Rise From the Humble

"I really don't know what kind of ecstasy drug Zhu Ping'an gave them. They actually defended Zhu Ping'an like this. A small county town was able to capture 795 Japanese pirate heads. Isn't it abnormal at first glance? But they are good. Everyone said it with full confidence, and we couldn’t even question it.”

Just as Taizhou Magistrate Tan Lun and his party walked out of the teahouse, an accompanying soldier said angrily.

"that is."

Another soldier also echoed.

"Rewards and punishments must be clearly stated. Magistrate Zhu defended Jingnan and protected the 50,000 people in Jingnan County. He is a meritorious minister. Before it is determined that Magistrate Zhu has committed an act of killing good people and taking merit, you must not offend Magistrate Zhu, and you must not directly call him The name of Zhu Zhi County is taboo."

Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, walked in front. After hearing the indignation of his men, he turned his head and preached softly.

"Yes, sir, no, no, my boss taught me a lesson."

When the two soldiers heard this, they nodded hurriedly and admitted their mistake. Of course, they still thought that Zhu Ping'an must have killed the good man and took the credit.

"My boss, Zhu Zhixian defended Jingnan and saved Jingnan County from Japanese pirates. The people in the county are grateful to him and defend him in words, which is understandable. However, the villages outside the county are different. Many villages were caught off guard and were attacked by Japanese pirates. Presumably their evaluation of Zhu Ping'an would be much more objective. In addition, my subordinates felt that if they wanted to kill good people and take credit, they would not do it in the county. In order to hide it, they would hide it from others. , should choose a remote village outside the city to do it."

Zuo Zhen thought for a moment, clasped his fists and said to Tan Lun, suggesting that he go to a village outside the city for a secret investigation.

"Yes, that makes sense. Let's go out of the city and visit the villages below." Tan Lun nodded.

The group turned west and left the city through the west gate. After leaving the city, I asked a few passers-by and went to the villages that were most severely affected by the Japanese invasion.

Zhangqiu Village.

This is Tan Lun's first stop.

Before entering the village, I saw the destroyed rice fields in front of the village. The rice fields that were about to mature had been burned to pieces. As soon as you enter the village, you will be greeted by endless white flags. White flags are hung at the door of almost every house. Ruined walls and burned houses. Traces of destruction by Japanese pirates can be seen everywhere in the village.

The village was sparsely populated and felt very deserted. Tan Lun and his party walked deep into the village when they heard a dog barking, and then saw a trembling old man walking out of the door on a cane to check what was going on.

"Hello, father-in-law, we are tea merchants from Taizhou Fucheng. We are passing by your village. Can we ask for some water?"

Tan Lun stepped forward and clasped his fists and said.

"Oh, I'm from Fucheng. If you don't mind how dirty the little old man's house is, come in and have a drink of water. We don't have any food or wine at home, but we have enough water." The old man is old and has some inconvenience in his legs and feet, but he still has some troubles. With his ears and eyes clear, after listening to Tan Lun's words, he invited them into the house to drink water.

"Thank you, father-in-law." Tan Lun clasped his fists and thanked him. He walked into the yard first, then took out two bags of tea leaves from the burden carried by the soldiers and handed them to the father-in-law. "Haha, father-in-law, these two bags of tea leaves were not well preserved and were soaked by the rain. , the quality is not good, so I can’t sell it, but it doesn’t affect drinking, I hope I don’t dislike it.”

As for the fact that the tea leaves were watered by rainwater, of course it didn't exist. This was Tan Lun's deliberately made-up wording, in order to let his father-in-law accept the tea leaves without any burden.

"Look at you guys, why are you so polite when you have a drink of water?"

The old man waved his hand and refused to accept the tea leaves. Tan Lun insisted repeatedly. The old man pushed the tea leaves several times before taking the tea leaves.

Although tea is not expensive, the elderly are usually reluctant to drink tea, and they only buy some tea during the New Year and holidays. Now I heard that Tan Lun said that the tea was soaked in rain and could not be sold, so he accepted it after insisting. Put the treasured ones in the cabinet and prepare to entertain relatives and guests during the New Year and holidays or when someone comes to visit. The old man doesn't care whether the tea leaves are soaked in the rain or not. The tea leaves have to be soaked in water sooner or later.

"These are the only two bowls at home, so you can take turns drinking from them."

After taking the tea leaves, the old man picked up a greasy pottery pot, found two notched bowls, and prepared to pour water.

"Old man, we can do it ourselves." Tan Lun stepped forward and took the pottery pot from the old man's hand.

"Master, wait a minute, I'll wash the bowl again." Zuo Zhen noticed that the kettle was extremely grease-stained and the bowl was chipped and dark, as if it hadn't been cleaned. He couldn't help but get up and pick up the bowl, ready to wash it again. One wash.

"Haha, it's strange that yesterday, the county magistrate came to our house and drank water directly from this bowl."

When the old man saw this, he shouted with his hands behind his back. Yesterday, the county magistrate came to my house and he didn't pay any attention to you.

"No, that's good." Tan Lun waved his hand, stopped Zuo Zhen, poured a bowl of water, handed it to the old man with both hands, then poured himself another bowl of water, and said to the old man with a smile, " Dad, are you related to the county magistrate? The county magistrate has been to your house, so we can follow you to feel noble."

When Zuo Zhen heard that Zhu Pingan had come to this village, he couldn't help but conjure up many pictures in his mind.

"Why is this little old man so lucky to be related to the county magistrate?"

The old man shook his head. When he talked about rice flour and oil, the wrinkles on the old man's face seemed to relax.

After talking about this topic, Tan Lun, Zuo Zhen and others started chatting with the old man, talking about Zhu Ping'an, chatting about the Japanese invasion, talking about the time when the village suffered from Japanese invasion, talking about the casualties in the village, and talking about the 790 gains in the county. Fifteen Japanese pirate heads, let’s talk about whether the dead in the village had their heads cut off.

From the initial insinuating, to gradually clarifying the topic, we investigated and found out whether Zhu Ping'an killed the good guy and took credit for it, or even though he didn't kill the good guy, he used his good deeds to take the credit.

"You go away! You are not welcome in my home! Even if I feed the water to the dogs, I won't let you drink it!"

After hearing Zuo Zhen raise the topic, the old man suddenly became furious. He snatched the bowls from Tan Lun and others' hands, poured out all the water, and then tremblingly opened his hands and took Tan Lun and Zuo Zhen's hands away. Wait for someone to push out the door.

"Hey, hey, old man, why are you so angry?" Zuo Zhen shouted with a puzzled look on his face.

His answer was two bags of tea.

"Give it back to you!"

The tea leaves that the old man cherished just now and placed in the cabinet were now thrown into the arms of Zuo Zhen and others like garbage.

"Old man, what are you so angry about?!" Zuo Zhen couldn't help shouting again.

"You still ask me why I'm angry?! I'm so stupid that I asked you to come in and drink water! You actually slandered the county magistrate like this. I've lived a long time, and I hate people like you the most! If you don't do good deeds yourself, you won't see others doing good deeds, and you will throw dirty water on them. Do you know what the county magistrate came to our village for yesterday? The county magistrate came to us to help rebuild our village and repair our houses. He helped us cut rice again, and also brought rice flour and oil to the little old man, which was enough for the little old man to eat for half a year. Taking credit for cutting off people's heads?! Bah! Thank you for making this up! The heads of more than 700 Japanese pirates captured in the county are in The Heroes Cemetery and the public collection were held for two days to offer offerings to all the murdered villagers and pay homage to the souls of the villagers in heaven. Everyone looked at it. If any villager had his head cut off and took credit for it, he would have been recognized by the surviving villagers. Where? I'm still waiting for you to arrange it! Those Japanese pirate heads were obtained by the county magistrate and the villagers who worked hard to get them. We finally got a good magistrate in our county, but we can't let it be thrown away by you villains."

The old man banged his crutch on the ground in excitement, and looked at Tan Lun and others with eyes filled with anger.

After leaving Zhangqiu Village in embarrassment, Tan Lun and his party visited several more villages. With the lessons learned from Zhangqiu Village, when they investigated and inquired, their tone was much more tactful, and they all conducted it by making insinuations.

After walking through several villages, Tan Lun and others could not find any clues that Zhu Pingan killed good people and took credit for good deeds. They had to accept the fact that 795 Japanese pirate heads were captured in Jingnan County. It is real, and there is no such thing as killing good people and taking credit for good things.