Chapter 133 The Charcoal Seller (Part 2)
The soldiers stopped the last bullock cart in the convoy and glared at the old man who was driving the cart.
This car is obviously not the carriage of the Prince of Wei. The Prince of Wei all has unique marks on the shafts, which is easy to identify.
The old man driving the car was quite old, with gray hair, and his thin clothes were blown close to his skinny body by the cold wind. He was shivering either from cold or fright.
Hearing this, the old man quickly reined in the reins and said with a smile: "So that the generals will know that the little old man does not want to sneak into the city. In fact, the cart of charcoal has been bought by the steward of the Wei Palace, and the little old man is required to Sent to Prince Wei's Mansion, look at this..."
"No!"
A few soldiers were about to let them go when a shout suddenly came from their ears. They turned to look and saw the captain coming down from the tower.
The steward of the Palace of Wei was immediately dissatisfied and said: "This is the bamboo charcoal purchased by the Palace, why did the general stop it?"
The captain was quite upright: "It's unfair to let you wait first, but for the sake of His Highness King Wei, everyone can tolerate it. But this ox cart does not belong to the palace. If someone lets it enter the city, what will happen to those people?" Common people and merchants explain?”
As soon as he said this, there was an immediate cheer from the crowd.
At any time, upright officials are welcomed by everyone.
The steward of Prince Wei's Mansion was furious. Relying on the reputation of Prince Wei, he had always acted unscrupulously in this Guanzhong territory. How had he ever encountered such a difficult situation? Just as he was about to refute a few words, he was suddenly stopped by the person behind him. The steward turned back in shock, and the man behind him whispered in his ear: "There are many officials from other places here at the moment. If they are not mixed up clearly, I am afraid it will damage the reputation of His Highness."
The steward thought it made sense, but he couldn't calm down. He glared at the captain fiercely, turned around and pulled out two rolls of silk, one red and one yellow, from a cart, threw them on the shaft of the old man's ox cart, and said: "This is charcoal. You can go to the palace to deliver the bamboo charcoal in the afternoon. If you dare to accept the charcoal but don't deliver it, hehe, I will skin you!"
After saying that, he waved and scolded the convoy to continue entering the city.
The old man was stunned, looked at the two thin rolls of silk on the shaft of the cart, and hurriedly grabbed the steward's sleeves: "Sir, please walk slowly... This... little old man, this cart of charcoal weighs three hundred kilograms, what are you doing?" I'm afraid the silk is not enough..."
Guan Gu had been stopped several times by the soldiers guarding the city, but he still felt that he had lost face and was angry. Now that the old man was chattering again, he suddenly became angry and turned around, slapping the old man in the face with a big mouth.
"Pa"
The old man was caught off guard and staggered by a slap. He covered his face and looked at the steward in disbelief, wondering why he was beaten.
The steward said angrily: "Isn't it shameless for you to be so old? The palace buys your charcoal. It is the merit of your ancestors. I gave you two pieces of silk and satin. Isn't it enough?"
The old man covered the bleeding corners of his mouth and glanced at the two pieces of silk on the shaft of the carriage with aggrieved eyes. Is this silk? Besides, it's just a few feet, so why two horses?
The old man understands that the people do not fight against the officials. What has he not seen in his life? Even though this steward is not an official, as a steward of the Wei Palace, he is more prestigious than ordinary officials.
But thinking about the paralyzed old woman at home and the empty rice vat, I had to plead: "Please give me more rewards..."
But the manager looked impatient: "You old guy, don't push yourself too far! I'm just leaving it here. Tanzi has already paid for it. If you dare to sell it to others, I'll give you a discount on your legs!"
The old man stared blankly at the two rolls of silk, wanting to cry but without tears.
Silk is not silk. It is much thinner and rougher, and its value is completely different.
After working hard for more than a month to burn this load of charcoal, only to get this little thing in exchange?
But, so what?
That is the Palace of Prince Wei, His Majesty’s most beloved prince! Do you dare to run away? I'm afraid I'll be caught wherever I go. By then, the ending will be even more unimaginable...
The old man's pale face was full of sorrow, and he squatted on the ground silently without saying a word.
The ox carts pulling charcoal blocked the road into the city, and the officials behind them were impatient and gradually gathered around. At first, some people wanted to scold him, but when they heard that the overbearing steward was actually from Prince Wei's palace, they all kept silent.
But naturally I have different ideas in my heart.
Fang Jun's carriage was not far away, and he saw the domineering behavior of the Wei Palace's stewards throughout the whole journey.
He is not an angry youth, or in fact, he has already passed the age of angry youth. He is used to the darkness of society, so he will not have the urge to get angry.
Class, oppression, exploitation...
These are ugly elements that cannot be eliminated in any society. It can even be said that they are the original sin of human society and the dirtiest seeds buried in the human heart.
But he was still unhappy.
If you are not an angry youth, it does not mean that you will be complicit, nor will it mean that you will allow shameless oppression to happen in front of your eyes.
There is nothing he can do about the society as a whole, but what is happening in front of him, if he has the ability, he will stand up.
What's more, the one facing him is Wei Wang Li Tai?
He was happy to add some trouble to Li Tai.
What to do?
Go out and show off your authority and beat up these stewards of Prince Wei's Mansion?
The effect was very poor, and the fat man Li Tai wouldn't feel any distress at all.
Then, be cruel, let that guy Li Tai grit his teeth with hatred whenever he thinks of Fang Jun from now on. That guy can't be the emperor anyway, so what are you afraid of...
Fang Jun opened the curtain, jumped out, and walked slowly between the steward of Prince Wei and the old charcoal seller with his hands behind his back.
The officials waiting to enter the city were all stunned. Most of them did not recognize Fang Jun. They thought to themselves, would anyone really dare to interfere in the affairs of Prince Wei's palace?
But how could the steward of Prince Wei not recognize this famous stick in the capital? Knowing that he had indeed gone too far, he inevitably felt guilty when facing Fang Jun. This man dared to confront his own prince, and there was no pressure to beat him up...
Several stewards looked at each other and took a step back in fear. The leader said with a stern look: "Fang... Erlang, it has nothing to do with you at this time, that..."
He swallowed, but he still didn't dare to say harsh words.
Unexpectedly, Fang Jun didn't even look at them. He looked at the ox cart filled with bamboo charcoal and sighed softly.
"The charcoal seller cuts firewood and burns charcoal in the southern mountains.
His face was dusty and smoky, his temples were gray and his fingers were black..."
Everyone was stunned.
The steward of Prince Wei's Mansion had a look of astonishment on his face, "Why are you a fool, a coward, you know how to read big Chinese characters, are you going to write a poem?"
The officials who were watching looked disgusted. What kind of cultural level is this? The rhyme between oblique and oblique is not right at all...
Even the servants of the house all covered their faces, wanting to say: Erlang, we always use force to crush us, you can just slap us with your big mouth, why do you have to be so polite? It's not your specialty. Ah...
Fang Jun seemed to be oblivious to the reactions around him, and continued to chant in a sad voice:
"What do you do with the money you get from selling charcoal? The clothes on your back and the food in your mouth.
Poor clothes and clothes, worried about the cold weather.
At night, there is a foot of snow outside the city, and at dawn, the charcoal cart rolls over the ice tracks.
The cattle were trapped and the people were hungry before they entered the city, so they rested in the mud outside the south gate of the city.
Who is Pian Pian riding here? Fei Shan'er in the palace of King Wei.
He holds the document in his hand and pronounces the edict, returns to the carriage and shouts at the oxen to lead them north.
A cart of charcoal weighs more than a thousand kilograms, and the manager will regret it.
Half a piece of red gauze and one foot of silk, fastened to the cow's head and filled with charcoal..."
"Hiss...hiss..."
At first, everyone wanted to see Fang Jun's jokes, but after listening to the whole poem, the officials all gasped.
Isn't this too cruel?
It is simply to nail His Royal Highness the King of Wei to the pillar of shame in history!
My head hurts so much. The doctor said it was caused by a serious lack of tickets... What should I do?
(End of chapter)