Chapter 890: Candidate for Squire

Shi An and Chen Yong were both recommended by Li Qing to Zhang Yue at the beginning, and now they are both transferred to the Beijing Military Department, out of the twilight circle in Nanjing, the two of them naturally want to prove their talents, one is in the Wuxuan Division, and the other is in the incumbent Fang Division, both of whom are conscientious and conscientious, eager to break a person in half, and break twelve hours a day into twenty-four hours. Therefore, although they have not yet been recommended to participate in the deliberations of Hongwen Pavilion today, they have occupied a place as a spectator, and they have also watched a big scene there, and they are still unsatisfied at this time. When they realized that something was wrong, the two of them saw that there was an extra person in the room.

"Ah, my lord is back!"

Zhang Yue waved his hand to the two people who were busy standing up, and then stepped forward and sat down behind the table, but he didn't mention the stubble he had just heard, but asked about a few official duties, and finally he pondered for a while, and then said: "I see what the emperor meant, not only our military department, but even the criminal department will probably not send a scholar for a while." After all, the left and right squires in the criminal department are fully staffed, and if our military department lacks another squire, it will be a big trouble. The emperor has rejected the people who pushed the court last time, you are all people who have been in the court for a short time, and you have been in charge of the military department, if there is any candidate, report to me, and I will hand it over at my discretion. ”

Zhang Yue has been in office for many years, and although he has deep connections, he really wants to say that his team, in addition to those colleagues and subordinates who were in the military department before, the rest was really established when the counselor handed over military affairs. Shi An and Chen Yong are both older than him, and they have been up and down in their careers for many years, and they are more reliable than the young officials who are blindly determined, and after so much time together, he also has quite a lot of recognition of the character of the two, so at this time, he put down such a major event, and his face is still as usual.

He can take it for granted, where do Shi An and Chen Yong dare to look at it like this. The two glanced at each other, and remembered in their hearts the posture that was about to move up and down these days - no matter what, there were too many gaps in the six parts now. There are many people who don't want to come to the military department to see the face of a young Zuo Shilang, but there are actually not no people who have ambitions, but most of them have impure motives.

So, after thinking for a while, Chen Yong said in a low voice: "Do you know that Xu Wenqi Xu Lao?" ”

Zhang Yue thought about it for a while, and then remembered a person: "Are you talking about Lord Xu Kuoxu, the secretary of the Taifu Temple?" ”

Chen Yong nodded, and immediately explained: "Lord Xu Wenqi was recommended to be appointed as an official, and at first he was the head of the Ministry of War, and then he was a Langzhong, and then he let go of the foreign post, and he only went to the Taifu Temple before. He is a hearty person, serious and careful in his work, Taifu Temple specializes in raising horses, cumbersome and tired, but he is always meticulous. Actually......"

Seeing that Chen Yong paused, his face seemed to be a little embarrassed, Zhang Yue couldn't help frowning, and suddenly realized: "You mean, if I didn't happen to return to the court, the post of the left squire of the military department should be his?" ”

"Exactly!" Chen Yong smiled and didn't say anything, but Shi An picked up, "Lord Xu is more than twice as old as the adult, and now he is sixty-three, in terms of qualifications in the court, I'm afraid there are few who can compare to him, just because the members of the six ministries during the Yongle period have hardly moved, so he has no chance, and then he will move the Taifu Siqing." When I was in the military department before, I was instructed by Lord Xu and have always admired him. ”

"Zhijing, since you and Shu Zhen are the same, it is naturally appropriate for you to come to Lord Xu."

Zhang Yue also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but thinking about Xu Kuo's age of sixty-three, he couldn't help but feel a little stunned, but thinking about the fact that the other bigwigs in the six departments were almost the same age, he let go of this worry. You must know that although the average life expectancy in these years is not long, and the emperor lives more than sixty, even if he lives a long life, the officials who can be high-ranking officials seem to have a deep understanding of the way of self-cultivation, and they will never easily step down from Zhishi if they do not stay up to seventy or eighty - except for Jin Chun, the secretary of the criminal department who was unlucky enough to be ordered to Zhishi before.

"In that case, find a chance for me to meet Master Xu."

Although he already had a plan of seven or eight points, Zhang Yue was not sure whether the other person, who was more than a round older than himself, was willing to come to the military department, so he didn't dare to say anything. And Shi An and Chen Yong only said that they used to have a relationship with their bosses and subordinates, and they had no deep friendship, so in addition to knowing that Xu Kuo was from Xiangcheng, they couldn't answer more information.

Since this matter has been solved for more than half, when he was the only one left in the room, when Zhang Yue turned over those official documents, his subordinates were also much lighter, and called the scribe in, and within an hour, he either approved or refuted, and finished the inch-thick official documents in one go. It was only at this time that he felt very hungry, so he simply stood up, went out and called Shi An, Chen Yong, Cui Fanzhi and a few other subordinates who were most familiar, and went to the street next to Chongwen Gate to forage for food.

Jingguan is bitter, but even if he is bitter, he is a person, he has to eat and live, and it is impossible to gnaw pickles and dried radishes for 360 days a year, so this Dongjiang rice lane on the side of Chongwen Gate is because there are officials who go to court here every day, and shops and so on are relatively rare, and several other alleys are different. I can't afford to eat it, but the foreign official goes to Beijing to do business, even if he doesn't give benefits, he will always invite the Beijing official to eat, right?

Zhang Yue and the officers of the military department are also frequent visitors here, so when they walked on the road, those familiar guys did not shout loudly at all, but showed the most friendly smiles. After all, this is not another place to solicit small business, but an elegant place to specialize in the business of officials. So, a group of people stopped in front of a restaurant that seemed to be newly opened, and someone immediately greeted them.

"This one is also called the freshest in the world?"

Hearing Zhang Yue's question, the guy said with a smile on his face: "This adult has been to the old shop in Dengshi Hutong, right?" This is a new opening after the Shangyuan Festival, you can come in and taste it, and the taste is exactly the same as that of the old store. ”

Seeing that there were few customers in the shop hall on the first floor, Zhang Yue remembered the crowded shop in the alley of Dengshi at that time, and suddenly couldn't help but wonder. It's just that he was still worried about the different fish in this store, so he took everyone into the store, and he couldn't help but talk about the situation on the day of the Shangyuan Festival. I heard that a meal cost several times, so naturally some people smacked their tongues, and then they smiled and said: "Fortunately, it is an adult who treats you, otherwise if you want to eat here, we will have to go to the official uniform!" ”

Shi An and Chen Yong are also from ordinary families, and they don't even have wives and children around them for the New Year, the reason is very simple, the capital is big, and it is not easy to live. At this moment, the two naturally echoed and laughed. But when he went up to the second floor, when he passed a box, a guy came out with an empty tray, and the sharp-eyed Chen Yong only glanced inside and hurriedly hurried a few steps forward to catch up with Zhang Yue.

"My lord, I saw Lord Xu Wenqi."

Zhang Yue stopped his steps suddenly, and couldn't help but wonder in his heart. He took his subordinates out to eat today, and it was even more imaginative when he entered this store, and Shi An and Chen Yong also said that Xu Kuo was such a person, how could he meet someone here so coincidentally? Stunned for a moment, he motioned for the others to find a private seat box to sit down first, and then asked Chen Yong, "How many people are there?" ”

"Just one of them." Chen Yong saw that Zhang Yue was stunned, and he couldn't help but smile, "My lord hasn't worked with Lord Xu, so I don't know his temper." He is famous for his love of food in the capital, because his family is also well-off, so when he was in Nanjing, there were almost no restaurants of all sizes that he had not eaten, and it was still an old habit when he moved the capital later. He likes to eat fish by nature, and this world's first fresh food can be said to be his appetite. ”

Hearing Chen Yong say this, Zhang Yue remembered the servant Siqing he had seen when he was in the court. Indeed, among the court bosses in their early sixties, Xu Kuo does seem to be particularly energetic, and he often hears this loud voice laughing with people, and the voice does not match his age, and he immediately laughed.

"Since we met, it is fate, we will sit down and order food later, and you will accompany me to visit this Xu Lao."

Most of the animal meat is expensive to roe deer meat and venison, and poultry meat is added to the wild birds flying in the sky in addition to the ordinary chickens, ducks and geese, and the fish is different in taste, and the whole fish feast is at least not a popular trend today. Therefore, seeing that Zhang Yue was familiar with the way and ordered a lot of dishes, those skilled military officials who handled official business and competed curiously began to discuss, and Zhang Yue took Chen Yong out of the door.

Xu Kuo's box was in the third room of the stairs, Chen Yong knocked on the door, and waited for a long time, before an impatient voice came from inside: "The dishes are all served, what are you doing to disturb them?" ”

Chen Yong glanced at Zhang Yue when he heard this, and then smiled: "Old Xu, Chen Yong, the next official." ”

"Chen Shuzhen? When is it not good to come, but when it is time to eat...... Alright, come in! ”

Zhang Yue followed Chen Yong into the door, and saw an old man in civilian clothes sitting next to the boxy table, his sideburns were half white, but his waist was straight, and a pair of chopsticks were skillfully picking up the spines on the fish's body. Zhang Yue felt interesting, and when he saw that Chen Yong was about to speak, he waved his hand to stop him, and then walked forward slowly.

"Elder Xu is really interested."

Xu Kuo raised his head at this time, and saw that it was Zhang Yue, he was suddenly taken aback, and was stunned for a while before standing up, and then saw Chen Yong not far behind Zhang Yue, and immediately laughed and scolded: "Okay, you Chen Shuzhen, why didn't you say that Zhang Shilang also came together, and you were interested in seeing my jokes, didn't you?" ”

As he spoke, he was about to move the chair, Zhang Yue hurriedly took his own hands, and said with a smile: "It was when we passed by here just now, Shu Zhen happened to see Master Xu inside, so he said something to me, and I thought about coming to pay a visit, if I really want to talk about it, it's still me Meng Lang." ”

"What Meng Lang is not Meng Lang, but I really didn't expect that there would be guests during this feast."

Xu Kuo raised his hand to ask Zhang Yue to sit first, and when he saw that he insisted on refusing, he sat down first, and was about to greet Chen Yong, but he arched his hand with a smile: "There are many colleagues over there, my lord, the guest slipped away first, I have to go over and look at it, lest people think that no one will pay money at that time." Lord Xu is the most open-minded, and he is lonely alone, and he must not mind being accompanied by adults here. I won't bother, I'll miss the company first. ”

Chen Yong walked quickly, and before leaving, he also closed the door, Xu Kuo was too late for a while, so he had to shake his head angrily, and then looked at Zhang Yue again: "It is said that what kind of boss there is, what kind of subordinates there are." Others say that the military department is well treated, and even the charcoal issued during the New Year and festivals is stronger than that of other yamen, and you, the chief officer, have no shelf, so it seems that this is the case today. It's no wonder that those bigwigs were reluctant to go to the military department to partner with you when they heard that they wanted to come to the military department, which cousin could be like you? ”

Listening to Xu Kuo's interesting words, and seeing him hand over a pair of clean chopsticks, Zhang Yue took it unceremoniously, and then picked up an empty cup and poured wine, and then said: "Since Xu Lao knows so clearly, he must also understand that I, a drunkard, don't mean to drink." Speaking of which, the military department is indeed short of manpower now, and the officers are just that, take a serious look, there are always suitable people, but this hall official is missing two but it is not successful. The first to recommend either I don't want to, or the emperor has no appointment, but I made a difficulty, this time Chen Shuzhen and Shi Zhijing just mentioned Xu Lao, we met here again, so I went straight over. ”

"Do you want to recommend me as the right attendant of the military department?" Single-handedly put forward this article, seeing Zhang Yue nodding, Xu Kuo pondered for a while, then raised his wine glass and drank it all, then held his chin and said, "Speaking of which, I am about the same age as Zhang Benshangshu in the past, aren't you afraid that I will rely on the old man and sell the old man in the past?" ”

"If Xu Lao wants to rely on the old man and sell the old man, why do you want to make trouble for yourself by saying it now?" Zhang Yue saw that Xu Kuo was stunned for a moment, and then laughed, secretly thinking that this old man was really arrogant, so he praised it even more, "Besides, Xu Lao can let Chen Shuzhen and Shi Zhijing talk about being arrogant, and he will never embarrass me, a young junior!" ”

"Good, good!"

Xu Kuo directly said two good words, and personally lifted the wine jug to pour a glass for Zhang Yue, and he was full of it, so he raised the wine cup and said: "Since it is the two old people in the past who are talking, and Zhang Shilang is a happy person, I don't say any nonsense." As long as the ministry can pass that level and the emperor agrees, why should I move a nest? Just don't look at me like this now, I'm a careful person when I really do things, I don't look at people's face, don't think I'm offending people when the time comes! ”

"Doesn't Elder Xu know that I, Zhang Yuanjie, have always been the most likely to offend people?"

Zhang Yue and Xu Kuo, you look at me, and the last two cups touched, and they drank it all at the same time, and both laughed.