Forty-five years of Wanli, the year of Jingcha.

At the beginning of spring, officials from all over Guangxi gathered in Guilin and went to the political envoy Yamen to form a group and rush to Yanjing together. Don't look at Yue Su has only been in office for one year, since he has caught up, he still has to go. In this year's performance appraisal, because Yue Su has repeatedly solved strange cases, the people of Yangshuo are happy to work, and the superior evaluation has given it excellent. With the performance appraisal, everyone went to the capital.

The so-called Jingcha is to report to the Ministry of Officials' Meritorious Service Department, submit the year-end performance appraisal given by the superior, and then be asked a few words. Although it is once every six years, officials large and small must also be terrified. After all, it's a real thing, and once Jingcha is dismissed, it will be completely finished. During the Jingcha year, officials from all over the country came to Kyoto to give generous gifts to the officials of the ministry, not to mention Shangshu and Shilang, even the Langzhong and Wailang of the Gongshi Division could not be neglected. Especially those assistant Jingcha who give things to the middle and imperial history, they have to be more careful.

The other officials all sent their henchmen to Beijing to deal with the situation first, but Yue Su only organized to go alone, and did not arrange for anyone to enter Beijing. After all, his income is only enough for his regular expenses, so where can he get extra money for gifts.

This time, when they came to the capital, some of the officials in Guangxi lived in the Guangxi Guild Hall, and some lived in the homes of relatives and friends, but once they arrived at the place, everyone behaved the same. Don't wait for the butt to sit hot, go to the dock.

Yue Su is an exception, just wandering the streets, wanting to enjoy the scenery of the capital. He lived in Yanjing in his previous life, and he is very familiar with the streets and alleys here, but when he comes back in the next life, it seems that everything is different, and everything is different.

Although the market is as noisy and lively, there are no high-rise buildings, and the streets are full of traffic, but cars and bicycles, let alone the subway, are not to be seen.

"Wei Banban, why every time I come out, the guest milk has to go to Tantuo Temple to make incense, and it will take more than half an hour to go." On the noisy street, a teenager of twelve or thirteen years old was muttering while looking at the middle-aged man next to him.

The middle-aged man has a white face, looks less than forty years old, and looks very respectful and honest around the young man. "Young master, the guest grandmother is pious, this is to burn incense and pray for you."

"So that's the case, the guest milk is really dedicated to my good. It's just that I really don't have any interest in burning incense and worshipping Buddha. The boy said, his small eyes scanning the street around, and soon a wooden stall came into his eyes.

When the young man saw the woodware stall, he seemed to be very excited, and he ignored the middle-aged man next to him, and rushed over. Pick up the wood from the stall and play with it. The middle-aged man shook his head and smiled, hurriedly followed, and carefully accompanied the young man.

The young man picked up a few wooden tools one after another, looked at them a few times, then shook his head and put them down, muttering: "Your craftsmanship is too rough, and you are embarrassed to take out these things for your eyes." ”

There was an old man in the woodwork stall, who could be in his sixties, and when he saw a half-old child talking about himself, his old face immediately pulled the old man. "This son, how can you talk like this, if you dislike it, don't buy it."

"What? If you don't do well, you can't let people say a few words. The young man grabbed a wooden incense burner and said, "Look at the carvings around your incense burner, they are blurry at all, and the four are not like them, who can see what you are carving." There is also this base, the edges and corners are not clear, and it is clearly perfunctory when doing work. ”

The old man was angry and half dead, but he was a carpenter, and when he saw the other party's clothes, he knew that he was a rich man and did not dare to offend. can be counted down by a child, I really can't afford to lose that person, and said: "This son, according to what you say, your skills must be better than mine." ”

The young man was not modest, and said with a smile: "Naturally, it is better than you, otherwise I wouldn't dare to say this." Don't be embarrassed on the streets, go home and practice for a few more years. ”

"You kid, it's getting worse and worse, I, Liu Yiaxe, have been setting up a stall on this street for more than 20 years, and no one has ever said that about me. No matter what kind of workmanship I have, even if I am old, it is enough to be your grandfather, how can there be such a hurtful mouth. If you don't buy it, don't pick and choose here, and go. ”

"Bold...... Who do you say to be grandpa...... Don't you want to live......" Without waiting for the young man to speak, the middle-aged man beside him refused to let him go, and shouted at the top of his voice. The voice was very high-pitched.

As soon as he heard the voice of the middle-aged man, the old man immediately heard that it was the voice of the eunuch, and in this Yanjing City, only the eunuch could make this movement. The old man was startled, and he didn't dare to say more, so he lowered his head resignedly. Then, I heard the middle-aged man say: "Childe, don't be like this old guy, let's find a teahouse to sit in." After a while, the guest milk will be back. ”

The young man's dissatisfaction didn't seem to be vented yet, he picked up a wood-carved unicorn paperweight, and sneered: "You are also a unicorn, I think it's similar to a dog...... The next language is even more inferior, the old man who said it lowered his head, he dared to be angry but didn't dare to speak, but his body was trembling with anger. Who told people to follow a eunuch by their side.

The young man continued to taunt, and when he was on the rise, there was one more person beside him.

"This little brother, you have gone too far, people are no longer silent, why be aggressive."

"You count that onion?" Only then did the boy realize that there was a person next to him, and when he turned his head to look, he saw that it was a tall young man. This young man was none other than Yue Su.

Yue Su was wandering on the street, and happened to see the old man in the woodware stall, and remembered that his father often went to the city to set up a stall to sell woodware, so he walked over. Hearing the young man insulting the old man, he couldn't help but help to play a round.

"That is, what kind of thing are you, and you are qualified to be called a brother and sister to our young master!" The middle-aged man beside the young man immediately became angry as soon as he heard that Yue Su called his young master "little brother".

Yue Su's two lives together, he didn't see what the real eunuch looked like, and he thought that the middle-aged man was a sissy, so he didn't care. Without saying much, he suddenly took out a knife from his arms, picked up the unicorn paperweight that the young man had criticized, and carved it little by little.

"Little brother, the flaws you mentioned have been repaired. If there is nothing else to do, please go, and don't affect this old man's business. ”

"It's all said, don't call our son-in-law brothers......" The middle-aged man saw that Yue Su was still called a little brother, and immediately went crazy. But before he could finish speaking, the young man reached out and stopped him, signaling him not to say more.

Then, I heard the boy say, "What's your name, it's a good means." Do you dare to compete with me? ”

"Can you compare it to you?" Yue Su was born in a carpenter family, and in addition to studying, he followed his father to work and practiced a good craft. Look at the young man, who is twelve or thirteen years old, can he still learn carpenter from his mother's womb? So, the tone was full of disdain.

Seeing Yue Su's disdain, the young man became even more angry in his heart, and made up his mind to try it with Yue Su. said: "Wei Banban, you take two pieces of wood and come over." With that, he reached out and took out a carving knife from his bosom.

The carving knife in his hand is very delicate, and the handle is still wrapped with gold wire, and the blade reflects the cold light. Look at the young man's immature little hands, which are already covered with calluses, look at this posture, he has been working as a carpenter for many years.

The middle-aged man obeyed the young man's words, threw a handful of copper coins at the stall, and then took two square logs. This wood is worth a few cents, but the middle-aged man is also generous.

The young man took one piece, motioned to the middle-aged man to give the other piece to Yue Su, and waited for Yue Su to take it, before he said: "Let's carve each other and see who carves the statue, if you win, I will give you the jade pendant on my waist." If you lose, I don't want anything else, just kowtow to your knees three times and say convinced. ”

Yue Su really didn't expect that this young man was so refreshing, looking at the jade pendant on his waist, it should be worth a lot of money, but if he lost, he just had to kowtow and say convinced. I think it's a teenager who is not bad for money, and he only cares about one breath.

"Good! I promise you, let's come. ”

After Yue Su finished speaking, the two of them moved their knives together and began to carve each other. Yue Su is older and has strong wrists, although the young man's strength is not as good as Yue Su's, but with the sharpness of the carving knife, he is still three points into the wood.

With about a stick of incense, the two of them had already carved each other, but in terms of speed, Yue Su was slightly better.

After carving, the two of them spread out the wooden figures in their hands and compared, so to speak, they are all lifelike.

The young man smiled on his face, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Yes, it is really a good means, admire and admire." After speaking, the young man took off the jade pendant on his waist and handed it to Yue Su according to the gambling contract, "Here you go." ”

The jade pendant is crystal clear, the workmanship is exquisite, and the double dragon is engraved to grab the pearl. Don't look at Yue Su doesn't understand antiques, now look at it up close, and you can also know good things. didn't stretch out his hand to pick it up, but said: "It's just a game, why should the little brother be so serious, as long as you don't make things difficult for this old man, that's it." ”

"I've always said that calculation is a game, and you can't break your word." The young man said, stuffed the jade pendant into Yue Su's hand, and said, "What's your name?" When he asked for Yue Su's name this time, his tone was obviously much more polite.

"Under the surname Yue Su Zi Bingyan, I don't know what the name of the little brother is."

"My name is Zhu ......" The young man just said the word "Zhu", and the middle-aged man on the side had already rushed to say: "My name is the young master, my name is Zhu Yilang." ”

"It turned out to be Brother Zhu."

Yue Su politely chatted with Zhu Yilang for a few words, and after a while, the middle-aged man said, "Young master, the guest grandmother should be back soon, let's wait for her at the restaurant." ”

"It's fine." Zhu Yilang nodded, and then said goodbye to Yue Su, and the little wooden man who looked like Yue Su in his hand was already in his arms. Where is the name of the young man Zhu Yilang, his real name is Zhu Youxiao, that is, the famous carpenter emperor in history. The middle-aged eunuch beside him was not the famous Wei Zhongxian later, Wei Zhongxian had not changed his name at this time, he was still called Li Qianzhong, and he was pretending to be a grandson in the Forbidden City. This father-in-law's name is Wei Chao, and he is Wei Zhongxian's godfather.

Yue Su also said goodbye with a smile, and even the jade pendant and the young man's wooden figure were put into the cuffs. As Yue Su continued to wander around, he didn't notice that there was a person who was watching him all the time.

"Isn't this Xianggong Yue? Why did he come to the capital too, I hurried to inform the young lady. "This person is dressed as a maid, and beside her, there are four servants, all of whom are carrying large bags and small bags in their hands, and it seems that they are following this maid out to purchase.

After seeing Yue Su, the maid was not in the mood to purchase, and hurried away with the servant. After walking for a long time, I came to a big house, and after entering the house, I went straight to the backyard embroidery building.

There was a young girl on the embroidery floor, who was staring out the window in a daze, and the girl was none other than Li Qiongying.

A few years ago, Li Wenzhang received a letter from Fang Congzhe, inviting him to go to Beijing for a while, so Li Wenzhang asked Xu Shaoji to come to the capital together. Because he was worried that after he left home, his daughter would take the opportunity to slip away, so he brought her to the capital as well.

The Li family has many houses in Yanjing, and Li Wenzhang locked his daughter in the house and didn't let her move around. As for himself, he often walks around the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Today, Li Qiongying asked the maid to go shopping on the street, and she had no freedom to go out of the house, so she had to sit on the embroidery floor in a daze. When I was bored, the maid ran up, "Miss......"

Li Qiongying didn't need to look back, she knew that it was her personal maid Lan'er, the two were like sisters, when the woman ran away in disguise as a man, Lan'er dressed up as a scholar. "Look at you, what happy things have you encountered?"

"Miss, guess who I met today?" Lan'er said happily.

"Who can you meet in this capital, is there a good friend of yours?" Li Qiongying deliberately laughed.

"It's a good match, but it's not mine, it's yours."

"Mine?" Li Qiongying is also a delicate person, and she reacted immediately, her eyes widened, "You...... You've met him......"

"No, he's wandering the streets right now. Didn't you say that he was a county magistrate in Yangshuo, Guangxi, how did he come to the capital? ”

Lan'er didn't know why, but Li Qiongying knew that this year was the year of Jingcha, and Yue Su was the order of Qipin County, so of course he had to enter Beijing. She didn't answer Lan'er's question, meditated for a long time, and said, "Do you know where he lives now?" ”

Lan'er shook her head, "I don't know much about this. ”

"In this way, you go out and inquire if there is a Guangxi guild hall in the capital, and if there is, go to the guild hall and ask if the officials from Guangxi who came to Beijing to inspect live here."

"Yes, miss."

*******************************************************

Yue Su wandered around for a day, and the next morning, he put on his yuan clothes, took the performance appraisal, and went to report to the official department. Other officials mostly went in groups, but only Yue Su was an alternative, who had no friends, so he went alone.

He arrived quite early, with more than 20 people in line, but the queue was slow, and it took half a day to get in, and some even got in line, but they couldn't get in for half a day, so they had to wait on the side.

About three o'clock in the morning, there were already many officials who came, and one of them took out a list and began to roll call them one by one, so that all those whose names were called did not have to queue up, and they could enter immediately. This is why, Yue Su can also guess the truth, it should be through the back door.

Finally it was Yue Su's turn, he tidied up his clothes, took the performance appraisal, and walked towards the gate. At this time, a doorman immediately stopped him and said, "Hey, what is your name, what official position, and the yamen of the Ministry of Officials, can you enter if you say you can enter?" ”

Yue Su saw that he was a small doorman, and he didn't pay attention to it, so he didn't give it up, but just said politely: "This official Yue Su is the county commander of Yangshuo County, Guangxi, and went to the Ministry of Officials to inspect Beijing. After reporting the name, Yue Su looked at the doorman with a smile, who would have thought that the doorman would not speak for a long time. Yue Su also thought that he had reported his name, so he could pass it, nodded slightly, and moved forward.

Seeing Yue Su move, the doorman was in a hurry, stretched out his hand to stop him, and asked, "Do you understand some rules?" ”

"What rules?" Yue Su pretended to be puzzled. In his heart, he thought that this doorman was asking for red envelopes or something. With his surname, that would never be given.

"Which subject and which list are you, whose protégé do you have a letter of recommendation?" The doorman asked unhurriedly.

"This official is Huguang Township Trial Xie Yuan, and the teacher is Lord Zou, the political envoy of Huguangbu, and there is no letter of recommendation." Yue Su said truthfully.

"Xie Yuan? Then what will you try and the temple test? A question mark was drawn in the doorman's mind.

"I haven't taken the exam."

"That's a lifter. Wait to the side. The doorman waved his hand impatiently. In the position he was referring to, there happened to be a few officials like Yue Su, who were standing there honestly.

"Now that you're in line, why wait?" Yue Su asked dissatisfiedly.

"Humph!" The doorman sneered and said, "You official with a big sesame mung bean, do you have the qualifications to ask why?" Tell you to wait here, just wait honestly, don't talk so much nonsense. ”

Seeing the attitude of the doorman, Yue Su became angry, and said angrily: "The person in front of me was able to enter just now, why can't I enter when it's my turn?" I am a seven-pin county with a sesame mung bean, so how many are you. When you meet Shangguan, is this your attitude when you speak? This official has come to Beijing to inspect and report on his work, and he will not be in the way in front. ”

After that, he didn't pay any more attention to the doorman, and went straight inside.

"Grandma's!" Seeing that Yue Su still dared to get angry, the fire of the doorman was even bigger, and he shouted: "You are only a Qipinzhi County, and you don't look at what kind of yamen this is, I won't let you in, you just can't get in!" ”

"I'm going to see if I can get in today!" Yue Su was also angry to the peak now, grabbed the doorkeeper's collar and dragged him towards the gate. "Wait until I see the minister, the official will ask, who set the rules!"

Outside the gate of the official department, there were naturally guards standing guard, and they were all stunned when they saw Yue Su's appearance one by one. Since the day they came on an errand, they really hadn't seen such a master, and for a while, they didn't know what to do. watched Yue Su walk into the yamen of the ministry.

The doorman was also dumbfounded now, but he quickly reacted and shouted vigorously: "You Qipin County Order, you are so bold that you dare to disturb the yamen of the Ministry of Officials, wait a minute to make you look good." You let me go...... Let go of my ......"

Today is the great day of Jingcha, and the officials and yamen are very busy, but most of the busy people are the following Langzhong, Wailang, and the principal, and the high-level figures, such as Shangshu and Shilang, are not busy until the final decision.

In the main hall, Zheng Jizhi, the secretary of the ministry, and two waiters were drinking tea inside, when they suddenly heard the sound of shouting outside, and wondered in their hearts, who was so bold and dared to disturb the yamen of the ministry. Soon, there was a report from the officer, saying that someone was dragging the porter towards this side, and claimed to be looking for Lord Shangshu to comment.

"Is there such a thing?" Zheng Jizhi was full of doubts and said, "Call someone in." ”

After a while, I saw Yue Su and the doorman walk into the lobby, and at this time, Yue Su had already sent his hand. As soon as the doorman came in, he immediately knelt on the ground and cried: "Three adults, it's amazing, this Yangshuo Zhixian dared to trespass on the yamen of the ministry without permission, and the villain stepped forward to stop him, and he beat him." This trick is called the wicked first to sue first.

"What a guts!" Zheng Jizhi looked at Yue Su, "What is your name, you have the courage to trespass on the Ministry of Officials, does this official not want to continue to do it?" ”

After Yue Su entered the house, he looked at the complement on the chest of the three people sitting above, and knew that it was the chief official of the headquarters, but he did not panic, he arched his hand upward, and said without humility or arrogance: "Lord Huiyu, the lower official's name is Yue Su, and he is currently the magistrate of Yangshuo County, and he does not have the courage to trespass into the ministry, just because he was queuing up outside to enter Jingcha, but when it was my turn, he was innocently blocked by the doorman, and he couldn't make sense." That's why the lower officials had the audacity to bring him in, and wanted to ask the lord why this was the reason why the yamen of the ministry had such a rule. ”

Zheng Jizhi and the two waiters saw that Yue Su was talented, and he spoke in an orderly manner, his face was not afraid, and he also liked it a little in his heart. The officials of the Ming Dynasty were not as unbearable as the history books said, as high-ranking officials, it was inevitable to take bribes, otherwise who would be the official. But for capable officials, I still like it very much, after all, such a big world can't be all waste, and there is always a need for capable people to govern below. Otherwise, how could an uninteresting person like Hai Rui become such a big official.

Zheng Jizhi smiled slightly, looked at the doorman, and said, "What he said is the truth. ”

The doorman didn't dare to quibble, nodded and said, "Yes." ”

"Whoever gives you the courage to refuse to let people come in at the door."

"This ......," the doorman didn't know how to answer. There is no explicit rule on the order of entering the door, but there is an unspoken rule in the yamen of the Ministry of Officials, all officials who have nothing to do with each other must wait outside and wait until the end before they can enter. This is a tradition, and the small officials usually have no authority, so if they don't take advantage of this time, they will wait for when they will be majestic.

"Go down and order twenty boards yourself." Zheng Jiyi waved his hand and sent the doorman away.

Zheng Jizhi, the word Boxiao, is a native of Xiangyang. Jiajing forty-four years of Jinshi. Starting from the county, until the Ministry of Justice, he was known as a clear hope, and he was a capable minister in the Ming Dynasty. If he hadn't been involved in party disputes, his life would have been unstained.

When the doorman went down, Zheng Jizhi looked at Yue Su carefully, liked it very much in his heart, and asked, "Yue Su, where are you?" ”

"People from Xiaguan Lake Guangyunmeng County."

"Oh." Zheng Jizhi nodded with satisfaction, he is from Xiangyang, Huguang, and Yue Su is also from Huguang, everyone is considered a fellow villager, since they are their own people, they can't be blamed. said: "Where is your performance, let this official see." ”

"The performance appraisal is here, please take a look." Yue Su took out the performance appraisal book, took it from the officer, and presented it to Zheng Jizhi.

Yue Su's performance appraisal is excellent, and there is a mark on it, saying that Yue Su is honest and honest, has repeatedly solved strange cases, and has paid no less taxes.

Zheng Jizhi saw it, was even more satisfied, and had already made up his mind that this Jingcha would be promoted. Jingcha is attacking the Donglin Party, Yue Su is a Chu person, he is considered his own person, if he doesn't promote such a person, who else will he promote.

"Yue Su, your performance appraisal, the official stays, you go back to rest and wait for news."

"Thank you, sir."