A small town at the foot of Mount Lu. This small town has been the seat of Linqu County since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It was originally an earth city wall, small and narrow. In the 13th year of Chongzhen, it was changed to a masonry wall for reinforcement.
The small town is surrounded by beautiful mountains and clear waters, surrounded by Mihe River to the east, Qushan Mountain, and Sushan Mountain. They stand alone on the plains and stand opposite each other like a Chinese watch. It has been an important military location throughout the ages, and the Muling Pass, the most dangerous pass in Shandong, is right behind it.
It was getting late, the wind was tight and the clouds were low.
The autumn wind is howling, with some drizzle.
A man was dressed in rags, with a straw rope tied around his waist, a pair of tattered straw sandals on his feet, and a dog beating stick in his hand. Like a beggar, he walked quickly along the brick city wall that was newly built a few years ago.
Walking.
The clothes on his body were black and shiny because of dirt and pulp. They had not been washed for an unknown period of time, but he was walking in a hurry, walking all the way.
After walking for a long time, we finally arrived at the base of the city wall outside the Haijin Gate of the East City Gate.
There was a shack set up haphazardly there.
The man walked to a low small shack, which he had built himself, using some branches and weeds to build it randomly.
He opened the straw curtain, bent down and got in.
After getting into this small shack, a smile appeared on his face.
"Damn it, I'm back."
In the shack, a woman with a yellow complexion sat motionless holding a baby in her arms.
He called twice more.
Then the woman said, "I started having pain at noon, and gave birth in the afternoon. It's a girl."
The man quickly stepped forward, took out a lotus leaf bag from the tattered clothes, opened it, and found two meat buns filled with fragrant aroma.
It even radiates heat.
"My dear, thank you for your hard work. Take a few bites quickly. It's still hot."
The woman sat there weakly, and her true expression could not be seen clearly in the dim shack.
"Eat quickly."
The woman still didn't move.
Then she suddenly burst into tears. The cry woke up the baby girl in her arms, who also began to cry. The woman bit her lip to suppress the cry, and began to pat the child in her arms gently, and also untied the baby girl.
Clothes for feeding the baby.
The child stopped crying and started to drink milk, but after just a few sips, the milk ran out. His little face became red after sucking, and there was still not even a drop of milk. The child started crying again.
The man handed the bun over again, "Eat it while it's hot."
The woman lowered her head and looked at the crying child in her arms who had no milk to drink. She sighed deeply, took one and ate it.
"Slow down, don't choke."
The meat buns are so delicious, with soft skin, tender and juicy meat fillings, fragrant green onions and shrimps inside.
After eating most of it in a few mouthfuls, the woman slowed down. She took a bite of the bun wrapper and chewed it until it turned into a lake. However, she did not swallow it anymore, but instead took it out and fed it to the crying child.
The little guy who was just born actually started to eat, and his little mouth licked the food very deliciously.
"Where did the buns come from?"
At this time, even a potato, taro or sweet potato is a rare good thing for the hungry people, and the husband can actually bring back meat buns.
"The county magistrate rewarded me. Today the county magistrate asked me to come over for questioning. He also said that he would immediately report our situation to the Zongren Mansion." The man was a little excited when he said this, "I guess someone from the Zongren Mansion will come soon.
By then, as long as the identity of our royal relatives is confirmed, life will be better."
The woman concentrated on making buns for her children and faced the lake.
"Where are the younger ones?" The man took out a lotus leaf bag from his arms, which contained several roasted sweet potatoes, which were still warm.
"Aunt Zhao, help me with you." As she said this, the woman couldn't help but choked up her voice again.
"What's wrong? Things will get better soon."
"Second brother, second child is gone."
"What do you mean?"
The woman cried sadly and told her husband that she had given birth at noon. The children went outside to look for wild vegetables, but none of them paid attention. The one-and-a-half-year-old baby fell into the moat and drowned.
In just a blink of an eye, the child was gone.
The eldest child, who was only four years old, tried to save him, but was unable to save him. He almost got himself caught in it. Fortunately, he was discovered by a refugee and jumped down in time to save him. However, the second child had already drowned.
The man's hand holding the sweet potato trembled, he couldn't believe the news.
"Head of the family, it's me who didn't take good care of the children,"
"Where is the second child now?"
"At Aunt Zhao's place, I wanted to bury a mass grave, but someone offered me a bushel of millet in exchange for it."
"Can't change!" The man suddenly stood up, extremely excited.
The woman was startled, and the child was so frightened that she started crying again.
"You can't change it. It's for eating. You can't change it!" The man shouted and cried desperately.
The woman actually knew why someone offered a bushel of millet in exchange for a one-and-a-half-year-old dead child, but she did not refuse immediately because she had just given birth to a baby and had no milk. If she could trade a bushel of millet and boil it into millet,
Lake, maybe this one can be saved.
When they were fleeing, they witnessed mothers cooking their dead children for other children to eat, and some parents would exchange children with others for food.
"I'm going to bring the child back." The man put the other bun and sweet potato next to his wife and ran out.
After a while, the man came back with red eyes and a small bag of millet in his hand.
"It's too late, the child is gone." He said to his wife with red eyes.
The wife buried her face in the baby's body and cried.
A girl came in dragging two smaller children, a boy and a girl.
"Dad, I didn't take good care of my brother. You can beat me or sell me." The girl stood there and said.
The man looked at his eldest daughter, who was just over six years old, with red eyes and couldn't even curse her.
"Dad, my sister went to ask Aunt Zhao to help deliver the baby. I didn't take good care of my little brother. He saw a small fish in the river and his stomach turned upside down. He wanted to pick it up, but he didn't stand up properly and fell into the water. It's all my fault." No.
The four-year-old boy said there.
"Dad, it was me who saw that fish, it's all my fault," said the little girl who was a little over two years old.
The man wiped his tears with his elbow, "It's not your fault, it's not your mother's fault, it's all my dad's fault."
"Are you hungry? Dad brought roasted sweet potatoes back. Eat them quickly."
The woman's eyes were red, and she wanted to share the buns with the three children. "Baby, you eat it. You just gave birth to a baby, so you need to eat it."
The man was holding a handful of millet in his hand, and finally turned his head and squatted on the ground, crying silently, with his mouth wide open but not daring to make a sound.
The shack was extremely depressing.
"I'm going to cook some millet porridge." The man finally stood up.
The woman said, "Dad, keep this millet. You can take it to the county government office tomorrow and give it to the clerks in the government office. Although the county magistrate has said to report it to the clan, it won't be possible if the people below him cause trouble.
"
The man hesitated.
"Registration is important," the woman reminded her husband.
Although it was only a bushel of millet, which was obtained in exchange for the second son who had just drowned, for the family, this was the only thing they could get rid of.
This beggar-like man’s surname is Zhu.
And they are relatives of the royal family.
But compared to the princes of the feudal lords who had thousands of hectares of land and millions of silver taels, this man didn't even have a name.
His surname is Zhu. If the generation is designated by Taizu, he should be of the generation named Ci, that is, the nephew of Emperor Chongzhen. However, he does not have a name because he did not ask for a name and the court did not grant it, so he does not have a name.
Usually everyone calls him Lao San.
The virtuous kings Zhu Youshu and Zhu Youqi were both his uncles.
Defan first enfeoffed Dezhou, and later moved to Jinan, becoming a large vassal.
But Zhu Laosan's fate was very miserable. His grandfather was the lieutenant of Zhenguo in Defan, but he was only a member of the lower-level clan of Defan. Although he had passed the registration, name, marriage and title, he got a name and married a wife.
When he was awarded the title of Lieutenant of Zhenguo, he was already much better than many lower-level clans at that time.
However, at that time, the number of clans across the country increased sharply, and the imperial court was unable to fully provide the clans with Lumi, so they had to make various concessions, and even defaulted on the payment in the end.
The upper-level clans such as princes, commanders, kings, generals, and generals are better off. Even if they owe money, they still have manor properties, etc. They don't all count on this lumi. But for the lower-level clans, they can't do business and farm land, so they just count on this lumi. Once
If you default, you will really go hungry.
Grandfather Zhu Laosan had no choice, so he finally took a desperate risk and sent a memorial to the emperor, pointing out the shortcomings of the times and even complaining about the emperor's tone.
This act of seeking death naturally aroused the emperor's anger and punishment from the court, so he was finally sentenced to be imprisoned and guarded by the Prince of Lu's Mansion.
In fact, this was exactly what Grandpa Zhu Laosan did on purpose. Because the imperial court owed him salary, his family was about to starve to death. Now if he scolded the emperor a few times, it wouldn't be considered treason. He wouldn't be beheaded, and he wouldn't even need to be escorted.
He was imprisoned in the high-walled clan prison in Fengyang and then imprisoned in Jinan under the custody of Prince De's Mansion.
But jail time comes with jail food.
If the court doesn't give me Lumi, I will take my whole family to eat in prison.
I have to say that Grandpa Zhu Laosan is also a man and has a very smart mind.
But Prince De's palace was not willing to do it, so why should we support your family? So in the end, they only locked up the old man and kicked out his son and others.
When Zhu Laosan's father got older, according to the rules, he had to apply for a name from the court. According to the rules, he had to first report to the prince of the vassal, and then the chief historian of the royal family reported to the Ministry of Rites and the Zongren Mansion. Finally, the name was given.
After success, you will be granted a title and a salary.
For example, Grandpa Zhu Laosan is the lieutenant of Zhenguo. After his father gave him the name, he should be granted the title of lieutenant of Fuguo. He can receive 300 shilumi from the court every year. Although it is not much, if he can get it, he can still raise a family.
of life.
Even if you get a discount or a little arrears, there will still be some problems.
But it turns out that because the old man has been locked up and eating prison food, Zhu Laosan's son can only survive outside the house by relying on meager financial aid from the palace.
Now I want to apply for a name, but there is no money to spend.
Originally, matters such as naming and marriage were private matters, usually decided by parents. However, in the Ming Dynasty and the royal family, these decisions were not something that one could decide by oneself and had to go through the process.
When a child is born, he must be registered, and then given a name. Even marriage and funeral must be reported to the court, and the clan government and the six ministries cooperate.
And this procedure, after more than two hundred years, has long become an unspoken rule that needs to be dealt with at every turn.
Not only the chief historian of the palace had to deal with the matter, but also the local government officials had to pay regular fees, and they even had to pay money to let the traveling sticks from Beijing help with the matter.
The money for asking for a name and marriage is relatively small. The most important thing is to ask for a title. The prices for titles at all levels are clearly marked.
The prince of a county can be named and be granted a title of at least one thousand taels. The person who governs the country or assists the country. The general of the country can be named and be granted at least five hundred taels. The lieutenant can be named and be granted at least three hundred taels.
Just because many lower-level clans could not afford the money that had been put in place at all levels, there were a large number of clan children in the late Ming Dynasty who had no names, no titles, no honors, and no marriages.
In the Prince's Mansion of Xichuan County alone, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were more than 130 men and women who had not been given names, titles, salaries, or marriages, and more than 100 bachelors.
Zhu Laosan's father had no money to hand over to the palace, let alone run the government office.
In the end, he was desperate, so he followed his father's example and gave the emperor four strategies to rejuvenate the emperor. He was also successfully jailed, but when he was in prison, the father and son met, but they still had no name or title.