"There are many thieves in the market these years, and even in the palace, there are thieves who dare to steal the treasures of the treasury!"

In a well-known steamed bun shop on Qianmen Street, when Wang Fulin scooped the white, tender and smooth tofu brain with a spoon, carefully mixed the sugar slices evenly, and then sandwiched one of the buns from the cage and brought it to his mouth, he heard such a sentence, and was taken aback, and the chopsticks were loosened, and he almost dropped the food that was almost to his mouth into the bowl of tofu brain.

The table where he eats is placed at the door of the store, strictly speaking, the boss is completely occupying the road, but there is no city management in these years, so no one will care about this little thing. At this moment, there were people all looking at each other, whether it was a seated diner or a diner who was shopping, and they all looked at it curiously.

"You've heard about it too? Tsk, I heard that the inventory was still in the library in the past two days, and this is what happened! ”

Wang Fulin didn't deliberately turn his head, but he could find that someone had deliberately sat down at that table, and then quietly asked what was going on—however, in this kind of public, the so-called quietness was not much different from blatant, but it made many curious people prick up their ears.

I only heard the old man who first provoked the topic, Xili, snoring and drinking most of the bowl of gruel, and then slapped the table and said, "You should have heard about the old Dingxiang King, right?" That one was originally the Duke of Chengguo, the chaotic world during the Jiajing period, stunned and pampered, to the former Longqing grandfather when he was in power, this self-confident favorite, actually opened his mouth to ask Longqing Grandpa for the "Qingming Riverside Map" in the inner library. Since the painting was personally hidden by the Daojun Emperor at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, it has been transferred from the palace to the people, from the people to the palace, and I don't know how many times, which can be said to be very valuable. “

Seeing that the diners gradually gathered over, and there were many passers-by, the old man not only did not sell the guanzi, but said more energetically: "Not to mention the previous dynasty, take the last few decades, the first assistant Li Dongyang Li Ge Lao during the Zhengde period, once hid this painting, and then Li Ge Lao died, and the painting was transferred to others, and was later taken away by Yan Song's son Yan Shifan, after Yan Shifan's death, this was not in the palace." King Dingxiang coveted this painting as early as that year, so he asked for it because he was a favored minister, and our grandfather Longqing had never been interested in calligraphy and painting, so he immediately agreed. ”

Hearing this, although Wang Fulin said that he was eating a mouthful of steamed buns and a mouthful of tofu brain, he seemed to be eating well, but in fact, at least half of his attention was on the old man who spoke. Although he knew very well that the people at the feet of the Son of Heaven had always been very gossipy, and he was talking about Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Chengguo, who was posthumously crowned King Dingxiang back then, and now the Zhu family is far less favored than back then, but he still keenly smells a bit of conspiracy. Sure enough, among the passers-by around, one of them soon sneered.

"I think it's some great new news, and that's what Dare Love. What if you want to say that the old king of Dingxiang is unlucky? It is true that the Qingming Shanghe map is expensive, but some people in the palace have long regarded things as their own. said that at that time, there was a little eunuch who quietly stole things and wanted to send them to the palace to sell, but who knew that the front foot of this painting was stolen, and the back foot was discovered. In desperation, he actually stuffed things under the piers of Jinshui Bridge, who expected that he could not take them out in time as soon as he stuffed them, and then it rained for three days, and the things were completely destroyed. When the little eunuch was finally found out, he was beaten with a stick, and he picked things up again, and the painting was no longer what it looked like. ”

"I've also heard of it, saying that Grandpa Longqing was so angry that he was about to go crazy, but he was embarrassed to say to King Dingxiang, and later rewarded something else instead of ......."

"What about paintings? Is it really ruined? I heard that the Qingming Riverside picture is really good! ”

"Of course, do you know how many fakes there are in the world? Some people just don't have clean hands and feet! ”

Wang Fulin sat at the small table for a long time with a basket of steamed buns and a bowl of tofu brains before he finally stood up. The mood is just extraordinary. If it was just the old man at the beginning, he might have quietly sent someone to follow him because of his suspicions, to see who had nothing to do to spread the bad luck of this kind of dead man, but who would have thought that there were three or four of these diners who knew about it. If it weren't for the fact that he was sure that he had come here for lunch, it was a whim, and he thought that others were coming for him.

When he left Laoyuan, Liu Bo, who was sitting at another table before, followed, and he ordered people to go to other shops to inquire about whether there were such rumors, and then he went back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate first. However, when he returned to the Governor's Mansion, he found that he had underestimated the speed at which gossip spread at the speed of light. Because Zheng Yougui also told him a similar version of the story. It's just that in this story, the eunuch becomes an anonymous corrupt official.

"Is there any news from the other imperial histories of the Imperial Inspectorate?"

"Back to the master, the servants almost didn't talk about it. The Governor Xian had only lost his temper like that before, saying that it was not allowed to spread such nonsense, so we will talk about this matter ourselves. I also think it's a bit strange to suddenly talk about King Dingxiang, so I specially said it. ”

In other words, the spread of news was actually aimed at the people at the bottom first?

Wang Fulin was a little surprised, but thinking about the bottom-up communication channels, officials can't say it in the yamen, and it will naturally be spread when they go back to their homes, and after he sent Zheng Yougui away, he couldn't help but groan.

If you only look at the most superficial situation, maybe some people think that Zhu Xizhong is not qualified to be crowned king at all, so they use such a story to scandalize Zhu Xizhong, but the problem is that this story only says that someone in the inner court dares to steal things, and Zhu Xizhong's cheekiness to ask for a reward is just an introduction. Besides, Zhu Xizhong's epitaph was written by Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant of the hall, and the matter of posthumously sealing the prince was also done in the hands of Zhang Juzheng.

And if it weren't for Zhu Xizhong, it would be an irony that the palace is too lawless now, and the things in the inner library dare to be stolen and sold, so the spearhead is directed at Feng Bao? But that's not right, during the Longqing period, Feng Bao Dingtian was only the second-ranked eunuch Bingbi and the eunuch of the Admiral Dongchang, and if there was a problem with the order in the palace, it should be Meng Chong, who ranked first, and Teng Xiang, who were the most favored by Emperor Longqing, were responsible.

But if neither of these possibilities is true, what is the reason?

Wang Fulin couldn't help but regret a little at this time, he had seen some details in the Qingming Riverside Map, but for the most historical inscriptions, he didn't study them deeply, and he couldn't help but miss the key points for a while. For a whole afternoon, he happened to be busy with affairs recently, and he was meditating and piecing together clues, but when he thought about it, he always felt almost hot. It wasn't until the evening when he was dispersed that he saw Liu Bo, who had come back from the investigation and picked him up at the gate of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, that he heard the report and felt that he had caught a clue.

"Childe, I inquired, this news should have gradually spread in the past five days, all in those outer cities, most of the rumors are peddlers and pawns, and there are few literati and writers. Because you told me not to attract the attention of the factory guards, I only made an appearance of interest, and did not dare to ask too deeply, and it was not spread everywhere, and the scope was still limited. Liu Bo roughly mentioned the several versions he had discovered, and finally said, "In short, there is only one final meaning, that is, the thing was destroyed back then, but because the first emperor felt embarrassed, he didn't say it, and this article was not erased from the account of the inner library." ”

In other words, the 'old things' are being mentioned again now, just to justifiably classify this Qingming Shanghe map on something that has been ruined?

For such a possibility, even if Wang Fulin felt that he was boldly seeking verification, he couldn't help but gasp. That's the treasure in the inner library, to use so many people to gradually launch in the people, and then from the market into the Wenyuan, and finally sit the whole thing down decently, how much courage is this, how much stroke? Moreover, in the end, if you want to get your hands on something, you also need to have a solid foundation and power in the palace, and it is impossible for this thing to be sold for money, but it must be treasured privately and unknown. In this way, who else has such ability and such a liking, besides Feng Bao?

"No wonder people say, there are thousands of precautions, and it is difficult to prevent thieves, Yuan Fu has only been gone for more than half a month, look at this trouble!"

When Wang Fulin returned home and mentioned this matter to Xiaobei after dinner, Xiaobei laughed, "So, my mother said before that those old servants in the family who have accumulated years are particularly loyal and refuse to take more stitches and threads. There are also lazy and slippery old sellers, and even treacherous, thinking that they have been in this house for a long time, and many things should have their own share, and they don't take them for nothing. The former must be used well, but the latter must be beaten, but when it comes to Gonggong Feng, I am afraid that he has already regarded his housekeeper as the master, where is there any awe? ”

So if you don't do it, you won't die!

Wang Fulin sighed in his heart, secretly thinking that whether it was Zhang Juzheng or Feng Bao, it was really not unjust to be liquidated in the future, but the liquidation became ******** excessively, which was really excessive. He was pondering whether he could use this matter to do something in turn, for example, whether he could make some trouble about Xu Jue's matter that Zhang Juzheng had asked him half a year ago, and he suddenly felt that something was stuffed in his hand. When he looked down and saw that it was a post, he didn't open it immediately, but raised his head and looked at Xiaobei.

"It's Lord Xie.,Chen Bingchang didn't hear back at first after going to post before.,This is sent today.,Lord Xie is the day after tomorrow.,Ask if you're free.,Go to Chongguo Temple to shop around."

"Of course, after all, this great master solved a lot of tricky problems for me back then." Wang Fulin smiled, took the post and went over to write a reply to the dragon flying phoenix dance on the table, and then put it aside and waited for the ink to dry, then looked up and asked, "By the way, have you inquired about Lord Xie's return to Beijing this time?" ”

"His official career has not been very smooth in recent years, and he has been ill during his tenure in Dali Temple in Nanjing, it is said that he ...... He doesn't really like Shousuke. After all, before he was selected as Nanzhili to learn the imperial history, he was Gao Gong's insight, but later he mentioned Zhejiang, which seems to be the meaning of Lord Shoufu, but after he arrived, he revised the complete works of Mr. Yang Ming and lectured, all kinds of practices are not quite in line with the purpose of Lord Shoufu. Therefore, in the appointment of Dali Temple, he has been studying for a long time, and this time he was transferred to serve as the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, if he can't go further in this position, it will be difficult. ”

Speaking of this, Xiaobei had to explain more: "This is what I heard when I went to Sun's house today. Also, you asked me to inquire about the movements of the Sun family, and it is already very clear that now the three rooms of the Sun family, except for Sun Ying and Sun Pin, are either in foreign official positions, or they have returned to Yuyao Sun's family. As for the military attaché in the long room, he has never been involved in government affairs, and the second room is also in the position of foreign officials. ”

"It seems that everyone really knows that Jingguan is at risk." Seeing that this was the case, Wang Fulin couldn't help but gently tap his forehead, but he didn't regret his choice. Contacting the rumor led by Feng Bao, who had just discovered today, he held his wife's hand and said softly, "You asked Mother Yan to contact those eyeliners that your mother-in-law hid before, and keep an eye on Xu Jue, but remember, just watch, just listen, don't do anything." After all, Xu Jue is a very conspicuous person, knowing that he is Feng Bao's cronies, there must be a lot of people staring at him, so it is not easy to be found among the people of various families. ”

"Yes, sir, you can rest assured!" Xiaobei's heart moved, remembering his mother's secret chess move many years ago, but he didn't mention it first, but yawned lazily and said, "It's much better to do this kind of thing than to deal with those wives and grandmothers all day long." Don't you know, today I was watched like a diorama at Sun's house, and from time to time someone inquired about Jinbao and their little couple, as if I must be a bad mother-in-law......"

"That's because you had a good time before, and there are fewer things about those mothers-in-law and mothers in the countryside, but many times you don't have to appear. I know that you don't like to get old and socialize, pick it up, anyway, the foundation of the Wang family in Songmingshan is shallow, and there are not so many sons and nephews to marry everywhere, according to the distance between relatives, just pick a few contacts that you can see. ”

After a good night's dream, the next day will not go to court, Wang Fulin naturally does not have to get up too early, when he arrived at the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the sky was already bright. Getting off his oily and slippery horse, he saw that some of the supervising imperial historians sat in a small sedan chair carried by two people, some sat on mules, some rode donkeys, and some walked, although they were generally the same official uniforms, but from the material to the workmanship, it was obvious that the gap between the rich and the poor was exposed.

It can be said that compared with the Tang and Song dynasties, today's official treatment is indeed forcing honest people to death, because officials often have to pay upside down!

The reason why he was accustomed to such a feeling was because he saw a large group of officials who went to work in the morning, mixed with the figures of the few people under his jurisdiction who supervised the imperial history. Among several people, Wang Jiguang's family is well-off, Wang Xuezeng's family is a landlord, but he has been defeated, Wang Yanchen was born poor, Gu Yuncheng is from a famous scholarly family in Changshu, and Ma Chaoyang is a famous rich man in Taiyuan, handsome and taciturn. And in the cold weather of early spring today, some people are wrapped in fur coats, some people are wearing big hats, some people's official uniforms have faded a little, and some people are wrapped in patched coats, but they still straighten their backs in the cold wind.

Today is the day when these people take the small examination of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. (To be continued.) )