He Guangyi stood at the door of Zhenfu Sitian Prison and gave orders to the jailer inside with a cold face.
The Heavenly Prison is underground, and the long and deep passage is like the legendary gate to hell. Just looking at it makes people shudder.
It was already April, and I was standing at the entrance of the dungeon wearing thick clothes, but I still felt like there was a chilly wind.
With a creak, the door to the prison was opened.
He Guangyi waved his hand for the jailer to step back, turned his head and said expressionlessly, "Second room A!"
Xie Jin was carrying a food box and tightened his cloak, "Aren't you coming with me?"
He Guangyi grinned, smiled silently, and said sideways, "Please!"
After saying that, he turned around and left.
Jie Jin stood at the door of the empty prison, looked at the long and narrow passage inside, swallowed, and thought to himself, "I didn't think He Guangyi was so scary before. Why does it look so black and white in this world?"
Immediately, he shook his head and walked inside under the guidance of the jailer.
"Prisoner Xin Yande, someone is here to see you!"
The jailer stood at the door and shouted, took out the key and opened the heavy iron door.
There was a creaking sound, and in the dim light, Xie Jin saw a thin figure huddled on the thatch pile.
"Brother Xin!" Xie Jin whispered.
Xin Yande turned his head in surprise, "Why are you, Bachelor Jie?"
"Why can't it be me?" Xie Jin went in with a smile, first put a lamp on the table, and then opened the food box.
Xin Yande's withered lips moved, "Logically speaking, between you and me..."
"Yes, we have no friendship!" Xie Jin said, placing the exquisite dishes in the food box on the table, and said with a smile, "If we don't have friendship, I can't come to see you?" As he said, he took out two chopsticks, one
The wine pot continued to laugh, "You, Xin Yande, are like a stone in a pit. You are smelly and hard, so you have no friends. But speaking of it, you are not a bad person, but you are stubborn and ineffective..."
"What dish?" Xin Yande came over and smelled it.
"Huaiyang cuisine from Dongfeng Restaurant!" Xie Jin said with a smile, then looked around and frowned, "Not even a stool?"
"Do you need a stool in a death row?" Xin Yande laughed, picked up the chopsticks and started eating with a big mouthful, "I never thought that a dying person could eat such good food!"
"Look at how you eat! Slow down!" Xie Jin said with a smile, "Have you never eaten before?"
As he said that, seeing Xin Yande devouring his food, he couldn't help but wonder, "You really haven't eaten it before, have you? Lao Xin, you also hold many positions, including Minister of Justice, General Affairs Secretary, Metropolitan Procuratorate, and South Study Assistant.
But four stipends! Don’t you have enough to eat and drink...?”
"We have a big family to support!" Xin Yande poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp. "What can I do with that little salary? I'm not like you!"
"This is what the official asked you to do!" Xie Jin shook his head.
At this time, the jailer from outside brought two stools in. Xie Jin swept them and sat down. He looked at Xin Yande who was devouring his food and said nothing.
~~
After a long time, when Xin Yande's eating speed slowed down, Xie Jin sighed.
"Why do you bother?"
Xin Yande wiped his hands with the lapel of his clothes, "There is always someone to say something to!"
"You can't say that, you are worth it..."
"No matter how you say it, it's all a capital crime. I'm not even afraid of the death penalty, so what else am I afraid of?" Xin Yande smiled, put his hands in his sleeves, and huddled in the thatch again.
"You, you are stupid from studying! There are so many talented people in this dynasty, and there is not only one way to control floods. Why should you..."
"But what I'm talking about is the cheapest and most effective way!" Xin Yande closed his eyes, "As long as a middle river is dug along the ancestral mausoleum, the Yellow River and the Huaihe River will have a way to go, and Sizhou will no longer have to worry about floods!"
"What if you are wrong?" Xie Jin looked at him, shook his head and said, "As a human being, you can't be too conceited."
Then he added, "The consequence of your own arrogance is that you can't even protect yourself!"
"You have to live up to your conscience!" Xin Yande also sighed, "You can't turn a blind eye! Watching the country treat the symptoms but not the root cause year after year, wasting people's money and food, and expropriating people's labor. If we continue to block it without treating it, in the next few decades, life will be ruined."
"That's not what officials do!" Xie Jin couldn't help but say, "When we are officials, we just do the things right now. Who can care about what will happen decades later..."
"Are the common people in a few decades inhumane?" Xin Yande interrupted Xie Jin, "You and I, as scholars, seek peace for all generations. If we only care about the fame and wealth in front of us, and let the floods after death roll into the sky, what kind of officials will we be?
, what book are you reading?”
"Okay, you are noble!" Xie Jin said angrily.
But then he couldn't help but said, "Lao Xin, I know you are a loyal and upright person, but you are by no means a fool. Why are you... today?"
I saw Xin Yande smiling bitterly.
"The ancestral mausoleum is still under construction!" Xin Yande opened his mouth and asked, "When did the construction start?"
"Three years of Hongwu!"
"Oh, it's been twenty-nine years!" Xin Yande sighed, "Even if it's one million silver a year, it's twenty-nine million in twenty-nine years..."
"You are talking nonsense!" Xie Jin interrupted him rudely, "The emperor's construction of the ancestral mausoleum is the foundation of the country and the country..."
"You are also a scholar, do you believe this?" Xin Yande retorted, "The ancestral mausoleum is more important than the people's hearts?"
"Oh, according to you, my Ming Dynasty built the ancestral mausoleum because it lost the support of the people?" Xie Jin said angrily.
"The ancestral mausoleum needs to be renovated, but is it necessary to be so grand?" Xin Yande sat up straight, "The people in Huaibei are already poor. Can't we use this money to improve people's livelihood? Oh, it is a desolate and ruined land, and the people have no life.
, and the imperial mausoleum is so majestic between heaven and earth, isn’t this losing the support of the people?”
"Besides, after the ancestral mausoleum was repaired, it was just left empty. What's the use? Using the blood of poor people to build a mausoleum that is unparalleled in the world, what does the Ming Dynasty look like in the face of future generations' comments?"
Xie Jin was so shocked that he couldn't speak. It took him a long time to come back to his senses and asked, "Are you...are you crazy?"
"I'm not crazy! I'm just a child from a poor family!" Xin Yande's tone was desolate. "You are from a wealthy family. You grew up in fine clothes and good food. You have probably never seen the miserable situation of people doing corvee work, right?"
"Under the official's stick, they eat chaff, the dead are buried shallowly in the wild, and the living weep every night!" Xin Yande sighed, "In the name of the people, they are actually slaves!" He said with another sad smile, "Have you ever seen the big man?
After the water, the displaced people?"
"I have seen it! Houses and fields were washed away by floods. Farmers were crying without tears. They fled with their families and families just to beg for a living! Starving people fell to the ground, and the survivors were covered with sores. Under the hunger plague, Chibi
Thousands of miles!”
"Purgatory on earth...Have you seen these tragedies? You haven't! Natural disasters are man-made disasters. Because I have seen them, I cannot tolerate these tragedies happening, even if they happen!"
As he said this, Xin Yande shed tears, "Even if I die for the crime of disrespect, I must let the emperor know what is right and what is wrong!"
"That's enough!" Xie Jin stood up and angrily yelled, "Did you say you were so miserable during the prosperous Ming Dynasty? You are just crazy and infatuated! You are crazy!"
"A prosperous age?" Xin Yande sneered, "What does a prosperous age have to do with the people? When a flood comes in the prosperous age, the people are still left crying and destitute. Just because of the prosperous age, won't these things happen? As officials, we are not looking at the prosperous age.
But the people!"
"Once the Huai River pours into Sizhou, who cares whether it is a prosperous age? The so-called prosperous age is just that there can be relief money and food. No matter how much relief money and food, what is the use of the people's homes? But if we can prevent the slightest change, we can let the people
Wouldn’t it be better to live and work in peace and contentment?”
"You..." Xie Jin was speechless.
"The imperial court seeks prosperity, but the common people only seek a meal. Now that our Ming Dynasty has a strong army and strong horses, we are not afraid of civil unrest. What will happen in a few decades? We leave these burdens to future generations, and they will only get worse. By then, you and I will be the Ming Dynasty.
He is the sinner of all the people in the world!"
"That's enough!" Xie Jin waved his sleeves, "You are incorrigible!"
At this moment, He Guangyi's voice suddenly came from outside.
"You two!" He Guangyi stood outside the iron gate with an expressionless face, "I have just arrived in the capital after an 800-mile rush!" He said with a sigh, "The Yellow River changed its course, the Huaihe River burst, and Sizhou... was flooded.
!”
"Where is the ancestral mausoleum!" Xie Jin asked urgently.
"The ancestral mausoleum is safe and sound! The prefect of Sizhou has mobilized 10,000 civilians, and the general manager of Huaixi has another 3,000 garrison troops. They will start to reinforce Gaojiayan in the beginning of spring..."
"Hahaha!" Xin Yande in the cell suddenly laughed loudly, feeling endlessly sad.
Jie Jin looked at him with mixed feelings in his heart, "You're right!" He said in a low voice, "Sizhou is flooded!"
"I do hope!" Xin Yande said with tears in his eyes, "I was wrong!"