The struggle of the eight blessings of rebirth

Chapter 92 Reality is Skinny
The 43rd year of Kangxi was really the most boring year. Many years later, when Minzhi recalled her own life trajectory, the only memories of this year were that Hongwang and Hongzhe were born in this year, and nothing else.Now, she is idle and bored, cracking melon seeds in the yard, admiring the precious potted chrysanthemums carefully cultivated by the gardeners, enjoying the warm autumn sunshine, Hanyin is sitting obediently beside her drawing sketches, and the little girl wrinkled her eyes. Frowning, the charcoal pencil is constantly gesturing in front of the easel, the flowers drawn by Di Erniang are so beautiful, why can't I draw them?The little girl rubbed while painting, and soon became a little dirty cat, with the crumbs of steamed buns she discarded all over the ground.

Minzhi squinted at the growing number of ants on the ground, and said lazily, "Hanyin... are you raising ants for me?" Hanyin shook her hand, looked down and saw the steamed buns all over the ground, which turned red Face: "My mother-in-law, I... I can't always draw well..." Minzhi glanced at her: "Why do you want to draw?" It shines brightly, then dims again: "I want to draw as well as you..." Minzhi closed her eyes, letting the sun shine on her face: "Why do you want to draw as well as me?" Hanyin was stunned, She didn't think about so many reasons in her little head, she just thought that Minzhi's paintings were beautiful, and she wanted to learn too, but who knew that Minzhi only gave her a few charcoal pencils, an easel and a stack of paper, and then left her alone , let her very discouraged.

Seeing her wrinkled face, Minzhi stood up and patted the melon seed shell on her body: "Come on, I'll take you to the Zhuangzi for a stroll and see more beautiful things." Hanyin was immediately happy Now, the little dirty hand reached out to grab Minzhi's clothes, but Minzhi slapped it away: "Go, wash it and come here..."

Leaving his son with the nanny, he took Qiuju, Magpie and Hanyin with him, and drove out in a carriage.Before reaching the gate of the city, Minzhi realized that something was wrong. The number of sergeants at the gate was more than three times that of usual. Most of the crowd are old and weak women and children in ragged clothes, all of them are sallow and emaciated.Minzhi frowned, did the world change if she didn't go out for a few months?

Fortunately, they went out of the city without any hassle. When the sergeants saw the slaves from the Babeile Mansion sitting on the carriage, they saw Minzhi looking around.It was only after leaving the city that Minzhi saw the magnificence of the team, those lying under the wall, seeing Minzhi's carriage, those who came to beg in twos and threes, those who hurriedly avoided, all kinds of chaos.Seeing that the situation was not right, Minzhi said to Qiuju: "Order the coachman to avoid pedestrians and get out quickly." The magpie sitting outside the carriage saw that she was pitiful, and was just about to reach out to untie the purse when Minzhi glared at her: "Don't move, if you throw money now, we will be trapped in a crowd!"

Marching all the way quickly, Minzhi finally arrived at the gate of Dongzhuang. When he got out of the car, he immediately found that Ke An's team was patrolling outside the village, and even the second team was mobilized. Come to Zhou Gui and Ke An: "What happened in the past two days, what happened to these beggars outside the city?" Zhou Gui sighed: "Fujin doesn't know something. Shandong has been suffering from severe drought for three consecutive years, and this year it has been hit again." Locust plague, no crops in the fields, victims fleeing everywhere, especially many people have come to the capital this year..." Minzhi heard this, her heart sank: "Did you order anything?" Ke An stepped forward: "Master Baylor only ordered us Strengthen vigilance to prevent disaster victims from coming in to make trouble, and nothing else."

Minzhi: "Yeah" and no more words. Flood and famine were very common in the feudal era. Escapes happened every year. There was a flood in the south of the Yangtze River, and the victims fled to the north. There was a severe drought in the north, and the victims went to disaster. escape.Fleeing to the imperial city this time, Kangxi's nose is under the nose, and the face-saving Kangxi is going to have a headache now... Minzhi thought for a while and ordered: "All the grain collected this year is deducted from daily expenses, and the rest is sealed up. Zhou Gui was dumbfounded when he heard this: "Fu Jin, there is a shortage of food outside, Master Jiu said, it happens to be sold at a good price at this time, and several orders have already been taken! "Minzhi was stunned: Well, you Yinzhen, you are really in the eyes of money. At this time, you are driving up the price of grain, and you are not afraid of your father's cramps!" The grains are not allowed to be sold out!Nine masters and ten masters, I will talk about it. "

Zhou Gui was overwhelmed by her sudden sternness: "Hey, my servant will arrange it right away..." Minzhi turned to Ke An: "Try to avoid conflicts with the victims, and don't give alms indiscriminately out of compassion. It's fine outside, and the people under his command should be careful, no one can have contact with the victims outside of patrolling, and no bodily harm should be caused during the drive, especially when dealing with the elderly, weak, women and children!" Ke An clasped his fists: "Hey! The servant obeys!"

Minzhi has an ominous premonition that if the disaster victims flow into the capital, if it is not handled properly, civil uprisings will easily occur.Now it depends on how Kangxi arranges, how to move at the top, and how to follow the trend at the bottom, since ancient times.Minzhi held Han Yin's hand and stood at the foot of the wall outside the village. Not far away was a skinny woman with a rag swaddled baby in her arms, looking at the sky with empty eyes.It was the first time Hanyin saw someone in such misery, so she shrank behind Minzhi and poked her head out: "My mother, who are these people?" Minzhi sighed: "They are all hungry and have no food to eat. " "How can you be hungry?" Han Yin's eyes widened. "Because the farmer in the field is eaten by insects, there is no rice, no noodles, so naturally you will be hungry..." Hanyin swallowed: "Then you can still eat fish and meat..." Minzhi felt like hitting the wall The impulse: "There is no food, what can I exchange for fish and meat?" Hanyin continued Xiaobai: "There is money..."

Minzhi rolled her eyes: "Where did the money come from?" Hanyin whispered: "Given it by my wife..." "Where did my mother get her money?" "Given it by Ama..." "Where did Ama get her money?" ..." "Huang Mafa gave it..." Minzhi glared at her: "Could it be that Huang Mafa's silver grows out of the ground?" Han Yin began to point fingers: "Can silver grow in the ground? Then let’s grow money in the fields!” Minzhi was completely overwhelmed, and stopped talking to this little girl who had no “three views” at all: “Hanyin, the steamed buns you wasted just now can save many lives!” The girl waited and looked at Minzhi, not understanding what she said at all.Minzhi sighed: "Go to a place with me...Muren, take your follower, let's go together..."

The place Minzhi went to was the first market she established at the beginning. After Yinzhen became the general distributor, the place was deserted, and only runners and shopkeepers occasionally stayed for a while.Muren looked at the dilapidated simple shacks, and asked suspiciously: "Master, why did you come to this kind of place?" Minzhi pursed her lips: "Take you to take a look... Just watch, don't make a sound..."

When everyone entered, there was a rancid musty smell wafting around. Hanyin covered her nose with a handkerchief, held Minzhi's hand tightly, and looked at the scene inside in horror.Muren and the two children frowned, quietly guarding Minzhi's surroundings, Qiu Ju's reaction was the same as Hanyin's with disgust.Minzhi herself also frowned. She was not used to smelling the salted fish smell similar to that found in modern traditional vegetable markets, but she didn't stop, walking all the way, the hawkers had long since disappeared. As she imagined, it became a shantytown. In broad daylight, those who had some strength went out to "try their luck", and the people left were weak old people, women and children.

But here, there is a kind of business going on. Two or three skinny children lying on the ground with their hands behind their backs. At first glance, they might be chickens with clipped wings. A few pieces of rags were pasted, and there was a straw rope stuck around everyone's neck.The straw ropes were long and short, not far from where the children were kneeling, a few stooped women who could not see their faces clearly were looking around, seeing Minzhi and the others passing by, they suddenly became nervous, trembling, wanting to look but not daring look.

"Have you seen these children?" Minzhi sighed, and said softly, "They are all commodities..." Hanyin had never seen such a scene before, trembling, she whispered, "Why are they kneeling like this? "Because they are vegetable people..." Before Minzhi finished speaking, Muren rushed out like a gust of wind. After a moment of astonishment, Minzhi stopped the follower who was going to catch up: "Let him go..." Passing by one after another "stalls" suddenly she stopped, reached out and pulled the straw from a child.The woman in the corner suddenly showed a look of horror, and Minzhi sighed: "Qiu Ju, one hundred Wen..." Qiu Ju's hand was shaking, and the copper coin in her hand was ding-ding-dong-dong. Noise, Minzhi did not speak, took the money and piled it on the ground, one hundred Wen Kangxi Tongbao, two small buildings.After laying out the money, he ordered the two people behind him: "Take him, let's go..."

When the group returned to Zhuangzi, Qiuju and the children were already ashen-faced, and Hanyin was shaking all the time. When she knew that this child, who was her age, was bought by someone else, she would cut it up and make a fuss. , suddenly scared to death.If she hadn't left that place long ago, the little girl might have vomited.

Minzhi handed the bought child to Ke An, tidied it up and brought it out, the child was already too thin to be human, with a shriveled body and a big head, Minzhi didn't ask him anything, just threw it to the doctor: " Ke An, this child will follow you from today on, it is up to you to name him." Ke An was stunned: "Fu Jin, this...slave dare not..." Minzhi stared into his eyes: "Our master said , the Zhuang Ding of the first team can open a two-stone bow." Ke An knelt down without saying a word, and Minzhi didn't look at him: "You are about to leave here... This child is not easy to discipline, you yourself Make it right...he can only listen to you..." Ke An was even more startled, and kowtowed: "You slave will die!"

(End of this chapter)