After leveling the high arch side, Shen Mo couldn't breathe a sigh of relief, because in order to get Xu Jie's compromise, he still needed to take Ouyang Bijin down.

If he can subdue Tang Ruji, it is because the surname Tang calculates him first, 'those who are yin will be yin', although it is unexpected to be countered by him, it is also reasonable, but the official Ouyang who is highly respected, the tiger does not bite people, and the tiger does not come out of the hole will enter, but Xu Wei can't see any hope at all.

"I can't see it, I can't see it," Xu Wei shook his head while sitting behind the big case, and said while flipping through Ouyang Bijin's information: "I don't see any hope at all." ”

Sitting silently in the hall, holding a knife to turn the persimmons picked yesterday in a circle, you can see how attentive he is from the thin and even peeled skin. After cutting one, he carefully rested it on the board, where there were already a hundred and ten peeled persimmons neatly arranged.

Then he picked up another persimmon and prepared to drop the knife again. Xu Wei finally couldn't help but say, "Don't keep peeling it?" I'll talk to you, peel, chip, chip, and don't let people eat it! ”

Hearing this, Shen Mo put away the knife, threw the persimmon in his hand to Xu Wei and said, "Eat it." ”

"I'm going to eat the shaved ones." Xu Wei got up and walked over.

"No, I want to eat and peel it myself," Shen Mo waved his hand, "This is for persimmons." After counting a little bit, he felt that it was almost enough, so he said to Sanchi: "Take it out and put it in the warm cage, let the kitchen keep warm on a slight fire, ventilate and drain the humidity every other hour, every quarter of an hour, and call me in two days." ”

Sanqi covered the board with a gauze cover and took it out.

"Stingy ghost ......" Seeing that he couldn't catch a single one, Xu Wei muttered in a low voice.

Shen Mo loosened his sore muscles and bones, glanced at Xu Wei and said, "What did you just say?" ”

Xu Wei shrunk his neck and said, "Oh, what did I say, how did you let Ouyang Bijin step down?" ”

"Want to know?" Shen Mo pointed to his shoulder and said, "Pinch." ”

Xu Wei rolled his eyes and said, "The sense of revenge is so strong...... but his curiosity was stronger, so he had to obediently step forward and pinch Shen Mo's shoulder.

Xu Wei has internal skills, and his skills are also very good, which makes Shen Mo very useful, and he said with a lazy smile: "You just looked through his information, and you didn't see any problems?" ”

"What's the problem?" Xu Weiji's surname is really good, and he directly recounted the information he just saw: "Ouyang Bijin, the word Renfu, the number Youan, a native of Ji'an, Jiangxi, and Yan Song's brother-in-law." Hongzhi was born in the fourth year, Zhengde eight years in the township test, twelve years to enter the Shidi, the director of the Ministry of Rites, the official to Zhejiang political envoy, Yunyang governor, two Kyoto imperial history, criminal, worker, official department of the squire, the ministry of Shangshu......"

"Hongji was born in the fourth year, how old is this year?" Shen Mo asked him.

"I'll do the math," Xu Wei said, "Sixteen years plus fourteen years plus forty years, exactly seventy." ”

"There is a clear text in the Daming Law, 'An official should be a seventy Zhishi', and he should retire as soon as he is born in the first month of next year." Shen Mo said: "This is the first breakthrough. ”

"But the emperor can make a special consolation." Xu Jie said disapprerovingly: "Elder Yan Ge is eighty-three years old, and he still stays there and doesn't leave." "When Yan Song was seventy, seventy-five, and eighty years old, he wrote three times to 'beg for bones' and asked to retire to the mountain. But Jiajing was reluctant to give up his old ministers, and every time he praised him, praising him for 'being loyal and diligent, praising him for a long time, and having great achievements', and he was not allowed to resign, so he let Yan Song set a record for the age of the Ming Dynasty.

"This time, that time." Shen Mo shook his head and said, "If it weren't for the recent ups and downs, Your Majesty would have issued an order to keep him even if he didn't look at Yan Ge's face." "Because Ouyang Bijin is a very good official, he was strict with law and discipline, honest and honest, and worked tirelessly in the Criminal Department, Jiajing once praised him as 'a prudent old man'. When he was in the Ministry of Industry, he presided over the rebuilding of the Forbidden City's Noon Gate, [***] and the three major halls, and was praised by the emperor, so in Jiajing, he had a very good impression of him, and it was precisely because of this that he would approve the appointment of his minister.

"But now, because of Yan Song's relationship, His Majesty will probably not keep him." Silent and said in a deep voice: "His Majesty made an exception and did not attend the last court push, and eighty percent of it was saved, so that Xu Ge Lao's forces naturally replaced Yan Dang's thoughts." He spread his hands and said, "But the result reveals an indestructible truth -- when the head of the cabinet and the secretary of the ministry are one family, they are invincible." ”

"You mean, if the emperor wants to change the balance of strength between the two sides," Xu Wei said with some understanding: "You must take Ouyang Bijin first?" ”

"Yes." Shen Mo nodded and smiled: "But Ouyang Bijin has no merit, and he has been in office for a short time, and there is no suitable reason, and the emperor can't drive him away." ”

Xu Wei understood, nodded slowly, and said, "You mean, Ouyang Bijin's resignation as a routine is the most suitable reason for the emperor?" ”

"Not bad!" Shen Mo bowed his head and said: "The only problem is that it is said that Mrs. Ouyang will not last a long time, if she dies, out of mourning, the emperor may change his attitude, appease Yan Song, and leave Ouyang Bijin." Saying that, he sighed and said, "So we must let Ouyang Bijin go to the book in advance, otherwise it will fall short." ”

Xu Wei knew that what Shen Mo said was the truth, the dead were the most important in this era, and Mrs. Ouyang and Yan Ge were very close to each other, which had already become a good story between the government and the opposition, and even Jiajing Yanjing was very envious. If she went, Yan Ge would cry blood and grieve, maybe the emperor would be soft-hearted and dilute his original thoughts.

So if you want to take Ouyang Bijin down, this month is the golden time, and after this month, the situation will be unpredictable, and maybe there will be no chance.

"And how can you get him to school?" Xu Wei asked: "People obviously haven't reached the limit yet, why do they want to read two months in advance?" ”

"Don't worry, I have a way." Shen Mo smiled and said: "Actually, there is another side of this ministry that is not noticed, and I am ready to start from that aspect." ”

"Which one?" Xu Wei asked.

"His identity is that of an official." Shen Mo said lightly: "But his hobby is not to be an official, but to make inventions." ”

"Oh......" For Shen Mo's words, Xu Wei had actually heard of it a long time ago, and I heard that Ouyang Bijin liked to develop all kinds of gadgets since he was a child, and his hands-on ability was very powerful. But at that time, reading was the most important thing, so I just played in my spare time. But he didn't expect that his own handy skills would come in handy...... When Ouyang Bijin was governor of Yunyang, the local cattle plague was prevalent, and the ploughing cattle were almost dead, and the common people had to use people to pull plows to plough the land, which was miserable. In order to solve this problem, he racked his brains, tea and rice did not think, and later saw the common people to draw water, and found the ancients left the 'cultivator sketch' from the data, immediately developed it himself, and continuously improved in practice, the device mechanism, with manpower through the pulley twisting rope to pull the plough, when using 'one person's strength, enough to reach two oxen', become a kind of efficient and labor-saving, completely do not rely on animal power of the farming tool, overcome the difficulty of rinderpest, welcomed by the local people.

Later, Ouyang Bijin's hobby was out of control, and he invented many things that were used for production, but because people had returned to the capital, they could not be promoted, so they could only be used as toys and make people happy.

Xu Wei also knew that when Shen Mo was the governor of Suzhou, he was also very concerned about similar inventions, and he also set up a special Suzhou Research Institute to hire old technicians on favorable terms, so that they could improve the existing agricultural tools, looms and other production tools, so as to improve the production efficiency of industry and agriculture.

Xu Wei also asked Shen Mo: 'How effective is your research institute?' ’

Silent and depressed told him: "I spent a lot of money, and I didn't research anything really useful. ”

"Are you still playing?" Xu Wei asked.

"Play, of course!" Silent and categorical: "The bird has no head and does not fly, it is that I did not find a suitable leader, when I find this person, it is time for the Suzhou Research Institute to change qualitatively!" ”

"You're kidnapping him to be your research director?" Xu Wei suddenly realized: "Can it be done?" ”

"How do you know if you don't try?" Shen Mo smiled confidently.

"There are good and bad things in everything." After sitting back on the big case in silence, he sighed lightly and said: "If you want to achieve your goal, this time I have to go out in person, so Yan Shifan hates me completely." Rubbing his temples in distress, he said, "I'm afraid that even if I have my Senior Brother Lu to protect me, he will drive me back to Shaoxing." ”

"At such a cost?" Xu Wei asked in a deep voice, "Is it necessary to give Xu Jie's life?" ”

"I'm not selling my life to him." Shen Mo smiled faintly and said: "Instead, retreat is the ...... to advance" said with a straight face: "The biggest potential crisis here is not Yan Shifan's hostility, but once the Yan Party falls, I may be implicated." ”

"Won't it?" Xu Wei said: "You have never been to Yan Song's house, nor have you ever attached to the Yan Party, at most you have given them gifts, but who has not given gifts to the Yan family in the Manchu Dynasty?" ”

"But I can never get along with Hu Zongxian!" Shen Mo whispered: "In this court, there are many guys with strange thinking, they think that Yan Dang's subordinates are Yan Dang, and Yan Dang's friends are also Yan Dang, anyway, as long as they are related to the Yan family's father and son, whether directly or indirectly, they are all Yan Dang!" ”

Xu Wei was silent, he knew that what Shen Mo was talking about was those imperial historians who had an excessive sense of justice and had a mad dog spirit.

"I must whitewash myself before the Yan Party falls, so that no one can frame me!" Silent and said in a deep voice: "The best way is to let Yan Shifan knock me down once, so that my identity will immediately be opposed to Yan Dang......"

"But in this case, Yan Dang is in the first place, and you can't be an official anymore." Xu Wei sighed.

"So what?" Shen Mo raised his eyebrows, and said arrogantly: "As long as the strict party falls, I will immediately make a comeback, and by that time, I will definitely be a hundred times more prestigious, worth a lot of money, but it is better than now, and it hurts to be idle!" ”

"When do you expect the Yan Party to fall?" Xu Wei asked softly.

"It's as short as one and a half years, or as long as three years and five years," said silently, "I can afford to wait." ”

"Now that you've decided, let it go." Xu Wei looked at him for a long time, sighed and said, "What do you need me to do?" ”

"I hope you can take over the errand of the wine of the country's priesthood." Silently said: "Let's start the debate between the three public huai......"

"Okay." Xu Wei nodded and said, "Wait until you come back." ”

"Hehe, not necessarily, what I told you is just the worst-case scenario." Shen Mo shook his head and smiled: "After all, I have Lu Taibao under my cover, maybe Yan Shifan can't help me, I don't have to leave at all." ”

"That's for the best." Xu Wei nodded and said softly.

"Alright, go see the craftsmen, have you put that thing together?" Shen Mo got up and said: "It's all up to it this time, Uncle Tang has a spirit in the sky, and the record in the book of blessing him is true......"

Ouyang Bijin will be seventy soon, and he has been saying that he is sick at home recently. In fact, he eats a lot of food, his body is very good, and there is nothing wrong with his body, and now the Ministry of Officials is inspecting middle-level officials, which involves the promotion of many people, and it is really incomprehensible that he, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, can stay at home.

In fact, this was his helpless rebellion against reality, because his nephew was too strong -- Yan Shifan directly intervened in the Ministry of Ministers in the name of the cabinet, and the appointment of candidates for almost all key departments had to be approved by Yan Shifan. If Yan Shifan didn't agree, it would be useless for him, the secretary of the ministry, to nod his head; If Yan Shifan agreed, it would be useless for him, the secretary of the ministry, to oppose it.

Ouyang Bijin felt that he was being set up and became a puppet, and he was very angry. He knew that this was because his predecessor Wu Peng, 'all the officials advanced and retreated, obeyed Yan Shifan's orders, did not dare to be self-dictatory, and was only in the position', so Yan Shifan was accustomed to this virtue, but when it was his turn to be the secretary of the ministry, he still regarded himself as an ornament and did not pay attention to it at all.

Wu Peng could stand it, Ouyang Bijin couldn't stand the humiliation, but because of his sick sister, he couldn't go to Yan Shifan, so he could only simply not go to work and express his wordless protest.

These upper-level intrigues, ordinary officials don't know, so I heard that Ouyang Butang was sick at home, so they came to the door to condole, that called a car like a flowing water and a dragon, so that Ouyang Bijin was so annoyed that he simply closed the door and thanked the guests, and tinkered with his favorite farm machinery at home.

In the past few months, what he has been tinkering with is the 'wooden cow and flowing horse'. In fact, when Yunyang rinderpest was in place, his first reaction was to restore this magical machinery contained in the history books, and wanted to use the wooden cattle and horses designed by Zhuge Wuhou to replace the real cattle and real horses to plough the land.

But the idea of reviving the 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse' did not disappear with the end of the famine, but became stronger with age, and he even felt that if he could not fulfill this wish, he would not be able to die.

But this thing is too difficult, and there is almost no valuable reference, he can only use the rest time to study little by little in the small workshop in his yard. Just look at the scrap piles in the corners of his workshop to see what he's been thinking about this thing.

He was advised not to be obsessed with it, it might just be a legend. But Ouyang Bijin didn't believe it, and said very firmly: "The ancestor of the Northern and Southern Dynasties Chongzhi perfectly restored this thing, so it must be true." ”

Another person said: "Maybe it's some small carts called 'wooden cows' and 'flowing horses', which have been rumored for thousands of years and become wooden cows and horses, right?" ”

Ouyang Bijin resolutely did not believe it, he was very sure: "When the wooden ox and horse travel, it should be the legs, not the wheels. Because only legs can climb the steps on the boardwalk, how can the wheels do? He also knew very well that the wooden ox and the horse could travel, which was nothing more than the internal organs were cleverly made, which could amplify people's strength, and the 'manpower cultivator' he designed was the same as the 'manpower cultivator', but it was more complex and exquisite.

After establishing his confidence and goals, he continued his research. After so many years of study, he also made some achievements, after countless times of deliberation and research, he built a four-legged walking machine, and made it into the shape of a horse, and the hands on the back of the two wheels can make it bend and walk. The fly in the ointment is that this walking machine does not have a weight-bearing function, and once the luggage is pressed, it can't walk, and the problem of weight-bearing walking is still not solved.

It is clear from the history books that Zhuge Liang's wooden ox and horse can carry things weighing one or two hundred catties, but the walking machine developed by himself cannot bear the weight, so it cannot be called a 'wooden ox and a horse' at all.

But this difficulty, he was stuck for three years, his hair was all gray, and he didn't study the reason. He also thought that he couldn't do it behind closed doors, but had to brainstorm, and once announced that as long as anyone could help him solve this problem, he would agree to the conditions that he could do and not break the law. As soon as the news came out, many good people offered suggestions one after another, but they were helpless and could not solve the problem at all.

On this day, the old man got up early, went to the workshop again, and stared at his 'flowing horse' in a daze, which made people worry, if he didn't make it out, would the old man be stunned?

He was in a trance, and his family sent an invitation and said, "Sir, an adult has invited you to visit his house to visit the wooden ox and flowing horse." ”

Ouyang Bijin said impatiently at first: "If you don't go, don't you go, didn't you say that you would close the door and thank you?" But when he heard the end, he jumped up and said, "What? Wooden cattle and horses? ”

(To be continued)