After the case was solved, the magistrate of Chun'an immediately dredged the waterway on the river and restored water transportation.
Before boarding the ship, the magistrate of Chun'an specially expressed his gratitude to Zhu Ping'an for his assistance in solving the case.
Of course, in order not to delay everyone's timely progress, the Chun'an County Magistrate simply thanked him, but Zhu Ping'an was as shocked as if he had heard thunder, just like Cao Cao and Liu Bei drinking wine and discussing heroes, and Liu Bei was shocked and dropped his chopsticks. Zhu Ping'an was still a little abnormal until he got on the boat.
Hai Rui!
The magistrate of Chun'an turned out to be Hai Rui!
Calling oneself by name and addressing others by their courtesy names is a basic etiquette for ancient scholars. Just now, when the magistrate of Chun'an expressed his gratitude, he called himself Hai Rui! The name Hai Rui can be said to be a business card of the Ming Dynasty.
I didn't expect to run into Hai Rui here. Now thinking about Hai Rui's patched official uniform, his pride and integrity, and his style of not showing favoritism and not fearing power, I should have guessed that it was him. Especially the magistrate of Chun'an, this was the local official Hai Rui had just entered the officialdom.
Although he had met such great men as Yan Song, Xu Jie, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng before, Zhu Ping'an was still very excited when he met Hai Rui this time.
Hai Rui is an honest official in Chinese history who can be ranked with Bao Zheng. He is a model official in ancient times and one of the few upright officials in the eyes of the people. The legends about him are widely circulated among the people.
Of course, Hai Rui is also a controversial figure in history. There are also many articles about Hai Rui in unofficial history. For example, the story of Hai Rui forcing his 5-year-old daughter to starve to death. Unofficial history records that Hai Rui had a 5-year-old daughter who was innocent and very cute. A male servant gave her a cake to eat. When his daughter was eating, Hai Rui found out and asked his daughter where the cake came from. The daughter answered truthfully. Hai Rui was furious and scolded her, saying that starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's chastity is a big matter. How can a girl accept a male servant's cake? If you have any sense of shame and die of starvation, you will be considered my daughter. His daughter was so scared that she cried and refused to eat anything, and then she really starved to death.
If this unofficial historical record is true, then Hai Rui is simply too unreasonable! He is simply a pedantic, perverted, hypocritical person!
However, I think this record is too ridiculous! Zhu Ping'an had checked history books before, and there was no record of this incident in all the official history of the Ming Dynasty. The story of Hai Rui starving his daughter to death was not recorded until "Wanli Yehuobian", but this book is not an official history, but an unofficial history. Its author was only a nine-year-old kid when Hai Rui died, which means that it was at least 20 years after Hai Rui's death that the unofficial history was recorded. The author also said that he only heard about this incident, and it was not a confirmed rumor.
It is very likely that the story of Hai Rui starving his daughter to death was just a rumor and smear campaign by his political opponents.
Of course, that doesn't mean there is no possibility.
Modern people cannot confirm it, but I can. I just met Hai Rui, and I can verify whether the records about Hai Rui in official history and unofficial history are consistent with the facts. It's my fault that I live in this difficult dynasty.
Hai Rui starved his daughter to death...
First of all, Hai Rui must have a daughter. It seems that there is no record in the official history that Hai Rui has a daughter...
Zhu Ping'an shook his head slightly and smiled, then he calmed down and lowered his head to eat breakfast. This was the breakfast sent by the ship owner. It was a rich breakfast with four dishes and one soup, fresh fish soup from the river and seasonal vegetables, and it tasted delicious.
Because the ship owner knew Zhu Ping'an's identity as a Hanlin official, he refused to let Zhu Ping'an live in his original cabin no matter what, and specially cleaned up a room with the best location and the most comfort for Zhu Ping'an to rest.
Breakfast was just delivered.
Zhu Ping'an declined the ship owner's offer several times but to no avail. He had no choice but to accept it. This was the superiority of his position. No wonder so many people were trying their best to take the imperial examination and become officials.
Not long after Zhu Ping'an finished his breakfast, Yingtian Prefecture was within reach. After another quarter of an hour's sailing, they arrived at Yingtian Prefecture.
After the boat stopped, Zhu Pingan packed up his things and left the cabin. Outside, the owner was already waiting on the deck with Zhu Pingan's horse, and he was very attentive to see Zhu Pingan off the boat. After getting off the boat, the owner insisted on giving Zhu Pingan 50 taels of silver as a gift, but Zhu Pingan firmly refused.
It is already very unfair to stay in a first-class cabin and eat other people's breakfast. How can I charge them money? I am not a corrupt official.
After getting off the boat, Zhu Ping'an didn't want to stay in Yingtian Prefecture for long. Out of courtesy, Zhu Ping'an considered visiting his uncle and other villagers before heading north. The inn where his uncle and others stayed was not difficult to find. Zhu Ping'an thought about it and went to the inn where his uncle had taken the Tongsheng exam last time. As expected, when he asked at the counter, he knew that his uncle and others were staying in this inn again this time.
However, I did not visit my uncle.
My uncle and some villagers went to show their support for a newly minted female schoolmaster. I heard that my uncle and others had been going out early in the morning these days and came back before curfew or early the next morning...
Well, this is my great uncle Zhu Shouren.
Based on his uncle's behavior, Zhu Ping'an had already predicted his uncle's ending without taking an exam.
Female schoolmaster
What is this!
An exam should be taken like an exam! What the hell are you doing, girl schoolmaster? You really think it's a public-funded trip!!! You never learned your lesson!!! If my grandparents knew about this, they would be so angry that they would go crazy!
Since my uncle wasn't here, forget it. Zhu Ping'an was too lazy to go to places of romance, and he was even more lazy to look at the faces of my uncle and others who were chasing after the female schoolmaster. It was too hot for the eyes. In the lobby of the inn, Zhu Ping'an left a note and said goodbye. The note had a few short lines to let my uncle and others know that he had been there. Before leaving, he asked the waiter to hand it to my uncle when he came back.
After leaving the inn, Zhu Ping'an rode his horse northward.
He traveled during the day and stayed overnight at post stations, houses, or sometimes temples. There were almost no people sleeping outdoors in the wilderness. Even if it was late, Zhu Ping'an would walk a few more minutes to find someone to stay at.
There are more paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River and more dry fields in the north. Zhu Ping'an has a deep understanding of this on the road. The further north you go, the fewer paddy fields there are. When staying at someone's house or meeting a farmer on the road, Zhu Ping'an always chats with the locals for a while to learn about the harvest and taxes. People are not wary of the honest young man on the road, and along the way Zhu Ping'an has learned a lot about the lives of the people in various places under the rule of the Ming Dynasty.
In the era of feudal rule, people's living standards were closely related to local officials.
Heavy taxes, government decrees, case trials, etc.
Zhu Ping'an wrote down everything he saw and heard, as well as the issues raised in people's conversations, before going to bed at night, waiting to study them slowly after arriving in the capital.
One day, Zhu Ping'an was on his way and passed by a village called Majiazhuang. The village seemed like an empty city and there was no one in sight. If it were not for the barking of dogs and the sounds of livestock coming from the village, Zhu Ping'an would have suspected that he had come to an abandoned village.
However, as soon as he walked out of the village, Zhu Ping'an saw a lot of noise and loud gongs and drums in front of him. Crowds of people gathered by the river. It turned out that all the villagers had come here, and it seemed that something big had happened.
Judging from the posture, it seems to be a river sacrifice? (To be continued.)