In Shaanxi in September, the sun is very poisonous, and the strong sunlight on people will soon induce sweat. Therefore, on the huge official road, there are no traces, people either hide at home to enjoy the cool, or go into the water to swim to cool off, there is no 100,000 urgent things, no one wants to go out at noon to suffer this suffering.

Guo Mingtao looked at the steaming waves on the road ahead, and kept lifting the hem of his clothes to wipe the sweat on his forehead and sideburns, not far behind him, Lu Xingyun shouted: "Sven, Brother Guo Sven don't want it?" ”

The other party's banter was obvious, but Guo Mingtao had no intention of arguing with him. Because his good brother who spoke was now completely devoid of the image of a scholar, and like the six guards on his errand, he was shirtless and tied his clothes around his waist. Speaking of Sven, he is "Sven sweeping the floor".

"I've been walking for more than ten miles, and my legs and feet are weak, so it's better to sit down and rest first." Lu Xingyun saw that Guo Mingtao was indifferent to his ridicule, so he changed his words.

"Yes, Lord Guo, the villain really can't stand waiting, so let's take it slow and leave!" The six officers who followed the two also complained bitterly.

Guo Mingtao thought for a while, stopped and turned around, and asked, "How far is it from the next post station?" ”

An errand officer couldn't open his eyes in the sun, squinted and replied: "Thieves are in chaos, not long ago the thieves were rampant, all the post stations in the north of the house were destroyed, according to which there is a Jade Emperor Temple not far away, we can go there to spend the night." ”

"How many ways?"

"Five or six miles of road, you will be able to reach it before sunset."

Seeing that Lu Xingyun had already found a sheltered place on the side of the road and sat down, Guo Mingtao didn't want to give up his wishes, nodded and said: "Okay, just rest for a while, everyone eat some water, give the horses some water beans, and wait for the sun to be smaller before leaving." Like everyone else, he was so hot that the back of his head was like a cauldron cooking, hot and painful.

The six servants led two horses in twos and threes, and each found a shady place to rest. Guo Mingtao sat down beside Lu Xingyun and listened to the other party's wry smile: "Old Guo, we are really difficult brothers, I thought that supervising the repair work was a special appointment, but I didn't expect that I had to take over the work of negotiating in the Rui Domain." ”

Guo Mingtao shook his head and said, "You don't have to knock on the side to bury the army." The military gate is determined to forge ahead, and there are countless affairs in the yamen, and there are not enough people, so we as subordinates must also be considerate. ”

Lu Xingyun took a big sip of the water bag "Gollum", heartily, and said: "The words are good, if it weren't for the iron fist of the military gate, the battle against the thieves earlier would be more than lucky." As he spoke, the words changed, "As long as I can kill the thief and the people, I don't care how hard it is." It's just that we have to think about ourselves, and before leaving, the military gate told us thousands of instructions, and we must say that King Rui will help, who would think that King Rui is a dime a dime iron rooster, and he is only willing to allocate a few hundred taels of silver, I will wait to go back, how to deal with it? ”

When Guo Mingtao heard this, he was silent. In order to expand the army, Sun Chuanting made great efforts to collect grain and grass for military expenses, and one of the important measures was to beg for money from the various feudal clans that divided the Shaanxi land. The King of Qin in Xi'an was under his nose, and he was forced by Sun Chuanting day and night, so he took out a lot of property and troops, and at the same time sent people to Pingliang Han Wang, Hanzhong Rui Wang and other places a little farther away. And this Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun brothers were appointed by Sun Chuanting to go to the Rui Mansion in Hanzhong to negotiate.

The vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty had great power, especially military power, during the Hongwu period. Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, set up a prince's guard, and each palace had a guard to command the envoys, and the scale of the establishment was better than that of ordinary guards. If the prince is appointed to the local area, he is basically in charge of the military and political affairs, acting as the commander of the front.

After the Jing disaster, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di began to cut the feudal domain on a large scale, with the removal of the military rights of the vassal kings as the core, and the rights of the kings plummeted. Although many vassal kings still retained royal guards during his reign, with the increasing number of cases of denunciating vassal kings, the emperors gradually tightened their control over military power, and during the tenure of Zhu Zhanji of Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, they completely recovered the military power of the feudal kings in various places by requisitioning the palace guards, restoring the military guards of the palace, and focusing on weakening the strong feudal domains such as Chu and Qin, so that they no longer had independent arms. The subordinate officials in the palace have also risen from the beginning of the martial arts and few civilians to the overwhelming numerical advantage of civil officials.

In the Ming Dynasty, although the fear of dividing the feudal kings in various regions was obvious, the monarchs of the previous dynasties were confined to the ancestral system set by Emperor Taizu and did not finally decide to eliminate this class. The vassal kings are like caged birds, enjoying the life of fine clothes and fine food, but they can't fly an inch out of the cage.

In essence, in addition to the limited movement of these feudal lords and the fact that they had no say in military and political affairs, they were also able to do a lot of things. They have a say in the etiquette and order of the clan, and can even interfere in the election of the crown prince and the enthronement of the new emperor. At the same time, they also have the right to comment on the military situation and political affairs in their own region, and directly report to the emperor, and even sometimes even ask for the appointment of officials and ask for merit for officials.

As for the financial aspect, it can be regarded as the area where the feudal lords can be most useful. The number of people who inherited their land, took over, bought or received gifts, and even occupied it by force, was staggering. For example, Fuwang of Henan, Zhuangtian is 20,000 hectares, spanning Henan, Huguang and Shandong provinces; King Jiwang of Changsha has 7.8 million mu of land in Huguang, accounting for 45/10 of the total cultivated land in Changsha and Shanhua counties. Even the distant relatives of the rank of General Fengguo and Lieutenant Zhenguo occupy thousands of hectares of anointed land. The most intuitive expression comes from what Wang Price said in the early Qing Dynasty: "Mr. Mo Zhongjiang tastes the clouds, and half of Zhongzhou land enters the feudal mansion" - that is, nearly half of the cultivated land in Henan is under the name of the feudal king.

Since the vassal kings had capital, they began to raise the land rent, and colluded with the magistrates to oppress the people, "the daily affairs are made up, from the thieves, the people sell their wives and children, pay for the hardships, the birds scatter and the rats are fleeing, and the area around the wooden buildings and Changcun is empty." In addition, they concurrently engaged in commerce, arbitrarily raised prices, especially the Fu, Lu, De and other powerful feudal domains, obtained the right to monopolize salt and the turnover of water along the canal, and were even more unscrupulous, crazy profits, and benefited billions. Compared with these feudal kings from all over the country who "bribed mountains with pearls and jade" and "supported millions", the central court, which was poor all day long, looked embarrassed and ridiculous.

However, after having strong economic strength, many feudal kings did not blindly be arrogant and lascivious. Whether it was out of self-preservation or kindness, there were also many vassal kings who took the initiative to take out assets for disaster relief, help, help, or resign themselves. It is precisely because there are many precedents that Sun Chuanting has high hopes for these wealthy princes in Shaanxi.

It's a pity that King Rui's miserliness still exceeded Guo and Lu's expectations. After seeing the poverty and luxury in the Rui Domain, and countless disciples, they couldn't think of how to get a few hundred taels of silver from King Rui.

After all, the other party is a vassal king, or one of the current "four pro-clans", they are only eight or nine local petty officials, how dare they say anything in front of people, they can only chew the root of their tongues behind their backs, and plan how to report to the strict military lord when they go back.

The sun shadow is slightly oblique, Guo Mingtao is a worried person, for fear of missing the trip, and even urging the lazy road to blow up the clouds from the ground. A few of the officers were taking a nap, and when they saw that the adults had spoken, they had to mumble and get up and get back on the road.

"My lord, are you riding a horse?"

"No, it's very hot, you see those two horses are eyebrows, I'm afraid of bad riding. It's only five or six miles to the left and right, just walk. Guo Mingtao waved his hand again and again and strode forward.

A few errand servants responded, muttering in their stomachs, these two beasts don't ride, what are they doing when they are brought out, people can't take care of them, and they have to take care of them, and there is no reason for more.

The group walked slowly, and when they arrived at the Jade Emperor Temple, the sun had already set in the west, and there was no strong sunlight, and the temperature dropped a lot.

The Jade Emperor Temple of the white-walled vermilion tile looks to be well repaired, the incense is vigorous, I heard a few errands say, the king of Rui Zhu Changhao is extremely convinced of Buddhism, and sent Sun Chuanting to take out only a few hundred taels stingily, and spend every year on repairing the temple and supporting the monks, but it is tens of thousands, and it can be described as spending money like dirt.

Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun smiled helplessly. Wait for a few people to put on their clothes and crowns, pull the temple door, and soon a monk will come out to pick them up.

The monk originally looked impatient, but after looking at everyone, he found that Guo and Lu seemed to be people with official status, his face turned better, and he said: "Forgive me, there are important things in the temple today, and we don't accept foreign guests." ”

Guo Mingtao reported the door, and took the talisman and road guide to prove it, and the monk nodded and said: "The two adults have a lot to bear, but today is a special case, and it is really impossible to provide accommodation." ”

Lu Xingyun pulled Guo Mingtao away, and said to the monk coldly: "You are a wild temple, where do you come from so many rules and regulations?" As long as the presiding officer of your temple is elected now, this door must be opened for me. Otherwise, it will delay the two of us, break the important business, and a piece of paper will come down, accept the monk you are waiting for, and seal the mountain gate you are waiting for. ”

Lu Xingyun's words are not empty words, it is not only the responsibility of the post station to provide convenience for passing public officials, but also the obligation of temples and Taoist temples, so it is not alarmist that if you do not provide a wing room, you may be stripped of your monk status by the imperial court. Strange to say, the monk is like a tendon, with good words and begging constantly, and he refuses to let everyone in. Lu Xingyun couldn't figure out his thoughts, so he was very impatient, and quarreled with the monk at the door with a group of errands. Guo Mingtao was originally standing aside, and he still had a lot of complaints about Lu Xingyun's irritable attitude, but later, seeing that the monk still didn't give an inch, he was also annoyed and joined the ranks of the dispute.

A group of people crowded at the temple gate to fight with each other, and the monk said that he was unreasonable, no longer squeaked, and simply played a trick and blocked his body in the crack of the door. Guo Mingtao and the others were always difficult to break into the temple, and when they were helpless, someone suddenly said in the door: "What's wrong?" It's noisy, it's not annoying. ”

The monk who blocked the door turned his head back against Guo Mingtao and the others outside, and said: "Someone wants to break in, but the little monk can't stop it, and it disturbs the nobles, please forgive me." ”

The man inside the door let out a strange "um", and said, "The master is making a vow, and he can't be disturbed." If you annoy her, you should know the consequences. ”

The monk hurriedly said: "The noble person is inclusive, and the people outside the door also have official status, and they are determined to enter, and it is difficult for the little monk to judge, so please call the shots." ”

I only heard the person inside the door laugh and said, "What kind of sesame mung bean big official dares to trespass here?" Hanzhong Mansion, I haven't heard of such a bold person. ”

Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun are not fools, after listening to these words, they knew that the other party was an identity, and watched a few errand soldiers retire, and said loudly: "Dare to ask who Your Majesty is?" As he spoke, he first reported his official position.

Without waiting for an answer, the temple door was "squeaked" wide open, and a richly dressed middle-aged man stood in the middle with his hands in his hands, and the monk who blocked the door stood beside him with his head hooked, and said, "They want to stay in the temple tonight." ”

The man was in his fifties, with a short beard, and although he was five short in stature, he could stand on top of him, and he was quite stylish. Guo Mingtao saw that his clothes were made of high-grade Shu satin, and his hats and boots were not ordinary, and he was inlaid with jewelry. ”

The man glanced at everyone and said, "I'm not an adult, just a handyman who takes care of the home for others. The two of them can't afford to be a gift. The voice was a drag, and it sounded very arrogant.

Since the other party is white, no matter how careful Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun are, they can't lose their identity, so they straighten their waists again and say: "Then I would like to ask, who is stationed in this temple today?" ”

The Jade Emperor Temple looks like it covers a wide area from the outside, and there is no problem at all for five or six hundred people to live, and the monk obstructs it in every way, not because he can't live in people, there must be another hidden situation.

"Three or four miles north from here, there is a village, the foot is faster, and you should be able to arrive before sunset." The man did not answer the question, but made such a light statement.

is not an official, and he is still so arrogant, Lu Xingyun sneered: "It is really a mountain apart, and the terroir is different. The pomp and circumstance of the rich people in Hanzhong is so big, our petty officials and officials are beyond their reach. As he spoke, he looked at a few of the officers who were gearing up, and motioned for them to prepare to give this guy a little color.

The man was displeased and said angrily, "Who do you say is the rich man of the land?" Seeing that the other side was eager to try to make a move, he bowed his head and commanded the monk a few words, and the monk turned his head and ran into the temple.

"Don't eat the soft ones, you want the hard ones?" The man looked unafraid, and stood there motionless. Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun were a little surprised, not because he was not afraid of doing it, but because of his contemptuous attitude towards officials.

Before they could figure out the situation, there was a sudden shouting in the temple, and eight or nine monks with sentry sticks and swords rushed out, followed by them, and more than ten strong men, all of whom were all dressed up and holding swords. Guo Mingtao and others outside the temple were instantly surrounded by porcelain.

"Dare to attack the people, dare to attack the government?" Lu Xingyun has always boasted of his boldness, but in the end, he was born in school, and he has never had a one-on-one fight, how can he talk about such a confrontation of dozens of people? I was really panicked, and when I peeked at Guo Mingtao, my face was pale and my feet were weak.

"What about beating you up?" The man didn't care about Lu Xingyun's questioning, and with a wave of his fingertips, he was about to issue an expulsion order. Seeing that the two sides were about to fight, there was a sudden jingle from inside the door. A clear voice followed: "Loyal and slow." ”

Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun followed the prestige, only to see a woman stepping out under the encirclement of the maidservant, and the breeze came slowly, lifting the curtain that covered her face. With just a glance, both of them were shocked.