high official

Chapter 151

The next day, Pujiang County issued summons to the families of the eight missing persons to discuss follow-up matters with the county government.

In order to show his respect for the first family in the south of the Yangtze River, Wang Xian decided to go to Zhengzhai Town in person.

Speaking of which, he has been in Pujiang County for some time, and he is naturally very familiar with the first family in the south of the Yangtze River, but apart from the fact that most of the people around him are surnamed Zheng, he has no personal feeling for the power of the Zheng family.He only knows that the taxes in Pujiang County have always been collected by the Zheng family on schedule, and there is no need for the government to go to the countryside to collect them. There has been no problem for many years; The verdict, no matter whether you win or lose, will not go to the government for a heavy sentence; he also heard that all the collection of labor, construction of water conservancy, repair of bridges and roads in Pujiang County are presided over by the Zheng family, and the government only needs to assign tasks. Can……

In short, he felt that Pujiang was the Zheng family, and the Zheng family was Pujiang!

Such a family should supposedly dominate the village, shake Jinhua, and even radiate Zhejiang... But on the contrary, such a powerful giant is so low-key and quiet, so low-key that people can't feel its existence, so quiet that it never hears. Not a little news about it.

Today, Wang Xian is going to visit Zheng Zhai Town in person to see this famous but silent first house in the south of the Yangtze River!
A group of people left the county seat, rode eastward for twenty miles, and arrived at Zhengzhai Town, where the Zheng family lived.As the name suggests, the entire town is the house of the Zheng family, and the house of the Zheng family is the town of Zheng's house!

Looking from afar, you can see the ancient town covered by green hills, and the ancient town is surrounded by endless golden rice fields. Farmers are busy harvesting in autumn. In the fields, there are peasant women who are helping hands singing in a melodious voice:

Outside the gate of Zunjiu, lonely sails and water are flying.All the old people in Qingyun are gone, and a few people with gray hair return.

Fish soup and rice in wind and rain, haze and crane cloak.Because the king is happy, Yu Yimeng Chaifei...'

Wang Xian and the others were amazed when they heard the song, the first one in the south of the Yangtze River really lived up to its reputation, even the peasant women working in the fields were so elegant.Xianyun, who has always been insulated from curiosity, couldn't help asking: "Who wrote this song?"

"This is Mr. Qianxi's song." In terms of poetry, Wang Xian is better than Xianyun, at least he knows that this poem was written by Song Lian.Can't help sighing: "Speaking of which, this is also the hometown of the head of the founding civil servants."

Song Lian, who was named Qianxi, was the main adviser of Emperor Taizu's conquest of the world. It was he who wrote the call to action for the Northern Expedition against Yuan Dynasty.After the Ming Ding was established, Song Lian was hailed by the Taizu as the head of the founding civil servants.It’s just that it is too difficult for the civil and military men of the Taizu Dynasty to think of a good end. Even if the wisdom retreats like Liu Bowen and Song Qianxi, they retreated early and bravely, they still cannot escape the bad luck of being implicated... Song Lian’s grandson Song Shen was implicated in the Hu Weiyong case, and the whole family was exiled in Maozhou , Song Lian died of illness on the way.

Thinking of Song Lian's fate, several people could not help but sigh, until they approached the entrance of the town, suddenly looked up, and saw a series of memorial archways standing on the street, winding in groups, which was extremely spectacular.

The first archway is also the tallest, largest and most exquisite, with carved beams and painted buildings, elegant and heavy, and five strong golden characters "the first in the south of the Yangtze River" are written on it, and the signature is Zhu Yuanzhang!

There is also a couplet under it, saying: "Compassion and filial piety are unparalleled in the world, and the first one in the south of the Yangtze River is embroidered"!
Everyone hurriedly got off their horses to salute, and then they dared to walk in. On the second archway was written "Xiaoyi Manmen", and further inside, the third archway wrote "Three Dynasties Jingbiao", and the fourth archway wrote "Orderly". After the "orderly" archway, there are "Ende" archway, "Linfeng" archway, and "Nine Generations Cohabitation" archway...the last archway is called "Take Yi Chengren"!
Nine archways stand there quietly, silently telling the nobility and glory of the first family in the south of the Yangtze River, which makes people feel awe and dare not make mistakes.After passing under the nine archways, a group of people became silent and solemn like a pilgrimage, even the most lively Ling Xiao was no exception.

A thought flashed in Wang Xian's mind, being suppressed by the Nine Dao Archway, how suppressed should the people in the town be?But when he passed through the group of archways, he saw a small stream with a width of more than ten feet meandering in. The water was gurgling and crystal clear, sweeping away the solemn atmosphere.Going up the river, I saw ten stone bridges on the stream, framed from north to south, and durian willows were planted beside the stream. It was September, when the pomegranates were ripe, and the bright red pomegranate fruits hung all over the branches, forming a contrast with the green willows. Hui...

The houses in the town are built along the river, with white walls and black tiles, small bridges and flowing water.The storefront of the wine flag, the market is like, the smell of chickens and dogs, the smoke from the kitchen, the yellow hair is hanging down, and I am happy... I can't help but smile knowingly, I have made an empiricist mistake again.

Because the accompanying servants were wearing blue-red uniforms, everyone in the town knew that they were from the government. Instead of being afraid like ordinary country people, a middle-aged man in a cotton robe stepped forward and said respectfully: "The villain, Zheng Xun, the head of Qili in Zhengzhai Town, welcomes the second master?"

"You know me?" Wang Xian asked in surprise.

"The second master took office on that day, and the villain was in the welcoming team. I was fortunate to see the respect of the second master." Zheng Xun said respectfully: "The front is the humble house, please go and sit down for a while, have some tea and fruit, and wait in front of the villain." Go and inform the patriarch."

"How dare you disturb the old man." Wang Xian shook his head and said with a smile: "I came this time, one is to see the elegant demeanor of the first family in the south of the Yangtze River, and the other is to send a summons from the government to your brother Zheng Yan. Because it is an official business, I am not very polite. , let’s pay a special visit to the old man next time.”

"Second Master, you are so polite. You have a mere reputation. It's just an old story. Don't mention it again." Zheng Xun shook his head and said, "If my uncle knows that I didn't know him, he will definitely be punished." Then he invited Wang Xian into the house .Zheng Xun's house is a three-story two-storey house, which is very compact, but there are a clump of day lilies, a few stalks of bamboo, and a few leaves of plantains in the courtyard. The whitewashed walls in the house are simple but not complicated, and the furniture is simple. There are several interesting and elegant calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall, and a pair of couplets is really eye-catching:
'There is nothing in cultivating the mind to be good at few desires; nothing is as enjoyable as reading. '

"I've heard for a long time that the Zheng family cultivated and studied in the heirloom family. Both men and women can read and write. Every family has talented people. Looking at it today, it really deserves its reputation." Wang Xian nodded his head pretendingly.

Ling Xiao and Xian Yun looked at each other in blank dismay, didn't this little virtuous son hate dragging sour texts the most, why did he drag himself up.

"Thank you, thank you." The answer was, a burly old man with white hair and childlike face walked in tremblingly, leaning on a crutch with a dragon's head in one hand and supported by a middle-aged man in the other.

Wang Xian hurriedly got up and saluted, "I pay homage to Mr. Feng Jun, and wish him a long life." Telling people's words and talking nonsense to the devil is the basic cultivation of an actor.

"Don't dare, help the second master to get up quickly." The old man is Zheng Tang, the patriarch of the Zheng clan, and hurriedly ordered his son Zheng Yan to help Wang Xian up, although the second master is really tender.

When ordering the seats, Wang Xian insisted on asking the old man to take the seat, and he was at the bottom. He said in fear: "I didn't want to disturb the old man."

"Second master, what's the matter, it's your first time to visit Han Zhuang, the old man should welcome you from a distance." The old man shook his head and smiled: "Now this is already rude."

"In front of the old man, I don't dare to take the word 'Second Master'. It's better to just call the cursive character 'Zhongde'." Wang Xian said modestly.

"Second Master has made this old man panic..."

The two chattered for a long time, and finally ended with Mr. Zheng replacing "Second Master" with "Master".Only then did Mr. Zheng ask: "I don't know what the evil son has committed, but you want your lord to personally deliver the ticket?"

"The old man misunderstood." Wang Xian said with a smile: "How could brother Zheng break the law? The next official is a constitutional decree that the old cases should be settled by patrolling roads, and he just came here on a routine basis."

"But for my poor grandson-in-law?" Mr. Zheng asked with a dark expression.

"Exactly." Wang Xian nodded: "This case has been going on for a whole year, and shelving it is not an option. I would like to ask brother Zheng and the old man to give me some advice on how to deal with it."

Mr. Zheng looked at his son, and the middle-aged man standing beside him said softly, "The Han family has always followed the rules and laws, so naturally let the second master decide."

"That's right." Mr. Zheng nodded and said, "The Han family and the government have searched for a whole year, not only the county, but the entire Jinhua Prefecture, but they still haven't found it..." He took out his handkerchief, wiped his eyes, and his voice He said in a low voice, "We can't cause any more trouble for the government."

"It's not troublesome, but hanging like this really makes the living suffer day and night." Wang Xian sighed and said, "In my opinion, can this case be closed?"

"How to end it?"

"As long as the family members of the missing person agree, the account can be canceled as a missing person." Wang Xian said indifferently: "After the account is canceled, the case will naturally disappear."

"Is there such a thing?" Zheng Yan asked in surprise. "Never heard of it before."

"This is a new regulation from the Ministry of Punishment, which has only been promulgated for a few months." Wang Xiandao: "You can discuss it with the man's family. If you are willing to understand, please come to the County Government's Department of History and History in three days' time to find me, and I will issue a document for you."

"Yes, I have to discuss this with my in-laws." Zheng Yan nodded.

"If you agree, please go to the county government office with the man's parents and your daughter." Wang Xian got up and said, "Everyone hopes that this page will be quickly uncovered, so that they can live in peace. I will take my leave, and I will wait for the good news in three days."

"My lord, you can't leave," Mr. Zheng said, holding Wang Xian's hand, "It's the first time you come to my Zheng's house, if you don't leave without a glass of water and wine, you will make people laugh at you for being ignorant."

"That's it." Wang Xian grinned and said, "Being respectful is worse than obeying orders."

"That's exactly what I mean!" Mr. Zheng said happily, "My lord, please move to Han's house. The banquet should have been prepared."

"Please."

"Please."

So the old and the young came to Zheng's main house together.This side is much more grand, with a large courtyard with five entrances, a spacious hall, free-range chickens, fresh fish in the stream, vegetables in the courtyard, and fine wine brewed by yourself, it is a sumptuous feast.The old and the young chatted happily and enjoyed each other very harmoniously until sunset, when Wang Xian was so drunk that he fell asleep...

(End of this chapter)