ebookland Chapter 213 The miserable situation of Wu's father and son
Chapter 213 The miserable situation of Wu's father and son
Without the blood-sucking father and son of County Magistrate Wu, Huihai County has returned to its peaceful days.
As spring arrives and flowers bloom, people gradually leave their homes and begin to prepare for their livelihood for the year.
The sunshine in late March dispels the late spring cold, the earth recovers silently, and various plants are brewing green power to break through the ground.
Finally, one night in late March, the first spring rain fell.
The next morning, just after daybreak, Old Man Li went to the cowshed to feed the cows. He hid the soybeans he had stolen from the kitchen in a wicker basket.
He patted the heads of Dahei, Dahuang and Xiaolingling one by one, took out a handful of soybeans and started feeding them one by one.
In just over two months, Dahei's size has caught up with Dahuang, and his curved buffalo horns are even more majestic.
Little Bell is a little arrogant and always ignores its two cow friends.
But Dahuang and Dahei like to hang around Little Bell and give it the delicious food first.
Xiao Huang was lying in the doghouse. He moved his ears and ran over when he heard the noise, wagging his tail and circling around Old Man Li's feet.
Compared to the beginning, Xiao Huang has grown a lot and runs much faster.
Because of the abundant oil and water, Xiao Huang's limbs are strong and powerful, and his fur is oily and very smooth.
When it runs, its ears flicker and its tongue sticks out, it's very cute.
Old man Li smiled and took out a piece of cake, soaked it in the boiling swill, and poured it into the dog food bowl.
"Guaqua! Guaqua!" Xiao Huang ate with big mouthfuls. There are two kinds of swill in the Li family. One is the swill from their own cooking, which Mrs. Zhao took to the backyard to feed the pigs. The other is the swill from the seafood stall. It tastes delicious and has a lot of ingredients but not a large quantity. Old man Li specially saves it for Xiao Huang to eat, especially the leftover soup from cooking pork belly for fish balls. Xiao Huang likes it the best.
Compared with the harmony and vitality of the Li family, the Wu family father and son in the dungeon are obviously not living so well.
They have gone from initially disliking the hard steamed buns to scrambling to eat them.
After all, Wu Yanei is young and has much better physical strength than Wu County Magistrate. He has been spoiled since he was a child and has formed a fixed way of thinking, always putting himself first in everything.
He was forced by County Magistrate Wu to study, but he could not read a single word. He skipped classes all day and visited brothels. He had no idea what filial piety was.
He snatched half a steamed bun from Magistrate Wu's hand and said, "Dad, you are so old now. It is useless to eat so much. Why not leave it for me? Our Wu family will have to rely on me in the future."
Magistrate Wu was so hungry that his eyes turned green, but because his son had been snatching food from him for a long time, he became as thin as a bag of bones in just a few months, which was completely different from his original plump and big-eared appearance.
Even if he walked on the street at this time, probably few people would recognize him.
He leaned weakly against the wall, glancing at Wu Yanei, not knowing what he was thinking.
This is his only son, the only person he has ever truly loved. He has hurt many people in his life and never takes people around him seriously. In order to enjoy wealth and glory, he can sacrifice everyone except this only son, whom he truly loves.
He took a deep look at his son who was eating voraciously, and his blue eyes, which were turned blue by hunger, were filled with a dark and unclear light.
Logically speaking, a seventh-rank official who has just taken office should not take so long to conduct a trial.
But the water behind County Magistrate Wu is quite deep, and a single move can affect the entire body.
Ningzhou Prefecture is located in the northeastern coastal area. It has vast land and scarce resources, and is not rich. It is far in the northeast and not close to the capital. It is considered a relatively weak prefecture in the Cangyuan Dynasty.
But an iron mine was discovered in Huihai County a year ago. According to the survey of the sorcerers of the Imperial Observatory, the reserves of the iron ore are extremely rich. How much the reserves are exactly is a secret of the court.
Various forces were surging, all trying to win the management rights of the iron mine, and the magistrate of Huihai County, a place that was previously avoided by those with connections, suddenly became a popular position.
After a private struggle, the lucrative position finally fell to a fellow Jinshi who came from a grassroots background.
The real name of County Magistrate Wu was not Wu Liangcai, but Chen Ping.
Chen Ping's ancestral home is Taiping Village, a remote mountain village in Taiyuan, Jizhou. He had a talent for studying since he was a child and was noticed by a monk who was traveling there. He was taught to read and write for a year. Before the monk left, he gave him some silver money so that he could continue studying for the imperial examination. Unexpectedly, Chen Ping passed the examination and became a student the first time he took it.
He was the only son in the family and had a talent for studying. His family and even his clan supported him in taking the imperial examination with all their might.
Chen Ping was also very hardworking and passed the examination to become a scholar in one go.
After he achieved the title of scholar, and his reputation as a young genius, many people extended olive branches to him. Some offered him money, some offered him houses and land, and some even wanted to marry him to a son-in-law. He politely declined them all.
Chen Ping was a very upright person. Not only was he well-educated and had a good character, he was also grateful for the help he received. After he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he registered the clan's land under his own name, thus saving the villagers a lot of taxes.
Although this approach is somewhat selfish, how many people in this world can be spotless and do whatever they want?
If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Especially in the officialdom, being too aloof is not a good thing.
Later, Chen Ping, who had just turned thirty, passed the provincial examination and became a juren. He decided to temporarily bid farewell to his parents, wife and children and go to Beijing to take the exam.
After this departure, this young talent, who was the hope of the entire clan, never returned.
The clan sent people to inquire for a long time, but there was no news.
After the beginning of spring, Yuge Wharf gradually became lively, and many ships began to test the water and inspect the ships.
Leakage inspection is a very important step. If you wait until the boat reaches deep water to find a leak, it will be too late to regret.
Li Yuer looked at the West Pier with envy. At this moment, a large sailing ship was approaching the shore.
Because the private wharf built by Li Yuer is on the east side, in order to distinguish them, people in Xinpu Town now call Li Yuer’s wharf the East Wharf and the public wharf the West Wharf.
The East Pier is small and the West Pier is large.
Compared with the big sailing boats, the ordinary pontoon boats are like cats in front of elephants.
"It would be great if we had a sailboat like this." Li Yuer said enviously.
After hearing this, Li Erlang said casually: "Don't even think about it. You can't get off this boat without several thousand taels of silver, and you need a ticket, otherwise you can't buy it even if you have money."
Although the Cangyuan Dynasty did not implement a maritime ban, it did not relax its control over coastal areas at all.
All transactions of ships and docking at the pier require registration. Just a few days ago, a clerk gave the Li family a copy of "Cangyuan Law", which includes an article called "Maritime Control Laws and Regulations", which specifically describes the court's management policies for coastal areas.
According to this law, Li Yuer must strictly register the ships entering and leaving the East Wharf and report to the court on time. If he violates the law, he will be punished.
Li Yuer did not give up on buying a sailboat. Just because she couldn't afford it now didn't mean she couldn't afford it in the future.
She asked: "What are the conditions to get a ticket?"
Li Erlang shook his head, "I don't know the details."
Li Laosan knew a little bit about it and said, "I have heard of some families who have boat tickets. They are basically members of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce. I don't know the specific conditions."