Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 473 A fellow clan member of Lao Wang’s family
In the imperial prison,

Zhang Jinyu had a gloomy face and was somewhat at a loss. Small officials could be killed, but in the capital, officials in the government could not use torture, and the penalties used in private could not be too severe. Now the situation could only be dealt with from the Jingcang side to see what happened. What is the situation? No matter how big the fire is, we can still collect some clues after it burns out.

"What else can we do? Of course we should continue to investigate. Master Shen, how much grain can be stored in the official warehouse in Jingcang?"

Shen Zhongxin was still a little confused as to why he asked about this, but he didn't dare to hide it. The official warehouses designed by the Ministry of Household Affairs all have a fixed amount of storage. The capital city is special, it is larger, but not too big.

"I would like to inform you that the official warehouses in all counties are the same. They all have a fixed number when they are built. Each warehouse can store ten thousand shi of grain. Only the Jing warehouse is larger. Each warehouse can store about [-] shi of grain. Shi, why does the Marquis ask like this?"

"Oh, there are so many. In that case, the matter is simple. I would like to ask you, Mr. Shen, if the warehouse is full and burned by the fire, do you want to leave ashes? How many ashes are there? Sir Shen can There is a certain number. When you get there, just check and weigh the ashes. If the missing amount is too obvious, or there is something else under the ashes, huh, for example, it is not grain, but some sand and gravel."

Zhang Jinyu sneered, no matter how much the food is burned, it is impossible to burn it all into ashes. There will always be ashes left behind. Even if a person is burned after death, a few bones will be left behind. Besides, even if sand and stones are burned, there will be some left behind. Go down to the ruins and find out once you get there.

Shen Zhongxin suddenly realized that this method was feasible, but he needed to carefully calculate how much ashes could be left behind. In this way, he could roughly know the original amount of food stored.

Shen Zhongxin looked excited and said,

"Your Majesty is a genius, he actually came up with such a method, I admire him, I will go and verify it now."

As he was about to leave in a hurry, Zhang Jinyu quickly reached out to hold him and said,

"Why are you in a hurry? I will go with you. I also want to see how the fire was burned and whether it was a real fire dragon or a fake fire dragon. By the way, Mr. Shen and I need to check whether there is food in the granary. I It seems to Hou that since this matter has happened, there must be nothing they dare not do. Maybe Cui Dehai is just a person on the surface, and that Tian Fangzheng is too deliberate."

"Here, thank you, Mr. Marquis, for reminding me!"

After speaking, the two men hurriedly ordered their troops and horses, and then left the imperial prison and headed straight for Jingcang.

outside the capital,
Anhu is surrounded by good farmland and there are many villages. With Anhu as its back, ordinary people can live and work in peace and contentment. However, in recent years, taxes have increased and the lives of the villagers have been somewhat difficult.

The usual income is just enough for food and clothing, and there is no extra money to buy other belongings.

Especially when the Jingcang was burned down and the people in the capital were snatching grain, the incident also spread in Zhuangzi after the small merchants and hawkers who went to the city to do business came back.

Many farmers began to rush to tell each other, and many people got the letter and ran to the city to see where they could buy grain.

In the meantime,
In a small village near the capital, most people have the surname Wang. Over time, it was called Wangjiazhuang. There is a family in the village with the surname Wang, which is a local surname. The madam's father knew her, and because of her greed for profit and the snobbery of the Wang family, she agreed to marry her and recognized her as her nephew.

I thought I was rich. At that time, only Mrs. Wang's eldest brother, Wang Xifeng's father, who lived in the capital with Mrs. Wang, knew that there was such a connected clan. The rest of them didn't know him. It was just a casual relationship. They knew that this person existed. .

But something unexpected happened. Not long after, the nephew of a Beijing official fell seriously ill and passed away, leaving only a son named Wang Cheng. Because of the high cost of medical treatment and the depression of the family, he sold his old house and returned the money. After paying off his debts, he moved out to live in his hometown outside the city. Unexpectedly, he was plagued by bad luck. Wang Cheng also contracted cold and died of illness, leaving only his son, nicknamed Gou'er.

It's not that the name was bad, it's because in Zhuangzi, cheap names are easy to make a living on. Gou'er also gave birth to a son, nicknamed Ban'er, and his legitimate wife, Mrs. Liu, gave birth to a daughter named Qing'er. The family of four lived in the Wang family. Village, still make a living by farming, there is no other way.

In order to earn more money, the dog would go to the city or the dock to find some hard work after finishing farming during the day. Liu would also work on the well mortar and other tasks. The Qingban sister and brother were left unattended, and the couple worked together. , so he brought his mother-in-law, Grandma Liu, to live together and help take care of a pair of children.

It is said that Grandma Liu is also a hard-working person. She is an old widow who has been around for generations in her hometown. She has no children to take care of her. She only lives on two acres of thin farmland. Now that her son-in-law has taken over to support her, wouldn't she be willing to do it? He left Susukita and moved here with some scattered money to help his daughter and son-in-law live.

Life was good in the past, but in recent years, the court's taxes have become heavier and heavier, and there is almost no balance left every year. It has just passed the New Year, and the last bit of savings has been spent. Now that spring has just begun, when the harvest is not picking up, again When the food grab happened, Gou'er felt depressed, and the rice vat at home was almost running out of rice.

I didn't go to the field in the morning. I had a few sips of wine at home. The smell of alcohol was rising. Xian Xun was angry and scolded Mrs. Liu a few times, but Mrs. Liu didn't dare to contradict him.

Grandma Liu couldn't bear to see this scene, so she spoke out to persuade:
"Oh, uncle, please don't let me talk too much. Among us ordinary households, none of us are honest and sincere, and we can eat as much food as we want. When you were young, you relied on the blessings of your ancestors. I'm used to enjoying happiness, but now the season is wrong and life is hard. I know you are unhappy, but you can't lose your temper like this. Besides, although we don't live in the capital, we are still under the emperor's feet. In this capital, there is money everywhere, but It's a pity that no one will take it, and it won't be of any use even dancing at home."

What Grandma Liu said made the dog blush and said anxiously,

"I'm afraid you are an old fool and can only make up random things on the bed. There is gold and silver everywhere, why don't you ask me to rob and steal it?"

Grandma Liu laughed at her and replied:

"Who asked you to do the beheading business? After all, everyone has different ideas. Otherwise, wouldn't the money come to our house on its own?"

Gou'er thought about it for a while, but still didn't think of any way. He left the capital and came to the countryside. After planting the land, he was no different from ordinary farmers, let alone the hard money earned by doing hard work at the dock. It's a shameless job, and now it's just trying to figure out a way. From the moment I moved out, the people I knew in the past were already destined to be no longer with me. Even those I knew, I'm afraid I pretended not to know them, and sneered:
"Don't complain. If I had a way, why would I wait until now? I am just a farmer. I have no relatives with money and no friends who are officials. Is there any way I can think of? Even if there is, I am only afraid of them. You may not care about us!"

Grandma Liu sighed, looked at her uncle and daughter, and brought up old things again:

"Although what I said makes sense, dogs, everything depends on people, and success depends on God. Let's work together and figure it out. If we succeed, relying on the blessing of Bodhisattva, there will be some opportunities."

Hearing what Grandma Liu said, Mrs. Liu looked over with bright eyes.
"Mom, you have thought of a way, so tell me quickly. If nothing else, something happened in the capital. Now everyone is scrambling to buy food, but we don't have that much money. I heard that the price of rice in the food shop has gone up. Three times more."

Grandma Liu touched her daughter's hair and comforted her,
"Don't worry, I will come up with an opportunity for you. Dog, do you remember that you were related to the Jinling Wang family. 20 years ago, they personally agreed to it at the house. Now you are worried about your face. I didn’t want to bow down to others, so I became distant. I remember when my daughter and I went there once, the second young lady of his family was really nice and good at treating others, but she wasn’t very good at it.”

Gou'er thought about it for a moment, and it really happened.
"You are right what you always said. It really happened, but so many years have passed. How can you admit it again?"

Grandma Liu slapped the table and cursed,

"You are confused, dog. Do you know that the young lady back then is now the wife of Mr. Jia Er of Rongguo Mansion. I heard that now that she is getting older, she is more sympathetic to the poor and the elderly. She loves to worship the monks, give up rice and give up money. Yes, people who believe in Buddhism must have good intentions.
It's hard to get to the Wang family in the capital now, but you can go find this second aunt, who might even recognize us.Why don't you go and walk around, just beg her, as long as she misses the past, she will definitely give you some benefits. You must know that the hair of these wealthy people is thicker than our waists! "

Ms. Liu stood aside and looked at her husband's face. Knowing that he was embarrassed, she said:
"Mom, although what you said is right, how can we come to her door to ask for help with our looks like this? If we don't tell you this in advance, even if we go to the house, their concierge boys may not be willing to report it, for fear of not returning it. He was kicked out before he even got to the door, so he didn't even get to slap him in the face!"

Gou'er wanted to be respected, so when his wife Mrs. Liu said this, she didn't even want to go. But she still wanted the benefits, so she had no choice but to get up and make amends to Grandma Liu, right?

"Mom, don't blame me. I was impulsive just now, but what you always said is true. There is a way. In this case, why don't you go there tomorrow and try the limelight first? Besides, you saw this girl again back then. Mrs. once.”

Grandma Liu was stunned, why was she still thinking about me?

"It's a coincidence. I'm just an old woman with no shame. How can those wealthy families pay attention to me? I'm afraid I won't be beaten out."

"Mom, this matter has to be done by you. If you do this, take Ban'er with you, and then when you get there, you can ask your wife to live with Zhou Rui. Once you meet him, it will be done. This Zhou Rui has been friends with my father before. It's a very good thing for both families. Even though so many years have passed, we will never forget it."

Grandma Liu also recalled this person. Back then, this person came to the house mysteriously. She didn’t know what he did with Gou’er’s father. Anyway, it was the dead of night and he didn’t know what he was doing. But with this relationship, it was indeed easy to talk to him.

"If you don't tell me about this, I almost forgot about it. It's just that I haven't moved around for so many years. What if I know about him now? But having said that, it is really inappropriate for you to go. After all, we are all men. There are some things that are hard to say. We, mothers-in-law, and young people My daughter-in-law, it’s hard to show off my head and feet, but I’d rather give it a try with my old face.

I guess as long as I meet my wife, there must be some benefits, and it will benefit everyone. Even if I don't come with the money, I will go to the prince's house to see the world. It's not in vain for me to come here in my life. Hey, I will go there today for this matter. . "

After saying this, everyone felt relieved. It was early rather than late. It was still early today, so we could go.

(End of this chapter)