Life is full of flavors, bitter, spicy, sour and sweet.
When the heat wave swept over Nanjing, it could not spare anyone.
However, for Li Jizu, he was no longer blessed to enjoy it.
Sitting on a boat on the canal, I saw many people returning home with their families in tow. They were sweating profusely, but they were happy in their hearts.
Boats, ox carts, mule carts, carrying the old and supporting the young, all filled with longing.
"Where have these people gone?"
Li Jizu stood on the deck and asked softly.
"Tongzhi, last year the slaves went south, and the imperial court forcibly moved them to Zhongdu. Now those who come back are basically middle-class people."
The staff on the side sighed: "I heard that the imperial court moved hundreds of thousands of people away. Those poor people were allocated land in Fengyang. They didn't want to come back, and they didn't have the travel expenses to come back."
"yes!"
Li Jizu lamented: "If it happens again, Nanzhili may be really ruined."
Even as far away as Guizhou, he knew the dangers of this battle.
From Pizhou to Huai'an, hundreds of miles of canals were lost, and it was only a few days' journey from Nanjing. On the surface, the Ming army was defeated again and again.
The emperor said, this is a layer-by-layer blockade, stretching the enemy's logistics.
But the cost of this is huge, and it is almost devastating to Huai'an Mansion.
For example, as the ruler of Shandong, he had about 60,000 soldiers and horses (including the Yuyuan Army), but 99% of the grain and grass needed to be transported from Nanjing.
Huai'an, which is so close, cannot protect itself.
"We've arrived at Shanyang."
As the boat headed north, Li Jizu immediately came to the warehouse after witnessing the destructive attack and defense of Shanyang City.
There are more than 100,000 stones of military rations left here, which were specially reserved by the emperor for the Shandong Army.
"General, there are still one hundred thousand stones left."
The staff on the side calculated for a long time and finally got an exact number.
"Hey, the numbers are quite neat. More than 100,000 stones have become 100,000 stones."
Li Jizu snorted coldly to vent his dissatisfaction.
"According to official documents from the Ministry of War, there are actually 139,300 stones and seven buckets!"
The staff member read through it for a while and then said.
"Although the 60,000-strong army does not have war horses, it can only last for two months at most."
Li Jizu's face suddenly became serious: "But what I hate most are those corrupt officials. They even dare to corrupt military rations. They are simply audacious and do not know whether to live or die."
After saying that, Li Jizu went to the Huai'an government office in a furious manner.
The army directly surrounded the government office, and the officials, including the prefect, tong magistrate, and tongzhi, were arrested one by one in embarrassment, as if they were prisoners.
When the government officials saw the soldiers, they were like eggplants beaten by frost. They were stunned and sat down with their heads in their hands.
"Anhou came to the door for no reason. Is there something important?"
The prefect of Huai'an saw the menacing army and a group of colleagues like prisoners. He endured the humiliation and gritted his teeth and asked.
"What are you asking me to do?"
Li Jizu sneered, seeing the confused look on his face, he waved his horsewhip and knocked down the unlucky government servant beside him. Blood marks appeared clearly, and he kept wailing.
The prefect was frightened and took several steps back, his face turning pale.
"You dare to be greedy for military rations. You are really tired of living. If you hand over all the rations, I will save some face for you. Otherwise, huh!"
With that said, Li Jizu walked straight away and sat on the Grand Master's chair, with a group of personal guards guarding him.
The magistrate was stunned for a moment, and then he suddenly realized that he was guilty and said: "Marquis An, please forgive me, I really have something to hide."
"It's unspeakable? Say——"
Valley
Li Jizu had a cold face and a murderous look in his eyes. The government officials saw him with fear and trembling in their legs.
"Originally, there were thousands of kilograms of food in the treasury, but in the past two months, a large number of people have returned, and food prices have skyrocketed. Many people have difficulty in ensuring food and clothing. Seeing this, we can only use military rations to stabilize food prices and provide relief to the people..."
"Next month, no, at the end of this month, I will definitely return the full amount——"
The prefect said weakly, observing his face carefully.
Li Jizu's eyelids twitched as he listened, and his anger subsided a lot, but he still couldn't calm down:
"You have gained a good reputation, but I have shouldered the blame."
"Anhou, just wait for half a month, and the military rations will be returned in full."
The prefect said hurriedly and sincerely.
"You can tell the court directly!"
Li Jizu snorted coldly, let everyone go, and then left angrily.
At this time, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but everyone was still frightened.
"Qiu Ba is so domineering that he dares to openly surround the Yamen. He is simply audacious."
The colleague on the side quickly spoke up, waking up the confused people.
The prefect, who showed his timidity, had a livid face and gritted his teeth and said: "I must impeach this official, I must——"
Li Jizu did not get used to these literati and directly wrote a letter to impeach them for embezzling military rations and shirking his own responsibility.
The prefect, on the other hand, directly impeached Li Jizu for being domineering, sent troops to besiege the Yamen, and even hinted in his words that it was difficult to control the situation.
Colleagues, classmates, fellow villagers, all these connections, coupled with the release of exam results, instantly added fuel to the fire in Nanjing, like a heat wave killing people.
There was a lot of discussion between the government and the public, and the civil servant camp was divided into two factions.
One faction is resolute in suppressing the situation and must not allow military officers to bully civilian officials, and they still behave in such a lawless manner.
The other faction wanted to make peace with the situation, using the excuse that it was not appropriate to change generals during war, and demanded that each of them fight fifty battles, with the Northern Expedition being the first.
As for the emperor, he stayed in the middle and did not make any progress.
Cabinet ministers also kept silent and never made radical remarks.
In this way, the court fell into a strange atmosphere.
The middle- and lower-level court officials were so filled with indignation that they wished they could take the sword with their own hands and tie Li Jizu Wuhuada to Nanjing for punishment.
The senior officials at the upper level are still handling political affairs in an orderly manner.
On the day when the results were released, it could be said that there was a huge crowd of people, and it was as far as the eye could see.
Some were crying loudly, some were so angry that they fell to the ground, and some were laughing crazily, feeling happy and sad at the same time.
Life is full of things, but this is the case.
Although Zheng Sen arrived early, he could only wander outside the crowd in such a crowded situation.
His entourage pushed forward like a loach.
Just when he was slapping his hands with paper and feeling extremely anxious, he suddenly saw a thin man walking out of the crowd.
The scarf was squeezed out, the robe was askew, and the boots were full of footprints. He looked embarrassed, and his face was red, as if he was about to suffer from heat stroke.
"Brother Taichong, why did you come out?"
When Zheng Sen saw him, he hurriedly walked over to help him. After he took two sips of tea, he gasped:
"Hoo, ho, Damu, you're here too."
Huang Zongxi smiled and took a big breath, and then made a deafening sound: "I'm hit, I'm hit -"
As he said this, he didn't know where the perseverance came from. He stood up and jumped: "After thirty years of hard study, I finally achieved success."
As he spoke, he actually started crying: "Fuck eight-legged stereotypes. After today, I will never do it again."
"Brother Taichong, stereotyped writing is just a stepping stone and should have been stopped long ago."