Liaozhai Great Sage

"..."

Li Xiuyuan immediately smiled dumbly: "You are the daughters of Mr. Fu, the servant of the Ministry of War, and you are protected by official fortune. You have to hide when you see ghosts. How can ghosts show up in front of you? And most of the ghosts are not good ghosts. Most of them are evil ghosts. It is harmful, and there is no benefit to seeing it, only disadvantages."

"Official luck protects the body, and ghosts and gods are not close. This is the first time I've heard such a saying." At this time, Fu Tianchou's voice sounded, and he walked out of the yamen with a smile.

"I wondered why there was a sound of swords and swords outside. It turned out that Qingfengyuechi and you two made a fuss, and you haven't apologized to others."

Fu Yuechi said: "Father, Yuechi apologized just now. This Mr. Li said that he has seen ghosts. Father, you told me that there are no ghosts in the world. Now I know that you must have lied to me."

Fu Tianchou stroked his beard and said: "Gods and ghosts should be respected and kept at a distance. As a scholar, you should stay away from ghosts and gods. Don't talk about them casually in the future."

There was a bit of sternness in his tone after he finished speaking.

It seems that the elders are admonishing the younger ones.

Li Xiuyuan shook his head and said with a smile: "If it is in the imperial court, Master Fu's words will naturally be ordained later in life, but now that he is out of the yamen, the younger generation has to speak out. There have been ghosts and gods since ancient times. As a member of the Ministry of War, Master Fu The servant was also protected by ghosts and gods, did Mr. Fu never notice it?"

"Inside the imperial court, outside the imperial court? Interesting, you mean that above the imperial court you respect my official status so you are open-minded to be educated, but outside the yamen you and I are just ordinary people, so you speak out."

Master Fu stroked his beard and smiled: "Your thinking is indeed different from ordinary people, and only when you are different from ordinary people will you be willing to spend your family's money on disaster relief and rescue the people. You, you are right, ghosts and gods have indeed existed since ancient times, and they are by your side. I remember that when I went to Beijing to rush for the exam, I met a robber on the road. The robber wanted to intercept and kill me. When I just sneaked behind me, I suddenly vomited blood and fell to the ground."

"At that time, I didn't suspect that he was a robber. He only regarded him as a passer-by, so he hurriedly rescued him. However, the robber opened his eyes and said, "I am a robber here. I want to intercept you. Just when I was about to do it, I suddenly I saw a golden armored god appearing behind you and hit my head with a golden hammer, you have the protection of ghosts and gods, and you must be a very special person in the future."

"After saying this, the robber died. I didn't believe in ghosts and gods at the time. I thought he was talking nonsense, so I kindly restrained him. As a result, when the Japanese official passed by a dilapidated temple the next day, I saw that There is a statue of a god enshrined in the temple. The statue looks like a general, with hands hanging down, eyes wide open, majestic, and one of the golden hammers is still stained with blood. Since then, the official has been convinced that ghosts and gods really exist Now, I don't know if I obeyed the robber's words and kept worshiping the servant. Now that I think about it, I still have lingering fears, but since I have ghosts and gods secretly protecting me, then God must want me to make some achievements. Knowing the way is the reward of eating the king, and taking care of the king's worries, I dare not relax for a moment."

Speaking of this, Mr. Fu became emotional again.

The others were amazed when they heard the words, they didn't expect Master Fu to have such a bizarre experience.

If these words were uttered from someone else's mouth, it would only be considered as a flattery of oneself, but if they were uttered from his mouth, it would be convincing.

The two women, Fu Qingfeng and Fu Yuechi listened to this story with great interest, their eyes lit up, and they looked excited.

For others, Fu Tianchou was telling stories, but Li Xiuyuan could hear that Fu Tianchou used the ghosts and gods he had experienced to warn himself that he must be loyal to the king and serve the country, and he must not slack off.

This senior official is a senior official, and every word and every word reveals deep meaning.

"What Mr. Fu said is very true. Ghosts and gods are supposed to warn the world, but this is something done by virtuous ghosts and gods. There are also harmful ghosts and gods in this world. These harmful ghosts and gods are as abominable as corrupt officials. The country harms the people and is a cancer in the world that needs to be eradicated."

Li Xiuyuan also said, and at the same time expressed his dissatisfaction with the corruption of the court.

"There are ghosts and gods that are harmful to people, Mr. Li, have you seen them?" Fu Yuechi's eyes lit up with stars, and he asked with great interest.

"Of course I've seen it, and there are many, but evil spirits and gods are scary. Sometimes evil people are even more terrifying. If possible, it's better not to meet them. The two girls must not be so interested in ghosts and gods, because most of them It's not a good thing." Li Xiuyuan said.

Fu Tianchou narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at Li Xiuyuan with a half-smile.

"It's getting late now, Wansheng won't bother Master Fu anymore, Wansheng bids farewell." After speaking, he gave another salute, said goodbye and left.

After Li Xiuyuan walked away, the clerk next to him surnamed Duan whispered again: "Your Excellency has a heart for talents, and wants to accept this Li Xiucai?"

"Yes, he is very talented and has good moral character. The most important thing is that he is a disciple of merchants. There is no one who is an official in the family. He is following the path of this official, so I asked several officials from Yangzhou to come out. The purpose of testing him is to make him disliked by other officials, so that he will not learn the same way as other scholars to form a party and private affairs, and learn the art of running a dog, which is a waste of talent." Fu Tianchou shook his head slightly.

Chapter 321 The Saint's Banquet

The previous quiz was nothing more than Fu Tianchou's temptation to Li Xiuyuan. It was not only to test his temperament, talent and learning, but also to force him to make political enemies.

Fu Tianchou didn't want such a person capable of governing the country to be stained by the filth in the court and become a part of the corrupt officials. The current situation is turbulent and the government and the public are unstable. He is alone in the court. Therefore, he urgently hopes to find a younger generation who can inherit his ambition, continue to serve the court, and benefit the people.

But he has been searching for several years but has not found such a talent.

To put it bluntly, the current court has been rotten from top to bottom.

The present-day sage believes in Buddhism and Taoism. He practiced Taoism secretly all day without asking about government affairs. He even asked a monk who practiced Buddhism about state affairs, and even appointed that monk as a national teacher to manage the government affairs.

Isn't this a joke?

A monk who recites scriptures and worships Buddha actually has the right to be a prime minister.

What annoyed Fu Tianchou even more was that the national teacher knew how to collect money and build the golden body of the Lord Buddha, so that it would be effective. The magistrates and county magistrates all collected gold and silver for the national teacher. Money and food have to be raised by themselves.

"My lord loves talents, why don't you accept Li Xiuyuan as a student?" The civil official surnamed Duan couldn't help but come up with an idea when he saw Fu Tianchou's thoughtful look.

Fu Tianchou came back to his senses, shook his head and said: "I have many political opponents above the imperial court, if you let him worship me as a teacher, it will undoubtedly harm him, so I can only stand up and recommend it, don't act too hastily, to be honest, this official It’s his blessing to come here for disaster relief this time, if he hadn’t quelled the plague, I’m afraid the whole south of the Yangtze River would be in turmoil, and when I return to Beijing, I will inevitably be dismissed and questioned.”

Speaking of this, he felt a little rejoiced in his heart.

The most troublesome problem was solved by Li Xiuyuan, and the remaining bits and pieces are naturally easy to deal with.

It can be said that this time, I planned to risk my life to relieve the disaster for the court, but I didn't know that it was a blessing in disguise and made a great contribution for no reason.

With this credit, even after returning to Beijing, he is not afraid of criticism from those political opponents.

"Qingfeng, Yuechi, what kind of status have you become just now? As daughters, you don't stay at home, but ride horses and play all day long. Relying on your meager martial arts skills, you even dare to beat scholars. Do you know that you have no official status? It's against the law to become a scholar without fame? I really regret that my father let you learn martial arts." Fu Tianchou said sullenly again.

"Father, my daughter knows her mistake, please don't be angry, father." Fu Qingfeng said with his head down.

Fu Yuechi next to him said, "Father, it's none of my sister's business. It's me who did something to that scholar. One person does things and one person takes charge."

Fu Tianchou said angrily again: "Still one person does the work and the other person is responsible? Don't you know whether to raise or not to teach? Is it the father's fault? You have done wrong things, and the father is also disgraced. Go back and reflect on yourself, and then go back to Beijing by yourself next time go."

After speaking, he pointed to the guards and said: "And you, what were you doing just now? Those who drew their swords in front of the yamen wanted to rebel? How decent are you all?"

The guards immediately knelt down and admitted their mistake.

But one of the guards at the head said: "Reporting to the master, the young one really should not draw a sword in front of the yamen, but the young one has one thing to report to the master."

"What is it?" Fu Tianchou asked.

"Although the scholar surnamed Li just now is a scholar, he has extraordinary martial arts. Master, do you see the broken horsewhip on the ground?" The guard picked up the broken horsewhip and held it in front of Fu Tianchou.

Fu Tianchou glanced at it and said: "Xiao Liu, if you have something to say, speak up, I don't know much about martial arts."

Although he is the Minister of the Ministry of War, he is also a civil servant.

The guard named Xiao Liu said: "Go back to the master, just now the second lady swung the horsewhip and before she hit the scholar, she was chopped off with her bare hands."

"Cut off the whip with bare hands?" Fu Tianchou frowned immediately.

Although he didn't know martial arts, he was not brainless, and immediately understood the importance of Xiao Liu's words.

The tenacity of the horsewhip is so strong that even ten strong men can't stop pulling it, but one person can break it with bare hands, which is enough to show its unusualness.

"It is indeed something that very people can do. I remember that a thousand households in the capital once split a frenzied horse with a waist knife and cut the horse in two. At that time, I was amazed. The waist knife was only a few feet away. Long, how can you split a healthy horse? Later you said that a person who practiced martial arts can have such an ability, could it be that Li Xiuyuan is also a person who practiced martial arts?" Fu Tianchou asked.

Xiao Liu hurriedly said: "What the master said is very true, that scholar is a martial arts practitioner, and his martial arts are very high, no worse than that Zuo Qianhu. At that time, the young man was afraid that he was here to assassinate the lady and the master, so it was only for a while. act recklessly."

"If that's the case, it's understandable."