Zhu Ping'an's safe return made the fields of Xiahe Village a sea of joy. When everyone's excitement gradually calmed down, they remembered the other protagonist of the day, and then Feng Hushu, who had been stepped on countless times in the crowd, returned to everyone's sight again.
"Yansheng greets the master."
At this moment, Feng Hushu, who was kneeling on the ground, looked very embarrassed. There were many big footprints on his body, his hands were covered with mud from being stepped on, and cold sweat was pouring down his forehead.
"Huh? Why is this? Why does the scholar need to perform such a great ceremony?" Zhu Ping'an stood in front of Feng Hushu, curled the corners of his mouth and said "huh", then asked Feng Hushu who was kneeling on the ground with a smile on his face.
"My lord, you have turned danger into safety and returned safely. I am so happy that I can't help but do this." Feng Hushu knelt on the ground, his voice trembling with fear.
With footprints, cold sweat, and a trembling voice, Feng Hushu looked very pitiful, but there must be something hateful about a pitiful person!
If I hadn't come back, he would have a different look of superiority at this moment. I don't know how this man would make things difficult for my mother and father. Clerks are the main body of the state's public power directly affecting the people. The tragedy of a small clerk destroying a family is not insignificant in this era. My primary goal in the imperial examination is to improve my family and protect my family. I can tolerate being bullied and humiliated, but I can't tolerate bullying and humiliating my family! The reverse scale of the dragon will anger those who touch it, and my family is my reverse scale.
He was a sixth-rank official who was mistakenly reported to have died, yet this person dared to come to his home and cause trouble. Then what about other powerless families? This person must be even worse. I wonder how many families have been harmed by him.
Therefore, Zhu Ping'an had no intention of repaying evil with kindness for Feng Hushu who was kneeling at his feet. He was not some saintly saint.
"A scholar should not kneel before an official unless he becomes his disciple and worships Confucius. I am not your mentor. If you kneel down to me, doesn't that mean I am so arrogant that I can compare myself to Confucius? Huh?" Zhu Ping'an bent down slightly, looked at Feng Hushu who was kneeling at his feet, and asked with a playful smile.
"I dare not, I dare not." Feng Hushu was completely confused when he heard this. Lord Zhu was thinking too much. But when he saw Zhu Ping'an's questioning eyes, cold sweat broke out on his forehead and he kowtowed repeatedly.
"Look at you, why are you bowing your head again? I'm not so arrogant as to compare myself to Confucius." Zhu Ping'an said as he moved sideways.
"I dare not, I dare not..."
Feng Hushu quickly stood up, bowed to Zhu Ping'an, apologized repeatedly, and then wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeves. At this moment, Feng Hushu's heart was almost broken.
"Well, that's right." Zhu Pingan nodded.
Hearing Zhu Ping'an's words, Feng Hushu breathed a sigh of relief. The tension in his heart could finally be relaxed.
However, the next second, Zhu Pingan nodded and then asked casually, "Where were we just talking about? Oh, right, I remember now. My family also has to pay taxes. When did the court announce the tax payment policy? How come I don't know about it?"
As soon as Zhu Ping'an finished speaking, there was a thud. Feng Hushu, who had just stood up, fell to his knees again with a thud. He was trembling, his face as red as a monkey's butt, and he couldn't utter a word.
The imperial court had never issued any policies, he had done them all on purpose, so when asked by Zhu Ping'an, Feng Hushu just trembled and could not say a word.
When the people in Xiahe Village saw Feng Hushu like this, they all laughed at him. He was so majestic just now, but now he was like a mouse seeing a cat.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Ping'an bent down slightly, looked at Feng Hushu and asked with a raised corner of his lips, "Can't you remember?"
Feng Hushu stammered and couldn't answer.
"Okay, then let me change the question. Who asked you to come?" Zhu Ping'an asked again.
"Yangsheng, Yangsheng... Yangsheng is following the orders of the county magistrate." Feng Hushu felt very unconfident when he said this.
In fact, he did not follow the order of the county magistrate, but acted on his own initiative, wanting to make a fortune and fill his pockets. He did this without telling the county magistrate, just using the county magistrate's name to bluff people. He did this more than once or twice. The common people knew nothing. When they saw that it was someone from the county government, they just did what he said.
As the saying goes: No matter how clean your official is, your clerks are as slippery as oil. Even a clean official can hardly prevent his clerks from harming the people, not to mention ordinary officials. Although the county magistrate is the head of a county and holds the highest power in the county, the county magistrate is after all one person, and most of the county affairs are delegated to others, which gives the clerks an opportunity. In a sense, the county magistrate is only glorious on the surface, but in fact, the sequence of people hiding "behind" him and using his name to make their own benefits are the real masters of this county. He is just a puppet of a large number of people around him, using his name to make their own benefits. These "unknown juniors" hiding behind are the most profitable.
From Feng Hushu's eyes and tone, Zhu Ping'an knew that he had acted on his own initiative in this matter.
"Oh, the magistrate ordered you to come." Zhu Ping'an nodded.
"Yes, yes." Feng Hushu wiped the sweat off his face and nodded. He glanced at Zhu Ping'an carefully, and when he saw that there was nothing unusual on Zhu Ping'an's face, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Since the county magistrate ordered you to come, he must know when the court issued the tax payment policy. In that case, I'll have to trouble Feng Hushu to invite the county magistrate here." Zhu Ping'an said with a playful smile.
ah
"The magistrate... The magistrate is very busy, I'm afraid, I'm afraid he doesn't have the time."
Fortunately, Feng Hushu was kneeling at the moment, otherwise he would have been broken into a cold sweat and fallen to his knees by Zhu Ping'an's question.
"Oh, why can't I, a sixth-rank official, invite a seventh-rank county magistrate?" Zhu Ping'an bent down and looked into Feng Hushu's eyes.
Bang
Upon hearing this, Feng Hushu suddenly changed from kneeling to sitting. He could not kneel any longer and cold sweat streamed down his forehead.
Yes, Zhu Ping'an is a sixth-rank official, and the county magistrate is only a seventh-rank official. The county magistrate of Shangxian is only a sixth-rank official. Huaining County is not a Shangxian County, and the county magistrate is only a seventh-rank official. Zhu Ping'an said that the county magistrate, who was two ranks lower, had to come over no matter how busy he was. If the county magistrate came over, wouldn't everything he did be exposed? At that time, he would not only have to face Zhu Ping'an's anger, but also the county magistrate's anger.
"Take my notes and invite the county magistrate to come to my humble home for a chat. I have prepared simple tea and light meals and will be waiting for you, my noble magistrate." Zhu Ping'an stood up, took out a small seal from his waist, and instructed a servant in a serious tone.
"Yes, sir." The officer took the seal and did not dare to hesitate.
"Please forgive me, my Lord. I know I was wrong. I am reporting to you that it was because I was greedy for money and disregarded the law. I was lured by your uncle Zhu Shouren and committed a foolish act."
Seeing this, Feng Hushu was completely frightened. Without saying a word, he slapped himself in the face, repeatedly apologized to Zhu Ping'an, and no longer dared to hide anything, and told Zhu Ping'an everything.
Hearing
The crowd...
There was dead silence all around, even the air seemed to be frozen, and you could hear a pin drop. At this moment, a slight sound of footsteps was extremely obvious.
Everyone turned their heads
In the crowd, there was an inharmonious figure standing tall and majestic. It was my uncle Zhu Shouren, who was leaving on tiptoe... (To be continued.)