On a street near Dingfu Street, the wealthier people in the capital often come here to have a drink and chat in a restaurant.
In the lobby on the first floor of one of the larger restaurants, there were many people dining. There were some young people sitting at two tables in the back corner.
There are also diners sitting in twos and threes in other places in the lobby, drinking and dining. Only the table near the door is empty, probably because the cold wind will blow when the curtain is opened.
People in the lobby were chatting in lowered voices, maybe because they drank too much, but a strong man at one of the tables suddenly spoke loudly, allowing everyone in the lobby to hear clearly.
"Now that guy is no longer as arrogant as before when he sees me, he will even take the initiative to say hello to me, haha!"[
When the people around him heard this man speaking so loudly, several of them frowned.
"I didn't expect that being in jail would change so much. Not to mention you, you took the initiative to say hello to me when I went out this morning." The short deskmate of the strong man also sighed. Although his voice was not as loud as his companion's, but
It can also be heard clearly by people around you.
"Here, let's have a drink." After saying this, the two raised their glasses and drank.
Then the strong man picked up vegetables and chewed them, and said: "I thought before I thought about it, I had a neighbor in the yamen, so I could help him. I usually don't look up when I look down, but every time I come to buy meat, I give him more. No.
When I went to the yamen to do business, he charged me more favors than strangers, which made me really angry. Now I'm better, I have to vomit out everything I ate before."
"I don't know how much silver the emperor will ask them to pay for redemption?" the short man said.
The people around them heard clearly that the two people were talking about the actual matter at hand, so they relaxed their brows and listened while eating to see if the two people said anything they didn't know.
"I think it's so tough. How can you get out of prison without lying on your back?" the strong man said matter-of-factly.
"My dear brother, you are wrong. They just happened to coincide with the emperor's canonization of the prince and the amnesty for the world. They did not come out after paying enough money." The short man said as if I was right.
A man who looked like a businessman sitting at the table next to them couldn't stand listening anymore. Perhaps he had drunk too much, so he turned around and said to the two people: "If you don't understand, don't make any noise and disturb other people's drinking pleasure."
The strong man was stunned for a moment after being scolded by him. He slapped the table with a bang, and then said to the merchant: "We don't understand, don't you understand?"
The sound of the strong man banging the table was a little loud, which startled all the guests inside.
A young man at the back table put down his chopsticks and prepared to stand up. When the man opposite him saw it, he shook his chopsticks slightly to signal the young man not to mind his own business.
The waiter wanted to go over and try to persuade him not to be so angry. The merchant said: "My boss is one of the most respected people in the capital. His old man knows the news that people like you can know. You said, I don't understand."
, do you understand?”
Seeing that this man spoke so confidently, the strong man couldn't help but be startled. His deskmate, a short man, bowed to the businessman with both hands, and then said, "Don't you dare to ask us where we are wrong?"
When the waiter saw that they were not arguing, he stopped and happened to stand near them.
The merchant didn't say anything, but went back to drink his own wine.
The strong man was a meat seller from RR, and he knew a lot about the world. Seeing that the merchant was not angry, he stood up and walked over to apologize: "I am a rough man, I don't understand etiquette, and I bumped into a noble man. I really want to know what happened to him."
The reason why I changed my temperament."
When he said this, he saw how much food was left on the merchant's table, so he turned around and called the waiter: "Waiter, give this noble man some good dishes to go with the wine, and remember them on my head."
As soon as the waiter heard this, he quickly agreed and ran to the kitchen, as if he was afraid that if he didn't agree, the business would be ruined.[
The merchant didn't expect that the strong man who had been so aggressive just now turned around and apologized to himself and asked for a treat, so he felt a little embarrassed.
So, he got up and resigned, but to no avail. He invited the strong man and the short man to come over for a drink. Anyway, he was at a table by himself, and there were plenty of empty seats.
The waiter was very quick and the first dish came out as soon as they sat down.
The three of them toasted each other, and then the merchant said, "Let me tell you two, things are not what you think."
Upon hearing this, the people around him began to slow down their eating and drinking, and listened carefully to the conversation at that table.
But the merchant lowered his voice, and if he listened carefully, he couldn't hear the specific content. He just heard the strong man's loud voice saying: "What, you are so brave, you dare to bargain."
Then the merchant whispered a few words in a low voice, and the strong man expressed his opinion again: "The emperor is too kind. In my opinion, I can just chop them up."
Immediately the strong man realized that he was speaking too loudly and everyone around him was watching him.
The strong man stood up, clasped his fists and apologized: "I'm sorry for disturbing you all."
Then he sat down and continued to listen to the merchant. After a while, the strong man couldn't help but said: "What, it has shrunk?"
The people around were aroused by the strong man and the merchant, and they didn't know what the merchant had said.
"Ah, that's it. Why are you being polite to me? It turns out it's not because you're in jail." The strong man didn't know that his words seriously affected the meals of the people around him, and everyone was intrigued by him.
A masterpiece.
Finally, one person couldn't help it anymore, turned around and faced the table and said: "This official, if you have anything to do, you might as well tell us all, and let us have a good time. We will also pay for the food and drinks."
"
People all around started to cheer, but the two young people at the innermost tables did not join in the fun.
The merchant drank a little too much. Seeing the warm atmosphere and feeling drunk, he stopped eating and stood up and said, "Okay, since you guys said so, I won't hide it. Sooner or later, these things will spread throughout the world."
A round of applause rang out as soon as the merchant finished speaking. Most of the people in the lobby stopped eating and drinking and looked at the merchant.
"Everyone, do you know about the changes in the imperial court's supervision system?"
Some of the people here know it, and some don't. After all, there were no communication tools such as television and radio in that era, and the court's new policies could not be quickly communicated to every common people.
Then someone asked, and the merchant explained them one by one. After he finished explaining, someone said dissatisfiedly: "What is the emperor doing? It turns out that the censor, Jinyiwei, and Dongchang all supervised the officials together, and they were all so corrupt."
, and now the powers have been reduced, why don’t those officials turn the world upside down!”
Immediately his words aroused a rebuttal from others, and he told the man some truth: everyone will supervise, that is, no one will supervise. When it is beneficial, everyone will do it, and when it is responsible, no one will be seen. Each yamen
They are all responsibilities that can be managed or ignored, so if anything happens, it will be difficult to hold them accountable.
The merchant waited until they had almost finished talking, and then said: "The reason why this brother suspected that the previous officials were no longer arrogant is because the emperor asked the three-level supervisory departments to set up reporting offices, and people could complain to the officials, so they were polite
too much."
As soon as these words came out, there was another discussion, about officials protecting each other, and there was a precedent in Hongwu years. After talking about it, most of the people who did not believe that this reporting office was useful.[
The merchant continued: "Now that Jianlu is still in the capital, do you know why the emperor chose this time to confer the title of crown prince and grant amnesty to the world?"
This topic is a bit sensitive, so those who knew vaguely remained silent, while those who didn't know asked questions one after another.
"Because there were too many corrupt officials, the emperor had no choice but to pardon them in this name." The merchant told the inside story he had heard.
"What? If you dare to force the emperor, you've taken the courage of a leopard. Is there any way for the king to do it?"
"That is, these corrupt officials should all be executed, one by one, two by two."
"Don't talk nonsense. Is it easier to build a captive army by killing each other?"
"What's wrong with killing each other? That's corrupt officials. If Taizu were around, they would be skinned."
""
People in the lobby were noisy, each holding their own opinions. After a while, they slowly calmed down. The merchant was a little thirsty when he spoke. He picked up the wine glass and drank a glass, and then said: "The latest policy of the imperial court.