Rise From the Humble

"Master Zhu, let's open the skylight and speak frankly. I, Wuxi Miao, went down the mountain to attack the southeast flood refuge area and robbed food and grass and more than a thousand people. I have made a big mistake. I wonder how Master Zhu can save me, Wuxi Miao?"

Mrs. Yilan leaned forward slightly, stared at Zhu Pingan with burning eyes, and asked with a serious face.

"I know that you Wuxi Miao are all good people, but because of the raging floods, hunger and cold, you really can't support it any longer. In order to survive as a family, you are forced to go down the mountain and plunder the southeast flood refuge area, and plunder grain and grass just for food. Robbery of the people is just for self-protection. I act as the magistrate of Jingnan County by the Holy Spirit. I am your parent official. In my eyes, you are all my juniors. You have not caused a big mistake, and you have extenuating circumstances. If If you know your mistakes and can correct them, I will forgive your sins."

Zhu Pingan also leaned forward slightly, looked at Mrs. Yilan with burning eyes, and said slowly.

The two people looked at each other as if they were meeting in a storm. For a moment, the atmosphere felt like an exam or a blind date.

After looking at each other for a full three seconds, the two of them looked away, with a smile of satisfaction on the corners of their mouths.

"Your Excellency is considerate of the people and deserves the name of Qingtian." Mrs. Yi Lan stood up and bowed to Zhu Ping'an.

"The chieftain, please rise. I am not worthy of the name of Qingtian." Zhu Ping'an stepped forward half a step and offered support from a distance.

"It's just that I still have questions, and I would like to ask you to clarify my doubts." Mrs. Yilan stood up and said slowly.

"Please tell me, Chieftain. I will tell you everything I know." Zhu Pingan extended his hand in greeting.

"Your Majesty, I just said that I, Wuxi Miao, know my mistakes and can correct them. Your Excellency, you will forgive my Wuxi Miao's sins. I don't know how to know that I know my mistakes and can correct them?" Mrs. Yilan looked at Zhu Ping'an with her weather-beaten eyes without blinking. , careful and focused, not letting go of any of Zhu Pingan's micro-expressions.

All the Wuxi seedlings also looked at Zhu Pingan with burning eyes. For a time, Zhu Pingan became the focus of tens of thousands of people.

"Return the looted grain and grass and the people, and the whole clan will submit." Zhu Pingan looked directly at Mrs. Yilan and replied without hesitation.

What? !

Return the plundered grain, grass, and people, and bring the entire clan into submission? !

It's okay to return the people, but how can we return the food and grass? ! The reason why we robbed the southeast flood refuge area is because the clan couldn't let the blame go! Wouldn't it cost our lives to return the food and grass? !

A kind of Miaoman emotion arose again.

"Sir, it's no problem to return the people. It's even better to surrender as a whole. We are good people of the Ming Dynasty and have never had any thoughts of rebellion. We just want to return the food and grass." After saying this, Mrs. Yilan shook her head slightly. He said softly but firmly, "I'm sorry for the difficulty. Please understand the hardships faced by Wuxi Miao. The reason why my clan robbed food and grass was because the clan had been without food for several days and had no choice but to make a living. These three thousand stones Grain and grass are life-saving food for our entire clan.”

When Zhu Pingan heard this, he couldn't help but laugh.

"The dog officer can still laugh!" Butterfly immediately became furious again when he saw this.

The Wuxi seedlings were even more indignant, and many radicals even threatened to fight Zhu Ping'an to the death.

Seeing this, Zhu Pingan smiled even more.

"Why are you laughing, sir?" Mrs. Yi Lan reached out and pressed down, suppressing the excitement of the tribe, and asked with a frown.

"I'm laughing at you, looking eastward, you can't see the west wall." Zhu Ping'an said with a smile.

"Looking east, you can't see the west wall?! What do you mean?!" A kind of Miao man looked confused and didn't understand what he meant.

"Please speak clearly, sir." Mrs. Yilan frowned slightly.

"Just now Chieftain asked me how Wuxi Miao can understand their mistakes and correct them, but you haven't asked me how to forgive you?!"

Zhu Pingan said meaningfully.

"I wonder how you are going to forgive us?" Mrs. Yilan asked, following Zhu Pingan's words.

"First, I will forgive your sins of attacking the southeast flood refuge area and plundering food and grass and the people; second, I have not only 50,000 troops outside, but also 30,000 stones of food and grass. After taking you to return the 3,000 plundered food and grass, I will The official will distribute these 30,000 stones of grain and grass to you together with the 3,000 stones of grain and grass you returned. Thirdly, five miles southeast of Wuxi Mountain, there are thousands of acres of wasteland suitable for farming. I have the final say to divide this wasteland. I give you Wuxi seedlings and promise that you will enjoy them for generations. After you open up wasteland, you will be exempted from taxes for five years. After five years, the taxes will be reduced by half. After ten years, you will pay the same taxes as the Han people."

Zhu Pingan stood up, stretched out his fingers, and made promises to Mrs. Yilan and the Wuxi seedlings one after another.

"Ah?! Give us 30,000 stones of grain and grass, and give us thousands of acres of land to cultivate. Is this true?!"

"You can't lie to us, can you?"

"It's a lie! Don't be deceived by this dog official! Since he wants to give us 30,000 stones of food and grass, why do you want us to return 3,000 stones of food and grass?! Isn't this just taking off your pants and farting!"

A group of Wuxi seedlings were shocked and excited. Zhu Ping'an's promise made them excited. Thirty thousand stones of grain and grass were enough for their whole family to survive this disaster year, not to mention thousands of acres of farmland. They had long been prepared for this. The Han people in Jingnan were envious, jealous, and resentful of the fertile fields they could cultivate. In addition to being excited, they also had deep doubts about Zhu Pingan's promise and suspected that Zhu Pingan had deceived them.

"My lord is so considerate of me, Wuxi Miao, and I am deeply grateful. I just don't understand. Since your lord wants to distribute 30,000 shi of food and grass to us, why do you insist that we return 3,000 shi of food and grass?"

Mrs. Yilan was equally puzzled.

"'What I gave' and 'what you robbed' are two concepts with completely opposite natures. What I give to you is yours; if I don't give it, you can't rob it. If I say this, can Chieftain understand? !”

Zhu Ping'an glanced at Mrs. Yilan and all the Miao barbarians with burning eyes, and spoke slowly one word at a time.

"What your Excellency said is true. It's because we didn't think carefully." Mrs. Yilan suddenly realized and bowed.

"Your Majesty, think twice. Ming people cannot be trusted, and officials are even less trustworthy. Don't be deceived by Ming people. These three thousand stones of food and grass are our life-saving food. This is just meat buns beating dogs - is there any There’s no turning back.”

There are Wuxi seedlings who are still skeptical.

"Everyone, I will always be here! Until the handover of food and grass is completed and the matter is settled!" Zhu Pingan stared at the questioning Wuxi seedlings with burning eyes, and twitched the corner of his mouth speechlessly, "So, what else do you have? What’s worrying?! Could it be that I’m not worth three thousand stones of food and grass?!”

After hearing Zhu Pingan say that he would always be here, all the Wuxi seedlings fell silent.

"Chief, and all of you, if you listen to me, return the grain and grass, the people, and submit to me, I will forgive your sins, give you 33,000 stones of grain and grass, and give you thousands of acres of wasteland. I promise you Farming, you no longer have to worry about your livelihood in the future; if you don't listen to me, you can capture or kill me, but then you have to bear the wrath of the 50,000-strong army outside and the imperial court's instigation of troops to hold you accountable. Extermination of the clan is not a threat. It is not difficult to choose one of the two, right?" Zhu Ping'an glanced at Mrs. Yilan and the Wuxi seedlings with burning eyes.

"If you are as considerate to us as you said, we, the Wuxi Miao people, are willing to surrender to you."

Mrs. Yilan looked at Zhu Pingan with burning eyes.

"I've said what I said, and it's hard to chase it back!" Zhu Ping'an said firmly.

"What are you all doing standing around here? Why don't you just follow me and pay homage to your lord!" Mrs. Yi Lan scolded the Wuxi Barbarians while holding her cane.

"Greetings, my lord!"

A group of Wuxi seedlings, led by Mrs. Yilan, bowed down together.