Chapter 89: Helping the world and saving the people
427 years of the Great Yuan Calendar
"Imperial decree: Yu Jin, the Minister of Household Affairs, tampered with the imperial taxation, concealed the money and food from various places, and deceived the emperor. It is hereby scheduled to be beheaded at three o'clock tomorrow at noon to thank heaven and earth, and all family properties will be confiscated. I appreciate this!"
In the palace, the imperial edict with words like needles was passed into the ears of Yu Jin, the Minister of Household Affairs. He knelt down silently and said in an almost desperate tone: "I accept the edict and thank you for your kindness..."
Yu Jitao, who was only ten years old, saw his father being taken away by the Forbidden Army. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed him: "Father, when will you come back?"
Yu Jin's eyes trembled, and he slowly put his hand on Jitao's face: "My silly son, my father may not come back..."
The young and ignorant Yu Jitao didn't seem to understand, but when he saw his father's face full of tears, he couldn't help but feel sad. The breeze blew across his face, blowing away Yu Jin's tears and falling on the patch of grass at his feet.
On the barren land.
He did not dare to look at the tragic situation of his father being put in the prison car, and threw himself into his mother's arms. Although his mother appeared to be very strong, she was sobbing silently, and Yu Jitao could feel it. When the sound gradually faded away,
He stuck his head out and looked into the distance, and all he saw was a blurry figure walking towards the distance and never coming back.
Yu Jin's death undoubtedly brought a heavy blow to the family. The orphans and widows instantly became the lowest commoners. Their brocade clothes had been torn off completely and they were put on dusty common clothes.
Living on the streets of Beijing.
"Mom, where are we going?" Yu Jitao asked in confusion, pulling on his mother's sleeve.
The mother didn't answer. At this moment, she was shaking like a zombie. The noisy market seemed to have nothing to do with the mother and son.
A man wearing a first-grade official uniform, holding a folding fan in his hand, and smiling came over and said semi-sarcastically: "Mrs. Yu, you are well."
Yu's mother suddenly blushed with anger. She understood that the man in front of her was Zhao Daming, the current Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and it was he who killed Yu Jin.
"Madam, don't be too sad. Long Live Lord's birthday has come. What's wrong with the court increasing some taxes? As the saying goes, 'take it from the people and use it for the people', but Yu Jin tampered with the imperial edict and reduced taxes in various places. Isn't that right?
Do you have the heart of a rebellious minister and a traitor?
Moreover, reports from various places indicate that this year is another good year that is rare in a hundred years. It is said that one acre in Jizhou can produce ten thousand kilograms of grain. This is due to the spread of our emperor Longwei and Renyi to all directions." Zhao Daming folded his fan and spread it.
He patted his big belly and smiled.
Yu's mother gritted her teeth and replied dissatisfiedly: "Even if it's weeds, one acre of land can't grow ten thousand kilograms..."
Zhao Daming quickly interrupted her: "Oh, this is not allowed to be said. We are indeed a husband and wife. Yu Jin is a loyal minister. He dared to say such things when he was in court. However, his head is now in a different place, and
But I succeeded him and became the new Minister of Household Affairs."
Yu's mother lowered her head and shouted silently: "Tao'er, let's go."
Zhao Daming smiled and got out of the way, waving his fan triumphantly, while the orphan and widower lowered their heads and quietly walked past the jeers, their thighs moving as heavy as lead. Do you want to beg in the capital?
?That is impossible. Where can there be beggars in the "peace and prosperity"? If there were beggars, it would offend the emperor Longwei, and his head would be in danger.
The young Yu Jitao turned around in despair. He didn't understand why these people were laughing at him, but when he looked at Zhao Daming's fat face, he secretly swore in his heart: "You are the only one I will not let go..."
The breeze blew over the face of the orphan and widowed mother, as if telling the endless sorrow of the world, and the withered grass caused bursts of rustling, which was the last burst of powerless resistance.
After that, the two wandered all the way and went to live with Uncle Yu Jitao in the countryside.
"I hope my brother will take in my mother and son..." Yu's mother knelt down respectfully like a lowly slave.
The uncle looked troubled. In this year of famine, every extra mouth would mean one less portion of food. Not to mention that he himself was not rich, so these two extra mouths made him even more worried.
Fortunately, he is still unmarried and alone, so he reluctantly accepted them in the end.
In the following years, Yu Jitao gradually became familiar with the village environment and helped out as much as he could.
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During the work, my uncle sometimes acted as a woodcutter and took Yu Jitao to Yueyang Mountain to cut firewood. In his free time, he used wooden sticks to write in the ground and taught him how to write.
The uncle was originally a scholar, but his successive failures made him completely despair of his official career. He once asked his brother-in-law, Yu Jitao's father, Yu Jin, the Minister of Household Affairs, to seek an official position. However, Yu Jin was an upright official and resolutely refused.
If you are willing to do something that violates the law, then that will be the end of it.
The two of them were walking among the green trees, and beams of light penetrated through the leaves and shone on their faces. "Jitao, look how big the sun is. It makes people unable to open their eyes and breathless.
Come."
Yu Jitao nodded as if he understood. Looking at the frail uncle in front of him, he really didn't look like a man who could both farm and chop wood.
All changes started from that day...
Because of Zhou Cheng, the warlords were separatist and the world was in chaos. The fields had been in a miserable state of famine for five consecutive years. The government, army and bandits went on a rampage and jointly plundered the people's property.
"Bang, bang, bang..." The deafening sound of horse hooves broke through the tranquility of the village. It was a group of armored bandits. They barbarically broke into the homes of the villagers and snatched the few remaining grains, killing countless people. Yu Jitao
He and Yu's mother hid in a water tank, and only my uncle was sitting in the house with a sickle in his hand. He did not hesitate to fight with him in order to survive.
The wooden door was kicked open with a bang, and the gang of bandits rushed into the house. They saw my uncle holding a sickle, as if he would chop at them at any time.
Two fists were no match for four. The bandits were all experienced in many battles and stabbed into the uncle's right leg with just one knife. When they touched him, they yelled and half-knelt on the ground.
"Uncle!" Yu Jitao shouted, jumping out of the water tank and stepping forward to hug his uncle who was stabbed in the thigh.
When the bandits saw Yu Jitao, they laughed heartily: "This girl is so beautiful, she should be brought back to the boss to be his wife!"
"You are the girl! I am an upright man!" Yu Jitao hugged his uncle's body and yelled.
The bandits' faces instantly darkened. Just when they were about to take action, they heard someone outside yelling: "The officers and soldiers are coming!"
"Is it time for them to collect cash?" a little boss said with a smile.
"The robbery they did was authorized by the emperor. They didn't use swords and guns, but they were more ruthless than us!" one of the bandits replied.
Immediately, the group of bandits retreated in an orderly manner, as if they had been trained in advance. Horse hooves stepped heavily on the human corpse, thick blood spattered on the ground, and the stench was unpleasant.
The officers and soldiers beat gongs and drums and walked slowly over in sedan chairs. This was the tax collector coming to "rob". The people who survived were all frightened when they heard the gongs, and they all fled again in panic.
The tax collector smelled the aroma of meat and his mouth watered. He approached and asked, "Which house did this meat aroma come from?"
"Sir, it's the thatched cottage in front of you!" an officer and soldier replied.
The tax collector opened the curtain and looked at the completely destroyed village. He just said softly: "These guys are moving too fast. Let's go to the thatched house first to collect taxes. If they can afford meat,
There must be something in your pocket."
At this time, Yu Jitao's eyes were green with hunger, and he came to the thatched house in search of the smell of meat. "That's grandpa's home. How can he afford meat?" Yu Jitao thought, and he thought of his old man.
Grandpa's grandson used to be his best playmate, but he has never been seen again since a week ago.
The tax collector and the officers and soldiers barbarically broke into the courtyard of the thatched house. They saw a thin old man who looked like a dead tree with slovenly yellow hair walking out and said in a hoarse voice: "Common people, please see the official..."
The tax collector took out the tattered household book, opened the yellowed paper, pointed to a name and read: "Zhang Dazhu, there are eight people in the family and 18 acres of fertile land. He has repeatedly evaded taxes since the early years of Taili.
To this day, yes or no?”
"Master Guan, all the acres of land of the common people have been robbed by the landlords. My old wife has starved to death. My two sons were also killed by bandits. One of my wives also starved to death the year before last. Another wife remarried and fled. My eldest grandson also died yesterday.
Starved to death, and now only the old man and his granddaughter are left. They already have no food and no money. I hope the master will show mercy..." the old man begged bitterly.
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The tax collector smiled contemptuously and said: "I showed you extra mercy, how can the emperor spare me? Furthermore, speaking of Zhang Dazhu, you said that there are only two people in your family, what evidence is there? How can I know that they are
Didn't he run somewhere to avoid the limelight? He must
Pay taxes based on a person of eight, plus years of tax evasion, the interest will keep getting bigger and bigger. This year your family will have to pay a total of 870,000 taels of silver and 50,000 jins of grain!" (The unit of measurement in this book: one tael of silver.
(equivalent to RMB 1,000)
The old man collapsed and collapsed on the ground with his mouth wide open. Fifty thousand kilograms of grain and eight hundred and seventy thousand taels of silver were an astronomical figure for the old man, and he would not be able to earn it back even if he worked for another hundred years.
The tax collector smiled and said: "You can't hide it from my nose. I can smell the smell of meat in your house from a long way away. If it is really as bitter as you said, how can you afford to eat meat?"
The old man still wanted to defend himself, but saw his granddaughter running out of the house: "Grandpa, the meat is ready!"
The tax collector waved his hand, and the officers and soldiers rushed forward, pushed the little girl down, rushed into the house, and saw the iron pot where meat was being cooked.
The old man hurriedly ran into the house to take cover, but it was too late. Facing the aggressive attitude of the tax collector, the old man fell to the ground whimpering and wailed: "Sir, the common people are eating meat, but this meat is not
The meat of beasts. But...but..."
"What is it? Say it quickly!" an officer and soldier shouted.
"It's the meat of Xiaomin's eldest grandson who just starved to death yesterday!" The old man's psychological defense completely collapsed and he burst into tears.
The tax collector frowned and cursed: "You dare to eat your grandson, are you a beast?"
"My granddaughter was really hungry and couldn't stand it anymore. In desperation, I put my eldest grandson's body into the pot with tears in my eyes. This is called 'changing my son to eat'..." The old man burst into tears. If it weren't for the cruel world, he would have died.
Who would endure great pain and eat his own grandson?
The tax collector had a wicked smile on his face and ordered the officers and soldiers to kidnap the girl away: "I will use your granddaughter to pay off the debt. If you can't pay it all within one month, you will also be arrested to pay off the debt!"
The old man's heart was as sharp as a knife, and he kowtowed repeatedly, begging to let the horse go. However, all these efforts were in vain. The girl cried loudly, and the officers and soldiers showed no mercy at all and tied her up roughly with hemp ropes.
And all of this was seen by Yu Jitao.
What does it mean to live in peace and prosperity? What does it mean to live and work in peace and contentment? He does not understand that in his heart, the world is full of exploitation and cruelty, and the people will always be the exploited group.
This incident was like a nail, piercing deeply into his heart.
Later, Yu Jitao was sent to the hands of the reclusive immortal Lao Confucian by his uncle, and he began his academic career from then on.
But now, Yu Jitao is twenty years old. He has great ambitions but nowhere to show them. He wants to save the world from the fire and water, but in the end he can't even save himself.
He often compares himself to a thousand-mile horse, longing for Bole to come find him, but at the same time he does not want anyone to visit, because in his opinion, there is no one in the world who has a heart to save the world and save the people like him.
Contradictory psychology intertwined with him.
But it turned out that he was wrong. When he first saw that man, Zhang Qingmeng, he felt as if he were reunited with old friends. He hated these so-called heroes, but he was able to chat with Zhang Qingmeng. In the end, when he discovered
When Zhang Qingmeng had the same dream as him, he was sure that this was the person he would help throughout his life.
"I am definitely not a dirty person who lives in seclusion for the sake of being an official. If Mr. Zheng thinks so, I will not be able to obey Jitao's orders."
Qing Meng stood in front of him, stared at him, and smiled: "Why do you say such nonsense, sir? Qing Meng never meant this. Mr. Meng will not give up. Please accept my respect!"
Yu Jitao stopped him in a hurry and looked at Qing Meng's firm eyes. He was deeply moved. He then bowed to him and said, "If Mr. Zheng does not give up, Jitao will definitely devote himself to death until he dies."
As the saying goes, once you know each other, you will always be friends. Twenty-year-old Yu Jitao and twenty-five-year-old Zhang Qingmeng have become lifelong friends, and they aspire to a common goal: "Create a peaceful and prosperous age for the people of the world."
The snowflakes outside the window stopped, the wind gradually weakened, and the sun slowly rose from the horizon, illuminating the snow-capped Yueyang Mountain.