The first day of the ninth lunar month is the day of Xiu Mu, and it is also Li Mo's 60th birthday.

For ordinary people, sixty years old has reached the age of teasing their grandchildren and enjoying the blessings of the Qing Dynasty, but for the court officials, it is the most glorious part of the long journey. This is especially true for Li Dazai, who is currently in full swing.

The officials in Kyori had the sharpest eyelids. Who still can't see that this Li Dazai is to Yan Ge Lao, and he has the posture of 'the back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, and the front waves die on the beach'? There were more of them, and they all gathered around him, clamoring to make a big deal for him.

Originally, Li Mo didn't plan to celebrate, so he wanted to invite a few friends to get together and pull him down, but at this time, a big happy event happened, Emperor Jiajing personally splashed ink and wrote a royal pen plaque to congratulate him.

What's more, after more than half a year of hard work, Li Mo also felt that he had the chance to win, and he should reward himself well, so that his subordinates would be lively, so he nodded and agreed with the people below.

The news that Li Dazai was going to celebrate his birthday spread quickly, like a stone stirring up a thousand waves, and soon spread throughout Yanjing City. Everyone, regardless of whether they are big or small, is looking for a generous gift and giving it to Master Li when the time comes.

It's not that Li Mo is highly respected, but as the saying goes, 'county officials are not as good as they are in charge' - although this year's storm of external inspection has not affected the adults in Beijing, but no one dares to take it lightly, because next year is the year of Ding Si's Jingcha, looking at this posture, it is still Li Dazai presiding, and if you want to hold on to it temporarily, it will be too late!

And Lord Li is an honest official, and he has never eaten and taken cards, if he doesn't take this opportunity to give a birthday gift that can't be shirked, there will be no way to send it in the future. Therefore, no matter who it is, as long as you want to be an official in peace and stability, you have prepared gifts in advance, and only wait for the eighth day of the new year, and then drive from the east and west, north and south, to the western suburbs, the big alley that is only a little shorter than West Chang'an Street.

Good guys, all the officials in Beijing, no matter how big or small their positions, more than a thousand are here! Who would dare to come and eat Shou noodles for nothing? Obediently, those who give gifts have to line up! The gifts were placed all the way down the hallway, and it was not an exaggeration to say that they were 'piled up'.

The place in the house is small, and there are more than 30 tables that can't be lined up, what about the remaining two-thirds of the guests? I had to seal off the alleys of the western suburbs, and set up 70 tables of banquets on the street. Such a large scale is not something that the Li family can do, but it is handled by the officials and the officials of the Hanlin Academy. That's it, the officials who were still busy helping hit the back of their heads with their feet, and they didn't even have the time to drink saliva.

The guests who came had to go into the house and salute the words given to Lord Li by the emperor. I saw four strong thin gold body big characters 'femoral humerus auxiliary bi', hanging high in the middle of the hall, there is a royal pen seal below, the big character ink is shining, the seal is red and shiny, which is enviable.

The seven scarves of Shen Mo Xu Wei also came, and after saluting the banner, they saluted and congratulated Li Dazai. Seeing that it was silent, Li Mo's originally smiling face suddenly stretched longer than a donkey's face, and he hummed from his nostrils without yin or yang, which could be regarded as a return of courtesy.

This is a humiliation in public, Xu Wei was angry at that time, if he hadn't been silently pulling him, he would have to make Li Mo uncomfortable.

It was easy to pull him outside, Sun Ling and Tao Dalin said, "Why don't we eat his broken meal." ”

Xu Wei raised his eyebrows and said, "Eat, why don't you eat?" Lao Tzu gave a gift, is it just a stomach? ”

Shen Mo smiled and patted him on the back, and sat down with the six of them in the corner of the alley, watching this scene with cold eyes.

Xu Wei was originally angry, but after a while, he suddenly became happy, pointed to the door of the mansion, and said with a smile: "The more unpopular one is here." ”

Following what he pointed out, Shen Mo saw that it was Yan Shifan, Zhao Wenhua and other Yan party members, and they entered the mansion in a mighty way.

Many officials with good deeds immediately followed, wanting to see what kind of situation it was like for Xiao Ge Lao to give Li Dazai a white hand. Yan Shifan really didn't disappoint them, he saluted with a big smile, and after handing over the gift box, he bowed his hand to Li Mo and said, "Congratulations, Master Li." ”

Li Mo said with a cold face: "Why are you happy? ”

"It's a great joy to live a life." Yan Shifan said with a presence: "This means that you have lived peacefully for another year, isn't it gratifying?" ”

"What do you mean?" Li Mo's face became even colder, and he naturally heard the provocation in his words.

"I mean." Yan Shifan smiled and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth and said, "I don't know if you have the opportunity to celebrate next year's birthday!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the crowd was in an uproar, and only the Yan Party and everyone swaggered out of the courtyard as if nothing had happened.

"Yan Shifan, you dare to speak wildly and curse the officials of the imperial court!" Before Li Mo could get mad, the people of the Li Party jumped out and shouted: "You wait, I'll go to the book to join you early tomorrow morning!" ”

"Yes, join him! Join him! Immediately there was a chorus of echoes.

Yan Shifan suddenly turned around, glanced at everyone fiercely, and sneered: "This is what you said, if anyone doesn't go to the book tomorrow morning, he will give Lao Tzu a bare stomach and run three laps around Yanjing City!" ”

There is a saying that 'a skinny camel is bigger than a horse', in the face of Yan Shifan, who does all kinds of evil, there are really few people who dare to be tough, and as his gaze swept over, they all shrank their necks.

"A bunch of cowards!" Yan Shifan scolded, and turned around and came in with everyone, kicked out some of the guests who had already sat down, and occupied a table inside.

Li Mo was about to be angry, but after thinking about it, he said in his heart: 'This guy just wants to come and disturb my banquet, if I have a seizure, won't I fall into his arms?' Tolerance has always belonged only to the victors, so he swallowed this breath and said to the left and right: "The grasshoppers after the autumn will not be able to jump for a few days, let's enjoy the performance of these clowns." ”

When the guests arrived at noon, Li Mo squeezed out the spring breeze on his face, toasted from table to table, and listened to the flattery of the officials, looking so unhappy.

In this room, a banquet is being held and hundreds of officials are feasted; In the Shengshou Palace in Xiyuan, it is a different scene.

Emperor Jiajing loved chrysanthemums, especially yellow chrysanthemums. Whenever this festival is made, people will be ordered to put a piece of gold in the dormitory, and this year is no exception.

But at this moment, the emperor's face was not half appreciated, but stared with frost. A few pieces of music in front of me.

"What did Shen Mo say?" After a long time of slaughter in the main hall, the emperor finally asked a clueless sentence, so that Chen Hong, who was waiting on the side, did not know how to answer.

Fortunately, Emperor Jiajing didn't plan to let people answer, but only listened to him say to himself: "If the water of the Yangtze River is clearer, it will also flood; The water of the Yellow River is more turbid, and it can also irrigate several provinces, one turbid and one clear, which looks very different, but in fact they are all the same. ”

Chen Hong understood now, it turned out that the emperor was talking about Yan Song and Li Mo...... He sent those few notes, so he naturally knew what was written on them. He had imagined many reactions from the emperor, but he didn't expect such a sentence to come up. Gonggong Chen still didn't know how to answer, so he had to continue to remain silent.

"Why didn't you see Xu Wei today?" Facing the stupid Chen Hong, Emperor Jiajing missed the extremely smart Xu Wei even more, that guy must know what he was talking about.

Chen Hong hurriedly replied: "Today is Li Dazai's 60th birthday, and Xu Shu often goes to congratulate him." ”

"The official department of the Ministry of Shangshu set up a banquet," Jiajing asked casually, "What is he doing as a little housekeeper?" ”

The time has come to test his character, if Li Mo usually treats the eunuchs better and pays attention to it, Chen Hong may say: 'Isn't Li Shangshu still in charge of the Hanlin Academy?' Xu Wei, the Jishi of the Hanlin Academy, how dare not go? Maybe Li Mo will be able to live this life in a beautiful way.

But Li Mo usually looks down on eunuchs very much, and often refers to them as 'eunuchs' behind his back, and it is impossible to beat them. However, Chen Hong was extremely cautious, so he sighed and said, "Xu Shuchang is also involuntarily. ”

"Why can't you help yourself?" Emperor Jiajing frowned and asked.

"The slave and maid heard. Li Butang said this time, but the scenery is great. More than 1,000 invitations were sent out. All officials in Beijing, regardless of their positions, are all invited! The dignified Dazai gave an invitation, who would dare not come? At least Xu Shu often didn't dare. Chen Hong was unhurried and measured the Tao.

"Li Butang's bowl of longevity noodles can't be eaten for nothing, right?" Jiajing said with a gloomy face.

"This slave doesn't know," Chen Hong said softly: "But the slave knows that the price of calligraphy and painting antiques in Liulichang has been swaying a few times in the past few days, and I don't know if it has anything to do with it." "This is the art of complaining, if you say things too carefully and too clearly, it will make people feel that it is premeditated, and the effect of the complaint will be greatly reduced.

Because human beings have never lacked imagination, especially Emperor Jiajing, who has never been afraid to speculate about his ministers with the greatest malice, the scene of Li Mo accepting gold and silver mountains and laughing wildly in the golden light immediately appeared in his mind.

The emperor snorted heavily: "Sure enough, it's a raccoon dog!" He said angrily, "Is it true that everyone is scolding him?" ”

"It's not all." Chen Hong said cautiously: "The slave maid at least knows that Elder Yan Ge is still in the duty room. Yan Song has been the same for decades, put down his body, called the eunuchs brothers, regardless of the cost, generously made money, and finally bore fruit at this moment.

"Hey, the world is cold and warm." Emperor Jiajing thought about it again, and he felt that the officials had gone to the new magnates and completely isolated his old chief.

Yan Song has been with the emperor for so many years, conscientious, tireless, and can make the emperor the happiest, the relationship between the two has already surpassed the monarch and ministers, and even more like friends. Therefore, when Jiajing made this kind of imagination, he felt very uncomfortable, and instructed Chen Hongdao: "Invite the old shoufu, Li Mo will invite you, and I will also invite you!" ”

After a while, Chen Hong helped the trembling Yan Ge Lao into the palace gate, and was led to the side hall, and saw that the dining table was full of imperial food, and the emperor was sitting on the top and smiling at him.

Yan Song greeted the emperor humbly and respectfully, and at the same time secretly looked at his face, and saw that although the emperor had a smile on his face, his thick eyebrows were beating slightly, indicating that he was dissatisfied with some people.

Of course it's not himself, or he wouldn't have seen him in the dining room, Yan Song was secretly happy in his heart, it seemed that those few letters intended for Pei Gong and Chen Hong's instigation without a trace had worked.

Jiajing asked Yan Song to sit down next to him, and asked gently: "Weizhong, I haven't talked to you for a while, how are you doing lately?" Is it sweet to eat? ”

Hearing that the emperor was concerned about his body and asked for warmth, Yan Song was moved, and his eyes turned red and said, "Old minister...... I'm fine. "This is not just acting, just as Jiajing's feelings for Yan Song are very complicated, and Yan Song is also the same for Jiajing.

"It's just that when I think of the unsatisfactory governance of His Majesty's great country, the old minister, the big housekeeper, will be unpleasant to eat and have trouble sleeping at night......" Yan Song squeezed out two tears, this time it was purely pretending.

Jiajing smiled and comforted him: "Don't worry, don't worry, now is the most difficult period of the country since I ascended the throne, it is difficult for me, and it is also difficult for you, the first assistant, so everyone can reluctantly make it difficult." ”

"The old minister is covered with liver and gall, ......" Yan Song hurriedly expressed his determination.

"Hehe......" Jiajing said with a smile: "Don't talk about it, the dishes are going to be cold, but let's use them with me." ”

"Old minister, thank you......" Yan Song said gratefully.

The monarch and the ministers did not eat much, and after a little use, they were full, and then returned to the main hall to eat tea and chrysanthemums.

As the so-called upper and lower desires, Jiajing likes chrysanthemums, Yan Ge Lao naturally has to study this way with his heart, and every pot of rare and exotic species can talk about the Tao, which makes the emperor very happy. When he arrived at Xingtou, Jiajing suddenly smiled and said: "Yuan Zhen has a chrysanthemum poem, do you know which one it is?" ”

"But the song "Chrysanthemum", 'The autumn bush is like a potter's house, and it is gradually slanting around the edge of the fence. It's not that chrysanthemums are favored in flowers, and this flower is even more flowerless. Yan Song is very knowledgeable and can be called everyone, so naturally it is difficult for him.

"That's right," Jiajing stared at his old Shoufu with a smile and said, "This poem is for you." ”

When Yan Song heard this, he knelt down on his knees, fell to the ground and whimpered: "How can the old minister be virtuous? Worthy of His Majesty's such high esteem? Shame, shame ......"

'It's not that the flower prefers chrysanthemums, but this flower blooms even more without flowers. This is actually a true portrayal of Emperor Jiajing's helpless mood, but Yan Song had to shamelessly understand it as 'the first assistant belongs to him', and Jiajing could only laugh at it.

After sitting for a while, Jiajing finally got to the point: "Zhang has been on leave for half a year, and the cabinet has always been supported by the three of you, can you hold on?" ”

Yan Song mentioned the attention of the twelve, he knew that Jiajing's words were in the clouds, but every sentence had a deep meaning, how dare he take it lightly? Then Xiaoyi replied: "Your Majesty Xie cares, it is indeed a little busier than before, but the three of us can cope with it with our efforts." ”

"You are all the country's chief assistants, it's not good to be tired." Emperor Jiajing smiled faintly: "What do you think about adding another cabinet member?" ”

"Dare to ask Your Majesty, which one is it?" Yan Song also said quietly.

"Li Mo." Saying this name, Jiajing stared at Yan Song, wanting to see his true thoughts from his expression.

Unexpectedly, after a short period of stunned, Yan Song was full of praise, and repeatedly praised Li Mo and said: "Li Shiyan is only sixty years old, much younger than Lao Chen, and much more mature than Xu Jie, this person is resolute in doing things, courageous, capable, dare to think and dare to do, he is indeed a rare talent." ”

Jiajing looked at the sun outside, didn't he come out of the west? Why did this old boy change his surname and start learning that the prime minister can hold the boat in his belly? Suo no longer muttered, and asked, "Then you just agreed to him to enter the cabinet?" ”

"Do you want to talk about qualifications...... He was born in Hanlin cultivation, and he already has an official residence, so it is naturally enough. Yan Song sighed and said the most critical sentence: "It's just that if you want to join the cabinet and assist the government, you can't just look at the qualifications, but more importantly, the virtue, the virtue is good, and the qualifications are shallow; If there is a loss of virtue, no matter how thick the qualifications are, it is not appropriate. "Everything is done in praise, which is the highest level of debasement of people.

Jiajing frowned and said, "What do you mean...... Is he virtuous? ”

"Please forgive your majesty." The old man fell to his knees again.

"What is the sin?" Jiajing asked.

"There is something that the old minister temporarily concealed for Li Shangshu." Yan Song kowtowed.

"You dare to bully you?" Jiajing said with a cold face.

"The minister never dared to bully the king, Chen has always carried the chapter with him," Yan Song said with a frightened face: "Li Shangshu presided over the external inspection a while ago, this is the great plan of the imperial court, the old minister has to let him finish it, and then report to His Majesty, so as not to delay the business." ”

"It's over, let's report it." Jiajing said coldly.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger first." Yan Song said stubbornly.

"I'm not angry." Jiajing smiled, but in this smile, there was no half of joy, but it was as cold as the autumn wind sweeping the leaves.

"Your Majesty, please see, this is Tang Ruji of the Hanlin Academy, the document to impeach Li Mo." As he spoke, he presented it with both hands.

Jiajing took it, opened it, and looked at the other piece of paper attached to it. His complexion quickly turned from yellow to white, from white to blue, from green to black, and he said angrily: "Chen Hong, take your people and arrest Li Mo!" Grab it! ”

Chen Hong immediately ordered all his subordinates...... As the chief eunuch of Bingbi, he was the commander of the East Factory as a rule...... Went with a large group of fans.

(To be continued)