The Eight Winds of Rebirth

Zongzheng 15 years, spring.

On this day, the garden was full of birdsong and flowers, and Qu Guang, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, came out of Yushitai and saw a small sedan chair with blue curtains coming in front of him. He caught a glimpse of the other party through the curtain of the sedan chair, waved to the bearer immediately, and did not wait for the sedan chair to stop. Then he stepped out in a hurry, clasped his hands together, and greeted the other party with a smile.

"Master Censor..."

The sedan chair curtain moved, and after a while, a gentle and handsome young face appeared. Seeing Qu Guang, he smiled leisurely.

"Good morning, Master Shangshu."

The two are of the same first rank and have the same official rank, but Qu Guang came to salute himself in person, and Lord Yushi simply accepted it, and he didn't even bother to get out of the sedan chair.

"I don't know why you came to Yushitai at this time?"

Qu Guang gritted his teeth in secret, but smiled brightly on his face: "Isn't this what the emperor ordered this morning? Now that Mr. Lu's case is known, it makes no sense for Qu to come out and explain it. Although he is a colleague, he Qu will not defend and cover up such scandalous things."

Lord Yushi nodded: "This Master Lu has only been in the Metropolitan Procuratorate for a few days, seeing that this year's imperial examination is in front of us again, and the test questions have not yet been selected, but at this time the case of him taking power and accepting bribes broke out. It's a pity, Mr. Qu is indeed sensible, and the emperor has not misjudged the person."

Qu Guang nodded again and again, and then praised Yushitai Dazhong Zhizheng's ability to see the details: "With Master Xue sitting in charge, and young talents like Master Gao following him, Daye's future is inevitable. Limited."

Xue Yiyang listened patiently to what he had to say, then nodded, closed the curtain of the sedan chair and let the bearer pick up the sedan chair and leave.

Seeing the other party walk away slowly, the flattery on Qu Guang's face immediately put away, and there was a look of resentment in his eyes.

The servant at the side couldn't help whispering: "My lord, this Xue is getting more and more crazy now."

"Can he not be crazy? In just a few years, he has jumped from the deputy censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to the doctor censor. Now the whole capital is waiting for Xue Yiyang to catch him. Didn't you look at the first emperor of the court every day?" The first thing to do is to listen to the newly appointed Lord Yushi bring his love to impeach the officials. In just a few months, there are countless officials like Lu Youqin who have been pulled down for petty theft. The emperor doesn't dare to take care of Yushitai's affairs, who else will speak up now!"

Yushitai is in charge of supervising all officials. When the first emperor was there, he was naturally the most powerful yamen in the court, but after Emperor Zongzheng ascended the throne, many government yamen would not be so comprehensive. It would be useless in the end, but I did not expect Xue Yiyang to come to power last year Afterwards, Qu Guang couldn't count how many times he ran to Yushitai to wipe the buttocks of those officials with crooked figures in the past six months. The group of little bastards are not soft-hearted, and Xue Yiyang is the only one in the entire Yushitai who can barely talk to him in a good voice. When I think of this, I really feel ashamed.

Just as Qu Guang returned home in a sedan chair, the housekeeper at the other end rushed out to greet him.

"Master, the household department sent people to the mansion early in the morning, and they have been waiting for you for a long time now."

Qu Guang frowned: "Who is here?"

The butler had a bitter face: "The head of the household department, Mr. Meng Sumeng."

Qu Guang couldn't help feeling tight in his chest, and heard the butler say, "Master, why don't you go to the side courtyard and hide for a while?"

"Hiding away! It's not like you don't know that that person is a dog skin plaster." Just a few years ago, I wanted to get away with it, but was watched by Meng Su from the south of the city to the north of the city, and from the north of the city back to the Shangshu Mansion. After seven days of fussing, she almost had to stand outside to go to the latrine, and she couldn't get rid of it no matter how hard she tried.

Qu Guang took a deep breath, resigned himself to his fate, got out of the sedan chair, and headed for the study room. The original black face immediately changed into a warm smile when he pushed the door open, and his gaze skipped over the bandage on the wrist of the tall young man standing in front of the desk. , couldn't help but smiled.

Meng Su was still wearing a purple-red Daye official uniform, obviously he came directly from the household department, he was not as courteous as Xue Yiyang, and after saluting Qu Guang, he went straight in.

"Master Shangshu, I found some discrepancies when checking the accounts used by the Buddha Bathing Festival a few days ago, I would like to ask Lord Shangshu to check it yourself.

Qu Guang smiled, and before he could speak, Meng Su snapped back and said, "I know that it's not right for me to bother adults with such a trivial matter, but I have already gone to the Ministry of Rites for this, and I will go to the doctor for the matter." It seems that Lord Shi Lang can't explain why, in order to seek the truth, this official has no choice but to come to ask for advice, hoping that Lord will make amends."

The corners of Qu Guang's mouth twitched, and he raised his voice, "No matter what, Mr. Meng can conduct an investigation. If you have doubts, I will cooperate. However, I heard that Mr. Meng's family suffered a disaster two days ago, so I don't know if there is any serious problem. "That's what he said, but he just took a teacup from the side and drank it slowly, then opened his official documents and started to check it himself.

"The next official is fine, Mr. Xie Shangshu is concerned."

Meng Su didn't blame him for his negligent attitude, and spread out several stacks of accounts in front of Qu Guang, showing him one by one.

"...I remember that the red tripod incense burner, the eight-treasure lantern, and the white jade bottle were already asked to make offerings during the Obon Festival last year, so there is no need to buy them this time, but the items in this account The cost is nearly ten taels of gold, and there are prayer flags, canopies, etc. When the head of the Ministry of Rites came to the Ministry of Households to pay the silver, he said that it was newly made by the Buddha Embroidery Workshop in the capital, using gilded filaments. The officials have inspected it, and the embroidery work on the canopy brocade streamers at the Buddha Bathing Ceremony is only mediocre, not from the craftsmanship of the Buddha Embroidery Workshop, let alone bronzing fine threads, I don't know why the discrepancies here..."

With a "snap", Qu Guang threw the tea cover in his hand and looked up at Meng Su dissatisfied.

"Your Majesty Meng has such a careful heart. What you say seems to be suspecting that the Ministry of Rites took bribes from the Buddhist Bathing Ceremony?"

Qu Guang's heart was full of displeasure. He was angry with Gao Jinting at Yushitai earlier, but he was also the son of the former Zuo Xiang's family. After staying in the Hanlin Academy for a year after high school, Xue Yiyang personally brought him to the Yushitai by name. He didn’t look at the face of the monk or the face of the Buddha. Even if Qu Guang wanted to clean him up, he wouldn’t be here now. A sixth-rank petty official who had just entered the capital after working as a county magistrate for two years from another county, I was patiently willing to talk to him to deal with it, but I didn't expect that this bastard would get more and more smug now. Is his Minister of Rites a fake?And the three kings didn't know how to do things, and they failed to take down this fellow after so many attempts, and their lives were really hard enough.

Qu Guang was still waiting to make a harsh sound to destroy Meng Su's spirit, but he heard the other party say neither humble nor overbearing: "I dare not make judgments lightly. I have wronged my lord so I came to ask. If my lord thinks it's okay, then This is my farewell, sir."

After finishing speaking, Meng Su put away the things and turned around quickly to leave. Qu Guang's heart turned and he hurriedly called to him.

"Wait, Master Meng is going to submit the accounts?" The Minister of the Household Department has friendship with Qu Guang. If this thing is in his hands, there will be no problem. He is afraid that he will turn around and run to Yushitai inexplicably. Let's go, it will be exciting again tomorrow morning, it's not that Qu Guang has never suffered such a dark loss.

Sure enough, Meng Su nodded: "Since your lord thinks it doesn't matter, I will hand over the accounts to Mr. Minister after finishing the accounts today."

Qu Guang's eyelids twitched, he forcibly relieved the unhappiness on his face, and stretched out his hand with a smile: "I didn't see clearly just now, please give me some more time, Mr. Meng."

Meng Su nodded, without moving his face, and put the account back.

Qu Guang glanced at it twice, and said: "There is indeed a mistake. Those heads must have made a mistake in the wrong number. I will let them make it up."

"Then take a look again, besides this magic weapon, there are also deviations in the manpower and building materials used to build the altar... the type of fasting, etc..."

While talking about Meng Su, he took out a pile of account books for Qu Guang to check. He saw that the minister of the Ministry of Rites was dim-sighted and his face turned white and red. He simply gritted his teeth and approved all of them, saying that he would ask the Ministry of Rites to withdraw the money in a few days.

Only then was Meng Su satisfied, and after rearranging the ledgers, he did not forget to point out Qu Guang's mistakes.

"My lord Shangshu has a lot of affairs to deal with every day, and it's really a sin to waste time on the trivial matters of the lower officials."

Qu Guang thought: You still know.

"However..." Meng Su changed the subject, "The Ministry of Rites will make more than a dozen mistakes this month. The money is always collected and repaid, and the lower officials are naturally duty-bound, even if the Ministry of Rites has to work together. It’s not worth the money, so I ask Lord Shangshu to take care of you.” This is because no one in the Ministry of Rites knows how to settle accounts, and they always make trouble for the Ministry of Households, especially Meng Su.

Qu Guang chuckled: "Master Meng is too worried."

Meng Su put on a straight face: "Master Shangshu can't say that. Now you know the situation in Beijing. A few years ago, the floods in Dongxian County were finally stopped, but the epidemic broke out immediately. From the twelve counties in the east It spread all the way to the south, and there were millions of dead bodies overnight. Now more than two years have passed, but there are still so many people outside who are displaced, sick and homeless, the treasury is empty, and there is no money for disaster relief. If it hadn't been for the Ling Buddha's proposal to let so many official temples in Daye open warehouses for disaster relief, and called on believers to donate clothes, goods, money and medicine, I am afraid that it would have become a scene of endless hell, so even the emperor said, Abstaining from extravagance and preferring frugality is the best way, and the money of the household department should be calculated clearly, and there should be no slight difference, how can Master Shangshu say it so lightly."

He was taught a lesson for no reason, and he used Lingfo and the emperor to suppress him. What else could Qu Guang say, but he solemnly stated that he would strictly discipline him in the future and never let this happen again.

After Meng Su found out about this matter, he left the Shangshu Mansion with satisfaction, but when he returned to the household department, he heard that his colleagues had brought several books of accounts that had been adopted.

"Is there another banquet in the palace?"

The official who was also in charge said: "You just forgot, the emperor's grandson will come to the end of the day in a few months, it is said that these are all drawn up by the empress herself."

Meng Su remembered that the crown prince's eldest son will be one year old soon, and looking at the gift list, there are many and complicated items listed, but few of them have anything to do with the emperor's grandson. Gangzheng, I heard that there is a left hand covering the top, although I don't know if it's true or not, but I like to leave all difficult things to him.

Meng Su said again: "Do you need to ask the Shimen Temple for the Jade Buddha and jade wares in there? Do you need to tell the Lingfo?" Whether you say it or not, the cost of this money is not a little bit worse."

The colleague frowned, thinking that asking Lingfo about such a trivial matter is not asking for trouble. He could only say: "Lingfo is still in Bihe County and hasn't returned yet? I don't know when he will be able to enter Beijing." Bihe County It is one of the most severely affected counties.

At the end of the sentence, I saw the Minister of the Household Department and the two assistant ministers rushing in with the first few people.

The colleague hurriedly pulled one person to ask: "Why is this? And where do you want to spend money?"

"If you don't have any money this time, you have to pay for it!" Yilang said, "The news just came from the front line. The two states in the northwest have achieved great victories. The Shenwu Army went to Chenzhou to help [-] troops. Thousands of miles away, the chief general, Si Gong, was seriously injured, and he might not dare to commit any crimes for a year or two!"

Meng Su jumped up suddenly, grabbed the person who came and asked, "Then what does the emperor mean?"

The person who came excitedly said: "The emperor is naturally happy, so he summoned the general of Yuguo to return to Beijing. I am afraid that he is already on his way! So next month's palace banquet must be a big one."

When the two people around him left chattering away, Meng Su was still a little dazed.

After three years, the Shenwu Army and Yu Guojun are going back to Beijing?