Ping An Biography

The rivers and lakes are not so easy to run. It’s good to have a lot of money in your hand and bring chariots and servants. Otherwise, there will be a lot of inconvenience in basic necessities of life.Just as it is a reason why a hermit in a deep mountain is not an ordinary person.So Zhang Ning didn't prepare too many verbal persuasion, but just prepared this clean yard, plus some firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea.It didn't cost much but was very effective. He carefully observed the expressions of the old and the young, and found a lot of things.

As the employer who holds the money, his current relationship with Lao Xu and the others is actually a two-way choice. Whether they can reach a cooperation is about to be tested.

Zhang Ning spoke softly and slowly, keeping a cautious attitude and only talking about trivial matters.At this time, he suddenly felt that all kinds of relationships between people actually have something in common, just like the current cooperation intention and love relationship, slowly getting in touch with temptation, afraid that speaking directly will scare away others , or the other party has no intention of confessing there, it is useless.

Sure enough, Zhang Ning faintly heard the girl whispering to Old Xu: "There is nothing to be courteous..."

He didn't take it seriously, and said with a cheeky smile: "The family has already had dinner at this hour, do you two mind if I stay and have dinner before leaving?"

"Young master is the master, and we are guests." Old Xu said calmly, "Let Wen Jun cook, we will wait a while."

It turned out that the girl's name was Wen Jun, not bad, plus the feeling that Lao Xu showed to him, Zhang Ning judged that these two people might have some background, and they might have been richer before.He didn't express any words of praise for the girl's name, and even deliberately ignored it. After all, keeping a distance from the little lady makes people feel more secure?

So Zhang Ning invited Lao Xu out of the firewood room, held a lamp and went to the main room to the north to sit together.

"I haven't asked the young master's name yet." Old Xu said.

Zhang Ning said calmly: "My surname is Zhang, the judge of Yangzhou Prefecture, Tian Zhu Guan."

Old Xu looked Zhang Ning up and down, hurriedly got up and said: "It turns out that you are an official, disrespectful and disrespectful."

"Forget it, sit down and talk." Zhang Ning made a supporting motion.Since he admits that he is an official, Lao Xu and the others were arrested today... Perhaps Lao Xu has already guessed that the incident was just a test.It's okay to be guessed by Lao Xu, Zhang Ning himself has no malicious intentions.Now that he has a purpose, maybe Lao Xu can feel more at ease, and Wen Jun muttered that "there is no reason to be courteous", and it is strange that someone is courteous to him without knowing the purpose, and he is not on guard.

Now that he had revealed his identity, he could have asked about Lao Xu's background, but Zhang Ning still felt that the heat was not enough, so he sat and pretended to look at the dark scenery in the yard and didn't ask about it.After a while, he asked in a polite tone that wanted to avoid silence: "What plans does Lao Xu have in the future?"

Old Xu's face suddenly showed a little vicissitudes, maybe it is the illusion of too many wrinkles?He said unhurriedly: "Walking around the streets and alleys to sell and sing, what plans do you have? The world is your home."

Zhang Ning nodded and said casually, "Life is short."

Old Xu couldn't help showing a smile: "My lord is so young, why do you lament this?"

"Young or old, there are things to do at every stage of life. If you miss it, you will inevitably be rushed and embarrassed." Zhang Ning smiled. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to have no successor or achieve nothing? How easy is it to make up for a missed opportunity?”

"Your Excellency is young and promising, sensible, congratulations." Lao Xu nodded, but his expression became slightly worried.

Zhang Ning looked at Lao Xu calmly with a smile of honor and disgrace, and said softly: "I am still inexperienced, so I don't know what to say rashly. , the time will not be far when the body fails to be self-sufficient, this is just the natural way for all things to replace the rise and fall of life, there is no need to be sentimental but it must be observed.”

"What's wrong with an old man with a humble status and a nameless name buried in wild grass?" Old Xu's face was a little unhappy.

Zhang Ning died of illness in his previous life. He had never experienced the feeling of the elderly, but he had seen a lot. Most people saw that their children got married and started a business, and finally had to prepare a coffin for themselves.Zhang Ning knew that older people were more stubborn, and he would not be happy even if he had a high status. Happy in se?

Regardless of Lao Xu's feelings, he continued: "Even if you don't plan for yourself, you still have to think about your granddaughter, right? If her daughter's family doesn't have her parents and elders to make decisions, and she doesn't have a person's identity, how can she be a family everywhere?" ? If your situation doesn’t change, and Lao Xu will be gone in the future, you should think about what will happen to her..."

Old Xu stood up suddenly, and said with a strange expression: "You and I don't owe each other, there is no need to gossip about our family's affairs!"

Zhang Ning knew that he couldn't speak any more, so he stood up and said at the right time: "That's all I have to say, it seems that I am not blessed with this meal, so I will leave first."

After finishing speaking, he lightly threw the key on the chair he was sitting on, turned around and left without saying a word.

After a while, Wen Jun walked in with a cloth cushion holding a large bowl of soup, and put it on the table. Seeing Lao Xu sitting on the chair with a straight face and not saying a word, without looking at him, he endured it. He couldn't stop asking: "What's wrong with grandpa, where is that person...the key?"

"Let's go." Old Xu's face darkened, he paused and said again, "He is the judge of Yangzhou, and he took ten taels of silver last time to try us."

Wenjun curled his mouth: "There are some stinky money, and they treat people like monkeys! But it's good to meet someone who is taken advantage of, and ten taels plus that jade pendant is enough for us for a long time. Or stay What are you going to do with this money?"

Old Xu said: "What can we do? We don't have enough land to buy, so we can only get some belongings to be tenants, but it's not easy to get registered if we don't know the place where we live. I'm afraid that the government will investigate us and find out the details... Judge Zhang should see We have some skills and want to win us over, but we can't think of other intentions. You can see that he has put a lot of thought into the preparations in this yard, and there is no need to do so if there is no purpose."

"There is no corvee for planting the land under the name of an official, and the grain tax is light." Wen Jun said softly, "But he certainly didn't want to win over us as tenants under his name, and we didn't have to work hard, let alone he didn't have to spend so much. Find that kind of person..."

Hearing that there is no labor, Lao Xu's mouth twitched slightly, and said: "That's exactly the case. In the world, you have to do what you give. The national general stole the talisman to save Zhao, but Ji Cheng could only expect the army to leave the army and cut his neck to apologize. Today, Judge Zhang respects the virtuous and the corporal regardless of his status, and what he asked us to do is definitely not a light thing, can we handle this bowl of rice?"

Wenjun said kindly: "It's okay if you can't do it. This is also Grandpa's ability. Otherwise, why didn't the official look at others and only look at you?"

…Drinking a bowl of sweet and crystal white fungus soup and eating some pastries, Zhang Ning took a bath in the hot water and washed beautifully, changed into comfortable and comfortable cotton clothes, and sat by the table in front of the window for a while to get ready to rest up.Soft lights, comfortable big houses, the difference in the amount of resources owned by people in this world is too obvious, maybe fairness is like the morality in the classics, which can easily become an excuse for shuffling the cards. Humans first learned to use slavery Animals, then learn to enslave their own kind.

But in the face of the replacement of birth and age, everyone is indeed equal.He sat quietly for a while, saw the pen and paper on the cabinet, got up and took something over, poured a little water from the teacup into the inkstone on a whim, dipped an unwashed pen, and wrote four quite Words with the feeling of willow bones and tendons: life is too short.

After killing his interest, he threw the brush into the inkstone, undressed and went to bed.After a while, Han Wu walked in timidly and silently cleaned up his messy things.A man doing this kind of thing in the bedroom made Zhang Ning's scalp tingle, but he said he wanted a manservant, so he couldn't blame others.

Waking up early the next morning, Zhang Ning packed up and went to the stable to pick up the horses, and went straight to the courtyard in the northwest of the city.He led the horse to the door, glanced at the unlocked courtyard door, and thought that it would be difficult to lock the door if people left, because the key was left inside?He stretched out his hand and pushed lightly, and unexpectedly the door opened. Once he entered the courtyard, he could see at a glance that the grandparent and grandson were still there.

Old Xu was sitting on a rattan chair on the steps, holding a teacup in his hand, while Miss Wen Jun was standing in the middle of the yard holding a wooden stick, looking back.Old Xu stood up and said, "Master Zhang."

Zhang Ning nodded, closed the courtyard door, and tied the rein to a tree.After finishing these trivial matters in a leisurely manner, he walked forward and asked, "Are you two still used to living here?"

"Not bad, very quiet." Old Xu said.

Zhang Ning said calmly again: "I paid half a year's rent, and it's vacant as long as it's vacant. I'm used to staying for a while. If I'm not used to it, I can just say a word."

"Master Zhang, please sit down in the room and talk." Old Xu said.

The two entered the main room and sat down. After a while, Wen Jun came up with two cups of tea, and stood at the door lingering, curious to hear what they had to say.Old Xu said nothing, so Zhang Ning naturally let her go.

After a few words of nonsense, it seems that there is nothing to say, Lao Xu took a sip from his teacup, and said slowly: "This old man is the governor of the military commander in Shaanxi. His surname is Xu, and he didn't lie to you."

"Yeah." Zhang Ning nodded, not interrupting, just listening.

Old Xu continued: "I have an only son who was also a military officer in the garrison. Unexpectedly, he died of an illness in a short time. He only left me a granddaughter, who is Wen Jun. Her biological mother failed to pass on incense to the Xu family. My husband passed away and I remarried early. A few years ago, the Chief Envoy of Shaanxi Province sent people to escort Qianfu from the province to Beijing. Wei Li ordered me to lead the escort, but met a thief on the way, and the horse thief rushed all over the mountains and plains like the wind. The officer-soldier battle was unfavorable and many brothers were robbed of money and money. The chief envoy, Lianwei Commander, blamed most of the crimes on the old man. The old man had no choice but to give away his family's property and all valuables Selling compensation, even if it is still more than 2000 taels, there is nothing to do. Then a brothel in Xi'an took the opportunity to buy Wenjun with 100 taels. In a rage, the old man injured several people and took Wenjun to flee the rivers and lakes. It's been years..."

"The world is impermanent." Zhang Ning sighed, thinking that if he was an official, he might lose his job if he was not careful.