In a short while, the waiter served ten dishes in succession and wanted to serve more. I waved my hand and said, forget it. If you serve more, we won't even have a place to put the plates and chopsticks. There's no need to serve them now. I'll call you if I need them later.
Only then did the waiter leave. Actually, I had already let the old man eat while the dishes were being served. The old man was obviously starving, so he didn't stand on ceremony. He ate the big pork knuckle in five or six bites and the small rice in a bowl. I felt dizzy just looking at it. Gan Long and Shang Yang had just eaten, so they didn't eat much. The three of us just watched the old man eat.
The old man was really a whirlwind. During this period, he also let us eat by ourselves more often. In a short while, he had finished all ten dishes and five bowls of rice.
I was afraid that the old man would be too full, so I quickly asked the waiter to serve two bowls of soup to make the old man feel better.
After the old man finished the soup, he touched his chest and stomach and thanked us profusely. He said that he hadn't eaten like this in a long time and that it was too satisfying.
I began to ask the old man about his experiences, and the old man began to talk. It turned out that the old man was called Liu Qian. When he was young, he was a strong farmer. Later, his parents died. It was just in time for the recruitment, so he went. He was very brave in battle, but his temper was not particularly good. He did not have a good relationship with his superiors. Although everyone knew that he had military merits, there was no rule that said that he must have good treatment just because he had military merits. Therefore, his superiors had been pressuring him not to be promoted.
In a battle ten years ago, he rushed into the enemy's camp. He fought very bravely, but in the end, he was outnumbered and his leg was injured. Although he was rescued, he was disabled and could no longer fight on the battlefield. His superior, who had a bad relationship with him, took advantage of this opportunity to expel him from the military camp. He only gave him a small amount of money and left him alone. A disabled person without land or other sources of income could only beg for food after spending the money.
He said it casually as if he was talking about someone else's matter. It was only in the end that he sighed.
Shang Yang and I were filled with righteous indignation. Gan Long's face turned red. I asked Gan Long, who was in charge of the logistics ten years ago? Just as Gan Long was about to bow, I kicked his foot. Gan Long immediately understood and stopped bowing. Instead, he directly said that it seemed to be managed by a minister named Gan Long.
This minister doesn't seem to be very competent? I said slowly. Gan Long's expression became even uglier, but he could only agree that according to this old man, Gan Long was indeed very incompetent.
I asked the old man again, where is your superior who has a grudge with you? Did you look for him again? When the old man heard this, he was obviously a little angry. He said hatefully,"This bastard is called Wang Dian. His ancestors were officials. Later on, he retired from the army and became a local county magistrate. The county magistrate of the capital city is a lucrative job. I went to look for him twice. Even if he gave me a meal, I would be able to balance myself. In the end, this kid ignored me at all. Every time, he beat me up. I didn't dare to look for him anymore."
I paused for a moment and immediately had an idea. Then, I said thoughtfully,"I'm familiar with Wang Dian. I'm indebted to his family. Let's do it this way. My name is Qin Ren. I have a jade pendant here. We still have something to do outside the East City. You take this jade pendant to Wang Dian and tell him that this is a token given to you by his father's benefactor, Qin Ren. Let him settle you well."
This jade pendant is not simple. It can prove my identity. His Highness should be able to treat Old Liu well according to the jade pendant.
After I finished speaking, I handed a pisces shaped jade pendant to Old Liu.
Liu Qian looked at the three of us in disbelief and said gratefully,"I know that you are good people, but that brat Wang Dian is not to be trifled with. If I go to him, he might even chase me out."
I said,'Not this time. He will naturally take good care of you when he sees this jade pendant. Don't worry.' I said confidently.
The old man picked up the jade pendant suspiciously. Shang Yang also came up and said,"Old man, don't worry. We really have something to do outside the East City. You just have to go to the county government boldly."
To be honest, asking the king of a country to go to the county government to solve the problem of a retired disabled soldier is a bit of a fuss. I reckon that the person called Wang Dian will be able to solve it this time. It will be enough for me to go back to the palace and ask about it.
The old man thanked him profusely and took the jade pendant to the county office.
We paid for the meal and left the restaurant. Only then did Shang Yang say,"Your Majesty, if those with military merits do not receive good treatment, it will definitely have a great impact on the combat effectiveness of the army." Our previous system only said that there would be rewards for military merits and punishments for violating military discipline, but there were no specific system constraints, nor were there any regulations on the treatment of retired soldiers. Naturally, something like Old Liu would happen. This is also one of the reasons for our reform.
Gan Long felt that he was in the wrong. He had to admit that he also agreed to the reform in this area in order to make the military merit system more perfect.
I led the two of them to follow the route that Ninth Brother had planned. As soon as they left the east gate, they heard a group of horses chasing after them. The leader was a civil official. Looking back, they saw that Old Liu was tied to a horse. This group of people blocked our way. The leading civil official looked wretched but aggressive. He should be the county magistrate Wang Dian that Liu Qian mentioned.
This King Palace Lord was cursing from afar. Who the f * ck pretended to be my father's benefactor? I'll teach him a good lesson today.
This isn't part of my plan, but it doesn't matter. This place isn't far from the Prince's mansion and is under Gan Long's jurisdiction. We definitely won't be in any danger.
As expected, Wang Dian was about to raise his whip and strike, but he saw Gan Long just as he raised his whip halfway. He immediately recognized Gan Long. After all, Gan Long was his superior's superior's superior.
When this kid saw Gan Long, he quickly dismounted and knelt down to salute Gan Long respectfully.
There was an unchanging truth in ancient and modern Chinese that the more severe a person was to his subordinates, the more flattering he would be to his superiors.
I gave Gan Long a look and shook my head. Gan Long also understood that I didn't want him to know my identity. Since Gan Long had been recognized, this was the only way. Gan Long also obviously didn't have a good impression of this person called Wang Dian. He said sternly, What do you want to do?
The boy reacted quickly and immediately ordered the servants to pull Liu Qian down from the horse and loosen the rope.
He began to explain to Gan Long that this old fellow called Liu Qian was very cunning. Lord Gan must not be bewitched by him. However, since it was indeed Lord Gan who asked him to find me, I will definitely settle him down this time. Please rest assured, Lord Gan.
At this time, Liu Qian had already loosened the rope and came to the three of us. He moved his hands and feet while telling the three of us about his encounter.
It turned out that the restaurant we invited him to eat was only one street away from the county government. Liu Qian dragged his crippled leg and arrived at the county government in a short while. He told the gatekeeper that he had something important to discuss with Lord Wang today.
The gatekeeper also sympathized with Liu Qian and quickly informed him. It happened that Wang Dian was working in the county government. Recently, Wang Dian had been annoyed by the higher-ups because of the deduction of military pay when he married the sixth aunt. When he heard that Liu Qian had come and said that he had something important to do, he was so angry that he said,"What important thing could this old bastard have? He must be asking for money again. This old man, I'll teach him a lesson today."
After that, the king told the person who reported to get up here.
When the doorman came back and saw Liu Qian, he said," The old master is not in a good mood today. You have to be careful." After saying that, he brought Liu Qian to the lobby.
Liu Qian didn't even bow when he saw King Dian in the hall. In fact, he looked down on King Dian. Seeing that he still had the same temper as before, the King Lord became even angrier. He said sarcastically," You old fart, you're looking for more beating. You came here today to ask me to give you crispy skin, right? Come on, give this old fellow twenty military sticks first and let him have a taste."
The bailiffs on both sides were about to come up and beat Liu Qian up.
Liu Qian quickly waved his hand and said,"Wait a minute, Wang Dian, I'm not the one looking for you today. Your father has a benefactor called Qin Ren. He asked me to look for you and asked you to give me a good place to settle down. This is the jade pendant he gave me as proof."
After saying that, he took out the jade pendant and handed it to the bailiff closest to him. That bailiff did not dare to delay and directly handed the jade pendant to the palace lord.
Originally, I thought that such a jade pendant was rare enough. The Imperial Highness should also know that only the people of the Imperial Palace can have such a jade pendant. Unfortunately, this King Highness was ignorant and incompetent. He didn't even think about this. He only thought that his father didn't have a benefactor surnamed Qin and concluded that either Old Liu was playing him or the person who gave Old Liu the jade pendant was playing him.
Thinking of this, Wang Dian did not care about anything else and directly ordered the servants to beat Old Liu 20 times. Fortunately, the bailiffs of the county government were also bullied by the king and often had their salaries deducted. They dared to be angry at the king but did not dare to say anything. In addition, they knew that Old Liu was indeed wronged, so they did not hit him too hard.
Old Liu scolded Lord Wang while being beaten. Lord Wang was also furious. He shouted angrily at the bailiffs to beat him up. He would kill him today.
Fortunately, a bailiff at the side reminded Wang Dian," Your Excellency, stop beating him. This Old Liu is nothing special. What if there really is a person called Qin Ren? It's not worth it to beat Old Liu here and let the real murderer who pretended to be your benefactor escape. It's better to ask Old Liu what's going on."
Wang Dian was not particularly muddle-headed. Once he heard that it made sense, he called Liu Qian over to question him. Old Liu was beaten up badly, but he still told Wang Dian everything that had happened. When Wang Dian heard that the person who pretended to be his benefactor was going out of the east gate, he immediately organized troops to chase after him and brought Old Liu along.
The King's Palace only caught up to us after we left the east gate.
The Royal Highness also knew that he had caused trouble. After getting off the horse, he kept explaining, I really didn't know that it was Lord Gan who asked Liu Qian to look for me. If you know that it was Lord Gan who asked Liu Qian to look for me, I wouldn't dare to treat Liu Qian lightly even if I were beaten to death.
Originally, I didn't really want to punish the king. After all, this had a lot to do with the system at that time. It wasn't just a matter of one person or one thing. However, I heard that Liu Qian was still beaten up ruthlessly when he took my jade pendant. The more I heard, the angrier I became.
I thought about it for a while and came up with an idea to punish the king's palace. I told this idea to Gan Long in a low voice. Gan Long smiled after hearing it and felt that this idea was very good.
At this moment, Liu Qian kept kowtowing and apologizing. Gan Long asked him to stop and asked," King, do you admit your mistake today?"
Hearing this, the King Lord seemed to slow down and immediately kowtowed like a chicken breaking rice, saying,"I know my mistake. I hope Your Excellency will give me a chance to turn over a new leaf."
Gan Long continued,"How is your father's health recently?" Hearing that, Wang Dian thought that his father had a friendship with Gan Long. He immediately said with a sad face, My father passed away two months ago. The son really wanted to support his parents, but his parents didn't want to wait. After saying that, he pretended to cry. This kid had heard Confucius 'famous saying somewhere, so it was just right.
Gan Long waved his hand and said,"You don't have to be too sad. Since your father has just passed away, you can't be filial in front of the court. I'll give you a godfather so that you can be filial. What do you think?"
The Royal Highness looked at Gan Long with an unusually complicated gaze. It seemed that he still did not quite understand what he had just said. He quickly asked, What did Daren mean by this?
Gan Long said," It stands to reason that you should be sentenced to death for beating up a meritorious person of the Great Qin Dynasty today. However, I will not only pardon your sins today, but I will also let you continue to serve as the county magistrate. However, from now on, you have to serve Liu Qian as if you were serving your own father. Do you understand?"
The King Palace Lord had a look of despair on his face. He asked if his Lord could consider it again. This was too difficult to do.
Gan Long immediately said,"It's fine if you're in such a difficult position. Then I'll punish you with banishment and confiscate all your property." He also called for someone to take off his official robe.
Although the person beside him was a bailiff of the Royal Palace, he also stepped forward and prepared to take action when he heard Lord Gan Long's instructions.
Seeing that he was about to be stripped of his official position, Wang Dian immediately said,"Sir, I agree to acknowledge you as my godfather. I agree to acknowledge you as my godfather. Sir, don't take off my official robe."
Gan Long waved his hand and asked Wang Dian,"Do you really agree to acknowledge Liu Qian as your godfather?" Wang Dian almost said with tears in his eyes,"I agree."
Gan Long continued to say," Alright then. Carry your godfather back to the mansion and serve him well. If you neglect him, I will punish you for two crimes. Do you understand? Let's go."
The King Lord had a godfather, but his expression seemed to be even uglier than his dead father. The other bailiffs held back their laughter. Many of them had internal injuries from holding it in. According to the Royal Highness 'instructions, he got a soft bed from somewhere else and carried Liu Qian away. After the Royal Highness bowed, he also left.
After Wang Dian and the others had walked far away, Gan Long, Shang Yang, and I started laughing loudly. We laughed until we were swaying back and forth. It took us a long time to stop. The two of them had temporarily forgotten that they had different opinions.
We continued to walk out of the capital. The scenery outside the city was completely different from the city. Although the mountains and rivers were still beautiful, the lives of the commoners did not seem to be rich. After walking through two villages, they were all short thatched huts. The commoners were almost all yellow and thin, and their clothes were also patched.
There were many barren mountains and hills that were covered with weeds. Although such land looked suitable for planting crops, the land was either state-owned or given to nobles. No one went up to plant crops.
After walking through a few farmlands, the scene of the farmlands was not optimistic. Although it was almost the harvest season, the crops in the fields were sparse. It was obvious that the management was not good. Shang Yang didn't say anything, but Gan Long's expression became uglier and uglier.
We walked for a while more. It was already afternoon. The sun was going to set in an hour. We were all a little hungry, but we had no experience. No one brought dry rations and water bottles. The more we walked, the thirstier and hungrier we became.
There were no villages or towns nearby, so the three of us could only continue walking forward. We bypassed a mountain ring and came to a piece of farmland. The farmland here did not look like the ones we had seen before. The crops were strong and neat, and it was obvious that there would be a good harvest.
Gan Long, who had been depressed for the whole afternoon, finally had something to say. He quickly said to me,"Your Majesty, the few farmlands we saw just now must have been because the terrain was not good. The rain could not be stored, which caused the crops to look bad. Look at this piece of land. It's obviously good terrain. The land is fertile, and the crops are growing very well."
He was about to continue when I waved my hand and said,"Let's not make a conclusion first. Let's wait and see." Besides, we're thirsty and hungry. If we have the energy, let's find a restaurant and an inn first.
Not long after I finished speaking, a village appeared in front of us.
There was an inn not far from the village entrance. I let out a long sigh of relief. It seemed that the route was correct. We walked quickly to the inn. It wasn't too big, but it was clean.
We walked in. The shopkeeper was checking the accounts. When he saw that there were guests, he came in and was especially enthusiastic. He immediately came out from behind the counter to welcome them. His face was full of smiles as he walked. He said,"Welcome, guests. I wonder if you want to eat or stay in the hotel?"
Gan Long came forward and said, Shopkeeper, what's your name? The shopkeeper replied,"My surname is Zhao. I'm the shopkeeper, but this inn belongs to our boss. I'm managing it for him."
Gan Long added,"The three of us are thirsty and hungry. Prepare tea and food for us first. In addition, we want three guest rooms. We won't leave tonight."
Shopkeeper Zhao hurriedly waved his hand and said," Dear guests, we are a small inn with only one guest room. If you don't mind, I will tidy it up for you. If you don't like it, please give us a promotion. There is a big village and town 20 miles east from here. There are big restaurants and restaurants there."
I quickly waved my hand. I've walked too much today. I won't leave. I'll stay here tonight. Shopkeeper, prepare more food and wine for us. We're all a little hungry.
When the shopkeeper heard that we were going to eat, he hurriedly called out to the back. Xiaowu, come out quickly. There are guests.
Not long after, a waiter walked out from behind. He had obviously just woken up, but his attitude was still warm. He led us to a square table and sat down. He first served us a pot of tea and began to wipe the table. He asked us what we wanted to eat.
Gan Long said," Get your manager to prepare something for us. We are not afraid of spending money."
When the shop assistant heard this, he was obviously in a difficult position. He said embarrassedly, I'm really sorry, sir. Our restaurant is small and we didn't prepare too many dishes. Now, there's no meat in the kitchen. There are only noodles, steamed buns, and a few stir-fried vegetables left.
Gan Long looked at me. I also felt that eating like this was too simple. I looked out and saw that there was a chicken nest beside the inn. There were a few old hens on several sides. He said to the waiter,"Kill two of your chickens for me. Stew one and fry the other. We're not afraid of spending money. Tell the shopkeeper."
The waiter agreed and ran to the kitchen. He came out with a sharp knife and said that the shopkeeper had agreed to kill the chicken for us. He asked us to drink tea and chat first and wait for him for a while.
Seeing this, the three of us had no choice but to do so. The three of us were really too thirsty. Each of us drank two bowls of tea before feeling much better.
At this moment, another guest came in. He was in his twenties and dressed plainly. He was not handsome, but there was an indescribable wisdom between his brows.
He also found a table and sat down. Unlike us, he didn't want to eat, nor did he ask to stay in the hotel. He only asked the waiter to bring him a pot of water before drinking alone and looking at the distant mountains, as if he had something on his mind.
I could tell that this person was different from ordinary people, but he didn't say anything, so I couldn't directly go up and disturb him. At this moment, the shopkeeper also came out and cupped his fists to tell us that the guest rooms had been cleaned up for the three of us. After eating, the three of us could move in.
After saying that, he was about to leave. I got up and waved my hand, saying,"Take care, shopkeeper. We have nothing to do at night. If you're not busy, can you accompany us for a chat?"
The shopkeeper seemed a little uneasy. He said embarrassedly," I can tell that the three of you are all people with status. I haven't read much, so I'm afraid of showing my cowardice in front of the three of you."
I quickly waved my hand and said that it wasn't a big deal. It was just a simple chat. Actually, I want to say that I'm not even as good as you. I don't even know a few words from the Qin Dynasty's books.
When the shopkeeper heard what I said, he sat opposite me. We just passed by your village's fields and saw that the crops here are growing very well. Whose crops are these?
Shopkeeper Zhao didn't answer us. Instead, he asked us," May I ask what the three of you are doing? I said that the three of us are friends and passed by this place together for business.
Shopkeeper Zhao said that the crops are indeed growing well. Many people who come to our place will ask about this. I see that the three of you are also honest people, so I'll tell the three of you not to spread it.
I smiled and said," Don't worry about that. We're just curious."
Only then did Shopkeeper Zhao open his mouth and say, These crops all belong to the family of our fellow countryman, Zhao. Our country's policy now is that the land belongs to the country, but it's only rewarded to the nobles. The nobles also use some slaves to work and grow crops. These slaves basically don't work hard, so no one cultivates well. Therefore, the crops in other fields are naturally not good.
Mr. Zhao was more thoughtful. Seeing that he could not get a good harvest by farming like this, he sold some land to the local farmers in private and agreed to split the harvest 30 - 70.
By doing so, not only did Zhao get the money from selling the land, but he also got 30% of the income without having to do anything. These farmers were obviously more diligent in planting their own land. They cultivated meticulously, so the crops grew much better than those in other villages. However, this is not allowed by the country. The three of you will stop here after listening to it. Don't spread it.
I smiled and said," No, we're just curious. We still have to hurry tomorrow."
Just as I said this, the young man who came in earlier suddenly said that if you want to inquire about something, it's best to ask directly. It's not like a real man to beat around the bush.
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