Linxia

Chapter 239, Life and Death

Huai'an, the pier outside the city.

After the heavy rain, the weather cleared up and it was not very hot yet. The willow trees on the roadside were shining silver in the dazzling sunlight. Not far away, the porters were sweating profusely while loading and unloading goods.

This side is separated by an area with an ice jar for cooling down. Fang Lin and his family are waiting here, looking into the distance from time to time.

"I'm coming!"

Finally, a ship docked and Dong Zugao and his family disembarked.

Fang Lin met Dong Zugao, whom he had not seen for a long time (Dong's father and mother had already been taken to the capital, and during the Chinese New Year last year, Dong Zugao was on duty and the whole family did not come back). This time, Dong Zugao had been on the verge of life and death, and his face looked much older, and he was tired from the long journey. His face was covered with dust and his hair was like white.

In fact, he himself has become much more mature than before. Tian Xuan always helps him pull out the few white hairs on his head, and his beard is now very long.

When they met, they took two quick steps forward, held each other's wrists, looked into each other's eyes, and both felt excitement surging in their hearts.

Since the 14th year of Hongtai, when Dong Zugao became the top scholar, the two of them have been together less and less, only for a few days at most in a year. However, their relationship has not faded. This kind of friendship is not ordinary.

It's not just a casual acquaintance, there are other reasons too. The two of them now have the same status and position as each other; they are both educated, have similar personalities, and have common topics... It can be said that it is rare for them to have such close friends at their age.

Fang Lin can understand this best.

There were other friends with whom he had little acquaintance, such as Huang Di and Chai Yiwei in Xuan Mo Zhai. Now there was a sad and thick barrier between them. When he saw him, he would only respectfully call him "Master Fang" and then have nothing to talk about. Probably like Runtu after he became an adult, he could no longer call him "Brother Xun";
Take Xu Kuo Lao for example. He is not particular about small matters, but he is a rough man who can't read or write. We don't have many common topics to talk about. Besides, he is a drunkard. You can drink with him, but he can make you vomit. But you can't have a good chat with him.

For example, Master Ou, they were just acquaintances, and he was also a scholar, so they could also chat with each other, but in Fang Lin's heart, he was more like a "teacher".

As for Dong Zugao, he had been in officialdom for a long time, not to mention his many friends in the capital, who were subconsciously on guard against him. It was truly the case that 'even when we are old friends, we still hold our swords to our chests'!
It can only be said that, at this point in time, whether it is Fang Lin or Dong Zugao, they are lucky to still have a friend who is so relaxed, like-minded, and with whom they can confide without being wary.

"Brother Fang, the situation this time is very dangerous, thank you very much..."

"Brother Dong, why do we have to be so polite between you and me? Let's go and have a drink." Fang Lin patted Dong Zugao on the shoulder, put his arm around him and walked away.

"Haha, okay, let's go drink. I won't come back until I'm drunk today!"

……

Then, Tian Xuan, Dong's wife and others saw that Fang Lin and Dong Zugao said something to them, waved their hands and went to drink. They didn't even take a sedan chair, but just walked away with their arms around each other's shoulders like street thugs, without any demeanor of important people at all.

Tian Xuan and Dong's wife knew each other. They were stunned when they saw their backs, and then they held hands and started talking.

"My husband used to be the Minister of Personnel. He knows the situation of Daxia very well and is worried about state affairs. I often see him sitting alone in his study, sighing. He hasn't laughed for a long time... Especially after the incident last month, when he was released from the imperial prison and traveled back and forth... But my father is still... He often frowns, blaming himself and feeling guilty. I know he is suffering, and I have never blamed him. But consoling him is useless... Today, my husband is meeting with my sister's husband. It's rare for him to be so happy. I am relieved to see him laugh like this."

"Yes, over the years, I have seen that Brother Lin has always been calm and steady. It has been a long time since I have seen such a childlike side of him."

"Let the men go, sister, and let's talk."

……

The river was flowing slowly, white sails were sailing back and forth, a bustling crowd was coming from the dock, the noise of the streets was overwhelming, and Fang Lin and Dong Zugao appeared in an alley.

One of them is an old Huai'an native, and the other has also lived in Huai'an for many years. In the past, they often went together to find good wine and food in the city. Now, many years have passed, and they are still familiar with Huai'an. They followed their memories to find an old wine shop they had been to before, bought a jar of Bamboo Leaf Green, and took the wine to Donkey Taste Restaurant.

"Brother Fang, do you still remember this place?"

"How could I not remember? The first time Brother Dong invited me to dinner, it was right here."

"Yes, at that time, I hadn't passed the imperial examination yet, and I didn't have much money. It was not easy to come here. I liked the fennel beans here the most."

"I know that every time Brother Dong came to drink, he would sometimes share some beans with the kids at the door... At that time, I was still working as a waiter in a bookstore... Brother Dong is not in Huai'an these years, and I haven't been here for many years."

……

As Fang Lin and Dong Zugao spoke, they entered the restaurant, ordered two side dishes and sat down.

Fang Lin slapped the wine jar, opened it, and poured it for the two of them. With a splashing sound, the amber wine fell into the bowl, and the aged wine burst out with an increasingly fragrant and mellow flavor.

"Good wine!"

"It's good wine. Come on, Brother Fang, drink it!"

The two men clinked their bowls, drank the whole thing in one gulp, and began to chat over the beans. Soon, they were talking nonstop.

They were also here many years ago. At that time, they were both young, full of energy and talked about the world. Now, one is in the ups and downs of officialdom, and the other is working in business. It is rare for them to still be like this in middle age.

When people are happy after drinking, they lose all their manners, open their clothes, step on a stool, and behave in an unrestrained manner.

At this moment, the affairs of the court, Liaodong and the world were far away. Only two ambitious scholars remained.

The sunlight stretched the shadows of the streets into long ones. This ordinary afternoon was just like the first encounter many years ago. The embankment covered with mottled moss by the river outside the door witnessed the passage of time.

……

Time is like water waves, and the rippling water has witnessed the willow trees on the river bank turning green three times, and three years have passed.

Dong Zugao and Fang Lin, one was a prefect and the other was the biggest local boss, and they had a tacit understanding, which was comparable to the previous Dong Qichang and the previous Yan Shideng, or even when Pu was the prefect, there were the Fan family, the Gu family, etc., none of them were as free-spirited as they are now and could do whatever they wanted without any shackles.

The brothers worked together in unity and complemented each other. Huai'an was greatly governed. In terms of taxation, they checked the "fake fields" to reduce the burden on the people of Huai'an and let the court's taxes fall on the people who should pay them. In the area along the river outside the city, nearby fields and fish ponds were compensated and relocated, and some who were willing to move overseas were compensated ten times the amount of their fields. They also spent a lot of effort and resources to dig ditches and dredge rivers. Now, even if there is a flood every year, it can be controlled within a certain range and will not affect the city.

In fact, the river has been dredged every year, and great efforts have been made in the past three years... The resources spent are already ten times what Yan Shideng would have spent if he had chosen to solve the problem once and for all, but the actual effect is still not as good as if he had made the right choice in the first place.

However, even so, Huai'an has already leapt to the top among the prefectures in the Jianghuai area, and can truly be described as a place with 'good government and harmonious people'.

These are certainly political achievements, but Dong Zugao's situation is special, as he was involved in a major case in which he wrote a letter to Wei Zhongxian to express his dissatisfaction with his death. Now he is lucky enough to have saved his life and been demoted to the prefect of Huai'an. Against the backdrop of Wei Zhongxian's omnipotence in the court, he naturally has no hope of promotion, and these political achievements are of no use.

Dong Zugao had an open-minded attitude. Unlike Yan Shideng in the past, who governed the local area for the sake of political achievements and advancement, his original intention was only to benefit the local people and achieve self-satisfaction.

——Instead, Dong Zugao is from Huai'an. Normally, even if he is sent to be a prefect, he cannot be in his hometown. But isn't that the normal situation? These rules were strictly enforced in the early years of the founding of Daxia and the previous dynasties, but now they have been gradually relaxed. Moreover, Wei Zhongxian intended to help them, so these rules are naturally bullshit.

Having talked about Huai'an, let's talk about the political situation in the capital. Wei Zhongxian controlled the government and followed the instructions left by Emperor Hongtai. He firmly implemented the principle of fleecing the "princes and nobles in the capital, and the big families in Jianghuai". He provided military pay for Liaodong and promoted capable generals to cooperate with him. The Liaodong defense line was as solid as a mountain, and the Tartars were kept outside the pass and could not advance an inch.

Originally, the Liaodong Nuzhen, a force that had failed in foreign aggression for years and could not plunder, would have internal conflicts. However, this was not the intensification of the Little Ice Age. Liaodong became increasingly cold, and without the blood transfusion of some Shanxi merchants, many Tartars froze to death or starved to death, which slightly eased the conflict... For the Liaodong Tartars, it was not clear whether they should cry or laugh. According to this situation, if it continued for at least ten years, at most twenty years, Daxia would not need to resort to force to wear out the Liaodong Tartars!

The Tartars in Liaodong suffered from the disaster, and so did other parts of Daxia. Fortunately, Wei Zhongxian suppressed the voices for increasing taxes and actively provided disaster relief. By now, sweet potatoes had already been popularized in Daxia, and the people had something to eat, would not starve to death, and had a way to survive, so they would not rebel.

Overall, Daxia has not had a good time in the past two or three years, but it has been generally stable. As of now, it is far from the end of the dynasty.

……

Huai'an, Fang family.

That day, Fang Lin woke up from his nap, opened the window, and saw that the winter sky was gloomy and there was a hint of chill in the air.

Coming out of the room, he entered the main room. The small red clay stove he used to warm wine was burning. Tian Xuan was sitting next to it looking at the accounts, while Qiuqiu and his two younger brothers and sisters were roasting sweet potatoes and peanuts.

Guaiguai was dozing lazily beside, with water and eye mucus in his eyes. Qiuqiu took a handkerchief to wipe it, and it didn't hide, but let him be wiped. After wiping, it shook its head, lay there for a while, and then made a 'huffling' sound, as if it had fallen asleep.

Fang Lin looked at this scene with a gentle expression. In such weather, waking up like this and seeing his family around him, it was warm and peaceful. He felt an indescribable laziness and comfort. After thinking for a while, he prepared to go out.

"Daddy, where are you going?"

"I heard your Grandpa Liu is sick again. I'm going to go see him. Does Xing'er want to go?"

As expected, Fang Lin was ruthlessly rejected by his youngest daughter. He felt a little sad: Qiuqiu has grown up now and is not as clingy to him as she was when she was a child. Xing'er, the youngest daughter, is of a quiet nature and will not be as clingy as she was when she was a little older.

Tian Xuan continued: "Manager Liu is also old... I often hear people say that this kind of winter is a hard time for the elderly. If they can get through it, it will be another year. If they can't get through it, then..."

"Yeah!" Fang Lin sighed and prepared to go out.

Tian Xuan put down the accounts and stood up to give him some instructions: "It's cold and gloomy today. It might snow. Brother Lin, you should wear more clothes, such as the clothes with the hood, and the mink fur coat..."

……

Liu family.

When Fang Lin came over, Liu Hongwen was still in the bookstore. Liu's eldest daughter-in-law, Liu Ding, welcomed him in.

——Old Lady Liu passed away two years ago, and now, Shopkeeper Liu lives with his eldest son's family. As for Liu Dingshi, she was the one who "often had no vegetables or radishes to eat when Fang Lin was still a waiter at Xuanmozhai, and who mixed coarse salt with rice when he was busy late." Now that things have changed, her attitude towards him is naturally different from the past.

Fang Lin saw Manager Liu. He was not sick and bedridden, but was moving around as usual with a rosy glow on his face. However, seeing this scene, he sighed in his heart.

"Fang Lin is here? I feel good today and can get out of bed. It's a good thing that you're here, so let's have a drink together." Shopkeeper Liu asked his eldest daughter-in-law Liu Ding to warm up the wine, and prepared two side dishes, then sat down with Fang Lin.

The two were talking.

When people get older, they may like to reminisce about the past and old friends. Shopkeeper Liu talked about the people in the bookstore: "Huang Di and Mrs. Qiu gave birth to a daughter in the autumn. I went to drink with them. Alas, Huang Di's mother, what a pity!"

"Chai Yiwei, his stepmother is not a good person...his father passed away two years ago, and I went to their village to make the decision, and we separated from his stepmother's brother and never had any contact with each other again."

"Cheng Shiliang, at that time, he was gambling and refused to listen to my advice, so I fired him. I heard that later someone broke one of his legs, and he was copying books and writing letters for others... It was also in the past two years that I saw him again. He was very young, but he looked almost as old as me..."

Fang Lin listened and recalled each of these characters in his mind.

"Fang Lin, I still remember that you took the initiative to come to my shop and wanted to work for me. I refused, but you shamelessly came here every day...hahaha!"

If there is one person who can still joke around regardless of Fang Lin’s status, Shopkeeper Liu is one of them.

"Later, you saved me from the mad dog. That day, after you left, I went to inquire about it. I was relieved to know that it was not you who killed the dog..."

Some of these words were said by Manager Liu before, and now they were brought up again. Fang Lin did not feel impatient and just echoed them.

The two talked about the debate held by Prefect Pu that year, when Fang Lin scolded the man so hard that he fainted; they talked about their children and grandchildren; they talked about Daxia...

"I think there's something strange about Daxia. It might get chaotic in the future, but I won't be able to see it. If that day really comes, Fang Lin, please help me look after Hongwen and Hongru." Shopkeeper Liu said with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Okay." Fang Lin nodded seriously.

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Liu breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Then I feel relieved!"

"Fang Lin, I know you don't promise easily. Once you say something, you will do it... I said all that just now just for... I know if I say it directly, you will probably agree, but... this person, even at his old age, still has thoughts and calculations..."

Perhaps he was excited or guilty, he spoke incoherently, and drank a bowl of wine, trying to suppress his emotions. However, he started coughing because he drank too quickly. Fang Lin patted his back, and it took him a while to recover. He smiled with tears in his eyes: "Fang Lin, what is the purpose of life? Getting married, having children, raising them, and still can't let go when you are old and dying, worrying about them... I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, it's just... human nature."

"Yes, yes, when people get old, they will be afraid of death, but everyone will have this experience... I have also figured it out. I am not afraid. That person is still waiting for me down there!"

Shopkeeper Liu said this, then looked at Fang Lin again, opened his mouth, and wanted to say something, but in the end he just said: "Fang Lin, I'm leaving now, take care of yourself!"

Fang Lin did not answer. He felt the other party's reluctance, fear, and open-mindedness in the face of death, which were contradictory yet unified.

……

After a while, Fang Lin went out amid crying from behind.

"Master!" The servant prepared a sedan chair.

Fang Lin waved his hand, put on his hood, and stepped into the snowy wind. On the way, he passed by Xuan Mo Zhai and stopped.

He suddenly thought: that year, Shopkeeper Liu sat in front of the counter, telling him about Wengtang with great joy; around the time of Xiaohan that year, Shopkeeper Liu gave the shop assistants cotton-padded jackets, which he later gave to Fang's father; Shopkeeper Liu provided him with pens, inkstones, and paper to copy books, investing in him; that day, he brought Fang Chuanhui and Fang Xiaoxiao over, and Shopkeeper Liu gave them jade pendants for his sake; Shopkeeper Liu did what seemed to be a "loss-making deal" at first, exchanged the shop for a 10% stake, handed over Xuan Mo Zhai to him, and left with a hunched back...

Scenes of memories were frozen on the peaceful face of Manager Liu just now.

"The life and death, sorrow and joy in this world are really... hard to describe!" Fang Lin tightened his sable fur coat, turned around to take one last look at Xuan Mo Zhai, then turned and left.

Behind him, the snow was like pear blossoms, boundless and falling, covering and burying the trail of footprints left behind, leaving no trace.

……

(End of this chapter)