The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

For a while, Xue Pan rushed to Haitang Pavilion without stopping.Sure enough, he saw Fourth Master Long dressed very neatly, sitting in the main hall and waiting for him!

Xue Pan jumped into the main hall in three steps at a time, clasped his hands with a smile and said, "For keeping Fourth Master Long waiting, Amitabha, it's a sin."

Fourth Master Long was already used to Xue Pan's out-of-the-ordinary tone when he spoke. Seeing that Xue Pan dared to offend the Buddha at this time, he still sullen his face in dissatisfaction.He said coldly: "One has to be in awe to be able to keep one's heart. You have acted abruptly as a Buddha at a young age, so you know you will be a bastard in the future."

Xue Pan shook his head nonchalantly, and retorted: "There is no need for the future, people outside are calling me the Demon King!"

Fourth Master Long was short of breath, seeing Xue Pan's expression of pride instead of shame, and didn't know what to say.

After all, it is the prince and grandson, so it is not good for Xue Pan to go against him too much.Seeing the livid face of Fourth Master Long, he opened his mouth and said in a nonsensical way: "Worshiping and respecting the Buddha is based on the heart, not in this form. Wouldn't the smell of wine and meat pass through the intestines, and the Buddha will stay in his heart? If you say that you don't worship A person of the Buddha, who does good deeds every day, and a person who worships Buddha every day, but who calculates others to climb up and step on other people's corpses to enrich himself, which one is more devout to the Buddha?"

Xue Pan was just talking nonsense for a while, but he accidentally solved the grievance in Long Siye's heart. After thinking about it for a long time, he felt relieved.Looking at Xue Pan's ignorant face.On the contrary, I feel that this person is very savvy, and his eyes have become more generous.

Xue Pan didn't know the twists and turns in Fourth Master Long's heart. Seeing Fourth Master Long's expression eased, he knew there was no danger.Only then did Fourth Master Long go out to inspect the market.A dozen or so young servants were inevitably followed behind, a mighty group of people behind, quite aura.However, Xue Pan's attitude became more and more humble.This is nonsense, of course he has to be respectful, no wonder the ancients used to say that accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger, and that the emperor's guard is the third most dangerous profession after the imperial doctor and the secret guard.Even if it's a young tiger that hasn't grown up yet, it's not something he can provoke.

To say it was an inspection, in Xue Pan's opinion, it was just another nice way of saying wandering around.When he was locked up severely by the old man in his previous life, he also used this excuse to come out and let the air go.Therefore, I am becoming more and more familiar with this process.

After all, Jinling is the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, and there are many historical sites and places of interest. Xue Pan walked south along Qilin Street where the Xue family's old house was located, and explained the interesting ruins to Fourth Master Long.Although he is illiterate.But with unique insights and witty and sharp words, Fourth Master Long listened with great interest for a while.

While talking, the two of them arrived in front of a stele of "Diligent Government and Love the People" written by the last emperor of the previous dynasty. Behind the stele was a sparkling lake, and the willows on the shore were green and new branches that had just sprouted green. Niaoya, standing by the lake and looking at it, there is a kind of refreshing comfort.

Fourth Master Long stopped in front of the stele and stood with his hands behind his back. He stared at the stele for a long time before he sighed: "It is said that the emperor of the previous dynasty was stupid and obscene. In fact, this last emperor can be regarded as diligent in governing and caring for the people. He has been on the throne for three years." It is a pity that...the government at that time was already corrupt, the government was chaotic, there were too many moths in the country, and the building was about to collapse, and no manpower could restore it."

"People say that the master of wisdom lies in knowing people and doing them well, and having the insight to know people. After all, a person's strength is meager. How many things can he do if he has to do everything himself and work hard? On the contrary, he can take care of this and ignore that. In the end, everything is troublesome." Not doing well. If I can delegate power to loyal and capable officials, I only need to wait for the result later, and everyone has their own specialties and responsibilities, and they are only responsible for their own responsibilities. If things are single, the spirit will be stronger Concentration greatly reduces the chance of making mistakes. Therefore, the highest state of the Lord of Sages is to rule with the bow. In my opinion, His Majesty has the knowledge of people today, so the officials are governed peacefully, and the world sings and sings, all thank His Majesty for his wisdom."

Xue Pan spoke cautiously, not forgetting to flatter the Holy Majesty at the end.

No matter what Long Siye thought in his heart, he felt much happier after hearing Xue Pan's blatant flattery, and the corners of his lips rose slightly.After all, he was the emperor of the previous dynasty, and compared with the current one, if Xue Pan agrees with him, he will inevitably be suspected of flattery, and if the courtiers of the current court actually say good things about the former emperor, if someone with a heart knows it, it will inevitably cause trouble .But if you just veto it blindly, just say that the last emperor is fatuous, but he has also lost three parts of his character.Now Xue Pan's answer is correct, but then it will be the most appropriate.

Fourth Master Long sighed in his heart.I feel that although Xue Pan doesn't like reading, he is smarter and quicker than those sour scholars who only know how to drop their book bags.For a while, I also thought about the school exam.Immediately, his face sank, and he said in a cold voice: "Knowing people and being good at assignments, knowing people's wisdom, His Majesty has indeed done it today. However, some officials, who have won His Majesty's trust, do not want to serve the country loyally. , oppressing the people. People’s livelihood has become more and more prosperous in the past few decades, but the national treasury has become increasingly empty. I don’t know whose pockets this watery money has flowed into. Thinking about it this way, it’s not as good as the former emperor’s work. Although he is tired of paperwork, the treasury After all, the internal treasury is still abundant.”

This is a bit embarrassing, no matter how Xue Pan answered, why not.What's more, Xue Pan was originally a member of the four major families, so he naturally knew why the last four major families were convicted, and finally ended up with "the white land is so clean".But it’s not the case to just leave Fourth Master Long hanging out like this. In desperation, Xue Pan had to clear his throat, and joked: “Actually, one of the reasons why the former emperor dealt with government affairs day and night is that He didn't get a chance to have fun."

"Oh?" Fourth Master Long heard this kind of talk for the first time, so he couldn't help asking curiously: "Where did you say that?"

"Dare to ask the fourth master, counting the previous dynasties and even several dynasties, whether every emperor was diligent in governing and loving the people, conscientious and conscientious at the beginning of his ascension to the throne, and then indulged in pleasure and did not think about government affairs?" Xue Pan asked with a trick .

Fourth Master Long counted silently in his heart.I actually felt that most of them were like this, and I became more and more curious for a while. I was eager to hear Xue Pan's opinion, so I smiled and said: "That's the case, what new remarks do you have?"

"May I ask fourth master if he knows what is the standard age for the annual draft?" Xue Pan said with a smirk on his face, "Every emperor is diligent in governing and loving the people at the beginning of his ascension to the throne. This is the reason for his hard work."

Fourth Master Long became more and more suspicious, and replied with great interest: "Although the drafting standards have been different throughout the dynasties, they are generally 17 to [-] years old. So what?"

"This is it!" Xue Pan slapped his thigh, and said to Fourth Master Long in a tone as if he had discovered a secret: "Think about it, Fourth Master, although the suitable age ranges from 13 to 17 years old. But every dynasty and every generation There are only a few families that meet the selection criteria! Most of the daughters enter the palace as soon as they reach the age of 13. If they are selected, they will stay. Just married. There are a few that can wait until the girl is seventeen and then participate in the draft."

Fourth Master Long pondered for a while, and it really happened.Can't help but ask again: "So what?"

"Oh!" Xue Pan saw that Fourth Master Long hadn't understood yet.He shook his head and sighed that Fourth Master was blunt, but he spoke out his conjecture in every detail. "According to my aesthetic point of view, except for a few well-nourished women, most of the 13-year-old girls have a flat body like a washboard, dry and unattractive. To put it a bit exaggerated, you just let She puts on men's clothing and throws it into the crowd of men, and she can't tell it apart. But girls who are sixteen or seventeen years old are different. They have a delicate figure, bumpy, and just have a feminine charm. Men can't help but feel moved before they act. stand up……"

Speaking of this, Xue Pan continued with an expression of "you understand": "So the former emperor didn't want to have fun, but he didn't have a chance! Think about it, the former emperor ascended the throne for three years, and when he was drafted in the first year This group of beautiful girls have not grown up, and the original wives and concubines are probably tired of seeing them for many years, so they don’t have anything to do and don’t go to the harem. When the new stubble is harvested in three years, the original batch of beauties will basically be gone. He has grown up, but he has no chance to be lucky!"

Xue Pan spread his hands, shook his head and sighed in regret: "He was stabbed by our ancestors!"

There was an endless stream of suffocated laughter from behind, and all the attendants who followed behind were blushing.Only Xue Pan's servants, including Zhaocai and Jinbao, were sweating coldly from fright.

"That's why those beauties are cheap for my ancestors?" Fourth Master Long glanced casually, and the group of guards fell silent immediately.Looking back at Xue Pan's heartbroken show, he said with a half-smile.

"Of course!" Xue Pan agreed, shaking his head.

"Of course it's a fart!" No matter how well-mannered Fourth Master Long was, he couldn't help but swear, and reached out and slapped Xue Pan hard on the head, Fourth Master Long scolded dumbfoundedly: "Absurd!"

"Wonderful theory?" Xue Pan didn't hear clearly, and continued to say complacently: "How about it, Fourth Master also thinks my views are wonderful!"

"Unlearned guy!" Fourth Master Long shook his head helplessly, but the corners of his lips deepened involuntarily.After Xue Pan made such a fuss, he also forgot the original intention of causing this topic.Funnyly pointing to the front, Xue Pan immediately rode his horse forward to lead the way for him, and the image of a dog leg was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Not long after walking, I suddenly heard a pleasantly surprised call from the side——

"The front is the uncle of the Xue family?"

Xue Pan turned his head inexplicably, and looked at a pair of figures approaching slowly. In front of him, his face was like the moon of Mid-Autumn Festival, his color was like flowers of spring dawn, his temples were cut like knives, his eyebrows were like ink painting, his face was like peach petals, and his eyes were like autumn waves.His eyes lit up, and he called out, "Baoyu, why were you released?"