That's pretty much it.

While the two were discussing the plan, Xie Budo's carriage left Ruyi Garden, and just halfway to Kam Shui Street, he was confronted by a carriage that put deer in the park.

The carriage queue is very long, and Wang Heng is probably not the only one who travels, presumably Prime Minister Wang Cheng is not at ease and lets other Wang elders follow. Sure enough, the two sides met in a narrow way, and the first to come forward was Wang Xiu's sister Wang Jie.

Wang Jie is the current Xi Cao Peng, leading the responsibility of hundreds of officials, if you want to see the prime minister, most of them have to meet Wang Jie first to submit the performance, and get consent to meet the prime minister.

Wang Jie saw the royal carriage and horses, but the pomp was not big, so she knew that the emperor was not here. She didn't get out of the car, but just lifted the curtain, made a slight salute, and greeted: "Your Royal Highness has returned from this road, but you have returned to the palace from Ruyi Garden?" The minister was about to visit on behalf of the prime minister, and the little man at home was bored for a long time, so he came out to relax together. ”

She definitely can't say that Wang Heng is coming to visit, but Wang Heng is really going, so she can only make up a random reason, so as not to tell the truth.

Xie Budo returned the salute and said: "Hard work Xi Cao Peng, it is common sense for a virtuous person like Lord Xue to be prepared by Cheng Xiang. But I just came out of there, Xue Hou got a cold, although it is not serious, but Wang Gongzi has always been weak, Wei Jue back then will be 'seen and killed', if he is sick to Wang Lang, wouldn't it be Xue Hou's fault? Childe still don't go - take a break, I know a few places where you can accompany Wang Gongzi to play. ”

Wang Jie was speechless for a while, and she couldn't think of a good reason to refuse.

Xie Budo got out of the car in person, walked to the carriage where Wang Heng was, smiled and was kind: "I'm thinking about you like this, why doesn't Wang Lang show up?" Do you say yes or not? ”

In a moment, the curtain on the carriage was lifted open by a pale hand. Wang Heng looked over silently and quietly, his eyebrows were handsome and gentle, his demeanor was graceful, and he looked at it like a clear cloud that was about to disappear in the sky, and he said: "Your Royal Highness Xie Si's good intentions, I just have to take a walk, and I don't have to work hard." ”

Xie Budo said: "How is it a hard drive?" Your Majesty loves the prime minister, and I am also willing to relieve my son's worries, is it that Wang Lang is worth so much that even I can't ask for it? ”

Wang Heng pursed his lips, his eyebrows locked slightly, and said in a low voice: "Get out of the way." ”

Xie Budo also lowered his voice and said: "The prime minister has tried every means to obstruct you, and you have no scruples, don't you really want the name of Wang Lang's virtue?" The son of the family, the marriage is naturally subject to the elders, and the mountain temple has already been criticized for playing the piano to say goodbye, and your good reputation as a companion is really going to be ruined——"

"What does this have to do with you?"

Xie Budo said: "I am not worth it for Prime Minister Wang." She has worked hard for half her life, and if she is close to half a hundred, and she is implicated in the loss of virtue by her children and grandchildren, it will be really heart-wrenching. ”

As soon as he mentioned his mother's reputation, Wang Heng's clenched hand slowly loosened, he exhaled, rubbed his sore eyebrows, and said: "Your Royal Highness, you and I have no grievances, I don't care about the past suspicions, why do you poke my sore spots." ”

"I'll go with you, I can tell you about her slowly."

Wang Heng was silent for a long time, and explained a few words to the servant beside him. The young man ran over and reported to Wang Jie that Gongzi and His Royal Highness were leaving together.

Wang Jie raised her eyebrows and secretly breathed a sigh of relief - she was also afraid that something unproductive would happen, her sister loved her young son, if she really asked the Xue family again for this child, then the Langya Wang family would also become a joke in the Manchu Dynasty.

Wang Heng was stopped by Xie Budo and turned to him. The two went to the Great Bodhi Temple to worship incense, along the way, Xie Budo really had to answer questions, without hiding his selfishness, Wang Heng's heart slowly calmed down, when the two talked about each other speechless, they listened to Xie Budo reciting a poem in a low voice, as if it was used for meditation, the first two sentences were:

"Because the monk asked me what I meant from the west, I didn't remember the year of the mountain dwelling."

This poem was written by a monk named "Lingcheng", and it is a poem of seclusion in poverty and tranquility. Wang Heng looked at his scarlet shirt and the gold bell decorations on his body, which were really incompatible with this poetry...... His thoughts paused, and he suddenly heard Xie Budo kneeling on the futon, looking at the sparks on the Buddha's incense, groaning to the end, and sighing.

“…… After the white clouds dissipated in the middle of the night, a bright moon came to the bed. ”

A bright moon came to the bed.

……

Two days later, Xue Yuxiao took the medicine on time, the fever had faded, but she was still a little unenergetic, she calculated the time, and when everyone still thought she was sick and recuperating, she asked a secret decree to quietly leave Beijing and go to Yuzhou.

The news of the place was already a little slower, and she went there secretly, even more secretly. Presumably, at this time, the local clans were scrambling to hide the people of the fields and plan countermeasures. Xue Yuxiao, the lord of the Qincha, has already stepped into the boundary of Yuzhou - Yuzhou is adjacent to Jingzhao, and it is also a place where the people's strength is acceptable, but the standard of living is very different, and you can see poor people in shabby clothes and hungry everywhere.

"Young master." Wei Qingyan cut off the head of the third group of robbery bandits, and turned around to present it to her, Xue Yuxiao waved his hand and said weakly: "Enough is enough, I have seen a few along the way, don't take it." ”

Wei Qingyan let out an "oh" and threw her head down.

When a passer-by asked, they said that they were merchants—even so, they made the bandits on the mountain road blush, and plundered with their necks.

Xue Yuxiao took the guards, these trained personal guards are elite soldiers, and dealing with these scattered bandits is simply a knife to kill chickens. Under Xue Yuxiao's orders, Commander Wei would leave a living mouth every time and go to the bandit village to rescue the people who were robbed and enslaved, and he actually had a lot of good names along the way.

Some poor people followed the convoy to beg, and with a little alms, they gathered more and more, and finally blocked the intersection, and Wei Qingyan had to raise a knife to intimidate, so that it was dispersed.

Xue Yuxiao didn't bother to look at the heads of those people, but Li Qingchou, who was driving the car, glanced over. She was dressed as a chariot woman, capable and casual clothes, wearing a broken hat that she had used to guide chess skills on the tree when she entered Beijing, and she was chic: "Look at you, you are still delicate if you are not well from your illness, I remember that you wrapped the head of the chamberlain and gave it to Xie Fu, aren't you afraid?" ”

Xue Yuxiao said lightly: "I'm not afraid, but it's disgusting." ”

"Okay." Li Qingchou changed his sitting posture, "Coming all the way, you can know how serious the land annexation outside Jingzhao is. As soon as ordinary peasant households encounter a disaster year, they cannot afford to pay the agricultural taxes of the national dynasty and have to borrow money from the big clans. So the interest rolled over several times, so he had to mortgage the land to the Shi clan and became a tenant under the command of the Shi clan, and even the land was not enough to pay off the debt, so he sold himself as a domestic servant, and his heirs became slaves...... Everywhere we passed, there was not a single grange that was not owned by the local clans. ”

"Big landlords......" Xue Yuxiao said against his chin, "A county is too guarded, a county is like a prince, they are used to being free, and they may not be afraid of the emperor's order." ”

Li Qingchou smiled: "That's why I help you." Don't worry, with me by your side, you can't get close to three or five practitioners. ”

Xue Yuxiao said perfunctorily: "Okay, if there are swords and no eyes, don't blame me for hiding behind you." ”

After saying that, she turned her head and glanced at Pei Yuxue, who was reading the agricultural book beside her. Everywhere Pei Lang went, he would get off the car to visit the local farmers, and exchange money for a small handful of grain from them, comparing the land, climate, varieties and yields, and the dense rolls of jute paper under this agricultural book have been threaded into a book by him, revised, and practice and theory reflect each other.

Xue Yuxiao stared at his side cheek for a while, and said softly: "Write such a small word, don't get motion sickness?" ”

The road is rough and the car is very bumpy.

Pei Yanxue closed his eyes slightly when he heard this, his hand stopped, and said, "It's okay if you don't say it, but you'll be dazzled when you say it." ”

Xue Yuxiao said: "Oh, why do you blame me indiscriminately." I'm not saying that you should stay in Beijing, I'll bring you these farms. ”

Pei Yuxue said: "I am ordered by my mother to take care of and protect you." ”

After Xue Yuxiao and Li Qingchou finished discussing and sneakily planned to leave Beijing, as soon as she stepped out of the garden door with her front feet, she saw the prepared carriage and horse baggage parked next to the back door, and Pei Lang, who was dressed in a simple plain shirt, leaned on the green pine next to the car and waited quietly, as if he had been waiting for her for a long time.

Xue Yuxiao felt that the journey was hard, and he was reluctant to take him, so he pretended not to see it and turned around and left, and heard Pei Yuxue say from afar: "Return the sword, go to the Taiping Garden to invite your mother-"

Her footsteps were nailed to the spot, and she immediately turned around and leaned over, with a sincere face and a sincere face: "Mother is busy with affairs, she has something to say, don't alarm her." ”

Pei Yuxue didn't look at her, and said calmly: "The change of clothes has been prepared." I wanted to attract attention when I was high-profile outside, so I prepared a deed and a pass letter representing the identity of the merchant, and asked my wife to take the initiative to stamp the relationship, and we set off. ”

Xue Yuxiao: "...... Did you overhear us? ”

Pei Yuxue smiled slightly, and said in a reserved and dignified manner: "Women discuss national policies, how can I eavesdrop?" It's just that you and I have a little bit of a heart. ”

Xue Yuxiao reluctantly agreed, and brought Pei Lang a hand stove, a sufficient amount of charcoal, and a cloak that was thick enough to resist the cold winter, so he took him along.

Pei Yuxue closed her eyes and recovered her gaze, did not put pen to paper again, but took out a map, drew her fingers from the post station on the previous section of the official road, and estimated: "It's time to enter Hanoi." ”

Hanoi refers to the northern region of Yuzhou, located in the Central Plains, with a suitable climate and a superior geographical location. But the important thing is that the largest scholar clan in Hanoi is the territory of the royal family of the previous dynasty, the Sima clan.

Since the last young female emperor of the Sima clan "Chan resigned" to the Xie family, this wealthy family that once ruled the world was forced to move away from Yanjing, let alone take root in the capital. In order to show his "generosity", Emperor Xie returned the rich land of Hanoi to the Sima family, named Sima Yan, the then head of the Sima family, as the king of Henan, awarded the title of king, and also allowed Sima Yan to use the phoenix honor guard of the heavenly maiden and retain the gifts of the previous emperor.

However, in just two years, Sima Yan "died" in Hanoi. Since then, no one in her heirs has dared to use the phoenix honor guard, but the title has been retained, and it has been passed on to the current head of the Sima family, and the current king of Henan is named Sima Hui, who is only ten years old.

Emaciated camels are bigger than horses. The Sima clan established a dock fort in Hanoi and recruited clan soldiers, so that the entire Yuzhou did not have a major disorder, which can be regarded as a meritorious service in defending the territory.

After entering Hanoi, there were indeed many fewer robbers. Xue Yuxiao stopped the car and asked for directions, saying that it was a businessman, and the local people guided a few people to Sima's dock fort. Before they arrived, they saw many farmers arguing with the neatly dressed stewards on the road, and the group stopped to listen carefully, and finally heard a name.

“…… Why can't you understand the words? The head of the family means to let you move to Chen County first to avoid it, and when the limelight passes, you can naturally come back. The steward frowned and scolded, "Are you deaf or stupid, that Qincha, who killed a thousand knives, will come to Yuzhou in a short time, drive you all to a deserted place, and pay heavy taxes to the imperial court when the time comes!" Be a coolie! When the whole family is dead, don't blame your aunt for not reminding you! ”

Zhuang Hu was sweating profusely and said, "...... A few days ago, when we went to Chen County to avoid the limelight, the whole Zhuangzi was looted, and as soon as we left, we didn't even have food when we came back! ”

"Yes, my lord, it's not that we don't want to go, the good land is not enough to pay the share of the court and the lord's family, who wants to go to the place where the birds don't to find death? But the grain harvested in the autumn has not yet been handed over to the Lord's family, and if someone steals it, it can kill us! ”

"Who stole your two dates?" The steward looked to the side impatiently, "What I lost was that I didn't take a good look at it, maybe I let the thieves get into the air, or maybe they ate it themselves and insisted on losing it!" ”

The farmers looked at each other, still unwilling.

"My lord, you have to give us a way before we are willing to leave, otherwise when Qin sends the whole family to die in Qiaozhou, there is no difference between being beaten to death by the main family if you can't pay the food! As soon as we let go, how can the husband and child live......"

As he spoke, someone began to cry and hugged the steward's leg.

The steward kicked hard a few times and said, "If you want to blame it, blame that Laushziqincha, don't say that we didn't loot and steal it at all, but what if my aunt really took a few bags of grain from you?" The seeds sown in which year I didn't ask for you, don't give face! ”

As soon as she waved her hand, several of the Sima clan's subordinates behind her immediately stepped forward, the swords of these clan soldiers were all rusty, but they were well fed, their physique was much stronger than others, and they looked majestic.

As soon as the song rushed up, the farmers immediately shrank their necks and did not dare to say a word.

The steward asked the hermits on the farm to sign and draw a pledge, forcing them to set a date to go to Chenjun to avoid the limelight, and then they left with the clan soldiers proudly.

Just when the peasants were depressed and worried, the car parked next to them slowly drove - such carriages were either nobles or rich gentry, and everyone did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly called "sir". At this time, a beautiful and fair-skinned lady got out of the car, dressed neatly and plainly, but not as luxurious as the Sima family's main family.

Xue Yuxiao approached the villagers, and first identified himself - he was a steward of the attached clan, specializing in merchant trade. She said a few words to the villagers, and suddenly said, "Who is that person?" Is it the steward of the Sima clan, I have heard those words, in this way, I have a way for you to go to Chen County for refuge smoothly, and you don't have to worry about food. ”

Everyone, if you look at me and I look at you, you don't dare to believe it. An elderly woman came out and asked in detail, "Please tell me more." ”

Xue Yuxiao said: "I originally came out to collect grain and sell it in Beijing, you sold me the rice and grain at home, and I bought it at market price, you took the money to Chen County to avoid the limelight, and with the money in your hands, are you afraid that you won't be able to pay the grain?" When the limelight has passed, when you come back, you will pay the money directly, and when you should pay the grain and rice, you will use the money to exchange the money for grain and rice in the neighboring counties, and there will be no delay at all. ”

The dealers are interested in this - this is money! They can't sell at the market price stipulated by the imperial court all year round, and often sell at a discount, if what this lady said is true, wouldn't it be a great good thing to befall the head?

"Still." Xue Yuxiao paused, and said with a serious face, "You have to leave your name, place of origin, and the number of people in your family." Supervise one another, and never falsify. If someone gives me old grain and can't sell it, I'll have to look for it according to my name, surname, and household registration - that's always okay, right? ”

If she doesn't ask for anything, she will make people suspicious. As soon as this request was raised, everyone hurriedly agreed, for fear that Xue Yuxiao would regret it, so they stepped forward one after another, reported their names and origins, and couldn't wait to tell her all the three generations of their ancestors.

Xue Yuxiao wrote them down one by one, collected the grain of the entire grange, asked the guards dressed as domestic servants to receive the grain, and piled up the vacant ox carts in the rear. By the way, she asked the nearby Sima Grange and visited them one by one in order.

The farmers got the money, put their hearts at ease, and thanked her a thousand times, and couldn't help complaining about the "Qincha" in their words—fortunately, there was this kind steward to help! Otherwise, his life is in danger.

At dusk, Xue Yuxiao sorted out the roster of northerners on several granges, and stopped at a guest house in the county to rest, she put the roster on the small case, and sighed: "Fortunately, I moved quickly, and if I was seven or eight days late, I couldn't even see the figure." ”

Pei Yuxue decocted medicine for her, gently fanned the fire with a pu fan, and said, "Don't be tired of yourself, go again tomorrow, it's okay for me to write for you...... You even have the number of evidence, so it's better to go to Sima's Dock Fort the day after tomorrow and meet the king of Henan. ”

Xue Yuxiao smiled and said, "The day after tomorrow? Give them a little time. ”

Pei Yuxue raised her eyes to look at her, and from the subtle smile on his wife's lips, she felt a deep calculation. He immediately realized and said, "This is the Sima clan who has been the emperor, if you force it too much, I am afraid it will hurt your dignity." ”

"Pei Lang, Pei Lang, your little Lang Jun's heart is too kind, and there is a sense of retreat in everything." Xue Yuxiao propped his chin and said with a smile, "I exempted the hermits from forced labor and reduced taxes, but they spread rumors and slanders, saying that I hurt people and died." It's Sima's persecution that is too much—you should kowtow to me and ask for guilt. ”

Cutting drums and hitting bells (1)

Chapter 59

Seven days later.

"The head of the house—the head of the house—" A fast horse came running from outside Sima's Dock Fort, and a strong and tall guard turned over from the horse, bowed his head and saluted to the head of the house, Sima Hui, raised his head, but his eyes looked at the aunt behind her who had gray sideburns and was about fifty years old, "The news has been confirmed, saying that Jing Zhaoqin is no longer in the capital, if they come to Yuzhou, calculate the time, and it will be these two days to Hanoi." ”

Sima Hui turned his head to look at the elder behind him: "Auntie, what are you sending someone to do?" ”

Behind her was her own aunt, who was also an enlightenment teacher, and an official to the county of Hanoi, whose name was Sima Xi. She patted the girl on the shoulder with her hand and said, "It's just to snatch the land from us." ”

She pulled Sima Hui to look back and wanted to leave, but there was a fast horse in the distance, the horse ran in front of him and could barely stop, the reins were tightened, and he suddenly fell to his knees. The guards above were so frightened that their souls were scattered, their faces were like earth, and they replied with their spirits, and opened their mouths to say: "The master of the family, the Qin mission has entered Hanoi, this is a greeting post handed by the official road station!" ”

She presented it with both hands, and Sima Hui reached out to catch it, so she took the prayer post with one hand and opened it for a look.

Sima Xi looked at the post, and saw that the time and place of the visit were written on it, and at the end there were two seals of the military government and the triumphant marquis, and the inscriptions were "the seal of the Duwei Xue family" and "the treasure seal of the triumphant marquis of the three armies of the meritorious crown".

The time is tomorrow.

She looked back at the clan elders, and her face couldn't help but settle. A group of people went to the council hall to discuss, but left Sima Hui behind. The attendants on both sides urged her to follow, but the little girl said, "Anyway, it's not my business, why should I listen?" With that, he turned back to his room and did not participate in the discussion.

Everyone exchanged views in the hall to confirm that the hermits on the grange had been transferred to the neighboring counties, and that they had made an agreement with other scholars in the neighboring counties to assist in hiding. And the land that cannot be determined to belong to has also forged a number of deeds - Qincha is said to be a young lady, how much insight can he have, what ability can he have? I'm afraid I can't recognize the authenticity at all.

The lights in the dock fort are lit until late at night.

Early the next morning, the entire Wubao was in full battle, and there were even clan soldiers sharpening their swords in the early morning to strengthen the momentum - although the Sima clan in Hanoi did not have the heart to rebel, sometimes before the conflict, the deterrence of force was also very important.

Sima Xi arranged the clan soldiers around, all of them strong and fierce, with leather armor tied to their bodies and machetes on their shoulders. In this way, the purge waited until the sun was up, and when the clansmen and soldiers were all empty and starving, the Tuduan Qincha finally arrived.