Not long after passing Wujiang, when passing by a small restaurant, Shen Mo saw a familiar mule tied to the door of the store, and couldn't help but be a little surprised, and said to Tiezhu: "Go in and sit." ”

Tie Zhu asked, "We just had lunch, it's only been less than half an hour, and you're hungry, Childe?" ”

Shen Mo glared at him and said, "Obey orders and listen to commands, and maintain your virtues." ”

The iron pillar let out an 'oh' and stopped talking.

The three of them entered the store, and it was past the meal, and it was deserted inside, and only three or two tables of guests were eating.

As soon as he saw it, he saw the person he was looking for, a lone man who was eating with his back to him, so he walked straight over, and finally saw the dark and thin man, with only a pot of tea, three coarse dough cakes, and a plate of radish pickles in front of him.

Shen Mo saw that he was holding a pickle in one hand and a dough cake in the other, taking a big bite of a cake and a small bite of a pickle, and the expression on his face was quite enjoyable, as if he was eating extremely sweet.

I haven't eaten these things silently, even when it's the most down, there is rice that is eaten with wild vegetables and fish soup, and I can still swallow it. But this kind of dry hard dough cake doesn't just have some soup, won't it choke?

Anyway, just looking at it, Shen Mo choked for this old man, and he involuntarily pressed his chest and retched silently, as if he was the one who ate the cake.

The man ate seriously at first and ignored him, but Shen Mo stood beside him for a long time, so he naturally wanted to look up at him, but he saw Shen Mo opening his mouth and staring at him, not to mention, he really choked him directly.

The man choked and rolled his eyes, quickly put down the cake and pickles, and reached out to touch the tea bowl.

Shen Mo felt this guilt in his heart, and quickly sent the tea bowl to him, he took it and drank it, and hammered his chest hard, only then he shook violently, swallowed the coarse grain that was stuffed in his throat, and said with a long sigh of relief: "But suffocate me......"

Silence took the opportunity to sit beside him and said: "I'm sorry, brother, I have a problem, I can't see people choking, and when people choke, I will also choke." ”

The man wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, lowered his face and said, "It seems that you choked first, and I followed." ”

"I'm sorry," Shen Mo continued to apologize, "That's my problem, don't take it to heart." As he spoke, he snapped his fingers and said to the shopkeeper: "Give this uncle a bowl of meat soup...... and then said to the man: "I should compensate you." ”

"No need," the man shook his head, "I'm used to eating coarse tea and light rice, and I can't enjoy any oil and water." ”

"Then two plates of greens and a vegetarian soup." Shen Mo said to Xiao Er: "There should be less oil and water!" ”

"I don't have to." The man refused again: "I don't mean to blame you," he said and looked at Shen Mo and said, "It's not easy for your parents to earn two dollars, so you don't have to break the bank." ”

Shen Mo was almost choked again, and said depressedly: "I said brother, where do you see that I spent my parents' money?" ”

"Seeing that you are young, you should be in school, right?" The man looked at him.

"Student," Shen said proudly.

"Don't care if you want to eat a restaurant, you have to talk about seniority, you are so young, you must not have a food dumpling, right?" ”

Shen Mo thought about it, and it seemed that he had not received a single rice, so he nodded honestly and said, "I have never eaten a rice." ”

"Look at your dress," the man continued to look at him, "the family should be considered well-off, but it can't be called rich, right?" ”

nodded silently and said, "Indeed, the child is very tight. "It is said that because of his generosity to his old father-in-law, he donated 150,000 taels of silver at once, although it was a last resort, but Master Yin was still distressed, and said that he would not give him money to spend in the future...... So silence is not bluffing.

The man educated him very sincerely: "Young man, you must know that you have spent a lot of money in your family until now, and if the road to the imperial examination is not so smooth, it will cost you more money. ”

Shen Mo was bored, so he had to sneer: "You are right, then I won't invite you to eat." ”

"That's right, if you don't work in the field or weave cloth, you often don't know that it's not easy to get a porridge and a meal, a penny and a mile, so that even if you are lucky enough to win in the future, you won't know how to be honest and honest as an official." When the man had finished educating him, he continued to eat his bread.

Shen Mo pondered his words repeatedly, and suddenly felt that with these words alone, he would be better than most of his parents, and he couldn't help but say with some respect: "The student has been taught, the student Shen Yan, a native of Zhejiang." I haven't asked Mr. Gao's name yet, where is Xianxiang...... Listen to your accent is not from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, right? ”

"My name is Hai Rui, and my name is Gangfeng." The man also traveled a long way, and no one spoke for a long time, so he naturally talked more than usual: "It's from Qiongshan, Guangdong." ”

"The ends of the earth!" Shen Mo exclaimed, "It's been a long way." ”

"It's not from Hainan." Hai Rui said: "I have been away from my hometown for more than ten years, and this time I came from Nanping, Fujian. ”

"Nanping, Fujian...... Hai Rui ......" silently pretended to ponder for a while, and suddenly slapped the table, almost scaring Hai Rui again, and said with a look of surprise: "Hai pen stand!" You are a sea pen holder! "'Hai Bi Stand' is Hai Rui's nickname, but unlike other people's nicknames such as 'Zhang Datou' and 'Ma Dajiao', his nickname can be called in person.

Because there is an allusion to this, it is said that Hai Rui naturally did not buy cooking cakes in Nanping, Fujian, but became an official, and he was teaching eight products! The officials who are in charge of the county student staff are too small to be smaller.

In the second year of his tenure, the prefect of Yanping, who was in Wupin, came down to inspect it, and as a rule, he had to see the school hall and meet the school officials at the Nanping County School Office. Hai Rui led the two assistant teachers into the hall, and as soon as he saw the prefect, the two assistant teachers, one on the left and one on the right, hurriedly stepped forward, knelt down, and bowed their heads.

Hai Rui was sandwiched between the two, just flattering, but standing without kneeling. The prefect was first surprised, and then very angry, but it was not good to attack in person, so he had to sneer and say to the officials accompanying the inspection: "Look at these three people, how much they look like a mountain pen holder!" "Two kneeling and one standing, isn't it the appearance of a pen stand? This is a clear hint...... Dude, you don't coordinate, get down on your knees!

But Hai Rui was unmoved, and he didn't kneel down in the end, and the prefect felt that he was deliberately insulting himself, so he left after a hasty inspection, and didn't even eat the banquet prepared by the county.

The reason why Hai Rui did not kneel was not because he wanted to insult Shangguan and sensationalize the public, but because of his surname, perhaps it was congenital heredity, or maybe it was acquired, he was a person who adhered to principles and regarded the law as a guideline, not only strictly enforcing it himself, but also demanding that others abide by it as well -- when the founding of the country, the state stipulated that the school officials should meet the officials at school and bow but not kneel, which reflects the dignity of the teacher and is also written into the Da Ming Law. But a hundred years later, the morale is bad, and the scholars and officials do everything in order to please their superiors, and kneeling to meet the officials has long been accustomed to each other, and everyone is accustomed to it.

Therefore, in Hai Rui's opinion, the original normal 'not kneeling' seemed shocking, and all of a sudden, the reputation of 'Hai Bi Stand' spread in the officialdom.

The fame of 'Mr. Beacon' spread more and more, and later when bigger officials such as the scholars and political envoys came to inspect, Hai Jui did not kneel, but when people remembered the regulations of the state, they had nothing to say, but they just passed it on as a joke, which made Hai Jui's fame more and more famous.

I have to admit that at this time, the morale was not rotten, at least the self-cultivation and bearing of the senior officials were still very good, not only did they not get angry with Hai Rui, but praised him for abiding by etiquette and law, and he was a model for his morale.

After attracting the attention of the provincial officials, he, the most hard-working and unpromising academic official, worked hard and made various achievements, and also entered the eyes of high-ranking officials...... He standardized the attendance system, formulated 16 articles of the teaching covenant, vigorously grasped school discipline, improved the quality of teaching, and attached importance to ideological teaching, so that the loose style of study was greatly reversed. Sure enough, in the next few exams, Nanping's grades got better and better, and he actually improved from the bottom to the top.

There is such a model official under his subordinates, and every leader has a bright face, so he 'inspects and recommends him according to the supervision department', and everyone is vying to protect him, hoping that he can be promoted...... It must be admitted that this is not mixed with any interests and bad motives, which is why it is even more valuable.

Hai Rui, who worked hard and self-reliantly, finally won a reputation for himself through his perseverance, which was transformed into this promotion. But the people who recommended him all believe that the reason why Hai Jui is so unreasonable is because he has seen little of the world and is a nerd, and with the increase of 'experience', everyone believes that he will eventually integrate into the general order of officialdom, and may be more 'understanding' than others...... In the usual sense, hitting a wall will make a person more sober, that is, everyone knows that he will definitely encounter more setbacks than ordinary people, and then rub and rub, and it will be round.

Now it was Hai Rui's turn to be amazed and asked him, "Is my notoriety already known throughout the country?" It seems that he also knows that his exceptional promotion this time is because of his reputation as a 'receptacle'...... Although he has wrinkles on his forehead and sideburns that have begun to turn white, he has only been boiled to become a seven-rank county order at nearly half a hundred years old, not to mention that compared with a twenty-year-old fifth-grade official like Shen Mo, even if he is placed on the average line of officialdom, it can be regarded as a difficult career.

However, for Hai Rui, it is indeed exceptional, because he is just a lifter. Although you can be an official, you can 'cross the river with your eggs', and your superiors want to take advantage of you, all the credit is always received by others, and other people's black pots are always carried by yourself. Under this kind of unfair treatment, of course, you can't get promoted, basically you start from the best grade, and you have nothing to do with each other every year, and you can only be a seven-grade when you retire, which is good for fortune!

Therefore, Hai Rui was promoted at the age of 37 and was assigned to Fujian as a teacher at the age of 41, and he was promoted to the county magistrate within four years, which was really enviable, and he himself was flattered.

He smiled silently and said to him: "It's not that women and children know it, it's just that the teachers in our school often talk about you, and they all admire you very much." ”

Hai Rui breathed a sigh of relief, slowly shook his head and said, "I'm just a crazy child, what is there to praise?" After speaking, he put the last coarse dough cake in his mouth, ate the pickles clean, and poured a stomach of tea and said, "I'm full, I'm on my way." ”

Shen smiled silently: "Where is Mr. Gangfeng going?" ”

Hai Rui had already gotten up and walked to the counter and said to Xiao Er, "Is my fried noodles ready?" ”

"Alright." The shopkeeper's expression was lacking, and he took out an oiled paper bag from under the counter and said: "One penny for one noodle cake, two pennies for pickles, three pennies for tea, and five pennies for fried noodles, a total of thirteen pennies." ”

Hai Rui had already taken out ten cents from his arms, and when he heard that there were three more, he couldn't help frowning and said, "Why do you still need money for tea in this store?" ”

"For other tables, tea naturally doesn't cost money." Xiao Er smiled and said: "But what you ate and brought only cost ten cents, if I don't charge you for tea, this meal will lose money." ”

Hai Rui's eyebrows twisted into a pimple, he took out three pennies from his arms, put it on the table and said: "The money can be given to you, but what you have done is too inauthentic, and the loss of your reputation is more than a thousand words?" ”

"We don't care, and we don't make money from a poor ghost like you," the shopkeeper was a little annoyed by him: "Let's leave after eating, it's really unlucky!" ”

Hai Rui didn't argue with him, put the fried noodles in the baggage, and went out.

Silent and ghostly followed: "You haven't answered me yet, where are you going?" ”

"Suzhou," Hai Rui hung the burden on the mule's back, and did not ride on it, but took the reins and headed north.

"What a coincidence," Shen Mo led the horse and said, "I'm also going to Suzhou, we happen to be on the same road." ”

Hai Rui glanced at his horse, then looked back, and suddenly narrowed his eyes and said, "Who are you?" ”

Shen Mo didn't know where the flaw was, and said casually: "Haven't you introduced it?" Why do you ask again? ”

"Your horse is a military horse, and the last two are soldiers," Hai Rui said lightly: "Those who can ride this kind of horse and have such an escort are probably not ordinary people." ”

I see, Shen Mo grinned and said: "You said they, they are my brother's subordinates, and they happened to be going to Suzhou, so they took me with them, otherwise the family would not be at ease for such a long journey." ”

Hai Rui's gaze lingered on his face for a moment, and then he stopped looking at him or talking to him.

Shen Mo knew that his explanation was not convincing, even if the other party did not question it, he would no longer trust himself, which made him quite faceless. I had to follow sullenly, ready to wait until the next teahouse to separate from him.

At this time, there are still fifty or sixty miles away from Suzhou City, and the population is very dense, and it is not difficult to find a place to rest, but it is too early to speak and lose face, so I silently held on for more than ten miles, and said haha: "Oh, it can make me tired, why don't we rest?" ”

Hai Rui shook his head and said, "You can rest by yourself, I want to go to the city after dark." As he spoke, he walked forward quickly, obviously wanting to stay away from him, which made Shen Mu, who had always been regarded as a 'fragrant dumpling', very faceless.

Looking at his departing back, Sanchi said indignantly: "When the time comes, the adult will reveal his identity, see if he dares to go crazy." ”

"Dare." Shen smiled silently: "Otherwise, it wouldn't be Haigang Peak." Just about to go into the teahouse to sit for a while, he heard Tie Zhu say: "My lord, that Hai Rui was entangled." ”

"Oh?" Following the iron pillar, Shen Mo saw a group of Tsing Yi sedan chairmen surrounding the sea pen stand, as if they wanted to stuff him into a sedan chair.

"Is it a hijacking?" Shen Mo looked back and saw that his brothers were far away, so he plucked up his courage and said, "Look at it!" As he spoke, he turned over and got on his horse, and rushed over with the two of them, and heard the following conversation:

"Are you Hai-sama? We are the sedan chair drivers of Cheung Chau County, and we have been waiting here for a long time. The palanquin drivers said.

"How do you know my whereabouts?" Hai Rui asked.

The sedan chair drivers looked at each other, and the leader smiled and said, "We don't know when you came, so we waited here, and we really waited for you." As he spoke, he pressed him into the sedan chair and said loudly: "You are always seated, brothers are up in the sedan chair!" ”

Shen Mo saw that he was here to pick up the driver, and felt that something was wrong, so he ordered his subordinates to follow.

I saw that the sedan chair was normal at first, but it didn't go out of a mile, and suddenly it 'flew' like crazy, like a bumpy pan, and it turned Hai Rui forward and backward, jumping up and down, and his stomach was also turned upside down, if he hadn't eaten too little, he would have vomited.

I also heard them humming in a strange tone while twisting: 'Today, when the master first arrived, he will sit in a small sedan chair with a dustpan first, and then he will not listen to the call, and he will take your black yarn and raise it......

Silent behind, I saw the small sedan chair of four people carried by sixteen people, taking turns tossing Haigang Peak, and I also heard the presumptuous tune. Only then did he remember the bad rules that Xu Wei once said: whenever a prince official or a person is in office, his subordinates will always change his way to give him power, in addition to these officials not daring to cause trouble and being easy to bully, there is also a very important reason, that is, to make them keep to themselves and be less nosy...... Generally, these officials are old and don't want to provoke these local snakes, so they would rather suffer this dumb loss, and turn a blind eye in the future, and even join forces to make money together.

But Shen Mo didn't want to stop it, he wanted to see how the legendary Haigang Summit responded.

(To be continued)