Coming out of the Guozi Prison, Shen Xi tightened his clothes, and the wind blew outside at some point, and the sky quickly became cloudy, and it seemed that there would be a snowfall at night.

He lived in the south for a long time, and suddenly came to the north, although he was wrapped in thick cotton clothes, but this thing is not a very good thing after all, it is winter in Beijing, and it is more than ten or twenty degrees below zero every day, and there is no heating at this time, who can stand it?

The women in the family were already too cold, and Ning Er didn't sleep in separate rooms at night, preferring to huddle in a quilt with Zhu Shan to keep warm, as for Lin Dai, she even went to Shen Xi's room every day to share the bed with Shen Xi. Shen Xi felt that his state with Lin Dai was no different from that of a young couple, and there was only a thin layer of window paper between the two.

Shen Xi decided to go to see Su Tong first to find out about the situation in the capital during this time.

Before and after the Spring Festival, Su Tong was busy participating in various literary meetings, as if he was in a hurry, today is a gathering convened by a certain son, which Hanlin was invited, and what kind of fellow villagers in Fujian will be tomorrow, and which Jinshi official who served in the sixth department was invited to come and judge the article.

The literary meeting before this test is probably similar to the mock exam organized by the candidates, after all, those Hanlin and the officials of various ministries are all Jinshi with excellent results in the previous sessions, and they are from the past, and their judgment has a certain degree of professionalism and authority.

Obviously, the articles written by Su Tong at this time were not appreciated by those predecessors. In Tingzhou Mansion and even Fujian Province, Su Tong is a small talent, but his talent and learning, put in the capital, in the face of all kinds of candidates from all over the country, can only be regarded as mediocre.

Those Hanlin and officials from various ministries have long been old fritters in the science field, and their judgment of the quality of the article is very accurate, which is why the Wenhui invited them to come. In addition, perhaps these officials of the Hanlin and various ministries invited today will become high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Rites tomorrow, and they will be the chief examiners of which session of the examination in the future, and even more so, they will become cabinet ministers, so they are not close to them now. Listen to their teachings more, and you won't have a chance in the future.

"Brother Shen, look at my article, what did you do wrong?" When Shen Xi met Su Tong. He was reading a book in his room, and he was looking at an article in a daze. When Shen Xi entered the door to greet him, he was overjoyed and showed Shen Xi an article he had written at yesterday's literary meeting that was rated as inferior.

The title is "Protecting the People and the King", which is quite plain. Even if Su Tong's article is not unique, at least it is accurate, and the arguments and arguments are okay, but it is jerky in the use of writing, which makes people feel that they are not mellow and sophisticated enough.

Shen Xi sat down, poured himself a cup of hot tea and drank it.

Although the previous exam was a clear sky, the temperature was also more than ten degrees below zero, and the sky changed sharply after leaving the country, and the north wind was howling. By this time his hands and feet were frozen.

Holding a cup of hot tea, it took a while for Shen Xi to feel more comfortable. Looking at Su Tong's article again, Shen Xi said: "It's good, let me come, I may not be able to write such a good article." ”

Su informed Shen Xi that this was Shen Xi's compliment, and immediately smiled: "Haha, Brother Shen picks good things to say, ashamed and ashamed." Alas, in fact, I have already read the excellent texts at the literary meeting. My own article does fall short of that. It's no wonder that there are too many well-educated people in this capital, and when compared with them, my article looks clumsy...... I really should call Brother Shen to go with you. Let them see Brother Shen's literary brilliance, and they can also shine by your side for your brother. ”

Shen Xi shook his head: "That's what I'm like." ”

Su Tong didn't bother with the question of the quality of his article, in fact, for him, he was already very satisfied if he could be promoted. However, in his early twenties, he is already a public, and there is a chance to take the exam in the future. Even if you fail to succeed repeatedly, by the time you are about 30 years old, you should be able to accumulate some connections in the officialdom, and when the time comes, you can make some money, find a real shortage to be an official, and then work for more than ten years to become a ...... Anyway, he doesn't care about that bit of officialdom.

"I visited Cheng Shilang for the first two days, and he gave two questions, do you want to take a look, brother?" Su Tong suddenly asked a little mysteriously.

Shen Xi expected that even if Cheng Minzheng was tired of being crooked, he would not dare to take out the examination questions casually, because the imperial court had just issued a holy decree to take him and Li Dongyang, a university scholar, as the main examiners of the Ministry of Rites.

The questions of the examination are made by the two examiners, Li Dongyang is nominally the main examiner, and Cheng Minzheng is only the deputy chief examiner, but in fact, the person who wrote the question is Cheng Minzheng, and Li Dongyang is just a cabinet scholar.

"No need ......"

Shen Xi hurriedly dismissed Su Tong's kindness.

Su Tong felt that he had foresight, and went to see Cheng Minzheng before Cheng Minzheng was appointed as the chief examiner of the Ministry of Rites, and the chances of admission to the examination would naturally increase greatly. But he didn't know how muddy the water would be tested by the Ministry of Rites in the twelfth year of Hongzhi, even if Cheng Minzheng was not very close to Tang Bohu and Xu Jing, but because of Cheng Minzheng's status in the Ministry of Rites, many people were also coveting it.

And the person who wants to pull Cheng Minzheng off the horse, the "History of the Ming Dynasty" records that it is his colleague, Fu Han, who is now serving as the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites.

Cheng Minzheng was originally the most likely to be promoted to the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, but after he was involved in the case of the Emperor and died violently after being released from prison, his rival Fu Han was successfully promoted to the secretary of the Ministry of Rites in the second year.

This cannot be said to be just a coincidence.

Therefore, Shen Xi didn't want to change anything, even if he found someone to remind Tang Bohu and Xu Jing and let them keep a low profile, the result could not be changed, after all, this was a power struggle within the imperial court, and Tang and Xu were just pawns used by others.

……

……

Shen Xi met Su Tong and learned about the recent situation in the capital, then said goodbye and went home, and met Yu Niang and Yun Liu in men's clothes halfway.

Yu Niang obviously knew that Shen Xi had just gone to see Su Tong, so she didn't go to the inn to bother, so she simply waited outside.

Seeing Shen Xi, Yu Niang stepped forward, dressed in a thick winter dress, looking a little bloated.

"Today, Shen Gongzi still has to go to see someone once." Yu Niang came up to greet and said directly.

Shen Xi smiled bitterly: "Is it really necessary to be in such a hurry?" Can't you just wait a few days? ”

Yu Niang was a little helpless: "In a few days, Shen Gongzi will enter the Guozi School, and it will be difficult to meet again." I have to take advantage of the current leisure time to end the matter earlier, and Shen Gongzi can also save a piece of heart disease, right? ”

Shen Xi didn't say anything more, and got into the carriage with Yu Niang and Yun Liu.

It was still Yu Niang who was rushing the car, and Yun Liu accompanied Shen Xi to sit in the carriage. The carriage traveled all the way to the place where he met Jiang Liwei before, and when he arrived at the ground, Jiang Liwei was already a little impatient.

“…… Didn't you ask you to take Shen Gongzi over earlier? Jiang Liwei's tone towards Yu Niang was almost reprimanded.

Yu Niang's face was calm: "Shen Gongzi is participating in the Guozixue exam, how can he disturb casually?" ”

Jiang Liwei waved his hand: "This official doesn't want to hear this!" Shen Gongzi. The 'Draw the Snake Out of the Hole' project has to be done in a hurry, and you're going to do it again tonight...... I have a bag of phosphate powder here, you take it, and we will follow the trail of phosphorus powder. Along the way to the place where you are directed. ”

After Jiang Liwei finished speaking, he took out a paper bag, which contained some fine powder.

Shen Xi couldn't help but have a headache when he saw it, hearing this, he would risk his life at night, counting on this little phosphorus powder. Make markers along the way, and let Jiang Liwei lead someone to save him?

Is this too much to take for granted!?

Shen Xi Zhengse asked: "Dare to ask Lord Jiang, where are you going today, and who are you seeing?" ”

Jiang Liwei said coldly: "If you know, do you still need to give this to you?" Don't sprinkle too much at a time, put it in your sleeve, and sprinkle some on a walk, without worrying about leaking the wind, because only you have phosphorus powder on you......"

Shen Xi's lungs were about to explode.

Go to connect with the drug lord, and the drug lord also has an official background. There are officers and soldiers around him to protect him closely. Then let me take a little phosphorus powder and sprinkle it along the way, your people can find it, but it's easier for the thieves to find out, right? When the time comes, will I not die without a place to be buried?

Then again, even if you want to go today, you can guarantee that you will see the main master? Even if the plan is successful, at most a "go line" will be arrested, or the whereabouts of the culprit behind the scenes can be traced through the "go up", but how can it be guaranteed that the "go up" will confess?

"I can't go down." Shen Xi categorically resigned.

Jiang Liwei didn't expect Shen Xi to refuse so simply, he was a dignified court official, and now he was transferred to the factory guard. It can be described as a proud scenery. Before, he was coerced by the Dating State Chamber of Commerce, thinking that Shen Xi had become his marionette, but who knew that this would be the result.

"Shen Gongzi, do you know what you're talking about?"

Shen Xi asked rhetorically: "Dare to ask Lord Jiang." How sure are you that you can succeed? What's the point of going? ”

Jiang Liwei was speechless when asked, not because he deliberately concealed it, but because he didn't know it himself.

At the last meeting, Shen Xi had already learned clues from those who sold official food. The network of these people is extremely huge, and it is by no means formed in a few years, and the culprits behind the scenes will not be one or two, there should be many of them in the imperial court, and there may even be relatives of the emperor.

And the only clue that Jiang Li can have is that he knows that these people have intersected with An Rusheng, Song Xi'er, or Fang Guan and others.

But An Rusheng and Song Xi'er worked hard for these people, and they may not necessarily be in a gang with these people, or just hook up to do official grain trading, which is mutually beneficial. There are also local officials like Fang Guan, although they have an affair with this group of people, it is estimated that the two sides are only in a cooperative relationship, because the local crackdown on the Japanese invaders needs a large amount of money and food, and they just hit it off.

Jiang Liwei only intercepted a group of Huguang merchants by chance, and learned that he had business dealings with these people, so he thought of letting the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce replace the Huguang merchants to continue trading with them, so as to lead out the culprit behind the scenes. But even Jiang Liwei himself didn't know what he would find if the case was investigated, so he could only cross the river by feeling the stones, anyway, in the end, he failed and sacrificed only other people's lives.

Jiang Liwei sneered: "Shen Gongzi, there is no turning back when you open the bow, there are some things that you can't refuse." Now that you've come forward, they know where you came from...... Do you think they will easily let you and the Chamber of Commerce go? ”

It's a threat again, can it be a little new?

Shen Xi said: "The Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce is far away in Fujian, these people are beyond the reach of the whip, and I am about to enter Taixue to study, it is impossible for them to run there to kill people!" I only know one thing now, and if I go according to someone's plan, I probably won't be able to come back tonight. Unless...... Let me see Lord Liu. ”

Jiang Liwei was originally sitting, but when he heard this, Huo Ran stood up and shouted angrily: "You...... What did you say? ”

"I said, I want to see Lord Liu!"

Shen Xi was-for-tat, and he didn't have the slightest intention of backing down, "If I can't see Lord Liu, I won't go to see those thieves today, let alone do things for you." Even if you kill me, don't think about it! ”

"Smack!"

Jiang Li only grabbed the teacup on the table and threw it to the ground.

Shen Xi snorted coldly, who wouldn't scare people, when I was a child, I obeyed you in everything? Simply turn your head to the side for the moment.

Jiang Li only faintly showed signs of seizures, and Yu Niang hurriedly persuaded: "Lord Jiang is angry, or ...... Let's ask what Lord Liu means? ”

Obviously, Yu Niang is also not used to Jiang Liwei's self-righteous character, because Yu Niang is only ordered to obey Jiang Liwei's dispatch, and the relationship between the two sides is not a superior-subordinate relationship. Now that he is investigating the case of theft of the treasury for the imperial court, Jiang Liwei is also a pawn, why doesn't he take the safety of others seriously?

Just when Jiang Liwei was furious, a soldier suddenly walked in from outside and saluted Jiang Liwei: "Lord Jiang, Liu Shilang invites you and Shen Gongzi to go and meet." ”

************

PS: First update!

There should be five or six chapters today, the Son of Heaven is desperately coding words, and please subscribe and support with monthly passes! (To be continued.) )