After the erudite Hongru Branch invigilated the exam, Suo Etu returned home that night, and it was already time to get up. Lao Cai was carrying a watermelon lantern on the door, waiting for him to come back, and when he saw the sedan chair falling, he hurriedly greeted him and said with a smile: "The master only came back early and late, I heard that the imperial examination was finished today, and a large group of officials from various departments came from the past, waiting to listen to the letter, and it was only dispersed when it was dark." Scholar Li walked on the front foot, and the old man came back on the back foot......" Suo Etu yawned as he walked towards the house, and said: "It's good to go, who is patient with them to come and entangle day and night!" I've just finished the exam, what's the information? It's said that it's to hear the news, but it's not a sycophant! Lao Cai carried the lamp and guided the zigzag walk inside, and replied: "What the master said is not true, but there is another one in the flower hall in the West Garden!" If you are tired, the servant will go and tell him to come back tomorrow. ”

"Who?" Suo Etu stopped, and his face could not be seen clearly in the shadows of the lamp.

"It's a distant guest, Tong Bao, the cousin of Lord Ge Li, the governor of Jiangnan." Lao Cai heard his tone of voice different, and replied cautiously, "Mr. Wang and the two brothers of the Chen family are both talking with each other there." ”

Suo Etu didn't say anything more after hearing this, turned around and walked towards the west garden, because he saw Lao Cai following closely, so he said: "Cai Dai, you don't have to come in and wait, ask the kitchen to make a table of wine and send it in, don't have too many tricks, just be lighter." After that, he hurriedly went, and Cai Dai also went to the banquet by himself.

The hall was shrouded in smoke and fog, and four people with four hookahs were snorting vigorously in the dim candlelight. As soon as Suo Etu entered the door, he was choked and coughed, and when everyone saw him come in, they all stood up. Suo Etu stood under the lamp, wrinkled his brows and waved his hand, and ordered: "Open the window to breathe - Tong Bao, when did you enter Beijing?" Tong Bao looked about thirty years old, short, lean face full of pockmarks, only a pair of eyes dark and round, embedded under the eyebrows, but rarely blinked, looking very shrewd. He was not wearing an official uniform, only a Baturu vest over his robe, and the snow-white linings on the cuffs were turned outward. Listening to Suo Etu's questioning, Tong Baoli said to Qian'er: "Xiaguan asks the third master for peace!" Xia Guan came the day before yesterday, and he has already seen Uncle Xinyu and Second Master Fabao. The second master asked the lower officials to wait for the third master to go to the court tonight, and there are some things in the office of the brother Ge Li, and the third master must know that the letter is not easy to write. ”

"Nanjing's don't say it beforehand." Suo Etu sat down, took a sip of herbal tea, and said, "The affairs of Beijing are still entangled!" Let me tell you, Jin Qing is only afraid that it will be difficult to enter the study - it is good to do one thing, let Mingzhu this living treasure be inserted into a foot, and kill a Gao Shiqi halfway - I knew that this was the case, it was better to recommend Mr. Wang to Ying Erudite Hong Confucianism in a dignified manner, so that there would be one more person in the court! ”

"It's because I don't want to go out of the mountains. There is no shortage of people in the middle hall in the court, but I am afraid that if the saints are not long, it will be difficult to do. Wang Mingdao's eyes flickered faintly, and said, "If the emperor doesn't listen to Mingzhu's bewitchment and does not change the original intention of establishing the prince, Zhongtang will be invincible." Suo Etu said with a smile: "That's not enough, a few days ago, the ministry planned for me to take the first-class public position, and the emperor has already agreed." Wait and see, I'm still better than Mingzhu. While speaking, the wine and food had already come up, and Suo Etu ordered the little servants to avoid it, so he invited the four of them to sit down and discuss while drinking.

"I don't know the true face of Lushan, only because I am in this mountain." Tong Bao ate the dishes and said with a smile, "Zhongtang's words reminded me of the eighth year of Kangxi, and the day of Ao Worship Zhongtang was also the first day to be promoted to the first rank of the duke, and the next day he asked Wei Dongting to take the ...... in Yuqing Palace" His round eyes swept over Suo Etu's body, and he drank a cup casually. Suo Etu shuddered in his heart, and his face turned pale. Wang Mingdao looked at his two disciples, and said with a smile: "Tong Bao's words are alarmist, but they are not unreasonable. According to the old man's cold eyes, Zhongtang has gradually been snubbed by the emperor since the twelfth year of Kangxi. At that time, because Zhongtang advocated peace with Wu Sangui, he was repeatedly reprimanded by the emperor; Later, Gu Badai, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, offended Zhongtang, and Zhongtang wanted to depose him, but was demoted by the emperor by two levels; Wei Xiangshu impeached Zhongtang for 'power and greed' in the last chapter......"

Suo Etu's heart was originally calm, but he was upset by what they said, and when he heard Wang Mingdao shake off his treasures, he proudly cut it off: "Wei Xiangshu something!" With the help of the Henan earthquake, you want to get rid of me? The emperor hasn't been saved yet - I'm still me! ”

"Xiaguan remembers that the emperor is so protective - the earthquake is caused by my loss of morality, and the province should be repaired from the beginning!" Tong Bao said with a smile, "The next day, I also called the third master and Lord Mingzhu in and announced: You should wash your lungs and intestines, and be loyal to yourself." Since his appointment, all the ministers have been quite wealthy, but they have been more greedy than favoritism. If things are found out, the law of the land is there, and you will never lend! - Third master, listen, do you like you very much? ”

"This is called Jun Daichen's suffering." Chen Tiejia said with a smile, "Although I have protected the third master, didn't I rely on the credit of removing the worship?" Once the old book is finished, the emperor may not still be so polite. Chen Xijia heard what his brother said, so he also continued: "Long live Ye Ying's tomorrow, unfathomable." Even if Gao Shiqi climbed to the master by himself, why did he refuse to reuse Li Guangdi? With the matter of Chen Menglei falling lightly, the more I think about this article, the deeper the meaning is! ”

Before Tong Bao left Nanjing, he had a secret discussion with Ge Li in the Governor's Palace, and after listening to Ge Li's words, it seemed that Suo Etu entrusted him to do a shocking big thing, and even the third prince of Zhu who caught it, Suo Etu actually secretly told "lead but not send, and use it for profit". He came to Beijing this time to report on his work, in fact, he must find out the real background of Suo Etu, otherwise in the future, the East Window incident will happen, and he doesn't know what is going on when his head falls off, and Suo Etu can use this ambiguous word to shirk responsibility. Hearing this, seeing the people around Suo Etu saying these almost rebellious words so bluntly, he already knew in his heart, but he also knew that his brother had been rich and noble all his life, and he was already tied to Suo Etu's safety. With an idea in his heart, he approached Suo Etu and asked, "Today, I went to visit the learned Confucians, did the emperor bring the crown prince?" ”

"I brought it." Suo Etu seemed a little uneasy, "And Bei Ziyinyu." Wang Mingdao asked: "The third master Yinzhi is also the title of Viscount Bei, why doesn't the emperor bring it with him?" Suo Etu's eyes jumped, and he said: "He's only three years old, maybe he's too young, maybe he's sick, maybe he's ......" He suddenly shuddered, didn't speak again, and stared blankly at the flickering candlelight. Wang Mingdao sighed meaningfully and said: "No one hurts a motherless child, and if you have a stepmother, you will have a stepfather. The former Ming Wu Sect was an only son, and the harem concubine refused to let go; Queen Ma is not here, and Emperor Jianwen, who has ascended to the extreme, still can't stand! The past does not forget the teacher of the future! There is no reliable master in front of the crown prince, there is no conscience inside to protect each other, and there is no conscience outside to support him, after all, it is terrible! ”

"Good looks...... Good general? Suo Etu chewed Wang Mingdao's words, and his face became blue and white: the so-called "good appearance" is himself, but after these people said it, Kangxi trusted himself more and more; Although Xiong Cixu has no second heart for the prince, he is more loyal to Kangxi, and if the emperor changes his mind, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not turn his face. He thought about the "good general" outside, and led the troops in Kazuo, but this person never waded into troubled waters, and he couldn't count on risky things; Zhao Liangdong fell ill and died; Cai Yurong was locked up in Beijing for secretly marrying Wu Sangui's granddaughter; Although Tuhai was in Shaanxi as a general of Fuyuan, he asked for a leave of absence due to an old age stroke; It's a pity that Wu Liuyi, the governor of Guangdong, was poisoned to death by Shang Zhixin as soon as he took office...... After thinking for a while, Suo Etu suddenly patted the back of the chair and laughed: "How did I forget Zhou Peigong!" If it weren't for him chanting poems in front of the queen's bed, the prince wouldn't be who he was! Mr. Wang, let's not talk about this tonight. I beg you to write a letter to Mr. Pei Gong tomorrow, saying that I have played the emperor, and another ten battalions of the green battalion of the Han army will be under his command. The superfluous words are up to the point, he is a shrewd man who knows the poor world, and he understands it when he reads the letter. ”

"Wonderful!" Tong Bao clapped his hands and said with a smile, "This person is not only the emperor's confidant, but also the prince's sponsor, Wen Taowu is unmatched, and he leads troops outside, he is indeed a person who can be feared, and the third master can figure it out - I only heard that he went to Fengtian because he was not accustomed to water and soil, and he was sick, I don't know if it's true or not?" Suo Etu said: "Where is he not adapted?" asked Mingzhu to break up a good marriage between him and Gu Azuo, and sent him outside the gate to be cold, it was true that he was depressed in his heart. He laughed.

No one knew about this past, and the four of them couldn't help but exchange glances. Wang Mingdao groaned: "Just now Jin Qing came to the house, I talked with him in the study for a long time, although this person is a little taller on the outside, he is actually very enthusiastic on the inside. Mingzhu protected Chen Menglei, he was very uncomfortable, I think Zhongtang still managed to let him enter the cabinet. Well...... As for Lord Zhongtang, there is still a sentence for the old man, I don't know whether to say it or not. ”

"Huh??"

"Take leave and leave the company, temporarily retire!"

As soon as the words came out, everyone was stunned. Only Suo Etu rolled his eyes and thought quietly. Chen Xijia leaned over and said: "Teacher, students don't understand this-I only hate that Zhongtang has too few errands now, the more errands on my body, the heavier the power, the fewer people who attack him, how can I quit the study by myself?" ”

"Mr. Wang is worthy of being a wise man, good!" Tong Bao's eyes were aggressive, and he stroked his palms and sighed, "The weight is suspicious!" As soon as Zhongtang retreats, he can understand his heart in front of the emperor, and he can also block the mouths of those who say that Zhongtang holds power and respects himself. Mingzhu immediately became the person on the stove, and the target of the public who looked sideways - three birds with one stone, wonderful! Suo Etu got up and paced a few steps, then suddenly turned around and said, "It's killing five birds with one stone!" I can spare time to wait on the prince, and I can take a closer look at who really treats me well! - Humph! I'll let him take a horse, and let him toss in front of his master! ”

The air that had seemed dull immediately came alive, and everyone had the mood to pay attention to the dishes on the table that were not sumptuous. The five of them ate and drank wine, and called the family opera troupe to play to help the fun, until the third watch and half of the party song broke and stayed drunk. When he returned to the room to rest, Tong Bao sent Suo Etu directly to the third gate and asked in a low voice: "Third master, what should I do about what my brother said in his letter?" ”

Suo Etu stood in the cold spring wind and was speechless for a while, and only sighed slightly after a while: "It's not interesting to kill this fake plaything, it's useless to keep it, and I'm afraid of playing with fire and burning myself, so I told Ge Li to be careful, don't meet and communicate directly, and listen to my orders!" As he spoke, seeing Cai Dai holding the lamp and welcoming a few small guys out, Suo Etuyin smiled and said: "Lafayette Christmas next month, a few days ago, I asked you to inquire about what gift Ming Xiang gave, can you ask it?" Anyway, we are serious relatives, don't be left behind. ”

"Hui Ye's words," Cai Dai said with a smile, "The woman of the Huang family, the head of our teahouse, is the sister of the head of the Ming Xiang Mansion, Zhang Steward, and she has already asked out, and the Ming Dynasty sent a gold and a jade two ruyi, and a marble Shoubi Nanshan map - the slave thinks that Lafayette is the most devout believer in my Buddha, and the golden Guanyin offered by Jiangning Yandao has more than seven hundred taels, and it can be deserved, but now there is another high phase, I don't know what he sent......"

"That's it." Suo Etu said, "Gao Shiqi doesn't have to worry about it, he just entered the study, his official character is not Langzhong, and if he can hold money, he will be comparable to us in a moment?" Then he went back to his room and rested.

One day off, the third day is the day to read the erudite Confucianism test papers, Suo Etu got up early in the morning, went to Xihuamen to get off the sedan chair and hand the sign into the big house. Seeing Li Guangdi coming out of it, Suo Etu stood up and asked, "Came in so early?" Where are you going in a hurry? Li Guangdi was familiar with the formality, only waved his hand, and said: "Last night, the Lord ordered me to draft an edict to Shi Lang. Because the emperor still wants to stay and see, he ordered me to go back and rest, and come back in the afternoon to listen to the saint. Suo Etu was stunned for a moment and said, "At this time, the emperor is already in court?" Are all the ministers here? ”

"Zhongtang doesn't have to go to Qianqingmen," Li Guangdi said with a smile, "The emperor is reading the papers in the Heart Cultivation Hall today." Yesterday, the middle hall didn't come, and the master went to see Changchun Garden with Gao Shiqi, Ming Xiang, and Xiong Xiang, and said that he would allocate millions of dollars from Brother Huchen Customs to rebuild it and make it a place for Lafayette to rest! Suo Etu couldn't help but regret in his heart when he heard this, he shouldn't be greedy for a leisurely day, but he said: "I'm too tired these times, and my master has granted me a day off—have you gone?" "I went." Li Guangdi smiled, "There is also Cha Shen Xing, who is a Hanlin and accompanies the master to make poems to relieve boredom." The two of them said, and when they saw Gao Shiqi coming over with two little servants carrying something, Suo Etu smiled and said, "I thought I was late alone!" What are you bringing here, still covered with yellow silk? ”

Gao Shiqi said with a smile: "The birthday gift dedicated to Lafayette - Zhongtang Sensei, but it is just flowers and grass." I'm a poor scholar, but I can't compare to you and Mingxiang. With that, he picked up the pot of covered flowers with both hands, and followed Suo Etu to the Palace of Nourishing Hearts, and Li Guangdi went back to his house in a sedan chair.

There was silence in the Heart Cultivation Palace, Gao Shiqi quietly put the flowers under the Danqi, and whispered to Suo Etu and smiled: "This time Zhongtang and Mingxiang deceived us, and they actually rested for a day!" When I came back from Changchun Garden yesterday, the master asked me to look at the scrolls with Xiong Xiang, and I didn't go back until midnight! Suo Etu heard that Mingzhu did not participate in the marking, and felt a little relieved, so he only smiled, Gao Shiqi had already raised the curtain, and the two of them came in one after the other.

Kangxi took a list, frowning and pondering, there were three stacks of rolls piled up on the desk, and Xiong Cilu and Mingzhu were both sitting on the wooden pestle waiting for Kangxi to ask. Kangxi heard the sound of the curtain, and when he turned his face and saw that it was Suo Etu and Gao Shiqi coming in, he smiled and said: "Suo Etu came just in time, Yan Shenwu's volume was stored by you, is it lost a page?" ”

"If you go back to Long live," Suo Etu replied hurriedly, "Yan only wrote one poem, and "Xuanji Yu Hengfu" was not written, so one article was missing—how important is this matter, how dare a slave be hasty?" Kangxi looked at Xiong Cixu and said with a smile: "No wonder you don't have strict rope martial arts in the first, second, and third grades on this list." Mingzhu said: "Yan Shenwu is a great Confucian, and it is really disrespectful to deliberately omit the test questions and not do it." The slave thought that Xiong Cixu would take him out of waiting, and he was really allowed. ”

Kangxi took a sip of tea, sat on the edge of the kang on stilts, took out a roll and said, "Peng Sunshu read this roll from Dongyuan, right?" In this article, 'those who test in heaven do not have to test people', I'm afraid the reasoning may not be complete, right? Xiong Cixu saw that Kangxi had picked out something wrong with his reading of the papers, and hurriedly said: "Although what the master said is true, but from the perspective of the original principle of things, heaven and man are the same reason, and it is not necessary to test it in heaven or test it on people." Therefore, although what Peng said is biased, it is not paradoxical in Dali. Kangxi saw Xiong Cixu defending himself, knowing that he didn't understand what he meant, so he pulled out another smile and said, "That's it." In Wang Wan's volume, it is written at the beginning of the book 'Yes or Q Yu said', and at the end there are 'only, no no'. Who is he referring to? Is it me, or is it himself? Or is there something wrong with me, it's hard to say it directly, and I have changed this method to insinuate? ”

Xiong Cixu didn't expect to touch a harder nail again, and he didn't dare to sit back and reply, so he hurriedly got up and bowed and said: "Wang Wan, the emperor, knows very well that he admires the sainthood so much that he throws himself to the ground, so does he have the intention of insinuation? There are these words in the body, but they are not really meaningful, but they are only the holy scriptures of the Lord. ”

"Don't panic. Even insinuations don't matter. In the future, I will ask him again, and if I have anything, I will just say it! Kangxi Gege smiled and put the scroll aside, "My original intention was to praise you and Gao Shiqi." There are too many inconsistencies, and they don't get the right ones, so what's going on with the erudite Confucianism this time? You see, Zhu Yizun's poem 'Apricot blossoms are red like fire, calamus leaves are smaller than hairpins', who has ever seen apricot blossoms like fire? Besides, how can calamus be involved with hairpins? He flipped through the scrolls, "...... There are too many of them! In Pan Shu's volume, the word 'palace' appeared on the leaves of the winter rhyme; Li Laitai used the words 'feng' and 'thick' to prevaricate; Shi Runzhang, who paid the most attention to poetry and rhyme, even mistakenly put the word 'flag' into the branch rhyme......"

Mingzhu has a limited understanding of poetry and rhyme, and has repeatedly hit a wall, knowing that it is better to hide than to be clumsy, because he saw Kangxi looking at himself, he smiled and said: "The emperor sees it so carefully!" Nowadays, many scribes do not pay much attention to these things. It is difficult to do near-body poems, and it is difficult to cut off three whiskers calmly on weekdays, and the cang-sudden imperial test can do this, and it is difficult for these old gentlemen to look at it as a slave. ”

"How do you know about them!" Kangxi sneered, "They are all contemporary Confucians who know the world!" Is there a reason that you can't write a fu and rhyme the wrong poem? He stood up, paced slowly, and said, "Originally, they didn't want to take the exam, so they used typos and rhymes on the exam papers." If I fall according to the volume, Keke'er will fall off the list of the most famous people, who in the world will believe that he is not good at the volume? I just say that I can't know people! If I get the right one, the Confucians will laugh at me for not having learned enough to see what's wrong with the papers—they treat me very harshly as far as their intentions are concerned......" he muttered and muttered, "It seems that you can't just take an exam to make them obey!" ”

When Mingzhu heard this, he couldn't help but say indignantly: "This is called not knowing how to lift!" Please print these rolls in the provinces in the Di Bao, and all mistakes, violations, offenses, and rhymes will be discarded! Suo Etu also said: "What Mingzhu said is reasonable! Xiong Cixu sighed secretly, if this is the case, almost all of the people who have won this erudite Confucian science are second-rate people. Kangxi didn't squeak when he saw Gao Shiqi, so he asked: "Gao Shiqi, what do you think?" ”

"The minions thought they should take all of them, and this was agreed upon before the test." Gao Shiqi's eyes flashed faintly, "The emperor knew that they refused to take the exam, so they came by force, what kind of mood do you have to write poems and articles?" But there are occasional clerical errors. In this way, all the famous people will be deposed of Sun Mountain, what is the difference between not doing erudite and Confucian science? Isn't it in vain how many years of hard work have been put in the foreground? Of course, they didn't dare to scold the street when they went back, but the emperor fell into the name of an illiterate scholar, and it really ruined talents...... Therefore, it is categorical that the usual imperial examination pattern cannot be used to seek complete blame, but all the places are fully filled, and even those who are not equal will also be awarded. If you don't want to be an official, you can also give a name, which can be regarded as a retirement......" Kangxi smiled and listened to Gao Shiqi's macro argument, and said: "It's good for you to do this, but it is inevitable that they will laugh at me for not being good at Hengwen, and I can't care about it a lot!" Gao Shiqi sneered and said, "Where! The emperor can add comments to the absurdity of each volume and return it to himself for reading. Of these more than 100 people, who dares not to be convinced? ”

"Good!" Kangxi's spirits were greatly lifted, and he slammed the case, "The king said that he was a scholar, and he said that he was a trend." I'm going to be a lord of the warriors! ”

"The trend is the decline of the country, and the trend of the scholar is the prosperity of the world!" Gao Shiqi said, "My lord's heart, the blessing of the subjects of the world!" ”

Kangxi laughed: "It's decided!" Gao Shiqi, you read it carefully, all the perverse points are drawn with fingernails, and the well-written pen is double-circled! ——Message: Gao Shiqi made up for the erudition of the first class of Confucianism! ”