Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 553 Li Jinzhong's Spring Has Come
Just when Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng received the imperial decree to select the first batch of troops to return to Beijing, the Ministry of Rites and Shuntian Mansion were busy preparing for the ceremony to welcome the prince, a seemingly insignificant incident happened in the capital, but in the end it alarmed the palace. nobleman here.

Li Jinzhong's team of [-] people in Lubu Baojie was accompanied by Qiu Yucheng, the secretary of the staff, to the Yamen of the Ministry of War to hand over the errand after a small praise ceremony. After silver, the [-]-man team was placed in the camp of the Yongwei Battalion, waiting for the return of the army before making job assignments.

In order to make it easier for the soldiers of this vanguard team to report safety to their families after the war, or send the rewards and property back home, the Ministry of War approved them to freely come in and out of the capital and purchase them within five days, and authorized them to pass The increasingly perfect postal delivery system delivers property to home for free.

This kind of humane move by the Shangguan of the Ministry of War was warmly welcomed by the soldiers. Everyone, including Ma Jingtian, went out in groups and bought a lot according to their own conditions. Within two days, everyone purchased a large number of articles for daily use.

Then, with the help of the scribes sent by the Ministry of War, everyone reported their hometown and name. After several clerks carefully wrote down the detailed address, they hired several four-wheeled trucks to transport them to the post office, and then they communicated with them. Many other goods and merchandise letters are sent to various places together.

Just as Zhu Youjian had thought a long time ago, in addition to receiving a lot of rewards from the court, these generals and soldiers also captured and privately hid them during this war. They and their families lived a prosperous life.

After a few days of busy work, everyone finally completed their respective tasks. In the remaining two days, the soldiers began to wander around the capital in small groups.

After Li Jinzhong spent most of the money in his hand, he suddenly remembered that there was still one thing to finish, so he hurriedly explained the whole story to Ma Jingtian, and then got a document through the officials of the Ministry of War. He hired an open four-wheeled carriage for cargo and went to the nursing home in Beicheng.

Li Jinzhong was entrusted by his cousin who had died in the war to adopt an orphan in a nursing home for him and pass on the family line for him.

Since enlisting in the army, the relatives and friends of Qin Jun's rural party have made a promise: if the war dead has no descendants, others will find orphans for the deceased to inherit the lineage, so as not to have no descendants to sacrifice.

Li Jinzhong's cousin was about the same age as him. His parents, brothers and sisters died in the war and famine one after another. Alone, he joined the Qin army with Li Jinzhong and his brothers, but unfortunately, he died in the battle with the Qing army outside the pass.

Li Jinzhong originally planned to wait for himself to have a few more children in the future, and then pass on one to his cousin to inherit the offspring, but in the past few days, he occasionally heard from the clerks sent by the Ministry of War that there were a large number of children in the nursing home in the capital. Orphan, and the court couldn't help adopting it, so after finishing his own affairs, he decided to adopt one in the nursing home, and then entrusted the post office to send it back to his hometown.

I am in my late twenties, and my mother-in-law and aunt have not been seen yet. Why don't I just find a ready-made elder son for my cousin. My cousin has the Yongye land and burning silver rewarded by the court. When I return to my hometown, my father and my younger brother will look after me. It should be no problem to grow up steadily, marry a wife and have children, and carry on the family line.

The four-wheeled carriage stopped at the entrance of the nursing home visited by the Dutchman. Li Jinzhong got out of the carriage and told the coachman to wait for him for an hour, then walked towards the gate of the yard.

The porter on duty saw the military uniform Li Jinzhong was wearing, and was surprised at the same time, hurriedly stepped forward to ask the other party why he came. Li Jinzhong gave him the document issued by the Ministry of War, and the porter on duty asked him to wait a while, and hurriedly walked up and down. I ran to report to Shangguan.

Not long after, a middle-aged man in a brown gown hurriedly left the courtyard door accompanied by the concierge: "This general invited me. The villain is Xin Guocheng, the steward of the Nursing Home. I was ordered by the official to come to accompany you." The general is looking at the humble courtyard, the superior has explained that as long as there are orphans in the general's eyes, the general can take them away after completing the relevant procedures, general, please!"

The steward named Xin Guocheng greeted Li Jinzhong enthusiastically with a smile and cupped his hands, while solemnly making an invitation gesture. Li Jinzhong, who had never dealt with local officials, hurriedly returned the salute to the other party, and then stepped into the yard.

The head of the nursing home was also surprised after examining the document issued by the Ministry of War, and then sent Xin Guocheng to accompany him, and ordered him to take the general who came to adopt him to have a look, as long as the other party agrees Yes, just let him take it away after completing the formalities.

With the documents from the Ministry of War, there will be no mistakes in this matter.

To the surprise of the people in the nursing home, the people who usually come to adopt orphans are from civilian households, and this is the first time anyone in the army has adopted them.

"What's your surname, General? Why do you want to adopt an orphan? I think the general is strong and in his prime. Could it be...?"

Xin Guocheng led the way first, followed by Li Jinzhong, and the two started talking as they walked.

"A certain family's surname is Li, and they came here to report victory in Beijing. A certain family chose an heir for their cousin who died in battle, not for their own family. A certain family has been fighting outside all year round and has not yet married!"

Seeing Xin Guocheng looking sideways at him with ambiguous eyes, Li Jinzhong cursed inwardly, touched his nose, and explained his purpose for coming.

"Ah! It turned out to be a warrior who fought against the slaves! Disrespect and disrespect! When the general and others paraded through the streets to praise their merits, I did not witness it with my own eyes. I am really regretful. It is a great honor to see the real face this time! The villain salutes the general Already!"

After Xin Guocheng heard Li Jinzhong's speech, he was immediately in awe. He stopped and turned around, bowed to Li Jinzhong with a solemn face, and saluted.

"Don't dare to be, dare not be! A certain soldier is paid, and it is a duty to be loyal to the country, and you should not be trusted to be in charge of such a great gift!"

Li Jinzhong hurriedly returned the same big gift, then straightened up and waved his hands again and again.

"It's worth it! If the general didn't fight hard with Jiannu outside the pass, how could I sit and enjoy peace in the capital! To tell you the truth, the general, when the change of the second year of Chongzhen, the family of my sister who married in Shunyi was all Jiannu Killing! Pity my niece, who just gave birth and went home for a full moon, and she disappeared together with my dear little grandson!"

When Xin Guocheng talked about the emotion, his eyes filled with tears. He raised his sleeve and tried the corner of his eyes, and once again gave Li Jinzhong a deep salute: "The villain thanks the general for avenging my sister's family! General, please accept my gift." !"

Li Jinzhong hastily stretched out his hand to support him, and persuaded him: "Don't be sad about the trustee. In this time of war, no one can bear this kind of tragedy. If he hadn't joined the army back then, he would have died under the knife of the thief. Now The Jiannuliu thieves are gone, let's just live in peace and prosperity!"

"Oh, I'm just focusing on talking, and I forgot about the general's visit. Please, general!"

Xin Guocheng packed up his mood, and led Li Jinzhong to move on. After a while, he came to a spacious courtyard.

It was the end of noon, and the orphans were ready to rest after lunch. There were no children in the courtyard, and the sound of children playing occasionally could be heard from a dozen or so rooms.

"General, all the children living in this courtyard are children under the age of eight. The villain has been here countless times, and I have seen many smart and healthy boys. The general can watch carefully, and there may be one he likes."

Li Jinzhong nodded, walked towards a house, and then approached the half-opened flower window to look in.

There are five or six small beds on two floors in this room. Some half-sized children are about to climb to the upper floor to lie down and rest, and the younger ones lie down on the lower bed. The young woman in a half-worn Ru skirt was giving gentle instructions while opening her arms to protect the climbing child. A beautiful side face fell into Li Jinzhong's eyes.

When the children sleeping on the upper floor were all lying down, the woman stepped up to a bed, sat sideways on the edge of the lower bed, leaned over and softly comforted a young child on the bed, and after a while, the child entered the bed. state of deep sleep.

The woman got up gently, checked one by one to see if all the children had fallen asleep, and tucked the corners of the quilts for those children who were not covered with thin quilts.

In late August, the weather in the capital has turned cold, and it is easy to catch cold if you don't cover up when you are sleeping soundly.

All her movements were gentle and meticulous. Li Jinzhong looked at her blankly outside the window, and a picture appeared in his mind. One, unfortunately, my mother died early before she became a weapon.

After checking carefully, and seeing that the children had fallen asleep, the young woman breathed a sigh of relief and turned around slowly. Li Jinzhong suddenly found that her right eye was covered with a small piece of black cloth on her beautiful face. The only remaining left eye reveals a tenderness, and the whole person's demeanor is not full of loss and resentment because of the disability of one eye, but exudes a kind of confident and gentle brilliance.

"Miss Zhao has the most gentle and meticulous temperament. She is also very attentive in taking care of the dozens of children in this courtyard. She is quite loved by the children. Unfortunately, due to the cold and fever when she was young, one eye was burned out, and she even died. It's been twenty years, and I haven't married yet, it's really lamentable!"

At some point, Xin Guocheng quietly came to Li Jinzhong's side, and explained in a soft voice how the eyes of the woman surnamed Zhao were damaged. Li Jinzhong looked at Miss Zhao who turned around intently, and was in a daze at his words. If you haven't heard of it.

"General, you can ask Miss Zhao for the matter you entrust, she is the most familiar with these children, it is most appropriate to ask her to choose one for the general."

While talking, Miss Zhao had already spotted the two people outside the house, so she walked briskly out of the door, gently closed the door with her backhand, and gave Xin Guocheng and Li Jinzhong a blessing: "Xin Guocheng, this strong man, I don't know why the two of you came here? Is there any place where the servants can serve?"

Li Jinzhong, who was awakened by Mrs. Zhao's words, for some reason, his dark face instantly turned red, and he became at a loss. After returning the salute in a hurry, his eyes still looked at Mrs. Zhao evasively. Beautiful and strange face.

"Ms. Zhao has invited you. This is General Li who went to Beijing to report victory in the past few days. This time, he wants to find a successor child for his brother who died in battle.

I know that you care most about these dozens of children, so I brought General Li here to see if I can find suitable ones from among the children under your care. "

Xin Guocheng explained the reason for bringing Li Jinzhong here, and while Miss Zhao nodded in response, she didn't pay attention to Li Jinzhong's gaze.

Having been in the nursing home for two years, she has come into contact with countless people of all kinds, and she has long been accustomed to seeing people with various meanings in their eyes.

Just when she was about to speak, Li Jinzhong on the side suddenly said: "Trust me, Zhao... Ms. Zhao, a certain family suddenly remembered something, and it must be dealt with as soon as possible. The certain family will go back to the military camp first. I will come back here again, and I will bid farewell!"

After Li Jinzhong said, before Xin Guocheng and Miss Zhao could respond, he took a big stride and went out in a gust of wind, leaving the two stunned faces watching his back as he left.

　Thanks to Emperor Ming, Venus for the video card, and the cake robber for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)