Chapter 239: Recommended

The moment he saw Shen Yu, Chu Zhen understood his intentions, and the joy of meeting his old acquaintance in a foreign place suddenly surged into his heart, in a completely unfamiliar place, when he met a familiar person, he did not feel a trace of unspeakable relief in his heart, after all, he counted the time, Shen Yu's provincial period was approaching, and now he did not leave for his post, the reason for which is self-evident.

Chu Qian's warm embrace made Shen Yu feel a little uncomfortable, but fortunately, Chu Zhen also realized this, and let go gently, with a bright smile on his face: "Brother Wentong, don't come to harm, are you okay?" ”

"Originally, I was still a little uncomfortable in my heart, but when I saw Jing Chun, I was in a good mood, so naturally everything was healthy." Shen Yu smiled and said, close to Zhu Zhechi, he also learned to joke, which made others feel a little surprised, you must know that the eldest son of the Shen family in Qiantang County, who reads poetry and books weekdays, is famous for not smiling, but today he has turned to "sex", which is really a rare thing.

"Can be a 'medicine' for curing diseases, does Brother Wentong think I should be happy or sad?" Chu Zhen said with a smile.

"Hmm." After a deep groan, Shen Yu said with a smile: "I think you should feel honored." ”

Then he couldn't help but chuckle, Chu Zhen didn't think there was anything, after all, when they were in Bianliang City, everyone was used to joking with each other, but others were stunned, and looked at Shen Yu uncertainly, and there was a trace of doubt in his heart, is this still the eldest son of the Shen family? It's not someone pretending to be replaced.

"Lord Shen, presumably this is the new county lord." After a while, seeing that Shen Yu and Chu Zhen were talking very happily, it seemed that there was no intention of ending, seeing that it was not too early, after several prevarications, a middle-aged man with a white face and a blue beard walked out among the others, and said respectfully and politely.

Chu Zhen tilted his head slightly, carefully looked at the person who came, listened to his restrained tone, and cautious attitude, and guessed a few points in his heart, seven or eight times out of ten, this person should be an official of Qiantang County, his future subordinate.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Shen Yu smiled and said: "Jing Chun, I'll introduce you to you, this is Liu Renzhi, the chief bookkeeper of Qiantang County, who has been an official in Qiantang for many years and is familiar with the local situation. ”

"If the county lord has orders, the subordinate officials should obey their orders." Liu Renzhi arched his hand and said, his posture was very low, and he was not unconvinced because of Chu Qian's youth, you must know that in ancient times, it was not the age of the other party that he saw, but the rank and future, Liu Renzhi was very self-aware, he was nearly half a hundred years old, and he had struggled for more than ten years before he mixed up with the position of the master book of the nine products, and then there was a further possibility of "sex", but it was very difficult, and people were in their prime, so young they had become a county magistrate, and the future was so great that they had the qualifications to despise others.

"Then I will have to ask Master Liu for more advice in the future." Chu Zhi returned the salute slightly, both a little polite, but also maintained a certain distance, and then signaled, quietly stood aside, Changgui, who had already prepared, hurriedly walked over, presented the official seal wrapped in brocade cloth to Chu Qian, and then took half a step back.

"Master Liu, this is the official seal and document granted by the Ministry of Officials, please verify it." Chu Zhen smiled.

With Shen Yu on his side to prove it, how could it be fake, but the rules of the court were like this, and Liu Renzhi did not dare to make an exception, respectfully took the official seal document, carefully observed it for a moment, confirmed that it was correct, sighed quietly in his heart, cleaned up a trace of loss, quickly bloomed a bright smile, and formally saluted and said: "Liu Renzhi, the chief bookkeeper of Qiantang County, has seen Chuzhi County. ”

"I've seen Chuzhi County." A few people who had been waiting next to him for a long time hurriedly rushed up to salute, and in the future, they would have to mix under the hands of others, how to do it if they were not smart.

"Chuzhi County, this is the priest, the record."

Seeing the "color" of Chu Zhi's eyes, "dew", "confusion" and "confusion", Liu Renzhi naturally introduced it with interest, and Chu Zhi nodded slightly, and it was also a little clear, being in the house of the official eunuch, under the influence of his ears and eyes, Chu Zhi also learned that in the state and county yamen of the Song Dynasty, in addition to the officials appointed by the imperial court, there were also a large number of officials.

Some of the sources of these officials are recruited, some are sent, most of them are selected from the local rich squires, and some of the officials are hereditary, the father dies and the son succeeds, and the names of the officials are varied, and the most important duty is to handle the collection of taxes and deal with prison lawsuits.

Of course, the fact that the court does not issue money does not mean that the officials have no money to receive, but it is just decided by the county officials, and the amount of money to give is also different from person to person, or from person to person, or according to the mood of the county officials, and the officials are not included in the court files, if the county officials are not satisfied with a certain official, they have the right to dismiss them, so for the soap officials, the county is really their food and clothing, how can they not be respectful.

"Lord Zhixian, the sedan chair has been prepared, please move to the next step." After being lively for a while, so that Chu Zhen had a general impression of his subordinates, Liu Renzhi stood up and said respectfully.

Looking ahead, I saw that in the open space of the dock, there was indeed a sedan chair, dressed in red and green, a group of servants scattered on both sides, and a few drummers waiting, obviously everything was ready, just send yourself, Chu Zhen naturally had no disagreement, nodded slightly, signaled Changgui and a few other entourages to take their luggage and follow, and walked forward with a smile and Shen Yu.

"Obediently, not only is the eldest prince's friend, but he is also the county lord, fortunately, he was not offended when he was on the boat, otherwise." Cold sweat broke out on the forehead of the boatman who proposed to "touch" into Chu Qian's room, after all, for ordinary people, a noble son and an official are two different things, the former is scruples, and the latter is awe, which cannot be equated.

"Boy, I'm scared when I know it, as soon as I saw Chu Zhixian, I knew that he was not a mortal." There are always some people who like hindsight, and when they saw that Chu Zhen and his party had gone away, they boasted loudly.

"Shut up, what nonsense are you talking about, from now on no one is allowed to mention the events of that day, and rot it in the stomach as if it never happened." Shen Seventeen shouted, his face full of seriousness. A few clever boatmen immediately understood what Shen Seventeen meant, not to mention the relationship between Chu Zhen and the eldest prince, you must know that they were plotting to deal with a magistrate that day, although they chose to give up halfway, but if it was spread out, the unlucky one must be themselves.

At this moment, the open space of the wharf suddenly sounded the sound of gongs and drums and firecrackers, there were twenty or thirty officials in front of the road, and the people who were watching the excitement did not dare to get too close, and Chu Zhen was not so hypocritical, and he chose to enter the city by the road without sitting in a sedan chair for six people.

Seeing that the sedan chair was big enough, Chu Zhi directly dragged Shen Yu in, anyway, it was twenty or thirty minutes away from the dock to the county government, and the two people who were less than three hundred pounds carried by six strong men should not be a problem, and it was indeed the same, under the order of the master of ceremonies, the officials struck the gong in front to open the way, the six-person sedan chair was in the middle, and the drummer followed behind, and Liu Renzhi led a group of soap officials to accompany on both sides of the sedan chair, and walked towards the city gate with a mighty "swing" and "swing", and the soldiers guarding the city naturally did not dare to stop it, and deliberately dispersed the people who were about to enter the city, Get out of the way of a spacious passage, and the people are not surprised to consciously retreat to both sides, carefully looking at the sedan chair of the new magistrate of Qiantang County, and they are also a little curious in their hearts.

The sedan chair is very balanced, there is no feeling of bumps at all, after entering the city gate, Chu Zhen lightly put down the curtain of the sedan wall, smiled at Shen Yu and said: "Brother Wentong, when will you leave tomorrow, remember to tell me, and I will also go to see him off." ”

"Jing Chun, I didn't say where I started." Shen Yu said in surprise.

"And you're going to leave tonight?" Chu Zhen nodded and said, "It's okay, the gift to be handed over shouldn't be long, I'll go to see you off immediately after I'm done." ”

Blinking his eyes and understanding what Chu Zhen meant, Shen Yu chuckled and said: "Jing Chun, don't worry, you come to Qiantang, how can I not fulfill the friendship of the landlord, naturally I want to accompany you for a few days to enjoy the mountains and rivers of Qiantang, anyway, the matter has come to this point, and it will not be a few days." ”

"Brother Wentong's words are wrong, some hosts and guests are not distinguished." Chu Zhen shook his head and said: "I am the magistrate of Qiantang County, but Brother Wentong is the judge of Jiangning, can't it be clear who is the host and who is the guest." ”

"You kid is sharp-toothed, and he pulls out some specious and crooked reasoning, and I don't argue with you." Shen Yu sighed with a smile.

"It's obvious that you are poor in your own reasoning, but you still complain about others." Chu Zhen smiled, and said with a smile: "I naturally understand that Brother Wentong wants to build a bridge and auxiliary road for me in Qiantang, so he is reluctant to set off, and there is no need to thank you between you and me, but you can't trap me in injustice, if you let the current Xiuying and them know about this, they will definitely write to accuse me of not knowing how to do things." ”

"I'm afraid of you, I'll set off tomorrow." Shen Yu smiled bitterly.

"That's right." Chu Zhen said with a smile: "Besides, Jiangning is so close to here, if there is anything I want your help with, I will definitely not let you be idle." ”

"I hope so." Shen Yu smiled, but he understood the truth that far water could not save near the fire, so he naturally had other plans in his heart.

After chatting for a while, Chu Zhen lifted the curtain of the sedan wall and looked out, although because there were officials in front of the road, pedestrians and hawkers dodged aside, but there were also faint shops on the street, judging from the size of its storefronts and the goods sold, Hangzhou City could indeed not be compared with Bianliang City, but it was definitely not inferior to the county near Bianliang City.

"Jing Chun, what do you think? Are you disappointed? Shen Yu smiled and said: "I remember that you once said that there was a saying in heaven and Suzhou and Hangzhou, and I don't know where you heard it, but now you should understand that some words are exaggerated." ”

Shen Yu This is not self-deprecation, but just to clarify a fact, after all, as long as you are not arrogant, you will face up to the gap between Hangzhou and Bianliang, and Bianliang City is Kyoto, and it is normal for Hangzhou to not be compared with it, and no one feels that they will be embarrassed by this.

"The city is a jewel, the household is profitable, and the competition is luxurious. Heavy lakes are stacked on top of each other. There are three autumn laurels and ten miles of lotus. Qiang tube clear, Lingge flooded the night, frolicking and fishing lotus baby. Chu Zhen shook his head and recited it, and then scolded: "Liu Qi deceived people, and it was in vain for me to believe what he wrote." ”

"Jing Chun, poetry is just a combination, a combination of fiction and reality, true and false, you can't believe it." Shen Yu said with a chuckle.

Of course, Chu Zhen knows that literature must have been processed, otherwise how could it rise to the level of art, this is just an excuse, no matter whether Hangzhou is as rich and prosperous as Liu Yong's "tide" described in the "tide" of Wanghai, but Chu Zhen still understands the truth that it comes and is safe.

"Jing Chun, I'm ready to go to the county office." Glancing out slightly, Shen Yu reminded.

After speaking, the sedan chair suddenly slowed down, shook for a moment and then stopped gently, without waiting for Chu Zhen to stretch out his hand, the sedan curtain had been torn open by a soap officer, please let go, Chu Zhen and Shen Yu walked out at the same time, and there was a burst of firecrackers, and the festive drum music was naturally mixed with it.

Taking two steps forward, Chu Zhen carefully looked at the yamen of Qiantang County, and the first thing that caught his eye was the spacious vermilion lacquer gate, the tall blue lacquer doorpost and the eight-character wall that opened to both sides, two majestic stone lions were placed aside, and a leather drum was placed on the right, which was obviously prepared for the people to beat the drum and voice their grievances.

Hundreds of firecrackers sounded, surrounded by everyone, Chu Zhi took the lead in entering the county office, followed by the door is the instrument door, which can only be opened when the person is specially served, there are two small doors on both sides of the instrument door, the east is the door of life, the west is the door of death, under normal circumstances, it is for the prisoners to use.

Now it is to welcome the new magistrate of the county, the Yimen is naturally open, everyone walked a few steps, but Chu Zhen suddenly stopped, only to see that there is a stone tablet of the imperial ring of Song Taizong on the road in the Yimen, the front book "Gongshengming" three words, the stele Yin book "Ercheng Erlu, the people anoint the people; The people are easy to abuse, and the heavens are difficult to deceive".

After the guidance of the third uncle Chu Qian, Chu Zhen stood in front of the stele, sorted out his appearance, and respectfully bowed to the stele, in order to show that he would not forget the admonition of Emperor Taizong, in fact, everyone knew in their hearts that this etiquette was dispensable, if Chu Zhen really turned a blind eye to the words on the stele, no one would say anything, but seeing his solemn appearance, it made many people feel that the new magistrate seemed to respect the court very much.

Walking through the instrument gate, it is the lobby of the county government, that is, the place where the case is tried, the east side of the lobby is the officer, household, and ritual room, and the west side is the soldier, criminal, and engineering room, in addition, there are the east treasury room, the delivery room, the signing room and other institutions on both sides of the lobby, that is, the place where the soap officials work.

There is also two halls after the lobby, which is the place where the county mediates and deals with general cases, after all, any case must be heard, and the county is not tired to death, and after the second hall is the third hall, which is the place where the county handles government affairs documents, at this time, Chu Zhi naturally has no interest in going to inspect, but under the guidance of Liu Renzhi, from both sides of the lobby screen, he enters the courtyard of the county government, which is where the county officials rest.

A two-storey attic, there are several wings downstairs, and a living room, in the spacious house, the layout is exquisite and elegant, rockeries and strange stones, surrounded by streams, a few unknown red flowers and green trees are scattered among them, attracting a few flowers and butterflies to dance, the breeze is light, and the dark fragrance is bursting.

Of course, this is only the main residence of the county official, and there are more than a dozen houses around the main house, after all, when the ancient buildings cannot be expanded, only the hard occupation can build the mansion more luxurious and exquisite.

"Lord Zhixian, forgive me for making my own opinions, I have set up a banquet in the garden to catch the wind and wash the dust for you, I don't know if the county can move forward." Came to the inner house, waited for Chu Zhen to look at it for a while, Liu Renzhi then bowed his hand and said, this is the usual practice, after receiving the news from the Shen family, Liu Renzhi began to prepare, and after seeing Chu Zhen at the dock, he first sent someone to quietly return to the county government to arrange this matter properly.

Unless the "sex" is unkind, no one will refuse this proposal, Chu Zhen is the same, and instructed Changgui and a few people to place their luggage in the bedroom, and then surrounded by everyone, they crossed the door of the house and walked to the garden, where the place is indeed relatively spacious, and it is also a lush, dark fragrance floating scene, however, the floating dark fragrance is not flowers and spices, but more than a dozen beautiful girls.

After receiving Chu Qian's questioning gaze, Liu Renzhi hurriedly explained quietly: "This is the female singer of the state music division, I heard that the county was in office, and I specially came to sing and dance. ”

The current atmosphere is like this, besides, the music division in the Song Dynasty, its main function is indeed only to entertain the banquet, and there is no other function, Chu Zhi smiled and relieved, and Shen Yu stepped forward to sit down on the "chairman" seat, and Liu Renzhi and the soap officials naturally did not dare to slack off, and they sat down in a row according to their ranks, with Chu quality as the center.

Seeing Chu Zhi nodded, Liu Renzhi immediately understood, and signaled slightly, and the servants who had been prepared rushed in from both sides, putting the steaming wine and delicacies on everyone's table, and at this moment, the sound of strings slowly sounded, and the sound became louder and louder, and the gorgeously dressed girls danced with the melody, and the printed dresses swirled up, showing a graceful and gentle dance, and at the same time, a crisp and tactful voice came: "The water is the eye waves, and the mountain is the eyebrows. ”

"Jing Chun, don't look at me, this is not my arrangement." Shen Yu smiled and shook his head, raising his glass lightly.

"Who else but you?" Chu Zhi chuckled, also picked up the wine glass, signaled to everyone at the banquet, took a sip of wine, and found that the taste of this wine tends to be soft, sweet and mellow, and there seems to be a trace of sweetness.

"This is a famous aged yellow rice wine in the south of the Yangtze River, which is a little different from the Chun wine in Bianliang City, Jing Chun can feel used to it?" Shen Yu said with a smile, blinking his eyes, as if he was metaphorically saying something.

"Wentong, you forgot, my ancestral home is in Mingzhou, south of the Yangtze River, and it is often said that wine is my hometown Chun, and now it seems that this is really the case." Chu Zhi said with a smile, raised his glass and drank freely, I don't know if it was because the atmosphere of the banquet was slowly thickening, or because of hearing Chu Qian's words, everyone at the banquet did not have the restraint just now, and their faces "revealed" a relaxed smile.

Shangguan is satisfied, subordinates are naturally at ease, one side is intended to integrate, one side is intended to please, this banquet is naturally happy, listening to the joy of silk and bamboo in the ear, tasting wine and food in the mouth, until the moon falls in the sky, the banquet is not stopped, do not dare to disturb the county officials to rest, the soap officials have resigned, although the contact time is not long, but after careful observation, I know that the new county official is not a strong "sex" person, the soap officials do have a few points in their hearts, they should be able to sleep peacefully tonight.

"Jing Chun, now you can rest assured that you can sleep peacefully." Holding a lantern and standing in front of the back door of the inner house, Shen Yu said with a chuckle, Junyi's face flushed a little ruddy.

"Thanks to your big Buddha sitting for me, otherwise I would have been a little apprehensive." Chu Zhen said softly, it is the first time to come to a strange place, and he also knows nothing about the affairs of the county government, so it is strange in his heart.

"How many more days do you want me to stay?" Shen Yu said with a smile.

"Absolutely not, delaying your trip has made me very unhappy, if I want to trouble you again, then my heart will become uneasy, besides, you can help for a while, but you can't help for a lifetime, you still have to rely on yourself as a man." Chu Zhen shook his head lightly and said with a smile: "If you are not an official, I will immediately hire you as a staff member." ”

chuckled for a moment, his eyes quietly turned slightly, and Shen Yu smiled: "Jing Chun, the talented literati in Qiantang County don't know geometry, but there are only a handful of people who know the situation of the county government well, if you really want to find a staff, it is not an easy thing." ”

"Listen to you, it seems that there is a suitable person in mind?" Chu Zhen said, there seems to be a hint of intention, Chu Zhen just said, although a bit of a joke, but I do have this idea in my heart, after all, I am not familiar with the place in Qiantang County, I don't know the local customs, the best solution is naturally to find a local person as a staff, so as to make suggestions for myself, so as not to understand the local situation, resulting in any omissions.

"Yes, yes, I just don't know if you can say that you can move him." Shen Yu smiled.

"I don't know who Brother Wentong is talking about." Chu Zhen said, a little curious.

"My second brother Shen Liao, Ruida, grew up in Qiantang County since he was a child, and he has been a priest for a few days in the previous generation, and he is no stranger to county affairs, but his 'nature' is a little arrogant, but I don't know if he is willing to help you." Shen Yu said with a smile, in ancient times, the relationship between the proprietor and the staff was very vague, maybe they were still close friends, and it was not a shame to give others as a bureaucracy, and sometimes it could become a promotion, so Shen Yu would have such a proposal.

"Hehe, it would be great if I could get the help of the second brother of the Shen family." Chu Zhen said with a smile, and the implication was that he had agreed with Shen Yu's recommendation, after all, it was better to be familiar with the candidates for the staff.

"Jing Chun, listen to me." Shen Yu smiled bitterly: "It's not that I'm boasting, Ruida is smart and talented, but unfortunately he doesn't know how to make progress, he sings and drinks on weekdays, and regards fame as nothing, otherwise the achievement will definitely be above me, but now he is just a showman, if you want him to become your staff, I'm afraid it's a little difficult." ”

"It's okay, I believe that as long as I sincerely invite him, I will definitely be able to impress him." Chu Zhen said with a smile, it is true that he can get such praise from Shen Yu, although it is a bit of nepotism, but Chu Zhen believes in Shen Yu's character, and since he recommends it to himself, he will definitely not find someone to fool him at will.