Xie Xuan was a little dazed. He suspected that Li Hui was being sarcastic, but seeing that Li Hui was indeed in high spirits, he didn't think it was the case. After a while, he said: "Brother Li, since you think it's appropriate, I congratulate you. That's it."
That’s fine, we can get together more often when we have more free time. As long as you don’t feel aggrieved, that’s fine.”
Li Hui looked at Xie Xuan with a smile and said: "Brother Xie, if you take this official position, of course you will be wronged. But for a person like me, it is already a great favor. Think about my background, and then think about it
In just less than two years, I not only became an official, but also arrived in the capital and was awarded a sixth-grade official position. I received a salary of 600 dan per year. For me, a person from a poor family, what is there to be dissatisfied about?
?I am very content and don’t have any grievances. Don’t ever think that I have been wronged.”
Xie Xuan thought about it carefully, and it was indeed the case. But it was obvious that Li Hui was overqualified when he went to see the city gate. But the fourth uncle insisted on this, and Xie Xuan had no choice. Fortunately, Li Hui had a correct mentality, and this
Saying these words made Xie Xuan feel relieved.
Xie Xuan thought to himself: Now, my fourth uncle might be mistaken. He thought Li Hui would be very dissatisfied. If he went back and told him, his fourth uncle would definitely be dumbfounded.
Xie Xuan personally accompanied Li Hui through the entire process and went to the Menxia Province outside the south gate of the Health Palace to report. After receiving the relevant documents and official uniforms and seals, he personally accompanied Li Hui to the Donglimen Post Office to take up his post.
Donglimen is outside Qingxi, and there is a large area of woodland between Donglimen and Qingxi. This is where the royal mansions of the Sima family of the Jin Dynasty gather, and it is considered a high-end residential area.
Dongfucheng is a few miles southwest of Donglimen. There are several Chinese troops guarding the city. The number of defenders at Donglimen City Gate is also larger than that of other outer gates, with a total of eight hundred.
It is divided into two shifts, day and night.
The gate soldiers and horses at Donglimen are the Chinese army soldiers and horses affiliated with the Central Right Army in the capital. Although they belong to the same army as the Xiaoqi battalion led by Xie Xuan, they have an internal and external relationship.
The six armies, including the Central Leading Army, the Central Protecting Army, and the Xiaoqi Army, belong to the Suwei armies and are the troops and horses in the inner city responsible for guarding the Health Palace. The rest of the Central Army includes the front, rear, left, and right armies, the Tunqi Changshui Sheng and other five schools.
The two crossbow camps, Weiying, Jinu, and Jishe, are stationed in the satellite cities within the city gates.
The leading captain of Donglimen was named Hou Youliang. All the eight hundred soldiers of Donglimen were under his command. He was very surprised to see Li Hui being led by Xie Xuan himself.
Xie Xuan did not shy away and told Hou Youliang directly that the new city gatekeeper Li Hui was his good friend and hoped to take more care of him in the future. Hou Youliang naturally agreed. Who in the capital does not know the name of the Xie family's eldest son?
The people he sent in person were obviously under the care of the Xie family, so Hou Youliang naturally had a clue.
In the garrison camp inside Nanli Gate, Li Hui was welcomed by several of his subordinates. Although Chengmenlang was a useless official position, there were even more useless ones below. Two officials, two scribes, and three more
These are all the subordinates of the new gatekeeper of Donglimen City.
The two ministers and the two scribes were both so old that they could no longer walk. One of them was panting when walking and had a gray beard, like a tuberculosis ghost. The other one also looked senile. It can be seen from this that this
The errands at the city gate are so unpopular. I don’t know which family’s old man came to occupy the position. This is not the place to do things at all.
Li Hui stood in the narrow and low public room, looking at the four subordinates in front of him who had dull eyes and were too old to speak clearly. He really didn't know what to say. He had a smile on his face, but he was feeling disgusted in his heart.
They are not here to be officials, they are obviously here to be waiters in a nursing home. Just these four old and dim-eyed guys, expect them to do things for you? Isn’t that a dream? It’s almost enough to serve them tea and water by yourself. It’s impossible.
It's good that they can't breathe, so I have to be responsible for giving them a smooth blow on the back, like an old man providing support.
Xie Xuan was also speechless. He knew that being a city gatekeeper was not a good official position, but he didn't expect the situation to be so bad. He not only complained about his fourth uncle, but also went too far. The fourth uncle must have known about these situations, and he did it on purpose.
In the trembling hands of the old Lingshi named Fu Heng, Li Hui took over a set of huge copper keys. Those were the keys to the two gates and the two corner gates of Dongli Gate, as well as the winch of the suspension bridge at the city gate.
The key to the stone chamber door.
In fact, these are all symbolic. It is impossible to lock the city gate with iron locks. It is impossible to lock the city gate with a few iron locks. This is actually like a seal, just a symbolic procedure.
.Next, another commander, Shi Zhangjin, introduced the duties of the city gate man and some special situations of Dongli Gate with leaky teeth.
So for Li Hui, the useless knowledge increased a lot.
This was the first time that Li Hui knew that the front and back gates of the main city gate had an order of opening and closing. When opening, inside first then outside, and when closing, first outside then inside. When the suspension bridge is lowered, when is the main city gate opened?
When should the corner gates on both sides be opened? How should the five iron bolts on the gate be bolted? At what angle should the pillars supporting the gate be positioned? Under what circumstances must the gates be closed, and under what circumstances must all the gates be opened...
…
All this made Li Hui feel dizzy. He tried his best to keep smiling, and discerned his words from the vague mouth, but he felt quite depressed. But Li Hui had a persevering temperament, even if he thought about the consequences every day in the future.
To face such a situation, remain calm and keep smiling. This should be a way to sharpen your will and exercise your patience.
Xie Xuan couldn't stand it anymore, so he said goodbye and left on the pretext that he still had official duties. Although he was full of guilt and pity for Li Hui, he couldn't do anything but give him spiritual blessings. This was the test given to Li Hui by his fourth uncle.
, I hope Li Hui can pass the test of his fourth uncle, which will be good for him.
At noon, Li Hui completed all the procedures for taking office with the greatest patience, and the ordeal ended. After that, Li Hui climbed to the top of the Dongli Gate. Standing on the city wall, the cold wind blew, and he looked at the open landscape outside the city.
Li Hui's mood gradually calmed down after looking at the scenery, the rows of buildings in the city, and the bustling markets.
I don't know why, standing on the top of this city, I suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of pride in guarding the safety of the capital and protecting the people of the capital.
Li Hui hurriedly dismissed this idea. This kind of false self-impression is unnecessary. He is just a gatekeeper. There is no need to improve himself, it is better to be more realistic and think carefully about how to spend this difficult time in the future.
serious.
…
Time flies so fast, two months fly by in the blink of an eye, and it’s already mid-March.
Spring in the south of the Yangtze River has quietly arrived. Jiankang City has changed colors inadvertently. The trees in the city have turned green, flowers and plants are in bloom, and everywhere is full of vitality and everything is blooming.
The new willows on both sides of the Qinhuai River are like smoke, and the spring water is rippling. It has completely changed its appearance. The scenery along the Qinhuai River is originally very beautiful, and after the arrival of spring, it is even more beautiful as in a picture.
In the past two months or so, Li Hui clocked in to work every day and cooperated with the defenders to open and close the Dongli Gate. He was very conscientious. At least on the surface, that was the case.
As Xie Xuan said, the job of the Chengmenlang is very leisurely, and even a fool can be qualified for this job. However, the time is extremely long.
The city gate opens at five o'clock and closes at sunset. As a city gatekeeper, you need to arrive at five o'clock and can't leave until the city gate is closed at sunset. The content of the work is not much, but it is extremely tiring. In later generations, a group of people worked for ninety-nine
The city gatekeeper's job is even worse than that of the city gatekeeper.
Li Hui showed no emotions of disgust or dissatisfaction. After surviving the difficult first few days, Li Hui quickly became very adaptable. He also arranged a life routine for himself.
Every day, Li Hui rushed to Dongli Gate at five o'clock in the morning. After opening the city gate, he started running along the city wall for exercise. After finishing his run at Chenshi, he returned to the public room to eat and rest. There was basically no official work for most of the morning, so Li Hui looked for some sunshine.
Plenty of corners for reading.
Li Hui borrowed a lot of books from Xie Xuan. The Xie family has a rich collection of books, and they have all kinds of books, so he doesn't worry about not having any books to read. Those ancient books that Li Hui couldn't read before now have a lot of time to study.
This is better than sitting in a public room in a daze.
In addition to the classic ancient books such as "The Book of Songs", "The Analects of Confucius", "Li Sao", "Historical Records", "Sun Tzu's Art of War", etc., I also read a lot of miscellaneous books and notes. What about "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", "The Chronicles of Gods and Monsters", knights and ghosts, etc.
I also read a lot of miscellaneous books.
Although he just glanced at the flowers and did not recite them in depth, reading these books was also a pleasant experience and sublimation for Li Hui. Especially when reading history books, he was often immersed in them and could not help but become involved. Through that time
The situation is similar to today's Jin Dynasty, and there are often many insights.
More importantly, this allowed Li Hui to kill a lot of boring time. He would not have to face several old guys in the public apartment who were coughing, spitting and speaking indistinctly.
In the afternoon, after having dinner, I took a nap for half an hour. After I got up, I went to the city gate for a routine walk up and down. After that, I went back to the public house to brag and talk with a few subordinates. Although the donkey's words were not the horse's words,
They can't tell each other why, but this is also a way of connecting with each other.
After that, I hid in my small office room to read and write. It was very important to write well, and I had to practice it frequently. Of course, this was also a way to calm down and kill time.
Before sunset, the city gates were closed according to the procedure, and they took the mule cart home.
During these two months, Li Hui's life was basically like this. It was indeed a bit monotonous, but Li Hui was good at enjoying hardships, and he also experienced some of the fun. Reading, writing, running and chatting, he was as simple as an ascetic.
The life of Li Hui gave Li Hui more time to think and comprehend. This made Li Hui feel that he had almost returned to a certain period of time when he was studying in college in later generations. His life was simple but also very fulfilling.