Idle courtiers

Chapter 169 This is Weird
Zhao Jing never expected that he was going to Feng Zhounan's house yesterday, and was transferred to be his deputy today, which was embarrassing.

In his heart, he secretly rejoiced that he had sharp eyes and saw the calligraphy of Tang Shunzhi and Zhu Lun hanging on the wall of the Zhou family, so he didn't do anything wrong.Otherwise, I really can't get off the stage.

Working as an errand in this capital city is really dangerous every step of the way, you don't know who you will offend if you are not careful!
Immediately correcting his attitude, he stepped forward to salute: "This subordinate has met Zhou Xingren, and offended yesterday, it was the fault of the subordinate official, please forgive me."

It was strange for Zhou Nan to see an official with a higher rank than himself apologize to him and claim to be his subordinate.

Again, in any imperial court, the power of an official never depends on his rank.Official positions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were relatively complicated, consisting of four parts: rank, rank, honor, and rank.When looking at the power of officials, it mainly depends on any position.

Hurrying to support him, he laughed and said: "Experience is also a responsibility, so there is nothing wrong with it. You and I are heroes in Liangshan, and we don't know each other if we don't fight. I was also unlucky. I accidentally bought the imperial property that was to be returned. Telling the truth from experience, I didn’t bring a lot of money when I came to the capital this time, almost all of it was used to buy a house. If it is confiscated by the adults, I will really sleep on the street.”

When he entered the capital this time, besides Xun Fangyu's 200 taels of gold, he also had hundreds of taels of silver.The gold-silver exchange ratio in the Ming Dynasty was one to ten, and buying that yard almost used up all of his net worth.

Zhao Jing was very embarrassed, and made another accusation, saying: "Pedestrians, don't worry. Although your house is the property of the emperor, it has changed hands many times, and it can't be cleaned up in a while. This matter involves too many nobles. The following People are just pretending, the thunder is loud, the rain is light, and it will stop after a while. By the way, which property are you going to clean up today?"

Zhou Nan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that he won't be able to clean his head for a while, so he doesn't have to worry about it for the time being.Moreover, what I did was to clean up the imperial property, and people in other working groups would probably pretend not to see it.

His heart was moved again, this Zhao Jing is an old man in Shuntian Mansion, he is familiar with the local people, it is good to ask him, don't accidentally step on the thunder, so he told him about the place he is going to today.

Zhao experienced it after thinking about it, and said: "That farm belongs to Wanping County, and it's not too big, so it should have no background. According to Zhou Xingren, that family doesn't have a title. They must be descendants of previous dynasties, so don't worry. "

The system of rewarding titles in the Ming Dynasty stipulated that although titles could be inherited by descendants, they would be downgraded every generation.For example, if you are a prince, your son will be the king of the county, your grandson will be demoted to general of the town, and your great-great-grandson will be demoted to lieutenant of the town.

The descendants cannot be kings, even if they are the head of the country, they will be granted a prince, and the next ones are Hou Hebo.

This family does not even have a title of title, it is estimated that it has been passed down for at least three generations, and they have no affection in the palace, so there is nothing to fear.

Speaking of this, Zhao Jing whispered again: "Pedestrian, although the country has a system, but the law is nothing more than favors. Just now I heard the adults say that the eunuchs are empty, so you might as well sell the family some favors later."

This is to imply that Zhou Nan can safely accept bribes to support his family.

Zhou Nan wanted to make political achievements, but the family's total assets were only 24 mu of land, and they were nothing more than small fish and shrimps in the elite circle of Gyeonggi, so they couldn't stand on the stage at all.The great-grandmother in the Jiajing court, let alone Yan Ge, is the richest person in the world.Take Xu Jie, the second assistant, as an example. His family has a total of more than [-] mu of land, as many as [-] mu in his hometown of Su and Song.

The local magistrate is also unlucky. Most of the land in the county is named Xu. Co-authoring the entire county government will serve your old Xu family?

This family surnamed Li probably doesn't have much money, and they can't squeeze out money, so they don't bother to spend that energy.It is a good object to use to brush political achievements and reputation.

At that moment, Zhou Nan secretly revealed his thoughts to Zhao Jing.

Seeing that there was no benefit to take, Zhao experienced a little disappointment.But after thinking about it, Master Zhou has become a pedestrian at a young age, and his future is bound to be big.This time I assisted him in obtaining meritorious service, and it will be beneficial to me to have this kind of favor in the future.

He happily said: "I would like to listen to the adults."

He wanted to curry favor with Zhou Xingren, the future official of science and Taoism, and even the doctor of the Six Departments.But they don't know that Zhou Nan is only a scholar now, and if he fails to pass the Jinshi examination in the future, even this pedestrian will not be able to continue.

It was already noon, and Zhao Jing also brought two fast-shift corvees.It is naturally inconvenient for so many people to eat working meals in the pedestrian department, so Zhou Nan generously spent money and invited six of his men to settle it in the restaurant.

Satisfied with wine and food, the group left the capital and killed the family named Li in a mighty manner.Seeing the yamen servants following behind, Zhou Nan recalled the glorious years when he returned to the Andong county yamen in a trance. youth.

Although Zhou Nan is the chief officer in this law enforcement operation, his grade is lower than that of Zhao Experience, and he cannot enjoy many benefits, such as taking a sedan chair.

Sitting on the bumpy howling donkey, the cold wind blew my clothes, and my whole body became stiff in a short while.Master Zhao was sitting in the sedan chair, holding a hand warmer and taking a nap to digest lunch all the way, Zhou Nan felt depressed.

Fortunately, the manor of this foreign relative surnamed Li is not far away, and it is only ten miles west of the city to the land.

Looking around, I saw a lot of houses over there, with carved beams and painted buildings, which are very magnificent.The owner's family is probably repairing the manor. The whole village seems to be a large construction site. There are scaffolding made of hard springs everywhere. There are busy figures on it. Some craftsmen are chiseling the bluestone on the roadside railing.

Obviously, the master's family is repairing the other courtyard.

"It's such a large scale!" Zhou Nan was taken aback. He came from a grassroots level, and he knew at a glance that the project cost a lot, and he couldn't get it without tens of thousands of taels of silver.

In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the purchasing power of silver was strong. Converted into the price of rice, tens of thousands of taels were equivalent to tens of millions of human life coins in later generations.Coupled with the Ming Dynasty's labor and low prices.A project of this scale would cost hundreds of millions in modern times.

No matter in any era, it is not an ordinary person who can spend so much money to build a manor for himself.

"Is this still a fallen relative without a title?"

Zhou Nan suddenly felt uneasy, and hurriedly shouted: "Experience, Zhao Experience, Mr. Zhao..."

"Enen... Huh..." The sedan chair hummed a few times, and then there was a loud snoring sound.

It turned out that Zhao Jingli wanted to make friends with Zhou Nan, a promising traveler, and he was very bold during lunch, toasting again and again, drinking more than a catty of Nurhong in one breath, and was actually drunk.

Just as he was about to shout again, a man who looked like a butler ran out of the manor in small steps, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "May I ask which lord it is, who is disrespectful, disrespectful and disrespectful! What business does the Shangguan come here for?"

The butler's dress was also ordinary, that is, an ordinary cotton robe.However, the best Kunyang pine is used, and the workmanship is extremely exquisite.Such robes are worth at least a dozen taels of silver in the capital, which is not something ordinary people can afford.

Zhou Nan's eyelids twitched unconsciously. The man in front of him was just a servant, but he was dressed so well, it was a low-key luxury.For example, it's like a concierge in an Armani suit in modern society.

The yamen servants in Yishun Tianfu are probably used to oppressing Liangshan on weekdays, and I heard Zhou Nan say that this family is a former relative who has fallen in power.Without a title, isn't that a commoner, afraid of a bird?
He stepped forward and scolded: "In the sedan chair is Mr. Zhao from Shuntian Mansion. Today, he was ordered by the court to come to clean up your family's hidden imperial property. Quickly ask your master to come and talk." As he spoke, he trembled. An iron chain around the waist.

"It turned out to be Zhao Jing. My master is busy with business, so please go to the flower hall to have tea first." The housekeeper was still smiling, but there was a hint of disdain in his eyes.

This person was so shameless that everyone was furious.A soldier of the Pedestrian Division shouted, "Bold, do you know who else is here..."

The more Zhou Nan looked at this place, the more weird he felt. The enemy didn't understand the situation, so it's not easy to mess around.Busy interrupt that soldier.

He jumped down and yelled at the donkey, and politely said to the housekeeper, "Mr. Anxiety, lead the way."

A group of people followed the butler into the mansion, sat down in the flower hall, watched tea, and the butler went to report.

Zhao experienced a lot of sobriety. He looked around and said to Zhou Nan: "Pedestrians, look at the style of this house. It should have some origins in the early years. I will negotiate with the master first."

Zhou Nan nodded: "I'm sorry." After all, he came from a locality. The capital city is different from Huai'an, and there are too many things to pay attention to. It's best to let Zhao experience it first.Moreover, his status is more noble than his, and he only makes the final decision.It's not decent to charge into battle as soon as you come up.

Zhao experienced drinking too much wine, feeling tired, and kept drinking tea.

Zhou Nan, who was blown enough by the cold wind earlier, also took a small sip from the cup.

Just when he felt much more comfortable, he heard the sound of rumbling footsteps approaching from a distance.

Looking intently, he saw more than a dozen powerful Zhuang Ding running towards the door with sticks in his hands, holding the door of the flower hall expressionlessly.

A middle-aged man in his forties strode in and asked, "Which one is Zhao's experience in Shuntian Prefecture?"

This man was tall and fat, with a beard all over his face, dressed in a thick cocoon satin robe, a pearl the size of a pigeon egg was inlaid on the leather pad on his head, and a suet jade brave was hung on his belt.Anyway, the whole body is shining brightly, shining golden dog eyes, typical nouveau riche attire.

Seeing him being so rude, Zhao Jingli was furious: "I am the official of Shuntian Mansion, and your family is hiding in the imperial land. You have to be ordered by your boss to come to Qingzhang."

"Qingzhang my property, giggling." The bearded middle-aged man sneered, then turned his head to look at Zhou Nan: "My lord, is that right?"

Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Nan's mind. This person is so arrogant, he might not be easy to mess with.Judging by his net worth, he doesn't look like that kind of brainless reckless man.

Immediately, he said: "I see that the scenery of Guizhuang is very good, and the newly built house is very exquisite. It has the charm of the gardens in the south of the Yangtze River, and the majestic atmosphere of the noble family in the north. I am happy for a while. Come in and have a look."

The bearded man shouted: "Don't talk to me about these useless things, just ask you, did you come to clean up my Zhuangtian?"

Zhou Nan shook his head and flatly denied: "No."

Next to him, Zhao Jing was not happy, and took the case: "What a troublemaker, who gave you the courage to yell in front of the officials, you brought so many people with knives and guns, do you want to imprison me? "

The bearded man sneered: "So what if you are imprisoned?"

Zhou Nan hurriedly said to Zhao Jing: "My lord, forget it."

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(End of this chapter)