With virtue

The Prefect of Nanke...

A fleeting dream.

Zhao Yunshu actually knew this story, even though he hadn't studied and his grades weren't that bad.

During the previous dynasty, there was a man in Dongping named Chunyu Fen. He was a chivalrous man who followed the example of the Four Lords of the Warring States in supporting his retainers and performing chivalrous deeds. He was skilled in archery and horsemanship and once became a deputy general under the military governor based on his martial arts skills. However, one day he drank and argued with his superior, and was dismissed from his post. After returning home, he became increasingly depressed and drowned his sorrows in alcohol every day.

One day, he got drunk and dreamed that he was led by two men in purple to a country called the Great Huai'an Kingdom.

The Great Huai'an Kingdom was delighted to see his handsome appearance and wanted to make him their son-in-law. They then granted him the fief of Nanke County, where he became the governor. He governed the county for twenty years with integrity and renown, but in the end, he was framed by treacherous people, stripped of his title and official position, and banished from the country. He was then sent back to his hometown by two men in purple robes.

After returning home, he slowly woke up and realized he was still asleep. Then his servant told him that there were ants on a locust tree nearby. He opened the locust tree and found an ant nest inside. He continued to open it and saw that the ant nest had city walls, a throne, and everything else. He kept opening the nest until he reached a tree branch on the south side and found that it was exactly the same as his former fiefdom. The so-called Nanke was just the tree branch on the south side.

In the blink of an eye, he achieved fame and fortune, married and had children, but upon waking, everything vanished, leaving only an anthill he had dug open.

He suddenly realized that life is like a dream and that the world is fleeting. He then devoted himself to Taoism and gave up wine and women. Three years later, in the year of Dingchou, he passed away at home at the age of forty-six, which was close to the end of his life.

The story itself is not problematic, but the fact that the Prefect of Nanke used it as a name must be suspicious. As the saying goes, there is no wrong title but a wrong name. Perhaps we can find a clue by starting with this.

The next day, the young Taoist priest did not rush to set off. Instead, he went to buy various things. He ate and drank his fill, then bought the raw materials. He stayed in the courtyard for two days, without sleeping or eating, and drew nearly twenty talismans to keep close to his body.

The four-piece talisman-drawing set given by Taoist Anhe was truly excellent. The ink was vibrant, the paper supple, and the purple brush strong and firm. Writing on the paper made the brushstrokes sharper and more fluid, and the ink didn't scatter but solidify in place. The talismans drawn this time were much more effective, and the success rate of drawing talismans increased significantly. These nearly twenty talismans were all top-quality; indeed, expensive things are expensive for a reason. Then he pulled the covers over himself and slept soundly for a whole day. When he woke up, he had a huge feast, focusing solely on chicken, duck, fish, and meat. He ate until his belly was round and full, startling the innkeeper who quickly brought him wine, saying, "Sir, sir! If you eat this much meat and don't drink, your stomach will burst!"

Despite eating and sleeping so much, the first thing he did upon waking was not to set off, but to read.

This went on for more than a day, during which he didn't drink any water. He just gestured in the air with his hands, sometimes frowning, sometimes suddenly realizing something.

It wasn't until Young Master Wang sent someone over, leading a horse and handing him a piece of paper, that things changed.

The young Taoist priest then stood up, put away the paper, and said, "I'm going to your stable."

When the young Taoist priest returned from the stable, he did not lead any horses. He simply hung the black dagger driven by Anhe Yin Shen at his waist, carried the iron sword on his back, and placed the peach talisman in his bosom—all things that he could easily reach.

Then, fully dressed, they pushed open the door and went out.

Everything is ready.

Let's put Anhe's matter aside for now; this person no longer has anything from his master.

The matter is with the Prefect of Nanke.

He should first find out the details of the governor of Nanke, and then when he returns, he should have Young Master Wang gather his men and try to defeat him in one fell swoop.

However, the waxing and waning of the sun and moon, and the deviation of the stars, are all interconnected with the universe, and thus, human beings experience both rise and fall.

When Zifang was young, he fled to Xupi. When Yi Yin was in distress, he farmed in Xinye.

Before Ziya took office, he fished at Panxi. Before Han Hou was appointed, he suffered the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs.

Meng Zheng stayed at the kiln, and Pei Du took refuge in the ancient temple. As the saying goes, when times are bad, they are poor and lowly refugees; when times are good, they become generals, ministers, kings and nobles.

However, there are too many unlucky people in the world today. Out of the tens of millions of people in the world, at least ninety million are unlucky. They are all destitute, poor, and lonely. They say that everyone is unlucky and just has bad luck.

Just like now, after leaving Dingzhou City and walking more than fifty li, we left the territory of Dingzhou. Further south and west, after walking another thirty or forty li, there is a village called Liujiazhuang.

This Liu Family Village has about a hundred households, with all sorts of surnames, but they are all tenant farmers. Everyone in the village works for one household, which is the Liu family, hence the name Liu Family Village.

The entire village, and the surrounding fields for miles, all belonged to the Liu family.

Logically speaking, such a large family business should have been targeted long ago, but perhaps the Liu family was just too lucky. Despite the many years of war and chaos before, they did not suffer any major disaster and still retained that large circle of tiled houses, as well as the thousands of acres of good fields along the river and canals for four or five miles.

While some were exceptionally lucky, others were unlucky, and the roads around them were filled with refugees.

Migrants come from all over the world, from all directions, whether there are roads or not. You can always find a few here and there. There aren't many, but you can't say there are few either.

Anyway, this group of people came in an endless stream from those nameless, desolate mountains and wildernesses, each one starving, but as soon as they reached Liu Family Village, they all froze on the spot, staring blankly, unable to move. The reason was simple: in this time of war and chaos, how could a village still be so prosperous?

A thousand acres of fertile fields, fruit hanging from the branches, children playing on the lawn, old men chatting and laughing in the shade of trees, cattle and sheep grazing, mulberry and hemp fields everywhere, silkworm rearing rooms, fields being cultivated, vegetable gardens lush and green, people working diligently.

For these displaced refugees, what else could this scene be but paradise? They dream of living in such a village, ideally with their own piece of land, a wife and children, and a warm bed—that would make their lives worthwhile.

So, in Liujiazhuang, a family that was particularly lucky, a large group of beggars and vagrants who were particularly unlucky gathered around the village.

However, the Liu family was no fool to have amassed such a large fortune.

At the entrance to the village, in that open space, there were seven or eight thatched huts erected for sunshade. They weren't anything particularly fancy; they were just wooden frames with bundles of freshly cut wild grass woven on top, and then a layer of dry grass laid underneath. A few people could finish them in half a day, and they could provide shade for dozens of people so they could sleep more comfortably.

Right next to these seven or eight thatched huts, there were two iron pots. One pot contained a thin porridge, which was clear and watery, with some wild grass, pig feed, wild fruits, wheat, barnyard grass, and a little bit of white rice, all cooked together.

It's not a good thing. There's more barnyard grass than wheat. Barnyard grass is a lowly grain, hence the character for it contains the radical for "lowly," indicating that it's not valuable. But if you cook it into porridge, it can fill your stomach.

The other pot was used to boil ordinary tea, mostly coarse tea leaves and even some strange grass stalks and leaves. The taste was probably not very good.

A man dressed as a steward, surrounded by three or four servants, stood beside the bamboo shed, all holding wooden sticks. Seeing any refugees trying to enter, he said to them, "Those who want porridge, line up! Line up!"

"You haven't eaten for a long time, so you can't eat anything rashly. First, take a cup of tea and drink it. After you finish the tea, you can get some porridge! One bowl for each person, that's all!"

This was certainly a good idea. First, one had to drink a bowl of bitter, scalding, and astringent tea, which almost made one nauseous. Moreover, the tea was so hot that it couldn't be finished in one gulp. One could only hold the broken bowl and sip it slowly until the appetite had subsided before going to get the porridge. The porridge was made from wheat, barnyard grass, and various wild herbs, including even pig feed. The taste wasn't much better, and it was barely enough to fill one's stomach.

If that were all, it certainly wouldn't have stopped so many refugees. So there was also a loud-voiced old woman shouting from the side: "Young and strong people, if you've had some porridge and want to stay, go down to the village and test your strength. If you can carry a haystack back and forth, you can stay and work! Meals are provided every day! No contracts are signed, and you can leave whenever you want!"

"The elderly, women, and children, if you have men or sons at home, you can stay if you pass the trial period. The men will eat, and you can still drink this porridge. If you don't want to stay, take this porridge, one bowl each, and don't come back for more! Go to Dingzhou ahead; there are still people and cities there!"

With just these two moves, they subdued the group of refugees who had gathered together.

When the refugees arrived here, they didn't have any intention of storming or looting. The young men with enough strength went inside to work, and the rest of the people naturally didn't have the ability to storm the village. They took the porridge and left without staying long, just to regain their strength.

If anyone tried to force them to stay, Zhuangzi wouldn't be polite. The steward and his servants would rush up and beat them, regardless of whether they were old, weak, women, children, or strong men. After all, two fists can't beat four hands, let alone sticks.

With a combination of kindness and strictness, people who come to collect porridge now line up with their heads down, and they are all very obedient.

Because there were many people, the line was winding, stretching from the thatched hut at the entrance of the village all the way to the dirt road. There were probably more than a hundred people. Some who couldn't take it anymore went to lie down on the thatched hut to rest before continuing to line up.

The group included people with missing hands, blind people, and people who were blind in one eye. Most of them were dressed in rags, and some were even wrapped in half a tattered straw mat, without any clothes at all.

The reason is not hard to understand. Clothes and fabric can be used as money. When there is really no other way when you are out and about, you will pawn your clothes and shoes to get a bite to eat. Then you will continue to wander naked. When you can't walk anymore, you will sit down by the roadside and die there.

This is why most of the starving corpses on the roadside are naked; those who are clothed can hold on for a while longer.

Besides these, there are some rather unusual ones, such as those holding children's hands or carrying infants. Go to Bing and search for "Germany" to see the latest chapters!

These thin, sallow-looking children, facing the bubbling coarse tea, sulked and drank it with bitter expressions.

Some, unable to bear the bitterness, clung to their mothers' clothes and asked, "Mother, why do people here give us tea before we eat porridge?"

The woman who was being questioned quickly covered the child's mouth and scolded in a low voice, "Shut up! Just drink yours! Why are you asking?"

As for the strong young men, they didn't need to queue here; instead, they went to the back to prepare to work in the manor.

Look at the servants of Liu Family Village, they are all strong and sturdy, and they have already cleverly begun to inquire about the treatment of long-term laborers.

According to the servants, they now only eat white rice and cornmeal buns every day, with pickled vegetables and soup as side dishes, but it's enough to fill them up.

If you become a full-time farmhand, you'll get paid, which you can use to buy cloth and meat on the estate. If you become a tenant farmer, the rent will be only half of the harvest, and the interest on loans for growing grain will only be 50% each year.

If you borrow one bushel to plant grain, after paying the rent at the end of the year, you only need to repay one and a half bushels for the remaining harvest.

Where in the world can you find such a good landlord? Many landlords charge more than 70% rent!

Therefore, there are quite a few people who want to join.

So, at this moment, you can see several portly servants inspecting and assessing the newly arrived young and strong refugees. The inspection method is not very humane, but rather quite brutal. First, they pinch the chin, pry open the mouth to look at the teeth. If the teeth are bad, they don't want to work. If the teeth are bad, they can't eat well. If they can't eat well, they won't have the strength to work. They'll be exhausted after a few years. They need to be able to eat well to work.

Then they grasped his arm, began to assess his strength, pinched his bones to see if they were loose, and finally had someone carry two bundles of hay, carrying them back and forth several times.

There was a young refugee, a strong laborer, but only fifteen or sixteen years old. He was very thin, with skin covering his bones, and he walked unsteadily. His teeth looked okay, and he should be fine after some rest.

However, he was very hungry, and during the trial work, he couldn't muster the strength to move the haystacks and even tripped and fell.

He immediately said, "I'm just hungry! Not weak! I'll rest a bit, and I can still..."

The person in charge simply shook his head: "No, no, next one!"

The young man was still arguing, after all, in this world, being able to have enough to eat is already a blessing.

However, as soon as he got up to grab the steward, a servant next to him struck him on the thigh with a stick, causing him to fall to the ground.

Unable to do anything else, he endured the pain and got up from the ground. Under the indifferent gaze of the steward and the threatening look of the servants, he patted the dirt off his knees and prepared to leave.

On the other side, there was a man in his forties who was still somewhat able to work. He had an injury in one hand and couldn't use his arm, but he gritted his teeth and struggled to carry the haystack. After going back and forth twice, the foreman finally nodded: "Stay here. You can stay in the dormitory for now and start work tomorrow."

The man went outside and smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, then patted the old woman outside.

With tears in her eyes, the old woman finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least the mother and son had survived.

The mother and son squatted down to the side, sitting there blankly, watching others continue their trial work.