who were dizzy all day long competing for fame and fortune in the official bush all felt that their ears and eyes were new. Hongli walked while strolling and asked Li Weidao: "Why did you think of setting up a porridge field in Yicang?" The emperor praised me several times. It is said that when the governors of the world will do this good deed, the peak of governance will be approached. It is about a long time of peace, the land is easy to annex, and there are always fewer rich and poorer, and even if it is peaceful, there will inevitably be floods, droughts, and locust plagues. In the long run, this is really a good way to take care of both the temple and the people. ”

"I'm not as far and deep as the emperor thinks." Li Wei held a stick of grass in his hand, pinched it little by little and chewed it in his mouth, "I only know what it feels like when people are hungry - when they see food, they want to grab it, and when they see rich people, they want to fight!" I have an aunt whose husband has been dead for ten years, and she does not marry on the observance of festivals, and when a plague of locusts passes, the crops are eaten as if they had been cut. She sold flowers[1]

- She still has to feed her son! He was silent and said no more. Fan Shijie nodded and sighed: "It's true. I was in Wuhu Yandao, and I saw Liu Er's hunger riots, so he didn't give enough for a pound of grain. Hundreds of hungry people took the opportunity to grab rice, burned shops, and robbed silver trumpets, even those who were not hungry were involved, and smashed the doors of large households, robbed grain, killed people, and raped women...... It took a lot of things to suppress it. Killing Liu Er was my prison officer, and there were dozens of tables outside to commemorate him, I only opened my eyes and closed my eyes, I didn't dare to touch the anger of the people, and I personally went over to toast him with a bowl of wine before the execution. Fourth master, you have to be there to know, it is really imminent, and it will be out of control as soon as it is launched! Hongli looked into the distance, the rape field in the sun was too dazzling, the pupils in the slightly slitted eyelids were shining, he licked his lips, wanted to say something and swallowed back. Li Wei saw a dark and gloomy high-rise house in front of him, and there were sentry posts standing by the surrounding walls, and pointed with his hand: "This is the Jiangnan grain depot, after the grain depot is Xuanwu Lake, and the soup kitchen is located by the lake." Hongli asked, "Why is it here?" ”

"There's a dilapidated Wutong temple over there, which can shelter you from the wind and rain." Li Wei said: "There is water by the lake, wash and wash cleanly, and there will be fewer diseases." It is close to the grain depot and convenient to get grain - I am not allowed to beg for food in the city, and it is not easy to make trouble when it is well placed outside. ”

The three of them walked while talking, and sure enough, when they turned around the grain depot, they saw the vast Xuanwu Lake rippling with clear waves. A large temple on the west side of the south bank of the lake is very majestic, but it has fallen into disrepair for a long time and looks gray. The empty field on the east side of the temple seems to be the venue of the temple fair in the past, a row of reed mats on the east side of the empty field is built into a shed, and there is a stack of mixed firewood next to it, and the smoke of the six chimneys behind the shed rushes straight up with the sound of spark beeping, and the sound is booming. When it was almost time to eat, thousands of hungry people had gathered in the empty field, standing in six ways as if in a queue, one by one in tattered clothes and unkempt, the bowls in their hands banged loudly, and they were impatiently waiting for the opening of the shed for dinner. From time to time, there were quarrels and rude scoldings in the crowd, the sound of women suckling their children and humming children's songs, and the screaming and crying of children being beaten, mixed with inexplicable laughter from time to time, which was extremely noisy. Fan Shijie saw at a glance that a scribe in the account room of the grain depot was busy directing people to unload rice from the car, but he didn't know his name, and shouted, "Hey-" and shouted: "You, hey, what is your mother, it's you who is called-come here, I have something to ask you!" ”

"It's Lord Fan!" The official stared at it for a long time before he recognized it, ran over with his buttocks, and said to Fan Shijie: "Little Yin Gui greets Lord Fang!" Standing up, he looked at Hongli and Li Wei with puzzled eyes, smiled all over his face, and said, "Why do you have the time to come here?" It's weird and dirty, and I don't even have a place to sit......" Fan Shijie ignored him and asked, "How many people are there here?" ”

"No, sometimes three or four thousand. There are few people today, fifteen hundred. ”

"Distribute according to the head, how much grain is distributed by one person?"

"Three or two."

"What about women with children?"

"Back to my lord, it will be counted according to the head." Yin Gui smiled, "It's the same with children. Before meals, bamboo skewers are given, one for each skewer, saving quarrels. ”

Hongli interjected and asked, "It's all from this province?" Are there many people from other provinces? Yin Gui glanced at Hongli, and hurriedly bowed his head and said, "Back to my lord, there is less than one stop in ten stops in this province." Governor Li has a constitutional order, and all hungry people in this province will give grain to return to their hometowns. There is still a shortage of grain in the counties, and most of the hungry people in the province here have no land at home. You send him back, and he still comes. ”

Hongli couldn't help but smile and asked, "Which province has the most people coming here to beg for food?" Yin Gui replied without hesitation: "Henan." Not only are there many, but they are all litters and litters. Some have three generations of families, and some come and go alone, calling a group to come, and finally doing it - you give him a little less, and the father scolds the mother and screams. The nest is like a dog, and we are set to eat Jiangnan! He glanced at the noisy people with disdain on his face, and suddenly sighed again: "No wonder they, over there it is called 'reclamation', some counties are in the field, the more they are reported, the more they are promoted, the more the chief of the Libao Jia, the people are put into the barren and ripe fields to open up the fields, and if one is not right, they will demolish the houses and kill people, and they can't grow crops when they open up the wasteland, and the original land is also delayed." Fan Shijie saw that Hongli's face was gloomy, but he was silent, so he smiled and said, "Let's take a look in the shed, shall we?" So Yin Gui guided, and the three of them walked to the shed. I saw six sheds in the west and east, lined up with six big pig killing pots, all full of porridge. There were stacks of rice bags in the shed, beds for vigil, a few large spoons on the edge of the pot, and a few firemen stripped off only a single shirt, covered with sweat, and churned the rice with a long-handled spoon in their hands. Hongli scooped up the porridge with a spoon, saw that the color was gray and red, and sniffed it close to his nose. With a slight musty smell, he couldn't help frowning and asked Li Wei, "Have you eaten enough?" ”

"It's almost the same to be full, this thing is not hungry, and you will be hungry after a few bubbles of urine." Li Wei couldn't help but smile, "I can't eat enough, and I won't let him starve to death, this is my purpose." Hongli sighed softly, put down the spoon and walked out of the shed, stepping west along the sidelines. Li Wei said this in Shandong for disaster relief, and he also heard the governor of Shandong speak. The purpose of giving porridge is to save lives from famine, and the disaster victims cannot be allowed to eat better than farming at home, nor can they be so hungry that they smash the porridge shed. Li Wei and Fan Shijie had already caught up, and when they saw him walking west in a trance, Fan Shijie hurriedly said: "Master, there is Wutong Temple over there, and there are all these people living in it, so there is nothing to see." ”

Hongli didn't seem to hear it, and quickened his steps to the temple. Because it was almost time to start the meal, there were almost no people in the temple here, only a few old women in blue clothes wearing ragged jackets and snuggling up in the sun at the corner of the door. When Hongli looked up, he saw a broken plaque in front of the temple, on which were written "Wutong Shrine" four big characters of lacquer, and the word "Ancestral Hall" had been stripped off half of it. The couplet on the bridge is quite complete:

There is a spirit and a god, and the light shines on the country and the people, such as the sound of blood, food, and all evils and blessings.

The inscription below is already blurred. Li Wei explained on the side: "This ancestral hall is a smash hit. In the early years of Kangxi, a pair of boys and girls were poured with mercury every year! Tang Bin, who served as the prefect of Nanjing, took the statue and burned it, and drove away the abbot and Taoist priest, saying that if there is a disaster, I deserve it. Tang Wenzhenggong was not only fine, but also promoted. Last year, two foreign monks, who said they were from France, took a fancy to this piece of land and wanted to build a church, and they fought with me several times. I said build a temple, done! But if you want to build a Confucian temple, or a Buddhist temple, I don't know what kind of bird you are, so they just want it. Hongli nodded and said, "In the future, this kind of thing will be played." We don't know the name of this outsider, so we were careful of them-" When we were about to go on, we heard the bell ringing on the side of the porridge shed, and the people cheered as if they had blown up their nests, "The shed is opened, the shed is opened!" "Pots and pans, people squeezed horses, and slammed into a piece. As soon as Hongli turned around, there was a heart-rending scolding sound from the temple here, but it was the voice of a Henan woman:

"You're a thousand-knife killer! A dignified six-foot man, his wife and son can't support him! eats housemeals, his pants are so rotten that he can't cover his eggs, and he has to gamble with others...... Ahh......h Are you going to sell yourself, I give it away with such a little girl, and her life? ……”

[1]

i.e. prostitution.