Prince Consort

Unexpectedly, there was a little accident on the way back to Beijing.

There is a big ferry between Wuyang City and the capital, connecting the south to the north.When Xie Ze'an and Zhao Chongzhao passed by, they found more than a dozen passenger ships docked near the pier, and the people on board were moving things down one after another.Most of them are dressed in rags, and they don't seem to be here for business or travel.

Xie Ze'an and Zhao Chongzhao looked at each other, Xie Ze'an motioned Zhao Chongzhao and the guards to stay where they were, and went up to make friends with the people who disembarked.I asked a few people, and they all said, "My boss is a kind person, and he brought us here to settle here...", but the other party refused to say more about it. It is said that the boss said that he would keep silent.

Xie Ze'an changed the way of asking: "Is your boss here?"

The other party nodded and pointed to a passenger ship farthest from them.There was a middle-aged man standing on the bow of the passenger ship with his hands behind his back, watching the cargo and luggage being moved from the ship.

Xie Ze'an frowned, and went to talk to Zhao Chongzhao about the situation.

Zhao Chongzhao thought for a while and said, "Let's go meet their boss."

Xie Ze'an felt something was wrong.But after thinking about it, their appearance and attire were nothing more than young men with weak crowns, and not many people would pay attention to them at all.

Xie Ze'an nodded and led Zhao Chongzhao towards the ship.

Seeing them coming straight at him, the middle-aged man was very embarrassed, and couldn't help frowning.Xie Ze'an felt that the two of them were inconspicuous, but they were not like that in the eyes of others.Zhao Chongzhao has been pampered since he was a child, and he has a noble air that cannot be concealed; Xie Ze'an himself has a handsome face and an extraordinary bearing, no matter how you look at it, he is not an ordinary person.

The middle-aged man paused, and greeted him off the boat in person: "Hello, two officials!"

Xie Ze'an and Zhao Chongzhao were taken aback for a moment, and looked at each other in blank dismay.After carefully observing the expression of the middle-aged man, Xie Ze'an was relieved to find that the other party was not panicked.This person probably thought they were the children of officials, right?

Xie Ze'an said, "I take the liberty of interrupting you."

The middle-aged man shook his head, expressing that he didn't care.

Zhao Chongzhao asked straight to the point: "Why are you moving things so late?"

The middle-aged man said: "I bought some fields here and moved here with the tenants. This matter can't be too ostentatious, it can only be done overnight. Don't take offense to the two officials, we will be fine soon."

Zhao Chongzhao frowned: "If you take people away like this, what will happen to the original fields?"

Zhao Chongzhao's tone made the middle-aged man vigilant.He said vaguely: "They all have no land. As for my land, of course it has been transferred to someone else, and the procedures are all done in a serious manner. It is definitely not abandoned."

Zhao Chongzhao asked: "Why do you want to move?"

The middle-aged man said: "I have saved some money, and I always want to live a better life. I have a son in my family who is about to enter school. I want to be closer to the capital and send him to a good school. I hope that he will be named on the gold list in the future. .”

What the middle-aged man said was reasonable and quite emotional. After hearing this, Zhao Chongzhao nodded slightly and said, "Poor parents in the world!"

This sentence was said by Xie Ze'an to Zhao Chongzhao. He remembered it clearly after hearing it, and he also expressed it with emotion at the moment.The middle-aged man has never heard of this, such a simple seven words, but inexplicably made his eyes tingle.Poor parents in the world!If it weren't for someone who couldn't live on, kneeling in front of his house and selling his children to his house as slaves, he wouldn't have made up his mind to take the landless farmers and move their families away.

Who wants to sell their children into slavery if they can live on?I really can't eat anymore!

Of course, he was able to do this because the Zhizhou here was his good friend, and he was willing to deal with him and move the household registration of his family and these farmers over.Even so, he managed to get out of there by half selling his field.

But it's better to cut this knife severely than to stay there and be deprived of all the money and land.This side is close to the capital, even if officials and officials want to make money for political achievements, they dare not make too much noise.Over there, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, so hard to bear...

Middle-aged people dare not mention these inside facts in front of outsiders.

I heard that their previous magistrate is now a high-ranking official in the capital, and he bought a house and land. He is very prestigious. If he rashly tells others about these things, who knows what kind of revenge will be ushered in?Middle-aged people dare not gamble, he is an ordinary citizen, any official can crush him to death with a little finger.

Xie Ze'an has been paying attention to the expression of the middle-aged man.Seeing the middle-aged man's expression obviously changed after hearing the phrase "poor parents in the world", he smiled bitterly, his heart skipped a beat, and he intuitively felt that there must be something inside.Xie Ze'an frowned when he thought that all the tenants brought by this man kept silent about the reason for moving here.

He smiled a little, and asked kindly, "Where did you move from?"

The middle-aged man knew that this could not be concealed, so he told the truth: "We came from Quyan."

Xie Ze'an has an excellent memory: "Oh, Qu Yan? As for Qu Yan, your former Zhizhou Du Wan just transferred to the capital from there a few months ago, right?"

The middle-aged man's heart trembled, and he secretly speculated about the origins of Xie Ze'an and Zhao Chongzhao.They are extremely young and can casually call Du Wan's name, who could they be?Unable to figure out the identities and positions of Xie Zean and the others, he could only simply reply: "Yes, officials."

Xie Ze'an knew at a glance that the middle-aged man was wary, so he didn't say much.After all, his manpower is too small, and it is impossible to place good people in every place, and the entire intelligence network will inevitably have "partial failures".He didn't know the situation at Quyan, so he could only secretly remember this matter and prepare to send someone to find out later.

Xie Ze'an suggested to Zhao Chongzhao: "It's getting late, let's go back first."

Zhao Chongzhao nodded.Although he also felt that this matter was a bit strange, he didn't want to make a fuss about "going out at night and not returning".Going out for a walk is one thing, but "not returning home at night" is a big problem. Tomorrow he will be drowned in Yushitai's spittle.

The two bid farewell to the middle-aged man and returned to Beijing on horseback.

The middle-aged man watched them leave, and was about to turn around to leave when he suddenly saw the unusual texture of the sword on the waist of the guard Zhao Chongzhao was carrying.He kept it in mind, returned to the boat and asked someone to bring up the pen and paper, drew on the paper and put it in his pocket.It was almost curfew time after moving into the new house, and the middle-aged man took advantage of the last quarter of an hour to visit his friend who is the Zhizhou.

As soon as they met, he took out the texture he had drawn and asked, "Do you know this?"

Zhizhou took a look, with a serious expression on his face: "Where did you see it?"

The middle-aged man described his contact with Xie Ze'an in detail.

After hearing this, Zhizhou said: "This texture can only be used by the imperial guard's sword, which means that the person you met is probably someone from the palace. Judging from your description, you are considered lucky..."

The middle-aged man said, "Who the hell are they?"

Zhizhou said: "The one who is taller and said 'poor the world's parents' is most likely the current emperor. The other one should be Xie Sanlang."

Middle-aged people used to be far away from the capital, so they didn't know what "Xie Sanlang" meant.He said: "Then I was bumped into by them, is it a blessing or a curse?"

Zhizhou knew at a glance that he had never heard of the word "Xie Sanlang".He said: "Xie Heng, Xie Ze'an, you should have heard of it, right?"

The middle-aged man nodded.He can't understand the annotations of classics and history, let alone the influence of those things on Shilin, but he has children in his family, and he is quite familiar with the "San Zi Jing" and "Enlightenment of the Rhythm".Not to mention that there are music scores, poetry collections, anthologies published by the son-in-law for the princess, and many gadgets he invented.If you want to say who the children who were born and grew up in the past few years admire most, it must be this "Xie Heng"-whether it is learning things or eating, drinking and having fun, you can't escape this person's "guidance"!

There is such a kind of person in the world, who can do everything better than others, even if he wants to be convinced!

Look, you can't even play with others, why are you ashamed not to work hard?

The middle-aged man finished nodding, and suddenly understood what his friend meant: "You mean he is the 'Xie Sanlang' you mentioned?"

Zhizhou said, "Yes, that's him."

The middle-aged man couldn't believe it: "He's too young."

Zhizhou said: "He won the first prize at the age of 16, of course he is young. I only hope that he is really Xie Sanlang. If someone else comes out with His Majesty, we will be in danger."

The middle-aged man was slightly surprised: "You seem to admire that Xie Sanlang very much?"

Zhizhou said: "Xie Sanlang is different from other people. Although he is young, he is quite trusted by His Majesty. Prime Minister Xu and Yao Canzheng in the court are his teachers. He can easily rise to the top, but because of his political views with them Inconsistencies led to taking idle positions for several years. Only this year became the 'Quan Shangshu'..."

The middle-aged man was dumbfounded.What does it mean to become a "Quan Shangshu" only this year?That Xie Sanlang is only 20 years old, right? Can a 20-year-old Shangshu still be called "talent"?Is it true that he has been wronged if he has to be a 20-year-old official, a first-rank official, and a marquis and a prime minister?

Zhizhou didn't feel that what he said just now sounded like an idiot, he said seriously: "You and I both know what life is like for the people in places far away from the capital. If it wasn't for Xie Sanlang's current weakness, he would It’s best to tell him the truth. I’m afraid that after he finds out, he will hit the rock with an egg and directly confront the New Party.” After speaking, he added, “You don’t know, he is the hope in our hearts.”

Middle-aged man: "..."

It seems that my good friend really admires Xie Sanlang very much.

The middle-aged man asked earnestly, "Then shall we stand still for the time being?"

Zhizhou said: "You came from Quyan, and you know the situation there best." He pointed to the texture map on the table, and suggested to his friend, "You are the best at painting, you can start painting during this time A batch of refugee pictures, if we have a chance in the future, we will dedicate them to His Majesty, so that His Majesty can understand the harm of the young crop law."

The middle-aged man said: "Good!"

Zhizhou glanced at the picture again, and couldn't help sighing: "This painting method is still thought up by Xie Sanlang! Although it loses a bit of artistic conception, it looks more real and lifelike."

Middle-aged man: "..."

He felt his friend's deep love for Xie Sanlang.

Very deep!