Chapter 10 Chapter nine

A large blue woolen sedan chair, which was already three points old, moved slowly on a dusty yellow mud road with the help of the strong legs of the four sedan chairmen. This avenue is torn out from under the city gate of Qingquan County, stretching out into the vast field under the sun, connecting countless trails in the field, forming a huge network on the dusty land. In front of this network, the singular people become insignificant. They are like flying insects that have been plundered on the network. Apart from being eaten, the only option left is to struggle on the network.This struggle is endless, from the beginning of life, until exhaustion, stop breathing.

Ji Xiangnan can no longer earn money.It was beyond his wildest dreams that the Guanyao Bureau could do this.Three days ago, when the bureau was banned, except for two water pumps and a steam winch, he had lost all his money and even sold a bureau house at a discount!At this time, God is sorry to see him, he was awarded the magistrate of Qidu County in Zhili. He went away—and walked away as easily as when the breeze came.In the past seven years, he has not borrowed the official kiln to gain any benefit for himself. Mr. Li knows this. His heart is as clear as a mirror, and he has mentioned his integrity several times.But what's the use of being honest and honest?Seven years of official kiln bureau, a dream of blood and tears, what he left to this land in these seven years, apart from scars and patches of blood, what else?nothing!In other words, he has achieved nothing other than wasting millions of silver from the imperial court and Mr. Li!He is sorry to the imperial court, sorry to Mrs. Li, and sorry to those thousands of poor kiln workers who sacrificed their lives for him!

Opening the silk curtain on the window opening, a dilapidated world came into his field of vision. He saw the locust trees with withered leaves standing by the roadside, embedded with patches of saline-alkali land, and the land was full of overgrown trees. Dry grass.In the far sky, a cloud shaped like remnant smoke is slowly drifting... This ancient land where black gold is buried has gradually returned to calm from the hustle and bustle after the protracted fighting and fighting of all living beings.Both folk kilns and official kilns disappeared, the majesty of the government was re-established, and the laws of the celestial dynasty were unimpeded. All the simple rules and bad habits derived from the kiln.

Seems fine. Everything seems to be fine. However, Ji Xiangnan felt a little empty in his heart.He suddenly remembered a stormy day—it seemed to be here. He rode a big horse and led a huge convoy of thirty-eight wooden oxcarts, dragging heavy machinery and equipment. .It was raining heavily, and a servant asked him to take shelter from the rain, but he refused.At that time, his heart was full, and he felt that he could do something for the court and the country.For the first time in history, he pulled up the car cover and shouted out his own voice: "The imperial court runs official kilns,

"A rich country and a rich people." That was the beginning of his enlightenment to the wisdom of the people. The work chant on the wind and rain was the first jingle he composed for the Guanyao Bureau. He was not stupid or pedantic. Why did he compete for such an ending? ! Naturally, the new governor Li Bingyin is hateful, but without this governor, would he be able to run this official kiln?Not necessarily afraid!Since the establishment of the official bureau, corruption in the officialdom has infiltrated into the bureau, the organization is bloated, the officials are overlapped, and there are too many people to attack each other.There are thirteen associations, each of whom receives an official salary of five hundred taels of silver per month, but none of them work for the official bureau!The facts are undeniable, this piece of land is controlled by Chu Baoyi and a group of aboriginal kiln owners, and they can make a lot of money every day, which is extremely rich, but once they become an official, they will be extremely poor and unable to make ends meet!Chu Baoyi and the small private kilns represented by him did not use modern machinery and equipment, and did not invest huge amounts of silver for the small kilns!He did everything he should do, but he didn't get the benefits he deserved, which made Mr. Li blame him again and again.In fact, can this be his fault?Mr. Li and the group of high-ranking officials and nobles around him are too confused, so many people have been placed to do nothing! ...

Thinking about Mr. Li's fault, Ji Xiangnan's mood calmed down a little.The bitter fruit of failure really shouldn't be swallowed by him alone, Mr. Li and the gang of dignitaries and dignitaries of the Hou Men's Palace also have to take one of them each!To put it bluntly, the imperial court also has a share!If this continues, there will be no hope for the Celestial Dynasty! This idea is out of the ordinary. After all, the Son of Heaven is a sage, and he, Ji Xiangan, is bathed in the mighty grace of the Emperor after all!Right now, isn't he being granted the title of magistrate of Qidu county?The court did not blame him, nor did he forget him!

The sedan chair trembled rhythmically, and the green spring land was thrown behind the sedan chair piece by piece. The setting sun was ahead, and the blue wool sedan chair was distorted by the yellow sunlight, and its deformed shadow was getting more and more vivid on the gray and yellow land. drag on longer. The sunset is infinitely good, but it is almost dusk. He suddenly had a strange feeling, feeling that he had entered the twilight of his life, as if he had spent not seven years on this land, but seventy years, and this hungry land had taken his life away. The juice was sucked dry, sucked up.

He had some regrets, and felt that he shouldn't come here to take risks and set up a kiln, he shouldn't be such a moth throwing fire at all! There is absolutely no hope for the Qing Dynasty—the idea of ​​going out of line came up again. Through the experience of running kilns in the past seven years, he also understood some things. He will do better when he is a county magistrate in Qidu. .If he had relied on his stupidity back then, he would have accomplished nothing. Both Peng Xinzhai and Chu Baoyi were right. Their feelings for Yinzi surpassed their affection for the court; their respect for Yinzi surpassed their respect for the court.This makes sense.Because, the Qing court is really unreliable! "According to the request, the household department knows", eight words determine the fate of the official kiln bureau. From this, one can imagine how stupid the officialdom has become!

Yes, after taking office in Qidu, he will also make money. Isn't money worthy of respect in the first place? ... ——but also cheap!It's really pitiful that the honest and upright general manager has such humble thoughts of rentiers! Ji Xiangnan laughed at himself and closed his eyes. The red and big sunset gradually fell into the abyss of night, and the sky dimmed into darkness.When it was time to light the lamps, the big blue sedan chair was carried into a gray village.After getting off the sedan chair, Ji Xiangnan was stunned: This village is actually a yellow building! The supervisor Huang Dayuan heard that Ji Xiangnan was coming, and he went out with his family to welcome him, so he insisted on inviting Ji Xiangnan to stay at his house for the night.Ji Xiangnan agreed. At this moment, he is no longer the chief executive of the Guanyao Bureau, but the magistrate who is about to take office. Why not have dinner and wine with the supervisor, and talk about poetry?

The master supervisor entertained Ji Xiangnan with a feast. After drinking and eating, the two deliberately talked about poetry. Master Jiansheng first took out a piece of rice paper, wrote a poem on it, and then presented it to Ji Xiangnan with both hands, saying repeatedly: "You're laughing! You're laughing!" Ji Xiangnan took it and looked at it, but the poem was a four-character quatrain titled "Send Jizhi County to the Qidu", and the poem said: After Ji Xiangnan read it, he couldn't help feeling sad.After being stunned for a long while, he happily ordered the pen to make peace:

After finishing writing, there was another burst of unbearable sorrow, so he sighed and said to the master supervisor: "The results of running a kiln and such a low-level job are never expected! Seven years, I and this land, and this land. How many grievances and grievances have been forged by the people, but they are still reluctant to leave now!" "Yes!" Master Jiansheng said, "I know you regret it now! In fact, you should listen to my advice at the beginning. I said earlier that opening a kiln is shameful for merchants, scholars and officials, and opening a kiln will damage Feng Shui and destroy the ground. Qi, there is no good end! You, too, are too stubborn!" Ji Xiangnan shook his head and said: "That's not what I mean. What I mean is that this official kiln should have been successful, but now it doesn't work. There is a reason for it. From the perspective of a lowly position, it should be a man-made disaster, not a Scourge!" Master Jiansheng smiled broadly, slowly shook his head and said: "The matter is over, so let's not talk about it! Let's talk about something else!" But can't pull out anything else.Even though the official kiln bureau no longer exists, even though the chief executive and the supervisor sat on the same bench, they still couldn't find a common language. In the morning of the next day, Ji Xiangnan bid farewell to the supervisor, and he was going to the canal wharf to take a boat to the north. Master Jiansheng sent Ji Xiangnan out of the village. On the mound at the head of the village, the supervisor raised his robe and rolled up his sleeves, bowed his head and bowed his waist, frequently saying goodbye to Ji Xiangnan.Ji Xiangnan also turned around frequently, and solemnly returned the salute: "Treasure! Treasure!..." The supervisor was moved by his sincerity, and his voice trembled a little. "Stay! Stay!..." Ji Xiangnan socialized calmly and politely, with tears in his eyes.He suddenly felt that the old supervisor who saw him off was not bad-hearted, but just a little pedantic and stubborn, and pedantic and stubborn are not the Chinese people's usual roots! Finally, he bowed his hands to the supervisor, and Ji Xiangnan got into the blue woolen sedan chair. The big sedan chair was carried on the shoulders by four loyal sedan chairmen, and it moved forward slowly... The supervisor's heart trembled uncontrollably. At this time, a round of brilliant and dazzling sun was bursting out from the distant sky, and the eastern sky was smeared with blood red.A heavy night is gone, and a brand new dawn begins.The wind blowing from the vast field, with the dew evaporated by the sun, the coolness left by the passing night, and the faint smell of the soil, blows the satin robe of the supervisor. , twitching a stray strand of hair on the forehead of the superintendent... It's an uplifting, wake-up morning! Master Jiansheng twisted the yellow beard on his chin with his white hands, and watched the big blue sedan go away, the smile on his face gradually disappeared - a solemn sense of mission crept onto his face. His broad lungs breathed deeply the cool air from the wilderness, his two deep eyes stared at the empty and unobstructed land for a long time, and suddenly he had the idea of ​​writing a poem!He felt that the four lines of poems given to Ji Xiangnan last night were not good, and the words did not fully express their meaning, but now, he can make good poems!must! The Master Jiansheng didn't wait to figure it out, so he whispered: "The small county is desolate by the canal, and the relics of last night are still dusty. The wild people smashed kilns, the mountains and rivers were broken, and the gentry in the environment are suffering from the Qin Dynasty. How is it that seven years have passed? The sun is cold and the fields are burning. Return to loneliness and walk alone." it is good!it is good!That's good!The master supervisor praised himself, and recited the poem several times.This chanting found a lot of "unreasonable", the first sentence is not right... However, let's ignore it, most of the good verses are made by grinding, as long as you are willing to work hard... Master Jiansheng decided to go home immediately to "polish" this "good poem" that belonged to him alone. Behind him, there was a morning wilderness, a lonely sedan chair staggering alone on the wilderness, a once-prominent chief executive of the kiln bureau and his remnant dreams... Destiny is invincible! The big blue sedan continued to "squeak and creak" on the yellow mud road. The dust raised from the feet of the four sedan chairmen formed a yellow fog, and the big sedan seemed to be floating on the fog. The air in the moor is damp. The floating sedan chair gradually approached a bluestone boundary marker standing beside the yellow mud avenue as it went uphill.The boundary tablet was half buried under the soil, and half was exposed to the ground. The exposed part was about two feet high and more than a foot wide. The side facing the big sedan chair was engraved with the three characters "Qingquan County" squarely. Ji Xiangnan saw the boundary marker from the window of the sedan chair, and told the sedan chair driver to stop. The big sedan chair has already passed the boundary marker. The sedan chairmen took the big sedan off their shoulders and placed it under a willow tree with a crooked neck that had lost all its leaves on the side of the road. They each took out sweat towels and wiped the sweat from their faces and necks. Ji Xiangnan opened the sedan chair curtain and walked out, lifted his numb legs, crossed the dense boundary markers, and stepped onto the land of Qingquan County again. The pale sun has risen above the head, and the whole Qingquan County is shrouded in white sunshine.The existence of the sun is certain, and the inability of the sun is also certain. After all, it is late autumn, and the sun can no longer spread its boundless heat to the world and provide enough warmth to the world like midsummer.However, the world needs the sun, even if the sun completely loses its vitality, leaving only a shell and a symbolic image, people still need it! The imperial court and the Holy Majesty are the sun of the common people.The common people need the imperial court and the sage, just like they need the sun!The imperial court and the holy majesty cannot exist without the imperial court and the holy majesty, which means a kind of order, a kind of hope, and a kind of power to protect all living beings.The court and the Holy Majesty sometimes cast shadows like the sun, cover the clouds, and lose heat, but don't worry, don't be sad, don't despair, the sun will not die forever, and a prosperous morning will surely come! Ji Xiangnan walked down the road and walked into the field.He picked up a handful of wet loess, squeezed and kneaded it gently in his palm, and then threw it back to the ground bit by bit... His eyes were a little blurred, and tears fell down the base of his nose involuntarily down. Through the blurred eyes of tears, he seemed to see the pale and expectant face of Mrs. Li, and saw the scenes of the drama that had been performed on this land; The screams, and the cheers of the kiln residents when the official kiln was banned... His failure does not explain anything else, it only shows his incompetence, his shallowness, and this land, the people on this land, the holy court, and the respected Mr. Li should not be blamed! He finally figured it out, figured it out... With deep guilt, but also deep respect, he knelt down—first on one knee, and then pressed the other knee tightly under a pile of wet soil, facing the green spring. In the vast wilderness of the county, facing the dilapidated abandoned kiln in the wilderness, facing the blue sky and white clouds, kowtowed... A gust of autumn wind. A few fallen leaves. A myth about the Qing Dynasty is over. That year, Sun Yat-sen established the headquarters of the Hsing Chung Hui in Hong Kong to plan an armed uprising. Kang Youwei united 1,300 people from various provinces to take the exam in Beijing, and wrote a letter on the bus, pleading for reform, and the whole of China was vigilant... Afterwards, the Qingquan coal mining industry fell into a slump, and there were no people from the country for more than ten years. It was not until the founding of the Republic of China that people from southern Shanghai successively established companies such as "Zhenya", "Xinghua", and "China". And stirred up many big waves...