Lu Ji smiled and pointed out the mistake of Shang Cheng's dictionary, and said, "Zida is not careful enough to read." It is important to know that the article is the ,...... of learning", and as soon as the words came out, I felt that I had overspoken. He is Shang Cheng's deputy, but his words carry the tone of an elder teaching his children and nephews, which is not suitable for restraint and etiquette; In a hurry, it didn't get better, and his face immediately became a little embarrassed. He stopped talking with a smile and picked up the teacup to cover up. lowered his head to drink water, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Shang Cheng's calm demeanor, and he didn't seem to hear anything, so he felt a little relieved.

After a pause, he asked again: "With the troops next month, will the commander go to the front line to command?" ”

Shang Cheng shook his head and said, "The Health Department is such a big mess, how can I get out of the way?" He filled the tea soup for Lu Ji, put down the silver soup pot, and then said, "General Li Shen is fully responsible for the affairs of Yandong, and the specific plan has been passed on to him by Kuaiyi." The matter of staying in the town and sending troops was commanded by General Zhang Shao, and General Sun Huan was the deputy. ”

When Lu Ji heard that it was these three people who were the backbone of this war, he immediately felt uncomfortable in his heart, and lowered his eyebrows and did not speak for a long time. All three of them had contradictions with him. Zhang Shao had the earliest grudge with him, when the Liu Lingtai case only started in the twelfth year of the Eastern Era, he was accused of being implicated in the case, if it wasn't for the joint protection of his colleagues, he would have been stripped of his official robe and expelled from the court; After inquiring, I found out that Zhang Jixian was among the people who were falsely accused of him one by one! Li Shen not to mention, at the beginning of the year, in order to recommend the admiral, Li Shen was offended by him to the end, and the little face-to-face friendship between the two people has long been gone, Li Shen went to Yanzhou in mid-June to meet Shang Cheng to discuss military affairs, and the two of them collided head-on in the Admiral's Mansion, Li Shen walked away without blinking his eyelids, obviously hating him to the bone. Sun Huan was originally the person who Li Wei pulled up with one hand, and he was Li Shen's confidant and favorite general, although the two of them have been a little dirty recently because of the struggle for merit, but after all, the relationship is deep, and the incense friendship that can be bridged with a smile does not know what Shang Cheng thinks, not only put such a person in his own Chinese army as Sima Lieutenant, but also value it so much......

After pondering for a long time, he said slowly: "I shouldn't have intervened in military affairs, but Sun Tzu Youyun, 'Soldiers, the major affairs of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival, must not be ignored'." The matter of sending troops is big, and it involves a lot......" Speaking of this, he paused slightly, looked up and saw Shang Cheng pressing one hand on the arm of the seat, half-leaning over, waiting for his next step with a serious face and blazing eyes, and said in a deep voice, "This is Zida's first battle since taking over as the commander, not only countless pairs of eyes up and down Yanshan are staring, but the imperial court will definitely pay close attention, if Zida does not come to command in person, in case the war is unfavorable, how can the situation be cleaned up?" Zida must know that Li Shoude is arrogant and greedy, Zhang Jixian is in name only, Sun Huancai is mediocre, and the three of them are not the best choice to take charge alone! ”

Shang Cheng opened his mouth and listened in surprise to Lu Ji's words.

He also thought that his deputy Wen also had a set of miles in the military, and he was talking about these words for a long time?

He looked at Lu Ji for a long time before he said, "Bo Fu thinks too much. It didn't matter if you won or lost this battle, as long as it could disrupt the deployment of the Turks and delay their plans for the Koubian, it would be a success. "Besides, Li Shen, Zhang Shao and Sun Huan are all generals appointed by the imperial court and the Ministry of War, whether they will fight or not, can the imperial court still be unclear? If they really can't fight, will the imperial court send them to the border fortress to make up for the numbers?

Lu Ji immediately realized his mistake. However, he still insisted on his opinion, believing that Shang Cheng should personally take command, at least in the direction of staying in the town with the most troops. In order to persuade Shang Cheng, he even did not hesitate to violate his principle of "gentlemen's friendship is as light as water", and said like a close friend for many years: "Zida should know that the imperial court is now discussing the appointment and dismissal of the governor of Yanshan, and there will definitely be a decision before the end of the year." Your achievements in Yanshan are seen by all, and there is no need to repeat them, and there will be no controversy. But the imperial court has always chosen the commanders of border towns to be the first priority......" He stared at Shang Cheng deeply, and said with great concern, "Zida, after all, your time in the army is short, and your military exploits are not enough to show, if you want to share more responsibilities for the imperial court, you still have to start by finding a way to make more meritorious achievements." This is an opportunity now, since it doesn't matter if you win or lose, as long as you don't go south this autumn, it's a victory! It's a credit that no one can erase! When the army returns to the division, Zida will bring the meritorious soldiers and the war capture to Shangjing to report on his majesty's work, and listen to the teachings of the day and the views of the important ministers of the court on Yanshan, which will be beneficial to your career and not harmful. I still have some old days in the capital, and Tang Lao Xiangguo is also my teacher, and when you bring my letter to the door to ask for advice, they will definitely help Zida to help me on my thin side. ”

Lu Ji said eloquently, and he had already sketched a bright future for Shang Cheng in an understatement, whether it could be done is another matter, just this thoughtful consideration for himself made Shang Cheng very grateful. He clutched the teacup and didn't know what to say for a while. After being silent for a long time, he breathed a sigh of relief with emotion, shook his head and said: "I always thought that Wei Mu was a cold-faced person, but today I learned that Bo Fu is also a warm-hearted ......."

Lu Ji rarely treats people like this, and at this time, he was also inspired by his own words. He stopped talking, staring at Shang Cheng with sparkling eyes, just waiting for his reply.

“…… Bo Fu's friendship, I made a note of it. However, the Wei government has already made a decision that when the war is over, General Zhang Shao will go to Beijing to report on his work. ”

Lu Ji glared at Shang Cheng in surprise. This businessman is blind, why doesn't he know that his sketch is paving the way for his future? Didn't he have the slightest idea of the position of Admiral? Although he knew that this was probably the only way to go, he still held on to the last bit of hope and asked, "Can't you go to Beijing to find the military department?" ”

"You see, General Zhang Shao has been in Yanshan for almost three years, and he has not returned to Beijing, so he just took the opportunity to go back to see his parents and children. In addition, he was transferred from the military department, and he was very familiar with the personnel, and he needed to coordinate with the military department for some troublesome matters in military affairs. ”

Lu Jiqing's face was immediately covered with a look of disappointment that could not be concealed. Alas, now it's okay, a great battle feat, and most of it was sent out by Shang Cheng in an instant! Cheap Zhang Shao, the "lame" general who can only talk on paper and has not fought a battle with real swords and guns! Unexpectedly, Zhang Shao was ridiculed for half his life, and he actually came to Yanshan to get a real credit......

The more he thought about it, the more angry he became, and his heart was even more depressed, he picked up the teacup and drank the tea soup, forcibly suppressed the fire that rose in his heart, and put the teacup in his hand towards a few cases and reached out to take the handscroll, just thinking about not going away with the vertical theory of the blind man, how do you know that the hands and feet are not obedient to the call under the anger and anger, and when the ivory shaft is pulled back from the edge of the teacup, the cup overturns, and the yellow and clear soup immediately overflows a few cases.

Both were taken aback by the unexpected situation.

Shang Cheng hurriedly stood up and looked for a rag to clean up, but Lu Ji hurriedly held the handscroll inside and out to check whether it was stained by the tea soup. Fortunately, the hand-scroll is just a decorative red Yingluo that is wet with tea soup, and the silk noodles and the roll are fine. Lu Ji breathed a sigh of relief. Yingluo is dirty, and if you turn around and replace it, if the four words "Yidong and Xun" are also broken, then it is ...... He stared at the handscroll, his brows furrowed together, this is the 42nd "Yi" hexagram in the "Yi", "Wind and thunder benefit, Xun up and down", "Yi said: benefit, loss on the benefit of the bottom, the people say that there is no border, from top to bottom, its way is bright." There is a lot of benefit, and there is a celebration in China. There is a lot of benefit, and there is a big river. Moving and Xun, the day is boundless. Heaven and earth are born, and there is no way to benefit it. The way of all benefits is to be in harmony with the times. ”……

In an instant, countless thoughts born from these four words flashed in his mind, vaguely as if something was about to come out, contemplating it but completely clueless, and muttered to himself in his thoughts: "Yi hexagram is like saying: wind and thunder, benefit; A gentleman will move if he sees goodness, and change if he has a fault. The four characters in Zida's book seem to have another deep meaning...... "I think of Shang Cheng just said that Zhang Shao entered Beijing and had other important military affairs that needed to be communicated and coordinated with the Ministry of War, and Shang Cheng stayed in the Wei Mansion for three whole days...... In an instant, he had already figured out what it was like, and he couldn't help but look up and ask, "There is still a war ahead?" Seeing that Shang Cheng smiled and didn't answer, he also woke up, shook his head in self-defeat, and said apologetically, "It's me who said too much." ”

Shang Cheng smiled and said, "There is indeed a following." However, please understand, this is a top-secret military affairs, and there are only three or five people who know about the 'following', including me and General Zhang Shao, so even if it is you, I can't tell you. When the time comes, it will naturally inform everyone. ”

Since Shang Cheng said that it was important to pay attention to military affairs, it was not easy for Lu Ji to ask again, and the topic of letting Shang Cheng go to Beijing to report on his work could not continue, so he had to talk about official business.

Soon, the two had a disagreement on the personnel recommendation of the Duanzhou prefect. Shang Cheng felt that Meng Ying, the current magistrate of Duanzhou, not only understood the local situation but also had the ability, so he could be promoted to be the prefect. Lu Ji also agrees with Meng Ying's ability; However, he thought that Meng Ying had just been promoted to the prefect less than two months after he was promoted to the prefect, and it was easy to leave a bad impression of "promoting his boss", and his promotion too quickly was not conducive to the exchange of colleagues between Duanzhou officials, and even the prestige of the Health Department would be dragged down because of this matter, and he would be a bit of "cronyism".

"How can this be called cronyism?" Shang Cheng disagreed with Lu Ji's statement.

"I heard that when Zida inspected in Duanzhou, he spent the most time in contact with Meng Ying?"

Yes, he talked a lot to Meng Ying when he was in Duanzhou, and Shang Cheng admitted it. But it was because the prefect couldn't be a director due to illness, so he had to find Meng Ying. Besides, they sat together from beginning to end to discuss and solve local problems, and didn't talk about anything else, could this be regarded as evidence that Meng Ying curried favor with him and that he appreciated and promoted Meng Ying? According to this statement, will he, the fake commander, go down to the state and county to inspect in the future? If he can't talk to local people when he goes down to the state or county, he can understand the situation and solve the problem, so what can he do after he goes down? Do you sit in a post house with a bowl and drink tea and bask in the sun?

Lu Ji spread his hands, saying that if there was really no way, then he could only go up without going down. You are not illiterate, sitting in the yamen and reading official documents, can't you also understand the situation in various states and counties, why do you have to go there in person?

"But there are a lot of things that won't be told to us locally!" Shang Cheng sighed and said.

Lu Ji thinks this is normal. Reporting good news but not bad news is an eternal truth in officialdom. However, this should not erase the achievements made by the local government, at least there are considerations in the local area that do not want the boss to worry about these things. It's for our good.

Shang Cheng knew that he would not be able to convince Lu Ji to approve of Meng Ying's matter of taking over as the prefect of Duanzhou. However, he didn't quite agree with the other candidates proposed by the Wei Mu Mansion, so he pointed to a few personnel files and asked mockingly: "The Wei Mu Mansion has this ability, and it can't pick out anyone else?" ”

To be honest, Lu Ji is not satisfied with these people either. But what if you're not satisfied? It's nice to be able to pick out these guys. Sima Yamen of the Right Army was in Duanzhou, and the first few officials who were qualified to be prefects in the Wei Mu Mansion immediately shook their heads like rattles when they heard that they were going to Duanzhou to work with Li Shen, and even the two officials who had been waiting for a long time were not enthusiastic at all.

Shang Cheng thought for a while and said, "How about letting Zhou Xiang go back?" Before Lu Ji could speak, he immediately waved his hand again and said, "Forget it, when I didn't say it." "Zhou Xiang is now focusing on water conservancy with one hand and road repair with the other, and there are still a lot of messy things in the household department of the Health Department in charge, and he has long been busy and dizzy, where can he still take the time to go back to Duanzhou? What's more, even if Zhou Xiang can be transferred out, Shang Cheng can't let him go back to Duanzhou, and the contradiction between Zhou Xiang and Li Shen is so deep that it is simply impossible to resolve. Until now, Li Shen often sued Zhou Xiang for his misfortune, either finding out that Zhou Xiang had an outer room in Duanzhou and corrupting his private morality, or exposing Zhou Xiang for taking public money to buy land for his family and repair his house......

Since no one could convince anyone, the last two had to decide to hand over the matter to the Ministry of Officials to deal with, and let the court appoint a prefect for Duanzhou.

talked about the matter of the prefect, and Lu Ji mentioned the recommendation of the Duanzhou general judgment. After Meng Ying was promoted to the magistrate of Duanzhou, the position of general judge has been vacant, and it is time to appoint a new general judge.

"So who do you think is more suitable?"

"I wish the county and county order Tang Tang."

This answer made Shang Cheng's sip of tea almost squirt out. Tang Tang? Is it the seventeen-year-old doll county order in Zhu County? He went to Duanzhou to do a general judgment? Isn't that a joke?

"Tang Tang is the second seat of the palace examination hand-picked today in the eighteenth year of the Eastern Era."

Shang Cheng resolutely opposed this personnel proposal of the Wei Mu Mansion. No one can point to the list. Duanzhou General Judgment, the third-in-command of a region, an important position that can be interrogated in civil affairs, military, money and food, taxation, and legal proceedings, and also shoulders the huge responsibility of inspecting officials, so that a doll with neither experience nor experience can do it, which is completely nonsense! He said angrily to Lu Ji: "You are not cultivating Tang Yu, but harming him!" ”

Lu Ji retorted: "Tang County Ling has done a good job in Zhu County, and the local evaluation is very high......

"What a fart!" Shang Cheng interrupted Lu Ji's words very rudely and said, "How did he decide the case of the widow in Zhu County?" Oh my God, he put a big living man in a flail under the sun for a month, and if it hadn't been for the fast horses of the man I had sent, the widow would have been sunburned alive in front of the yamen! It's just that he is young and ignorant, and he came all the way smoothly, I am afraid that he will not be able to accept the sharpness of grinding into it for a while, so I didn't care about him! I don't agree with this one by one! Let him govern a county first! ”

Lu Ji smacked his lips and said, "After all, Tang Tang is a protégé of the Son of Heaven, and he is a ...... The first-hand articles are full of flowers, and they are very appreciated today......"

"Well done article?" Shang Cheng sneered and said, "The world is full of knowledge, and the practice of human feelings is the article." If he wants to do a good job, he still has something to learn! ”

Shang Cheng's casual words suddenly stunned Lu Ji. He is a person who reads poetry and books, there are ups and downs in the sea of eunuchs, rich experience in life, as soon as he hears it, he knows that the meaning of this is extraordinary, and after a little pondering, he feels that the meaning is profound and long-term, and he hurriedly wrote it down with his heart, and he was not busy thinking about it, and asked first: "Who does Zida think is suitable to serve as the general judge of Duanzhou?" ”

Shang Cheng thought for a while and mentioned a person: "How is Cheng Rantao in Dun'an County?" ”

Lu Ji looked up and thought about it, glanced at Shang Cheng as if he had a deep meaning, and then said, "It's not good." Zida remembered that Ran Tao and Ran Yanqing were engaged in the middle of the household department and degraded again and again until the small county and county, and it was not for no reason that he was the person in the Liu Lingtai case, if it weren't for the fact that someone in the court took pity on his talent, he would have been cut down on the side of the army a long time ago......"

Is it Liu Lingtai's case again?

Shang Cheng was shocked. Two years ago, when he was still a hard-working laborer, he heard about this public case; At the end of the year before last, the so-called "Yixian Nanguan Daying Fraud Case", which implicated the eldest girl's husband and shook the Yanshan officialdom, seems to be a follow-up to Liu Lingtai's case. After the appointment of Admiral, he heard many times that people had mentioned this case, but whenever he inquired, no matter who it was, he shook his head and didn't know, so until now he didn't know what the background of this public case was, it seemed to be related to the royal family, and it didn't seem to be the case. Until now, he only knows that this case is extremely wide-ranging, whether it is in the court or in the local government, there are countless officials involved, like Lu Ji in front of him, as well as Zhang Shao, Di Xu, Tao Qi, Li Shen, Ximen Sheng...... A large group of Yanshan civil and military officials have something to do with this case. But no one wanted to talk to him about it. Even Wen Mu, who had a close personal relationship with him, talked about him when he asked about it......

Since Ran Tao was deeply involved in Liu Lingtai's case, it seemed that the matter of recommending him to be the general judge of Duanzhou would not work, so Shang Cheng had no choice but to take a step back and propose that Ran Tao go to Geping Daku to be a deputy envoy for the eight-grade transfer. There are too many affairs in Ge Ping's library, and Huo Shiqi is busy up and down alone, so it's good to have a helper. Besides, the troops will be sent from Liuzhen soon, and there are still a lot of important matters waiting to be handled in the next few months, and Uncle Seventeen also needs a deputy to take care of chores for him.

Lu Ji agreed. Although Ran Tao was belittled for his involvement in the case, this person's ability is still very strong, if he hadn't accidentally fallen into the quagmire of Liu Lingtai's case, he would have been engaged in at least one of the six departments now......

Sending Lu Ji away, Shang Cheng met with the two Dun'an County officials who had been waiting for a long time. He told Dun'an that he had already greeted the Yanzhou government about the money and grain, and he would soon allocate another part to them, and when the autumn harvest was over, he would also allocate the rest to them.

In addition, he told Ran Tao about the decision of the Admiral's Mansion.

"You're not busy going to work. In the past two days, Ge Ping's transfer envoy will return to Yanzhou. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, you will go back together. ”