"I know." Zhang Yuan said, "The people of Luojia Village want to take advantage of these two days to go to the mountains to chop some firewood and come back." They told me before they went. ”

"Have anyone told them about the dangers on the mountain?" Meng Changqing asked Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan's face was empty for a moment, "I took care that they couldn't go deep into the mountains, I saw that there were many of them, and most of them were men and women in the prime of life, so I didn't talk about the mountain bandits." ”

The more he spoke, the quieter it became.

"Captain Zhang." Meng Changqing stood up from behind his desk, "Are you not doing your job properly, or have you made a deal with someone?" Can such a thing be negligent? In case they happen to encounter mountain bandits today, whose casualties are counted? Who will harvest it during the autumn harvest? ”

Zhang Yuan lowered his head and had to admit that he was negligent.

Meng Changqing asked again: "Are there only people from Luojia Village who went to the mountain today?" ”

Zhang Yuan recalled carefully, "Yes, those people's houses on the west side have not been built yet, and they have been building their own houses during this time. ”

"You go and call Luo Sanmu, and say that I have a gift for him."

"Yes."

In Luojia Village, on the east side of Beishan County, Luo Sanmu was repairing the table legs at home, and his son Luo Shishi came back from outside.

Unexpectedly, the small half basket of wild pears was actually hanging on the beam, and he couldn't reach it at all.

At this time, the boy always tried everything to eat, and he found two stools stacked on top of each other, trying to get the basket down, but just as he was about to climb up, he saw his father standing at the door.

He was startled, and the stools, which had been stacked together, collapsed immediately.

"Daddy." He stepped back with a weak heart.

"I've already eaten two today, and I can't eat any more." Luo Sanmu said: "Don't just think about going out to play all day long, you have to do something at home when you have time, your sister is at your age, and she has already helped your mother make a fire and cook."

You are a boy, it's normal to be playful, I usually don't care about you, but you have to be sensible one day, this is not the original Luojia Village, you can't get into any big trouble if you go crazy, at most you break things, collide with the elders, and be scolded by others.

But this place is different, two miles away is the government, if you don't hit those people in official uniforms, it will be a board, and the whole family will be seriously implicated. ”

"I didn't run to the government." Luo Shishi defended himself.

"It's not a matter of whether you can't run." Luo Sanmu persuaded bitterly, "What you say to those children in the village, if you offend that official, and then be spread to the ears of the government, you will also be unlucky."

You have forgotten that when you first came here, you said something wrong on the road, and the lord who led the way was immediately upset.

He probably thinks that you are a child, and he doesn't care about it for the time being, but if you have any words in his ears after that, can he spare you? ”

Luo Shishi was so frightened that he shrunk his shoulders, "I didn't say anything bad. ”

"You don't think it's anything, but people who can hear don't necessarily think like this, and they don't know what's going on with you, this kid, you don't talk and act like me at all."

Jiang Chan came over with dinner, "You mean to follow me?" ”

"No, no, that's what I mean." Luo Sanmu said, "Blame me for not disciplining him in time." ”

"If the pears hadn't been delivered, you wouldn't have said these things to the stone."

As soon as he finished saying this, he heard a knock on the courtyard door, and a neutral voice outside asked, "Is Luo Sanmu at home?" ”

Luo Sanmu lowered his voice, "It's over!" Why does this voice sound so similar to that Lord Zhang? He won't hear what I just said, will he? ”

"What's the use of you being weak here, didn't you teach the stone a lesson just now?"

The knock on the door outside continued, "Is no one home?" ”

"Yes!" Luo Sanmu answered, and went to open the door, no matter what was waiting for him outside the door, anyway, the gate of this courtyard couldn't stop the people of the government, and it was better for him to confess his guilt than for the whole family to be implicated.

"Master Zhang." Luo Sanmu bent down and smiled flatteringly, "It's so late, what's the matter?" ”

"The county lord wants to see you."

Zhang Yuan's face is quite poor, and anyone who is disciplined by others can't conjure up a smiling face in a short time, especially for people with lower status than himself, it's even more unnecessary.

When Luo Sanmu looked at him like that, he felt that he must have heard those words just now, and his heart was even more uneasy, but he didn't dare to ask openly.

"The county lord wants to see me?"

"Yes." Zhang Yuan said, "Because of the pears you sent, the county lord wants to give you a gift in return." ”

When Luo Sanmu heard that this was the case, his hanging heart fell slightly, "It's just a few wild pears, picked back easily, where do you dare to ask for the county master's things." ”

"Whether you want it or not, this is the order of the county master, you go with me."

Luo Sanmu suppressed his panic, pretended to be Zhengding and said to his wife and children in the courtyard, "I'll go out, you can eat first." ”

He was worried all the way, afraid that Master Zhang would ask him about what he said in the courtyard halfway.

But all the way into the county office, Lord Zhang still didn't ask, Luo Sanmu was sure at this time that he shouldn't have heard.

followed this Lord Zhang into a room of the county office, and saw that the county lord was also inside, Luo Sanmu quickly knelt down and kowtowed.

"My lord, someone brought it."

"Hard work Captain Zhang, let's go down and rest first."

Zhang Yuan retreated, and Luo Sanmu still maintained a kneeling posture.

"Get up, thank you for thinking about the county government and sending pears over."

Although Luo Sanmu stood up, he remembered the words of the clan elders, and only dared to stand with his back hunched and did not dare to stand straight, "I didn't need anything to pick it up on the mountain." ”

"Why did you suddenly think to go to the mountains to find firewood?" Meng Changqing asked.

"In the winter, it is easy to warm up with thick wood, and there is only small firewood around, so I want to go to the mountains and chop some back. Although the mountains to the east are far away, my family has a board car, and as long as I pull a few cars, it is enough for a winter. ”

"Did you think you were going to the mountains? Didn't someone remind you? ”

Luo Sanmu felt that this was a strange question, but he thought about it carefully, this matter really didn't come up with it suddenly, "I don't know if that counts as a reminder, yesterday afternoon I went to my own field to collect hay, and saw that my sister-in-law's hay was collected by a person in the west, so I stopped him and wanted him to come back."

But he said that all the hay here should belong to their west, and that if we wanted firewood, we could go to the mountains to find it.

After listening to his words, I felt that the hay was indeed not enough to burn, so I called the villagers to go up the mountain together. ”

"Do you know who robbed your sister-in-law's hay?"

"I don't know his name, I just heard someone call him Tateyama."

"Ma Lishan." Meng Changqing took the cloth bag at the corner of the table and handed it to Luo Sanmu, "Thank you for sending the wild pear, this is my return gift to you, you must accept it." ”

(End of chapter)