Le Jing soon received a reply from Zheng Yiliang, who readily agreed to his invitation and told him in the letter that he would bring a friend to the appointment on Sunday. Zheng Yiliang's friend must be a cultured person, but I don't know if this person has left a name in history. Le Jing didn't care too much about this "friend", because at this time he didn't know how much surprise this friend would bring him (scared).
Since we have invited people to our house for dinner, the mediocre cooking skills of Zhou Da's wife are simply not good enough. Le Jing had considered hiring a cook before, but he never did it because he didn't like having too many people at home. Now it seems that he has to find a cook as soon as possible.
The new cook was quickly chosen. She was the daughter of a poor bannerman family living nearby. Bannermen like Qian Duofu, Le Jing's landlord, who still had ancestral property to pawn were considered lucky. There were many bannermen in Beijing who couldn't even afford to eat.
Back in the Qing Dynasty, some poor bannermen could still join the army, take exams, or work as bondservants in the Imperial Household Department. Moreover, they did not have to pay taxes on their farmland, and were envied by many Han people as iron crops that could guarantee a good harvest regardless of drought or flood. Unfortunately, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, these parasites suffered.
Except for a small number of smart people among the bannermen, the rest were spoiled by the Qing government. Now there was no emperor to support them, so some poor bannermen lived no better than those poor Han people who had to sell their children. As the saying goes, fortune changes.
The girl Le Jing hired as a cook this time had a famous surname - Ulanara, which was one of the eight major surnames of the Manchus and a legendary descendant. Unfortunately, the family of this Ulanara girl was so poor that she only had a surname left. Her father was a heavy smoker and once he was so drunk that he sold her and her mother to the casino. In the end, it was her uncle who sold the ancestral antiques to redeem her and her mother from the brothel. Since then, the girl hated her father.
But the girl was smart. She didn't cry or make a fuss after she returned home. She was even more filial to her father than before. Then one day, her father drank too much and "accidentally" fell into a water tank and drowned. The girl cried so hard that she almost fainted. The neighbors praised her for being filial. So this "filial" girl became a good girl in the neighborhood. So this time Le Jing told the landlord that she wanted to find a cook, and Qian Duofu recommended this "filial" girl to Le Jing.
Le Jing met this girl for this purpose. This girl's name is Chunyan. She is about sixteen or seventeen years old. In modern times, she is just a high school student, but in this era, she is already an old girl. She is not good-looking, but her eyes make Le Jing particularly satisfied. She is a wolf cub who refuses to accept her fate. Le Jing is always willing to help such smart people who refuse to accept their fate, so he immediately decided to hire her as a cook.
Chunyan did not disappoint Le Jing's trust in her. She cooked delicious dishes. The braised pork was fatty but not greasy and melted in the mouth. Even Le Jing, who had a light diet, couldn't help but eat a few more bites. It is said that this recipe was the dowry her mother brought over as a gift, so it can be said to be a family tradition.
So on Sunday morning, Le Jing got up early, put on his newly bought gown, gave tomorrow's manuscript to Zhou's eldest son, and asked him to hand it to Editor Wang of the "Peking Fiction Newspaper". Then he went straight into the study, writing while waiting for Zheng Yiliang's visit.
…
Zheng Yiliang and his friend Zhou Dezhang got off the rickshaw, looked at the ordinary courtyard house across the street, and said to his friend, "This should be it. I'll go knock on the door."
Zhou Dezhang nodded absentmindedly, his mind still immersed in the letter he had just received. In the letter, his friend told him that large tracts of fertile land in Sichuan were planted with opium...
After a few crisp knocks on the door, a middle-aged man appeared from inside. Judging from his clothes, he should be the doorman. "Who are you?"
Zheng Yiliang restrained his bad temper and acted like a scholar: "I am Zheng Yiliang, and I am here with my friends to visit your teacher at your invitation."
"Please come in! My master has been waiting for you gentlemen."
As Zheng Yiliang and his companions entered the courtyard, they saw a young man in a white shirt walking through the corridor, smiling and walking towards them quickly. Before he arrived, he spoke: "Have Mr. Zheng and his friends arrived? I am sorry for not welcoming you in person. I am really disrespectful."
Zheng Yiliang and the other man were briefly speechless because of the unexpectedly young age of the night watchman, and Le Jing was also amazed in his heart.
Who would have thought that Mr. Zheng Yiliang's friend was Mr. Zhou Dezhang? As the current principal of Kaiming Middle School, Mr. Zhou Dezhang's photo is still posted on the bulletin board at the school gate. Le Jing can see him every day when he goes to and from work, and he is very familiar with that face. In name, Mr. Zhou Dezhang is here to accompany his friends, but judging from the current status of Le Jing and Li Shuran, his visit is both a visit from his superior and a home visit from the principal.
Unlike the old photos that are widely circulated in later generations, Zhou Dezhang, who is only in his forties, is a middle-aged man with a beautiful temperament. His facial features are not outstanding, but as the saying goes, a person with knowledge and culture is naturally elegant. Whenever he stands there, his elegant demeanor makes people unable to take their eyes away.
Standing side by side with him, Zheng Yiliang was no less impressive. The 32-year-old Zheng Yiliang was in the best golden age of his life. Born into a distinguished family, he was loved by his relatives and friends, handsome, talented, and his excellent works were produced in large quantities, attracting the attention of the academic community. He was a well-deserved child of destiny. Every pore of his body was filled with pride, so he was pure in his eyes, dared to scold anything, and was not afraid of anything. Le Jing knew that his pride would end with the assassination three years later. His pride made him successful, but it also eventually took his life.
No matter how he sighed in his heart, Le Jing smiled and bowed to the two gentlemen who looked a little dazed. "I am the night watchman. I wonder what I should call Mr. Zheng's friends?"
Zheng Yiliang looked at Le Jing with amazement, and said in amazement, "I really didn't expect it." Thinking of Zhou Dezhang's words that day, he wanted to have more friends regardless of age, and now the night watchman is so old... He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "At this age, he can be our son..."
Zhou Dezhang's face darkened, and he slapped his friend without leaving any trace, then bowed to Le Jing and said, "My name is Zhou Dezhang, and my courtesy name is Junyu. I didn't expect the night watchman to be so young. Please forgive me for my impoliteness."
Le Jing pretended not to hear Zheng Yiliang's complaints, and smiled in surprise as if he was meeting Zhou Dezhang for the first time, "So it's Mr. Zhou. I've always heard that the Kaiming Middle School under your leadership has a clean and upright academic atmosphere and everyone is eager to learn. Now I can finally meet you in person! It's true that seeing is believing!"
The young man was tall and straight, with a good appearance. His white shirt made him look like a gentleman, generous and elegant. His smile was like a spring breeze, making people forget the world. At first glance, you can tell that he is a very elegant and upright scholar. Even if he flatters himself openly, he will not give people the feeling of being snobbish. People will only feel that his words are sincere and useful.
It is always pleasant to interact with such a romantic figure. Even Zhou Dezhang, who is serious and steady, couldn't help but smile at this moment, and his voice softened a little, "No, no, you are too kind. On the contrary, you have such great talent at such a young age, much better than we were back then. It really proves the old saying that the disciple surpasses the master."
Zheng Yiliang also said: "I didn't expect a teenager could write such an article. It's really embarrassing. Compared with you, I am really living like a dog at my age!"
The three of them stood in the yard and flattered each other. After Zheng Yiliang and the other man felt relaxed, Le Jing led them to the front hall to sit down and personally made tea for them.
After three rounds of tea, the three of them started talking. Then, somehow, Zheng Yiliang mentioned the "Rise of Dynasties" which was recently serialized in the "Peking Fiction Newspaper": "Dahua has suffered from natural disasters for years, and the fields across the country have poor harvests. There are also foreign invasions. Unfortunately, the rulers are incompetent and tyrannical, and the army is weak..." He shook his head, and a hint of sarcasm flashed in his eyes: "If Xu Wangmu wants the people to survive, the only way is to revolt."
Le Jing raised his eyebrows calmly, "Oh? Why do you say that? After all, rebellion will punish the entire clan." He couldn't help but be surprised by Zheng Yiliang's sharpness. After all, the rebellion hasn't started yet. Xu Wangmu is still busy with infrastructure and farming. He is organizing the victims to go up the mountain to hunt and dig wild vegetables, and he is also gathering people to dig wells and repair canals.
Zheng Yiliang sneered, "People are starving to death, who cares about the nine clans? For the common people, filling their stomachs is the righteousness and truth in their hearts." He pursed his lips and sneered, "Wasn't the guy in front chased down because of this?"
Le Jing nodded silently in his heart. Yes, what Zheng Yiliang said was also his next plot arrangement. However, there are not many people in the world who are as calm and sober as Zheng Yiliang. Most of them are fools who have been successfully brainwashed by thousands of years of loyalty to the emperor. The emperor has been gone for more than ten years, and there are still people clamoring for restoration!
Therefore, Le Jing's next rebellion plot must be in the name of justice. The justice Le Jing chose for the protagonist is the "National Protection War". Xu Wangmu led the rebels to resist foreign invasion and protect the country, but the enemy was too cruel and the last emperor unfortunately died at the hands of the enemy. Xu Wangmu turned his grief into strength and fought hard with the army for many days and finally drove away the invaders and avenged the last emperor. But the country cannot be without a master for a day. In the end, Xu Wangmu "reluctantly" put on the yellow robe under the crying of his confidants and the people, and became the founder of the new dynasty.
Xu Wangmu is almost the same as Emperor Taizong of Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang. If the author writes this way, readers will understand it, and those who don't will think that Xu Wangmu is loyal to the emperor and patriotic, brave and resourceful, and it's okay for him to be the emperor, and it won't touch some people's sensitive points too much.
Zhou Dezhang, who had been silent since the topic was brought up, sighed when he heard this, with bitterness in his eyes and eyebrows. "We can see these things clearly, but few people in the authorities can see them clearly!"
His chest rose and fell. He had been holding back these words for too long. He could not help but pour them out. "Do you know what is planted in the fertile fields of Henan, Shaanxi, Northeast China, Sichuan and other dozen major grain-producing provinces? It's opium! Tens of thousands of acres of fertile fields, planted with opium! Why would the people prefer to buy food instead of farming? Because farming doesn't make money, but opium can be smoked at home or sold for money! The government and warlords also encourage the people to grow opium. Why not? The opium tax is so high! Didn't the Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty, who was so extravagant, rely on the opium tax to raise military expenses and build cannons and ships?"
He stood up and smiled bitterly: "Now it's a new society. Opium has finally changed from the royal family's purse to the government and warlords' purse. I heard that some warlords use opium as military pay. This business is very profitable, right?" He held his chest with red eyes and roared in a tearing voice: "I am afraid that one day the weather will be bad, and there will be a drought for a year..." He closed his eyes, fell into a chair with a pale face, and whispered: "The hungry people will turn into a pack of wolves and tear this country to pieces."
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