"Brother, why are you so careless with your words!" The man who had just returned from patrolling at the stern happened to hear the last two sentences and hurriedly stopped the boatman from continuing.
The boatman spread his hands indifferently, "I'm not the only one saying this. Who on both sides of the shore isn't cursing those damn officials behind their backs?"
"Brother, come to the stern and take a look. Our deck is a little damaged. We need to take some time to repair it after today's trip..."
After the boatman was sent away, Wei Yunlan looked in the direction he had pointed.
Even from a distance, one could vaguely see the destroyed land on both sides of the canal.
If the water course had not changed, the crops on both sides of the Dan River would not have been washed away. Even if affected by the changeable climate this year, there would have been no total harvest.
It is hard to say whether the current situation is caused by a natural disaster or a man-made disaster.
Looking away, Wei Yunlan suddenly noticed a shadow at his feet.
When he turned his head and looked back, he saw "Guard Xiao" standing not far from him, looking in the direction he had just been looking, with a frown on his face, his eyes full of sadness.
Wei Yunlan actually felt that he understood this sorrow.
It was very similar to the expression he had when he heard that his relatives had passed away one after another in the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion. But he was in pain for his relatives and family, so why was "Guardian Xiao" in pain?
Could it be that he considers this desolate land as his home?
…
The boat docked and the Wei family re-harnessed the carriage and set off.
Qi Xu and Feng Ping followed the team on horseback. Two Saker Falcons had just brought news from Tanzhou and the capital.
Dong Lin, the canal officer of Jihe River, has presented the evidence prepared by Tianshu Pavilion to the capital. In his early years, Dong Lin received the favor of Lord Luo Xianluo, a veteran of two dynasties. No one knew it on the surface, but in fact, he had long been a member of their Eastern Palace.
Now that the people in the capital have learned that King You died in a shipwreck and is in a coma, the suspicion that Emperor Xiaoming had just felt two days ago is being replaced by a rare love for his child.
In one day at most, the evidence sent by Dong Lin will be on his desk. Then he will know what kind of vicious person his beloved and most cherished son is.
Qi Xu was looking forward to seeing how he would react then.
When the Saker Falcon left, it circled around Wei Yunlan's carriage until the black cloud poked its head out and barked twice threateningly before flying away.
Looking at the "two black dots" that quickly disappeared in the air, Wei Yunlan thought of the red-footed falcon.
"Dad, you should be almost at Beiguan by now, right?"
Her estimate was correct.
At this time, Wei Maolin had just arrived at the towering city wall of Beiguan with Manager Wang and Dong Da.
Although Beiguan is just a checkpoint, its actual scale is much larger than the capital cities of many provincial capitals.
As the most important defense checkpoint and strategic location on the border of Dayong, there are no less than 30,000 people, not counting the garrison, but the workers building the North Gate city wall, the military dependents and the civilians living here, which has evolved into a prosperous small town.
It is divided into South City and North City. North City is mostly inhabited by military officers' families and the residences of officials at the checkpoints, while South City is where ordinary people and exiles live, hence the saying "the north is noble and the south is humble".
The news that Wei Maolin was heading to Beiguan alone had already spread from the capital.
However, no one expected that he would arrive so early. There was still nearly half a month left before the deadline set by the court.
The Northern Border Defense Commissioner Gong Xishan came out to greet him in person. Gong was a military commander in the Northern Army, but he retired from the front due to an injury and took up a civilian position in charge of border defense affairs, land management, and household management.
He spoke with a bit of military boldness. After greeting Wei Maolin and inviting him into the City Affairs Office, he pointed to the spread-out map and said, "Normally, we would arrange for the criminals and their families exiled here to live near the office in the south city, so that they can work every day. However, Lord Wei has been pardoned by the emperor and exempted from hard labor, so he doesn't have to live there."
"The places circled on this map are all currently vacant houses belonging to the City Affairs Office. Since you are here early, Lord Wei, why not choose one yourself? After all, you will be living here for a long time. Wouldn't it be more comfortable to choose a place you like?"
Is there such a good thing?
The surprise in Wei Maolin's eyes was too obvious. Gong Xishan smiled awkwardly and stretched out two fingers to twiddle them. "It will cost some money. After all, the City Affairs Office didn't get this house for free..."
That makes sense.
Hearing him say this, Wei Maolin felt relieved and asked directly, "Then I wonder how much these houses are worth?"
Seeing that Wei Maolin seemed to be really interested in this, Gong Xishan perked up and introduced: "The houses in the south city are relatively cheaper. For houses with three or four rooms near the government office, you only need to pay five or six taels of silver to the City Affairs Office every year."
"The area near the city gate is relatively large, and it's only about ten taels of silver."
"The ones in the north city are more expensive, but they are much quieter, and the people living in the surrounding mansions are all good people. Look at the largest empty courtyard, with three entrances and three exits, and the best location. Just give two hundred taels of silver to the City Affairs Office every year." When saying this, Gong Xishan did not dare to look at Wei Maolin's expression.
Even he himself felt that at this moment he was like a brothel madam who recommended girls to other brothels. But if the City Government was not really short of money, he would never have done this job personally!
Two hundred taels were enough for the city officials to use for a quarter of a year.
Thinking of this, Gong Xishan recommended it more vigorously: "Lord Wei, who lives next door to this courtyard, also knows this family. It just so happens that they have a great affinity with your family. When we are both in Beiguan, it will be convenient for us to visit each other..."
Wei Maolin had no intention of settling on such an eye-catching house, but after hearing this, he still asked curiously, "Which family?"
"It's the Liang family who went north with you." Gong Xishan said, "Lord Liang suffered a great disaster on the way. The Empress Dowager pleaded for him, and the Emperor also exempted him from hard labor and let him recover from his injuries first. His family reserved this house a long time ago, and the one next to it was just recently vacated. It just happens that your two families can become neighbors. Isn't that a coincidence?"
Gong Xishan didn't have any other thoughts. He just thought that these two families came from Beijing and had strong backgrounds and people in the court pleading for them. Maybe they could stay at the border for a few years and then be transferred back to Beijing.
It just so happened that they had plenty of money on hand, so they might as well contribute some to the City Affairs Office to help solve their urgent needs.
However, he didn't know that although the Wei family could be neighbors with anyone, they were absolutely unwilling to be neighbors with the Liang family.
Wei Maolin had no intention of choosing that courtyard, but after hearing that, he became more determined. He glanced at the spread-out drawings and pointed to a relatively large courtyard far away from the Liang family and not far from the South City Gate and said, "Thank you, Lord Gong, for your kindness. However, we are exiled from the capital, and although we have relatives to help us, we are not well-off. Let's choose this one!"
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