Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 533
Shandong.

Qingzhou, Linqu.

The small town at the foot of Mount Lu, this small town has been the county government of Linqu since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It was originally a small and narrow earthen city wall.

Xiaocheng has beautiful mountains and clear waters, surrounded by the east of Mihe River, Qushan Mountain and Sushan Mountain are solitary and flat like Huabiao. This place has been an important military site throughout the ages, and Muling Pass, the first dangerous pass in Shandong, is behind.

It was late, the wind was tight and the clouds were low.

The autumn wind is rustling, and there is still some drizzle.

A man dressed in rags, with a straw rope tied around his waist, a pair of tattered straw sandals on his feet, and a dog-beating stick in his hand, like a beggar, walked quickly along the brick and stone city wall that was newly built a few years ago walking.

The clothes on his body were greasy and shiny because of the dirt and pulp. He didn't know how long it had been since the clothes were washed, but he walked in a hurry and walked all the way.

After walking for a long time, I finally came to the foot of the city wall outside the Haijin Gate of the East City Gate.

There was a patch of shacks set up in a haphazard manner.

The man walked to a small low shack, which he built himself, using some branches and weeds and so on.

Lifting the straw curtain, he bent down and got in.

Getting into this small shack, he put on a smile on his face.

"Damn my baby, I'm back."

In the shack, a woman with a withered complexion was sitting there motionless with a baby in her arms.

He barks again.

Only then did the woman speak, "It hurt at noon, and she gave birth in the afternoon, a girl."

The man hurried forward, took out a lotus leaf bag from the tattered clothes, opened it, and there were two meat buns.

It even radiates heat.

"Damn it, thank you for your hard work. Hurry up and eat two bites, it's still warm."

The woman sat there weakly, and she couldn't see her expression clearly in the dim shack.

"Hurry up and eat."

The woman still didn't move.

Then she suddenly burst into tears, the crying woke up the baby girl in her arms, and she also started crying. The woman bit her lip, suppressed the crying, and began to pat the baby in her arms lightly, and untied the baby girl. Clothes for feeding the child.

The baby stopped crying and began to drink milk, but after sucking a few mouthfuls, the milk ran out, and the little face was flushed, and there was still not half a drop of milk, and the baby burst into tears again.

The man passed the bun again, "Eat it while it's hot."

The woman looked down at the crying baby in her arms, sighed a long time, took a big mouthful and started to eat.

"Slow down, don't choke."

The meat buns are so delicious, with soft skins, tender and juicy meat fillings, and there are scallions and shrimps in them.

After taking a few bites of half of the bun, the woman slowed down. She took a bite of the bun skin and chewed it into a paste in her mouth, but she didn't swallow it anymore, but took it out and fed it to the crying child.

The little guy who was just born then started to eat, and his little mouth licked very deliciously.

"Where did you get the buns?"

At this time, even a potato, taro or sweet potato is a rare commodity for the hungry, and the husband can still bring back meat buns.

"It was rewarded by the county magistrate. Today the magistrate asked me to go over to ask questions, and said that he would report our situation to the clan mansion immediately." The man was a little excited when he said this, "It is estimated that the clan mansion will come soon, At that time, as long as the identities of our royal relatives and relatives are confirmed, life will be better."

The woman concentrates on making bun batter for the child.

"Where are the small ones?" The man took out a lotus leaf bag from his arms, but it contained several roasted sweet potatoes, which were still warm.

"Aunt Zhao helped carry it." As she spoke, the woman couldn't help but her voice choked up again.

"What's the matter, life will get better, soon."

"Second brother, second child is gone."

"What?"

The woman wept sadly and told her husband that she gave birth at noon, and the children went out to find wild vegetables by themselves, but one of them was ignored, and the one and a half year old second child fell into the moat and drowned.

With just one click, the child is gone.

The eldest was only four years old. He wanted to be rescued, but couldn't. He almost drowned himself in it. Fortunately, a refugee found him and jumped down to rescue him in time, but the second child had already drowned.

The man's hand holding the sweet potato trembled, unable to believe the news.

"It's because I didn't take good care of the child in charge of the house,"

"Where is the second child now?"

"At Aunt Zhao's place, I wanted to bury it in a mass grave, but someone offered me a bucket of millet in exchange."

"It can't be changed!" The man stood up abruptly, extremely emotional.

The woman was startled, and the child was also startled and cried again.

"It can't be changed, it's for eating, it can't be changed!" The man cried out in despair while shouting.

The woman actually knew why someone would offer a bucket of millet to exchange for a one-and-a-half-year-old dead child, but she didn't immediately refuse, because she had just given birth to a baby and had no milk. If she could exchange a bucket of millet, it would be boiled Gosh, maybe I can save this one.

When they fled, they witnessed mothers cooking their own dead children for other children to eat, and some parents exchanged children for food.

"I'll go and bring the baby back." The man put another steamed bun and sweet potato next to his wife, and ran out.

After a while, the man came back with red eyes and a small bag of millet in his hand.

"It's late, the child is gone." He said to his wife with red eyes.

The wife buried her face in the baby and wept.

A girl came in with two smaller children, a boy and a girl.

"Father, it's because I didn't take good care of my younger brother. Hit me, or sell me." The girl stood there and said.

The man looked at the eldest daughter who was only a little over six years old, his eyes were red, and he couldn't swear a word.

"Father, sister went to ask Aunt Zhao to help deliver the baby. I didn't take good care of my younger brother. My younger brother saw a small fish in the river that turned its belly up and wanted to pick it up. I didn't stand up and fell into the water. It's all my fault." The four-year-old boy said there.

"Father, I was the one who saw that fish, and it's all my fault." The little girl who was a little over two years old said.

The man wiped his tears with his elbow, "It's not your fault, nor your mother's fault, it's all father's fault."

"You're hungry, Dad brought back roasted sweet potatoes, eat them quickly."

The woman's eyes were red, and she wanted to share the bun with the three children, "Mother, eat it, you just gave birth, you need to make up for it."

The man held the bucket of millet in his hand, and finally turned his head and squatted on the ground, crying silently, with his mouth opened wide, but he controlled himself not to make a sound.

It was extremely oppressive in the shack.

"Let me cook some millet porridge." The man finally stood up.

The woman said, "Father, keep this millet. Tomorrow, you can take it to the county government office and give it to the clerks in the government office. Although the county magistrate said to report to the clan's residence, if the subordinates make trouble, it will not be possible. "

The man hesitated.

"Signing up is important." The woman reminded her husband.

Although it was only a bucket of millet, it was exchanged for the second son who had just drowned, but for their family, this was the only thing that could be sold.

This beggar-like man is surnamed Zhu.

And they are members of the royal family.

But compared to those Dafan princes who occupy tens of thousands of hectares and are rich in millions of silver taels, this man doesn't even have a name.

His surname is Zhu. According to the family name determined by the Taizu, he should be of the generation of Ci, that is, the nephew of Emperor Chongzhen.

Everyone usually calls him the third child.

De Wang Zhu Youshu and Zhu Youli are both his uncles.

Dezhou was initially granted to Dezhou, and later moved to Jinan, becoming a Dafan.

But the fate of Zhu Laosan was very miserable. His grandfather was the lieutenant of the town of Defan, but he was only the lower-level clan of Defan. When it came to the title of lieutenant in Zhen Guo, it was much better than many low-level clans at that time.

But at that time, the number of clans across the country increased sharply, and the imperial court could not provide the clan's Lumi in full, so it had to make various discounts, and even defaulted in the end.

The upper-level clans such as Prince County Wang Zhenguo and General Zhenguo are better, even if they owe money, they still have manor property, etc., and they don’t all count on this Lumi, but for the lower-level clans, they can’t do business and farm, so they count on this Lumi. If you default, you will really be hungry.

Zhu Laosan's grandfather had no choice, so he finally took the risk and wrote a memorial to the emperor, pointing out the disadvantages of the times, and even complained about the emperor's tone.

This kind of death behavior naturally aroused the anger of the emperor and was punished by the court, so he was finally sentenced to be imprisoned by the Lu Palace.

And this is actually what Grandfather Zhu did on purpose, because the court owed him money, his family was going to starve to death, and now cursing the emperor a few words is not considered treason or something, neither beheading nor escort He was imprisoned by the high walls of the imperial prison in Fengyang, and then he was locked up in Jinan and handed over to the Prince's Mansion for custody.

But there is food to eat in prison.

If the imperial court didn't give Lumi, I took my whole family to eat in prison.

I have to say that Grandpa Zhu Laosan is also a man with a very smart mind.

But Prince De's Mansion is not willing to do it either, so why should we support your family?So in the end, only the old man was locked up and his son was kicked out.

When Zhu Laosan's father was older, according to the rules, he had to ask for his name from the imperial court. According to the rules, he had to first report to the prince of the vassal, and then the chief minister of the king's mansion reported to the Ministry of Rites and the clan's mansion, and finally gave the name. After success, you will be awarded a title and a salary.

For example, Grandpa Zhu Laosan is a lieutenant of Zhenguo. After his father bestowed the name, he should be granted the title of lieutenant of Fuguo. He can receive three hundred shilumi from the court every year. Although it is not much, if he can get it, he can still have a family living.

Even if there is a discount and a little arrears, it can still be a little bit wrong.

But it turned out that because the old man had been locked up in prison for a long time, Zhu's third son survived only by the little relief from the palace.

Now I want to ask for a name, but there is no money to deal with.

Originally, matters such as naming and marriage were personal matters, usually decided by the parents, but in the Ming Dynasty, in the royal clan, these were not things that could be decided by themselves, they had to go through a process.

When you are born, you have to sign up and give a name. Even marriage and funeral must be reported to the imperial court, and the clan government and the six ministries will cooperate.

And this program, after more than 200 years, has long become an unspoken rule that needs to be managed everywhere.

Not only the long history of the palace, etc. have to be sorted out, but also the officials of the local yamen are paid routinely, and even have to pay money for the help of Beijing wandering sticks.

It costs less money to ask for a name and a marriage. The most important thing is to ask for a seal, and the titles of all levels are clearly marked.

The name of the county king requires at least 500 taels of silver. The name of the generals of Zhen Guo, Fu Guo, and Feng Guo needs at least 300 taels, and the name of a lieutenant requires at least [-] taels of silver.

Just because many low-level clans simply couldn't afford these layers of money, there were a large number of clan children in the late Ming Dynasty, without names, seals, Lumi, or even marriages.

In the Prince's Mansion of Xichuan County alone, at the end of Ming Dynasty, there were more than 130 men and women who had not been given names, titles, salaries, or marriages, and more than 100 were single.

Zhu Laosan's father had no money to hand over to the palace, let alone manage the yamen.

In the end, he had no way out, so he followed his father's example and taught the emperor the four strategies of Zhongxing, and he was successfully served in prison, but he was still unknown when he met his father and son in prison.

(End of this chapter)