In addition to the Shangshu and Zhongshu systems, other departments and temples have also evaluated the performance of their subordinates. Xiao Mo, as a treasure order, like the good brewing Cheng Ye Chung, belongs to the imperial food system, and all of them are assessed by Wang Rong, who is also the secretary of Guangluxun. But although the two people are officials who received at the same time, the performance appraisal is too far apart.

At the beginning, the two positions of Zhenyu Ling and Liangzhuocheng, Wang Rong had secretly promised them to others, but they were accidentally occupied by Xiao Mo and Ye Rong. Wang Rong naturally resented the two of them. But Xiaomo relies on his superb cooking skills, and his business quality is indeed excellent, and he is deeply loved by the emperor. When evaluating performance, Wang Rong naturally did not dare not give an excellent rating; As for Ye Qing, although he is also diligent, he has no stunts. The most important thing is that Ye Rong is a poor family, there is no backstage, and since he made this good brew, he doesn't know how to be grateful to Wang Rong, how can Wang Rong not be angry? So he rated his performance appraisal as lower and middle.

The Treasures and Brewery Department are only in charge of cooking and winemaking, not civil servants, so they don't have to participate in the centralized examination like Shu Yan and Biyu, just waiting for the Zhongzheng tasting. But Xiao Mo's identity is special, he is a Qiang person, so even the link of Zhongzheng is omitted.

On this day, Ye Chung went to the market on business. When I came back from the incident, I first reported to Wang Rong. After the errand, there was nothing important in the department, so he rushed straight to the party hall to find Shu Yan. The reason why he was in a hurry was because he heard about something in the market.

Since he hadn't met Ye Ye for a long time, Shu Yan was also very happy to see him: "Brother Ye has always come rarely!" ”

Ye Qing said truthfully: "I went to the street and the West Market, because the purchase price of wine has been much higher recently, I will check it myself." ”

"What's the catch?" Shu Yan poured his tea and asked.

"It's really worth the trip."

"So there's really corruption?"

"Needless to say, the official family has a scandal about you."

"My—scandal?"

Shu Yan looked ignorant, but Ye Yan put on a serious face: "Isn't Shang Shulang Shu Shangren just talking about you?" What have you done recently, involving many families in Luoyang City, tell the truth! ”

"A gentleman is frank. I Shu don't dare to say that I did my best, but at least I don't take it and don't do it, how can there be a scandal? Recently, I haven't done anything except be more valuable in Shangshutai. ”

Seeing that Shu Yan was getting more and more hurried, Ye Jian suddenly laughed and said, "You Shu someone is walking right and behaving properly, how can there be a scandal?" Not only is it not a scandal, but it is also an extremely famous thing, you can tell me about it quickly. ”

Shu Yan was even more confused, "Brother Ye, what have you heard, don't tease, tell your brother the truth." ”

Seeing that Shu Yan really didn't know anything, Ye Yan said: "Presumably you have done too much of this kind of thing, and you really can't remember which one." Well, let me warn you. What did you do on the night of Shangyuan? ”

Shu Yan thought for a while and said: "On the day of the Shangyuan Festival, I was more valuable in Shangshutai, and when I came back, I met Xiao Mo, and then we went to the market together, and there was nothing to do, and I came back in a moment." ”

Ye Qing saw that he just said some inconsequential things, so he stopped going around in circles and said bluntly: "At the Yuanzheng Conference, what did you do with the 200,000 yuan that the emperor rewarded you?" ”

"Huh?" Regarding the matter of scattering money, Shu Yan did it secretly and didn't want anyone to know, and he did not leave any evidence in the process of scattering money. But Ye Qing's words are obviously already known. "How do you know about this?"

"How did I not know? Not only do I know, but half of Luoyang City knows. It is said that on the night of Shangyuan, many cold people suddenly heard a 'click' sound in the courtyard, not like a cat and mouse, but like a human voice, so they went out of the house to inspect and got a bag of five baht. ”

When Shu Yan heard this, it was obviously his own doing, but he didn't accept it, but asked rhetorically: "Sit at home behind closed doors, and the money comes from the sky." This story sounds mysterious, but what's wrong with me? ”

When Ye Yan said this, he thought that Shu Yan couldn't pretend to be stupid anymore, but he didn't expect that he was still "quibbling", so he turned his face and said: "Are you taking others for fools when you say this?" Or be blind? You put a note in your money bag with your name and official position written on it, can you still be wrong? ”

"Emperor, Houtu, where is this! I did scatter dozens of copies of the money, but I didn't leave any notes. ”

"Eh, yes, in addition to the dozens of families who have left letters, there are also many people who have money in their money bags and no letters. This may be because when you are halfway through, you feel that this is too public, and you don't want to leave your name, so you take all the notes in the back bag. ”

"Secretly giving money to others, but still leaving his own name, am I Shu Yan the kind of person who sells his reputation and reputation?"

"Your move has solved the big problem of food and clothing for those who are poor. They cheered, calling it a surprise on the first night. Even if it is a reputation for fame, how many people can do it? But speaking of which, your move is at the right time, and you will soon be in the right evaluation, and your reputation will increase by a large margin. Brother Fool is nothing to do, as long as you are supporting in front of you, brother, it is the face and banner of our humble family, Brother Fool will be pleased. ”

After Ye Qing finished speaking, he was relieved to leave. Shu Yan couldn't argue, and according to Hu Bed's guess, he felt very puzzled and weird.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through me - could it be Xiao Mo's ghost! That day, the two of us made an appointment to scatter the money together, but he didn't tell me how to disperse, and it was mysterious. He has always acted out of common sense, just like the food and music match at the Yuan Zheng Conference, he kept it secret first, but the result was ingenious. This time, will he leave my name behind when he scatters money? If so, for what purpose? No, I'll have to check with him right away.

Shu Yan rarely came to the Treasure Bureau, and Xiao Mo was busy making soup for the emperor at this time. Seeing Shu Yan coming, he knew that something must be wrong, but the emperor's imperial meal could not be delayed, and when he was done, he came over with a smile and said, "What kind of wind blew you here today?" ”

There are many imperial chefs in the Treasure Cuisine Department, Shu Yan pulled Xiao Mo aside and asked directly: "On the day of the Shangyuan Festival, did you leave my name?" ”

"yes, you got it?" Xiao Mo replied naturally.

"Sure enough, it's you." Shu Yan was helpless, "Brother Ye told me, saying that now everyone in Luoyang City knows that there is a Shang Shulang named Shu Yan who distributed money for poor people on the night of Shangyuan, and I am the last one to know!" ”

"That's right, my goal was achieved, but I didn't expect it to spread so quickly."

"You still have a purpose?" Shu Yan was speechless, "Take your own money to fulfill other people's reputations, the world says that I Shu Yan is stupid, aren't you stupider than me?" ”

Xiao Mo smiled secretly in his heart: I have always been "I'd rather bear the people of the world than the people of the world bear me". The world says that I am a little Mo and everything, crazy, weird, and cunning, but they don't say that I am stupid. Don't you know, I'm only stupid for you! "Of course I have a purpose, because this Zhongzheng evaluation is imminent. You also know the current situation of officialdom, how can there be fairness and justice? Even if they don't commit adultery, they only act outside the law, and take advantage of the loopholes in the law, those big families can control the Nine Grades Zhongzheng steadily. You are a poor boy, a bare pole, a mouth, two hands, and people are full of henchmen in the court, everyone has a lot of money, and everyone has suppressed you with a word, I don't help you, who will help you? ”

It turned out to be like this, premeditated and well-intentioned. But this kind of behavior of cutting first and then playing, Shu Yan really doesn't know whether to thank or what. "Uh-you, like me, are both court officials when you are young and weak, and you are more proud of the emperor, why don't you help me instead of yourself?"

Xiao Mofeng smiled lightly: "Only civil and military scholars like you pay attention to reputation, I am a cook, what do you want to be famous?" What's more, I'm already very content, take Brother Ye and the two of us as examples, we both belong to Guanglu, he is rated secondary, I am excellent, and I have a special identity, I don't need to go through the authentic evaluation, what is there to ask for? ”

Regarding Ye Jian's performance appraisal, Shu Yan really sighed for him, but there was nothing he could do. Xiao Mo also had no choice but to accept it obediently. What else should I do? You can't put a notice on the street and say, "The money on the night of Shangyuan was not given by my Shu Yan" and so on, right? Isn't that even more cover-up?

The examination papers prepared by the scribes were submitted to Taichang Temple and the Ministry of Officials for review. Wang Rong looked at the various countermeasures in the test paper, and couldn't help but smile on the spot, he really brainstormed and wrote everything. Some are amazing, some are bullshit. When turning to Shu Yan's test paper, it was written: "If you want to be unblocked, you must suppress the pomp and circumstance of cars and horses, and you must not use step barriers." "Also" changed the male and female walking separately to a mixed male and female walking, and walked in the same direction. and so on.

Wang Rong looked at it, brushed his hair and thought: This countermeasure is really an effective policy, if it is implemented in this way, the congestion will be solved. But it never came to pass. Because now that the comparison of the scholar class has become a trend, it is impossible to simplify the pomp, it can only get worse day by day, and even the emperor can't stop it. Many years ago, Sima Yan also thought about rectifying this extravagant trend and set an example. For example, the rope used to wear the nose of the ox cart is made of silk, which is very high-end and luxurious, but it often breaks. In order to save a few silk ropes, Sima Yan ordered to replace them with cheap green hemp; There was also a minister who offered a precious pheasant head fur, which was very gorgeous, but Sima Yan did not accept it in order to reflect his determination to curb extravagance and advocate frugality, and directly ordered it to be burned. Although the emperor set an example, he had little effect, and his extravagance was still excessive. Now that the emperor is in his twilight, he is even more powerless to control, so he can't be shaken at all. Although it is said that the carriage and horse cannot be implemented, it is finally reasonable, but the policy of mixing men and women to walk together is simply nonsense. Men and women do not kiss, men from the right, women from the left, this is the rule left by ancient times, when it comes to the etiquette system, how can it be destroyed? Shu Yan's kid is not dizzy, and he has read the book of sages in vain!

Major decisions are generally made in the court meeting, and the purpose of the examination is mainly to test whether the scribes' writing is incomprehensible, their thinking is clear or unclear, and whether it is feasible or not, as for whether they can be adopted by the imperial court, those are two different things. In the previous examinations, few have been adopted. Although Shu Yan's countermeasure was rejected, his writing was excellent, and the other two questions had unique insights, so Wang Rong also passed it.

Some people died, but not completely......