Early the next morning, Xu He got up early.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he came downstairs, he found that the servants of the Shen family were already waiting in the lobby of the inn.
Seeing Xu He, the servant trotted and bowed: "Mr. Xu, my young master invites you to come over and have breakfast!"
Xu He didn't go, but asked Ding Ze to reward the man with some scattered copper coins.
Unexpectedly, the servant smiled and said nothing and did not answer.
Xu He didn't care and sent the man away.
After the man left, Ding Ze said: "Master, this servant of the Shen family probably thinks that the reward we gave is too small!"
Xu He froze on the spot in astonishment, thinking of the smile on that man's face just now. Looking back now, it seemed that it did have some meaning.
Xu He shook his head. The money Ding Ze just took out was more than Xu He's envoy in Caosi Yamen. Who would have thought that it would not be able to attract the attention of a servant of the Shen family.
After breakfast, Xu He didn’t want to stay in Songjiang. Songjiang in this era was not yet an international metropolis in later generations. It was founded in the Yuan Dynasty and was named after the Wusong River. The administrative division was roughly in the area south of the Wusong River in Shanghai today. The entire Songjiang Prefecture only had 50 guarantees from the Thirteen Townships.
So there is not much to see.
After paying the bill at the inn, Xu He took Ding Ze out of the city, preparing to rush back to Hailing in two days.
After walking about ten miles out of the city, although the big green mule was easy on the feet, the buttocks couldn't bear it. In addition, they wanted Ding Ze to rest, so the master and the servant sat in a pavilion beside the official road for pedestrians to rest. Come down and drink some water.
Along the way, there were many pedestrians on the official road, but most of them were busy with their livelihoods and taking advantage of the cool morning weather. Only Xu He and Ding Ze were in the pavilion.
But after a while, just when Xu He was about to leave, unexpectedly a man walked into the pavilion. After taking off the bamboo hat on his head, Xu He recognized the person.
"Prefect Fang!"
The man paused, turned to look at Xu He, and found that it was the young man who made a big splash at the dinner last night.
"Mr. Xu!" The magistrate bowed his hands towards Xu He. His face was no longer filled with the sadness and anger of yesterday, and he looked much calmer.
Xu He smiled and said: "Where are you going, Magistrate Fang? Why don't you have anyone with you to listen to?"
Magistrate Fang glanced at him, then took out a piece of cake from the package and ate it with the water in the gourd, without any intention of answering Xu He.
When Xu He saw this, he didn't want to bring trouble to himself, so he sat down.
The two sides just rested like this without any communication.
After a while, Xu He and the two had almost rested, so they got up and were about to say goodbye to Magistrate Fang.
Unexpectedly, a person running far away on the official road came towards them out of breath. When that person saw Magistrate Fang in the pavilion, he suddenly burst into tears and said, "Sir, why did you leave without saying goodbye? Everything is in chaos in the Yamen. Got it!"
When the magistrate saw the visitor, his face that was like stagnant water became slightly moved.
"Old Huang, why are you here?"
The man was about forty or fifty years old, and his original surname was Huang. The old man Huang said: "Sir, after you came back from Shen's house last night, I felt something was wrong with you. It was only when I went to your bedroom to wake you up early in the morning that I discovered You left the magistrate’s customs seal and a letter indoors.”
"You never leave this guard. I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw it, so I called a literate person and read your letter. Only then did I know that you had resigned!"
When Xu He heard this, he looked at Magistrate Fang in surprise, only to see him smile faintly and say, "Did you give my letter to Mr. Wu, the same magistrate?"
That old Huang said: "I heard that it was for Wu Tongzhi, so I asked someone to deliver the letter. I was afraid that something would happen to you, so I chased you out!"
The prefect Fang sighed, stood up and patted Lao Huang on the shoulder and said: "You have worked hard these past few years, and you have become a less successful prefect like me! Now that I am resigning and returning to my hometown, you should serve the next prefect well!"
When Lao Huang heard this, his eyes turned red and he choked with sobs: "Sir, you are a good official, you can't leave!"
Magistrate Fang shook his head and said: "Old Huang, you are wrong. Although I am not greedy, an upright official may not be a good official. At least I can't make the people have enough to eat, and at least I can't make the weavers live." Like a human being! You go back, I have already said it in my heart! The court will send another prefect over soon!"
Lao Huang tried to persuade him a few more times, but the prefect made up his mind and refused to look back.
In the end, Lao Huang could only helplessly wipe his tears and walk away, looking back three times.
When Xu He saw this scene, he couldn't help but asked curiously: "Master Fang, you...resigned?"
Magistrate Fang suddenly burst into laughter and said: "Drink all the water from the Yangtze River, wear the Nanlou Moon on your head, and go back to your hometown to study and write. It would be great. I don't want to be a bird official for a long time."
The so-called South Tower Moon refers to the time when Taiwei Yu Liang was in Wuchang. It was a cool autumn night and the scenery was quiet. A group of his subordinates Yin Hao and Wang Hu climbed up to the South Tower to chant poems.
When he was in high spirits, he heard the heavy sound of wooden shoes on the stairs. It must be Yu Liang's arrival. Then Yu Liang came with about ten followers, and everyone wanted to get up and avoid it.
Yu Liang said slowly: "Gentlemen, please stay for now. I am also very interested in this aspect."
So I sat on the mazar and chanted, talked and laughed with everyone, and everyone in the house was able to enjoy themselves.
This incident comes from "Shishuoxinyu". To be honest, this book will be very famous in later generations.
But in China, not many orthodox scholars knew about this book.
Xu He then laughed and said: "The theory of Nanlou should refer to Taiwei Yu, because the magistrate is really knowledgeable and well-remembered!"
Unexpectedly, the prefect did not buy it at all, and said with a cold smile: "You can't compare with Mr. Xu. When Mr. Xu was in the Shen family, he talked and laughed with the great master. I, a small prefect who was born in Juren, can't talk about being knowledgeable and famous!"
Hearing this, Xu He finally understood why the third son of the Shen family dared to humiliate him in court.
The appointment of people to officials is the end of the prefecture. For a prefect who has no political future and always looks up to the Shen family, even if Shen Wan is publicly humiliated, the prefect will probably not be able to retaliate.
Although Xu He sympathized with his experience, this was the reality of society, and he didn't know how to answer the question for a while.
Seeing his silence, the prefect Fang said to Xu He: "Master Xu, please don't pity me. I want to give you a word. Be steady in small things and ruthless in big things. When no one is helping you, you have to stand firm! I just have no one to support me and my knees are broken." It’s tough, there’s nothing you can do, if you want to stand firm, you have to resign!”
After saying that, he clasped his fists at Xu He and said: "The complaints are not directed at you, Mr. Xu, or even at that dandy Shen Wan. It's just that Fang felt that if people like the Shen family were rampant in this world, In this world, chaos is not far away, and Fang has no one to help him, so he has to go back to his hometown to take refuge!"
When Xu He heard this, he thought about the past dynasties, when officials were willing to hang up their crowns and leave. What eras did they experience? My heart couldn't help but be shocked.
Fang Zhifu saw that he was deep in thought, so he smiled and said, "Mr. Xu, see you again when we have the chance!"
Seeing the figure of Magistrate Fang fading away, Xu He stood up and said to Ding Ze beside him: "Let's go too!"
