1. Misfortune from heaven

Zhou Jiluan, the richest man in Chuzhou, is humble and kind, and has always helped the poor and needy.

This spring, during the great disaster in Upper Chuzhou, many farmers either fled the famine or were forced to go up the mountain to become bandits. Thanks to Zhou Jiluan's collaboration with some wealthy families to give porridge, many victims were saved. But he never expected that when the famine gradually eased, Zhou Jiluan was caught in prison by the police! It is said that the officers and soldiers had suppressed the bandits before, and caught a severely wounded bandit leader Zhou Qing on the mountain. Under severe torture, this person confessed that he was a servant of the Zhou family, and also said that Zhou Jiluan's family was very rich and had different ambitions. The name of the Zhou family was actually a bandit den, and the information that the bandits went down the mountain to rob was provided by the Zhou family, and the floating wealth that the bandits robbed was also kept in the Zhou family.

Because Zhou Qing died of a traumatic infection the day after his confession, when the officers and soldiers returned to the city and transferred the captured bandits and confession documents to the local government, the case was dead. According to court law, Zhou Jiluan's long-term dissent and collusion with bandits was the cardinal crime of killing his head and raiding his family. Fortunately, the honest and familiar person in the county, and the Zhou family spent money to manage the case, the higher authorities did not force the case to be closed.

However, even though the prefect deliberately delayed the case for more than three years, Zhou Jiluan was still asked about the crime of stabbing and raiding his family. He was exiled to Liaodong camp, his houses, fields and property were confiscated by the official, and his family was sold into slavery by the official.

Zhou Jiluan was stabbed for thousands of miles, from south to north, shouting that every day should not be, and the earth should not be called. When he dreamt back at midnight, he always wondered who was so sinister to frame him.

2. Sick military prison

Zhou Jiluan was sent to the Liaodong camp and was arranged to raise military horses. It was difficult for a southerner to adapt to the ice and snow in the northern country in the short term. What's more, he was originally a rich man who was used to happiness and had never participated in hard labor. Therefore, in addition to running around hungry all day, he was often kicked and bruised by strong and violent military horses.

In the past few days, the storm swept snow all over the sky, and Zhou Jiluan was bedridden after getting cold. He didn't go to the stable to check at night. A bad-tempered male horse lost his temper and broke free of the reins and ran away. The barracks sent people to search for three days, but there was no sign of the horse.

According to military law, if a prisoner loses his horse, he will be fined five taels of silver and imprisoned for seven days. If there is no silver compensation, he will have to beat fifty thugs to atone for the crime. Zhou Jiluan was poor and sick, so it seemed that he would die this time. He was taken to the big tent for trial, so frightened that he didn't even dare to lift his head, only to hear a fierce officer shout angrily: "Drag this thief and the army down, and blame fifty thugs!"

When Zhou Jiluan heard that, he immediately said in despair, "Zhou Jiluan, Zhou Jiluan, which life did you commit evil, and you are going to die here today?"

The interrogation officer seemed to hear his muttering and hurriedly asked him to raise his head.

Zhou Jiluan was terrified and looked up to see a fat black general sitting on top of an iron tower, wearing armor that was majestic, like a fierce god in the sky and a evil evil in the underworld. His whole body trembled like a sieve of chaff, but he heard the officer say to his subordinates, "This prisoner is pale, I think he is seriously ill, and he sent fifty military batons to be imprisoned."

The change happened too suddenly. Zhou Jiluan thought about it repeatedly in prison, but couldn't figure out why the officer was willing to let him go. After a while, a battalion sent cotton-padded clothes, quilts and thick cotton pads. Later, a military doctor came to Zhou Jiluan and carefully checked his pulse, saying, "You suffered from the cold, I will give you a pair of Liuhe soup. After drinking it, you will sweat and get better in three days. It's just that you are weak, so you need to eat more white rice porridge and vegetables, and you can't see oil and meat for the time being."

Zhou Jiluan smiled bitterly. As a prisoner, he could not even eat white rice porridge. How could he dare to hope for oil and meat?

Unexpectedly, not long after the military doctor left, the barracks sent fried medicine, and white rice porridge and green vegetables in the evening. Zhou Jiluan ate worse than the military horses in the camp, so how could he have seen white rice and green vegetables? Now that he had eaten it in his mouth, he felt extremely comfortable. He had good porridge to drink for several days in a row, which made Zhou Jiluan dream, but he didn't know which immortal he had made friends with, and he actually got this treatment?

3. Camp Adventures

On this day, Zhou Jiluan's ban period came, and the guards released him from prison. Two soldiers were waiting for him with horses. The soldiers saw him and said, "Mr. Qian has a request." They forced him onhe horse.

Zhou Jiluan was still worried about the fifty soldiers who had been sent. He was brought uneasily into President Qian's mansion, and saw a large table of banquets set up inside. When the ferocious fat general saw him coming, he quickly came out to greet him and knelt under his horse.

Zhou Jiluan was so scared that he rolled off his horse and stuttered, "My lord, I can't make you..."

The man helped Zhou Jiluan up and said, "I should worship you. Benefactor, do you remember that year when you saved the lives of my family with a liter of white rice? Zhang will never forget such a great kindness!"

Hearing the officer say this, Zhou Jiluan recognized this person. This person is called Zhang Beard, who was originally a poor man in Chuzhou and used to work as a day laborer in Zhou Jiluan's house...

In the past, the Zhou family had thousands of acres of fertile land in Chuzhou, and farmers were hired to cultivate and harvest during the busy farming season. Among the farmers invited by Zhou Jiluan, there were two extremely poor ones, who had neither land nor family property. One of them was Xiao Wang from Shangcun, and the other was Zhang Da Beard. When Xiao Wang was eighteen years old, he lost his father when he was a child, and his mother pulled him and his sister to grow up. When her mother was young, she worked as a wet nurse for others. Now the family takes the girl to do some needlework to supplement the household, and the three people are squeezed into two dilapidated grass houses. Zhang Da Beard came from the north and rented the family's cowshed to live in. He was so poor that he sold hard labor to make a living.

Xiao Wang was easy-going, able to speak and diligent, which was very popular with Zhou Jiluan. Zhou Jiluan knew that Xiao Wang's family was poor, so he often took care of him. Every time he came to do farm work, in addition to paying enough money, he also asked Xiao Wang to bring some rice, noodles and food back.

The big man in the north had a big beard, and although he was so poor that he screamed, he had a bad temper. His personality was as hot as fire, and his speech was rough and dirty. Because he was tall and big, he would scold his mother if he disagreed with others, and beat people if he disagreed with others. Few people liked him.

To be honest, Zhou Jiluan didn't like this person either. It was only because he worked hard that he invited him over when he was busy with farming, and he usually stayed away from him.

In the twelfth lunar month, Zhou Jiluan invited people to slaughter pigs and sheep to prepare for the New Year. From afar, he saw two people hurrying home: one was Xiao Wang, and the other was Zhang Beard!

Xiao Wang often came to the Zhou family to help with small things because Zhou Jiluan had a good eye for him, and he was a frequent guest of the Zhou family by the way. Except for doing farm work, Big Beard Zhang never went to other people's houses.

Zhou Jiluan felt something was wrong, and the two of them had already entered the courtyard one after the other. He didn't want to see Zhang Big Beard, but in the face of Xiao Wang, he had to see him.

When Xiao Wang saw Zhou Jiluan, he saluted carefully and said hello, and Zhang Beard also saluted. Zhou Jiluan asked what happened to the two.

Xiao Wang opened his mouth first: "Because my mother was sick and had no money for treatment, I sold the food for the New Year in exchange for money. There is no food at home near the New Year, so I specially borrowed five liters of white rice from the old master for the New Year. In spring, I came to the old master's house to do farm work, and the discount was deducted from the salary, asking the old master to save me."

Zhou Jiluan asked Zhang Beard again, "What are you visiting for?"

Zhang Beard also came to borrow rice. His wife was about to give birth, and the family was short of food and clothing, so he wanted to ask Zhou Jiluan for help. Zhang Beard was tough and never asked for help, but now it was indeed a critical juncture, so he had the cheek to come to the Zhou family. He didn't borrow much, just one liter of rice for emergency needs during labor.

Zhou Jiluan said to Zhang Beard, "One liter of rice is a small matter. You don't need to borrow it. Go home and take care of your wife first.

Seeing him walking away, Zhou Jiluan said to Xiao Wang, "You little Wang, why did you invite this person to my house to borrow food? Don't you know that this person has a bad temper, and I have never liked him? Besides, if you come together, I want to give you more. When he sees it from the side, what does he think? Let him go back first and give him a liter tomorrow."

Xiao Wang hurriedly said, "Master, I didn't invite him, I met him on the road. We only greeted him without asking where he was going. I didn't expect to come to the master's house one after the other, and the villain apologized to the master!"

Zhou Jiluan said, "You didn't do anything wrong, so why apologize? I just don't like Zhang Beard's rough temper. Not to mention him, but you, there are still ten days left in the end of the year, and the beginning of the new year is the spring famine. How can your family of three survive five liters of rice? I'll give you a fight, you don't have to pay it back. Just be filial to my mother and live a good life."

After Zhou Jiluan finished speaking, he asked the housekeeper to measure a bucket of rice. It happened that the New Year's pig was killed, and Zhou Jiluan asked the housekeeper to cut five catties of meat and let Xiao Wang take it back for the New Year.

In the past few days, Zhou Jiluan had been accompanying guests every day because of the presence of a distinguished guest at home. He was a little busy and drank too much wine. He forgot to send someone to send rice to Zhang Beard.

Zhou Jiluan had always promised to deliver rice the next day. Now that he was three days late, he felt that he had lost the letter and felt sorry for it. He asked someone to measure a liter of white rice and personally deliver it to the Zhang family.

The servant led Zhou Jiluan to the door of the Zhang family, only to hear someone moaning in the room, and the voice was extremely weak.

Zhou Jiluan was afraid that something would happen, so she barged in without knocking on the door, only to find out that Zhang's bearded wife was in labor and groaned in pain in the room.

Zhou Jiluan asked anxiously, "Is there anyone?" Zhang Beard hurried out.

Zhang Da Beard said that his wife was about to give birth, but the family had been without food for three days, and the mother's body was weak, so the child could not be born at all. It turned out that he went to the Zhou family to borrow rice a few days ago, and Master Zhou agreed, but after waiting for three days, he did not see the shadow of the Zhou family. He wanted to urge, but he was tough, and he wanted to be a man like Master Zhou. He always said that he would not break the trust of the poor for a liter of rice, so he waited at home for a long time until now.

Zhou Jiluan hurriedly asked the servant to hand over a liter of rice. Zhang Beard didn't care to speak, so he immediately made a fire to cook porridge. His wife was a poor woman, and although her body was weak, she was not sick. Zhang Beard served three bowls of rice soup in a row, and after drinking it, she gradually gained strength and finally gave birth to a child smoothly.

Zhang Beard was grateful to Zhou Jiluan for his kindness, but Zhou Jiluan was very ashamed and said, "Don't thank me. If I hadn't delivered the rice late, your wife wouldn't have suffered so long."

Since Zhang Dazhuo's wife gave birth to a child, the family became poorer because of the extra mouth to eat. But he was unwilling to ask for help easily, so during the great famine in Chuzhou, Zhang Dazhuo's family was interrupted again. He decided to take his family out of the famine.

As the old saying goes, trees move to death, people move to live, Zhang Beard brought his wife and children north to beg for food and came to Liaodong, just in time for Beifan to violate the border, and Liaodong conscripted troops to defend against the enemy. After he settled his wife and children, he went to join the army, relying on his natural power and the courage to fight for his old life, he has repeatedly made contributions on the battlefield. The court wants to consolidate the border defense, and such people who dare to charge and kill will naturally be reused. Zhang Beard has been the head of thousands in a few years, and is now the head of the barracks.

Zhou Jiluan could never have imagined that Zhang Dabou, who had been embarrassed in the past, had now become a powerful officer, but he had become a prisoner of his army, and he was filled with emotion for a while.

Zhang Beard respectfully invited Zhou Jiluan to be the chief, and he accompanied Zhou Jiluan at the second seat. At the seat, he toasted attentively and asked why the benefactor was reduced to this? Zhou Jiluan said the change in his own family with tears in his eyes, and Zhang Beard listened and said, "Fortunately, the benefactor was sent here, and let me repay the kindness."

Under the care of Big Beard Zhang, Zhou Jiluan was transferred to the military camp as a cook. After half a year, Big Beard paid for Zhou Jiluan's imprisonment again, allowing him to follow him as an officer, and then found a fat job for him. After a few years, Zhou Jiluan made a small fortune in the army, and began to do the munitions business after retiring from the army. Finally, he made a fortune and bought land in Liaodong to be the rich owner, finding and redeeming his wife and children who were sold.

Step 4 Unexpected

The current Zhou Jiluan had only one wish, which was to find the person who framed him in the first place. He spent a lot of money investigating, and finally got to the bottom of it. To his surprise, Zhou Qing, the bandit leader who framed him, was Xiao Wang, whom he used to love and take care of very much.

The root cause was the bucket of rice he gave Xiao Wang in the twelfth lunar month of that year.

Let's say that Ji Luan gave Xiao Wang a bucket of rice and five catties of pork this week, which was tantamount to making a small fortune in the eyes of the poor in the countryside at that time. But this incident let the two little thugs in the village know. They were jealous and wanted to take Xiao Wang to gamble, coaxing his white rice and pork. Xiao Wang didn't want to go, but because he couldn't resist the temptation of rhetoric, he was finally lured to the casino in the countryside, and finally lost all the bucket of white rice and five catties of pork for the Chinese New Year. Seeing that there was no oil and water to squeeze, the little thug kicked Xiao Wang out of the casino.

Seeing that the New Year was approaching, and the old mother and little sister were going to starve, Xiao Wang couldn't think of any other way, so he had to go to the Zhou family to borrow rice with thick skin. Because the master took extra care of Xiao Wang, the housekeeper was dissatisfied for a long time. It happened that Zhou Jiluan was out, and the housekeeper deliberately snubbed Xiao Wang. When he heard Xiao Wang say that he wanted to borrow rice, the housekeeper sank and said, "Why are you like a dog that can't be fed enough, and you only have a few days to give you a bucket of rice? No more borrowing!"

Xiao Wang blushed and said that he wanted to find Master Zhou. The butler lied to him and said, "Master knows that you gambled and lost all the rice and meat. He is very disappointed in you and doesn't want to see you now. In the future, you should not come to eat, drink, and take things for free!"

Xiao Wang believed this, but he was dissatisfied but helpless, so he had to leave. The housekeeper also put this matter behind him, so Zhou Jiluan didn't know that such a thing had happened at all.

Xiao Wang didn't borrow rice, so his family naturally couldn't live in the next year. Since ancient times, when people were poor and stealing hearts, he ran to be a thief when he was cornered, and was later caught by the county yamen for punishment. When the county magistrate saw his young first offense, he took it lightly and only locked him up for seven days. But his family was ignorant and timid. When his mother saw that her son was caught in a prison as a thief, it was like the sky had fallen, and she felt shameless and hung herself to death on New Year's Eve. Her sister was a weak woman, helpless and anxious. She sold herself to bury her mother and made a concubine for the big family.

When Xiao Wang came back from prison, what awaited him was the miserable situation of his family being destroyed. He was instantly overcome with grief and indignation, and recorded all his hatred on Zhou Jiluan. Later, when there was a famine in spring, Xiao Wang went to become a bandit, and he deliberately called Zhou Qing to the outside world because he had long had evil thoughts in his heart. He tried to take revenge for robbing the Zhou family several times, but failed. When he had the opportunity, he encountered officers and soldiers who arrested the bandits. After being caught in the net, the officers and soldiers interrogated him. He knew that he was dying soon, so he deliberately bit Zhou Jiluan before he died...

This is really a rice knot of kindness, a rice knot of hatred; the world is ever-changing, and people's hearts are the most unpredictable.