"There was a severe drought this year. There was no rainfall for several months, and there was no harvest in the fields. The old slave thought that it would be better to waive the farmer's rent and survive this period of time. Unexpectedly, in the summer, he received a letter from the master urging him to pay for it. Money and food. The world is big and the master is the biggest. No matter what, I have to help the master, right? So I thought about discussing with the farmers to squeeze out some to meet the master's needs. "
Zuo Yanwei said that Zuo Menggeng knew about Zuo Liangyu's urging for money and food.
It also involves a public case from Liaodong.
During the Tianqi period, the emperor's master Sun Chengzong was in charge of Liaodong.
In view of the increasing pressure in Liaodong, Sun Chengzong organized a car camp in order to save the situation.
Zuo Liangyu was promoted and became the captain of Youying.
This incident caused great controversy among the Liaodong armies.
Because Zuo Liangyu was unknown before and was just a general. Although he had military exploits, such a promotion was really shocking.
Why did Sun Chengzong favor Zuo Liangyu so much? I don’t know why Zuo Menggeng merged the souls of two generations.
Zuo Liangyu does not have a profound background.
He was born into a poor family. Both his parents died when he was young. He didn't even know his mother's name. He was raised by his uncle.
But later, when my uncle had a child of his own, he treated Zuo Liangyu coldly and disliked her.
Zuo Liangyu was arrogant and unwilling to live under others, and vowed to create a new world. Huang and the young Zuo Menggeng were left behind and went to join the army in Liaodong.
In Zuo Mengeng's memory, life was quite hard when he was a child, and sometimes he even went hungry.
It wasn't until Zuo Liangyu became the governor that the Zuo family gradually gained momentum. He added a mansion and fields, hired many servants, and gained a decent appearance.
But Zuo Liangyu's situation was not easy.
After the eunuch party came to power, Sun Chengzong resigned, and the person in charge of Liaodong became Yuan Chonghuan.
It stands to reason that as a disciple of Qian Longxi, Yuan Chonghuan bears the brand of the Donglin Party on his body. Because of their common friendship against the eunuchs, Yuan Chonghuan's love for Sun Chengzong should have taken care of Zuo Liangyu.
However, the opposite is true.
Under Yuan Chonghuan, Zuo Liangyu's life was quite difficult. He was repeatedly targeted and his life was in danger.
Zuo Mengeng couldn't figure out why this was the case. This was one of the reasons why he hated Yuan Chonghuan so much before.
Later, the governor of Liaodong fell out and Wang Zhishen, who had a background in the eunuch party, squeezed out Yuan Chonghuan. Zuo Liangyu's situation became even more difficult.
At that time, Zuo Liangyu almost wanted to resign and return home, but he was no longer angry.
Fortunately, Emperor Tianqi died, Chongzhen ascended the throne, the king's ministers were driven away, and the governor of Liaodong was replaced by Bi Zisu.
Zuo Liangyu, who finally regained his breath, was filled with fear and thought of consolidating his position no matter what.
He plans to spend a sum of money to make his position legitimate.
Zuo Liangyu's official title is Liaodong Cheyouying plus the title of Dusi.
For officials in the Ming Dynasty, it was a great honor to be given a title.
For example, "the crown prince's Taibao, the crown prince's young master" and the like are extremely rare and cannot be obtained. But when it comes to Zuo Liangyu, adding the word title has become a reminder.
His additional title of Dusi is just like acting county magistrate or acting army commander. It is temporary in nature and can be dismissed at any time.
The reason why this happened was that when Sun Chengzong promoted him, the disparity was too great and he made a easing move to deal with the controversy.
Zuo Liangyu wanted to take advantage of the change of leadership in Liaodong to get a sum of money to bribe the Shangguan and give him the "increased title".
This incident happened in June. Unexpectedly, a month later, Ningyuan mutinied, Bi Zisu committed suicide, and Yuan Chonghuan staged the return of the king. Not only did he quell the mutiny beautifully, he also killed and deposed a large number of officials with swords and swords.
That is to say, Zuo Liangyu's culpability is not serious and he should be dismissed from office. Otherwise, his head will be lost.
However, Liaodong and Linqing were thousands of miles apart. Zuo Yan didn't know that Zuo Liangyu had lost his official position, so he wanted to take advantage of the autumn harvest to collect the rent and cash it out, and then send it to Zuo Liangyu.
"That day, I went to Zhuangzi, and something happened on the way. I was delayed for a while. When I got there, I didn't expect that Wang San and the other bastards actually got into a fight and kicked Liang Yue's father to death. Liang became even more crazy and beat Wang to death on the spot. 3. The old slave wanted to calm down the incident, but Liang Yue became red-eyed..."
There is no need to say the rest, Zuo Mengeng also knows it.
Zuo Yan was injured as a result, and Zuo Mansion was in chaos.
A tragedy in which a wealthy slave bullied others and led to the destruction of a farmer's family actually happened in his own home.
Zuo Mengeng patted his head, feeling really depressed.
"Uncle Yan, just take a good rest and leave this matter to me."
After comforting Zuo Yan, Zuo Mengeng returned to the main courtyard and asked, "Where are those who beat people?"
Zuo Rong led the people out, and after a while, the servants carried several strong bundles and threw them in front of Zuo Mengeng.
These guys had been frightened for a long time. They were all hunched on the ground, unable to speak because their mouths were blocked, so they could only kowtow to Zuo Mengeng desperately.
Zuo Mengeng paced back and forth in front of them, his words were clear and everyone could hear them clearly.
"I, the Zuo family, grew up in humble beginnings and suddenly became rich and powerful without forgetting my roots. I have always managed the family in a kind and kind manner and dare not ruin the family tradition."
The people around him looked strange.
Young Master Zuo, when you were walking birds across the street and getting into fights, you didn't have any family tradition.
It's just that Zuo Mengeng is completely different now. He stands high and proud like a god. His awe-inspiring and domineering appearance makes people dare not look directly at him. It makes everyone on his staff be cautious and don't dare to mess around.
"You and other lowly slaves took matters into your own hands and ruined our family tradition, and your sins are unforgivable. However, the chief culprit, Wang San, is dead, and you will not be able to escape your sins."
He ordered Zuo Rong to pull the cloth from the mouth of the evil slave and asked: "Tell me, do you want to accept the family law, or are you going to be expelled from the house?"
The expressions of these servants changed greatly, and they kowtowed as if they were pounding garlic.
"We are willing to be punished."
"I only ask for mercy from the young master. Even if he beats us to death, he won't complain."
Nowadays, the world is in a mess, so if you stay in Zuofu, you will have no worries about food and clothing. If they were kicked out, they would be exposed to the wilderness.
Zuo Mengeng had actually expected what choices these people would make, but he had to act like it.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the people's ideology was actually on the verge of transformation. The most obvious thing was the outbreak of slave rebellion everywhere.
Many slaves were dissatisfied with the status quo and launched a vigorous struggle.
Zuo Mengeng was also afraid that this situation would happen at home, so today was both punishment and prevention.
If the servant is dissatisfied, it would be better to simply kick him out of the house than to have a thunderbolt hidden in the house.
Since these people don't want to leave, then punish them to show justice.
The punishment was not severe, only ten sticks per person. It is true that the beatings will cause the skin to be torn and the people to cry out and runny, but they will not kill the people and they will be able to be alive and kicking again after a few days.
When the other servants saw this scene, they were all horrified and did not dare to slack off any more.
After dealing with the mansion, Zhuangzi's side is even more difficult.
Zuo Mengeng thought for a while and said to Zuo Rong: "The eight of you and I will go out of the city tomorrow."
Zuo Rong and others said yes solemnly and went to prepare themselves.
Zuo Mengeng returned to the backyard. The banquet had been prepared, and Huang, Xu Ruolin, and Zuo Xianmei were all waiting for him.
"As long as the mother eats first, wouldn't it be unfilial to the child to wait so long?"
Huang just shook his head and looked at him kindly.
"If you, the head of the family, are not here, how can we, the women, have any reason to enjoy themselves?"
Xu Ruolin stuck out her tongue at the side, feeling that there were so many rules in this family.
She also made a belly-laughing gesture, obviously telling Zuo Mengeng that she was starving.
Zuo Mengeng smiled and did not delay.
"Let's have dinner then."
In order to welcome Zuo Menggeng back home, the cook prepared a table of delicious dishes with great care.
Huang was a little worried.
"Ms. Xu comes from the south of the Yangtze River. I don't know if she's used to it."
Xu Ruolin is usually a bit carefree and arrogant, but when it comes to the dinner table, her wealth and wealth come out. The food was dignified and elegant, which made Zuo Xianmei watch and learn from it.
"Lu's food is quite unique, which is impossible to eat in the south of the Yangtze River. Having such a good taste today is also an experience."
Huang was relieved.
"That's good. You've suffered a lot along the way. If you don't make up for it, how can you do it?"
When Zuo Mengeng went to the front yard, Xu Ruolin accompanied Huang and told her what happened on the way, which scared Huang.
However, hearing that Xu Ruolin and Zuo Mengeng rode together on the same horse and spent so many days together, Huang couldn't help but think a little more.
"I'm done eating."
"Well……"
"ah……"
Zuo Mengeng put down his bowls and chopsticks. He was also quite surprised when Huang and others looked at him in astonishment.
In the past, he didn't eat quickly, he ate slowly, and although he didn't chew carefully, it still took a lot of time.
It's not like now, but in the blink of an eye, the meal is over.
Thinking about it, those soldiers in the dream seemed to eat like this. Could it be that I was also infected?
Mrs. Huang asked with concern: "Why do you eat so fast? At least eat more. You are injured and if you don't eat better, how can you recover quickly?"
Zuo Xianmei said quietly from the side: "Brother has already eaten five bowls of rice."
She could see clearly that the palm-sized rice bowl, filled with rice, seemed to be poured into Zuo Mengeng's hand as if it was poured into his mouth.
Looking at the rice grains still in her bowl, Zuo Xianmei simply doubted her life.
After hearing Zuo Mengeng's few words, he ate five bowls of rice, and Huang and Xu Ruolin couldn't help but look over.
Is this man's belly a bottomless pit?
Zuo Mengeng also blushed.
"Haha, you eat slowly and don't worry about me."
Seeing the three women slowly counting the rice grains and eating them, he was suffering from sitting there, so he simply left and returned to his small courtyard.
