Idle courtiers

Chapter 45 This Man Is a Mad Dog
This poetry competition can be said to be full of twists and turns, and the final result is that both Weng Chun and Zhou Nan suffer.By this time, no one was interested in mentioning poetry anymore.As for taking this opportunity to help Chief Wang sort out the manuscripts, become his protégé, and climb to the top of the head of the Ministry of Officials, there is no need to take it seriously.

At this point in the matter, as long as you are not stupid, you can see that this Wang Ruoxu is a moody person, and you can't get close at all.If you force yourself to please him, you might be kicked out of him directly if you offend him.

As a landlord, Shi Zhixian hurriedly coughed lightly and smoothed things over: "It's getting late, and the master is exhausted, so we should have dinner earlier."

"Yes, yes, let's start the banquet." The owner of the garden clapped his hands hurriedly, and his servants immediately brought up delicacies from mountains and seas like flowing water.

At the same time, the sound of silk and bamboo sounded again.It turned out that there were a few singing girls singing in the hall to add to the fun.The host's family often entertains dignitaries who travel to and from Huai'an, and has rich experience in reception. Today's banquet is not low-standard, but it makes the scene warm and generous.

Chinese food has a long history, and every place has novel and interesting delicacies.In ancient times, because of poor information transmission, many things were never even seen, let alone eaten.

Shi Zhixian acted as a commentator. He pointed to a plate of steamed fish and said, "My lord, this is Taihu Lake whitefish brought from Suzhou. The most delicious thing is the fish scales, so you can't remove it when cooking it." Damn, you might as well try it, my lord."

"It's a novelty not to remove the fish scales." Wang Ruoxu smiled, but said: "I don't eat fish."

"Oh, so that's the case, please forgive me, my lord." Shi Zhixian pointed to a piece of roasted meat again, and said: "This is roasted pork with peach gum, which is a specialty of Fengyang."

"Peach gum, isn't it just the fat condensed on the peach tree, can it be eaten?"

Wang Ruoxu listened to Shi Zhixian's explanation for a long time, and sighed: "There are so many wonders in the world, there is nothing you can't eat! But..."

"But what?"

"However, I still don't know how to eat such strange things. I said, Mr. Shi, you don't stop serving food, and I'm not a three-year-old kid, so I need someone to teach you what to eat?" Mr. Wang said lightly. .

"This, this..." Shi Zhixian was swallowed by these words, his face was green, and the chopsticks frozen in mid-air trembled slightly.

Wang Ruoxu smiled, and said: "Master Shi, I have such a bad temper. After all, I was a speech officer, so it's no wonder I offended you."

"Don't blame, don't blame, please do what you want, my lord."

Wang Ruoxu picked up a bowl of rice, picked up the stir-fried lettuce in front of him, and heaved a sigh of relief after three bites.Nodded: "That's right, the cook is very skilled, and I really like it."

Shi Zhixian suddenly realized: "It turns out that the boss is a vegetarian and eats vegetarian food. It's all my fault, my lack of consideration."

"No, this old man can't help being meaty." Seeing that the magistrate was puzzled, Wang Ruoxu said indifferently: "It's just that I don't have a monthly salary of only three taels of silver, and I have to support a family, so I only eat meat once on the fifteenth day of the lunar new year. By the way, how much is this meal?" He pointed to the vegetable dish in front of him, and then to the rice bowl.

A follower replied loudly: "Return to the master, according to the price of Huai'an Mansion, this fried lettuce is [-] Wen, and rice is [-] Wen." After finishing speaking, he slapped a handful of copper coins on the table.

"Also, Master Shi hired a singing girl today, how much will it cost?"

The entourage continued to speak loudly: "Master Shi invited three singing girls today. According to the price of Huai'an Mansion, each of them is two taels of silver, and they are six taels of silver. There are 66 people present today. The elders and the younger four accompanied them. Five people should produce sixty characters."

After speaking, he threw a string of copper coins on the table.

Wang Ruoxu's move was no longer a matter of not showing face to the local officials, but a slap in the face.

Immediately, everyone in the big flower hall changed face, but they dared not say a word.

No matter how confused Shi Zhixian is as an official, he knows that Mr. Wang is trying to find fault with himself.Anger welled up in his heart: "What is the meaning of the king's lord? It is the duty of the lower officials to receive their superiors and arrange meals with the local gentry. If there is a place where the greetings are not well received, the boss can just talk, why should it be so?"

"Hehe, the sages have said that punishing without teaching is abuse. Since Mr. Shi asked, I will tell you clearly." Wang Ruoxuan sneered: "The imperial court has its own system, and officials have certain rules for welcoming them. All meals and lodging must be in the local inn or mansion. What do you want to do with such hospitality and hospitality? Do you want to let the old man give you an excellent evaluation in the annual inspection and external inspection? Look at the old man Today's meal costs at least ten thousand dollars. The Taizu said: "Your salary and salary are all the fat and oil of the people. The people can be abused, but the heavens are hard to bully. Today is enough. I will live here temporarily. Tomorrow morning, I will calculate the rent. The official moved into the county mansion. Send Mr. Shi a word, the agency is too clever to calculate, and you are the one who deceived you."

At the door, upon hearing his words, Zhou Nan couldn't help but groan: This old man is really disgusting.

However, the so-called Qingliu in the Ming Dynasty were not all of this virtue.When you give others benefits, others will remember your affection.But when you meet this kind of so-called clean gentleman, who wants you for benefits, but doesn't give you face at all, he insists on criticizing you like shit from a moral standpoint.Shi Zhixian felt guilty for meeting such a person.

"This prince is a mad dog. He bites anyone he sees. He humiliates me too much, humiliates me too much! If you don't take revenge, you are not a gentleman!" The banquet broke up without returning. Zhixian slapped the table suddenly, his face was livid.

It was getting late, the city gate was closed, and everyone could only stay here for one night.

Shi Zhixian was so angry that he called several of his masters to discuss.

You invited someone to dinner, but the person surnamed Wang returned the money to you.Dozens of pennies were thrown on the table, making him seem to have swallowed a fly.

He also brought out the quotations from the Taizu, saying that they are all the people's fat and people's ointment, and your surname is Wang Bao Longtu, who is as clear as water and as bright as a mirror?

You can only coax a three-year-old child. Look at the Songjiang cotton and Mianyang green robes you and your followers are wearing, and any one is more than one tael of silver.How much salary do you have every month, and you have to support so many followers, is it possible?
"My lord, Mr. Wang is clearly here to find fault today, and we must be careful in the next few days, so don't ask him to find fault." Zhou Nan leaned forward and said.But he rolled his eyes in his heart, he is the head of the official department, although his position is not high, his power is outrageous.Why do you, Shi Jieren, take revenge? If you really provoked him, maybe the county magistrate will not be able to be appointed immediately.

"That's right, the county lord should get angry with Mr. Wang, so as not to mess up his own position." Several masters are advising.

After venting for a while, Shi Zhixian calmed down a bit, and said: "The Prime Minister of Gui County has just returned from buying mulberry seedlings in Nanjing, so he has to hurry up and plant them. At least he can get a few acres to pretend to be. When the time comes, he will take the king to take a look. I will do it tomorrow. , I can’t control so much now. If someone refuses to pull out the green shoots, who will do it?”

Guixian Cheng came back this time and bought more than a dozen boats of mulberry saplings, which can be planted for about [-] mu.However, everyone was unwilling to do this kind of offending work, and the masters showed embarrassment.

Zhou Nan said suddenly: "My lord, it's nothing to pull out the seedlings. We have to beware of those who change the mulberry. If they don't accept it, it will be troublesome to sue the king. I also ask the lord to make an arrest card. If anyone dares to refuse, just ask for it." Down to the prison."

Shi Zhixian nodded: "Yes."

Zhou Nan: "Zhou Nan is willing to shoulder this matter." Today's dinner Weng Chun is really hateful, a real man should retaliate with an eye for an eye.Doesn't his family still have dozens of acres of land, just take this opportunity to show him some color.

Several masters breathed a sigh of relief, and said in unison: "Zhou Dianli is shrewd and capable, and he is a role model for my generation. This matter must be done by him."

Shi Jieren nodded: "Very good, Zhou Nan, from tomorrow onwards, you will be by Mr. Wang's side and follow you non-stop. Don't tell him and his entourage to wander around. As for the matter of planting mulberry trees, Household Jia Dianli is in charge."

"Ah!" Zhou Nan felt dizzy for a while, this Wang Ruoxu is crazy, who knows how he would bite, monitoring this personnel officer 24 hours a day, wouldn't he be in danger all the time?

Probably because he drank strong tea, Zhou Nan didn't sleep well that night.He already understood somewhat that this Wang Ruoxu used to be a speech officer.What does a speech officer do? He does it all day long.It is estimated that this birdman heard some rumors from somewhere, and felt that the transformation of agriculture into mulberry in Anton County was tricky and wanted to make trouble.As long as such a case is solved, for him, Wang, it means that he has achieved political achievements, and he may be promoted to a higher level to be a doctor, Yuanwai Lang or even a servant or something.

If it were me, Zhou Nan, I wouldn't let go of such an opportunity.

The next day, early in the morning, Zhou Nan woke up with a pair of panda eyes, and saw that Shi Zhixian also had dark circles.

This Shizhi county is used to staying up late to read books, coupled with a heavy heart and insomnia all night, waking up so early today, the whole person looks sluggish.

Today's breakfast was very simple, so Mr. Jian didn't dare to make mistakes, so he asked the cook to serve everyone a bowl of rice porridge and two steamed buns. Both.

After dinner, the group went into the city and placed Mr. Wang in the county mansion.

Then, Master Wang called everyone to discuss the matter.

The people who came were Shi Zhixian, Guixian Cheng, and Sun Zhubo. They sat together to verify the figures of the county's field acres and Gaisang.

This matter is quite boring, and it has nothing to do with Zhou Nan.His role today is that of a receptionist, running in and out to refill tea and refreshments for the officials, and when he needs documents, he has to go to the neighboring county office to get them.

Not to mention tired, I also worry about my next errand.This time Wang Ruoxu and his party consisted of five people, how could he keep an eye on them.I have to ask someone to help me with this matter. If it doesn't work, I will ask Shizhi County to ask for four more yamen servants to change into casual clothes, so that one person can watch the tactics.No, four people are not enough, there needs to be one person who can deliver the message quickly.Once Mr. Wang and the others want to visit privately, they should report back immediately, so that they can bring someone to stop them.

While I was thinking about it, the tea was changed inside again.Director Wang's hearty laughter came: "This green tea is not bad, but it was newly picked this year."

Zhou Nan hurriedly brought in a cup of tea, and replied, "It's the new tea of ​​this year."

"Not bad, elegant and fresh, and sweet. I didn't expect there to be such a good thing in Huaibei. This officer just likes it. I don't know if there are any in this mansion. Can you give me a catty or two to take back to the capital?"

Zhou Nan couldn't help but rolled his eyes, aren't you an upright official, why are you asking us for something now?
"By the way, yesterday's roast pork with peach gum looks good. Feel free to get me some peach gum. I'll take it home and try to make it."

This person is really crazy, he doesn't have a principle in doing things, but according to his heart, he thinks it out.

Everyone thinks so.

"By the way, I have just cleared the land and rebuilt mulberry gardens in this county. This time, when I am out of Beijing for inspection, besides Yanzhou, Shandong, and your Andong County, I will also go to Xuzhou. I cannot stay for a long time. Three days, I will only stay with you for three days. It is already late today, and I will go down early tomorrow morning to check." The master Wang asked: "Which one should we start with?"

"Return to the master. Tomorrow, I will go to the Li family of Jinshen in Yangzhai Township. The Li family is a prominent family in our county. Several generations have been famous scholars. They responded positively to the court's change of land to mulberry." Shi Zhixian replied.

(End of this chapter)