No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 278

a month ago.

Luodu.

Crape Myrtle City.

Early summer, afternoon.

A jujube tree grows beside the side wall of the main hall in Wuwa, a red wall. Its age is unknown, and its flourishing branches and leaves almost extend into the window.

"I see—I see—"

The warm sun scorched the brown-skinned cicadas on the branches, and they chirped endlessly.

But it didn't disturb the person by the window at all.

Wow -

In the center of the table full of documents, on the empty table, a pile of small wooden sticks of the same length were scattered.

They are frequently manipulated by the wrinkled palm on the back of one hand.

The rattling sound continued, and the small wooden stick was moved around.

Unlike playing, the old withered palm played with them very seriously.

Upon closer inspection, the pile of small wooden sticks was not messy, but implied a pattern.

Next to this pile of small wooden sticks, there is a thick booklet.

The other withered palm was holding a slender wolf hair pen, slowly writing lines of regular characters on a certain page of the thick volume.

The regular script is neat, with one stroke and one stroke, like an engraving, without spirituality.

On the thick book, the ink characters that have not yet dried up are some boring numbers:
[millet, 230 stones],

[Silk silk, more than 370 Zhang],

[Ma, 550...]

and many more.

The fat old man knelt in front of the desk, bent over and lowered his head, his eyes were very close to the album.

Habitual squinting, registering books with dry hands.

It turned out that the pile of small wooden sticks in the fat old man's hand was a trick.

Similar to Ouyang Rong's abacus and abacus in his previous life, but more complicated and inconvenient.

The fat old man is reckoning.

On the table in front of him, there were piles of documents, and the inner side of the table was covered with wine red lacquer.

The wrist of the palm, which the old man played with, was smooth and oily, with a faint reflection.

This fat old man in an official uniform with squinting eyes and wrinkles seems to be at this window-side station, in seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, day after day of boring settlements.

If you look up and look past the towering desks, you can see that the fat old man's desk is actually at the top of the entire hall.

In the hall, besides him, there are more than ten officials.

They sat behind their desks, concentrating on their work.

There are majestic young and strong, and there are old people who are as deep as a deep pool. They are all in official uniforms with neat fish bags. Looking around, there are crimson official uniforms, most of which are above the fifth rank.

More than a dozen officials were calm and calm, implying a dignified appearance.

On the long corridor outside the hall, from time to time, officials in green robes came to the hall with documents in their arms.

But as soon as they approached the gate of the palace, they bowed their waists and bowed their heads unconsciously. After entering the palace, they presented official documents to the officials in scarlet clothes. The voices of these foreign officials were weak and cautious, as if afraid of disturbing anything.

So it seemed that this hall, and the more than ten officials working in the hall, became more serious and profound.

However, when the eyes of these scarlet-clothed officials cast their eyes on the innermost workstation in the hall with a small green window in the background.

After seeing the ordinary fat old man quietly settling accounts, they all lowered their heads slightly, lowered their eyes, a little awe flashed in their eyes, and continued to work.

Speaking of which, this solemn office hall, in terms of its luxurious decoration, is inconspicuous in this entire palace city full of luxury.

Not to mention the comparison with the Zichen Palace in the early dynasty of Empress Wei not far away.

But it's called Zhongshu Sheng... no, it's called Fengge.

One of the highest authorities in the capital of God.

On the simple work station by the window, the fat old man buried himself in the accounts, occasionally covering the books, looking at the green branches outside the window, and murmured with some frown:
"It's going to cost money again..."

Shaking his head, he continued to desk.

In the singing of Cicada's hard work, the sun on the branches of the jujube tree gradually slanted west unconsciously.

"clang--"

The rhythmic ringing of the bell resounded among the buildings of Ziwei.

On the second quarter of Maochu, the next value time.

In the main hall of Fengge, more than a dozen officials in scarlet clothes did not raise their heads, and still lowered their heads to work.

However, at the workstation next to the small window above, the fat old man put down his pen and closed the book, got up immediately, left the desk, passed the crowd, and walked out of the hall.

A dozen officials in scarlet clothes let out a sigh of relief, got up one after another, packed their things, and left the hall.

There was a smile on the face of the official in scarlet clothes.

This is the best thing about this top official in Fengge, who is always boring to settle accounts. He never procrastinates and leaves when the time comes.

Even if the empress passed by Fengge on a whim last time, and went into the palace to condolences and inspect, the fat old man did the same, and did not allow His Majesty to occupy everyone's free time.

Ziwei City is the main palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty, a symbol of imperial power.

It is located at the highest point in the northwest corner of Luoyang, the capital of God.

The entire Ziwei City is roughly composed of Ziwei Palace and the Imperial City.

Inside the Ziwei Palace, it is the residence of the empress, the place where she governs and goes to court.

Outside the imperial city, there are five provinces, three central government offices, and buildings for foreign guests.

Therefore, there are very few official offices that can be located in Ziwei Palace and are close to the emperor, and almost all of them are the highest institutions in terms of real power or etiquette.

For example, this Phoenix Pavilion.

The location of Fengge is inward, but the fat old man who was the first to step out of Fengge was the first official to walk to Yingtianmen, one of the main gates of Ziwei Palace, and wait for the door to open to leave the palace.

Everyone was left behind.

However, with the passage of time, a group of veterans and young officials who were in various core positions in the Great Zhou Dynasty gradually gathered outside Yingtianmen and waited for the door to be opened.

Seeing the familiar fat old man in front of him, a small group of officials gathered together.

Words such as "Master" and "Di Gong" spit out from the mouths of this small group of nobles and princes.

The fat old man, who had been meditating in front of the city gate, turned his head and bowed slightly in return.

The old man who stepped on the spot was none other than the world-renowned Prime Minister Di Fuzi of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the respectful old man that Empress Wei spoke of.

The word "Master" was originally an appellation in the Confucian school. It was derived from the real name of a high-ranking person who was a scholar. It was considered one of the highest honors in the Confucian school.

It is conceivable that the old man holds a lofty position in the hearts of scholars all over the world.

As for the civil officials of the Manchu Dynasty, most of them were scholars. Naturally, the title of "Master" was often used interchangeably with the honorific title of "Di Gong".

Gradually, people all over the world began to call him that. As for Mr. Di's real name, no one knew him gradually.

Under Ying Tian's sect, he faced his colleagues from the previous dynasty.

The fat old man smiled.

The conversation was quite humorous.

With Shangguan like this, the atmosphere is naturally harmonious.

After a while, the time has come, and the forbidden army at the head of the city opened the city gate as usual.

A group of ministers went out one after another.

As soon as they left the city gate, several palace servants who had been waiting for a long time stepped forward, with a luxurious sedan chair behind them, and they bowed their hands respectfully:

"Welcome, Master, please get on the sedan chair."

Master Di shook his head and declined, took the reins from the old servant, got on the horse, and rode away.

The palace servants who accepted the emperor's order had no choice but to carry the empty sedan chair and follow the fat old man on horseback back to the mansion.

Around, the ministers who boarded the carriages lifted the curtains and smiled when they saw this, as if they were used to it, and some of them envied their eyes.

Sitting in a sedan chair is not something ordinary courtiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty can enjoy. Only senior and respected veterans can enter and leave the court in a sedan chair.

It's just that the empress is sympathetic to the old man's arrangement, but Master Di doesn't seem to be used to it.

Di Fuzi went out of the city on a light horse and went home along the street.

After saying goodbye to his colleagues, the fat old man on a thin horse had already restrained his smile on his face, and his eyes were lowered.

He held the rein, slightly curled his two withered fingers, and tapped the horse's mane rhythmically.

Muttering from time to time.

Counting again.

The pillar of the Baoli faction among scholars in the world, the famous minister of the Great Zhou who was fighting at the forefront of resisting the Wei family, in his daily life, he did not have the slightest impassioned or insidious and cunning, but instead did the most boring things in the world.

Settle accounts.

The fat old man is calculating the rent and tax adjustments of more than a thousand states and counties in the world, calculating the deficit of the national treasury, and the budget for the coming year.

There are also the willful and extravagant expenses of Empress Wei and the nobles and princesses of the Great Zhou Dynasty in Luoyang City.

By the way, there is also a handful of useless Qi practitioners supported by the imperial court.

In the eyes of the fat old man who was born in Confucianism,

It's fine for those who live in seclusion, those who can walk in the world, Confucianism and other qi practitioners outside the world, they are not engaged in production, and they can't govern the country.

In addition to adding icing on the cake to the already fierce and fierce surrounding army on the battlefield, it is just a beautiful pendant.

Because of various restrictions such as the mythical cauldron pressure, these Qi practitioners who are not Confucianists should stay away from the supreme imperial power that is most likely to alienate their Taoism, and go to the rivers and lakes to be "lonely ghosts", life and death are up to the sky.

As a result, he took a shortcut. In order to supply resources, he learned the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and entered the world under the guise of self-cultivation.

However, Her Majesty the Queen and Wei Wangfu and other powerful families prefer this kind of "beautiful pendant", or they also invest in and produce this kind of "beautiful pendant".

It's nothing more than eating nothing, and it only increases the tragic level of internal frictions such as party struggles and power struggles.

But the most helpless thing in this world is:
There are no people who are willing to farm, and there are few cooks who cook well, but there are many people who climb on the table to eat dry rice, and they still mutter about big fish and meat, and some of them kicked under the legs of the table after belching.

If you ask Master Di, what is the Prime Minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty?
He is the biggest cook above, and he has to prepare meals for the whole family.In the words of a young county magistrate, the economy determines the superstructure.

On the street, the fat old man on horseback looked ahead, very quiet.

A skinny old servant who was following closely behind him saw his master's silent appearance, and was no stranger to it.

This master who scratched his short hair and scratched his hair when he was calculating accounts, looked like he was in the hall or in front of the crowd... Humorous and articulate, with sharp words.

But when he is working or alone, he looks quite different... he is taciturn and cherishes words like gold.

To leave the majestic Ziwei Palace, you need to leave the imperial city through the right gate.

After leaving the imperial city, in the distance directly in front of you is the endlessly flowing Luoshui.

If Luoyang City is overlooked, it is almost square.

A Luoshui River traverses the central part, dividing it into two Lifang districts, Luobei and Luonan.

The Great Zhou Palace is located in the northwest of Luoyang.

Royal family Xungui lives in Lifang District in the northeast of Luoyang.

Luonan Lifang District, separated from them by the Luoshui River, is where most ordinary people live and do their activities.

Most of the officials and ministers of the imperial court also lived in the Lifang District of Luonan.

However, most of them are close to Luoshui, because there is a long bridge in Luoshui. In this way, they only need to cross a few bridges to reach the imperial city directly and go to court in the morning.

Master Di's residence is in Jishanfang, which is adjacent to the south bank of Luoshui River.

A group of people crossed Luoshui, and just arrived at the main street of Dingdingmen, when they ran into a group of foreign envoys in strange costumes.

They seemed to be paying tribute to Beijing, looking around all the way, looking at the colorful streets of Luoyang with novelty.

The whole city of Luoyang is filled with an open and prosperous atmosphere.

There are young men from Luoyang who wear Hu suits and hats, there are bold and unrestrained young ladies who wear chest-length skirts like those in paintings of beautiful women, and there are also Taoist priests and monks who walk slowly and keep their etiquette.

There is a saying that the nine heavens will close and open the palace, and all nations will wear their crowns and worship their crowns.

Seeing these high-nosed Fans who came here from nowhere, the people of Luoyang on the street have long been familiar with it.

In the whole city of Luoyang, there is no shortage of Hu people, Hu merchants in the west market, Hu Ji in wine shops, envoys from feudal states, all of them are fluent in Chinese, and they are all mixed in the daily life of Luoyang people. In the camp.

There were even quite a few Luo people who cast teasing looks at these new foreigners like bumpkins.

Master Di frowned slightly when he saw these foreign pilgrimage envoys popping up from nowhere.

"It costs money to return gifts."

With a mutter, the fat old man rode away, but the empty car and sedan followed behind him, revealing his identity.

On the main street of Dingdingmen, the people and envoys saw the prime minister's car and sedan chair giving way to respectfully see him off.

"It's Master Di!"

"At this point, it should be the next court. Master still doesn't like to ride sedan chairs..." Youluo showed off his knowledge to his companions.

Those blond foreign envoys didn't know that they were slightly disgusted by the fat old man. The officials of Dali Temple who were received hurriedly pulled the envoys and turned sideways to the side of the road. Eyes full of admiration.

Master Di rode back to Jishanfang's mansion.

This mansion is not big. When it was restored, the empress honored it and rewarded it with a luxurious mansion, but it was in the honorable district in the northeast of Los Angeles.

He didn't live there, because it was too far away from the imperial city, and it was inconvenient for him to be on duty.

And this simple mansion in Jishanfang is close to the imperial city, so Master Di often lives in this mansion, and employs fewer servants, which can be regarded as saving money.

However, a small house also has disadvantages of a small house. For example, at this moment, people from all over the country who came to visit and submit postings lined up on the street, and the parked carriages almost blocked the streets of Jishanfang.

The fat old man was very experienced. He swung his whip quickly, threw off the clumsy sedan chair behind him, made a detour, and entered the mansion through the back door of the house.

The old steward had long been guarding near the back door, hurried forward, and handed over the organized post:

"Master, today's post, please read it..."

Master Di got off his horse, first led the old man into the stable, squatted down and sprinkled some hay, clapped his hands and walked out of the shed to accept the invitation.

He squinted habitually, scanned it once, and suddenly took out the last one, opened it and took a closer look.

The fat old man manages a whole bunch of other recursions:

"Refused."

After a while, he closed the invitation card left in his hand and said:
"Take disciple Xie Xun to the study."

"Yes, sir."

About half an hour later.

A modest study room with books piled high on a wooden couch.

With a slight "squeak", the door opened from the inside.

A serious young man with a Chinese character face hurried over from Jiangzhou, Jiangnan Province, walked out of the study lightly, closed the door respectfully, and walked away along the corridor.

In the room, under the half-closed casement.

Master Di was sitting behind an old koan with books on the foot of a table. He casually flipped through the letters and... a picture album sent by Xie Xun.

The picture book is spread out.

A very familiar but slightly unfamiliar county map came into view.

Master Di raised his eyebrows.

Familiar, because this is Longcheng County where he was relegated to work.

Unfamiliar, because this dragon city lacks something, and has something more.

The fat old man, who was silent and unsmiling in private, squinted his eyes and continued to look around.

After a while, he suddenly said "Huh", turned his head up, and muttered:
"Can you save money like this?"

The master showed his face.

　PS: I tried the illustration function in this chapter
　　
　
(End of this chapter)