Chapter 25 3. Corrupt officials and tyrants

The whistling north wind scurry in mid-air, blowing the piles of gray clouds to scatter. Under the dark blue sky, Sima Yi, Niu Jin, Liu Yin, Zhang Ershu, Tian Wubo and other 20 or 30 household head representatives of Yuzhou refugees, led by Du He, came to the long pavilion ten miles east of Hanoi County. Allotment of fields on a hillside. The hillside was barren as far as the eye could see, and the weeds grew as high as their knees.However, when we pushed aside the weeds and looked at the ground, the soil there was as dry as dust, and it would shatter when touched lightly, without any moisture.This is the most barren tile land that the locals in Hanoi County are least willing to cultivate!

Seeing this, Sima Yi secretly frowned—is it possible that this kind of barren, barren and low-quality land is the only thing that can be used to recruit and resettle refugees in Hanoi County?These are not even comparable to the worst fields around Linglong Valley!Can Liu Yin and the others grow wheat here?He was about to ask, but Du He was the first to say: "Master Ma, these are the official lands and official land allocated by the county government to accommodate refugees from all over the world! Anyway, it is a standard of 20 mu for a household, and you can start now." Preside over the division and measurement, and allocate to each of their accounts."

"This..." Niu Jin couldn't help screaming when he saw it, "Master Du, don't you go to the wrong place? How can such land grow food?" Sima Yi's face was as serious as iron, but he didn't make a sound. He sneaked a sideways glance at the homeowners standing behind him, and saw that they all shook their heads secretly, their faces full of disappointment. Here, Du He listened to Niu Jin's question, with no shame on his face, he still said carelessly: "Brother Niu—how could Du have gone to the wrong place? These are the official lands exclusive to our Hanoi County, Official land!" He glanced at Liu Yin, Zhang Ershu, Tian Wubo and other displaced household heads, and said calmly: "Actually, everyone should be able to figure it out. The imperial court exempts rent and allocates food. It is already a great favor for you to let you plant and farm the land! How can there be any good land left there for you? More or less such a piece of land is allocated to you, this is already a great favor! Very cheap for you..."

Sima Yi didn't pay much attention to his nonsense playing with the flower gun. He glanced around and saw that there were large fertile paddy fields under this barren slope.He felt relieved for a while, turned back to Liu Yin and said, "Forget it! Forget it! The wheat fields on this slope are really bad, but the rice fields on this slope look pretty good. The so-called 'everything is hard to get the best of both worlds', everyone It can damage the excess of rice fields and make up for the deficiency of wheat fields.” Hearing what Sima Yi said, and seeing the fertile rice fields at the foot of the hillside, Liu Yin, Zhang Ershu, Tian Wubo and other representatives of the refugee households showed some smiles on their faces.

Suddenly, Du He's voice resounded: "Master Ma, you are wrong—the rice field under this hillside is not the official field of our county government." "Huh?" Sima Yi's heart was shocked, and he couldn't help turning his head to stare at him, "These rice fields seem to have been vacant all the time! What is this uncultivated field, if it's not an official field?" "Master Ma doesn't know something," Du He said with flattering smiles, "These rice fields are private fields under the names of two big families in this county, Yuan Xiong and Yuan Hun."

Sima Yi suddenly changed his face slightly. As far as he knew, Yuan Xiong and Yuan Hun were also wealthy foreigners who moved to Hanoi County in the past four or five years. ?If these good fields are not official fields, then where are the rice fields allocated to these Yuzhou refugees? While he was meditating, Na Duhe approached him winkingly, and said to him in a low voice: "Master Ma, you have to ask my uncle Du Juncheng about the details of resettling refugees and allocating fields, and he will tell you Explain in detail..." Sima Yi heard it in his ears and immediately understood.He lightly placed his eyes on Du He's forehead, then turned around quickly, looked at Liu Yin and other representatives of the refugee household heads who were standing on the spot in a daze, bowed deeply, and apologized: "Fathers and elders, Sima Yi's visit I didn’t think carefully about the matter, I didn’t deal with it carefully, and some details about the allocation of farmland were not accurate. I had to go back to the county government to consult with the chiefs before implementing it. I can only trouble the elders to go back and wait for the good news..."

"Master Ma is too polite..." Liu Yin and other homeowners of the refugees thanked each other. Only Niu Jin could see clearly from one side. Although Sima Yi looked as if nothing had happened, his fists were clenched with veins when he bowed - obviously the rage in his chest was really big! The well-steamed suckling pig lying on the big black lacquer plate is bright yellow all over its body. It looks dripping with oil and has a strong aroma, which makes people salivate after seeing it.Du Chuan, Yuan Xiong and Yuan Hun were sitting side by side at the table, drinking and talking with each other.

"Du Juncheng, you've been a little strange lately. Why did you leave the matter of recruiting refugees and settling the fields to Ma Yi, a stunned young man who had just been transferred to the county mansion?" Yuan Xiong put down his wine glass, a little displeased He asked Du Chuan in a calm manner, "Didn't you always keep this matter in your palm?" "What's so strange about this? This Ma Yi was promoted from the position of the county magistrate of Hezhi County - Mr. Wei Fu heard that he was known as 'smart and capable' in Hezhi County, so he personally promoted him by name. The Shanghai Planning Department that the old man also manages is not a good job, so what if I let him do it?" Du Chuan twirled the beard at the corner of his mouth with his right finger, and said lightly, "Although this Ma Yi came from a poor family, but After all, he is a Confucian scholar who has read a great book, and he may have some future prospects in the future. The old man is a favor, and it is good to give him a chance to experience..."

Yuan Xiong listened, but secretly smiled and did not respond.He once got the news from his eyeliner in the county mansion: this time, Ma Yi was admitted as the chief planner of the county. A new official with a good reputation came to split up Du Chuan's forces.Du Chuan is still covering up for himself at the moment, "Be a favor and give him a chance to practice and practice" and so on, it's just an excuse to cover up his embarrassment!However, Yuan Xiong could only smile dryly at this moment, naturally he didn't dare to touch his window paper face to face. "Oh! Brother Yuan, if Du is an official in your Jizhou territory," Du Chuan held the wine glass as if casually turning it around a few times, watching the wine in the glass make circles of ripples, but the words in his mouth Somewhat indifferently, "I'm afraid that with the contribution Du has made to you in the past few years, General Yuan will not treat Du badly?"

"Of course! Of course!" Yuan Xiong's younger brother Yuan Hun listened in the side seat, and hurriedly replied, "It's just that Hanoi County is still his Cao Cao's territory-if one day, it falls In the hands of our General Yuan, the position of the prefect of Hanoi County must be firmly held by you Du Juncheng!" After Du Chuan heard this, he chuckled, raised his glass quickly, drank the wine slowly, and said leisurely, "Yes! Now Hanoi County is still Cao Mengde's territory. I really don't know when General Yuan will come over." "How difficult is it to take down Hanoi County? Cao Cao has always been terrified of my great general—" Yuan Xiong's face twitched a few times, and he sneered, "Think about the first year of Jian'an, Your Majesty Cao Cao was the first to welcome him into Xudu, and in a flash of enthusiasm, he appointed Cao Cao the post of General, above the Sangongs—as a result, General Yuan of my family said: "When Cao Mengde was defeated in Yanzhou, Or I, Yuan Benchu, sent troops to rescue him from his predicament! How can he dare to be superior to me now?' So Cao Cao hurried into the palace overnight to meet His Majesty, and respectfully transferred a general to my family, Yuan Benchu. Great General, he himself is very witty enough to only be a Sikong! When my great general got angry, he, Cao Mengde, was so frightened——If my great general went south with 800,000 troops, then he, Cao Mengde, would have to be obedient Lookout surrender?"

Hearing this, Du Chuan smiled disapprovingly, and said slowly: "General Yuan has a large land, many people, and a strong army. This is naturally good. However, according to Du, Cao Cao has captured Lu Bu in recent years. , sweeping away Yuan Shu, and recently subduing Zhang Xiu, his strength has also increased dramatically, so it should not be underestimated! If Yuan and Cao are really going to fight, General Yuan will have to go through a lot of trouble if he wants to win him." "Huh! Du Chuan, you praise Cao Cao so much, why do you rely on our General Yuan?" Yuan Hun was not very happy when he heard Du Chuan praised Cao Cao so much. He snorted and put his hands in his hands Putting the wine glass heavily on the table, he said sarcastically, "Do you still want to be in two boats and please both sides?" Seeing Yuan Hun being so narrow-minded, Du Chuan became angry at once, stared at him for a while, and finally burst out laughing, and said politely: "Second Master Yuan—look at what you said! Du has always been kind to General Yuan. Loyal and loyal! How can he have any other thoughts? Cao Mengde is so good, but there is one thing that is far worse than General Yuan! —— Du Mou sees that since he took power in Xudu, he has insisted on insisting Carrying out that bullshit strategy of "suppressing the strong and supporting the weak, reducing the rich and helping the poor", except for the imperial court conferring lords and granting cities for military exploits, no one is allowed to occupy more than 50 hectares of private land... This makes Du very angry Dissatisfied! How can he do this like our General Yuan? General Yuan has always treated his subordinates with kindness. He once publicly ordered that all the rich and powerful families in the prefectures and counties under his jurisdiction, such as Bing, You, Ji, Qing, etc. They can annex fields and keep their wealth for themselves, and they can own hundreds of hectares or thousands of hectares of land! This is the wise master who governs the country with leniency! Such a wise master is hard to find even if we put up lanterns! "To be honest, my Du family was one of the most wealthy and wealthy families in Hanoi County during the time of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling. They used to own more than 1,700 hectares of fertile land. It just declined... The two Yuan brothers, in fact, I don't care much about the position of the prefect of Hanoi. As a prefect under Cao, like Wei Zhong, apart from being able to eat more big fish and meat, and more Apart from taking a few filial piety money, is there any special benefit? How can it be compared to the two brothers Yuan who have fertile fields, continuous houses, and groups of servants and maidservants? Therefore, I, Du, are very looking forward to this Yuan The general will attack one day, thinking about Du's hard work over the years, if you can give back the 1,700 hectares of land that Du's family had before, so that Du can revive the family business, then I will be very grateful It's all over..." "Du Juncheng! Your request is nothing more than a trivial matter!" Yuan Xiong raised his wine glass with his right hand, patted his chest with his left hand, and said proudly, "Isn't it just 1,700 hectares of land? As long as you treat us Yuan The general is loyal to you wholeheartedly, and he can reward you with seven thousand hectares of land! ——This, I, Yuan Xiong, dare to guarantee you in person here on behalf of General Yuan!" Du Chuan also raised his wine glass, saluted him across the air, took a sip, squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "Since the two Yuan brothers have made such a promise, how dare Du refuse to serve General Yuan wholeheartedly?" Just as he was talking, he heard a light knock on the mahogany door of the elegant room.Du Chuan hastily waved his hand, and Yuan Xiong, Yuan Hun and the others closed their mouths in satisfaction—but saw the wooden door slowly open a crack, revealing half of Du He's face and coming in: "Uncle, the two masters—— Master Ma Yi is here." "Okay! Hurry up!" Du Chuan smiled thickly, stood up and greeted the door. Du He also responded with a grin, and pushed the door to the right, leading Sima Yi who was standing beside him to come over. "Du Juncheng, the two masters, Yi is very polite." As soon as Sima Yi stepped into the elegant room, he bowed and gave a deep salute. Du Chuan quickly stepped forward to support his shoulders, took his right hand, smiled and tucked him to sit beside him, looking very affectionate: "Come! Come! Come! Mr. Ma, to be able to learn a lot with a young man like you Du Mou is very happy to sit at the same table with other scholars!" Seeing Du Chuan's overly ostentatious enthusiasm, Sima Yi also pretended to be flattered. He sat down on the seat next to Du Chuan with respect and gratitude, and waved his hands again and again: "Du Juncheng said, It's really a kill!" When Du Chuan waited for him to sit down, he jumped up suddenly as if thinking of something, picked up a bronze dagger on the table, picked up a red lacquered wooden plate, and walked to the wine table in the middle with a smile on his face. Before steaming the suckling pig in the head cage, he cut off a large piece of fragrant elbow meat, put it on a plate, turned around, and smiled at Sima Yi: "Mr. Thank you for your hard work—come, come, come! I borrow flowers to present Buddha, and use this steamed suckling pig dish made by the famous chef of the capital invited by Brother Yuan Zhongweng to express condolences to you on behalf of the county government!" While talking, he brought the wooden dish containing suckling pork knuckle to Sima Yi. "Don't dare to do it! Don't dare to do it!" Sima Yi hurriedly stood up, bowed his body halfway, stretched out his hands and took the wooden plate respectfully, "How dare I be treated so warmly by the magistrate?" "Sit, sit, sit!" Du Chuan returned to his seat, and greeted him to sit down with a haha ​​smile. At the same time, he rolled his eyes and secretly glanced at the Yuan brothers. Seeing this, Yuan Xiong and Yuan Hun felt overjoyed and cupped their hands with smiles all over their faces, saying flatteringly: "Mr. Ma is young, promising and knowledgeable. My two brothers have always admired him very much!" Sima Yi naturally understood that it was the Yuan brothers and Du Chuan singing and singing together to infuse him with ecstasy soup, but he didn't make a show of it, so he thanked him perfunctorily and didn't talk about other matters. "Ma Jun, try this steamed suckling pig first..." Du Chuan touched the large piece of suckling pig knuckle on Sima Yi's plate from a distance with his chopsticks, "It won't taste good when it's cold..." Sima Yi couldn't refuse, so he picked up a small piece of suckling pork knuckle with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. The suckling pork knuckle was fat but not greasy, and it was very crispy. The fragrant juice flowed down his throat, and he couldn't help praising: "This pork meat is so crispy!" "Ma Jun, do you know that the famous chef from the capital in Sihai Building has been busy in the kitchen for five days and five nights..." Du Chuan looked at him hehe straight smile. "Have you been busy for five days and five nights?" Sima Yi asked in surprise. "The method of making this steamed suckling pig is as follows: first, select a fat and strong suckling pig, clean it, cook it until it is half-cooked, and soak it in black bean sauce; Soak in the juice until it turns yellow, cook the cooked rice, and then sprinkle it with fermented soy sauce; one liter each of finely chopped ginger and orange peel, four liters of three-inch scallions, and one liter of orange leaves, put together with suckling pig and sorghum rice Put it into the steamer, seal it tightly, and steam it for two or three meals; finally, use three liters of cooked lard, and one liter of black bean sauce, and pour it on the suckling pig—it becomes the delicious steamed milk of the palace. Pig! Do the math, how much seasoning, how much rice oil, and how much work will it take to let Ma Jun taste its deliciousness? It can be made in five days and five nights. The craftsmanship of this famous chef in the capital has already It's amazing!" Sima Yi was speechless when he heard this.It sounds like it will cost a lot of baht to make this steamed suckling pig!I don't know how many people's fat and anointing have been wasted by these corrupt officials and rich families!His heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly thought of the vegetable soup and brown rice that Liu Yin and the others ate in the refugee shantytown. His nose was sour, and there was no taste anymore. At this moment, the cut-off ceremony between the two sides has almost come to an end.Du Chuan felt that the atmosphere at the scene was getting hot, so he coughed, cleared his throat, and slowly twisted the "eight" mustache at the corner of his mouth with his fingers, and asked Sima Yi slowly: "Ma Jun, I heard that you brought us today?" I have recruited more than 30 household heads of Yuzhou refugees, and went to the eastern suburbs to divide the farmland, but I don't know if this can be done smoothly?" Hearing what he said, Sima Yi couldn't help but twitch his brows, his eyes flicked across his face, and then he looked back immediately, and landed on the wooden plate in front of him that contained suckling pork knuckle.He was silent for a moment, and sighed deeply as if overwhelmed: "These refugees from Yuzhou despise the remoteness and barrenness of the official land we allocated, and none of them want to live here and work in farmland! I am helpless now." "Mr. Ma doesn't know that Hanoi County used to have relatively few official lands, and in recent years, there are not too many local diaspora households in Hanoi County, so they are indeed a bit remote and barren..." Du Chuanxin said : You kid is finally complaining about suffering!But with a chuckle in his mouth, he pretended to explain to Sima Yi, "You can persuade the head of the homeless household a little more, let them make up for it." After hearing this, Sima Yi's thoughts changed rapidly, and he didn't answer right away.Before coming to Sihailou this time, he had already checked some information on the county’s household registration and farmland in the archives of the Shanghai Planning Office: Hanoi County had 200,000 households before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Hanoi County has There were 120,000 households—calculated in this way, a total of 80,000 households were lost in Hanoi County in the past few years.Then the fields of 80,000 households became idle fields without owners, and naturally they were taken over by the county government as official land.However, judging from last year's household registration and farmland books, there is still a shortage of 80,000 households in Hanoi County, while the number of official land and official land is only 3,200 hectares.However, this is very unreasonable: the 80,000 households abandoned the idle land without owners, based on the average of 37 mu of land per household, that is to say, the area of ​​official land acquired by the county government should be at least 30,000 hectares!So, where did the more than 26,000 hectares of land that cannot be seen in the accounts of the household register and acre book go?This is obviously very strange.While he was thinking deeply, he saw that the expressions on the faces of the Yuan brothers were half smiles.Immediately, he had an idea in his heart, and he opened his mouth slowly: "Actually, if you want to keep these Yuzhou refugees with those barren fields, I'm afraid it won't help if you try to persuade me with dry mouth—but, Yi But there is a clever plan, which can not only keep this group of refugees, but also successfully complete the task of farming this year, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone!" "Oh? What's the trick?" Du Chuan couldn't help but stop suddenly as he twirled the pair of "eight" mustache right hands, and suddenly shot over with surprised and suspicious eyes: This Ma Yi has a lot of tricks in his mind!I really don't know what he is thinking about!Anyway, let's hear what his trick is. "As far as I know, the two masters of Yuan actually own 2,300 hectares of fertile land and 2,800 hectares of fertile land in Hanoi County, of which seven or eight are useless." Sima Yi raised his eyes. , looking straight at the two brothers Yuan Xiong and Yuan Hun, with a faint smile on their faces, "According to the noble integrity of the two masters Yuan who are always willing to do good and help the poor, can we allocate one or two hundred hectares of land to help these eight people?" More than ten households of refugees from Yuzhou?" "This... this... garrisoning the land and reassuring the people is the great plan of the society and the important task of the county government...how can we, the common people, dare to do it for us? Master Ma is really good at joking!" Yuan Xiong rolled his eyes and said inwardly: He wants to persuade Do I give these two hundred hectares of fertile land to those Yuzhou refugees to live and work in peace?Even an idiot would not do such a foolish thing that loses money!This Ma Yi——is really a stupid young man! Du Chuan also squinted his eyes slightly, glanced at the Yuan brothers, smiled lightly and shook his head: What kind of clever plan is such a ridiculously stupid method? Sima Yi still had a smile on his face, and continued to say in an unhurried manner: "Master Yuan, don't refuse in a hurry—I think these refugees from Yuzhou can become your tenants! They planted yours. Naturally, the land should be paid to you two for rent!" As soon as he said this, there was a strange silence in the field.Both Yuan Xiong and Yuan Hun were a little stunned——hurriedly glanced at Du Chuan.Du Chuan was also startled for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up: This Sima Yi is really quick-witted - he walked into the alley in one step!Children can be taught!Children can be taught!He smiled slightly, coughed, and secretly cast a wink at the Yuan brothers. Yuan Xiong reacted quickly, and there was a trace of hesitation on his face: "Oh! Lord Ma—your county government has its own official land to house these refugees, why do you push them to our private land for nothing? What about the tenants? Master Ma, your idea is to push us brothers into the fire pit..." Sima Yi sneered secretly in his heart, and still smiled slightly: "Why do the two masters avoid suspicion like this? In my opinion, if those barren official lands were given to those Yuzhou refugees for farming, they would not be able to harvest them in a year. A few buckets of rice. If they worked in the rich and fertile land of you two, even if they paid more grain rent, they should still be able to eat with the leftovers. Helping the people out of trouble! How can the two Master Yuan let go of such a well-known and well-known act of kindness?" At this time, Du Chuan, who had been pretending to stay out of it, felt that he should stand up and push the boat along the way—he coughed again, and slowly twisted the two beards at the corners of his mouth with his fingers, and finally spoke slowly: "Master Yuan—— Ma Jun's words are reasonable! It is true: you two are really willing to let go of such a well-known charity? Not a lot!" Hearing what Du Chuan said, Yuan Xiongcai pretended to be reluctant and sighed, and replied helplessly: "Since Prime Minister Du Jun has given such instructions, how dare the two brothers disobey?" After hearing this, Sima Yi showed joy as if relieved of a heavy burden: "The two masters of Yuan are really happy to help others! Good! Good! Now, I will go to preach to those refugees that the two masters "understand the righteousness" and persuade them to come to your mansion. Sign the contract." As he spoke, he jumped up and wanted to leave. "Wait a minute!" Du Chuan shouted, pulling Sima Yi who had just jumped back to his seat.After Du Chuan yelled this, he didn't speak immediately. He took a sip of tea from his teacup, then turned his head to look at Sima Yi, and said slowly: "Mr. Your good reputation, seeing you doing things today, the old man really deserves your name! ——Ma Jun is not only smart and capable, but also understands current affairs, which is really commendable! "That's it - this old man might as well reveal a top-secret news to you: this year, the Ministry of Officials in Xudu allocated a quota of 'Excellent' for our officials in Hanoi County. Do you know the value of this 'Excellent' quota? How precious is it? Last year, the newly appointed Shangji from Yingchuan County was only five years older than you. His name was Chen Qun. He had been with Liu Bei in Xuzhou in the early years—that’s why he got the “excellent” evaluation. Adverb, he was immediately promoted by the court officials to become a secretary, what a sight! But, do you know? He got the 'Zhuo Yi' spot in Yingchuan County because of their Chen family The big shot of the prefect of Yingchuan greeted the prefect of Yingchuan privately! Just look at how difficult it is to get this 'Zhuo Yi' spot!" Having said that, he picked up the teacup again, and instead of sipping, he blew lightly on the white air rising from the mouth of the teacup, blowing them away in a confusing manner.Then, he said as if talking to himself: "Mr. Ma, if you can handle this matter properly, the old man and the two masters of Yuan will definitely do their best. Let that 'extraordinary' evaluation adverbial fall firmly on your head!" "Where! Where! How can I be worthy of Du Juncheng's kindness?" Sima Yi hastily waved his hands and refused after hearing this. Although Du Chuan didn't really clarify the meaning of "this matter" just now, Sima Yi's heart seems to be clear. De: It is to make all the more than 80 households of Yuzhou refugees become tenants under the hands of the Yuan brothers! "Why are you talking so many polite words?" Du Chuan stopped dealing with Sima Yi on etiquette, picked up a pair of chopsticks and tapped a little bit on the wooden plate on the table in front of Sima Yi, "If you continue to be so polite—then A piece of steamed suckling pig is almost completely cold!" After several rounds of drinking, Sima Yi finally left half drunk. The elegant room in Sihai Building gradually became quiet.Yuan Xiong looked at the half-closed door, and said with a smile to Du Chuan: "Du Juncheng, this Ma Yi has a chance, he doesn't have so much sour air." "Hehehe! I have been in the officialdom for so many years, and I have never seen a cat that does not smell like fish! Even a person who was full of bookishness when he first became an official, will inevitably smell a little coppery after staying in the government for a long time!" Du Chuan said indifferently as if it was commonplace, "Again, this Ma Yi, I see that he is quite organized, methodical, and highly savvy in doing things. He is not an ordinary person. Now you General Yuan and Xu Du Your Cao Sikong is at the critical moment of fighting openly and secretly, wouldn't it be better if I could attract more talents for your Yuan family in Hanoi County?" "Naturally." Yuan Xiong nodded again and again, "That's the deal for today, and according to the old rules before, you Du Juncheng helped us get these more than 80 tenants, and we will pay the rent they will hand over in the future. 30% will be given to you, Du Juncheng; in addition, you will reward you with seven gold cakes for every official you help our Yuan family win over! How about it?" Holding the teacup, Du Chuan lowered his head to take a sip, and said in a flat tone: "This time, I will add some money from Ma Yi." Before Yuan Xiong could open his mouth, Yuan Hun said coldly: "Yuan sees that Ma Yi is still a bit bookish, maybe he doesn't know much about our inside story, so what kind of money do you want to give him?" "Master Yuan Er, do you really think he doesn't know anything? Being bookish doesn't mean being dull! Since he can realize that trick, he is definitely not a simple character!" Du Chuan put the teacup in his hand to After putting it on the table, his expression became a little displeased, "Master Yuan Er, you need to be more generous when you do big things, don't be so stingy and stingy, do you still want to ask someone to help with his affairs in his Shanghai Planning Office in the future?" Yuan Xiong hurriedly turned his younger brother secretly with his elbow, laughed and said: "Yes! Yes! Du Juncheng is right - let's do this! After this matter is completed, please ask Du Juncheng to send Ma Yi a gift for us. A dozen gold cakes, how about Du Juncheng's wishes?" "Master Yuan, don't worry too much. Whether you give money to Ma Yi depends entirely on your generosity. However, since the two masters Yuan have this kind of generosity, it's okay for Du to do the work for him." Du Chuan lowered his head again and blew the steam on the teacup with his mouth, as if he said casually, "Oh! The two masters Yuan don't know, there has been a lot of chaos recently, tenants, strong men, etc. are getting more and more The more difficult it is, and the court of Xudu, now in the name of the emperor of the Han Dynasty, the restrictions on the local officials below are getting stricter and stricter. You should be clear about this. Cao Da Sikong of Xudu City, Mr. Xun Daling is most annoyed that someone has another heart in the territory they control. Du is risking his head to work for your Yuan family..." Seeing his coy look, Yuan Xiong laughed and said, "That's all! That's all! How about this, I will give you 40% of the grain rent from the more than 80 tenants; Official, the reward for you has been increased to twelve gold cakes! ——Furthermore, after conquering Hanoi County in the future, our brothers will definitely ask General Yuan to reward you for your merits. Not only will you be the prefect of Hanoi, but you will also be rewarded. Three thousand hectares of land!" Hearing this, Du Chuanhe let out a chuckle, leaned back and drank all the tea in the cup, swallowing all the tea dregs into his stomach, then smacked his lips and said, "Good tea! Good tea! The tea prepared by the two masters Yuan is really indescribable! Later, I will wrap a few more cakes for Du in oiled paper..." Steady footsteps stepped slowly on the bluestone floor, making a thumping sound.Sima Yi, who got off the cart, completely lost the drunk look he had in Sihai Building.His eyes were as clear as water, his complexion was dignified like a rock, and his solemn and solemn demeanor could not be concealed! He walked up the steps slowly, pushed open the door of his house, and walked in slowly.In the middle of the courtyard dam, on a row of wooden piers, Liu Yin, Zhang Ershu, Tian Wubo and other representatives of Yuzhou refugee household heads were sitting quietly waiting. Seeing Sima Yi walking into the courtyard, Liu Yin and others rushed to meet him from a distance.As they approached, they saw Sima Yi's solemn expression again, and they couldn't help but hesitated again.After some pushback, Liu Yin, who was still Sima Yi's classmate and good friend, stepped forward and asked, "Mr. Ma is back! You have worked so hard for me!" Sima Yi looked at them squarely, and a deep, deep shame gradually appeared on his face.He bit his lips tightly with his teeth, and finally confessed to Liu Yin and others frankly, saying: "Oh! Brother Liu! Yi has no face to see you today!" She covered her cheeks, turned her head slightly, and just sighed. "Why is Ma Jun doing this? You really scared me out of waiting!" Seeing him like this, Liu Yin, Zhang Ershu, Tian Wubo and others couldn't help panicking, scratching their heads, not knowing how to respond. "Alas! Yi has always thought that the policy of 'Garrison Fields and Peaceful People' issued by the imperial court is the most benevolent policy in the world. I wanted to arrange it for your fathers and brothers in Yuzhou to find a piece of paradise in Hanoi County..." Sima Yi said slowly , the tone seemed very sad, "Unexpectedly, seven or eight out of ten of the good fields in Hanoi County have been taken by powerful landlords and corrupt officials. Turn all the fathers and brothers of Yuzhou into tenants who work as cattle and horses for them. Alas! Yi really has no face to see you!" Speaking of this, Sima Yi's eyes were already filled with tears: "Now Yi will definitely not let these powerful landlords, corrupt officials and cunning officials work for tigers! Now that Yi has clearly stated so far, I leave it to you, the fathers and brothers of Yuzhou, to decide for yourself! " "Oh... so it's like this..." Liu Yin waited to hear that, the expression on his face was full of shock and anxiety, and he turned around in a hurry.Finally, they went to the corner of the courtyard under the shade of a tree and squatted in a circle to discuss. Sima Yi and Niu Jin stood in the middle of the courtyard with complicated expressions, and it was hard to get involved. After about a stick of incense, their discussions finally gradually subsided.Zhang Ershu and Tian Wubo looked this way and pushed Liu Yin with their hands.Liu Yin nodded heavily to the two of them, with his figure straightened and his face straightened, he quickly approached Sima Yi, but still respectfully asked: "Ma Jun, you have always been kind-hearted and resourceful. High regards on this matter!" "It's... hard to make a judgment on forgiveness." Sima Yi couldn't help but blushed when he heard it, and hurriedly waved his hand to decline, "I'd like to ask you, brothers and sisters in Yuzhou, to decide for yourself." Liu Yin did not back down, but still bowed down and asked him for advice.Zhang Ershu, Tian Wubo and others also rushed over, begging in one voice: "Mr. Ma is well-informed and knowledgeable, and he will definitely point us to a clear path!" "We believe in Mr. Ma's character. We will listen to what you say." "You were able to sit at the same table with us that night and drink vegetable soup and eat brown rice - just because of that, we have already convinced you! If you have any suggestions, just say so!" Tears welled up in Sima Yi's eyes, and he waved his hand to stop their entreaties. After pondering for a long time, he said slowly, "Actually, Yi is ashamed of the brothers and sisters of Yuzhou, so I really dare not say anything more. But , now that you have received such trust from everyone, Yi has the cheek to speak again. For the current plan, Jizhou is really not going to go--gentlemen, according to Yi's opinion, within a year, there will be wars in Jizhou. You are at this moment It is not safe enough to run away. Although there are powerful and cunning officials in Hanoi County who are trying to exploit the kings, it is still a royal and directly governed territory of the imperial court. It is far better than Jizhou where there is no order and chaos. You might as well settle down here for the time being, seek food and clothing first, and wait for changes—I’m afraid that there may be a big turnaround in the world in the future..." "'Big turning point'? What's a 'turning point'?" Liu Yin and the others couldn't help being startled when they heard that. Sima Yi looked up at the brilliant starry sky, his eyes were extremely deep, and his tone was long and distant: "There is an old saying: 'When chaos is extreme, it becomes order, and when one sun comes back to life. If the chaos continues, as long as we are determined and strong, it is not difficult to obtain He Qing Haiyan!" "Okay! Ma Jun! I'm just saying this to you—we'll stay in Hanoi County and settle down!" Liu Yin, Zhang Ershu, Tian Wubo and others all praised and said excitedly, "Hanoi County It is a great blessing for us to have a gentleman like Ma who cares about the country and the people! Why should we go to Jizhou to throw random things!" 送走刘寅等人，司马懿与牛金回到了书房。 “公子，这个杜传实在是太刁猾了！”牛金关上房门便对司马懿恨恨地说道，“你就眼睁睁地看着他和袁氏兄弟这么欺压百姓？” 司马懿却没吭声，只是径自走到室中那架灯盏前，用木签轻轻拨了拨灯油中的灯芯——刹那间，灯焰如同一朵红莲倏然绽放一般腾起，将他沉峻凝重的面庞照得亮堂堂的。 他盯着那灯盏，双眸里也似跳起了两簇炽烈的灯焰，闪闪烁烁：“这个杜传，自以为凭着一套行贿利诱之术，便可纵横官场无敌手了……竟敢在我司马懿面前这般上下其手、大耍奸态！哼！里讲：'恶不积，不足以灭身。'这杜传也算恶贯满盈了！他今番碰上我司马懿，只怕是……呵呵呵……” 他后面的三声冷笑，隐隐地透出了一股沉沉的无形杀气来，显得极其凌厉而阴郁。饶是牛金素来艺高胆大，听到之后亦不禁心头一凛，全身寒毛直竖！ 司马懿刚才在愤然而言之时，心头却浮现了一幕幕被杜传、杜和、袁氏兄弟用假象和谎言愚弄自己的情形：在东郊荒坡上杜和唇角那若隐若现的阴笑、四海楼中杜传端来蒸豚肘肉时的故作殷勤、袁氏兄弟恃势而骄的咄咄傲态……他心底的无明业火顿时蹿得老高老高！他一向自负才识绝伦，素来心比天高，何曾受过这般视他为玩偶的欺骗与愚弄？只要一想到这里，他便暗暗地咬响了钢牙，发誓要将他们绳之以法、除之而后快。 隔了半晌之后，牛金看到司马懿眉宇间仍是杀机隐现，暗暗思忖了一会儿，才有些犹豫地问道：“司……司马公子莫非是想将杜传老贼一举狙杀之？你若有此意，只管吩咐下去，牛某自会下去准备。” “不必。提三尺青锋锄奸去恶而快意，乃英烈侠士之举，非我儒林清流之所为。吾乃朝廷命官，自当经纶纲纪以肃贪除恶，怎用得着动刀动枪？——只须执奉一卷律简便可将此猾吏制伏！” “公子，只怕这奸吏刁猾之极，而朝廷有司又置律法于空文，你奈他何！” “不然。当今朝廷年号为'建安'，'建安'者，建律立法以求安也！如今的朝廷，已非当年大兴党锢、奸佞横行的桓帝、灵帝之时可比了！上有圣明天子，下有刚健中正之曹司空、清峻卓荦之荀令君，岂能再容贪贿秽乱之风飙扬于世？” “公子，话虽如此，但是在这河内郡中，杜传、杜和叔侄与袁氏兄弟狼狈为奸、势力甚大，实在难以对付啊！” “你说得没错。这杜传仗着冀州袁氏撑腰，自恃有泰山之安，才敢这般大肆贪墨……”司马懿忽地转过了身，双目直视着牛金，眸中放出炯炯精光来，“然而，依懿之见，他所恃以为援的冀州袁氏，岂可比拟泰山之安？不过是一座日出即融的冰峰罢了！杜传固然狡诈多端，可是贪心太重、溺于小利而又昧于远见，终究是如同在刀尖上舔蜜——自寻死路！待我司马懿收集齐了他的种种罪证，便上报朝廷有司，以堂堂律法将他诛之于大庭广众之下，以儆效尤、以塞秽风！”