Chapter 26 4. Little people often have first-hand information

A few days later, Sima Yi was dealing with official business in the planning office of the county mansion, when he saw Du Chuan carrying a blue cloth bag, with a smile on his face, Shi Shiran stepped into the room. "Your Majesty Du Jun is here, I'm sorry." Sima Yi hastily put down his brush on the desk, and got up to greet him. "Don't be too polite, don't be too polite!" Du Chuan had a bright smile on his face, hurried up a few steps, and stretched out his hand to help Sima Yi.He looked at Sima Yi, nodded slightly and said: "Mr. Ma is really talented, and he can succeed in everything right away——The old man just came from the Yuan's house just now, and the two masters of the Yuan family said that yesterday's eighty-year-old The head of the Yu family's homeless household has signed the tenant deed at their house. They are very satisfied with Mr. Ma's patience and persuasion, so I asked the old man to come to thank you on their behalf."

When Sima Yi heard this, his face turned slightly red, and he bowed and declined: "Cheng Du, this is the favor of those Yuzhou refugees who trusted the two masters Yuan. How can I dare to accept the gift from you and the two masters Yuan? This is It's down to death." "Ma Jun really has made great contributions to the two masters of the Yuan family! You can afford their thank you, you can afford it..." Du Chuan couldn't help but stuff the blue cloth bag into Sima Yi's arms "Those Yuzhou homeowners have told Yuan Xiong and Yuan Hun that if it weren't for your Ma Jun's diligent guidance and patient persuasion, they would not have stayed in Hanoi County and rented the fields of the Yuan family brothers... all of this If it's not your great contribution, what is it?"

When Sima Yi declined, he felt that the blue cloth was a heavy burden, and he thought there must be chunks of thick golden cakes inside!It seems that the Yuan Brothers rewarded me very generously!With a sudden thought, he pushed the burden back into Du Chuan's hands, and said respectfully: "That's it! These thank you gifts, I should borrow flowers to present Buddha, and it is a little gift for you, Mr. Juncheng. Just accept it!" "How can this be done? How can this be done?" Du Chuan didn't accept it, and simply walked past Sima Yi with the blue cloth bag, rushed to his desk and put it on it wholeheartedly. Jun, you have only recently become an official, and you don’t get much salary—you can still take this small gift from the two masters of the Yuan family back to honor your parents.”

"This... this..." Seeing that he was so persistent, Sima Yi had no choice but to let him go. He shook his head and sighed, "Du Juncheng is so sympathetic to the subordinates, Yi has to be respectful rather than obedient!" But he thought in his heart: Take these golden cakes That's okay, let Niu Jin take them and distribute them to Liu Yin, Zhang Ershu, Tian Wubo and the others to buy grain and food later... "Hey... just like this! As long as you don't see outside, the old man will be very happy!" The intimacy that Du Chuan showed in his gestures would make anyone's heart blossom when he sees it.

He walked down the hall slowly, and suddenly remembered something, turned his head and said to Sima Yi: "That's right! I have heard that among this group of refugees from Yuzhou, there are three or four heads of household who were your classmates when Ma Jun was studying abroad." My friend, let’s do it this way! I will ask the two masters Yuan to waive all the land rents of the heads of their households!” "This... this..." Tears welled up in Sima Yi's eyes, and his mouth became clumsy, "If Yi tells the good news to those students in Yuzhou, I don't know how they should thank Du Juncheng!"

Du Chuan smiled, twirling the beard at the corner of his mouth with his hand, slowly twisting and twisting, and after a while, he said seriously again: "However, this old man thinks that this matter can be handled more carefully, in order to avoid causing trouble For the suspicion and dissatisfaction of other tenants, the two masters of the Yuan family can collect the land rent from your Yuzhou classmates in the open, and then return it to them in private. The current tenants are really difficult to manage. You can't leave excuses for others to favor one another!" When Sima Yi heard this, his heart shuddered: Du Chuan's ability to win people's hearts and handle common affairs is really extraordinary!No wonder he was able to serve several prefects in Hanoi County and never fail!It's a pity that although his various schemes were extremely shrewd, they ended up going astray and off the right path, and all of them were used in crooked ways-one big mistake, one rough mistake, everything is insignificant!

He sighed deeply from the bottom of his heart, and said with a respectful smile, "That's right, that's good. Du Juncheng is so tactful and experienced in handling things, I really admire you." The backyard of the county government office is the official stable of cattle and horses in the county.However, in this official stable, there is hardly a horse in captivity, only a handful of old cows lying sickly in the stables. Sima Yi and Niu Jin, who came to investigate and count the spring plowing equipment of the official farm customers in the coming year, entered the official stables together. Seeing this situation, they couldn't help but frown.

The officer in charge of the official stables is Xu Erye who is over fifty years old. Seeing the sudden arrival of the new chief, Ji Yu, he didn't know what happened, so he hurriedly greeted him with a smile on his face: "Master Ma! What kind of wind brought you here?" Blowing around in our stable yard? What’s the matter with you, let Niu Jin come over and summon me, and the little one will come to the door to be taught...Why bother you to come to this place where livestock is filthy?" Seeing Second Master Xu jogging over, Sima Yi also said with a smile on his face: "Second Master Xu, Yi came here specially to see you in the stable - you are the most warm-hearted person in our county mansion." Senior! I need to ask you for advice if I have anything..."

As he spoke, he turned his head and winked at Niu Jin.Niu Jin understood, took out a large handful of copper baht from his waist pocket, stuffed it into Second Master Xu's hand, patted him on the shoulder again, and said affectionately and proudly: "Second Master Xu, this is a horse. Your lord gave you a little kindness, you can buy a few jugs of good wine to drink--Master Ma said, you have been guarding this stable yard for many years, and it is the hardest work, you must take care of yourself what!" Second Master Xu pretended to decline a few times, but seeing that Niu Jin insisted on giving it, he took the large handful of copper baht and held it in his hand. Immediately, he clasped his fists and bowed to Sima Yi repeatedly in reply: "Oh! Your Majesty is indeed a man who has read the sages." The great good man of the book is really considerate to the little one! Yes! The villain will go to the Confucian Temple in the south of the city tomorrow to burn a stick of incense for you, and ask Confucius to bless you with prosperity and prosperity!"

Sima Yi hurriedly waved his hands to say he didn't dare, at the same time he glanced at the stables, and asked indifferently: "Second Master Xu, this is a bit strange, why are there so few official cows and official horses in this stable yard? Isn’t it registered in the bureau’s books that there are more than one hundred official cattle and more than eighty official horses in the stables?” After hearing this, Second Master Xu couldn't help but looked at Sima Yi suspiciously, and asked in surprise, "Master Ma has been in the county mansion for so long, so he doesn't know where these officials are?"

With a thought in his mind, Sima Yi suddenly remembered that Du Chuan was in charge of the official stables. He pretended to be enlightened, slapped his head with his hands, and shouted: "Yi really has no memory—these officials, cattle and horses seem to It was Du Juncheng this... this..." "That's right! The slightly stronger official cows in this stable were all lent by Du Juncheng to the two masters of Sihailou as early as the beginning of last year..." Second Master Xu always spoke in a hurry, and said quickly, "So, let's This stable yard has become a place where birds don’t shit! It’s really a rare visitor that Mr. Ma will come here today! A rare visitor!” Seeing that he had guessed the riddle right at once, Sima Yi couldn't help sighing secretly, but there was no abnormality on his face.He laughed and said: "Du Juncheng is really generous to the two masters! He even lent the official cattle that were specially ordered by the court to be given to the refugee customers in the fields to plow the fields, and lent them to the two masters Yuan. It's generosity." Hearing this, Second Master Xu couldn't help curling his lips secretly, and was very displeased with Sima Yi's praise of Du Chuan's "generosity to others", thinking that Du Chuan had never given him any generous benefits to this empty stable guard, so he went Ye Boss unceremoniously exposed Du Chuan's background: "Oh! Mr. Ma, Du Juncheng is naturally very 'generous' in doing so. But, then again, the two masters Yuan are also very 'generous' in thanking him Ah! Once these more than one hundred official cows are lent out, Du Juncheng's family of 40 to 50 people can eat and drink in Sihai Tower all year round without spending a penny of salary! The Yuan family The kitchen of the Four Seas Building owned by the two masters has become his kitchen in the Du Mansion..." "Hehehe... However, the two Master Yuan will not lose money. Yi heard that if the tenants of their Yuan Mansion want to lend them a cow to plow the field, they have to rent it with three buckets of rice. Otherwise, at the end of the year Just collect 10% more land rent to pay for it..." Sima Yi was not very surprised when he heard Xu Erye say this, "In the end, it is the common people who bear all this anyway, and Du Juncheng and the two Yuan masters are naturally sitting back and enjoying the benefits. It's fun. Just kidding, these more than a hundred official cattle and more than eighty official horses are better said to be the private cattle and private horses of the two masters Yuan!" "Master Ma sees it very clearly—hey, who made him a majestic Lord Chancellor? Don't worry, Mr. Ma, if you are an official for a few years, you will definitely be able to get this kind of treatment. At that time, I With the old bones, I might be able to brazenly entrust you with your blessings, and follow you to Sihailou to eat delicious food..." Second Master Xu nodded with a grin, and then flattered him a few words. "Second Master Xu's words are outrageous, outrageous... How can Ma Mou have that day? We are just joking today! If you finish talking, just throw it away. Don't mention it again in the future." Don't mention it again!" Sima Yi hurriedly waved his hand to interrupt his words. Seeing his anxious appearance, Second Master Xu still smiled: "Lord Ma, don't worry—Xu's mouth is locked, and he won't talk nonsense outside. But, listen What you said just now, you may not be clear about one thing: it is true that the more than one hundred official cattle became the private cattle of the two masters, but the more than eighty official horses did not become the private horses of the two masters... ..." "Oh?" Sima Yi's eyes lit up, but he only glanced at Second Master Xu's face, and didn't take the initiative to ask any questions. "You don't know, Wei Taishou in our county mansion has always been a peacemaker who pretends to be deaf and dumb, but the county captain Liang Guangguang is the most stubborn person-he doesn't seem to be How to buy Du Juncheng's account? On the second day when he heard that Du Juncheng rented out those official cattle, he brought dozens of soldiers over and took all the more than 80 official horses to his barracks, saying It is to be used for combat training. Du Juncheng negotiated with him several times, and even persuaded Wei Taishou to suppress him, but he insisted on not agreeing! So, Mr. Ma, don’t look at Du Juncheng and Liang Junwei in front of outsiders. They greeted each other with smiles, but in fact, the relationship between the two of them is deadlocked secretly." After hearing this, Sima Yi secretly wrote down all this, laughed, and took the conversation away, still very affectionately said to Xu Erye: "Oh! Let's be subordinates talk about what their superiors do? These words Let's talk about it here and throw it away! To be honest, Yi today just thought that it would be too hard for Second Master Xu to be alone in the stable, so he came to visit you by the way. Let's see today You are quite strong, but don’t let yourself be bored in this stable yard—if you have time, come and sit in the planning office in the front yard, and Yi will definitely treat you to a pot of Na Bingzhou Laojiao wine old wine." At this moment, Second Master Xu was touched by his words so much that his heart became hot, and he cupped his fists and bowed to him non-stop: "Oh! I will go to the Confucius Temple this afternoon to tell you what I said to you, Mr. Ma." Burn the incense and go!"