Chapter 58 The fifty-eighth section is praised by the people for eliminating harm for the people

The next day, Wei Dequan, a doctor who was treating the prefect Liu Xiangdong, was summoned to the court.As soon as he saw the flag of Wang Ming, Wei Dequan told the whole truth without waiting for Zeng Guofan to torture him. The last dose of medicine that Wei Dequan prepared for Liu Xiangdong was indeed poisoned. The name of the medicine was "overnight pouring", but Zhang Ye was the instigator.What Zhang Ye said to Wei Dequan that day was: "If Liu Xiangdong dies, you live; if Liu Xiangdong lives, you die." Wei Dequan chose the former. Zhang Ye was stripped of his crown that day and taken to the temporary prison in the Admiral's Mansion.Zeng Guofan and Guanwen also ordered the admiral's office to send personnel to cooperate with the Hunan provincial procuratorate to go to Xiangxiang to confiscate all Zhang Ye's property, and his family also took it.All the above-mentioned people who complained of grievances were all ordered to continue the trial by the procuratorate.

Zeng Guofan and Guanwen jointly participated in the play "The inferior member Zhang Ye killed the imperial court and ordered the officials to be executed according to the law, and the people's fat and people's anointing that they searched have been confiscated" was sent to the capital by the admiral's office on the same day. After dinner that day, Guan Wen asked the bureau to listen to meat music in his room.Zeng Guofan also changed into casual clothes and took Liu Heng with him to stroll around the night scene of Changsha relaxedly.Changsha is very familiar to Zeng Guofan.

Before Zeng Guofan went to Hanlin, he would come to Yuelu Academy every year to visit his mentor Ouyang Tanzhai, talk about poetry with a few good friends, and live in Changsha for a few days.Zeng Guofan has worshiped many masters, and the one he will never forget is Ouyang Tanzhai, the head of Yuelu Academy.Ouyang Tanzhai was born in two rankings. Because he couldn't get along with the Manchus, he retired (retired) in the post of Yousi Chancellor of Dali Temple.Ouyang Tanzhai was not only good in learning, but also good in conduct. He was an official in Beijing for five years, but he didn't bring back a single piece of extra luggage, which was passed down as a good story.

When Ouyang Tanzhai passed away three years ago, Zeng Guofan also sent a condolence scroll, and repeatedly urged his younger brothers in letters to Changsha to visit his sick mother-in-law on his behalf, to show filial piety to his disciples.The younger brothers listened to his elder brother very much, and went to Changsha three or four times a year to see Mrs. Ouyang for him, and wrote to him after reading it. In the letters, the younger brothers always said that the life of Ouyang's family was very hard, and Mrs. Ouyang always had to go hungry one or two days out of five.Every time he read letters from his younger brothers, Zeng Guofan felt uncomfortable for many days.Zeng Guofan had expected Mrs. Ouyang's fate to be so miserable.Ouyang Tanzhai had five sons when he died, but none of them were capable: the eldest was addicted to whoring, the second loved to gamble, the third couldn’t do without opium for a moment, the fourth was stealing and robbing, and the fifth was a serious person. , but he wears a long gown left by his old father all day long, and writes complaints for others at the gates of various yamen, but he just got a moistening pen and goes to the tavern, often chanting about how long the sun and the moon are in the pot.Zeng Guofan came to Changsha to handle the case this time, and on the night of his arrival, he asked the accompanying guards to send fifty taels of silver to Mrs. Ouyang to talk about her difficulties.

The moonlight was very good that night, and the shouts of selling food and groceries on both sides of the street were very loud. Zeng Guofan was caught in the bustling crowd, reminiscing about the old street scene while browsing the goods of the merchants with great interest.Liu Heng nervously followed behind him, not daring to be careless. Zeng Guofan suddenly stopped in front of a stall selling Sichuan-flavored noodles.He saw that the stall owner who was delivering noodles to customers was extremely familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.The man was tall, with whiskers, eyes that were one big and one small, spoke a Sichuan accent, and moved his ears when he spoke, handing bowls and chopsticks to and fro.Rolling out noodles by the stove, there is a woman with a pretty face underneath. Beside the woman, there is a soldier from the green battalion who looks similar to the owner of the stall.As soon as Zeng Guofan picked up a free stool and sat down, a man with a Sichuan accent came over and asked, "Do you want a bowl too? Three big bucks, it's delicious!"

Zeng Guofan followed the sound carefully, stood up abruptly, pointed at the man and said, "Is it Bao Fu who is asking?" The man was taken aback, and hurriedly took a step forward, saying, "How do you know me?" Zeng Guofan pointed at the Green Camp soldiers standing beside him and said, "Is that your younger brother Bao Chao? My younger sister Bao Yan was also taken back from the Pingyuan County Government?" "Oh!" The man slapped his thigh and said, "The benefactor has arrived!" As Bao Fu said, he pulled up the Green Battalion soldier and said, "Brother, hurry up and kowtow, this is the Lord Qingtian who I often tell you about privately visiting Pingyuan!"

People passing by didn't know what happened here, and they all gathered around to watch the excitement.Liu Heng hurriedly squeezed to Zeng Guofan's side, using his hands to protect him from being crowded forward. Zeng Guofan hurriedly helped the two brothers up, and whispered: "Don't make it public, this is not a place to talk." Bao Fu pointed to a house and said: "Go, drink a cup of tea under the house, and let the little old lady see you too." benefactor!" Zeng Guofan looked at Liu Heng who was standing beside him, and said hesitantly, "It's late today, let's try another day. Not only do I want to drink tea, but I also want to taste Bao Yan's craftsmanship!"

But Bao Chao stared at the bull's eye and said thunderously: "We must go today! This noodle is not for sale!" As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed a person who was buried in eating noodle, gently pulled it out, and put The man staggered for several steps before standing still. Seeing Bao Chao's fierce look, the others also put down their bowls and chopsticks one after another, not daring to continue eating. When Bao Fu saw it, he quickly made amends with a smile to smooth things over: "My brothers are irritable, please be more patient. Tomorrow night, as long as you are willing to show your face, I will give away a bowl for free."

Bao Chao had already tidied up the stall with a tiger's face, spilling the soup all over the floor and breaking four or five bowls.Seeing that Bao Chao was extremely vulgar, Zeng Guofan wanted to run away. Bao Chao seemed to have glimpsed into Zeng Guofan's mind, and the booth was not tidy, so he took Zeng Guofan's hand and said loudly: "Go, let the little one give you a good kowtow at home!" Zeng Guofan shouted: "Strong man, let go of your hand! You can't break my hand!" As soon as Liu Heng heard this, he knew that the man surnamed Bao had shot too hard, so he ran over to grab Bao Chao, but Bao Chao let go of his hand early, fell to his knees with a plop, and said, "Bao Chao is impatient, don't blame your benefactor. Bao Chao wanted his benefactor to go to Shexia wholeheartedly, but he really had no other intentions. Xiao’s home is very close!”

Zeng Guofan shook his hand, and it took him a long time before he said, "Strong men please stand up, let's lead the way!" Hearing this, Bao Chao immediately stood up, picked up the burden that Bao Fu had tidied up, pushed aside the crowd of onlookers, and walked away with a smile.Seeing him walking fiercely, people gave way one after another, and those who couldn't dodge were hit by him with soup all over their bodies.The person who was hit dared to be angry but did not dare to speak. Sure enough, Bao's house was very close, just across the street, and a very broken wooden door was particularly conspicuous.

A few steps away from the wooden door, Bao Chao grinned and shouted, "Sister-in-law, open the door quickly, my brother and I have invited my benefactor!" The wooden door was opened, and three and a half older children ran out first, screaming around Uncle Bao Chao and Uncle Chang.Bao Chao didn't answer. He first grabbed a child with his left hand and stuffed it under his armpit, and then grabbed another child in his hand, and burst into the door laughing. Bao Yan was speechless all the way, and just silently followed behind a few people. When Zeng Guofan entered the house, a well-dressed half-grandmother came out to greet him, and said in a northern Sichuan accent: "I came back so early, and I have so many faces, don't I want to leave it? Tomorrow I will sell it?" However, Bao Chao had already taken an unsteady long bench, pushed Zeng Guofan up on it, knelt down first, kowtowed and said: "Master Qingtian's kindness to my Bao family, Bao Chao will do his best to repay it. In the future , any enemy of a benefactor is my enemy!" Bao Fu also pulled Bao Yan and her mother-in-law to kneel behind Bao Chao, kowtowing again and again. Liu Heng stood nervously behind Zeng Guofan, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.The three children stared blankly at first, but later they found it amusing, and they all knelt down to join in the fun, their benefactors yelling like parrots. After Zeng Guofan helped them up one by one, the half-grandmother was sent into the kitchen by Bao Fu to boil water and make tea, Bao Yan flashed into the back room, and the two Bao Fu brothers sat down around Zeng Guofan.Liu Heng has been standing behind Zeng Guofan, not daring to be careless. Zeng Guofan asked Bao Chao: "Brother, your attire looks like a member of a barracks. Which battalion are you on duty?" Bao Chao said: "I live under Fubiao's flag. Bao Chao wanted to ask his benefactor a word, but he still didn't know how to ask him. How should Bao Chao address his benefactor?" Zeng Guofan said: "Have you ever heard of Zeng Guofan who came to Hunan to handle the case?" Bao Fu stared wide-eyed and said: "Master Zeng did not enter Hunan, he set up the Niu Zhijun in Wuchang first, children know it! How dare the benefactor is Master Zeng? No wonder!" He stood up and kowtowed again. Zeng Guofan held it down and said with a smile, "Don't you see it?" Bao Chao suddenly said: "Master Zeng, Bao Chao speaks rudely, don't blame me. Why don't you come to Hunan to be an official? If you can come to Hunan to be an official, Bao Chao will be willing to carry your sedan chair for you!" Before Zeng Guofan could answer, the half-grandmother came out with a pot of indistinguishable colors in both hands. Bao Chao reached out to take it and put it on the ground.At this time, Liu Heng who was behind him whispered: "My lord, it's late at night, it's time to go back. If you don't go back, Yang Junmen should be anxious again." Zeng Guofan woke up suddenly, stood up hastily and said: "I won't drink tea today, let's do it another day. Bao Chao, listen to me, you are good at martial arts, you can't just sit around, you should get into it!" " "What?" Bao Chao asked anxiously, "The conversation just went smoothly, why do you have to leave again? My lord wants to have a sip of tea no matter what! Does your lord think my house is dirty?" Zeng Guofan waved his hands unquestionably, and followed Liu Heng, who was leading the way, out. Bao Chao saw that he couldn't keep him, so he casually touched a wooden stick behind the gate, insisting on sending Zeng Guofan back to the office.Zeng Guofan couldn't resist him, so he had to let him.Bao Fu took his wife and three children, stood at the door and watched the three slowly walk away.Because of her face, Bao Yan didn't come out to see it off. On the way, Zeng Guofan casually asked about the situation of the barracks. Bao Chao sighed and said, "Your Excellency, you should stop talking about the barracks. You say it's a barracks, but you can't do it once in ten and a half months. You guys have nothing to do." , When the salary is paid, the officials go to prostitutes, and the servants go to gamble. People like me, usually don’t come to the camp and no one cares about them. Just go to order a dick in the morning, and you can do whatever you want. The camp looks like a den of thieves, it doesn't look like a military camp at all!" Zeng Guofan said, "How about Qiying?" Bao Chao said: "Speaking of the banner camp, it's not as good as the green camp. The officers and soldiers of the green camp secretly go outside to prostitute and gamble, and the banner camp dares to call the situation inside the camp!" The two walked and talked all the way, and Zeng Guofan was shocked when he heard it.Zeng Guofan pondered privately: "Unexpectedly, the master of the Qing Dynasty's economic system was corrupted to such an extent!" Finally, when he reached the gate of the admiral's mansion, Bao Chao knelt down and kowtowed to Zeng Guofan before getting up and leaving. On the fifteenth day, the imperial decree was sent to the admiral's office in Hunan: "Yutai was dismissed and dispatched to Ningguta, Heilongjiang, to serve as an army. The remaining governor was temporarily acted by Ning Shen, the procurator of Hunan; He ordered his wife to be titled, and his entourage, Yutai, was in the army: Fubiao Chinese Army General Mo Ling, who had no law to harass the imperial envoy handling the case, was dealt with by the Ministry of Military Affairs and dealt with them strictly. As requested by Zeng Guofan and official documents, the imperial decree went to Japan to behead him; confiscated Zhang Ye's property, and the governor's yamen sent officials to register it clearly, and all of it was collected into the treasury. All Zhang Ye's nine clans were arrested and brought to justice, all beheaded, and no one escaped. Yang Fang, the admiral of Hunan I have made meritorious service in assisting the imperial envoy in handling the case, and I have handed over the officer to the Ministry of War for excellence. Zeng Guofan, the official document will return to Beijing immediately to return to the order, and there will be no mistakes. This is yours." On the day Zeng Guofan and Guan Wen left, Hunan Juzi jointly presented a plaque with gold letters on a black background, which read brightly: "Drive tigers and wolves, Hunan Ankang." Wanmin also gave a dozen umbrellas. The squires delivering umbrellas gathered in front of the Admiral's Mansion, behind them were wine bearers and meat bearers, which lined up half the street.Seeing that everything was in order, the leading squire walked into the gate to see the imperial envoy.But he was told that Mr. Zeng, Mr. Guan and the others had already left through the back door early in the morning. Emperor Daoguang ordered Zeng Guofan and Guanwen to return to Beijing to return to their orders. What happened in the court?