Rise From the Humble

In mid-August, it is hot in the south of the Yangtze River. Especially in the afternoon, the sun is like fire, the earth generates heat waves, and the sky and the earth are like a steamer.

In the steamer of heaven and earth, villages are dotted here and there, forming a semicircle and guarding a small county town, which can barely be considered a city.

The circumference of the small county town is about six kilometers. The city wall is not high. It looks like about five meters. It is not much higher than the courtyard walls of the wealthy families in the city. The wall is made of earth and covered with white ash. Because it rains a lot in the south of the Yangtze River and the small county is close to the coast, there is more rain and the weather is humid. Many parts of the wall are soaked and damaged by rainwater, making it dilapidated and dilapidated.

There are four gates in the small county. The east gate is called Yingxi Gate, the south gate is called Guanlan Gate, the west gate is called Daifen Gate, and the north gate is called Wangyue Gate. There is an urn city outside each gate, but the urn city is even more damaged than the city wall. .

People rushing in and out of the city gate for their livelihood and life feel as if they are being roasted by the sun when they step out of the urn city gate. Even though he was wearing a hat and a wet towel around his neck, he couldn't help but sweat profusely. He couldn't help but open his mind and fan his clothes up and down with his hands, and he couldn't stop sweating.

The dilapidated and dilapidated city gate made people reluctant to leave it at this time.

"Oh my God, no, no, no, it's too hot. Let's take a break and wait until the sun gets a little brighter before going to the ground."

"Let's go and have a rest under the wall. The fields are not in a hurry at this time. The heat today can turn people into dried meat. The heat in the fields will definitely cause trouble. If we get sunburned, who cares about the mother-in-law and the children at home? ah."

"Hahaha, Liu Laosan, I live next door to yours. If you get sick from the heat, your mother-in-law, I will take care of you."

"Go away, fuck your mother. Even if you, Zhang Laowu, are overheated, I'm fine. Your mother-in-law, I'll help you. I guarantee that if you live for ten months, you will have another big fat boy, hahaha .”

Outside the Wangyue Gate of the North Gate, a group of five or six men with open minds and hoes on their shoulders could not stand the scorching sun. They laughed and came to the base of the city wall, found a shady place, and put the hoes in their hands. On one side, he sat down on the ground, pulling on his clothes to fan himself while laughing and cursing.

Farm men are like this. They come and go with vulgar and dirty words, which adds a lot of fun to the tiring days.

"Hey, look, in the pavilion in front, isn't that our county magistrate?! Last time, didn't the sister of the lame Liu at the east end of Zhangwang Village next to our village marry him as his third concubine? His sister On the day I was picked up, I happened to be repairing a hoe at the blacksmith shop of Zhangwang Village. I saw him. The villager from Zhangwang Village nodded and bowed in front of him like a grandson. And the one next to him, that must be from our county. Boss Bo, and the one next to him, isn't that the famous squire Zhang in the county? And that one, that one is the county's chief catcher, right? And that one, that one, darling. What kind of day is it today? , why are all the respectable people in Jingnan County running outside the city to bask in the sun in this shitty day? Normally, we don’t see these great gentlemen once a year, so why are we all gathering together today? Don’t you think it’s too hot?! "

When a man sat down to rest, he suddenly saw a lot of people gathering under a pavilion in the distance. With his sharp eyes, he immediately recognized the county magistrate among them, and couldn't help but screamed in surprise, and then recognized several more people. They were all prominent figures in their Jingnan County, and they couldn't help but become curious.

"Hey, it's true. I know the guy fanning beside the pavilion. He's the king of our town. What's going on? These people are either officials or rich. Anyway, they're all respectable. Why are they running away? Are you here? What are you doing?" The man next to him started shouting when he reminded him. He recognized Wang Yuanwai in the crowd, who was the most respectable person in the village.

"What's going on?"

"What bad water are these dogs talking about?"

The other men who were resting also noticed it, and all of them were curious and started to speculate in surprise.

"You don't know that right now? Haha."

Next to the farmer men, there was an old man in long clothes who was also sitting under the wall to enjoy the shade. Hearing what the men said, he stroked his beard and laughed.

"You are Mr. Yao. I recognize you. You are a sensible person in Dayao Village. You are responsible for all the affairs in the village. My wife is from Dayao Village. You are always well-informed and you always help me. Let’s talk about what’s going on. Why are all the famous people in Jingnan County here?” Someone among the farmers recognized the old man in long clothes and knew that he was a sensible person from Dayao Village. He had read After studying for several years, although he didn't pass the exam, he knew more than the farmers and was recognized by the village as well-informed. He would be consulted on anything in the village.

"It turns out it's Mr. Yao. We've heard of it too. Please explain it to us so that we don't have to open our eyes and guess. If we don't know why it's such a big thing, we'll definitely be bored even if we go back to sleep. I can’t even sleep.”

Other farm men also followed suit and asked Mr. Yao to tell them.

"Haha, okay, okay, I'll tell you what to do, so you don't have to laugh."

Mr. Yao stroked his beard and smiled. He liked the feeling of being surrounded by others, being asked for knowledge, and being the center of attention.

"Thank you, Mr. Yao."

Farmers gathered around, each with curious eyes.

"I also learned this news from my old friend Zhang Jiaoyu, so I just sat here and waited to open my eyes." Mr. Yao glanced at the farmer men and was satisfied with their curious eyes. He stroked his beard and began to say, "Today Son, it’s the day when our new magistrate of Jingnan County takes office. So, our Jingnan County officials, staff, teachings, instructions, scriptures, official codes, students, as well as local officials and wealthy businessmen The big businessmen, squires, elders, etc. all have to go out of the city to the Jieguan Pavilion to receive the new county magistrate into the city."

"Huh? When does the new county magistrate take office?" The farmers all opened their mouths.

"Of course." Yao Lao nodded.

"Another one is here to die, what's there to think about?" A farmer smacked his lips and uttered a sentence, a little gloating.

"Nonsense." Yao Lao turned his head and glared at him.

"Mr. Yao, I'm not talking nonsense. Seven magistrates have died in our county in the past five years." The farmer scratched his head and muttered, "It's only been eight months this year, and already two magistrates have died. ”

"What do you know!" Mr. Yao glared at him again, "What is a magistrate? A magistrate is a parent officer. What does a parent officer mean? A parent officer is the parents of our people. Can you curse your parents behind their backs?!"

"I also know that the magistrate is the official of our parents, but aren't there some magistrates who are just kidding? They don't look like parents at all. As for the first magistrate who died, he was judging cases, he was judging money, who He will judge whoever gives him more money. Why did Liu Laoshi fight so hard with him? It wasn't because he judged the case randomly. We all saw it with our own eyes. Landlord Liu robbed Liu Laoshi's wife and beat him. He was half dead, but just because Landlord Liu had given money to the dog magistrate, the county magistrate opened his eyes and made wild judgments, saying that Liu Laoshi's daughter-in-law seduced Landlord Liu, Liu Laoshi extorted Landlord Liu, and Landlord Liu beat him in self-defense. Bah Liu has been honest all his life, and the county magistrate was forced to kill the dog." The farmer was a little dissatisfied.

"Yes, there is also the magistrate who was killed by the Miao man during the counter-rebellion. He usually knew how to make money and play with women. How could he be killed for counter-rebellion? He was obviously drinking and playing with women. He died immediately. The superiors were afraid of losing him. Talents are said to have suppressed rebellion. They just bully outsiders and don’t know about it. Who in Jingnan doesn’t know about it?” The farmer next to him also followed up and said, “Also, forget it, I won’t talk about anything else. It’s not easy to come up with something.” Those who are less greedy will die faster, and no matter how they die, they will not be found out."

"Searching for rumors, if there is no evidence, don't talk nonsense, be careful that trouble comes from your mouth." Yao Lao glared at them again.

"We know, haven't we always told you that our lives are not good and we don't have a good county magistrate. Chun'an County is next door to us, and Hai Rui Hai County is so good. It's just a guarantee. When Qingtian was still alive, no one would give a thumbs up when he mentioned Haizhi County." The farm men were somewhat envious of the people of Chun'an County and envied them having a good magistrate.

Hearing the farmer mention Haizhi County, Mr. Yao couldn't help but feel a little distracted, and said with some lack of confidence, "Maybe our magistrate is a good magistrate."

"It's a good idea to know the county, hehe." The farmer smiled, shook his head, and gave up hope of what Mr. Yao said.

"Look, the new county magistrate is here. He is so young."

Suddenly, there was a commotion among the crowd, and they all stood up and pointed forward.

In the distance, a carriage, escorted by six riders, stopped in front of the reception booth. A young man opened the carriage door curtain and appeared in front of everyone, dressed in the uniform of a magistrate and county official. He was dusty and had a very honest smile on his face.