In fact, both of Chai Zhu's guesses were wrong.
The Luzhou government office did not "falsely report the disaster."
The governor of Luzhou wanted to conceal the truth in order to keep his official hat. But he was not a kind person and offended too many people, many of whom wanted him to step down. He was smart. Seeing that he could not conceal it, he chose to expose himself instead of letting his political enemies exaggerate and report it to the emperor, at least to save his life.
It’s not like Prime Minister Huo “didn’t take that much”.
——He swallowed it all.
The reign name Hongshun has a good meaning, but those years were not smooth at all. Natural disasters and man-made calamities occurred frequently in various places.
Although Emperor Xi was a person who didn't care about things, he would still order the allocation of money for the memorials submitted to his desk. After all, no matter how careless he was as an emperor, he didn't want to be a king who ruined his country.
However, at that time, the emperor was not the only one who was corrupt in the court of Dayan. The entire court was of the same character. The money allocated was exploited layer by layer, and even at the end, there was an established convention on how much each level would get. The money was just divided up by the bottom layer - every time there was a disaster, they would get rich.
The reason why Prime Minister Huo’s affair was exposed was because he did not follow the “rules”.
Prime Minister Huo was the top person in the court at that time, so he was naturally the one who got the most benefits. According to the "rules", he should have picked the biggest and best ones. But this man was really cruel and ruthless, and he swallowed all the benefits without leaving any more than a layer of fat skin.
But Prime Minister Huo was so powerful that his subjects complained a lot, but they dared not say anything.
Who made this person the most loved by Emperor Xi?
Because of this, there are many people who curse secretly and stab others behind their backs.
But Chu Lu really didn't care about that. He wouldn't lose a piece of meat if he cursed. Compared with other troubles, Chu Lu actually thought this link was quite good. It not only stabilized his image as a treacherous official, but also provided silver and grain for disaster relief.
Of course, it would be even better if there were no disasters or harm.
The system calls the host's behavior "no middleman making a profit from the price difference".
Chu Lu felt that this was really not right. After all, this method was fine at the beginning, but the disasters kept coming back year after year, and the money in the national treasury kept getting less and less. In the end, they all relied on him as a "middleman" to subsidize the people. It was simply cruel. Even if he had more ways to make money, he could not afford this.
So in the eyes of the court officials, Prime Minister Huo was becoming more and more evil-minded and cruel every year.
Finally, when the new emperor came to power and revealed some of his intentions, there were naturally people below who helped the "new master" to solve his problems.
These people probably had no intention of bringing down Prime Minister Huo, but they had been exploited for so long that they wanted to secretly cause him some trouble.
There are also one or two people who are planning to use this opportunity to win the favor of the new emperor and become the second Prime Minister Huo of the new dynasty. Wouldn't they be so happy that they would wake up laughing in their dreams?
In the end, no one had ever thought that your adding a point and my adding a cent would eventually lead to such a serious crime.
The new emperor was also a ruthless person. He put people in jail while the coffin of the previous emperor was still in the mourning hall.
The big tree on top flipped over, and the monkeys under the tree became anxious.
It's funny to say that it was this group of people who framed Prime Minister Huo, and when he was really sent to prison, it was the same group of people who helped him run around.
Now it was a good thing, just like a bracelet, there was no need to bother looking for them, they were all pulled out by the head. Many of these people were still thinking about rescuing the leader in prison and seeking asylum again before the incident.
Chu·Want to die·Just want to get out of here quickly·Lu:……
They have worked so hard.
#smile.jpg#
Chai Zhu hesitated for a moment, as if he felt that his previous words were not convincing. He paused and said, "The donation in Tanzhou in the eighth year of Hongshun... Although it was said to win people's hearts, it did save a lot of lives."
“As for the rumor, the porridge was mixed with horse bran,” Chai Zhu paused, shook his head and smiled bitterly, “During the disaster years, some people even ate tree bark and grass roots. When they were extremely hungry, they even ate Guanyin soil. Who would care about these things when they couldn’t even save their lives? If the corn was really replaced with bran, more people could have been saved…”
“…”
“…………”
"It is rumored that Prime Minister Huo embezzled the money from the imperial edict for the establishment of the academy."
"I have also been to those academies. Although they are called shabby sheds by the people there, with few books in them and teachers hired casually from the surrounding area... for the poor, this is really a blessing that cannot be obtained."
It was because he had visited it that Chai Zhu felt that Prime Minister Huo might have deliberately built the academy like this.
Although it looked shabby, it could at least provide shelter from the wind and rain; the food was bland but filling; the collection of books in the academy was limited in the eyes of the aristocratic families, but it was complete with classics, history, and collections; the hired teacher was not a famous scholar, but he was also knowledgeable and capable of guiding the students...
It is because of these reasons that this academy, which was originally built for aristocratic families, eventually became a sanctuary in the hearts of poor students: they had a place to stay and food to eat, books to borrow at will, and teachers to guide them.
——This is indeed the place they dream of going.
…
…………
Chai Zhu recounted each and every incident one by one.
He gradually lost the reservedness he had at the beginning, and even his tone of voice became fluent.
Those doubts, speculations, and the weight that one carries in one's heart cannot be described in pale words, and Chai Zhu does not want to be dismissive with just words.
He thought... as a son, perhaps Huo Yan wanted to see with his own eyes and witness the true meaning behind his father's actions.
Chu Lu was unaware of Chai Zhu's little thoughts. He was on edge at first, but as he listened, his slightly furrowed brows relaxed and his expression eased a little.
What Chai Zhu said were just some unfounded guesses and suspicions.
Just as he said, with Prime Minister Huo being identified as a corrupt official and a traitor to the country, anyone who dared to say such things casually in public would probably be treated like rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs. He would not even have to be sent to the authorities, but would be beaten and tortured to death in the street.
Chu Lu looked at the stubborn and persistent expression on the boy opposite him as he spoke, and couldn't help but smile a little.
Probably only young people with good family backgrounds and who have not experienced any hardship can think that everything in this world is kind and beautiful, and are willing to think of everything in the best direction; only young people who have not experienced the beatings of life can have such an idea of insisting on going against the whole world...
Disasters have occurred year after year, and people are living in poverty. How many young people can grow up like this? And among them, how many can be as sharp and meticulous as Chai Zhu, and even have some natural and accurate intuition?
Maybe not even five fingers.
Chu Lu breathed a sigh of relief, and when he looked at Chai Zhu again, he roughly understood why Chai Xiangjin chose his heir.
This child's sharpness is so astonishing that it can even be classified as a talent.
only……
He still felt that Chai Xiangjin doted on the child too much.
It was understandable that he was not allowed to come into contact with the dark side, but was this naive character really suitable for inheriting the Chai family? Surrounded by wolves, Chu Lu really suspected that this little Chai lamb would be torn into pieces on the first day he took over the family business.
Chai Little Lamb Zhu didn't know that his image in Chu Lu's eyes had degenerated into a "bleat" that wouldn't bite.
Those merchants in Jiangnan who had dealt with this young master Chai would probably die of laughter after hearing this evaluation. They would probably just sit there eating melon seeds and watching the fun, waiting for yet another person to be deceived by this kid's innocent appearance and have a piece of their flesh torn off.
Chai Zhu's sharpness was indeed genuine. As soon as Chu Lu relaxed, he immediately noticed the tense atmosphere dissipating.
Realizing this, Chai Zhu relaxed almost immediately, and changed from the cowering and begging "grandson" state to a good brother who could walk arm in arm with each other. He rose two generations in one go. The speed of his growth and the natural change in attitude were so eye-catching that Chu Lu even looked at him twice.
Chai Zhu didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all.
He had already guessed what was mentioned above, but he really had nowhere to say it.
Although Chai Zhu couldn't hide the words, he also knew that these words were not something that could be said casually.
He vaguely realized that it would be best not to mention these things to his aunt and Uncle Zheng; since relatives and elders were not allowed, it could only be friends. However, apart from those drinking buddies who only cared about eating, drinking and having fun, there were not many who were truly recognized by Chai Zhu. As for these few... he did not want to encounter the tragedy of his friends turning against him on the spot and chasing him across ten streets.
So, he could only hold it in.
But "Huo Yan" is different.
He was praising his father. No matter how powerful this man was, it was impossible for him to punch him on the spot.
It really makes people feel relaxed when they can finally express the thoughts that they have been holding back for so many years, especially when the person next to them is a great listener. Although he didn't say a word of agreement the whole time, his expression that said "I'm listening" really makes people want to talk.
...Although Chai Zhu was very skeptical about the credibility of the expression on this face.
But in terms of the conversation experience, it is really comfortable.
Then, Chai Zhu blurted out, "In fact, I almost went to Fuyoutang when I was a child."
Chu Lu raised his eyebrows slightly, indeed a little surprised.
As the name suggests, Fuyutang is a place to take care of children who have lost their parents or relatives unexpectedly.
That's what they said in theory, but in those days, people couldn't even support themselves, let alone raise children. Many babies were abandoned after they were born. Some had a conscience and threw them at the gate of the orphanage, hoping to give the children a chance to survive, while others threw them into the mountains without any care.
Later on, I threw less.
Because they learned to change, to change their "food".
Thinking of this, Chu Lu’s eyes darkened.
That was one of the places where he spent the most money and energy, but in terms of cost-effectiveness, it was not the best, and there was even a huge risk of exposure. In fact, it was not of much benefit to his mission.
But Chu Lu just felt...
A world where even children cannot survive has no future at all.
…
Chai Zhu seldom mentioned that experience. To be honest, he didn't think it was shameful. But maybe because he was used to silence, or maybe for some other reason, he seldom spoke out.
So in the eyes of most people, he seemed to be born to be the heir to the Chai family.
But at this moment, under the calm gaze of the person opposite him, he suddenly felt that those things were nothing. "My mother passed away at that time, and the Chai family didn't know of my existence. I was alone in Changcheng..."
"They're going to sell me out."
"I pleaded with that woman, asking her to at least take care of my mother's funeral. She relented."
“…”
“…………”
"But I ran too slowly, and in the end I failed to escape. I was tied up by them... and they beat me up. It hurt."
…
…………
Chai Zhu's narrative is not very organized.
Although the speech is not continuous, the content is very fragmented, more like a patchwork of images in a child's eyes, and sometimes even some hallucination-like descriptions appear.
He talked about how he and a group of children were tied up and locked in a "large, moving black room," which was obviously a carriage, but Chai Zhu, immersed in the memories of the past, still used that description.
The children decided to escape from the "monster's belly".
…
…………
Chu Lu listened to a strange adventure story about escaping from a monster's mouth from a child's perspective, and the safe place the children finally agreed upon was "Fuyutang".
Although the process had several twists and turns, they still managed to escape successfully.
The "Fuyutang" became the final destination of this adventure and a safe place to shelter them.
…
Chu Lu: "You should know that Fuyoutang is Prime Minister Huo..."
“A place to train confidants and private soldiers.”
Chai Zhu simply took over the conversation.
Chu Lu was stunned for a moment and nodded.
Isn't this child very clear-headed?
He thought about it again and felt that it was understandable.
Childhood experiences will ultimately affect a person's entire life. Even though he has grown up and rationally knows the benefits behind it, in Xiao Chai Zhu's heart, it has indeed become a shelter that allows him to escape the clutches of the devil.
Chu Lu thought so, and when Chai Zhu said in a hoarse voice, "A gentleman judges by deeds, not by heart," he just nodded with extra tolerance and rarely responded.
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