In the afternoon, after hurriedly studying the unfamiliar and difficult "Zhen Gao", Ouyang Rong took a nap and went to the Jiangzhou lobby.
The content of such a secret Taoist scripture is quite unfamiliar and difficult to understand.
Moreover, it is still in the form of some kind of expression dictated by gods and heavenly beings, with ancient pre-Qin words constantly coming out, and magic formulas being slowly revealed... which makes it quite weird to read.
In short, it's not very easy to chew.
Although Ouyang Rong, who has some experience, can understand the diagram of the operation of meridians and acupuncture points in the old book.
But the annotations and narrations on the side contained a lot of Taoist terminology that Ouyang Rong found strange, so he had to look it up in the classics...
This may also be related to the fact that Ouyang Rong cheated by skipping the order of learning the Shangqing Sect's introductory Qi Refining Technique "Shangqing Dadong Zhenjing" and directly learned the most difficult chapter.
Anyway, Ouyang Rong had to understand these terms, otherwise, if he missed any precautions and got carried away, he would be doomed.
This is just like reading the manual before using a product. Ouyang Rong was a serious person in his previous life. He loved to read the manual when buying things...
So don’t rush, just take your time in these days.
On the way to Jiangzhou Hall, in the bumpy carriage, Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and sank into the Tower of Merit.
He glanced at the blue-gold font above the little wooden fish.
[Merits: three thousand nine hundred and twenty-one]
Originally, before the trip to Dagushan, I had more than 3,800 meritorious deeds.
During this period, he got a lot of feedback from his junior sister, and received positive feedback from Dalang who dealt with corrupt officials during the inspection, plus zero-to-zero feedback from old meritorious projects such as the Shuangfengjian New Canal and Zheyi Canal.
When the merits were entered into the account, a total of three or four hundred merits were added, totaling more than 4,200 merits.
However, just at noon, I tried to run "Zhen Gao" and studied the supreme knowledge. I consumed more than 300 merits, and now I only have more than 3,900 merits left.
I don't know if these merits are enough for him to read the entire "Zhen Gao".
This consumption is a bit high, but there is no other way. He follows the path of sword wielder and alchemist, which is not related to the path of Taoist priest. The only way to learn the advanced Taoist Qi refining techniques is to consume the purple mist of merit.
So I still have to find a way to accumulate more merit points. Even if I haven’t discovered this new use, I can’t have too much of this thing...
Feeling that the carriage under him slowly stopped, Ouyang Rong got off the car and walked into the Jiangzhou lobby. He immediately summoned Yan Liulang and others to go out of the city to Shuangfeng Peak to inspect the Donglin Giant Buddha that was under construction.
Arriving at the waterside grotto under the pointed north peak of Shuangfeng, Ouyang Rong saw an unexpected cold figure after wandering for a while.
The girl in royal attire stood at the foot of the giant Buddha statue not far away, her body looking very small and delicate.
At this moment, her back was turned to everyone, her hands were in long sleeves, and she was looking up. No one dared to disturb the laborers coming and going around her. In the distance, a group of accompanying female officials in green were silently waiting for their boss.
Ouyang Rong felt a little guilty and acted as if nothing had happened. He averted his eyes smoothly, turned his head, greeted Liu Lang and the others with a calm expression, and prepared to leave with oil on his soles, pretending not to notice.
"stop."
After taking only two steps, the cold voice of a girl in palace attire came.
Ouyang Rong, in the sight of everyone, turned around smoothly, walked up to him without any pause, and came to the feet of the Donglin Buddha. He was neither humble nor overbearing, and clasped his fists slightly:
"What a coincidence, the female historian is also here to enjoy the scenery? I wonder what your instructions are when you call me over?"
After being quiet for a while, Rong Zhen asked without answering:
"You went to Dragon City too?"
"Yes?" He said with a puzzled tone: "The female historian also went? When did it happen?"
clang--!
Merit is reduced by one.
The dull sound of wooden fish sounded in his ears, and Ouyang Rong's expression did not change.
Rong Zhen turned his head, looked at his harmless expression of concern, and pursed his lower lip:
"you do not need to know."
"Okay." Ouyang Rong nodded and sighed softly:
"My Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince did pass by Dragon City, but they didn't know that the female historian was there. They didn't entertain us, which is a bit of a neglect. I hope you'll forgive me."
"Nothing is scornful or sluggish. We are all doing things for His Majesty and the imperial court."
Rong Zhen interrupted him and said: "I am going to Longcheng this time to investigate the Zhao Rushi case. I think Ouyang Changshi must have heard of this case..."
Ouyang Rong turned his head slightly and saw the girl in palace clothes in front of him frowning slightly. Today, he was extra talkative and took the trouble to describe the Zhao Rushi case in Longcheng to him.
I don't know if it was an illusion, but although her words still sounded cold, after a trip to Dragon City, Rong Zhen's attitude toward him seemed to have softened a bit... I have known her for so long, and what she said to him before
, the total amount is not as much as this time.
In addition to his slightly better attitude, looking at Rong Zhen's relentless pursuit, it seems that he really cares about the Zhao Rushi case, or... that he really wants to find out a certain guy?
Ouyang Rong thought of something and couldn't help but glance at the skin under the lapel collar of her palace dress. The white skin was a bit dazzling in the sun, and he quickly looked away.
In front of me, the girl in palace clothes has a serious face and speaks in a business-like manner.
There was no trace of what happened in Dagushan that night on her face, it was as if it had never happened.
Could it be that the purple bellyband that was washed white didn't belong to her? Where did she pick up that handiwork?
Moreover, Rong Zhen seemed to be in a bad mood two days ago and left Longcheng and returned in a hurry. What happened?
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but murmur in his heart.
After hearing what Rong Zhen said, Ouyang Rong nodded seriously:
"I have heard about this case. It happened in Longcheng. The matter is currently being handled by the Longcheng County Government."
Rong Zhen glanced at him and said, "Ouyang Changshi has a clear distinction between public and private matters."
"Excuse me. The main reason is that Xunyang is busy with affairs and has to supervise the construction of statues. A lower official cannot take care of everything in detail. This is also the reason why I declined His Majesty's favor some time ago.
"As a chief official, some things only need to be drawn up in a scope and grasp the outline."
Ouyang Rong straightened his back, looked up at the Giant Buddha in the Grottoes under construction, and talked eloquently:
"I feel ashamed to say that when I was an official in Longcheng, I would interfere in everything. I felt that I had endless energy and ran around every day. I really enjoyed it, but that was in a county.
Well, there aren’t that many things to do.
"When I arrived in Xunyang City and became the official of Changshi Prefecture, with jurisdiction over several counties and a mountain of documents every day, I realized that my manpower was limited and I needed helpers, so I couldn't fight alone.
"Later, I occasionally heard people say that the kind of boss who does everything and likes to micro-manage is actually very annoying to the people below. Except for the slippery officials who neglect their duties, if the boss even takes over the basic affairs of the people below,
So what are the people going to do down there?
"Since then, the lower officials have become more flexible, imitating the master in the court, and trying to outline and implement the tasks for the officials, such as grasping key aspects such as finance, and not robbing the jobs of the subordinates..."
While Ouyang Rong was chatting and laughing, the topic changed:
"What do you think of this, Ms. Shi?"
Rong Zhen looked at him expressionlessly for a while, nodded and asked, "Is Ouyang Changshi teaching me how to do things?"
"I don't dare. It's just that the General Manager of Qin will arrive tomorrow. The female historian has many responsibilities, but the position of supervisor of the Jiangnan Camp should be more important. His Majesty sent the female historian here, and it seems that he attaches great importance to this matter. It will be settled as soon as possible.
Rebellion, the people of Jiangnan will be at peace as soon as possible...
"I saw that Ms. Shi has been a little absent-minded recently, as if she was distracted by trivial matters, so she couldn't help but say a few words. I'm stunned, so don't be surprised."
Rong Zhen waved his sleeves:
"Don't bother Ouyang Changshi to teach me. I am a humble and stupid person. I don't manage everything like Ouyang Changshi. Moreover, according to my speculation, Zhao Rushi's case is probably inextricably linked to Zhu Lingxu's defection.
This is also an important clue and needs to be carefully investigated."
Ouyang Rong was curious: "Oh? How did the female historian come to this conclusion?"
Rong Zhen asked back: "Didn't Ouyang Changshi just mean that he didn't care about trivial matters? It's better not to disturb Ouyang Changshi about the details of this case."
Ouyang Rong twitched the corner of his mouth and wanted to speak, but was interrupted again by Rong Zhen:
"I called you here this time because of something."
She stretched out her hand, and there was a piece of red paper and five scraps of paper lying in her palm:
"This object is suspected to have been left by the murderer of the Zhao Rushi case. The red paper is a poem restored by me based on the secret technique of Si Tianjian. It is a poem about butterflies in love with flowers, and it is a very talented poet.
"I asked someone to investigate the shredded paper. Based on the texture of the paper and the ink, the owner of Dielianhua is suspected to be in Xunyang City."
Ouyang Rong raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at the scraps of her palm for a while, and asked, "How did you get this?"
"The workshop that produces paper is located in Xunyang City, and it only supplies some fixed stores. The same goes for ink, which is a specialty of Kuanglu."
Ouyang Rong suddenly asked: "Where is the handwriting?"
Rong Zhen was speechless. She couldn't say it. She almost vomited blood and was seriously injured when she looked at the strange handwriting that was not a writing brush. She couldn't stare straight at it, right?
After being quiet for a while, under the increasingly curious gaze of Ouyang Lianghan in front of her, she slowly spoke:
"However, I checked and found that paper and ink are not government supplies that are routinely supplied in Jiangzhou Hall. This rules out that this person is a member of the bureaucracy and eliminates most suspicions of government personnel."
Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and nodded, understanding what Rong Zhen meant.
Not only the officials in Jiangzhou Hall, but also the officials of the Zhou Dynasty in this era actually had more or less public utensils for private use. When they used paper and ink at home, they would take some back from the official offices.
This phenomenon has happened so often that everyone has become accustomed to it, even justified it, and regards it as a benefit.
Ouyang Rong has always turned a blind eye to the extra consumption of pen and ink purchased in Jiangzhou Hall every month.
As for himself?
Perhaps because she was concerned about her beloved nephew's reputation, Zhen Shuyuan always asked Ye Weila and the others to purchase extra for the pen, ink, paper, etc. at the Huaiye Lane residence.
Therefore, Ouyang Rong never took back the paper and ink from the government office to use, and Ye Weilai practiced calligraphy and reading. These were the four treasures of the study purchased by the family themselves.
It is embarrassing to say that after being the governor of Jiangzhou for so long, the only thing Ouyang Rong brought home from the lobby of Jiangzhou was the horse feed in Dongmei's belly.
Ouyang Rong works in the government office every day, Dongmei eats in the stable, and goes home full every day...
Ouyang Rong had never publicized this kind of breeze with two sleeves before. It was partly because he didn't care, and because he didn't want to appear aloof and it was inconvenient to integrate the ideas of the people below him.
But I didn't expect that today seemed to be a talisman.
Rong Zhen didn't realize that someone was speechless, so she continued her analysis:
“This time I’m calling you, I want to use people from Jiangzhou Hall to help me investigate the source of ink and paper in the city, set a time range, and check store by store.
"Compare the two, check the people who buy this kind of paper and ink at the same time, so you can narrow down the scope.
"In addition, the people who can buy this kind of paper and ink must at least have scholars, either from rich families, from scholarly families, or from state bachelors... It will be even more obvious if the scholars purchase it personally, and
There are very few people with this kind of talent in composing lyrics, so it’s impossible for their talent to be unknown. In this way, a small group of people can always be identified..."
Ouyang Rong nodded immediately and agreed very much:
"That makes sense. The female historian has clear logic and is very powerful. However, although the scope is much smaller, it is still a big project. No wonder the female historian came to the official to borrow manpower."
Rong Zhen dropped a word, turned around and left:
"Just send someone to cooperate. I won't bother you with this matter. Before tomorrow afternoon, all the people from the Judicial Cao will be sent to cooperate with me. The follow-up manpower will be increased or decreased according to the situation. That's it."
Can't help but explain.
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but look sideways.
For a few moments, he stood there, nodding slightly as if in admiration, then suddenly turned his head and shouted towards her back:
"Ms. Shi, please remember to pick me up at Xunyang Ferry tomorrow morning."
Rong Zhen's figure has disappeared.
Ouyang Rong stood there. For a moment, he raised his head and squinted his eyes, looking at the incomplete Buddha statue under the dazzling sunlight:
"Master of Dielianhua, you don't sound like a serious person at first glance. However, you can find clues and lock Xunyang City. Well, you little thief, who let you have nothing to do with the article? It's okay now,
Not only did he show his flaws, but he also seemed to deliberately leave evidence to provoke the female historian. Well, I will wait for you to die.
"But having said that, how did you offend the female historian, and why are you becoming more and more determined to fight to the death? This is the way to find out, right..."
Someone sighed, patted his sleeves, turned around and left.
…
Early the next morning.
Ouyang Rong, Prince Xunyang's Mansion, and officials from Jiangzhou Hall went to the dock together.
What we are going to welcome today is Qin Jingqin, the chief military officer of Jiangnan Road, and his subordinate officials.
Rong Zhen came as scheduled, and Wang Lengran, whom he hadn't seen for many days, also came.
The latter has been avoiding suspicion recently because he is afraid of being affected by the Zhu Lingxu incident, so he calls in sick and takes leave, which is regarded as keeping his tail between his legs.
The arrival of the new chief military officer of Jiangnan Road actually marked a turning of the page in the matter of King Wei and Zhu Lingxu. Of course, Wang Lengran came forward again to avoid leaving a bad impression on the new military commander.
All forces in Xunyang City have their own thoughts about this old general Qin who is about to take charge of the Jiangnan and Lingnan Road counterinsurgency wars...
Everyone was waiting respectfully and honestly at the Xunyangdu Pier. However, after seeing the agreed time, and even at lunch time, there was still no expected arrival of a certain Yangzhou official ship.
The owners of Xunyang House, who had held a banquet in advance, came to inquire in person, and all the officials in the Jiangzhou lobby looked around in confusion.
At the pier, the crowd picking up guests was a little restless, whispering to each other...