The First Yamen of the Great Song Dynasty

It didn't take long for Zhu Ming to hear the news that Gao Ming had entered the city, so he hurriedly changed into formal clothes, took the initiative to meet Gao Ming, and personally refuted the rumors.

At this time, if he stays behind closed doors, it will be even more suspicious of him.

Gao Ming just arrived here, and he brought his own people to temporarily live in the yamen of Jiangnan Yingfeng Bureau.

Although the people here are all under Zhu Yu's subordinates, Gao Ming came with an imperial decree, and on the surface they were all polite, and no one dared to express any dissatisfaction.

Gao Ming asked someone to clean up a clean room as his residence in Hangzhou.

I have nothing to do in the afternoon, so I arranged for my subordinates to do a general cleaning and arrange all the furnishings in the room to make myself as comfortable as possible.

After all this work, it was already evening, and Gao Ming was planning to go out with his entourage to eat some local specialties in Hangzhou, when someone reported that Mr. Zhu had come.

In Gao Ming's expectation, "Call him in." Then he saw Zhu Xi's figure appear on the pane, moving all the way to the door.

"Master Gao, there is a long way to welcome you, and there is a long way to welcome you. Why didn't you call someone into the city to tell me in advance, look, you are neglecting, aren't you?"

Zhu Xi's attitude was warm, just like Gao Ming had given him a gift.

Gao Ming was very indifferent, "How dare I disturb Master Zhu?"

After all, he was "assassinated by someone" just yesterday, and the "murderer" was standing in front of him at this time, so his attitude must be like this.

Zhu Xi hurriedly said: "I heard about what happened to Mr. Gao outside the city yesterday. Really, Fang La is really too courageous. It is not enough to occupy the surrounding counties and counties. How dare you assassinate the imperial court official!"

He had to clarify with Gao Ming that it was Fang La's people who did it.

He is wronged and innocent.

Gao Ming said mockingly: "Yes, Fang La's people are really well-informed. As soon as I received the award, I was assassinated. Fortunately, I had a premonition, otherwise I would be chopped off."

Zhu Xi bit the bullet and said, "What's the matter?"

According to Gao Ming's temper, it is absolutely unbearable for someone who assassinates him to stand in front of him, so he really couldn't bear it, "Wait!" He turned and went back to the back room, waited for a while, and came out with a ball of white silk Throwing it on Zhu Xi, "What do you think?! I didn't intend to pay attention to this matter, but I didn't expect you to be so ruthless!"

Seeing the facts stated in blood on the white silk, Zhu Mian couldn't help being taken aback, so there is such a thing?Recalling carefully, there is such a vague impression.

Because of Hua Shigang, he involved too many people, how could he remember all of them.

Zhu Xi defended helplessly: "Master Gao, how could I go to war with you over such a trivial matter?!"

Gao Ming felt that Zhu Mian was not lying. In his mind, there were eight hundred people who were victims of this kind of people.

"Hmph!" Gao Ming sneered and said, "Then it's a trivial matter for me to take Master Zhu's position in the Bureau?"

If you have a motive, you will recognize it!

Zhu Mian swore to the sky, "The Holy Majesty told you to be promoted to the Bureau, I, Zhu Mian, even if I have two heads, I dare not object."

Gao Ming raised his eyebrows, "Then Master Zhu is not dissatisfied and supports me in fulfilling my duties in Hangzhou?"

Speaking of this, how could Zhu Xi say no, "Of course."

Gao Ming said: "Okay, I will hold a swearing-in meeting tomorrow, please do your best, and show your support for me in front of your subordinates, how do you think?"

Zhu Xi was stunned for a moment, and cursed in his heart, you are really pushing an inch, and you actually want to ask me to express my support for you in public?Let you get off to a good start in Hangzhou, you really have a good plan!

"Master Gao has his own divine power, how can I be a filial official at home, how can I help?!" Pretending to be confused, he pretended to understand.

Gao Ming sneered, "It turns out that this is Master Zhu's so-called support for me. Okay, I understand, don't say anything, I should write a memorial to the official. Tell him that I arrived in Jiangnan safely, and it is very good here. So good that someone wants my life at night."

Zhu Xi knew Zhao Ji well, and when the news of Gao Ming's assassination reached his ears, he would feel that someone was making trouble with his Hua Shigang, deliberately not making him happy, and his face would be as ugly as possible.

But if there is even the slightest suspicion on him, Zhu Mo, it will cause great disaster.

The main reason is that Gao Ming is not an ordinary person, and he can argue three points without reason. Now that he has the advantage of public opinion, he may not know how to pour dirty water on him.

In addition, his father, Gao Qi, would speak ill of him in front of the officials every day for his son to turn black and white into murders, he couldn't stand it.

Zhu Xi is a good man who does not suffer immediate losses. In his current state, one thing more is worse than one thing less. Anyway, Gao Ming will leave after staying for a few months. "Master Gao, why rush to write the memorial? I will stay in Hangzhou for a few more days before I understand it." It's not too late to understand. I'm an idler, I have nothing to do, if you don't mind, I will come to the yamen tomorrow morning."

Gao Ming nodded, and said with a smile, "Then tomorrow at the normal time of o'clock, I will wait here for Master Zhu."

Zhu Xi also squeezed out a smile, "On time?"

"on time!"

Zhu Xi said with a dry smile: "Master Gao is really a cheerful person, so let's not disturb Mr. Gao's rest, and Zhu will leave."

The two bid farewell to each other with fake smiles.

When Gao Ming returned to his residence, he did not write a note to the officials, but wrote a letter to Jinling. He guessed that Hua Rong and the others should have already stationed in Jinling, and he would receive this letter.

Write something?

Gao Ming was in a difficult situation, he couldn't be numb or indifferent, his tone was too ordinary and he couldn't show his comfort in Jiangnan.

After thinking for a while, Gao Ming finally wrote a line on the paper: Hua Rong, guess where I am writing to you?You can't guess.

-

That night, Gao Ming didn't sleep well because he changed places, but the next day when he saw Zhu Mian with dark circles under his eyes, his mood improved.

Zhu Mian must have scolded his younger brother late last night for lack of sleep.

Gao Ming summoned all the people in the Yingfeng Bureau, and crowded the courtyard.

As soon as Gao Ming and Zhu Xi showed up, the people below couldn't help whispering.

Zhu Xi, they all knew each other, he was their former immediate boss.

And the young man next to him was naturally the newly appointed Gao Yanei, apart from him, no one else dared to sit on an equal footing with Zhu Xi.

At the front of the yard, there were two high-ranking chairs, one for him and one for Zhu Xi, and they both sat down.

Gao Ming flicked his cuffs first, then looked up, "Is everyone here?" The entourage next to him nodded at him, "Just now, I did the roll call as you ordered, except for one wife and child, everyone is here gone."

Gao Ming smiled and said: "There is no other purpose in calling everyone together today, just to get to know each other. Although I am only in charge of Yingfeng Bureau for a period of time, during this period, I also hope to cooperate well with each other and work together for the future. Officials have found high-quality stones and fulfilled their mission."

The expressions of the people below were very indifferent, after all their boss was sitting on it, who dared to show a supportive attitude towards Gao Ming, and when Gao Ming left, they probably didn't want to mess around.

Gao Ming looked at Zhu Ying, "Master Zhu, please say a few words."

Zhu Xi was reluctant in his heart, and said perfunctorily: "I'm staying at home now, and I can't preside over the affairs of the Yingfeng Bureau. The imperial court has appointed Mr. Gao to take over the task of the Yingfeng Bureau. You should listen to Mr. Gao just as you do with me."

Don't care if they will really listen to Gao Ming's words in the future, but Zhu Xi has said so, and it will always have a certain effect.

Gao Ming smiled and asked Zhu Xie, "I'm new here, so I don't know many things. I would like to ask Mr. Zhu to help me a little bit. For example, do we have any remaining Hua Shi Gang in the Feng Bureau? Or have they all been transported to Tokyo?"

"Choose some leftovers." Zhu Xi was telling the truth, after all, the stones are so big, and there are so many, there is no way to hide it.

What's the matter, Gao Ming, you don't have a place for yourself, do you want to pick some from the rest and use them for business?Then you really miscalculated, the quality of these remaining stones is not very good.

Of course, if Gao Ming is willing to choose from here, Zhu Mian is also very happy, so that he will not surpass himself.

Gao Ming said, "Can you take me to have a look?"

Zhu Xi said: "Of course. There is a warehouse not far from Yingfeng Bureau, you just follow me."

Gao Ming said to everyone in the courtyard: "Everyone go together, line up and follow Master Zhu and me."

Zhu Xi said: "Well, go to a few people first, block the street, and tell the people to avoid it."

"Eh? It's unnecessary, why bother the people like this." Gao Ming said: "Besides, you also said that it's not far away, and it's almost time for the people to avoid it."

After all, Gao Ming is now a serious promotion, and he doesn't ask the people to avoid it. If Zhu Xi insists on asking, it seems that he still wants to play the official role.

He can't let the people's speech turn to Gao Ming.

Okay, since you want to pretend to be close to the people, then I will accompany you!

Zhu Xi said: "Alright, let's go like this!"

So, as if organizing a unit tour, the people of Hangzhou City saw the officials of Yingfeng Bureau, big and small, line up in two lines and walk in one direction along the street.

"What's the matter? Look at the clothes of these people, are they officials? Which yamen?"

"I heard it's for the bureau."

The people on the side of the road whispered to each other, and it was a rare sight for officials to parade through the streets.

The Yingfeng Bureau is not an ordinary yamen in Hangzhou. It can even be said that other yamen have to give way to it.

Because behind it is the official family.

"Whose family is unlucky again, they found out that there are good stones?"

"I don't know. Looking at this posture, if we move out in full force, there will definitely be no stone left."

"Eh? Who is that young man in official uniform walking in front? It can't be the rumored Gao Yanei, right?"

"It's probably true. Didn't he recruit Liangshanbo? Can he also recruit Fang La? My wife's natal Runzhou was taken over by them. Don't mention how miserable it is."

"Fang La has become the king, and it is impossible to recruit security, so he can only be exterminated. Didn't you hear that there is a large army gathered in Jinling, and they are going to be beaten."

"It is said that this army was invited by that family, so whose father was not killed by Fang La's people."

"Shh, you can't talk nonsense about this, don't talk about it, let's see where these officials are going to raid their homes."

The common people thought that the people from Yingfeng Bureau were going to some rich family's house to search for stones, but they didn't expect that they just walked boredly to the warehouse of Yingfeng Bureau not far away.

"With such a big commotion, I thought there was something wrong, but ended up going to a warehouse."

"It seems that this new Gao Yanei is better at putting on a show than anyone else."

"By the way, isn't it rumored that Mr. Gao's assassination was done by someone? Why did the two of them walk together like nothing happened?"

"You don't understand this. Officials are made of special materials, and they are not ordinary people. This is called the city."

A dark crowd of spectators gathered at the intersection of the warehouse, and they were very disappointed not to see what they wanted to see.

At this moment in the warehouse, Gao Ming also looked very disappointed, these stones did not meet his standards, he shook his head while looking at them.

Zhu Xi smiled and said, "That's all."

I also know that if it was good, he would have been transported to Tokyo long ago.

Besides, the strange rocks and strange rocks in the south of the Yangtze River have been almost dug up by him, and they have been searched clean.

It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice, even if Gao Ming has someone to help with the selection, he can't even find a stone, so he still picks a ghost.

Unlike him, he has been operating in Jiangnan for many years and has already had countless eyeliners.

He will inquire about Shishi's information and tell him continuously, just like this, it is not possible to gain something every year.

Zhu Mian looked at Gao Ming's disappointed expression appreciatively.

"The appearance is really not very good, no wonder it's in storage." Gao Ming shook his head again and again, and said to everyone: "Let's go back."

Just took a look and was about to leave, isn't this just for fun, but the other party is lifting, so you can do whatever you want, everyone will just play with him, and go back to the yamen.

Unlike when I came here, the street where the warehouse is now is almost blocked by people watching the excitement.

Not to mention the son of the Taiwei who came from Tokyo, Zhu Xi himself usually doesn't show his face. Walking on the street at this time, the common people look at them as if they were cherishing animals.

In fact, it’s useless, it’s just to satisfy curiosity, and when the time comes to set up a dragon gate array with others in the teahouse, it’s good to comment, “Oh, I’ve seen both Zhu Xi and Gao Ming, it’s nothing unusual.”

If the people around would cheer, they would say, "What does it look like?"

As long as you can tell what kind of eyes and nose the other person has, you will be highly regarded.

Gao Ming saw so many people watching, the effect was exactly what he wanted. He brought everyone out to attract attention.

Zhu Mian didn't like so many people watching, so he wanted to make people drive away with winks.

At this time, he suddenly saw Gao Ming stepping forward a few steps, and raised his voice, "Do you know where there are Taihu stones for gardening?"

Everyone stopped talking, thinking in their hearts, even if they have them, they will hide them. Are you asked to come in and search the house?

Didn't you Yingfeng Bureau always break into other people's homes, seal the stones in their homes, and send people to pull them directly, and if you dare to say nothing, you will be served with sticks.

Gao Ming continued: "If any of you provide clues, I can give him a corresponding percentage of the value of the stone as a reward. The current plan is [-]%."

Taihu stones cost tens of thousands of guan, or hundreds of thousands of guan.

Everyone was taken aback, thinking, this whistleblowing fee is expensive enough.

But Yingfeng Bureau's reputation is so bad that no one dares to respond. If they don't give money at that time, and they will have another meal, who can they talk to for reasoning? !Can't be a whistleblower.

Seeing that the people were silent, Gao Ming winked at Shi Qian.

Shi Qian immediately sang with Mr. Gao as he had told him, "It's good to have a reward, but how much is that stone worth? Who knows? It's okay to say 100 million guan, or even consistent."

The common people kept nodding, that is, how much money is not up to you?

Gao Mingjie replied suspiciously: "I don't have the final say on how much it's worth, but the experts."

Although everyone felt that the term "expert" was new, they still understood, "Expert?"

"Yes, in a few days, the first competition for the selection of the most beautiful Taihu stones will be held. At that time, there will be on-site comments by gold and stone experts, and the price of the stone will be attached. If you know who has a good stone at home, you can persuade him to sign up. You and him They all get money."

Seeing that Gao Ming had no airs, some people became more courageous, "Is the competition open to the public?"

"Of course it is public. Everyone in Hangzhou can watch the whole process. There is absolutely no inside story. Of course, you have to buy a ticket to enter." Gao Ming said: "And, when the competition is over, I will send the top three winners to the venue." All the stones were bought at the expert's price, and special rewards were given to the owners of the three stones, which are kept secret now, and will be announced when the competition officially starts, but we will not let you down."

Buy the stone at its original price?

The common people were all surprised, did Mr. Gao plan to spend money to buy it?

Gao Ming smiled, he didn't want to take the old way of extorting money from Zhu Mian, he wanted to do things according to his own style.

The common people hate Hua Shigang because no one has benefited from it except the emperor and the Zhu family, but it is different now, it seems that there is money to be made.

Zhu Xi stared blankly at Gao Ming, then smiled disdainfully in his heart, and it's useless to fiddle with it, spending money?I am afraid that you will lose everything. It costs money to buy stones, and even more money to transport stones. How can there be so much money for you to toss.

Therefore, Zhu Qian, who expected Gao Ming to fail, watched with cold eyes and smiled in return from time to time.

The common people don't care whether Gao Ming loses money or not, as long as they have money to make.

"Then how to sign up? If I find a stone that no one wants in the suburbs, can I sign up for the competition?" Shi Qian spoke again.

Gao Ming replied: "As long as you can transport the stones to the competition venue, there is no threshold for registration."

The people were in an uproar, even if they didn't have stones at home, if they could trick people with stones to sign up, they would still get a share.

"My lord, when is the game?"

"My lord, how big is the stone?"

The enthusiasm was mobilized, and everyone asked Gao Ming in a mess.

Instead, Gao Ming stopped answering and asked his subordinates to use water and fire sticks to isolate the crowd. He left a bunch of questions and went back to the Yamen, allowing everyone to guess and guess, so that the news spread quickly during the discussion.

Zhu Mian still felt that Gao Ming's idea of ​​the most beautiful Taihu stone was too naive. People who really have good stones have some family background.

"I'm afraid that Gao Ming's mobilization is just the enthusiasm of traffickers and pawns, and he will find a pile of stepping stones in the end." Zhu Xu joked.

Zhu Xi laughed out loud, finally showing the first smile since Gao Ming came to Hangzhou.

As a result, unexpectedly, two days later, Zhu Xi heard a big piece of news:

Gao Ming is engaged in a solicitation of essays, targeting the entire Jiangnan area, even counting the area occupied by Fang La.

The most beautiful Taihu stone selection competition essay: Tell me the story of Taihu stone and me.

The subject matter is not limited, articles, verses, and lyrics are all allowed.

No.1 rewards 2 guan, No.3 rewards [-] guan, and No.[-] rewards [-] guan.

The remaining [-] finalists will be rewarded with [-] guan.

Zhu Mian took a sip of tea and wiped away the water stains from the corner of his mouth in a daze, "Thanks, thank goodness he figured it out!"

Zhu Xu was also dumbfounded, "Now how much is it to write an inscription for someone, and he has to be a famous person. He is really willing to spend money on a story about me and Taihu Stone."

Zhu Xi knew very well that "under a heavy reward, there must be a brave man", and five thousand guan is enough for many scholars to kill their entire families with their knives, let alone write an article.

"I'm afraid that if he does it like this, even children who have just learned to read will be mobilized."

What Zhu Xi thought was right, since the essay solicitation activity started, Hangzhou City has not talked about anything else, it's all about the essay solicitation activity.

They laughed at Gao Ming for mobilizing only traffickers, but they didn't expect to mobilize scholars in the blink of an eye.

Scholars lingered in the Qinlou Chu Pavilion, which was originally a distribution center for news, so the essay solicitation spread quickly like wings.

There were even old scholars from the occupied area of ​​Fangla who ran out with their families.

It is said that he has never had the courage to escape, but when he heard about the essay competition, he suddenly had a burst of inspiration and wrote a beautiful essay. In order to submit the essay to Hangzhou, under the courage given by Taihu Stone, he fled with his family and fled to Hangzhou safely. .

Gao Ming was very moved when he heard this, and specially ordered his subordinates, "Arrange this old man to speak at the opening ceremony. This is also a story of 'I and Taihu Stone', and the name is 'Courage'."

"Arrange, definitely arrange!"

Gao Ming set up a bulletin board next to the warehouse of Yingfeng Bureau to publish shortlisted articles every day.

Literati have a low opinion of each other, so we can hear such remarks every day, "This kind can be shortlisted, and Brother Zhang's beautiful article will definitely win the first prize."

"Don't you dare? Brother Li, your lyrics are wonderful and have already been sung, and my boring articles can't compare."

There are only [-] finalists, so publishing the list every day is like drawing a lottery. No one will come to watch. Seeing that my article is published, I breathe a sigh of relief. I have no big goals and I am already thinking about how to spend the money I get.

Those whose goal is to win the first prize just watched silently and listened to the comments of the people around them. There were also those who watched silently and said nothing.

There are even many fathers who lead their sons to the bulletin boards to let their sons learn other people's articles, which seems to have become a teaching place.

The eyeliner sent by Gao Ming found that a father brought his children here almost every day, and he himself had read all the articles carefully, so he asked him, "Dear brother, I think you come every day, do you think this essay competition is good?" good?"

"Of course. Although the theme is simple, it is all-encompassing. There is love, family affection, and friendship. I saw a man yesterday who wrote an article about his grandmother holding him by the Taihu stone to enjoy the cool when he was a child. It made my nose sore. Reminds me of my grandmother who passed away."

After hearing his words, the people around also said: "I read it too, it's really good, it touches people's hearts, and the feelings are sincere."

"I used to think that the Taihu Stone tortured us in Jiangnan. In fact, where is the fault of the stone? You can see that these stories with the stone are not sincere and touching. They are obviously beautiful things, but they are all corrupted by bad people."

"Shh, don't say that, be careful who will listen."

"Again, I didn't name the name. Besides, the current name is Gao."

"Master Gao is just a temporary substitute, and he will go back to Tokyo sooner or later."

"Ugh--"

Everyone continued to read the article, but they all thought in their hearts that from now on, this Gao Ming is obviously much better than Zhu Yu, and it would be great if he could stay forever.

And everyone keenly discovered that there were many other words around the bulletin board where the article was posted.

For example: Sifang Mobaozhai, your first choice of paper and pen shop.

Another example is the gold and jade engraving shop, the price is excellent, and most of the printings have discounts.

And so on, all kinds of things.

-

Gao Ming was also not idle here, he sent someone to ride a fast horse to Tokyo to deliver the memorial, and told the emperor: Everything is going well in the south of the Yangtze River, and the people have actively donated their own collection of Taihu stones for selection by the bureau.

I thought, if possible, I can bring the person who contributed the best stones to Tokyo, and ask him to personally present the stones to the officials, to show the deep love between you and the subjects, and to block the mouths of many people.

When Zhao Ji heard this, this suggestion is good. I told you to scold me for my Huashigang. Look, it was offered to me by the local people on their own initiative.

As for Hua Shigang's reputation in the local area, Fang La's rebellion was caused because of too much exploitation. Of course, Zhao Ji was clear about it.It's just that he didn't want to give up Hua Shigang, so he turned a blind eye.

But when he heard that Gao Ming had a way to restore his reputation, he immediately agreed.

So he immediately replied to Gao Ming: No problem, just go to Beijing to offer stones.

It's Gao Ming who understands me and solves the distress of being scolded for me.

-

Gao Ming breathed a sigh of relief when he received the emperor's reply. Although he felt that there was a high probability that Zhao Ji would agree, he still didn't dare to release the news before seeing the exact reply.

Now with the emperor's approval, Gao Ming has nothing to fear.

So, the next day, almost everyone in the entire city of Hangzhou knew something.

The three stone owners who won the most beautiful Taihu stone competition will not only be bought by the government, but also can go to Beijing to be personally received by the emperor.

For a time, public opinion was boiling.

"Emperor, officials, can you still enter the palace?"

"That will definitely work. Of course the official family lives in the palace."

"Oh my God, if I've seen the official family, I can brag about it for a lifetime, no, my son can brag for the rest of his life. 'My father has seen the official house', listen, it's awesome!"

"Hey, do you have Taihu Stone? If not, go cool off."

What is the most precious thing in the country?

In fact, nothing is precious, gold and silver are precious, but there are more rich people.

Scholars are precious, but there are as many people who can write beautiful articles as crucian carp crossing the river.

There is only one most precious, and that is the emperor.

There is and only one!

In terms of rarity, there is nothing in the world that can compare with him.

Let's just say, who doesn't want to see this precious person who is so precious that there is only one in the world?

The rich gentry in the south of the Yangtze River were collectively shocked. As long as their own stones can stand out, they can enter the palace to meet the emperor, and they can meet the officials. After getting along with other rich gentry, they will naturally be superior to others.

Besides, I have seen the emperor, so why should the emperor give me some rewards?

This kind of honor experience is worth paying a high price to pursue.

As for whether Zhu Xi would send people to grab the stones after Gao Ming left, that's another matter.

I believe that my own stone is so good that I will definitely win the top three and dedicate it to the officials.

Isn't it just a piece of Taihu Lake stone? Hurry up and take out the one hidden at home to participate in the competition.

Seeing the news spread, Gao Ming didn't forget to ask people to spread the sense of crisis.

"Master Gao only stayed in the south of the Yangtze River for a few months. After passing this village, there will be no such shop. When you donate stones next year, you will not have this kind of treatment."

Facts have proved that the common people are indeed good at hiding things from the government.

Zhu Xi thought that he had scraped the Jiangnan area three feet away, but who knew that so many rocks could still pop out.

Therefore, when Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng came to Hangzhou, what they saw was the almost crazy Taihu stone fever.

"Didn't you say that Jiangnan Bitter Flower Stone Gang has been around for a long time?" Zhao Mingcheng looked at his wife and said in surprise.

In fact, Li Qingzhao discovered it on the way here. When eating and staying at the hotel, she could often hear singers singing some lyrics about Taihu stones. She was still puzzled.

It turns out that Taihu Lake has been hot in Hangzhou for a long time.

"This is probably the new situation Master Gao mentioned in his letter." Li Qingzhao said with a smile.