After more than half a month of turmoil, the dust gradually settled. Hua Qingfeng and Ye Xiaotian were rewarded by their superiors and recorded in the exam. Bantou Su, Bantou Zhou and others received a reward, and those vacant positions were quickly filled with candidates.
Only the position of tax ambassador has not yet been finalized, because this candidate is to be appointed by the magistrate's office. However, although the tax ambassador must be appointed by the magistrate's yamen, it is impossible for the magistrate to know the detailed situation of the subordinate counties, so he must be nominated and recommended by the local officials.
This position should have been nominated by Hua Qingfeng, the magistrate of the county, but it can be said that Ye Xiaotian was responsible for solving this big case alone. , so the nomination of tax ambassadors fell on Ye Xiaotian's head.
For this reason, the people who came to Ye Mansion to run relationships almost stepped on the threshold of Ye Mansion these days, until Ye Xiaotian announced that there was no one to see, and had reported the nominees to the magistrate's yamen, and this kind of walking stopped. As for whose name Ye Xiaotian reported, it is still a secret.
Those who have the ability to find Ye Xiaotian's nominee will not waste this favor to inquire about something that is irreversible and meaningless to him. Those who do not have the ability to find out the final result, even though they are the ones who care most about this position, can only wait patiently for the day when the truth will be revealed.
However, although Ye Xiaotian nominated the candidate for the Taxation Ambassador, Hua Qingtian single-handedly arranged the accountant and several officials of the Taxation Division. This can be regarded as an exchange of interests between Hua Qingfeng and Ye Xiaotian.
Ye Xiaotian is very satisfied with this, the tax ambassador was promoted by him, and that is his person. Hua Qingfeng was also very satisfied. Not only did he enjoy a great contribution, but he also directly expanded his influence by appointing several officials and accountants. No one would treat him as an empty magistrate anymore.
As the moon bends over Jiuzhou, some families are happy and others are sad. The people who were promoted were naturally rejoicing, and they threw wine and banquets to celebrate, while the family members of the criminals who were arrested were sad and sad all day long, and it was difficult to see a happy face.
The home of Chen Muyan, the former tax ambassador, has been closed these days. Except for the time of buying rice and vegetables every day, it is difficult to see the Chen family's wife going out. Until today, more than 20 people wearing filial piety belts have lived in the Chen family, and the Chen family, which has always been deserted, has gained some popularity.
The neighbors heard that this was someone from Chen Muyan's hometown, who was going to help the mother and daughter return home. Chen Muyan was dead, and the orphans and widows had no choice but to return to their hometown. The house of the Chen family was going to be disposed of in the future, and immediately the enthusiastic neighbors began to take the initiative to help contact the buyer.
The night was quieter, and most of the folks who came from their hometown had already gone to bed. They made floor beds in the rooms on both sides, and everyone was full of sleep. In the main room, a pair of white candles were still burning quietly. The lady of the Chen family was wearing a filial belt around her waist, holding her sleeping daughter in her arms, and there were still light tears on her face.
Sitting opposite her was a dark-skinned middle-aged man. In fact, he was Chen Muyan's cousin. He was the sixth brother among his brothers. He was more than ten years younger than Chen Muyan. It was just because he worked at home all year round. He looked younger than Chen Muyan. much older.
When the lady of the Chen family first married into the Chen family more than ten years ago, she was very familiar with this uncle. He was still a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old. He has grown up a lot, and his expression has become more dull.
The lady of the Chen family said in a low voice: "Sixth Uncle, it's really hard for you. Our Chen family is a small family, and it costs a lot to invite so many people to help the spirit, right?"
Chen Laoliu rubbed his hands awkwardly, and said: "Sister-in-law, don't say that, after all, it is Brother Mu Yan who is going back to his hometown. This is a dangerous place, so if you don't find more people, how can you help the spirit go back. Our villager , Counting that Brother Muyan is promising, who in the distant villages does not envy our Chen family who has a high-ranking official. Brother Muyan has earned the face of our Chen family all his life, and now he is still poor when he returns home, he should Yes, it's all as it should be."
The lady of the Chen family sighed softly, and said softly: "Then I would like to thank his sixth uncle. It is enough for the relatives to have this kind of heart. Hiring labor, as well as food and accommodation along the way, how much did you spend in total? Tell me, sister-in-law takes the money, and the family is not rich, so don't let everyone join in."
Chen Laoliu looked a little embarrassed and refused intentionally, but thinking about his tight pockets, he still agreed twice.
There are five scriptures in ritual, but sacrifice is the most important. Although her husband died in a disgraceful way, funerals still had to be done. After Chen Muyan died, the lady of the Chen family built a mourning hall at home and invited monks and Taoists to perform rituals for three days.
No one in Hu County will make things difficult for the orphans and widows. In the human society, death is the most important thing. He has done a lot of good deeds to maintain his superficial incorruptibility, especially for some small businessmen, and he has not exploited them.
Under such circumstances, whoever intends to harm the Chen family will definitely be called a cruel official, and even the servants who follow orders will be secretly chilled, so the government did not make things difficult for the Chen family. Returned the Chen family.
When the Chen family held sacrifices, many people came to the Chen residence to express their condolences. There are officials, businessmen, workers, and farmers. Some people have frequent contacts with Chen Muyan, and there are many people who the Chen family's wife doesn't know at all, and they can't tell their identities.
Chen Muyan committed suicide because of greed for ink, and the condolencers really couldn't say much to comfort them, so most of them just silently lit a stick of incense, worshiped, and left a gift money for the Chen family's wife, and then quietly leave.
The more those who the Chen family's wife has never met and cannot identify, the heavier the gift money they leave behind. Some of them have given funeral gifts far beyond what should be given in normal communication. part of the money.
The lady of the Chen family knew very well that these people must have many unclear relationships with her husband, and the husband's suicide actually saved them, so these people gave such a generous gift, no one is willing to owe The debt of favor of the dead.
The lady of the Chen family knows that if her husband confesses and bites out all these people, he may not be punished with a death penalty, but the best result for him is to be exiled to the frontier and never return for life. And he chose to die, a very important reason is to leave a living capital for her and the child.
Because he knew that as long as he died, many things that only he knew would never be exposed, and those who were protected by him with their lives would definitely repay this kindness to his relatives.
Therefore, the lady of the Chen family was not very grateful to those who offered a large gift money. It was what her husband paid for with his life, and she deserved it. The lady of the Chen family collected all the money, which was the capital for her to raise her daughter alone in the future, and it was the hope left by her husband for her and the child.
Because of this, she has the confidence to tell her cousin that she will pay the fee, because Chen Muyan's public image is very poor, and all the stolen money hidden by him has been confiscated. If it weren't for this sum of gift money, The Chen family can really be called a destitute family now.
The lady of the Chen family sighed faintly, and said to Chen Laoliu: "Uncle Six, it's getting dark, and you've come all the way here, and you're really tired, so go to bed early, we have to go back home tomorrow. .”
"Hey! Hey!"
Chen Laoliu stood up and said clumsily, "Then...sister-in-law, you should also go to bed earlier."
Chen Laoliu nodded slightly, feeling a little cold on his body. She suddenly remembered that tomorrow is the winter solstice, but her heart has entered the cold winter ahead of schedule since the day her husband died...
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The winter solstice has arrived.
The winter solstice is a very important festival in this era. Because people believe that from the winter solstice, the yang energy of the world begins to gradually become stronger, which means the beginning of the next cycle, which is an auspicious day. Therefore, later generations generally only appear in activities such as ancestor worship, gatherings, and celebrations during the Spring Festival, and often appear on the day of the winter solstice.
As a festival, the winter solstice originated in the Zhou Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and continues to this day. The day of the winter solstice is called the "Winter Festival". On this day, the emperor also held a grand ceremony to sacrifice to the sky in the suburbs of the winter solstice. All officials presented congratulatory forms to the emperor and congratulated each other.
Of course, the local government will also hold a congratulatory ceremony. At the same time, the government office will have a day off, and the officials will pay homage to each other. Ye Xiaotian, as the county magistrate of Hu County, naturally took on the responsibility of planning the entire celebration. Early in the morning, he summoned all the county officials to the county government office, and led a group of officials to congratulate the county magistrate.
After accepting the congratulations from all the officials and bureaucrats with a smile on his face, Huazhi County led all the officials to the county school, offered incense and burnt watches to the sage Confucius, and offered sacrifices. Hua Zhixian held the sacrificial speech written overnight, stood at the head, and read it while shaking his head in the smog.
Under the stage, Bantou Su approached Ye Xiaotian quietly, and said in a low voice: "My lord, Ambassador Chen's wife is helping the spirit to return home today. Do you think we..."
Hearing this sentence, Wang Zhubu at the side slightly turned his body towards Ye Xiaotian, and whispered: "Master Ye, public is public, private is private, if the county government doesn't say anything, it's unreasonable, according to the old man's opinion, Still should think about it."
Ye Xiaotian was still a little hesitant at first, but after listening to Master Wang's words, he nodded and said to Su Xuntian: "You can go there on behalf of the county government. If the Chen family needs help, please give it as much convenience as possible."
Su Xuntian agreed, and just as he was about to leave, Master Wang called him again, took out a silver ingot weighing five taels from his sleeve, and said to Su Xuntian, "Just say this is Cheng Yi, a gift from the county government. Let's talk about it."
Su Xuntian glanced at Ye Xiaotian, Ye Xiaotian nodded, and said: "Master Wang is more thoughtful, so let's do it this way."
Su Xuntian just took the money and left quietly. Ye Xiaotian let out a sigh of relief, and turned to look at Hua Zhixian, who was still up and down on the stage, with a gloomy expression. Master Wang smiled slightly, twitched his beard and said in a low voice: "Lord Ye, you feel a little uncomfortable, don't you?"
Ye Xiaotian nodded, shook his head again, and sighed again. Since the heart-to-heart exchange that day, Master Wang has really changed. It is probably because he saw that Ye Xiaotian had great ambitions, and his ambition was definitely not in a small Hu County. In order to change, the relationship between the two has gradually eased.
Master Wang chuckled, and comforted Ye Xiaotian in the tone of someone who has experienced it: "In the officialdom, that's it. Many times, there are some things you have to do. It's not about grievances, but just involuntary. You have to go on." , you must get used to it..."