Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty Seven

The sky fire in the second year of Daoguang left a deep memory for the people of Qingpu Shibatan.Half a year later, when Master Xiaolian of the Lu Mansion wrote "Qingpu Calendar", he made a big memory of that fire dragon descending to earth. However, after several years passed, Master Xiaolian realized that compared with the many catastrophes that followed, the sky fire in the second year of Daoguang was really nothing. Three years after the fire dragon descended to earth, it was the fifth year of Daoguang, and it was a spring drought, so it was difficult to plant cotton and rice.The waterlogging resumed sooner or later, and on the first day of June, the heavy rain came suddenly and continued all day long, and the first storm came.Qingpu Nansipo to Ruanjiaji, 27 li from north to south; east coast to Lianhua Bridge, 56 li from east to west. In the middle of the night, the water surged for more than ten feet. Half of the houses in Qingpu Town were washed away by the tide, and thousands of people died in the tide.

In the middle of the month, the second storm came ashore, and the wind and water became more violent. The big tree surrounded by four or five people was uprooted, and the trees in the village disappeared instantly. The water depth in Jinkou County was two feet deep, and that in Qingpu Town was more than ten feet deep.The old parents of Chen Rongjun, the prefect of Jinkou County, were terrified. Wearing oilcloth clothes and holding an incense burner in their hands, they went to the Dragon King Temple in person to pray for the Jade Emperor to appease his anger. After these two storms, human corpses, animal corpses, and household items were floating around on the beach.These filth and sundries come and go with the tide every day.The land was covered with mud and sand, and under the mud and sand, there were also stinking dead people, pigs, cats and dogs.Tens of thousands of people in the county have no food, clothing or homes.Thousands of disaster victims from Qingpu Town, Ruanjiaji and other places flocked to Jinkou County, making noise around the county office every day, demanding that Chen's parents open a warehouse to release food.Old Chen's parents didn't realize the seriousness of the situation at first, and tried to calm down the victims with the majesty of a county lord.One day, the gate of the county government office was suddenly opened, and surrounded by more than a dozen wolf-like servants, he walked to the steps outside the door and sternly scolded the victims of the disturbance.The victims were furious about this, and they grabbed stones and mud and threw them at Chen's parents. They were so frightened that Chen's parents slipped into the yamen and did not dare to go out for a day.

On June 23, Chen's parents were forced to open the Changping warehouse, took out more than 2,000 stones of rice grains accumulated over the years, and distributed them in a booklet. At the same time, they reported to Zhu Jianning, the prefect of Linjiang, and the governor Yu Lianrong , Shang Zuo Sheng begged for disaster relief.The emperor Shengming, on July 3, the government reported to the county, and the imperial court allocated 93,500 taels of relief money to help the victims.However, old Chen's parents only received 74,000 taels from Mr. Zhu Jianning, the prefect of Linjiang.Old Chen's parents knew that the 19,500 taels had fallen into the pocket of Zhu Jianning, the magistrate.Old Chen's parents dared to be angry but did not dare to speak out. They scolded the magistrate in private, and then followed suit, withholding 20,000 taels of relief money to fill their private pockets, and only 54,000 taels for disaster relief...

Unexpectedly, the news was leaked, which caused a great uproar, and the Hongmen forces, which had been dormant for many years, took advantage of this reason to rise up. This year's weather is very fierce. The news was first leaked by a yamen servant called Qian Er.This Qian Er has a black beard, a vulgar face, and slow speech. He is known as the second fool, but he is transparent in his heart.As early as more than a year ago, he had worshiped the heaven and earth with Zhu Renfu, the South Cabinet of Qingpu Longwei Escort Bureau, Master Zhu, changed posts, and entered the Hongmen.On the night of July 9th, Qian Erhanzi was on watch, carrying a lantern to inspect the four gates and three courtyards.When we arrived under the window of Chen's parents' bedroom, he suddenly heard a commotion and became suspicious, so he turned off the lights, bowed his waist, and moved under the window.

At that time, Qian Erhanzi didn't think that the things he overheard would be of great use to Jinkou Hongmen, let alone that once the things he overheard got out, they would cause a great chaos.He is just curious.From the shadow of the window, he saw that old Chen's parents were pulling a woman's temple hair and baring their teeth and claws to start a fight, but the woman was just whimpering and crying.For a moment, he couldn't figure out who the unlucky woman was?He thought that the woman must be of unknown origin, and old Chen's parents must have done that with that unknown woman.There are many such rumors about Chen's parents in the county government, and everyone said that Chen's parents are old-hearted.However, private legends belong to private legends, and no one has seen it with their own eyes.Chen's parents are very dignified above the lobby.This time, Qian Erhanzi saw it with his own eyes, so he couldn't let it go for nothing.

Listen, listen, but something is wrong. As soon as that unlucky woman spoke loudly, Qian Erhanzi recognized that she was Liu Shi, the married wife of old Chen's parents, and not some unknown stunner.Disappointed, Qian Erhanzi stood up quietly, ready to leave.Unexpectedly, just as she stood up and her legs hadn't moved, she heard the old woman Liu's cry: "I can't help it, this... this will commit the crime of deceiving the emperor!" The four words "crime of deceiving the emperor" firmly nailed Qian Erhanzi in place like a curse. Are the old parents going to do something?

He squatted down again, still holding the silk lantern firmly. Next, he heard a very low voice from the hoarse voice of Chen's parents: "Call? Call me again! You bitch! What a crime of deceiving the emperor! Now all the officials and officials in the world, Who doesn't deceive the king? Didn't Zhu Zhifu hide nearly 20,000 taels of silver for the 93,500 taels of silver? This was taken from the county in the open, but secretly, do you know how much he has been greedy for? His prefect is up and down For the various expenses during the year, which ones are not paid by us and other counties in private? There is a saying that 'good officials only get more money', what do you know, a woman?"

Then Mrs. Liu wept again and said: "This is not ordinary money! This is the relief money allocated by the imperial court. Zhu Zhifu hid 20,000 yuan. If you keep another 20,000 yuan, how can the rest be used for disaster relief? If the incident happens, you will lose your head; besides, this year is not as bad as previous years, the tide is so severe, tens of thousands of hungry people in the county have no food and clothing, as the head of a county, how can you let the people deprive you of food?" Old Chen's parents were furious, and cursed viciously: "Bitch! Don't be so long-winded! I've made up my mind. If I say more, I will beat you. I, Chen, won't start, nor will I end up with Chen." !"

That Liu's whimpering was just crying. Later, old Chen's parents tried to persuade him: "Old lady, you don't have to be so worried! Donate money to buy rice and porridge, all handled by the county, how much it costs, the higher-ups won't know, even if they know, it's nothing serious No. Don’t you think that Zhu Zhifu has hidden nearly 20,000 people, and he also committed the crime of deceiving the emperor? How dare he investigate me? Besides, I can’t stay in Jinkou for a long time. If I don’t make money this time How can there be such a good opportunity in the future?"

Hearing this, Qian Erhanzi completely understood: it turns out that the seemingly decent old parents of Chen are also ruthless and corrupt officials!He and Zhu Zhifu dared to conspire to hide 40,000 of the disaster relief money allocated by the imperial court!This is not bad!Isn't this going to force all the people in the county to die?He immediately thought of passing this crucial news to Uncle Zhu of the Longwei Escort. Uncle Zhu had confessed to him years ago, asking him to just pretend to be an idiot in front of old Chen's parents, but in private he should try his best to find out news for Brother Hongmen.He inquired for a few news, but none of them were of much use to Brother Hongmen, but today he felt that this news might be of some benefit to Brother Hongmen.Think about it, interrogating thieves and questioning thieves all day long, and the incomparably majestic old parents of Chen are also big thieves themselves. Brother Hongmen can use this as an excuse to make a big fuss?If the big lawsuit is brought before Master Futai, even if the old Chen parents are not executed, they will be taken to prison!In this way, wouldn't those brothers surnamed Hong who had suffered from old Chen's parents be able to vent their anger?

Yes, this old bastard must be ashamed!This bastard is too fucking outrageous!He is very harsh on all the people under his rule, and he is also very harsh on the officials and servants in the yamen! While thinking angrily, he straightened up and prepared to run away.Unexpectedly, when I stood up, I forgot the silk lantern sandwiched between my legs.It was windy that night, and a gust of wind blew the lantern over several times, rolling away like a ball.He hurriedly went to catch the lantern, tripped over a brick in a hurry, made a "plop", and fell staggeringly. Immediately, a majestic voice came from the bedroom of old Chen's parents: "Who is under the window?" He turned around and wanted to escape, but knew that he couldn't escape, so he stood up straight, and said to the bright window pane with a dazed face: "Little... little man Qian Er!" The window opened, and under the light of the lamps and candles in the room, the livid faces of Chen's parents appeared vividly in front of Qian Erhanzi. "What's going on? Huh? There's such a noise in the middle of the night?" Qian Erhanzi looked straightforward and timid: "Little one, I'm guilty! When I was urinating, I stuck the lantern in the crack of the hut wall... A gust of wind, sir, it was the wind, it was a gust of wind, and the lantern was blown to the ground, Go... roll under the master's window! The small one... catch the small one, the lamp... the lamp, the lantern ran away, the small... the small one caught again, the lantern ran away again, the small one... the small one... Just fell." Old Chen's parents were amused by Qian Er's idiot. They smiled and scolded: "Idiot! You can't manage a lantern well. Why are you guarding against the night? What kind of thief? You don't know if the thief catches you! There is no lantern!" How can you run with long legs, stupid words!" "Reporting to Master, it's...it's the wind, it's a gust of wind!" When old Chen's parents heard Qian Erhanzi's hasty explanation, they suddenly became suspicious, and thought to themselves: Maybe this idiot heard something when he was catching the lantern?Otherwise, why does he keep explaining that gust of wind?Old Chen's parents put on a smiling face, sighed and said, "Oh! It's not easy for you yamen servants to watch the night!" After that, he found a piece of silver about two taels from somewhere, and passed it through the window: "Take this little silver and buy something to eat!" Qian Erhanzi was so moved that he was about to kneel down as soon as his knees softened, and he kept saying, "Thank you for your grace, thank you for your grace!" "That's all! That's all! Take the silver! Go back to the front yard to see if the gate is plugged in? Have the candles been extinguished? Don't be careless! There is a disaster these days, and we must beware of rioters!" Qian Erhanzi hurried forward, took the silver, and responded again and again: "Yes! Yes! The villain is careful! Be careful!" After lighting the lanterns and patrolling the front yard, Qian Erhanzi almost gave up the idea of ​​reporting the news to Uncle Zhu.The thumb-sized piece of silver lay dutifully in his arms, warmed by his flesh.He also couldn't help feeling warm and affectionate in his heart, for a moment he forgot the many disadvantages of old Chen's parents, and remembered the many advantages of old Chen's parents.Yes, Mr. Chen's parents are not bad. That time...that time when Liu Baozi took out the thief, he was hacked by the thief, and the master even rewarded him with a pair of pigs, although the pigs smelled a little , but after all, it is a pair of pigs into the water, after all, it was sent by Chen's parents... If it hadn't been for the loss of the piece of silver later, and if it hadn't been for the repeated questioning of Chen's parents early in the morning, the second fool would have quickly forgotten about the night.Qian Erhanzi is not the kind of ungrateful villain. Early in the morning, after the master washed up, he went for a walk in the courtyard as usual, but Qian Erhanzi found that the silver he was carrying in his arms was missing, and he was looking for it eagerly, but was bumped into by the master: "Hey, Qian Er, it's already dawn, why don't you go back to your room and take a rest!" Seeing the master standing facing him, Qian Erhanzi was so frightened that he didn't know where to put his hands and feet.Naturally, he didn't dare to talk about the loss of money, he just stammered and said: "Oh, oh, it's the master! Good morning, master! Good morning, master! The little ones go to sleep! Go to sleep now!" When he turned to leave, old Chen's parents stopped him again: "Qian Er, did you hear anything last night?" "Report to Master, no, no!" "Oh!" The master raised his chin and asked again: "Did you hear what the master said in sleep?" He shuddered, and said again: "No! No! Later...later...the little one never went to the master's window again!" "Oh!" The master still held his chin, and stared at a rock in the flower garden: "Master, I am getting old, I can't sleep well, sometimes I talk nonsense in sleep, even if I hear it, it's not good to talk nonsense!" "That's it! That's it!" He replied casually. The master is extraordinary, Er Hanzi responded so casually, the master immediately saw some flaws, moved his eyes from the rockery in the flower garden, and fixed on Qian Erhanzi's face: "What did you hear? " "No! No! The little one really didn't hear anything!" The master seemed relieved and stopped asking. Qian Erhanzi also went back to his servant's room to take a rest with a dejected look on his face. Lying in bed but unable to sleep.I keep thinking about the piece of silver that I don't know where to go.He concluded that it was lost somewhere during inspections, but he didn't dare to look for it.As a result, some wild thoughts were aroused, and later, resentment towards old Chen's parents was simply born.He thought it was Chen's parents who were responsible for the incident.If old Chen's parents had given him that piece of silver early this morning, they would definitely not lose that piece of silver, but he insisted on giving it last night, and let him lose it!Old Chen's parents did not lose any of the 20,000 taels of silver, but he only got 20,000 taels of silver but lost it. This is really unreasonable!Old Chen's parents took 20,000 yuan!Twenty thousand!This is not a small amount!He couldn't imagine what a spectacle it would be if twenty thousand taels of white silver piled up together! Grandma's, he even went to the root and asked what he heard!He Qian Er is not a fool!He wouldn't tell that old dog!He is going to report to Zhu Renfu, Uncle Zhu! Only then did I think of Uncle Zhu again. After noon, Qian Erhanzi slipped out of the county government office, walked around the street first, then left the county town and went straight to Qingpu Longwei Escort. When I saw Uncle Zhu at the Longwei Escort, he was drinking with some brothers from the Escort.Uncle Zhu asked him to drink, and he drank it. After a few cups, he couldn't hold back the words in his stomach. He watched Uncle Zhu's simplification, and followed him. As soon as he went out, he said to Uncle Zhu: "Master... ...Brother! I...I will give you a letter, that...that old dog Chen is not a good guy! He is greedy! He is greedy for twenty thousand taels! I know! Grandma’s, I am the only one who knows!" Uncle Zhu was taken aback, so he dragged him to his room, and asked, "Second Brother Qian, who is greedy? Who is greedy for 20,000? Is it Chen Rongjun, the county magistrate?" Qian Erhanzi said angrily: "Who else would it be if it wasn't him! The imperial court allocated more than 90,000 taels of disaster relief money to our county, and his old dog took 20,000 taels alone!" "How do you know?" Qian Erhanzi explained the process of eavesdropping and vigilance from beginning to end. After hearing this, Zhu Renfu, Uncle Zhu, thought for a moment and said, "Second Brother Qian, this matter is extraordinary. If you tell me about it, it's fine. Don't tell everyone! If you tell me, brother's life may be in danger. !" Qian Er was startled, and half of the alcohol scared him away: "I... I won't tell! I won't tell anyone except you, big brother!" As if looking for some basis for his promise, Qian Erhanzi added another sentence: "That old dog is not too bad! He returned... gave me two taels of silver last night!" Uncle Zhu's face darkened, and he asked: "So, he expected you to know about it?" "No! No! Maybe he has some doubts?" Uncle Zhu said: "That's okay! Anyway, don't talk about it again!" "Yes Yes!" Immediately, Uncle Zhu took out an ingot of silver from under his bedding and handed it to Qian Erhanzi: "You take these ten taels of silver and use them. After drinking, go back quickly!" Qian Erhanzi took the money, he was overjoyed for a while, and then asked enthusiastically: "Brother, should we go to Mr. Futai to sue Mr. Chen about the old dog's matter? Shall we just let it go without saying a word?" Can you pass this old dog?" Uncle Zhu said: "You don't need to ask more about this matter, I will discuss it with Brother Dacheng before making sense!" The ten taels of silver had burned Qian Er into a coma. He believed that he had become a great personage, and thought: If he followed Uncle Zhu to report this news in front of Ruan Dacheng, there must be something wrong. new compensation.So, he said even more enthusiastically: "Brother, brother, let's go with you to see Uncle Ruan! Doesn't Uncle Ruan live next door? Let's go right away! This matter is no small matter! Twenty thousand taels, twenty thousand taels of white Huahua's silver wow!" There was a bright light in Qian Erhanzi's eyes. Uncle Zhu didn't think it was necessary: ​​"You don't have to go! It's not easy for your brother to send this message, and you can't show your face anymore! You just said that Chen Laogou has already doubted you, so you must not make him suspicious. Doubt it! You should drink less than two cups, go back quickly!" Qian Erhanzi thought about it again, felt that Uncle Zhu's words were also reasonable, so he dismissed the idea of ​​meeting Ruan Dacheng, happily followed Uncle Zhu to the table and drank two more cups, and then rushed back to the county that night . That night, Zhu Renfu and Uncle Zhu informed Ruan Dacheng of the news that Qian Erhanzi had leaked.