Ordinary clear day

Chapter 93 Shocking News
Shuning's trip to Conghua failed in the end.Since the beginning of April, there has been a huge political turmoil in Guangzhou. Even if it is a good spring season outside, it can't stop the chills in people's hearts.

At the beginning, it was Wudan who checked the customs tax silver of the first quarter of this year's income. When he was about to seal the box and escort it to the capital, he found that the amount of silver did not match what was shown on the account, so he strictly ordered the customs office to check. Guaranteed to find out.

At that time, everyone thought it was just a clerical error, or a small mistake. Unexpectedly, two days later, a member of the chief envoy, a councilor surnamed Jia, accused Wu Dan of hiding tax money, filling his own pocket, and It faintly hints that Governor Zhu Hongzuo is behind the scenes.He took out several ledgers to prove that someone had tampered with the tax bank, and found two small customs officials to testify. For a while, all kinds of evidence were very unfavorable to Governor Zhu.

In order to prove his innocence, governor Zhu invited Wu Dan to the customs office, and officials from the two divisions of the cloth press, Guangzhou government office, and Nanhai counties in Panyu to testify. The governor personally led troops to maintain order, and governor Zhu discussed with Jia Confrontation on the spot.

Faced with all kinds of accusations, Governor Zhu denied all of them, and even accused him of fabricating evidence and murdering Shangguan because of personal grievances with him, which is a heinous crime.Holding personal and physical evidence, Jia Shenzhi thought he was sure, and dismissed Governor Zhu's defense. He also said that he had already written to the court, and asked the governor to save some effort and wait for the court's decision.

At this time, the chief envoy kindly persuaded Governor Zhu that if there were any difficulties, he could plead guilty early and win a lenient treatment.Governor Zhu sneered, and ordered someone to present a few ledgers, claiming that these were the real ledgers, while those provided by Jia Senju were all fake.

Because he had two aides around Jia Senyu testifying, the situation took a sudden turn for the worse.Jia Senyu wanted to refute, but unexpectedly, the two customs officials whom he had brought to testify temporarily retracted their confessions, claiming that because of a mistake in the registration of the account books, Jia Senyu took the blame and had to be coerced by him to give false testimony to accuse the governor. My lord, but their consciences are disturbed. Now in front of so many adults, they don't want to lie anymore, so they tell the truth.

Jia Shenyu was in a hurry at the time, and said that they were setting him up.One of the older officials, with tears running down his face, shouted "I wish to die to prove my innocence", while bumping into a pillar in the hall, and died on the spot with a bloody head.

Most of the officials present were stupefied, and the governor stepped forward to preside over the overall situation, and judged that Jia Shenyi had forged the account books and murdered the superior, ordered his hat to be removed, and sent to prison.The dead officials were buried by Haosheng, and their families received government pensions.Following the issuance of several orders, Jia Senshi fell from the clouds to the abyss of hell in an instant, and everything he had done before became a joke.

Wu Dan didn't say a word from the beginning to the end, as if he was watching a play, but when the governor ordered someone to take down Jia Senju, he reminded that before the emperor's order to deal with it, officials suspected of crimes should not be detrimental to the court's dignity. .

Zhang Bao and the others present were all in a cold sweat, and could only watch helplessly what happened in front of them.They watched Jia Senyu being held on the ground, and his official uniform was covered with mud; they watched the surviving customs officials burst into tears, mourning for their dead colleagues; He sincerely congratulates Governor Zhu for being wronged.But they can only watch.

After Zhang Bao returned home, he could not sleep peacefully for several days and often woke up in the middle of the night.Tong's comforted him many times, but with little success.After Mr. Su heard about it, he also left his studies and came to comfort him, but Zhang Bao just smiled wryly.

It was at this time that the urgent letter from the Earl's Mansion in Beijing arrived.

Old Earl Halzi is dead.

He died suddenly.One day in March, when he was going to the racecourse with some old friends, he met another group of people. It was said that there were some noble people among them, and they made an appointment to bet on the horse race.Harqi lost, it was nothing, the key was that he fell off his horse and hurt his leg.I didn't care about it at the time, I just tore off a piece of cloth and wrapped it casually, and continued to drink with others, and didn't come home until the next day after being drunk, but the high fever persisted at night, and the wound was bleeding pus.

The mansion invited a doctor to come, and they all said that he was old and risky.The old lady did not know who had listened to the instigation, and decided that something unclean was causing the trouble, so she invited a shaman to perform rituals in the yard where her husband lived to drive away evil spirits.Her son and daughter-in-law tried repeatedly to stop her, but she refused to listen, and even her beloved Wanning persuaded her, but she refused to change her mind.As a result, Halqi was very troubled, and his injury worsened, and he passed away on the seventh night.

The old lady passed out immediately, and has been bedridden since then. The overall situation of the family is maintained by the eldest son Jinbao and the eldest daughter-in-law Nalashi.Jin Bao personally wrote a letter to the third brother, asking him to rush home to attend the funeral as soon as possible.

After reading the letter, Tong couldn't help crying, and hurriedly asked someone to go to the front yamen to invite Zhang Bao back.Zhang Bao's expression was gloomy, and after hearing the bad news, his face became even uglier, and he covered his face with tears and said, "Why is Er Niang so confused?!" Then he remained silent.

Wiping her tears, Tong said: "I have sent someone to find brother Duan, and the people below are also packing their luggage. Let's go back to Beijing as soon as possible." Seeing that Zhang Bao didn't speak, she thought he was stupefied with grief.

Mr. Su who came over persuaded them to mourn, hesitated for a moment, and said: "Perhaps the students have said too much, but I always remind the adults. Because of your father's death, Ding worries about the system, and you only need a hundred days to enter the school." Director of the Yamen, Guangzhou is thousands of miles away from the capital, and it will take nearly three months to go back and forth. If you come back late, someone will take your seat..." Seeing Zhang Bao's expression, he stopped talking , saluted and left.

Zhang Bao walked into the study silently and sat on a chair thinking about something.Seeing him like this, Mrs. Tong, who followed in, said, "I'll ask someone to pack up the things. I'll just bring the usual ones. I'll leave Wang Lin and the others to look after the house on Thursday. We'll only take Changfu and the others back to Beijing. How about that?" ?”

Zhang Bao stared blankly at his wife, and slowly called: "Ma'am."

Tong's pause: "what?"

"I want to take this opportunity to resign and return to the capital. Firstly, I will mourn for Ama, and secondly...to take care of Erniang."

Tong forced herself to smile and said, "My husband, what nonsense are you talking about? You have been a magistrate for less than a year, so why resign? We only need to abide by the rules for a hundred days and fulfill our responsibilities as a son of man. If Ama Under Nine Springs, I heard that you didn't even become an official, I'm afraid you will be the most angry one."

Zhang Bao shook his head: "I thought it through very clearly. I resigned and returned to Beijing. Ding You stayed in the mansion to take care of his mother. Let someone else take the magistrate's seat. If it wasn't for the imperial decree, I would have taken over from Liang. Your lord's official position is about one year."

Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Mrs. Tong changed her face: "There are still a few brothers in the house, the eldest son of the eldest son, the fourth son is the most favored, who can't take care of the old lady? Even if you are filial, she may not appreciate it. Besides , you want to resign and go home, I'm afraid she will be the first to object!"

She felt that she had said too much, and took a breath: "I know you were frightened a few days ago, and you always wanted to get rid of these disputes, but who is not like this in an official? We have seen more extreme things before, haven't we? Like Qin Tongzhi in Fengtian, he was an official who was innocently dismissed. Besides, you are in no way comparable to a rootless person like Jia Shenyi. No matter what, you will not fall to that point? Why did you resign?"

Zhang Bao rubbed his forehead, and said, "You don't know what happened that day. Jia Shenshi's rank is higher than mine, and in a blink of an eye, he was pressed to the ground, disheveled, and he was put in prison as soon as he said he was in prison, and the memorial he sent was also intercepted." , All the witnesses he found turned his back on him, and even the people he used to use were accusing him. Although the governor and the governor said that they would wait for the court to deal with it, do you know? I just received the news in the yamen , Jia Shenshi was in prison... committed suicide in fear of crime."

Tong Shi was surprised: "Could it be...how dare they?!"

"Why don't they dare? Who dares to violate their orders among the officials in this province? General Wu Dan only cares about the troops stationed in the Eight Banners. As long as all the customs money can be put into the warehouse on time, he won't care what those people fight, at most It’s just mentioned in the secret package. What else can I do? Stay neutral, people on both sides don’t like to see me, and if you cling to one side, the other side won’t let me go! Even if I stand with the governor and governor, Who knows when it will be sacrificed? Didn't you see that when Jia Senyu lost power, the chief envoy stepped on him?"

Zhang Bao became more and more excited as he spoke, and said to his wife with tears in his eyes: "Ma'am, I'm afraid! This is not something that can be done just by losing an official. Now I have a family and a house, a loving husband and wife, both children, and a rich family. I still want to be safe I want to spend my whole life with you, I want to watch Duan'er get married and have children, watch Shu'er get married, and watch Xian'er grow up. I don't want to be involved in these official battles again, and lose my life for no reason!"

"Husband!" Tong Shihong hugged him, and couldn't help crying.

Zhang Bao put his arms around his wife and said, "I really don't understand why they want to fight? No matter how capable Eldest Elder Brother is, how can he still fight the prince off his horse? The prince is the future emperor, and the whole country belongs to him. Why are you fighting for those silver coins? I don’t want to be involved anymore. I’m worried all day long. No matter how much money I have, no matter how decent I am, what’s the point? Madame, let’s go home?”

Tong could only nod her head and accepted her husband's decision.

Shu Ning and Duan Ning were standing outside the study at this time, hearing their parents' conversation, both felt sour.

When Duanning first heard the news of his grandfather's death, he had already cried a lot, but now he couldn't help but turn red in his eyes.

Shu Ning didn't have deep feelings for her grandfather whom she had only met a few times, but she felt very sad when she heard what her father said.He is a man with a bit of bookish spirit and mediocre intelligence, and he has worked very hard to get to where he is today.Although he usually does not refuse to accept other people's benefits, and sometimes he is complacent, but he still often feels uneasy, so he does his best to do more good things for the people under his command.In the past year, he has been under much greater pressure than before. He seems to be ten years older, working hard all day long, and haggard.

Perhaps, he is actually not suitable to survive in the officialdom. Since he does not want to be involved in political struggles, he should just take this opportunity to get out.

The study door opened, and Zhang Bao and Tong came out.Seeing the two children standing there, Zhang Bao said, "Clean up and bid farewell to whomever we should. We need to go back to Beijing as soon as possible."

Duan Ning took a step forward and said: "My boy agrees with Ah Ma's point of view, whether it is in the court or in the local area, the two factions are fighting more and more fiercely, let's avoid it as soon as possible to avoid any disaster in the future. It's just that Master Wu Dan has spent the past six months I have said a lot of good things for Ama, and I need to explain it carefully, so as not to offend him instead."

Shu Ning said: "It's been more than ten years since Ama came to Fengtian to assist Jingqi to return to the village, and she lived in the Earl's Mansion for less than a year. If Ama used this as an excuse, she said that she should do a good job for her father. Observing filial piety, you have to serve your sick mother, the current sage governs the country with filial piety, the general will never blame Ah Ma for being filial to his parents."

Zhang Bao nodded slightly, and said: "Good boy." Then he put his arms around his wife and a pair of children, and heard Xianning shouting: "I want to hug you too." But it was Xiao Liu who hugged Xianning and stood at the other end of the corridor one head.

Tong burst into tears, walked over to hug her youngest son, then grabbed the little Liu who was about to go away, and said: "Silly sister, we are a family, what are you hiding? We are going back to Beijing, you will soon I can see Xiaobao now."

Xiao Liu looked at Tong in a daze, speechless.

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It sounds simple, but in fact, if you really want to go, you can't get on the road in a day or two.

Zhang Bao's request to the governor to resign and return to Beijing was not blocked.In his opinion, the other party was even a little happy, and soon there were rumors that the Tong Zhi from Huizhou Mansion would be arranged to take his place temporarily.

Wudan felt very sorry, but Zhang Bao said with tears: "I have been an official for more than ten years, and I have never been filial to my parents, so that I can't even see my father for the last time. It is extremely unfilial. Now my mother is sick. In bed, how can a subordinate official love power and position, and ignore her old man?"

Wu Dan also had nothing to say, so he could only comfort him instead, and told Duanning that even in Xiaozhong, he should not neglect his homework and martial arts.Duanning solemnly agreed.

When Wen heard the news, she took Zhenzhen to the back office of the magistrate to bid farewell to Tong.Wen's company first cried for a while, and then said: "It's rare that you and I hit each other so well, don't be alienated in the future, although you are not here, but you must remember to write more letters. Cyclamen's business over there, naturally With Bian Cai watching, I will personally collect the quarterly dividends and send them to you, so you don’t have to worry.”

Tong said: "It doesn't matter what the money is. It's a waste of manpower to send it back and forth. It's better to let the shopkeeper Bian use it as capital, and you can get more profits in the future. As for the communication, you can rest assured. It's rare for you and me This is better, and the children will get along well, as long as you don't get bored, I wish I could write back to you in three to five days."

Shuning and Zhenzhen held hands, with tears in their eyes, not knowing what to say.It took half a day for Shuning to say: "We are leaving, take care of yourself."

Zhenzhen had a sore nose, rubbed it with a handkerchief, and said: "Although you can't go to Conghua, I asked someone to bring back a few bottles of nectar, and I gave them to your maid. Remember to eat and write a letter later Let me know what you think."

Shu Ning nodded, then she said a few more words, and suddenly burst into tears, hugged Shu Ning and said, "Good sister, I can't bear you!" Shu Ning couldn't help but turn red.

Seeing this, Tong and Wen came over to comfort her, and Zhenzhen stopped crying.Tong Shi saw that her face was stained with tears and her hair was a little disheveled, so she asked the servant girl to fetch a basin of water, took the makeup box and cleaned her face and touched up makeup herself, Wen Shi and Shu Ning also helped.

After combing her hair again, Mrs. Tong took a gold hairpin inlaid with jade that she usually wears, and helped her tie up her hair, and said: "My good boy, you can't bear us, and we can't bear you either. Even if the banquet is over today, there will always be a day when we get together again. As long as you still remember the relationship between our two families, you will be a caring person."

Zhenzhen blushed a little, and replied: "I will never forget." Wen also nodded with a slight smile.

At this time, the maid came in and reported, "Ma'am, Grandma Rong is here."

(End of this chapter)