The two men spent many years in prison, but were pardoned after the new emperor ascended the throne.
He was also gracious enough to give Zhu Laosan's father the title of lieutenant of the auxiliary country, but the salary was only paid for a year and a half, and it has been in arrears since then.
Zhu Laosan was born into the royal Zhu family under such circumstances. He had the same difficulties as his father since he was a child.
Now that he is almost thirty, he has neither been given a name, nor a title, nor a salary. Even this wife was married privately without the consent of the court, so the children he gave birth to were also without the approval of the court.
Those registered by the imperial court and included in the genealogy were all black households.
For Zhu Laosan, although he is a member of the royal family, he has never enjoyed any royal treatment. On the contrary, he has been subject to various restrictions since he was a child.
Apart from staying in the city of Jinan and starving, he seemed unable to do anything. He could not go out to set up a stall or carry a bag to the dock to make ends meet, nor could he study and take the imperial examination. Moreover, his family could not afford to study.
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the Qing army entered the fortress and marched south to Shandong, conquering Jinan. Many royal families, including King Zhu Youshu and his son, were captured by the Qing army and taken outside the customs.
Later, the imperial court selected General Zhu Youli, the son of King Jicheng, from a branch of De Fan to attack and confer the title of King De.
In those years, the two princely vassals of Shandong, De Fan and Lu Fan, were successively attacked by the Qing army and thousands of royal family members were killed. King De was captured and King Lu hanged himself.
In the 13th year of the reign of Xinde King Zhu Youli, he was granted a title, and in the 17th year of Chongzhen he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. In this year, sixteen other kings including Qin, Zhou, and Jin were killed in Beijing.
And Zhu Laosan escaped when the Qing army invaded Jinan. After all, he had no name, was not qualified to live in the palace, and had no money. It was a blessing in disguise.
Later, the Qing army broke through the border and moved south again. He fled with the refugees.
This journey of escaping and escaping stopped, and when I arrived in Tai'an, I became a complete refugee.
Even the eldest daughter of the family was forced to sell it when she was still trying to escape. Ren Yazi said that she was sold to be a maid to a wealthy family, but who knew, just for a little food, they ended up selling her, who was only over eight years old.
The child was sold.
Not long ago, they followed the refugees all the way to the east, just to surrender to the Ming Emperor Zhu Yihai.
According to seniority, Zhu Yihai is Chongzhen's cousin, and Zhu Laosan is Chongzhen's nephew, so he has to be called the emperor's uncle. Of course, in terms of seniority, there are actually five servers, one is a descendant of Zhu Di, and the other is Lu.
The descendants of Wang Zhutan are all the ninth and eleventh descendants of Taizu.
There are too many people who are unable to escape along the way.
Zhu Laosan finally entered the territory of the Ming Army in Qingzhou Prefecture, and finally arrived in Linqu. He settled here temporarily and could receive some porridge every day. Zhu Laosan even had the opportunity to work to earn some rations.
The Ming army set up refugee camps everywhere, and even had officials responsible for registration and identity verification. Craftsmen of all types were also given priority, not to mention gentry, officials, and scholars.
As for the royal family, local inspections are also focused.
Zhu Laosan heard that the emperor was very kind to the clan. Although some people said that the emperor had changed the clan system and no longer had good pay and good care, but for Zhu Laosan, he had never experienced any good care, so the prince, county and king
He didn't care whether they would be hereditary forever or not.
What he was more interested in was that the emperor said that in the future, the clan could name itself, get married, and even study, do business, etc. as he pleased. He felt that Zhu Yihai must be a good emperor.
With some uneasiness, he went to the government officials and told him that he was a member of the clan, and was then questioned by the clerk. Finally, the county magistrate personally summoned him and even rewarded him with two meat buns.
Zhu Laosan was full of expectations for the future, but his wife's words seemed to wake him up.
Yes, all along, no matter how nice the emperor's words are, he may not be able to actually do it.
If there is no benefit, none of the subordinates below will sign you up.
Somewhat helpless, the third child went to get firewood to burn. The firewood was picked up by the children.
Autumn is coming, and the weather is getting cooler.
In the shack that was leaking everywhere, there was an extra fire and a touch of warmth.
Several refugees from neighboring shacks came over to visit and comfort them. Some brought some wild vegetables, some a few potatoes, and a handful of millet. Some children actually brought two bird eggs.
and some bugs.
They are all friends in need who have supported each other along the way.
This night, Zhu Laosan did not fall asleep.
For a while, I thought about the poor third child, who unfortunately drowned and died and ended up in someone else's belly. For a while, I thought about the newly born fourth daughter. I don't know if she can survive and grow up in such a life.
He gave birth to two sons, four daughters and six children. In fact, he did not want to have any children, but he could not prevent them from coming.
I feel sorry for these children.
Lying there, one child would cry hungry, the other children would grind their teeth, and someone would cry out that they were hungry.
He woke up and felt sleepy for a while. He also dreamed of being summoned by the emperor, being named, knighted, and given money and food, etc. He smiled happily, and then he woke up from the cold.
He covered his wife with a rag and looked at this shabby shack. This man in his thirties was at a loss.
I have no idea where the road is and where my hope is.
The sky is slightly bright.
Zhu Laosan got up. He first went to fetch water, and then started to boil water outside. He looked at the little millet, and finally gritted his teeth, grabbed a small handful from it, and started boiling it in an earthen pot.
The child has no milk, so we can only cook some rice soup for him to drink.
Several children woke up, lit a fire around him, and smelled the fragrance of the rice. However, no one said they wanted to eat it, but they all were sensible enough not to mention it.
There was still some sweet potato I brought back yesterday, so I heated it up and divided it among the children.
"Today you stay at home and stay with your mother. Stop wandering around and watch your sister. Dad has gone to work and will bring you food when he comes back."
The wife was patiently feeding the baby rice cereal. It was very watery rice cereal, but there was still no milk. The child cried for a while and reluctantly accepted the rice cereal. After eating it, he fell asleep.
The third child tied some headscarves tightly on his wife's head.
"If you need anything, call Aunt Zhao. I'll go to work."
"Take millet and go to the Yamen." said the wife.
"Forget it, it won't be useful to give away this little millet. It's better to keep it for you two to eat, otherwise it will be wasted. This is what the second child got in exchange for." The third child sighed, bent down and came out.
After leaving the shack to go to work, he stood at the door, tightening the straw rope around his waist, his stomach growling, but the man didn't eat a bite.
Leaving home with a stick on my back, my steps were a bit shaky and my back was a lot rickety.
"This is a shitty world!" Zhu Laosan cursed in his heart, his footsteps even smelled like a walking corpse, but he knew he couldn't stop. There was a family in the small shabby shack behind him who still needed him.
, we can only count on him.
Thinking about the people who have been fleeing everywhere in the past two years and saw those lying on the ground, at least their family is still alive.
He did not go to the county government office, but went directly to the place where he was working.
Autumn harvest is happening everywhere, and Linqu County is building a new granary. After collecting the grain, it will be stored in the warehouse first and then transferred.
Looking at the food, the third child felt more energetic. If he worked hard for a day, he could get some food back. Although it was not much, it was hope.
At noon, the children can queue up to get porridge and go back to have a meal.
The grain bag was very heavy. For Zhu Laosan, who had never done any work before, this bag of grain was like a mountain. But thinking about the children at home, he had to grit his teeth to hold on to the heavy bag.
Fortunately, after working for a few days, he is already much stronger than when he started.
After a few trips, my calves were already cramping and I couldn't rest for a while.
A foreman came over, carrying a load of steamed sweet potatoes.
"Thank you for your hard work, come here and eat two sweet potatoes to replenish your strength!"
Sweet potatoes are very glutinous and fragrant, but they are a bit choking, but the refugees will not dislike them. Even if they make people fart easily and even cause heartburn, they can fill their stomachs.
Zhu Laosan received two sweet potatoes, which were very fragrant.
But he only ate half of it, and kept the rest to take home.
Ready to continue working.
The county magistrate's entourage came to him and said, "Prince Deng from the Zongren Mansion happened to be here today to appease the victims. After hearing about you, he wanted to see you. Come with me quickly. You are so lucky to have caught up with them all."
Zhu Laosan was so surprised that he was speechless. He looked at the county magistrate and his entourage, and finally took out the one and a half sweet potatoes and handed them over.
"Hahaha, keep it for yourself. I'm a little scared when I see sweet potatoes now, so I ate too many." The county magistrate followed.
The third child was a little uneasy because there was really nothing else.
"Come with me quickly. This is not fashionable in our area right now." Chang Sui also saw that this person was really out of luck, even though the higher-ups were investigating corruption very strictly and were quick to accuse him.
As for harvesting grain this autumn, building warehouses, building roads, providing disaster relief and other matters, which one cannot be done in batches every few days? There are even a few heads hanging on the four gates of the city.
But, you can't help but accept small gifts and money. Of course, they don't dare to be as blatant or even openly ask for bribes like before. If you are willing to give me some, I will accept some.
The current man is so poor and has no money, not to mention the fact that Prince Deng wants to summon him in person. How dare he ask for a gift? If he talks to Prince Deng, his head will be in danger.
It is said that King Deng was also a selfless king, the emperor's uncle, and was known as the wise king.
Zhu Laosan followed him all the way to the county government office, and the chief attendant even took the initiative to get close to him.
"Hurry in and wish you good luck!"
The third child thanked me and waited uneasily for the summons.
A majestic soldier came over and said, "Are you Zhu Laosan of Defan? King Deng has summoned you. Come with me."
Within the county government office.
Deng Wang Zhu Yujian was talking to the county magistrate.
Seeing Zhu Laosan being brought in, he looked at him carefully.
The third child had shaved his hair before and later had his braids cut off. He had a short tuft of hair on his forehead and half of his hair was tied up at the back, which made him look nondescript.
There was still a look of embarrassment and uneasiness on his face.
"Are you from the Defan clan? Can you tell me about your situation in detail?"
Zhu Yujian was originally the king of the Tang Dynasty, but when he was a child, his father, Prince Tang, was not favored by his grandfather, the king of Tang Dynasty. He and his father were imprisoned when he was very young. Although he succeeded in seizing the throne of the king of Tang Dynasty, he even killed his uncle to avenge him. But because of that later
He recruited troops to serve the king without authorization, and was imprisoned in Fengyang High Wall for many years.
It can be said that Zhu Yujian was well aware of the crimes and punishments of the clan, and he was even more aware of the suffering of the lower-level clan members.
He handed him the snacks on the table and said, "Let's chat while we eat."
