Because Shang Cheng wanted to discuss official business with local people, Huo Shiqi retreated first. He bumped into a person carrying a lantern and carrying a small burden at the second gate, and guessed that this was Cheng Rantao of Dun'an County, so he turned sideways to give way to the aisle, and waited for Ran Tao to go in before going out.

Ran Tao didn't know Huo Shiqi, nodded slightly with a smile and thanked Huo Shiqi for his courtesy, walked to the dripping eaves of the upper room, put down the lantern, and then reported the name of the official position according to the ceremony, and waited for Shang Cheng's voice to come out of the house, "Please come in", and then stepped into the house.

There were only two oil lamps lit in the room, the light was dim, Shang Cheng sat at the square table with a blank face, and did not speak, holding a black eye patch in one hand, pressing his elbow on the table, and slowly rubbing the scar on his face with the other hand. The swarthy back was dragged by the flickering light and swayed on the wall, like a mountain majestic and silent staring at Ran Tao who had just entered.

An invisible pressure immediately made Ran Tao feel very depressed. For a moment, the idea of quitting the room even popped into his mind. He tried to restrain his nervousness, hung his head, bowed slightly, and stood respectfully by the threshold waiting for Shang Cheng to speak.

But Shang Cheng didn't speak for a long time.

The room was quiet, so quiet that he could hear Shang Cheng's deep breathing and his heartbeat. A mosquito hovered around his ear, and the buzzing sound was extremely harsh, making his already impetuous mood even more irritable. He didn't dare to move, letting the mosquitoes whisper in his ears. He wondered nervously in his heart what he had provoked the young Admiral in front of him. The conclusion was soon made one by one, he had never offended the blind man! But why did he turn his face with the commander who was kind to him when he was parting just now? Could it be that in the short half hour after dinner, someone poked himself in the back?

As soon as he had this thought in his mind, Huo Shiqi's appearance immediately appeared in his mind. If there is really someone who tells the truth, it can only be this person! But this person for nothing, why did he do this? He was sure that he had never met Huo Shiqi. Whether it was in Dun'an or somewhere else, he didn't have the slightest impression of this person, and it was impossible for him to do anything sorry for this person.

He was thinking about Huo Shiqi's purpose in a cranky way, when he heard Shang Cheng ask, "Have you brought all the dossiers?" ”

"Huh? …… Be. Ran Tao agreed with some panic. He came specifically to send the county the case files and submissions related to road construction in the past two years. Originally, he could do this casually by finding a book office or an errand officer in the yamen, and he didn't have to make a trip by himself, but through an afternoon of conversation and contact, he felt that Shang Cheng would most likely not just casually browse the file, and would definitely ask some questions, for fear that the person who sent the file would not know the specific situation and explain it clearly, so he simply came by himself. Now, he's not sure if it's a door-to-door delivery......

Shang Cheng didn't get up, took the small burden brought by Ran Tao and opened it without looking up and asked, "I couldn't stand the smoke of the candles, so I asked them to remove the wax." If the light is not good, you will be on it. Then he asked, "Are you all right now?" ”

"Huh? …… Oh. I'm fine. ”

"Then you sit down and drink your saliva. I've looked at the dossier, and I may have some questions for you. After Shang Cheng finished speaking, he twisted the heart of the oil lamp brighter, picked up the top document and read it carefully.

He looked very slowly, and from time to time he would turn to other documents for reference, and sometimes he would raise his face and think about it, and he would immediately ask Ran Tao about some vague or unclear meanings in the documents, especially the data listed on the documents, such as the length of roads and bridges, the width of rivers, the estimated amount of earth and stone, the preparation of wood and stone materials, the total number of labor, and labor costs...... He asks in detail about almost every piece of data.

His questions are very cumbersome, and even include the basis for the county government to calculate these data, but fortunately, Ran Tao is very familiar with the content of these official documents, so although he didn't put his mind on this, he still has to answer questions.

By the time Shang Cheng finished reading the files and documents brought by Ran Tao, the second watch drum had already been beaten outside.

He put away the paperwork spread out on the table, stacked it neatly and bundled it into a small package, then pushed it aside, poured himself a cup of cold tea soup and drank two sips, and said to Ran Tao: "The information is very detailed." You can see that you have put a lot of effort into this. ”

Ran Tao listened to his words with a bit of praise, relaxed a little, owed in the seat, and said humbly: "My lord praised it." A little chores are just the job of the officials. Tao is blunt, and he is not only the deputy pastor of the Son of Heaven, but he should do his best to make the government peaceful, but he is just dead. ”

This is the cliché of the official article, Shang Cheng has heard it a lot, he didn't pay attention to it with a smile, rubbed his fingers on the coarse cloth wrapped in documents, and said: "I have seen the paperwork materials roughly about the road construction in the county, and some details are not clear, but on the whole, things are still feasible." I agreed. He saw that Ran Tao was overjoyed and was about to stand up and thank him, waved his hand to signal that he didn't need to be so polite, and said, "Don't be busy thanking me." I agree, not necessarily the Health Department can agree, even if the Health Department can agree, the money and food will be allocated to know what year and month it is. Besides, the money has to be called to Yanzhou Mansion first, and it is difficult to say whether they will give you the money or how much they will give you. Because the light in the room was dim, and the seats of the two people were separated by a few steps, he didn't notice the look of surprise on Ran Tao's face flashing, and continued, "In this way, I will take these documents back to the Wei Mu Mansion to fight in the ring, and strive to facilitate this matter as soon as possible." As long as you have the approval of the Health Department, you can confidently ask Tao Taishou to ask for money. ”

Ran Tao stroked his palms with a smile and said: "The commander is a general, I didn't expect to be so proficient in the joints of officialdom. Don't hide it, this is the idea we had in the first place, but I didn't expect you to see through our wishful thinking at a glance. ”

This just right compliment made Shang Cheng hook the corners of his mouth, and said with a smile: "I didn't understand it, but I read a lot of cases, and I talked a lot with other yamen, so if I don't understand, I will naturally understand." ”

Ran Tao saw Shang Cheng's smile and naturally spoke frankly, and it didn't seem to be a lie, so he was more relieved. He thought, maybe he was suspicious? Alas, I was bitten by a snake for ten years and was afraid of the well rope. From this, I thought of my own career path, and when I was silently sighing, I heard Shang Cheng say: "These documents are all from your handwriting, right?" ”

"Yes." He didn't know what Shang Cheng meant by asking, so he added, "It's my pen." The content is the result of everyone's brainstorming. ”

Shang Cheng smiled and asked again: "In the afternoon, I heard you say that your resume is from Chuzhou, right?" Jinshi in the seventh year of the Eastern Era? ”

Ran Tao was hung into the air by Shang Cheng's words when he just put down his heart, and he was stunned for a long time before he nodded and responded with a wry smile: "My lord remembers it well." He stared at Shang Cheng with a gloomy face, and his voice became a little indifferent, and asked, "Do you have anything to say, my lord?" ”

Hearing the change in his tone, Shang Cheng was stunned for a moment, withdrew his gaze from the small coarse cloth burden, and explained with a smile: "I just want to talk to you, I don't mean anything else." I'm a little strange—you're a Jinshi in the seventh year of Eastern A.D., why are you still a Jiupin County Cheng now? ”

"In the early years, I encountered something in office and was demoted a few levels." Ran Tao said lightly.

Seeing that he was reluctant to say deeply, Shang Cheng stopped asking, and comforted him: "If there are twists and turns in the career, it is not necessarily all bad, as long as you can learn a lesson." It is also common to lose the east corner and harvest the mulberry. It's like your county wants to build this road, hasn't it been delayed for more than ten years without seeing any news? If you don't cultivate in the past, you don't necessarily don't cultivate now; If you don't cultivate now, it doesn't mean you won't cultivate in the future. Maybe one day in the future, you won't be able to recognize the road that has been built here......

Ran Tao didn't know what Shang Cheng's so-called "unrecognizable road" looked like, and he didn't want to inquire, so he just said: "My lord, I have a request, I hope you can allow Yiyi to stay in Dun'an and watch this road be built." ”

Shang Cheng smiled: "Of course you can." You are also most familiar with the plan you proposed, and of course you will be responsible for it after the Health Department approves it. But not right now. You are not in good health, you need to find a good doctor to help you see a doctor. Your loved ones are not around, and there is no one to take care of you. You better make arrangements for everything at hand as soon as possible, and then go to Yanzhou to cure the disease, and it will not be too late to come back when the illness is cured, maybe I will still be arguing with other yamen at that time......" He laughed at his own joke. Seeing that Ran Tao's mood was still not too high, he also felt that he shouldn't joke about this matter, so he smiled and comforted: "I'm just telling a joke." In reality, it can't be that bad. I know the temperament of Patriarch Lu of the Wei Pastoral Mansion, as long as he gives sufficient reasons, he will not oppose your road construction case. I brought all the materials back with me, just to show him. I also understand that Tao Taishou of your state capital is a very serious person, as long as the Health Department allocates the money and food for road construction, he will not withhold it and not release it to you. But these things need a process. Rome...... The Great Wall wasn't built in a day. You can recuperate and recuperate before you come back to work......"

After listening to his persuasion, Ran Tao smiled a little. The two of them talked about some things in the county, and Ran Tao stood up and said goodbye.

After Ran Tao left, Shang Cheng did not rest immediately. He asked someone to boil some bitter tea and send it over, and while drinking tea, he re-read the file of Dun'an Road Construction.

While looking at these simple and well-organized documents, he pondered the arrangement for Ran Tao in his heart. Ran Tao's physical condition made him very worried, Yiyi This person has been holding phlegm in his throat when he speaks, and he has to stop after a few more words, and he seems to be a little out of breath......

Shang Cheng was going to stay in Dun'an for two days, but the next morning Lu Ji sent him an urgent letter through the post station. He left Yanzhou for thirty or forty days, and now there is a mountain of documents waiting for him to sign in the Health Department, and Zhang Shao is about to go to Fangzhou to inspect, and he also needs to go back to deal with military affairs......

He had no choice but to spend a morning hastily explaining some things to the local officials in Dun'an that he felt needed to pay attention to, and then canceled the inspection plan for the remaining two counties and hurried back to Yanzhou.