Chapter 186: Resurrection
Geng Libin, the magistrate of Shangshui County, has had a rough life for most of his life. My father was in charge of the Host and Guest Department of the Ministry of Etiquette. He was a rare official, and he was among the five brothers and sisters in the family. The main memory of my teenage years is that my family has to hold a funeral from time to time: my sister died when I was a scholar, and my brother died a few days after passing the national examination. I went to Beijing to rush for the exam and finally passed the top three. I wanted to send someone to tell my family the good news. The servant came over first to announce the funeral, saying that the younger brother caught a dragonfly standing on a lotus leaf and unexpectedly slipped and fell into the pond. The older sister reached out to pull it... and then both siblings drowned!
Fortunately, in the Ming Dynasty, Taizu was obsessed with money, and everyone on earth knew it. They felt that officials had to keep their salaries at home all day long to mourn the imperial court - don't you think that Taizu was at a loss in 1996, and he was given paid leave? There is no door! In the 23rd year of Hongwu, Taizu issued a decree stipulating: "From now on, except Ding You, the bearer of parents and grandparents, other people are not allowed to attend funerals." Otherwise, if it were in the Song Dynasty, brothers and sisters would have to go home and stay for a year after their death. After the imperial examination, I was waiting to be released to the county magistrate. I had been living in fear for the past few days. Sure enough, a messenger from the official department and someone from home reporting the news of my grandfather's death came in! It's okay now, just go home and observe your filial piety. Of course, there has been a rumor in my hometown for a long time that the third young master of the Geng family is a troublesome spirit. As long as he does some good deeds, someone in the family will be killed.
I don't know if it was a prophecy or it was just fate. Less than a year after my grandfather's term of service was over and I was released to the county magistrate again. Not to mention that I scratched three feet of the ground, and I just scratched three inches of the doorway... Grandma is dead. Don't say anything else, pack your things and go home. After more than two years of hard work, just when I was ready to report back to the capital, someone came from the capital first: my father died in office! Okay, come back for another twenty-seven months.
During those days at home, I always felt that the way my mother looked at me was strange: sometimes it was hate, and I hated that my son would capture whomever I wanted to catch; sometimes it was love, and I longed to die soon so that my son could be saved. After finishing it in one breath, he quickly became an official and went away feeling proud. But God obviously doesn't want Young Master Geng to take shortcuts. My mother has been sick for the past three years but she is fine. Let's wait for Que'er to come out and take office again. This time it will take a little longer. I won't die until two years later. Let's go home and squat for another three years! In the past three years, my neck was twisted and my buttocks were twisted and my buttocks were twisted and I was breathing deeply. I was still a county magistrate when I was a lot older. Two of my three sons also joined in the fun and died one after another. The one who was alive was even less worrying. Mr. Geng - this honorific title is worthy of the name. His beard has turned white, so shouldn't he be called Mr. Geng? The aggrievedness in Mr. Geng's heart can't be mentioned. I tried every means and spent a lot of money to find an expert to take a look at it. The expert said that I didn't choose a good place for the ancestral grave and I had to find a way quickly. If I didn't move it, the bad luck would never end.
And then……
Then you get into trouble.
They refused to buy land from the Wen family and wanted to demolish it violently. Tens of thousands of people actually wanted to risk their lives! I had no choice but to apologize in public again. Not only did he lose his face if he went on to steal a chicken, but he also caused a scandal in the official circles of Henan Province when the news spread. After hearing the news that Yingchuan Wei burned the Wen family ancestral hall to ashes, not only was Taiye not happy, he was scared to death - he knew in his heart that the adults of the third division of the provincial government had absolutely no intention of doing such a thing. Er's intention of standing up for him was just to frighten the unruly people, but nine times out of ten, the Wen family would blame him for this!
What to do? That piece of land was at stake. Tens of thousands of people in his family were red-eyed and wanted to kill their enemies. How could he send them to his door at this moment? No matter how good the feng shui is, the land is just for burying the ancestors. What kind of thing is it that you take your son to lie down with you when you are still alive and kicking? The feng shui is useless after all! After much deliberation, Mr. Geng invited back some of the team leaders surnamed Wen who had been driven away a while ago, and even treated them to a banquet at his own expense. During the dinner, Mr. Geng almost burst into tears and expressed his heartfelt sorrow. He swore and swore that the burning of the ancestral hall had nothing to do with him. He also said that the county could allocate five hundred taels of silver to help rebuild it - and then asked the master to draft a "Restoring Shangshui Educational Scenic Spot" on his behalf. "The county allocated funds according to the report.
In fact, Geng Libin also knew that the Wen family was not short of these five hundred taels. He had heard about it a long time ago. When he wanted to kill his whole family by beating the dead soldiers to death, members of the Wen family who could not return from other provinces pooled their money together. They collected a total of more than 60,000 taels and spread the word that this was for the dead soldiers. The settling-in allowance for brothers, wives, children and young children—how could anyone care about a mere five hundred taels? But there is only so much that Mr. Geng can do to serve his own interests, mainly to express an attitude.
Several people surnamed Wen responded calmly, and Geng Libin's heart was still in doubt. Especially when I heard that the giant bandits who defeated Kaifeng Prefecture had taken Xihua effortlessly, Mr. Geng was simply scared to death. Four doors were closed, and all the houses near the walls were demolished, both inside and outside the city. Everything that could be thrown down, including beams, rollers, water tanks, and bulky furniture, were all piled on the walls, and all the people who could move were thrown away. I bombarded the walls and defended them day and night, but I still felt uncertain.
So I wrote a letter.
Shangshui belongs to Kaifeng Prefecture, so of course we must first seek help from Fucheng. However, Geng Libin knew that it would be of no use: First, the city was to the north, and the thieves were in the middle. The messenger would make a wide circle from a distance, and the thieves might have killed them before they even reached Kaifeng City; second, the city had just been After a bloody battle with the thief for a long time, you need to rest and recuperate, and you must be prepared to be prepared for the thief to counterattack. Can the nature of losing a county town be comparable to that of losing a provincial capital? What's more, there is also a Zhou king there - on one side of Shangshui is a Qipin magistrate who has almost wiped out the whole family, and on the other side is Taizu's personal vassal. You can figure it out with your toes! Therefore, Kaifeng Mansion will definitely not send any reinforcements.
The Yingchuan Guard's garrison was not far away, and they were responsible for burning down the Wen family ancestral hall. Although the Ming Dynasty used civil society to control military affairs, and the magistrate of the seventh-level Wen Dynasty could suppress the guerrillas of the third-level Wu to the point of tears, but that was normal times! According to the established practice, in the event of bandit chaos, the corresponding armed agencies of each administrative department are: Chengxuanzhengshisi - Du Commandery Envoys Division, Fu - Wei, Prefecture - Qianhusuo, County - Baihusuo! A seventh-rank magistrate asked a third-rank guard commander to come and fight for him? What are you thinking about? I don’t have any friendship at all. Can others take care of me?
Hope can only be pinned on the two adults in the neighboring mansion, especially Runing Mansion in the south. Guide Mansion in the northeast is not a big threat: it is close to Kaifeng City, and the thieves are unlikely to turn back, so don't put too much hope. Geng Libin's letter asking for help to Runing Mansion was written with tears in his eyes. It was about the loss of lips and teeth, the close ties, the fire at the city gate and the fish in the pond... However, a few days passed, and there was no reply at all. It was as if nothing happened. !
There was really no other way to go, so Magistrate Geng had to go to the wall several times a day to personally direct and deploy. Another surprise: there has been no movement for several days. The thieves seem reluctant to leave and want to settle in Xihua.
The most unexpected thing happened to Geng Zhixian. I just got off the wall and returned to the office that day. Wen Fan, the squad leader who had been found for a few days, came in and reported that the Wen family of Nanton had sent a thousand people to help defend and had entered the city through the south gate! This news moved Mr. Geng to tears. What does it mean to have a profound understanding of righteousness? This is it! Geng Zhixian will never suspect him - the crime of surrendering to thieves is too big, and the Wen family will never have the courage! No matter how powerful the thieves are, they are still thieves and will be eliminated by the court sooner or later. As the saying goes, a monk who can escape cannot escape the temple. The Wen family has been rooted here for generations. Even if strong men can become thieves, those women, children, old and young who can abandon their homes and careers will follow the thieves. Shall we run together?
Early in the morning, Mr. Geng was awakened by the croaking of magpies outside the window. After washing up and putting on his official uniform, he was about to go take a look at the wall. Wen Fan led a few people in and reported that a large number of thieves had appeared five miles outside the city and would arrive in Shangshui City soon. "We're finally here." Geng Libin exhaled heavily. He vaguely felt that there was something a little strange about the people in front of him, but the enemy didn't think much about it at the moment. Just when he was about to be ordered to go to the north wall, Wen Fan spoke first: "Escort the master to the wall. Watch the enemy." Then several people gathered around him and walked out.
"Why are you so close? Are you afraid that I will be too frightened to walk?" When they were about to reach the foot of the wall, people on both sides came over and each held one of Geng Libin's arms. Mr. Geng was still joking, but his neck tightened. , a rope was pulled from behind and strangled around the throat, strangling Mr. Geng’s pretense of heroic laughter back into his belly. Immediately afterwards, his shoulders were pressed, and his arms were pulled back at the same time - Mr. Geng took two breaths. Then he was tied up by Wuhuada!
"What a skilled technique." This thought flashed through Mr. Geng's mind quickly. He turned his head hard and looked around... Isn't that right? He is the official in the government office!
"What are you going to do? Are you going to surrender to the thieves? Aren't you afraid of annihilation?" After struggling twice, the rope around his throat loosened a little, and Geng Libin shouted with all his strength.
"Don't worry about it, you old dog! Wasn't it harmed by you, the old dog?" Wen Fan's eyes burned with hatred.
After being pushed up the wall, Geng Libin finally realized what he had just felt was wrong: Wen Fan and the others were all wearing blue cloth strips, wrapped around their arms or tied to their belts - there were hundreds of people on the wall. , everyone has a piece of blue cloth on their body!
After watching for about a stick of incense, the thieves outside the city came closer and closer, and they all stopped twenty or thirty feet outside the trench. Several thieves rode out on horseback, the suspension bridge at the north gate was lowered, and Wen Fan and others pushed Geng Libin to the outside of the city.
Now Geng Libin saw clearly that one of the thieves generals was Wen Huangci! I didn't expect this guy to be able to ride a horse... Seeing Geng Libin glaring at him, Military Master Wen put his legs under the horse's belly and took a few steps forward: "Mr. Geng County, you didn't expect today, right?"
"Wen Xiao... Mr. Wen, how dare you surrender... like this," Geng Libin glanced at the fierce men behind Military Advisor Wen immediately, and replaced the word "thief" on his lips with "such", "You just Aren’t you afraid of the Wen family’s annihilation?”
"Hahahaha," Wen Huangci laughed angrily, "Wen has been removed from the clan! The Wen family ancestral hall is gone. There will be no memorial tablet for Wen when it is rebuilt. Wen still wants to thank you!" Then he pointed at Wen Fan and others, "As for those who want to follow Wen, they are all martyrs of our tribe who died in this battle. The court will pay them pensions. Don't worry, Sir Geng. Our tribe has gathered a few Ten thousand taels of silver, do you think it is a big deal if this much money is spilled?"
"You, you, you..." Geng Libin was speechless. Yes, of course Geng Libin knew the virtues of the Ming Dynasty. Give away tens of thousands of taels of silver, don't just put a circle on the list, just stare and say that coal is white, and there will be a large group of officials to help you find evidence by citing scriptures!
…
Because of the Wen family, Zhang Hu just wiped out all the people in Shangshui. This is the only city so far that Zhang Hu has not killed anyone and set fire to. As for Nanton, Qiu did not commit any crimes. The war barracks and the auxiliary barracks circled the captive Xihua and Shangshui people at a distance. Zhang Hu and other generals were warmly welcomed by the Wen clan and had a banquet. It lasted three full days. During the foundation laying ceremony of the temple, Geng Libin's family and the county's chief registrar were all sacrificed. Within a year, a more magnificent ancestral hall was built. There is a plaque hanging high at the main entrance of the ancestral hall, with four golden characters on it shining brightly in the sunlight: "Unparalleled Loyalty"! It is the royal pen of the current Holy Emperor. It is said that the emperor was so moved when he heard that more than a thousand men of the Wen family had "gone" that he had to write the inscription himself. Of course, this is something.
There is no need to worry about who will leak the news - most of the people were kidnapped by Zhang Hu's army, and the remaining people with other surnames are relatives and friends of the Wen family. Besides, there are so many grown-ups in Yu Province and the capital. They have all accepted the benefits of the Wen family. Even if there is any small trouble, they will do their best to help cover it up in order to protect themselves: Of course it will be more troublesome to solve the problem, but...it is not necessary to deal with a few unruly people who raised the problem. Very simple?
After a lively reorganization, Zhang Hu had a total of 20 military camps and more than 40,000 auxiliary soldiers. Together with the nearly 200,000 civilians, this force was almost on the verge of destruction. The wildfires reignited again and burned more fiercely than before, rushing murderously from Yu Province to the unsuspecting Yingzhou in South Zhili.
*Knock on the blackboard, review. Jinshi in the imperial examination are divided into three categories. The first one is the well-known Sandingjia who is ranked second in the top prize. This is called "Jinshi". The number of second-class students varies, and the first one is called "Chuanlu" (the first place in the top three in the Ming Dynasty is also called Chuanlu). This It is called "being born as a Jinshi", and the top three are those who passed the exam, which is called "being born as a Jinshi".
Except for the first three people and Chuanlu who entered the Hanlin Academy directly, the others had to take another exam, which was called the imperial examination. Those who did well were admitted to the Hanlin Academy, while those who failed were assigned to the Sixth Department of the Capital and other localities. Generally speaking, those who stayed in the yamen of the capital were those from the second class, and those who were released were mostly those from the third class who were "born with the same Jinshi".
