Entering the courtyard is a main room with two transepts around it. The yard is not big, and there are a few ridges of land on the side, probably planted with some green vegetables. On one side of the yard there is a cage made of bamboo, in which several hens are kept.

Zuo Maodi saw that Sun Zhiqi's family was so poor, and couldn't help but praise: "Brother Long Fu, although you and I are fellow villagers, we don't have a deep relationship, and now I find that Brother Long Fu is so Yaxing!" ”

Sun Zhiqi sighed and smiled: "There, there, it's just to entertain yourself in your spare time!" ”

Although Sun Zhiqi said this, he secretly scolded in his heart: You Zuo Maodi is a Jiaodong Wang clan, of course you don't know the truth that firewood and rice are expensive, is the old man the same as you?

Sun Zhiqi was born in a small family, and he used to be an ordinary farmer, but after Sun Zhiqi's personal efforts, he was admitted to Jinshi to change his identity. Zuo Maodi's family is different, the Zuo family is a big family in Jiaodong, and there are several Jinshi in the family, Zuo Maodi's grandfather Zuo Kui has been a political envoy, and the family environment is comparable to that of the turtle Sun Zhiqi.

The difference in the backgrounds of the two also represents the difference in their careers, Sun Zhiqi immediately defected to the eunuchs in power at that time after becoming an official, and after the death of the Ming Dynasty, he changed his course and voted for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was all troubled by no money.

This is not the case with Zuo Maodi, when he was young, Zuo Maodi was able to travel and make friends, and with his cousins Zuo Maotai, Zuo Maofen, Zuo Maogui, Zuo Liangfu and others formed a branch of the Fushe, the famous Wenshe Shanzuo Taisha, which all need strong financial resources to support behind.

When they entered the house, they sat down with their guests, and then an old woman came out and offered them tea.

Sun Zhiqi smiled bitterly and said: "Brother Zhongji, the foolish brother's family is poor, there are no servants, and there can only be an old wife who comes out to serve tea!" ”

Zuo Mao first heard that this was Sun Zhiqi's wife, so he quickly stood up and called his sister-in-law, and waited for Sun to go in before sitting down again.

Seeing that Sun Zhiqi was so poor, Zuo Maodi sighed with emotion: "I didn't expect Brother Long Fu's family to be so poor, he is really a model for my generation, what difficulties does Brother Long Fu's family have to talk to the younger brother directly!" ”

Zuo Maodi didn't have a deep relationship with Sun Zhiqi before, after all, the two were from different backgrounds and belonged to two different camps, and at the same time, Zuo Maodi was a local official all the year round, so he thought that all the eunuchs in the DPRK and China were embezzlers. Now seeing Sun Zhiqi living like this, I am really touched in my heart.

Zuo Maodi's true feelings were revealed, but Sun Zhiqi didn't appreciate it, and thought that Zuo Maodi said this to entertain himself. However, Sun Zhiqi was very well-cultivated after all, and after listening to Zuo Maodi, he smiled indifferently, and then asked: "What is the matter with Brother Zhong and Xian coming to find Brother Yu today?" ”

Sun Zhiqi thought very simply, you Zuo Maodi has no friendship with the old man, and it is estimated that there is nothing serious about this time, hurry up and leave after finishing business, don't delay the old man to farm.

Seeing that Sun Zhiqi's family was poor, Zuo Maodi's original intention of letting him be a substitute for the dead ghost was slightly shaken, but Zuo Maodi thought about Ma Cheng's order, as well as the hundreds of millions of Ming people in Jiangnan, Zuo Maodi gritted his teeth and had to say: "Brother Long Fu, the younger brother is here specifically for my brother this time!" ”

After Zuo Maodi finished speaking, he took a sip of tea, and then organized his language, and then continued: "Brother Long Fu, you and your younger brother are the Shandong Township Party, although you and I did not have any intersection in the former Ming Dynasty, but now they are not all serving the Qing Dynasty!" The younger brother saw that Brother Long Fu was so talented but he couldn't be reused, so this time he specially pointed out a shortcut to Brother Long Fu's promotion! ”

Sun Zhiqi sneered in his heart when he heard Zuo Maodi say this: You Zuo Maodi is not a good thing, when you first arrived in the Northern Capital, you made a look like a death festival for the Ming Dynasty, but now? Isn't it still wagging his tail and begging for mercy on Dolgon? Now you come to point out a shortcut to the old man's promotion, the old man can't trust you!

Sun Zhiqi used to be a eunuch, and his reputation in Shilin was not good, and after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, this old guy actually shaved his head at home to welcome the Qing army into the city, this kind of shameless literati even the former eunuch friends avoided it. Therefore, after Sun Zhiqi became an official this time, no one in the court was friendly with him, and even Feng Quan, who was born in the eunuch party, was far away from Sun Zhiqi.

Therefore, Sun Zhiqi is completely to blame for living like this now, and his reputation is stinky, and no one cares about him in the Ministry of Rites, and he can only receive a dozen taels of Lu per month, and there are no other extra money!

So when Sun Zhiqi heard Zuo Maodi say this, he immediately thought that this guy was here to entertain himself, and immediately said angrily: "Zuo Zhongji, although you and I have no friendship, but we don't have any bad feelings, why are you talking about this today?" Do you want to see Sun's jokes? ”

Seeing Sun Zhiqi's anxious eyes, Zuo Maodi hurriedly explained: "Brother is angry, little brother definitely doesn't mean this!" The younger brother has just arrived in Beidu and is not familiar with the place, so he naturally wants to find some officialdom to help, brother, you are the younger brother of the township party, so the younger brother found his brother, only the elder brother is promoted, can he help the younger brother, right? ”

Sun Zhiqi listened to Zuo Maodi say this before he calmed down his anger a little, this Zuo Maodi is a person with a temperament, although what he said just now is not good, but it is the truth. However, Sun Zhiqi is also an old fritter who has been in the officialdom for many years, where can he be fooled by Zuo Mao's first words? It's easy

"Brother Zhong and Xian, since you have a promotion method, why don't you use it yourself?"

Zuo Maodi smiled and said: "Hehe, this matter only works if the elder brother does it, little brother, it's still a little hot!" ”

Sun Zhiqi was interested in hearing Zuo Maodi's words, although Sun Zhiqi's official position is the same as Zuo Maodi's now, but the treatment is completely different. Zuo Maodi is a celebrity around Dolgon, and Dolgon also needs Zuo Maodi's identity to win the hearts of Jiaodong scholars. But what about Sun Zhiqi? Even his eunuch friends can't avoid it, and his natural status can't be compared with Zuo Maodi.

"Brother Zhong and Xian, tell me, what is the idea, you have to do it with Brother Foolish!" Sun Zhiqi thought for a moment and decided to listen to what Zuo Maodi had to say.

Hearing Sun Zhiqi ask this, Zuo Maodi said with a smile: "The younger brother has just returned from the regent, and now my Qing army is besieging the southern capital, and it is estimated that it will be taken in more than a month, so the regent intends to reopen the head shaving order in the world!" The younger brother hopes that the elder brother will take the lead and go to this sparse first! ”

Sun Zhiqi was furious when he heard Zuo Maodi, what kind of good idea are you? You're making the old man jump into the fire pit!

At this time, Sun Zhiqi didn't care about any officialdom etiquette, stood up and scolded: "Zuo Maodi, the old man thought you were really kind at first and wanted to help the old man, but I didn't expect you to be very vicious!" Isn't this putting the old man in the position of disloyalty and unfilial piety? ”

Zuo Maodi heard Sun Zhiqi say this, and scolded secretly in his heart: You are all stinking home, what are you talking about disloyalty and unfilial piety?

Zuo Maodi sneered and said: "Hmph, Brother Long Fu, don't be ignorant of good people's hearts, do you think you are still in the Apocalypse Year?" Do you think the court is still rampant with your eunuchs? Do you think that today is the incompetent Emperor of the Apocalypse? To tell you the truth, what you did in the past has discredited you, do you think that one of your former eunuch colleagues has come to you? Is Feng Quan here? Is Li Ruolin here? Is Jin Wenjun here? ”

These officials mentioned by Zuo Maodi are all officials who were convicted because of the party's attachment to Wei Zhongxian, and were activated after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, and these people had a good relationship with Sun Zhiqi before, but because Sun Zhiqi did too embarrassing, these people also broke off their relationship with Sun Zhiqi.

Zuo Maodi's words hammered into Sun Zhiqi's heart like a heavy hammer, and the current experience made Sun Zhiqi regret his reckless behavior very much, didn't he just shave his head to welcome the Manchu Qing Dynasty? How did you offend all the readers?

Seeing Sun Zhiqi's expression lonely, Zuo Maodi knew that this guy had gone to his heart. Zuo Maodi whispered beside Sun Zhiqi and said: "Brother Long Fu, since this is the case, why don't you take this opportunity to go up, as long as you leave an impression in the regent's heart, it is not a matter of the regent's words to be promoted and rich?" ”

Zuo Maodi is right, anyway, your Sun Zhiqi is already smelly, it is better to break the jar and break it, and it is not bad to use this incident to enter Dorgon's eyes.

After Zuo Maodi finished speaking, he saw Sun Zhiqi bow his head and didn't speak, knowing that his words had gone to his heart, so there was no need to say anything superfluous, Zuo Maodi got up and said goodbye and went out.

Zuo Maodi left Sun Zhiqi alone in the house in a daze, although what Zuo Maodi said just now is not good, but it is also a shortcut to get rid of the current embarrassing position. Sun Zhiqi is different from Zuo Maodi, Zuo Maodi's family is rich and powerful, and he can travel all over the world if he doesn't like to be an official. But Sun Zhiqi is different, he is extremely utilitarian, otherwise he would not have defected to the eunuch party as soon as he entered the officialdom.

Sun Zhiqi is just in his early fifties this year, and it is the golden period of an official's career, and he is full of reluctance when he thinks of returning to Shandong in a gloomy manner. Thinking of this, Sun Zhiqi gritted his teeth and decided, so he followed what Zuo Maodi said, and became a first-class bird.

decided to take action, Sun Zhiqi picked up a pen and paper, and wrote a letter to Shangshu freely.

After the Manchu Qing Dynasty occupied Beijing, it basically retained the old system of the Ming Dynasty, stipulating that every five days a court meeting, tomorrow is June 15, although Sun Zhiqi has no rights, but after all, he is a waiter of the Ministry of Rites, according to the rules he also has the qualifications to go to the court, so Sun Zhiqi is ready to put this letter in public tomorrow.

On June 15 the next day, Sun Zhiqi got up very early, put on the official uniform of the Manchu Dynasty, tidied up the money rattail on his head, and then went out.

Today's weather is good, and there is no rain, so today's pilgrimage will be held in Qianqingmen. All the Manchu and Han ministers had already waited in front of the noon gate, waiting for the city gate to open.

When the Manchus first entered the Central Plains, there were no strict requirements for clothing, and some Han ministers in the court still wore the official uniforms of the Ming Dynasty, while the ministers of the Manchu Qing Dynasty wore Manchu official uniforms.

But there is an alternative among these officials, that is, Sun Zhiqi, this guy shaved his head and changed his official uniform in order to pat himself on the back, and he was naturally disliked by the Han officials, and at the same time, the Manguan side suspected that he had no moral bottom line, and he was not allowed to join his team. In this way, Sun Zhiqi is a dignified waiter of the three-grade rite department, and he has to stand at the end of the line and be in the company of those five- and six-grade petty officials in the six departments.