In early May, after returning to Hufu Township, Heifu first distributed the reward money to the soldiers stationed here during his absence, and then visited Zhang Fu's home without stopping.
Now Zhang Boqi is ill, so whether it is clan or village affairs, Zhang Fu is in charge.
Heifu first told Zhang Fu that the thousand shi of millet that the Zhang family gave alone could be used as Nasu to be honored as a knight, and he could get a first-class knighthood for the Zhang family alone. What he promised was accomplished.
After telling the good news first, he immediately stated his intention: "I would like to fight for Chen Ping..."
When he learned that Chen Ping wanted to marry his granddaughter, Zhang Fu was stunned at first, and then he was overjoyed!
Not to mention the marriage of his own daughter and grandson, which has become a big worry for him. He married five people in a row and all five died. Although they were not directly related to the Zhang girl, they were too strange after all and had a bad reputation. Now
Chen Ping is willing to accept it, how can he not be overjoyed?
Not to mention, as a handsome young man in the village, Zhang Fu had begun to pay attention to Chen Ping after he was cleared of the suspicion of "stealing his wife". Chen Ping had made several suggestions since he was recruited by the black husband to work as a clerk in the Qin camp.
On the one hand, he was praised by the Qin officials for his suggestions, and on the other hand, he also offered the strategy of "lending grain to the people", which gave Qin officials, the Zhang family, and the people in the city a three-win situation, which made Zhang Fu marvel in admiration and decided that
This young man has an unlimited future.
How could he not be happy to have such a good son-in-law?
Zhang Fu thought to himself: "With Chen Ping's appearance and talent, and with the support of my family, given time, he may be able to command a county and become famous throughout the county."
So Mr. Hei acted as a matchmaker for the first time, and they hit it off immediately. Zhang Huan hurriedly agreed to the marriage without even consulting his own daughter and grandson. However, the Zhang girl's ex-husband just died in March, and now the mourning period has not passed.
Therefore, the wedding date is still set in March or April next year...
The matter was successfully accomplished in this way. Afterwards, in order to express his gratitude, Chen Ping made a special trip to take out the money given to him by Hei Fu and hosted a banquet for Hei Fu at the best wine shop in the village.
…
When he heard that Chen Ping was going to book the entire restaurant, the owner of the restaurant looked him up and down in surprise, and almost made a habit of sarcastic remarks, but then he remembered that this was no longer the despised, idle man who was just eating his brother and sister-in-law's free rice.
Chen Ping.
Nowadays, Chen Ping has washed away the slander and stigma in the past, and he is even working under the Qin officials, so that no one dares to treat him lightly.
"Chen Ping is rich now. I'm afraid he will become a rich man in his hometown in the future." The shop owner said the compliment, but Chen Ping didn't think so in his heart.
"Rich man? He is indeed a scumbag, and he underestimates me."
After the store arranged the food and drinks with smiling faces, Heihu also arrived. The two of them exchanged greetings across the table and sat opposite each other. After this incident, their relationship became much closer. When they were drunk, Heihu
The husband couldn't help but curiously asked why Chen Ping insisted on marrying that Zhang girl...
"Chen Sheng took a fancy to her beauty?"
After all, she is the most beautiful woman in her hometown. Heifu even wondered whether Chen Ping had a crush on that Zhang girl since he was a child? But when she got married, he could only stand on the side of the road and watch, and the wind blew up the gauze curtain on which the bride was sitting.
At that moment, the young man was stunned and has never forgotten it ever since...
"Stop wandering around!"
After hearing this, Chen Ping burst out laughing, amused by Hei Fu's imaginary remarks.
He looked around and saw that there were only two people in the restaurant, and the shopkeeper was busy with his own business from a distance. He came closer and whispered: "The reason why I want to marry Lady Zhang is because the one I want is Zhang's."
Wealth is Zhang Fu's reputation and power in his hometown..."
Chen Ping's eyes became extremely utilitarian, yet very calm.
"Just think about it, Zhang Er was originally a fugitive murderer who was impoverished. He married the daughter of a wealthy foreigner, and with the support of his wealthy wife's family, he transformed himself into a great hero of the Wei state. He even entered the government and became a foreigner.
"
"The same is true for Chen Yu. If he hadn't won the favor of the Kuxing Gongcheng family in Zhaodi and recruited him as his son-in-law, where would he have gotten the money and silk to travel around and finally become a local celebrity?"
After hearing this, Heifu finally understood that in Chen Ping's eyes, a successful marriage is not about a husband and wife loving each other and being happy, but about complementary marriages.
To sum it up with a famous saying that Heifu has forgotten which sage said it, it is:
"There is no need to dwell on the principles of nature and human relations; marriage is about profit!"
The collapse of the beams and the demise of Wei State brought a huge shock to Chen Ping. He truly felt the trend of the times, so he began to think about his future.
Although he is now working as a clerk in the Qin camp and receiving three stones of food a month, he is only a temporary worker. The war is over. Sooner or later, Heifu and the others will leave, and will he be unemployed again?
Of course Chen Ping will not wait for that day to come. According to his understanding of Qin's laws and systems in the past two months, after Heifu and the others withdraw, the military control meeting will end, and the official county magistrate, county lieutenant, and county chief executive will
He took office in Yangwu County.
Should he go to Yangwu or find a job as an official in a neighboring county? After all, he has the advantage of knowing Qin characters, and now he can also understand the Guanzhong dialect.
But after thinking about it, Chen Ping gave up this plan.
Although the Qin army swept across the Wei State and destroyed Wei Sheji, Chen Ping's identity as a "Wei person" in his heart has not completely disappeared. What's more, his brother and sister-in-law are still in Hufu. Chen Ping plans to give priority to local development and wait and see the situation.
The Qin government has strict restrictions on place of origin when appointing officials. The main officials of counties and counties do not need to be locals and are directly appointed from other places in Xianyang. However, the subordinate officials of county and county offices, as well as those with rank and rank at the township level, are all locals.
.
Therefore, Chen Ping estimates that the future of Hufu Township will be decided by local wealthy people. The relationship with Zhang, his reputation in the township party, and his own wealth are still the basis for establishing a foothold in the local area.
At present, Chen Ping has only washed away his past stigma, gained Zhang's attention, and earned a little money that can prove that he is "self-reliant". However, these are the "ambitions" that he hides in his heart and dare not tell anyone.
,Still a long way to go.
Of course, he didn't dare to tell anyone about his ambition, because no matter who he told directly, they would laugh out loud.
Chen Ping does not lack talents, he just lacks a stage for performance. Heifu's presence at that time provided him with many opportunities to show himself for reasons that are not yet known. But Chen Ping could not leave the local area and go to Nanjun with Heifu.
So he wants to find a new partner for his future development...
You can be ambitious in your mind, but you must be down-to-earth in your steps. This is Chen Ping's principle in establishing his career.
After hearing Chen Ping's true intentions, Heifu couldn't help but sigh, this is indeed Chen Ping, who even calculated his marriage with such meticulous and utilitarian considerations.
He expressed his understanding of Chen Ping's choice. Yes, for a poor and lonely talented person like Chen Ping to be cited by the wealthy and powerful Zhang, it is the most convenient way to succeed!
But Heifu asked worriedly: "Is that Lady Zhang's reputation as a traitor? Aren't you afraid..."
"What are you afraid of? In my opinion, the deaths of those five people were all accidents, and they were not blessed to receive beauties."
Chen Ping was already drunk, and he burst out laughing in a rare act of dissoluteness, but his eyes were full of confidence.
He patted his chest and said loudly: "You can rest assured, Chen Ping's life is tough enough!"
…
In mid-June, the hottest time of the year, Hufu Township is hit by a heat wave, the valley breeze blows, there are fields of lotus leaves in the ponds, and the constant chirping of cicadas on the trees beside the road.
A team slowly walked out of the Qin army's garrison camp outside the village and marched slowly south, formally joining Heifu and his men.
At this time, more than a month had passed since Heifu acted as a matchmaker for Chen Ping. During this month, Hufu Township was peaceful and quiet. Apart from strengthening inspections to prevent refugees from Daliang City from escaping, there was nothing else. Everything in the local area was as before.
.
Whether the Wei State fell or not seemed to have nothing to do with this town.
At the beginning of June, with the official transfer of Qin officials to Yangwu, the time for Heifu and his companions to evacuate was getting closer and closer. The garrison soldiers in Anlu and Yan County, who had been away from home for more than half a year, were already impatient.
After half a month of preparation, Heifu handed over the local defense to the new Youyou. As Chen Ping expected, he was indeed a local tycoon. Then, he took the people who were eager to return and left where they had been stationed for several months.
's camp.
Although under the control of Heifu, Qin Zou almost achieved "no crime in autumn" in the local area, but the local people did not show much gratitude to him. There is no scene in movies and TV dramas where upright officials are transferred and the people help the old and the young to stay and see them off.
, those who came to see them off were Zhang Fu, his father and his son, and Chen Pingping.
"What You You did for my hometown will be remembered by my fellow villagers. As for You You's great kindness in preserving the Zhang family, I will also let my descendants remember it and never dare to forget it."
Zhang Fu asked people to prepare meat and wine to honor Hei Fu, and also asked Zhang Zhong and other children and grandchildren to pay tribute to Hei Fu's chiefs and corps commanders one by one. This made the outspoken Dongmen Bao mutter: "It's still the same thing."
Zhang’s old man Zhang is a bit more humane, much better than that old man Zhang.”
When it was Chen Ping's turn to toast to Hei Fu, Hei Fu sighed:
"It seems that I have no chance to see Chen Sheng marry Lady Zhang. Those two taels of gold are the congratulatory gifts I left in advance."
Chen Ping cupped his hands and said, "Youyou not only helped me, but also gave me a lot of money. Chen Ping really has nothing to repay."
Perhaps because of this feeling of "nothing to repay", Heifu and the others had already walked more than ten miles away from the township. Chen Ping still rode the horse borrowed from the Zhang family and sent them all the way to the border of Hufu Township.
Seeing that going further would be the boundary of Waihuang County. Although the war was over, it was still not safe to walk alone on the road, so Heifu advised Chen Ping to stop.
"Chen Sheng, let's stop here."
"The reason why I am sent here is because there is something I have always wanted to ask You You."
Chen Ping dismounted, bowed to Mr. Hei, raised his head, and raised the doubts that had been hidden in his heart for months.
"When we were drunk that day, You You said that from now on, he would regard Chen Ping as a friend. Then Chen Ping dared to ask You You, why did you and I know each other before, so why did you deliberately help me clear my grievances?"
"I have asked my uncle and sister-in-law, and Youyou sent someone to check it carefully. After learning the authenticity of the matter, they found me. After that, they cited me as a document in the Qin camp, gave me food, and shared the reward with me.
Like a confidant, how can he be so virtuous as to make traveling so troublesome?"
Chen Ping is a utilitarian person, and he never believes that things happen for no reason in the world. Heifu's concern and support for him have exceeded common sense.
At first, he was worried that Heifu had bad intentions and was even a Longyang disciple, but later he realized that this was a misunderstanding.
This made Chen Ping even more confused and puzzled. If he could not know the reason, he would never be able to settle down.
Heifu pondered for a moment, and no longer was as perfunctory as before. He smiled and said, "Maybe it's because when I first saw Chen Sheng, I thought you were different from ordinary people?"
"I am a poor man from a small village, so what's the difference?"
Heifu pointed at himself: "You may not believe it, but after seeing you, something suddenly flashed in my mind."
Chen Ping asked: "What are you talking about?"
"Could this king be able to conquer the world one day?"
After saying this, Hei Fu laughed heartily, handed over to Chen Ping, and then rode away, leaving only a few words in the distance.
"We meet sometimes in life. After sending you a thousand miles away, we must say goodbye eventually. Chen Ping, you and I will say goodbye now. See you again soon!"
The horse's hooves swept away the dust quickly, leaving only a stunned Chen Ping standing there, his face even more horrified than before.
