Chapter 9 The Ninth Chapter Tu Lichen was ordered to patrol the Lantern Festival in Bingzhou and ridiculed Zhongzhi

Hearing this sound, dozens of officials with brilliant feathers in front of the flower hall, from the chief envoy, the inspector to the various officials, and a large group of criminal names, masters of money and food, and more than a dozen gentry and elders in the provincial capital all looked at each other and stopped. Zhuo stood up, not knowing what bad luck this sticky-toothed passing imperial envoy was looking for.Nuo Min gave a slight nod to Tu Lichen, who was sitting firmly in the chair, and hurriedly got up to leave the table, also looking flustered.It was only then that Tu Lichen realized that Tian Wenjing had committed many evils in Taiyuan.He kept his composure, murmured while holding a wine glass, and saw Tian Wenjing hurried in wearing a heron suit and a white nipple glass top.

"I heard that the imperial envoy Tu has arrived?" Tian Wenjing and Nuo Min bowed to each other, and they looked away as soon as they met.Tian Wenjing glanced at the crowd and asked, "Is this here? Let the officials pay homage to you!" Tu Lichen realized that Tian Wenjing's eyes were short-sighted, and he couldn't see clearly when he was sitting in the center in a yellow mandarin jacket, and smiled. He stood up with a smile and said, "I am Tu Lichen." Tian Wenjing then turned around, took a step forward, flung his horseshoe sleeves and knelt down, and said in a loud voice, "Tian Wenjing, the envoy of the imperial envoy West Road Xuanzhi, knocked on the imperial envoy Shanxi Xuanzhi envoy. Tu Lichen! Chentian Wenjing respectfully invites Shengan!"

The imperial envoy kowtowed to the imperial envoy!This is the truth, but it is indeed a superfluous sentence.Seeing Tian Wenjing's unyielding strength, everyone wanted to laugh but didn't dare.For a moment, there was no one at the big banquet, only the faint sound of firecrackers that sounded like gruel being boiled outside the Yamen—it was time to miss the third watch, and it was time for the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.Tu Lichen was also taken aback by Tian Wenjing, but at this moment he said that Tianxian held a lot of power, so why did he put Tian Wenjing in his eyes?After a short pause, he said coldly: "Saint Boon! The imperial envoy Tu Lichen is ashamed to receive your big gift - don't get up in a hurry, I have something to ask you!"

"I respectfully listen to the oracle!" "Ask Tian Wenjing by order," Tu Lichen said, "Tian Wenjing is a small official in the capital, and he was ordered to deliver the decree to Nian Gengyao in Xidaying. He was originally a special mission, and he was not entrusted with collecting stories along the way and interfering with local government affairs. Why do you want to make a fuss out of nothing, playing the role of Nuo Min, the governor of Shanxi, who is greedy for merit and favor, to flatter the present? Am I the one who can be bullied?" After finishing speaking, he stared at Tian Wenjing.Tian Wenjing took his time and kowtowed his head and replied: "I was ordered to go west on a special mission, but the Ministry of Household Affairs has repeatedly received strict orders to clean up the finances of Shanxi, Zhili, Shandong, and Henan provinces within a time limit. The orders have been recorded and handed over to the emperor. It was collected by Shi Cheng. It is because I intervened in the Shanxi deficit case, not as an imperial envoy, but as an officer of the household department to inspect the Shanxi treasury. The status of the minister and Nuo Min is very different and there is no old enmity. The deceitful master, dare not dereliction of duty lightly, begging the saint to go to the cave for light!"

This remark exceeded people's expectations, and even Nuo Min couldn't help being stunned, her face flushed immediately, and she really wanted to interject and ask, "Why didn't you say earlier that you checked as a member of the household department"?But now Tu Lichen is answering on behalf of the emperor, no matter who interjects, he is deceiving the emperor, so he swallowed dryly, staring at this thorny official who came to Shanxi for no reason to make trouble, the fire in his heart shot up Go up.Tu Lichen was also very surprised, but at this time he could only ask questions according to the order, because he said: "Now Shanxi Tong Province has made up all the deficits. Now that you have checked it out, can the bank accounts match?"

"Not bad!" "Since the penny is not bad," Tu Lichen recited Yongzheng's original words, "You have insulted people's reputation for no reason, why is it sincere? What is the sincerity? It is enough to prove that my heart promises that Nuomin is the world's number one minister. Absurd. If Nuomin is a little deceptive, I will have no face to the world! Ask Er Tian Wenjing, what else can I say to me?" After reciting, his eyes were aggressive, and he stared at Tian Wenjing without saying a word. Tian Wenjing licked his lips, Yongzheng's words were so tricky and fierce, neither he nor Wu Sidao thought of it, and protecting Nuo Min to this extent was even more unexpected, if he continued to argue, then It's not a confrontation with Nuo Min, but a direct sweep of Yongzheng's face.Tian Wenjing pondered for a while, then kowtowed and replied: "I am stupid. Nuo Min is indeed the 'No. 1 minister in the world'. Long live the question so far, what else can I say? Fuwei Shengju!"

"Come on!" Tu Lichen shouted with burning eyes, "Remove Tian Wenjing's top hat!" "tie!" The two soldiers agreed and stepped forward.Tian Wenjing waved his hand, and with a pale face and trembling hands, he unscrewed the knob on the top of the Nirvana glass and handed it over. "Master Tian," Tu Lichen smiled slightly, and personally stepped forward to hold Tian Wenjing with both hands, "don't be so depressed. If you mess up the job, you will be dismissed from the post and go to the top. There are thousands of opinions. The ups and downs of the official career are ordinary things, and the crown can be a companion. Come on, let’s have some wine, I’m going to surprise you!” Nuo Min hurriedly asked someone to pour the wine, held it up with both hands to offer to Tian Wenjing, and said with a smile: “Wenjing, it’s more than one month in Jin Dynasty, so it’s a shame to be a master! Thinking about it, it was just a nightmare, as if it happened yesterday. My lord here can testify that my brother is being severely reprimanded by the emperor today, and it is not because of my brother's slander... I think Wenjing will return to Beijing, and the court must have a kind order." Tian Wenjing listened Seeing Nuo Min's hypocritical consolation, without saying a word, she took the wine glass, drank it down, and showed the bottom of the glass to everyone.He went straight to the upper table and sat upright, with a look of indifference. Seeing his courage, Tu Lichen suddenly had a thought: "This man is a hero!" Nuo Min was so happy that he was drunk He seemed to be walking around with his hands behind his back, just wanting to laugh but afraid of losing his composure. Everyone thought he was searching for a poem, but they saw him wave his hand and say, "Set off the big firecrackers! Let off the fireworks!"

As the firecrackers "bang bang" sounded like thunder one after another, twelve boxes of fireworks sprayed flowers, sprayed clouds, sprayed mist and streamers, reflecting the colorful colors on the table.A round moon spreads the silvery veil to the earth like a veil, and the group of officials and gentry sitting in the misty auspicious light with different ideas are urging them to drink, which is quite interesting. After a while, the wine was hot, and people gradually talked more and more.At the beginning, they talked about antiques, Shang Yi, Zhou Ding, Qin bricks and Han tiles, and then some people talked about rhythm, such as one breath, two bodies, three categories, four objects, five tones, six rhythms, seven tones, eight winds and nine songs, and they spit all over the place.On the contrary, Nuo Min, Tian Wenjing and Tu Lichen, the chief of the table, one had nothing to talk about, one didn't want to talk, and the other didn't want to talk, and each was lost in thought with his cups facing the moon.

"Why are the three adults sitting bored?" A drunken county magistrate staggered up, poured wine for the three of them one by one, and said at the same time: "It's a happy day... two imperial envoys—uh How do you eat dry wine? I... I'll tell you a joke... a joke!" He stared at Tian Wenjing.When Tian Wenjing looked at it, it was Pan Gui, the magistrate of Baishan County. This time, he was the first one to clear up the deficit. He knew that he must have come to ridicule him. 'Pangui' (Pangui) is all. But I am no longer 'gui', so I just listen to jokes." Pan Gui pretended to be crazy with wine, and said: "My lord, I said... say It’s a real story! Well... I was born in the fifty-seventh year of Kangxi. I passed through Puyang and missed Sutou. I had no choice but to sleep on a mound without thinking about it. Met a ghost!"

Having said that, Pan Gui is already articulate and no longer stutters.All the people in the house stopped discussing when they heard the magistrate talking about ghosts.I only heard Pan Gui say: "At that time, July 15th, the night was already cold, and I woke up from the cold in the middle of the night. I pulled the quilt and was about to go back to sleep when I heard a few people reciting poems over there... "I thought, at such an hour, there are still people working hard? When I looked up, there were four people sitting on the beach on the west side of the bridge. One was about fifty years old, one was in his forties, and the other two were in their late teens. In between, they were full of sourness. The old man said: "Yesterday, the wind and rain were defeated, and the moonlight is beautiful tonight. Let's write a composition and try our best!" The three said 'success'! So the old man I took out a few balls of paper from the boot pages and gave them to three people. The four of them closed their eyes and raised their eyebrows, shaking their heads and scratching their ears, thinking about solving the problem. At this moment, a gust of wind blew over, and I shivered. I knew in my heart that they must not be human beings, but I wanted to Listen to their time-breaking questions, maybe they will be useful on the court.

"About a meal later, I heard the old man sigh and say: 'I'm so blunt today, I can only come up with a good solution, what can I do?' Several ghosts also echoed, 'Really, somehow, tonight, I just came up with a broken problem, and I can't do it anymore.' "I thought, it must be the ghosts and gods instructing me on the exam questions. I paid attention, and saw the old man take the middle-aged man's paper and say, 'Well, good!——' How thin a person is!'—Miaozai!' "What's so wonderful about breaking the topic in this essay? I felt suspicious in my heart, and the old man commented again in a panic, 'The first sentence can be regarded as the hero's opinion, but the second sentence doesn't seem to include it. Listen to me—" —'Look at the cause and the cause, observe the place and be thin'—how?' "The group of ghosts immediately clapped and applauded in admiration. The old man twirled his beard and said with a smile, 'Composition is a matter of a hair's breadth and a thousand miles. There is no meaning left in the composition question.' Listening to his two nonsensical answers to the question, I was still complacent. I covered the quilt and laughed secretly. Then I heard the old man ask the two young ghosts, 'You are young and quick-witted, why are you swaying backwards? A blank paper?’ a young ghost said, ‘How can I compare with the teacher? You are a person who goes to the examination room three times. The blunt ones have no choice but to dig into the pile of money, and still care about writing?' As they said, the two young ghosts picked up a large pile of golden money from the sand with their hands, and said, "It is good to have the ability to make money. Ghost, in today's world, who talks about articles?' "Hearing this, I couldn't bear it anymore. I stretched my neck and stood up and yelled, 'Xuezheng is here. Whether it's a human or a ghost, we will be determined by the article! A ghost dragged me into the water, how should I deal with it? Unexpectedly, when the four of them heard that no matter human or ghost, they were all destined to die, they were so frightened that they froze on the ground, their faces were ashen, their bodies trembled and turned into a black mist, dying— ——I thought they got money out of the treasury, and when I walked up to have a look, I was so disappointed—it was all paper money!” When Pan Gui said this, he stared at Tian Wenjing with a blushing face, and said with a grin: "Master Tian, ​​is the ghost story I'm telling you pleasant?" There are bones in Gui's words, and he clearly pointed out that Tian Wenjing "went to the examination room three times" to lose his name to Sun Shan, relied on donations to become an official, and borrowed paper money to ridicule him for "taking money from the vassal treasury" and searching for money in every possible way.Although this story is not surprising, it fits everyone's heart.So everyone echoed: "Pan Ling deserves to be a true Jinshi. He is good at exorcising ghosts!" "Determining fate with articles, good!" "The ghost was chased away. You, Lao Pan, didn't beat his vinegar charcoal by the river. disinfect)?" Everyone was chatting and laughing, and they all looked at Tian Wenjing, who had been removed from office and had not yet been dismissed.Tian Wenjing's eyes were straight and he didn't look at Pan Gui. He stared quietly at the gradually extinguished fireworks box. After a while, he took a heavy breath and said, "You are the magistrate of Baishan County. There are eighteen hell clay sculptures on the slope of Baishan Mountain. .In your opinion, those are just clay puppets, not worth mentioning, but I saw a lot of feelings. So many devout men and women brought cigarettes and fruits to worship, what are they trying to do? You are greedy for money, and you have a dark heart, so you use these vain incense sticks to deceive ghosts and gods, so that you will not be burned by fire." His voice was not high, but there was a sound of gold and stone in every sentence.Everyone has a heart disease, and suddenly they are speechless, just looking at the burning stick fire (coal is produced in Shanxi, and high-quality coal is often used on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to set up coal-made stoves in courtyards and streets, as tall as people Xu, shaped like a mallet, can be used for heating and viewing, the name is: "stick fire") to ecstasy. Nuo Min was very happy at first, the new emperor ascended to the throne, and all the officials and officials were not familiar with him yet, yet he was praised as "the number one minister in the world". What a glorious and dignified event this is?But for some reason, facing the two imperial envoys, I gradually became a little uneasy.Tian Wenjing's refusal to be blamed is a matter of reason, why is this young man Tu Lichen so arrogant and arrogant, he didn't say a word at the banquet, and just drank the left glass and the right glass?Thinking about it, he got up and laughed, "Why are you eating dry wine? Who has a joke, tell Master Tu a joke!" "There are no jokes," an official sitting at the second table got up and came to Tu Lichen's table, held a cup and served the three of them, and said, "The humble post is Sha Benji, the county magistrate of Taiyuan. Mr. Tian checked the treasury, At the beginning, I was accompanied by a lowly position. I didn’t cover my face with wine and spoil my lord. How did I persuade you to come when you wanted to check the accounts? When Nuo Zhongcheng took office, the first thing he did was to clean up the treasury. Officials worth more than 10,000 taels of silver were praised by the holy grandfather during his reign! My lord, let me advise you while drunk, don’t do to others what you don’t want yourself to do to yourself, let alone how can you be righteous when you are not righteous?" In addition to proclaiming the decree, Tu Lichen originally had a secret edict from Yongzheng to "observe the style of officials in Jin Province". The purpose of the explicit decree and the secret decree are slightly different. Seeing that everyone had a fit of drinking, embarrassing Tian Wenjing, and flattering Nuo Min, he felt disdainful, so he slowly put down his wine glass and asked, "Sha Ling, I don't understand what you said. Don't do what you don't want." It’s justifiable to others. What does it mean that you can’t correct others if you don’t correct yourself?” "Master Tu," Tian Wenjing arched his hands and said, "Such a foolish and ignorant person, you don't have to argue with him. He just saw me unlucky, so he came here to fight for someone. It's human nature to push the wall down." He snorted He sneered and said, "Thinking that I, Tian, ​​is so easy to deal with? Tell you that the surname is Sha, it's easy to wake up from sweet dreams, but it's hard to ripen yellow beams! If you don't clear up the deficit case here, I will never cross the Fen River!" "How can I be a foolish and ignorant person!?" "Your nickname is 'Killing Unstoppable', and you work as the boss of Qu'a, knocking down the little people, and your name matches your reality, so you are stupid and ignorant!" Tian Wenjing blushed, and slapped the case lightly, "In the beginning, you checked the library, you Running after me like a dog's tail, and now with this face, I would like to add, you are stubborn and shameless! Tell you all, I have used my imperial envoys to seal your treasury!" Tian Wenjing and Sha Benji turned against each other in public, and everyone was stunned, and the words "seal the treasury" were even more shocking.Dozens of officials looked at each other in blank dismay, and all stared at Tian Wenjing, wondering what kind of disease he had, and dared to be so bold. "The one surnamed Tian," Nuo Min couldn't help changing color, and stood up as soon as she pushed the table, "Seize the treasury, I want to ask for the holy order! As the governor of Shanxi, I don't have the right! You are a little Cao, disturb I, the Shanxi government affairs officer, see that you are an imperial envoy, how much face have I saved for you? How dare you be so crazy! - You are an official who has been removed from the top, come! Remove him!" Several Goshhas agreed with a "Zha" and came over aggressively. Tian Wenjing stood up "swipe", pushed down the chair he was sitting on with a gloomy face, and said firmly: "I have already Send people 600 miles to urgently hand over the memorial to the emperor. Don’t want your life, don’t want to be an official, you must solve the Shanxi liquidation case!” "You are arrogant!" Nuo Min roared, "The emperor sent a court order yesterday, ordering me to withdraw 100,000 silver from the treasury to relieve the spring famine at Yanmen Pass. If you seal the treasury, one person in Shanxi will starve to death. .” Tu Lichen had already stood up, and Xu Bu paced around the stick fire, thinking nervously.Closing the feudal treasury is the most important thing, which is equivalent to stopping the province's finances. If it is wrongly sealed, Tian Wenjing really has only a dead end.But Tian Wenjing knew this, so why was he so reckless?He knew that he was also involved at this moment, and he had to have a clear attitude between Nuo Min and Tian Wenjing. Thinking about it, he walked up to Tian Wenjing and asked, "Why?" Even Nuo Min couldn't help shivering. "Responding to Mr. Tu's words," Tian Wenjing said with a slight bow, "Nuo Min's people trespassed on my imperial envoy in the posthouse, and took the person in my hand to prove Qiao Yindi. Therefore, I suspected that his Ku Yin was not real, so I sealed it up first. A scholar can be killed but cannot be humiliated, Nuo Min insults me too much, not to mention I am an imperial envoy, Nuo Min insults the emperor even more. I just can't tolerate him!" Tu Lichen turned his face and asked: "Master Nuo Min, is there such a thing?" Nuo Min nodded and said: "It's the bitch I just mentioned. This matter is handled by the Taiyuan City Gate. I don't think There was nothing wrong. Tian Wenjing was originally not an imperial envoy, but only an imperial envoy, so the post house was not an imperial envoy. The Emperor Shengzu had issued an edict long ago, and civil and military officials were not allowed to visit prostitutes. Tian Wenjing said that Qiao Yindi was a My witness in the case of Shanxi’s shortfall of treasury and silver should have been sent to the yamen of the bureau for custody pending trial. Why should she be kept in a posthouse? Besides, Tian Wenjing himself has admitted that the treasury’s treasury and bank accounts are cleared, and even Tian Wenjing should False accusation instead. Qiao Yindi sued the government by the people, she was already guilty, and the accusation was false, shouldn't she be arrested and brought to justice?" Nuo Min had worked in the Ministry of Punishment for two years, and was familiar with the "Great Qing Law", and the old officials were familiar with it, and she spoke plausibly, but Tian Wenjing suddenly interjected coldly: "Master Nuo, what evidence do you have that I am a prostitute?" Prostitute? Today’s mansion reported that the Lord of Long Live’s strict decree reaffirmed that the governors of all regions must respectfully obey the imperial edict before the coffin of Long Live, and mourn for the Holy Father for three years. The Taiyuan City set off fireworks, and why? Tell me, My student doesn't understand! You have to know that the Zi Palace of the first emperor is still in Da Nei, and he died less than three months ago. How dare you ask what you are congratulating? To tell you the truth, I have not only sealed up the treasury, but also posted a notice; The gentry and merchants have silver accounts with the treasury, and they will be settled within three days. After three days, the Shanxi treasury silver will be transported to Nanjing for recasting. I don’t think Master Nuo will be happy when he hears the news, right?” As if a thunder had exploded out of nowhere, the banquet was first completely silent, as silent as an ancient temple in a barren mountain, and then there was a buzzing sound at the banquet of the gentry, but they didn't know what they were talking about. "What?" Sweat broke out on Nuo Min's head suddenly, Qi Qi Ai asked, "Three million taels... All sent to Nanjing?" "That's right." Tian Wenjing raised his face arrogantly, took out the hookah from his arms, Just lit the fire matcher by candlelight, lit a cigarette, puffed out the clouds and said: "All go away." Nuo Min's face was bluish, her heart was beating wildly, her hands were wet and sticky with cold sweat, and it took half a day to turn around. Come on, he gritted his teeth and stared at Tian Wenjing, who was smoking a hookah with hatred, and said with a chuckle: "The Taiyuan Silver Foundry casts 'water system' silver, which is the same type as the Beijing ingot. It has been used in the world for more than three hundred years, and its fineness can reach Nine Seven Eight (Nine Seven Eight means the purity can reach 97.8%), why did you send it to Nanjing for casting?" "Because I don't trust you officials from Shanxi!" Tian Wen said without raising his smile from the camera, "The 297 officials from the whole province worked their hands up and down to contact and deceive the imperial court. nail!" Turichen was also stunned.It was the first time for him to be involved in local administration, and he didn't understand the monstrous skills of officials from other provinces in cheating on money.He only knows that it is a big deal to seal up the treasury without asking for an order, but he doesn't understand the power of this notice!Thinking about it, Tu Lichen turned to Nuo Min and said, "This matter is too serious. Mr. Nuo, what regulations do you have?" "My charter is to unpack immediately!" Nuo Min suddenly yelled out of composure, "Tear down this notice immediately!" Tian Wenjing blew out the fire matcher in one gulp, glanced at everyone contemptuously, walked up to Tulichen Xu Bu, bowed slightly and said, "Master Tu!" "Well". "I want to lend you something." "what?" "I'll lend you a bag of cigarettes," Tian Wenjing coughed dryly, and gave up his hand, "Can you stop talking on the wall of the flower hall?" Tu Lichen really wanted to know what kind of medicine was sold in Tian Wenjing's gourd, so he nodded.As soon as he turned around, Nuo Min said loudly: "Is there anything to tell? Say it in front of everyone!" Tu Lichen didn't seem to hear it, and followed Tian Wenjing into the flower hall with a glance. His subordinate Geshiha came over immediately, Guarded the gate under the eaves of the flower hall.