Under the simple thatched porridge shed, the official set up a blue brick stove, and the eight boiling cauldrons wafted out a faint fragrance of rice.

Wang Daosheng patiently explained to the official: "In the year of great disaster, even if you don't have to exchange children for food, there will still be brothels to buy girls. Don't worry, I won't embarrass you. Just tell Mr. Zhang my name."

But, he and I are old acquaintances."

Just when Chen Ji thought that the official officer was still going to refute, he saw that the official officer had already stopped his activities and said with a stern expression: "It turns out to be Mr. Wang. He is humble because of his humble position and cannot see Mount Tai."

Chen Ji whispered to Bai Li next to him: "Princess, is Mr. Wang famous?"

Bai Li glanced at her in surprise, leaned over and whispered, "Have you never heard of Mr. Wang's name? He was already famous all over the world when he got second place in the exam a few years ago."

Chen Ji hummed. He really didn't know that his new teacher had such a great reputation. Just saying his name would make the government officials look polite to him.

At this time, the official looked at Wang Daosheng, a little embarrassed: "Sir Wang, we can do the registration, but you have also seen that there are only a dozen or so officials here in the porridge shed. We will give out porridge later.

We are all too busy... Can we wait until we mobilize more manpower?"

Wang Daosheng glanced at the porridge shed, and then at the number of officials: "You go and register, we will take care of the porridge shed."

The official was stunned for a moment: "Sir, serving thousands of servings of porridge with a ladle is a laborious task. How can I ask you to do it for me?"

Wang Daosheng did not answer him, but looked at Chen Ji and others: "Do you have any questions?"

Chen Ji replied: "Don't worry, sir, I'm fine."

Bai Li also rolled up his sleeves with a smile: "Sir, I have no problem!"

Seeing this, Zhang Xia immediately tied Zaozao's reins next to the porridge shed, rolled up his sleeves and walked over: "Sir, we have no problem."

At this time, the prince said: "There are not enough people."

On the bullock cart outside the porridge shed, Chen Wenzong watched this scene silently for a long time without saying anything.

When the prince glanced over, he was about to stand up, but Chen Wenxiao grabbed his arm and pulled him back: "Brother, what are you doing? We are here to study, not to do hard work. I have seen those

The official servants had to serve porridge, scooping out thousands of spoons of porridge until their arms were swollen. Generally, they were the official servants who were not popular in the government offices and were sent to do such hard work in the freezing weather."

Chen Wenzong looked solemn: "Needless to say, you and I have been reading sages' books for more than ten years, how can we not be able to distinguish right from wrong? I didn't get out of the car earlier because Chen Ji made a mistake himself, and others don't have to do it because of it.

He has suffered. But now we are doing things for the people, how can you and I back down? Let go!"

He shook off Chen Wenxiao's hand, jumped off the cart and rolled up his sleeves: "Sir, I'm here to help, too."

Chen Wenxiao sat alone on the cart, hesitated for a long time, and finally jumped off the cart with his head lowered and stood with Chen Wenzong.

Wang Daosheng opened the lid of a pot and saw clouds of steam rising up. When the white smoke dissipated, everyone frowned: the rice soup was bland, and the rice grains at the bottom of the pot could be seen at a glance.

Chen Wenzong looked at the official with a solemn expression: "Why is the porridge so thin? When I served the porridge to Tie Lv, my chopsticks did not fall down. How dare you cook such thin porridge?"

The official's face turned pale with fright: "It's not us who want to cook such thin porridge, it's Master Zhang who gave the order."

"Master Zhang?"

"That's right," the official explained: "Master Zhang said that there is not enough food. If you want the people in the west and south of the city to survive the winter, you must not cook thick porridge. If you really want to give porridge according to the rules of the court, it only takes fifteen days.

, the porridge shed will run out of food."

"Is there no grain in the granary in Luocheng?" Chen Wenzong wondered: "I remember that the autumn grain was just shipped to Luocheng last month."

The official replied quickly: "Master Zhang said that the food in the official warehouse cannot be moved anymore. If the military order comes to adjust the food but there is not enough food in the granary, it will be a loss."

"Is there no other way? Where is Mr. Zhang?"

"Master Zhang said to think of a solution..."

Zhang Xia asked curiously: "What about Mr. Chen? I remember that Mr. Chen is the most principled person. He will definitely not sit idly by and ignore it."

The official hesitated.

Zhang Xia asked impatiently: "You are talking!"

The officer hesitated: "Master Zhang found a group of litigants and old bachelors to go to the government office to file a lawsuit, and dragged Master Chen into the government office..."

Zhang Xia was startled: "Ah this!"

Wang Daosheng raised his hand to stop the conversation: "Official servants, please go register and make a register. We are here to give porridge."

After that, he opened his mouth and said to the victims: "Come forward to receive the porridge, the elderly, weak, women and children are given priority."

Just listen to the sound floating outwards. It's not a loud sound, but it can be heard for hundreds of meters.

Chen Ji was shocked when he saw the victims slowly stand up, and one by one, the old, weak, women and children were actually allowed to walk at the front of the queue!

He had seen porridge being given in front of the West City Gate, and he also knew what the victims were like. Everyone was so hungry that they looked like skin and bones. Who could care about respecting the old and caring for the young?

But just one sentence from Mr. Wang had an effect!

Is Mr. Wang also a senior official?

Chen Ji silently looked at the Crown Prince and Bai Li: "Mr. Wang just..." Bai Li whispered: "My father said that Mr. Wang is on the path of sages and can teach and convert all living beings by speaking the Constitution of Heaven. But he also said that Mr.

There are still some things that I haven’t understood yet, so I can’t be considered a true sage.”

Chen Ji glanced at Mr. Wang, silently picked up a huge wooden spoon, and scooped rice porridge for the victims in line one by one.

The wooden spoon was too heavy for the girl. Bai Li only swung it a few dozen times before his arms were so sore that he couldn't lift it up. He could only grit his teeth and persist: "It would be great if Brother Mao'er was here. His strength makes it difficult to lift the spoon."

Not finished."

And Chen Ji suddenly discovered that when he was spooning spoonfuls of rice porridge to the victims...the color of the twenty-six fires in his body actually changed. Although it was very small and very slow, every change was real.

of.

Just like the heat of an inverted flame kiln, it is cherry red at 600 degrees, orange at 900 degrees, and turns white when it is above 1,300 degrees.

When the twenty-six fires were first lit, they were cherry red. Now the red color is fading little by little, followed by more majestic vitality.

Chen Ji remembered that when he was in the dream, there was a moment when the fire all over his body was burning. The fire at that time was white.

Strange, why did the fire in the furnace change? Could it be because I was helping the victims? But didn’t I also help the victims when I was at the West City Gate before?

etc.

The only difference between now and then is that I was covering my face then.

Before Chen Ji could figure it out, the sound of creaking wooden wheels was heard at the city gate.

I saw dozens of carts dragging bags of grain out of the city, followed by an official sedan. The grain was piled on the carts like small hills, and even the official sedan was lined with

It's a bit inconspicuous.

The next moment, the bearer placed the sedan on the ground, and Zhang Zhuo, dressed in a red official robe, stepped out of the sedan with great satisfaction.

He looked at the people under the porridge shed and said in surprise: "Hey, why are you here?"

Zhang Xia rushed forward like a gust of wind and hugged his arm: "Dad, where did you find such food?"

Zhang Zhuo stroked his beard cheerfully: "Your father and I used magic to conjure it up! Isn't it amazing?"

Zhang Xia gave a thumbs up: "Awesome!"

Wang Daosheng walked to the side of the cart, squeezed the sack and knew: "It's fresher than the official grain. This is the autumn grain that merchants just stocked up this year. They are actually willing to donate it to you... No, you bought it."

Zhang Zhuo was amused: "How many years have you led the army, and you can still tell whether the food is fresh or not through a sack? I thought you had studied and become a nerd!"

But Wang Daosheng couldn't laugh. He frowned and looked at Zhang Zhuo: "When you took office in Yangzhou, you did something extraordinary because of this. After you left office, your memorials flew into the capital like snowflakes. If it weren't for the veteran Xu Ge who sold you out.

I'm afraid you've been imprisoned since the case of Feng Jue is suppressed. But if you always do this, something will happen sooner or later. When the imperial censor will find out the clues, he only needs to read a copy of you in front of the imperial court, and you will be successful.

Thanks to the collapse."

Zhang Zhuo looked arrogant and arrogant: "As long as Mr. Xu Ge is still the chief minister of the cabinet, no imperial censor will dare to come and join me."

Wang Daosheng sighed: "What if Mr. Xu Ge is no longer the chief minister of the cabinet?"

Zhang Zhuo said proudly: "At that time, I will be the chief minister of the cabinet!"

Wang Daosheng shook his head slightly and said again: "Even if you are a cabinet minister, it is difficult to cover the sky with one hand. Dong Shi wrote to me and said that he has been promoted to the imperial censor and is about to inspect your appointment in Yangzhou.

He has been at odds with the Xu family for a long time, if he..."

Zhang Zhuo waved his sleeves impatiently. When he saw that there were no officials or victims around him, he immediately said angrily: "You are only a few years older than me. Don't keep lecturing me. I use money from corrupt officials to do things to the people."

What's wrong with this? If I didn't do this, what would these victims eat and drink? Do they have to wait for money from the court? How long would it take? The victims would have died of hunger long ago!"

Hearing this, Chen Ji suddenly remembered the rumors about Zhang Zhuo and the account book of Shopkeeper Yuan, and finally realized where this batch of food came from.

But I heard Zhang Zhuo continue to say to Wang Daosheng: "If you can't stand me, you can report me to Dong Shi. Let me ask you, do you want these victims to survive this winter?"

Zhang Zhuo and Wang Daosheng stood looking at each other. One was wearing a bright red official robe with a lifelike white pheasant on the chest patch, and the other was wearing a blue Confucian shirt that had been washed out and faded.

It's as if people who were not supposed to be walking on the same road met by chance and confronted each other tit for tat.

Everyone held their breath, as if they were facing two mountains pressing down on them, not even daring to breathe out.

In the end, Wang Daosheng was heard to say softly: "I am familiar with Dong Shi. I will send him a letter when I return from my study tour in a few days, asking him not to investigate the matter in Yangzhou."

Zhang Zhuo laughed loudly and patted Wang Daosheng on the shoulder: "I know that after so many years, you are still different from those rotten scholars. Dong Shi respected your knowledge and discipleship. If you were willing to speak, he would definitely stop.

When you return from your study tour, I will go find you for a drink."

Wang Daosheng casually slapped Zhang Zhuo's hand off and said, "Sooner or later, you will be in trouble for this matter."

Zhang Zhuo's expression changed: "You can't talk nonsense with your mouth, bah bah bah."

Wang Daosheng was too lazy to pay attention to him, turned around and walked to the porridge shed, continuing to scoop porridge for the victims: "Don't worry, I'm not that powerful."
Chapter completed!