53 Chapter 053
◎Leaving Anlu◎
At the end of July, the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers in the neighbor's yard bloomed quietly, and the fragrance was intoxicating.
Lin Fan invited Chen Shi and Zhang Zhide to his home.
The two of them readily agreed.
After three rounds of drinks, Zhang Zhide became bolder.
He burped, his breath reeking of alcohol as he spoke, "Brother Fan, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but Miss Aqing came to me yesterday to cancel the lease. They were all about to leave, so why haven't you made any move?"
Lin Fan picked up the wine glass and took a sip.
Chen Shi also felt like talking: "Brother Lin, Fan Biqing has brought this upon himself. The magistrate of Anlu has to be replaced again. Originally, County Magistrate He had a chance of promotion, but unfortunately, he has close ties with the manager of Datong. Datong was involved in the rebellion, and he has been implicated. Not only will he not be promoted, but he will be exiled at the very least."
"Yeah." Lin Fan responded muffledly.
Chen Shi advised, "Once the new magistrate and the new county magistrate arrive, you'll have to get used to them again. Why don't you come to the government office and work with me?"
"Tuiguan Shen, you haven't given up yet?" Zhang Zhide chuckled and glanced at Lin Fan. "You're telling him this now, but he won't listen. In my opinion, instead of working with you, you might as well follow that Miss Meng and find a job in the capital."
"No," Lin Fan sat up straight suddenly, his eyes hazy, "She, she doesn't want me."
"What?" Zhang Zhide's eyes widened. "Did she tell you that in person?"
Chen Shi finally reacted and was also surprised: "Brother Lin, you won't do that to her... Don't you know her identity?"
Being entrusted with such an important task by His Majesty and even being able to carry tokens and imperial edicts with him, his identity must be extraordinary.
Even if he is not the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he is almost the same as the commander-in-chief or the assistant commander.
Lin Fan nodded: "I know, she doesn't need me."
"Oh, you're really driving me crazy," Zhang Zhide said, like a wild animal in a melon field. "What's going on? Why doesn't she want you anymore? You talked to her about your feelings, and she rejected you?"
Chenshi also pricked up his ears.
"She asked me if I wanted to work in the capital."
"What do you say?"
"I said yes."
"And then?"
Lin Fan drank a glass of wine with grievance and said, "Then, then I offended her."
"What?!" Zhang Zhide jumped up and pointed at him with shaking hands. "You, you, you are so confused!"
Chen Shi frowned: "Brother Lin, you are not that kind of person."
"That's right, I'm not someone with big ambitions," Lin Fan covered his face with his hands. "I told her that being with her wouldn't help her get promoted. But she just wanted to help me, and I misunderstood."
He was drunk and spoke unclearly. Zhang Zhide was dizzy, but Chen Shi understood him clearly.
He hit the nail on the head: "How do you know you misunderstood?"
"She asked me why she wanted me to help her."
“…”
Chen Shi was helpless: "Maybe she meant it literally."
"What?"
"Look, she's so young, yet she's already achieved a status that others wouldn't be able to achieve in their entire lives. She really doesn't need your help." Chen Shi, a bystander, saw things more clearly. "In my opinion, a girl like her who's used to giving orders wouldn't necessarily be interested in an ambitious young man."
Lin Fan raised his head, his eyes instantly lighting up.
"Of course, she definitely wouldn't look down on someone who's good-for-nothing. Someone like you, who's good-looking, a great cook, caring, and has outstanding abilities, is just the right person for the job."
Put yourself in their shoes. When a man is looking for a concubine, he also wants to find this type of woman.
Zhang Zhide still had a somewhat old-fashioned outlook, muttering quietly, "But how can I uphold the leadership of a husband in this way?"
Chen Shi snorted and laughed: "Is the husband's responsibility more important, or the cousin? I heard that you poured foot washing water for your cousin for two months, and now you and your wife are so sweet, the envy of others."
"Hehe." Zhang Zhide laughed foolishly and stopped talking.
Lin Fan stood up: "I'll go find her!"
"Forget it," Chen Shi grabbed him and said, "It's so late, and you still smell of alcohol. Don't make people dislike you. It's not too late to go tomorrow morning."
Lin Fan lowered his head and sniffed, thinking it made sense.
After seeing his two friends off, he boiled two large pots of hot water, washed himself thoroughly from head to toe, and spent half a day picking out clothes. He then folded them neatly at the head of the bed so that they would be there by the next morning.
He was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night and got up at exactly 3:00 a.m.
I borrowed some fresh osmanthus flowers from my neighbor a while ago, so I can make some osmanthus cakes to eat on the road.
At the hour of Mao, the osmanthus cake comes out of the oven.
Lin Fan took a clean lunch box, packed it up, and rolled up his bag when he suddenly heard a noise outside the house.
The courtyard door opened, and a dusty man stood outside. He looked him over and asked, "Yeshui Lane, Lin Fan, right?"
"Yes, may I ask who you are?"
The man took out a letter from his parcel, handed it to him, and said, "Someone asked me to deliver a letter to you. Here it is. Please pay me the fare."
Lin Fan looked down at the envelope, his eyebrows twitching slightly. It was written by Sixth Junior Brother.
He paid the money and unfolded the letter after the man left.
Before he finished reading, his brows were furrowed and his eyes wandered between the letter, the bundle and the food box.
After thinking for a few breaths, he clenched the letter paper, put down the lunch box and baggage, went back to the house and hurriedly wrote a letter.
Then he mounted his horse and hurried to Zhuangyuan Lane.
It was the hour of Mao and the gate of the house had not yet been opened, but there was already movement in the yard.
Lin Fan dismounted and knocked lightly on the door.
It was Yang Yunkai who opened the door. Seeing him coming, he was not surprised. He stepped aside and motioned him to come in, whispering, "You're here early. The Second Lady hasn't gotten up yet."
Lin Fan suppressed his reluctance, handed the letter over, and said awkwardly, "Brother Yang, please give this letter to her when she gets up. Please."
"You're not coming with us?" Yang Yunkai looked surprised.
He was still quite optimistic about Lin Fan. If he could join the Jinyiwei, he would be worth training.
"I have something to do, so I won't be with you today." Lin Fan handed him a food box filled with osmanthus cakes. "I made this this morning. Take it with you on the way."
Seeing the worry between his brows, Yang Yunkai nodded in agreement.
"Brother Yang, could you tell me where Miss Meng lives in Beijing?" Lin Fan knew that this was offensive, but he had to ask.
Yang Yunkai shook his head: "Sorry, I can't tell you at the moment."
He couldn't possibly say that the largest and most magnificent palace complex in the capital was the Second Lady's residence, right?
What's more, the princess has no intention of revealing her identity at the moment.
Since we are not destined to go on this trip, there is no need to add any more complications.
Lin Fan felt visibly disappointed, his heart aching, but he still forced a smile and bowed.
"I'm leaving, Brother Yang, take care."
He took one last look at the yard, turned around and mounted his horse, and his figure quickly disappeared into Zhuangyuan Lane.
Yang Yun opened and closed the door to the courtyard, holding the envelope and the lunch box. Just as he walked to the corridor, he heard a voice from inside the house: "Bring the letter."
Is the princess awake?
Feng Caiyu walked out of the bedroom, took the letter, turned around and went back into the room, and handed the letter to Xie Mingzhuo.
Xie Mingzhuo leaned against the headboard, his long hair draped over his shoulders, and opened the letter.
The handwriting on the paper was sloppy and a little hurried.
[Miss Meng’s review:
The autumn wind is blowing, and I am praying for protection.
A letter from my junior fellow student suddenly arrived, saying that my master and his group were in trouble. I was going to help them, but I was unable to go with them. I felt very sorry.
I wrote this in a hurry, please forgive me for any disrespect.
Sincerely, Lin Fan
Xie Mingzhuo read it carefully, folded it and put it back into the envelope.
"Second Madam, Master Lin is not coming with us?" Jiang Qing asked.
Xie Mingzhuo responded, "Pack up and set off."
"No breakfast?"
"Go to the breakfast shop and buy some more to eat on the way."
Yang Yunkai said outside: "Mr. Lin sent a box of osmanthus cake. It's still warm. It won't taste good if it gets cold."
"Then share it all, just to fill your stomach."
After everything was ready, the four of them, along with Xu Qinglang and Lang Qing, went out of the east gate of Anlu County, planning to return to Beijing via Jiangxi.
The Wanshou Festival is on the sixth day of September, so there is still plenty of time.
Xie Mingzhuo and his four companions disguised themselves as Jinyiwei and rode on horseback. The brother and sister served as servants. They drove a carriage full of luggage and set out from De'an Prefecture. They stayed overnight at official inns along the way, passed through Hanyang Prefecture and Huangzhou Prefecture, and headed southeast. A few days later, they arrived at the border of Huguang and Jiangxi and stayed at Xunyang Posthouse.
Xunyang Posthouse belongs to Dehua County, Jiujiang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province. It is a thoroughfare connecting seven provinces and a key point for water and land transportation. The posthouse is extremely busy with people coming and going.
"This post station is bigger than the previous ones." Jiang Qing sighed while riding on a horse and looking at the nearly one hundred post stations.
Official post stations are generally not open to private individuals and only receive officials on official business.
The post station system of the Qi Dynasty was under the jurisdiction of the Central Military Commission's Chariot and Vehicle Department. Officials who were on official business and rested at the post station were required to provide a post station token, which was to prove that they were indeed officials on official business.
Xie Mingzhuo and his companions naturally had no shortage of postal tokens.
They were wearing the standard military uniforms of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and as soon as they appeared outside the post station, they alarmed the postmaster inside.
The postmaster came out trotting, wearing a ninth-rank green official robe. The fat on his body trembled, and from a distance, he looked like a small green hill moving on the ground.
He glanced around with his shrewd little eyes and bowed to Xie Mingzhuo on horseback.
"I, Zou Hui, pay my respects to the Minister. I was not aware of your arrival and apologize for not coming to greet you."
Xie Mingzhuo wore the clothes of a deputy commander, Yang Yunkai was a captain, and Jiang Qing and Feng Caiyu dressed up as general flags.
The commander-in-chief is a fourth-rank official, on the same level as the prefect of Jiujiang Prefecture. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is highly praised in the post station.
Xie Mingzhuo dismounted quickly and asked, "Are there any vacancies?"
Zou Hui only then realized that she was a woman, but he was only surprised for a moment and did not dare to think too much. He quickly replied: "My lord, there are only two rooms left in the upper house."
Accommodation in the post station is also divided into different levels. If there are officials staying at the same time, the upper rooms will naturally be provided to the official with the highest rank.
The commander-in-chief of the fourth rank is the best in the current Xunyang Posthouse, so it is reasonable for him to live in the room.
Xie Mingzhuo nodded: "Lead the way."
"Please follow me, sir."
The so-called upper room is a suite, the master sleeps in the inner room and the servants rest in the outer room.
Low-ranking officials did not receive this treatment and could only squeeze together with servants.
Xie Mingzhuo and his four daughters lived in the same suite, while Yang Yunkai and Lang Qing lived in another upper room.
"Sir, would you like to have a meal?" Zou Hui asked respectfully.
Feng Caiyu replied: "Bring some food."
"Are there any dietary restrictions?"
“Don’t put garlic.”
"Understood," Zou Hui bowed again, "Then I will not disturb you any longer. I will take my leave."
He left the upper room and called the postman who was in charge of the affairs, and ordered: "Tell the kitchen to prepare the best wine and food for the assistant minister, and make sure there are plenty of meat dishes."
The postman was a little embarrassed: "Sir, the kitchen is out of meat. The last bit of mutton and fish were given to that person."
He pointed to a room.
It is also an upper room, located on the easternmost side. Although it is not in the center and appears to be of noble status, it is quieter on the side, with less noise, and is more suitable for living.
"Has that person's dish been served yet?"
"not yet."
Zou Hui stroked his beard and thought, "I'll go ask."
He walked lightly to the upper room on the east side and knocked carefully. When the servant opened the door, he asked politely, "Zou has something to discuss with your young master. Please give me a favor."
"Wait." The servant closed the door.
After a moment, the door opened again, and the servant said coldly, "Come in."
Zou Hui had a smile on his face, but he was cursing in his heart. It was so damn frustrating to be the postmaster.
He bowed and went into the inner room.
A young man was leaning on the couch, wearing a sandalwood-colored silk robe with cloud patterns, a green jade hairpin inserted diagonally in his messy bun, his clothes were wide open in front of him, and the beauty in his arms was reaching inside with a bare hand.
Seeing the chubby Zou Hui, he tilted his head and smiled, "Master Zou, I haven't seen you for a while. How come you've gotten fatter again? Even the piglets in the pigpen are not as big as you."
Zou Hui replied awkwardly, "Mr. Lou, you're joking."
"Tell me, what do you want from me?"
"Master Lou, the hotel just received several Jinyiwei masters. I dare not neglect them. I want to ask the kitchen to prepare some good wine and delicious food, but the meat in the warehouse is not enough."
Mr. Lou: "If it's not enough, go buy some."
"At this hour, the city gates are closed, and the town market is gone."
"Then what do you need from me?"
Zou Hui spitted in his heart, you always eat and drink lavishly every time you come, I don’t know how much food is wasted, who else should I look for if not you?
Officials do not need to pay for food and accommodation when resting in the post station. All expenses are borne by the local state and county finances.
However, the funds allocated by the prefectures and counties were also limited. Some officials on official business not only ate and drank for free, but also often demanded money and property under various pretexts. The post stations were really overwhelmed.
This Mr. Lou is not an official, but he can live in the official inn with swagger because of his powerful background and no one dares to offend him.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Mr. Lou ordered twenty dishes. You and your followers can't eat so much. Can you spare some for the Jinyiwei?"
Upon hearing this, Master Lou stopped joking and asked, "Are they really the Jinyiwei?"
"Absolutely true."
"What rank? How many people? Where are they from?"
"A fourth-rank official, one captain, two general flag officers, and two servants. I didn't look closely at the postal token, so I don't know where it came from."
"You can't even pick out the accent?"
"He speaks standard Mandarin, but I can hardly hear it."
"Well, let me think about it." Master Lou grabbed the beauty's hand and threw it away. "Since he is a high-ranking official of the Jinyiwei, I will go and pay my respects to him."
He pushed away the beauty and was about to get up.
"I'm afraid it's inconvenient."
Mr. Lou's face darkened slightly: "Why?"
"That assistant is a woman." Zou Hui was worried that the young master would be attracted by her beauty and offend the other person.
He didn't dare look at him too much when he greeted him, but he could tell at a glance that the clerk had a handsome appearance and an extraordinary bearing.
Young Master Lou always brings beautiful women to stay with him. Calling him a playboy is a compliment. In his opinion, he is just a sex-hungry ghost.
It doesn't matter if he offended the adults, but it would be bad if it implicated the post station.
"A woman?" Mr. Lou was startled for a moment, then his eyes lit up with excitement. He stood up, tidied his appearance, and walked out. "This is truly unheard of. Come on, take me to see it for myself."
"ah?"
Mr. Lou's expression turned stern: "What are you standing there for? Let's go!"
His servants followed him closely all the time, never leaving his side. Although they were servants, they did not seem respectful at all, which was very strange.
Zou Hui was muttering in his heart, but he didn't dare to refuse, so he had to take him to Xie Mingzhuo's room.
Those Jinyiwei really should be taught a lesson!
There was a knock on the door, and the door of the upper room next door opened first. A tall and strong captain of the Jinyiwei came out, with a pair of eagle eyes like sharp arrows.
"What is it?"
Mr. Lou looked him up and down subtly, then acted like a modest gentleman and bowed politely.
"My name is Lou Kun. Just now, Zou Yicheng came to see me and said that the restaurant was short of meat and vegetables. We couldn't neglect you gentlemen, so we discussed and decided to share some of my food. It's just a few dishes, but I am honored to have witnessed such a heroic figure as you. May I ask your name?"
Zou Hui: Shameless!
"Mr. Lou, I appreciate your kindness." Yang Yunkai, a man of great experience, could see through the hypocrisy behind his smile. He said coldly, "Zou Yicheng, the food will be simple, and there's no need for wine."
He is now a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. If he says his surname is "Yang", people will easily think of him as a commander, so he uses the surname "Yun".
Zou Hui agreed repeatedly: "I understand."
This captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was quite easy-going, different from any Embroidered Uniform Guard he had received before.
"Anything else?"
Zou Hui said hurriedly: "Nothing, I'll take my leave."
Lou Kun hit a snag. No matter how he felt, he remained humble, bowed and smiled, saying, "I'll take my leave."
He has seen countless people, and even if this Yun Qianhu tried to hide it, he could not hide the aura of a superior.
Returning to his room, he summoned his attendants and asked, "Did you hear from godfather that there's a woman in the imperial court who's become a deputy commander of the Imperial Guard?"
"Master, I haven't heard of it."
"That's strange. Godfather is so all-seeing. If something like this really happened, how could he not know about it?"
The follower suddenly had a thought: "Could it be a fake?"
"Pretending? Probably not." Lou Kun shook his head. "Finding a few women pretending to be Jinyiwei, are you afraid they will be exposed?"
The attendant murmured: "Can women become officials now?"
The world changes so fast.
"A woman serving as an official?" Lou Kun raised his eyebrows. "I'll ask my godfather when I get back."
When Lou Kun came to visit, Xie Mingzhuo heard everything clearly from inside the house.
When the postman in the inn served the food, she asked, "Who is Lou Kun?"
The postman, hampered by the Jinyiwei's reputation for violence, honestly said, "He is the son of a wealthy merchant in Fuliang County."
Feng Caiyu reacted and asked on his behalf: "He has no official position and no achievements, so how can he live in the government post?"
"Moreover, this is Xunyang County of Jiujiang Prefecture, and Fuliang County is under the jurisdiction of Raozhou Prefecture. How can he, a native of Fuliang County, stay overnight and eat and drink at the Xunyang official post station so freely?" Jiang Qing also questioned in a low voice.
If a wealthy businessman had a good relationship with the postmaster at a post station near Fuliang County, it wouldn't be surprising for the postmaster to open a backdoor for him. But this place is three hundred miles away from Fuliang. How could a wealthy businessman have such a long hand?
The postman knelt down with a thud and said in a trembling voice, "I, my humble servant, know nothing. Please spare my life, sir."
"Go, call Zou Hui over." Xie Mingzhuo didn't make things difficult for him.
The postman rushed out as if he had been pardoned.
A moment later, Zou Hui came running in, sweating profusely. When he entered the house, he tripped over the threshold and rolled in.
His fat body spread out on the ground looked quite funny.
"Your humble servant greets you, sir. May I know what instructions you have?" Zou Hui carefully got up and knelt on the ground.
Anyway, he has thick flesh and doesn't feel the floor is hard.
Xie Mingzhuo asked, "Why is Lou Kun able to stay at the inn?"
really!
Zou Hui's heart trembled. Lou Kun had not even seen this person, but he had already asked the Jinyiwei to record it in his little notebook.
Mr. Lou is still too conceited.
"Your Excellency, Master Lou has the posthouse's certificate. According to the rules, he can stay at the posthouse."
Xie Mingzhuo raised his eyebrows slightly: "Where did his talisman come from?"
"Your Excellency may not know that the Lou family is the largest porcelain merchant in Fuliang County and even in Raozhou Prefecture. Lou Kun has a godfather who is the Imperial Porcelain Supervisor. He works for the Supervisor, which can be considered as an official for the court."
The imperial court established the Imperial Porcelain Factory in Jingdezhen, under the jurisdiction of Fuliang County, to manufacture ceramic utensils specifically for the royal family.
The Inspector of Pottery was appointed by the emperor himself and was a trusted eunuch.
Xie Mingzhuo did not yet understand these things, nor did he know who the current supervisor of pottery was.
"Since you were working for the Inspector of Pottery, why didn't you work at the Imperial Pottery Factory? Instead, why did you come to Xunyang?"
Zou Hui's eyebrows knitted together. "I'm not entirely sure either. I only vaguely heard that they were looking for better clay from various locations."
That makes sense.
Xie Mingzhuo had nothing more to ask, so he said, "You can go down."
After Zou Hui left the room, she waved to Xu Qinglang in the corner. The latter trotted over and said angrily, "Sir, he must be lying!"
"How do you say that?"
"A Qing said that the best porcelain in the kiln is mostly made of kaolin, and kaolin is mostly produced in Qimen. Almost all the kaolin in the Imperial Porcelain Factory comes from Qimen."
What this means is that going around looking for high-quality clay can only deceive outsiders.
"Since you're from Fuliang County, do you know the Lou family?"
Xu Qinglang nodded. "I've heard that his family is the largest porcelain merchant. They have built many kilns, and the porcelain they produce is very popular. That's all I know. Ah Qing's family also has kilns, so he must know more than I do."
"Call Ah Qing."
After a while, Yang Yunkai came in with Lang Qing.
The Lang family ran a porcelain shop in the county and also owned a kiln factory.
According to intelligence from the Imperial Guards, the Lang family was tragically robbed by bandits and destroyed overnight. Lang Qing's family members were brutally murdered by the bandits, and if Lang Qing hadn't been so playful and gone to the clinic to find Xu Qinglang, he would have been murdered as well.
The Xu family and the Lang family have a close relationship. Xu Qinglang's father helped Lang Qing to report the case to the authorities, but the authorities just perfunctorily dealt with the matter, saying that the robber had disappeared and could not be arrested.
Father Xu sensed something was wrong and secretly helped investigate the truth.
Unfortunately, one day, someone sued the Xu family clinic for killing someone. The government immediately arrested him without giving him a chance to defend himself. He was thrown directly into jail and the Xu family clinic was also closed down.
Xu Qinglang wanted to seek justice for her father, but was harassed by a scoundrel on the way. If she had not been alert and carried sleeping pills with her, she and Lang Qing would have been dead long ago.
In order to save her life, she had to take Lang Qing and flee from Fuliang. On the way, she was accidentally kidnapped by a beggar. After she finally escaped, she arrived in Anlu and met Xie Mingzhuo and others.
"Sir, you called me?" Lang Qing was only ten years old. He ate well and slept well with Xie Mingzhuo, and his face had gained some weight these days.
Xie Mingzhuo asked gently, "Do you know the Lou family?"
"Yes, my father often praised the Lou family's porcelain to me. His family is the most powerful porcelain dealer in the county."
"Have you ever met the Lou family?"
Lang Qing thought for a moment and shook his head, "I haven't seen it."
Xie Mingzhuo changed the question: "Before the incident in your family, were there any abnormalities between your parents?"
"Abnormal?" Lang Qing scratched his cheek, embarrassed. "Does sighing often when you're in a bad mood count? But my dad often sighs at me, saying I'm stupid and can't do business."
"You may not be good at business, but you are good at porcelain painting. The styles you paint are all refreshing." Xu Qinglang praised him, and then said, "Sir, I remember something."
"What is it?"
"Aqing's mother was not feeling well. One day when I brought her some medicine, I noticed her eyes were red and swollen. She must have been crying."
Lang Qing: "My mother cried? How come I didn't know?"
"You just play around all day, what do you know?"
Lang Qing lowered his head and blamed himself. If he had discovered that something was wrong with his parents earlier, would he have known the truth earlier?
"I was joking," Xu Qinglang pinched his cheek, "It's just that the bad guys were too bad, it has nothing to do with you."
Jiang Qing crossed her arms and said seriously, "There must be something wrong here."
Seeing no one respond, she put down her arms helplessly and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"
Feng Caiyu shook her head: "That's right."
But it's obvious.
Xie Mingzhuo also reached out and pinched Lang Qing's face, "Go back and rest first, we'll talk about it when we get to Fuliang County."
Lang Qing said obediently, "Okay."
It was late at night and everyone went to rest.
Xie Mingzhuo was lying on the bed. She fell asleep slowly and couldn't fall asleep for a while.
The lights in the rooms of the inn were off, and everything was silent under the shroud of darkness.
Xie Mingzhuo had sharp hearing and always felt that there was a faint sound of crying, but when he listened carefully, it disappeared again.
She turned over and continued to sleep.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, the crying sound reached her ears again. She had no choice but to open her eyes and get out of bed.
Jiang Qing, who was outside, heard the noise first. She woke up with a start and came in, saying, "Second Madam, just tell me what you want."
"Someone is crying." said Xie Mingzhuo.
Jiang Qing was stunned for a moment, then sighed, "How many times has this happened?"
They passed through many post stations along the way, some were dilapidated and simple, while others were spacious and bright, but without exception, the postmen in every post station had their backs bent by the heavy labor.
They were laborers at the post station, receiving officials from all over the place. If they met kind-hearted ones, things would be easier for them, but if they met cruel and arrogant ones, they would either be driven and harassed endlessly, or be asked for and exploited under various pretexts.
Not only did the officials not have to pay for accommodation, they could also use their power to force the postmen at the post stations to offer them so-called tribute silver.
The postmen were suffering terribly, and more and more people were fleeing.
Most of them have lost the ability to cry, and those who can cry are basically newcomers.
The original function of the post station was to convey official documents, transmit military intelligence and transport goods, but now it has gradually become a back garden for officials staying there to do whatever they want. There are even many cases of people stealing post station tokens and using public property for personal purposes.
Xie Mingzhuo has seen a lot along the way. She is currently powerless to change the status quo, but she cannot turn a blind eye to the problem.
The problem of Prince Liang's rebellion had been resolved, and the crisis of national destruction had been temporarily lifted, so she could have relaxed for a while.
But as my knowledge and experience grow, more and more problems surface.
Changing the overall atmosphere requires gradual progress, but since things are happening right in front of her, she can't just sit back and watch.
"Ask Lao Yang to find someone."
Jiang Qing immediately obeyed the order, but she also felt sorry for her master.
Can these officials please show some courage and stop asking the princess to try people overnight?
【Author’s words】
I really wish I could have the energy of Shao Shao and code 100,000 a day! [Melted][Melted][Melted]
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