Eyes are the windows to the soul, and you can understand a person's character from your gaze.
Confident people like to make eye contact with others, and smart people have more agile eyes.
The embroiderer is obviously not very old, but her eyes are wandering when she looks at people, giving people a feeling of being weak and needing protection.
This kind of person is either Lin Daiyu or Shelu on horseback, a woman who looks pure and refined, always has long flowing hair, looks plain-faced, harmless to humans and animals, but is actually good at scheming and playing with emotions.
Wang Xu is more inclined to the latter, because the former is really sad for spring and autumn. It is windy, cloudy, and rainy all day long, crying secretly. A small family cannot raise such a person.
Although the embroiderer has a good appearance, her hands cannot hide the traces of rough work, and her background is not very good.
Wang Xu didn't believe that a little girl who came from a rural area and didn't finish her meal could develop the disease of wealth.
If it's not a disease of wealth, it can only be green tea that looks innocent and is kind to others on the surface, but has ulterior motives behind the scenes.
This kind of person is not peaceful.
"Young Master Wang, I also want to stay to help you and contribute to disaster relief." The embroiderer looked frail and weak, holding her hands in front of her chest.
Wang Xu had a calm expression on his face. Who kind of person the embroiderer was had nothing to do with him. He said nonchalantly: "I want to help, help Ning Qing. I'm planning to let Ning Qing work harder and go to the countryside more."
Run, run.”
The embroiderer nodded repeatedly and agreed, with such joy that Wang Xu couldn't help but wonder if he had thought wrong.
Forget it, no matter what you do, no matter how powerful Monkey Sun is, he will never be able to escape from the palm of Tathagata Buddha.
"Master, Master..."
Liu Quan rode up to him on horseback with a few warriors, and said: "Master, someone from the county said that the imperial court's disaster relief ambassador has arrived. Hearing the news about the Wang family's porridge donation, he asked to see you by name."
"Ambassador, are you sure you are the ambassador and not the deputy ambassador?" Wang Xu had doubts in his eyes.
There was a severe drought in the north, and the minister of Taichang Temple who was in charge of temple rites and sacrifices was Zhengsanpin, the minister of Taichang Temple, who went to relieve the disaster. Now that there was a disaster in the south, although the scale was not as severe as in the north, the ambassadors who came were indispensable with the official position of Zhengsanpin.
The official position of Zhengsanpin is not low, and the magistrate of Yangzhou is only Zhengsanpin. According to the tradition that local officials are half a grade lower than Beijing officials, the state pastor has to call "Sir" when he sees the disaster relief ambassador.
It is unreasonable for a dignified third-rank official, the court's disaster relief ambassador, to come to a small place like Liyang County.
"Young Master, he is the ambassador. It is said that he is the Right Minister of Household Affairs. You'd better go quickly."
Liu Quan couldn't explain why, he just urged Wang Xu to go quickly, saying that the people sent by the county were still waiting.
Wang Xu got on the carriage, left the warehouse and walked home.
Before entering the door, I saw three people dressed as government servants standing at the door looking both ways.
Mr. Wang and his servants were carefully accompanying him, but they could not hear clearly what was being said.
Seeing Wang Xu's carriage, Mr. Wang waved his hands repeatedly. The three government officials took a look and rode up to meet Wang Xu's carriage without waiting for it: "Is the person in the carriage the young master of the Wang family?"
"The Wang family, Wang Xu, have met three officials." Wang Xu stepped out of the carriage and slightly arched his hands towards the three people.
"Come with us, the ambassador wants to see you." The leader, a yamen servant, was obviously dressed differently from the other two, and looked like he was a head catcher rather than a courier.
Wang Xu glanced at Mr. Wang and said with a slight hesitation: "Three officials, can you let me have a few words with my father?"
"Let's talk about it when we get back. The ambassador's time is precious and he has to go to Jiaozhou later. He won't stay here for too long."
The leader of the arrest said bluntly, so Wang Xu could only give up and turn the carriage around to follow the three of them towards the county.
Jiuquan Town is four hundred and sixty miles away from the county. The carriages of the Wang family and the mounts of the government servants are both good horses with the blood of monsters, which are more than ten times faster than ordinary horses.
We set off in the morning and arrived at Liyang County before noon. Far away, we saw the closed city gate of Liyang County and the victims wandering outside the city gate.
"Sir, my second uncle is really from the city. I'm here to join him. Just let me in."
"Please do me a favor. I haven't eaten for three days. Please give me some food."
"Brother, look at how tall my daughter is. For only two buckets of rice, this girl will be yours."
The victims of the disaster gathered outside the city in twos and threes. Some were buying and selling their sons and daughters, some were selling their bodies to bury their fathers, and some were selling themselves with straw on their heads.
When Wang Xu's carriage passed a group of refugees, he saw a refugee falling far away.
The people around him rushed up and carried the man's body to the woods behind, not knowing what they were doing.
"Open the city gate!"
The leader of the government officials showed his badge and shouted to the guards at the city gate.
Crunch...
With the sound of the twisting rope, the city gate was opened little by little, leaving a gap for a carriage to pass.
Wang Xu's carriage followed the three government officials towards the city, while countless refugees followed the carriage happily, trying to sneak in with them.
"Go away, go away!"
The soldiers guarding the gate were armed with whips and wooden sticks, and they raised their hands to beat the victims behind them.
Except for a few lucky ones who slipped through the net, most of the refugees were driven back and remained outside the city waiting to die.
Entering Liyang County, the scenery inside changed again, becoming a bit more prosperous than outside.
City people and country people are still different no matter how much they talk.
Even in modern times, when there is a food shortage in a certain year, the number of people starving to death in the countryside is ten times or a hundred times more than in the county. What's more, in ancient times when class antagonisms were more obvious.
In Liyang County, although the faces of passers-by are a bit more frightened and uneasy, there are very few who have sallow complexion and thin skin.
When he reached the intersection, Wang Xu also saw the porridge shacks being built. It was obvious that Liyang County did not provide disaster relief, but did not carry out disaster relief efforts to the countryside.
"We're here, get off your horse!"
After passing through more than a dozen streets, the magistrate's office of Liyang County appeared in front of Wang Xu.
The elegant Yamen has two five-meter-tall stone lions at the entrance. There is a vermilion door on the inside, and there are twelve Yamen guards outside.
Looking up, the four gilded characters of Liyang County Government are written on the plaque hanging high on the red door, and the sun shines brilliantly.
When they arrived here, the two yamen servants did not go inside, but went to the ward in the county yamen.
Only the leader, the arrester, continued inside with Wang Xu, heading straight to the back garden of the county government office.
In the coldest month of winter, the back garden of the county government office is still very green, with many plants that are not afraid of the cold.
A middle-aged man in his fifties, wearing a Confucian robe, was playing chess with an old man wearing a county magistrate's uniform and a white beard in the pavilion.
When Wang Xu arrived, the game of chess had already come to an end.
The middle-aged Confucian scholar holding the white piece had already killed the county magistrate holding the black piece to pieces, but instead of being anxious, the county magistrate cheerfully complimented him: "Master Hu's chess skills are a hundred times better than those of the lower officials.
I haven't understood the meaning yet, so I lost unknowingly."
"Cheng Weng is joking. If you hadn't been worried, I wouldn't have won so smoothly."
The middle-aged man playing chess is the imperial court's disaster relief ambassador, Hu Zhiming, Minister of Taichang Temple.
The old man who accompanied him in playing chess was Wanlihou of Liyang County and Cheng Guangrong, the magistrate of Liyang County.
"Sir, I still have official business to deal with, so I'm going to leave now." Seeing Wang Xu coming, Cheng Guangrong stood up and left.
In terms of age, Cheng Guangrong is old enough to be Ho Chi Minh's father, but being an official is not based on age. It is common for people who are less than thirty to become a Jinshi, and who are more than seventy years old to be promoted.
No matter in terms of future or background, Cheng Guangrong, who came from a grassroots background, is not as good as Ho Chi Minh, who came from a big family in the north and rose to great heights, so his attitude is very low.
As soon as Magistrate Cheng left, Hu Zhiming put away the Go game and said without raising his head: "Is your teacher okay?"
Wang Xu narrowed his eyes slightly, lowered his head and said, "Everything is fine, Master..."
"Sit down. Your teacher and I have a close relationship. You don't have to be restrained in front of me."
Hu Zhiming pointed to where Magistrate Cheng was sitting just now, and after Wang Xu sat down, he said: "Because of some things, it is inconvenient for me to visit Xue Daru. When you return, remember to say hello to your teacher for me.
In addition, you have done a good job in disaster relief. It seems that the sky is high and the emperor is far away, but in fact it has been under the eyes of the princes in the court. No one can hide who has done what. In the future, rewards or punishments will be decided by oneself.
Finally, give me a word for Xue Daru, saying that the New Deal is difficult, that person is already struggling to move forward, and this storm will eventually pass.
Okay, I'm tired, you go back. When you go back, remember to study hard and don't be complacent in the name of a child prodigy."
After saying a few words, Ho Chi Minh issued an eviction order.
As for the disaster situation below and how the Wang family provided relief, Ho Chi Minh didn't ask a word and didn't seem to care.
Wang Xu stood up to say goodbye, his mind full of questions.
What did Ho Chi Minh do here? Is it really what he said, that he just stopped by Liyang County to rest while going to Jiaozhou to provide disaster relief?
No, if I were to take a rest, I wouldn't have called him here in an anticlimactic manner.
The New Deal is difficult and unsustainable. This sentence should be the key point.
The reason why my teacher Xue Mushan retired from old age and returned to his hometown and lived in seclusion in Sanjian River was because he lost the party struggle and had to retreat bravely.
After these few months of getting along, Wang Xu already knew who the teacher's enemy in the court was.
The chief minister of the cabinet, Yan Song, a bachelor of Wuyingdian, and the Cold Party, headed by a descendant of a poor family.
The New Deal implemented by Yan Song and Han Dang is unstable. Does this mean that his teachers, the important ministers of Qingliu and the gentry class are beginning to return to the political agenda?