On the train from Beijing to the Western Regions, Zhang Cai looked at the white world outside the window, his face expressionless, and he did not feel any joy at getting promoted.
The journey to Beibingfu in the northwest province is not a big deal. Nowadays, the transportation in Daming is quite convenient. You can first take a train from the capital to Yili, the capital of the Western Regions.
It is said that Ili is still continuing to build railways to the west. There are three lines respectively. The southern line goes to Nanyun Province through Hezhong, the middle line is built to Central Asia Province (a new province established on the basis of the original Kazakh Khanate), and the northern line is
It is built north to Winter City, the capital of the Northwest Province (a new province established on the basis of the Siberian Khanate).
However, it is winter now, and construction is very slow. The train can only reach Ili, and the rest of the way requires a horse-drawn carriage.
Fortunately, a cement road has been built from Yili to Central Asia, and you can sit here comfortably. After that, there is no cement road to Winter City, so you need to go to Winter City in the heavy snow.
After arriving at Winter City, you need to continue heading north to Beibing Mansion. Although Beibing Mansion is a state capital, it is extremely close to the Arctic Circle. Therefore, although the area is vast, the population is very sparse, with only a mere handful of people.
Thousands of criminals were exiled to Beibing Mansion.
If you go to a place like this to serve as a magistrate, you can imagine how your life will be. Not to mention the benefits, whether you can come back alive is still unknown.
The weather is cold and freezing, and more than half of the year is spent in winter. The remaining half, even in summer, is almost like autumn in the capital, very short.
A place like this needs people but no one, needs money but has no money, and is unable to cope with the situation every day.
"Woooo~woooo~"
Opposite Zhang Cai, Zhang Cai's wife was crying non-stop. On the seats next to him, several of his concubines were also in a state of disbelief. They thought of going to the far away Arctic iceberg in which corner of the world they didn't know.
They all burst into tears.
"Master, why don't we go? We just don't deserve to be in this position. Why don't we go home and live a good life? We have to go to a cold place and suffer."
Zhang Cai's wife, Wang, cried.
This time when I went to Beibing Mansion, I didn’t take the children with me, but entrusted them to my brothers at home to take care of them.
Before I even went to Beibing Mansion, I had already asked people to inquire about Winter City and the situation here in Beibing Mansion. The cold here can penetrate deep into your bones and be so cold that you will never forget it.
The Liaodong region pales in comparison to anywhere else.
"Not going?"
"Impossible~ I studied hard for twenty years and finally got a spot on the gold medal list. I struggled for many years and finally reached the level of fourth grade. You want us to stop being officials now and go back to retire?"
"This is impossible!"
Zhang Cai said very decisively.
He is extremely ambitious and will never settle for anything less than a lowly fourth-grade official.
But if he doesn't work in Beibing Mansion now, he can only resign and go home. This is definitely the outcome he least wants.
He is only in his fifties now, and politically speaking, he is still very young. Now if we ask him to go back and take care of himself, we might as well kill him.
Therefore, even if Beibing Mansion is hell, he is determined to go there.
"I don't believe it anymore. He Liu Jin can always cover the sky with one hand. The moon waxes and wanes, and a big tree attracts the wind. He Liu Jin is already a very powerful minister at a young age. He will definitely not be able to last long."
"Then I'll have a chance to stand up!"
Zhang Cai's eyes were red, and he clenched his fists tightly. Thinking of Liu Jin, she wanted to kill him, and her eyes were full of envy and jealousy.
Zhang Cai, who was in his fifties, was still only a fourth-rank official, and Liu Jin, who was in his thirties, was already a second-rank official. The comparison between people was infuriating.
The reason why he colluded with Jiao Fang to criticize and slander Liu Jin was partly because of Jiao Fang's promise, and partly because of his envy towards Liu Jin.
How could he, Liu Jin, rise through the ranks? In just ten years, he had become a minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a high-ranking official, and a popular figure in front of the emperor. He had already achieved this step in his thirties.
And I also worked hard and studied hard, and when I was over fifty years old, I was still a fourth-rank official. I had just been promoted, otherwise I would have been a fifth-rank official before.
"Master, we can't fight him. He is the second-rank official minister. Master, you are now the fourth-rank magistrate."
Wang said with tears.
"As a woman, what do you know~"
"I just lack luck. Once luck comes, I will be able to ride on the wind. Liu Jin is nothing more than that."
Zhang Cai looked at his wife and scolded: "If you don't want to go, get off at the next stop."
"Master, I marry a chicken and follow a chicken and a dog and follow a dog. Wherever you go, I will naturally go."
"It's just that in Beibing Mansion, I heard that many of the prisoners who were exiled there were frozen to death directly, and many had their noses, ears, hands and feet frozen off."
"I'm just worried about you, Master."
When Wang heard this, he immediately said helplessly.
Women in this era basically never change once they get married. If you marry a chicken, you will follow the chicken. If you marry a dog, you will follow the dog.
Even if you were a rich lady before and now you marry a poor scholar, you still have to learn how to wash and cook.
What's more, Zhang Cai is also a fourth-grade court official after all. Even though he is now taken to Beibing Mansion, he is still a court official.
“No need to worry ~ everything will be determined by God’s will.”
Zhang Cai replied calmly, looking out the window.
The vast land is covered with white snow. If you listen to the whistle of the train and look at the smoke rising from the villages in the distance, if you were in the capital, it would definitely be a different scene.
…
In the prison of the capital, with the arrival of a heavy snowfall, the entire capital suddenly became much colder.
Jiao Fang, who is over seventy years old, looked at the heavy snow outside the window and listened to the howling cold wind, and she was filled with emotions.
Think back on your life.
When I was young, my family was poor and it was very difficult to study.
When I was thirty years old, I was named on the gold medal list and won the Jinshi, but my ranking was very low and I couldn't enter the Imperial Academy, which meant that it would be difficult to improve in the future.
Fortunately, Li Xian, the great scholar at that time, was his fellow countryman. Relying on this relationship and serving Li Xian as a slave, he sent his wife to Li Xian as a maid, and then he won Li Xian's favor.
He was recommended and entered the Imperial Academy.
After graduating from the Hanlin Academy, his official career was very smooth. He was promoted along the way and used unscrupulous means to achieve the position of Minister of Rites.
But now, it was suddenly brought back to its original form.
Wearing prison clothes, in this cold winter, his face turned blue, his whole body was shaking, his nose was dripping with mucus, and he was in a miserable state.
"Haha~haha~"
"Fetching water from a bamboo basket is in vain. In the end, there is nothing."
Jiao Fang couldn't help but burst into tears.
Thinking back to his own life, in order to get promoted, he used any means at all costs. He even gave his wife to others to sleep with, and he used all kinds of means.
In the end, we finally got this ending.
"Dad~Dad~"
In the cell next to him, Zhuo Huang, who was huddled among the straw, heard Jiao Fang's laughter and quickly cheered up and shouted.
Jiao Huangzhong, who was ignorant and incompetent and had been pampered by Jiao Fang since he was a child, now had no trace of a noble son, and he was in an extremely embarrassed state.
His hair is disheveled and his body is covered with straw. He is no longer the arrogant, domineering, fierce and arrogant person he used to be. What he looks forward to most now is a quilt that is warm enough for him to have a good sleep.
"Liu Jin'er~Liu Jin'er~"
"You have to die~"
"I curse your entire family to death~"
"And Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Zhang Mao, Xiao Jing, you all will not die well."
"You and your whole family will suffer a terrible death."
Jiao Fang ignored her son Jiao Huangzhong and began to curse loudly outside the window.
Thinking of what he was going through now, he wanted to point his finger at a few people and scold them. However, after scolding for a while, he soon stopped again. It seemed that no one listened to his scolding and it was meaningless.
"Father, it's already this time, so let's find a way to get out first. You've scolded them all, can we still get out?"
The man next to him said with tears and runny noses.
"It's all your worthless thing~"
"It took me a lifetime to pass the imperial examination, but in the end I failed to pass the imperial examination, and that's how we are today."
"If I had known this, I should have beaten you to death to save me the trouble."
Jiao Fang looked at her son Jiao Huangzhong and suddenly cursed again.
In the past, he loved his son very much and was not willing to curse him, so he developed a character that was arrogant, fierce, arrogant and ignorant.
But now, Jiao Fang wants to strangle her incompetent son to death with her own hands. He is fifty years old and knows nothing. He will fail even such simple questions in the imperial examination, so that he has to find ways to solve them.
He defeated Liu Jin, but Liu Jin did not fall, but he fell first.
"Dad~Dad~"
"If you want to beat or scold me, you'd better wait until you get out. Now it's better to find a way to get out first. I really can't stand the cold anymore. It's really cold in this prison."
Jiao Huangzhong cried and said, rubbing his hands continuously as he spoke, curling up on the straw, wrapping the thin quilt tightly.
"Little Liu Jin, little Liu Jin~"
"If you treat me like this, you will definitely be repaid in the future~"
"Xie Qian, your whole family is dead~"
"Li Dongyang, Liu Jian, you must die a happy death~"
Jiao Fang ignored her son and continued to curse, as if she wanted to take revenge on Liu Jin, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and others in this way.
"This Mr. Jiao has a really bad mouth~"
The jailers in the prison were drinking warm wine while listening to Jiao Fang's curses. They couldn't help but shake their heads. These days, Jiao Fang has been scolding for an hour or two every day, and they were tired of hearing it.