Outside the right gate, Shang Cheng and the eleventh duke who sent him out of the imperial city by the Holy Monarch's dictation said goodbye.

He soon found a guard following him in the teahouse at the end of Heavenly Street. To his surprise, not only were the two Sicao officials sent by the Ministry of Rites to guide him here, but Bao Kan, who had stayed in the post house, also arrived.

While taking off his court clothes and changing into civilian clothes, he asked Bao Kan, "Why are you here?" ”

"I've been here a long time ago, I've been waiting for you here all morning, and I've changed four pots of tea." Bao Kan replied unquestionably. He handed Shang Cheng two sealed files. "Just to send this. You go on the front foot, this thing will arrive on the back foot, I didn't catch up with you in a hurry, and I was almost locked up by the messenger of the Plains Mansion on the charge of 'arranging horses in the city'......"

Shang Cheng laughed hesitantly: "If they really catch you, it will be a good thing." He didn't go to pick up the file right away, but tied the buckle of his cotton robe and asked, "What is this?" ”

Bao Kan didn't have the slightest smile on his face, and said with a dark face: "One is a military intelligence report from the Yanshan Wei Mansion. The other is a copy sent by the Ministry of War. He glanced at the two officials of the Ministry of Rites, pouted and sneered, and said, "It's a copy of the minutes of the post-war inventory inspection sent by Yanshan last night." The original was sent directly by Zhang Shao to the imperial court to invite merit. ”

Shang Cheng couldn't help but frown and glared at Bao Kan. What is this saying! He went to Beijing to report on his work, and the military affairs in Yanshan were Zhang Shao in charge, so why not send an official document, and it was worth complaining?

Bao Kan didn't care about his dissatisfied eyes, and continued: "...... Zhang Jixian is not authentic. He bypassed you and directly reported to the imperial court, is this not clear that he is here to rob you of your credit? In the summer, he and Lu Ji did the same thing once, if you didn't wipe their butts, they all had to walk around without eating! How do you know if these people remember to eat or not, this time it is an open fire and stubborn ......" The more he spoke, the more angry he became, the louder his voice became, and as a result, many of the guards who ate tea and others in the lupeng stopped talking and looked at them.

Shang Cheng's face became more and more ugly, and in the end, he was really impatient, so he simply interrupted Bao Kan: "Okay!" If there is any, leave it in your stomach, and go back to Yanshan to talk to your mother-in-law! His voice was not loud, but his tone was very stern, and he paused for a moment and then closed his mouth. But he spat on the ground in anger. This very rude gesture immediately attracted a lot of rolling eyes. However, they can only express their dissatisfaction with disdainful eyes. Probably no one here has dared to speak out to accuse Bao Kan, the captain of the seventh grade, of doing something wrong.

Shang Cheng also realized that his tone was probably too heavy. Bao Kan suffered a big loss of merit and greed in the guard army in his early years, and there were some people who were bitten by snakes for ten years and were afraid of the aftermath of the well rope, and he has always hated the most about the ignorant things of grabbing credit, so it is understandable to make malicious speculations about the handling of official duties that are very ordinary. He patted Bao Kan's shoulder apologetically and said, "Zhang Shao is not as unbearable as you say. He's not ......" He immediately sensed that his words were wrong, smiled, and changed the subject, saying, "I'll show you a rare thing." ”

He took out a red bag from his bosom, untied the velvet thread that tied his pocket, and poured out ten colorful coins and spread them out in the palm of his hand.

Bao Kan's eyes were immediately attracted by these coins that looked like coins but were several sizes larger than coins. He picked up two of them, turned them over and looked at them curiously for a long time, and then swallowed his saliva and asked, "What is this?" ”

"You still don't admit that you're a dirt bun! This is a short experience, right? Shang Cheng laughed and taunted him, "This is a lottery coin!" Of course, he would never tell Bao Kan, when the eleventh father-in-law handed this thing to him just now, he looked at the color coin and behaved like Bao Kan now.

"Made of gold?"

Shang Cheng nodded. Judging from the weight, these ten coins should be pure gold.

Bao Kan used his fingernails to pick out the four yang characters on the front of "Da Zhao Dongyuan", and then turned over to take a closer look at the relief of the three-clawed vermilion bird on the back, and asked suspiciously: "What is the color on the outside?" ”

"Enamel." Shang Cheng said very firmly. He had long seen that this was not a coin cast in a mold, nor was it a forged metal, and the words and Suzaku patterns on the coins were all made of filigree, and the red, red, green and green colors were also fired glaze. It's majolica! Very exquisite work of art! Considering that the earliest enamel in the history he remembered appeared in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the ten colored coins in front of him seemed more and more precious—at least two or three hundred years earlier!

"Where did it come from?" It was only now that he remembered this very important question.

"The emperor gave it." Shang Cheng said. Before the eleventh father-in-law sent him out of the imperial city, he first transferred ten royal lottery coins to him for Emperor Dongyuan, which finally diluted the little sense of loss in his heart. Think about it, he entered Beijing for half a month, and only on the day he left Beijing did he see the emperor who should have met him a long time ago, and to say that he was not disappointed at all would be a lie. And the scene when His Majesty resigned just now also made him unhappy, during the whole process, Emperor Dongyuan didn't say a word of greeting to him at all, nor did he care earnestly, let alone soothe and teach with kind words, let alone comment on his merits and demerits in Yanshan, the emperor didn't even say a few words to him and left Hanyuan Palace...... Could it be that everyone else resigned like this?

Bao Kan immediately returned the two coins to him, as fast as if they were not coins but two hot red coals.

Shang Cheng still gave him two pieces. Seeing that Bao Kan refused to accept it, he laughed and said, "It's not for you." Don't your two mothers-in-law have cubs in their bellies? These two colored coins are just one for each of them, and when the doll lands on the ground, a red rope is tied around the neck. This is the royal royal money, and the people can't see it at all, and it is more effective than any heavenly master and earth master talisman to ward off evil spirits. ”

As soon as he said this, Bao Kan didn't insist anymore, he held two coins in his hand, and muttered with his lips: "Then I have to ask for another one." ”

"What?" Shang Cheng looked at him in surprise with his mouth wide open, almost wondering if he had misheard, "You still want one?" Do you have the third child in your family? He knew that Bao Kan's mother-in-law was pregnant soon after she got married, so she naturally accepted her aunt's dowry girl as a partial room, but she was pregnant in the second room within two days, and she asked for a third room not long ago; Could it be that now Sanfang is also pregnant?

Bao Kan smiled and said, "Where is it so fast." That's it, my second child's belly is very big, and several doctors who have come to see it say that nine out of ten are twins. You see, after three babies, you only gave me two money, and it was a difficult thing to give it to anyone or not. You're not giving me a problem. ”

That's a real problem. Shang Cheng thought about it and gave Bao Kan another one.

Bao Kan salivated and said with a smile: "Three is still not enough." If the third child is also pregnant......"

Shang Cheng laughed angrily and scolded: "Dog! Get out of here! ”

"Don't you have seven more there? I'll just ask for another one, not more! ”

"I don't want it anymore." Shang Cheng ignored him again, put the lottery coin into his pocket and swiped it into his arms, saying, "I still have the rest of the ......."

Bao Kan smiled and stopped talking, and saw Shang Cheng sit down to open the file and browse the documents, and then went to the person to prepare the horses.

Because the copy sent by the Ministry of War was actually a merit book, Shang Cheng casually flipped a few pages and put it aside, focusing on reading the military intelligence report sent by Zhang Shao. But there is nothing noteworthy in the report. After reading more than a dozen pages, the whole article is full of small and chaotic problems that have arisen in the process of the successive reorganization of various units after the end of the war, either the failure of the first department to remove on time has led to the lack of sufficient garrisons and barracks after the return of the second department, or someone has exposed a few battalions and brigades that have made enough money and oil and water to hide the spoils of war, or the standard of the reward and how to coordinate it locally, but Zhang Shao did not mention the enemy's movements that he wanted to know the most......

He shook his head, refolded the bulletin, and stuffed it into a leather bag. This confused Zhang Shao still grabbed his beard and eyebrows without distinguishing between primary and secondary. Still, he was a little relieved. Zhang Shao has finally made some progress, at least this time he didn't beat Li Shen's little report behind his back.

When Bao Kan came back, he happened to see him shaking his head and sighing, thinking that something had happened again, so he asked, "Is Zhang Shao coming here again?" Like the vast majority of officers who are promoted on the basis of real military merits, he does not look down on Zhang Shao, the "General Wen", so he is not very polite when he speaks behind his back.

Shang Cheng glared at Bao Kan fiercely. He took the merit book, flipped it open, pointed to a line of words, and said: "This is the merit that Zhang Shao invited you to ask for first-class merit!" There is also my share, one by one, the first page of the first page is me. He added, "If you have nothing to do, it's always aimed at Zhang Jixian." He came out of his qualifications, and unlike us, what he is usually most afraid of is that we say he is lame......"

Bao Kan looked at the merit book and pursed his lips, and said, "Where do I dare to go against him?" I'm a ranger general, and I'm just a seventh-rank lieutenant. ”

"He's going to be General Mingwei in no time." Shang Cheng corrected his words with a smile, "The emperor just said it in the Hanyuan Palace. This is Chrysostom Yuyan, and the prime minister's public office and the official department have no objections, and it is estimated that when we return to Yanshan, the reward of the imperial court is almost on the way. ”

"He made such a great contribution before he was promoted to the next level?"

Shang Cheng heard that Bao Kan's words were full of banter and ridicule, but he didn't care, but continued: "The title has been upgraded by one level, and the founder of the country has also been given the title of the fifth generation, and there is also a son. ”

Bao Camden froze. After a while, he slowly said, "This reward is too much...... and he stopped talking only halfway through his words. Shang Chengcai said, this is the emperor's idea, who in the world can be more holy than the emperor? He drooped his eyelids and looked at the stack of stools overlapping in the ground under his feet, and then said, "This time Zhang Shao's credit is not as good as Li Shenli's credit last year." Li Shen only gave a founding son so much credit, and did not mention the things that can be inherited by his descendants......"

Shang Cheng didn't say anything. He also felt that the Eastern Yuan Emperor's reward for Zhang Shao was indeed a little heavier. Da Zhao from the prince down to the founding man, a total of fifteen knights, in addition to the county uncle, county marquis and the founding county duke third, in the absence of enough meritorious service, other titles all implement the policy of "Evangelization III", even if it is a prince, unless he is gracious again, he can only pass on a son as the heir and a grandson as the king of the county, and then the title will be withdrawn by the imperial court. This is undoubtedly a very good policy, which can minimize the influence of the royal family and reduce the burden on the state to the greatest extent. In addition, even if it is the county uncle, the county marquis and the founding county duke, they are not inherited by the children and grandchildren, and like the founding son of the fifth generation that Zhang Shao is about to get, most of them can only inherit a few generations or more than ten generations, and most of them are six or seven generations. For example, the predecessor of Wang Yi's family was awarded the title of Duke Yi Guo, which is the founding county duke, and can only inherit the seventh generation, if Wang Yi and his sons can make great contributions, then Wang Yi's grandson can no longer inherit the title of Duke Yi Guo. And Shang Cheng has heard of the title of more than ten generations, and the only one who can be knighted is the Marquis of Poyang. This family is the first to follow Zhao Taizu among the founding fathers of the greatest credit, and has always firmly maintained the imperial power of the Chen family, so after being repeatedly blessed by the emperors of previous dynasties, they can still continue the seventeenth generation One by one, it is estimated that they are the only family that can really rest with the country......