Emperor Yongzheng: Eagle Bow Sirius

Chapter 17 Tu Lichen was ordered to inspect the Lantern Festival in Bingzhou, mocking Zhongzhi (1)
Hearing this sound, dozens of officials with brilliant feathers in front of the flower hall, from the chief envoy, the inspector to the various officials, and a large group of criminal names, masters of money and food, and more than a dozen gentry and elders in the provincial capital all looked at each other and stopped. Zhuo stood up, not knowing what bad luck this sticky-toothed passing imperial envoy was looking for.Nuo Min gave a slight nod to Tu Lichen, who was sitting firmly in the chair, and hurriedly got up to leave the table, also looking flustered.It was only then that Tu Lichen realized that Tian Wenjing had committed many evils in Taiyuan.He kept his composure, murmured while holding a wine glass, and saw Tian Wenjing hurried in wearing a heron suit and a white nipple glass top.

"I heard that the imperial envoy Tu has arrived?" Tian Wenjing and Nuo Min bowed to each other, and they looked away as soon as they met.Tian Wenjing glanced at the crowd and asked, "Is this here? Let the officials pay homage to you!" Tu Lichen realized that Tian Wenjing's eyes were short-sighted, and he couldn't see clearly when he was sitting in the center in a yellow mandarin jacket, and smiled. He stood up with a smile and said, "I am Tu Lichen." Tian Wenjing then turned around, took a step forward, flung his horseshoe sleeves and knelt down, and said in a loud voice, "Tian Wenjing, the envoy of the imperial envoy West Road Xuanzhi, knocked on the imperial envoy Shanxi Xuanzhi envoy. Tu Lichen! Chentian Wenjing respectfully invites Shengan!"

The imperial envoy kowtowed to the imperial envoy!This is the truth, but it is indeed a superfluous sentence.Seeing Tian Wenjing's unyielding strength, everyone wanted to laugh but didn't dare.For a moment, there was no one at the big banquet, only the faint sound of firecrackers that sounded like gruel being boiled outside the Yamen—it was time to miss the third watch, and it was time for the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.Tu Lichen was also taken aback by Tian Wenjing, but at this moment he said that Tianxian held a lot of power, so why did he put Tian Wenjing in his eyes?After a short pause, he said coldly: "Saint Boon! The imperial envoy Tu Lichen is ashamed to receive your big gift - don't get up in a hurry, I have something to ask you!"

"I respectfully listen to the oracle!"

"Ask Tian Wenjing by order," Tu Lichen said, "Tian Wenjing is a small official of the capital, and he was ordered to deliver the decree to Gengyao in Xidaying. He was originally a special messenger, and he was not entrusted to collect stories along the way and interfere with local government affairs. Why do you want to make a fuss out of nothing, playing the role of Nuo Min, the governor of Shanxi, who is greedy for merit and favor, to flatter the present? Am I the one who can be bullied?" After finishing speaking, he stared at Tian Wenjing.Tian Wenjing took his time and kowtowed his head and replied: "I was ordered to go west on a special mission, but the Ministry of Household Affairs has repeatedly received strict orders to clean up the finances of Shanxi, Zhili, Shandong, and Henan provinces within a time limit. The orders have been recorded and handed over to the emperor. Shi Shoucun. It is because the minister intervened in the Shanxi deficit case, not as an imperial envoy, but as an officer of the household department to inspect the Shanxi vassal treasury. The status of the minister and Nuo Min is very different and there is no old enmity. Lord of deceit, dare not dereliction of duty lightly, begging the Holy Spirit to enlighten you!"

This remark exceeded people's expectations, and even Nuo Min couldn't help being stunned, her face flushed immediately, and she really wanted to interject and ask, "Why didn't you say earlier that you checked as a member of the household department"?But now Tu Lichen is interrogating on behalf of the emperor, no matter who interjects, he is deceiving the emperor, so he swallowed dryly, staring at this thorny official who came to Shanxi for no reason to make trouble, the fire in his heart arched. Go up.Tu Lichen was also very surprised, but at this time he could only ask questions according to the order, because he said: "Today, the deficit in Shanxi Tong Province has been fully compensated. Now that you have checked it out, can the bank account match?"

"Not bad!"

"Since the penny is not bad," Tu Lichen recited Yongzheng's original words, "You have insulted people's reputation for no reason, why is it sincere? What is the sincerity? It is enough to prove that my heart promises that Nuomin is the world's number one minister. Absurd. If Nuomin is a little deceptive, I will have no face to the world! Ask Er Tian Wenjing, what else can I say to me?" After reciting, his eyes were aggressive, and he stared at Tian Wenjing without saying a word.

Tian Wenjing licked his lips, Yongzheng's words were so tricky and fierce, neither he nor Wu Sidao thought of it, and protecting Nuo Min to this extent was even more unexpected, if he continued to argue, then It's not a confrontation with Nuo Min, but a direct sweep of Yongzheng's face.Tian Wenjing pondered for a while, then kowtowed and replied: "I am stupid. Nuo Min is indeed the 'No. [-] minister in the world'. Long live the question so far, what else can I say? Fuwei Shengju!"

"Come on!" Tu Lichen shouted with burning eyes, "Remove Tian Wenjing's top hat!"

"tie!"

The two soldiers agreed and stepped forward.Tian Wenjing waved his hand, and with a pale face and trembling hands, he unscrewed the knob on the top of the Nirvana glass and handed it over.

"Master Tian," Tu Lichen smiled slightly, and personally stepped forward to help Tian Wenjing with both hands, "don't be so depressed. If you mess up the job, you will be dismissed from the post and go to the top. There are thousands of opinions. The ups and downs of the official career are ordinary things, and the crown can be a companion Come on, let’s have some wine, I’m going to surprise you!” Nuo Min hurriedly asked someone to pour the wine, held it up with both hands to offer to Tian Wenjing, and said with a smile: “Wenjing, it’s more than one month in Jin Dynasty, so it’s a shame to be a master! Thinking about it, it was just a nightmare, as if it happened yesterday. My lord here can testify that my brother is being severely reprimanded by the emperor today, and it is not because of my brother's slander... I think Wenjing will return to Beijing, and the court must have a kind order." Tian Wenjing listened Hearing Nuo Min's hypocritical consolation, without saying a word, he took the wine glass, drank it down, and showed the bottom of the glass to everyone.He went straight to the upper table and sat upright, with a look of indifference. Seeing his courage, Tu Lichen suddenly had a thought: "This man is a hero!" Nuo Min was so happy that he was drunk He seemed to be walking around with his hands behind his back, just wanting to laugh but afraid of losing his composure. Everyone thought he was searching for a poem, but they saw him wave his hand and say, "Set off the big firecrackers! Let off the fireworks!"

As the firecrackers "bang bang" sounded like thunder one after another, twelve boxes of fireworks spewed out flowers, clouds, mist and streamers, reflecting the colorful colors on the table.A round moon spreads the silvery veil to the earth like a veil, and in the misty azure light sits this group of officials and gentry who have different ideas and raise their glasses to persuade them to drink, which is quite interesting.

After a while, the wine was hot, and people gradually talked more and more.At the beginning, they talked about antiques, Shang Yi, Zhou Ding, Qin bricks and Han tiles, and then some people talked about rhythm, such as one breath, two bodies, three categories, four objects, five tones, six rhythms, seven tones, eight winds and nine songs. .On the contrary, Nuo Min, Tian Wenjing, and Tu Lichen, the chiefs at the table, had nothing to talk about, one didn't want to talk, and the other didn't want to talk.

"Why are the three adults sitting bored?" A drunken county magistrate staggered up, poured wine for the three of them one by one, and said at the same time: "It's a happy day... two imperial envoys—uh How do you eat dry wine? I... I'll tell you a joke... a joke!" He stared at Tian Wenjing.When Tian Wenjing looked at it, it was Pan Gui, the magistrate of Baishan County. This time, he was the first one to clear up the deficit. He knew that he must have come to ridicule him. 'Pangui' (Pangui) is all. But I am no longer 'gui', so I just listen to jokes." Pan Gui pretended to be crazy with wine, and said: "My lord, I said... say It’s a real story! Well... I was born in the 57th year of Kangxi. I passed through Puyang and missed Sutou. I didn’t go to Bacun before and I didn’t go to Badian. I had to sleep on a mound. ghost!"

Having said that, Pan Gui is already articulate and no longer stutters.All the people in the house stopped discussing when they heard the magistrate talking about ghosts.I only heard Pan Gui say: "At that time, July [-]th, the night was already cold, and I woke up from the cold in the middle of the night. I pulled the quilt and was about to go back to sleep when I heard a few people reciting poems over there...

"I thought, at such an hour, there are still people working hard? When I looked up, there were four people sitting on the beach on the west side of the bridge. One was about fifty years old, one was in his 40s, and the other two were between eighteen and nineteen. The old man said, "Yesterday, the wind and rain failed, and tonight is a beautiful moonlight. Let's write a composition and try our best!" The three said 'success'! So the old man went from I took out a few balls of paper from the boot pages and gave them to the three of them. The four of them closed their eyes and raised their eyebrows, shaking their heads and scratching their ears, thinking about solving the problem. At this moment, a gust of wind blew over, and I shivered. I knew in my heart that they must not be human beings, but I wanted to hear Listening to their time-breaking questions, maybe it will be useful on the court.

"About a meal later, I heard the old man sigh and say: 'I'm so blunt today, I can only come up with a good solution, what can I do?' Several ghosts also echoed, 'Really, somehow, tonight, I just came up with a broken problem, and I can't do it anymore.'

"I thought, this must be the ghosts and gods instructing me on the exam questions. I paid attention, and saw the old man take the middle-aged man's paper and said, "Well, good! ——'Looking at the cause and the cause, observing the place is safe and people are Yanyu! "—Wonderful!'

"What's so wonderful about breaking the topic in this essay? I felt suspicious in my heart, and the old man commented again in a panic, 'The first sentence can be regarded as the hero's opinion, but the second sentence doesn't seem to include it. Listen to me—" —'Look at the cause and the cause, observe the place and be thin'—how?'

"The group of ghosts immediately clapped and applauded in admiration. The old man twirled his beard and said with a smile, 'Composition is a matter of a hair's breadth and a thousand miles. There is no meaning left in the composition question.' Listening to his two nonsensical answers to the question, I was still complacent. I covered the quilt and laughed secretly. Then I heard the old man ask the two young ghosts, 'You are young and quick-witted, why are you swaying backwards? A blank paper?’ a young ghost said, ‘How can I compare with the teacher? You are a person who goes to the examination room three times. A blunt person has no choice but to dig into the pile of money, and still care about writing?'

"Speaking, the two young ghosts picked up a large pile of golden money from the sand with their hands, and said, 'A ghost who has the ability to make money is a good ghost. In today's world, who cares about articles?'

"Hearing this, I couldn't bear it anymore. I stretched my neck and stood up and yelled, 'Xuezheng is here. Whether it's a human or a ghost, we will be determined by the article! A ghost dragged me into the water, how should I deal with it? Unexpectedly, when the four of them heard that no matter human or ghost, they were all destined to die, they were so frightened that they froze on the ground, their faces were ashen, their bodies trembled and turned into a black mist, dying— ——I thought they got money out of the treasury, but when I went to see it, I was very disappointed——it’s all fucking paper money!”

(End of this chapter)