Chapter 77 The Fourteenth Round Sending the Silkie to the County Magistrate Was Humiliated and Demolished the Stone Archway

The University Scholars Mansion located on Dongmen Street, because its predecessor was Liao Wang Mansion, its scale surpassed that of Jingzhou Mansion.After Zhang Wenming bought it, he repaired and decorated it again, and the system became more magnificent.Looking from a distance, the large curved roofs with upturned eaves are covered with luxurious glazed tiles, reflecting the dazzling light under the sun.Between the two thick flat pillars of the main entrance, a six-foot-long plaque of Ganan incense hangs on the wide door beam, and the inscription reads "Great Scholars' Mansion", four gold characters with azure background. The steps in front of the gate On both sides of the road, there is a big white marble stone lion squatting in high spirits. The square in front of the mansion is very wide. Under the caisson corridor on both sides of the footpath, next to the corner pillars, there are two rows of exquisitely chiseled rice bluestone horse posts. , facing the gate about ten feet away, four towering agarwood flagpoles were erected side by side. On the flying yellow silk-rimmed triangular colored flags, the words "Great Scholars Zhang" stood out. Three hundred and sixty-five a year No matter it is windy or rainy, there are family guards under the flagpole and at the gate. Therefore, except for the opening of the Fuchu and other festive days, the gate El is usually empty and rarely sees a person. .The high-walled compound has a heavy gate, and the momentum frightens people. Who dares to stay here to have a glimpse of the mystery? There was a constant flow of traffic every day, and officials from all walks of life, far and near, no matter whether they were familiar with each other or not, all rushed to visit. The trouble here was originally the heart of comparison in the officialdom. The Master Zuotang of a certain yamen held the invitation card and carried it with him. The gift box came to greet me, so if Master Youtang didn't come, wouldn't he be criticized by others? This yamen has visited, how dare that yamen hesitate a bit? Needless to say, the yamen in Jingzhou city, as long as there is a yamen in the neighboring state capital If one takes the lead, the others will follow suit. The first to come to condolences are the representatives of Huguang Dao Fuyong and the two courts. When these two yamen move, who in the prefectures and counties below will not take the boss's face into account? It is prevalent in the officialdom It was originally an art of gaining profits, and the officials who were keen to run around the rich and powerful were not willing to let go of this good opportunity to invite pets. For a while, hundreds of officials gathered in Jingzhou City, and the square in front of the University Scholars Mansion came to compete for days like a temple fair. Yes, all the officials came here in a hurry, but none of them could see Mrs. Zhang. After hearing Zhao Qian's words, the old man excused himself from being too seriously injured and hid in the backyard. The one who received them was Mrs. Zhang The old man's second son, Zhang Juzheng's younger brother Zhang Juqian. He is now a fifth-rank commander of Jinyiwei, and the government office is also in this Jingzhou city. Because it is not easy to attend court with visiting officials in a private house, Zhang Juqian simply got rid of his official robe He only wears casual clothes to see guests. Every day, he has to accept a large pile of greeting cards sprinkled with gold and cinnabar paper, and the gift boxes are almost full of a room. On this day, around the end of the day, Zhang Juqian was receiving a special trip from foreigners in the living room of the front yard. Lord Feng, the prefect of Lingzhou who came to pay respects, a family member came in and handed him a greeting card. This greeting card is too simple, as if it was written on a piece of red paper temporarily, and the line of regular script on it is quite skillful : Li Shun, the late student, would like to pay respects. "It's Li Shun, the magistrate of Yuan'an," Zhang Juqian said to Mr. Feng, "sit down for a while, and I'll welcome him in. "

Zhang Juqian walked out of the gate, only to see Li Shun wearing a green cloth gown standing in the square waiting.A footman stood next to him and picked out two gift boxes, one was square and the other was round, bigger than the big lanterns hanging in the government office, both were covered with red cloth so that the contents inside could not be seen clearly.Seeing the heavy burden of the ceremony, Zhang Juqian was somewhat satisfied in his heart, he hurriedly went up to greet him, cupped his fists, and said with a smile: "Master Li, please come inside. Where are your bearers? Let them drink tea."

"We don't have bearers," Li Shun replied respectfully, wiping his profuse sweat, "we came here on foot." "You came from Yuan'an? It's more than two hundred miles away?" Zhang Juqian was surprised. "No, we came here on a donkey, and when we entered the city, we left the donkey tied at home." "Ah, I forgot, Master Li lives in the city." Zhang Juqian introduced Li Shun into the living room, and first introduced him to Mr. Feng.Mr. Feng is a sixth-rank official, one rank higher than Li Shun. In addition, he looked down on this specially recommended county magistrate who was not born in the imperial examination, so he answered perfunctorily.Li Shun didn't care about it, exchanged some pleasantries with Zhang Juqian, then took out a gift slip from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Juqian, blushing and said:

"I heard that Mrs. Zhang was seriously injured and had trouble sleeping and eating in his later life. Yuan'an is a poor village, and there is nothing to buy. Prepare some local products to help Mrs. Zhang recover." Zhang Juqian took the gift list and looked at it, it said: "Ten catties of gastrodia elata, twenty silky chickens." Suddenly he felt displeased, and thought: "No matter how poor you are in Yuan'an, you won't be able to make such a catty that is less than two catties." Isn’t this sending a beggar?” He casually threw the gift list on the coffee table and said, “It’s hard for Master Li to be sincere, but this gift is definitely hard to accept.”

"Why?" "Jia Yan doesn't like chicken by nature." "But this is silky chicken," Li Shun solemnly declared, "Stew it together with gastrodia elata, it will cure dizziness." "Is a black-bone chicken still a chicken?" Zhang Juqian replied unhappily, "When Jia Yan smells chicken soup, he gets sick." "Master Li, Master Li, you have lived in Jingzhou City for so many years, how come you don't even know about this?" Master Feng, who was sitting idle by the side, took the opportunity to interject, "We have been transferred from Shanxi to Yiling for less than a year. Knowing that the old man never eats chicken, his favorite food is goose."

"Yes, Jia Yan likes to eat geese," Zhang Juqian took over, "Master Li, you should take this silky chicken back." Li Shun guessed that it was because Zhang Juqian was too polite, so he couldn't answer for a moment.But he said that he said goodbye to Jin Xuezeng who was visiting at home that day, and it took two days to ride a little donkey back to the Yuan'an County Government. Although he knew the news about Mrs. Zhang being beaten, he didn't pay attention to it.About ten days later, the county school teacher came back from his business trip in Jingzhou, and told him in detail about the grand occasion of the county government office going to the University scholar's mansion to visit Mr. Zhang. I went to visit the scholar's mansion, but I went back to the county government in a bumpy way.Now I have to go to Jingzhou to give gifts to make up for my affection.When it came to giving gifts, he encountered another difficulty. Yuan'an was a poor county. Although there was a hundred and ten taels of silver in the government treasury, it was the salary of a servant and the salaries of several officials, and he could not move it.What's more, on the first day he became the county magistrate, he set a rule for himself, except for the salary, he should not spend a cent of the public's money out of conscience.He searched the boxes and found two taels of silver, and ordered the yamen servant to use the money to buy ten catties of gastrodia elata and twenty silky chickens.He thought it was an important gift, but when he arrived in Jingzhou, he heard that the big gift boxes from other prefectures and counties were all carried on mules, and there was a silver note on the outside, ranging from a few hundred taels to a few It didn't wait for ten taels, so I was embarrassed by the shabbyness of my gift.Wanting to buy more but suffering from empty pockets, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and come slowly with a gift bag.

Li Shun's head was slumped on pins and needles on this side, and the domineering Master Feng made sarcastic remarks on the other side: "Master Li, you are a majestic seventh-rank county magistrate, how come you look like a chicken dealer, picking a load of chickens from a long distance of two hundred miles." No matter how stupid Li Shun is, he couldn't stand this kind of insult, so he retorted: "Master Feng, I am a chicken dealer, so you must be a Yalang, have you moved a golden mountain here?" "you……" "You are gifts from the yamen, and you use people's fat and people's ointment. Although my gift is light, Li Shun spends my own salary."

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Zhang Juqian hurried out to mediate. He signaled Master Feng with a wink to keep quiet, and he forced a smile on his face and said to Li Shun: "Master Feng was just joking. Master Li doesn't have to be serious. As the saying goes, sending goose feathers from thousands of miles away is less polite than affection. I accept Master Li's favor on behalf of Jia Yan. It's just that Jia Yan can't enjoy this silky chicken." "Master Zhang, you want Li to really pick this silky chicken back?" "This... I have already said that I accept Mr. Li's wishes on behalf of Jia Yan."

"Since that's the case, Li is leaving." As Li Shun said, he stood up and saluted Zhang Juqian, lifted his straight coat, and walked out of the living room angrily.When Zhang Juqian rushed out of the living room and shouted "Master Li, go away", Li Shun had already stepped down the aisle. He looked up at the colorful flag of "Grand Scholar Zhang" floating in the air, and suddenly felt a surge in his heart. Feeling sore and bitter, I endured it, so that two hot tears would not overflow my eyes.At this time, two more official sedan chairs were carried into the square, and he quickly lowered his head and walked quickly. After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard someone shouting out of breath behind him:

"Master, where are you going?" Li Shun, who was drowsy, woke up with a start. Looking up, he had already crossed the intersection, and even walked halfway to the West Street. There are two gift boxes on one side and one circle. "You really picked it back?" Li Shun asked. Jiao Yi resentfully replied: "Master, don't the police officers of the yamen look down on you and laugh at you as a chicken dealer, and..." Jiao Yi hesitated to speak, but Li Shun asked, "What else?" "Master Zheng, the magistrate of Jingzhou Mansion, came forward to make arrangements, and booked the Zhanghua Restaurant opposite to the University Scholars. All the masters who gave gifts will be entertained, and the attendants will also have wine."

"You don't feel like a loser, don't you?" "Small sigh, my lord is too embarrassing, those rotten mouths are chewing their tongues, and their words are ugly." "Let them talk," Li Shun said with a bitter smile, looking around, "how did I get here?" "That's right, the little one wondered why the master lived in the south gate, so he walked westward in a dull manner, so he yelled from behind." "What's in front of this place?" Li Shun asked ignorantly. "It's full of shops, and there's also a yamen." "Ah, that's right," Li Shun suddenly came to his senses and slapped his forehead. "The Jingzhou tax office is just ahead. Come on, let's go to the tax office." "Pick this gift box?" "Pick." Li Shun walked forward quickly as he spoke, and Tiao Yi followed him, and hurried to the gate of the customs office. Hearing the door report of Li Shun's visit, Jin Xuezeng hastened to welcome him out.During these times, Jin Xuezeng became the target of public criticism in Jingzhou City.All the yamen hall officials avoided him like the plague, and even the few newly acquainted officials who had been close to each other in conversation and speculative communication were nowhere to be seen.When Li Shun came to visit at this time, he was both surprised and warm.When he went out, he saw Li Shun in casual clothes, followed by Jiao Yi who had picked up two gift boxes, so he couldn't help asking curiously: "Master Li, what is this?" Li Shun smiled wryly, and said, "It's hard to explain in one word, let's go in and talk about it." The two walked through the lobby, walked straight to Jin Xuezeng's office and sat down, drank a cup of tea, and by the way, Li recounted his experience of going to the University Scholars' Mansion today.Jin Xuezeng laughed out loud when he heard this, and jokingly said: "Master Li, two taels of silver as a gift, you have created another anecdote in Wanli's officialdom, it is polite not to throw you out." Li Shun couldn't help feeling embarrassed, so he said something rude: "This is cutting eggs for the Bodhisattva, he doesn't think it looks good, and we died of pain." "Come on, let's make a deal. If you offer two chickens, I'll ask someone to buy a jar of old wine. How about getting drunk?" "It's so good." Jin Xuezeng ordered to go down immediately.Li Shun inadvertently caught a glimpse of the Four Treasures of the Study on the desk, a four-foot-long white rattan paper in Shu edition, already half-written with ink dripping on it, he immediately got up to take a look, and on the paper was written: Zhou Li Xiaosi Kou's five listening methods: one day listen to words, watch what he says, if you are not straight, you will be annoyed; Listen with your ears, watch your ears, if you are not straight, you will be confused; five is listening with your eyes, watch your eyes, if you are not straight, you will be loud.The ancients listened to the prison law in such a detailed way, that is, there are gods who cannot escape from themselves, and it can be broken in a few words.Later generations do not do this, but use the hook to observe the feelings of others, and use the weaving to weave the feelings of begging for others. The fonts are both cursive and cursive, with the style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.Li Shun played and chanted twice carefully, and praised: "Lord Jin, your five listening arguments are based on feelings." "Yeah, I've been thinking about a name for this value house for the past few days. After thinking about it all night yesterday, I finally came up with a name called Wu Ting Zhai. I have nothing to do in the morning, so I thought about writing this article." "Wu Ting Zhai Ji", just started, you came here." "Wu Ting Zhai," Li Shun sympathized with Jin Xuezeng's current difficult situation, and knew his repressed state of mind, so he said, "Just by looking at the beginning, you can tell that it is a strange article." "The ancients said that if you listen to one side, you will believe it, and if you listen to it concurrently, you will be clear. What is partial listening and what is combined listening? There are different opinions, and there is no consensus. Some time ago, I accidentally read "Zhou Li" and found the source." Jin Xuezeng said eloquently, with a calm and relaxed look, Li Shun was very surprised and asked: "At this time, do you still have time to read these ancient books?" "Our Jingzhou tax is closed, and there are not many birds. If you don't read it now, when will you wait?" After Jin Xuezeng finished speaking, he looked out of the window into the courtyard. The quietness of the daytime was deserted and lifeless, and a trace of gloom had unconsciously appeared between his brows.Li Shun sighed and said: "My lord Jin, my stupidity really convinced you. After such a big incident, people guessed that you were confused, but they didn't expect you to be able to use your pen to write." Jin Xuezeng didn't want to rush to talk about his annoyance, but seeing Li Shun take the initiative to bring up the topic, he deliberately revealed a tone: "Master Li, what you said last time that Zhao Qian gave the Jiangling County official land to the old man, I have sent someone to investigate and verify the facts. Immediately write a letter to report the matter to the chief assistant, and send it to the capital." "What, you wrote to the Chief Assistant?" Li Shun was surprised and shouted, "How could you do that?" Jin Xuezeng said with a smile: "Such a big bribery case happened in Jiangling County, how dare the foolish officials conceal it?" "What's the attitude of the chief assistant?" "No reply yet." Li Shun's heart tightened all of a sudden, he shook his head and smiled wryly, "Lord Jin, you really have the guts of a leopard, have you thought about the consequences?" "I thought about it." "After all, Zhang Wenming is the father of the first assistant. If he deliberately favors you, you will be the second Hai Rui." "I don't think so." Jin Xuezeng took a look at Li Shun, and then asked, "Have you read all the recent issues of the mansion newspaper sent by the Secretary of General Administration of the capital?" "I've seen it," Li Shun replied, "mostly it is the controversy caused by the taxation of Zilitian. This major decision made by the chief minister is really a big blow to the imperial relatives and other powerful households." "Shoufu's ambition is to manage money for the world. Master Li, tell me, how could he let me be the second Hai Rui?" Jin Xuezeng was so confident, Li Shun had doubts in his heart, but it was inconvenient to say anything more.At this time the cook came to report that the chicken soup was ready, and the two got up and went to the dining room.A large pot of fragrant chicken soup has just been placed on the dining table, accompanied by a few seasonal vegetables. The government servants have also bought a jar of real estate aged grain wine, and when they uncover the mouth of the jar covered with oily paper, the whole room is immediately filled with With a mellow wine aroma.Li Shun shrugged his nose and unconsciously swallowed his saliva. The two hostesses were not polite, and passed cups to cups, and devoured them hungrily. After a while, both of them became half drunk.Li Shun carefully gnawed on a strong chicken leg, and muttered puzzledly thinking about the gift giving in the morning: "It's really strange that Mrs. Zhang has no luck to enjoy such a delicious delicacy. Alas, what a pity, what a pity." Jin Xuezeng was very happy to see Li Shun eating so much, and said mockingly: "Master Li, do you really think that Mrs. Zhang doesn't eat chicken?" "That's what his second son Zhang Juqian said. He said he would vomit when he smelled chicken soup." Speaking of this, Li Shun suddenly remembered the hideous face of Mr. Feng, the magistrate of Yiling, and his face turned pale again, cursing. Said, "No matter how good old Mrs. Zhang is, he can't stand those flattering people vying to pour him ecstasy soup...Stop talking, stop talking, drink." The two were having a good time chatting with each other through wine, when the director Zhang Qizao suddenly walked in and said to Jin Xuezeng: "Master Zhou Xianmo, the supervisory censor of Huguang Road, wants to make an urgent appointment with you." "Where is the other person?" "In the official pavilion outside the east gate." "Why is it there?" Jin Xuezeng felt strange. While hiccupping, Li Shun thought about it, and said anxiously, "Lord Jin, according to the officials, your going will be more or less auspicious." "yes?" "Master Zhou came all the way from Wuchang City, but he didn't enter the city but stayed at the Jieguan Pavilion. It's likely that he was ordered by the constitution to get you there and arrest him." Jin Xuezeng didn't know what to do, but he couldn't avoid the matter so far, so he said with a grin: "Even if the Jieguan Pavilion becomes the Pavilion of Storms, we have to go, Mr. Zhang, please go down and prepare the sedan chair for me." The Jieguan Pavilion is three miles outside the east gate of Jingzhou City. Whenever the superior officials come to Jingzhou, the local officials will come to the Jieguan Pavilion to greet them.This reception pavilion is not just a pavilion, there is also a small courtyard next to it, which is a temporary resting place for the reception officials.Today, a new building has been added between the Jieguan Pavilion and the east gate of Jingzhou, which is the "Master Zhang Archway".Usually, as soon as you go out of the East City Gate, you can see the Jieguan Pavilion with hexagonal cornices from a distance, but now it is blocked by this tall archway.Zhang Dashi's memorial archway is about one mile away from the Jieguan Pavilion.When Jin Xue passed there, he didn't want to linger, and came straight to the Jieguan Pavilion. Jin Xue once thought that this meeting would be more or less auspicious, so he spent all his time in the office when he went out.The umbrella player, the Qing Daoist, and the water and fire sticks were used as much as possible. There were twenty or thirty people in front and back, which was also a large team. It was the first time for him to be so ostentatious.When I got off the sedan chair in front of the official receiving pavilion, I stepped out of the sedan chair door, and saw dozens of military horses scattered behind the pavilion, and there were many sergeants in a pile of three, and two groups were sitting in the shade of the tree to rest, looking at the costumes, He recognized that these were all the cavalrymen who were in charge of arresting and arresting criminals, he immediately became nervous and didn't allow himself to think about it, but when he saw the head of the reception pavilion came forward and gave a bow, he said: "Inform Mr. Jin that Mr. Zhou Xianmo, the supervisory censor of Huguang Road, is waiting in the courtyard." Jin Xuezeng adjusted his official robes, followed the pavilion chief and walked into the small courtyard calmly. There was an open space in the middle of the small courtyard. The main room facing the courtyard gate was raised by five stone steps. A man in his fifties Standing at the entrance of the living room, the fourth-rank official saw Jin Xuezeng coming in, hurriedly walked down the stone steps to greet him, clasped his fists and asked: "Is the person here Mr. Jin?" "Exactly." Jin Xuezeng returned the gift. "The stupid Zhou Xianmo is waiting here," Zhou Xianmo said, and invited Jin Xuezeng into the living room. After the two parties sat down for a ceremony, Zhou Xianmo said again, "The reason why I invited Mr. Jin here to meet is for the convenience of talking." Jin Xuezeng was already ready to take the shackles and go on the road, but seeing Zhou Xianmo's behavior, he didn't seem to have any malicious intentions, so he was a little uncertain.Although both of them are in the fourth rank, Zhou Xianmo is a wind constitutional official who holds the power of impeachment. Because of his special mission, even those with higher ranks will respect him.Jin Xuezeng was not afraid of him in his heart, but he still kept his status low according to official rules, and asked cautiously: "I don't know if Mr. Zhou has anything to ask for advice?" Zhou Xianmo was an old official, he had already guessed what Jin Xuezeng was thinking at this time, so he said with a smile: "Lord Jin, don't be nervous, Yuzhi came to Jingzhou this time because he was ordered by the Chief Assistant to complete an errand with you. " "What errand?" "Dismantling the archway of the university scholar." "what?" "For fear that Mr. Jin doesn't believe it, we still have two official documents here." As Zhou Xianmo said, he got up and went to the back room, took out two documents from the box he brought with him, and passed them to Jin Xuezeng. Zhou Xianmo, the supervisory censor of Huguang Road, knew: Following the instructions of Zhang Juzheng, the chief assistant of the cabinet, I ordered you to lead fifty cavalry to Jingzhou immediately on the day you received the letter, to demolish Zhang Dashi's memorial archway without any mistakes, and reply after the matter is completed.Month Day. Signed by Wang Zhi, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment The other is a personal letter written by Zhang Juzheng to Zhou Xianmo, the content of which is roughly similar to the Yiwen issued by the Ministry of Punishment.The difference is that Zhang Juzheng also specifically mentioned in his letter that Zhou Xianmo should find Jin Xuezeng first after he arrived in Jingzhou, and plan with him to demolish the archway, and "eliminate interference and complete it as soon as possible."It was precisely because of this letter that Zhou Xianmo brought Jin Xuezeng to the reception hall. After Jin Xuezeng finished reading the letter, Zhou Xianmo asked, "Master Jin, what's your opinion on the demolition of the archway?" Jin Xuezeng usually chatted with the officials, and he learned that this Zhou Xianmo was sophisticated and a slippery glass ball.This kind of person goes to the front when good things happen, and hides when bad things happen.Regarding the demolition of the archway, the letter from the Ministry of Criminal Justice and the letter from the chief assistant both clearly indicated that he still wanted to ask for opinions, which was obviously unwilling to take responsibility.Although Jin Xuezeng could see his narrow-mindedness, he still put the matter first, and asked, "Master Zhou, did you know that the officials from the Jingzhou government will be informed when you come here?" Zhou Xianmo replied: "Except for you, Yuzhi didn't notify anyone." Jin Xuezeng blinked his small eyes, and said: "On Huguang Road, you Master Zhou is a prominent official. Since you have arrived in Jingzhou, you can't hide it if you want to. I'm afraid that at this time, there will be an ear report to report to the Jingzhou government I have found your whereabouts. I don’t think it’s too late, if this University Archway is going to be demolished, it’s time to do it.” "Yuzhi thinks the same way," Zhou Xianmo said worriedly, "If the news leaks out, it will be difficult, and officials from the Jingzhou government will definitely come forward to obstruct it." "Officials are not afraid. Who would dare to interfere if the Ministry of Punishments moved this document?" Jin Xuezeng replied confidently. .” "That's right, let's do it now." After the two of them finished talking, they invited each other to go out to the University Archway.It was already the end of the application period, and under the west slanting sunlight, the Zhang Dashi Memorial Arch looked very eye-catching.The archway is purely chiseled with white marble, and four large stone pillars two feet square support triple stone cornices.There is a clear space of one foot and eight feet above the stone pillar. On the first horizontal square, there is a dragon ornament with Kui pattern carved on it. On the wide stone plaque on it, there are three characters of "Great Scholars" written on it, and a line of small characters below: Grand Master Zhang Juzheng In small print, each one is as big as the mouth of a soup bowl.The couplet written by Xu Jie himself has not been engraved, but the words have been traced, and several craftsmen are busy there.Zhou Xianmo's fifty Ti cavalrymen and the government servants who traveled with Jin Xuezeng totaled seventy or eighty people, and there were enough people to demolish the archway.The tools are also ready-made. Because the work has not been completed yet, there are many ladders, hammers, chisels, chisels and so on.Zhou Xianmo walked up to him, walked around the archway with his hands behind his back to appreciate it, and sighed to Jin Xuezeng: "Lord Jin, this archway is not only stylish, but also exquisitely carved. You can see the two entangled kui dragons on the horizontal archway. They are so lifelike that they want to fly away. It's a pity to demolish it now!" Jin Xuezeng replied: "Master Shoufu is not willing to go for fame, and we can only follow orders." "yes!" Although Zhou Xianmo felt regretful, he had no choice but to issue an order to demolish it.But it is said that there is a pawn named Lu in Jingzhou Mansion, who was sent here by Zhao Qian to take charge of the on-site construction.Now seeing someone rushing up to demolish the archway, he hurried over to stop him. He didn't recognize Zhou Xianmo, but he knew Jin Xuezeng, so he asked Jin Xuezeng: "Lord Jin, who gave you the courage to tear down Lord Shoufu's arch?" Jin Xuezeng winked at Zhou Xianmo, but didn't bother him, and just replied, "We're doing things, it's not your turn to make noise, get out of the way, and be careful not to hurt you." While talking, I saw that the cavalrymen had moved several ladders to the top of the archway, overturned a corner of the eaves, and saw many soldiers suddenly appearing, and the officials of Lu Dian didn't know where they came from, so they hurriedly I ran back to the city to report the news. As the saying goes, it is easy to fail and difficult to succeed.In less than half an hour, this majestic University Archway, which took a lot of ingenuity to build, has been demolished until only four pillars remain.The white marble components that fell on the ground were broken and broken, and none of them were complete.At this time, more than a dozen official sedan chairs were carried out from the East City Gate, and there were hundreds of government servants guarding the sedan chairs in front and behind, dancing with spears and sticks, running all the way. Jin Xuezeng looked at the posture and guessed that the officials from Lu had brought in reinforcements, so he said to Zhou Xianmo: "Master Zhou, dust off your body quickly, all the officials in Jingzhou City have been invited to welcome you." Zhou Xianmo put on the awning and looked towards the direction of the east gate, and ordered the cavalry who came with him to mount their horses and stand in line.He took care of his clothes as expected, and waited quietly for the arrival of the team of official sedan chairs. About 20 or 30 feet away from the ruins of the Great Scholars Archway, the team of official sedan chairs had settled down one after another.The four people who led the way carried Zhao Qian, the magistrate of Jingzhou Prefecture, out of the green sedan chair.He looked up at the four solitary stone pillars and a pile of rocks on the ground, and then caught a glimpse of Jin Xuezeng standing on the pile of stones, then stamped his feet and cursed: "Jin Xuezeng, you have done a good job!" Jin Xuezeng squinted at Zhao Qian's distraught look, and didn't care about him, he said with a grin: "Master Zhao, don't swear at people in a hurry, look, who is here." It was only then that Zhao Qian noticed that there was another person standing beside Jin Xuezeng. When he took a closer look, he couldn't help but be surprised. How could he not recognize Zhou Xianmo, the wind constitution officer in charge of the supervision of a province? He went to the provincial capital to handle errands , always went to Zhou Mansion to pay a visit. Zhou Xianmo also came to Jingzhou twice before, and he was the one who came forward to receive him.Therefore, the two are not only familiar with each other, but also have some good feelings for each other.Zhao Qian hurried forward a few steps, arched his hands high, and said: "I don't know that Mr. Xiantai is coming, and the lower officials are far away to welcome them." He was originally at the same level, but Zhao Qian called himself a "lower official". Zhou Xianmo felt relieved when he heard that.He knew that Zhao Qian had initiated and donated money to build this archway, and now he ordered it to be demolished, so he felt a little sorry for this respectful old acquaintance.So he quickly walked down the stone pile, bowed deeply to Zhao Qian, and said awkwardly: "Zhou came to Jingzhou this time because he has other business affairs." Zhao Qian looked at the broken stone stele on the ground, and asked disgruntledly, "Could it be that Mr. Xiantai came to Jingzhou this time to demolish this archway?" "Exactly." Zhou Xianmo had already seen Zhao Qian's dissatisfaction. He looked at the officials of the Jingzhou City who came with Zhao Qian. ", so he said half comforting half self-deprecatingly, "Master Zhao, you can see from this that it is not easy to be a Fengxian official, right? If you offend, look at Haihan." Now that the matter has come to this point, it is useless to speak angry.Zhao Qian had no choice but to suppress his anger, and said: "Your Majesty Zhou is bound by the Constitution, so how dare you blame me. I must have had a hard time on this journey, so I will invite Master Zhou into the city. We will treat you tonight. All the officials who came this time will accompany you to welcome Master Zhou. " However, it was said that the reception banquet in the evening was arranged to be held in the Chufeng Pavilion where Zhou Xianmo stayed. The Chufeng Pavilion was originally a residence for receiving officials from the past, and it was run by the Jingzhou government officials. Zhao Qian can also be regarded as the owner of this place.A dozen or so tables were held for the banquet, and apart from the people from Jin Xuezeng's tax office, all prominent officials from various yamen in Jingzhou City attended.Before the banquet, Zhou Xianmo met with Zhao Qian alone. In order to relieve himself of responsibility, he showed Zhao Qian the letter from the Ministry of Punishment and Zhang Juzheng's letter.Then said: "Master Zhao now knows the cause of this incident, so forgive me for not blaming me again." Zhao Qian smiled wryly, and replied: "Since it was Mr. Shoufu's own intention, who else can I blame?" Seeing Zhao Qian's aggrieved look, Zhou Xianmo simply called him: "Master Zhao, how did Master Shoufu deal with the archway, do you see any clues from it?" This is exactly what Zhao Qian is worried about.After receiving Xu Jie's copywriting that time, he regarded this archway as one of the magic weapons for defeating Jin Xuezeng.Although he wrote a long letter to the chief assistant to sue Jin Xuezeng for his tricks, he didn't mention anything about the acquisition of Xu Jie's "calligraphy". Instead, he asked the old man to write a letter to his son to point out the matter. There are two reasons: first, he wanted Zhang Juzheng to know that the person who valued this archway the most was not others, but his own father, Mrs. Zhang; Juzheng realized his painstaking efforts to seek the well-being of Li Shu, the hometown of Shoufu. As for the matter of the archway, he did not talk about it, but also wanted to let Mr. Shoufu know that he is a scholar who "does not take pride in his achievements".He originally thought that this was a good strategy, which would be appreciated by Mr. Shoufu.After the letter was sent, he stretched his neck like a gooseneck almost every day, waiting for the good news from Beijing.Unexpectedly, the good news would not come, but Zhou Xianmo who led the Ti cavalry to demolish the archway was the one who waited.Ever since he met Zhou Xianmo, he has been feeling uneasy.There is always a sense of impending doom.The reason why he insisted on putting on such a grand welcome banquet for Zhou Xianmo with a smile on his face was, firstly, to give himself a strong face, and let Zhou Xianmo know that in Jingzhou City, he was still the leader of all the officials who were uncompromising; secondly, it was also for To please Zhou Xianmo, so that he can further probe into his tone, in order to know whether the actions of the higher-ups are beneficial to him... Right now, Zhou Xianmo himself mentioned a sensitive topic, and Zhao Qian's heart skipped a beat.Based on his experience in the officialdom, he knew that Zhou Xianmo had sympathy for him, but he still didn't dare to be careless, but replied carefully: "Lord Zhou, the lower officials are also wondering. If Master Shoufu wants to tear down the archway, he just needs to write a note two fingers wide to me, Zhao Qian. There is no need for the Ministry of Punishment to transfer the text, and let you, the wind constitution official I personally led the Ti cavalry, mobilized the troops and came all the way to Jingzhou." "Master Zhao is a smart man, can't you figure this out?" Zhou Xianmo twirled the sparse beard on his chin, and said slowly, "This shows that the first assistant has already become suspicious of you." "It's really unreasonable for the chief minister to suspect me," Zhao Qian said dejectedly, "I, Zhao Qian, am loyal to him!" "It's true. No one in Huguang Road knows that you are Mr. Zhang's No. 1 guest, but Mr. Zhang is not the same as the chief assistant himself. Mr. Zhao, you should never, never have to be with Jin Xuezeng. Right." "Ugh!" Zhao Qian had no words to answer, only sighed heavily.Zhou Xianmo continued, "Grandpa Zhang thinks highly of you, but the chief minister himself, Jin Xuezeng. But it did a great job.” Zhao Qian didn't refute Zhou Xianmo's words, but said bitterly: "Jin Xuezeng is too mean. Few of the officials in Jingzhou city like him." "Because of this, you shouldn't offend him," Zhou Xianmo advised with concern, "He is gaining momentum now, if you fight against him, aren't you asking for trouble?" Zhao Qian was not convinced, and muttered: "We heard that there are not a few relatives of the emperor in the capital who oppose the taxation of Zilitian. This matter was provoked by Jin Xuezeng. How many people should hate him." "It's true. It's not just Jin Xuezeng who is hated by powerful and powerful households. Even the chief assistant himself and the officials of the Ministry of Justice have become thorns in the flesh of these people." Having said this, Zhou Xianmo lowered his voice and asked, "Not long ago, Did you know that there is a slanderous painting in the capital?" "What slander painting? I don't know." "We also learned from the letter from the capital in the same year," Zhou Xianmo went on to briefly describe the incident of slandering paintings, and then said, "It is understandable that the first assistant is helping the world manage money and doing its best to eliminate its disadvantages. Anxious, never tired of seeking profit and seeking, so that he offended the powerful and powerful clan of Zanying. Mencius said, "Government is not difficult, and the rich family should not be offended", but the current government is doing the opposite. This is against all parties. How can the New Deal last? You, Mr. Zhao, complained to Jin Xuezeng about tax collection at this time, but you didn’t judge the situation, and you didn’t see clearly that Jin Xuezeng was actually a pawn of Mr. Shoufu.” Zhou Xianmo's words were quite explicit, and Zhao Qian groped for a long time, feeling both pain and joy.The tense mood suddenly relaxed a lot, he smiled and said: "Master Zhou has said a lot, but it can be summed up in one sentence. He who wants to be an official who understands current affairs is a hero." "Master Zhao is a sensible person," Zhou Xianmo nodded and replied, "If you want to reconcile with Jin Xuezeng, I can help you." "Thank you, Mr. Zhou, for your kindness. Please allow me to think twice about this matter." Zhao Qian said, got up and made a gesture of invitation to Zhou Xianmo, and said, "It is expected that all the accompanying officials have arrived, so Mr. Zhou please give me your face. .”