Ban Wei Zheng, who was dressed in a royal guard robe, looked at Zhang Yanling with a silver fish hanging around his waist. He was silent for a long time and then asked: "I heard that you entered Nanzhen and became a servant of Duke Yuan.
?”
Zhang Yanling looked calm: "Brother Bang, I know what you are going to say."
Ban Weizheng stared into Zhang Yanling's eyes and exclaimed: "What can I say? Congratulations to Mr. Zhang?"
Zhang Yanling: "Don't use your words to belittle me like that. You and I, one is from the city and the other is from a refugee. We are both lonely. Naturally, we both know what the world is like..."
Ban Weizheng interrupted Zhang Yanling: "Wang Liulang treated you like a brother. From Henan to Anxi, and now to Liangcheng, if Wang Liulang hadn't helped you, would you be where you are today? In the end, you are like this
How to repay him?"
Zhang Yanling: "I owe Wang Liulang a favor, I know it in my heart, but the word "future", how can it be given up by favor? Wang Liulang is an upright person, I tried to persuade him again and again, but still didn't know how to change it. I followed behind him, just fooling around.
Although there is no need to worry about food and clothing, Mr. Zhang’s ambition is far from that!"
Ban Weizheng sneered: "What ambitions do you have for a person who follows the trend of others?"
Zhang Yanling clenched his fists: "Brother Ben, you speak lightly. You got an important position in the Jinyi Guards. Do you think you are superior to others? Isn't it because Sun Duhu, the military governor of Shuofang, secretly takes good care of you? Sun
The Protector used to be His Majesty's personal guard, and he was favored by the Holy Spirit. It is because of him that Wang Liulang has a special regard for you... But I, Zhang Yanling, am from a humble background, who will appreciate me? If I don't climb up.
, he will be buried in the official office one day, and will never be able to stand out again."
Ban Weizheng: "You keep talking about your background and appreciation, but you don't think about doing things with peace of mind. You only want to cling to the powerful. Aren't you afraid that you will go astray in the future?"
When Zhang Yanling heard this, he was really angry: "What is a crooked way? My Zhang family ancestors have been good people for generations. My grandfather was a county official, and my father was an upright person. They are all righteous people in the ten miles and eight villages. But
, even if my Zhang family takes the right path, will we end up with a good death?!"
"A family of thirty-six were killed, starved to death, and thirty-five died of illness. Only I, Zhang, was left alive! The younger sister was not yet nine years old. She went out to collect firewood and was caught by the mob. She was washed, slaughtered, and cooked over a fire.
Boil; my grandfather just died and was not buried yet. His body was in the hall and was eaten by the neighbors with sharp knives. This is the fate of people who do not follow the wrong path and are upright as you say!"
Seeing Ban Weizheng stunned, Zhang Yanling took a long breath and suppressed his anger: "Brother Ban, I am afraid of poverty, and I am also afraid of suffering. What I have experienced since I was a child has taught me one thing. I want to
If you want to live well in this world and just be a righteous person, I'm afraid you won't end up well. Trying to climb up in every possible way is the only way to survive."
Having said this, Zhang Yanling raised his hand and said: "Today, Duke Yuan went to the palace to say goodbye to His Majesty, and then he will set off for Hebei to continue investigating and handling the affairs of the feudal town. I will also go with him... Today
Farewell, I don’t know when we can see each other again. I also asked Brother Bang to send a message to Wang Liulang for me... He said that Yanling knew that he had made a mistake and had no face to see him again. If he gets promoted in the future, Yanling would be a good person again.
call."
After saying that, Zhang Yanling turned around and came to the street entrance, unhooked his horse from the tree, got on his horse, and walked slowly towards the street entrance.
At the same time, in a small wine shop in Shilufang, an official with a dignified face and a slender figure was drinking with two other people.
That official was none other than Lu Lun, one of the ten talented men of the Dali Dynasty in history, who was as famous as Han Yu and Wang Wei.
The other two people are Xu Fanghai and Lu Ensheng who came to Liangcheng from Anxi to participate in the by-election.
Xu Fanghai and Lu Ensheng first raised their glasses to celebrate Lu Lun: "Scholar Lu was able to get His Majesty's personal approval during the palace examination, but he envied other students."
Lu Lun was in a good mood and was a little drunk, but he was still quite humble when he spoke: "Your Majesty used the theme of waxing and waning of the moon. I also had a whim that day, and I accidentally came up with a masterpiece, which was fortunate enough to be praised by the saint.
"
Xu Fanghai asked: "Scholar Lu was awarded the Bachelor of Jixian, and was promoted to a higher position in the future. I don't know where he will go to find a higher position in the future?"
Lu Lun: "The Governor Yuan of Nanzhen Fusi has a long history with a certain person. He invited me to Hebei. However, Jinyiwei is a key department after all. I was worried that I was not qualified, so I declined... It happened that Du Shangshu of the Ministry of Etiquette appreciated me.
I want to recommend me to the Xuanwen Museum for my poems."
Xu Fanghai: "The Xuanwen Museum? Could it be the literary museum where the poet Li Taibai served?"
Lu Lun: "Exactly, Lu has admired the banished immortal for a long time, and after some thought, he planned to go to the Xuanwen Museum."
After Lu Lun finished talking about himself, he looked at Xu Fanghai and Lu Ensheng: "Where are you two? Have you decided where to go?"
Xu Fanghai: "The imperial court did issue official records, but Ensheng and I were both at the bottom of the imperial examinations. The last records we received were by-elections, and they were not important positions."
Lu Lun: "After serving as a by-election officer for three years, and then passing the examination with an average score, you can be hired as a full-time official... Speaking of which, what position are you two by-electing for?"
Xu Fanghai: "The imperial court added many official positions under the Department of Rites and Temples, and appointed many people as civil servants."
Lu Lun: "The Ministry of Rites? The Department of Ancestral Temples? If I remember correctly, it is responsible for temple sacrifices, national taboos, vacation dates, holding monks and nuns, Taoist priests, women's crowns, children's records, issuance of certificates, etc. Why did the imperial court add a new office here?
Official positions should be awarded to civil servants?"
Xu Fanghai shook his head and said: "I don't know, maybe because the world is at peace, the imperial court plans to offer sacrifices to heaven in order to seek the will of heaven."
Lu Lun was puzzled, but turned his attention to the youngest Lu Ensheng: "Where does your by-election fall?"
When it comes to his election for a replacement position, Lu Ensheng is a little embarrassed: "I choose to fill the household department."
Lu Lun: "Hubu? That's a good place to go. I wonder which department under Hubu it is?"
Lu Ensheng: "The Ministry of Household Affairs has established a new department called the National and Municipal Affairs Department."
Lu Lun: "The Ministry of Household Affairs established a new National and Municipal Affairs Bureau? When did it happen? Why have I never heard of it?"
Lu Ensheng: "In the first month of the year, the imperial court just issued a decree that the Department of State and Municipal Affairs is mainly responsible for the square markets, border markets, trading houses and shipping markets within the Tang Dynasty."
Lu Lun was even more puzzled: "These are things that should be done by the mutual market supervisors, city inspectors, city shipping departments, etc. Why are they merged into the Ministry of Household Affairs?"
Lu Ensheng shook his head.
Lu Lun thought for a moment, but he really couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it. He raised his glass and said, "How can little people like us figure out the imperial court's grand plan? Come on, stop thinking about it and drink!"
…
In Liangcheng, apart from the high-ranking officials and ministers, there are more inconspicuous little people.
However, no one may have imagined that these little people in Shilufang would transform into prominent figures who would influence the entire country many years later.