Nanming Engineer

Chapter 100
Wang Huan's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly took the old man's hand, came to a big rock by the side of the road, asked him to sit down, and said softly: "Old man, sit down first, and talk to me slowly, Chongqing Why is it not a place where people live?"

The old man sat half his ass on the rock, thanked Wang Huan sincerely, leaned on his crutches for a while, and sighed tremblingly: "Ah~~! Mr. Wang, the little old man is surnamed Zhang, and his ancestral home is Chongqing Mansion. , the ancestral house is right next to Chaotianmen, and they have been doing business for generations. They have traveled all over the world and bought and sold leather goods for a living. Over the years, they have also accumulated some family property and fame. They can be regarded as a wealthy family in Chongqing City. My eldest son also learned Wen Sanzi, the year before last, passed the examination as a scholar, Guangzong Yaozu, the first one in my Zhang family in a hundred years, the neighbors are very envious."

Seeing that he was getting more and more complacent as he talked, Wang Huan vaguely wanted to break up the long conversation, and quickly interjected: "The old man's family is at its peak, we are gratified, but why did it fall to such a point?"

This sentence suddenly brought the old man back from the happiness of the past. His muddy old eyes were filled with mist, and he shouted sadly: "It's those abominable thieves and officers and soldiers!"

He shouted sadly and emotionally, without realizing it, Wang Huan was dragged together and scolded by these words. The expressions of Ma Xintian and Chen Xiang, who were standing beside Wang Huan, changed, and they were about to scold them when they took a step forward, but they were lightly scolded by Wang Huan. He stretched out his hand lightly to stop them, and shook his head to stop the movement of the two of them.

The family members of the old man Zhang kneeling next to him turned pale with fright, and the trouble came out of their mouths. The timid ones trembled all over, and the brave ones couldn't stop stealing glances at Wang Huan's face, for fear that this fellow officer and soldier of the imperial court would Hearing the sound, the young adult was furious, and drew a knife to slash at people if he didn't agree with each other.

Wang Huan, however, had a calm expression of not being shocked by honor or disgrace, still holding the old man Zhang's hand kindly, sitting on the stone and listening to the following.

"The bandits entered Sichuan the year before last and took over my Chongqing mansion. My family had a lot of money, and they couldn't let go of their ancestral property. They ventured to stay in the city and became obedient citizens of the bandits. The bandits established a government in the city, but they are very kind. The Proclamation of Peace to the People was promulgated, requiring merchants to operate as usual and not to disturb the people and residents, so that we gradually calmed down and felt that after the rogue became a king and widow, he was very different from the way he used to be.

Old Zhang said in Chinese with vicissitudes and sadness, "After a year like this, after the Ramadan this year, the officers and soldiers of the imperial court came back, and the commander-in-chief Zeng Ying drove away the thieves and regained Chongqing City. We are all happy. Although thieves are different from ordinary thieves, they are still traitors and thieves, and righteousness is incompatible. When Master Wang entered the city, the people in the city set up incense tables to offer fruits and greeted them along the way. The little old man and the whole family were among them. It’s a grand occasion, which is rare in my life.”

"It's a pity that the officers and soldiers issued a decree within ten days after entering the city." Old man Zhang said at the sad place, his face became more sad, and he choked up: "It is necessary to strictly investigate whether the residents who did not escape during the period of the robbery occupied the city, whether there are bandits My lord, the bandits are occupying the city, my people are unarmed, and the officers and soldiers have all fled. What can we do? Staying in the city is just to survive. On the surface, it is to track down the insiders of the gangsters, but secretly, it is to amass people's wealth!"

"Officials brought a group of hooligans, who were familiar with the way of the rich in the city, entered the door and sat in the hall, shouting for money, otherwise they will put chains on their heads, and they will be put in prison to survive or die. You have to kowtow to give gifts and offer large sums of money to catch people. But this official send away batch after batch, send away today and come back tomorrow, and come to ask for silver taels every now and then. As a result, countless families were destroyed and people died in the city. Countless families were locked up because they couldn't afford the money, and their corpses were left in the wild without a sound, and there was no one to collect the corpses."

Wang Huan raised his eyebrows angrily, and said in a deep voice, "Ceng Ying doesn't care about such a mess?"

The old man Zhang wept sadly and said: "Who will take care of it? It was originally ordered by the government, so naturally no one took care of it. My son's fame as a scholar, couldn't bear it, and ignored the little old man's dissuasion, he went to the government yamen to beat the drums and file a complaint. However, without even seeing the magistrate, he was kicked out by a group of officials, saying that this was the arrangement of Master Zeng, the chief soldier, and no one dared to take care of it."

"My son couldn't be more angry, so he turned around and went to Zeng Zongbing's barracks to complain. Zeng Ying is a dignified son. On the surface, he treated my son with courtesy. He comforted him and said that he would strictly investigate the matter of extortion. My son is kind. I believed it to be true, but unexpectedly, as soon as my front foot walked out of the shaft, within four or five streets, I was caught up by a group of market miscellaneous skins, who cursed and committed crimes in the street. They beat my son to death and hung his body on a high pole. Written in blood on a white cloth: Whoever dares to come forward to make a complaint will end."

The old man Zhang wailed loudly, wailing in silence: "Poor my son, who was only in his 30s and just in his prime, passed away with hatred. That Zeng Ying refused to give up. The next day, hundreds of officers and soldiers came to the door and framed us. The bandit locked up my second son, robbed my property, smashed the furniture, drove my whole family out, and lived on the street. Thinking that I am nearly [-] years old, I have ended up like this, how can it not make people heartbroken .”

The old man Zhang cried miserably and sadly, and everyone who heard it was moved. Chen Ergou, whose real name was Chen Xiang, could hear his eyes cracking, his face was full of anger, his fists were tightly clenched, and he was almost ready to bleed out, even his emotions did not stick to his face. The old Ma Xintian also had twinkling eyes, and a hint of anger appeared in his pupils imperceptibly.

"Occasionally, my family listened to the rumors from the villagers who returned from Shizhu on the street. In the Longevity Valley of Shizhu, there was a man named Wang Dashan who opened a warehouse to release grain and help the refugees. As long as those who belonged to him were willing to work and contribute, they could live a stable life. Xiao Lao I thought about it, since my hometown can't stay any longer, why not run away with my whole family and find a way to survive in the Longevity Valley. Although my family is old and weak, they are good people who are willing to endure hardships and go to the fields to live a hard life. It’s better than my hometown. As a result, along the way, I met many surrounding villagers who had the same idea as us, and we all walked together, but I never wanted to meet adults here.”

The old man Zhang was crying and talking, and he babbled up to this point, threw away his crutches, knelt on his knees with a "plop", and his whole body fell down, shouting in his mouth: "At this time, the heavens are merciful, let me When I can see the majesty of the adults, please take me in, the little people must work hard and work hard, just to have a full meal and a shelter from the rain, so that I can live safely!"

The members of the Zhang family who were kneeling on the side also bowed down, begging in unison: "Please take me in, please take me in, please take me in!"

Facing the head lying on the ground at his feet, Chen Xiang almost burst into tears. He was born in a poor and humble family, suffered a lot of bullying when he was young, wandered around in the market, and was beaten by hooligans and slaves since he was a child. This is the worst thing to see In this scene, my head was hot, and I took a step forward, shouting in my mouth: "All right, all go, all go, the Longevity Valley is big..." I have to go to help.

Ma Xintian pulled him back calmly, Chen Xiang looked at him in astonishment, but saw Ma Xintian shook his head, and said softly with a cold face: "Your Excellency, you have your own calculations!"

Chen Xiang slapped his head, and suddenly came to his senses, secretly thought it was dangerous, this is the time for adults to pretend to be aggressive, how can they let themselves be in the limelight?He couldn't help but look at Ma Xintian with admiration and gratitude, thinking that this ginger is still old and spicy.

Sure enough, Wang Huan helped old man Zhang up with both hands with a sad expression, firmly supported his shoulders, and said in a deep voice: "Okay, the Longevity Valley was first built, and it was the opportunity to employ people. You can come at the right time. Now I will send someone to take you to the valley, don’t worry, the Longevity Valley is not like that man-eating mess, as long as you abide by the laws and regulations, you will not only be able to live comfortably, but will definitely get better and better in the future.”

He smiled slightly, revealing a mouthful of snow-white teeth, raised his eyebrows on his handsome face, and his eyes were like a crescent moon, revealing a deep joy: "And your ancestral fur business can't just be abandoned like this!"

(End of this chapter)