In the 30th year of Daoguang's reign in the Qing Dynasty, after the signing of the unequal treaties, the people's livelihood was in dire straits.
Mr. Zhao Shi was ten years old at the time. He heard what happened from some elders in his family.
It was a night full of gunfire. The local forces opposing the Qing government were getting stronger and stronger, and Shanxi was no exception. The Zhao family was smart. They knew how to size up the situation, close the door, and ignore the matter as it had nothing to do with them.
.
It means that our Zhao family will not participate in the rebellion, and outsiders should not disturb us. At this time, the Zhao family has lost its glory in the past. It only serves as a fifth-grade clerk in the court and does not have much real power. Such a wise way of protecting oneself is not suitable for selection.
Based on the contacts accumulated by the ancestors of the Zhao family over many years, no one will touch the Zhao family.
That night, people were besieged on all sides. It was said that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was rising in the south, and the whole country echoed the response. Opposition to the Qing Dynasty was growing day by day.
Zhao Shi's father came back from abroad at night. He went to the south to investigate the situation. After returning in a hurry, he closed the door of the mansion tightly and sent more people to patrol the courtyard.
The first thing he did when he came back was to summon the Zhao family to the front hall for a family meeting. He didn't care that the time was approaching midnight, and the sleeping children were woken up in a daze.
Zhao Shi's father probably only said three points. First, the female family members in the family should not go out at will in the near future. Second, the men in the family should avoid external affairs if they can. Third, whether there are external affairs involved or not,
, everything must be settled now, the Zhao family will not allow a single rebellious person to appear.
Zhao Shi was young at the time and didn't know why his father said these things in the middle of the night. I believe it was not just him, but the other younger children in the Zhao family didn't understand what was going on.
It was not until three days later that Zhao Shi's father summoned the Zhao family again and punished Zhao Shi's cousin in front of the Zhao family. The reason was very simple. This man colluded with the forces of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and rebelled against the Qing Dynasty.
Previous generations of the Zhao family had achieved countless glory in the Qing Dynasty. Zhao Shi's father would never allow such a thing to happen. In order to scare the monkeys and show the whole family the consequences of colluding with rebels, he beat Zhao Shi's cousin.
His flesh and blood were all bruised, and one of his legs was missing. He was afraid that he would lose mobility in his legs and feet for the rest of his life.
At that time, no one in the Zhao family dared to say anything. Under the feudal dynasty, even the family's rule was feudal. A living man was beaten half to death in public for pursuing his ideals. Everyone could only stare.
, it’s sad, but also helpless.
No one dared to stand up, let alone speak against Zhao Shi's father. Only then did the young Zhao Shi realize that the situation was serious.
Afterwards, Zhao Shi's cousin was carried outside. That was the last time Zhao Shi saw this cousin. He never visited the Zhao family again. No one knows where he went, and it is not certain that he died.
That night, Zhao Shi heard some elders talking about something outside his father's door, which really shocked him.
What my father was talking about was when the ancestors of the Zhao family were in trouble. I heard that the Zhao family was originally an ordinary family. About the eleventh year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the ancestors of the Zhao family accidentally rescued a white fox while farming in the fields. You must know that the white fox
Fox is a rare species, and its fur is worth a good price. The ancestors of the Zhao family saved the injured and dying white fox out of kindness.
Unexpectedly, this rescue brought prosperity and wealth to the Zhao family. After the recovered white fox left, he entrusted a dream to the ancestors of the Zhao family and told them a place, asking him to build a tomb here and return to his ancestors' home.
Dig a piece of Tai Sui in the grave and bury it in that place.
The ancestors of the Zhao family were half convinced and wondered how there could still be Tai Sui in their ancestors' graves. They wanted to give it a try. If they could really dig out Tai Sui, they would bury it in the tomb.
During the third watch of the night shift, the ancestors of the Zhao family took hoes to dig up the graves of their ancestors. This was a very disrespectful act, because they did it because of a dream that was not known to be true or false, and people knew it, and they were not sure what to say.
Unexpectedly, a piece of Tai Sui was actually dug up from the ancestor's grave, and the ancestors of the Zhao family buried it in the place mentioned in the dream.
From then on, the ancestors of the Zhao family went smoothly no matter what they did, and they became rich within a few years. Later, the descendants of the Zhao family passed the imperial examination, and their official status rose all the way, and only then did the Zhao family become what it is today.
Zhao Shi listened carefully outside the door. He had never known about this, so Zhao Shi's father did not allow anyone to ruin the family. Zhao Shi's father knew very well that it is easy to lose a family, but it is difficult to make a fortune.
, If the white fox hadn’t repaid his kindness back then, we wouldn’t be here today.
But it is not known exactly what happened between the ancestors of the Zhao family and the white fox. If there are rumors about this, I believe there are still many unknown things.
The white fox repaid his kindness. This matter was indeed like an anecdote. Zhao Shi also understood why his father treated his cousin like that. It is difficult to conquer a country, but it is even harder to defend it.
...
Mr. Zhao Shi originally thought that this matter would never be mentioned again in this life, but when it came time to bring it to light again, in front of Feng Yu and others and Zhao Shuisheng, Mr. Zhao Shi made it very clear that he
Age is nothing to worry about. If you have one, say one, and if you have two, say two.
This story is comparable to "Liao Zhai". Zhang Xiuxian is a person who does not believe in ghosts and gods. He is sipping the old gentleman's tea, listening to the old gentleman's stories, and questioning the old gentleman.
"I said, old man, is this true? You were only in your teens at that time, and now you are in your nineties. In the past eighty years, have you misremembered and mixed in the stories you heard when you were a child?
.”
Mr. Zhao Shi smiled and said nothing. Feng Yu glanced at Zhang Xiuxian and explained to the old man: "Don't be offended. He speaks straightforwardly. Don't take it seriously."
"You are young, straight-tempered and good-tempered. You don't hide anything in your heart and you don't have to think too much about doing things."
Feng Yu nodded awkwardly and asked, "Old sir, is there anything else you've missed about this matter? Or something else?"
Mr. Zhao Shi thought about it slowly. Zhang Xiuxian reacted at this time and whispered to Feng Yu: "Feng Yu, help me think about it. Is there something wrong with what the old man said just now? Don't hide things in your heart. Do things.
If you don’t think about it, are you scolding me?"
Feng Yu ignored Zhang Xiuxian and waited for the old gentleman's answer.
"Something has happened to my Zhao family now. I know in my heart that it must be related to the white fox. I, Zhao Shi, am an elegant man. I can't help this old man. I can only say this much. The younger generation is terrible, so I rely on a few people."
I am grateful to you for saving my Zhao family and Shuihuo."
What Mr. Zhao Shi said was extremely noble. In order to prevent the family from being ruined, your father did not hesitate to kill chickens and scare monkeys. But now you have seen the Zhao family in trouble and said some cool words calmly.
Zhang Manyue asked at this time: "Have the ancestors of the Zhao family mentioned where the place where Tai Sui is buried is?"
Zhao Shuisheng, who has always had no sense of existence, replied: "Well, isn't that the backyard of my Zhao family?"
The old gentleman shook his head and replied: "No."
Feng Yu had no more questions to ask. Mr. Zhao Shi had already said what he needed to say. He could do this job because he was looking at the Zhao family's face. He really couldn't understand where these people came from.
It's as if his surname is not Zhao.
Mr. Zhao Shi stood up and said, "It's getting late. I'm getting old. I have to rest. Let's see the guests off."
Zhao Shuisheng hurriedly went up to help him, but he replied, "Then you have a good rest. Don't worry about the family affairs. The younger generation will take care of it."
The three of them left Zhao Shi's house and returned to Zhao's house all the way.
Zhao Shuisheng was puzzled on the way and asked: "Three masters, three masters, my third uncle is a very noble man and doesn't care much about worldly affairs. If it weren't for the Zhao family this time, I usually wouldn't even meet him."
I can’t see you. I waited at the door for half the night last night before agreeing to talk to us. I wonder how the three masters heard it? What’s the clue about this matter? I heard from Baosheng that half of the black bones were dug up in the backyard.
?Did you dig out the thing I buried?"
Feng Yu replied: "Uncle Zhao, what have your Zhao family done? Half a yard of black bones, how many transactions have been made with the underworld? I didn't say this, if it were someone else's job, they would just slap their butt and leave, otherwise
For the sake of my old aunt, Mrs. Tian, I’m going to leave. No one will dig out the things you buried. Don’t worry, but now my mind is very confused and I don’t know where to start.”
"Yes, Uncle Zhao, this kind of unlucky business is more troublesome than selling a thousand-year-old rice dumpling. Do you know how worried we are?"
Zhao Shuisheng replied: "Don't worry, you three, I won't treat you badly, I won't treat you badly..."
Zhang Manyue was silent for a while, then suddenly asked: "Is there anyone dead around here?"
The words came suddenly, "Zhang Manyue, what do you mean? Someone died nearby?"
Zhao Shuisheng immediately thought about it and simply replied: "No, absolutely no outsiders died, so there should be no outsiders involved."
"No, I just want to ask if there is anyone around who has recently died or is about to die." Zhang Manyue said coldly.
"Okay... I guess not. What do you mean by asking?" Zhao Shuisheng looked at Zhang Manyue and asked.
"The situation is special. I need someone like this to help me. Please pay attention to see if there is anyone who is about to die nearby."
Feng Yu looked dull, what was Zhang Manyue going to do?
"In all my life, this is the first time I've heard of waiting for someone to die. Zhang Manyue, where did this whole thing come from?" Zhang Xiuxian added.
"Everyone will die eventually. Now the living can't help us, we can only rely on the dead."
Zhang Manyue's words were shocking. No one said anything along the way. Although Zhao Shuisheng was helpless, as soon as he entered Zhao's house, he sent a group of people to inquire around to see if anyone in the nearby ten miles and eight villages was dying.
