"Niangniang, Niangniang......" Feng Bao's whispered call woke Li Niangniang out of her trance, she saw the inquiring look on the eunuch's face, so she rubbed her eyes and said lightly: "I was blown by the wind and was blinded." ”

"Oh......" Feng Bao didn't dare to ask more, and laughed quietly: "Didn't you always want to meet Mr. Shen?" The one standing by the lake is. ”

"Ah......" Li Niangniang's heart skipped half a beat, and her face was slightly red: "I didn't expect him to be so ...... Young. ”

"That is, he is the same age as our prince." Feng Bao said with a smile: "But it looks much younger than the prince, a talented man in Jiangnan, he has fine skin and tender meat." ”

"Lord Wang, that's an old man." Li Niangniang said in her mouth, but her eyes looked at the man by the lake...... The man seemed to be aware of this, tilted his head slightly, and looked at her, just in time for her gaze...... What kind of eyes are they? Bright as the morning star and as deep as a lake, it makes people fall into it at a glance and completely mess up their heartbeats.

But the man seemed to quickly discover her identity, lowered his head, and slowly bowed down to salute, forcibly cutting off the strange feeling that rose in her heart.

Li Niangniang finally came back to her senses, shook her head and said, "It's still our prince who is more attractive." As she said this, she felt like she was telling a big lie that had left a dead man...... How can Prince Yu, who is sick and sick, compare to Mr. Shen, who is peerless?

She hurriedly took two steps, touched her hot cheeks with her hand, and did not calm down her messy mood until she entered the main hall.

When she saw Li Shizhen, came out of the main hall, and went back to the back house, she couldn't help but look at the lake, but saw that the remnants of the lotus were still there, but the people were gone...... Shen Mo left the main hall and came to the lake, there was no one around, it was very quiet, but his mood was not calm at all, because from the time calculation, a bombshell should have arrived in the capital and would detonate at any time. Although there is a lot of preparation and foreshadowing, everything is unknown until it happens.

This planning may be the most uncertain since his debut, and it doesn't seem to be in line with his usual steady spirit, so Shen Mo has been hesitating, pressing the plan again and again - but one day he suddenly realized that the reason why he had a chance of winning before was because the enemy was not strong enough, and now although his level has gradually improved, the enemy he faces is far from being comparable to Lu Ji and Xu Hai!

In the face of the most ferocious, cunning, and powerful enemy of the Ming Dynasty, no one is sure of victory! But the crisis of reality can no longer afford him to wait, and he must get used to this way of fighting that dances on the blade and does not predict the final victory.

'It's a big deal, go to sea, go to Australia, go to North America, the world is so big, where is there no place for me?!" Whenever he felt that the enemy could not be defeated, Silent masturbated in this way, and he was able to regain his strength every time.

As soon as his mood improved, he felt that someone was looking at him, so he turned his head and saw a beautiful woman in palace clothes, standing not far away in the company of Feng Bao. He immediately realized that the woman was the concubine of Prince Yu, so he hurriedly bowed down and gave a salute, ignoring the ...... It took a while to look up, and it was empty.

For some people, a certain scene is touching and even unforgettable, but for others, it is just a moment in every minute, and there is no impression in the heart, and it cannot cause any waves. Shen Mo didn't pay attention to the matter of seeing the princess at all, but he felt that if he met it again later, he would seem to have a heart, so he went around to the front yard and chatted with the guards of the palace.

When it was almost noon, I saw King Yu send Li Shizhen out of the main hall, and Shen Mo greeted him, only to hear King Yu say: "Mr. Shen, you are talking about Mr. Li, why can't you stay for a meal?" ”

He smiled silently: "Mr. Li has a temper, I don't have a problem with him." ”

Li Shizhen glanced at him, handed the medicine box into his arms and said, "Don't talk nonsense, I still have a lot of things to do." As he spoke, he turned around and arched his hand towards King Yu and said, "Lord Wang, remember my instructions, I will let Shen Shuyan supervise you, if you can't hold on this time, even if Da Luo Jinxian comes, it will be useless." ”

Hearing this, King Yu nodded and said, "Don't worry, sir, I won't joke with my own life." He looked at Shen Mo with gratitude on his face, and said, "I haven't listened to Mr.'s class for a long time, why don't we start tomorrow?" ”

"Okay." Shen Mo nodded and smiled: "Then the lower official will send Mr. Li back first." ”

Because he wanted to treat Prince Yu, Li Shizhen couldn't leave Beijing immediately, and he also needed a period of time to sort out the specimens collected over the past year and write down the records, so he lived in Beijing with peace of mind...... However, he was a tough person, and in the end he didn't live in Shen Mo's house, but rented a small hotel outside, saying that it was safe to live like this.

Shen Mo really wondered, what was wrong with his house, why did Li Shizhen just live in a hotel, so he had to spend money to live in a hotel? Under his questioning, Li Shizhen finally told the truth: "Whenever I see the deep mansion compound where you dignitaries live, using gold bowls and silver chopsticks, I don't want to fight anywhere...... Why do you have nothing to do, you can live in such a good house, and there are so many people to serve you, while the common people can't find even a single tile on the house? Can't even eat? He concluded by saying, "I can't enjoy your Huawu food with peace of mind; The coarse tea and light rice outside are better than being down-to-earth and comfortable, so don't persuade me anymore. ”

Shen Mo was kind, but it was boring, so he had to go with him.

After a few more days, Shen silently canceled his leave, returned to China to work, and caught up with the release of the results of the township examination. In fact, two days in advance, they got the list of winners from all over the country, and once the results were summarized, more than 50 students from Guozijian were admitted this time, and the acceptance rate was far higher than the average...... In fact, there is nothing surprising at all, because the tribute students are originally academically excellent students, and if the acceptance rate is lower than that of ordinary prefecture and county schools, it is really strange.

But this did not affect Gao Gong's good mood, because the emperor and the imperial court would not analyze specific problems, they only thought that such a high acceptance rate was the credit of Gao Suqing, so the promise of promoting him to the right servant of the ministry should be fulfilled now.

Shen Mo was also very happy, not that he could finally get rid of Gao Gong's high-pressure rule, but that he found the names of Wang Xijue and Xu Shixing from the admission list of the Ying Tianxiang Examination, one of them was Xie Yuan and the other was second, and their results were as good as he expected. In addition to being gratified, he immediately revised a letter to congratulate him, and gave him all the Cheng Yi who went to Beijing to take the exam.

In the next few days, the officials of the Guozi Prison began to congratulate the tall man, and the whole prison was jubilant...... Shen Mo believed that their joy was from the heart, but it was a plague-like joy and nothing else.

He also happily joined in all day long, but his heart hung high, because the half-year account of the city division had been delayed for two months, and finally sent to Yanjing City, all the prologue had ended, and the real struggle was finally about to begin...... In the Yuxi Palace in Xiyuan, as usual, the door is closed in broad daylight, and it is tight; But unlike in the past, in the hall, which has always been audible of pins falling, there was a crackling sound of an abacus at this time.

The voice came from a long case of rosewood, and I saw a huge mahogany abacus with a length of one zhang and a foot wide on the case, six eunuchs of no lower grade shared this abacus, and six flexible hands were quickly fiddling with the abacus on this super abacus, all sweating profusely, but they didn't even have the time to wipe the sweat, and they were all engrossed in calculating the accounts in front of them.

They are the eunuchs in charge of the accounts of the eunuchs in the inner court, and they have been gathered by Li Fang in this Yuxi Palace since the morning, and they began to settle accounts for the emperor, and now it is already in the afternoon, and they have not yet taken a break, but they don't even dare to bring out a little impatient expression...... Because His Majesty Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty is sitting behind the big case!

On the opposite side of the big case, there is a box, and although the cover on it is torn, a line of handwriting can still be clearly recognized: 'Jiangnan City Bosi Jiajing account book for the first half of the forty years', this is the account book of the city Bosi that made Shen Mo worried. According to the usual practice, the income of the municipal department is different from the ordinary national tax, and it is not immediately transferred to the treasury, but first into the inner treasury, and then distributed by the emperor, so this account book is also escorted directly into the forbidden by the Jinyi guard, and is not delivered to the cabinet through the general administration department.

A few palace lamps on the ground illuminated Jiajing's eyebrows, and he, who was known as cold and heat, also oozed fine beads of sweat on his forehead at this moment. Under the light, his face had a contemplative expression, and his eyes flashed with a faint light, staring at the results calculated by the eunuchs without a moment's notice.

I don't know when it came, the sound of abacus in the main hall stopped, and the eunuchs carefully placed the final results on the table in front of the emperor.

The entire Yuxi Palace was silent, everyone held their breath, and no one dared to disturb the emperor's deep thoughts, until Jiajing's voice broke the silence in the hall and said, "What is the military situation at sea this year?" Are pirates particularly aggressive? ”

Li Fang, who was standing on the side, hurriedly whispered: "Back to Your Majesty, it is indeed a little fierce, but Huang Jin reported that the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau has started well, and this year has produced 500,000 more silk horses than last year...... The slave pondered that the weaving bureau was producing according to orders, and that if they were fully operational, it would show that the trade of the city was not affected. In fact, at this time, Wang Zhi was still in prison, and without his restraint, the Japanese at sea were unprecedentedly rampant, but because the city was in line with the interests of the maritime merchants, and all parties were still working together to maintain it, the maritime trade was indeed not affected.

"Why is the tariff of the city's shipping department half less?" Jiajing's voice was gloomy and said: "I remember that in the first half of last year, there were more than 2.3 million taels of taxes, why did you only have 1 million taels in the first half of this year?" He snorted heavily: "The production and sales of the Weaving Bureau are booming, but the trade volume of the City Shipping Division is discounted, where does the half of the silk go, is it all stored in the warehouse?!" ”

Li Fang shook his head and said: "It's unlikely, the merchants' noses are smart, once the sales are not smooth, they will definitely suspend the order and hold the silver in their hands; And Huang Jin has been monitoring the sales market, if there is a problem, he will have already reported it to the slave. ”

"That's weird." Emperor Jiajing's face became more and more difficult and he said, "What did Yan Maoqing say?" Didn't they arrive at the same time? Why didn't you see his excerpts? ”

"Oh, his excerpt was sent to the cabinet through the Secretary of General Affairs." Li Fang said softly: "I haven't sent it here yet." ”

"Get it inside!" Jiajing raised his voice.

"Slave and maid, go now." Li Fang bowed down and went out.

Out of Yuxi Palace, Li Fang straightened up, and Chen Hong came up with a few people, took off the cloth clothes he was wearing inside, and changed into a red Zhongguan python robe.

"Ancestor, where are you going?" Chen Hong said with a smile: "You say it, just let the sons go." "Since he was educated by Li Fang last time, he seems to have changed as a person, as if he was a grandson.

Li Fang shook his head and said, "What Lord Banzai personally instructed, I should go there in person." His gaze swept over the faces of the three Bingbi eunuchs, and finally fell on Chen Hong, and said, "Your Majesty can't be short of people around you, Chen Hong, you go in and serve." ”

Chen Hong smiled happily: "Okay! Then he took off the python robe on his body, changed into a green coat and hat, and went into the palace.

In the house, the eunuchs who settled the accounts had dispersed, and only Emperor Jiajing was alone, sitting cross-legged on the futon, but the expression on his face was a little gloomy. Seeing Chen Hong coming in, Jiajing said lightly: "You came just in time, how did you check the matter of the Shuntian Township test?" "With the surname of Emperor Jiajing, how could he easily let go of the people who offended him, although for the sake of his own dignity and the dignity of the court, he did not publicly pursue the matter, but privately ordered Dongchang to investigate the matter, and he couldn't just eat a dumb loss.

Chen Hong poured water for Jiajing and said softly: "Can the slave and maid not take the things that the master commands?" These are said to be the first thing in the East Factory. ”

"Don't be verbose," Jiajing pinched a red pill and swallowed it with water, "What I want is the truth." ”

"Through the interrogation of the cheating candidates," Chen Hong said cautiously, "it can be concluded that it is not who guessed the exam questions, but that someone did leak the exam questions." ”

"Who?" Jiajing asked.

"This needs to be further investigated, because those candidates are all family members, and they have one-way contact with the leaker, and now that the matter is so big, it is impossible to get in touch again." Chen Hongdao: "The only thing that is certain is that Wu Shan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, is inevitably involved. ”

"Wu Shan......" Jiajing nodded, and said: "Indeed, I asked Yuan Wei about them, and said that only the book of the Ministry of Rites read the exam questions, and they were put like thieves, and those who don't know how law-abiding he thinks he is." After scratching the jail, Jiajing asked again: "What about Yan Shifan, what role does he play in it?" ”

Chen Hong shook his head when he heard this: "Yan Shifan should have nothing to do with this matter, according to the information that the slave maid knows, Wu Shan, who is very pretentious, has never ignored the powerful, although he is a fellow villager of Yan Ge, he never deals with him. He said with a smile: "And Yan Shifan once wanted to marry his daughter to his son, but Wu Shan insisted on refusing to agree, which made Yan Shifan very unhappy...... Therefore, judging from the relationship between the two, the surname of the conspirator is not large. ”

"You confiscated Yan Shifan's money, right?" Jiajing suddenly laughed, so frightened that Chen Hong knelt down on his knees and said: "Your Majesty, the slave and maid are in charge of the East Factory, and what is bad is corruption and bribery, how can they know the law and break the law, and steal from themselves?" ”

"It's good if you don't have it." Jiajing said lightly, the more people around him, the more difficult it is to see clearly, a spy leader like Chen Hong. The only thing that reassures Jiajing is that even if these people's hands and feet are a little unclean, they can still use them if they are loyal to themselves.

"There is still a possibility," Seeing that the emperor was not disgusted, Chen Hong said again: "It is someone who framed Yan Shifan and Wu Shan." "The number two person among the eunuchs obviously took the Yan Mansion's money, and he tried his best to clear the Yan family's guilt when he saw the opportunity.

"Flies don't bite seamless eggs, no matter what others do," Jiajing sneered and said: "Yan Shifan and Wu Shan themselves are not clean, and they are dirty if they don't need to be planted." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty is wise......" Chen Hong had no choice but to stop, not daring to speak for Yan Shifan anymore.

After a while, Li Fang came back, and presented a piece of music with both hands, and Jiajing saw the eight words "Su Song Governor Yan Maoqing Present" on it, and couldn't help but be a little unhappy: "This Yan Maoqing, I don't know what I sent him to do until now." "Obviously, it is suspected that Yan Maoqing's payment is missing the title promoted by the city director...... In fact, Yan Maoqing is an elegant person, and he wrote it purely for the sake of a neat cover, who knew that the emperor misunderstood.

Picking up Yan Maoqing's piece of music, Jiajing saw that Li Fang still had one in his hand and asked, "Whose is this?" ”

"Su Song patrols Lin Run." Li Fang said softly.

(To be continued)