Hypocrites

In cool autumn, the red maple and golden chrysanthemum are at that time, and the whole city is full of golden armor.

Shen Yu was in the county guard's mansion, next to his father's case, got his own official case, and did some copying and recording work.Gradually, I also got to know many officials and began to learn to deal with them.

Song Jun was the officially appointed chief secretary who worked in the government office, while Yan Ran, like Shen Yu, also did odd jobs, came here less frequently, and had to take care of the academy to attend lectures.

Occasionally come a few times, when the front foot arrives, Mujihe will inevitably follow.Shen Yu was often speechless to the two of them, and taught Mu Jihe a lesson: "Idlers always go to the office, what do you want to do? Do you want to make connections?"

Yan Ran didn't know where to hide again, so Mu Jihe took advantage of the situation and went to Shen Yu, stealing his tea and pastries.

"Where's Sister Ding? How are you doing in the mountains?"

Shen Yu glanced at him sideways: "How do I know, and I don't communicate often. There is nothing in the mountains, how can I live well?"

Mu Jihe said: "I always feel that there is no need to send her away that day. You said, you are a majestic county magistrate, just robbing women, and you are afraid that he is a young man? At worst, take Ding Kou back to your house." , Shan Guangyi dares to go to the Shen family to ask someone? Are you afraid that the teacher will punish him?"

It's true, Shen Yu didn't bother to talk to him, and said in his heart that it's not a big deal to watch the excitement.

He came here many times, one time he bumped into Shan Guangyi, who was on business in the government office, and Shen Yu was startled. He was about to tell Mu Jihe and Yan Ran to avoid him, but Mu Jihe was open-minded and didn't look sideways.

The scars on Mu Jihe's eyebrows have long since faded away, and he covered his face last time, guessing that Shan Guangyi would not recognize him.Sure enough, he passed by Shan Guangyi, and no one noticed anything strange.For many days, there was no news of Shan Guangyi making any new moves, and it seemed that the incident had just passed away.

It was Shen Yu who walked with Shen Jin one time and met Shan Guangyi.

"Your son's figure... seems to have been seen somewhere?"

Shen Yu remained calm, a drop of cold sweat dripped down his back.

Shan Guangyi added: "The body is strong enough, it is a good material for martial arts, hahahaha."

A false alarm turned out to be just flattery.

Shen Jin wanted to take over from Lu Jia's stall, so he made a lot of preparations in advance.The so-called top beams are not straight and the bottom beams are crooked. You can imagine how the atmosphere in Ruyang is. Except for those big beetles who were dismissed or taken into custody by the court, there are also some clerks or officials who take small profits and make things easier for others.

These people earn very little, and commit no serious crimes, but they cannot let themselves go.How to deal with them gave Shen Jin a headache.

Talking to Shen Yu one day, he said: "If a small amount of money is confiscated, I can't even cover the leak in the money bank. It seems that I am ruthless."

Intentionally or not, Shen Jin started to talk about public affairs with his son, Yan Ran listened from the side without interrupting.

Shen Jin asked: "What do you think?"

Shen Yudao: "Don't do it because of the smallness of the evil, of course you can't let it go."

"The problem is to grasp the degree properly, and don't make a big deal out of it. According to the method of dealing with Lujia's faction, then the punishment should not be justified."

"But if you handle it lightly, you will lose your majesty, and you will inevitably commit another crime."

"That's the reason," Shen Jin nodded, and asked, "Yan Ran, what do you think?"

Yan Ran said honestly: "Confiscate it, no matter how small a fly's leg is, it's still meat."

Both Shen Jin and Shen Yu laughed.After a while, Shen Yu pondered and said: "I have an idea, I'm not mature enough, and I'll share it with you for your reference—to record the benefits of these servants one by one, it's not confiscated, it's just a record, to show that your lord I know their behavior well. Don’t worry about it for the time being. It’s because you are magnanimous. If you give me a chance in the future, if there is another person who uses profit for good deeds and reports the truth, you can get rid of a sum in the account and cancel the account. apology."

Shen Jin smiled when she heard that, looked at her son, and wrote it down: "It's a way."

On the day when the persimmons are ripe, Shen Jin proposes to go for a walk on the city wall together.Ruyang stands in the north of the water and the south of the mountain. It has a history of thousands of years. According to written records, in the period of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors in ancient times, the Tuohe Plain formed in one year and Chengdu in three years. Now the majestic city wall is more than three feet high.

The city is full of low bungalows, only the city walls are surrounded by towering turrets for viewing.The east turret can see the waves of the Tuohe River going around the city from a distance, so it is called "Linjiang Temple". Shen Jin and Shen Yu ascended the tower on a cold autumn night.

At dusk, thousands of households are lit up, just like the reflection of the galaxy in the sky in the world.The black water of the Tuohe River is surging, rushing towards the sky surrounded by purple clouds in the evening, and the water vapor permeates the field.The huge figure crouching on the mountain in the north pays attention in silence.

Ascend to the high-rise building, the autumn wind is bleak, and the plains are vast.

The father and son each put on warm clothes, and before they knew it, it was almost late autumn.

Shen Jin said: "Looking from the north, what is it?"

To the north is a tall mountain range that blocks the line of sight. There are wisps of clouds floating on the mountain, and behind the clouds is a half-covered moon.

Shen Yu replied: "To the north is Wangdu City, then Zhuoshui, which is Shangdu."

Shen Jin smiled: "Unexpectedly, your ambition will change soon. What you said in the past, you want to inherit the academy and carry it forward. Now the boy in the south is no longer in your eyes, and you want to teach the one in the north? What's the good? You have also seen that being busy with official duties and paperwork is not necessarily the life you want."

Shen Yu quietly listened to his father's instruction.

"Nowadays, the situation is troubled both internally and externally. Outside there are Beichao covetously, and inside there are eunuchs controlling the court. We have been in the Chu Palace for more than one year, and we have never seen the imperial palace. The teacher gave lectures for the prince, and in the end, he was inevitably promoted and demoted secretly, and was expelled. First of all, the more important thing is that the military court in the north has always been fierce and domineering. Seeking a good opportunity, knowledgeable people will definitely not miss it. Right now their prince is also in trouble, and the prince's country is also too busy to take care of himself. Once we take care of it and calm down, we will face a strong enemy. "

Floating clouds covered the crescent moon, and Zhangshan Mountain and Tuohe River were all hidden in the darkness for a while.

Shen Jin said: "In your opinion, which side, Bei Chao or Nan Qi, can solve the domestic problems first? Whoever has the first opportunity to recover the national strength to meet the war will determine the outcome of the war."

This question must have been a headache for the ministers in power.But no matter how much you deceive yourself, the answer is self-evident.

The emperor expelled the prince, and the power was still in the hands of the emperor. Compared with the eunuch who expelled the emperor and his son from the center of power, the situation was quite different.

"If there is a way, it's not that there is no way," Shen Yudao said, "I have seen that everyone in the royal city is dissatisfied with the three power eunuchs, and the reason why they do nothing is because the power eunuchs control the five thousand southern troops. Control threatens the lives of people in the city. No one in the court can contend, but there are strong generals outside the court, so that the king of southern Sichuan will lead the army to serve the king, clear the eunuchs, and return the government to the people."

Liang Huang, king of southern Sichuan, was the brother of the first Huan Emperor Liang Yu.When Emperor Huan was guarding the four towns of Zhuoshui, Liang Huang was still young, and he was a young general under him, and he fought bravely in front of the battle.After Emperor Huan came to the throne, Liang Huang even took over the throne and carried the king's banner to resist the iron heels of the northerners.Now the four towns of Zhuoshui are under his governance, and all the people are soldiers, and the soldiers, fields and food are self-governing, and there are [-] troops.If it was on the side of the Qing emperor, it should not be a problem to deal with a mere [-] southern troops.

The problem is, Shen Jin said: "On the side of Qing Jun, who is Qing Qing? Who is the jester and treacherous side of Your Majesty?"

That's a good point.The decline of imperial power did not happen overnight. It was due to the fact that Emperor Wenshen entrusted eunuchs with important tasks at the beginning of his accession to the throne, and had to use power in return.Living in the deep palace for a long time, besides eunuchs, who else can I trust and appoint?Not to mention that after being seriously ill, even the diners in Xie Ling Pavilion knew that the emperor relied on the eunuch's ancestral secret recipe to relieve him.

Relying so much on trust, who dares to call him a traitor?I'm afraid that he will be bitten back and become a ghost under the knife first.

What's more, Shen Jin didn't know that the garrison army in Shixing County was also controlled by the eunuch Xu Chou.A total of [-], plus [-] from Wangcheng, the number should not be underestimated.

Such a calculation adds another variable to the odds.

"Son," Shen Jin sighed, "If you want to follow His Highness, these are the difficulties you have to face."

Shen Yu just smiled, with a bit of demeanor: "I'm scared. If I leave him, who else will be by his side? Dad, your son is not impossible."

"Okay." Shen Jin patted his son's back, waved his sleeves and pointed at the vast land in the north, "So today I bring you here to Linjiang Temple. The sky has been covered by dark clouds for a long time, and the only way forward is to go upstairs."

Frost falls in October, furs are worn, and charcoal fires are added to deal with the cold wind coming from the south.Overnight, the flowers and plants in the city died down, leaving only chrysanthemums and plums.

Charcoal was burning in the room, and Shen Yu sat behind the desk to write a winter book, clarifying the coal business between Ruyang County and surrounding areas over the years.

Chen Hui shouted: "People who are officials are different! The charcoal burned in the house is warmer than ours!"

But it was the classmates from the school, even Song Jun was there, pushing Zhou Yu, booing and pushing him into the house.

Shen Yu put down his pen and put away the inkstone, in case they bumped into splashed ink and damaged his hard work.

"what happened?"

"Don't take it, don't take it! Take it out!" Chen Hui took out the inkstone and wooden tablet from the bottom of the case again, and smiled maliciously, "Zhou Yu, come here! Grandpa gave you a love poem, and I went to read it for you. , Guaranteed to be overwhelmed by your talent! You are still talking about fame and wealth, and you are full of love!"

The classmates laughed.Shen Yu immediately understood - Zhou Yu's love affair was exposed.

Zhou Yu's face was flushed, he didn't know whether it was anger or embarrassment, Yan Ran and Mu Jihe dragged him closer to the desk.

"You boy is not kind!" Mu Jihe said, "If you have a sweetheart, you won't share it with your brothers!"

Zhou Yu is an honest person, and it is rare for him to swear: "How do I share this?!"

It was rare for Yan Ran to appear in the same room as Mu Jihe, and he said with a smile, "Leave him alone, Zhou Yu, I will also send a love poem in friendship, which is considered as a share of money for you two!"

Zhou Yu was about to go crazy: "I've said it all! I haven't written my horoscope yet! What are you doing, let me go!"

Mu Jihe pushed him to sit beside the desk. Here, Chen Hui was full of thoughts and had already written a poem. Everyone forced Zhou Yu to listen to him recite.Chen Hui read affectionately:

"Jiaochun willows with thin smoke, asking the matchmaker to fight for my golden marriage lottery. Peach blossoms are all over the banks of the Tuohe River..."

He deliberately paused, causing everyone to wait with bated breath—

"Fold to Yingying's small window! Hahahahahahahaha!"

Zhou Yu's girlfriend is called Yingying.Not to mention Shen Yu, he knew how many years it had been in the neighborhood. The fish seller's family opposite the school had a soft-spoken daughter who also looked like Xiaojiabiyu, and her name was Yingying.

The whole house roared with laughter.

Steam was rising from Zhou Yu's head, and he was furious: "Fart! Who is fighting for your golden marriage lottery? Someone wants you too?!"

Chen Huidao: "It's not for me, it's for you. If you read it to that little girl like this, when they hear it, the scholar who thought no one wants it, but it's so hot, maybe they will accept you as soon as they think about it. This is raising your social status, understand? You fool."

"We are in love with each other, and we don't engage in such hypocrisy!" Zhou Yu emphasized.

"Okay." Chen Hui surrendered.

"Let me write a poem," Yan Ran said excitedly, "Brother Yu, give me the pen and ink."

Shen Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and handed him the wooden tablet and pen together.

Everyone was writing poems around Yan Ran, they got too close, and were squeezed away by the Muji River, occupying the nearest place.When Yan Ran wrote a sentence, everyone burst into laughter, and Yan Ran himself blushed, each of these brats was more careless than the other.Mu Jihe was jealous: "The writing is really good."

Shen Yu was also curious and couldn't help but want to move closer.

"Last year, I said goodbye to you in midsummer, and this year's summer and autumn..."

Yan Ran stopped writing, and everyone looked up blankly.Shen Yu's face suddenly changed.

Chen Hui rummaged through the wooden tablets under Shen Yu's desk, found a piece of writing, and read aloud on this daylight: "If you can transform into two places, follow the wind to the head of Beicheng..."

There was silence for a moment, Song Jun looked at the wooden tablet in Chen Hui's hand, and then at Shen Yu.