Chapter 38 5. On the eve of leaving Shanxi, Zhang Zhidong knew that Sanjin was still growing poppies
In the afternoon, Zhang Zhidong returned to the Fu Office.As soon as Zhun'er saw his father, he said, "Father, master said today that we are going to go to Guangdong with you. Master and we are about to part. Father, is this true? If you want to go to Guangdong, take master with you. Come on, I won't say goodbye to the master." As he spoke, a few tears flowed down his little face.
Zhang Zhidong hurriedly wiped away tears for his beloved daughter, and said: "Kids, don't worry about these things, you just learn to read and play the piano with the master."
Ready to go out.However, she did not expect that her childish words made her father fall into deep thought.
In fact, Zhang Zhidong thought about Li Peiyu on the second day after receiving the imperial decree.We are about to leave Taiyuan, what will Peiyu do?Let her go to Guangzhou with Zhuner?Peiyu has old parents involved.For more than a year, Peiyu returned to live with her parents in Jinci Temple for two or three days every month.Once, her mother fell and sprained her back.Her father sent someone to the care office to take her back to take care of her mother. Peiyu felt very difficult for this: if she didn't go back, she would not be able to justify it anyway;When she was in a dilemma, Zhang Zhidong knew about it, and said to her, you might as well take Zhun'er to Jinci Temple, stay there for ten and a half months, and bring her back when your mother is better.Peiyu was grateful for Futai's thoughtfulness, and took Zhun'er back to Jinci Temple, where she took care of her mother and taught Zhun'er how to read and play the piano.Returning to the yamen half a month later, Zhun'er was very happy, said Jinci Temple was fun, and pestered father to agree that she would go to Jinci Temple with her master for a few days every time from now on.From then on, Peiyu really brought Zhuner with her every time she went home.Peiyu has no siblings, so how could she leave her parents?If you don't go with me, then you will really be parted from now on.When it comes to parting, not only is it hard to part, even Zhang Zhidong himself suddenly feels a little melancholy.
Zhang Zhidong likes to listen to Peiyu playing the piano.Every day, before Peiyu taught Zhun'er to play the piano, she would play a piece of music in its entirety.In Peiyu's case, the purpose of doing this is first of all to bring Zhun'er into a beautiful artistic realm and cultivate Zhun'er's interest in piano art.Secondly, this is also her self-entertainment: Qin art is an important part of her life, with it, life can be fulfilled and life can be meaningful.Playing a complete piece every day is precisely to keep the piano art from getting unfamiliar.As for Zhang Zhidong, whenever possible, he would put down the official documents in his hands and come to the backyard at this time, sit alone in the small study and listen quietly, and did not return to the signing room until the end of the song.
At this time, there is always a sense of Ningxin in the depths of his spiritual mansion.Sometimes, some hallucinations appear in his mind: he always thinks that the beautiful music is played by his mother who died when he was young, or by his first wife who has been separated from him for more than ten years.The sound of the piano brought him back to the years he will always miss in his mother's arms, to the years when he was in close contact with Mrs. Shi.That was the most peaceful and warm day in his life!
At times like this, he would often ask himself: Did he recruit Peiyu to the Fufu to find a master for his daughter, or to find a kind of comfort for himself?He couldn't answer the question he raised, as if at this moment, he felt that Peiyu was already an indispensable person in his life.
That night, Peiyu accidentally talked about "harmony" with him, and talked about her own understanding of "harmony" from the perspective of playing the piano.This "harmony", which was described by the scripture teachers as miraculous, was explained so concretely and plainly, audibly and tangibly by an ordinary female luthier.Harmony among the voices makes music, harmony among the people makes a state, and harmony among states makes a country.Great principles come from small principles, and small principles can often inspire the emergence of great principles.The governor of Shanxi comprehended the profound principles of Anbang governing the country from the unintentional conversation of a female luthier.
From that day on, Zhang Zhidong began to look at Peiyu differently.
Zhang Zhidong is not pure-minded, at the age of forty-six or seventeen, he still needs the warmth of a woman. It is the lack of caring and informed women around him for many years that makes him feel "the rarest and most affectionate thing in life".In the past two years, it's not that he hasn't thought about remarrying, but every time he thinks about it, he feels sad.After learning that the new governor turned out to be a widower who lost his wife, many people in Taiyuan City wanted to match up a marriage for the governor for various purposes, but Zhang Zhidong's heart was still not warm.There is a knot in his heart that has never been untied.
He didn't understand why the three wives he married successively couldn't grow old with him, even Mrs. Wang, who was more than ten years younger than him, was not spared. Was it destined to kill his wife?Six months ago, Sang Zhiping chatted with him and said that there was a Yuan Banxian in Taiyuan City, a descendant of Yuan Tiangang, who was very accurate in fortune-telling, and many people looked for him.Therefore, he raised his social status and charged two liang of silver at a time. Even though the fee was so expensive, many people still came here from afar.Zhang Zhidong's heart moved: why not ask him why?
In the afternoon, he came to Yuan Banxian's house accompanied by Sang Zhiping, a small hat in green clothes, and first handed over two taels of silver.Nearly eighty years old, Yuan Banxian looked Zhang Zhidong up and down with his small sunken eyes, and said, "Mr.'s life is very good, why are you here looking for me?"
Zhang Zhidong was taken aback, and thought about it: "What do you mean? I'm just a poor school teacher, and my life is very bad."
Yuan Banxian opened his small eyes as wide as possible, stared at Zhang Zhidong fiercely, and squeezed Zhang Zhidong's chin a few times with his black and thin hands like eagle claws, and said with a sneer: "Sir, don't hide it." I am an old man. Although your face is very ordinary, your bones are much more valuable than ordinary people. Ordinary people look at faces, they only look at faces, and only see Mr. as a school teacher or accountant. What the old man sees is bones. Listen Mr.'s accent doesn't look like that of a Shanxi native, and according to my old guess, Mr. is either Yushitai, who was sent by the capital to Taiyuan for private investigation, or a passing nobleman from other provinces."
Seeing that he was so sure, Zhang Zhidong couldn't help admiring him, so he stopped bickering with him and said with a smile: "You said that my life is good, of course it is something I wish for. I would like to ask you, my friend." Is there anything else missing in life?"
Yuan Banxian looked at Zhang Zhidong for a long time, and said slowly: "Sir, you will have no shortage of blessings, salary, and longevity in your life. If you want to say what you lack, what you lack is a companion. The word 'companion' is stingy to you. The old man dares to ask, sir." Have you ever experienced the pain of bereavement?"
Zhang Zhidong nodded.
"And not only lost a wife?" Yuan Banxian asked again, with two sharp eyes, like two hooks trying to hook Zhang Zhidong's heart out.
Zhang Zhidong shuddered involuntarily, and nodded again.
"Oh!" Yuan Banxian breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Mr.'s bone is too heavy. If my wife is not someone with heavy bone, she can't bear it. But it is not easy to find a woman with a matching bone."
"According to what you say, I will have to be a widower for the rest of my life?"
"No, no." Yuan Banxian shook his head.
Sang Zhiping said from the side: "Please enlighten the old fairy!"
Yuan Banxian touched his thin chin with his thin hand, and then said with a half-smile: "Find a woman and don't give her the title of wife, so there is no need to have a bone that matches Mr. This woman can stay with you forever without separation."
"You mean buying a woman as a concubine, not as a wife?"
"Yes." Yuan Banxian nodded, "Buying a concubine instead of a wife is beneficial to both of you."
A look of joy appeared on Zhang Zhidong's face, and he got up to say goodbye.Sang Zhiping took out another tael of silver from his pocket, thanking Yuan Banxian for his enlightenment.
Sang Zhiping knew that Zhang Zhidong wanted to find another woman, so he advised him: "You need a woman to take care of you, just follow what the old man said, buy a concubine!"
Zhang Zhidong didn't make a sound.Sang Zhiping knew that he was moved.
If the Futai is to be placed in a side room, many people will naturally come to participate enthusiastically.There was an endless stream of people leading people to the Yamen, and Zhang Zhidong looked down on them.At this moment, he realized that there was already someone deep in his heart, and that person was Peiyu.
Peiyu is not an ordinary woman, if she is wronged to be a concubine, will she be willing?He asked Sang Zhiping's wife, Mrs. Chai, to test it first.Sure enough, the female luthier rejected the governor's kindness.Zhang Zhidong felt a sense of desolation in his heart.At the banquet of Jinyang Academy, the story of Taiyuan prostitute that Liu Sen said came to his mind again.Ouyang Zhan, who has been down for half his life, can win the life and death promise of a stunning woman, but as a dignified governor, I can't get the love of a female luthier. What is the reason?
The rarest thing in life is love.Yes, rare!He found Li Fang's "Taiping Guangji" and re-read the poem Ouyang Zhan gave to the prostitutes in Taiyuan:
No wonder the prostitute in Taiyuan could die for him. How much affection does this Bamin talent have for his lover who has become a firework girl!Love is rare, and what is rare is that two hearts bond with each other, and two loves agree with each other.Peiyu disagreed, probably because she didn't know my feelings.Zhang Zhidong decided to let go of his airs and pour out his true feelings to his lover as an ordinary person.
When Peiyu was feeling uneasy for rejecting the governor, she did not expect Futai to come to her room in person.She was flustered in her heart, but she remained calm on the surface: "Your Excellency will be promoted to Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Peiyu congratulates you on your promotion."
"Thank you." Zhang Zhidong sat down opposite Peiyu, with a heavy heart. "Being the governor is a promotion, but Guangdong and Guangxi are in troubled times right now. From my point of view, I have more worries than joys. People can't help themselves in the officialdom. To tell you the truth, if it is up to me to choose, At this time, I don't want to be promoted to be the governor of Guangdong, but I would rather be my governor of Shanxi in Taiyuan."
Peiyu lived in Yamen, and often heard people talk about the war between the Chinese army and France in Yunnan and Guangxi.In Peiyu's view, going to Guangdong at this moment may not be a good job.She knew that what Zhang Zhidong told her was the truth.But she never thought that the future governor would speak his mind to such a lowly and weak woman like her.She said casually: "The empress dowager and the emperor trust your lordship, and your lordship is also very capable. The affairs of Guangdong and Guangxi will be handled well."
"I hope so."
As if muttering to himself, Zhang Zhidong casually said this sentence.He looked at Peiyu.Peiyu's demeanor was not as calm and generous as before. As soon as she met Zhang Zhidong's gaze, she immediately lowered her head in shame, her face flushed red.When her cheeks are flushed, Pei Yu suddenly becomes more beautiful.
Twenty-seven or eight-year-old Peiyu originally had handsome features and a well-proportioned figure, but firstly, she came from a poor family, and her passion for piano art made her develop a simple and elegant habit; secondly, as a widow, her worldly vision and her own Her mood prevented her from putting on makeup and powder and wearing red and green.Normally, in Zhang Zhidong's eyes, Peiyu was good in everything, but she was a little dim.At this moment, this peach-like blush suddenly made her dazzling.Zhang Zhidong cried out secretly in his heart: It turns out that Peiyu is actually a beauty more beautiful than Shi Shi and Wang Shi, and he hadn't discovered it in the past!A hot current suddenly ran through his whole body.He felt that he was as passionate and passionate as a young man in his twenties and thirties.Could it be that Peiyu made me go back in time and regain my youth?Zhang Zhidong was amazed by his own fantasy, he was extremely excited, and there was a surge of emotion that he must marry Peiyu, and he couldn't hold it back any longer!He really wanted to shout "I like you" to the female luthier, but his voice was lowered when he reached his mouth, and what he spit out was another sentence: "I hope you marry me, but you don't. I didn't expect you to disagree."
When Peiyu heard Zhang Zhidong say these words bluntly, her face flushed even more, she buried her head deeply, her mouth was tightly pressed, and she didn't speak for a long time.
Zhang Zhidong chased after him, "Why don't you marry me? Do you think I'm old or ugly?"
Peiyu's eyes were fixed on her pair of blue cloth shoes, and her chest was like the rough sea and the sky with chaotic clouds, and she couldn't grasp it herself.
"You're talking!"
Zhang Zhidong is a staunch and quick-tempered person, if he didn't have deep love for this female luthier, such a long silence would have already greatly stimulated his self-esteem, and he would even walk away.
Peiyu tried her best to suppress the waves and chaotic clouds in her chest, and finally spoke: "Little girl is not worthy to talk about this matter with adults."
"Why?" Seeing Peiyu speak, Zhang Zhidong's impatience that had just sprouted immediately calmed down. "I know, you think I'm old. Don't look at my temples are white, I'm not yet forty-eight years old. I was born in the year of Daoguang Dingyou, a rooster. Do the math for me to see if I'm forty-eight years old? Two or three years ago, I only had a few gray hairs, but after I came to Shanxi, my temples became gray. I never thought that it would turn gray so quickly."
Although Peiyu didn't think he was old, she didn't expect him to be only forty-eight years old.Looking at his appearance, Peiyu always thought he was fifty-four or five years old.The female luthier shook her head slightly.
It's not that I'm old.Thinking of this in Zhang Zhidong's heart, his confidence immediately increased a bit.
"I know, I just think I'm ugly." Zhang Zhidong said frankly, "I'm a bit ugly, I'm not very tall, and my facial features are not neat. I know myself. But since ancient times, choosing a son-in-law It’s not about appearance. A man is not about how good he looks, but whether he has talent. The queen mother didn’t think I was ugly, so she let me be the governor of Shanxi, and now she wants me to be the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, dealing with foreigners. The queen mother doesn’t worry about making me look ugly. If the ugly Zhang goes to deal with foreigners, he will lose face to the Qing Dynasty, and she knows that the Qing Dynasty will lose face only if the governor has no talent."
To be honest, Peiyu didn't marry Zhang Zhidong because he was ugly, but after hearing this confession, she saw that Futai was a funny person, and also an open-minded person.The luthier who has been a married woman knows that a man who is open and ugly is far better than a man who is narrow and handsome. The words "The Queen Mother doesn't think I'm ugly" made Peiyu want to laugh, but she tried her best to restrain herself.Although he didn't laugh out loud, his mood was lighter than before.
Not too old, not too ugly, then there is no other reason, only one point, that is, she does not want to be a concubine.Zhang Zhidong understood Peiyu's feelings, he wanted to explain this matter to her sincerely and meticulously.
"Peiyu, I see. You mean that I shouldn't take you as a concubine, instead of marrying you as my wife. You think that your status is not right, and you are worried that you will be angry if a real wife comes in in the future, right?"
Having said that, I just got to the point.Although Peiyu's family is poor, it is also a scholarly family. Although she is a widow in her natal family, she is also an innocent girl from a good family. Being a concubine is something she has never thought about.Even if that person's home is full of gold and silver, even if she lives in her mother's house all her life in a deserted and poor life, Peiyu, who is ingenious and skilled at playing the piano, is not willing to be someone else's concubine.
She raised her head, quickly looked at Zhang Zhidong's eager eyes, and immediately lowered her eyes.At this moment, she nodded subconsciously, expressing her agreement with Zhang Zhidong's guess.
"Peiyu, let me explain to you slowly." Zhang Zhidong said with a heavy heart, "You have been teaching Zhun'er to read and play the piano for two years since you came to the yamen. Powerful and majestic Futai, you may not know, this Futai is actually a miserable and lonely person."
Peiyu's feminine heart was immediately attracted by Zhang Zhidong's sentimental words.Yes, she really didn't know that the governor was still a miserable lonely person.She raised her head slowly, and the shyness and fear in her eyes were reduced a lot.
"My mother died when I was four years old. My father's concubine Mrs. Wei was the one who raised me. For decades, I have always regarded Mrs. Wei as my biological mother. I lived in Hubei, When she was studying politics in Sichuan, she was taken to the government office to take care of her. After she died of illness, I personally sent her to be buried in the ancestral tomb of Nanpi."
In Peiyu's mind, a concubine has no status. She did not expect that the governor was brought up by his father's concubine, and he was very respectful to his father and concubine.She couldn't help feeling a bit of pity and respect for the Futai in front of her.
"Old lady Wei told me that my mother loved playing the piano most when she was alive, and she showed me the guqin left by her mother. Old lady Wei can't play the piano herself, but she can imitate the posture of her mother playing the piano. The sound of the qin played by my mother is so beautiful. For this reason, the qin has a sacred status in my heart since I was a child. Later, when my first wife Shi Shi came over, I gave the Guqin left by my mother to She wants her to learn how to play the qin. Mrs. Shi is smart and will be able to play the qin very soon."
Peiyu listened quietly.Qin, shortened the distance between her and the aloof Master Futai.
"That night, I listened to you playing the piano in Jinci Temple. Guess what I thought? I thought it was my mother playing the piano, and I thought it was my first wife Shi Shi playing the piano. So, I must see you the next day , and insist on asking you to come into the mansion to teach my daughter how to play the piano."
Peiyu's heart skipped a beat.This Futai, who is usually serious and mighty, has such pure filial piety and deep feelings!She raised her eyes involuntarily, and looked at Zhang Zhidong quietly, her eyes were no longer shy and fearful, but rippling with tenderness like water.
"In the mansion, I often listened to you playing the piano alone in the small study. Your piano music gave me great enjoyment. At that time, I had such an extravagant hope: it would be great if I could enjoy this kind of enjoyment every day for the rest of my life."
Peiyu's whole body warmed up.It has always been hard to find a bosom friend, let alone such a bosom friend, there is only one person in the world.The artist's desire for appreciation is intertwined with the woman's desire for admiration, and the female luthier's heart is moved.
She said softly: "Thank you for your love. If I had known that you like to listen to my piano so much, I could play a few songs for you every day."
"Good! From now on, I will ask you to play a few songs for me every day." Zhang Zhidong took Peiyu's words and emphasized it.
Peiyu realized that the clever Futai had taken advantage of the loophole in what she said just now, and a blush appeared on her face again.This blush once again dressed her up beautifully.
"That night, you talked about the principle of the word "he" from the perspective of a luthier, which gave me a deeper understanding of the "Le Ji" that I have read since I was a child, and I was inspired a lot. I thought, if you can If you are always by my side, you will not only allow me to hear beautiful piano music every day, but you can also be my helper, you can make up for my mistakes, correct my mistakes, half as a good teacher, half as a good friend."
Peiyu felt that she couldn't bear the importance: "My lord is serious. What the little girl said on the spur of the moment that night, it can't be taken seriously."
"No, you spoke very well that night." Zhang Zhidong said solemnly, "harmony is the foundation of music; harmony is also the best way to govern a state. The way for a sage to govern the world is probably from musicians. Inspired by playing qin music. Laozi said that governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. The big truth and the small truth are actually interlinked. Well, I won’t say more about these. But you have to believe me, I did get what you said A lot of enlightenment. I see your talent in handling affairs here, and you can be my helper in the future."
Peiyu was quite moved by Zhang Zhidong's words.She has noticed the weight of the words: bosom friend, helper.This is obviously not an ordinary big official buying a concubine, using the bought woman as a plaything, a maidservant, or a slave who will be disposed of at will, but placing her in an equal position with himself.If this is the case, as a woman from a commoner family and a widow who lost her husband and emperor, what else can she say?But, in this case, why not marry me in through the gate with eight sedan chairs, and make me the main wife?Peiyu was very puzzled.
"Now let me talk about the reason why I didn't marry you in as Mrs. Xu Xian."
Zhang Zhidong found it difficult to say this, and he made a decision in his heart: if Peiyu insisted on not agreeing to be a concubine, he would change his mind and would rather take another risk and marry Peiyu.Peiyu is too important to him.
After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Zhidong said: "You may not know that I had three wives before. The first wife, Shi Shi, was less than 30 years old when she died. The next wife, Tang Shi, was 34 years old when she passed away. The third wife, Wang Shi, was thirty-five years old when she died. They all left me at a young age, which made me very painful and strange. Yuan Banxian in Taiyuan City told me that my life was too hard, If a woman wants to keep it for a long time, she must not take the title of wife."
After a short pause, he said with a very earnest attitude: "I like you very much, and I must marry you, but I don't want you to follow the old path of Shi, Tang, and Wang. For you, and for me, that's why I married you." Make this arrangement. Can you understand my difficulty?"
Peiyu only knew that Zhun'er's mother passed away when she was in her thirties, but she didn't know that there were two others who passed away prematurely in their youth.Because of her own misfortune, Peiyu also believes in fate.She believed that it was because of her bad luck that she became a widow and became a widow.One lost his wife three times, and the other lost his relatives twice. From the point of view of the loss of family affection, both of them are at the bottom of the world in the emotional world.Yes, it is better to be a concubine and stay together for a long time than to be a wife and live a short life.Peiyu glanced at Zhang Zhidong, but didn't speak, but Zhang Zhidong saw understanding in her eyes, and he was overjoyed.
The passion of a man, driven by love from the bottom of his heart, made him forget for a moment the dignity of the governor and the solemnity of a middle-aged man. His two strong hands grabbed Peiyu's two slender hands and said emotionally: " Peiyu, marry me, I will always treat you well. Although you live in a concubine in name, in fact, there is no wife in your family. You are the wife. All internal affairs are entrusted to you and you are in charge. Buying a concubine to ask for a concubine, and no one will come to compete with you. Zhun'er has been intimate with you for the past two years. She cried when she heard that you were going back to Jinci Temple yesterday. She is reluctant to let you go. Look at Zhun'er For the sake of it, you stay!"
When talking about the daughter who was motherless in childhood, Zhang Zhidong's strong man's heart has turned into a loving mother, and his voice trembles unconsciously.
The promise of being a concubine but actually being his wife, Zhun'er's heart and her tears finally convinced Peiyu.Everything is fine, so it shouldn't be a bad name.Although Peiyu is very intelligent, she is still a poor and miserable weak woman.She believed in fate and God's will, and she no longer insisted on refusing.Zhang Zhidong hugged Peiyu and held her tightly in his arms.Peiyu didn't evade, nor pressed her face to Zhang Zhidong's chest.She didn't feel much joy and happiness.She has never thought of climbing into the official family. Her greatest wish is to meet a man who is sincere and compassionate, and live with him through thick and thin and start a family business.She knows that when entering an official house, there are many scenery that outsiders can see, but at the same time, there are many troubles that outsiders can't see.She didn't know what the future would be like.Thinking of her husband who died young and Jiaoer who died at the age of two, thinking of not holding the pipa from now on, and being a wife again, Peiyu's heart hurts sharply, and tears flow like rain!
After a long while, she broke free from Zhang Zhidong's grasp and said softly, "I still have to go home and tell my parents, and listen to their opinions."
"Yes, yes." Zhang Zhidong said hastily, "That's what you should. I'll send someone to take you to Jinci Temple tomorrow, and explain it clearly to the two old people and ask them to agree."
"Also." Peiyu said in a soft voice, "My parents only have one daughter, and they are getting old day by day, and they need someone to take care of them. I want to ask the adults to agree to let them go with me."
"Okay, okay." Zhang Zhidong agreed hastily. "Serving your parents is the duty of a child. Your parents are only your daughter, so they should follow you to Guangdong. They can live in a government office or rent a house to live outside. Everything is up to them. "
Peiyu didn't say anything anymore, and her heart gradually calmed down.
It is the end of spring and the beginning of summer, when the land of the Three Jin Dynasties is green and the flowers are yellow, and everything is thriving. Zhang Zhidong ends his two-and-a-half-year term as governor in Shanxi, and shoulders the important task of the new military aircraft department with King Chun as his backing, with the goal of helping the world , Suzhi, who manages Babiao, left Taiyuan and went to the place where the court and the field, Europe and Asia are concerned. He will use his whole body as a pillar of the south sky to prop up a corner of this precarious empire building.The forty-eight-year-old middle-aged governor can't help but have mixed feelings: the heart of grand ambitions and the sense of responsibility coexist at the same time.
However, unlike going to Jin alone back then, at this time, he had a talented and knowledgeable life partner by his side.Living together these days, the warmth that Peiyu brought to Zhang Zhidong had a miraculous effect on him, as if his youth had returned, and Zhang Zhidong felt that his whole body was filled with the same feeling as it was twenty years ago. Inexhaustible vitality.He reviewed the major events that he had done in the past two years: eradicating poppies, rewarding farming and mulberry, quitting smoking and banning smoking, checking treasury funds, investigating corrupt officials, rectifying officials, exempting apportionment, and suspending the poverty of the people.Although these political achievements were obtained with the hard work of completely white temples, they are very worthwhile.Seeing the lush and busy crops on both sides of the ancient road, Zhang Zhidong's face was filled with relief.
When the car arrived in Yinying Town, he remembered the small restaurant on the way that year, so he called Dagen and said, "Go and talk to that boss Xue again, and ask him if the poppies have been eradicated, and the life of ordinary people is better." Is it better?"
After half an hour, Dagen caught up with the convoy.
"Have you seen that Boss Xue? How's the situation here?" Zhang Zhidong hoped that the change from this small point would show his great political achievements in the past two years.
"I see." Dagen was not in high spirits. "Boss Xue said that the poppies here are still growing, but there are no poppies on the side of the road. Less than ten miles away from both sides of the road, the poppies there are still the same as before."
"Why do they still do this?" Zhang Zhidong became angry.
"I also asked. Boss Xue said that there is no planting on both sides of the road, just to deal with the government. The common people still need to plant, and they need to rely on it to support their families."
"Has the exorbitant taxes been reduced?" After a pause, Zhang Zhidong asked again.
"Boss Xue said that nothing has been reduced. The original titles are gone, and some new titles have been added. After a year, the money paid by the common people is not much different from the past. If the common people do not grow opium, these taxes will not be able to be paid at all. Hand in. Boss Xue also said that the government also has its difficulties. Once the chief secretary of Pingding County ate at his restaurant, saying that the money paid by the provincial treasury to the county government for a year was not enough for everyone to eat, let alone have the money to run It’s a public welfare matter. The county government doesn’t ask the common people. Who wants it? So the government later found out that poppies are still being grown in large quantities, so they turned a blind eye and closed their eyes.
Zhang Zhidong didn't ask any more questions.This is the case in Yinying Town, and it seems that other places are similar. The look of relief just now has long since disappeared from his face.A realization suddenly and clearly appeared in his mind: the fundamental crux of China is the poverty of the people. If this crux is not resolved, no virtuous government will be implemented.So, how can we make the people rich?This is a really big and thorny problem.He thought: After finishing the affairs of France, he must devote all his energy to the matter of enriching the people.
However, the new governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, who was born in Qingliu, did not expect that the affairs of France would be difficult to settle. There are too many and complicated reasons for this.Just as Zhang Zhidong was traveling thousands of miles south, activities in front of and behind the scenes in the political arena of the capital were going on intensely.