Lu Dang, the word Jiangling, Huguang prodigy, was born in a poor family.

At the age of five, he became literate, at the age of seven he memorized the scriptures, at the age of twelve he was already a Xiucai, and at the age of thirteen he took the township examination.

At the age of sixteen this year, he came to Yangzhou to participate in the provincial examination.

Coiled with exhaustion, the bag is shy, was taken in by the famous monk Lu Ya abbot, then temporarily lived in Yangzhou Mulan Temple, to the monk food for food, and wait for the temple bell to ring every day, and the monk to eat together.

this day.

The temple bell rang loudly.

Lu Dang held his small wooden bowl, walked through the Zen forest of the temple, stepped on the bluestone slab, and the drizzle in the courtyard blew on his face, which was very exciting.

When I arrived at the temple, I saw that the monks had finished eating and were cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks. 、

In that hall, it was empty and empty, and he was the only one there in a daze.

I saw Lu Dang coming with a bowl.

The monk who had deliberately rang the bell after the meal smiled and looked over.

A monk stepped forward and folded his hands, and said with a smile:

"Lu Xiucai, I'm really sorry, you're late today, we've already finished fasting, but the bell is late."

In the past, the temple used to ring bells and fast.

Lu Dang also waited for the bell to ring, and then came to eat with the monks and monks.

Today, I will ring the bell after eating.

Obviously, it was specifically aimed at Yu Lu Dang, and he didn't want him to eat again.

Call!

Lu Dang's face suddenly turned red, he was ashamed, he fell into an unprecedented embarrassment, and his self-esteem was hit all of a sudden, so he immediately returned to the meditation room and packed his bags to leave Mulan Temple.

Before you are ready to leave.

A depressed breath was incomprehensible, and in anger, he took out the pen and ink from his bag and left two sentences on the red wall:

"The hall has gone to the west and the east, and I am ashamed of the bell after the monk's meal."

Then he threw his pen angrily and walked briskly down the steps of the mountain temple, leaving only a group of backs.

"What is written this is ......"

A group of monks came to read the poems, and they all looked at each other.

Among the temples, there are not many literate monks.

At this time, a burly pilgrim witnessed the process before and after, and couldn't help but sneer: "The dignified Buddhism, with the precept of begging for the people of the world, is full of alms, and now he is unwilling to give a few meals to a poor showman, which really makes a certain parent insightful." ”

The monks were ashamed when they heard this.

A little monk whispered: "It's just a joke with him, besides, he has been eating and drinking in our temple for half a month......"

"Huh!" The burly pilgrim disdained to say more, brushed his sleeves and left.

Soon.

The temple walked out of the land cliff.

The monks asked, "Abbot, look at these two poems, should we scrape them off......

Lu Ya looked at the two lines of poetry with a smile and said, "Scrape what, keep it." ”

Yamashita.

In a broken grass reed, Lu Dang pounded the ground in shame.

"Only by knowing shame can we be brave, and only by being angry can we be strong."

Suddenly, an urn sounded like thunder in his ears, and he said:

"I have seen the humiliation you have received in the temple, and those monks are indeed wrong, but if you can use this as an inspiration, pass the college entrance examination, and then go to the temple to wash away the shame, wouldn't it be better."

Hearing this, Lu Dang hurriedly asked, "I don't know who the strong man is?" ”

The burly pilgrim stepped forward: "A certain Qiu Xianxia." ”

Lu Dang talked with him for a while, and they talked very happily, and when they parted, Qiu Xianxia gave Lu Dang ten taels of silver.

A few days later, Lu Dangfu won the examination and became a lifter.

The first thing is to find his benefactor Qiu Xianxia to thank him and repay the ten taels of silver.

In the end, he found Qiu Xianxia in a mansion and gave him ten times the silver.

Qiu Xianxia only took ten taels, and said: "I think Brother Lu, you are full of wealth, this move is just the beginning, and it is also possible to enter the world in the future, if you have to be an official for a day, I just ask you not to be in the company of the traitorous party Zhao Yue and others, fish and flesh people, just loot the world." ”

Zhao Yue, when the court Zaifu, Huagai University scholar, when the court minister, specializing in flattery, stealing power for profit, and vigorously excluding dissent, but also swallowed up military salaries, abolished border defense, recruited power and bribes, and engaged in corruption.

He is known to everyone in the world as the world's number one traitor.

However, he has been in charge of the regent for ten years, and he is still exercising power, and the people of the world and Qingliu have suffered for a long time.

Lu Dang said excitedly when he heard this: "I can't hide it from Brother Qiu, my ideal of studying is to rectify the rule of officials for the country, if I am an official, I will not let go of any corrupt officials." ”

"Good!" Qiu Xianxia was excited by Lu Dang's ambition, and he was arrogant, pulling Lu Dang to drink three bowls.

After the separation.

The first benefit after the middle lift was that he was exempted from forced labor and taxes, and someone specifically asked him to be willing to hang the land in his name and avoid taxes reasonably.

Without the pressure of life, Lu Dang is more able to concentrate on studying and work hard.

A few years later.

In the 31st year of civil and military affairs, Lu Dang, at the rare age of 23 years old, was admitted to the Jinshi, and because of his excellent grades, he soon became the lieutenant of Baima County near the capital, and was responsible for the work of public security, arrest and law enforcement in a county.

On the first day of his appointment, Lu Dang pushed away the banquet of all the officials and colleagues in the county, plunged headlong into the dusty case, and then chose a case that no one expected to start directly deciding the case.

"Lu Dang, you are crazy, the case of the official's nephew, this matter has already been detained, and you want to retry it?" The county lord rushed to the county office from the restaurant and slapped the table angrily.

Regarding the angry glares of his colleagues, Lu Dang turned a cold eye to it, ignored the pressure of the county Cheng, and tried the case as always.

In the end, the nephew of the county was imprisoned for three years.

After that, within a year in Baima County, Lu Dang never feared the powerful, and tried all the old and unsolved cases in Baima County in one go, and did not open up to the criminals, regardless of their status, all of them were punished by law.

The local people cheered excitedly, the blue sky had eyes, and finally sent a real good official.

When Qiu Xianxia heard the news, he came to Baima County and praised himself for not seeing the wrong person.

And because of Lu Dang's dissection of the prison lawsuit during his tenure in Baima County, he was discerning, and soon won the appreciation of the imperial historian in the capital, and promoted him to become a imperial historian of the court.

This is exactly what Lu Dang thinks.

Because he knows how dark the officialdom and the court are today.

The imperial history is the official position responsible for supervising and impeaching officials for violations of law and discipline.

Just like the self-denial he showed in Baima County.

After serving as the imperial historian, he had the attitude of being responsible for this official position, and soon set his sights on a high-ranking official.

This official is two levels higher than his position.

During the preparation of Lu Dang's impeachment of this official.

He was threatened by the officer.

It turned out that this official had already gotten the news and sneered at him: "You can impeach me and try to see if your official position is lost first, or will I have something?" ”

For threats.

At this time, Lu Dang was full of blood, jealous and hateful, where could he take it to heart, he had already made preparations, even if he lost his position.

He still presented the impeachment note.

What Lu Dang and the official didn't expect was that Lu Dang's impeachment was successful.

Many years later, Lu Dang realized that the reason why his impeachment at this time would be successful was because there was a fierce struggle going on in the court at this time.

The open and secret battle between Prime Minister Zhao Yue's Zhao Dang and several other adults was very fierce.

In a word.

The successful impeachment of this high-ranking official higher than him made Lu Dang's confidence even stronger, and he must purge the officials.

Because of this, he was promoted and became a servant.

Perhaps the faith is too strong.

No one expected that Lu Dang would be so bold, and then he would directly choose to impeach officials at all levels.

Finally, he offended the capital mansion Yin.

was demoted.

In this regard, Lu Dang has long been mentally prepared, so even after being demoted, he still adheres to his previous thoughts, and after arriving in another county, he still chooses not to be afraid of power, everything is equal before the law, even if the county tyrants break the law, they will still be brought to justice and will not be forgiven.

In the final year-end examination, Lu Dang's political performance was "the best among all counties".

Therefore.

He was promoted again.

This strengthened Lu Dang's confidence.

After promotion.

He continued not to forget his original intention, strictly enforced the law, severely cracked down on unscrupulous people, because of his outstanding political achievements, within a year, he was continuously qualified for the Ministry of Works, Langzhong, and the Imperial History Miscellaneous Affairs.

Another year passed, and he became the governor of the capital.

The capital mansion Yin he offended back then, at this time, was about to return to his hometown.

Lu Dang did not let him succeed in returning to his hometown.

This time.

He successfully sent this old corrupt official, who had never been impeached back then, to prison in one fell swoop.

That is, this winter.

Heavy snowfall.

The snow was buried all over the capital, and an unprecedented catastrophe came, and at the feet of the Son of Heaven, there were starvation all over the place, and countless people froze to death and starved to death.

"Lord Lu, what are you doing, this granary can't be opened!" At the door of the granary, an official cried and begged: "If this granary is opened, we can't afford to take this responsibility, and the towns prohibit grain from leaving the country." ”

"Open the warehouse and release grain, rush to help all places, I Lu Dang will bear the burden alone."

Lu Dang chose to withstand all the pressure and open the warehouse to release grain.

This winter.

I don't know how many people who should have died in the snow survived.

After a heavy snowfall.

Lu Dang rescued tens of thousands of people, and finally became the official of the Criminal Department of the Sixth Ministry, during which he was still not afraid of the powerful and enforced the law.

Not only was he appreciated by the emperor, but he was also faintly regarded as a model by the Qingliu in the court.

Another year.

Lu Dangguan to the Ministry of Rites.

to this location.

Lu Dang was qualified to impeach Zhao Yue, the first traitor prime minister of the dynasty, and for this reason, he began to collect information and prepare evidence.

Unexpectedly, when he consciously made all the preparations, he was finally sure that he could impeach the world's number one traitor.

The Manchu Dynasty was civil and military, and no one came out to speak after him.

Those Qingliu who had been standing with him faintly before, even in the court, subconsciously moved away from him, and they all took half a step back.

All of a sudden, Lu Dang's heart was cold.

Facing the sight of Zhao Yue, the old prime minister who was already extremely old, with white hair like silky snow, and his eyes were dim and cloudy, but still showed the wisdom of the old prime minister.

Lu Dang seemed to understand something.

"The reason why Zhao Yue has not fallen for so many years is because he is not just one person, impeaching Zhao Yue is equivalent to impeaching a group of people, and even, including some people in the clear stream......"

"Even His Majesty the Emperor is among them."

"He needs Zhao Yue's presence."

The impeachment failed.

Zhao Yue was ostracized by everyone in the imperial court.

It didn't take long.

It was his turn to be impeached by others, and the emperor also found a reason to demote him from the central government, and the places below were even sent to the bitter cold land of Lingnan.

Before leaving.

Only the best friend from the year came to see him off.

Qiu Xianxia raised a bowl of wine and said, "I know you can withstand this blow, I hope you won't be stumped by this." ”

Regarding his friend's bowl of wine, Lu Dang didn't speak, just looked at Qiu Xianxia's eyes, and didn't drink.

Finally, I took my leave.

It seems that he vaguely understands something.

Thereupon.

What Qiu Xianxia didn't expect was that Lu Dang, who had been honest and upright for half his life and was not afraid of power, had completely changed after he left here.

After arriving in Lingnan, he changed his style of conduct in the past few decades and devoted himself to catering to the powerful.

And the benefits of this shift are clear.

Less than two years.

Lu Dang was transferred back from Lingnan, returned to the central court, and once again served as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

His return made the already older Prime Minister Zhao Yue smell a hint of crisis.

Because.

After two years, he saw the transformation in Lu Dang.

Around two years.

Lu Dang has completely changed as a person.

As the saying goes, some people will collapse in a heavy blow, and some people will think of a way out in a heavy blow.

That upright and honest Lu Dang seemed to die all of a sudden.

No one knows what kind of psychological changes Lu Dang has made in the midst of such a turning point.

What you can see is.

After Lu Dang returned to the central court, he no longer did not communicate with others, and he began to form a party.

Began to form his own imperial team.

For this reason, it is natural that private business is inevitable.

In the past, he was a model of incorruptibility who couldn't rub sand in his eyes, but now, he chose to turn a blind eye, and even deliberately shielded some officials and pulled them into his team for this purpose.

Lu Dang became a corrupt official.

He began to live in a large official residence and accepted bribes from the officials below.

A year later.

Lu Dang entered the ranks of the prime ministers of the three provinces.

He once again launched an attack on Zhao Yue, the world's number one traitor, and impeached him.

This time.

He did it.

Zhao Yue, who was already eighty-one years old, took off his official hat, and half a month later, under the sporadic sporadic sporadic officials, left the capital.

Before leaving.

Zhao Yue, who was in his old age, glanced back at the capital, and seemed to be on the city wall, and saw a person who could not see his face, but whose body silhouette could recognize who.

It's like being myself when I was younger.

Zhao Yue stepped back, and Lu Dang naturally became the new prime minister.

Half a year later.

Some people began to impeach the officials under Lu Dang and exploited the people on a large scale, but they were punished by Lu Dang.

And just like that, ten years have passed.

this day.

Lu Dang accompanied the emperor on patrol and came to Yangzhou, where he was promoted in the examination that year, and came to the Mulan Temple.

"You are the monk who rang the bell back then." Lu Dang smiled and looked at the red-robed old monk who came to greet him.

The old monk trembled: "It's the little monk." ”

He blinked his eyes and saw that the two poems he had inscribed on the walls of the temple were still there, and they were even protected by the monks in the temple with sarongs.

"Huh." Lu Dang smiled, remembering the past.

An official accompanying him flattered: "Whether the prime minister makes up for these two lines of poetry, it can also be passed on as a beautiful talk for the ages in the future." ”

Lu Dang thought about it with his hands, and after half a cup of tea, he took a pen and paper and made up the last two sentences.

The hall has been in the west and the east, and the monk is ashamed of the bell after dinner.

Thirty years of dust, now the blue sarong.

"Good poetry, good poetry!" A group of officials flattered and admired.

"There's another one." Lu Dang smiled, saw that Lu Ya, the abbot of the temple, also walked out, and picked up the pen and wrote again:

Thirty years ago, this hospital toured, and the Magnolia Flower Hair Hospital was newly renovated.

Now when I go to the meridian office, the tree is old and flowerless, and the monk is white-headed.

"Let's go!" After writing, Lu Dang left the pen to the people around him and threw up his sleeves and went down the mountain.

A group of monks looked at the embarrassed scholar of the year, an upright young man, and became today's noble minister, old and noble.

Just sigh.

Suddenly, there was a commotion on the steps of the mountain temple:

"Lu Dang, take your life!"

But I saw that it was a bearded old man with a body like a mountain, who killed Lu Dang's guards, and went straight to Lu Dang's body.

A sword rested on Lu Dang's neck.

Lu Dang looked at the visitor and was stunned: "Brother Qiu." ”

"You...... Poof......"

I didn't have time to say anything more.

The old man surnamed Qiu handed out a sword, and when the old prime minister Lu Dang was assassinated outside the mountain temple.

Ancient legends record:

Qiu Xianxia, assassin also.

On the verge of death.

Lu Dang's eyes were blood-red, and he looked at Lu Ya, the old abbot of the mountain temple, walking towards him, and closed his eyes for him:

"A young man slays a dragon, and he becomes a dragon only after he slays a dragon, and he can only slay a dragon when he becomes a dragon, and you will wake up."

Big dreams.

Another dream is over.

…………

(End of chapter)