Qiu Yi's writing was quick and easy. In a moment, he had already scrawled the letter. He read it again and casually changed a few typos. Without re-writing it, he sealed the letter with his own hands and handed it to him. The black man said: "Brother Zhao, find a reliable brother and send this letter to the master immediately."
This "Brother Zhao" is a fellow villager of Qiu Yizhi - because of his dark appearance, he was nicknamed "Zhao Heizi". He is the most loyal and loyal man. He even went to the mountains and became the king of the mountain for several years. Later, he was destined to be recruited by King Youyan. , named "Zhao Chengxiao" and stayed with Qiu Yi from then on, doing countless great things for him.
Zhao Chengxiao took the letter and called a lean man under his command. After giving him a few words of advice, he asked him to set off for the north immediately.
Qiu Yizhi watched the man leave and said to the old man: "I have already written down what the old man said. I have a master who is eloquent in the household department. He must have something special after seeing your letter. Just take care of it, the old man."
But the old man just thought Qiu Yizhi was bragging and said nonchalantly: "The sky is high and the emperor is far away. Even if there is any benefit, how can it fall into our hands? I just ask a few big landowners to be merciful and save a few grains of grain." Thank God for the land rent!”
Qiu Yizhi didn't want him to explain more, but asked: "Old man, since this is Huaiyin County, have you heard that there is a man named Wang Laowu here?"
"Oh~ you are talking about Wang Laowu! I recognize him, I recognize him!" the old man said, "This kid is quick-talking and quick-footed. He is somewhat famous here. Do you want to find him?"
Qiu Yizhi had an idea and said, "Exactly. When I went to Beijing to take the exam, I ate a few of his melons and didn't have any change to pay him. This time I returned the same way and was about to pay him back!"
The old man waved his hand and said: "If the young master is really here for this, then I would advise you not to go, old man. Now this Wang Laowu is so great, how can he still value the young master's few copper coins?"
"Oh?" Qiu Yizhi was surprised when he heard this, and asked casually, "What do you mean, old man?"
The old man replied: "I also heard it from hearsay. It is said that Wang Laowu met an officer from Youyan Road last year and persuaded the county magistrate here to surrender to Prince Youyan at that time. Now that the prince has become the emperor, Wang Laowu Naturally, he is of extraordinary worth. He took the opportunity to help people talk things over in the county, and the county magistrate did not disagree. Now he is really powerful! "
Qiu Yizhi burst out laughing after hearing this - the officer who came from Youyan Road was not him; as for the county grandson Sun Bapi, he was quick to adapt to the wind and managed to keep the black gauze hat on his head - so Qiu Yizhi said: "It doesn't matter. It's okay, I had a good conversation with Wang Laowu and I have some old friendship with Mr. Sun, so they will never refute my reputation. "
The old man shook his head and said: "These days, human relations are thinner than paper, so what's the point of friendship and face? Since the young master is going to see each other, it doesn't hurt to meet him. Well, after entering Huaiyin City, there is a big house south of the county government office, which is the king's house. It’s the fifth one.”
Qiu Yizhi nodded after hearing this, drank all the herbal tea in the bowl, and rewarded the old man with two taels of silver. Then he led his soldiers and went to Huaiyin County amid the old man's gratitude.
Henan is the hinterland of the Central Plains, sitting on the North China Plain with thousands of miles of fertile fields and flat rivers. For thousands of years, farming and picking mulberries have been the industry. If there were no wars and wars, it would be a geomantic treasure land that could achieve great things.
As Qiu Yizhi walked along, he saw traffic on both sides of the road and countless farmers standing in the fields, planting rice seedlings in the fields.
As the saying goes, "All things come from the soil, and it all depends on hard work; as long as you work hard, gold will come out of the soil."
Qiu Yizhi saw that the people of Henan were so busy and hardworking in farming, and thought that the court had exempted Henan from taxes for two years, so the people of Henan must have enough food and clothing - but she did not expect that the emperor was merciful and the court gave up profits. In the end, the money and food fell into the hands of the wealthy landlords. In the hands of households, there are actually such drawbacks in taxation.
Qiu Yizhi thought about it and arrived at the foot of the city wall of Huaiyin County.
Qiu Yizhi from Huaiyin County came once last year, but it was because of urgent matters at the time, so he came and left in a hurry, leaving no impression on him. Today I see this county town again. Although it is not as prosperous and gorgeous as the capital Luoyang or Youyan Guangyang, it is still a large-scale county town in the Central Plains.
Since the new emperor ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, he has made great efforts to rectify the official administration and military affairs in various parts of the Han Dynasty. Huaiyin County is located near Kinki, so there is no exception. The gatekeepers stood guard with great vigor. When they saw Qiu Yizhi bringing a large group of people, they hurriedly blocked them with their spears: "Where are you coming from? Come on." What’s going on in Huaiyin County?”
Qiu Yizhi tightened the reins but did not dismount. He took out a name card from his arms and handed it to the soldiers blocking the road. He said: "I came to the city to find an old friend. These are my trusted servants behind me. They are not bad people." , I would also like to ask this soldier to make it easier."
The gatekeeper didn't know how to read. He took Qiu Yizhi's name card and rubbed it up and down for a long time, but couldn't see what it meant. Then he handed it to the leading sergeant sitting beside the city gate.
Qiu Yizhi's famous post was a gift given to him by his third brother and the third son of the emperor, Zheng Miao, before he left. They took the finest bamboo from Sichuan as tribute, carefully polished it by the skilled craftsmen in the palace, and then invited his father-in-law Qin Guangyuan to On it is written in small regular script "Enke Jinshi and the first appointed Shanyin County Magistrate" - it is a rare treasure.
Although the leading officer and soldier had little knowledge and could not recognize the origin of the message, he knew that the owner of the message had an extraordinary identity just by looking at the small words written on it.
So he quickly stood up and trotted to Qiu Yi's horse, knelt down on one knee and said, "It turns out it's the county magistrate. I'm so rude. I wonder if you came to the city to see my grandpa Sun?" As he spoke, he raised his hands in the air. , handed the name card back.
Qiu Yizhi put away the name card and said: "I have some friendship with County Magistrate Sun. Maybe I can meet him here. But I want to meet Wang Laowu here first. I don't know that he is still in the city. ?"
"Oh, it turns out that I'm here to see the Fifth Master Wang. The Fifth Master is in the city, but he is busy now. Ordinary people may not be willing to meet the Fifth Master. But since your Excellency is an old friend of the Fifth Master, then the Fifth Master also You won't be disrespectful, right?" With that said, the city gate leader told Qiu Yizhi where Wang Laowu lived.
This city gate officer is just a minor official elsewhere, but in this small Huaiyin County, he is also a very important figure - but he can't deal with Wang Laowu, a mere common man, who calls him "Fifth Master". It's so respectful.
In this way, even a smart person like Qiu Yizhi doesn't know what kind of skills this Wang Laowu has acquired in just a few months, and he can be so prosperous in Huaiyin County.
So Qiu Yi's curiosity was at its peak, and she had no intention of observing the local customs and customs in the county, so she led everyone straight to Wang Laowu's big house.
In the final analysis, Wang Laowu's so-called mansion is just a slightly taller bungalow - but in Huaiyin County, where there are mostly low-rise shantytowns, it is quite eye-catching. It's just that this house is located alone in an open space. There is no gate tower, no stone lion gate beast, and no walls to protect it. Qiu Yizhi happened to lead Zhao Chengxiao and hid on the side of the gate to watch the situation.
I saw a person sitting in the main hall of the house. He was short in stature, with a dark face and rough skin. He looked like a farmer at first glance, but he was wearing a set of very gorgeous silk and satin clothes, which looked extremely incongruous. This person was Wang Laowu. .
There were two people standing next to Wang Laowu. Their faces were somewhat similar, but they were arguing about something with bared teeth.
Qiu Yizhi pricked up his ears and listened, and finally he got something out of the quarrel between the two: it turned out that the two brothers had separated, and the fields left by their ancestors wanted to be divided into two, but there was a conflict when the measurement was done, and the two were incompatible. After giving in, the trouble came to Wang Laowu.
This is very common in rural areas. Originally, it would not be a big deal if the length of the land differed by a few inches or a few minutes, but it often involved two families' grudges, which sometimes escalated into life-threatening lawsuits.
But Wang Laowu was very calm. He held the land deed handed over by the two families in his hand. He looked up and down and left and right for a long time. Suddenly he saw some flaw. He slapped his thigh and said: "It turns out that the land was not measured accurately at the beginning. Okay, it’s just a trivial matter. You’re all blushing and thick-necked. Can you do it?”
The younger brother on the side listened, but was not convinced and said: "He is older than me and has had two years more food. He should give me a little bit. Fifth Master, are you right?"
The elder brother also retorted: "I raised you up since you were little. If nothing else, how many times did you pee on my neck when you were a child? It's okay to divide the land equally. You let me pee on my neck first!"
The elder brother spoke very harshly, and the younger brother immediately got angry and stood up to fight.
Wang Laowu shouted: "You all, please be quiet!"
When the two brothers heard what he said, they stopped talking. They just listened quietly to Wang Laowu's continued words: "I don't want to ask anything else. I just want to ask if you are still living together after you are assigned to the land?"
The two brothers replied in unison: "We've already divided our points, so what else can we live for?"
Wang Laowu smiled and said: "That's it. If you are determined to divide your family, then the land of your ancestors will also be divided into two. Since the land is to be divided, it is natural to build a field bank in the middle - then follow me I want to make the field ridge wider so that the land area of your two families is equal, and it will be easier to walk on. "
If this was done, both brothers would suffer a bit, but they would not let the other one take advantage.
The two of them were calculating the gains and losses when they heard Wang Laowu ask loudly: "What? Are you not convinced? Why don't you ask the county magistrate to settle this lawsuit?"
As soon as the younger brother heard this, he immediately returned: "I'm convinced, I'm convinced. What the fifth master said is reasonable. We will do it when we get back. We will do it when we get back." After that, he took the land deed from Wang Laowu and went out the door. Go.
When the elder brother saw that his younger brother had left and he had no one to sue against, he left angrily.
Seeing this scene, Qiu Yizhi couldn't help but laugh loudly: "What a good king, I haven't seen you for a few months, but you have developed the ability to start a trial here!"
Wang Laowu is no longer what he used to be. When he heard someone sneer at him like this, he immediately became furious. He stood up and shouted: "Who doesn't have the foresight to be careless here? Let's see if you, the Fifth Master, don't break your bones!" "
Qiu Yizhi then turned around and came out, and said calmly: "I said it, what? Do you still dare to come and hit me?"
Wang Laowu was startled when he saw Qiu Yizhi appearing in front of him as if falling from the sky. He quickly rubbed his eyes with his hands to make sure that he was not dizzy. He immediately changed his face to a flattering smile and said, "Yo! It turns out that my noble man is here! Why didn't you send someone to inform me in advance so that I could drive away the idle people and prepare a delicious feast? It's a kindness of mine. "
Hearing this, Qiu Yizhi smiled and said: "You, Wang Laowu, have a quick and sweet mouth. I can hear these kind words from you, and it's no wonder I came all the way from the capital!" (Unfinished) to be continued)