Among the eunuchs, everyone thought that the most trusted one by the Ling Emperor was Zhang Rang, one of the Ten Constant Attendants, who he usually called "Rang's father". However, they did not know that the eunuch Jian Shuo was the most trusted by the Ling Emperor.
According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", in the fifth year of Zhongping, Jian Shuo was appointed as the captain of the military academy. Emperor Ling had special trust in Jian Shuo because he was strong and capable of martial arts, and made him the marshal to supervise the commanders below.
In the sixth year of Zhongping, Emperor Ling entrusted Liu Xie to Jian Shuo when he was seriously ill. This was called entrusting a lonely and important minister, and he was the only civil and military official in the entire dynasty.
"Although I have some words to flatter His Majesty, my heart has never been to do anything detrimental to the great man."
"The reason why the officials are able to gain power is that they understand your Majesty. The king is the king of the world. If the king and his ministers cannot understand each other, peace talks will prosper the dynasty, and what I do is only for your majesty's trust. Only then will I have the opportunity to explain the country's shortcomings to your majesty. You can step forward to testify against the eunuch without hesitation.
To disrupt the government, or to try to offend His Majesty by saying that His Majesty is nostalgic for **!"
"If this is the case, although these scholars will have a clear reputation throughout their lives, what benefit will they have to the government and the Han Dynasty? I hope you can understand my feelings."
Seeing Xi Zhicai's thoughts, Zhu Kui stepped forward and patted him on the back, saying, "Don't you know that Kui is a human being?"
"Let's go back. We may live in Luoyang from now on. That's why I want to ask your Majesty for money today."
For several days in a row, there was nothing important to do. The work at the Chancellor's Desk was not heavy. It was usually sorting out documents from various places, which had not completely replaced the work of the Sangong and Jiuqing. Except for those who were on duty in the afternoon, they could leave early. Of course, if the emperor summoned them
, need to be called at any time.
Ever since Zhu Kui came to Beijing, he has never taken a good tour of this thousand-year-old capital.
Calling "Zhicai, Big and Little Tiger," Liao Hua took Shu Shu'er and a group of post officials as guides and went up the street.
The bustling streets, the wealthy businessmen and dignitaries coming and going, the vendors constantly shuttling between the various neighborhoods, and the countless food and gadgets made Shu Shu'er look around and get excited.
In the west of the city, near Guangyang Gate, there are rows of mansions, most of which occupy an area of more than an acre.
Zhu Kui and his party came out of a mansion, followed by a man in his forties, who was bending down to introduce.
This man is a deputy officer under the Chief Registrar Huangge of the Taiwei Mansion, and he knows everything about the mansions in the city.
"Sir, this house originally belonged to a senior officer in the Weiwei. Later, he retired due to old age and died of illness some time ago. He has a son who is idle and likes gambling. I don't want to lose money, so I sold it. It was originally worth three hundred
Two taels of silver, now only one hundred and seventy-eight taels."
"The house next to this house is also two acres in size. The previous owner was also an official. He just offended the ministers of the court and was dismissed from the official position. Therefore, he sold the house and returned to his hometown. However, it was a little more expensive at five hundred taels."
"A little further away, there is another house, but it is much smaller. It has less than an acre of land and is cheaper. It costs fifty-six taels of silver."
"There are only three houses in the Xicheng area that can meet your requirements." The adjutant introduced them one by one.
Ten gold. In fact, Emperor Ling's reward was already very high. It was enough for an ordinary person to live for two lifetimes. Xi Zhi was the lucky one. Emperor Ling was in the mood and rewarded Zhu Kui as well. This was his first time.
Have so much money.
"General, Zhicai is alone in Beijing, his wife and children are in the countryside, how can he live in such a big house?" Xi Zhicai said, comparing the sizes of three mansions.
Xi Zhicai was still older than Zhu Kui, and he got married in his hometown at an early age. It was said that he had a son, but he had a great career in mind and did not want to live with his wife and children.
"Sir, please bring all the family members to Luoyang one by one." Zhu Kui said nonchalantly.
"Sir, which two seats do you want? I can help you arrange it." The adjutant asked, looking at the two people.
"Then..." Zhu Kuiqi turned around, stretched out his hand and was about to point out, when he suddenly saw four young men running towards their death thirty meters away from him. They were all dressed in dirty, shabby robes. They were pierced from left to right and turned over
Jump over people, vehicles and stalls on the street...
"You bastards, stop right here!"
A few strong men in linen clothes rushed out from the end of the alley, pointing at a few teenagers and chasing after them.
Two groups of people flew past in front of them. Suddenly, the two teenagers in front stumbled because they were running too fast and fell to the ground. The two in front were more loyal and turned around to pull them up without giving up.
However, after a moment of delay, the strong men from behind had already flown up and surrounded the teenagers. Seeing that they could not escape, the teenagers had to prepare for a fight.
"Look where you are running to?" The strong men glared at the young man fiercely, spat in unison, and surrounded him with their hands and feet.
A closer look revealed that these young men were as skinny as firewood. After a few attempts at fighting back, they were knocked to the ground and held on to their heads.
Zhu Kui and others frowned, and Shu Shu'er said loudly: "Brother Zhu, they are so pitiful, please save them."
"Yeah." He nodded and winked at Liao Hua and Xiaohu.
The three people understood, took a few steps forward, and shouted: "Stop."
Unfortunately, the other party ignored him at all and shouted: "Mind your own business!"
The three of them snorted coldly and rushed off the field. In just a few moves, they knocked several big men to the ground.
"What's going on? You are fighting in the street under the Emperor's feet, but there are still royal laws." Zhu Kui and Xi Zhicai stepped forward and shouted.
When the big men met, all the people in front of them were well-dressed and obviously rich and noble, not comparable to a humble servant like themselves. One of them said fearfully: "Two adults, the younger one is the shopkeeper of Heshengtang. These four young men are here."
Shoplifting."
Looking at the young men dressed like beggars, he knew that the big man had not lied to him, but since he decided to save him, he naturally let go, took some loose money from his arms, and threw it away.
"Take the money and leave quickly."
When several big men saw that Zhu Kui had paid the money and had some money left, they quickly shouted: "Young man, leave now! Leave now!"
After the big man left, a few of them managed to stand up and thanked them: "Thank you, sir, for saving my life!"
Zhu Kuai was polite and asked the adjutant on the side: "What's the matter? There are actually beggars in Luoyang City?"
The adjutant sighed and replied: "My lord, there is chaos in Taiping Road, and the entire Gyeonggi Road is full of refugees. They have gradually turned into beggars. No matter how hard the court drives them out, it is useless."
After the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, some people who were unwilling to join the Taiping Road fled their hometowns in order to avoid the war. Luoyang, the capital, became their first choice. The people's idea was very simple. The emperor's feet were naturally the safest place.
It's just that Emperor Ling issued an order early to close all the passes into Luo, so the refugees could not turn to Jiangnan and other places.
But Guan is dead and people are alive. The whole Central Plains is in great turmoil. Countless refugees have their own ways to sneak into the capital to take refuge.
"Where are you from?" Zhu Kui asked the four teenagers.
"I am from Yingchuan!"
"I'm from Quyang County!"
"...."
After hearing this, it turns out that since the four of them are from different places, a group of people often do some sneaky things on the streets in order to make a living.
"Where do you all live now? Should the imperial court provide some arrangements for you?" Xi Zhicai suddenly remembered and asked.
One of the young men replied angrily: "The imperial court doesn't care about our life or death at all. We have to leave the city after nightfall. If we are met by the guards, we will be sent to prison. We all live in a ruined temple outside the city. There is
It’s a concentrated place for refugees, so we can’t go into the city to ask for food during the day.”
Xi Zhicai was astonished that the people were not getting along, and no one in the court discussed this issue. All day long, there were fights between party members, foreign ministers, and eunuchs. For a while, he didn't understand. What he had learned in the past, how to bring peace to the world, was
How to start.
Zhu Kui looked at the young man in front of him who was only twelve or thirteen years old. He was dark-skinned and obviously suffered from hunger from time to time. In later generations, at least there would be charity organizations to help. Although there was corruption, some of it would be distributed more or less.
Thinking of this, he said to the adjutant: "We have bought these three mansions. You help me arrange them. This is ten taels of gold. You can do it. Yuanjian, please accompany this gentleman. Remember to look back.
Ask someone to connect the big houses together for me."
"Yes, lord."
"Dahu Erhu, you take a few young people to have a good meal, and then go with them to the outside of the city to see how many refugees there are. If possible, arrange for them to come to your house first, and then try your best to give them a way to survive.