Idle courtiers

Chapter 413
Zhou Nan: "Wen Jiang, you don't know, I'm afraid this matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface."

Shi Wenjiang: "By the way, didn't Si Zheng go to Prince Yu's Mansion this morning? Can you persuade His Highness to get the money back? If so, it will be a long night and dreamy, so send the money to the Supervisor of Rites as soon as possible in Destiny View."

Zhou Nan smiled wryly: "King Yu didn't take this money, we were all cheated by Kong Ming?"

Shi Wenjiang felt surprised: "Didn't take it?"

Zhou Nan roughly talked about the situation when he went to the palace and his speculation with King Yu.

When Shi Wenjiang heard that this matter involved a dispute over the reserve position, he took a deep breath, and then became excited again: "What a fool, I need to have a good trial and find out who is behind the scenes. Hehe, this is interesting. gone."

As a person in the officialdom, I am not afraid of trouble, but I am afraid of nothing.

What a big case it is to frame the Crown Prince. If it breaks out, I don't know what will happen to the court in the capital.

As a young man who likes to be lively, Shi Wenjiang was so excited that he secreted a lot of dopamine, so he was about to go out excitedly.

Zhou Nan called him to stop, and said in a low voice, "Wen Jiang, this matter is of great importance. Except for you and me, no one else should know. Be careful."

Shi Wenjiang: "Si Zheng, don't worry, I will save you."

Immediately, Shi Wenjiang began to interrogate Kong Ming.

He used the fatigue tactic proposed by Zhou Nan, asking more than a dozen of his staff to ask several questions repeatedly, and not allowing the Taoist to eat, sleep, drink water and go to the toilet, trying to destroy the thief physically and psychologically.

That night, Zhou Nan lived in the Taoist temple, and Shi Wenjiang's shouts could be heard all over his ears: "Kongming, where did the money go? You should recruit or not. My family secretary was arresting you. I already said that." Understand, if you don’t recruit, you won’t be able to sleep in the future.”

……

"What an idiot, wake me up, cluck, I still want to sleep. Sleep on a mud horse, get up and talk."

……

"Kong Ming, let me ask you, where did the money go? Tell me in detail how you went to the store to withdraw the money that day, where did you hire the carriage, and who is the owner's name?"

……

The room where Kongming was held was brightly lit, and more than a dozen people from the Daolu Department took turns to ask similar questions, but the Taoist just kept silent.

Such a question itself is meaningless. Everyone, including Kong Ming, knows that this is just a fatigue tactic, used to destroy the prisoner's will.

After all, Zhou Nan is the imperial official of the sixth rank, so he naturally refuses to do this kind of dirty work himself.After watching for a long time, until late at night, he only ordered Kongming not to be tortured, and went back to his room to sleep.A gentleman is far away from the kitchen, his eyes are invisible and his heart is pure.

That night, with Shi Wenjiang and the others angrily shouting in his ears, how could he be able to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Shi Wenjiang saw that Kongming was stubborn, so he stripped off the Taoist's clothes and dragged him to the yard, pouring a basin of cold water over his head.

Kong Ming finally couldn't bear it anymore, and let out a low moan, and there was a clear and crisp sound of teeth knocking.

But the Taoist still refused to recruit. Seeing that there was no effect, Shi Wenjiang was afraid that he would be frozen out, so he dragged him back to the house and continued to ask in a soft voice.

Zhou Nan didn't know when he was dazed, and when he woke up, it was already afternoon.

He walked to the room where Kong Ming was being interrogated, but saw the Taoist with loose hair, his face was a little pale from exhaustion, but his expression was still vigorous.As for Shi Wenjiang and others, they had dark circles under their eyes because of staying up late.

Kong Ming was holding a bowl of sliced ​​soup and was eating with big mouthfuls, until his forehead was sweating.Seeing Zhou Nan, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, coupled with his fierce appearance, he was a little scary.

In contrast, Shi Wenjiang and others looked a little embarrassed.

Seeing Zhou Nan approaching, before he could ask, Shi Wenjiang said: "Sizheng, the stone in the latrine is smelly and hard for this thief. His subordinates waited for interrogation all night, but he resisted to death."

"No hurry, I have plenty of time." Zhou Nan smiled and said to Kong Ming: "Master Dao, how do you feel after not sleeping all night? Are you feeling tired? Recruit it. You can go to sleep after recruiting. Why delay it?" Time to delay everyone's work?"

"Pindao feels good, Si Zheng, you are also a scholar, so you naturally know the principle of loyalty to the emperor and the principle of righteousness. It's not just not sleeping. When Pindao used to retreat and practice, it was not uncommon to not sleep for three to five days. .” Kong Ming finished eating a piece of soup with a wheezing breath, and stretched out his scarlet tongue to lick the big sea bowl with gusto.

Zhou Nan: "Master Daoist, it's not an option to go on like this. If it doesn't work in three to five days, we'll have to wait for ten and a half months. I have plenty of time, so don't force me. By the way, I forgot to tell you that I am a yamen. I was born as an official, and I have been in charge of punishment. There are many thugs who have fallen into my hands, and after a severe punishment, even if you are a hero made of fine steel, you will be turned into soft fingers."

As he spoke, he turned his head and said to Shi Wenjiang: "Wenjiang, burn a soldering iron later, and then go back to the yamen and get the hoop finger. I want to see if Daoist Kong Ming's body is made of iron."

Shi Wenjiang and others stayed up all night, already annoyed by this hob-like Kongming, they just wanted to smash his dog's head.Hearing this, everyone was overjoyed: "Yes, Si Zheng."

Kongming's complexion changed drastically, and with a "dang", the sea bowl in his hand fell to the ground and broke into pieces, cursing: "You dog official, didn't you promise that you would not be tortured? You broke your promise and became fat, villain, villain!"

Zhou Nan laughed loudly: "Do you know that you are afraid? That's right. I am a scholar after all, and I have always convinced people with virtue. I can't do this kind of thing. Forget it, let's do business as usual. Wen Jiang, continue to fight with Daoist Kong Ming." Let the facts make sense! Haha, Kong Ming, are you surprised or surprised?"

After all, he is a modern person. Although Zhou Nan has no integrity, he still has a limit to what he can do.

His bottom line is that he will not touch human blood. He is unwilling to do such things as torture prisoners.In this way, he will be inferior, and he will not be able to show his Zhou Sizheng's means.

After instructing Shi Wenjiang to continue, he sat in a sedan chair and went to Shuntian Mansion Gongyuan to attend this year's Luming Banquet.

The Lu Ming Banquet is the last procedure of the provincial examination, and more than 200 Chinese-style exams have already arrived.

Soon, Yin of Shuntianfu, Tixue of Shuntianfu, Grand Master, deputy chief examiner, room masters of each room, and outer curtain official Guo all came out to accept everyone's visit.All the officials have been busy for a month, not to mention Fu Yin and Duan Tixue, the others have been imprisoned in the Gongyuan for so long, and they can finally leave here and go home after today's banquet.

Everyone is full of spring breeze and the atmosphere is harmonious.

After paying homage to all the adults, everyone saluted the tablets of Confucius and Mencius.

A group of people are naturally headed by Xie Yuan and Xu Yangda, and then arranged in order according to their ranking.

Because of poor grades, Zhou Nan and 21 Supplements were placed at the end of the team, feeling a little regretful.

Xu Yangda turned his head to look at Zhou Nan from time to time, with an expression of complacency and contempt, vaguely provocative.

Zhou Nan was amused in his heart, and thought to himself: How childish, this provincial examination is not a Jinshi subject, and your ranking directly determines whether you can enter the Imperial Academy, and how high the upper limit of your future career will be.As long as you win, it's good, so why do you need to distinguish between high and low?

By the time the ceremony was over, the candidates were so hungry that their chests were pressed against their backs.

It's time for the official banquet.

The banquet was arranged in the Yilun Hall of the Gongyuan, and it is said that there were about forty tables in it.In order to hold this banquet, Shuntian Mansion killed six sheep, bought back thirty Yellow River carps, and even took out the bacon and ham treasured in the school, and invited famous chefs in the capital to cook them.

Feudal society is a world that pays attention to the dignity of the elders and the younger. Naturally, the teachers enter the table first, and the students wait outside.Then according to the ranking, one by one, they enter the hall and sit in the hall.

The Chinese-style candidates are either from rich and noble backgrounds, or they are the children of scholarly families with a long history of family education, and the worst are middle-class.Everyone didn't care about this table of food and wine, but they heard that the chef was invited to be superb, and they all had some expectations in their hearts, and they all whispered outside.

Someone suggested, "The chef who came today heard that the first-hand Yanbang dishes from "Yixiaolou" are very good, with heavy sauce, heavy oil and heavy color, which is very enjoyable. I want to experience it today. If it is really good, we may simply cook it after we come down. Let's meet up there again."

"Yeah, I've heard about Chef Dong's cooking skills for a long time, especially the roasted sea cucumbers with scallions and the roasted small seafood. It's a pity that I haven't been free because I'm busy studying for the exam. After today, it's still half a year before Chunwei. You can rest for a while, just in time to get close to the younger brothers."

Zhou Nan is a lover of exquisite food, and he also ate at "Yi Xiao Lou" before.Immediately became interested, and said with a smile: "Speaking of Chef Dong's specialty dishes are not Yanbang dishes, but Huizhou dishes. By the way, his best dish is roasted pork with peach gum. Know what is peach gum Is it the fat that grows on the peach tree?"

Some people were amazed: "Is that thing edible? I haven't heard of it."

"Peaches can be eaten, but peach gum can't be eaten. It's a good nourishing product! It's very elegant. Think about it. If you don't talk about peaches and plums, you'll make your own way. Burning meat with peach gum is just poetic. You can't say anything about peaches and plums. It turns into slag, fat but not greasy."

Everyone burst into laughter: "Zimu, Zimu, he is indeed a talented and unrestrained talent. He is both grand and harmonious, and his words are eloquent."

Zhou Nan is well-versed in human nature, eloquent and well-known, and everyone in the same year likes to be close to him.Vaguely, everyone in the township examination in this department seemed to be headed by him.

Next to him, Xu Yangda saw fire in his eyes when he saw how popular he was.

He said coldly: "The upper teeth in the village, the nobles in the ancestral temple, and the high positions in the court are all waiting. Should we also reserve a seat for our gatherings in the future?"

A juren said: "Naturally." The ancients, especially those with a certain status, had rules when meeting, talking and doing things, and they needed to set a seat.For example, when all the officials meet, don't sit down first, and first discuss the dignity and inferiority.First of all, it is naturally due to the ranking of official ranks. If the ranks are the same, it will be considered fame.You are a fellow Jinshi, sorry, I am Yijia, you have to sit on my lower head.

What, you and I are both Jinshi fellows, so what year were you Jinshi?You are from Jiajing for eight years, sorry, I am in Jiajing for five years, you sit under me.

This is the rule, which has penetrated into everyone's subconscious mind.

At this time, a Juren suddenly said: "Brother Xu Nian, everyone is a Juren of the same year, what is the priority?"

Xu Yangda: "Otherwise, let's decide based on today's seat!"

Everyone nodded: "It's fair, that's all."

But at this moment, Zhou Nan's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly understood what Xu Yangda was trying to do?The person surnamed Xu is the first and the first name is Jieyuan, so naturally he must be at the top of the list. I am searching for the remains. Wouldn’t he be at the bottom of the same year’s gathering in the future, and will be dominated by this bird man for the rest of his life?
This fellow is too narrow-minded to speak.

Looking back at the other pickers, they all looked dejected.

Zhou Nan was thinking about how to refute this, when a servant from the Yilun Hall came out and said, "Masters, grand masters, masters of Fu Yin, masters of Xuezheng, please come in."

(End of this chapter)