Zhou Yi recommended Zhou Rui to the Yamen of the Tongzhou Prefect and served as a priest for the prefect Liu Pei. After Zhou Rui took office, he recommended Ma Biao and Zheng Jian to be on errands. Ma Biao worked in the house and became a servant. Zheng Jian worked as an errand boy in the soap class of the prison and became a prison officer.

The officials and prison officials are collectively referred to as the officials, who are the officials in charge of the documents, books, and accounts of each section in the official office, and the small officials who control the cases. They wore soap-colored disc collars, silk ribbons around their waists, and square scarves on their heads. Due to the corruption of officials in feudal society, most officials did not take care of political affairs, and everything was entrusted to the officials. Serving the government is like a teacher, preparing advisers, sending confidants, and supporting claws, believing that the government service is indispensable for the government. Therefore, under the pretext of being busy with government affairs, the yamen at all levels have set up their own names and greatly increased the number of government officials. The officials of the world are redundant, and the number of days of the official service is many, and the many of them are calculated by doing things, and the few are not less than hundreds, resulting in the flood of the official service, entrenched in the official office, and the mountains are unstoppable, and the flood cannot be stopped.

With the department as a nest, the copywriter as a sharp weapon, pretending to be on official business, and going up and down. Therefore, the officials, especially the scribes, dance and write ink, called the yas. Borrowing words as talismans, and using words and chapters to eat universally, can be described as bookish. He is a small official with a knife and pen, and the case is poor, stealing a word in his life, and gaining power by dancing and writing. The official reviewed the case, compared it with the law, and submitted it to the judge, and the judge added a little polish, and if the court official did not refute it, the case would be settled. Qing officials could not escape the hands of slippery officials.

It is said that Taiyuan County, a county under the jurisdiction of the prefect of Tongzhou, suffered from serious floods, and the disaster relief grain money pulled down by the imperial court was exploited and embezzled by the county officials. So much so that at the end of the people, when they are in their hands and in their mouths, there is little left, or even none at all. In addition, the price of food has skyrocketed, and the people in the county are hungry and cold, displaced, and have changed their children to eat. The scene is terrible. Where there is oppression, there is resistance. At this time, a person named Ju Jun took the lead in standing up and raising his arms and calling out, and most of the people responded. As a result, an uprising team was formed, the county government was captured, corrupt officials were killed, and a warehouse was opened to provide relief to the victims, and its momentum became stronger and stronger.

It turned out that Ju Jun was a hero, with excellent arm strength, less heavy promises, and agriculture as his business. In the same village, there was a family that was poor. My father died of illness and could not even afford a coffin. Ju Jun was plowing the field, and when he heard about this, he sighed. Untie the cattle that are pulling the leash, send them to this house, let them take them to sell, buy a coffin, and arrange a funeral. This incident is rumored to be a good story by the villagers. One night, a group of thieves, taking advantage of the dark moon and high wind, came to Ju Jun's house to steal. Ju Jun heard the movement and did not call. Grab a large knife and hide behind the door. The thief was about to pull the latch of the door when he felt his way in. The Ju army was taken by surprise and hacked three people to death in a row. The rest of the thieves, seeing that the situation was not good, did not dare to enter again. But because there are many people, they are not afraid. Seeing that the theft failed, a few more lives were taken. As a last resort, the thieves shouted to Ju Jun through the door: "Good man, it's good, we won't come in, but we will take the three corpses away." ”

Ju Jun was still hiding in the shadows, and after a little thought, he replied, "Yes." Throw in a rope and tie it out. "A couple of thieves threw a rope into the house. Ju Jun tied the rope to himself, and a few thieves pulled him out of the way. Ju Jun took advantage of the defenselessness of a few guys, jumped up, brandished a big knife, and killed the rest of the thieves. The next day, the Ju army was alone, killed a group of thieves, fearless, and became a household name. Everyone admired it. It was famous all over the world. When Ju Jun's father died, there were no less than 1,000 people who came to the funeral, and there were countless money and silk gifts given, but Ju Jun refused and did not accept them.

At this time, the imperial court recruited troops and prepared for war. Ju Jun served in the military, and because of his bravery, he was made up as the captain, and was about to rush to take office, and there happened to be a fellow villager named Luo Chang. Because he stole a sheep, he was arrested by the county and beaten up. Luo Chang was furious, killed the county commander, and fled to Ju Jun. Ju Jun hid Luo Chang. At that time, there was a hunger, thieves from all directions swarmed, and the people were struggling to make a living. Ju Jun persuaded Luo Chang to observe the changes of the times, recruit heroes, take in fugitive soldiers, recruit unemployed vagrants, and reach hundreds to uphold justice.

Luo Chang listened to Ju Jun's words and summoned these people to eradicate corrupt officials, kill the rich and help the poor, and confront thieves. Although he sometimes looted and killed people and burned houses, he did not commit any crimes against Ju Jun's family, which made the government feel a headache. The government thought that Ju Jun had dealings with Luo Chang, so they arrested and killed all the Ju family. Ju Jun was in the army, and when he heard the bad news, he was furious and went home to take revenge. happened to encounter the embezzlement of grain by the county order, Ju Jun was like a fuse, and it rang at one point, and everyone responded, entered the official mansion, and rioted.

The news soon spread to the prefect of Tongzhou. After hearing this, the prefect Liu Pei slapped the table with his palm, was very annoyed, and convened the staff, group training, general judgment and others to discuss what to do? Song Wu, the regimental exercise, said: "This is a riot, the situation is urgent, the people are becoming more and more rampant, which is not good for us, there is no other trick at this time, only to use troops to clear up, one to kill the other." Others agreed, saying: "If you don't use force, those people will come to Tongzhou Yamen." Liu Pei also agreed with this plan, and when he was about to give the order, there were different opinions in the hall.

I saw one person stand up and say, "Wait! The use of force at this time is absolutely unacceptable. Subsequently, the reasons were explained: "First, the officers and men have not been trained for a long time, and the use of force may not be able to win the war; Second, the riots are in the limelight, and it is the moment of strength, like the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves. If the officers and men are defeated, the situation will be even more uncontrollable. Moreover, there is a reason for this riot, which may have been triggered by the lack of disaster relief. When pacifying the people's livelihood, we can also quell the riots. ”

When everyone looked at him, he had a brain shell, a big mouth, sword eyebrows, thick lips, a high nose and cheeks, thick earlobes, a peach-colored face, and lips like grease. It turned out to be Zhou Rui. When Song Wu heard this, he was very unhappy and criticized Zhou Rui mercilessly. Song Wu said: "Brother Zhou, how can you say that? As a prefect, you should come up with some good ideas, what is this idea of yours? Is it appropriate to grow the prestige of others and destroy your own ambition? Zhou Rui pushed over: "Song Tuanlian, I'm telling the truth." What is your team, you know best, can you win at critical moments? If you don't believe me, you can give it a try. ”

Since arriving at the prefect's yamen, Zhou Rui has been very unaccustomed to bureaucratic style. For example, the vast majority of officials are arrogant, ignorant, aware of darkness, and bribing public officials. For another example, in addition to the rich and noble, they do not know the national economy and the people's livelihood for the people's livelihood, except for the private party but do not know what talents are, they are happy when they see gold and silver, and they are severely punished and illegally looted for money and rice. For example, the army is not like the army, the battalion is lax, and there are many evils. There are many empty books, too much food, the old and weak are filled, the training is not diligent, and the restraint is not strict. Some officers and men went so far as to gather in groups of three or five, carrying birdcages and bird racks, wandering around all day long, and even gathering together to gamble. For these long-accumulated ills of the imperial court, Zhou Rui did not dare to speak out. After a long time, he seems to be a little introverted, sometimes he doesn't speak, and when he speaks, he speaks bluntly, offending many officials around him, and Liu Pei hates him very much.

Seeing that Zhou Rui said the word "defeat" before sending troops, disturbing the morale of the army, Liu Pei was uncomfortable and shouted angrily: "Enough, Zhou Rui, you get out first, and then I will settle the account for you!" In Liu Pei's eyes, Zhou Rui is an inferior talent, just messing around all day long, insignificant, dispensable. I wanted to quit Zhou Rui, but Zhou Rui was introduced by Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi once helped Liu Pei, and he was Liu Pei's father-in-law, so Liu Pei did not resign Zhou Rui. In this way, in the prefect's yamen, Zhou Rui has not been taken seriously, and he regrets that he has not encountered talents. At this time, hearing the roar of Governor Liu, Zhou Rui retreated sullenly.

Without hesitation, Liu Pei immediately issued an order: "Song Tuanlian, order you to lead a thousand soldiers to go to Taiyuan County to sweep away the chaotic people, there must be no mistake." Song Wu immediately stood upright, took a straight posture, and replied decisively: "Yes!" Sure enough, as Zhou Rui expected, the 1,000 officers and soldiers led by Song Wu had not yet arrived in Taiyuan County, and when they reached the foot of Calyx Mountain halfway up, they fell into an ambush set up by the rebel army in advance. Officers and soldiers fought with the rebel army, and where the opponent of the rebel army was really unable to withstand the blow. In less than an hour of fierce fighting, most of the officers and men were killed and wounded. Song Wu escaped on horseback, and the other officers and soldiers saw the commander fleeing and raised their hands to surrender. After fleeing back in embarrassment, Song Wu reported to Governor Liu that he did not expect the mob to be so powerful that it failed miserably.

Liu Pei was shocked and reprimanded Song Wu, saying that Song Wu's subordinates were all rice buckets. The reprimand made Song Wu ashamed and annoyed, speechless. At that time, Liu Pei convened his staff and others to discuss, but none of them could come up with a good idea. Only then did I think of what Zhou Rui said, and then I wanted to ask about the operation strategy, but I found that Zhou Rui had long since disappeared. So, Liu Pei ordered Song Wu to find Zhou Rui. Song Wu searched everywhere and found it at Zhou Rui's house.

Song Wu looked very humble, completely lost the domineering momentum of yesterday, and said: "Brother Zhou, I didn't listen to your advice, I am really ashamed to lead the troops to clean up the mob yesterday and failed!" Today, Governor Liu sent me to ask you to go back and discuss again. As you say, reassuring is a wise move. Zhou Rui said coldly: "I'm not feeling well, and I've already taken leave from the yamen, please go back!" Song Wu repeatedly requested, but Zhou Rui refused. In desperation, Song Wu had no choice but to come back and report to Liu Pei, saying that Zhou Rui was sick and would not come.

What to do? Liu Pei thought of Zhou Rui's uncle Zhou Yi and asked Zhou Yi to come forward to help ask him back. Zhou Yi said: "My nephew, with a dignified face, introverted personality, seems to be wooden, slow to act, and belongs to the kind and loyal people, but if he is wise and foolish, he will not show his lust, he will not boast, and he can't do the fake trick of officialdom." Liu Peijing was speechless, bowing her head and pondering. Zhou Yi said again: "So, you can't get used to it on weekdays. On that day, he offered a plan without slashing, which was indeed far-reaching and beyond the reach of ordinary people. It's a pity that you didn't adopt it. Liu Pei requested: "What Brother Zhou said is extremely true, I almost missed a talent like Zhou Rui." Now that the situation is urgent, the mob is afraid that it will attack Tongzhou, please find a way to invite Zhou Rui back to discuss again. ”

Zhou Yi is not Zhou Rui's uncle, but a distant cousin. On this day, Zhou Yi went to Zhou Rui's house for the first time. When I entered the door, I saw Zhou's mother Long Yun sick and bedridden, and her family was surrounded by walls and destitute. Zhou Yizhen didn't expect Zhou Rui's family to be so poor. Zhou Rui smiled bitterly and said, "You know, I work as an errand in the prefect's yamen, and my income is not high. Zhou Yi nodded. Zhou Rui said: "In the past, I worked for the Zhou business group and had some savings, but I had already spent it on my mother's treatment, and now I still owe a lot of foreign debts. Zhou Yi said: "I can see it." It's really hard for you, nephew. Zhou Rui said: "Uncle, you see that my family is so poor. I'm really sorry to make you laugh. Zhou Yi said: "I won't laugh at you." Take the five hundred taels of silver first, and use them for your mother's medical expenses and daily expenses. As for what to do in the future, think about it again. After speaking, he gave Zhou Rui five hundred taels of silver tickets. Zhou Rui said: "Thank you, uncle, you have been helping me and making me grateful." Zhou Yi said: "Governor Liu came to me and asked me to invite you back." Zhou Rui said: "I listen to my uncle." After that, he followed Zhou Yi and returned to the prefect's yamen.

Seeing Zhou Rui's safe return, Liu Pei was full of joy and apologized to Zhou Rui. Zhou Yi said to Liu Pei: "Zhou Rui's life is currently difficult, and he has not married a daughter-in-law, so it is better to give Zhou Rui a gift to the maid Lan Wan." Liu Pei agreed on the spot, went home and told his wife Liang Lin to marry Lan Wan to Zhou Rui. This made Zhou Rui even more grateful and sobbed, and asked him to go to Taiyuan County alone to negotiate peace with the mob. Ju Jun, the leader of the rebel army, saw Zhou Rui coming alone, so he relaxed his vigilance. Ju Jun invited Zhou Rui to the county yamen, which had been occupied by the rebels. Zhou Ruiyu fought the chaotic people, disintegrated their fighting spirit, and the chaotic people dispersed.

Zhou Rui reported, Liu Pei was overjoyed when he heard it, and played the Ming court. The emperor appreciated Zhou Rui's merits and ability, so he ordered Zhou Rui to serve as the county commander in Taiyuan County. Zhou Rui went to Taiyuan County, Ma Biao and Zheng Jian followed and served as officials in the yamen of Taiyuan County. Zhou Rui was diligent and honest, and governed well, and quickly calmed down the hearts of the people, developed production, and was politically harmonious for a while.

Taiyuan County is located in a remote mountainous area, and the people are rude and violent. Successive county magistrates have had a headache. At the beginning of Zhou Rui's tenure as Taiyuan, according to the traditional practice, he visited the temple worshiped by the locals. After that, visit the prison. Seeing that the prison was overcrowded with prisoners, he asked the jailer, "Why are so many people locked up?" What are the sins? The jailer said, "If you go back to the master, most of these people are thieves. Zhou Rui said: "I thought that they were all Jiangyang thieves who killed people and set fires." It turned out to be all petty theft. What is the use of holding these people? ”。

Immediately drank the order to ascend to the church, and brought all such prisoners to the hall. Zhou Rui called the account room to each prisoner, and the hair pattern was ten taels of silver. Then, he said to the prisoners: "This official Nianer and others are young and ignorant, and they are not to blame for the past. And now I will give each man ten taels of silver for his livelihood. The prisoners were amazed. At this time, Zhou Rui patted the wood in surprise and said: "In the future, you must work diligently, support yourself, and no longer do things that harm others and yourself." If there is a recidivism, the official will severely punish him. ”

The prisoners all kowtowed, took the money, and went home. This incident caused a shock in Taiyuan. Everyone laughed at the new magistrate behind his back, saying: "Zhou Rui is still too young, and young people are not reliable." Doing so will inevitably lead to endless troubles. ”