The rain kept falling, and a few umbrellas among the pedestrians in the alley opened like a few poor flowers.

Fan Xian glanced at this reckless young man with a smile, and found that the other party was already wet, so he didn't say anything, if the other party was really a villain, at that moment before, Fan Xian had at least five ways to make the other party immediately incapacitated.

Obviously, this is just a poor scholar who buys roast chicken to join the banquet. So Fan Xian didn't stop, and walked forward with an umbrella. He walked in a chic manner, and the young man who squeezed into the umbrella was also dashing, so he didn't say a word, stood on Fan Xian's right, borrowed his cloth umbrella to block the sky above his head, and followed forward with a calm demeanor.

Walking dozens of steps with the umbrella like this, Fan Xian felt more and more that this young man's temperament was a little cute, if it was an ordinary scholar, where would he be so reckless to get under someone else's umbrella, and walk dozens of steps together in silence, without a look of ease. So he tilted his head slightly, looked carefully, and found that the young man looked ordinary, except for two very thick eyebrows, as if he had been thickly painted with a brush.

Fujiko Kyo followed two steps behind.

The two people under this umbrella were still silent, I don't know if they were competing for patience or what, after all, Fan Xian smiled and asked: "I said it was inappropriate before, I don't know what is wrong." ”

Seeing the owner of the umbrella speak, the young scholar smiled very politely and said: "If an official is greedy, he will naturally not put his mind on political affairs, so if you want to be a corrupt official, I am afraid that this is a ridiculous thing in itself." ”

Fan Xian smiled, and found that the two of them could not be accommodated under the umbrella, and the right shoulder of the young scholar next to him was already wet, so he quietly moved the umbrella student's side and responded: "Even if a corrupt official is negligent in political affairs, it is better than a person who does not know anything to fool around after becoming an official." ”

The young scholar raised his eyebrows, as if he was a little puzzled: "As long as you are willing to do things, it is better than abandoning political affairs." ”

Fan Xian's hand holding the handle of the umbrella tightened, shook his head and said: "A river embankment, if it is not repaired, it will probably be decided every few years." If a clean official who doesn't know how to work in the river. Blind repairs on the riverbank for a while, maybe a few times a year, you say the people who live along the river. Do you want the county to be an incompetent and diligent clean official, or an incompetent and lazy corrupt official?"

The young scholar was speechless for a while, and after a while, he smiled and said: "I'm afraid this is also a special case, there are always some things that must be done by a parent official, such as measuring the fields and distributing grain, eliminating disasters and helping the people, and breaking lawsuits and prisons." If it's a lazy official. I'm afraid it will be a mess under this rule. ”

Fan Xian smiled and said, "So the key is ability, not in purity or greed." ”

In fact, his view is not necessarily correct, it is still influenced by the officialdom novels of the previous life, but this argument is quite fresh among the people of Qingguo today. The young scholar who shared the umbrella with him couldn't help but be interested, and asked, "If an official is capable." But he is very corrupt, is the court going to him?"

Somehow. When Fan Xian heard him say this, he remembered his father-in-law, the famous traitor Lin Ruohai of Qingguo, everyone in the world knows his greed, but His Majesty knows his ability, so he has been appointed to this day, and then thought back to the question asked by this young scholar, so he had to shake his head and said: "The rule of officials is a difficult and complicated thing, how can there be a simple and effective way." However, if you only seek the supervision of the imperial court and cultivate your own morality, you will have the luxury of being clear above the officialdom, which is inevitably a little whimsical. ”

"If the imperial court strengthens supervision, can't it prevent corruption?" the young scholar frowned, his thick eyebrows like rafters huddled into a pile, "Let's just say that today's Ministry of Rites Shangshu Guo Youzhi has already been imprisoned, if the Supervision Yuan was also the same as this time in previous years, the atmosphere of the department would have been corrupted into what it is today." ”

Fan Xian actually doesn't have any high views in politics, but he has some foolish energy in his bones who is not afraid of misleading the country, and he is interested, so he will continue: "If President Chen of the Supervision Yuan gambles with Guo Youzhi and makes his nephew be admitted to the first class, then who do you say will supervise this matter?"

The young scholar said disapplausively: "Naturally, there is Your Majesty's eyes like lightning. ”

Fan Xian replied even more disapprerovingly: "Where is it so easy to rule the world with one person?" In fact, he knew that the emperor must still have secret means to check and balance the monopoly of the Supervision Yuan, and this means may even include the power that his father has not revealed, but some young political ideas in his previous life made Fan Xian always sneer at the emperor's work, and never thought that the Son of Heaven, who turned the world into a bowl and fat, would have such a spirit and the leisure to pay attention to all the injustices in the officialdom.

Talking casually, the two of them came to an inn under the umbrella, and the young scholar smiled mildly and said, "Thank you for the gift of the half-umbrella, I have arrived." ”

Fan Xian turned the umbrella to the side, glanced at the name of the inn, and found that it was a coincidence, it was actually the place he was looking for, and said with a smile: "I'll go in with you, I'm going to the inn to find someone." ”

The name of the inn is very vulgar, very blessed and very popular - Tongfu Inn.

When I entered the inn with the young scholar, I knew that the other party's name was Shi Xianli, and he was also an old student who entered Beijing this time. It's just that Fan Xian is inconvenient to say his name at this time, so he just told the other party that his surname is Fan.

"Who is Fan Gongzi looking for?" Shi Yanli only found out from the clothes on this son's body at this time that the other party must be a son of a powerful person, so he did not speak as unrestrained as under the umbrella before, but was more reserved, "I came to Fang You, it is inconvenient to talk about it, let's see you in the future." ”

After he said this, he saluted Fan Xian, and then walked to the corner of the inn's straw hall. There is a wine table there, there are two student-like people fighting wine next to the table, and there is a drunk person next to him, who is already drunk and does not know what to do, and sleeps on the table, seeing that there are no dishes on the table of these people, it seems that he is waiting for the roast chicken that Shi explained.

Fan Xian's eyes narrowed, and he saw clearly that the drunk person on the table was Yang Wanli, who he was looking for, and smiled slightly, and actually followed Shi Xianli to the wine table.

Shi Xianli didn't know that he was still following behind him, put the roast chicken wrapped in oil paper on the table, and scolded the two people who stopped drinking: "Okay, you Hou Jichang, call me to send food, don't leave some wine for me." ”

Hou Jichang said with a smile: "This wine is also a bad wine that was called at the entrance of the alley before, although the taste is not good, but the amount is sufficient, let me introduce you, this is Cheng Jialin, a talented man from Shandong Road." He just stretched out his hand in the direction of Cheng Jialin, but was stunned to find that behind Shi Yili stood a smiling and extremely handsome son, who seemed to be a little familiar.

"Brother Shi, who is this?" asked Hou Jichang suspiciously.

Shi Xianli was stunned, and when he turned around, he found that Fan Xian had followed him to the wine table, and said with a wry smile: "Fan Gongzi, I just borrowed half an umbrella, so I don't have to collect money to hide from the rain." ”

Fan Xian saw that the other party seemed to be a little jealous of him, thinking that he guessed that he was from a noble background and didn't dare to get too close. So he smiled and said: "I don't dare to collect money, but I am a little greedy for this roast chicken brought by Shi Gongzi." ”

Shi Yanli said helplessly: "Didn't Fan Gongzi come to find someone?"

"There is nowhere to find the iron shoes, and it takes no effort to get them. Fan Xian smiled and said, when I first saw Shengyan on the bank of the Liujing River, I had said these two sentences, but there was no reaction at all, but today it was used on these readers, and sure enough, Hou Jichang and the others immediately understood what it meant, and they were very interesting, and asked, "Fan Gongzi is actually here to find us?"

Fan Xian pointed to the drunk Yang Wanli and said, "I have a relationship with Yang Gongzi, so I came to visit today." ”

Hou Jichang said with a smile: "I have never heard that Wanli has such a bold friend in Beijing, come and come, Fan Gongzi, please sit down, light wine and roast chicken, just don't dislike it." Shi Xianli originally liked Fan's idle talk, but at this time, seeing that he was a friend of friends, he no longer held a shelf, and smiled and let go of his seat.

Over there, Cheng Jialin pushed Yang Wanli for a long time and didn't wake up, so he couldn't help but smile at Fan Xian. Fan Xian was curious about another thing, and bowed to Hou Jichang: "I don't know what this brother is called?"

"Hou Jichang. ”

"Why does Hou Gongzi think that he is a bold son?" Fan Xian couldn't help but want to laugh when he heard the word Ji Chang, and asked: "I don't think I'm fat and big-eared, and I look like a person who eats all day long. ”

Hou Jichang apologized with a smile and said, "Childe's shirt is worth a lot of silver, where can ordinary scholars afford to wear it." As for the word Haokuo, it's just that we've always been used to joking, so please don't mind. At this time, he always felt that this boy was familiar, but he was a little dazzled after drinking, so he couldn't remember it.

"Where, where. Fan Xian smiled gently and sat down at the table. Scholars are free and easy, and they don't care too much about the extra uninvited guests, anyway, Yang Wanli can't wake up for a while, so except for Cheng Jialin, who persuaded Fan Xian to have a few glasses, Hou Jichang and Shi Xianli fought together as if no one was around. When the wine was not enough, and when the intention was full, he began to sit down and talk again.

This is not the mysterious way, but the way of the country's economy and people's livelihood. Fan Xian took a chicken leg and gnawed it slowly, while listening to the debate between the two with his ears pricked up, and found that Hou Jichang's thoughts were a bit of a legalist, and he attached great importance to the law, while Shi Xianli was an emotional figure who attached great importance to education.

It's just that to put it mildly, the Legalists are not demanding, and the edification is not an exhortation, but they are two scholars who see things very clearly. Occasionally, when it comes to the political affairs of various counties, it is also carefully analyzed, not in general, and not like ordinary scholars who always focus on the word "world", but they don't know that the two words of the world are much wider than the eyes of the vast majority of people in the world.

The more Fan Xian listened, the more proud he became, this Hou Jichang's name was one of the objects of his own name, it seemed that his vision was really good, but this Shi Xianli had a gentle and free temperament, how could he not have any impression in the examination academy?

Just as he was proud, he suddenly heard Shi Yili, who had a gentle temperament, slapped the wine table and scolded angrily: "Speaking of which, it's all because that little Fan is not good!"

Fan Xian was taken aback.