People are always forgetful, and no matter how deep the memory is, it cannot withstand the polishing of time. And once it restarts, it will leave a deeper mark again, and it will be out of control from now on.
The same was true for Li Yuan. When this long-sealed memory came back again and appeared in front of him as a living person, he was even a little at a loss. Although the "Li Yuan" of the past was not really him, the resonance in his heart was still profound enough for Wang Jingyao's appearance.
When she was young, Wang Jingyao was cheerful and lively. The little girl was very clingy and loved to laugh. After leaving that year, not only the Li Yuan brothers, but also the Liu family felt empty in their hearts, and they often thought about her in the following years.
Now more than ten years have passed, and Wang Jingyao reappeared, kneeling down in front of him, calling him "Sir" in panic, with a look of despair and helplessness like a sharp knife, cutting a knife in his heart.
No matter how hard the two gentlemen Li Yuan and Liu Jiangsheng pushed her, Wang Jingyao was still struggling, unable to live or die, and cried and insisted that Li Yuan agree to her request.
It is difficult for ordinary people to live in this world. The soldiers of the Forbidden Army saw that the joy of meeting suddenly turned into this scene. Many people were filled with emotion, fearing that it was another master whose grievances had no place to be redressed. Let's see Mr. Li. How about Mr. Liu?
Li Yuan blushed and even lost his temper and scolded: "What are you doing?"
Ms. Liu was the most shameful person who saw people suffering. She said distressedly: "Sister Yao, don't be anxious! If you have any difficulties, just tell Brother Yuan and the others slowly. Auntie will let them make the decision for you!"
After hearing Mrs. Liu's words, Wang Jingyao spoke slowly.
It turns out that since she left Wangjiazhuang when she was a child, her father Wang Hui took her back to Chuzhou City. After all, Wang Hui is a scholar. Although things are not peaceful outside, she can still provide for her family by educating children here and there. Soon Wang Hui's wife became pregnant again, but due to her age and the cold, she was unable to survive the birth. Fortunately, the child in her belly finally survived.
When his beloved wife passed away suddenly, Wang Hui seemed to have lost her faith and has been unable to recover since then. It was as if he had changed into a different person. He stayed at home and drank all day long, and soon he died in depression. Now only Wang Jingyao, who was only seven years old, and his brother Wang Jingguo, who was just over one year old, were left in the family.
Fortunately, God took pity on these lonely siblings, and Wang Jingyao's uncle took them home. Xu Shi has lost his parents since he was a child. For more than ten years, although Wang Jingyao cherished his younger brother in every possible way, his younger brother Wang Jingguo became more and more violent. He lived on the streets all day long, often interacting with some unscrupulous people. His interactions often caused trouble.
It wasn't until the death of their uncle at the beginning of the year that Wang Jingguo completely let himself go. After he made a group of "brothers" somewhere, he clamored to go out and make a living all day long.
One month ago, no matter how hard his sister Wang Jingyao tried to persuade him, Wang Jingguo took his late uncle's sword and left home. A few days later, someone from the government came, and Wang Jingyao learned that her brother had been sent to prison. He had been caught for trafficking in illegal salt and was sentenced to death.
Wang Jingyao collapsed now. Her uncle was not married and now he had no relatives in Chuzhou City. After hurriedly going to the government office to inquire, he gritted his teeth and sold some of his belongings at home, along with the house where he lived, in exchange for some cash, and managed everything so that Wang Jingguo could find a way to survive. During this period, the official officials he encountered were either prevarication or blackmail. Wang Jingyao dispersed all the money, but in the end there was no result.
Until one day ago, a "kind-hearted" wealthy businessman in Chuzhou City claimed to have a way to help her, but in the end he deceived her into his home and forced her to be his concubine. Wang Jingyao refused to obey, looking for an opportunity to scratch the wealthy businessman, and escaped forcefully. The wealthy businessman failed to succeed and instead lost his appearance. How could he give up? Then he offered a reward and ordered a group of servants to chase him.
Wang Jingyao hurriedly remembered Wangjiazhuang, where she had lived with her father when she was young, so she inquired about it all the way, and unexpectedly learned from passers-by that Li Yuan and others had returned home in fine clothes.
Today was the time when Li Yuan and others returned to Beijing. Wang Jingyao also heard some news and came along the official road in advance.
At this point, everyone was moved. Even though such things happened endlessly, after hearing it with their own ears, they still lamented the injustice of fate and sympathized with this woman's experience.
Mrs. Liu never expected that Wang Jingyao's experience would be so miserable. She was so excited that she almost fainted.
Luo Erhu, a black man, was so angry that he had veins popping out on his neck. He raised his sword and shouted loudly: "These are profiteers! They are all evil eggs who eat people without spitting out their bones! Brother , Why are you hesitating! Hurry up and give the order, I will immediately lead the troops and horses to rush into the prison and rescue the Wang family brother!"
Seeing Luo Erhu taking the lead in shouting, even Liu Jiangsheng, who had always been steady, had red eyes, and he led a group of Forbidden Army soldiers to seek justice. Li Yuan couldn't help but his face darkened, and he shouted angrily: "Stand still! You are an official now! You reckless black guy, don't you want to trap us all?"
After all, he was the eldest brother of the two brothers and the biggest official here. Seeing Li Yuan's anger, Luo Erhu, Liu Jiangsheng and a group of forbidden troops stopped making noise and did not dare to make another mistake.
Mrs. Liu witnessed everyone's reactions and saw that Li Yuan always had a gloomy face, as if he was thinking about something, so he calmed down and said: "You two brothers, please calm down. Brother Yuan must have an idea." , don’t disturb him!”
Li Yuan was in a state of confusion at this time. It's not that he is hesitating whether to help Wang Jingyao, but her unsatisfactory brother Wang Jingguo. Isn't this just a scam like that of later generations? I was trapped in it, and even my own sister was almost trapped in it. Now let’s not talk about how to solve this matter. Just talk about his crime of trafficking in illegal salt, which is very troublesome.
You must know that Yantie Guanying has a history of more than two thousand years. The financial revenue that Guanyan brings to the court every year is no exaggeration to say that in ancient times it could even determine the fate of the dynasty. "New Book of Tang·Shi Huo Zhi" says: "Half of the wealth of the world is salt."
Compared with the cost of making salt, selling salt is a real "profit for one dollar". In ancient times, people used much more salt than today. In addition to table salt, they also used a large amount of salt to pickle food. However, the purity of ancient salt was not high, so the sales volume of salt was extremely large.
The price of salt remains high, and although successive dynasties have issued extremely severe penalties to restrain it, many people still take risks and engage in illegal salt trade under the temptation of huge profits. These desperadoes were either relatives in the court or eventually became rebels. For example, Huang Chao in the late Tang Dynasty, Xu Wen, the adoptive father of Liezu of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng in the late Yuan Dynasty, etc. were all private salt traders.
Today's Southern Tang Dynasty basically follows the Tang law, and Huainan, such as Chuzhou where Li Yuan and others are located, is an important salt-producing place. The criminal law clearly stipulates that anyone who steals and sells salt for one stone will die. According to Wang Jingyao's description, Wang Jingguo was caught while transporting the salt with others. The government confiscated five carts of smuggled salt, and both the person and the person took the stolen goods.
Although Wang Jingguo was only fourteen years old at this time, he was not a later generation in the Tang Dynasty. According to "Tang Lv Shu Yi", he had already exceeded the age limit (seven years old) for "compassion for children", and for those under fifteen and eleven years old If a "minor" commits a capital crime, it is expressly stipulated that it will be carried out in accordance with the law. What's more, the crime of selling illegal salt is what the rulers hate the most!
Therefore, the only way now is to first understand the ins and outs of Wang Jingguo's salt trade. How could someone of his age and inexperienced in the world get such a huge amount of private salt? There must be someone behind it. , if clues can be found and the person behind the scenes can be found, he may be able to redeem himself with merit; at the same time, he will try to stay involved and delay as much time as possible, otherwise once Wang Jingguo is escorted to Jinling Dali Temple for review, the matter will never turn around.
Li Yuan made up his mind, and said truthfully to Wang Jingyao, who was crying like a baby, "Sister Yao, I have my own way to deal with the wealthy businessman who forced you. But in the Jingguo incident, both people and the stolen goods gained. No matter how anxious you are at this moment, To no avail. Selling illegal salt is a very serious capital crime in our dynasty. The first culprit will be punished by the three tribes! Although I have an official status now, I can't do it recklessly, otherwise I won't be able to save people, but I will miss important events! Now I can only We can hope that Jingguo was deceived. If he can reveal the mastermind behind it, then we can find key evidence and have a chance of survival!"
Wang Jingyao had been having nightmares every day for a month, and now she was even more frightened after hearing Li Yuan's words. She cried sadly: "My brother must have been deceived. No matter how naughty he is, he is definitely not that kind of evil person! How much can I give him?" I'm so brave, but I don't dare to do something heinous! Please help me! My little girl, please! Please! If you save my brother's life, my little girl is willing to work hard for you!... ....”
At this time, everyone understood the difficulty of this matter and agreed with Li Yuan's caution. After all, everyone is eating from the imperial court and hastily taken risks, with unspeakable consequences.
Mrs. Liu looked at Li Yuan sincerely, sighed and said, "Brother Yuan, Jingyao is a hard-working person. Now that you are an official, you must help the Wang family siblings!"
Li Yuan no longer hesitated, nodded solemnly, then helped Wang Jingyao up, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said softly: "You are serious, sister Yao, there is no need to be so harsh. Don't call me "sir" again in the future, I still Your Brother Yuan! Don’t cry, I agree to this."
Then he pondered for a moment, and suddenly thought of a person in his mind. He shook his head and smiled bitterly in his heart. He never thought that he would have to trouble him so soon... He turned around and ordered his subordinates to get a silk pen and scribbled a letter.
"Erhu, keep this letter! Listen, immediately take two soldiers and ride fast horses back to Yangzhou! Go find my father-in-law, Mr. Zhou! We went to the banquet together last time, he should recognize you Yes, remember that this letter must be delivered to him personally!"
With a stern look on his face, Luo Erhu put the letter into his breastplate, immediately turned around and mounted his horse, ordered two scouts and galloped south.
Li Yuan then issued an order: "Jiang Sheng, you take your mother to the inn outside the city to stay temporarily and wait for my news! The rest of the people are waiting to carefully guard my mother and Liu Dushi. They are not allowed to move without my order." , don’t disturb the people! Sister Yao, I will take you into the city immediately, and let’s go see Lord He, the governor!”
