After Ming Dynasty

Chapter 5
Zhu Yiyuan really came back fulfilling his mission, which made Zhu Yiyuan very curious, "How did you get it?"

Dad chuckled, "It didn't take much trouble, just played a few games of chess."

"Then you won it back?" Zhu Yiyuan asked doubtfully.

The old man pondered for a while, and said with a wry smile: "How dare I win, I lost everything."

"Losing?"

Zhu Yiyuan thought about it for a while, then burst out laughing. Sure enough, there are some things that are the same in ancient and modern times.Xie Qian is their immediate boss, controlling their life and death.

How dare you win a game of chess with others?

It's just that you have to lose beautifully so that people can't see it.This requires a lot of chess strength, Dad is not easy.

Zhu Yiyuan asked again carefully, and then Father Zhu confessed that when he went, Xie Qian had just eaten and was resting.Father Zhu found out that Xie Qian had a chess set, so he took the initiative to ask. It turned out that Xie Qian liked to play chess very much. When he was in the Han family, he would play chess, bet and drink with his servants, and no one was his opponent.

Father Zhu saw the opportunity, so he clamored to have a game with Xie Qian.

In the first round, the two of them killed each other's opponents, and there was back and forth. In the end, Father Zhu lost to Xie Qian because of a careless move.

Then Old Man Zhu was not convinced, and continued to gamble the second game, not only betting, but also adding more chips... Then he lost five games in a row, and finally lost Old Man Zhu so much that his forehead was sweating, he looked up to the sky and lamented, and completely surrendered.

He confessed to Xie Qian that he wanted to win back a few shi of grain and give some porridge to the old and weak women and children in the village by the way.

Xie Qian wins happily, playing against others, he can't even use three successes, but when it comes to Zhu Laopa, he needs to show [-]% of his skills, so he can barely be regarded as an opponent.

As soon as he was happy, he gave Mr. Zhu two stone grains.

Xie Qian also said that he had no choice but to expropriate the houses of the big guys, and when they conquered Zichuan County, they could talk about anything.

Father Zhu naturally said yes again and again, thank you very much.

After listening to the narration, Zhu Yiyuan was quite curious, "How can you, a son of the clan and a nobleman, know these methods, and you can figure out the thoughts of the higher-ups so clearly?"

Father Zhu sighed helplessly, "There are millions of clans in this Ming Dynasty, and your father can only be regarded as the lowest one. In the Tianqi Dynasty, there were tax supervisors and eunuchs here, and other clans could only receive [-]% of the salary, and the rest If it is folded into a precious note that is not as valuable as a butt wipe, your father will get [-]% of it, tell me, what is your ability?"

Zhu Yiyuan's eyes widened, a little adored for some reason... The tax supervisor and eunuch came to collect money, but his father was able to extract money from others. It's really an old fairy farting, extraordinary.

"Let me tell you, those eunuchs are greedy, they are bastards! But in the Chongzhen Dynasty, the eunuchs lost power and became even more chaotic. You want to get involved and do things, carrying two jars of wine, a big pig head, stunned If you can’t find the temple gate, do you think it’s irritating or not?”

Zhu Yiyuan had no choice but to smile wryly, everyone is in full swing, that's not how it is.It's okay for the clan not to receive a salary, even the postmen were abolished, and they dug a grave by themselves and buried themselves.

This operation, Zhu Yiyuan is also convinced.

But now is not an opportunity to lament these things, it is better to cook porridge quickly and send it to the folks.

Father Zhu not only returned two stones of grain, but also kidnapped a horse, which was a big help.

When their wreck, loaded with several buckets of porridge and a lot of bowls and chopsticks, appeared at the threshing ground outside the village, the folks in Qingshiji cried. The big guy was really miserable.

First they were robbed, and then many people came and drove them out of their homes. They were not allowed to live in good houses, so they could only sleep in the open air outside the village.

The adults are better, but what about the children?
I came out in a hurry, there was no food at all, and the child was screaming with hunger.

The sun is about to set, hungry and cold, the elderly and children may not be able to survive.

"Master Zhu, Mr. Zhu, you are so kind and virtuous, it is really timely rain, you are a life-saving Bodhisattva!"

Accidentally became Song Jiang.

Zhu Yiyuan is still a little embarrassed, it's just a little food, there is no need.

Can't help speeding up the speed of serving the porridge, so that the big guys can eat it quickly.

Since they were all fellow villagers and there were no outsiders, the order was not bad. The old people and children were all distributed, and there was food in their stomachs. The children finally stopped crying, and some even ran around the carriage, very happy.

They are carefree, but where are the adults happy?

How do you live this day?

Among this group of people, there was a middle-aged man named Tan Laoqi. He was a tall man with a scar on his face, and he was considered a somewhat prestigious figure in the village.

He looked solemn, hesitated for a moment, and then walked to the Zhu family father and son, and said in a low voice: "Master Zhu, Mr. Zhu, I have something to tell you."

Father Zhu was stunned for a moment, and then said to Zhu Yiyuan: "I greet the folks, you go talk to Master Qi."

The father took the initiative to let his son take the lead, and it was indeed a bit of a father-son exchange feeling, but the Zhu family father and son seemed to take it for granted, and Zhu Yiyuan followed Tan Laoqi to the willow grove next to him.

"Master Zhu, I see that Xie Qian treats your family well, but I don't know if there are any folks from Qingshiji in your heart?"

Zhu Yiyuan smiled indifferently, "Qi Ye, Xie Qian is new here, we are neighbors for decades, although our family and the people in the village don't have much contact with each other, but we live together and our hearts are still together. Otherwise, we will I won’t bring porridge to the big guys. However, our strength is limited, and Xie Qian doesn’t really take us seriously, but just a puppet tablet. So there is limited help, and I hope the folks will forgive me.”

Tan Laoqi was immediately disappointed. He looked at Zhu Yiyuan and saw that his face was sincere and did not seem to be fake, so he lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Send troops to help drive Xie Qian away."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yiyuan's face changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "Qi Ye, what do you think?"

Tan Laoqi sighed silently, "Mr. Zhu, the grandson is willing to shave his hair and serve as a slave to the Tartars! If you get Qinggou now, that is to lure wolves into the house, and you will not let the big guy go. But, let Xie Qian live like this , the big guys can't live. Look at the old ones, the small ones, after a few nights, people are finished."

When Tan Laoqi said this, his eyes were red, and he lamented sadly, almost crying.

Zhu Yiyuan nodded, understanding his mood very well.

"Qi Ye, can you tell me about the current situation of the villagers?"

Tan Laoqi collected himself, and then said: "Young Master Zhu, since Xie Qian's people came to rob, many people ran away and never came back. Now the rest are old and weak, women and children, and there are only two males. Thirty. My mother is also there, as well as my wife and daughter. I can run alone, but I can’t leave the three of them alone! The other people are in the same situation as me. If you can’t run away, you can only wait to die.”

After thinking about it for a while, Zhu Yiyuan understood the situation of the villagers... Xie Qian just drove them out of the house. If Xie Qian left after a few days, they could still come back, at least they would have a place to live.

But if they run away, they will lose their home completely. They don't want to leave, and they can't.The old and the weak, women and children are dragged down, and leaving means that the family is completely disintegrated, and relatives are separated from each other, and they will never see each other again.

It's just that they have nothing to eat now, and they will die in a few days. At that time, they will have no choice.

Or take the risk of fleeing famine and go to other places. There are bandits on the way, and it is definitely close to death.

Either he would join Xie Qian and become a rebel army. At that time, he would definitely have to abandon his hometown and move around. Most of the rebel soldiers would not care about the old, weak, women and children present, and they could only starve to death.

Zhu Yiyuan suddenly figured out why Xie Qian would drive the villagers out without killing people or forcing them to surrender.Most of them are waiting silently, waiting for the useless people to disappear naturally, leaving only some strong enough.

Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, they all play like this.

But as Tan Qiye said, the villagers still have a way to kill them, and that is to take the initiative to surrender to the Qing court and lead the officers and soldiers to eliminate Xie Qian.It's just that in that way, the life and death of the people will depend entirely on the face of the Qing court.

In any case, it is the common people who suffer.

It's just that in comparison, if shaving can survive, this is still the least bad choice.So some people want to find the Qing court, it really makes sense.

"Qiye, you know, I jumped into a well to commit suicide in order not to shave my hair. It's just that I died once, and now I don't want to die again. However, the Qing court will not let our surname Zhu go. .”

Tan Laoqi was stunned, and sighed, "Young master Zhu, everyone can see your integrity. If there is a choice, no one is willing to be a slave with a pig's tail on it." Tan Laoqi blushed , almost pleading: "Young Master Zhu, can you help, please thank the leader, show mercy, and give the villagers a way to survive?"

Zhu Yiyuan naturally didn't have such a big face, he said solemnly: "Qi Ye, let me say that the way of life is not given by others, but earned by oneself."

Tan Laoqi frowned, "What does Mr. Zhu mean?"

Zhu Yiyuan said: "I think maybe we should think about what we can do for the rebels!"

(End of this chapter)