The prefect's yamen backyard

As soon as he arrived at Shun'an Mansion, the prefect's wife Qi Zhou, who moved in, was worthy of being an expert in the family, and the former prefect had another mansion, and the courtyard behind the yamen had been used as a warehouse to pile up things, and the courtyard was also messy.

But after only ten days of tidying, the courtyard is already in order, and the main house is hung with Qi Hongxin's own landscape paintings, and all the details have been taken care of, and you can feel a kind of home warmth as soon as you come in.

But Qi Hongxin obviously didn't pay attention to this, walked back from outside, and sat on the chair next to the square table in the hall all of a sudden, his eyebrows and eyes were tired.

He was calm in front of people, and it was not until this moment that he showed his despair.

Where will he get the money to exterminate the locusts?

Not having tens of thousands of taels is obviously not enough, but the 100,000 taels that the water control yamen said they would want to pay back can't be taken out now...... Hey, it's hard!

When he thought of the difficulty, he felt irritated, and an itch welled up from his throat, and he covered his mouth and coughed.

"You!" Qi Zhou came over at this time, two maids were carrying a few dishes, and she carried a small jade pot next to Qi Hongxin's hand, and put down a small wine glass.

Seeing that her husband was only fifty years old, her face was full of wrinkles, and she couldn't help but feel distressed, and when she saw that he coughed a few times and was full of wine, she could only snuggle up to the chair next to her and watch quietly.

Because it was past lunch, she and her son had already eaten, and these drinks and dishes were specially warmed and prepared for her husband.

I didn't expect my husband to come back later today, so he could use it with dinner.

Qi Hongxin was indeed hungry, and after eating a few bites, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Why are you sighing while eating?" but are you still embarrassed about the locust plague?" Qi Zhoushi asked Wen Yan.

"The locust plague has risen, and it is difficult to eradicate it, and now we must concentrate the forces in the county to strangle it with all our might, otherwise I am afraid that I will be responsible for it. Qi Hongxin sighed and said.

His wife could think about it, or even more so, because she felt sorry for him, and comforted: "Every time you have been to a new place in the past, have you not faced a crisis? ”

He said: "Besides, your health has been getting worse and worse in the past few years, and you are coughing up blood, and you are tired like this, what this prefect is doing is really tasteless, this official, it's not appropriate!"

Qi Hongxin smiled bitterly: "Yes, this official is becoming more and more tasteless, but the locust plague is terrible, if it really becomes a disaster, it will really ruin thousands of families, how can you resign at this juncture?"

When Qi Zhou heard this, his heart was sour, and his eyes were red.

My husband is a stubborn person, and when he used to talk about resigning, he resolutely refused, saying that he wanted to repay the emperor's kindness, but when he mentioned it today, he didn't say this - sure enough, even if he is an iron-cast person, can't he stand up to the wear and tear day and night?

But he listened to Qi Hongxin's words: "But if you just want to do something, you have to ask for money, but the hateful thing is that the county is empty, and you can't take out money at all." ”

"Why don't you do it?" the wife was distressed, thought about it, and conspired.

Qi Hongxin shook his head, because he drank a few glasses in succession, although he usually drank a lot of wine, he seemed to be a little drunk at this time: "How can it be so easy? When I betrayed the prince, I thought that there would be today, Shangguan didn't believe me, although he used me, he always took precautions...... So far, I've dragged down the people on this side......"

Qi Zhou, who had always been mild-mannered, changed color and interrupted him, his voice a little sharp.

"I don't like to hear what you say, when you go to the prince's mansion to serve, you are just an envoy of the ministry, and you are not the prince's personal minister!"

"At that time, the prince has fallen, and the catastrophe is imminent, you have a mother to support, if you don't get rid of the prince, I'm afraid that you can't even support you, and the whole family may be guilty. ”

"And you didn't report it, just to protect the family, you signed it jointly, with or without you, the result is the same, how can you blame it?"

"At that time, the emperor killed hundreds of people in one go, and dozens of families were connected, could it be that because the ministry sent you, you had to be martyred with your family?"

"Even if it's me, I'm not convinced, not to mention that I was pregnant at the time. ”

Qi Hongxin smiled bitterly.

"The affairs of officialdom, that's not what you say, as a courtier, loyalty is the first, and I am favored by the prince......" Qi Hongxin wanted to say something later, sadness came from it, his voice choked, and tears flowed down even more silently.

Seeing that he was crying, his wife, who had been with him for many years, was so distressed that her heart was pinched, and she hugged him and cried.

"I don't know what you men are like, but you haven't forgotten him for so many years, I'm jealous in my heart, you've been atoning for twenty years, enough, enough!"

No, how can it?

A person like the prince died so unjustly and so aggrieved, and he, a former courtier, not only did not repay him with death, but survived to this day, and he is really painful every time he thinks about it.

But he was afraid of going down there, how to face the prince, and he didn't even dare to die, so he could only live like this, and put his mind on the people's livelihood.

I just hope that I can do more things to atone for the betrayal of the past.

But this is his own idea, but it has dragged down his wife and son, and now when he hears his wife's cry, he is even more uncomfortable, gently patting his wife's thin back, and he also doesn't know what to say.

At this moment, someone knocked on the door, Dong Dong was very anxious, interrupting the sadness of the two, the two quickly separated, each wiped his tears, Qi Zhou quickly took the towel and wiped it for him, before opening the door.

The person who came in was Qi Zhuang, a member of his own clan, and a person who had been with him for a long time, and when he saw the looks of the two, he knew that he had cried, and he was surprised for a while, but at this time he couldn't take care of it, and hurriedly said: "Master, it's not good, there have been swarms of locusts in the wild, and some people are still making trouble, saying that they will lead people to sacrifice to the locust god, and they will demolish the original water temple!"

Qi Hongxin took the towel away, his original tired face was full of melancholy and disappeared, he regained his majesty and composure, straightened up and said to his wife: "I'll go back as soon as I go, you stay in the house, don't worry about me!"

Qi Hongxin walked out quickly, a gust of wind came to his face, and without hesitation, he said sharply: "Prepare oil clothes and horses for me, immediately call the whole class in the yamen, bring weapons, and go with me." ”

"Also, with my letter, immediately order the county lieutenant to order the troops, and follow within half an hour, I will have at least three hundred soldiers from the county, and don't fool me with the soldiers, or I will dismiss him. ”

"Yes!" Qi Zhuang responded loudly, his expression serious.

The county lieutenant of Shun'an Province is from the rank of the sixth grade, and he is the county soldier chief of a county, and he is in charge of 1,500 county soldiers.

This is stationed in the camp outside the prefecture, and there are county lieutenants in each county, and they are generally in charge of hundreds of county soldiers, and they are also stationed near the county seat.

The county soldiers are of the same origin as the elite soldiers stationed in the capital, they are the regular army of all dynasties, and they are the main force in the war, although they are not as well-equipped and well-trained as the forbidden army, but they are also the biggest force to protect the county governments.

In the event of a rebellion, it is usually the county soldiers who are dispatched.