Xu Zhiqiong fell into a muddy puddle in Zhuyuan City.
After struggling for a long time and struggling to get up, Xu Zhiqiong left the puddle and sat down under the wall on the street.
With mud all over his body and face, Xu Zhiqiong looked no different from a refugee squatting under the wall.
The time for refining the merits this time was not short. Xu Zhiqiong felt that two hundred merits had been refined.
What is the reason for refining?
Is it because of Sanjiangkou that I destroyed the Dai brothers' business so that food from the south could be sent to the north at a reasonable price?
Or is it because I saved the people of Zhuzhou?
Or is it because I saved Judge Dao?
Or should we count these three contributions together?
It's impossible to count them all together, two hundred merit points are too few.
I agreed to go to Yu Xianguo as a hostage and refined 2,100 pills.
For Judge Dao, the significance of this move lies not in how much benefit the Daxuan Empire can gain, but in the fact that this move has given the people of Daxuan a reliable job, thus refining more than two thousand meritorious deeds.
While rescuing victims in Fuzhou, Xu Zhiqiong refined 700 merits. This should be the merits earned by saving people.
Previously, he helped the crown prince succeed to the throne and resolved the conflicts between the crown prince and Li Shabai. In total, he earned three hundred merit points. This should be regarded as preventing unnecessary fights.
Judging from the quantity, the two hundred meritorious deeds this time should not be for saving the people of Zhuzhou. According to the chronological order, it should be for destroying the business of the Dai brothers at Sanjiangkou.
This matter is related to the livelihood of people in the north and is very important in itself.
However, Xu Zhiqiong's role in it was limited. He killed Dai Hongde's younger brother Dai Hongyi, but the subsequent dealing with court officials and the complete disintegration of the power of the Dai family relied entirely on Emperor Changle, and this matter has not yet been resolved.
, so Xu Zhiqiong only received two hundred meritorious deeds.
Including these two hundred merits, a total of 3,300 merits have been refined.
Before Xu Zhiqiong was promoted to the fifth level, he had received a total of 11,101 meritorious deeds. It seemed that he was not that far away from being completely refined.
Xu Zhiqiong sat silently under the wall for an hour, watching the Yamen distribute porridge to the refugees, watching the Yamen register the names of the refugees, and asked them to go to the state capital to reconcile the accounts and take back the extra rice that had been levied previously.
Some wealthy households in the city came to help and donated some carriages, horses and food.
A wealthy lady who had been widowed for many years stared at Xu Zhiqiong for a long time.
She is a discerning person, and although her face is full of mud and mud, she can tell that Xu Zhiqiong is well-groomed.
She paid two ounces of money to let Xu Zhiqiong stay with her for a night.
Xu Zhiqiong flatly refused!
Aren't you taking advantage of others' danger?
It’s only two ounces of money!
Seeing that everything was in order, Xu Zhiqiong felt more at ease. After the refining of merits was completed, he went to the prefect's Yamen.
Two yamen servants stood at the yamen gate, saying hello to Xu Zhiqiong: "Where are you begging for food? Get away!"
Xu Zhiqiong was covered in mud and water, so they didn't recognize him. It's not their fault.
But this attitude must be corrected.
"You stinky beggar, you still dare to go here, I'll give you face, right?"
Xu Zhiqiong stepped forward and kicked the Yamen Chai down, stepping on his face and entering the Yamen.
After washing up and changing his clothes, Xu Zhiqiong called his colleague Ma Jishun.
Ma Jishun didn't sleep much for two days and looked very haggard. Xu Zhiqiong praised him: "Ma Tongzhi has worked hard. Xu must truthfully report to the emperor for his hard work in the past two days and ask for some rewards for you."
Ma Jishun was a smart man. When he heard this, he quickly saluted and said: "Master Marquis, Ma did not dare to ask for a reward. Previously, Kong Jianchen acted recklessly in Zhuzhou. Ma knew how to protect himself and neither stopped him nor reported it to the court.
But now that the Marquis is here, he did not punish Ma, but allowed me to do something for the people. Ma has nothing to ask for, but to be able to live up to his conscience, and to balance his merits and demerits, but I can't thank him enough."
Xu Zhiqiong remained silent. He looked at the top of Ma Jishun's head, looking at the four inches of sin that was about to be wiped out.
The second highest figure in the same province, sitting in this position, does not have a long karma.
Regardless of the purpose, this guy is using his actions to make up for his mistakes. An inch of his sinful karma on his head is changing color and may fall off.
Let's spare his life for now.
Xu Zhiqiong walked to Ma Jishun and lowered his voice: "Ma Tongzhi, there is a saying that you should remember in your heart. You have picked up your life. Don't lose it yourself again."
Ma Jishun nodded repeatedly.
Xu Zhiqiong added: "If the refugees are not resettled properly, or if someone steals their food and pensions, or if you want to seek rewards from the court and find something to do with the people, remember, remember, your neck
If you get on this head, it may disappear in the blink of an eye.”
Ma Jishun nodded repeatedly.
Xu Zhiqiong cupped his fists and said, "Xu has other important matters, so I will leave today."
Ma Jishun ordered someone to escort Xu Zhiqiong in a carriage, and Xu Zhiqiong just wanted to see the resettlement situation of the refugees along the way.
Passing through a village, he saw an official serving porridge. Xu Zhiqiong ordered the carriage to stop in the distance and walked to the village alone to see the quality of the porridge.
The porridge was very thin, better than the ones seen in Fuzhou, but far from the quality promised by the government.
Maybe the rice was not delivered in time?
Xu Zhiqiong looked at the two people supervising the porridge soup. One had a crime of two inches and eight, and the other had a crime of three inches and three.
There is no doubt that these two bastards have tampered with the porridge. As long as they can reach out, they will never let go of a grain of rice on the people's lips.
Xu Zhiqiong frowned. Can killing these two bastards solve the problem? Is there any possibility of solving this problem?
It seems that I have to stay in Zhuzhou for a while.
But if I continue to stay here, I am suspected of breaking my promise. If Mo Chi thinks that I have broken the agreement and restarted the affairs of Suzaku Palace, I am afraid that it will be delayed.
Daxuan cannot afford to delay.
That's all, let's kill these two birds first.
Xu Zhiqiong was about to take action when he suddenly saw two familiar figures standing among the refugees.
One is Xu Xiaosheng and the other is Qu Shaoyou.
Although they were dressed in tatters and dressed like refugees, Xu Zhiqiong recognized their figures.
It seems like you don't need to do this yourself.
Xu Zhiqiong silently left the porridge shed and got on the carriage.
After two days of jolting in the car, Xu Zhiqiong arrived in Jiangqu County, borrowed the Yin-Yang Array, and returned to Mo Chi's ship.
Mo Chi waited on the river for a few days. When he saw Xu Zhiqiong coming, instead of complaining, he served him wine to welcome him.
"I heard from the local people that Marquis Yun went to Zhuyuan City, distributed grain, killed cruel officials, saved the people, and beheaded the prefect Kong Jianchen. The people of Zhuzhou are spreading the good name of Marquis Yun."
Xu Zhiqiong raised his eyebrows: "Who said this? Who said I killed the prefect?"
"Didn't he kill him?" Mo Chi said in surprise, "The news has spread all over Zhuzhou!"
Magistrate Kong had just disappeared for a few days, and the news had already spread throughout Zhuzhou?
This obviously exceeds the normal information flow efficiency in this era.
What's more, Ma Jishun, the co-president of Zhuzhou, was right from the beginning that Kong Jianchen fled in fear of being convicted. This was official news, so why didn't it spread?
Xu Zhiqiong was stunned for a long time, and Mo Chi thought about it and said: "Maybe it is a rumor made up by the ignorant villagers who always uphold fairness and justice because they hate the magistrate."
The explanation is very reasonable.
But Xu Zhiqiong felt that things were not that simple.
At the wine table, Tao Huayuan ignored Xu Zhiqiong. After the banquet, Xu Zhiqiong got into "Senior Brother Tao's" bedroom and realized that "Senior Brother Tao" was really angry.
"Master Marquis, why are you here with me? You are a person who does great things, and there are many experts around you to help you. I am following you, but am I not a burden?"
Xu Zhiqiong hurriedly stepped forward to comfort him: "That gentleman has a weird personality. When he sees a beauty, he wants to take it for himself. I am such a good peach, how can I let him snatch her away?"
"Nonsense, who believes you!"
"I'm telling the truth. Besides, that expert is also quite handsome. If you fall in love with him, don't make me mad to death?"
"The more I talk about it, the more outrageous it becomes. When have I ever seen another man in person?"
Xu Zhiqiong coaxed her for a while, and Tao Huayuan finally calmed down and asked: "After I said goodbye to you that day, I went back to the ship to deliver a letter to Mo Chi. Mo Chi didn't complain at all. He calmly said that he would wait for you here.
Early the next morning, I took a boat and headed to Zhuyuan City to find you. Along the way, I discovered something strange."
"What's weird?"
"I heard the news that you killed the prefect when I was in Jiangqu County. But after traveling more than a hundred miles east, there was no news about the prefect. When I got near Zhuyuan City, I only heard that the granary was destroyed. Jie, still no news about the prefect,
I was thinking at the time, why is the path of this news reversed? Shouldn’t the news from the prefect first come from the state capital Zhuyuan City, pass through various counties, and finally reach Jiangqu County?”
Xu Zhiqiong's eyes trembled: "This news spread from Jiangqu County."
Tao Huayuan said: "That's what I'm worried about. This news may have been spread by him."
…
Late at night, while Mo Chi was standing on the deck drinking, he saw Shan Yan coming and pinched her cheek.
Shan Yan quickly hid away, lowered her head and said: "Your Highness, I heard that when Daxuan went to southern states and counties, there was famine in many places. If Xu Zhiqiong was asked to go all the way, I don't know when it would take to get to Wansheng City? "
"There's no rush," Mo Chi took a sip of wine and looked at the river blankly, "If I don't let him handle Daxuan's affairs well, he won't work for me, Dayu, when he gets to Wansheng City."
Shan Yan added: "Xu Zhiqiong is too murderous. He killed Dai Hongyi at Sanjiangkou, which angered the ministers, and now he killed the prefect in Zhuzhou. If he continues killing like this, I don't know how many people he will attract. resentment."
"Yeah, I don't know how many people in Daxuan would hate him." Mo Chi looked contented and drank another glass of wine in the cool river breeze.
…
Xu Zhiqiong and Tao Huayuan were playing around in the cabin. Tao Huayuan suddenly blushed and said, "After all these days of trouble, I haven't seen you do anything serious."
Xu Zhiqiong blinked his eyes and said, "How about we show off tonight?"
Tao Huayuan's cheeks turned even redder: "It's settled, you are not allowed to play tricks on me."
She is serious.
She prepared hot water in advance, and after taking a bath, she washed herself carefully.
She put on a red dress, dressed up carefully, and came to Xu Zhiqiong's side.
Xu Zhiqiong lay flat on the bed.
Tao Huayuan was slightly flustered and did not dare to look at his face.
She wanted to ask: "You thief, am I beautiful?"
But the words are on my lips, but I can't say them no matter what.
Tao Huayuan felt like she could hardly breathe.
Whatever you want to do, just leave it to him.
After blowing out the candle, Tao Huayuan got into Xu Zhiqiong's arms.
Xu Zhiqiong remained motionless.
"You thief, don't you want to?"
Xu Zhiqiong still didn't move.
"You thief, stop pretending!" Tao Huayuan was a little angry.
She fumbled around Xu Zhiqiong's body a few times and found that the vital parts had not changed.
It usually changes when we are having fun, why is there no change today?
"You little thief, what happened to you?"
Tao Huayuan quickly lit the candle and found that Xu Zhiqiong's face was full of tears and he was speechless.
On the fifth-level cultivation path, he needs to refine a total of 11,101 meritorious deeds.
So far, he has refined a total of 3,300 meritorious merits.
But he missed some changes.
These little bits and pieces are important.
Because adding these fractions, his refining merit exceeded one-third.
At such a critical juncture.
He has entered the state of being promoted to the middle level, and he is going to be promoted to the fifth level.