Thirty-five, but like the moon, it will eventually shine brightly
The city of Jiankang was in turmoil in July. The Xie family of Chen County and the Lu family of Wu County, the two high-ranking families in the north and south, were facing extremely embarrassing situations. Lu Shi wanted to make his niece Lu Weirui the queen, but because of the opposition of Empress Dowager Chongde, Emperor Sima
Lu Weirui's determination to enter the palace in Yina was somewhat shaken, and Huan Wen asked Li Jingshu and Mrs. Xi Chao to visit Lu Weirui and bring the news that Chen Caozhi would return safely. This was tantamount to showing that Huan Wen opposed the Lu women's entry into the palace.
Emperor Sima Yi seemed very powerful in private, but he really wanted to confront Huan Wen in the court, but he lost the courage. Lu Shi was unable to advance or retreat at this time, and was quite embarrassed. Fortunately, there was news that Xie Daoyun was going to serve in men's clothing.
The news of the incident made the Lu family at the center of the whirlpool heave a sigh of relief. It was as if the Xie family of Chen County was helping to support the sky when it fell. Then the Xie family girl was also in love with Chen Caozhi, and she dared to show up in public.
, more bold and reckless than the girl from his Lu family!
The pressure on the Xie family of Chen County was not small. Although the Xifu and the Ministry of Civil Affairs did not immediately remove Zhu Yingtai from his official position, Xie Daoyun, who was named Zhu Yingtai, was a woman after all. Her identity was exposed at this time and she had no chance of continuing to serve as an official.
In principle, Xie An sent his servant to Kuaiji as soon as possible with his letter, ordered Xie Daoyun to resign, and temporarily waited in Dongshan for further news——
At this time, Xie Daoyun was not aware of the changes that had occurred in the capital. The drought in Kuaiji was severe. She was working with Shi Daishu in Kuaiji to organize the people to fight the drought. However, the rivers dried up and the lakes dried up. Human power could not fight against the weather. The drought spread, and even
The Yu family's large manor, which had been prepared for a long time, could not withstand this severe drought that was rare in a century. The wheat harvest in June was almost extinct. This was a tough situation for the noble manor with vast land and huge savings. The drought would eventually pass.
, but for the fragile homesteaders, it is completely impossible to live. Government taxes have to be paid, and wives and children have to be fed. There is no other way out. They have to sell their farmland at a low price, drag their children out, and sadly go to the drought-free land.
In serious cases, they fled to other places to work as farm laborers or as refugees, and were reduced to the lowest level of society——
Those who still have the financial resources to buy land in the year of severe drought are naturally the big landowners of the gentry, and those who are more benevolent are fine. More often, they are the aristocratic families who are mean and only know how to accumulate. They use the famine to force the peasants to annex their land at extremely low prices, which makes the peasants
Either they leave their hometown, or they become dependent people in the gentry's manor, and are exploited by the government and the gentry, and they are struggling to survive and are in a difficult situation——
When Xie Daoyun and Chen Caozhi were conducting land settlement in Kuaiji last year, the two often held candlelight night talks, discussing not only classics and history, but also the current situation. Chen Caozhi was deeply worried about the land annexation by the gentry. Taking history as a guide, the Western Han Dynasty was due to serious land annexation.
The intensification of social conflicts led to the disintegration of the dynasty. Land annexation in the late Eastern Han Dynasty triggered the disastrous Yellow Turban Uprising. The polarization between the rich and the poor and the lack of buffering by the middle class were the root causes of social unrest. The Eastern Jin Dynasty was now occupying large amounts of land to the gentry, and a large number of self-cultivated farmers became gentry.
The danger of being a vassal of the manor is approaching. If no measures are taken to stop it, the Tianshi Dao uprising of Sun En and Lu Xun will inevitably occur thirty years later. Jiangdong will be in chaos and everyone will be destroyed——
Xie Daoyun was born in a Nandu family, and of course she considered the issue from the perspective of the nobles. But after all, she was a knowledgeable and talented woman of the generation. She was also influenced by Chen Caozhi, so she basically agreed with Chen Caozhi's predictions, but now she is only eight years old.
Pinguan is unable to change anything, but now that he has come to Kuaiji to organize drought relief, he is determined to prevent the gentry landlords in Kuaiji from taking advantage of the disaster to annex land——
Dai Shu, the internal historian of Kuaiji, got along very well with Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun, the two local envoys, last year. Xie Daoyun came to Shanyin to help him organize the people to fight the drought. Dai Shu was very happy, and the facts proved that Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun last year
It was very timely to lobby the wealthy people in Kuaiji to build water conservancy projects. The drought in Kuaiji was the most serious in the entire Jiangdong, but the disaster was not the most serious. For example, a large number of victims had fled the famine in Dongyang County and Yicheng County. In Kuaiji, Dai Shu accepted Xie Daoyun's suggestion and opened a warehouse.
Distribute grain and raise donations for disaster relief. For those self-cultivated households who were unable to survive and wanted to sell their land, Dai Shu dispatched counties and county officials to properly appease them and borrowed grain to help them survive the famine.
Xie Daoyun once again lobbied the wealthy families in Kuaiji and asked for donations. The Xie family of Chen County donated 500 hu of rice and 1,000 dendrobium of wheat from their manor in Dongshan. The Yu family of Yuyao also donated 2,000 hu of dendrobium of wheat to help the victims.
Rich people donated money and grain. Because of this, there were no large numbers of people fleeing famine in the ten counties of Kuaiji County, and the homesteaders were still able to live in peace and endure the drought.
In the evening of that day, Xie Daoyun and his younger brother Xie Shao returned to Shanyin County Office from Kong's Manor with a few servants.
Yes, it should be a relatively refreshing and pleasant time, but Xie Daoyun felt particularly tired. He couldn't help but think: "Last winter, Zizhong and I visited various major families in Kuaiji and went around Jian Lake to inspect the water conservancy channels. I have never felt as tired as this time when fighting the drought in Kuaiji."
, they are all tiring things, and they are not menial jobs. Well, maybe if Zi Zhong is not around, he will feel more pressure when things happen, and then he will feel tired. It seems that I am only suitable to be a staff member. I am more than capable of doing the job alone.
I don’t have enough strength, but I don’t know why I’m particularly stuck today——”
Xie Daoyun felt a little dizzy. He clamped his long legs on the horse's belly to ride steadily, and then thought: "It would be great if I brought the bullock cart out. I can rest in the cart for a while -"
Xie Shao, who was riding beside Xie Daoyun, looked up at the crescent moon in the sky and said, "Sister Yuan, today is Chinese Valentine's Day."
The people accompanying him were all close relatives of the Xie family, so Xie Shao called Xie Daoyun Sister Yuan just like he did at home.
Xie Daoyun was about to answer when he suddenly coughed violently and almost fell off the horse. He hugged the horse's neck and coughed for a long time before he regained his breath and gasped: "I'm feeling a little unwell. Let's go back quickly."
County office, I’ve been so busy these days that I forgot to take the mulberry and apricot soup.”
Xie Shao and Xie Daoyun rode fast together, frowning and saying: "Sister Yuan, your cough has not healed for several months. You should seek treatment from a good doctor. It is not convenient for others to do so. Master Zhi Mindu from Qiguang Temple is proficient in medical skills.
He is an old friend of the third uncle and is also an acquaintance of Sister Yuan. How about inviting him to treat Sister Yuan? Master Zhi Mindu is a virtuous monk. It doesn't matter even if he knows the truth - I will go to Shan County tomorrow to ask Master Zhi to come.
Sanyin, how about it?”
Xie Daoyun also felt that he was not feeling well recently, so he said: "In a few days, when the county office is in trouble, I will go back to Dongshan, and you can ask Master Zhi to come."
The group of people hurried back to the post house behind the Shanyin City County Office. Liu Xin and Yin Feng prepared the incense table with melons and fruits in the backyard and were waiting for Lady Dao Yun to come back to worship the moon and pray together. Although Lady Dao Yun had not
I don’t worship Goddess Sun, but this year my second maid is determined to bring Lady Dao Yun to pray together. Over the past few months, Lady Dao Yun’s persistent night cough has made my second maid very worried——
As soon as Xie Daoyun returned to the post house, she didn't eat supper and went to the bedroom to rest. This made Liuxu and Yinfeng the second maids panic. Madam Daoyun was very clean. She didn't need to be in a hurry to eat when she returned from an outing. The first thing
The thing was to take a bath. If she hadn't been extremely tired and exhausted, Mrs. Daoyun would never have fallen asleep like this!
Liu Xu, holding a lamp because of the wind, hurriedly entered Xie Daoyun's bedroom, only to see that Xie Daoyun had already sat up and said, "I forgot to take a bath. Is the water ready?"
LiuXu responded: "Ready - are you tired, madam?"
Xie Daoyun was very strong-willed and said: "I'm not tired. I can walk with a horse instead of a horse. What's the point of being tired!" The two maids took care of them after they took a bath and put on a loose undershirt——
Yinfeng asked: "Does she want to eat some food?"
Xie Daoyun shook his head and said he didn't want to eat. He looked at the crescent moon on the horizon, as bright as an ice sickle, and said with a smile: "It's Chinese Valentine's Day, you two go to worship the Sun Empress. I'll watch from the side."
Yin Feng said: "Tonight, my wife will worship with us, otherwise neither of us will worship."
Liu Xu said: "If you don't worship Goddess Sun, the two of us will be clumsy in serving you in the future. Don't blame us, lady."
Xie Daoyun smiled gracefully: "Are you two saying I'm clumsy?"
The two maids said in unison: "How dare you, maid? I just want my wife to pray with us."
Xie Daoyun smiled and said: "I join the army from the Xifu, how can I worship the moon and beg for luck like you and other little girls? If someone in the post sees it, it will be a joke."
Liuxu said: "This is a separate backyard. How can people from the post house get in? Madam, just pray with us."
Although Xie Daoyun was sleepy, he couldn't bear to offend her, so they went together to the two laurel trees on the east wall of the backyard. The melons and fruits were already prepared on the incense table.
It wasn't hot. I had just taken a shower, but I didn't feel very refreshed. I reluctantly prayed for a while, asking Goddess of Heaven to bless my family and relatives, but Goddess of Heaven seemed to only care about marriage and not safety. I smiled in my heart, and thought about last year.
I heard Xiao Chan praying to the moon at the foot of Gushu Phoenix Mountain, and thought to myself: "Zizhong has returned from his mission this time. If he can make great achievements and be promoted to an important position, he should be able to marry the girl of the Lu family." Then he thought:
"The storm of Lu Weirui entering the palace must have passed. Haha, when Duke Huan is in power, it is more difficult for the emperor to marry Lu Weirui than for his son to remarry Lu Weirui." Looking at Liuxu and Yinfeng next to him, they were very pious, murmuring and praying endlessly -
—
Xie Daoyun pursed his lips and smiled before getting up, but suddenly he felt dizzy and knelt down on the futon again. He was coughing violently and his body was wheezing.
The second maidservant was shocked and quickly helped her up. Then she felt that Lady Daoyun's body was hot and that Lady Daoyun had fallen ill.
Xie Shao rushed to Shan County overnight to ask for Master Zhi Mindu. Unexpectedly, Master Zhi Mindu passed away a few days ago at the age of seventy-eight. Xie Shao hurried back again and was happy that Xie Daoyun's condition had improved a little. Xie Daoyun said: "
I have been tired a few days ago, so I will be fine if I rest for a while. The drought-stricken man in Kuaiji has exhausted all his strength and has no choice but to resign himself to fate. I only hope it will rain before winter. In history, it is impossible for Kuaiji to go without rain for a year - Ah Shao
