The author said: I love to see people pretending to be pigs but eating tigers...
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Early the next morning, Zheng Rong asked his cronies to invite Mr. Zhao and Zhao Heizi, together with more than thirty silver cars, to Zhao Juren's house to ask for an explanation.
Hebei was the land where the imperial court raised horses, and Yi Zhi was proficient in royal arts, so Zheng Rong asked his left and right men to bring in a half-sized horse to ride with Yi Zhi, talking and laughing along the way. Qiu Yizhi has never had a father since she was a child, and her mother, Zhao, is very strict with her. The rent collected from the fields every year, except for necessary expenses, is used to pay for private school tuition. homework. Yizhi knew that his mother had worked hard, and although he was not interested in what the old scholar taught, he had learned the scriptures of the saints thoroughly. In addition, Qiu Yi is smart by nature and does not understand the concerns of secular etiquette. She keeps making witty remarks along the way, which makes Zheng Rong very happy.
After walking for a short time, Qiu Yizhi suddenly interrupted the conversation, stood up and pointed his hand, and said to Zheng Rong behind him: "That's my uncle's house over there."
Zheng Rong followed the direction of his finger and saw a large house in the distance. Among other things, the wall alone was two or three miles long, which clearly showed that its owner was extremely wealthy.
After walking for a while, we arrived at the door of Zhao's house. Zhongli Kuang had discussed with Zheng Rong last night: there was no solid evidence that Zhao Fuyi had seized the village's farmland. Even if it was found out, it would only be to order him to return the farmland, which would not affect the foundation; and Zhao Fuyi's family must be very rich. If you act so arrogantly, there must be something arrogant in your words and deeds. When the time comes, you will find a few mistakes to make a fuss about, and charge them with disrespect, so that you can properly deal with them.
Therefore, Jiang Jiang would be able to see clearly, and Zhongli Kuang had already squinted his short-sighted eyes and looked up and down. The prosperity of Zhao's residence can be seen from just outside the walls. The wall is about ten feet high. Unlike the local houses, which are all made of yellow mud, they are all made of mud bricks. The spaces between the bricks are smoothed with lime and a layer of red paint is applied, making it look solemn and solemn. There are continuous branches jumping out from the wall, and they are all tall trees such as pine, cypress, camphor, and apricot. From visual inspection, they are at least seven to eight feet tall and two to three hundred years old. A red lacquered door opened on the wall facing south. Although the number of twenty-five large nails on the door was not illegal, it was exaggeratedly large. It was as big as a baby's head. It was still shining brightly in the wind and sand. It must have been otherwise. Made of pure gold, or at least gold-plated. The two stone lions at the door are extremely huge, as tall as a person. However, both the shape of the lions and the number of bells on their chests are in line with the etiquette of lifting people, and there is nothing inappropriate.
Zhongli Kuang inspected the whole thing and found no flaws, so he whispered softly to Zheng Rong: "This Zhao Juren is quite shrewd and has never violated any clear orders."
Zheng Rong hated these people who oppressed the people and flattered the government the most in his life. He nodded with restraint, then sat on the horse and lowered his head and said to Qiu Yizhi: "Take Mr. Zhao and Zhao Heizi to call the door, but don't reveal my identity. ”
Qiu Yizhi was a smart boy. Although he didn't know Zheng Rong's intention, he knew that there must be a mystery in it, so he got off his horse and followed Zheng Rong's words to call the door.
Zhao Heizi had a fiery temperament. As soon as he reached the door, he stretched out his hand and got ahead of the two of them, holding the door knocker and knocking on it. After knocking about five or six times, the door opened a crack and a sharp head poked out. Zhao Heizi recognized him as the gatekeeper of Zhao Mansion and said loudly: "Mr. Zhao from the village wants to see your master!" The gatekeeper didn't say anything and just closed the door, giving Zhao Heizi a hard blow.
Heizi was so angry that he punched and kicked the wooden door without using the knocker until his hands and feet were numb, and then the door was opened again. Just when Heizi was about to curse, Qiu Yizhi said first, "Do you recognize me? I want to discuss matters with my uncle!"
Qiu Yizhi is the son of Miss Zhao Mansion, and he has lived in Zhao Mansion for several years. Of course, the servants in the house know him. He was stunned for a moment, then scolded with a calm face: "Who knows you little bastard?" After that, he said "Bang" "There was a sound and the door was closed tightly.
Qiu Yizhi almost cried when he scolded him. Holding back his tears, he dug out a mud brick from the wall and handed it to Zhao Heizi. Zhao Heizi understood this and took the brick in his hand and slapped the door as hard as he could, making a wooden door full of holes.
After a few hits, the door of the Zhao Mansion suddenly opened. Heizi raised his eyes and saw the housekeeper of the Zhao Mansion standing in front of the screen wall, with his hands behind his back and yelling at the old, young and young. The butler was from Shanxi, and he spoke so fast that the three of them couldn't hear him clearly. The three of them felt that the big mole on the left cheek of the butler was moving up and down, which was very lively. The housekeeper scolded for a while, feeling bored, spat, raised his hand, and a dozen men of different lengths jumped out from behind the screen wall, each holding a whistle stick and shouting that they were going to fight. Although Zhao Heizi showed no fear on his face, a pair of yellow children and old men behind him were frightened by the formation. Yi Zhi shouted "Lulu" in a hurry, and the little white dog behind him jumped forward and headed towards the menacing Zhuang. Din barked.
The three people from Yi Zhi called the door several times, and Zheng Rong could see clearly from behind. Seeing that Zhao Mansion was about to commit an attack, he hurriedly ordered his warriors to stop it. Last night, Zheng Rong had announced to his subordinates that Qiu Yi would be his adopted son and treat him equally with the other three princes. Today, seeing that the prince was about to be beaten, the soldiers and warriors were filled with indignation and rushed forward in a few steps. The servants of the Zhao Mansion usually bullied the weak and feared the strong when they roamed the countryside. Facing the soldiers who had been fighting for the rest of their lives, they were as helpless as chickens to fight back. They were disarmed in a few seconds and were forced to the ground one by one.
At this time, Zheng Rongcai slowly entered the door with his horse on his back. He looked at the housekeeper of the Zhao family who was squeezed into a ball by two tiger-backed soldiers and said: "I am an officer who is passing by your place to go to Youyan to escort grain and grass. I have a fate with your young master. It is now believed that the moth flies came here specifically to get married.”
Although the housekeeper couldn't see Zheng Rong's appearance, he heard that he spoke very appropriately. He was a little confused in his heart, but he had some backbone after all. He remembered the slang of "losing the enemy without losing the battle" and cursed at the ground: "What young master? He is just a bastard left behind by a dead soldier. Now he cannot escape the dead nature of a soldier. He actually accepted a dead soldier as his adoptive father. His true nature has not changed... "
The words "death" were used four times in a row, which made Zheng Rong angry. He said coldly to his subordinates: "Slap, give me a real beating." Three or four warriors sang a promise and lifted the housekeeper. The steward saw the officer on horseback wearing a red tunic with gold threads and dragons carved on it, and a scarlet scarf on his head. He had a pair of piercing phoenix eyes, two sword eyebrows piercing the sky, and three long beards fluttering in the wind. He looked like a god descending to earth. His anger suddenly subsided. Before he could guess the identity of the visitor, the warriors on his left and right had already untied the cowhide belt around his waist, grabbed it into a bunch, and slapped him on the cheek as hard as they could. The housekeeper couldn't cry out the pain, so he had to grit his teeth and endure it. After a while, he was beaten to a point of bleeding and was beyond recognition.
Zheng Rong didn't even look at it, and ordered his subordinates: "You will escort the silver car into the mansion and send two hundred people to guard it. The other three hundred people will follow me to see this Zhao Juren." After saying that, he urged his horse to go around the screen wall. Just go deep into Zhao Mansion.
Behind the screen wall is a large garden. There is a pool in the center, which is several times larger than the one in the home of Prime Minister Yang Yuanzhi. The pool is filled with lotus flowers, with golden scales swimming under the flowers. Surrounding the water pool are pavilions, pavilions, rockeries, flowers and trees, all connected by gravel paths. It can be said that it is sparse and pleasant, with a view at every step. Zheng Rong had heard for a long time that the gardens in the south of the Yangtze River were the most beautiful in the world, but he had no chance to see them. What he saw today in the Zhao Mansion was probably no less impressive, not to mention that they were built in a dry place in the north, and their efforts were much better than those in the south of the Yangtze River. times.
Qiu Yizhi grew up in the Zhao Mansion. Although his mother never allowed him to wander around during her lifetime, she still knew a little about the structure of the mansion, so she guided Zheng Rong towards the main hall of the Zhao Mansion based on her memory. After turning around several rockeries, a hall appeared in front of Zheng Rong. The three characters "Ninghe Hall" were written on the plaque in front of the hall. It was round and meaningful and should be written by a famous artist. The hall building is not large, but it is extremely exquisite. The wood, stone, bricks and tiles, brackets and cornices, and painted floating hangings are all exquisite and flashy.
Just as Zheng Rong was about to dismount from his horse and enter the hall, he saw more than a hundred people not far away holding wooden and iron bars in their hands and rushing towards them with great arrogance. He simply sat down on his horse and waited quietly for them to come forward. The leader over there was none other than Zhao Fuyi. Zhao Fuyi rested very late yesterday. He was sleeping with his concubine just now, but one after another servants came to report: The Zhao family Dai people found some soldiers from nowhere and beat the housekeeper. They were heading to the main hall. Walk. Zhao Fuyi immediately got angry, simply dressed up, and then ordered more than a hundred servants to come to Ninghetang to kill them. Zhao Fuyi saw from a distance that there was indeed a group of officers and soldiers in front of the hall. The leader actually rode into the garden on horseback. He trampled how much moss he had trampled and became even more angry. He took a few steps closer and saw that the officer on horseback had a solemn look on his face. He didn't know the details. Instead, he was a little polite. He cupped his hands and said, "I don't know your surname? Why did you break into my courtyard and beat up my banker?"
Zheng Rong heard that his tone was not that of a vicious person, so he gave him some face, got off his horse and lied: "My name is not worth mentioning. I am escorting grain and grass from Luoyang, the capital, to Youyan. I am temporarily filling the position of Baihu..."
"Hahaha, a small household with a hundred people dares to be so presumptuous!" Zhao Fuyi immediately interrupted Zheng Rong's words. According to the official system of the Han Dynasty, the lowest rank granted in the army was Qian Zong, and all chiefs of hundreds of households and below were under him. Although Zhao Fuyi could not win the Jinshi, with his reputation as a civil servant and his ability to move up and down, it was not a problem to become a seventh-grade county magistrate. In addition, his family was rich and had friends with many local officials. How could he let a low-ranking officer go? In your eyes? He waved to the servant behind him and said, "Catch him and beat him to death!"
Zhao Heizi, who was behind Zheng Rong's horse, had suffered a lot at the hands of Zhao Ju's thugs. Seeing them swarming up, fearing that the officer would be beaten for meddling in his own business, he quickly ducked in front of Zheng Rong, still holding the piece outside the door. The mud bricks picked up must be used to fight against trapped animals. Although Heizi was worried about Zheng Rong's safety, he was not the only one who was worried. The three hundred soldiers behind him had already rushed out and subdued all the Zhao family's thugs in a few seconds, leaving only Zhao Fuyi alone with his hands hanging down. Standing in front of Ninghe Hall.
With a victor's smile, Zheng Rong said to Zhao Fuyi politely: "Mr. Xiaolian, since you are here, why don't you ask me to wait and explain it to you in court?"
Zhao Fuyi's face twitched and he made a vague sound: "Please, please..."
Several people were seated as guests and hosts. The staff member Zhongli Kuang sat under Zheng Rong, while the adopted son Qiu Yizhi stood behind Zheng Rong. Zhao Fuyi just asked the maid to make tea, then sat in the master's seat as weakly as a frosted cabbage. Zheng Rong raised the teacup, blew out a few tea leaves, took a sip and tasted it carefully. It was indeed the best Yuqian. While he was thinking about it, a sergeant ran up to the hall and whispered in Zheng Rong's ear: "Several servants in Zhao's residence climbed over the wall and ran away. It seems they went to report the news."
Zheng Rong seemed not to have heard anything and sipped his tea again and said, "Let them go."
Before the cup of tea was finished, the sergeant came to report that the local Nanyang County magistrate had come with three squads of government officials to pick up the man. County government officials are no different from wealthy servants. All they can rely on is the official sword in their hands. However, how can this official sword used to arrest theft be the opponent of a simple stainless steel sword used to kill the enemy in battle? In the blink of an eye, the Nanyang County Magistrate was already a guest in Ninghe Hall.
Zheng Rong was even more proud and said to the county magistrate: "The tea at Zhao Xiaolian's house is excellent. Why don't you sit down and enjoy it together?" He then turned to Zhao Fuyi who was paralyzed in the hall and said, "I came across a famous tea by chance. I couldn't help myself. I drank one cup. That’s it. Thank you, Mr. Xiao Lian, for refilling your cup.”
After drinking another cup of tea, the sergeant came to report again: "Deng Zhoumu and the captain have led more than 500 local troops to arrest people." Zheng Rong nodded after hearing this, put down the tea cup, and took out something from his sleeve. He handed the object to the sergeant and said: "With this order, please invite the county guard and the captain to have tea in front of the hall."
This order arrow is a token of the Han Dynasty to mobilize troops and horses and command battles. It is made under the unified supervision of the palace and customized for each level. Deng Zhoumu was a civil servant and did not recognize this object. When the captain saw it, he was shocked and discussed with the county guard: "This arrow is definitely not a fake, but the general is short-sighted and has never seen it before. I only know that its level is comparable to that of Henan Jiedu." Make it higher. The person holding the order does not know his origin, so he must be careful." It was decided that Dengzhou's sergeants were waiting outside Zhao's house, and the two military and political officials went to Ninghe Hall to see what was going on.
The magistrate of Nanyang County, who had been drinking tea for a while in Ninghe Hall, saw his immediate superior coming and hurriedly gave up his seat. After some etiquette, he sat down under the captain. The three of them whispered to each other and discussed, but still could not figure out the background of the officer opposite. They turned to look at Zhao Fuyi, who was also at a loss, so they had to settle down and drink tea for the time being.
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PS. In ancient China, agriculture was emphasized and merchants were suppressed. Merchants were the last of the four peoples and were not taken seriously. In the article, Zhao Fuyi's method of amassing wealth was nothing more than taking advantage of his privilege of being exempted from taxes, annexing land on a large scale and collecting land rent. This method of fishing in the marsh is regarded as the right way. Therefore, every land annexation and a large increase in bankrupt farmers were the fundamental reasons for the decline of the Central Plains dynasty. (To be continued)