Just as Lu Zhen and the prefect Hua Qianfeng were saying greetings, another official in his forties walked over, this is a handsome person with elegant manners, and he has already surrendered his hand when he comes to the door: "Lord Hua, I heard that the new pusher has come?" ”

"Oh...... The old man is here to introduce to you, this is the new magistrate Lu Jinlu, and this one is the same knowledge of the government of the government, and Lord Xuan is also invited to come in and speak. Hua Qianfeng hurriedly smiled and introduced the two.

Lu Jinxi also got up from his seat, and the elegant official who rushed in saluted: "It turned out to be Xuan Tongzhi, and I will ask you to help me more in the yamen in the future." ”

"It's easy to say, since you and I are colleagues, we should help each other." Xuan Cheng said with a smile: "Speaking of which, the entire Hangzhou Mansion, I am most eager to hope that Lord Lu can come soon." ”

Seeing that Lu Zhen looked at him with some doubts, Xuan Cheng smiled again: "Do you know that the previous Wei Tongju suddenly resigned due to illness, and the prefect was busy with other official duties, so he handed over the authority of the general judgment to me to deal with it first." In this way, I am very busy. Fortunately, now that Lu Tong has sentenced you, then I can also breathe a sigh of relief. ”

"In this way, Xia Guan really wants to thank Xuan Tongzhi for your help." Lu Zhen smiled and arched his hand, but his heart moved. He could see that the other party was a little reluctant in the depths of his eyes when he said this, and he was obviously a little insincere.

In fact, this is also very understandable, because in a prefect's yamen, in addition to the prefect, the power of the general judgment is the greatest. The second official, who is also the prefect, not only has his own public office, but also is in charge of the criminal and prison proceedings, grain transportation, and river and sea defense in a prefecture, which is a real right. As for Tongzhi, in a sense, he is only an assistant to the prefect, and his power is much smaller than that of the general judgment.

Before, Xuan Zheng was the representative of the leader, and the power must be not small, but now that Lu Zhen has arrived, it is normal for him to be disappointed. In this regard, Lu Zhen did not delve into this, but thanked him with a smile, and then said some gossip about the capital with these two people, and the three of them were also happy.

After some conversation, Hua Qianfeng's face gradually became a little tired, and Xuan Zheng, who saw this, said with a smile: "Since Lord Lu is here, all the official affairs must be handed back to you, and I ask you to go to the general judgment hall to hand over later." ”

"This is natural, there is Master Lao Xuan." Lu Zhen said and glanced at Hua Qianfeng again. The prefect shook his spirits for a moment, and then said: "What I said is that Lu Tong sentenced you to be responsible for a lot of responsibility, and you should really take over the official matter as soon as possible, and it's good to go around the hall now." The official has other matters to deal with, so I won't delay your handover. Saying that, Chong Xuanzhi nodded.

Xuan adhered to his understanding, got up and made a gesture of invitation to Lu Jin. So, Lu Zhen and the others left the prefect's public house one after the other, and after turning out of the small courtyard, they came to the cross-courtyard where another general judgment hall was located separated by a flower wall.

At this time, there were already many clerks, errand servants, and miscellaneous servants waiting in the courtyard. As soon as they saw the two of them enter, they bent down to salute and meet their new bosses. When Lu Jin saw it, he just smiled and asked them to get up: "You don't have to be polite, this official is also a newcomer, and everything in the future will depend on you a lot." ”

"Lord Lu, don't worry, these people are all familiar old people in the government, all of them are down-to-earth and hardworking, and they will not let you down." Xuan Cheng complimented them, and then ordered two more scribes to follow into the house, and let the others go about their own business.

This hall is also the same as the prefect's mansion next to it, and consists of several rooms. The largest of them is the one on the front, where the general judge handles his daily affairs, and there are four signature rooms on both sides, which are where the following people do things. At this time, Lu Zhen was introduced by Xuan Cheng, and as soon as he entered the house, his eyes lit up.

I saw that everything in this place was in order, with books and files placed on both walls, and there were all kinds of things such as the four treasures of the desk study room and candlesticks. In addition, there are chess tables, tea tables, and a pair of calligraphy on the wall behind the desk. In a corner where the sun shines obliquely, there is a scorched tail...... The first feeling of the whole public house to Lu Zhen was not like the place where officials deal with their daily affairs, but more like the study of a literati and elegant guest.

Seeing that Lu Zhen was obviously stunned for a moment, Xuan Zhen explained: "This is what this official arranged casually when he was handling government affairs here before. If Lord Lu feels that there is something wrong, just ask someone to change it. ”

"No, that's fine." Lu Jin hurriedly shook his head and said. Even if he is not satisfied, he will not deny it in front of the other party at this time. What's more, the environment here is really good, and it shouldn't be bad to work in it. But then he said with some concern: "It's just that in this way, Lord Xuan, you are going to be short of things, and I don't dare to take people's love." ”

"Don't worry about this Lord Lu, I still have one over there. If you don't dislike the old things, Lord Lu can use them. Saying that, Xuan Cheng also gave a look to the two scribes who followed up, and ordered the two of them to step forward: "These two people, Su Wenqian and Xie Yao, are both people who have been errands in the yamen for many years, and they are very familiar with the affairs of the general judgment hall. ”

"So the two of you are also Xuan Tongzhi people around you?" Lu Zhen asked elegantly when he heard the string song.

Xuan Cheng nodded very calmly: "Yes, they have been following me for five years, I don't know ......"

"So thank you Xuan Tongzhi for helping, this official is a newcomer, and he is very unfamiliar with everything here, and he really needs someone to remind him to help." Lu Zhen smiled and agreed.

Seeing him agree, the other three people present also showed knowing smiles, but Xie Yao's smile had some deeper meaning, but it was only fleeting.

After explaining the person, Xuan Cheng pointed to the row of documents on the left-hand side: "Those are the details of the various errands in the general judgment hall this year, Lord Lu can take a look at the familiar doorway in the past few days, if there is anything unclear, let the two of them come to me." As long as you can help, this official will definitely not refuse. ”

"So, thank you Lord Xuan." Lu Zhen thanked him again. After the other party left, he looked at the two documents left in front of him, both of whom were in their thirties, and the bookish spirit on their bodies seemed to have been worn out by the errands in the yamen, but they looked much more capable.

Seeing him looking at himself, Su Wenqian lowered his head and saluted, while Xie Yao looked back, still with a smile on his face: "I don't know what the adults commanded?" ”

"Are you Hangzhou natives?" Lu Zhen turned around and sat on the wide chair, took an official document from the desk and opened it without looking at it, and asked them.

"Lord Hui, we are indeed natives of Hangzhou, and because we failed the imperial examination, we found a way to live in the yamen." Xie Yao replied immediately.

"That's good, a lot of things may really trouble you two in the future. Now, I would like to ask you to list all the documents you have handled in the past two months, so that the official can familiarize yourself with them first. Lu Zhen smiled and ordered.

"Yes." Su Wenqian didn't talk much, but his movements were not slow, he immediately walked to the bookshelf on the side, swept his eyes, pulled out the thick pile of papers, and put them in front of Lu Zhen with both hands: "That's it." ”

Lu Zhen couldn't help but nodded. He thought that the other party would delay with him in this kind of handover matter, but now it seems that he is a little worried. Casually scanned these official documents, I saw that there were mostly some large and small cases handled by the General Judgment Department, as well as records such as river patrols, at least on the surface, there was no problem.

"If you don't have any other instructions, the two of us will go down first." Xie Yao saw that Lu Zhen looked at the paperwork, so he wanted to retire.

Lu Zhen nodded in agreement before remembering something: "By the way, when you leave, let the four people who are waiting outside be called here, they are the personal companions of the official, and they will have to find an errand in the yamen in the future." ”

This kind of thing is quite common in today's local yamen, which official does not bring a few cronies? Otherwise, if you become an official in a prefecture or county where you are not familiar with your life, I am afraid that you will be completely hollowed out by local forces.

The two of them were not surprised by this, nodded in agreement, and were about to leave. But at this time, Lu Zhen remembered a key thing again: "By the way, is there a place to live for us behind this mansion?" ”

According to the previous rules, the government and county governments will be equipped with backyards for several key officials, which is also one of the benefits of Ming officials. However, he was the only one in Guangling and Daxing counties who lived in Houya, so he was a little uncertain when he came to Hangzhou. If you don't have accommodation, you'll have to rent a house.

The two clerks were obviously stunned, and Xie Yaocai said: "The back of this mansion has long been used as a warehouse, stables and other purposes, and several public halls have been expanded, so ...... Even the prefect is looking for a house to live in outside. ”

This time it was Lu Jin's turn to be stunned. The officials in Hangzhou really dared to think and dare to do anything, and even the prefect did not sit in the yamen, but went to rent a house outside, which greatly violated the regulations of the imperial court. However, this matter has obviously become a rule here, and he has no intention of targeting it, so he smiled and said: "Okay, then I don't know if there is a suitable house nearby, this official only entered Hangzhou today, but he hasn't found a place to stay." ”

Now it seems that it is really not easy to be an official in Hangzhou, and he has to find a house to live in by himself, and judging from the prosperity of this place, the rent of this house should not be too cheap.