It is said that Li Tuiguan of the government office was arrogant and arrogant in the mansion and wrote several poems in a row, openly humiliating his colleagues, and also ridiculed the imperial examination and the Bagu Shiwen, and there were two self-described feelings. All this somehow spread out and sparked heated discussions in the city's cultural circles.

On the one hand, the literati first admired and envied Mr. Li's uninhibited style. In these years, the morale has degenerated, and the humble gentleman is not the only template, every literati has the ambition of a romantic madman in his heart, and it is best to be a less tired official by the way (it is barely acceptable to be a Hanlin as a pusher in Suzhou).

Everyone unanimously agreed that Li Tanhua was a strange person who met once in decades in Suzhou Mansion, and it is estimated that he will be called the same as Tang Jieyuan, Zhu Zhishan and other Gusu celebrities in later stories.

On the other hand, the literati have very different views on Mr. Li, and there are many people arguing everywhere where the literati gather. Some people applauded the case and thought it was a disadvantage of the times, and some shook their heads and criticized it and thought it was unashamed.

No matter how much you argue, those who have meritorious and fame still have to continue to study the newly popular Bagu Model Essay, and the Zhongju people are still the most mainstream success criteria.

To use a logical pretending sentence at the end of the twentieth century, if you love someone, let him go to the test for fame, because that is heaven; If you hate someone, let him go to the merit test, because that's hell.

As for the thoughts of the people in the market, it is much simpler: Li Tuiguan is a good person, so the one who is scolded by him must be a bad person.

However, none of the above seems to be directly related to Li You's current life. His main business is mixed officialdom, and he is not responsible for customs and education, nor is he from the imperial examination, there are not so many classmates and literary friends of the same year around him, and the things in the cultural circle will not affect him for the time being.

This is said that Li Tuiguan received a case file. A woman in a certain county was killed in her bed, and her head was missing, and the county government found out that her husband had done it, and attached her husband's confession.

With a stroke of his pen, he refuted it and instructed the scribe to criticize: How stupid is a person who kills his wife at home and waits for others to find out? The head level has not been found, and there are very suspicious points, guessing that it is a trick to be tortured, and it will be retried!

After the case file was judged, another door handed in the post, Li You opened it and saw that Master Huang, who was in charge of the investigation division, had something to discuss and invited him to have a drink. muttered in my heart, I just ate the matter of being fined for half a year a few days ago, why did I come out again today?

Now it's not like the past, everyone is not in the same official office, and in order to avoid suspicion (superficial rules must be done), it is inconvenient to openly visit the yamen frequently. And because there is no reading residence (the front and back are almost one), so if you want to discuss things, you have to go out. But as soon as I go out, I have to eat and drink, which is really expensive - Li Tuiguan is currently planning to buy a house, and he is tight on money.

It turned out that Mr. Huang was looking for Li Tuiguan for nothing else, just because Chen Xundao was short of money.

I only heard Master Huang say: "According to the new division of the department, there is no previous savings, and the little curry is poor and white." Besides, the sub-patrol road is not a pro-people official, and your government and county officials can pay additional taxes and donations to the households under their jurisdiction at any time, but where did Chen Xundao get the money from in a hurry? And because Chen Xundao was the new official, he himself paid attention to decency and did not want to have a reputation for greed, so he was embarrassed to ask for money from various prefectures and counties. ”

"How can you spend less money?" Li You asked suspiciously, Chen Xundao didn't have many people around him to raise.

When this sentence came out, Master Huang immediately found the opening, and he broke his fingers and complained endlessly: "Master Li listened to me carefully, since Chen Xundao was promoted to a Taoist official, some of his fellow villagers and clans have come again, some of them are sent by the clan to practice, some of them are here to do errands and beg for food, and some of them are recommended by old relatives and friends to be the scribes of the table. ”

Li You nodded in understanding, this is indeed a custom that no one can correct. Isn't he the same, he installed a group of relatives and friends to come to the government as officials, but fortunately, the government has a lot of empty money to eat public meals, and he doesn't have to pay out of his own pocket.

"There are often other fans passing by, a piece of paper and a fan are handed in, claiming to be so-and-so to visit, so you have to send some Cheng Yi? One, two, three, often say new, how can the money on hand be enough. ”

The so-called sending fans is, to put it bluntly, to beat the autumn wind, a custom of scholars. When I arrived at a certain place, I found someone who could be related to him, sent a fan and one of my own writings, and claimed to come to visit and ask for advice. If the owner likes you, then he will naturally give you some Cheng Yi, which is good-looking on both sides.

Li You continued to nod his head in sympathy, and was glad again in his heart, from this point of view, it was fortunate that he was not from the imperial examination. There are not so many fellow practitioners who can't beat the eight poles, and there are no more than one or two hundred in the same year.

If someone asks, isn't it okay if the autumn wind doesn't see him? Indeed, it's okay if you don't see it, everyone understands it, but Cheng Yi still has to send what he should send, which is indispensable.

Those who dare to come to visit, except for liars, most of them can really find a twisted relationship, such as the same year of your teacher, your same year's student, your boss's son and nephew, and so on. Everyone is a decent person who can read and talk about the relationship, since you are developed, you have to do a dime for the passers-by who should be "helped", and this word of mouth can be spread... This is the atmosphere of the times, and the officials are interested in studying the details of the trip of Xu Xiake, a famous tourist in China. He took the card ticket issued by the magistrate to take care of people's favors, and went to the countryside to ask for food and drink, and the scene was really like a devil entering the village in the twentieth century.

All in all, as an official in this dynasty, if you want to maintain your various networks, this is a necessary expense, and you may one day ask for someone else's door.

"The rest won't be verbose. It's not easy to be an official in Suzhou! Master Huang said with emotion. Suzhou Mansion itself has many scholars and is widely implicated, and the roads located in Jiangbei and Zhejiang and Fujian (both of which are major provinces in Kejia) are rushing, and there are really a lot of entertainment to and fro, and those that can be spent with money are all small.

Li You took the initiative to say: "This official and the prefect mentioned it, and borrowed a little from the surplus treasury to the sub-department of the procuratorate?" ”

Master Huang arched his hand and said: "Then thank you first, and relieve the urgent need a little, but after all, there are some unjustified ones, and in the final analysis, they are still public funds." What are some other ways for you as a local to make a fortune that you can do together? Don't seek to make a fortune, as long as you can make up for Chen Xundao's entertainment expenses. ”

"Don't hide it, sir, the official has been thinking about this matter recently, and has sent a letter to ask the concubine in charge of the family to discuss. If you have eyebrows, you must tell each other, and it is good to cooperate. Li You said frankly, of course, it would be good to be able to pull Master Chen Xundao and Master Huang to do it together, and even if Shi Shenzheng wanted to cause trouble, he would have to retreat three points.

Master Huang arched his hand again and said, "Then entrust Master Li." Speaking of which, Chen Xundao's partial house is your distant relative, since it is a relative, you have to move around a lot. ”

Chen Xundao's concubine was a distant relative of Li You's mother's family, and because the conditions met the requirements of Lord Chen, Li You was sent to the county government as a side room. After that, Li You never went to see it again, just to avoid suspicion, it is better to pay attention to this aspect, not to mention that Li You's reputation is like that.

But he didn't expect Master Huang to suddenly talk about this today, Li You was stunned for a moment and came to his senses, and he didn't say anything more.

After talking about business, when the two were chatting, Master Huang suddenly remembered something and asked, "Do you have any recent connection with the Qian Huang merchant?" ”

Does it count as a marriage plan between Zhao Daguan and the Qian family? Li You said with a weak heart: "There has never been a direct connection. ”

Master Huang revealed: "The Qian family sent someone to visit me according to the inspection division to inquire about your situation, but I don't know why. ”

Li You was vigilant, why did the Qian family inquire about him? Could it be that he interrupted Zhao Daguan's thoughts and let the Qian family know? It's strange that there is no one else present, how can things leak out?

Thinking about it again, it was probably because as soon as he and Zhao Daguan finished talking, Zhao Daguan changed his hexagram, so it aroused suspicion?

"What did they say for?" Li You asked.

Master Huang recalled for a moment, "It doesn't seem to be a bad thing. ”

Li You couldn't help but sigh, it was really not easy to be an official in Suzhou Mansion, and he accidentally touched a dignitary.

However, Li You is not very worried about this for the time being, and it is not so simple for the Qian family to move him. Domineering relatives to rectify upright civil officials? In terms of public opinion, it is very passive in the first place. Moreover, if you want to move him, you can't get around the prefect Wang and Chen Xundao procedurally.

When he returned to the mansion, the prefect of Wang called Li You over, invited him to a seat, served tea, and began to nag again: "Shen Tongzhi knows that whether he wants to make a big ginseng, or if he has any thoughts about the position of the old man, it is human nature and understandable." People are not saints, who is selfless? It is the truth that when the water is clear, there are no fish. But your reaction is a little too violent. ”

Li You didn't care about this, "Scolding is scolding, he wants to insult the subordinate officials first, how can he give up and suffer for himself." ”

"It could have been with the light, as long as I made it clear to Shen Tongzhi, the old man was so old, so why should he be in a hurry? But in such a situation, he must completely throw himself into Shi Dashen. Wang Zhifu said with some worry.

Li You said disdainfully: "It's just a common acquaintance, are you still afraid?" ”

"Isn't this exactly what Shi Dashen wants? Originally, it was not so easy for him to directly intervene in the government office, but now if he easily scored a wedge, it would not take any effort. ”

Hearing this, Li You frowned and thought about it, from this point of view, it was really Shi Dashen who achieved his goal. I heard that the matter in the mansion was boiling that day recently, and he was a little strange how to leak it, how could nothing be kept secret these years.

I think that the few people present had no motive to deliberately spread these things. Even if there were miscellaneous servants in the mansion who overheard it, they probably didn't have the ability to write down so many of his poems.

Now it's a little clear, is it the wind released by Shi Shenzheng? In this way, it is impossible for Shen Tongzhi to reconcile with him, and it is impossible not to fall to Shi to participate in politics.

After pondering for a while, Li You spoke: "The lower official naturally bears it with all his might, and the boss doesn't have to worry!" ”

Wang Zhifu said: "Whether this is good or bad is actually difficult to say. The old man is not complaining to you, but just reminding you that you have to be guarded. ”

"Xia Guan understands." Li You took his leave, and the implication of this is that offense is the best defense. To let a certain acquaintance understand how difficult it is to be an official in Suzhou Prefecture.

As the old saying goes, the first strike is the strongest, and then the first strike suffers.

There is no way for Shi to participate in politics, but for Shen Tongzhi, who is much less powerful, it is not up to Li You to choose whether to strike first or later, and the Wang Governor's Mansion may not have Li Tuiguan to do this kind of thing.

(To be continued)