Rise From the Humble

After Zhu Ping'an had a brief acquaintance with the officials and gentry of Jingnan County at the Jieguanting Pavilion, he walked to the north gate Wangyue Gate under the guidance of the county magistrate Zhang Changru, the mayor Bo Yao Wenyuan and others, preparing to enter the county from the north gate. , go to the Chenghuang Temple to worship.

When the county magistrate takes office, he first pays homage to the city god. This is the etiquette rule of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Pingan has done his homework and is very clear about this.

The City God is one of the eight gods in the Confucian "Zhou Guan". It is a priest believed by both folk and Taoists to protect the city. In the Ming Dynasty, the status of the City God was further improved. After Emperor Hongwu unified the world, in the first month of the second year, Bingshenshuo was granted the title of City God of the world. The city gods of the capital city were granted the title of kings. The city gods of Bian, Hao, Jiu, He, Chu and other prefectures where Emperor Hongwu was founded were also granted the title of first-grade princes. The city gods of other prefectural cities were granted the title of second-grade dukes. The city gods of the prefecture cities He was granted the title of Marquis of the third rank, and the city god of the county was granted the title of earl of the fourth rank.

The Jingnan County Town God was a fourth-rank official conferred by the Ming Dynasty, and his official rank was much higher than his own, a seventh-rank county magistrate.

It is perfectly normal for a subordinate to pay homage to a superior.

Zhu Ping'an ignored feudal superstitions and other things, and simply worshiped his superiors as a subordinate.

"Meet the magistrate."

When Zhu Pingan passed by Wangyue Gate, the people around him knelt down to salute and secretly looked at Zhu Pingan with their peripheral vision.

"Fellows and fellow villagers, no courtesy." Zhu Ping'an showed no pretense. He stopped and smiled and nodded in return to the people who were saluting around him. He asked them to stand up without ceremony and stretched out his hand to help an old man up.

"The county magistrate, the grassroots are from Dayao Village, and the grassroots' surname is Yao... The county magistrate, please come and sit in our Dayao Village when you have time..." The old man who was helped up by Zhu Pingan was very excited, and his voice was trembling a little. .

"It turns out to be Mr. Yao. Okay, I'll go to Dayao Village to bother Mr. Yao after I settle down." Zhu Ping'an agreed with a smile.

After Zhu Ping'an and his party entered the city gate and walked away, the people watching the excitement under the wall of Wangyue Gate immediately gathered around Mr. Yao and formed a group around Mr. Yao. They all started asking questions impatiently.

"Mr. Yao, what did Xiaozhi County tell you?"

"Yes, Mr. Yao, what did you say to our Xiaozhi County?"

"Mr. Yao, we saw you and the county magistrate talking and laughing. What did you say?"

…

Looking at the people surrounding him, Mr. Yao straightened his back, coughed, glared at the bearded people who called him Xiaozhixian, and said angrily, "Young Xiaozhixian, do you have any decency?" , that is the county magistrate, the father-in-law of our common people in Jingnan County."

"Yes, yes, it's the county magistrate you always lectured. So what did the county magistrate tell you?"

People wanted to know what the new county magistrate said to Mr. Yao, so they all responded to what Mr. Yao said.

"What did the county magistrate tell me?" Mr. Yao glanced at everyone and was very satisfied with their curiosity. He stroked his beard and shook his head and said, "After the county magistrate helped me up, I invited When the county magistrate is free, he can come and sit in our Dayao Village."

"Ah? Mr. Yao, you are really awesome. You dare to invite the county grandpa to the village. Hehe, you really dare to say that the county grandpa is so rich and valuable that he can go to our dirty and dilapidated village?! How much have we changed in Jingnan? Now that I am the county magistrate, which county magistrate has ever been to the village? Mr. Yao, thanks to you, you are still a sensible person in Dayao Village."

When people heard this, they couldn't help but laugh, laughing at Yao Lao's whimsical idea of ​​daring to invite the county magistrate to the village as a guest.

"Why don't you tell me why the county magistrate helped me but not you? Let me tell you, after I invited the county magistrate, the county magistrate happily agreed. After saying that he had settled in, he went to Dayao Village to bother me. The county magistrate The eldest master is just being polite. If the eldest magistrate can come, he is just being polite. He is showing respect for me." Mr. Yao glanced at the crowd, raised his head, and said with his hands behind his back, shaking his head.

"Really?! I'm not trying to trick you, right?!"

When people heard this, they couldn't help but be stunned. They didn't believe what Yao Lao said.

"That's still fake!" Yao Laochong puffed his beard and glared at the person who questioned him, "I've seen too many people, and the county magistrate can see that he's a person who promises a lot of money."

People looked at Zhu Ping'an's retreating figure and were slightly stunned.

"This new county magistrate seems a little different from the previous one. At least, he is quite approachable."

Someone said so.

However, someone quickly refuted it.

"Easy to approach? Haha, I know people but not their hearts. Just based on today's encounter, is it too early to draw such a conclusion? It's not like you don't know that some people just know how to pretend. Today is his first time here and he hasn't handed over yet. When he takes office, he pretends to be more friendly to the people. When he takes over and becomes established, he will definitely have a different look. Even if he is really approachable, what's the use. Look, our new county magistrate has many He is young, and his hair has not even grown yet. As the saying goes, if he has no hair on his lips, he will not be able to do things well. If he is a gilded nobleman from a high-ranking official's family, how can he care about the life and death of us common people? If not, he is so He is young and seems to be naive, but he is also not smart. How can he control Jingnan, which is in a complicated situation? Can he fight against the five major dangers of Jingnan?! Hey, I would rather have someone who is arrogant and domineering, but A capable county magistrate."

Some people shook their heads and retorted with a sigh.

"Hey, yes, the name of our Jingnan County is so good. I think back then, it was the Han Dynasty or the Song Dynasty. The general named our county after he pacified the south. The word 'Jing' means pacification. , calmness and peace, so we named Jingnan County, which means 'Jing of the South', to herald good fortune. Our Jingnan County is a beautiful land, and the name is full of good wishes, but...hey, our Jingnan County Nan did not receive good wishes, but was cursed. She shed tears and suffered unbearably, especially the five major harms. The first harm was corrupt officials, collusion between officials and bandits, collusion between officials and businessmen, collusion between government and mines, and the two evils. The rebellion of the Miao tribe in the Southern Barbarians brought disaster to the common people; the three pests were the bandit invasion, the fourth pest was the pirate invasion, and the fifth pest was the Japanese pirates massacre and plunder. All of them harmed our common people, and each of them caused our common people to bleed, shed tears, and suffer unspeakably. These five major pests If this is not done, Jingnan will not have a good life. However, our new county magistrate is too young."

There was a salesman who was walking around the streets. He mentioned the five major evils, which immediately aroused the resonance of many people.

Looking at the young, short figure walking away, people couldn't help but feel a dark cloud in their hearts.

This county magistrate is too young. His shoulders cannot bear the expectations of the people of Jingnan.

Why

We, the people of Jingnan, have a really hard life.