There didn't seem to be much going on today, Yuan Xiaoxiu finished first, put down his pen and yawned. Wang Yi immediately got up and picked up the teapot, poured tea for Yuan Xiaoxiu, and then poured tea for the other two. Yuan Xiaoxiu didn't make a sound, but Li Zhiqing politely thanked him.

Yuan Xiaoxiu glanced at Wang Yi and asked, "Your name is Wang Yi, right?" ”

Wang Yi said: "Yes." ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu said: "You are a tribute born and don't study in Taixue, how did you think of this?" ”

Wang Yi ignored the disdain in his tone, and said: "Don't hide it from Yuan, my family has an old relationship with Lord Zuo, and Lord Zuo loves to be backward, it was he who suggested that we come here, saying that only here can we learn real practice." ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu straightened his face and asked, "Is it Lord Zuo Zhenkun of the Imperial History of Zuo Capital?" ”

Seeing Wang Yi nodding, not only Yuan Xiaoxiu, but also the other two also paid attention. Yuan Xiaoxiu said: "No wonder, I think other people don't have this kind of knowledge. ”

Wang Yi arched his hand and said, "So please give me a lot of advice." ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu was obviously much more polite, and said: "Lord Zuo is a rare person who understands me, since he asked you to come, it's easy to say, easy to say." ”

At this time, the atmosphere in the room eased a lot, Li Zhiqing and Zhang Dafu put down their pens one after another, picked up their cups and drank tea. Li Zhiqing said to Wang Yi: "Originally, we had 6-7 people here, and basically one person was responsible for one thing, but now there are fewer people, so we have to take care of it." I am mainly in charge of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials. ”

Pointing at Yuan Xiaoxiu, he said: "Yuan is in charge of the Criminal Department and the Ministry of Industry. ”

He pointed at Zhang Dafu and said: "Zhang is in charge of the military department and the household department. ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu smiled at Wang Yi with a self-deprecating smile: "Don't listen to what Li Bianxiu said about being in charge of several ministries, as if we have a lot of power, in fact, we are only responsible for checking and finding out the corresponding regulations, numbers and other matters that the emperor may ask, in case the emperor asks." The Lord can't do anything at all. ”

Li Zhiqing asked Wang Yi, "What did the master of the courtyard tell you when you came?" ”

Wang Yi said: "I only said what I saw and heard here, and I was not allowed to say anything to the outside world." ”

Li Zhiqing nodded and said, "Then I'll be relieved." A few years ago, a colleague drank too much and inadvertently said the content of an official document that had not yet been released, and was relegated to one of the most remote small counties in Lingnan County to make a history. You must not cause trouble for Lord Zuo. Wang Yi and Qi Ye nodded together.

Yuan Xiaoxiu asked Zhang Dafu: "Duncheng, how is the recent war?" ”

Zhang Dafu replied: "There is no improvement. Taiyuan and Hedong were fine, but three more places in Hebei were plundered by the Tatars. As for Xiangfan's Wudou Rice Sect, it is still in a stalemate, urging grain every day, and the household department has to urge Jiangnan to send grain, and I don't know how long it can last. ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu said: "Don't talk about the box soldiers now, even the forbidden army is like paper paste, if Xiangfan doesn't have a Schröding, even a rabble like the Wudoumi Sect can't beat it." ”

Zhang Dafu said: "Then what should I do, in addition to the border army has been fighting all these years, and still maintains some combat strength, the mainland forbidden army is afraid that it can't even hold a knife." ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu said: "That's it, let's just talk about the forbidden army in the capital, not to mention how much empty salary they eat, they usually practice just to show off, and how many people go to the city to earn money and help people fight and protect the hospital." ”

Li Zhiqing coughed, and Yuan Xiaoxiu and the others seemed to sense something and stopped talking. At this time, an introspective eunuch came in and took today's official documents.

After a while, the servants outside came in and delivered lunch, a total of 5 servings, each of which was delivered to the desk. Yuan Xiaoxiu looked down and shouted happily: "There is meat!" Then he asked the servant strangely, "Why do you have meat to eat today?" "It turns out that in addition to a meat dish every five and ten, the rest of the time is a bowl of vegetarian dishes and a plate of broad bean sauce.

The servant replied, "The head of the courtyard has explained, and from today onwards, there will be meat dishes every day." ”

The three of them suddenly became excited, Yuan Xiaoxiu had a quick brain, glanced at Wang Yi and Qi Ye, and asked the servant, "Is it because of the newcomers, special treatment?" ”

The servant said, "Don't hide it, it's these two new adults who told the master to add his monthly allowance to the meal. With that, he turned around and went out.

Yuan Xiaoxiu squinted at Wang Yi and the others: "The two of you have a lot of face, and they enter the Hanlin Academy to study as a tribute, and they actually have an allowance. ”

Wang Yi said calmly: "Don't hide it from the gentlemen, the master of the courtyard is to give face to Lord Zuo, and we didn't dare to ask for it." Speaking of Lord Zuo, the food in the edict is really light, so it is better to add this allowance to your meals, and we have also received the love of the Lord in charge. ”

Hearing this, the expressions of the three of them relaxed, and Zhang Dafu said: "It's still Lord Zuo, thoughtful." ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu said with a smile: "So we have to accept Lord Zuo's love." Eat, everyone eat. After speaking, he picked up a piece of fat and bit it, and the oil dripped down the corner of his mouth.

Qi Ye couldn't help but almost cover his mouth and laugh on the side, Wang Yi hurriedly made a look, Qi Ye came to his senses and hurriedly put down his hand.

After that, Wei Qi and Ye Qi often went to the edict office when they had nothing to do, first helping to grind ink and pour tea, and then began to help sort out documents, find information, and record catalogs. Wei Qi has a good temperament, Ye Qi has neat hands and feet, and rarely speaks, and gradually Li Zhiqing and the three of them are relieved of their hearts, and they no longer deliberately avoid the two of them when they have something to say.

That night, Wei Qi specially invited the three of them to drink, saying that they had been in the edict for many days to express their gratitude. Li Zhiqing was still a little hesitant, and Yuan Xiaoxiu spoke first to persuade: "Brother Wang and Brother Qi are not outsiders, so it's okay to disturb them." ”

Li Zhiqing smiled angrily: "The two brothers helped us with chores, and also subsidized our meals with allowances, if you don't say invite them, you are embarrassed to let them break the bill again." ”

Wei Qidao: "Mr. Li is polite, the two of us have benefited a lot these days, a few of us don't dislike our background in paying tribute, and are willing to make friends with us, it is really love, what is it to drink a few glasses of wine." ”

So they chose a medium-sized restaurant, and the five of them asked for a quiet box, ordered all the wine and food, and began to push the glass and change the lamp. Wei Qi had explained in advance that he was not good at drinking, and he replaced wine with tea, and Li Zhiqing and others already trusted him very much, knowing that he was not a fraud, so they did not force it.

The three of them drank well, and they hadn't drunk happily for a long time, plus Wei Qi's diligent persuasion, Ye Qi added wine in time, and they were in a good mood, drinking too much, and talking more.

Yuan Xiaoxiu was the most lively among the people, and he also had the best impression of Wei Qi, and he said to Wei Qi: "Brother Wang, if you want to learn more practice, let me tell you some examples." Tell me, in the county, is it the county magistrate or the criminal master? ”

Wei Qi thought for a while and said: "Of course, the judge is the magistrate, but the criminal master is familiar with the criminal law, and the master is hired by the magistrate, the two of them are both prosperous and the other is lost, and the magistrate will eventually listen to the master's opinion, it can be said that the master is great." ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu stretched out his thumb and said, "I have seen it deeply, I haven't been waiting for the edict in vain these days." Then let me ask you again, is it the master of the criminal name or the secretary of the criminal household? ”

Wei Qidao: "The criminal master represents the county, and he may also be famous. And the secretary is a small official, according to the law of my dynasty, the clerk is not allowed to participate in the scientific examination, and he can't be an official in his life, and his status is low, how can he be compared with the master? ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu said: "Generally speaking, these officials have a low status and are just for officials to drive. But the officials are mobile, and these officials are all masters and apprentices, passed down from father to son, and they have been in control of one place for a long time, and they are intertwined with the local gentry and clans, and all kinds of local relationships are hidden in the stomach. When encountering shrewd and powerful officials, they can still control them and be at peace with each other, while ordinary officials can only look good, and they are all manipulated behind their backs, and even collude up and down, colluding with each other, and fish and meat in the township. ”

Wei Qi was greatly surprised and said, "These officials have these skills? ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu said: "There are even more powerful, some local officials have relationships with officials at all levels of counties, governments, counties, and even the six departments, if the officials don't listen to him, all kinds of things reported will be refuted by the superiors, and they will soon be unable to do it." ”

Li Zhiqing nodded and said: "That's true, let's just talk about the secretary of the ministry, and the promotion, demotion and transfer of local officials are all handled by them." If the officials offend the local officials, these officials will collude with the secretary of the ministry, and they will do all kinds of things. For example, deliberately leaving some mistakes on the paperwork, and then recovering and correcting them, it will delay time. However, there is a time limit for officials to take up their posts, and if they miss the appointment, they will be recorded, which will affect the evaluation of their tenure, and if they are serious, they will be dismissed directly, and even some officials will lose their posts before they have even arrived. ”

Wei Qi couldn't help but be a little shocked, and said, "Can these people reach the sky?" ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu said: "I will tell you a famous Xu official, a native of Yuhang County, Wucheng County, named Jiang Junjun, nicknamed 'Recognize Me'." Once, at the first seat of the Jiang Army, a young man came, and he was a little negligent in his manners, and the people next to him blamed the young man for being ignorant, and the young man said, I don't know what Jiang Army has to do with it. Soon after, a robber approached the young man, saying that he was an accomplice, and the young man was arrested and imprisoned and severely beaten. The boy's father gave Jiang Junjun 500 taels of silver, and he was immediately released without incident. After being released from prison, the boy's father took him to thank Jiang Junjun, who returned 500 taels of silver to the boy's father in person, and the young man was grateful. Jiang Junjun asked the young man with a smile, do you recognize me now? Only then did the young man wake up, and for the sake of a sentence, Jiang Jun did not hesitate to instigate the robbers to frame the good people. Since then, Jiang Junjun has been given the nickname of 'Recognize Me', and he is not ashamed of it, and he is complacent. ”

Wei Qi said angrily: "This person vented his personal anger with a public weapon, he should be killed!" ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu said: "The reason why Jiang Jun is so rampant is that his hands and eyes are up to the sky. Then he told the following:

It was the 8th year of Jing'an, and the only son of the Hu family, a giant merchant in the south of the Yangtze River, had a dispute with a child of a local family and killed the other party by mistake. Although a lot of money was spent, the other party was very powerful, and in the end, the only son was sentenced to be executed. The problem is that the only son has not yet given birth, and if he dies, the Hu family's door will be extinct. The Hu family thought that they wanted to let the only son stay behind no matter what, but as soon as the official document of the decision arrived, they would immediately start the knife and behead, and they had no time to prepare.

At this time, Jiang Junjun came forward to find the Hu family and promised that as long as the Hu family took out 50,000 taels of silver, he would buy the Hu family half a year, and in this half year, the Hu family could find 10 big girls who were suitable for men and send them to prison to have sex with the only son. In the end, the paperwork for the decision was really half a year late, and the only son of the Hu family got two sons and two daughters.

Speaking of this, Yuan Xiaoxiu stopped talking, poured himself a glass of wine and drank it, and said, "Guess how you did it." ”

Wei Qidao: "He bought off the officials of the Criminal Department and withheld the documents for the execution? ”

Zhang Dafu shook his head and said: "Impossible, the decision is personally approved by the emperor, and it will be issued immediately as soon as it is approved. ”

Wei Qidao thought about it several times and couldn't think of any way, and when he saw Yuan Xiaoxiu drinking leisurely, he hurriedly said, "Oh, Mr. Yuan, you can say it quickly." ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu smiled and said unhurriedly: "It's very simple to say, but you can't do it without a relationship with Tongtian." ”

It turned out that Jiang Jun also had a relationship with the secretary office of the Criminal Department, and he spent 30,000 taels of silver to ask the secretary office of the Criminal Department to put the two documents of the beheading and execution in the wrong bag, and the only son of the Hu family sent this to Shu County, and Shu County's sent to Yuhang. When I arrived at the court, I took out the documents before I was sentenced to see that the name and location of the person were completely wrong, so how could I kill someone? I had no choice but to put the person back in prison, and then quickly handed the documents back to the Criminal Department for exchange. It only takes two months for Yuhang to go back and forth to the capital, but it takes nearly half a year to go back and forth from Shu County, and when the correct documents arrive, the head is cut off, and the time is exactly half a year. After the fact, he was held responsible, and the secretary of the criminal department was negligent in handling affairs, and he was fined for one year, but only 60 taels of silver.

A few people were talking happily, Ye Qi raised his hand to stop everyone, then got up and walked lightly to the back of the door, and after a while, he opened the door suddenly, and a middle-aged man in casual clothes outside the door was just about to put his ear on the door, and was frightened by this sudden change.

As soon as a few people looked at each other, the middle-aged man said in a panic: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm going to the wrong door, I'm going to the wrong door." "U-turn and run downstairs.

Ye Qi closed the door and walked back to his seat, Li Zhiqing said softly: "I recognize it, it's Diao Qiming." ”

Wei Qi asked, "Who is Diao Qiming?" ”

Yuan Xiaoxiu said: "It's a villain, he spends his days slapping horses and drilling the camp, but he doesn't do his job." ”

Zhang Dafu said: "Relying on the relationship between Ji Zhenyi, a member of the criminal department who has just been promoted to the 5th grade. ”

Li Zhiqing frowned and said, "He seems to have come specifically at us." ”

Ye Qi smiled slightly, and said in a thick voice: "Everyone just eat, drink, and talk with confidence, no one can get close to eavesdropping." ”。

Yuan Xiaoxiu looked at Ye Qidao: "Brother Qi, you are not an ordinary person, I think you are a little weird." ”

Wei Qi hurriedly interrupted: "My Qi brother has hunted in the mountains since he was a child, and his ears are outstanding. Let's drink with confidence, come on, Mr. Yuan, I respect you! ”