The capital enters November and ushers in the first snow of winter.

As countless snowflakes fall on the rooftops and brick streets of Beijing, the ancient city is covered with a layer of snow, and the green pines are also crowned with a white head.

However, the snow caused problems to the lives of the people of the capital, and pedestrians, ox carts and horse-drawn carts constantly crushed the white snow, and soon the snow and dirt formed slush, making the entire green brick street slippery and dirty.

It was the time to go down to the yamen, and the official sedan chairs left from the yamen one after another, but they were no longer as majestic as before, and the sedan chair drivers and guards walked cautiously.

Lin Haoran has always chosen to leave a little later, and when he walked out of the Zuo Shilang Office, he happened to see Lin Fu accidentally slipping on a piece of slush and falling to the ground, and couldn't help but look at Lin Fu's embarrassed appearance.

"When I was a child, I was always envious of the snow in the north, thinking about being able to have snowball fights in the snow, and I thought it would be so good, and the result was ...... What a bad luck! Lin Fu got up from the ground and immediately complained.

Lin Haoran had no sympathy, and said half-jokingly: "It's obvious that you don't walk carelessly, and you blame this snow!" I think you mean Sang scolding Huai, blaming this snow is fake, in fact, I want to go home to visit relatives! ”

"Uncle Nineteen, you really wronged me, I have no idea of going home to visit my relatives at all!" Lin Fu couldn't take care of the snow stains on his clothes, and complained seriously.

He knew very well that it was impossible for Lin Haoran to return to his hometown, and he had never expressed any homesickness, let alone the idea of returning to his hometown to visit relatives, but he was worried that Lin Haoran would drive him back to Changlin Village because of this.

Lin Haoran knew that this kind of joke couldn't be made, so he walked down the steps and patted Lin Fu on the shoulder and said, "I know you don't mean that, but we are far away in the capital, how can we miss home!" At the end, he added: "But it's useless to be homesick, you still have to stay here with me, I'm afraid you will have to accompany me for at least a few years!" ”

"As long as Uncle Nineteen doesn't dislike me for not being clever enough, a few of us will always protect Uncle Nineteen in the capital!" Lin Fu turned his worries into joy, and immediately responded happily.

Lin Haoran was about to get into the sedan chair, thinking that he suddenly thought of something, and said to Lin Fu again: "Your father has already replied to me, and your marriage is fully in charge of my decision." I will help you find a girl in the capital, and your father and mother must also hope that you can marry a girl from the capital, and the two of them will have a bright face in the village! ”

Lin Fu immediately blushed, and it seemed that he had this in mind, but he did not protest.

Lin Haoran sat down in the sedan chair, and the team left the yamen of the Ministry of Rites in a mighty manner, and the group carefully walked through the streets and alleys, and soon returned to the Lin Mansion.

The sedan chair was slowly lowered in the front yard of the Lin Mansion, and when Lin Haoran came out of the sedan chair, the two ladies were already standing here in a regular manner.

Wu Qiuyu was wearing a life woman crown dress, although her face was still quite green, but the whole person looked more and more noble, but it was much more temperamental than those noble women.

Hua Yingrong has a face full of feminine charm, and she is also a natural clothes rack, and a set of dark complements is on her body, deducing the ultimate of oriental female beauty.

After nearly a year, the three of them have fixed their mode of getting along, not only have they never quarreled, but they also get along very well.

Lin Haoran greeted the two ladies, went back to the room to change clothes, and then went to the dining room to eat together, talking and laughing with each other during the meal.

Hua Yingrong talked about the matter of United Qianzhuang, but she planned to go to Yangzhou in the spring of next year, and planned to continue to promote the follow-up plan of the two Huai old salt introductions, and then establish a more perfect Yangzhou futures trading market.

After eating, Lin Haoran followed the usual approach to the study, and at this time some officials or old acquaintances usually came to visit.

Since next year will be the year of foreign inspection, local officials have now arrived in Beijing one after another, whether they want to keep their positions or seek promotions, but they are rarely allowed to come to the dock to worship him, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites.

Lin Jinyuan handed over the teacup, and presented a bill again: "Master, this is Bing Jingyin sent by the officials who came to Beijing today, and the specific names and numbers are here!" ”

It is not easy for officials to live in the capital, let alone buy a house here. On the contrary, many officials in the capital are often able to settle down in the capital even if they do not accept bribes, mainly thanks to "Bing Jing" and "Tan Jing".

"Ruixue is free to go down to the ninefold, and the officials hang lanterns. Frequently knock on the Zhumen to offer the stove, and the jade is made of the fire pond to melt charcoal red! ”

This poem is said to be "charcoal respect", whenever winter comes, officials from all over the country in the name of purchasing warm charcoal for Beijing officials, have to their backers or court bigwigs to pay tribute to money.

Because this kind of behavior is quite considerate, and it is not classified as bribery, it is the most important means for these two names to slowly evolve into bribery by Ming officials, and it is the main source of income for high-ranking officials in Beijing.

Lin Haoran is the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, the former subordinates or local officials who entered Beijing, and even some officials in Guangdong, they all sent "Bing Jing" one after another.

Naturally, he will not be short of silver taels, in fact, no one in the entire Ming Dynasty is richer than him, but he really wants to correct this clever bribery method, but he knows that he can't go against the current at all.

Especially after experiencing the failure of the reform of the clan and seeing how Xu Jie reversed the right and wrong of a thing, he knew that many things would not develop in a direction that was beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, but in a direction that was beneficial to some people.

Whether it is the current Shengshang Jiajing or the current Shoufu Xu Jie, they essentially put their own interests at the core.

For the benefit of the Zhu family, the former ignored the fact that the population of the Zhu family had skyrocketed, so that the Ming Dynasty continued to bear the glorious life of the Zhu family's children; The latter did not hesitate to undermine the fairness of the imperial examination for the sake of his own protégé's future, and indirectly protected those who violated the law.

"I see, you go down!" Lin Haoran took a sip of tea and nodded lightly.

After all, he is not as innocent as a tiger girl, and in the face of Bing Jing who is being sent one after another, he can only let Lin Jinyuan keep an account and accept it, which can be regarded as a small fortune.

He found that he had fully integrated into this era, into this officialdom of "light and dust", and honestly hibernate here, hoping to one day enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister.

At this moment, Sun Jixiang hurriedly came in from outside and whispered to Lin Haoran: "Dong Weng, I just got a piece of news that Xu Jie will secretly meet that person tonight!" ”

When night falls, the lights of the entire city of Beijing are lit up. Although it is still in the middle of the ice and snow, there is no wind, which makes it seem very peaceful here.

The lights of the Xu Mansion are bright, and the servants are busy here, because the owner of this mansion is in the mansion tonight, which makes it much more lively here than before.

Xu Jie had just passed an unforgettable birthday banquet, and he finally understood why Yan Song in the past still didn't want to retire until he was eighty-two years old, the taste of power was too tempting.

It's just a very ordinary birthday banquet, not only the officials of the six ministries and nine qing, but even the officials of the two capitals and thirteen provinces have sent congratulatory gifts, and his birthday is already more important than the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Xu Fan was sitting at the table and feasting, and he seemed to be in a good mood, his fourth concubine room added him an eighth son, and he used the congratulatory gifts given by officials to his father to buy a few more pawnshops in the capital.

In addition to Xu Jie's father and son, there was also Xu Jie's proud protégé Zhang Juzheng, the national superintendent, who seemed to accompany Xu Jie's father and son to dine together in a regular manner.

This year is undoubtedly a good year for Zhang Juzheng, first he followed Yuan Wei to successfully repair the "Xingdu Zhi" and was promoted to the secretary of the Guozijian industry, and then successfully presided over this year's Yingtianxiang test, and returned to Beijing to enter the Yuwang Mansion as a lecturer.

He not only won a large number of protégés of Nanzhili, but also became the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which can be described as infinitely beautiful, and can be regarded as officially having the political capital to stand on his own in the court.

In the past, even if he served as the secretary of Guozijian, he was also a protégé who benefited from Xu Jie's promotion. It's just that he was recommended by Xu Jie to enter the Yuwang Mansion to talk about the feast for King Yu, and his identity and status are completely different, and he can be regarded as a genuine future emperor.

It is precisely thanks to this status as a lecturer in the Yuwang Mansion that his bargaining chip is no longer Xu Jie, but the future Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which makes his future bright.

After Xu Jie's meal, he called Zhang Juzheng to the study to have tea, and after taking a sip of tea, he asked Zhang Juzheng who was sitting next to him with concern: "Taiyue, how are you doing in Yuwangfu?" ”

With Zhang Juzheng entering the Yuwang Mansion as a lecturer, the relationship between the teacher and the student has been invisibly deepened.

Although Zhang Juzheng is Yuwang's teacher, there are more senior Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin and Yin Shidan in front of him, and he is just the most junior Yuwang teacher, so he naturally has to rely on Xu Jie's support.

Xu Jie invited Jiajing with green words, and only then was he able to become the first assistant. It's just that the saint is now more than sixty years old, and he is already the second-longest-lived emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and he also has to think about the future.

The reason why he recommended Zhang Juzheng to enter Yuwang's Mansion was to hope that with the help of Zhang Juzheng's teacher-student relationship with Yuwang, he would still be able to continue to serve as the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty after Yuwang inherited the unification.

In fact, he didn't think about recommending Wang Xilie and other proud protégés to enter Yuwang's Mansion, but whether it was qualifications or personal ability, Zhang Juzheng was better.

The most important thing is that Zhang Juzheng and Yin Shidan, the official of Yuwangfu, are in the same year, and letting Zhang Juzheng enter Yuwangfu is undoubtedly easier to gain a foothold in Yuwangfu.

Zhang Juzheng maintained a respectful heart towards Xu Jie, and even responded with his hand: "If you go back to the teacher, everything is fine with the students, Yuwang is benevolent and studious, and he will definitely become a generation of Ming monarchs in the future!" ”

When Xu Jie heard this comment, he didn't think so, and he pinched the tea lid with his hand and splashed the hot tea.

King Yu is stupid by nature, this is a well-known thing, otherwise the saints in the past would not have touched the idea of abolishing the elder and the young. Even if King Jing has been in the domain for two years, the current saint has no intention of making King Yu the crown prince.

Although there is a factor of the emperor's obsession with immortality, the more important thing is that the emperor seems to be "unqualified" for King Yu, and even there is a disgust for King Yu to this day.

Xu Jie naturally didn't say these thoughts, and said seriously: "Taiyue, King Yu will definitely be able to inherit the great unification in the future, your current burden is not light, you must teach him well, and assist him to be a good generation of Ming Jun in the future!" ”

"The students will follow the teachings of their teacher, and they will definitely teach His Royal Highness King Yu well, so that he can become a generation of Ming Jun in the future!" Zhang Juzheng maintained a respectful attitude and responded politely.

Xu Jie was very satisfied with Zhang Juzheng's attitude, took a sip of tea and advised: "The current situation in the court is complicated, and the situation next year will be even more complicated, especially Lin Haoran is not a person who can really settle down." No matter what happens, you can teach Yu Yuwang with peace of mind, be a good job in the country, and don't get involved in other things, do you understand the painstaking work of being a teacher? ”

"Students understand, thank you for your continuous cultivation!" Zhang Juzheng was slightly moved, and he bowed his hand again.

This is indeed a sentence from the heart, from participating in the compilation of "Xingdu Zhi", to serving as the secretary of the Guozijian, and now being able to enter the Yuwang Mansion as a lecturer, all of which benefited from the careful arrangement of this teacher.

It is these arrangements, although he is not as rocket as Lin Haoran and Li Chunfang, but he walks very steadily, and he can get a trump card for the future Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

It was at this moment that the butler came in from outside the door and whispered in Xu Jie's ear.

Seeing this, especially after seeing Xu Jie's reaction, Zhang Juzheng stood up and respectfully bowed his hand and said, "Teacher, the students don't dare to bother, so they will leave first!" ”

"Okay, come back often!" Xu Jie's face was like a spring breeze, and he nodded gently.

Zhang Juzheng gave another respectful salute, and then quietly withdrew.

Just now, in order not to be rude, he has been holding back his pee. After leaving Xu Jie's study, he did not choose to leave Xu's mansion immediately, but borrowed Xu's thatched house.

When he came out of the thatched house and was about to leave the Xu Mansion, he noticed that there was movement in the corridor at the back door.

Zhang Juzheng is actually not a person who likes to explore secrets, but he happened to see it tonight, but he couldn't help but take a second look. Through the dim light over there, he first saw Xu Fan, but saw that there were two people behind him.

He recognized these two people, one was Tao Fang, the nephew of the former Taoist Heavenly Master Gongcheng Bo Tao Zhongwen, and the other was Shao Fang, the "Danyang Hero" of Nanzhili.

With his teacher's current status and prestige, let alone this Tao Fang who has no official status, it is impossible to have dealings with a person in the rivers and lakes, and he couldn't help muttering in his heart.

The most important thing is that these two people were brought in by Xu Fan through the back door, and they didn't want others to know about it, so why did they make it so mysterious?

It's just that these things seem to be a secret, Zhang Juzheng didn't dare to snoop, as for what the two of them talked about in the study, it is unknown.

Xu Fan led the two people into the study, and soon sent the two people away, still arranging the sedan chair of the Xu Mansion, and secretly sent the two people away.

On the way back, I happened to meet the messenger, and after reading the news that had just arrived, I hurriedly walked out of the study and said excitedly to Xu Jie: "Dad, there is news over there in Jiangxi!" ”

"What's the news?" Xu Jie's heart moved slightly, but he quietly picked up the teacup and asked.

Xu Fan looked at no one on the left and right, and said softly with a mysterious face: "Nanjing Yushi Lin Run was sent by Nanjing Yushitai to inspect Jiangnan Jiangfang a few days ago, and now he has run to Fenyi County, Jiangxi!" ”