The forty-mile gentle and clear Tonghui River connects Beiping and Tongzhou together, and it is no longer inseparable.

Tongzhou is the east gate of Beiping, located at the starting point of the 3,000-mile North-South Grand Canal, and is undoubtedly the most important traffic artery during the Ming Dynasty.

The Grand Canal runs through the whole territory of Tongzhou County, making the whole city prosper by this, there is Chaobai River in the east, Liangshui River in the west, Wenyu River and Jiangang River in the northeast of the city, all of which are injected into the canal from south to north, only the Tonghui River from the Taiye Pond in Beiping City is from west to east.

Xiulan's sister-in-law's house is in Liujiazhuang outside the south gate, close to the river, and there is a Tongzhou Academy opened by local squires nearby, which has a history of 30 years.

Her father belongs to a typical character in the rivers and lakes, with a wide range of morality, and the money he earned when he was alive was not enough to drink, and later after his mother died of illness, he became more and more intensified, and several acres of land in the family were sold to the academy.

During the Battle of Jingyan, he was dragged by the imperial army to serve as a servant and never returned. After the situation stabilized a little, Xiulan's sister-in-law was only ten years old at that time, and she made a living by washing clothes for the students of the college, dismantling bedding, doing needlework, and planting a small vegetable garden at home.

Xiulan's sister-in-law was born with a peach blossom face, handsome eyebrows and eyes, and a slender figure, so that the sons and daughters in the students had no less of her ideas, and they all wanted to taste this gorgeous wildflower. At that time, she was afraid of losing her livelihood, so she had to be cheeky and quarrel with the scholars, mocking and mocking, but in her heart, she hated these unscrupulous children, and she did not ask anyone to take advantage of her.

I fell in love with a poor boy who studied seriously, but it was a pity that the other party was forcibly conscripted into the army and died in the south.

After Emperor Hongxi ascended the throne, the soldiers and civilians in the territory of the former Yan King near Beiping followed suit, not to mention all kinds of money and grain reductions, almost every household was compensated, and the long-depressed Cao Yun gradually recovered.

During this period, Xiulan's sister-in-law mistakenly believed in her relatives' media. Married to a family, only to know that night that her husband was a famous pimple, in a fit of anger, she fought to the death with the man, ran out of the door and ran home alone.

In the end, a group of uncles and uncles supported her, and if she didn't ask heaven and earth, she didn't get married, so she broke up, but it also delayed Xiulan's sister-in-law's reputation somewhat, and there was no matchmaker coming to the door anymore.

The three of them went ashore with Xiulan's sister-in-law, one of the brothers was called Liu Er, and the other was called Liu San. Xu Hao didn't dare to face the little brothers, because their parents died in the war.

Xie Jin also looked embarrassed, and even a little ashamed, how to say that Xu Hao is a military attaché, he is a minister or a cabinet minister, and there are orphans without food and clothing under the rule of King Yan, it must be a dereliction of duty by the cabinet, even if there are countless similar orphans.

A series of things Xu Hao did on the coast of Shandong and in the whole of Liaodong did not benefit the north at all. The concerns are too great.

Since entering the customs, the north is still the same north, and there is almost no change except for the recovery of vitality, and the whole of Jiangnan has become different in comparison.

Of course, the living environment in the north is much better than that in Liaodong. After a round of population cleansing in the Battle of Jingjing, there were already fewer people in the land, but now there are fewer people in the land, and there are less than 20 households in the entire Liujia Village. The total population of Tongzhou is less than 200,000, which is not as large as the population of Andong.

Think about the later generations of Henan is a first-class province with a large population, and in the early Ming Dynasty, it was located in the middle and lower reaches. In recent years, the imperial court has also made a lot of efforts, and a large number of people have migrated from Shanxi and Shaanxi one after another.

Xiulan's sister-in-law, who was alone, did not live with Liu Er and Liu San, and they lived with Uncle Wang at the edge of the village. As soon as I got home, I didn't bother to boil water and pour tea for the guests, but was busy feeding the pigs and chickens first.

Zhu Zhanji frowned and looked at a big black dog that was as fierce as a tiger running around, the three of them stood honestly, not daring to move at all, even the brothers who followed in were helpless.

"Oops, I forgot to tie up the Black Tiger, sorry." Xiulan's sister-in-law patted her head and hurried over to appease the dog who was barking and was about to run away.

Xie Jin glanced at the black locust and jujube trees that were full of black locusts and jujube trees around the fence, just like pulling up dense layers of barbed wire, don't think about getting into it lightly, plus this powerful big black dog, and said: "It's not easy to be a woman's family!" ”

At this time, an old voice came from outside the door, and said with a smile: "There is a guest at home?" Her dog, the famous six relatives don't recognize it. ”

Xiulan's sister-in-law pulled the ears of the dog standing upright in front of her and said with a smile: "Uncle, it is my loyal minister." ”

Zhu Zhanji's eyebrows jumped slightly, he was not used to the people making some similar jokes, Xu Haoxin said You haven't heard your father call the emperor Lao'er, and there are more people outside the gate who dare to scold the ancestors and grandchildren of the old Zhu family.

Uncle Wang, who walked in outside the door, was wearing a robe, holding a big wine gourd in one hand, his face was vicissitudes, skinny, but his complexion was really ruddy, and he knew that there was no lack of nutrition at a glance.

The same is true for Liu Er and Liu San, Zhu Zhanji has no reaction to this, Xu Hao and Xie Jin are very happy, this is the lowest level of people in Tongzhou.

In this way, the three of them lived in Xiuchun's sister-in-law's house, the black tiger was very humane, and when he saw that the master agreed to a stranger to live in the house, he put away his hostility and turned into the most loyal inner guard of the prince today, but unfortunately Zhu Zhanji was still afraid of it.

Xiuchun's sister-in-law lived on the boat, Xu Hao was as generous as ever, and directly paid three times more silver than she expected, overjoyed and at the same time, she didn't have to be busy running around every day, and she specialized in boiling water and cooking for the guests, and took them around every day to play in the mountains and rivers.

After only one day of shopping, she found that the three guests were not really keen on visiting places of interest, and Mr. Xie liked to accompany Zhu Gongzi to various villages to look east and west, and always inquire about the wind and comments of the government, which made her more aware of it.

As for that Xu Gongzi, he likes to get up on the fifth watch, standing alone on the riverside, observing the sailboats that enter Beijing from the Tonghui River, or looking at the lantern Buddha Relic Pagoda in the northwest corner of Tongzhou City.

The monk of the lamp is a generation of famous monks of the Sui Dynasty, buried here after his death, and the Tang Dynasty Zhenguan built a temple and a pagoda in seven years. The tower is thirteen layers high, as high as more than ten zhang, and each layer is hung with large and small gilded bells. Whenever the weather is fine, the shadow of a pillar of optimus tower is reflected on the Tonghui River, and a melodious and pleasant Sanskrit song is composed in the blue sky and white clouds, which is a major scenic spot in Tongzhou.

Xiulan's sister-in-law said to Uncle Wang: "This son is really weird, he sits all day and doesn't go anywhere. ”

Uncle Wang pointed to Tongzhou College on the other side. "I think he's been looking at the academy. ”

"It's none of our business." Xiulan's sister-in-law walked over, "Young Master Xu, since you don't need the slave family, then I'm going to drive the boat today, can you help watch the door?" ”

"No problem!" Xu Hao looked back and smiled.

Xiulan's sister-in-law was very strange why the black tiger, who was not close to anyone, fell in love with Xu Gongzi at first sight, lying quietly beside him, not saying anything, and letting it stroke its fur, secretly scolding that it was a in the end, and when she saw the handsome man, she couldn't help but step forward and get close.

Soon she took Uncle Wang and the Liu family brothers. The family's vegetables were moved to a small boat, and the boat headed for Tongzhou City.

As soon as they left, Xu Hao said to the big black dog: "Guard the gate well, don't run wild." ”

The black tiger screamed twice, and suddenly jumped up, like a dexterous ape, jumped up the wall in a few steps, and disappeared.

A boat stopped on the shore, and Mu Yun strode over. said: "Yaowang Village in Ten Miles has caught a pair of adulterous men and women. ”

"Hmm." Xu Hao immediately ordered: "Go and bring the prince back." ”

He intended to let Zhu Zhanji be shocked and educated, so he scattered his hands in a hundred miles, waiting to bump into something stupid, so that Zhu Zhanji could feel it for himself. I will support innovation in the future.

Yaowang Village is famous for the Yaowang Palace, which was built in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, but in fact, the relationship between the village and Yaowang is also a dime. However, the Medicine King Hall is the location of the highest meeting in the village, and major matters must be discussed and resolved in front of the palace.

There was a widowed woman in the village who was twenty-three years old, guarding her two-year-old daughter and twenty acres of land. Because of his young age, he was unwilling to be widowed for a lifetime. Secretly got along with the village blacksmith.

When the clansmen learned about this, they wanted to plot against that fertile land, and caught traitors and twins in the middle of the night. A swarm escorted the two to the ancestral hall for a public trial.

Originally, it was just a pretense to scare and beat, not only to get strange satisfaction from the tortured men and women, but also to sell the ruined widow far away, and to get back a gift as face money.

A small amount of this money is used to buy some paper money to comfort the deceased relatives, and the rest will be divided according to the process of contribution, as for the 20 acres of land temporarily used as family property, how to divide it will be discussed in the future, this is the old local rule that has been practiced for many years.

Since this matter is handled according to the rules, no one will object, but there is a festival between the patriarch Tian Fugui and the widow.

When the widow was not married, he planned to let the widow be his lame son as a daughter-in-law, but the widow's mother disliked one foot and did not agree, because Tian Fugui held back a sense of anger in his heart.

In fact, he himself fell in love with the amorous widow, and later used the excuse to flirt again and again, but he was scolded by the little widow who had some temperament, scolding him for being unruly and shameless, and since then he has pinched the handle in the hands of the widow, and his life is difficult to sleep.

This time he finally caught the widow's sore feet, and it was really a bitter sight for the enemies, and the next day he strongly advocated sending the two people to the Medicine King Palace, which meant that the matter had escalated.

When Xu Hao came with Zhu Zhanji, he saw Tian Fugui and said sharply: "How many years has it been that the Tian family has not had such a bad thing?" Therefore, this time we must not be spared, otherwise we will not be able to warn the whole clan and even the whole village. ”

"Yes, Patriarch Tian is right." The villagers echoed loudly, and the reason was obviously on Tian Fugui's side.

Zhu Zhanji was a little confused, and after hearing what had happened, he also agreed: "Even if she is a widow, it is not right to live in private, and it should be dealt with according to the family rules." ”

Xie Jin knew that Xu Hao would not come here for no reason, even if it seemed to be accidentally encountered, and this kind of adultery was handled differently due to different customs in different places, and the more enlightened places would not be good, after all, she was a widow, and the conservative regions were different.

According to his experience as an official in Beiping, if a widow has a leg with more than two men at the same time, the end is often very miserable.

At this time, Tian Fugui said loudly: "I decided to break Blacksmith Li's two feet in front of the girl and her mother, and then drive him fifty miles away, and never allow him to come back." The girl and her mother also have to swear in public to change their past mistakes, either not go out of the gate for the rest of their lives, or remarry to another village, otherwise Yaowang Village will not be able to tolerate her. ”

This statement is reasonable, and the whole village has nothing to say, and agrees with it.

Xu Hao squinted his eyes and watched as several men pushed Blacksmith Li, who had a blue nose and swollen face, out and pressed him down on the open ground, and someone picked up a big hammer. Then the widow was also brought out, her head bowed and her teeth were gritted, and the people immediately scolded and laughed, and beat the rotten eggs and other messes in their hands.

Zhu Zhanji exclaimed: "Isn't this a lynching? ”

Xie Jin explained: "This kind of thing has always been like this for the local clan, and it is difficult for the government to stop it, as long as it does not cripple or die. ”

"That's good." When Zhu Zhanji heard that he would not beat people into disabilities, he no longer cared, and Blacksmith Li was purely to blame.

After two muffled sounds, Blacksmith Li, who was sitting on the ground, gritted his teeth and remained silent, staring at the little widow from beginning to end. When people saw him so hard, the scolding gradually weakened.

Xu Hao suddenly said: "What a man, although he misbehaves, he may be able to make up for his mistakes by facing it calmly." This patriarch, in my opinion, this pair of men and women is naturally affectionate, so it is better to fulfill them. ”

"It's not your turn to be an outsider in the affairs of your own clan." Tian Fugui said angrily.

Xu Hao smiled indifferently: "Don't blame, don't blame, it's also a momentary feeling." I saw this man staring at the woman, but I don't know if people have feelings for him? ”

Before the words fell, the widow resolutely said: "I don't want anything, my daughter's land and property are left to the clan, and I will go with him." ”

There was an uproar all around, according to custom, the broken legs and feet meant that the crime was written off, and it was okay for the widow to choose to leave the house, but she was willing to remarry the blacksmith Li who had nothing?

Xie Jin paused and said, "Confused, isn't this sprinkling salt on the wound?" ”

Zhu Zhanji asked puzzledly: "Isn't it very good?" Remarrying each other proves that they are indeed affectionate and righteous to each other, and it also makes up for their reputation to some extent. ”

"That's not the case." Xie Jin didn't know how to explain, and shook his head, "The local clans all regard their faces as bigger than the sky, and this time the face of the whole clan can be said to have been lost, she can remarry anyone, but she can't continue to follow Blacksmith Li." ”

"Why?" Zhu Zhanji didn't understand it very much.

Xie Jin opened his mouth to explain it, but Xu Hao shrugged his shoulders, "Suppose that the people around you are reluctant to do so, and you choose to follow each other afterwards, how about it?" ”

Zhu Zhanji immediately said angrily: "How can this be reasonable! ”

Xu Hao sighed: "That's it, it's about your own face, so you naturally feel unbearable, and when it comes to outsiders, you feel unreasonable, I hope Your Highness can think about it." (To be continued......)