With the help of people in the government, it will be much easier to do things. First of all, Cheng Congyuan proposed to forcibly buy the fields around Jinan, and then rent them to the displaced people after a little repair, just to reap the harvest. According to this, it is completely certain that the Ye family will stand out from the crowd in Shandong and restore the prestige of the past. But no matter how old Cheng Congyuan returns, he can't stretch his eyes far into other people's homes.

Within a year or two, Zhou Yizhi's son was admitted to the Jinshi. Ye Yongjia remembered the only conversation he had with Zhou Yizhi, and there was no way to verify that he might have used any other means. In short, it was the Zhou family who jumped up with this, almost on par with the Ye family. Although the Zhou family made some disgraceful deeds during this period, they were whitewashed on the surface; Coupled with the promotion of Zhou Yi, even the privileged Ye family is extremely red-eyed.

But now Ye Yongjia and the others have no time to take care of it. The house is already in chaos. Even the good knives that were originally handy were much blunt, so they had to find another quick edge.

The top priority is Ye Long's change in the court. If it is really as Cheng Congyuan expected, Ye Long will be able to come back in only two or three months, hurry up the marriage, and get rid of the false name as soon as possible; But after waiting for a few months, there was still no news, and the mansion naturally inquired many times, only to learn that Ye Long had a bad relationship with Liu Zhennian, and he was a local wealthy family that the Liu Party wanted to get rid of, and the catastrophe seemed inevitable. Cheng Congyuan became more and more frightened, after all, the chaos in the Ming Dynasty was not in the middle of the country, and sending people to dredge up without authorization was just causing trouble, so there was only a suspense left, and he didn't know his safety.

In this matter, I only send a few people to inquire from time to time in order to improvise. However, you can't always focus on this, the important thing is that Cheng Congyuan must clearly consider how to push the Ye family to the top. He thought of Zhang Pinglai, and there should be many stewards like him who filled their pockets. He made a decision and ordered a wave of strict investigation of ink corruption. In the end, there are no regulations, if there is the slightest corruption, they will be tied to the hall and killed. Although he still talks about family law, this is only a legal explanation, and he knows what is behind it. But in this way, if you can't find out a lot in half a year, you will implement the law of exposure, and if a person's greed for ink is proven, he will be dealt with immediately. Sure enough, in less than three days, the council hall was very lively again.

This makes people cautious, especially in places like buying a house, where money is easily available. The people who entered the house to buy a house are all the henchmen of the stewards, and they can make a small profit on weekdays, but no one thought that there would be a poke of window paper. However, the paper was eventually scratched with a knife.

See the sun when the clouds are cleared. Cheng Congyuan almost jumped up in the face of the visiting Kouzhong. "This is the ticket that Steward Zhou gave me." Kou Zhong looked at the bundle of treasure money and said.

When Kou Zhong first entered the house purchase, he was assigned to a steward surnamed Zhou. After inquiry, this person's name is Zhou Jingshi, who is about forty years old, and he has not been in office for a long time, but he is not very sophisticated. In contrast, although Kou Zhong is not old, he has managed a few acres of land in the early days, and Su Ri has dealt with those farmers, which is more than enough to deal with this kind of character.

Kou Zhong often greets Zhou Jingshi, of course, the real things are also indispensable, and the rest of the money from buying things outside is also in his pocket, and he is frugal, Zhou Jingshi has become sincerely trusting him. In addition, Kou Zhong also saved a lot of money to be in case of danger and take care of it at any time.

After three or four months, Kou Zhong heard that Zhou Jingshi had taken leave, and according to rumors, his mother was seriously ill, and he temporarily lived outside for a few days to see how the illness was, and then decided to return. Kou Zhong was quite pleased, and without thinking about it, he didn't need to bring more things, and immediately went out of the house to find Zhou Jingshi's family. He had heard Zhou Jingshi talk about it, so it was extremely laborious to find it.

"Oh. Here it comes. Zhou Jingyi opened the door, and Kou Zhong saw that his face was pale, his eyebrows were locked tightly, and he was extremely impatient.

"Come in and talk about something."

Kou Zhong nodded hurriedly and followed in. He didn't dare to enter the house, so he chose a random stool outside to sit on. The two sat down facing each other, and Kou Zhong was about to speak, but he heard a painful ** sound suddenly coming from the room, Zhou Jingshi pushed away the stool in a panic and got up: "You sit down for a while." After saying that, he hurriedly ran into the house, and Kou Zhong could only wait in a daze.

After a while, Zhou Jingshi wiped the sweat lightly, and still sat down, and the beads of sweat could be clearly seen on his forehead. "I have a sore," he said, "and the situation is not very good, and Lang Zhong thinks that he will not survive, and I think it is also a good treatment." Zhou Jingshi bit his lip and stared at the room.

"Steward Zhou can't think like that! As long as it can be cured, it has to be saved no matter what. There is no shortage of money...... "Kou Zhong neatly took out four taels of silver from his body and stuffed it into Zhou Jingshi's hand. "Steward Zhou can wait. I still have an old recipe, so I'll go to the shop to grind today. It's never too late to try it. Zhou Jingshi looked at him, deeply moved by Kou Zhong's enthusiasm, his eyes flashed, and he held Kou Zhong's hand tightly: "Brother Kou, you are righteous and thin, I don't know how to thank you......"

"You don't have to thank me, it's a matter of duty! Without further ado, I took my leave. Zhou Jingshi agreed and let go of his hand; Kou Zhong walked quickly to the door, but suddenly stopped, pulled back and bowed slightly to him, before striding out of the room. When Zhou Jingshi looked over, his eyes turned red, and he sighed lightly.

Kou Zhong walked with his head down, he didn't know how to treat the sores, so he simply stopped going back to his house now, and went straight to the medicine store.

Since the relocation of Yefu to Qihe, many shops have found business opportunities and have piled up around Yefu, so it is very convenient to go all the way. After only a few dozen steps, Kou Zhong saw the door of the pharmacy under the thick wooden beam, which was very dilapidated; As soon as I entered the shop, the stools, chairs and counters inside were very clearly placed, and the beams on the ground were spotless, which looked very different from the outside. Kou Zhong didn't say a word, and walked directly to the counter, and the shopkeeper glanced at him, as if he didn't want to see him. After all, his hair was disheveled, untidy, and smelled of sweat; In this way, they can only swallow their eyes and treat them as if nothing happened.

"Sir?" Kou Zhong didn't dare to call 'shopkeeper' directly, and asked softly. The shopkeeper brought a rag and wiped the table: "Why are the guests here?" And the shopkeeper looked no longer at him.

"I want to ask, what is the medicine for the treatment of sores?"

"Not a lot. There is only honeysuckle scattered here. He paused, then moved the rag again.

"Sir, help me catch it."

The shopkeeper folded the rag aside, went to the medicine cabinet and grabbed a large handful of honeysuckle, put it in a paper bag, and took some licorice, and grabbed it into the paper bag. The two bags were sealed, handed over to Kou Zhong, instructed how to use it, and recited the book: "Eight taels of honeysuckle, two taels of fried licorice, a total of ...... Thirty texts. ”

Kou Zhong took the medicine and asked in a low voice, "I'm afraid this powder is weaker." Is there a secret recipe in the shop, and also catch a pair for the villain? The stakes of this disease are very high. ”

"Absolutely. But it looks like you can't afford ......."

Kou Zhong smiled reluctantly: "Sir, just say the price." ”

"If you buy it for a year, you will have to pay six taels of silver; What do you think of eating for a week, and then coming here to get it? The shopkeeper rolled his eyes and stared at him.

"Sir won't lie to me?" Kou Zhong thought for a while, and his hands were not rich. "I lied to you? This shop is open in the open on the edge of the Ye Mansion, and it is easy to dare to deceive people and arrest me! The shopkeeper spat and was so anxious that his face turned red.

Kou Zhong didn't respond, just rubbed his hands. If you pay the prescription here, I am afraid that it will become more and more difficult in the future, and Zhou Jingshi does not know how to treat himself. He was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, he raised his head, gritted his teeth, and immediately untied his coat, and shook his mouth slightly, and the broken silver in it fell on the table like a waterfall.

"Good! I'll buy this recipe from Mr.! ”

The shopkeeper's whole body shook for a moment, and then he slowly got up and put aside the silver. "Six taels...... Not in the slightest......" said the shopkeeper to himself, and put the money aside.

"You wait a minute." The shopkeeper waved his hand and walked into the back room. Kou Zhong waited in front of the cabinet. In the middle of his eyes, the shopkeeper came out with a medicine bag and handed it to him: "This medicine is good." Just go back and fry it. He nodded, put a few pairs of medicines in the pocket where the silver was originally placed, and reluctantly looked at the six taels of silver on the counter, as if he was a little remorseful. But he couldn't go back, so he had to leave the pharmacy immediately. From the outside, the pharmacy is still very dilapidated. At least it's clean inside, Kou Zhong thought.

Soon. He saw Zhou Jingshi again. Lieutenant General Kou explained all the usage, Zhou Jingshi just nodded in a coping manner, hurriedly took the medicine, and then spoke: "Brother Kou Zhong...... It's hard work for you. "Kou Zhong was about to go back to his house, and when he saw that Zhou Jing was willing to speak, he stood at ease." I don't think it's a problem. It's Steward Zhou, don't forget to have me......" Kou Zhong choked up.

Zhou Jingshi looked up at Kou Zhong, but he couldn't figure out what he really thought at the moment. "Don't worry! If you say that, I will heal my mother. ”

Then the two talked a few more paragraphs, until there were weak shouts in the house, Zhou Jingshi sat down without a place, and after entering the house, he instructed his insiders to decoct the medicine, and Kou Zhong also helped take care of it for a while. When he was busy to almost quiet, he took the opportunity to make a speech, and Zhou Jingshi did not keep it because of many things, but said "I can't say goodbye, don't blame Brother Kou", and then saw Kou Zhong go away.

The sunlight was gradually pressed by the clouds, and Kou Zhong began to feel that it was almost dusk. As if he had just reacted, he suddenly felt weak and sleepy. He hurried back to his house, first walked around the house he had purchased, but fortunately there was nothing to do, so he returned to his house and lay down on the bed first.

For a while, I couldn't sleep, and my mood became more and more restless. Kou Zhong sat up, thinking that he hadn't eaten for a day, so he opened the pot, and the bottom of the pot was clearly drying; He scraped some of the porridge sticking to the surface of the pot with a spoon, picked it up and licked it. When he turned around and saw that there were still leftover steamed buns from yesterday on the table, he was very happy, grabbed it and took a bite, chewed it a few times, and then barely swallowed it. and took two or three more bites, but it was really hard to swallow, so I gave up.

It's a difficult month. After all, the salary has not been allocated, and there is still a need to go back and forth to Zhou Jingshi's family, so he can only grab some of the arranged work and make a handful, but he does not dare to spend it and keep it for the future. With such hardship, it must be difficult to eat and drink well, and his face will become more and more thin and yellow.

and the salary at the end of the month, which was exhausted due to going to the pharmacy to get medicine. Kou Zhong sat at the table, chewing the hard steamed bun slowly, his heart was shaken, and he simply took it out to eat and drink to his heart's content, regardless of the day after tomorrow, wouldn't it be wonderful? He immediately set out to touch the key and prepare to open the chest where the silver was kept.

Right and wait and see. Kou Zhong was suddenly held back by this thought, hesitated for a moment, and then sat down peacefully, still nibbling on his steamed buns.

Sure enough, the poverty of Kou Zhong was not useless, but within a month, Zhou Jingshi's old mother died of illness, and the funeral had to be financed immediately; Kou Zhong was excited, but he pretended to be in a bad mood outside, as if he was in a bad mood, and entered the purchase house with his head down, and when he saw the other stewards, he looked up half-dead and said, "I'm going to see Steward Zhou...... Leave this day's errand to someone else. ”

A steward bows his head and appears to be acquiescing; Kou Zhong thanked him reassuringly and left.

"Alas......"

A steward suddenly stopped him, and Kou Zhong turned around, "This time you're going to be courteous again?" The steward had a gloomy face. A few people sneered on the side.

"I'm just ......"

"It's just your mother! We can all see clearly, who doesn't give us face all day long, and doesn't ask when they earn money, and sends it directly to Zhou Jingshi! Aren't we in charge? Zhou Jingshi, he has a lot of power, we don't dare to say anything here...... But you're so disgusting that you want to vomit! A slightly grumpy man pointed at him and yelled.

"I don't know what to offend the stewards......"

"Of course you don't know! Cheng Congyuan didn't beat you to death that time, this time I stabbed the master, see what the master says! ”

Kou Zhong simply ignored it and left to buy a house. Unexpectedly, several stewards stood up suddenly, and one of them jumped out and scolded: "Stop! Kou Zhong had to stop and confront them helplessly; Just as he was about to say something, Meng Ke was turned over by the man with one hand, and grabbed the collar of his shirt with the other hand unreasonably, and Kou Zhong's face turned blue for a while.

"Mr. Cheng's stick is not light...... "The steward's eyes were extremely round, showing a few bloodshots, as if the eyeballs were about to burst.

"Please let go of me......," Kou Zhong grabbed his hand and said softly.

"Okay, I'll let go." The steward let go of his hand, but it seemed to be more than that, and Kou Zhong did not move. Then the steward kicked him in the knee with his foot, causing him to fall to the ground on his back. Kou Zhong gritted his teeth, hugged his left knee, looked up at the condescending steward, and smiled slightly: "The steward doesn't need to scare people...... You are not very clean, you want to sue my master for that ......" Kou Zhong frowned in pain, hissed, and then stroked his knee, "Who dares?" He looked up at the stewards.

The steward sneered a few times and took a step further, "You really understand!" We can't help you, see how long you can live! Get lost! Kou Zhong did not respond, got up silently, and walked towards the door of the purchased house; A steward in the back kicked him in the waist, followed by a wail.

Kou Zhong just screamed, staggering a few times and still holding his body; Without looking back, he went straight out of the house.

There was still a slight pain in his waist, and Kou Zhong could only walk slowly to relieve some of the pain. Fortunately, it was not very far from Zhou Jingshi's house, so with a little effort, his feet moved to his door. Kou Zhongchu knocked on the door, but no one responded for a long time. At this time, Fang was busy with family affairs, and it was impossible for no one to be there, Kou Zhong thought.

After waiting for a while, before he could say anything, Kou Zhong shouted: "Villain Kou Zhong." ”

That's when I heard footsteps. The door suddenly sounded, Zhou Jingshi's face was dull, wearing mourning clothes, and he copingly.

"Brother Kou, your medicine does work, but it really can't be saved...... Thank you too much. Zhou Jingshi also trembled as he spoke, and slowly patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry for you. Since I have helped the steward, I will help to the end, and you don't need to persuade you. As he spoke, Kou Zhong took out another four taels of silver, and without saying a word, he stuffed it directly into Zhou Jingshi's hand, revealing a resolute and sincere expression: "You go to buy a funeral ground with this money, so that you can feel at ease...... I'm going to have the rest left, so I'm going to do a funeral...... The butler who bought the coffin just had to wait, and I paid for it. Zhou Jingshi looked at Yinzi fixedly, wiped his eyes, and grabbed Kou Zhong's hand violently, "Brother......" After speaking, he lay his face on those hands, sobbing for a long time, unable to spit out words.

Kou Zhong couldn't help but tears rolled from the corners of his eyes to his face, and he couldn't figure out whether it was true or false, and then he felt involuntary joy in his heart.

On this day, Kou Zhongfang woke up and immediately set off to buy a coffin. I didn't dare to buy a good coffin, but I retreated to the next best thing, and I could afford it, and I didn't seem stingy. After Zhou Jingshi took the coffin, a funeral was held, and Kou Zhong naturally returned from the coffin shop as a member of the mourning.

There are many people who come to greet the funeral, and there is no shortage of stewards from all over the place. Kou Zhong followed all the way to the cemetery, and saw people crowded and silent, expecting that he had not yet entered the ground. Kou Zhong also gagged his mouth, and had to take care of the scenery around, although there was nothing to see.

"Kouzhong!" Kou Zhong hurriedly turned his head, and a person rushed over, his voice extremely clear.

"Steward Zhou told you to go to the front."

Kou Zhong let out an 'oh' and jogged all the way over, and everyone got out of the way with a playful look, without hindrance. Pulling open the white curtain, Zhou Jingshi sat there with a few stewards who bought a house, and the stewards took the initiative to fight with him, although Kou Zhong remembered that he was bullied by these people, but he could only reluctantly return the salute, and then talk to Zhou Jingshi. "You've done me a lot of work, so I'll let you come to the front. Let's bury my mother with a few of us. Kou Zhong's face was heavy, and he nodded deeply in agreement.

After the coffin was put into the ground, Kou Zhongfang said goodbye to Zhou Jingshi, said a few words, and went straight back to Yefu. Kou Zhong is physically and mentally exhausted, but fortunately, a lot of things have come to an end, although I don't know what kind of attitude Zhou Jingshi will have towards him, but he is doing well in buying a house, and he will never change for a while. So, he went to sleep with peace of mind.

This time he slept for a long time, from dusk to day, and the muscles and bones in his body made him feel deeply soft. Hearing that Zhou Jingshi had returned to work at this time and regained the power to buy a house, he was ready to go to greet him.

Kou Zhong strode into the purchase of the house, opened the curtain, and the stewards looked at his face, which was much more energetic than before, and his clothes were slightly neat; But he was still dismissive of Kou Zhong himself, and laughed at it in a low voice.

Zhou Jing closed his eyes and rested on the table, heard the sound of gently approaching footsteps, suddenly opened his eyes, and saw Kou Zhongli waiting upright. "I don't know that Steward Zhou is resting, how offensive...... I'll just go. Kou Zhong said hurriedly, as if about to turn around.

"It's fine!" Zhou Jingshi stretched out his arm and waved his hand: "I still want to tell you something." ”

"Sit down." Zhou Jingshi pulled out a chair and motioned for Kou Zhong to sit down. Kou Zhong didn't shirk, and as soon as he bowed slightly, he slowly sat down.

"Kouzhong, you have helped me a lot, but I am not greedy for money, I trust you very much. If you say yes, I'll let you be by my side and participate in some things on weekdays, how about it? As he spoke, Zhou Jingshi raised his eyes and stared at him.

Kou Zhong's eyes gradually turned into a slit, and his mouth cracked into a crescent moon; Then he put away his expression and said humbly: "If the steward thinks so, the villain will be honored." How could you not agree! Zhou Jingshi was also extremely satisfied, patted him on the shoulder, and Kou Zhong leaned down and let Zhou Jingshi pat him once.

"I'm afraid you haven't married yet, have you?" Zhou Jingshi suddenly thought of it, and saw Kou Zhong nodded. "It stands to reason that you are not young anymore, you have to find a daughter-in-law at this time!"

"How can the villain afford to think of this ......," Kou Zhong said with a smile.

"I'll think for you," Zhou Jingshi replied dryly, "it's easy to do." Although there are not many rings in the house, you can still find them; When the time comes, pick a suitable one and talk to the master about it, and you can do it well. After hearing this, Kou Zhong hurriedly got down from the chair and said, "Steward Zhou has taken care of me to such an extent, and the villain doesn't know how to thank the steward!" After speaking, he knelt down and kowtowed to Zhou Jing's ten feet. only kowtowed once, and Zhou Jingshi grabbed him: "Kowtow!" Get up! Kou Zhong stood up with his body propped up, tears flashed in his pupils, and Zhou Jingshi sighed for a long time as if he was moved.

"Brother, you know kindness, I didn't befriend you in vain."

The bribery situation on the upper floor of the house was something he had never seen before, and several stewards (including Zhou Jingshi) were in the same breath, often using the name of Ye Mansion to deter those powerless small businessmen. The purchase of a house is also very generous, and Kou Zhong witnessed that Steward Zhou curryed favor with the subordinates of the council hall in order to maintain the relationship with the master Ye Yongjia, and it was often more than ten taels or more than twenty taels of expenses, all of which were handed over to Kou Zhong to do. This kind of affairs are handled handy, and occasionally there are inappropriateness, and the Zhou steward does not care about it, and he is not to blame. Kou Zhong didn't feel that this move was anything to do at this time, from the bottom of his heart, this was just Zhou Jingshi's way of buying people's hearts, and he was not very clever by him.

After three or five days of busyness, Zhou Jingshi successfully begged for a daughter-in-law from his master. Because he was a slave, the marriage was silent, but he just asked Zhou Jingshi to come over, and he bought snacks and a few wines, which was used as a ceremony. He didn't have to worry about spending money after that, after all, the position was extremely high, and he only had to spend gold and silver lavishly. He first bought a mansion outside the house, and secretly bought a lot of strange things, which he also decorated on weekdays. It is naturally comfortable to live in Kou like this, but even so, there is always a trace of fear when he acts, and when he thinks about it, it is like a foot that tramples him underneath, so that a black and heavy cloud is born in his heart, which can be said to linger.