early morning
The lights are on in every house, birds are chirping on the branches, several wonton soup and cake stalls have been set up, and there are farmers carrying burdens and selling along the street: "Selling fruits and vegetables."
"Wontons—hot, five cents a bowl!"
"Shaobing, one penny each!"
The butcher stall used a rack to hang a lot of meat. A butler came up and asked, "How will this meat be sold today?"
The butcher quickly apologized and said, "You are my biggest meat customer, how dare you ask for more?"
As he spoke, he saw no one around and whispered: "80% of it is for you to take."
This means a 20% rebate. The butler nodded with satisfaction. At this moment, the steam from some meat buns boiled up on the steamer: "The buns are for sale, two cents each!"
The inn is on the street, full of noise.
Room
This was the upper room of the inn. It was far from elegantly decorated. A wooden couch occupied half of the room, but it was at least clean. Pei Ziyun slowly exited in silence. He felt refreshed and spiritual, but he did not feel happy. color.
After a long time, Pei Ziyun took a long breath and said: "Although this practice has increased the Taoist practice, the energy transformed by the human body is ultimately limited. I am afraid that it will be difficult to advance to the next level even if I practice until old age and death."
"Without blessed land and prestige, I get very little. No wonder Xie Chengdong is the first person in the immortal way to practice in this world. It seems that I must get the dragon vein of the immortal way."
Pei Ziyun got up, washed up and went out, and said to the waiter: "Go buy some breakfast. I heard there are steamed buns. Just buy a basket of steamed buns."
After Pei Ziyun finished speaking, he sat down and the waiter brought tea to him. He took a sip and looked thoughtful.
Although the thunder tribulation not only wiped out the Taoist, but also wiped out all the memories about the dragon veins, Linshan County still remembered that this was the way out.
"Linshan County is neither big nor small. With my current Feng Shui knowledge, I can find this way out even if I travel all over the county."
"But it took a lot longer."
"It took this Taoist eleven years to find Qianlong. I'm not looking for Qianlong. I'm just trying to find a way out in Linshan County. I'm afraid it will take a month or two?"
Pei Ziyun thought this way and rubbed his temples. With some worries, he traveled thousands of miles to find a trace, hoping to gain something.
The waiter was smiling, wearing a small hat and holding a dark steamer: "Mr., the buns are here!"
There was also a plate of vinegar and hot sauce placed on one side. When I opened the lid of the steamer, I saw ten steamed buns with many fillings and thin skin, which seemed to be able to squeeze out the oil. They were white, tender and steaming, which made my appetite whet my appetite.
Pei Ziyun picked up a bun with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. The soup flowed out and the meat tendons bounced. It tasted good.
Putting down his chopsticks, Pei Ziyun looked at the waiter and asked, "Do you know how many families have moved here in the past twenty years?"
The waiter showed embarrassment: "Sir, I'm only twenty years old. I don't know who has moved around in the past twenty years. But Granny Li knows that she is sixty this year. Just ask."
"You're right, I'll reward you with this." Pei Ziyun threw a bunch of money: "Invite her here, and I'll reward you with this money."
"Thank you, Master." The waiter responded, "She's not far next door. I'll call her over right now."
It was very close. It took seven or eight steamed buns. An old woman came in and said, "Young Master, do you want to inquire about news? There is no old woman in this area who doesn't know about her."
"Oh, do you know if any of the people who have moved in the past twenty years include the Du family? If so, which township and village are they in?"
Hearing Pei Ziyun's words, Granny Li thought for a while: "Sir, there were countless relocations due to the war. The dozen or so families I know in my memory moved here from other places, but there was no Du family."
"Oh, could it be that the Du family didn't move here?"
"Impossible. Du Zinong acted against nature and killed the Qianlong, which caused the dragon's energy to disperse and the military disaster to last for several years. Therefore, even the Grand Master could not withstand it and died after being divided into pieces by five horses."
"And bring harm to the family."
"If the descendants of the Du family do not retreat to this safe haven, they will have no reason to do so."
"If it's broken, it's broken. I'm in a dilemma. I can't find the Taishi Dragon Vein Map. Do I have to imitate that Taoist and spend several years traveling all over the country to find the Immortal Dragon Vein?"
"That's right. If it's so easy to find, it may not be my turn." Pei Ziyun found nothing, so he comforted himself and dropped a bunch of money: "Then I'll trouble you."
"Thank you for the reward, young master." Granny Li smiled happily and quickly accepted it.
He no longer had any appetite for the last two steamed buns. As soon as Pei Ziyun pushed them, he was about to stand up. He suddenly realized that there was no official record of this private inquiry. He only had to go to the county government office to get them.
Thinking of this, Pei Ziyun turned around and called for an ox cart: "Go to the county government office!"
The driver looked at it in surprise, agreed, and then the ox cart went somewhere along the street.
The Linshan County Government Office is located in the west of the city. It is a large courtyard with a screen wall, a gate, a lobby, a central axis of the second hall, a study room and a garden.
Arriving at the gate of the county government office and walking up the stairs, a government servant looked at Pei Ziyun up and down. Pei Ziyun was very young, and his clothes were neither expensive nor cheap. He couldn't explain why, but he could tell that he looked like a scholar, and his eyebrows were even more majestic. Unconsciously he asked: "Master, are you here to file a complaint?"
Pei Ziyun was not embarrassed and handed over the post directly: "I am Pei Ziyun, a judge, and I want to see the county magistrate."
After Pei Ziyun's introduction, the yamen servant immediately did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly stepped forward to take the post in. A little later, a forty-year-old official wearing cloud boots and a seventh-grade official uniform came out to greet him: "But Pei Jieyuan is here to visit this county. The whole house is really full of glory, please come quickly, please come quickly."
The magistrate welcomed him and the guests of honor sat down.
The magistrate said: "I have admired Jieyuan for a long time. His poetry and prose are famous all over the world. There is no scholar in the world who doesn't know his name. It's just that we have no chance and have never paid a visit to him, so we have lost our closeness."
Pei Ziyun said: "The student was lucky enough to get a bad reputation, and he is really ashamed."
After chatting for a few words, the magistrate asked what he wanted.
Pei Ziyun glanced at it and said, "My Pei family used to split up to escape disaster. Now that the peace and prosperity have prevailed, the family wants to reconnect with the old branches and continue to write the genealogy. I heard that one branch fled to Linshan County. I don't know if it is. If you have changed your surname, please also look at the household registrations of immigrants in the county within the past 20 years."
"This is a small matter, a matter of just one sentence." After hearing this, the magistrate agreed without hesitation: "Come, call Hu Cao!"
A little later, a household official came with the summons, and the county magistrate pointedly said: "This is Pei Jieyuan. We want to check the household registration of immigrants in this county within twenty years. You must not be negligent and obey the order quickly."
"Yes!" Hu Cao, a lowly official, immediately saluted and then bowed to obey the order.
"Then thank you so much, Lord County." Pei Ziyun stood up and bowed, then followed Hu Cao. When he arrived at a place, he saw three rooms, densely packed with cabinets inlaid with copper leaves, each marked with a red label, and one room at a time. The smell of ink is everywhere when you enter, and several people are working at the table.
Hu Cao was not a popular person in front of the county magistrate, but he was the chief official here. He ordered: "Quickly, take out all the household registrations that have been moved in the past twenty years."
He pointed to the cabinet: "It's right here, right here. After you find it, make a quick copy."
Then he invited Pei Ziyun to sit down and apologized: "Master, wait a moment, let's serve tea!"
With an order, several clerks opened the cabinet to pick up the items. They seemed to be very familiar with it. They didn't have much time to move out hundreds of documents and copied them carefully.
"You are very capable in your work!" Pei Ziyun asked Hu Cao to sit down and said, but he sighed secretly in his heart.
The emperor became king and at the same time as he conquered the city, he focused on building roads and rescuing household registration documents as two important tasks. In July of the third year after the founding of the dynasty, he issued an order to order the people who had resigned from their citizenship to surrender within a time limit. He also conducted a national population survey and divided roads and households. Tie, yellow book.
The household registration kept by the government contains the name, place of origin, and family property status. There is one copy for the person concerned, one copy for the county, one copy for the government, one copy for the province, and one copy for the Ministry of Household Affairs. Because the booklet sent to the Ministry of Household Affairs is covered with yellow paper, it is called Yellow book.
The five files make it very difficult to forge, which shows the strict control of the population. However, in the previous dynasty, there were four registrations: military, civilian, craftsman, and stove. They were further subdivided. Now there are only two registrations: official and civilian.
This is a government secret, and it is expressly forbidden to be disclosed to outsiders at will, but for me, who has a good reputation, I can read it casually. The difference between the government and the people is really too big, so I thought about this and listened to Hucao's reply.
"My family has been officials for generations." Hu Cao leaned forward on his chair and said, "This dynasty Dingding, thanks to the emperor's grace, we officials also have the opportunity to be promoted."
"How can I not work hard to gain a way to advance to the next level?"
"This may not happen in the future."
Pei Ziyun suddenly thought of Liao Ge. He had worked hard all his life and got a ninth rank, only to die on the way. He felt a little pain in his heart, but smiled: "You are right, I have a friend Liao Ge, who is also a junior. He was born as an official, and later achieved the ninth rank."
Hu Cao looked at Pei Ziyun with piercing eyes: "I've heard about it, humble post. He was originally from the ninth rank. He died in the line of duty, and the government posthumously awarded him the ninth rank."
Seeing the slight change in Pei Ziyun's expression, he smiled and sighed: "Being humble is not hypocritical, but true envy. What we, sir, want is a positive result."
"My father struggled for thirty years without success. When he was about to hold my hand - my son, please give my family dignity. The look in his eyes hurts me when I think of him. If he could really get a real ninth grade, he would be willing to die in his humble position. superior."
Pei Ziyun looked at Hu Cao and said, "There is not much time left for the imperial examination to be held, and there are still many officials missing. If you do a good job, you will get what you want."
"Then thank you very much, Mr. Xie Yuang for your kind words." Hu Cao stood up and bowed.
In less than half an hour, with the hard work of several scribes, the booklet of new immigrants in twenty years was completed. This was because people rarely moved in ancient times. Pei Ziyun accepted it, stood up and handed over a banknote. It was not much. Shiliang: "You have worked hard, this is tea money, you share it."
Hu Cao stood up in a hurry and said, "Thank you, Duke Jie Yuang, for the reward!"
Several scribes were also full of joy when they saw it. The leader ate meat and the bottom drank soup. Everyone was satisfied. However, one of the scribes, who was about twenty years old, had worries in his eyes.
After sending Pei Ziyun out, it was almost noon. The clerk was looking for a time and an excuse to go out. When he got to the street, seeing no one around, he said a few words to a vendor. The vendor listened and frowned. , and left in a hurry.
I'm not going to postpone it till night, let's wait till 9am tomorrow morning.
(End of chapter)