Xiangye

Chapter 58
"What, what are you talking about, that little bastard was kidnapped?" Mei Liang lifted Xiao Shun from the ground and roared angrily, "How is it possible, Huanglong is my territory. Who the hell dares to tie him up right away?" My son, are you impatient?"

After all, he was a big man, and this loud shout was really murderous, and he was obviously extremely angry.

Xiao Shun was trembling all over: "Yes... it's from the racecourse... Those bastards said they hadn't received their wages for half a year. Seeing that the Chinese New Year was about to come... they gathered a crowd and rushed into Zhuangzi... Fortunately, Zhuangzi The fence is high, and the little ones resisted desperately. But at this time, the second young master suddenly ran over, and was...they were arrested... They said that they would not give money, so they asked the second young master to accompany them to celebrate the New Year's Eve ...Wow!" After speaking, Xiao Shun cried loudly: "Master, you should be damned, you failed to protect the young master!"

"On the contrary, on the contrary, these unscrupulous people, relying on Lao Tzu and using Lao Tzu's tricks, dare to make trouble. If we don't show them a little bit today, I don't know how many eyes Lord Ma has." Mei Liang threw Xiao Shun on the ground , jumped on the horse, and shouted: "Go, go now!"

He rushed out first.

The group left with a bang, leaving behind Gao Wen and the two yamen servants looking at each other in blank dismay.

After a long time, a yamen servant carefully said to Gao Wen: "Master, since Mei Liang has found her son, it has nothing to do with us. Otherwise, let's go back to the house and rest, and then go back to the yamen tomorrow to go back to the county magistrate."

"Yes, yes, master, just leave this matter alone." It was freezing cold, and the dripping water turned into ice. The thought of traveling all night made both of them unwilling.

Gao Wen smiled wryly: "Just go back like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to pay the job. After all, we didn't hand over Mei Long to Mei Liang. Besides, from what the man who came just now said, Mei's racecourse seems to be quite noisy. If a civil uprising is triggered, we cannot escape responsibility."

Hearing Gao Wen's words, the two yamen servants suddenly realized: "Thanks to the reminder from the master, if things really get serious and we are not there, there may be big troubles. And the temper of Mr. Mei may really be serious today." See blood."

Throughout the dynasties, the most feared thing of the court is the people's uprising.The court is the boat, and the people are the water.Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it.People's uprisings are simply out of human control. They may subside within a day or two, or they may get bigger and bigger, like a snowball.At that time, it will be too much for the higher-ups to pursue the relevant people in the yamen and so on.

This time, the three of them at Meijia Racecourse really wanted to take a trip, and they could shirk the responsibility from their shoulders without doing anything.Otherwise, no one will be able to bear the top hat of "inaction" and "allowing the mob to make trouble".

At that moment, the three lit torches and rode on horses to chase after him.

On the way, Gao Wen inquired with two yamen servants, and only then did he know about it.The reason why Meiliang's racecourse has become so large in the past few years is that the government has put in a lot of effort.

The strategic materials that are scarce in the country on war horses are naturally better in abundance.But Guang Meiliang's strength alone is limited, and the Mei Family Manor doesn't have much pasture.Therefore, not only the former magistrates of Hancheng County, but also the Taiyamen of Xi'an Prefecture came forward to coordinate and asked the local people in Huanglong to rent their farmland to the Mei family for intensive breeding. raise horses.

"This Mei Liang... No, it should be said that the relevant officials of Shaanxi's Xi'an Prefecture have advanced consciousness, and they can even think of such things as land transfer, companies and farmers." Gao Wen was a little impressed: "It can be seen that the ancients Wisdom is no worse than that of modern people, and the elites in the officialdom are even better than each other. Master Mei Er was kidnapped by the peasants, presumably because the Mei family defaulted on their land rent and wages."

Horse racing at night, the road was difficult, and after walking for more than two hours, until the sky became light, I finally arrived at a wide Daping Dam, and I could vaguely see a huge Zhuangzi in front of me.

"That's Meijiazhuang." A yamen servant pointed to the distance, and let out a long breath: "Zhiniang thief, finally arrived at the ground, I'm exhausted."

Gao Wen looked around, but saw a withered yellow everywhere.It was mid-winter at this moment, the vegetation had all withered, and there was no green in the open fields.This is already a typical landform of the Loess Plateau, with serious soil erosion and bare loess everywhere, without a trace of vitality.

There are only a few shepherds grazing sheep on the hillside, and dozens of old sheep with withered fur are scattered in the mountains like bits of rags.

Gao Wen was a little puzzled, and couldn't help asking: "Didn't it mean that this is a large pasture, with herds of cattle and sheep, and horses running around? Why can't you see it? In this situation, how can you feed so many horses?"

A yamen servant said with a smile: "Ghost knows, anyway, Mei Liang can pay the Taipu Temple a full amount of qualified war horses every year. As for what he thinks, we don't care."

The so-called Taipu Temple is one of the central institutions of the ancient Chinese imperial court. Among the nine ministers of the Qin and Han Dynasties, there was a Taipu Temple, who was the official in charge of chariots and horses.In the Ming Dynasty, he was in charge of horse administration.To put it bluntly, this central agency is a bit similar to the General Armament Department of the People's Liberation Army in later generations, which specializes in providing qualified war horses for the Ministry of War.However, he is at the same level as the Ministry of War.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, it was important that if your family raised horses, they would be under the management of the Taipu Temple.

That's right, with the natural environment of Mei's racecourse, there is no condition for opening a large racecourse at all, so how can there be a thousand war horses in stock.

A thousand horses, until his mother didn't see a hundred horses.

Gao Wen was curious, and had an urge to find out: Hey, Virgo, there is really no way for obsessive-compulsive disorder!

Moreover, as a history buff, this is a good opportunity to study horse politics in the Ming Dynasty.

When he arrived at the Meijia Manor, Gao Wen was shocked by the scene before him, but he saw more than 400 farmers gathered at the gate of the Zhuangzi, surrounding Mei Liang tightly.These more than [-] people, old and young, men and women, were all holding pitchforks, hoes, axes, and sticks in their hands. Their faces were flushed, and they shouted in unison: "Give me money, give me money, if I don't see money today, we won't be able to do it this year." gone."

"We can't live a good year, Mr. Mei, don't even think about living a good year!"

Among this group of people, a young man of fourteen or fifteen years old wearing brocade robes was clamped with a knife and fork, crying loudly with a pale face: "Daddy help, daddy help!" Needless to say, this person should be Mei Liang's son Mellon.

Hearing his son crying bitterly, Mei Liang shouted: "Useless things are just a few mobs who scared you like this. Damn, I don't know how many people I have used knives with when I was in Mongolia. I've seen a lot of blood, but I've never been afraid. You're not a son of my Mei family. Don't be afraid, they don't dare to do anything to you. Little beast, your business is not over yet! When this matter is understood, I will see what I do Clean you up."

While speaking, he took a step forward and shouted at the leading old man: "Old man Xu, I treat you well. Why, you took the lead in making trouble today, hehe, and turned against you?"

The old man surnamed Xu cupped his hands again and again, and called out sadly: "Master, at the beginning, the young old man was guaranteed by the government to rent you more than ten mu of land in his family. It was agreed that one hundred catties of millet per mu per year, It is paid on a monthly basis. But half a year has passed, but there is no grain of millet. Every time I come to Zhuangzi to ask, I will either say that you are not here, and I will wait for you to come back. Or I will just drive the little old man away. I went out. The family has been out of food for several days, and the children are screaming with hunger. Seeing that it is almost [-] years old, you should take pity on us and give us some money and food!"

"Shut up!" Mei Liang shouted angrily, "Old man Xu, if you don't say that your land is fine, I will actually talk to you. Your ten acres of land are washed away by the rain in summer. It’s all gone, the ground is full of stones, and no grass grows. Because your land doesn’t grow grass, and my horse has no grass to eat. How can this loss be counted? It’s good if you don’t ask you to lose money, but you come here to make trouble and tie him up. Killed my son. Court death!"

As soon as the words fell, he flew up and kicked the old man surnamed Xu on the chest.

Mei Liang was so skilled in martial arts, only heard a bang, and the old man surnamed Xu was kicked to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Mei Liang suddenly sent down the killer, thinking that he would use thunder to frighten everyone.Immediately, he grabbed a whistle stick and put it across his chest, squinted at the crowd, and said coldly: "As for you, you actually gathered a crowd to make trouble and tie up my son. Hehe, who am I, Meiliang, why have I suffered such a loss? Your money and food Don't even think about taking it, just apologize in front of it. Get out, get out of here, or you will be killed directly!"

Seeing how arrogant he was, a young man yelled in grief and anger: "Everyone has heard what Mei Liang said, anyway, I'm going to starve to death when I go home, so why not fight him!"

"Yes, fight!" Everyone waved their farm tools and rushed forward.

Mei Liang swept down the two of them with a stick, and shouted: "Listen, my sons, copy the guy, don't show mercy, I will be responsible for killing people!"

Seeing that a bloody fight was about to take place before his eyes, Gao Wen felt a chill in his heart: Oops!
He rushed up and shouted: "Stop it all, stop it! I am Gao Wen, the official history of the punishment room of the Hancheng County Yamen, please calm down, I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter. The money and food that should be given will also be given. You want Trust me, trust Yamen!"

This civil uprising is about to intensify.If there is a disturbance, and I have nothing to do as a yamen servant, I am afraid that the county magistrate will not be able to explain it.

The common people were afraid of officials, they stopped when they saw Gao Wen's attire.

Mei Liang suddenly turned his head and looked at Gao Wen viciously, and roared: "Gao Wen, what the hell are you talking about, give me money, give me a dime. Who told you to talk randomly, you give me money? I really thought you were What is it, I think you are pleasing to call Master, but not pleasing to the eye, you are just a little yamen servant, a dog's leg. I'm yuck!" After saying that, he threw the stick in his hand with a "hoo", and it went over Gao Wen's head and stabbed a farmer in the face. Door.In the face of money, any friendship is bullshit.

The farmer squatted down with his face covered in blood.

On the front foot, he and Gao Wen still called each other brothers, but when they turned around, they turned their faces and refused to recognize anyone.

Inexplicably, Mei Liang's arrogance caused a surge of anger in Gao Wen's heart.

As a modern person, he never thought that the ancient local tyrants and evil gentry would be so cruel.This, this, this is already the Wen family of the Shiliang faction in "The Sword of Jade Blood".When I was studying, I thought it was just a novelist's words, but I didn't want it to appear in front of me.It's true to think about it, Mr. Jin Yong lived in troubled times when he was a child, and he must have seen many such non-human landlords and had a life.

Gao Wen said coldly: "Mr. Mei, your son is in his hands. You love money, so you have to love your son, right?"

"Daddy, help, don't, don't!" Melon shouted hoarsely as he was surrounded by the crowd.

"This is my Mei family's business, and it's not up to Gao Wen to take care of you." Mei Liang glared at the people and scolded: "Who dares to touch a hair of my son, I will kill you all!"

(End of this chapter)