Chapter 82: Breaking the Heavens’ Wealth and Honoring the World
Xiong Jiushan's reaction confirmed the news Gao Shanhe brought back after returning to the village.
Gao Shusheng had even more confidence in the Xie family, and he secretly made a plan in his mind. He would ask Gao Shanhe to take a few young and strong people from the village to go to the West Mountain to invite Sister Huaihua to come down the mountain.
The village market is not big, and the things are all ordinary items, which are not worth much on weekdays. However, the prisoners are in a difficult situation and are worried about the hardships of the journey ahead, so they exchange them when necessary to avoid suffering.
However, there were also some convicts who did not participate at all. They looked like they had no money and ate whatever the guards gave them. They would never do anything to provoke others. Although they looked over there with envy, they hid themselves in the crowd in order to protect themselves.
Not everyone has as many members as the Xie family, and not every family is under the pressure of ghosts and gods.
Pang Jiming is one of them.
An unexpected disaster forced him to be exiled with his family, which made him deeply realize that sometimes disasters come without any reason and no fairness.
People are born different and there is no equality.
The world is no longer clear and bright, but tainted and chaotic. This is not an era for ambitious people to achieve great things. Ordinary people are like ants, living a cautious life under the feet of the rich and powerful, just to breathe a sigh of relief. How can there be peace when you are dependent on others?
He studied hard when he was young, and spent ten years striving for fame just to control floods and benefit future generations, but what was the use?
At the prime of life, one should work for the people. Even if he works diligently and attentively by the river, it is not as good as a false accusation from the nobles in the capital.
Where is justice in this world? None!
People from the imperial court came here to seek fame and fortune, but as a minor water official, he didn't care at all. If the nobles from the outer gate ordered the experts to do things randomly, it would only cause a little chaos. As long as there was no serious damage, after the nobles left, they, the local water officials, could work hard to make up for it and recover some of the losses.
But what I fear most are those incompetent people who come here not for fame but to take a quick look around, but who are determined to do something big.
Changing fields is like crossing a mountain, not to mention flood control, which relies heavily on the practical experience accumulated by generations of water officials. He studied under a famous water control official and was sent to be a waterway official. He went to the south to control floods for ten years and is slowly finding a feasible method. He and his like-minded colleagues study new flood control methods day and night, and they are determined to rectify the waters in the south that flood every year and create a project that can prevent floods for decades or even hundreds of years.
They also knew that this method would be unlikely to be effective in the short term, and that its achievements would not be comparable to those of the chief flood control officer. However, it would benefit future generations ten or even dozens of years later.
This is the dream of these water conservancy officials. Fortunately, the person in charge of the southern region is also a man of ambition. Everyone is working together to advance the work step by step. However, a sudden flood disrupted the rhythm.
The Lord led his subordinates to rush to the dike to rescue the flood and evacuate the affected people. This was a time for unity and cooperation, but the Right Prime Minister led his men south to control the flood.
They fought hard on the riverbank for many days. When they heard that someone was coming from the imperial court, they were overjoyed, thinking that imperial reinforcements had finally arrived!
But……
In their view, floods are the wrath of heaven, a disaster that destroys families. But for some, it is nothing more than a sudden wealth. Disaster control is getting rich, and merit is fame.
The mentor single-handedly saved the lives of his subordinates, but one person died under the knife.
Pang Jiming lay in the damp and dark prison, looking at the dark ceiling, feeling completely hopeless.
What kind of world is this?
Those who work hard will be cut into pieces, while those who show off their skills will rise to the top.
He set out in a daze with his wife and children along with the exile team, and all the way reminded his family that safety was the most important thing, and that the family should survive safely until they reached Laozhou, not interfere with others, and not get into conflict with the guards.
Although he said this, he felt that fate was ridiculous.
He was unaware of the fact that Xie Zhen, the married daughter of the Xie family, had followed the exile team that night. It was only the next day that he learned the news about Xie Zhen from other exiles around him.
I heard that the other party was divorced by Zhuang Tanhua and came to look for her parents' home.
Pang Jiming saw Zhuang Xu's wife, Xie Zhen, among the crowd of Xie family members.
He ended up in this situation because he bumped into Zhuang Xu by the waterway, but he also saw Zhuang Xu's divorced wife in the exile team.
At that moment, he truly felt the fickleness and mockery of fate.
Just like now, the Xie family has a century-old reputation. Even if they are exiled, the daughters of the Xie family can still pay money to exchange with the villagers for supplies on the road.
He looked at the other incompetent refugees, all of whom had haggard faces and were struggling to survive in a numb manner.
What exactly went wrong?
Pang Jiming couldn't figure it out for a moment.
The wife was looking after her children who were still asleep. Seeing her husband silently looking at the people trading in front of them, she sighed in her heart.
Pang Jiming withdrew his gaze, took out the remaining half of the cake from his arms and handed it to his wife.
"Why haven't you finished eating again?" The wife frowned.
"I'm not hungry, you eat."
"Nonsense!"
"Eat it." Pang Jiming couldn't speak, so he handed half a piece of cake to his wife's arms.
Tears welled up in the wife's eyes, but she blinked them back a few times, fearing that her husband would think too much.
After being married for more than 20 years, no one understands her husband's thoughts better than his wife.
She also felt sorry for her husband.
At the beginning of the New Year, she still remembers her husband lying on the table, drawing lanterns with his daughter and son, expressing their best wishes for the New Year.
Who doesn’t know his wish?
When talking about flood control, her taciturn husband always beamed with joy, and his words were full of hope for a bright future.
Later, he didn't go home for a long time.
Every time he came back, he would stand under the porch and look at the sky with a sad look on his face.
She brought him hot tea to warm himself, and she could always hear him muttering about why the court had been slow to allocate money, and that things were about to change.
Later...
She was afraid that he would become depressed during his exile.
When the young lady from the Xie family came after her, it was the first time she noticed a change in her husband's face.
If she hadn't known him for many years and didn't think too much about it, she would have almost thought that there was some relationship between her husband and the young lady of the Xie family.
Pang Jiming: "That Second Miss Xie is the wife of Zhuang Tanhua."
She was also stunned.
She also saw Xie Zhen's expression, and even looked at him for a long time.
She told her husband, "The Xie family is in trouble, and Zhuang Tanhua is too reckless to divorce my wife just because he wants to."
Pang Jiming was silent for a moment, then said, "The Crown Prince and the Right Prime Minister want to introduce other noble ladies to him."
"No wonder."
"When a mean person does things in a servile and mean way, he is not like a human being."
When Pang Jiming heard his wife scolding, he rarely looked at his gentle and polite wife again.
"That traitor harmed my husband so much that even if I were buried in the earth, I would crawl out and curse him a few more times to vent my hatred."
Pang Jiming laughed for the first time that day.
With a wife like this, what else could a husband ask for?
After Pang Jiming became famous, he only had his wife and children in his heart. The interests of the court and fame had nothing to do with him anymore.
In order to reach Laozhou safely, he would work hard to save an acre or two of land, work from dawn to dusk, and take good care of his wife and children.
Life is nothing but living. What difference does it make whether you live well or poorly?
The crowds gathered in the village and market gradually dispersed.
The escort officers watched over the convicts as they gradually returned to the team and packed their bags.
Pang Jiming knew the team was about to set off, so he whispered to his wife, "Wake up the kids, it's time for us to go."
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