Three thousand miles in exile

"You! What did you say?!"

Liu Zhan was driven by Liu Xueyuan to run all over the yard, only to see Liu Xueyuan dancing the broom in his hand vigorously, which made Liu Zhan scream.

"Father! This is the art of war, robbing the enemy's food and grass to expand our own barracks, this is the art of war written in the book of war!"

Where does Liu Xueyuan care about his military tactics or not? "You are right! Sending troops to Yandi without authorization, if this matter gets out, it will be a serious crime of beheading!"

Liu Zhan knew that he had to let him calm down first, a few beatings were nothing, and he would naturally calm down when he was tired, so running away was just pretending to run away, if he really wanted to run away, how could Liu Xueyuan catch up.

"But if I don't do this, where will I get food and grass to support soldiers? I have to support more than a hundred people under my command, and it costs money to eat and use, and there are not enough weapons and luggage."

Tired of chasing, Liu Xueyuan supported his waist and was out of breath.

Liu Zhan took the opportunity to say again. "These aristocratic tribes hoarded food and grass to attack Cangxia Plain, causing many people to be displaced. It is also beneficial to the overall situation that I pretend to be a bandit to rob food."

"But it's too dangerous! I won't allow you to send troops again!" Liu Xueyuan wanted to slap him again, but his hands were so sore that he couldn't lift them up.

Liu Zhanli said bluntly: "Not only do I need to support a hundred people, but I also want to support thousands of people. These people are my own soldiers. I can't treat them badly. Food and salaries are being deducted layer by layer from the county town to the state government. There is only three points left in the hands of the soldiers, how can the soldiers do anything for me with that little food if they don't have enough to eat?"

Liu Xueyuan cursed. "You can still make money by doing some legitimate business. There are so many ways to make money in the world, but you still want to go to war! You! You don't want to die!"

"I can't wait, I need to expand."

Liu Xueyuan fell backward angrily.

"Kneel down for me!!!"

Liu Zhan knelt down obediently.

"Our Liu family has four generations and three generations, how did you give birth to you, a rebellious son, to do that deed of robbery!"

Such a big movement between the father and son naturally alarmed the whole family. The whole family was present in the corridor. Mrs. Zhao was anxious and distressed.

Liu Xueyuan dropped the broom and fetched a thicker stick. "I'll ask you for the last time, you are not allowed to send troops to Yandi in the future, can you agree?"

"I have to do this." Liu Zhan didn't change his face.

"Okay, you have grown up and your wings are hard. I can't control you anymore, but our Liu family discipline can't tolerate you, a rebellious son! Today's 49 sticks are the family law set by the ancestors. If you can bear it I will let the past go, if you can't stand it, don't be a small soldier and stay at home with me!" Liu Xueyuan will do what he says, and he will not show mercy in today's 49 sticks.

Liu Zhan only straightened his waist. "let's hit."

The sound of the stick falling on the back made people tremble. Several children hid in the house in fear. The three-year-old Cong'er cried loudly. Mrs. Zhao took the younger son away wiping her tears. The old lady wanted to go forward. Stop, the two brothers Liu Xueyi and Liu Xueli shook their heads and invited the old lady back.

Song Fenglin watched the whole process with a pale face. There were a total of 49 sticks, and none of them was missing. At the end of the beating, Liu Xueyuan's hands were numb, and Liu Zhan didn't utter a word or beg for mercy.

Liu Xueyuan was so angry that he threw away the wooden stick and turned to leave, Song Yijun hurriedly followed, and there were only three teenagers left in the courtyard.

Song Fenglin immediately supported him. "How are you?"

Liu Zhan's eyes were scarlet, and only now showed a hint of pain.

"Xiao Lian, hurry up and invite Doctor Zhang!" Song Fenglin said anxiously.

Li Xiaolian was stunned and reacted and rushed out of the house to ask for a doctor.

Liu Zhan was lying on the bed in a daze and couldn't move. There was no spot on his back that was bruised. He didn't do anything cruel, but the injury was enough for Liu Zhan.

At the end of the night, there was still candlelight in Liu Xueyuan's study. Mrs. Zhao had just fed Liu Zhan the medicine, and when she saw the light in the study, she looked for it.

Liu Xueyuan sat down behind the desk, looking ten years older.

"Ma'am, do you blame me?"

Mrs. Zhao shook her head, tears came out of her red and swollen eyes.

Liu Xueyuan sighed long. "Soldiers and wars are child's play. If you are not careful, you will lose your bones. This son is early wisdom. I am afraid that he will not know the heights of heaven and earth if he is smart. If he is not scared, how will he know that everything is impermanent? How will he know that he should spare his life?" !"

Zhao wept. "I know you've worked hard."

Liu Xueyuan had mixed feelings in his heart, and his heartache was unbearable.

The husband and wife talked for a while, and Liu Xueyuan couldn't sit still and went to see his son together.

Liu Zhan fell into a coma all night, and it was noon when he woke up. When he opened his eyes, he saw Song Fenglin sitting next to him reading a book, wearing Liu Zhan's favorite blue dress.

"Are you awake?" Although Song Fenglin was reading, he had been paying attention to him all the time. Seeing Liu Zhan opened his eyes, he immediately reached out and touched his forehead.

"I'm thirsty..."

Song Fenglin hurriedly fed him water again, Liu Zhan felt sober and complained of hunger again after a while, Zhao Shi kept warming porridge in the pot waiting for him to wake up to drink.

"You shouldn't have said those things when Uncle Liu was angry, and you'll be beaten for nothing." Song Fenglin reprimanded him while feeding the porridge.

"I just want him to die. If he wants to be beaten, he must be punished as soon as possible. This is what I want to do, and no one can stop him." After Liu Zhan finished speaking, he remembered something meaningful and said again. "He has to hit me again, and I'm afraid he will hit me harder."

"What else do you want to do?" Song Fenglin was taken aback by him.

Liu Zhan only looked at him with a smile, Song Fenglin was confused by him.

Song Fenglin was upset. "I think you're all right, then I'll go back to my room first, and you can sleep for a while."

"Don't, I hurt, I hurt everywhere!" Liu Zhan hurriedly grabbed his hand. "It's the same for you to read, write and write in my room. Let Xiao Lian help you move your things over to stay with me. I'm going to die of pain if you're not here."

Liu Zhan was a shameless person who would say all kinds of shameless words, Song Fenglin was afraid that he would be heard badly, so he agreed to come and accompany him.

The young man recovered quickly. Liu Zhan was able to leave the ground the next day, and he could come and go freely within two days. He didn’t want to stay at home as long as he was in good health. Now that he has capital in his hands, he should buy some for his family. property.

In order not to attract attention, Liu Zhan planned to add seven or eight acres first, and also bought a farm ox and a donkey. The cattle worked and the donkey pulled people.

One day, Liu Zhan and Li Xiaolian went down the mountain to buy a cow and a donkey with silver.

The two led the ox and the donkey leisurely up the mountain.

Liu Zhan looked at the carriage that had been falling not far behind them and felt something was wrong. Could it be a robber?This is the winding mountain road up the mountain. There are cliffs on the left and forests on the right. The surrounding area is desolate. It would be terrible if you were ambushed. Liu Zhan doesn't like to be passive.

"Xiao Lian, there is something wrong with that carriage, I'll go and meet for a while, you play by ear." Liu Zhan jumped out of the carriage after saying that.

The driver of the carriage at the back was a young man in his twenties, and there seemed to be another person in the carriage sneaking around from time to time.

"Who are you guys?" Liu Zhan stood in the middle of the road with arms folded without any fear.

At this time, the man in the carriage stumbled and got out of the carriage. Seeing that it was an old man with half-white hair, Liu Zhan knew that he was not a robber, and he was even more puzzled.

"What have you been following us for?" Liu Zhan asked again loudly.

The young man walked up quickly with the help of the old man. The old man had been staring at Liu Zhan since he got off the car, muttering something. "Like, so much like, I think he is Zhan'er."

"Father, I'll go up and ask, you're not in a hurry." As soon as the young man spoke, the old man jumped on Liu Zhan.

"Zhan'er, you're Zhan'er! Don't you recognize me! I'm the housekeeper Liu Zhong!! It's been five years, five years! I found it!" The old man grabbed Liu Zhan's arm I have been crying too much to speak.

Liu Zhan was taken aback. He didn't know the old man of the Liu family, but seeing the old man crying bitterly didn't look like a fake, so he couldn't explain clearly at this time, so he had to take it home first.

The person who came here was indeed the former housekeeper of the Liu House. Liu Zhong's family has been slaves of the Liu House since their ancestors, and each generation served as the steward of the Liu House.

The Liu family thanked guests behind closed doors today, and Liu Zhan asked Li Xiaolian to stay in the courtyard and not let outsiders approach.

All the houses of the Liu family gathered in the old lady's room.

Liu Zhong wiped his tears while talking about the past five years. "After the incident, I obeyed the master's arrangement and did not dare to stay for a moment. I took my family and escaped from the capital. Because I was worried that the Holy One would be angry, our family fled to the south at night and traveled around. It was two years before I heard that the master committed suicide in prison. The case is closed, and our family rushed back to the capital to find out the news."

"After I returned to Beijing, I found the second master. The second master found out the place of exile, which is about six counties in Qiyun Mountain, northern Xinjiang. The documents of the Ministry of Criminal Justice only have the sentence of sentencing to northern Xinjiang. The specific arrangements for the prisoners have been sent to the Cenzhou government. At that time, everyone in the Liu clan was in danger, and the second master did not dare to act rashly, so he gave me a sum of money to go to Cenzhou Mansion to inquire first."

Qiyun Mountain is so vast, Cenzhou has six counties and hundreds of townships under its jurisdiction, and there are countless villages. Liu's family violated Tianwei, Liu Zhong didn't dare to search for people with great fanfare, he could only search one by one, almost Traveled all over Qiyun Mountain.

"Old lady, Liu Zhong is late." Liu Zhong sat down at the old lady's head and wept.

The old lady wiped her tears with a handkerchief. "I know you are a good person. When the old man was alive, he loved you the most. He said that you are loyal and hardworking. Now that our family is in trouble, you can still stick to it. I thank you on behalf of the Liu family."

"Old Madam's words have ruined me, no matter how hard I am, I can't compare to what your masters are suffering." After speaking, Liu Zhong wept again.

The room was full of silence, only low or high sobbing.

Liu Xueyuan's eyes were red, he thought of his father's guilt in prison and his despair before his death. His father had expected such a catastrophe, but he never expected that Emperor Xuan, who had endured for many years, would suddenly attack and decide to kill their family.

Liu Zhong took out the rest of the bank note in his arms and said, "The second master gave me 1 taels of silver note for me to find people on the road. I spent 8000 taels and still have less than 2000 taels left."

Liu Zhong presented the bank note to the old lady, and the old lady gave a long sigh to signal Liu Xueyuan to accept it.

Without further ado, Liu Xueyuan gave Liu Zhong 500 taels. "Steward Liu, this is what you deserve. If the Liu family can get back together in the future, there will be a big reward."

Liu Zhong and his son can see from where the Liu family lives now that their life is not easy and they insist on not wanting it.

Liu Zhan said: "Just accept it. Now that our family has money, we don't dare to spend it. Even if you send us 10 taels, it's useless."

The Liu family's status in Wuyuan County is embarrassing, and the county magistrate of Pei is afraid of how tolerant the Liu family is to them in the capital, so they have been able to be so safe and smooth in the past three years. It is absolutely impossible to restore the rich life of the past with money.

After Liu Zhong figured it out, he stopped rejecting and said, "I plan to send my son back to Beijing to pick up his family and come over to serve the masters."

Liu Xueyuan hurriedly said: "No, we are prisoners, how can we have servants to wait on us?"

Liu Zhong was very reluctant, he finally found the owner of the family, they have been the sons of the Liu family for several generations, and they share weal and woe with the Liu family, if they leave the Liu family, they will have no place to go.

Not only Liu Zhong was reluctant to give up, but the Liu family was also quite reluctant. It was not a matter of whether there was no one to serve him, but the reunion with great difficulty, and everyone was very disappointed for a while.

Liu Zhan also agrees with Liu Xueyuan. Now that their family still needs to live in Wuyuan County with their tails between their legs, they feel that these days are too aggrieved. "It's better for your family to live in the county first, and we will pretend that we don't know each other and keep in touch in private."

"Zhan'er is such a good idea!" Liu Xueyi patted his thigh in agreement.

Liu Zhong and his son were also very happy, and it was decided in advance.

Liu Xueyuan said: "I wanted to keep your father and son for dinner, but there are too many people in the village, so I won't keep you overnight today. We will contact you after you settle down in the county."

On the contrary, Liu Zhan felt that there was no need to be so careful, but Liu Xueyuan didn't want to make troubles.

That night, Liu Xueyuan asked Liu Zhan to come into his room to talk about the day's affairs. I don't know when it started, Liu Xueyuan was used to discussing with his son first when he was in trouble.

It happened that Liu Zhan also wanted to find Liu Xueyuan, because he had a new idea.

Liu Xueyuan felt that Liu Zhong's family had lived in the county for a long time, and sooner or later they would be discovered by the magistrate of Pei County. After all, Wuyuan County is so big. I'm afraid that as soon as Liu Zhong's family landed, someone would inquire about their origins. Liu Zhan also thought of this. One point, this is what he told Liu Xueyuan.

"Father, our family is now living under the magistrate of Pei County. Even if there is no such thing as Steward Liu, we have to establish a good relationship with the magistrate of Pei County. Before our family was poor and helpless, now that we have money, the magistrate of Pei County Relationships have to be smoothed out.”

Liu Xueyuan is often surprised by Liu Zhan's sophistication in dealing with the world. This kind of old-fashioned tune in the officialdom really makes Liu Xueyuan entangled. Although entangled, he knows that Liu Zhan is right.

Liu Zhan said: "I'm having a headache as to how to give gifts to the County Magistrate Pei. The matter of looting food cannot be spread. If it is given too much, it will inevitably lead to suspicion. Butler Liu is here just in time. Let Butler Liu come forward on his behalf, so that the County Magistrate Pei thinks that the money is from the capital Liu. Home preparations."

Liu Zhan said again: "Sooner or later, Steward Liu's identity cannot be concealed. It's better to let Steward Liu deal with him. First, let the county magistrate know that the Liu family in the capital has come. Second, let the county magistrate know that we Interested in making friends."

"How much is appropriate?" Liu Xueyuan thought for a while and said.

"I will send 2000 taels first, and then I will give some every time during the New Year and holidays, 500 taels for the Spring Festival, and 300 taels for the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival."

"So little?" Liu Xueyuan blurted out, a few hundred taels of silver was like pocket money in the eyes of the Beijing officials, and looked at the 8000 taels spent by Butler Liu in order to find them to do things up and down, which was not much at all in Liu Xueyuan's eyes.

Liu Zhan smiled. "Father, I heard that other people's filial piety is worth a few dozen taels of silver."

A few of their teenagers occasionally go down the mountain to Linji to beat teeth. Zhang Xiaoman is a gossip, and he can always find all kinds of gossip, such as giving filial piety. Four or five taels of silver are collected, while commercial banks like grain companies have to give dozens of taels, all of which have a fixed amount and cannot be faked.

The county magistrate of Pei doesn't have much oil and water in this remote area, plus the annual autumn harvest deducts a little fire consumption from the tax, so it's not bad to earn 3000 taels a year. Money, the county magistrate of Pei has been hopeless for promotion. To put it bluntly, in one word, poor.

Liu Zhan took a deep breath. "Now that Steward Liu is here, the money I get can allow Steward Liu to buy private property on his behalf, buy some farm shops, the farm can hire tenant farmers, the shops can be rented out, money can make money, and life will be even better in the future."

Liu Xueyuan naturally agrees very much.