Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 399: Teachers Often Take the Blame
"Little peanut, little peanut!"
Although Old Salted Fish seemed to have heard what Ah Liu said and called out twice, Little Peanut turned a deaf ear and ran out without a second thought. He had been staying at the county government office these days, and he was wearing the same silk clothes. At first glance, he looked no different from Ah Liu. Besides, the runners and clerks in the county government office were used to it, so no one tried to stop him.
He already knew that Zhang Shou was in the second hall, but when he hurried to the door, he found that only Zhu Tingfang's guards were there. They just glanced at him and no one asked him to leave. He couldn't help but feel a little relieved, but he didn't dare to go in rashly. He just waited at the door with his hands hanging down, but his ears perked up, trying his best to eavesdrop on the conversation inside.
"Lord Jiang wants to find fault with General Zhu and Doctor Zhang, but he doesn't think about it. The old Grand Tutor has received the imperial decree and is in charge of Cangzhou, but his students and old friends are desperately attacking General Zhu and Doctor Zhang for favoring the rioters and seeking fame. Isn't this slandering the old Grand Tutor? He has students all over the world, but how can they compare to the old Grand Tutor's disciples?"
In the second hall, Zhang Shou didn't know that Xiao Huasheng was eavesdropping outside the door, but he couldn't help laughing at Lü Chan's blatant flattery. Jiang Ge Lao has disciples all over the world, but all his disciples combined are indeed not as good as Ge Yong, because Ge Yong has another disciple who is the current emperor! The emperor recognized him personally, and the word "teacher" is always on his lips!
Of course, if the emperor was weaker, the outcome of the battle between Lord Jiang and Grand Tutor Ge might be hard to predict, but is the current emperor easy to bully?
"Moreover, Lord Jiang is too arrogant to start fighting on several fronts all of a sudden. Grand Secretary Kong and he are sworn enemies. Grand Secretary Zhang has just joined the cabinet but he has been suppressed by him again and again. This time, his followers are crazy and throwing dirty water on the two of them. No one can tolerate this! In addition, Duke Zhao, Minister Lu, no, Lu Jijiu, and Eunuch Chu all said that they don’t know what he is thinking..."
Zhu Tingfang listened indifferently to Lu Chan's explanation of the situation in the capital. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ge Yong flipping through a book attentively, as if he was not listening. From time to time, he poked the contents of the book with his right finger, and grabbed Zhang Shou with his left hand to ask him to explain some key points. Even though he knew without thinking that Ge Yong was just making a gesture, he couldn't help but feel angry.
If Ge Yong wanted to drag Zhang Shou back to Beijing to study mathematics wholeheartedly, and then leave the affairs in Cangzhou to him... he shouldn't do it so obviously!
Therefore, Master Zhu took a deep breath with a fierce look on his face, and then suddenly interrupted Lu Chan and said, "Eunuch Lu, if I remember correctly, eunuchs should not be able to leave the capital easily, right?"
Before Lü Chan could explain or defend himself, he said calmly, "I am not one of those conservative civil servants . I just want to know that since this time an exception has been made, you are not just a messenger, because anyone can be a messenger, so why do we need a eunuch? Cangzhou has more than a dozen vacancies, from county magistrates to subordinate officials and clerks. The court did not fill the vacancies, but sent you?"
Lu Chan was originally distracted and was eavesdropping on what Ge Yong and Zhang Shou were talking about. When he found out that they were talking about three expressions of circular equations in the rectangular coordinate system, his scalp went numb when he heard the strangely pronounced symbols. When he realized that Zhu Tingfang's words were sharp, he was even more caught off guard when he heard that the other person was questioning him directly about his purpose.
Although he wanted to talk about something else, or to change the subject vaguely and bring it up later, Zhu Tingfang's gaze was too oppressive. He couldn't even avoid the sharp eyes, and in the end he just made up his mind and said what he meant.
"The news of the construction of Cangzhou Port has not spread in the court yet, especially Jiang Gelao, who is still completely in the dark. But since General Zhu and Dr. Zhang have contacted businessmen from Shanxi and Suzhou, and officials from these two places are among the officials who are besieging Jiang Gelao's faction in the court, it may not be easy to conceal this news until Jiang Gelao is pulled down from power."
"Moreover, even if Lord Jiang steps down in the future, whether it's Grand Secretary Kong, Grand Secretary Zhang, or even Grand Secretary Wu who used to be silent and like a yes-man, do you think they will be on the same page with the Zhu family, or more accurately, with the emperor? Impossible! These officials rushed out of the vast army of soldiers in the imperial examinations, and in the final analysis, they actually trust themselves more."
"Since those people are not trustworthy, and General Zhu and Doctor Zhang are doing their best to serve the emperor, don't they want to put aside those constraints and plan a brand new Cangzhou? You know, Cangzhou belongs to Hejian Prefecture, but the prefectural government has been vacant for a long time. Although the Changlu County Magistrate has the final say, he is still controlled by the Hejian Prefecture . What if we reverse this old system?"
"Furthermore, if Cangzhou can be upgraded to a prefecture and Nanpi County, Yanshan County and Dongguang County can all be incorporated into it, then not only can the canal area be separated from Hejian Prefecture, it will also be enough to compete with it, and all the coastal areas can be included . If you are worried that the docks in the future will be uncontrollable like Tianjin, the Customs and the Military Supervision Bureau are willing to help!"
When Lu Chan said this, he saw that Zhang Shou had finally pulled himself away from Ge Yong's mathematics book and was looking at him, while Zhu Tingfang also had a serious expression on his face. He thought that at least this brother-in-law and uncle had taken his words seriously, but who knew that Zhang Shou would just stand up.
"Don't interfere in matters that are not within your jurisdiction. I just discussed the port construction with others at the request of General Zhu. I don't know the specific details or what should be done in the future. Eunuch Lu, please discuss it with General Zhu. I am just a scholar, at best a teacher in the Imperial College. How can I have the ability to think so far-reachingly?"
Without waiting for Lu Chan to say anything against it, he smiled and said, "Besides, since you said before that the emperor is looking forward to the effects of the cinchona tree, the prisoners' departure for Qiongzhou Prefecture cannot be delayed. They have just been beaten with a hundred sticks. I plan to go and see how they are doing now and when we can set off, so as not to delay things."
"This is my first time out of the capital. I know nothing about astronomy, geography, and hydrology. I am far from being as knowledgeable as my teacher. If Eunuch Lu wants to teach you about Cangzhou, my teacher is a ready-made master right in front of you. Why ask me, a rookie?"
Seeing Zhang Shou bow and walk out directly, Lü Chan was stunned. Then, he heard a bang and turned around to see Ge Yong smashing the armrest in anger.
"This damn brat! He always blames the teacher for everything. Are there any lazy students like you? You don't know astronomy and geography? Who was that guy who talked about dynamic spectrum equilibrium equations in front of me and made me sleepless all night?"
Zhang Shou, who had already left the second hall, pretended not to hear Ge Yong's roar. As for the angry look like a knife from his future brother-in-law behind him, he didn't care at all. When he saw Xiao Huasheng when he went out, he grabbed him and left without hesitation.
Teachers often take the blame, so they should be used to it...right?
As for the dynamic spectrum equilibrium equation, it is impossible to calculate it without a computer. He listed it out just to fool Manager Hua, who is a complete layman in the field of mathematics.
As for listing the equation in front of Ge Yong, he was just saying hello first, so that when Manager Hua was really stupid enough to ask Ge Yong for advice on this, he would not be chased by the teacher who was inexplicably blamed and furious...
Anyway, he already understood what Lü Chan wanted, but he didn't want to get involved at all - wasn't it just that the eunuchs wanted to play a greater role, and they were still fighting for the emperor to check the civil officials? At Zhu Tingfang's request, he had already persuaded the troops from the north and south to form an alliance, and he was too lazy to care about what happened next.
Cangzhou is not his own land, so he needs to correct his attitude of distancing himself from the matter!
Peanut, who had been eavesdropping outside, didn't really understand what was said. After all, what Lü Chan was talking about was too big and complicated, and the people involved were too high-level. On the contrary, Zhang Shou's excuse for coming out was relatively simple. At this moment, he was dragged out by Zhang Shou obediently. After he was far away from the second hall, he whispered, "It was Sixth Brother who told me that I could come here. I didn't understand anything just now."
He wanted to say he didn't hear it, but that would be a lie, so he could only claim he didn't understand it.
Zhang Shou laughed and said nonchalantly, "If you didn't understand, then you didn't understand. Even if you did, it doesn't matter. But forget about it now, because we are going to see Xian Yunhe and the others. This is more important than what you heard."
Peanut nodded quickly, all his attention focused on Xian Yunhe's situation. He forgot all about the words he just heard. "Yeah, Dr. Zhang, don't worry. I will forget about those things soon."
Zhang Shou was amused by Xiao Huasheng's honest attitude, but in his mind he recalled the execution that had just taken place on the platform in front of the lobby.
The news of today's execution had been released long ago. Compared with the previous trials of unscrupulous businessmen and corrupt officials, there were far fewer people coming to the gate of the county government to watch and wait for news. He even heard the officers outside come in to report that even the spinners and cotton farmers who had previously worked together with Xian Yunhe and others were not there.
At first glance, this seemed to be drawing a clear line, but when he met Zhu Er at the end, Zhu Er whispered to him that many cotton farmers and spinners did not dare to come because they felt that even if they could not see it, they might still feel hurt when they heard the noise of being beaten and could not control their emotions.
It was also for this reason that he had ordered people to prepare a cloth roll to gag the prisoner early on - maybe it was the hypocrisy of a gentleman staying away from the kitchen and not wanting to hear the wailing of the lamb to be slaughtered, or maybe it was something else, anyway, if he didn't have to be there, he would have wished he could find an excuse to avoid such occasions.
At this time, when he brought Xiao Huasheng into the county prison, he saw several new jailers who had just taken office coming up to him with smiles on their faces. He smelled the blood and medicine in the air, and couldn't help but sigh softly in his heart.
If Zhu Tingfang had not taken drastic measures before, firing many runners and jailers in one go, and using Cangzhou Wumen to suppress the backlash from these laid-off people, a group of people who were extremely angry were directly sent to do salt-drying labor, while the honest ones were responsible for escorting prisoners such as the Qi family who were sentenced to exile. If this prison was still run by the old people, it would probably still smell like mold.
And now, with the rapid conclusion of many previous prison sentences, this place has been thoroughly cleaned from inside to outside. The air had originally improved a lot, but with today's collective executions, it may take some time for this smell to dissipate.
When he smelled the smell, Peanut's face turned pale, and he unconsciously grabbed Zhang Shou's arm tightly, and his whole body was shaking. At this time, he finally understood what Ah Liu meant when he said that Zhang Shou didn't let him go over to see.
If he really saw the execution scene at that time, he would probably not be able to help but rush forward!
Zhang Shou felt the force pulling his arm, and couldn't help but look sideways. Seeing beads of sweat on the little guy's forehead, he coughed. Seeing the guy come back to his senses, he reached out and patted his head, then said in a deep voice: "Don't move around for a while, don't make any noise, understand?"
Peanut bit his lips hard and nodded. When he entered the deep of the prison, he could hear the groans of pain. His heart was still in his throat. He saw the wooden fence cells on the left and right of the passage. There were straw mats on the floor and several people were lying there. There were prison guards busy giving them medicine. He couldn't help but subconsciously want to go forward, but then he held back.
Thinking of Zhang Shou's warning, he bit his lips until they bled, but he still forced himself to follow Zhang Shou. Then he heard Zhang Shou ask, "How are they doing now?"
The head jailer pretended not to notice the pale face of Peanut. Who wouldn't pay attention to the people Zhang Shou used? Who didn't know that this boy had once made trouble with Xian Yunhe? It was just that because he was young and was released with others by Zhu Tingfang, no one dared to talk about him.
"Reporting to Dr. Zhang, he is indeed a skilled worker from the capital. His skills are amazing."
As if afraid that this explanation was not enough, the head jailer smiled and explained: "After one hundred strokes of the cane, only the skin and flesh were broken, without any injuries to the tendons and bones. The top masters in Cangzhou City who have practiced this skill have used worse canes than this. Besides, Grand Tutor Ge ordered that the wounds be cleaned with liquor, and then bandaged with medicine. It is painful, but it will heal faster in the future..."
Listening to the chief jailer's explanation with spit flying everywhere, a man in the cell, who was in so much pain that he was grabbing rotten straw with his hands to vent his anger, couldn't help but curse in a low voice: "It's easy to say, why don't you try to take a beating?"
Xian Yunhe saw that other people's faces were twitching, or they were groaning and crying out in pain because of the application of medicine. Although no one agreed with him, they were all in roughly the same mood. He couldn't help but smile bitterly, as he had fainted twice from the pain when he was beaten before.
Even if it was true as the head jailer said, that the executioner had controlled the force very well, they could be spared the death penalty, but they could not be spared the punishment of life, and they still suffered a lot! But even so, even if they thought it was what they deserved, they still couldn't help but feel resentful. People are like this, and they always want more.
As if being scolded, the head jailer shouted angrily: "In the past, those who were beaten before being exiled were not treated like this. Not to mention cleaning the wounds and applying medicine, they were just thrown into the cell. Life and death are determined by fate. There are many people who died of pain and illness before the day of their release because their families have no money! If it weren't for the emperor's kindness and Dr. Zhang's justice, you would just be waiting to die now!"
