Time flies, months pass in a hurry. In late autumn, Zhang Bao suggested to the governor Yin Tusang A early to help the poor people in the city survive the winter according to the old practice, but he was refused.

A few years ago, in order to win personal official reputation, the former governor Yin Yuheng spent unnecessary money, and he spent a lot of money when he took over, and now the treasury is already beyond his means, just to allocate daily expenses is already very reluctant, where is there any spare money to feed the beggars on the street in vain? He is still worried about where the official salary will come from next spring.

Zhang Bao was very angry, in the past few years, the treasury has been sufficient, although the cost of taking over is a lot, but the main raw materials for making ice carving ice lamps did not cost much money, a lot of silver is spent from the emperor's inner treasury, and he remembered that Zhou Fucheng once mentioned to him that when Yu Heng handed over the accounts before leaving, there was still a surplus of thousands of taels. How could it be that after only a few months, the yamen's treasury became "beyond its means"?

However, the boss is the boss, and the other party's backstage is strong, which is not something that people like Zhang Bao can fight against, so he had to retreat sullenly.

He sat in the office for a long time, just sighing. Mr. Su walked in and asked, "Your Excellency must have touched a nail?" Lord Fu Yin refused, right? Zhang Bao nodded sullenly.

Mr. Su sat down on the chair next to him, poured a cup of tea, and said slowly: "The student has heard something, maybe it can explain the reason for Lord Yin's paranoid behavior. ”

Zhang Bao looked up at him suddenly, only to hear him say: "The Jiang Fucheng who has just come a few months ago, one of his masters happens to be a former classmate of the student, according to what he secretly revealed to the student, it turns out that Yuheng was once an official under Suo Xiangmen, but somehow, he became friendly with Chen Shangshu, and soon became the only one who looked at him. Today's Lord Yin is Suo Xiang's cronies, and he must be very dissatisfied with the actions of Yuheng people, so he will do everything to erase his achievements, right? ”

When Zhang Bao heard this, he really couldn't hide the resentment in his heart: "Just to vent their anger, did they care about the lives of the people?" ”

Mr. Su sneered: "How can they care about this? Besides, there is indeed not much silver in the treasury, but where all this silver has gone, adults must be able to guess it, right? ”

Zhang Bao was silent. He naturally guessed, but it was a pity that others were weak and couldn't do anything. After pondering for a long time, he raised his head and said to Mr. Su: "Now that the weather is getting colder and colder, if you don't care about it, there will be people inside and outside Fengtian City who will die of cold, and I can't watch this happen." Since Lord Fu Yin is reluctant to contribute, I'll try to do what I can. He saw Mr. Su looking at him with wide eyes and amazement, and said with a wry smile: "I can't imagine that an ordinary person like me who does nothing can also be a good person, presumably because I have been with good friends for many years, and I am also contaminated with the fragrance of a gentleman, right?" ”

Mr. Su said respectfully: "My lord is a gentleman. Then he asked, "Do you want to use your money to help the poor?" But there aren't many adults, and now those ...... There are more filial things in the hands of Lord Fu Yin, what are you going to do? Besides, adults will ...... next year."

Zhang Bao just smiled bitterly: "How much can I help." "He has also accumulated some silver in the past two years, and it is good to be able to save one more person.

Tong didn't say anything about her husband's decision, but just instructed her subordinates to reduce household expenses as much as possible from now on, and not to do new clothes for the new seasons, and then ordered the women of the whole family, regardless of the master and servant, young and old, to start working to make exquisite embroidery, Shuning asked her why, and she said: "Always prepare for the New Year's gift sent back to Beijing." ”

Finally squeezing out more than 1,500 taels of silver, Zhang Baoming Changfu went to the city and outside the city to buy grain, cotton, cotton cloth, and coal and firewood in batches, among which potatoes were bought the most because of their low prices. Shuning came up with the idea that cotton gloves are costly and not conducive to the work of the poor, so it is better to buy fine hemp rope and the like, woven into thick gloves with exposed fingers, the warmth effect may be worse, but it is very wear-resistant, and it is more suitable for the poor people. Zhang Bao took his daughter's advice. It wasn't long before he had things distributed to the dilapidated houses that housed the homeless, and they were all grateful.

Zhang Bao's approach soon reached the ears of Fu Yin, who only scoffed at it, but many officials who had served in Mukden for many years joined the ranks, either openly or secretly, and secretly used their private wealth to buy winter supplies to help the poor in the city. Most of them feel that the achievements they have made in the past two years have almost been erased, but they can't vent their anger in their hearts, so they can only express their dissatisfaction in this way.

Alerted to this trend, Tusana reprimanded Zhang Bao and several other officials, accusing them of disobeying their superiors' orders. The eldest Zhang Tongju was so angry with him that he took a leave of absence the next day, and out of sight was pure. Zhang Baoxing's term of office was about to expire, and he knew that Fu Yin couldn't really do anything to him, so he just sneered and went his own way. It's just that some officials have flinched, and others are even more worried, not wanting to offend the officials too much. Action to alleviate poverty has been greatly hampered.

However, there were two or three princely mansions who gave money and grain to several large temples and let them open a few porridge sheds, which helped a lot intentionally or unintentionally.

Winter came this year, and although it was not as cold as the previous two years, it was also windy and snowy. The people in the city are living harder than in previous years, those who live in dilapidated houses or live on the streets, those who have been rescued, barely survive the winter, but Zhang Bao and a few others have limited ability, and more poor people have frozen to death, according to the figures reported by various places, by the end of the New Year, 17 people have died in the cold winter.

It is also in line with the bad luck of that Tusang, and the news that someone in Fengtian City has frozen to death has been transmitted to Beijing through the channels of some people, how can the people of the Mingzhu faction let go of this opportunity? He immediately sued the emperor, which made the saint angry, and urgently summoned Tusang A to Beijing to ask for the guilt, and scolded Suo Etu again. If it weren't for the help of a large number of officials to intercede, maybe Tusang Ah would have been removed from his post immediately, but the emperor allowed him to stay on probation and make meritorious contributions.

At the same time, the emperor also knew about Zhang Bao and several other low-grade officials who used their private wealth to help the people, and not only issued an order to commend them, but also signaled the officials to list these officials as excellent in their evaluations last year.

This time, neither Chen Liangben nor Yu Heng was involved in the dispute between the DPRK and China, at least on the surface. However, this incident once again caused a dispute between the two factions of Suo Ming, and with the fall of several officials and the ascension of newcomers, the incident of Fengtian, which was originally the fuse, freezing to death again, gradually faded out of people's sight.

The disturbance dragged on for more than two months before the dust settled, and by the time Tusang returned to Mukden from the capital again, Zhang Bao's family was already packing. He took office in the fall, but his predecessor died of a sudden illness, so he took over the man's term, so his term expired in April this year. A letter also came from the Earl's Palace, urging him to go on the road as soon as possible, so as not to stay in Mukden and have a conflict with his superiors.

However, Lord Yin, who has just suffered a loss, will not immediately find his bad luck, and he still has to beware of a few supervisors who will report back with him.

The people in the city who had been rescued by Zhang Bao heard that he was leaving, and they came to say goodbye to him. They don't know what to say, but they really regard Zhang Bao as a great benefactor, and even many people wring a small piece of cloth from their clothes and giving it to a skillful woman to sew a small Wanmin umbrella (in fact, it should be a Baimin umbrella), Zhang Bao was moved to tears when he got it in his hand.

Shuning had grown up in Mukden since she was born, and now that she was leaving, she was very reluctant to leave, and she decided to take a good look at the city again, because she didn't know when she would be able to come back.

Tong Shi is not worried that she only has Chunxing by her side, but Changfu and Changgui have their own duties, Ma San'er has errands to do, Qiu Ju is too beautiful and easy to cause trouble, and she can't be sent out, and Huzi is too young. In the end, Duan Ning volunteered to be his sister's flower messenger, and he also found his friend Tongying. With such a guide who is familiar with Mukden and has a prominent status, they will never have an accident. Tong readily agreed.

The first thing they had to do was to go to a few streets in the city. Huzi took the lead, Shuning took Chunxing first, and Duanning and Tongying walked behind. Duan Ning saw that Tongying was a little sullen, so he asked him what was going on.

Tong Ying smiled reluctantly and said, "The last time I came to your house, your mother spoke very kindly, how has it changed today?" It sounds awkward to me. ”

Duan Ning didn't care: "Last time, she only knew that you were my classmate and friend, and she didn't know your identity, so there was no taboo when she spoke." Later, she was told that she would be more respectful today, and it wasn't a big deal. ”

Tongying was a little sullen: "From childhood to adulthood, except for people like me, everyone else has been respectful to me, and when they look at me, they all look at my background." Since the death of my mother, except for my brother, there is no one who can speak seriously. I finally recognized you, and what I saw in my eyes was me, and I only looked at me as an ordinary person when I spoke and acted. The same goes for your sister-in-law. The last time your mother talked to me like a nephew, I was actually very happy, and today she changed her attitude, which made me very uncomfortable. ”

Duan Ning slowed down and turned his head to look at him: "You have always been an open-minded person, why are you complaining today?" It's not like you. He dodged one of Kiriyoung's punches and said with a smile, "What do you want to do so much?" My mother is more respectful to you, it's just human nature, and I didn't specifically scold you, what do you have to feel uncomfortable? Let's go play. ”

Tong Ying smiled, and pulled him to hurry up with Shuning and them.

They walked all over the streets and alleys, markets and shops in Fengtian, and then ran to see the green mountains and green waters on the outskirts of the city. The two teenagers rode horses, and Huzi drove a car carrying Shuning and Chunxing, talking and laughing all the way, all as if they were on a spring outing.

When they had finished their last swim and were about to go home, Tong Ying pulled Duan Ning, who slowed down his horse and the two fell behind the carriage.

Tongying said: "You will leave the day after tomorrow, I'm afraid I won't be able to send it, I'm afraid today is the last time I will see you." I don't know if we'll be able to see each other again in the future, but no matter what, don't forget me as a friend. ”

Duan Ning nodded solemnly and said, "I'll write to you." ”

The two young friends punched each other, looked at each other and smiled, but they heard Shuning calling them in front of them: "Brother, Brother Tongying, what are you doing?" Let's go, the gates will be closed later. The two hurriedly followed.