Qin Tai was polite, but also to have a certain deterrent effect on Sima Ying, so he asked Xiao Lingzi to "post" to Sima Ying. In ancient times, "posting" was a very elaborate thing, and it was only popular among officials and scholars from wealthy families. The person who "postes" must first prepare a batch of "famous posts", which is equivalent to the personal "business card" of modern society. However, there is an essential difference between "famous post" and "business card". The "name post" is like a booklet, the beginning is blank, the back is also blank, and only the identity and name of the person who "posted" are written in the middle. When you want to use a "name post", add the name and title of the person you want to visit at the beginning of the "name post" and say a few polite words at the end. The act of "posting" is to inform the host of the house early that they are going to visit.

It stands to reason that Sima Ying is just a rich man who comes to the town again, Qin Tai is an official official of the imperial court, Sima Ying does not come to visit Qin Tai, and Qin Tai does not need to visit Sima Ying. There is no need for Qin Tai to "post" to meet Sima Ying, which obviously elevates Sima Ying's identity. But Qin Tai still did it, because Qin Tai vaguely felt that Sima Ying was not an easy person to deal with.

Sure enough, Xiao Lingzi came back immediately, not only did he not send out the "name post", but he even took back a letter that was not sealed, handed it to Qin Tai and asked him to take a look at it immediately.

Qin Tai took the letter and read it immediately, with a wry smile and worry in his heart. My own estimation is not bad at all, this old fox is really not simple.

Qin Tai said to Li Zheng on the side: "We can't break into Sima's house. Have you heard about Sima Ying? ”

Li Zheng said embarrassedly: "I don't know either. Usually everyone calls him an old lady, and I don't know why. Their family is really magnificent, and the magistrates here have visited him over the years. The current magistrate is even more of a member of their Sima family. This magistrate is arranged according to generations, and it should be called Uncle Sima Ying. ”

Qin Tai smiled bitterly and said, "This letter was written by Sima Ying. They want me to go to their house for dinner. ”

Li Zheng and everyone were dumbfounded, it seems that this Sima Ying has already planned something.

Qin Tai said to everyone: "We can only stand still now, and wait until I go to Sima's house and see Sima Ying before making plans." I guess Sima Ying didn't dare to do anything to me, after all, this is the town, and so many people know that I went to Sima's house. Sima Ying wouldn't be stupid enough to kill me in his own house if he wanted to do it to me. ”

Everyone had to disperse, and Li Zheng invited Qin Tai and them to his house to rest.

Qin Tai glanced at Xiao Lingzi, who immediately understood the meaning and left silently.

Zhan Xiaoxiao and "Ma Sandao" followed Qin Tai to the guest room of Lizheng's house.

"Ma Sandao" is still the same, after closing the door, he leans his back against the door and listens to things while guarding.

Zhan Xiaoxiao said to Qin Tai: "What does this letter say? It's not just about inviting you to dinner. There must be something in there that makes you skeptical. You're going to say it quickly, huh? ”

Qin Tai sighed, there were only three of them in the room, so everyone spoke more directly.

Qin Tai said: "In the letter, Sima Ying claimed to be my uncle and called me a nephew. It also shows between the lines that he is an official who has returned to his hometown. He said he was my father's 'same year'. ”

Zhan Xiaoxiao and "Ma Sandao" also glanced at each other and took a deep breath.

In ancient times, Lun Chang was the most important, and in addition to the loyalty between the monarch and the minister, only Lun Chang was at the forefront. The first element of ethics is "filial piety", which means that those who are sons of man must be filial to and obey their parents. Anyone who is an official must be loyal and filial, and any official who makes a mistake in loyalty and filial piety is equivalent to ruining his future. As early as in the "University" in the Four Books and Five Classics, a point of view was clearly put forward: "Self-cultivation, family relations, governing the country, and leveling the world." This is the principle of a gentleman's life. Only by training oneself well, loyalty and filial piety can one become a family. In order to continue the incense, and at the same time adjust the relationship between each member of the family, this is a big husband. With good knowledge and experience in managing family chores, men can become officials and make decisions for the people. As an official, he must solve problems for the emperor, and he must be the master of the house for the people. After years of training in officialdom, he has accumulated experience before he can ascend to the court and guide the country to talk about world affairs.

In ancient times, an unfilial person who did not even abide by ethics not only failed to obey the public, but also disgraced the face of his ancestors. Even if such an official is not impeached by other officials, he will not have the face to remain in the officialdom.

When Qin Tai said "the same year", he did not mean that this person was the same age as a certain person, but that the two of them were Jinshi in the same year. When these two "same years" meet, they will call each other "Brother Nian". Since Sima Ying said that he and Qin Tai's father were "in the same year", if it is not true, Sima Ying is Qin Tai's elder. According to the etiquette at that time, Qin Tai was not only a junior, but also a junior. In this way, Qin Tai not only could not take people to Xingshi to ask for guilt, but also had to bear all the blame from Sima Ying. If Qin Tai dares to contradict a word, Sima Ying can report to the imperial court and treat Qin Tai as a "violation of ethics and confrontation with his predecessors." ". This crime is enough to put Qin Tai to death.

Xiao Lingzi also came back, and he investigated Sima Ying's matter clearly.

It turned out that Sima Ying was fifty-two years old this year, much older than Qin Tai's father. In ancient times, the Jinshi were relatively late, and there were very few people like Xiang Qintai who had not yet reached adulthood and started a family. Some of the people who are in the middle of the jinshi are almost all children in groups. Therefore, in ancient times, some Jinshi who did not have a family became a good object for the court's and central officials. Qin Tai was an alternative, not only did he not participate in the ranking of Jinshi, but he also refused the invitation of Yan Song and Xu Jie. Therefore, the officials of the DPRK and China did not know that there was such a treasure in this exam.

Fifty-two-year-old Sima Ying, who once served as the prefect of the county for one term and the prefect for one term, submitted a petition to the old man to return to his hometown thirteen years ago because he failed to seek a Taoist platform. Originally, he thought that the imperial court would keep him, but what he didn't expect was that he immediately approved it and allowed him to return to his hometown for retirement. It turned out that Xu Jiehad just returned to the capital at this time, and he was trying to arrange for his own people to be important officials with real power, although Sima Ying's position was not too important, but he was also a local parent official. In this way, the imperial court stepped down from the political stage from Sima Ying, the prefect of Wupin. According to the practice at that time, every official who returned to his hometown could choose to be promoted to one level before his death or one level after death, and Sima Ying chose to be promoted to one level before returning to his hometown, and was "Zhishi" as a five-grade official of the imperial court. "Zhishi" is retirement in the current sense. In ancient times, there was a certain degree of favor for officials, and every official who "paid tribute to the official" could choose to be promoted to one level before leaving office, or one of the two methods of sealing the first level after death. Before leaving office, he was promoted one level, which was relatively majestic. However, after death, the sealing is not only beautiful, but the imperial court will give a large amount of pension at one time. Therefore, some officials who have money in their families, or who cherish their reputation, will choose the latter option. Some Qing officials who really couldn't live their lives had to choose the former. Of course, there are exceptions, if the official himself is a corrupt official and knows that he will not die well, he will choose to be promoted before leaving office. lest you settle accounts in the future and get nothing for yourself. There are even some officials who think about their children, hoping that after their death, they will wait for a pension that can support their children, and give up a promotion before leaving office. Like Qin Tai's father, a prisoner who was dismissed from his post by the imperial court is not eligible to enjoy it.

Sima Ying's family originally had four sons and two daughters, and the eldest Sima Qian was in Hefei to run the business. The second eldest Sima Qiu has the best knowledge and is traveling everywhere. The third Sima Ba, most like his Laozi Sima Ying, was a magistrate in Jiangxi. The fourth Sima Ye, who has just been in the middle of the show, is studying at home to prepare for the exam. The eldest daughter, Sima Yuan, married the son of a big official in the capital seven years ago and became the eldest daughter-in-law of this big official who has been released. The second daughter, Sima Ling, died of a sudden illness more than five years ago, and her body was buried in the cemetery of Sima's family, not far from the town.

Qin Tai listened to Xiao Lingzi's report, took a deep breath, and said to everyone: "This Sima Ying is really not simple. Not only is he a 'Zhishi' official, but the children at home are also well arranged. The eldest son is in business, the second son is studying abroad to make friends with powerful people, the third son is an official, and the fourth son can also become an official in the future. The eldest son and daughter are married to the eldest son of a person with real power, and Sima Ying will be able to advance and retreat freely in the future. Fortunately, we didn't act recklessly just now, otherwise we would have suffered the loss of our lives. Even if everyone who catches the Wang family can't defeat the Sima family, even if they get a little victory temporarily, they will immediately be suppressed by the Sima family and the people of the government on the charge of disrupting the people and disrupting the place. When the time comes, not only will we not be able to retreat with our whole body, but we will also harm all the people here. ”

Zhan Xiao said worriedly, "What about tonight's banquet?" Are you going or not? Will it be dangerous to go? If you don't go, will it be okay? ”

Qin Tai smiled bitterly and said, "Don't go, Sima Ying just took this opportunity to divide the relationship between us and the Wang family." We have finally been accepted by the Wang family, and we cannot be isolated again. If you go, a reprimand or humiliation is inevitable. For the sake of the overall situation, in order to solve the case as soon as possible, and for the sake of the people here, this scolding cannot be avoided. Anyway, I haven't been scolded for a long time, so I should have eaten the commander's lecture. ”

Zhan Xiaoxiao was really distressed, and I heard the master "old drunkard" say that when Qin Tai was in the Criminal Department, he was often scolded. If you do it, you will be scolded, and if you don't do it, you will be scolded. I didn't expect Qin Tai, who was high-spirited outside, to be so unpopular in the Criminal Department. If it weren't for his role as an overseer, the people in the criminal department would have killed him a long time ago.