Shang Tanran said after the hard work, Zhang Yuan, who was four thousand miles away, was saying goodbye to his friends who had returned to his hometown outside the Chaoyang Gate of the capital, and after the sail shadow was gone, the ten Hanshe Jinshi who stayed behind were drinking and talking in a nearby restaurant, and the ten of them would not be together for long, because on the first day of the next month, Zhang Yuan and Wen Zhenmeng would enter the Hanlin Academy to engage in the compilation and revision of historical books, the drafting of edicts, and the affairs of the feast; Ni Yuanlu and Zhang Dai are also in the Hanlin Academy, but the Shu Jishi is not yet a Hanlin, the main task of the Shu Jishi in the Hanlin Academy is to study, by the Hanlin Academy, Zhan Shifu Middle School is knowledgeable, senior officials are responsible for teaching them, the learning period is generally three years, and then the assessment, the superior is promoted to the Hanlin Academy to edit, review, the second out of the matter, the imperial history, called the dispersal, that is to say, after graduation, the promotion of the Shu Ji Shi career is smoother than the general Jinshi, and there is the hope of becoming a university scholar to enter the cabinet auxiliary government, when people see it as " "Chu Xiang", the general release of Jinshi is at most the top of the four-grade prefect -- and Hong Chengchou, Huang Zunsu, Ruan Dacheng, Xu Guanji, Sun Jike, Xia Qichang six people before the official release, must first be assigned to the six departments, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, Tongzheng Department and other yamen to learn the law, familiar with government affairs, and experience the ability to deal with practical affairs, this is called Jinshi Guanzheng, that is, internship, for three months, so Zhang Yuan, Wen Zhenmeng, Zhang Dai, Ni Yuanlu four people can still get together in the next two years, and Hong Chengchou six people will have to each side after three months, can only be contacted by letter - at the beginning of the afternoon Shen Shichu, Zhang Yuan returned to the courtyard of his brother Shang Zhou Zuo in the East Fourth Archway, and as soon as he entered the door of the Hanging Flower Instrument, he saw Jing Hui standing on the steps of the West Wing, with his hands pinned behind his back, smiling, and said crisply: "Little uncle, guess what's the happy thing?" Xiao Jinghui was reprimanded several times by his mother Fu for calling him "Brother Zhang Gongzi", and now he finally changed his words.

Zhang Yuan's heart jumped when he heard the word "happy event", and then he understood that this was impossible, although it was expected to be a few days of childbirth, but it would take at least a month and a half to wait for the good news to come, and said: "Is it your little aunt who wrote a letter?" ”

"Guessed right."

Jing Hui jumped on his feet, jumped down from the three-foot-high steps, raised his hand behind his back, and there was a stack of letters, which were written by Ran to his brother and sister-in-law, Jing Lan, Jing Wei and Zhang Yuan, as well as a letter written by Zhang Ruiyang, Zhang Yuan's father, to Zhang Yuan - Jing Hui said diligently: "My little aunt is so good, she wrote me a letter, and I didn't put it together with my sister's letter." As he spoke, he showed the envelope to Zhang Yuan, and it read "Shang Jinghui Collection".

Zhang Yuan smiled and took out the letter from his father Zhang Ruiyang and Tan Ran from Jing Hui's hand, but listened to Jing Hui ask: "Does the little uncle read the letter of the little aunt first, or the letter of Mr. Zhang first?" ”

Zhang Yuan asked with a smile: "Is there a difference in this order?" ”

"Absolutely." Jing Hui smiled and said: "First look at Mr. Zhang's letter is filial piety, first look at my little aunt's letter is love, Brother Zhang Gongzi-", said that he missed his mouth, and hurriedly changed his words: "How should my little uncle choose?" ”

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "Xiao Hui said this, I was so scared that I didn't dare to open the letter, Xiao Hui taught me, how to choose, in order to be filial and loving?" ”

Jing Hui blinked his crystal eyes and said: "I have the best of two strategies, I will help you read the letter of the little aunt and read it to you, what about you, take care of the old man's letter and read it." ”

Zhang Yuan laughed, flicked his fingers on Jing Hui's baby fat cheeks, and asked, "You just want to read the letter that your little aunt wrote to me, right?" ”

Jing Hui nodded hurriedly and squinted with a smile.

Zhang Yuan said: "No, I said it, you can't read other people's private messages, everyone has their own secrets, do you know." ”

Jinghui said "oh", the eyelashes like a small fan flickered, the pink little face was slightly red, the little girl was a little shy, because the word "secret" reminded her of what she said to Zhang Yuan in the pavilion of Huiji White Horse Mountain when she was six years old, she said that she wanted to marry Zhang Gongzi's brother like her little aunt, this is the secret in her heart, Zhang Gongzi's brother promised her not to say it to anyone, Zhang Gongzi's brother is really trustworthy - Zhang Yuan obviously didn't notice the little girl's shyness, he stood under the white magnolia in the courtyard and opened the letter first, The letter was sent on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, and the letter he sent from Beijing on the twenty-sixth day of the lunar month last year was still on the ice and snow road, which was far away, and the communication was too inconvenient, and he was now eager to know the situation of the baby, but it was useless to be anxious, only waiting.

In the letter, she described to Zhang Yuan that the fetus was kicking in her belly, saying that her belly was so big that it seemed to be stuffed with a big watermelon, and that she had gained a lot of weight, and that the letter was very long, full of expectations for motherhood and longing for her husband - her father Zhang Ruiyang maintained the rigor of being a long historian in the Zhou Wangfu for many years, and in the letter he talked in great detail about the family, the matter of Yang and Yicang, the matter of Hanshe Bookstore, and the matter of Shengmei Firm, and said that there were many wealthy families near Shanyin who wanted to take refuge in the Zhang family as slaves but he refused. Neighbors and neighbors argued with others and asked him to intercede with Liu Zhixian, but he also refused all of them -- Zhang's mother, Lu, personally attached a few sentences at the end of the letter, saying that everyone in the family was in good health, and that they were eating and sleeping well, so that Zhang Yuan could take the exam with peace of mind.

Zhang Yuan looked up at the blue sky above the courtyard and said in his heart: "Mother, my son is already the champion." ”

……

In March of the forty-fourth year of Wanli, there was no thirty days, and Zhang Yuan also said to Xiao Gao, the godson of Eunuch Zhong, that he was either twenty-nine or thirty days to visit Shichahai, and now only twenty-nine days have gone, and Ming said that it is the first day of the fourth month, and he is going to register with the Ministry of Literature and Literature, and after receiving the relevant licenses, he will repair history in the Hanlin Academy.

On the morning of the 29th, Zhang Yuan asked Wuling to go to the outer residence of Eunuch Zhong in Shichahai first, saying that he would come to visit in the afternoon, because Eunuch Zhong was on duty in Ciqing Palace, and it was necessary to make an appointment in advance.

After Wuling left, Laifu came back from the purchase, bought a gift to Wu Daonan, Liu Shangshu Qionglin of the Ministry of Rites has already met at the banquet, Wu Ge Lao said that he did not participate in the banquet of the Ministry of Rites - Wu Ge Lao lives in the west of the Imperial City Taifusi Street, from the east four archway to Taifusi Street about twelve miles, the weather is sunny, Zhang Yuan did not take a car and a sedan chair, walked to go, Wang Da Hammer and Laifu followed, Wang Da Hammer has no doubt about the loyalty of Wang Da Hammer now, Wang Da Hammer is powerful, four or five strong men are difficult to approach him, It's enough to be a bodyguard, in terms of strength, Wang Dazhui is better than Mu Zhenzhen, but in terms of martial arts, it is much inferior.

Mu Zhenzhen said that he was unwell these two times, and there were so many days every month - the two rows of dozens of small courtyards on Taifusi Street were all houses belonging to the Ministry of Industry, and they were distributed to all Beijing officials to live, and Zhang Yuan would also be assigned a set, the houses here were relatively narrow, and they were all hundreds of years old houses, which were not imposing, and it was not very convenient to live if there were many dependents and servants, so many Beijing officials lived in another property in Beijing, Wu Daonan entered Beijing last year, and has been living in this small courtyard issued to him by the Ministry of Labor, Wu Daonan's old wife is dead, and has not been renewed. When he entered Beijing from Jiangxi last year, he refused to be paid by local officials and escorts, and his outfit was as simple as an ordinary person, and as the second assistant of the cabinet of the second grade, Wu Daonan's incorruptibility made people awe-inspiring -- seeing Zhang Yuan, Wu Daonan's thin face showed a smile and said: "Zhang Hanlin came just in time, I have a few words to tell you, and in a few days I will return to my hometown-"

"What do you mean by that?" Zhang Yuan was taken aback.

Wu Daonan smiled bitterly: "The old man accidentally took Shen Tonghe as Huiyuan, this stain can't be washed away, the impeachment of the official is very urgent, I have begged the emperor to go." ”

The old servant came to report, and the household department asked Lord Yang to see him in the matter, and Wu Daonan said to Zhang Yuan: "Yang is the master of the house during your township test, loyal and outspoken, a rare minister." ”

Yang Lian came in, and when he saw that Zhang Yuan was also here, he was very happy, and said: "Jie Zi, you also persuade Wu Ge Lao, you must not resign because of the impeachment of Liu and Yao." ”

Wu Daonan said: "I have begged the emperor to go." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "The emperor values Wu Ge Lao and will definitely keep it." ”

Wu Daonan said: "Liu Wenbing attacked me very anxiously in the engineering department, and turned out a fraud case when I presided over the Shuntianfu Township Examination ten years ago. ”

Zhang Yuan heard Wu Daonan say this, and immediately thought that Wu Ge Lao was willing to take the risk to take him to join the yellow list of the entrance examination, which must be related to the experience ten years ago, and said: "Cheating in the field house, repeated prohibitions, it is Ge Lao who is cautious and serious, so he can track it out, many examiners let it go vaguely, and the student is the whole court elder to preside over justice this time, otherwise the student will only sink for three years, and it is difficult to say whether the Chinese style will be available after three years." ”

When Wu Daonan heard Zhang Yuan say this, he had a smile on his face again, and said: "No matter how those people slander me, it is a blessing for the country that I can win you in this department, and it is well deserved to seek talents for the country." Said to Yang Lian: "Yang has seen Zhang Hanlin's Wanyan Tingce?" ”

Yang Lian said: "I have seen it, it is insightful and thought-provoking. ”

Wu Daonan said: "The old man thought that the Ming Dynasty had opened a branch for more than 200 years, and Tingce should take this as the first. ”

Zhang Yuan said modestly: "The elder of the pavilion has won the award, and the students just really want to do something for the country and the people, but if the elder of the pavilion asks to go, it is extremely difficult for the students to make a difference, such as restricting the occupation of land by Haoyou and the clan, such as promoting the cultivation of sweet potatoes, corn and potatoes in the arid and barren prefectures and counties, such as building water conservancy and governing rivers. ”

Wu Daonan sighed and said: "I am declining, and the emperor has no heart to cheer up, these things have to be done by Yang and Zhang Hanlin." ”

Although Wu Daonan is not a native of Donglin, but now Wu Daonan can be said to be the only backer that Donglin people can use to fight against Zhejiang and Xuanzhu Party, and next year is the six-year year of Jingcha, Yang Lian said: "My generation should work hard to serve the country, but if there is no one in the cabinet to support, there is no way to serve the country, and please think twice." ”

Wu Daonan muttered: "The old man has been impeached repeatedly, and he must be begged to go, otherwise he will be ridiculed as greedy for power - and see how the saint approves it, if the saint keeps me, then I will be cheeky to stay, and use this aging body to serve the country." ”

(To be continued)