Although the funeral of the Son of Heaven has ended, the Zigong Palace of Emperor Kangxi has also been led by Yongzheng and moved to the Shouhuang Palace to stop in Feng'an, but because it is less than a month, the hairpins on the hats of the kings, dukes, Baylor, Beizi and civil and military officials can not be worn, but the spiritual shed in front of the Qianqing Palace has been removed, and the sixty-four white gauze lamps have also been replaced with yellow gauze palace lamps. The palace has been redecorated again, and the original desolate, desolate, and mournful scenes have been reduced by half. Early this morning, Zhang Tingyu strode to the hanging flower gate of the Yangxin Palace, and saw that more than a dozen officials such as Long Keduo, Ma Qi, Wang Luo, Zhu Shi, and Zhang Tinglu had already arrived, standing in front of the eaves, waiting for the emperor to summon him. He sighed in his heart, he was really a son of heaven and a courtier, a generation of emperors and a faction, when Kangxi was there, he would never let these ministers stand in the cold wind and freeze.

Zhang Tingyu walked up to Ma Qi and Wang Yu and quipped:

"The two elders are blessed, the first emperor put the two of them in the Prison Temple to recuperate for a year, and they look good. This will be the new master ascending the throne, follow the edict of the first emperor, invite the two out, good things will be grinding, and the blessings will be endless! ”

Ma Qi smiled and said:

"When Zhang Zhongtang also goes to the Prison God Temple to grind, the blessing will be even greater."

"Is it Zhang Tingyu outside?" Yongzheng's words came from the upper study, "You come in." Zhang Tingyu hurriedly agreed, opened the thick cotton curtain and came in, and a warm heat came to his face. When he looked closely, Yongzheng sat according to the case, and there were two officials of the Ministry of Rites kneeling below. It was these two people who went outside the city to greet the fourteenth master, or his will. Zhang Tingyu is also the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, so he naturally knows it, but because he doesn't know what Yongzheng called them to, he naturally doesn't dare to greet them.

"The fourteenth master has been safe all the way," Cai Mou, who was kneeling, said, "The slave never expected that when he entered Beijing, he would change his sex and cause such annoyance." This is all the minions' misconduct, begging for punishment from the Lord Banzai! ”

Yongzheng took a sip of the hot milk cup and said:

"I just ask, I don't mean anything else. He is willing to obey the edict, and it will be good to come back safely, and your mission will be done. I summoned you just to tell you that no matter what the Fourteenth Master said on the road, you can't spread it, understand? ”

"The slave understands that he will not say anything," the two of them kowtowed to each other, "please rest assured, Your Majesty." ”

"That's good," Yongzheng turned to Zhang Tingyu, "They are from the Ministry of Rites, you give them a promotion and a year's worth of money and food." ”

"Yes. Obey the order. Zhang Tingyu knew that this was the new emperor's strategy to gag his mouth.

After the two officials Xie En retreated, Yongzheng asked:

"All here?"

"They are all here," Mr. Zhang said, "and they are all standing under the eaves and waiting." ”

"Oh, go ahead and arrange it." Yongzheng stood up and said, "On such a cold day, how can you stand in the wind under the eaves?" Let them go to the Imperial Driver's Living Note Archives first and wait for them - call Long Keduo in! ”

Zhang Tingyu went out, and Long Keduo came in. Long Keduo was a sturdy Manchu man in his fifties, wearing a robe of nine pythons and five claws, and a black and red face under the top of the coral. When he entered the door, he flicked his horseshoe sleeves, knelt down and kowtowed:

"Slave Long Keduo knocks on Long Live Lord!"

"Uncle, don't do this." Yongzheng stretched out his hand to pull Long Keduo, "You get up, and I will see that I will be exempted from the word 'minion' in the future." ”

"Don't dare!"

"What's not to dare?" Yongzheng naturally remembered not what "uncle" was, but his work in changing the edict, "I call you uncle, you naturally deserve it." Zhang Tingyu is the first assistant of Hanchen, be careful in everything, this is okay. My uncle is now the foreman of the upper study, and he is also the commander of the Nine Gates, so he has to think more about everything for me and take care of it a little more. ”

"Please make it clear to the emperor," Long Keduo Governor of the Internal Affairs Office copied more than a dozen Beijing officials' houses, his voice was shocked, and his eyes were blazing and he lowered his head and said, "Your subordinates should obey the order." ”

Yongzheng pointed out the window and said:

"Ma Qi is an old minister of the former emperor, and he accidentally remembered it, and the discussion of the ministry is just a response to the situation. Wang Luo was a well-known loyal servant and a master who taught me to read. Some of these dozen people were unjustly imprisoned, and some were just the first emperor's intention to accumulate talents for me, how can you treat them as ordinary criminals? This is the first point I want you to pay more attention to; The second point is that you pick a group of people in the army, collect the words and deeds of the third, eighth, ninth, and fourteenth children at any time, and report them to me, understand? ”

"Understood." Long Keduo doesn't read much, but his brain is extremely flexible.

"Let's go, I'm going to meet them."

Long Keduo personally put on a big hat for his nephew and followed Yongzheng out of the study. When the dozen ministers standing under the corridor saw Yongzheng coming out, they knelt down together "suddenly", kowtowed and shouted:

"Hooray!"

"Why are you still standing here?" Yongzheng asked Zhang Tingyu, who was kneeling in front of his head, "Didn't you tell them to go into the room and wait?" ”

"They have just been out of prison," Zhang Tingyu explained, "and they must see Banzai Xian before they are willing to enter the house." ”

"Ahh After Yongzheng sat down, he said quite eagerly:

"Master Wang, why do you bother? It's the apprenticeship of the Son of Heaven, I should still bow to you twice and bow six times! His eyes swept over one by one, "You are all people relied on by the first emperor, and the first emperor once said that there is a group of talents for me." Not in the Sixth Department, not in Jiuqing, in Dali Temple and the Criminal Department. I didn't understand it at the time, but then I thought about it, it was you. I obey the last orders of the first emperor and pardon you to come out. I want to put a new politics and strengthen the rule of officials, and I have to rely on you a lot. ”

Long Keduo introduced the ministers of Jin to Yongzheng one by one, saying:

"In addition to Master Wang Luo and Old Minister Ma Qi, there is also Zhang Tinglu, who is Zhang Zhongtang's younger brother and the third son of the former prime minister Wen Duangong; This is Zhu Shi, Lord Zhu, who has just been transferred back to the capital from the post of governor of Zhejiang......"

Yongzheng smiled and said:

"Zhu Shi, you are not a few years older than Zhang Tingyu. I heard that the first emperor wanted you to go into the study, and you said that Zhejiang Haitang had not yet been repaired, and you thanked you. How is the sea pond repaired now? ”

"Long live the words," Zhu Shi knelt down, "Although the sea pond supervised by His Majesty has been completed, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang sea pond project is still very large. ”

"Okay, you dare to tell the truth." Yongzheng said happily, "You have been successful in your work as the local governor, and it is time to go to the study." In the upper study, you can still supervise the construction of sea ponds in Jiangsu and Zhejiang! ”

"Yes, Shane!" Zhu Shi kowtowed and thanked him.

The rest of Xu Yuanmeng, Ortai and others, either as ministers of the original ministry or as ministers of the department, are all capable officials of the Kangxi Dynasty.

"Okay, you talk to Uncle Long Keduo and Zhang Tingyu first, give you a month off, deal with private affairs first, and then you will have a will."

"Your Excellency," Zhang Tingyu knew that Yongzheng still had important business to deal with, so he said to everyone, "The emperor still has to go to the Yangxin Palace to see the excerpts, let's go to the study first and talk casually, and then ask for an order." He faced Yongzheng again, "How about I take you to the Shouhuang Palace to meet the Holy Ancestor Zi Palace in front of the first emperor's spirit?" ”

"You don't have to ask for an order, you can go to the Shouhuang Palace." Yongzheng waved his hand and instructed Zhang Tingyudao, "Tell Long Keduo that someone will send the newly minted Yongzheng money to the Yang Xin Palace, and the Ministry of Rites will invite the excerpt of Enke, and hand it over to the Imperial Palace." After that, Wu Zi went out of the Yuehua Gate, and Delentai and Yang Dazhuang followed closely behind.

After lunch, Yongzheng slept for a while on the soft couch in the East Warm Pavilion of the Yangxin Palace, opened his eyes, and saw the banner given to him by Emperor Kangxi on the wall:

No haste, be patient

An unnatural smile appeared on his lips. I've been an emperor for a month, but being an emperor isn't as terrible as I originally thought. He admired his performance very much, a new emperor who conspired with the minister to tamper with the edict, spent a month smearing grease and whitewashing, and dressed himself as "unintentionally inserted willows and willows", "never thought of being an emperor", "now he is in danger, and he has to provoke the emperor to entrust him". He even wrote a "poem of retreat" written by himself in the 45th year of Tao Hui in the domain, written it in his cold face, and framed and hung it next to the Kangxi banner. The poem says:

Lazy to ask about ups and downs,

Entertainment flowers and willow dynasty.

Wu Er tunes the phoenix song,

The Yue Nu pressed the flute.

Daoxu Mountain monk visit,

The general will be wild.

The lacquer garden is not envied,

Fit is free.

Yongzheng's political opponent head, Yun Xu, who was hastily named the prime minister by his Huaijiu Jitsu, occasionally came to the Yangxin Palace to "ask for orders", and after seeing this "retreat poem", he said to his brothers:

"The fourth child is so stupid that he even forgot the allusion of 'there is no silver three hundred taels here'. If he didn't have the ambition to steal the throne for a long time, why would he write such limerick poems and hang them next to the banner of Huang Ama in a dignified manner? ”

This incident later became a joke among the third, eighth, ninth, and tenth brothers, and the poem spread. These brothers also painted the gourd to learn Yongzheng's "Tao Hui", like a turtle temporarily shrunk its head, waiting for the opportunity to make a comeback. Yongzheng mistakenly thought that his soft and hard performances and whitewashing had subdued the royal brother and the imperial brother to be obedient and could sit back and relax. So he was in a better mood......

Yongzheng is now 45 years old, in the prime of life, with a strong body and natural energy. He turned over comfortably, walked out of the warm pavilion, and just as Long Keduo walked into the East Side Hall with a yellow silk bag in his hand, he smiled and said:

"Lao Long, did you bring it?"

Long Keduo immediately stepped forward to beat a thousand, raised the yellow silk bag in his hand and said:

"The sample money that the minister sent to Long Live Yongzheng money is here."

"Ah," Yongzheng was happy in his heart. Yongzheng coinage will circulate in the sea, plus Enke opened, more than 20 days later held the enthronement ceremony, to change the name of the year to "Yongzheng", the new Yongzheng era really began. He didn't go to pick up the sample money in Long Keduo's hand, but said to Li Dequan: "Call Zhang Tingyu and Ma Qi over!" ”

As soon as Li Dequan agreed, Long Keduo hurriedly smiled and said: "Back to the master, Ma Qi has retired from the dynasty, and Zhang Tingyu is meeting with the state and county officials introduced to Beijing, and he will come to see the master as he speaks." ”

Yongzheng took the heavy wallet in Long Keduo's hand and put it on the case, he untied the silk bag and picked up the coin, and talked to Long Keduo without a match:

"How many state and county officials are there introduced this time?"

"Twenty-seven. Tingyu is telling them about the introduction of the ceremony, but it is ...... for the occasion."

"Oh? What do you think of the situation? ”

"Hehe...... "Long Keduo was dumbfounded, hiding it with a smile.

"You are a nobleman, and you are from the army, I don't blame you for saying wrong." Yongzheng is serious, "Although the sparrow is small, it has all the liver and gallbladder; Although the state and county officials are small, they are important officials close to the people and the eyes and ears of the imperial court. The will of the temple is to reach all over the world, and it depends on the petty officials and people of these states and counties, and those who sit in the court must not underestimate them. ”

Long Keduo said yes again and again, Zhang Tingyu held a stack of folds, and walked in with a little eunuch. Zhang Tingyu was about to salute, but Yongzheng waved his hand and said:

"No, come in." He fiddled with the coins in his hand, "Hey, how can you see that the quality of these three coins is different?" ”

Zhang Tingyu put down his hand and surrounded Long Keduo. The newly cast "Yongzheng" bronze brother is shiny, divided into three strings, Yongzheng pointed to the first string, and then pointed to the third string, and asked:

"Besides, the calligraphy and painting of this third string of money are not as clear as the first string."

"Hmm," Long Keduo breathed a sigh of relief and explained, "Your Majesty, not only the third string, but also the second string is not as good as the first string, because the three kinds of money do not use one mold. The first kind is called 'ancestral money', which is cast to store the royal file; the ancestral money is used to press out the mold, and the second kind is called the 'mother' money, and then the mother money mold is used to cast a large number of seals, and the third kind of 'child money' comes out, which is the money that is common in the world. This is repeated twice, and the color of Ziqian calligraphy is naturally inferior to Zuqian. ”

"I can't imagine that you can still understand the money method as a Qiu Ba," Long Keduo said with a straight face, Yongzheng smiled, and suddenly asked again, "Hey, that Sun Jiagan quarreled with the household book, also because the calligraphy and painting were not clear?" ”

Long Keduo didn't know the whole story, and Zhang Tingyu replied on his behalf:

"It's not that the words are not clear, but that the proportion of aluminum and copper is used for coinage. Sun Jiagan is the head of the Yungui Division of the Household Department, and he has a Chen Chen asking the Household Department to submit the book to the Imperial Review. Shangshu said that he was troublesome, he was not convinced, the two of them talked back in the lobby of the household, and Shangshu's temper also knew that when he slapped him, things would be big. ”

"Both of them are a bastard!" Yongzheng stared at the coinage for a while, then suddenly changed his mind and asked, "Is there a hair surnamed Sun?" ”

"Nope."

"Send him to me."

Zhang Tingyu looked at Yongzheng suspiciously, and hurriedly agreed to go out to deliver the decree. When he led Sun Jiagan into the Heart Cultivation Palace, it was already the last time. I only heard Yongzheng and Long Keduo talking about the fact that Zuodu Yushi Shi Yi went straight to Shanxi Governor Nuo Min to conceal the deficit. Ren Sun Jiagan knelt there and ignored it, but listened to Long Keduo's reply:

"Shanxi's deficit was made up when the emperor sat in the household department to make up for it, how could it be wrong? But Shi Yi is upright and honest, and he is supervising the imperial history, even if the rumors are untrue, it is also for the public, and it seems that it is not wrong. Long live the Holy Judgment, please. ”

Everyone knows that Shi Yizhi and Nuo Min were recommended by Nian Qianyao, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and Nian Qianyao is Yongzheng's most trusted member of the domain.

Yongzheng didn't squeak, but he looked at the young official kneeling on the ground, he was only in his twenties, the mending clothes on the outside of the eight pythons and five claws were torn off, the red tassels on the hat, the top of the clams, and the buttons under the collar were all gone. It was probably dragged off when he tore with Shangshu. A pair of goldfish eyes, a knife face with a hooked nose, that dignity is really unpleasant.

"Your name is Sun Jiagan?" Yongzheng took a sip of hot milk, put down the milk cup and asked, "When did you transfer the household department, why don't I know it?" ”

"Long live the return," Sun Jiagan kowtowed three times, and replied with a stiff neck, "The minister is a sixty-year Jinshi of Kangxi, and he will be assigned to the household department for three months in the Ministry of Rites. At that time, the household department stopped cleaning up the deficit, and Long Live Ye Long returned to the mansion, so he was not blessed to know Long Yan. ”

"Not seeing me is not necessarily a curse, but vice versa may not be a blessing." Yongzheng sarcastically said, "Kangxi sixty years of Jinshi, except for those who were assigned to the Hanlin Academy to do editing, no matter the Beijing officials and foreign officials, how can anyone achieve the six grades, I don't know how you drill the camp, which door to go, you are still restless when you climb so fast?" ”

"During the palace examination, the minister was really the fourth place in the rumor, and he was not distributed to the Hanlin Academy. Just because of his ugly appearance, the master of the academy said, 'The 60th anniversary of the Holy Dynasty, what kind of observation do you look like standing in the Qing secret class?' Then the advisory department demoted his subordinates to the head of the household department...... Long live Shang said that the minister is a drill camp, and the minister doesn't know how to play! After that, I was so aggrieved that I burst into tears.

"With his appearance, there was Zhong Kui in the past, and now there is Sun Jiagan, which is good and lamentable." Yongzheng's face sank, and he was a little moved, "You are the fourth in the first class, and your knowledge must be passable." But why is Meng Lang so roaring at the official court? ”

"Long live, I don't know if I've seen the new Yongzheng money?"

"See, it's good!"

"Long live the coinage, is it to whitewash the peace, or to facilitate the circulation? Can you know how many Yongzheng copper coins can be exchanged for one tael of silver? ”

Listening to this series of questions, the guards and eunuchs in the palace all changed color. Zhang Tingyu pinched a handful of sweat for Sun Jiagan: Yongzheng, who is known for his meanness and suspicion and ruthlessness, has never been hit by such a cross-eyebrow in the domain, let alone a small Liupintang official? He was trying to try to alleviate the crisis, but he heard Long Keduo shout:

"Sun Jiagan, who are you talking to! Someone—fork him out! ”

"Slow, I don't blame him for his temperament." Yongzheng laughed at it, and suddenly asked again, "According to the official price, one tael of silver can be exchanged for two thousand Wen, what does this have to do with your quarrel?" ”

"Long live is talking about the official price," Sun Jiagan was not discouraged, "but now the truth is too far apart: one or two Taizhou pure silver, the market can only be exchanged for 750 Wen, shrinking seventy percent of the water!" ”

"Money is expensive and silver is cheap, it has been used since ancient times, what's the matter?" Yongzheng was still confused in the gourd, and Zhang Tingyu, who had been the prime minister for many years, knew the pros and cons well, and his head was like a big watermelon with a "boom". But I heard that Long Keduo was still asking:

"Sun Jiagan, you should make it clear, why is the price of silver and money unbalanced?"

"The general doesn't know," Sun Jiagan didn't seem to know that Long Keduo was the prime minister, and said to himself, "Kangxi money has the wrong ratio of copper and aluminum, half copper and half aluminum, so the traitors took the money, melted it and refined, made copper utensils to sell, and made dozens of times more profit as soon as they turned over." Therefore, no matter how much copper is mined by the imperial court, it can't plug this bottomless pit. The Ming Dynasty fell to the country, and the uneven money was also a major malpractice. Long live the change of the yuan to ascend to the pole, enable Yongzheng to mint money, in order to refresh the rule of officials, how can we repeat the mistakes of the past? ”

Although this ugly remark made Yongzheng uncomfortable, since he was related to the country, he had to ponder patiently. Zhang Tingyu said it clearly because Sun Jiagan was not clear enough, and smiled at Yongzheng on the side:

"Hooray, you will understand the disadvantages here. The imperial court paid for the mining and minting money, and the copper merchants collected the money and minted the money, and the civil circulation was inconvenient, so they had to barter. Therefore, the silver is more expensive than the people, and this is secondary. What's more important is that the state treasury collects taxes, and it collects silver, which is valued at 2,000 wen per two pieces of silver, so how can the people in the countryside have silver in their hands? They had to pay copper coins at the official price, and the filthy officials could exchange two thousand wen for three taels of silver, but they only paid one tael to the treasury, which ......"

"How can it be!" Yongzheng jumped up when he heard this, walking around in the "cage" like a vicious tiger. Unexpectedly, more than half of the state's levies fell into the private pockets of foreign officials, and it was not enough to take them so skillfully, and they had to increase the fire and embezzle the treasury silver, so that the treasury silver of the household department was 50 million taels on the silver surface, and the actual deposit was 8 million, which was so "shrinking"...... He couldn't wait to grab the coin samples sent to him and throw them out of the clouds. calmed down, and suddenly asked Sun Jiagan again:

"Then what do you think should be done to cast this money to eliminate the drawbacks?"

"Copper four aluminum six," Sun Jiagan said, "although the fineness is slightly inferior, the handwriting is also a little blurred, making the money merchant unprofitable, solving a major drawback of the money law, and it is beneficial and harmless to the country and the people, so why not?" Please be enlightened. ”

Yongzheng's face trembled slightly, and suddenly remembered that although it was good to change the proportion of coinage, but "the father is mourned, the son will not change his path for three years", if you listen to Sun Jiagan's words, the first emperor's bones have changed the proportion of coinage that has been in line for decades, who knows what rumors the brothers will create, Mr. Daoxue of Chaoye Dongyan criticized for a while, and the eighth borrowed the wind to ignite the fire, and he may burn his hard-won throne. He already had a crosshair, so he smiled and said to Sun Jiagan:

"I thought you had the talent to go through the heavens and latitudes, but you were just arrogant! Is it easy to change the coinage ratio set by the Kangxi Dynasty? You are a small official, who often discusses the major affairs of the court, quarrels with your boss, and roars at the public office, can you say that you are not guilty? I miss that you are young and vigorous, and you are arguing with the constitution for official business, so I will not be severely punished. Remove you from the post of head of the household department, go back to wait for the election, and be punished for half a year......" Sun Jiagan's neck was stiff, and he had to reply, he broke off, "Go down, read a few books and then come to talk to me!" ”

Sun Jiagan had never seen an emperor change his face so easily, so he had to swallow his anger and retreat with a gray face. Zhang Tingyu faintly heard Yongzheng's voice, but he was scheming, abiding by the proverb of "silence is like gold", and did not say a word. Long Keduo knew one thing but didn't know the other, and said for Sun Jiagan's idea:

Although Sun is presumptuous, he has no selfish intentions, and the money law is also for the sake of the court. May it be more appropriate for the Holy One to abandon non-existence and lower his recital to the six-part Council. ”

"I am tired, and I will not discuss this matter today. Full of copper stinking-" Yongzheng was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered a major event related to the "throne", "The general Wang Yunyu has returned to Beijing, and the commander of the Ganshan battalion will be vacant, so he must quickly choose a capable replacement." Do you see a suitable candidate? ”

Long Keduo and Zhang Tingyu glanced at each other, but Zhang Tingyu was still silent. He knew that Yongzheng had already had his own ideas in the promotion of major military personnel, so why bother to be boring, and he was suspected of invoking the party's protégé? Long Keduo didn't expect this, and as soon as he opened his mouth to say a name, Yongzheng suddenly patted his forehead and said: "Zhang Tingyu intends to make a decree, and the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Nian Qianyao, will lead General Fuyuan, and take office after His Majesty Jinjing sees it!" ”

"Piercing!" Zhang Tingyu and Long Keduo bowed to the promise.

"Also, Garon Kedo, Ma Qi, Nian Qianyao Taibao; Prince Lian Yun Yu managed the affairs of the Imperial Court; Ordered the original general Wang and Baylor Yunyu to keep the Daxingzi Palace and enjoy the palace...... "Finally, Yong Zhengfang said that he would reward the thirteenth elder brother who helped him get the throne: Prince Jin Fengyi, reward the three dazzling flowers.

At this point, Zhang Tingyu and Long Ke slowly retired.

The decrees drafted by Zhang Tingyu were sent to the court the next day, or sent to the court. The edict of the king about the thirteenth master Yunxiang is as follows:

Fengtian carried the emperor's edict and said: The original thirteen Baylor Yunxiang, loyal and honest, diligent and hard-working, and repeatedly done

To be poor, Zhuo Yourong in the imperial court, when the imperial examination was alive, every time I said, "Yinxiang is my family's thousands of miles of horses"

, I know what it can do in the domain. Today, Yunxiang Jin Fengyi Prince will enjoy the three-eyed dazzling feathers to show the court

The court praises the holy will of loyalty. Chin this!

Besides, Sun Jiagan was full of reason, but he hit a hard nail in front of Yongzheng, removed the head of the ministry, and fined him half a year's salary, so angry that he didn't eat and wandered outside for two days. He is a low-grade Beijing official, only eighty taels of silver at the age, and the "Bing Jing" of foreign officials' filial piety to Beijing officials has nothing to do with him, so he is overstretched, and rents three private houses in the small alley of Gongyuan Street in the northwest of the imperial city, and he can't even afford to hire a servant, so he has to call a fourteen or fifteen-year-old distant nephew in the countryside to take care of the tea and rice washing. This afternoon, I walked along the moat towards my home, and the more I walked, the more discouraged I felt, the prodigy, the young talent, and the fourth place in the eighteen-year-old Zhongjin Shi, all became a sarcasm for him, and when he met such an unreasonable bastard emperor, what hope did he have for his career and life?

Sun Jiagan thought to himself that it was better to leave. At this time, a senior official in his thirties wearing a nine-python five-clawed robe and a peacock supplement and wearing a sapphire top came over in front of several errand servants. As if this was meant to mock him, he climbed over the fence and jumped into the moat. I didn't know that I hadn't eaten for two days, but I was so weak that I climbed onto the fence and fell down. He was about to climb again, when a pair of hands grabbed him tightly—

"Enke hasn't started the exam yet, so why should he take his own life?"

"Leave me alone!" He shook his hand back.

"Sun Jiagan! It's you? ”

"Yang Mingshi? You ...... "It turned out that the one who pulled him back from the hands of death was actually the same year Jinshi Yang Mingshi, Yang Mingshi's first-class champion, who worked as an editor in the Hanlin Academy for a year, and was released as a five-rank governor, and a year later he was promoted to a fourth-grade important member. The two of them were fellow villagers, and they were in the same year, because of their ugly appearance, they lost the opportunity to see Kangxi, and they were killed by the new emperor because of their ugliness. Thinking of this, Sun Jiagan couldn't help but hide his face and cry secretly. Yang Mingshi sent away the attendant, took Sun Jiagan's hand, and walked towards the Bolun Lou restaurant in front, saying as he walked:

"Brother Xian in the same year, I have heard about you, no matter what, you shouldn't commit suicide! Our brothers are destined, let's go, go to the restaurant for a drink. ”

This is a well-known restaurant on Gongyuan Street, and there are dozens of people sitting downstairs, all dressed up as people who have come to Beijing from other provinces to rush to take the examination. Yang Mingshi walked in with Sun Jiagan in his hand, and when he saw Yang Mingshi's official robe, he immediately greeted him and sent him to a private seat with only two or three tables on the second floor. There were already seven or eight wealthy sons of the capital sitting at the two tables, and they were making riddles and poems for drinking. Yang Mingshi saw that the west seat was empty, opened the glass door, pushed Sun Jiagan in, and said with a smile:

"It's very good here."

When the wine and food came up, Yang Mingshi personally poured the wine, raised his glass to the ugly year whose face had calmed down slightly, and said:

"The story of your quarrel with Shangshu, whose surname is Ge, has spread everywhere among the Beijing officials, and many people have applauded you. Come, drink, drink—when my majesty saw the emperor, long live and talked about you......"

"The Holy One spoke of me?" Sun Jiagan took a sip of aged Moutai and asked, "What did he say?" ”

"The saint said, saying that your fellow Jinshi Sun Jiagan, someone judged people by their appearance and got rid of his legacy, it's ridiculous! You and Zhang Tinglu should take this as a warning. ”

"You and Zhang Tinglu? How do you pull it together? ”

"The emperor summoned Weichen to Beijing this time and asked me to be the deputy examiner of Enke, and Zhang Tinglu was the chief examiner, so the saint said so." Yang Mingshi filled Sun Jiagan with wine again, and said with a red face, "In the upper study, I saw Zhang Tinglu's second brother Zhang Tingyu, the prime minister of the two dynasties who leaned towards the government and the opposition, and he also asked about you Sun Jiagan, and he was quite appreciative of your knowledge and knowledge. In particular, he was very interested in what kind of coinage method and asked where you live...... Brother, things are not as serious as you think, how can you - hey, good things are grinding, big disasters will not die, there will be blessings, you just wait! ”

After a few glasses of old wine, Sun Jiagan was already fluttering, and he was out of the realm of life and death. At this time, the people outside the glass door were drinking and laughing, and they were so noisy that they were about to rush the Burren Building into the sky. The glass door was gently pushed open, and a middle-aged man wearing a black satin melon skin hat and dressed as a white-skinned fortune teller walked in and said to them:

"The two of you are taking the test, right?"

"Don't, don't!" Sun Jiagan hates fortune-telling.

"The two of you have eaten the tribute wine," said the fortune teller, "don't you want to make a name for yourself?" It's just right to give it to the two of you. ”

"Dare to ask your surname and Taifu?" Yang Mingshi's heart moved, "This Enke is a ceremony for the imperial court, life and death are life and wealth, how dare you say 'send'?" ”

The man snorted and said, "If you don't have a diamond, how can you work with a magnet!" You don't have to ask for your name, you pay the money with one hand, and I will give you the fame with the other. He shook the paper scroll hidden in his sleeve and said in a low voice, "This is an exam question, if the question is not correct, go to this store and get the silver from the post." ”

Yang Mingshi's head "buzzed", he was the deputy chief examiner, and even he didn't know what exam questions the emperor had, could it be that there was really an unpredictable prophet in the world? Seeing that he was selling exam questions so surely, he asked the price of the exam papers, so he took out a few silver tickets from the boot page, chose one and pushed it to the man, and said, "If there is no guarantee from this shop, how dare I believe you?" This is a silver ticket, if this is really the test, I still have a 'reward'! After that, I took the post of the test question, and when I opened it, it was written:

The beneficiary, the sum of righteousness

The sun and the moon shine for a long time

Emperor Yi returned to his sister, and his king's robe was not as good as his wife's robe

Sun Jiagan looked at it on the side and asked suspiciously: "This is all on the Book of Changes, can't you make three questions?" ”

The man rolled up the pretense and said as he left: "Raise the son of Mingjian, take one of the three exams!" It's also figured out below, is there only one question? I don't dare to guarantee the order, and I'm afraid that the people of Shuntianfu will come to take me! ”

"Okay, that's it!" Yang Mingshi put away the post, paid for the wine, and walked out of the restaurant with Sun Jiagan, it was already dark, and the street lamp was lit. Sun Jiagan sent Yang Mingshi out of Gongyuan Street before staggering back to his house. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the house, he was taken aback, and Zhang Tingyu, a member of the cabinet, a minister of the upper study, a minister of the guard, and the first assistant of Hanchen, was sitting and waiting in his room sipping tea. Sun Jiaganjiu also woke up in fright, and asked in amazement:

"Zhang Zhongtang, are you here to take a humble position?"

"What did you say?" Zhang Tingyu saw Sun Jiagan come in with a crimson face, knowing that he was drinking outside, and quipped, "You are now a famous person in Jinghua, I will come to visit the door, are you welcome?" Look at your strong order, you have become a red-faced Guan Gong. ”

"I thought that you had come to raid your house and take people from the Holy Order!" Sun Jiagan wiped his face and sat down on the wooden chair opposite Zhang Tingyu, "Shoufu is the busiest person in the world, I don't know how many dignitaries and dignitaries are in front of the palace, anxiously waiting for you to meet you, do you really have the leisure to visit the door?" ”

"You guessed right!"

"What?"

"I said you guessed right, I can only sleep three hours a day. My brother Zhang Tinglu wants to talk to me, but he has to wait for half a month. Zhang Tingyu made a long story short and said, "I'll tell you two things: the first thing you can't think of, the emperor has transferred Ma Qi to take over the post of head of the household department, and he quarreled with you and went to the Imperial Court." Your copper four aluminum six coinage method, the emperor has secretly instructed Ma Qi to handle it accordingly! ”

"Ahh This is really earth-shattering good news, Sun Jiagan burst into tears, "Emperor Shengming, I'm so happy - this is the blessing of the world." Within three years, the new money will circulate in the country, the country's financial resources will be smooth, and the people's livelihood will improve. ”

"The second thing, the emperor punished you, because it has not yet been submitted to the ministry, I will ask you, if you are willing to go back to the Hanlin Academy, you should edit it; I am willing to be a foreign official, and the Baoding Mansion will know that there is a vacancy, and you will fill it - I can be the master of this matter. ”

Sun Jiagan glanced at Zhang Tingyu and suddenly laughed out loud. How many first- and second-grade officials were still restrained in front of Zhang Tingyu, and when they saw the ugly monster so wild, they looked at him unhappily and asked, "What's so ridiculous about this?" ”

"Lord Hengchen," Sun Jiagan said solemnly, "I laugh at you for underestimating me. The emperor approved my article, the benefit is hundreds of millions of living beings, and the damage is corrupt officials and ink officials, just by virtue of this article, Sun has died, and he is afraid that the emperor will give a small punishment? Master Zhang, edited by Hanlin, Baoding Tongzhi, I don't want to do it. Give me a county, I can't be ruled within three years, and I will go to hide my cow's butt. ”

The unhappiness on Zhang Tingyu's face disappeared, but there was a flush that was usually hard to see. He waited for the emperor's court meeting every day, returned to the palace to meet foreign officials, full of flattery, and no one dared to sit on an equal footing. Only this Sun Jiagan did not have the slightest servile flattery, he only thought about doing something for the people, and voluntarily demoted from the sixth grade to the seventh grade and became a county official. Thinking about Zhang Tingyu, he pulled out and sighed:

"The emperor is most anxious about the rule of officials, all the officials in the world, half of them are like you Sun Jiagan......" He patted Sun Jiagan on the shoulder, didn't say anything more, walked out, and disappeared into the night.