Bao Zheng left the palace at dawn. Today was not the day to go to court. He walked home along the bustling Prancing Horse Bridge. The Bao family's house was on the edge of the imperial city. If he went to go to court, he could just walk a few steps.
On the other hand, to go to Kaifeng Mansion to sit in the Yamen, you have to go through half of Kaifeng City. No matter where you go, Bao Zheng has no habit of shouting and cheering.
Bao Zheng didn't like Kou Zhun's luxury, and Bao Zheng didn't like Han Qi's grand ostentation. Since Kou Zhun's death, he was criticized for using too many candles and his life was too extravagant. Bao Zheng began to use oil lamps at home, except when writing memorials and memorials.
He would only light candles when he was reviewing official documents. After the official work was done, he would blow out the candles and light the oil lamp again, so that the smell of vegetable oil on his body was very strong. Zeng Gongliang laughed at him and said that other officials are fat.
My butt is oily, only Bao Gong is an official and is mixed with vegetable oil.
His family members also said it didn’t have to be like this. Reading under an oil lamp would hurt your eyes. Bao Zheng always laughed it off.
Now Bu Lu came home, but asked his family to go to Wazi City to call Mr. He, who specializes in pedicures. Although pedicures only cost ten cents, such behavior is rare for Bao Zheng.
The salaries of officials in the Song Dynasty are generous. Bao Zheng is a bachelor of Longtuge. Although he is one level behind the Prime Minister and Privy Envoy, he still gets a regular salary of 240 pieces of silk every month. Your Majesty will give you 0 bolts of silk each spring and winter clothes.
0 horses, 100 taels of winter cotton, 100 shi of millet per month, 70 qian people with clothing and food, 100 bunches of firewood per month, 1,600 pounds of charcoal per year, and 7 shi of salt.
Like all officials in the Song Dynasty, he has not removed the dispatch officer. He is also the judge of the household department of the third division, the transport envoy of Jingdong, Shaanxi, and Hebei roads, and the deputy envoy of the household division of the third division. Each official position has a share of money and grain.
If it is true to say that Lao Bao has a fortune of tens of millions, Kou Zhun's extravagant life comes from this. Without corruption, he is enough to become rich.
Luling, his hometown, is not a prosperous place. Lao Bao only bought ten hectares of fertile land for his retirement. All the remaining money was used by him to support poor students in Luling. Most of the expenses for Luling Academy came from Lao
Included salary.
Funding students is the practice and tradition of scholar-bureaucrats, and it is also the importance that literati attach to the inheritance of saints. Only with the emergence of an endless stream of outstanding scholars can the world continue to form the current civil servant politics. This matter cannot be slacked off!
Lao Bao put his feet into the wooden basin full of medicinal materials, closed his eyes and enjoyed He Laozhang's craftsmanship. He had to praise He Laozhang's craftsmanship. His hands were like two small hammers, constantly hitting Laozhang.
The wrapped feet are constantly aching and a little painful, but this sore and numb feeling is the most relaxing one.
A sharp pain came, but He Laozhang bent his middle finger and used the joints to twist the drill in the soles of Lao Bao's feet. The pain extended from the soles of his feet to the top of his feet. When he relaxed a little, Lao Bao felt his scalp numb.
, feeling comfortable all over.
I accidentally opened my eyes and found Zeng Gongliang sitting under the window sill with a book in his hand, reading with gusto under the warm spring sun. He didn't know how long he had been here.
"Ming Zhong is here, why didn't anyone remind me?" Lao Bao stood up and signaled to Lao Zhang to step back.
Zeng Gongliang looked at the book and said without raising his head: "You should continue to sell the soles of your feet. You are about to go a long way, and it is impossible without a pair of neat soles. I will read a book here, "Taipingguang"
These three sets of books are "Records", "Taiping Yulan" and "Wenyuan Yinghua". As a small third-rank official, I am not qualified to borrow them from the palace, so I can only read them here."
Lao Bao smiled and motioned for Mr. He to continue. He closed his eyes again and enjoyed the rare leisure time. After Mr. He removed the dead skin from the soles of Lao Bao's feet, he wrapped them in clean linen and placed them in a small charcoal
He fumigated the basin, and when the white cloth was filled with smoke, he put Lao Bao's feet on the soft couch, bowed and stepped back while holding the wooden basin.
Lao Bao closed his eyes for a while and calmed down, then said: "You have never cared much about things in the palace. Why did you come so quickly today?"
Zeng Gongliang reluctantly put down the book and said to Lao Bao: "I really don't care much about the palace. I always think it is inappropriate for ministers to care about royal private affairs. But as long as it involves Yun Zheng and Yun Changsheng, I will ask about everything no matter how big or small it is.
.”
Lao Bao picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "Why?"
Zeng Gongliang took a chair and sat directly opposite Lao Bao and said: "Wherever this boy goes, there will be thunder falling from the sky. The last time it was Sichuan Chengyan Temple, a three-foot-high hall was destroyed."
The ground is flat, and now the Prince's Mansion of Xixia is bombarded by thunder again. I don't care who died. I'm just curious, could it be that that guy is the youngest son of Lord Thunder? Thunder is rolling everywhere he goes."
Lao Bao continued to drink tea, savored the tea soup for a while, and then smiled and said: "Are you complaining for those Taoist priests, or are you complaining for Xixia Li Yuanhao? How come I hear that you seem to have infinite anger in your heart."
Zeng Gong stood up loudly and shouted with excitement: "I am called the number one gunpowder master in the Song Dynasty, but the gunpowder made by my hands will never be able to easily tear apart a solid hall, nor can it let Xixia
The Prince's Mansion was completely in ruins.
Nowadays, there are always thunders exploding from the sky. Do you think I can still sit still? Moreover, that boy is a lawless master. He will do whatever he wants according to his temper. When the old man tortures his wife, he will explode with thunder.
He even took the pot, and it is not an exaggeration to call Qingtang and Xixia two places "Longtan and Tiger's Den", but he walked away calmly, killed his people, killed his emperor and prince, and yet he was able to deceive others easily.
With three thousand war horses and extremely powerful gunpowder in the hands of such a guy, can you sleep well, old Bao?
If you are a pedantic person or a fool, don't worry. The most important thing about this thing is its use, not its power. As long as it is used well, it will produce the kind of reaction that Yun Zheng had in Xixia. It is obvious that this boy has already
He used gunpowder superbly."
Lao Bao put down his tea bowl and sighed and said: "You plan to ask me to go to Jingzhao Mansion to investigate the case? I am watching in the middle of Shu. The prefect of Shuzhong has already closed the case. What can I find out now? In addition, Brother Ning Ling's mansion is
There are clues to investigate, do you mean to say that you intend to hold our officials from the Song Dynasty responsible for the death of the Xixia people?"
Zeng Gongliang sat slumped on the chair and said: "It's like this, it's like this. This guy is not only proficient in the art of gunpowder, but the most hateful thing is also very proficient in the way of serving as an official. It doesn't matter to me if a few old Taoists die. I just want Li Yuanhao to die."
He can applaud, but I am only worried about gunpowder. I only care about gunpowder. It is too dangerous to put that thing in his hands. He is like a willful child holding the most powerful murder weapon in his hand.
I'm even worried about your safety. This time the court plans to exchange five thousand strings and a golden phoenix hairpin for three thousand war horses. If you torture too much, I'm worried that he will attack you!"
Old Bao laughed and said: "I'm here to discuss business. There are countless doorways to explore here. You are just a supervisor. Usually you only know herdsmen and supervisors. How can you know the thoughts of merchants? How do you know that others don't know what they are thinking?"
willing?
Don't say that these are all your guesses. Even if this thing really exists, it belongs to others. If you don't steal or rob it, you can rely on your own knowledge to study it. How can you still know that it is not possible to rob it? The scholar-bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty still have no shame.
Already?"
Zeng Gongliang smiled bitterly and said: "I also know that I shouldn't think of people in such a dark way, but after reading this guy's resume, I became more and more frightened. Killing people on the streets of Song Dynasty is considered a hero, but this guy's resume shows that
, he always kills people in groups, it is not strange for him to kill in anger.
He is not like a Song Dynasty person, Lao Bao, he is different from you and me, and he is not even like anyone else. The Secret Service already has a large box of files on Yun Zheng, but no one knows where he was in the fourth year of Qingli.
Just live in seclusion with a stranger and that's it. Now the Secret Service has no interest in pursuing it anymore."
Bao Zheng smiled and said: "You are still a young man. After I see him, I will have an evaluation. The so-called alien means that he is different from ordinary people. He has lived in isolation since he was a child. Naturally, he is different from us, but the education he received makes him still a saint.
Tao, we don’t need to distinguish a person by his skin color, but by his upbringing. If a blond, blue-eyed foreigner has been taught the way of a saint since he was a child, I will identify him as a person from the Song Dynasty, Ming Zhong,
You are too biased."
At this point, Zeng Gongliang had nothing to say. He took a bag of books from behind and put it in front of Bao Zheng and said: "This is a new edition of "Wu Jing Zong Yao". Please give it to Bao Gong at the right time."
, I had asked someone to send him some literature on gunpowder two years ago, and he wrote back and said that I didn’t understand what confidentiality was at all, and since he has better gunpowder, it doesn’t hurt for him to take a look at these things of mine.”
Bao Zheng nodded in agreement. Seeing that Zeng Gongliang was in low spirits, he did not persuade him. He sent him out of the house, smiled and shook his head, then returned to the study, looked at the books Zeng Gongliang brought and said to himself: "Love
I am deeply responsible. Ming Zhong actually valued this son so seriously. I want to see whether the Song Dynasty has produced a generation of talents or a wicked dragon."
Yun Zheng was looking at the dragon. To be precise, he was looking at the dragon vein. Han Lin pointed at the bare mountains in Guanzhong and insisted that this Luolong Ridge was a not too big dragon vein. Han Lin said that the dragon's movement was erratic, which was the so-called divine dragon sight.
There is no end in sight, and the mountains are also undulating and undulating, hiding and changing.
Yun Zheng's eyes were about to burst, and he couldn't see how these barren mountains looked like dragons. He did know that there was a dragon head in Jingzhao Mansion. As for other fishes leaping over kites, they were for the sake of dragons, and so on.
Coarse, stubborn and bloated, lazy and low-key, like a dead fish, it is a dead dragon. Don't say that you understand these words, even if you sound confused.
Han Lin said quietly: "Scholars have always said: one luck, two fate, three feng shui, four merits and five readings. I think you really need luck to protect yourself and your life now. This time in the Kongtong Mountain case, the people involved are implicated.
There are more than 140 officials, and this is almost the largest case since the founding of the People's Republic of China. I really don't know how to describe your current situation!" (To be continued)