Hiss~~
Whoosh!!
The thousand or so people present heard it clearly—
Guilty of rebellion?!
Holy crap~~
That was punishable by extermination of the entire clan!
Huh?~
Shen Cong shivered suddenly, feeling a bit weak all over!
Jin Timming’s face turned ashen!
Could it be,
Could it be that the Embroidered Uniform Guard also played games?
...
Zhu Mo felt that the time was ripe. He strode forward, helped the old man up, and asked publicly:
“Old sir, please speak the truth on behalf of Lord Hai! With me, Zhu Mo, here, I will surely get justice for Hai Rui! Everyone, just trust Zhu Mo this time, won’t you?!”
Whoosh~
Whoosh la~~
The disaster victims saw the two Embroidered Uniform Guards obeying Zhu Mo as their superior, and their previous doubts about him were already more than half cleared!
Seeing Zhu Mo’s awe-inspiring righteousness now, everyone fell silent. Their fear diminished, and they felt that the situation today might take a turn? Everyone eagerly awaited the old man to quickly recount Hai Rui’s plight.
At this moment,
The old man said in a hoarse voice:
“Alas… it’s hard to put into words! Lord Hai did indeed withhold relief grain… but that wasn’t embezzlement! It was to save us!”
He choked up slightly at this point and continued:
“Young Master Zhu, this time I believe you are that Zhu Mo… Do you see? What time is it now? It’s too late to plant anything… Lord Hai said that if we don’t plant anything in this disaster year, we will face disaster again next year! The only thing we can plant now is mulberry saplings… Plant the mulberry saplings quickly, and next year we’ll at least have some money to earn. It’s better than waiting to die!”
“So, Lord Hai asked us to divide the relief grain. The old, weak, women, and children would eat a bowl of plain congee once a day, and a full meal every three days, to at least keep them alive! As for the strong youths, aren’t they rushing to the fields to plant mulberry saplings? They need to be guaranteed one full meal and one bowl of plain congee a day… This way they’ll have the strength, right? And the relief grain will be enough! Lord Hai led everyone to work in the fields, and within a month at most, every family of disaster victims would have planted…”
“We all thought, if everyone didn’t calculate, and just ate up the relief grain carelessly, let alone whether there would be any relief grain left, what would happen next year? Wouldn’t we still have to sell our fields?”
“Lord Hai is a practical person. He knows our hardships and has already calculated everything for us… We will follow Lord Hai’s lead, and next year when the mulberry saplings are ready to sell, we won’t be forced to sell our fields…”
“Your Excellencies, Young Master Zhu, this is the truth! It was our voluntary choice! If you are going to arrest Lord Hai, then arrest us all as well… Wuwuwuwu…”
After speaking, the old man burst into tears, instantly igniting the already fragile emotions of the disaster victims.
Wuwuwu…
Wawawawa…
All the disaster victims in the crowd began to cry along.
Hai Rui’s chest heaved. He forcibly suppressed his sobs, but could not hold back the lead-like tears that flowed down like a torrent.
He was a man of great integrity. Remembering all his hardships at this moment, he started crying, feeling as wronged as a child! His throat let out a whimpering wail that he hadn’t heard in decades~
Yes,
After so much suffering, what was it all for?
He, Hai Rui, was not the Emperor. This Great Ming did not belong to Hai, but to Zhu!
In the end, it was all for these common people before him…
But the experience of fighting alone was too bitter, ten times more bitter than these common people!
For these past few months, hadn’t he also been eating plain congee?
The old, weak, women, and children could rest for a while, but he, Hai Rui, had to lead everyone to work!
Not only that,
In the province, Zheng Bichang and He Maocai would send documents every two or three days, forcing the sale of fields, and constantly sent people, employing all sorts of tricks…
In addition, there were Japanese pirates, spies, scoundrels, bandits…
For months, Hai Rui hadn’t even slept a peaceful night!
Now, it was all good,
The Emperor knew, and Zhu Mo had arrived…
His suffering was all known to those above.
...
The two Embroidered Uniform Guards had been stern-faced. After hearing the old man’s words, they immediately lowered their heads, their hot tears dripping onto the sand!
Both men thought the same thing—
There were such good officials in the Great Ming!
If Duke Lu and the Emperor knew, how pleased would they be?
And if Young Master Zhu were not here this time, they would have been deceived and wrongly accused a good man! In that case, not only would they be derelict in their duty, but they would also regret it for life!
At this thought,
The two exchanged glances, wiped away their tears,
According to the rules, after the Embroidered Uniform Guard confirmed an official to be incorruptible, there was a decree from the Great Ancestor that the Embroidered Uniform Guard must express their respect to such officials.
The two walked up to Hai Rui, took out their wine gourds from their waists, filled a cup, held it with both hands, and from four feet away, they bowed deeply together and declared:
“By Imperial Decree! The Northern Bureau of Investigation, on behalf of the Emperor and the people of the realm, offers a cup of wine to the incorruptible official Hai Rui!”
...
“A cup of wine…”
As the lingering sound echoed,
The scene fell into complete silence!
What?
Offering wine?
Everyone was stunned by this gesture!
But soon, everyone understood in an instant—
They had heard of this in the Great Ancestor’s time… It seemed like it had been passed down through generations?
Whoosh~~
Boom~~~
The thousand disaster victims,
Almost at the same time, tears welled up in everyone’s eyes!
“The Emperor is offering wine to Lord Hai…!”
“So the Emperor cares for us the most…”
“Lord Hai’s heart is filled with bitterness…”
“The Emperor is offering wine to Lord Hai… Wuwuwuwu…”
“Wuwuwu…”
The disaster victims, at some point, suddenly burst into tears!
Such a scene,
Whether it were the soldiers or the constables, all of them shed tears profusely!
Even Jin Timming and Shen Cong were deeply moved. The two couldn’t help but show shame on their faces, appearing dejected…
...
Zhu Mo also had tears in his eyes, experiencing what could be called the most touching scene in the Great Ming.
He saw Hai Rui holding his wine cup. After taking a sip, he couldn’t stop choking up, his throat making muffled sounds. He couldn’t help but step forward, pat his shoulder, and say gently:
“Old Hai… stop crying… You are a good official, worthy of being called a righteous and honest official… I, Zhu Mo, admire you greatly today! Alas, with you in the Great Ming, I, Zhu Mo, am no longer fighting alone…”
Hai Rui raised his tear-blurred eyes, wanting to say a few words, but was too choked up to speak a single sentence.
“Zhu, Young Master Zhu… I… I…”
“Alright… alright… Old Hai… I understand!”
As Zhu Mo comforted him, he felt his nose becoming increasingly sore—
Yes,
This man had suffered too much…
To protect the common people, he had endured such great grievances?!
Why was this so?
Why were the common people so easily bullied?
Why did they always have to rely on these resolute people for protection?
What would happen without these people?
What if Hai Rui was just pretending?
As Zhu Mo thought deeper, he became somewhat confused…
Despite this,
His evaluation of Hai Rui today could only be described as excellent!
Because Hai Rui was not just stubbornly resolute without a brain!
He was very smart, very far-sighted!
And he had a clear plan!
If it were someone who only knew how to be resolute, they would never have made such a planned move. Now, after working for a month or two, the mulberry saplings had been basically planted.
This was the greatest contribution to this relief effort!
Zhu Mo had originally worried that he might have to support the disaster victims of Chun’an for half a year, until the autumn harvest next year. But now, it seemed his plan, under Hai Rui’s foresight, was yielding twice the results with half the effort!
Now,
It was time for good people to rejoice!