"There was a severe drought this year. There was no rainfall for several months, and there was no harvest in the fields. The old slave thought that it would be better to waive the farmer's rent and survive this period of time. Unexpectedly, in the summer, he received a letter from the master urging him to pay for it. Money and food. The world is huge, and the master is the biggest. No matter what, I have to rely on the master, right? So I thought about discussing with the farmers to squeeze out some to meet the master's needs."
Zuo Yanwei said that Zuo Menggeng knew about Zuo Liangyu's urging for money and food.
It also involves a public case from Liaodong.
During the Tianqi period, the emperor's master Sun Chengzong was in charge of Liaodong.
In view of the increasing pressure in Liaodong, in order to save the situation, Sun Chengzong organized a car camp.
Zuo Liangyu was promoted and became the captain of Youying.
This incident caused great controversy among the Liaodong armies.
Because Zuo Liangyu was unknown before and was just a general. Although he had military exploits, such a promotion was really shocking.
Why did Sun Chengzong favor Zuo Liangyu so much? I don’t know why Zuo Menggeng merged the souls of two generations.
Zuo Liangyu does not have a profound background.
He was born into a poor family. Both his parents died when he was young. He didn't even know his mother's name. He was raised by his uncle.
But later, when my uncle had a child of his own, he treated Zuo Liangyu coldly and disliked her.
Zuo Liangyu was arrogant and did not want to live under others, and vowed to create a new world. He left Huang and the young Zuo Mengeng behind and went to Liaodong to join the army.
In Zuo Mengeng's memory, life was quite hard when he was a child, and sometimes he even went hungry.
It wasn't until Zuo Liangyu became the chief minister that the Zuo family gradually gained momentum. They purchased a mansion and fields, hired many servants, and gained a decent reputation.
But Zuo Liangyu's situation was not easy.
After the Eunuch Party came to power, Sun Chengzong resigned, and the person in charge of Liaodong became Yuan Chonghuan.
Logically speaking, Yuan Chonghuan, as a disciple of Qian Longxi, bears the brand of the Donglin Party. Because of their common friendship against the Eunuch Party, Yuan Chonghuan should have taken good care of Zuo Liangyu because of his love for Sun Chengzong.
However, the reality is quite the opposite.
Under Yuan Chonghuan, Zuo Liangyu's life was quite difficult and he was repeatedly targeted. It can be said that his life was precarious.
Zuo Menggeng couldn't figure out why this was the case. This was one of the reasons why he hated Yuan Chonghuan so much before.
Later, the governor of Liaodong fell out and Wang Zhishen, who had a background in the eunuch party, squeezed out Yuan Chonghuan. Zuo Liangyu's situation became even more difficult.
At that time, Zuo Liangyu almost wanted to resign and return to his hometown, but he was no longer angry.
Fortunately, Emperor Tianqi died, Chongzhen ascended the throne, the king's ministers were driven away, and the governor of Liaodong was replaced by Bi Zisu.
Zuo Liangyu, who finally regained his breath, was filled with fear and thought of consolidating his position no matter what.
He plans to spend a sum of money to make his position legitimate.
Zuo Liangyu's official title is Liaodong Cheyouying with the title of Dusi.
For officials in the Ming Dynasty, it was a great honor to be given a title.
For example, "Prince's Taibao, Prince's Young Master" and the like are unworthy of being a minister. But when it comes to Zuo Liangyu, adding the two words of title has become a reminder.
His title of Dusi is just like acting county magistrate or acting army commander. It is temporary in nature and can be dismissed at any time.
The reason why this happened was that when Sun Chengzong promoted him, the disparity was too great and he made a easing move to deal with the controversy.
Zuo Liangyu wanted to take advantage of the change of leadership in Liaodong and get a sum of money to bribe the Shangguan and give him the "increased title".
This happened in June. Unexpectedly, a month later, Ningyuan mutinied, Bi Zisu committed suicide, and Yuan Chonghuan staged the return of the king. Not only did he quell the mutiny beautifully, but he also killed a lot of officials with his sword.
That is to say, Zuo Liangyu's culpability is not serious and he should be dismissed from office. Otherwise, his head will be lost.
However, Liaodong and Linqing were thousands of miles apart. Zuo Yan didn't know that Zuo Liangyu had lost his official position, so he wanted to take advantage of the autumn harvest to collect the rent and cash it out, and then send it to Zuo Liangyu.
"That day, I went to Zhuangzi, and something happened on the way. I was delayed for a while. When I got there, I didn't expect that Wang San and the other bastards actually got into a fight and kicked Liang Yue's father to death. Liang became even more crazy and beat Wang to death on the spot.
3. The old slave wanted to calm down the incident, but Liang Yue became red-eyed..."
There is no need to say the rest, Zuo Mengeng also knows it.
Zuo Yan was injured as a result, and the entire Zuo Mansion was in chaos.
A tragedy in which a wealthy slave bullied others and led to the destruction of a farmer's family actually happened in his own home.
Zuo Mengeng patted his head, feeling really depressed.
"Uncle Yan, just take a good rest and leave this matter to me."
After comforting Zuo Yan, Zuo Mengeng returned to the main courtyard and asked, "Where are those who beat people?"
Zuo Rong led the people out, and after a while, the servants picked up several bundles of sturdy servants and threw them in front of Zuo Mengeng.
These guys had been frightened for a long time. They were all hunched on the ground. Because their mouths were blocked and they couldn't speak, they could only kowtow to Zuo Mengeng desperately.
Zuo Mengeng paced back and forth in front of them, his words were clear and everyone could hear them clearly.
"I, the Zuo family, grew up in humble beginnings and suddenly became rich and powerful without forgetting my roots. I have always managed the family in a kind and kind manner and dare not ruin the family tradition."
The people around me looked strange.
Young Master Zuo, when you were walking birds across the street and getting into fights, you didn't have any family tradition.
It's just that Zuo Mengeng is completely different now. He stands tall and proud like a deity. His awe-inspiring and domineering appearance makes people dare not look directly at him, and makes his subordinates cautious and don't dare to mess around.
"You and other lowly slaves took matters into your own hands and ruined our family tradition, and your sins are unforgivable. However, the chief culprit, Wang San, is dead, and you will not be able to escape your sins."
He ordered Zuo Rong to pull out the cloth from the mouth of the evil slave and asked: "Tell me, do you want to accept the family law, or are you going to be expelled from the house?"
The expressions of these servants changed greatly, and they kowtowed as if they were pounding garlic.
"We are willing to be punished."
"I only ask for mercy from the young master. Even if he beats us to death, he won't complain."
Nowadays, the world is in chaos. If they stay in Zuofu, they will have no worries about food and clothing. If they are kicked out, they will be exposed to the wilderness.
Zuo Mengeng had actually expected what choice these people would make, but he had to act like it.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the people's ideology was actually on the verge of transformation, and the most obvious one was the outbreak of slave rebellion everywhere.
Many slaves were dissatisfied with the status quo and launched a vigorous struggle.
Zuo Mengeng is also afraid that this kind of situation will happen at home, so today is both punishment and prevention.
If the servant is dissatisfied, it is better to simply kick him out of the house than to have a thunderbolt hidden in the house.
Since these people don't want to leave, then punish them to show justice.
The punishment was not severe, with ten sticks for each person. It was true that the skin and flesh were bruised and the people were crying and crying, but it could not kill them, and they would be able to bounce around again after a few days.
When the other servants saw this scene, they were all horrified and did not dare to slack off any more.
After dealing with the mansion, Zhuangzi's side is even more difficult.
Zuo Mengeng thought for a while and said to Zuo Rong: "The eight of you and I will go out of the city tomorrow."
Zuo Rong and others said yes solemnly and went to prepare themselves.
Zuo Mengeng returned to the backyard. The banquet had been prepared. Huang, Xu Ruolin and Zuo Xianmei were all waiting for him.
"As long as the mother eats first, wouldn't it be unfilial to the child to wait so long?"
Huang just shook his head and looked at him kindly.
"If you, the head of the family, are not here, how can we, the women, have any reason to enjoy themselves?"
Xu Ruolin stuck out her tongue at the side, feeling that there were so many rules in this family.
She also made a belly-laughing gesture, obviously telling Zuo Mengeng that she was starving.
Zuo Mengeng smiled and did not delay.
"Let's have dinner then."
In order to welcome Zuo Menggeng back home, the cook took great care and prepared a table of delicious dishes.
Huang was a little worried.
"Ms. Xu comes from the south of the Yangtze River. I don't know if she's used to it."
Xu Ruolin is usually a bit carefree and arrogant, but when it comes to the dinner table, her wealth and wealth come out. What she eats is dignified and elegant, which makes Zuo Xianmei watch and learn from it.
"Lu's food is quite unique, which is impossible to eat in the south of the Yangtze River. Having such a good taste today is also an experience."
Mr. Huang was relieved.
"That's good. You have suffered a lot along the way. If you don't make up for it, how will you succeed?"
When Zuo Mengeng went to the front yard, Xu Ruolin accompanied Mr. Huang and told her what happened on the way, which frightened Ms. Huang.
However, after hearing that Xu Ruolin and Zuo Menggeng rode on the same horse together and spent so many days together, Huang's mind couldn't help but think a little more.
"I'm done eating."
"Well……"
"ah……"
Zuo Mengeng put down his bowls and chopsticks, and was quite surprised himself when Huang and others looked at him in astonishment.
In the past, he didn't eat quickly, he ate slowly, and although he didn't chew carefully, it still took a lot of time.
It's not like now, but in the blink of an eye, the meal is over.
Thinking about it, those soldiers in the dream seemed to eat like this. Could it be that I was also infected?
Mrs. Huang asked with concern: "Why do you eat so fast? At least eat more. You are injured and if you don't eat better, how can you recover quickly?"
Zuo Xianmei said quietly from the side: "Brother has already eaten five bowls of rice."
She could see clearly that the palm-sized rice bowl, filled with rice, seemed to be poured into Zuo Mengeng's hand as if it was poured into his mouth.
Looking at the rice grains still in her bowl, Zuo Xianmei simply doubted her life.
After hearing Zuo Mengeng's few words, he ate five bowls of rice. Huang and Xu Ruolin couldn't help but look over.
Is this man's belly a bottomless pit?
Zuo Mengeng also made a big blush.
"Haha, you eat slowly and don't worry about me."
Seeing the three women slowly counting the rice grains and eating them, he was suffering from sitting there, so he simply left and returned to his small courtyard.