The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

Xue Pan just wanted to send a hat and gloves on a whim, but in the end it turned into abducting the emperor out of the palace by order.

Looking sadly at Tu Zhen, who was dressed in ordinary clothes and looked indifferent, Xue Pan sighed again, and asked weakly, "Your Majesty, do you really not bring guards?"

"Since I want to act privately, the lower the profile, the better. How could I surround myself with a lot of people?" Tu Zhen said indifferently, "Besides, it's not like I don't have guards. There's also Gao Wei!"

The guard whose name was called looked up at Tu Zhen bitterly, feeling that his responsibility was extremely heavy.

Xue Pan scratched his head, looked at Tu Zhen in embarrassment, and finally decided: "Okay then!"

Two quarters of an hour later, Tu Zhen looked at the crowd of people in front of him and behind him with a livid face, and asked coldly, "What are you doing?"

"Back to the fourth master, you also know that Xue Pan always likes to hug each other when he travels. If there is no such battle for a while, it will arouse the suspicion of others." Xue Pan blinked his eyes and looked Said innocently.

As the saying goes, you have Zhang Liangji, and I have bridge ladders.Soldiers come to block, water comes to cover, the lives of hundreds of people of a family are all on it, Xue Pan dare not be sloppy in the slightest.

Tu Zhen glared at Xue Pan viciously, and moved forward, but was stopped by Xue Pan again.

"The road is slippery in heavy snow, and it is very difficult to walk. Let's take the carriage!" Xue Pan added with a flattering smile, "Don't worry, Fourth Master, this carriage is very low-key, and others can't see anything."

Tu Zhen looked at the green oil truck in front of him, and nodded expressionlessly.

The outside of the carriage is very low-key, but when Tu Zhen got into the carriage with Xue Pan's support, he realized the difference between Xue Pan's so-called low-key and the current standard——

The surroundings of the carriage were carefully wrapped with scarlet foreign felt, and when touched by hand, it was soft and ostentatious. It seemed that the inside was filled with light, soft and insulating cotton.The three rows of soft seats were also wrapped with fine and warm materials, and the top was covered with soft and smooth tiger skin.Xue Pan carefully moved Tu Zhen to the upper seat, then opened the row of seats next to the wall of the car, and brought out a small tea table with begonia-style carved lacquer filled with gold and dragon's birthday.The small coffee table is fine with the ordinary coffee table, but the four legs are a bit long. Xue Pan touched somewhere, and suddenly there were four recesses on the flat bottom of the car. Xue Pan put the four legs of the small coffee table down.Then he took out a tea compartment from under that row of seats, and took out a set of five-color clay gold tea sets from a kiln from the tea compartment.First, he poured a cup of strong tea and handed it to Tu Zhen, and said with a smile: "Just now I told them to make the freshly brewed high-quality Biluochun, Your Majesty, please use it."

Tu Zhen raised his eyebrows, reached out to take the teacup, just took a sip, and saw Xue Pan took out another food box from under the seat, opened it and took out two stacks of steaming small coffee tables, he couldn't help being amused. "How many things did you take out?"

"Not much, not much, just enough to eat." Xue Pan said, and took out two handfuls of dried fruits from inside, put them on a non-breakable copper plate, and visited them on the small table.

Seeing this, Tu Zhen had no choice but to shake his head helplessly.

The window frame of the carriage was inlaid with transparent glass, Tu Zhen looked out through the glass, and saw a bustling scene, all the shops and stalls were covered in red and green, and the atmosphere of the New Year was getting stronger and stronger.The people on the street all had red faces, Tu Zhen sighed softly, and said, "If you only see these, it really is a scene of a peaceful and prosperous age."

Xue Pan smiled disapprovingly and said: "There are poor people and there are rich people, there are all kinds of things in the world, nothing else is better."

Even in a society that advocates fairness and justice like the later generations, the polarization between the rich and the poor is still very serious.Where there are people, there will be classes and hierarchies, natural selection, survival of the fittest.No matter what era it is, the incapable serve the capable.In the final analysis, human beings are just a kind of animal chain, survival of the fittest, jungle of the jungle, it is quite sad to think about it.

"The sages have said that if you are poor, you will be good for yourself, and if you are rich, you will benefit the world. Being a butcher for an official and gaining fame is nothing more than a grand plan and glory for your ancestors. But if you treat the poor as fish and meat, and treat human life as worthless, It's too absurd to regard Sheji as a child's play." Tu Zhen didn't know where to associate it, he was silent for a moment, and said coldly.

"So the sages and sages in ancient times are all lonely, because most of the people in the world are selfish!" Xue Pan shook his head and said, "I think that instead of entrusting the trust to the illusory conscience of the officials, it is better to let the court's rules, rules, and standards." Be more strict. The so-called corruption, corruption, and bribery are nothing more than a game of finding loopholes. Wealth, they are seeking fame and fortune, not monks."

When Tu Zhen heard the words, he frowned and thought about it, and asked in a deep voice, "You mean...strict officials and tyrannical government?"

"Confucius once said that a tyrannical government is fiercer than a tiger." Xue Pan shook his head and said, "The so-called rigorous system and regulations are not the same as the strictness of laws and laws."

Tu Zhen couldn't help being interested, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Continue."

Xue Pan frowned, pondered for a while, and picked out some moderate concepts and measures for future generations of the Sunshine Project, Project, and Transparent Government to Tu Zhen.

Tu Zhen frowned after listening, and remained silent.

Xue Pan shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm just talking casually. I don't know if it will work or not, but it should be of some use!"

Tu Zhen slowly turned the jasper beads in his hand.What Xue Pan just said gave him a lot of inspiration. If it is done well, it will naturally benefit the people.It's just that what he doubts now is not this...

"Fourth Master?" Xue Pan couldn't help but be puzzled as he watched Tu Zhen Dingding and looking at himself, with a secretive expression on his face.

"I've never felt that... So Pan'er is also a capable person with a chest!"

"Of course, I don't care who my teacher is." Hearing this, Xue Pan's tail immediately cocked up, "As the saying goes, a famous teacher produces a good student, so I can barely be considered blue!"

"Ah?" Tu Zhen was baffled by Xue Pan's words.

"Isn't there a saying that blue comes from blue and is better than blue? I'm modest and feel that I haven't reached blue yet, but I can almost be considered blue!" Xue Pan smiled and licked his face.

Hearing this, Tu Zhen's face almost turned blue.Immediately glanced helplessly at Xue Pan, closed his eyes and ignored the boastful Xue Pan.

After Xue Pan talked for a while, he felt bored, so he stopped talking, leaned on the seat and squinted.After a while, Tu Zhen asked again: "The policy you mentioned just now, how to implement the transparency of the policy? You must know that the imperial court has many measures that must be kept secret. How can it be publicized with great fanfare and someone who wants to overhear? A major event that threatens Guozuo."

"Imperial secrets and ordinary policies and policies are two different concepts." Xue Pan opened his eyes and said, "The relative openness I said refers to the part of the public. For example, taxes and collections, the annual taxes and collections of the court. The amount and rate will not change easily, and sometimes even reduce or exempt according to the situation of a certain place. However, after the government and order arrive at the place, they cannot be implemented at all. The local people do not know that the imperial court has reduced or exempted their taxes, and they still After years of handing over, most of the money was embezzled by local officials. Also, the imperial court allocated money to repair the dams, and the money for the city wall could not be realized. Under layers of exploitation... In fact, sometimes it is not the local officials I really don't want to do things for the common people, but it's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice. And the most important thing..."

Xue Pan glanced at Tu Zhen cautiously, and stopped talking.

"What's the most important thing?" Tu Zhen opened his eyes and looked at Xue Pan calmly.

"And the light and the dust." Xue Pan lowered his head and said four words slowly.

The number beads in Tu Zhen's hand suddenly grasped tightly.

After a while, Tu Zhen asked in a deep voice: "Listen to what you said...is there a good solution?"

Xue Pan blinked, and asked lightly, "Do you remember the Jin Yiwei from the previous dynasty?"

Tu Zhen's heart skipped a beat, Gu Jing glanced at Xue Pan calmly, and asked calmly, "Oh?"

Xue Pan swallowed his saliva, remembering that when he was in college, everyone gathered together to talk about the mountains. They also talked about these things in history, and they even discussed the famous Jinyiwei.

"Actually, the Jinyiwei in the previous dynasty was also a rare intelligence processing center. It's just that the power was too great, and the actions were too high-profile, and the methods of the former pilgrimage ancestor emperor were too cruel, and they would rather kill by mistake than release by mistake. In the end, they were notorious. That’s all.” Xue Pan shook his head and said.

"Look at you, you have a good impression of the notorious Jin Yiwei." Tu Zhen smiled calmly.

"I don't have a good or bad opinion of him, I just think Jin Yiwei is very well informed. It is said that there is nothing in the world that he doesn't know." Xue Pan said with a smile.By the way, I also talked about the famous banquet of loyal ministers in history.

Tu Zhen shook his head and said with a smile: "I'm afraid it's just that the minister and the emperor are acting together. Even if they are really powerful, how can they know everything about everything!"

Among other things, his two hidden guards at the sticky pole and the blood drop can be regarded as pervasive.But I dare not say that everything in the world is known.

Xue Pan shrugged his shoulders disapprovingly, "That's what I mean, it's really too high-profile, and everyone is silent. After all, there are still a few honest and upright gentlemen, let alone in the temple. Who doesn't have any dirty things? It's just like this. It's spread out in front of everyone..."

"Then what do you mean?" Tu Zhen said, leaning on the backrest, the journey was long, and it was time to chat with Xue Pan for a while.

"I mean discipline and inspection." Xue Pan said, explaining the concepts of discipline and inspection clearly, and finally said: "In this case, the separation of supervision, inspection agencies, agencies and specific action people will not cause serious problems. The situation of abuse of power. As the saying goes, if you listen to both, you will be clear, and if you believe, you will be dark, and the Holy One will have more ears."

"But now there are many officials in the court, and the court's finances are very tight." Tu Zhen frowned.There are also two heartbeats.

Xue Pan suddenly thought of the spy war movies that later generations often acted in, and said with a smile: "Actually, it is not necessary to pull these two ministries out. Your Majesty can choose people you trust and let them report to you directly."

"Oh?" Tu Zhen became more and more interested.

"It's more secretive, and more fun..." Xue Pan straightened up excitedly, and chatted with Tu Zhen about some spy movies he had watched before, and even some classic plots of undercover cops and gangsters. Moved out by him.

Frothing and frothing, Xue Pan thought about it, and finally, Xue Pan, who was thirsty, drank the warm tea on the coffee table and said with satisfaction: "This is what makes it interesting!"

It was okay for Tu Zhen to listen to Xue Pan's first words, but afterward, he became more and more out of shape.Knowing that Xue Pan has this habit, he doesn't care about it.I just lowered my head and thought about it secretly, and then looked up when I had some rules, and I saw Xue Pan leaning on the seat on the side of the car wall, and fell asleep.Leaning behind her is a big soft pillow that she found out from nowhere, and her body is also covered with a thin leather mattress, she will enjoy it very much.

Tu Zhen shook his head and didn't speak.I also leaned on the soft back and closed my eyes to rest.

I don't know how long it's been going all the way.The carriage finally stopped.Zhao Cai tapped on the car twice outside, and asked cautiously: "Fourth Master, the eldest son is awake, we have arrived at the place."

Because of Tu Zhen, all the servants of the Xue family couldn't call Xue Pan a master anymore, so they had to follow the southern name of him as the eldest son.Xue Pan didn't come back to his senses for a while, rubbed his eyes in a daze, and asked loudly, "What are you talking about?"

"Young Master, I'm going to open the door when I'm awake. It's cold outside. Fourth Master and Young Master should put on their clothes first, so as not to be caught by the cold wind." Zhaocai said, and waited for a while until Xue Panyang inside He shouted, "Get dressed."

Only then did Zhaocai lift the tightly sealed heavy curtain, then opened the carriage door made of transparent glass, poked his head in and said to the two, "Please get off the carriage, fourth master and young master."

Xue Pan clumsily jumped out of the car wrapped in a fox fur cloak, and turned around to help Tu Zhen again.It has been snowing continuously for several days, and the snow on the ground is several feet thick, almost without ankles.Fortunately, both of them were wearing leather boots with leggings when they came out, so they didn't get their shoes and socks wet for a while.

Tu Zhen raised his eyes and looked at the barren mountains and wild ridges, the remnants of snow and decayed grass, and the collapsed houses around him. Groups of peasants in poor clothes huddled in the distance and looked here, just looking at the group of people in fresh clothes. Angry horses, whispering in beautiful clothes and crowns, but they dare not come over for fear of getting into trouble.

Tu Zhen frowned and asked, "What kind of place is this?"

"It's a girl's hometown in my house." Xue Pan wrapped his cloak and said softly, "Didn't Fourth Master say he wanted to see the poor? I remembered that their house was collapsed by heavy snow, so I stopped by to have a look."

Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly saw a pretty, well-dressed girl running out of the crowd, followed by two boys in heavy clothes.

"You are such a noble man, why did you come here?" Luo Yan rubbed his hands that were red from the cold, and said guiltily: "Most of the houses in this village have been crushed, and there are dirty and messy things everywhere. , there is no place for the uncle to stop and drink tea. It's really..."

"Don't be too busy, I just stopped by to see you." Xue Pan said, looking at Luo Yan, but within three to five days, Luo Yan's delicate skin became much rougher, and red marks appeared on his face. And dry leather, looks very pitiful.

"How are your parents?" Xue Pan asked.

Luoyan's eyes turned red, and she murmured, "That's all."

"What is that like?" Xue Pan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Is it serious?"

"It's okay to be injured, but..." Luo Yan hesitated for a moment, looking at Xue Pan, hesitant to speak.

Xue Pan gathered the cloak on his body and said, "Don't stand outside. Since I'm here, it's reasonable to go and see the family members."

"This..." Luo Yan frowned in embarrassment. "The place where I live now is really dirty, I'm afraid I'll offend my uncle."

"It's so delicate." Xue Pan didn't allow Luo Yan to be verbose, pointing to a boy behind her and said: "You lead the way, and lead us to have a look."

Since most of the houses in the village were collapsed by the heavy snow, all the villagers crowded into the remaining few houses.There are many people in the small house, and there are many patients who were injured in the snow disaster lying down, which made the environment in the house more and more messy.

As soon as Xue Panpu entered the room, he could smell a sour smell of rotting antiseptic food, the smell of sweat from crowds gathered together, the smell of bitter juice from boiled soup, messy tea bowls and rice dishes can be seen everywhere, and even some There were leftovers from the morning meal, and the light was very dim, giving Xue Pan the illusion of being in a refugee camp.

Seeing this, Luoyan quickly took out a fairly clean handkerchief from her bosom and handed it to Xue Pan.Xue Pan took it, turned his head and handed it to the stunned Fourth Master, and said in a low voice, "It's impossible to stay in this room, Fourth Master should go out first!"

Tu Zhen raised his head and asked, "What about you?"

"Since I'm here, I have to give my condolences!" Xue Pan shook his head helplessly, then turned around and asked, "Which one is your father?"

Luo Yan led the way, pointing to a middle-aged man lying unconscious in the corner and said: "This is it."

Then he introduced to a woman who was watching by the side: "Mother, this is our uncle."

"Benefactor!" The woman immediately knelt in front of Xue Pan and kowtowed after hearing the words, and shouted, "O benefactor!"

"What are you doing, quickly help your mother up." Xue Pan was taken aback, and quickly signaled Luoyan to help her up.

"If the uncle hadn't sent people to Deyitang to invite a doctor to see my father's illness, and asked the accountant to pay the servant 50 taels of silver, I'm afraid my father would not be able to stand it anymore." Luo Yan said, crying.

"It's just a little effort." Xue Pan leaned forward and said, "Your father doesn't seem to be doing well, does he have a fever?"

"Alas!" Luoyan sighed, "Daddy was hit in both legs by a falling beam. Although the doctor had seen it and prescribed medicine, but... the doctor said that the environment here is not suitable for recuperating. Most of the house was collapsed by the snow, and there is no better place to go for the time being. For some reason, it burned again in the past two days—"

"Death." Xue Pan rolled his eyes and reprimanded: "Why didn't you send someone back to deliver a message in this situation. Even if the master didn't know, it wouldn't be like this if Manager Yao raised his hand."

"Slave..." Luoyan shook her head, the master first arranged for her family to take care of the horses and chariots, and then gave 50 taels of silver and hired a doctor.It's not an auspicious thing for a new year's day, how dare she bring this to the master.

Xue Pan shook his head. Fortunately, the road is not easy today, and they brought more carriages.Immediately ordered Zhao Cai: "You send two boys to carry Luo Yan's father into the carriage, first find them a place to live in the city, and then find him a proficient doctor to take a good look at him. If possible, try to find him A doctor..."

"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir." Luo Yan couldn't say anything else, and quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed. "Uncle's kindness can't be repaid, I just want to be a bull and a horse in the next life—"

"How many times have you made cows and horses?" Xue Pan shook his head, and joked with a smile: "Our family has a lot of cows and horses, and you are not bad. You should tidy up and think about how to take care of you. My old lady!"

After a pause, he said again: "This is the situation in your family now... You should not go back to Xue's house for the time being."

Luo Yan turned pale in shock, raised her head and called out, "Master?"

"I asked Zhaocai to arrange a residence for you, and you will live there for now. And wait until the Chinese New Year to talk about anything else." Xue Pan looked at Luoyan and said, "You should wait until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month before returning to work!"

In a word, Luoyan seemed to have returned to heaven from hell, and kowtowed repeatedly: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir."

"Don't knock it, don't knock it, it makes my head hurt." Xue Pan said, covering his nose with his hand and said to Tu Zhen: "The smell in this room is too bad, let's go out!"

Tu Zhen nodded silently, and left the room with Xue Pan.A gust of north wind mixed with clear snow was blowing towards him, Xue Pan gasped for a few times, shook his head and said, "It really...suffered me to death."

Tu Zhen sighed softly, "This is just one family, one village. The booklet said that several provinces in the north were hit by snowstorms this winter, and only one house in the capital collapsed countless times. Luoyan's family was saved by you, but There are so many people..."

Hearing this, Xue Pan also fell silent.

He can save a person or a village, but no matter how many people he can save, how much can he save!Even if you have the ability, you don't have the guts!Who would dare to intervene too much in this kind of favor to the common people, except the imperial court and people with different ambitions?

"Pan'er!" Tu Zhen turned his head and looked at Xue Pan steadfastly.

Xue Pan was taken aback, and quickly said, "Yes!"

"I want you to—"

Before he could finish a sentence, he suddenly heard several loud bangs from the sky.Xue Pan and Tu Zhen followed the prestige and saw the continuous snow rolling down from the distant mountain, coming towards this side with the momentum of thunder.

Zhaocai behind Xue Pan suddenly turned black, and said in a deep voice, "Someone put explosives on the mountain."

Create an avalanche!

A thought flashed through everyone's minds quickly, and all eyes were fixed on Tu Zhen's face.

In an instant, Tu Zhen's face turned ashen.