When Li Mu returned home, before he had finished changing his clothes, Zhao Youcai came to inform him.
"Master Hou, someone came to visit. He said his name was Wang..."
"not see!"
Li Mu said angrily: "There is no one named Wang. I and those named Wang are incompatible with each other!"
"The Marquis is not from the Wang family in Taiyuan. He said that he is a censor named Wang Jingze. Thanks to the Marquis' support, he came to pay a visit."
"Wang Jingze?"
Li Mu frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered. Isn't this the censor who turned against him? A memorial in praise of his virtues made Li Shimin so happy that he was promoted from the supervisory censor to three levels, and now he is the lucky censor.
If it were him, we could meet him.
"Let him wait while I change my clothes."
Zhao Youcai responded and retreated. Li Mu took off his tiger fur, changed into normal casual clothes, and walked from the backyard to the front lobby. Tiger fur is good everywhere, but it is a little too airtight, so it can be worn outdoors outdoors.
It's very good, but at home, there is a fire wall and a heated bed, and I'm sweating profusely after wearing a tiger fur fur.
When Li Mu came to the lobby, he saw a young censor sitting upright in the hall. He put his hands on his knees and looked forward, looking very nervous.
Li Mu coughed, and Wang Jingze heard it. He quickly stood up and bowed to the end: "My disciple, Wang Jingze, has seen the Marquis and wishes him well."
"Yo?"
Hearing this title, Li Mu raised his eyebrows and said: "Wang Zhongcheng, I don't dare to accept the title of 'subordinate'. You are Yu Shi Zhongcheng, a fourth-grade official, why are you my disciple? You, you should be Wei Zheng's disciple,
What does it have to do with me?"
Li Mu didn't let him get up. Wang Jingze didn't dare to get up and said with a pout: "Master Hou, I was deceived by Wei Zheng before and did many things that were sorry for you. It wasn't until a few days ago that I figured it out and decided to fight with Wei Zheng."
We have broken with the Shandong gentry. I also ask the Marquis to be magnanimous and forgive the seven subordinates. From now on, we are willing to be the lackeys of the Marquis and do whatever we want."
"Ha!" Li Mu sat down, chuckled, and said, "Do you think that I, Li Mu, will tolerate people like Chao Qin, Mu Chu?"
When Wang Jingze heard this, his body trembled, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He originally thought that with his defection and the status of the hot-tempered censor Zhongcheng, he would be welcomed by Li Mu's sect. However, he did not expect that Li Mu thought he was a traitor and was unwilling to accept him.
Doesn't he regard Yushi Zhongcheng as a bargaining chip?
Wang Jingze became a little anxious.
He defected to Li Mu and the New Deal, and had already broken with Wei Zheng and the Shandong gentry. The reason he dared to do this was because he had the confidence in his heart that Li Mu would take them in. Now that something went wrong, what should he do?
Is it too late to go back and apologize now?
Wang Jingze gritted his teeth, knelt down in front of Li Mu, banged his head on the ground, and cried: "My Lord Marquis is generous, and my disciples have no choice but to do so!"
Li Mu put down his tea cup, stretched out his hand and said, "Come, tell your story."
"ah?"
Li Mu was a little embarrassed. He had watched too many painful dramas about the draft in his previous life, and he couldn't help it. Seeing Wang Jingze's confusion, he hurriedly cleared his throat and said: "Tell me the reason, and I will see how you are forced to do so."
"The Marquis doesn't know. Although the eight of us are all censors and nobles from Shandong, we are very different from Lu Zhilin and others. I have been waiting at the censor station...
Object of discrimination!”
Li Mu looked curious and said, "I really don't know why you are being discriminated against?"
"It's just because of us," Wang Jingze's eyes were reddish, with tears glistening, and he gritted his teeth and said, "It's just because we are all the sons-in-law!"
"Sister-in-law?"
Wang Jingze nodded vigorously and explained for Li Mu: "Master Hou, the Shandong gentry, headed by the three families of 'Fanyang Lu', 'Xingyang Zheng', and 'Boling Cui', like Lu Zhilin, although he is a branch of the Fanyang Lu family, but
After all, his surname is Lu. And we are not among the three surnamed clans. We only got the support of the three surnamed clans because we married their daughters and became their sons-in-law. We became officials in the court and were regarded as Shandong nobles."
Li Mu was a little confused and said, "So, you are not a Shandong noble?"
"My family belongs to the Shandong gentry, but it is not the core Shandong gentry." Wang Jingze further explained: "Among the Shandong gentry, the eldest son of the three surnamed families is the core, and the side eldest son is the second.
If you have a high house, you can only be at the bottom, and you will always be looked down upon!"
Wang Jingze said bitterly: "I and the other eight people have been living in this kind of discrimination. Because of the power of the three surnames, we dare not speak out. In private, I don't know how much cowardice we have suffered, and our lives are not as good as a dog! 1
The next time Lu Zhilin and Wei Zheng falsely accused the Marquis, they were counterattacked by the Marquis. I saw that no one from the three surnames who were usually domineering dared to stand up and confront the Marquis, so I saw a glimmer of light. The eight of me and I,
It’s not that I’m afraid of the Marquis throwing shit, but that I want to seize this opportunity to be able to break away from them and live an upright life as an official!”
Wang Jingze raised his head and looked at Li Mu, with tears in his eyes, and said: "Master Hou, we are also men, and we also have dignity! I would rather be the lackeys of Master Hou, than be the puppets of the three surnamed clans and live like a pig."
It's a bad day! If the Marquis despises us, we won't be able to go back. Rather than suffer their revenge, it's better to wipe the neck with a knife and die, and it will be over!"
"Oh..." Li Mu suddenly understood, stood up, helped Wang Jingze up, pressed his shoulders and made him sit down.
"When you say that, I understand. This feeling is really uncomfortable. I can understand you, it is really sympathizing. But you don't have to take refuge in me. You have also seen that I am not Wei Zheng's
My opponents, now without an official or position at home, they are just an idler, how can I help you?"
"Master Marquis, please stop being modest. You might as well say it bluntly. If we hadn't thought about it over and over again, we wouldn't have made such a big gamble. Since we have turned against you, we just believe in Master Hou's strength. I have been promoted to three levels in a row. That's it."
Proof! His Majesty relies heavily on the Marquis. If we follow the Marquis, there will be no difference."
"Alas!" Li Mu sighed and said, "Since you are so calm and sincere, it would seem a bit unkind for me to reject people thousands of miles away. But after all, you were originally against me, and you suddenly took refuge in me.
I, I still can't trust you..."
Wang Jingze was about to explain, but Li Mu raised his hand to stop him, and continued: "But it doesn't matter, I dare to take you in, and I am not afraid of you turning against me. There is one thing I want to say first. I am a person who does not rub sand in my eyes.
You claim to be my lackey, but you have to act like one. Remember my words, if one day you dare to betray me like you betrayed the Shandong nobles today, no matter what valid reasons you have, I will kill you.
When that time comes, don't blame me for being unkind, because you are the ones begging me for today."
The cold meaning revealed in the words made Wang Jingze shudder. But in his heart, he was secretly very excited. He didn't know what the other seven people thought, but since he had rebelled against the Shandong nobles, he never thought about turning back!
Wang Jingze stood up, bowed deeply and saluted, and said: "Don't worry, Lord Marquis, if any of my disciples betray Lord Marquis in this life, they are willing to be cut into pieces by a thousand cuts and die!"
"Haha, there's no need to swear. I don't really believe in swearing, hmm." Li Mu thought for a while and said, "Since you have joined my sect, you should submit a certificate of surrender first!"
Wang Jingze said positively: "Master Hou, please give me your instructions!"
"Impeach me!"
"Ah?" Wang Jingze thought Li Mu was just testing him, and hurriedly bowed and said, "I don't dare!"
"Why, disobedient?" Li Mu frowned and said, "If you don't obey me, why do you want to be my lackey?"
Wang Jingze was confused and hurriedly said: "Master Hou, my disciples are a little confused. Why does Master Hou want to impeach me?"
Li Mu pointed at Wang Jingze, then at himself, and said: "I am not impeaching myself, but you are impeaching me. As for the reason, let me ask you, what is your reputation among the government and the public these days?"
"This..." Wang Jingze hesitated a little, not knowing whether he should tell the truth, but when he saw Li Mu looking at him, he gritted his teeth and said truthfully: "The government and the public are very contemptuous of the disciples, calling us spineless, traitorous, and so on.
The foul language is very unpleasant."
"That's why you want to impeach me. Only in this way can you show your innocence!"
Wang Jingze was even more confused. He didn't dare to guess blindly and said, "Please give me some instructions, Lord Marquis."
"Slowly understand the truth, and do as I say first. Three days later, you and the other seven people will impeach me and the king of servants, saying that we gave and received privately and stole national wealth. How can you criticize me...
Of course, you can't scold my ancestors, but you can scold the king's ancestors. It doesn't matter if it sounds ugly, right? Ling Ran knows it, right? Stand on the moral high ground, scold me, and use Lu Zhilin's trick of remonstrating, in court
Let’s show it to the discussion.”
Wang Jingze was dumbfounded when he heard this. What? Not only do you want to scold Li Mu, but you also want to scold Wang?
One is the hot and popular Zhuluhou who can die if he touches anyone, and the other is the prime minister of the dynasty who comes from the Wang family of Taiyuan, the most powerful family in the world. To scold one of them is to seek death. To scold both of them at the same time, isn't this just getting tired of life?
Wang Jingze looked at Li Mu stupidly, and thought to himself, what on earth does the Marquis mean? Is he going to kill someone with a borrowed knife?
Li Mu glanced at him with drooped eyelids and said, "Why, you don't dare?"
Wang Jingze took a deep breath and said: "Whatever the Marquis tells you to do, I will do it!"
"Okay!" Li Mu praised and clapped his hands. Li Chongyi walked in and took off the money belt from his waist.
Li Mu took out eight "big yellow croakers" from the money bag and slapped them in front of Wang Jingze.
"I heard that the life of the imperial censor is very poor, and you are all the sons-in-law, so you must not have much money. If you submit your name to me, I will also give you some greeting gifts. One piece of ten taels, one for each of you, take it
Eat wine."
Wang Jingze was stunned.
This, this is a gold bar!
A gold bar worth ten taels!
Wang Jingze swallowed, retracted his half-stretched hand subconsciously, forced himself to look away, gritted his teeth and said: "Master Hou, I am the censor."
"No?" Li Mu smiled and said, "Are you sure you don't want to?"
"Thank you, Mr. Hou!"
In the flash of lightning, Wang Jingze chose to follow his heart, hugged eight gold bars, and giggled with satisfaction.
"I just like a down-to-earth person like you." Li Mu patted his shoulder and encouraged: "Young man, you have a great future. If you write a memorial well, you will be rewarded if you finish it."
Wang Jingze left happily. Li Mu threw the money bag back to Li Chongyi. Just as he was about to turn around and go back to the back house, Zhao Youcai came to report again, saying that Wang Pu had been waiting at the concierge for a long time. Seeing that Li Mu had guests, he did not dare to come over.
After chatting with Wang Jingze for a while, Li Mu lost a lot of his anger. Moreover, he couldn't really break up with the Wang family in Taiyuan. Everything was just an act. The heat was almost over, so Li Mu sat down again and asked Zhao Youcai to take Wang Pu with him.
come over.
Wang Pu came cautiously.
Seeing Li Mu sitting on a chair, his face as sinking as water. Wang Pu became more restrained and hesitated at the door, not daring to come in.
Li Mu looked at him and said nothing.
Wang Pu grinned and said bravely: "Master Hou"
"Do you still have the nerve to see me?"
Wang Pu was so ashamed that he bowed and said: "Master Hou, I dare not defend my brother in this matter. It is really what we did wrong. Master Hou, what should you do? What should you do to calm down your anger? Just say it. I must let Master Hou do it."
cool down."
Li Mu looked at him deeply and said, "Humph, if it weren't for your sake, I would never have exposed this matter!"
When Wang Pu heard this, he felt flattered. He really wanted to pull Wang over and let him listen. If he saw it, it was for my sake! My face!
Seeing that Li Mu's attitude had softened, Wang Pu quickly hit the snake and put it on the stick. He came over with a smile and said: "The Marquis is indeed magnanimous. I admire you very much. I admire you very much."
"Don't say these words in the future." Li Mu pointed to the chair next to him, motioned for Wang Pu to sit down, and said: "Wang Pu, I might as well make it clear today. If someone hadn't come to visit just now and delayed some time, at this time I would
It should be in your eldest brother's house. You know who I am, and if I tell you to pour manure into his well, I will do it!"
"Yes, yes, Lord Marquis is so powerful. Who doesn't know that my eldest brother is really old and confused? Oh, I have persuaded him."
"Humph!" Li Mu snorted coldly: "I really didn't expect that there are people in the world who are so willing to repay kindness with hatred! What does he mean? Is he plotting against me?"
"Don't dare, don't dare, whoever dares to plot against you, Lord Marquis, my eldest brother is just confused!"
"This is the first and last time. If you encounter something like this again next time, don't blame me for being unkind!"
"It will never happen!" Wang Pu banged his chest and said, "I guarantee with my life that it will never happen. If this happens again, Lord Marquis will take my life!"
"Alas!" Li Mu sighed and said: "Your eldest brother is obsessed with money. He only cares about profit and does not care about human feelings. But I am thinking about the 'love and affection' with you. Alas, I am the biggest person."
My weakness is kindness, I am so soft-hearted, I will suffer the consequences sooner or later!"
Wang Pu secretly wiped the sweat from his face and thought to himself, Brother, brother, what are you doing? Why do you want me to listen to this? What should I do? Make peace? It's too against your will. Don't make peace? It's inevitable.
If you're not happy, brother, you can really make trouble for me!