The carriage slowly drove out of Jinling and stopped on the official road.
The tall horse raised its hooves from time to time, urging it forward. Gu Cheng pulled the reins and touched the horse's head from time to time to comfort it.
Zhang Pei drove his horse over and said to Gu Zhengchen who raised the curtain, "The convoy is here."
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly and motioned for Zhang Xiwan to stay in the carriage. Zhang Xiwan did not agree and followed Gu Zhengchen out of the carriage.
A group of carriages arrived slowly. The carriages were unblocked and full of women and children. They were dressed in tatters, with haggard faces and no light in their eyes.
These people are the widows and children of the Datong Guardhouse. The women have lost their husbands and the children have lost their fathers. In addition, due to the continuous wars, there were no relatives for a long time.
The world is so big that there is no home for them.
As originally promised, Zhu Yuanzhang gave this group of people to Gu Zhengchen and registered them in Jurong.
Mao Yu, Qianhu of the Imperial Guard, dismounted from his horse, took out a booklet and raised it above his head, saluting Gu Zhengchen: "Mark Mao Yu, and I have been ordered to escort the soldier's widow and children to Jurong. This is the roster, totaling four hundred and sixty. All seven people have arrived."
Gu Zhengchen took the roster and looked at it twice, then looked at the dozens of carriages in front of him, frowning slightly: "I remember that there were not so many people sent from Datong years ago."
Mao Yu solemnly said: "Male from Quanzhou County, there are not only widows from Datong Guards here, but also those from other guards who have no home to go to or nowhere to return to. All of them have been sent here."
Gu Zhengchen put away the roster and walked towards the motorcade. Seven or eight people were crowded on the small carriage platform, with the child tucked in the middle. There was also a woman holding a swaddled baby, looking at Gu Zhengchen warily.
"How many pregnant women are there here?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Mao Yu was stunned for a moment and shook his head: "I didn't cross-examine him."
Gu Zhengchen asked again: "How many swaddling babies are there?"
Mao Yu still doesn't know.
Gu Zhengchen sighed, walked to the middle of the motorcade, and shouted: "Pregnant women get off the carriage, and those with children under three years old get off the carriage!"
Mao Yu didn't understand what Gu Zhengchen meant, but he still ordered the sergeant to pass on the message.
Six pregnant women got off the carriage, and they were all obviously pregnant. and fourteen women with infants.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Zhang Pei: "Let's rent five carriages with carbon stoves."
Zhang Pei agreed and asked Mao Yu for a few sergeants to leave.
Zhang Xiwan stepped forward and helped a pregnant woman. Seeing the frostbite on her hands, she couldn't help but feel distressed. Faced with the uncertainty about the future, the anxious woman said: "When we arrive in Jurong, we have a home. The cold winter is over, and spring has come. Yes, everything will be fine."
The women were grateful.
When the carriage arrived, Gu Zhengchen checked it, arranged for pregnant women and women with babies to get on the carriage, and reminded them to open the curtains every hour for ventilation, and then set off on the road.
Looking at Gu Zhengchen who was concentrating with his eyes closed, Zhang Xiwan couldn't help but say: "It's their blessing that your husband has compassion."
Gu Zhengchen said bitterly: "We have been fighting for many years, and I don't know how many lives of soldiers have been lost. The sacrifice of a soldier means that a family is broken. For this dynasty, for this world, many soldiers are working hard and carrying heavy loads. All the husband can do , but I am just taking care of your children! This is not pity, it is duty."
"Duty?"
Zhang Xiwan moved and sat down next to Gu Zhengchen.
Gu Zhengchen lay down and rested his head on Zhang Xiwan's lap. Looking at Zhang Xiwan's lowered face, he said calmly: "In my opinion, soldiers are great, and so are their families."
Zhang Xiwan disagreed and said: "My husband only saw the sergeants defending the border at this time. They are certainly worthy of admiration, but have you ever thought that when the world was in chaos, many soldiers had no military discipline, burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. Even if ——Now those generals are still sitting high in the hall, enjoying the glory."
Gu Zhengchen understood Zhang Xiwan. Zhang He was reluctant to serve as an official. One of the reasons was that he had a "feud" with Zhu Yuanzhang.
This hatred was caused by the generals under Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhang He had a close friend, and the whole family was harmed by Zhu Yuanzhang's people. Although Zhu Yuanzhang later rectified military discipline, the dead cannot come back to life, and the defiled people He also jumped into the well.
Zhang Xiwan was influenced by Zhang He, so it's understandable that she doesn't have a good impression of the sergeant.
Gu Zhengchen sighed, closed his eyes and said, "Only in peaceful days can disasters be reduced. These peaceful days were created by sergeants. The vast territory of the Ming Dynasty was measured by sergeants with blood and weapons. Xiwan, during the war Let the suffering be over."
Zhang Xiwan reached out and touched Gu Zhengchen's cheek: "May peace last forever."
The corner of Gu Zhengchen's mouth moved slightly: "Don't worry, if the sky is not peaceful, then we will fight until it is. We Ming people cannot just be bullied."
Zhang Xiwan chuckled: "I wish the emperor has entrusted me with this order, and I will recommend Xuanyuan with my blood! It can be seen that my husband is still a warlike person. By writing such a poem, are you not afraid that your majesty will send you to the front line?"
"Haha, if you have the chance, my husband would really like to go to the grassland, where the wind blows and the grass is low, and there are herds of cattle and sheep. Under the setting sun, the quiet river is like a mirror, and the dancing posture of the grassland women is so...hiss..."
Gu Zhengchen felt a pain in his waist. Looking at Zhang Xiwan's sullen face, he realized that he had said too much. He quickly said, "I heard this from Duke Wei..."
"Wei Guogong doesn't know how to dance with women!"
Zhang Xiwan was angry.
Gu Zhengchen became anxious: "It's really what Duke Wei said. If you don't believe it, we will go back to Jinling to ask clearly..."
"Humph, I don't believe it."
Zhang Xiwan turned her face away.
Gu Zhengchen was depressed. It seemed that Xu Da could not solve the problem even by taking the blame, so he had to use other methods.
Gu Cheng heard an exclamation from the carriage, shook his head slightly, and urged the horse to go faster.
The convoy did not stop at the post station. They only had a meal and then drove on all night. There was no way, the post station could not accommodate so many people, so getting to Jurong as soon as possible would save these women and children from the cold for a while.
By the time the motorcade arrived in Jurong, it was already late at night. Seeing that Gu Zhengchen was back, the people guarding the city gate quickly opened the city gate.
The Jurong County government office became lively, and officials and government officials rose up to greet the magistrate and his wife.
Gu Zhengchen asked Gu Cheng to take Zhang Xiwan and Xiao He to the magistrate's house to rest, while he stayed in the second hall and said to Luo Shao and others: "Don't say any more words of greetings or congratulations. The placement of women and children is the most important thing right now. Say Please tell me a way."
Luo Shao looked at the resolute Gu Zhengchen, took out a document and handed it over: "I received news from the county magistrate yesterday evening. After discussion, we have come up with a strategy. Please take a look at it, magistrate."
Gu Zhengchen took it and glanced at it for a few times, then nodded slightly: "Let them have a place to stay first, so as not to freeze and starve. As for whether they will work or plow the fields later, we will discuss it later. According to this strategy, let them live in the county school temporarily. Gong Academy. By the way, the teacher from Jurong Academy is here. How is Liu Gui doing?"
Zhou Mao, the chief secretary, stepped forward and said, "The recruited gentlemen are arriving one after another. Currently, there are sixteen gentlemen. Including the county academy, there are twenty-six gentlemen. According to Liu Gui and Sun Tong's estimation, after the Lantern Festival, There will be more than twenty gentlemen coming.”
Gu Zhengchen nodded: "Let Liu Gui and Sun Tong come tomorrow. It's time to prepare for enrollment. Education cannot be delayed. Children should enter school after the Lantern Festival."
Zhou Mao and others quickly agreed.
After Gu Zhengchen dealt with the urgent matters, he looked at Dianshi Yang Liang: "The Japanese official is not in Jurong during this period. Is there any murder?"
Yang Liang nodded slightly and ordered someone to fetch the file: "Your Majesty, there were two murder cases in the twelfth lunar month. One of them was caused by a dispute over the land of the uncle's and nephew's house. The uncle hacked his nephew to death with a kitchen knife in anger. The case was not resolved. There is no doubt about it, and the prisoner has confessed and is now being held in the prison cell. The second murder case was that the old man died of illness, the two brothers had disagreements over the division of family property, and the younger brother poisoned his brother's food..."
Gu Zhengchen looked through the files and frowned.
Uncle and nephew, family property?
Why does this sound like a drama between Zhu Xiaosi and Zhu Xiaowen...
The dossier is detailed, and the evidence and testimony are impeccable.
"When the case is closed after my investigation, apart from these two murder cases, are there any other things that harm the people?"
Gu Zhengchen briefly scanned the files and looked at Luo Shao and others.
Yang Liang nodded heavily and looked at the chief clerk, Zhou Mao.
Zhou Mao sighed and said to Gu Zhengchen: "Yesterday morning, Ge Huan of the Ge family in Jurong found that his daughter had fallen into a well and died. After inspection, it was found that her daughter had lost her virginity. But the Ge family swore that it was impossible, and her daughter had been He stayed in the boudoir, did not go out, and never had contact with men. There is no progress in the investigation at the moment."
Yang Liang looked at Gu Zhengchen and said: "My lord, I heard that on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month last year, Zhang Bo, the daughter of the Zhang family in Jurong, hanged herself. She was saved because she was discovered by the maid and rescued in time. The Zhang family was secretive and hurriedly rescued her. The girl is married to a villager from Liulitian, I suspect..."
Gu Zhengchen frowned: "Are you saying that the daughters of the Zhang family and the Ge family were defiled by one person?"
"It's just speculation without any evidence. The Zhang family is covering up and refusing to tell the truth."
Yang Liang was helpless.
Gu Zhengchen understood.
In this era where a woman's chastity is more important than her life, it will be a family scandal if it falls on any family. Family scandals should not be publicized, and it is normal not to tell anyone about it.
"Tomorrow I will go to the Ge family to have a look." Gu Zhengchen rubbed his eyebrows and asked, "Are the rich and common people worried when the Jurong Guards arrive?"
Luo Shao shook his head slightly: "Your Majesty, the people were indeed a little worried at first, but later they found that the Jurong Guards did not disturb the people, but they felt more at ease. At least there were sergeants here, and the bandits did not dare to easily come to Jurong to cause trouble."
Zhou Mao was full of doubts: "Normally, if Guanjin is an important place, a guard station should be set up in a fortress. But Jurong is not an important place. Why did the imperial court set up a guard and send heavy troops here?"
Luo Shao, Yang Liang and others also didn't understand. This move was very unreasonable.
Gu Zhengchen leaned on the chair and said with a smile: "You don't need to ask why the Jurong Guard was set up. After the women and children are settled, everyone can have a rest and light the moon at dawn."
Luo Shao and others agreed.
Gu Zhengchen waited until Yang Liang informed the women and children that they were settled before going to the magistrate's house to rest.
