After Humpty Dumpty heard this, he shook his head and said, "No wonder everyone wants to be an official, it turns out that there are so many benefits." ”

Zhu Shishi said: "In order to curb the corruption of officials, Emperor Taizu Gao severely punished the law, and even embezzled 60 taels of silver. If his old man is still alive, the officials of the Ming Dynasty are afraid that they will not be enough for him to kill. ”

Humpty Dumpty played with the wine glass in his hand, muttered for a moment, then turned his head to Li Qiufeng and said, "Feng'er, you are on an errand in Jinyiwei, are you not corrupt?"

Li Qiufeng was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly, and said, "Master, the apprentice has been taught by your old man for many years, if you dare to be greedy for a penny, I am afraid that I will not serve in front of you today." What's more, the apprentice is on an errand in Nansi, and there is no place to be greedy if he wants to. ”

When Li Qiufeng said this, he glanced at Zhu Shishi, and then said: "The prince just said that there are no officials and no greed, and I dare not agree. There are indeed countless filthy officials in the court, but there are still some good officials. I have seen a few officials whose families are surrounded by walls, but they do not take a penny of ill-gotten gains. Folklore has it that the Jinyi Guards are flying high, but according to what I have seen below, most of the Jinyi Guards only rely on their money to eat, and there are not many opportunities to squeeze money......

Before Li Qiufeng finished speaking, he heard Zhu Shishi sneer, and said: "That's because they don't have a chance to be greedy! I don't believe that you put them in the departments of the household department, or directly send them to various places to be prefects and county officials, if they are not greedy, then they are the hell." ”

Li Qiufeng remembered that when he was in the capital, whenever a colleague was sent out to be a magistrate, he would celebrate with wine, and bluntly said that he could be promoted to make a fortune from now on, and he no longer had to be like an errand in the capital, only two or three taels of silver per month, and he would be suppressed by officials such as the pacification envoy, the commander and the imperial historian. Perhaps, as Zhu Shishi said, these officials who are not greedy in the eyes of him just don't have the opportunity to be greedy.

Humpty Dumpty saw that Li Qiufeng was silent, but he couldn't bear to ask any more, so he turned his head to Zhu Shishi and said, "If the prince has silver, are you willing to take it out and give it to the poor people?"

Zhu Shishi was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly, and said, "Mr. Liu, aren't you making fun of me? You have also seen the situation in the palace, it can really be said that there are four walls of the family." If it weren't for Mr. Li's gift of a few hundred taels of silver today, I'm afraid that in just three days, the palace will be out of cooking. In my current situation, it is not easy to feed a family of six, and I really don't have the energy to help others. ”

Humpty Dumpty smiled: "Lord Wang, you didn't hear the grass people's words. I'm talking about the prince's 'if' he has money, will he help the poor people?"

Zhu Shishi said: "If I have silver, I will definitely help the poor, and I will not be a traitor who is rich and unkind!"

Humpty Dumpty nodded and said, "That's the best." Those who have experienced hardship know best how painful it is when they are helpless. Although the prince has experienced many hardships over the years, he also knows the suffering of the people. If the emperors and officials of the Ming Dynasty can be like the prince and observe the sufferings of the people, maybe there is still something to be expected for the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Zhu Shishi saw Humpty Dumpty Yunshan Mist Cover say such a thing, he didn't know what he meant, and just as he was thinking about it, the old servant walked in with a food plate. I saw him put two pots of wine on the table, and said with a smiling face: "The wine is hot, please use it slowly." ”

After the old servant finished speaking, he retreated on his own. Humpty Dumpty waited for the old servant to leave, and then said to Zhu Shishi: "This old man is very loyal to the prince." ”

Zhu Shishi nodded and said, "Uncle Wu is the person made by the old prince, and he is the most loyal. At that time, the palace was still prosperous, in addition to the grange outside the city, there were two pawnshops in the city. One year, Uncle Wu's father was seriously ill and had no money for treatment. Uncle Wu was in a hurry, so he ran to the pawnshop opened by the palace and wanted to take one of his arms. The shopkeeper and his companions thought that Uncle Wu was deliberately making trouble, so they quarreled with him. The more the two sides quarreled, the more fierce they became, and finally they started fighting. Uncle Wu was knocked to the ground by several pawnshop guys and tied up with ropes. Previously, the shopkeeper was punched by Uncle Wu in the chaos, and his left eye was black, which was when he was angry. At this time, seeing that Uncle Wu was held down by the guys, he immediately sent Uncle Wu to the yamen for punishment. It happened that the old prince went to the pawnshop to pick up dead antiques, and when he saw this, he drank his fellow and asked Uncle Wu why he came to make trouble. Uncle Wu told the story again and began to cry bitterly. The old prince took pity on him for his filial piety, not only did not send him to the official, but also gave him twenty taels of silver, asking him to find a doctor to treat his father. It's just that his father was seriously ill and was too late to be sent to the hospital, and he died a few days later. Uncle Wu sent the remaining silver back to the palace, and swore in front of the old prince that he would return the spent silver to the old prince. The old prince saw that Uncle Wu was honest and loyal, so he left him in the palace to do things. In the past few decades, he has gone from a servant cleaning the courtyard to a steward of the palace. Xianwang and I both grew up watching Uncle Wu. If I can't trust him, then I won't have anyone else in the world who can be trusted. ”

After Humpty Dumpty listened, he said to Zhu Shishi: "This is the best." There are some things that the prince is inconvenient to come forward, but he can leave them to this old Mr. Wu to do. ”

Zhu Shishi was stunned and said, "What does Mr. Liu mean by this?"

Humpty Dumpty smiled and said, "The grass people want to send a sum of silver to the prince." However, this silver was not spent on the prince, but was given to the poor people of Chengdu Mansion through the hands of the prince. ”

Zhu Shishi became more and more confused, staring at Humpty Dumpty with wide eyes. Humpty Dumpty took a sip of his wine glass and said, "Since the prefect Yamen and Wang Jingcheng have scraped so much silver from the common people of Chengdu Mansion, I have no choice but to let them spit it out again." ”

Zhu Shishi was startled, and said in a trembling voice: "Mr. Liu, you mean ......?"

Humpty Dumpty smiled slightly and said, "I didn't say anything, the prince doesn't know anything." It's just that early tomorrow morning, there will be a sum of silver in the palace. The prince used the money to buy some fields outside the city and give them to the poor people to cultivate. The rent can be not collected or less, and in the event of a disaster, you may wish to give some porridge and rice to the victims. The rest of the silver can be used to do some business, and the silver can be earned to help the needy. It's just that these things are inconvenient for the prince to come out and do them, so he can leave them to Mr. Wu. ”

Humpty Dumpty said this, paused slightly, and then said: "The prince doesn't have to take care of the silver matter, I will naturally do it seamlessly." It's just that the matter of buying land can only be done after at least half a year, so as not to suspect the prince of these big and small officials in Chengdu Mansion. ”

The more Zhu Shishi listened, the more frightened he became, just looking at Humpty Dumpty's smiling appearance, but he didn't dare to ask more. The four of them drank a few more glasses, and it was already twilight outside the hall. Zhu Shishi was shocked in his heart, but he didn't dare to ask more, and before he knew it, he was already drunk. When he was in a daze, it seemed that the old servant came in and helped him out of the main hall. I only remember that Humpty Dumpty told the old servant to wait carefully, and he could no longer hear everyone.

When Zhu Shishi woke up from the dream, he only felt a splitting headache, a dry mouth, and a fire in his throat. He struggled to sit up, only to find himself on the bed in the backyard wing. This house was originally used as a guest room, but the house is in the middle of the road, and no one has come to the door for a long time, so the tables, chairs, and bookcases in the house have been sold for money. Only a wooden bed was left, left alone in the house.

Zhu Shishi sat on the bed for a long time, and slowly remembered the matter of drinking with Humpty Dumpty and others. He hurriedly jumped out of bed to the ground, put on his shoes and socks in a panic, and went out of the house in three steps and two steps. But he saw the sun hanging in the western sky, and it was nearly dusk. The setting sun fell on the withered grass in the courtyard, like a sprinkled of golden corn on the ground, and it was not as solemn as it had been a few days ago.

Zhu Shixi stood in front of the door for a moment, and then walked towards the main hall. When he pushed the door and entered the house, he saw the princess sitting on the edge of the bed in the inner room, hanging her head and wiping her tears. Seeing Zhu Shishi walking in, she hurriedly stood up and said, "Lord Wang, are you awake......?

Zhu Shishi didn't wait for her to finish, then waved his hand and said, "Mr. Liu, where are they?"

The princess said in a trembling voice, "They left the palace at noon. ”

Zhu Shishi's heart sank, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the bed. I saw that the bed was empty, and the little son who was lying on the bed was gone. Empress Zhu Shishicang took two steps back, her knees weakened, she sat down on a chair, and said dejectedly: "They ...... Will they, take our sons, too?"

The princess nodded, stood still for a moment, and two lines of hot tears flowed down her cheeks again.