Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

There was a storm in the middle of the court, but inside the pavilion, it was still calm.

—at least for now.

Even though he was bathed in Song Shou's distressed eyes every day, Lu Ci still swept away the strong style of the day when the fire broke out, and returned to the state of honesty, introversion, and calmness, and completed his duties in a regular manner, never interfering in other things .

After being fed up by Yu Shan Yang, who was sent home every now and then, Lu Ci seldom even patronized big restaurants such as Fanlou Rendian.

I just go to a teahouse with a remote location and a quiet environment every day, drink the newly brewed cream fruit tea, and try the fresh refreshments made by the store.

After finishing his work in the pavilion that day, Lu Ci put on his veiled hat, rode a little gray horse, and came to the teahouse familiarly.

As soon as he entered the door, the sharp-eyed storekeeper quickly put down the account book in his hand, greeted him with a smile on his face, and greeted him personally: "Principal Lu is here, please go upstairs."

Lu Ci smiled: "Go do your work, I've come so many times, don't you know the way?"

He came here at the same time almost every day, and sat in the same wing room. After seeing the shopkeeper a lot, he thought that there were not many customers in the teahouse, so he reserved that wing room for him at this time every day.

The shopkeeper said with a smile: "No matter how busy you are, it will take a while."

No matter how gentle and approachable the guest officials are, they open the door to do business, but they can't really do so.

Lu Ci didn't insist, he led himself into the private room, ordered four or five refreshments, and leisurely browsed through the borrowed books in the library, while scanning passers-by from time to time, and waited with peace of mind.

Not long after, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of the guest who had just entered the restaurant, he couldn't help but pause, and looked at it intently.

Isn't it Yan Shu?

Lu Ci closed the book calmly, put it back in his bag properly, stood up, went to open the door, and went downstairs.

The shopkeeper who was about to bring refreshments met him halfway, and he couldn't help but asked anxiously: "Why did Xiaoli Lu come out? If necessary, just ring the bell in the wing room and call the waiter to come up. Why bother you to go there yourself?" .”

Lu Ci smiled and said, "I forgot to wash my hands with running water on the first floor when I entered the door, so I thought about going downstairs. Besides, it's just a few steps up, it's okay."

The shopkeeper didn't doubt that he was there, and with an "Aiya", he apologized to Lu Ci a few more times before he settled down and sent the matcha and refreshments to the room first.

Lu Ci walked down the first floor, and was immediately seen by Yan Shu.

Yan Shu, who was responding to the waiter's enthusiastic inquiry with a slight smile, immediately had an idea: "Just take me to the wing room on the second floor."

Lu Ci smiled, as if he had just seen Yan Shu: "Academician Yan is here too?"

Yan Shu's smile gradually faded, and he said coldly, "Xiaoli Lu, long time no see."

After Lu Ci washed his hands casually with running water, he walked up to Yan Shu and nodded to the bewildered guy: "Go ahead. I know Xueshi Yan and I have something to say."

The buddy hurriedly agreed, and left in a hurry.

Lu Ci gracefully made a 'please' gesture, and said indifferently: "If you don't mind Xueshi Yan, you can share a room with me."

Yan Shu raised his eyebrows, and said with a sneer, "If I don't go, maybe Principal Lu will come to another Thirty-Gu Maolu, like urging you to return a borrowed book, so you can't achieve your goal, right?"

The guy was terrified when he heard that, he couldn't help but glance at them, and unconsciously stood a little further away.

—— He was obedient, at first he only listened to Xiaoli Lu's words, and at first he thought that the two seemed to be friendly.

As a result, after hearing this, it is clear that the enemy's road is narrow, and the narrow road meets each other.

What made the guy even more terrified was that he seemed to be irritated by Yan Shu's insinuation, Lu Ci, who was always good-tempered, didn't bother to be polite, and only let out a soft "huh".

Maybe it was because there were a lot of people on the first floor staring at them and discussing secretly, the two didn't tangle up on the stairs, they went up the stairs silently one after the other, and they really entered the same wing.

As soon as the figures of the two disappeared on the stairs, they were drinking tea and eating snacks on the first floor, but they watched the lively other guests with relish, and they started discussing lively.

However, what they didn't know was that as soon as the door was closed, the two people, who had just been on edge, looked at each other tacitly and smiled in unison.

No matter how secluded the teahouse is, it is inevitable to be confused.

If the two people, who were supposed to be in the same situation on the surface, belonged to the two factions of the North and the South, plus the small friction caused by Lu Ci pestering each other to return the books, suddenly showed a close and friendly gesture, it would be hard to avoid people thinking too much.

It's better to maintain a state of looking at each other with disgust in the eyes of others and not talking speculatively.

Lu Ci pretended to be helpless and said, "We haven't seen each other for a long time, and the moment we met each other, the play started. Are you afraid that I really misunderstood and won't cooperate with you?"

Yan Shu said relaxedly: "If Qiaotong can't even see this, then wouldn't it be that I ate so many snacks for nothing?"

While talking, he knew that facing this cunning glutton, he must not be polite casually, so he sat down at the table unceremoniously, and directly picked up a piece neatly with the only pair of clean chopsticks. It is a delicious refreshment, delivered to the mouth.

It is sweet and glutinous, and leaves a fragrance on the lips and teeth.

Lu Ci saw that Yan Shu was enjoying his snack generously, but he was still smiling, and he didn't compete with him. He just continued drinking tea and admiring the way he ate.

On the other hand, Yan Shu, under his tight scrutiny, quickly couldn't pretend to be eating happily. After swallowing the last mouthful, he coughed lightly, drinking tea to quench his thirst, and said disgustedly: "The tea is better, sweet and sweet. The bitterness of the tea is not too greasy. But how come this tea soup is also sweet? You really have a sweet taste, and you don’t even feel greasy.”

For his pickiness, Lu Ci only bent the corners of his lips playfully, ignored it, but cut to the point and said, "Now that you've eaten all my refreshments, can you tell me why you're here?"

Yan Shu pretended to be dissatisfied and said, "Last time because of your impeachment, I ran a lot to return your innocence and let you have such a long time of leisure. I'm afraid you are enjoying it, so even my door is closed. Can't you go up?"

"If your words are spread, it will be cheap and good-looking." Lu Ci sighed, shaking his head, while the old god said: "Your Majesty only entrusts you to handle the affairs, isn't it right for you? The manifestation of reliance? Being able to share the worries and problems of the emperor is the luck of the ministers. It is also a joy to travel for ten days and a half months. Instead, you should ask me to thank me for giving you this climbing ladder, so that you can leave the courtyard with a swing and a bamboo forest It’s just one step closer.”

After hearing Lu Ci's straightforward remarks, Yan Shu couldn't hold back anymore, and was amused: "There is indeed some truth in what Yu Yu said. It's just that although I wanted to thank you, you never came to the door again and let me run away." Traveling so far to meet with you specially will offset this kindness."

Having said that, both of them couldn't help laughing.

Lu Ci said: "Because most of the books were destroyed by fire, there is a shortage of manpower in the pavilion. When will the court send more staff?"

Yan Shu said: "It will be half a month at the earliest. This time, it is thanks to His Majesty that he issued an edict of guilt. Otherwise, the responsibility for this man-made disaster will really be settled. At least the 130th person will not be able to get rid of the responsibility and will be punished by death."

Lu Ci shook his head slightly: "It's too lenient to ignore everything. The first offender should be punished, but the accomplice should be punished lightly."

After all, the fire caused by negligence not only evaporated countless money and supplies, but also caused innocent people to lose their lives because of the lack of evacuation.

Excessive penalties are easy to lose the hearts of the people, but reducing the cost of crime to zero is tantamount to connivance and encouragement, which will lead to endless troubles.

Yan Shu smiled: "Although it's not at this time, it will always be settled."

Even if the officials are sincere and generous, it's okay to suffer from the dumbness, and the people below will not easily spare the perpetrators.

If you want to get someone charged and deal with it, it doesn't have to be related to the fire.

And it is completely possible to wait until the limelight passes, and then investigate and deal with the other party's crimes, arrest and send him to prison.

Lu Ci smiled knowingly, and no longer entangled in this topic, he just said: "Seeing that you are relaxed, it must be that the court and China have come to a conclusion about the specific rewards and punishments after this disaster?"

Yan Shu nodded, and jokingly said with a smile: "This time, Yu Yu turned the tide and saved countless ancient books, but he won the praise of the whole court, and he deservedly stood out. Just wait for His Majesty's reward."

Lu Ci was not modest either, he cupped his hands with a smile, "Auspicious words from Uncle Tong."

"However, your qualifications are too low. Even with such a meritorious service, it will be difficult to get promoted." Yan Shu turned the teacup that had been emptied at some point in his hand, while deliberating on his words, he still chose to say bluntly: " In the pavilion, you have to go up, and then there is a bachelor. But you also know that all bachelors have always been for officials above the admonishment, minister and prison, and your rank is obviously too far away. "

Although the friends around him couldn't help but worry about Lu Ci, he himself has always been the calmest one.

It was Yan Shu, who had a good temperament with him and had a tacit understanding. Lu Ci smiled, his eyes were clear, and he said frankly: "I lead people to put out the fire, but I hope I have a clear conscience. As for rewards and punishments, I don't care about it." bingo."

Lu Ci's words were indeed sincere.

Unlike Song Shou and others who are addicted to books, their career and hobbies are integrated, although he now spends more time studying, he still doesn't like to spend all day in the library reading, let alone collate word by word.

For him, the attraction of being promoted from a librarian to (one of) the deputy librarians is probably not as attractive as that of the emperor.

Isn't it all dealing with books?

Yan Shu was silent for a moment.

With his eyesight, how could he not see that what Lu Ci said was completely sincere?

He sighed slightly, put aside the slight anxiety in his heart, raised the teacup, and raised a gesture to Lu Ci: "I will replace wine with tea, and I present you a glass."

After saying that, he tilted his head, and with a chic and beautiful movement, he wanted to drink up the tea in one gulp.

——But as soon as he poured the teacup, Yan Shu froze.

The corner of Lu Ci's mouth twitched, and he narrowed his eyes slightly, obviously thinking that Yan Shu did it on purpose.

His voice was soft, but with a hint of fierceness: "You just drank all the fruit tea I specially ordered. What kind of toast is this?"

Yan Shu: "..."

misunderstanding.

Because of this little oolong, Yan Shu had no choice but to promise Lu Ci that after the reward and punishment came down, he would be able to get away by inviting him to almost use a table here.

Before leaving, Yan Shu seemingly unintentionally dropped a sentence: "Read more while you're still in the pavilion. I'm afraid you won't be so free in the future."

Lu Ci was thoughtful.

It didn't take long after that, when Lu Ci was still satisfied with the two-point and one-line life, sneaking in from time to time, suddenly came the day when Yan Shu had to fulfill his promise.

Under the strong recommendation of Wang Dan, Kou Zhun and other important officials, and the emperor's long-awaited heart to push the boat along, even with the fierce opposition of Wang Qinruo, Ding Wei and others...

Still relying on his achievements in fighting the fire, under the envious gaze of countless people, Lu Ci went straight to the top, and was promoted to be a member of the household department, Wailang, and at the same time, he was the crown prince.

The author has something to say: Notes:

1. Yuan Wai Lang means adding additional staff outside the fixed quota. It originally refers to the Lang Guan located outside the regular quota.

At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, he was an official of the sixth rank.Officials have explained before that they are official positions used to determine salary levels, rather than actual duties.

There are six ministries and 24 divisions under the jurisdiction of Shangshu Province, which are divided into Zuo Division and You Division. (under the jurisdiction of the temple department, the host and guest department, and the dining department); the right department is in charge of the military department (under the jurisdiction of the staff, driving department, and warehouse department), the Xing department (under the jurisdiction of the capital officer, the ratio department, and the department), the Ministry of Industry (under the jurisdiction of Tuntian, Yu Department, Water Department).