Idle courtiers

Chapter 375 What Do You Want

Yan Song has an appointment, and he is a bad old man who has been imprisoned for more than a month. If he dared not go in, wouldn't he become the laughing stock of the world if it was spread out?

In addition, Zhou Nan has a strong interest in this historical celebrity. It would be a pity if he didn't even know what Yan Song looked like after traveling to Jiajing. This is exactly what a lover of literature and history can't bear.

If you miss it, you will regret it for life.

Zhou Nan smiled and said, "Strictly speaking, you should be invited. How dare you resign?" Then he asked Wen Qianhu whether it violated the system.

Violation of the system is definitely a violation of the system, but we are all old friends, and it is not a matter of principle, so it doesn't matter.

Wen Qianhu is a descendant of Qi Luoxun's family, his title of Qianhu is hereditary from Enyin, and he doesn't hold a real position, so he just hangs around in Beiya.This noble boy was careless and didn't have any principles, so he nodded to Zhou Nan, expressing that he didn't care.

Zhou Nan walked towards the yard. This was the first time he entered the so-called prison, and he was very curious.

Modern people like him are deeply influenced by film and television works of later generations.In those so-called historical TV dramas, the sky prison is dark and the environment is extremely harsh.They ate bitter rice, slept in straw nests, and kept company with ants and lice.Being unkempt all day long, being in a bad mood when you meet a prisoner, and getting beaten, it's really miserable.

Zhou Nan started as a yamen servant at the grass-roots level, so he naturally knew what was going on in the cell.

But when he walked into the yard, he was taken aback.

I saw that there was a tidy yard in front of me, with blue bricks and green tiles, just like an ordinary government house.

A white-haired old man was sitting on a chair, surrounded by a tall tree that could not be named.The thick shade of the trees cast down, it was a rare coolness.

He was playing with this cup the size of a bull's eye, and there was a fine porcelain teapot on the flower bed beside him.

No need to ask, this old man is Yan Song.

Everything seems casual and leisurely, this is not going to jail, it is purely recuperating!
After thinking about it again, that's right, Lao Yan used to be the chief assistant of the imperial court cabinet, under one person, above ten thousand, a senior cadre of high-ranking officials!If you are locked in an ordinary prison cell like ordinary people, how can the court be decent?
And this edict prison is not for everyone to live in, you have to meet two conditions: first, the official rank is above the fourth rank, including the fourth rank; second, it is an imperial case appointed by the emperor.

Punishment is not good for the doctor, nor is it good for the common man.

The meaning of this sentence does not mean that scholar-bureaucrats can escape the punishment of the law if they break the law, but that they cannot be abused, and that they must maintain the dignity that scholars should have, and everything should be done according to etiquette.

"Zhou Zimu, is this your first time here?" Yan Song bowed his body, smiled at Zhou Nan, and pointed to the flower bed beside him: "The old man is old and not good at acting, so I'm rude."

"The junior Zhou Nan met Jiexi Gong, and it was the first time he entered the imperial prison." Zhou Nan saluted and sat down, looking at this old man who once had power over the world.

Yan Song is 81 years old and his face is full of wrinkles.But now he is hale and hearty. He has clear eyebrows, regular facial features, and is very handsome. When he was young, he must have been a fresh meat.Moreover, he is elegant and unrestrained, and he seems to have an elegant temperament, which makes people feel an inexplicable liking for him.

Zhou Nan couldn't help but praise in his heart: he is worthy of being born as a nobleman. With this demeanor alone, I am afraid that my old Zhou will have to practice for ten years to achieve [-]% of it.

Yan Song asked with a smile, "Is it different from what you imagined?"

Zhou Nan: "There are some discrepancies, but also an eye-opener."

Yan Song: "You will come again in the future."

Zhou Nan was puzzled: "I don't understand what the senior said?"

Yan Song didn't answer this question, but picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for Zhou Nan; "You can't drink alcohol here, you can only use tea instead of wine. However, the tea is good, the best Lu'an melon slices, yellow buds before tomorrow."

As the sun gradually rose above his head, Zhou Nan felt a little hot and thirsty, so he held up a cup and respected Lao Yan, slowly savoring the taste of the rain during the Qingming Festival.

It was an ordinary sunny day in summer, with the wind blowing and the leaves rustling overhead.The sunlight is projected from the gaps in the leaves, turning into countless flares, shaking and flickering around the body, making people feel like they are in the illusion of light and shadow.

"In fact, people are constantly making choices throughout their lives. There are two roads in front of them. One is left and the other is right. You can only take one. After walking on the chosen road, two roads will appear in front of you. You just spend your life in this non-stop choice and choice." Yan Song also broke his cup and took a sip, raised his head to look at the leaves above his head, and let the light spots dance on his face: "At the end, you will come back Think back. If I had chosen another road back then, what kind of scenery would it be like? But, there are no ifs in life!"

Zhou Nan: "Both roads have not been polluted by footprints, leaving one road for another day. But I know that the road is endless, and I am afraid that it will be difficult for me to return. Maybe in a certain place after many years, I will sigh softly. Looking back on the past. Two roads diverged in a forest, but I chose the one less traveled by, and it has determined the path of my life ever since.”

"That's right." Yan Song drank the tea in a sip: "I was enlightened in Yan's Temple at the age of four, entered the county school at the age of nine, passed the county examination at the age of ten, passed the county examination at the age of 19, and became a good scholar at the age of 25. During the test, the old man was also lucky, and he guessed the test questions, so he ordered Hanlin. Just imagine, if I didn’t want to flip through the Analects of Confucius on a whim in the morning when I entered the test room, I happened to see that sentence. After finishing it, he was directly sent to the local area to be a seventh-rank county magistrate. A life of ups and downs in the officialdom, a fourth-rank end. At this moment, maybe you are already enjoying family happiness in your hometown, so how can you be in jail?"

"The term of sitting in the Hanlin Academy expired. The old man had practiced in the officialdom for many years, and later went to Nanjing to be the official secretary. In the 15th year of Jiajing, he went to Beijing for a pilgrimage. The emperor favored me. Just imagine, if I hadn’t made any preparations that day, what would this old man look like now? How could he not be locked up in this day’s prison and wait to die.”

"Life is so unpredictable!"

Zhou Nan felt impatient when he heard such nagging, and said: "Senior, I have the desire to make progress in my heart, so I have the possibility to choose. If I live my life in a muddle like ordinary people, I won't be like this. Opportunity. The so-called opportunity is reserved for those who are prepared. The predecessors lamented that life is impermanent, but in fact the current encounter is caused by the obsession in your heart. Sow the cause and there will be fruit."

"Obsession, cause and effect, you are right. Everything today is actually what I asked for. My father devoted himself to being an official and fulfilled his ambitions. Unfortunately, he failed the exam for a long time. He pinned all his hopes on me, It is not lax to supervise reading in daily life. Under the influence of my late father, the old man is indeed obsessed with power, and the more he gets older, the more enthusiastic he is. This is the disaster of today. I often advise people that a gentleman should think twice: Thinking forward, thinking about changing, thinking about retreating. Among them, retreating is the most difficult word." Yan Song sighed: "It really fell on me, and it is not easy to retreat, and I am reluctant to give up."

Zhou Nan: "Senior, it's too late to understand this, do you regret it?"

"I don't regret it." Yan Song smiled: "Zimu, the beauty of life is that you have to find your own fun. For example, a businessman, his fun is to make money, the more the better. In fact, a person can't eat three meals, sleep How can there be so much gold and silver for one couch? Another example is a scholar whose pleasure lies in writing books and passing them on to future generations. The result is not important, the process is the most wonderful."

Zhou Nan: "The fun of seniors lies in power."

Yan Song's eyes burned, and he nodded: "Every word and deed affects billions of people. Isn't this kind of life wonderful? I'm old, and it doesn't matter anymore. Life at seventy has been rare since ancient times, and the old man has one at eighty. Looking back on the past 80 years , why regret it?"

Zhou Nan had to admit, "Senior is right, the choice you make, no matter what the outcome is, is good. At least you have lived the life you want, unlike some people who don't even have a choice."

"You are very similar to me when I was young." Yan Song said abruptly: "Your eyes are full of ambition, full of desire for power...too similar, including the path you are going to take now... you enter the imperial examination, and you will follow the exam. Serving the king, using green words and means of earning money is simple in the emperor's heart. The means are accurate and ruthless, and there is no strategy left. Speaking of which, the old man lives here today, Zimu has contributed a lot, right?"

He waved his hand to interrupt Zhou Nan, who was about to speak Zhou Nan: "The road you are walking now is like the condensation of my previous decades. Seeing Zimu, the old man feels very relieved: My way is not alone!"

Zhou Nan was angry and funny: "Senior and I are not on the same path."

"No, you and I are both aliens, aliens who are incompatible with the officials of the Ming Dynasty." Yan Song said: "You and I both want to do things and are willing to do things, whether it is for the court or for the emperor. You can make as many mistakes as you want. It will destroy you one day."

"Zimu, doing things, especially doing things for the father-in-law, you can get promoted very quickly, but you will not end up in the future. On the contrary, even though you live an ordinary life, it may not be a blessing. There are two roads in front of you, and it depends on which one you take. You You are so much like me, the old man not only hopes that you can rule the world in the future, but also hopes that you can become a reunion and rich man."

After all, Yan Song raised his teacup over his head: "Okay, I'm tired, and there will be no future. Let's respect reason and ideals."

A spot of light fell on the cup, and an old man and a child were drawn on it.

Everyone, old and young, looked up at the sky.

The old man pointed to the sun in the sky.

The sky is rising.

Zhou Nan: "Respect our choice, respect our fate."

From the beginning to the end, Yan Song did not mention Zhou Nan's lecture notes in the inner school.

In fact, he already knew that his time was numbered, and there was no point in wasting time on such things.Judging from Zhou Nan's current family members and his extraordinary financial management skills shown in the lecture notes, this person will sooner or later take over his role as the emperor.

Sooner or later, there will be irreconcilable conflicts with the civil servants in the court who only know to find fault with others to gain fame and fortune without doing anything.

With Zhou Nan's hand, Xu Jie and the others might be able to get rid of them. In the end, Zhou Zimu would kill himself because of political struggles, just like the road he had walked.

In this way, I, Yan Song, will be able to avenge my great revenge.

Now, I am only pointing out this point to Zhou Nan, arousing his ambition and making him determined to go faster.

But Zhou Nan was too much like himself, Yan Song suddenly felt a little bit reluctant, and couldn't help but remind him of the danger of this road.

Looking at Zhou Nan's high-spirited back in the sun, Yan Song sighed in his heart: What a wonderful young man, our generation has come to an end.

There was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth: "You will come again in the future, maybe 20 or 30 years. Since you have embarked on this path, there will be a day. I hope you will have no regrets like this old man." .”

(End of this chapter)