Chapter 1928 Stop and fight 86
After a while, all the boxes in the convoy were opened. Looking at the opened wooden boxes, besides clothes and books, Xining couldn't believe it.
I looked back and saw that there were indeed no other cars following behind me, but I was still not sure: "That's all?"
This is an official who returned to Beijing to celebrate the New Year. You must know that the welfare of this dynasty is the best among all the known dynasties. Even in such a wealthy previous dynasty, the salary of officials in one year was only one month in salary of officials in this dynasty.
It’s almost the Chinese New Year when I return to Beijing, and I will definitely bring money back.
The person who was robbed was an old man in his fifties, with gray hair and beard, who had just put on a winter coat. He had a look of disdain on his face: "The sky is clear and the sun is bright, and there are still people robbing me on the way."
The clothes are regular clothes issued by the imperial court. Even the clothes are covered by the imperial court, which shows that the welfare of officials is not low.
A bit arrogant, Xi Ning actually likes this kind of person. Although he is a bit old-fashioned, ordinary people lack such honest officials.
The slave next to him couldn't stand it anymore and shouted: "We have been honest all our lives, sir. You have robbed and beaten the wrong person."
A follower came forward and clasped his fists: "May I ask if you are Lord Xiang Zhong Ling?"
"It's me!" Xiang Zhongling touched the beard on his chest. Although his fingers were red from the cold and his whole body was shivering because there was no brazier in the car, he still maintained the integrity that a scholar should have.
Xiang Zhongling? Xining looked at the attendant, who lowered his voice and explained: "Master Xiang is a well-known upright official."
"But an upright official also has that kind of salary?" She was still puzzled. You must know that this dynasty relies on generous salaries to support integrity. If you are a first-class official, your income will be equivalent to one million in future annual income.
Xiang Zhongling's old slave couldn't help but said: "That's because my lord always uses his own salary to supplement the people. There were droughts in the past few years, and then there were hailstorms. The court's disaster relief food could not arrive for a while, so my lord put all his family wealth into it." Already..."
"Hmm~" Xiang Zhong Ling snorted and warned the old slave not to say any more.
Xining blinked his eyes: "For the money posted, write a note and ask the Ministry of Finance for it."
The old slave is old, and he is probably an old man in the house, older than Xiang Zhongling. When you reach this age, you dare to say something. So he defended his master and said: "I wrote it, but I never saw the approval. At that time, I borrowed money from the merchants, and then I got over the disaster. Over the years, all my salary and salary have been repaid, and the debt was repaid this year. It's over, otherwise you will have to sell your old house and pay off your debts before entering Beijing. You guys came to rob, and you really hit the wrong person. This time, my family really didn't bring any money, so I have to visit some acquaintances when I enter Beijing. , I need to borrow some money to survive until my salary is paid next month.”
Xi Ning couldn't help but be in awe. There weren't many fools like this. He didn't expect that they really existed. He bowed to Xiang Zhongling, but he looked like he was wearing brocade clothes, but he was doing a Jianghu salute, which was a bit nondescript.
Xiang Zhongling still stood there, with his back straight and stroking his beard: "It is about eating the emperor's salary and being loyal to the emperor. Since you are an official, you should protect the people of the area. This is what an official should do."
Xining looked at the luggage in the car. Except for books, pens, ink, paper and inkstones, there was nothing valuable. There are also official uniforms inside, which are of the fifth grade. But when people were riding in the oxcart, there was not even a charcoal basin, only a quilt to keep out the cold.
An official of the fifth rank can actually be so poor. He is indeed a very good and honest official.
Xining asked Yunlian next to her: "How much did you bring today?"
Yunlian took out her purse: "That's all."
Xining took it and weighed it to know how much it was. Just like in the past, it was two strings of ten pieces of copper coins plus five or six cents of broken silver. Anyway, if you don’t have enough money, you can still go robbing. But today the boat capsized in the gutter and an upright official was robbed.
He turned to the people around him and asked: "How much you brought, I can borrow it."
So everyone took out their money one after another, and Liu Lu had the most money, because as soon as Li Cheng saw her, he handed over five taels of silver, with a strong sense of being robbed, which made Liu Lu blush immediately.
Put them together, about a dozen taels of silver. Xi Ning asked Yun Lian to hand the silver to the old slave next to him: "It's getting cold today, so we can't live without the silver. Take it."
"Thank you, hero!" The old slave quickly accepted. People are poor and have short ambitions. It doesn’t matter who owns the money now. After entering the capital, you will need money for living and food. This money is enough for everyone to live for half a month. If you don’t take it, you will have to wait for your own adults to be generous. Face knocks on doors everywhere asking for money. Xiang Zhongling was stunned and immediately scolded the old slave: "Repay it immediately, this is the robber's money!"
Xining rolled his eyes, turned around and left.
"Come back and take the money back, I won't accept bribes!" Xiang Zhongling was anxious, but the old slave beside him was holding the money bag tightly with both hands. He was hunched over because of the cold, and the money bag was almost buried in his arms.
"Wrong, it's robbery!" Xining pulled up the cloak trimmed with fox fur and held Yunlian's hand to get into the car.
And Taohong Liulu also got into the car very quickly, and everyone ran away in a hurry.
Looking at the extremely fast group of people, and all of them are old and weak, no one can catch up. It was indeed a robbery just now, but who has ever heard of a robber offering money to someone else... Xiang Zhongling could only feel messy in the snowing cold wind.
It was another early morning court day. Xiang Zhongling went out to kneel down in the court hall to express his gratitude.
"I will live without any ceremony!" Emperor Dechang only remembered that the second generation of the Xiang family was an official, recommended by Zhong Lingjing, and returned to Beijing as a writer and compiler of national history.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" After Xiang Zhongling stood up, he thought about it and mustered up the courage: "I want to impeach Princess Yong'an. As the princess, I know how to break the law and block the road to rob..."
This was the beginning, and all the ministers looked at each other in surprise. Princess Yong'an didn't only rob wealthy royal relatives, why did she actually rob officials this time?
Emperor Dechang felt a headache after hearing this. What happened to Princess Yong'an? Isn't a group of princes or even the fifth prince enough to rob?
"...We must not encourage this trend. Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly!" Xiang Zhongling knelt down again. Although he was a little older, he still knelt with his waist straight.
A thorough investigation, a thorough investigation! I don’t know that she is the posthumous daughter of the King of Chu, the heart and heart of the Queen Mother.
But you can't say with a smile: "Hehe, it's just a robbery, why take it seriously."
Forget it, let's ask how much money was robbed first, and I'll pay some compensation later to calm down my hunger. Emperor Dechang asked: "I wonder how much I have lost to Aiqing?"
Xiang Zhongling hesitated: "This..."
Is it a lot? Forget it, Black Tiger Village will come to report, and soon they will bring 20,000 two-year-old coins, and there will be money to compensate.
There was money in the treasury, and Emperor Dechang, who was confident, asked: "How much?"
Hearing the official's long tone, he was obviously a little unhappy, so Xiang Zhongling could only answer honestly: "Eleven taels of silver, plus fifty-seven coins."
Emperor Dechang breathed a sigh of relief. It was only eleven taels. He would pay twenty taels later. No, no, let's go to fifty taels. It seems more generous.
But what he said next made him think he had heard wrongly.
Xiang Zhongling said with some difficulty: "I was not robbed of any money. The money was given to me by Princess Yong'an."
"What, what did you say?"
"This money was given to me by Princess Yong'an and forced on me."
The whole court...
(End of chapter)