The carriages and horses were sparkling, leaving the city and heading south in the cold wind. Because they were all families, women and children, the journey was extremely slow. In the evening, they arrived at Zhuozhou and had not yet entered Hebei.
After arriving in Zhuozhou City, local officials came to visit and arranged a place to stay. Zhang Yanling had settled everyone down and was about to have a rest, when he saw Tan Ruqing secretly pulling him aside.
"Qingyi is here too, did you know?"
Zhang Yanling was startled and said in astonishment: "Why is she here too?"
"Doesn't she want to go to Nanjing to have some fun together? It's her confinement period anyway." Tan Ruqing said.
Zhang Yanling was speechless and hurriedly followed Tan Ruqing to see Zhu Qingyi. Zhu Qingyi lived in an inn with her servants and maids. She heard that Zhang Yanling and her family were going to Nanjing and wanted to follow them. But following the Zhang family in a big way would be annoying.
Therefore, he took several servants and maids out of Beijing one day in advance and waited for Zhang Yanling and others in Zhuozhou.
What else could Zhang Yanling say? She could only take Zhu Qingyi and her son to their residence. It was such a long journey and they couldn't be allowed to go alone. Fortunately, after leaving the capital, there were not so many people watching. As long as Zhu Qingyi lived in seclusion, she would have nothing to do.
Yu.
The next day we continued south and entered Hebei.
Half a year has passed, and the situation here is still miserable. After the war raged in Hebei, ruins can be seen everywhere along the road. There are also many people begging on the road. The weather has not reached its coldest, and the government's relief work has obviously not been done yet.
Everyone in the Zhang family listened to Zhang Yanling talk about countering the rebellion in Hebei, and looked at the situation along the way. They were all a little sad. When they arrived at Baoding Mansion to rest, Xu Wanyi led everyone to conduct a relief activity. They spent a lot of money.
, bought rice and flour and distributed them to the people.
Zhang Yanling also went to the Yamen of Baoding Prefecture and asked the new magistrate Li Anping about the progress of the relief. Fortunately, Li Anping told Zhang Yanling that the supplies and grain for the winter had been transported to Hebei. The grain of Baoding Prefecture was also put into the warehouse. Accounts and accounts are now being counted.
The heads will be distributed later.
Zhang Yanling felt relieved. He originally wanted to write a memorial and send it back to the capital to ask about relief. But now it seems that it is not necessary.
After Yang Tinghe came to power, without the threats and constraints of Liu Jin, he also showed some abilities. It seems that the relief is not not in place, but that some administrative work needs to be done before it is distributed.
Looking at the people in the city, although they are in poverty, their hearts seem to be very stable.
On the way out, the wives and concubines talked like this about the local people.
"The eyes they looked at us seemed to be very fierce. They seemed to be filled with hatred."
"Does that need to be said? When my husband put down the rebellion, he killed many of them here. They know that we are the carriages and horses of the Lord Protector, so they naturally have hatred in their hearts."
"Are these people ungrateful? My husband obviously went to rescue them. If they rebelled, wouldn't that mean beheading them? What would be the consequences of following those rebels? My husband has tried his best not to hurt innocent people, and they still don't know better.
"
"Yes, how many people in this world know how to be grateful? What do these people know?"
Zhang Yanling listened to the discussion of his wives and concubines, and felt quite emotional. In this era, it is actually difficult to distinguish right from wrong. From different standpoints, there are different right and wrong. The rebellion of Liu Liu and Liu Qi may be summarized as one
The struggle against oppression may be called justice to a certain extent. But from one's own standpoint, it is a rebellion that takes advantage of public opinion.
But it is not necessarily true that I am completely right, even if I am on the right side of history.
It is the fault of the imperial court that the people are oppressed and have no way to resist. But in the end, it is the people themselves who suffer the most. They will suffer if they do not resist, and they will suffer if they resist. In short, the people at the bottom who are like ants will suffer.
Since ancient times, there has never been a society where everyone is equal. There will be no such society in the future. The so-called world is unified and a society where everyone is equal only exists in fantasy and books.
No matter what kind of dynasty there is, there will always be some people who enjoy privileges and are at the top. There will always be some people who are stuck in the quagmire, unable to extricate themselves. What is rolled over by the wheels of history is the blood and tears of the bottom class.
Zhang Yanling asked herself that there was nothing she could do about it. Pity is cheap, and the Holy Mother is not desirable. Because as an individual, what you have to do is to work hard and become a superior person. To do this, you have to work hard.
When you have spare capacity, you can give them relief and help them. But in fact, these are only limited help, and what really needs to change is themselves.
Considering the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, I am part of the ruling class with vested interests. Naturally, I will not allow others to ruin the Ming Dynasty. But what I am doing now is to make the lives of the people better.
This is different from simple relief, but to activate the economy of the Ming Dynasty so that the people of the Ming Dynasty can benefit and live a better life.
They are also ants. Ants in the Ming Dynasty can be fed and clothed, but ants outside the Ming Dynasty are not considered.
This may be the greatest contribution I can make.
As for the hostility of the people of Baoding Prefecture that his wives and concubines discussed, Zhang Yanling actually didn't care.
The common people have a simple view of good and evil. They led the army to suppress the rebellion and killed many people. There were also many common people among them. It is reasonable for them to hate themselves. But these things do not need to be explained. If they rebelled, they would kill them.
.If they don’t rebel, you will love and protect them.
There is no need to talk about some truths, and there is no right or wrong in some things. Their evaluations are not important. What is important is the evaluation of history, not individuals. It is not even the evaluations written in history books, but the ones who dominate everything in the dark.
That indescribable thing is the most fair evaluation.
A few days later, the carriages and horses left Hebei, and everyone became cheerful.
When crossing the river at Baima Ferry, many people saw the rolling Yellow River for the first time and were overjoyed. Looking at the rolling river makes people feel open-minded and insignificant.
Zhang Yanling told his wives and concubines that Xu Yande led 5,000 cavalry to attack 20,000 rebels at Baima Ferry that day. The battle that drove 20,000 rebels back to Daming Mansion was of great significance to the final decisive battle.
After hearing this, Xu Wanyi became very inspired by poetry and immediately wrote a poem.
The poem says:
The water of the Yellow River flows around the wall of the Han Palace, and there are a few rows of wild geese on the river.
The guest chased the wild horse across the ditch, and the general shot the wolf with his arrow.
The yellow dust flies across the ancient river, and the white moon rises across the sky in a cold war.
He was very brave that day, but he was the Duke of the Xu family.
Zhang Yanling was full of praise after hearing this. She looked at Xu Wanyi with admiration. Although Xu Wanyi was once a wealthy lady who had no idea of the heights of the world and had a high vision. She had no interest in the suffering of the people and the killings, and even hated it.
But now, her thoughts have gradually become more practical and mature. This poem is something she could never have written before. Such a powerful and personal poem can be regarded as her best poem ever.
One song.
Xu Wanyi himself was surprised that he could write such a poem, and he was also very happy.
However, others took issue with the last line of the poem.
"After all, the princess is loyal to her mother-in-law. Mr. Xu Family, isn't he talking about your brother? Don't forget that the general who put down the rebellion is your husband. Your brother was ordered to fight here. If your husband hadn't commanded him well,
How can we win this battle? What you should praise is your husband." Tan Ruqing expressed dissent.
Xu Wanyi said angrily: "You talk too much. If you don't speak, no one will treat you as a mute."
Tan Ruqing smiled and said, "Am I wrong? Asking others to comment?"
Axiu said: "I don't understand poetry."
Xu Youtang held Zhang Yanling's arm and pointed at the waves in the Yellow River: "Brother, there are big fish in the river."
Zhu Qingyi, who was standing aside, smiled and said: "What Ru Qing said makes sense. The last line of the poem needs to be changed to: I was so brave and brave that day when I heard about it, but I was the Duke of Zhang Family. That would be appropriate."
Xu Wanyi glared at her angrily and said, "Princess Qingyi, you haven't passed through the door yet. After you have passed through the door, you are also under me. I still have to nod."
Zhu Qingyi's face turned red, but she didn't want to argue and turned to look at the scenery.
Zhang Yanling was very happy. Listening to their bickering, she felt very amused. So she couldn't help but laugh.
It didn't matter that he smiled. He immediately attracted a few angry looks and became the target of public criticism.
Traveling all the way south, crossing mountains and wading rivers, the team moved slowly, only covering forty or fifty miles a day.
But no matter how far the road is, there is an end.
At the end of October, after nearly twenty days of trekking, the Zhang family finally arrived at Pukou Ferry, Nanjing.
It was almost dusk, the lights on the other side were bright and the city was majestic. Nanjing, the former capital of the Ming Dynasty, was right in front of us.