Daming: From the end of Hongwu

345 Chapter 343 - The Heaven of Jinan Prefecture

The wind in April is a bit warm.

Even at night, Zhen Wu felt a little hot when he was riding on the horse. This hotness had nothing to do with Jin'er, Zhen Wu was not a brat, and when he came out to take a breath, he calmed down the rippling emotions just now.

This heat is purely due to the weather.

Or because of the boundaries.

Because if you are on the grasslands in Beiping and further north, running fast in this season, the wind hits your face is a kind of transparent coolness, and that kind of feeling will make the whole person feel happy, which is also special to Zhen Wu. A feeling I like.

It's just that people in Yingtianfu state can't enjoy that kind of feeling.

Wait until evening.

Zhen Wu and his party did not deliberately choose to stay at the post station or the county town because of the rapid travel all the way. After it got dark, they camped directly on the spot.

Before going to bed, Zhen Wu thought about it and decided to share the bed with Jin Er.

One is that the thought of being seduced by Jin'er in the carriage at the time of departure has faded away, and the other is that he is also a little scruples about others' remarks.

He couldn't sleep with Jin'er in a hurry on the first night after leaving Zhu Yuying.

Let others see it, and think that he has been thinking about Zhu Yuying's maid for a long time.

Although Zhu Yuying nodded his head on this matter, and he and Jin'er will be a matter of time, but the point of the problem is that he didn't think about Jin'er at all before, which makes people feel wronged and flustered.

So Zhen Wu turned his head and strode away from Jin Er's tent.

Just sleep.

Who doesn't sleep alone.

Zhen Wu was a little arrogant, but Liu Zhi sighed sadly when he saw this scene, which made Ma Yi beside him laugh uncontrollably.

After Ma Yi smiled for a while, he tried his best to hold back his smile, patted Liu Zhi on the shoulder, and pretended to comfort him: "Don't worry, after all, no matter how anxious you are, you can't replace your sister. This is a good man."

"Go, go." Liu Zhi shoved Ma Yi away in embarrassment.

At this moment, Jin'er heard Zhen Wu's footsteps going away in the tent, she looked at the mattress that had been laid out early and the footwashing water and footcloth prepared, and sighed in disappointment.

Her sister-in-law came in to comfort Jin'er.

"Don't worry, maybe the uncle is tired from the journey, and the days to come will be long, there will always be a chance."

Jin'er nodded sullenly.

She also found countless reasons in her heart, but she saw the hope for something she had been looking forward to for a long time, but she still couldn't really get it, and she was a little out of proportion.

Mrs. Liu Zhang sighed, stepped forward and took Jin'er's arm and said: "You have been waiting for so many years, is it possible that there is still a few days left? This is not the girl I know, you have to know that whether it is the uncle Who else, men all over the world like to be well-behaved and cheerful, if you always have a bitter face, it means that the uncle is thinking about it, and you will lose your interest, this is not acceptable."

When Jin'er heard these words, she took a deep breath, and she smiled sweetly at Liu Zhangshi and said, "I see, sister-in-law."

At this moment, Jin'er seemed to have changed back to the Liu Jin'er who used to work smoothly and orderly without any mistakes.

She knew that her status was inferior to Zhu Yuying's, and her status in Zhen Wu's heart was even lower than Zhu Yuying's, but she still chose this path, and she was already prepared in her heart not to make too many extravagant demands.

She is just a maid, and she always needs to stick to her duties as a maid. At most, she can work hard on being well-behaved and obedient, so that Zhen Wu can miss her a few times in her spare time, then she will be satisfied .

Seeing that Jin'er recovered, Mrs. Liu Zhang thought for a while, and said: "I haven't talked to you before, but today, when I have time, my sister-in-law wants to talk to you, this time you can come out with the uncle, thank you The princess is perfect, so you must not lose your mind, you need to help His Highness look after some uncles."

"Especially now that the uncle has become the Duke of the state, there may be many crazy bees and butterflies thinking about the uncle. You need to help the princess get rid of all these. You must not get pregnant early and give other women a chance, or go back In the future, our parents will also have to annoy you. Of course, I also know that if you are pregnant, you will have hope in the future. Even the old lady and the princess will give you a ranking, which is a good thing for you and our family. And this opportunity is really rare, so I have thought about it carefully these days, and I have thought of a way, listen to it and see if it works."

Mrs. Liu Zhang paused, and then said: "In the future, you can inquire more about the date of return from the uncle. When the return date is approaching, you should pester the uncle more. If you happen to be pregnant on the way back, then it is really the best of both worlds." gone."

Jin'er nodded her head while listening. She has been by Zhu Yuying's side since she was a child, so she naturally knows Zhu Yuying's thoughts and thoughts, so she has no objection to Liu Zhang's order to help Zhu Yuying drive away mad bees and butterflies, but After hearing it, she was a little dazed.

She wasn't much touched by the advancement of the ranking, but she was a little crazy when she thought of having a chance to have a child with Zhen Wu.

Mrs. Liu and Zhang were still talking about each other, and after a while, she said that she didn't know when Zhu Yuying would be crowned a princess. By then, they would be able to rise with the tide, while Jin'er was mostly just an echo of ah. two syllables.

But this still didn't affect Liu Zhang's talkativeness.

As time passed, the night gradually deepened.

And Zhen Wu had already fallen asleep holding the quilt at this time. He didn't know what Jin'er and Liu Zhang were thinking, and he didn't care. Everyone in this era lives within the framework of their own identities, and everyone has own mind.

Even if he knew, he would only lament at most that the relationship and marriage in this era are too unfair to people like Jin'er.

But this kind of thing is impossible.

In the era when men are superior to women, even Zhu Yuying, the hostess, cannot ask Zhen Wu for equality between men and women, let alone Jin Er.

Between Jin'er and Zhen Wu, it is doomed that Jin'er needs to be cautious and pay a lot.

……

From this night onwards, Zhen Wu and his group traveled a lot faster on the second day because of the running-in of the previous day. All my thoughts are on the next trip.

He needs to pass by Jinan this time, because Cao Xiaoman works in Jinan and Shi Leng also established a chamber of commerce in Jinan, so Zhen Wu plans to travel all the way to Jinan and take a rest for a day or two, and he can meet him on the way See Cao Xiaoman and Shi Leng.

Therefore, the group of them headed straight to Jinan without any delay along the way.

And when Zhen Wu and the others were getting closer to Jinan, Cao Xiaoman was entertaining a friend alone at home in Jinan city.

This friend is Yao Qing, the prefect of Jinan Prefecture who just took office a few months ago.

At this moment, the two of them were already drinking a little too much, and they were noisy and lively. Judging from Yao Qing's behavior at Cao Xiaoman's house and Cao Xiaoman's close attitude towards him, it was obviously not the first time Yao Qing came to Cao Xiaoman's house. Xiaoman's family drank, and the relationship between the two of them must be relatively good.

Maybe it's because Yao Qing and Cao Xiaoman are both from Shuntian Mansion, maybe it's because Yao Qing and Cao Xiaoman came to Jinan to take office at the same time, or there are other factors. Anyway, since Yao Qing took office, he has been the closest to him. A good colleague is Cao Xiaoman who is not in the same system as him.

And Cao Xiaoman is also very happy to get along with Yao Qing, because when Yao Qing just took office, he encountered a case. A police officer in the government office tried to force him to eat the king's meal in a restaurant but failed, so the police directly found an excuse. The owner of the restaurant was arrested and sent to prison.

After secret investigation, Yao Qing became furious when he learned the truth of the incident. Not only did he immediately release the restaurant owner, but he also beat the policeman with twenty sticks to punish him.

It turned out that the policeman still quibbled, saying that he didn't pay for meals just to investigate the case.

But under Yao Qing's stern words, he threw away the evidence and told the facts, and finally refuted the policeman with nothing to say.

After Yao Qing finished handling this matter, he thought he would get the appreciation and approval of various departments in the government office, but he didn't expect that the policeman happened to be the brother-in-law of the general judge of the government office, and the general judge was deeply rooted in the Jinan government office, and he was furious. Down, up and down, combined with others, Yao Qing was emptied.

Cao Xiaoman once asked Yao Qing if he regretted it, but Yao Qing shook his head and just said: "My official position is for the people, and I should be responsible for standing up for the people. How can I regret it? As for being excluded because of this , I only hate being weak, and I can't wipe out these moths, so how can I forget justice."

It was precisely because of Yao Qing's words that Cao Xiaoman looked at Yao Qing a few times since then, and was willing to associate with Yao Qing, a person who was excluded and disliked by the Jinan government.

At this time, Yao Qing drunkenly complained: "Speaking of which, we are really aggrieved as officials. In Jinan, a small city, you have the military masters of the capital department, and I also have the chief secretary's gentlemen. Forget it, but I just like to point fingers at my government office, otherwise, with his small general judgment, An dares to deceive me like this, and I will make him docile if I go all the way, believe it or not."

Seeing that Yao Qing drank too much, Cao Xiaoman responded with a smile: "I believe, I naturally believe in Brother Yao's ability."

Yao Qing picked up the wine glass and took another sip, then got up and staggered to Cao Xiaoman's side, patted Cao Xiaoman's shoulder sympathetically and said, "I know you believe me, because we share the same disease, you say you You have never been in touch with the bosses of the capital, and you often guard your one-acre three-point land by yourself. Don't lie to me today, tell me the truth, are you also being excluded in the army? Otherwise, how dare you associate with me, you must know that the Chief Secretary and the Chief Secretary have always been in the same spirit, if you associate with me, how could they not give you small shoes to wear?"

Cao Xiaoman shook his head, and muttered softly: "We are different."

It's really not the same.

Although he has never told others that he knows Zhao Guogong since he took office, and he has always kept a low profile on purpose, but others may not know what he has to do with him. Could the military capital not know?He really didn't believe that someone in the army dared to make things difficult for him.

He just always abided by Zhen Wu's teachings to him, devoted himself to his errands after taking office, learned some military regulations in his spare time, and was really not interested in those courteous and reciprocal relationships.

"Pack."

Yao Qing pointed at Cao Xiaoman and said, "Go ahead and pretend."

"I don't have anything to pretend to be. It's true that I haven't been excluded. I can't insist on wronging others." Cao Xiaoman said.

"It's just that you haven't been squeezed out now, and you will definitely be in the future. You and I have often been in contact with each other, and you have offended them a long time ago. It's not the same, but it's different. How can you stay out of it." Yao Qing shook his head and said drunkenly.

Cao Xiaoman gave a wry smile, and said angrily, "This is not offending."

"Why can't we talk about it? Let me ask you, are you afraid of offending them? Tell me the truth, if you are afraid, I will never enter the gate of your Cao family again." excited.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. If it's just because I'm with you, they think I've offended them. Then offend them. You don't have to worry about this when you come to my house." Cao Xiaoman said casually, without thinking about it at all. Taking it to heart, he saw that Yao Qing seemed to have really drunk too much, so he ordered the waiters outside to bring some hangover soup.

Yao Qing is still relentless at this moment.

"So you are not afraid?"

"It should be possible to think so."

"Then let me ask you, do you dare to touch them?"

Cao Xiaoman smiled bitterly again speechlessly.

"For no reason, what would I do with them, just to prove that I'm not afraid of offending them? It's too naive." Cao Xiaoman said, helping Yao Qing to sit down again.

But at this time.

Just as Yao Qing sat down, a bright light suddenly flashed in his eyes. He changed his drunken tone and said slightly: "Then what if they corrupt the law?"

Cao Xiaoman paused.

The next moment, Cao Xiaoman pulled a chair and sat opposite to Yao Qing, his eyes narrowed slightly and he said, "Brother Yao is not drunk, is he?"

After Yao Qing was silent for a while, he said, "If you don't dare to touch them, then I'm drunk. If you dare, I don't have to."

Cao Xiaoman fell silent, and just looked straight at Yao Qing.

The door creaked open.

The servants brought up two bowls of hangover soup, Cao Xiaoman waved the servants to leave and close the door, then he took a bowl of hangover soup and handed it to Yao Qing.

"Then don't get drunk, talk about your business here today."

Yao Qing took the hangover soup and drank it down, put the bowl heavily on the table, looked at Cao Xiaoman and said in a deep voice: "I've already drank the hangover soup, after I tell you, don't pretend to be drunk. Otherwise, we two friends have nothing to do."

Cao Xiaoman didn't speak, but just picked up another bowl of Hangover Soup, motioned to Yao Qing, and drank it down with his head up. The meaning was obvious, how could he pretend to be drunk after drinking the Hangover Soup.

Seeing this, Yao Qing looked at Cao Xiaoman with a touch of admiration in his eyes, and then he asked solemnly, "Do you know the bandits in Qingtong Mountain?"

Cao Xiaoman sat up straight, nodded solemnly, and said, "I don't know. In the past year, I have participated in two bandit suppression operations. It's just a pity that I failed every time, and returned without success."

"Humph."

Yao Qing snorted coldly, and said indignantly, "If you succeed, you will be damned. If someone tipped off the bandits, how could you suppress them?"

Cao Xiaoman was shocked, then frowned deeply and said, "Is this true?"

"It's absolutely true. I have been making unannounced visits for the past few months. I have investigated from the general court to the chief secretary's office, and then to the capital's office. Among them, there are at least 20 officials involved. They used the bronze mountain The bandits stole at least a dozen official warehouses, and colluded with the grain merchants to do all kinds of illegal things. It's shocking. It's already dark in our Jinan Prefecture, don't you understand?"

"If these are true, how would you find out?" Cao Xiaoman questioned.

Anger immediately appeared on Yao Qing's face. He looked at Cao Xiaoman very seriously and said: "My father, Mengyin, was appointed as a small official in a county in the 24th year of Hongwu. The Taizu broke the rules and was promoted to an official, and then in the past ten years, step by step, he was promoted to the prefect of Jinan prefecture. What do you think he relied on? Is it a fluke? If I don’t even have this ability, I am not worthy of being the prefect. What's more, in such a place surrounded by dark clouds, how difficult it is to find out these things, do you think that no one in the entire Jinan Prefecture or the Chief Secretary of Shandong knows? It's just that no one has found out. Now I want to ask you again, how dare you Don't be afraid of the powerful, help me catch them all?"

The room fell silent, and Cao Xiaoman's voice came out after a long time.

"What are you going to do?"

Yao Qing replied: "I found a place, which is probably used to hide the food and grass they stole. It's in a manor in Hegang Village, but this manor is Wang Duqian's private house. How dare you hide it?" Go check it out, or take someone to copy this manor directly."

……

　Thanks to 'Gongziwan' for the 500 tip, thanks to 'Xinghuo Liaoyuan' for the tip, and thanks to the two bosses.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)