Yang Tinghe Mansion.

Sun Dan is already a frequent visitor here, and he and Yang Shennai were friends in the past, and they had a good relationship. He always came three or five times a month.

Last time, he got the guidance of Zhao Jian, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and Sun Dan also intended to make friends with the people in Shilin to consolidate his lower-class popularity. And because Yang Shen is a well-deserved leader of Shilin in the Ming Dynasty, his family is also full of friends every night, and he is quite a bit of a Dongpo layman. In contrast, Sun Dan has a bit of a taste of solitary self-appreciation.

Since he has the intention of making friends with people in Shilin, Sun Dan is also a lot more diligent when he comes here. It was here that Sun Dan got acquainted with officials of all sizes in the capital, such as Sun Yingkui.

In the ordinary world, Yang Tinghe did not attend because of his special status, and let his son and a group of scholars make trouble at home.

But today is strange, I heard that Sun Dan came to visit, and this Ming Dynasty Shoufu made an exception and came to the living room.

At this moment, it was dinner time, Yang Tinghe simply asked people to set up a banquet and invited everyone to eat in the dining room next to the living room.

There are a lot of people who came today, including Wang Yuanzheng, Sun Yingkui, and a director of the Criminal Department, a member of the Ministry of Rites and an envoy of the Supervision Yuan, plus the father and son of the Yang family and Sun Dan, who filled a table of eight immortals.

All the servants pushed it down, and the dishes were set on a large table, but no one moved their chopsticks, and no one even spoke.

It was already dark, the weather was very bad, and the black clouds were falling down in layers, as if they were going to press down on the roof. The sweltering air seemed to be stagnant, suffocating people's breath.

Everyone hadn't eaten yet, and they didn't come to Yang's Mansion together, and it took more than an hour to arrive one after another. However, Yang Tinghe was very particular about food and clothing, and the cooks in the mansion were also on duty every twelve hours, and as long as he gave an order, a hot meal would be served.

In front of everyone there is a pair of ivory chopsticks and a black glazed wine glass fired by Sichuan Qionglai. Although the style of this cup is simple and not as good as the fine porcelain of the official kiln in Jingdezhen, Yang Shoufu is a nostalgic person, and his daily utensils are purchased from Sichuan.

Under the light, Yang Shen's eyes were still as bright as gems, compared to his father Yang Tinghe, who had a loose face and looked old.

The weather has begun to heat up, and I have drunk too much tea in the living room just now, and everyone has no appetite and no one uses chopsticks.

In the silence, Yang Tinghe slowly lifted the chopsticks, grabbed a quick tofu and slowly put it into the plate in front of Sun Dan, and said: "Jingyuan, this is our famous mapo tofu in Sichuan, this chef is specially invited by me from Chengdu Mansion, the original taste, you have to try it." ”

After speaking, he glanced at everyone and smiled gently: "Let's move the chopsticks, don't underestimate Sichuan cuisine." There are no precious ingredients in this Sichuan restaurant, such as back pot meat, mapo tofu, and boiled fish, which are all worthless things. But the more ordinary the material, the more you consider the cook's craftsmanship. ”

"Yes." Wang Yuanzheng stood up, respectfully sandwiched a piece of spicy chicken, and was about to invite Yang Tinghe to a dish.

Yang Tinghe stopped Wang Yuanzheng, lifted the wine glass on the table, and poured wine for everyone one by one: "This wine is also produced in Qiongzhou, and it is not a rare thing originally. But this year is particular about it, when my son Yang Shen was going to enter Beijing to take the entrance examination, he knew that his father was good wine, so he specially brought a large jar from his hometown. The so-called sweet hometown water. After so many years, only this last pot of wine is left. Hey, more than ten years have passed in a blink of an eye, and I'm getting old. ”

Hearing Yang Tinghe's emotion, everyone didn't know how to answer. Since Sun Dan brought the news from Tongzhou, I don't know why, everyone's mood is as heavy as the weather with dense clouds and no rain on their heads.

Hearing Yang Tinghe talk about the past, Wang Yuanzheng stood up with a sigh, picked up the cup that had been filled with wine and drank it all: "It's not easy for the old man to be old these years, everyone knows that the court has had a lot of things in the past 20 years, and three generations of kings have changed, and the political situation is like the wind and rain entering the building. In Wang Yuanzheng's view, Ge Lao's wine is sweet and bitter, sour and astringent, and has all kinds of tastes, which cannot be summarized in words. ”

Yang Tinghe stretched out his hand to signal Wang Yuanzheng to sit down, smiled bitterly, and sighed: "Old, old, I really want to hang the crown and go, and learn Tao Qian to plant chrysanthemum in Nanshan." ”

Everyone was shocked: "Why did the old man say this, your old man can't leave." As soon as you leave, the heavens of this court will immediately fall. ”

Only Sun Dan and Yang Shen were still sitting still, Sun Dan's face sank like water, but Yang Shen looked a little sad.

Yang Tinghe smiled gently: "We southerners are also Southern barbarians, and we don't pay so much attention to what we say. There is a saying that goes like this: If the Yang butcher dies, do you still go to eat hairy pigs? When people reach a certain age, they should retire, and the so-called predecessors scattered soil and blinded the eyes of future generations. If you dominate the position and refuse to give up, it will block the way for future generations to advance, and you will be disliked. Also, if a person is old, although he is old and sophisticated, he is less sharp. For a country, sharpness is the most important thing. The world is old and decrepit, but the future will belong to the younger generation. As he spoke, he looked at Sun Dan and Yang Shen with expectation.

Sun Dan seemed to understand what Yang Tinghe wanted to say, and got up: "Pavilion Elder." ”

Yang Tinghe put his hand on his shoulder and asked Sun Dan to sit down: "Jingyuan sit down and listen to what I say." I haven't told you about the things in Tongzhou. I'll just say it straight, I'll invite everyone over today, and the emperor must already know about it. Just now, someone from my house came to report, saying that he saw someone in Jinyi outside the house. It doesn't matter, though. We act above board, but we are not afraid of being known. ”

The weather had begun to heat up, and everyone's clothes were thin, and Sun Dan could clearly feel that Yang Shoufu's hands were dry and cold.

When everyone here heard that there were people in Jinyi outside, their expressions changed at the same time. But then he calmed down again, and even looked a little indifferent.

However, Wang Yuanzheng was still a little surprised, stood up and asked, "Lord Shoufu, what's going on in Tongzhou?" ”

Hearing him ask, including Yang Shen, the other four people also stood up and looked at Yang Tinghe and Sun Dan.

"Sit down, sit down and talk." Yang Tinghe Lian Lian pressed his hands down and replied, "Just now Jingyuan brought back the news from Tongzhou, saying that the Queen Mother Xing is preparing to return to Hubei." ”

"Coax!" The crowd whispered, and some even smiled. If the Queen Mother really has to leave Tongzhou, it may not be a good thing. She is not embarrassed to live in Tongzhou Palace, it is not a way, there must be a solution to the matter.

Just when everyone was excited, Sun Dan found that Yang Shen beside him was shocked.

Sun Dan nodded secretly: Yang Yongxiu is really an understanding person, and he can actually see that something is wrong.

Yang Tinghe saw that everyone was full of joy, and he didn't stop it, waiting for everyone to calm down. He sighed: "You don't see what's wrong with this! In fact, the queen mother's honor guard when she entered the palace is related to the country. But Huang Jin and Zhang Xuan were bent on currying favor with His Majesty, and they wanted to greet the Queen Mother with the specifications of the Queen Mother, and the upright people in the court were all indignant. What we should do is to take the Queen Mother into the city as soon as possible, but now the Queen Mother is going back to Hubei. In this way, it is not good to oppose us on the issue of the imperial examination. Hey, it's a big deal...... Negligence, negligence! ”

Hearing Yang Shoufu say this, everyone was shocked and was stunned for a while.

After a long time, Wang Yuanzheng asked: "Shoufu, what should I do now?" ”

There was still no wind, and the room was full of the numbness smell of Sichuan cuisine, which was full of peppercorns, and it was a little breathless.

"What else, there are already different voices coming out." Yang Tinghe walked around the table with his hands behind his back, and then took out a copy of the fold from his sleeve and handed it to Yang Shen: "This is the fold of Huo Tao, the head of the Ministry of War, who scolded the cabinet for forcing the Queen Mother Xing away, please be the King of Xing, and the Queen Mother of Xing will be honored as the emperor." After the cabinet received the excerpt, the officials on duty did not dare to delay and immediately copied a copy and sent it to me. Let's take a look. ”

"Ahh Wang Yuanzheng was taken aback and hurriedly took it over. Several other officials also changed color on their faces, and immediately understood the importance of this matter.

At this time, there was no longer any need to talk about eating, so several officials hurriedly cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks on the table. Probably in a state of agitation, an official's hand shook, and a string of golden red oil poured down on the table.

When the table was cleaned up, Wang Yuanzheng put the transcript flat on it, and everyone silently surrounded it, looking at it intently. Even Yang Shen and Sun Dan walked over.

As for what was written in Huo Tao's excerpt, Sun Dan was naturally clear, but on the surface, he still pretended to be very serious. But his eyes drifted to another place.

Over there, Wang Yuanzheng took out a pair of myopic eyes from his arms and hung them on his nose, with empty eyes.

This discovery made Sun Dan feel incredible, he never expected that the Ming Dynasty also had eyes.

However, after carefully searching the information in his head, Sun Dan knew. Eyes aren't some big tech thing. According to historical records, glasses should have been introduced to China before the Yuan Dynasty, and Marco Polo's book records that "the elderly in China wear glasses when reading small characters." ”

Wang Yuanzheng studied hard in his early years, and his eyes were not very good. Specially found someone to grind a lens with crystal, with tortoiseshell as an edge, with a rope tied to the back of the head, the selection of materials is very particular, the price is naturally expensive. Of course, without optometry equipment, there is not so much attention to prescription.

After reading this copy, Yang Shen was the first to get angry, he slapped the table and scolded: "Villain, villain, this Huo Tao is also from a Jinshi and is in a high position, how can he say such shameless words?" This person has an obscene appearance, and he is born from his heart, and he really did such a thing that people and gods are angry about. ”

Wang Yuanzheng was not as strong as Yang Shen, and only sighed slowly: "Although Huo Tao is short and thin, he has no problems with his conduct. This is ...... Hey, on the surface, it seems that the Queen Mother was forced away by the cabinet, and people take advantage of it! ”

Wang Yuanzheng's words made everyone feel aggrieved for a while, the Queen Mother's hand was really powerful, which caught everyone off guard. Speaking of which, people are reasonable, but the ministers of the court are suspected of persecuting orphans and widows.

Sun Yingkui's chest was also heaved by the turtle, and when he heard the bricklayer Nei Yuanzheng say such dejecting words, he shouted: "Lord Wang, what's the use of saying such things now, you still have to think of a way to deal with it quickly." ”

Hearing this, everyone's eyes fell on Yang Shen's face.

Xiao Yang is a leader of Shilin, known for his quick wit, and now, he may have a remedy.

Yang Shen sat at the table and pondered for a moment, then suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "The most important thing now is to immediately dismiss Huo Tao's excerpt, and not let the cabinet people hand it over to the celebrant according to the procedure." By the way, I'll go see Huo Tao right away and see if I can convince him. ”

Sun Yingkui nodded again and again: "This method is good." ”

"It's late." An old voice came.

Everyone turned around at the same time, but they couldn't help shaking their heads when they saw Yang Tinghe.

Yang Shen asked in surprise: "Why did my father say this?" ”

Yang Tinghe replied: "Just now, Huang Jin has already sent someone to collect the excerpt in advance, presumably he knew about it in advance before Huo Tao took the excerpt, otherwise it would be impossible to pinch it so accurately." Look at it, there are so many brocade guards outside my house, don't you still understand? ”

"This Huo Tao seems to have taken refuge in Huang Jin." Yang Shen was so angry that his hands and feet trembled, "Scum, scum!" ”

And all the people shouted in unison.

Yang Tinghe had a headache from being argued with by everyone, and he didn't feel that he frowned. Shouting and shouting to kill is pleasant, but it is not a good way to solve the problem. Now, he's been cornered. On the issue of the imperial examination, he and the courtiers have always stood on the ground. As long as this truth is established, people in the world will naturally not say anything. However, now that the Queen Mother has been forced away, the sympathy of the people of the world will naturally fall to the side of the Emperor and the Queen Mother. In that case, things can be troublesome.

His son Yang Shen has been trained for so many years, and he can be regarded as a talent, but he has a straightforward personality, but he lacks the means that a person should have. Blindly using strong is not necessarily a good means. Hey, he keeps scolding whenever he encounters something, but he can't think of a good way. How can you rest assured that you will hand over this situation to him in the future?

Feeling a little lonely in his heart, Yang Tinghe looked at Sun Dan and suddenly asked, "Jingyuan, how do you think this matter should be handled?" ”

Hearing that Lord Shoufu suddenly asked Sun Dan's opinion, everyone quieted down.

Sun Dan didn't shirk either, and said slowly: "Lord Shoufu, it has already happened if it doesn't happen, and now I'm afraid it's not appropriate to insist on using force to force your majesty." According to Sun Dan, it is better to compromise. ”

Yang Tinghe: "Oh! With a sound, it seemed that what Sun Dan was going to say next had been expected by him: "Tell me, what a compromise." ”

Sun Dan: "Shoufu, my lords, Sun Dan has a sentence that I don't know whether to say or not." ”

Yang Tinghe looked at Sun Dan with encouraging eyes: "Say it, say it." ”

Sun Dan said: "Sun Dan believes that everyone should take a step back, the so-called step back, the sea and the sky." The Queen Mother can't go back to Hubei anyway, she came all the way to the capital to reunite with His Majesty, if she leaves for this reason, won't people laugh at us and others too much. Of course, the issue of the imperial examination involves the national capital, and there is no confusion in the slightest. In my opinion, it is better to respect King Xing as Emperor Xing and call Princess Xing the Queen Mother of Xingguo. In this way, the people of the world can also accept it. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was in an uproar.

Yang Shen first disagreed: "Jingyuan, this dedication word can't be used indiscriminately." ”

"yes, yes." Sun Yingkui and the others also nodded at the same time.

"The country is about to implement a new policy and reform the malpractice, if all the energy is involved in the imperial examination etiquette, what is the benefit to the country and the imperial court? At least, Sun Dan couldn't see it. Sun Dan smiled slightly, didn't explain, and only looked at Yang Tinghe: "Lord Shoufu, this is just a little opinion of the lower officials, I only put forward a little idea of mine, as for the decision, please make a decision." ”

Yang Tinghe thought about it, but nodded: "Yes." ”

"Shousuke." The crowd was amazed.

Yang Tinghe sighed and said secretly: Politics is the art of compromise, why can't you figure it out!

Since Shoufu is so decided, others can't say anything, so they can only acquiesce.

Yang Shen was still a little worried: "The father is so determined, and the son naturally has nothing to say." But there is one point, on the Tongzhou side, if the Queen Mother Xing leaves, it will be difficult to clean up. ”

Yang Tinghe sneered: "Don't worry, the Queen Mother won't leave, she's just making a gesture." Huang Jin, Huang Jin is a master to advise. If nothing else, this matter was instigated by Zhang Xuan, and Huo Tao was on the side. He suddenly became a little worried in his heart, just the emperor and Huang Jin, he was naturally not afraid, after all, the ministers of the court and the scholars of the world were on his side. But now that there are celebrities like Zhang Xuan and Huo Tao, the situation is a little bad.

Huang Jin, this person doesn't want to be so stupid on the surface!

Yang Tinghe thought of this, and did not delay: "I will immediately go to the cabinet to discuss with Mao Xiang and Jiang Xiang about giving King Xing the honorific title, and everyone will disperse." Go back and prepare, give Your Majesty an excerpt, and talk about it. ”

"Yes."

Everyone didn't have the heart to eat anymore, so they got up to say goodbye and went to prepare.

At this point, the matter has finally been resolved satisfactorily. Sun Dan also breathed a sigh of relief, even so, Tongzhou didn't have to go back to him. You can read and write in the Hanlin Courtyard all day long, and you can be happy.

As soon as he walked out of Yang's mansion, he stepped onto the sedan chair he was sitting in, but saw a young man in brocade sitting inside.

Sun Dan was startled, and looked fixedly, who was it not Lu Bing, and he was still wearing the official uniform of Beiya, no wonder when he got on the sedan chair just now, the expressions of the two sedan chair drivers were a little wrong.

Sun Dan: "Xiao Luzi, why did you run into my sedan chair." ”

"Don't talk, wait until you get out of here." Lu Bing patted the sedan chair.

The two palanquin drivers lifted the palanquin and ran quickly.

After leaving the Yang Mansion, Lu Bing said: "Jingyuan, Your Majesty wants to see you, and I will come to look for you to cross the Yuxi Palace." ”

Sun Dan: "Oh, Your Majesty wants to see me, it just so happens that I also have something to tell Your Majesty." ”

Lu Bing had a sad face: "Jingyuan, you and I have been friends for many years, but because of your and my identities, it is inconvenient for me to say some things." ”

Sun Dan: "What's wrong?" ”

Lu Bing hesitated for a long time before he said: "Your Majesty seems to be very unhappy with your private return to the capital, and now you are angry in Xiyuan." ”