Act like a spoiled child

On the third day of the fourth lunar month, the emperor was entrusted with the blessing of heaven, and he summoned the emperor: Since the Supreme Emperor's Zen throne, I have studied my ambitions, encouraged the spirit to comfort the gods, amnesty to inherit the temple, and worked hard to govern, stabilize the family and the country, and be prepared for danger in times of peace. Regardless of matters, the ancients said: If you are not lukewarm, but behave with restraint, you can plan slowly.

However, Zuo Zanshan, Wang Baba, and the supervisory censor Mingshen vained the ministers' guideline, and Yuezu took the place, because they were worried about the emperor's heirs, and the fact that they behaved dirty and messed up the palace. this.

The official historian detailed the punishment decree: "Wang Ba, 15 beauties were offered, and the salary was three months. Mingshen, eight beauties were offered, and the salary was three years. The emperor was reprimanded in court, and the emperor's face turned pale."

The priest came to read the imperial decree of the three-month salary penalty. He stood in the courtyard of the Ming family and told Mingshen affectionately: "Master Ming, you have accomplished a feat that has never been done before or since—you have just taken office for less than a month. You have been fined for three years, and you have to make up for it yourself. Just hand over the money to me later... It’s far away, and now all the civil and military officials in the court know about it! This shows that His Majesty attaches great importance to you, and it is hope Put your mind on your work, don't think about other things, find a wife for the monarch and let other old men do it. The emperor also understands your hard work, and can't bear to see you pondering these things all day, so he deliberately aggravated it Your punishment, ouch, don't cry, don't cry..."

Ming Shen knelt in the courtyard to receive the order, and said expressionlessly, "I didn't cry."

Huo Bing arrived after hearing the sound, and excitedly peeled the orange for Mingshen, while sizing up the priest: "The version I heard is that all the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty are talking about Ah Shen, saying, 'the new ten-year-old from Yushitai The seven or eight-year-old Wanling Ming clan, relying on being His Majesty's companion for a few years, rushed to flatter, but the flatter was patted on the horse's leg'? Oh, there should be 'not a big official, but there are many crooked methods. ' or something like that?"

The priest immediately said: "How can it be! Everyone is saying that the new little censor must be highly valued by His Majesty, so the punishment is even heavier than that of Lord Wang Ba. The so-called good medicine is good for the disease, and honest words are good for the ear. Love, His Majesty punished you in the hope that you will make greater progress..."

"You don't need to talk about it." Mingshen said dryly, "How much fine do I have to pay?"

The priest immediately offered a quotation: "I beg Your Majesty, I can give you a half discount, 120 shi is considered sixty shi, three years is 180 shi, and it is about 80 taels of silver."[1]

Huo Bing was beside him heartbroken: "80 taels! Our little Ming has to pay back the wages before he received his salary. It's too miserable. How much will Wang Ba be fined?"

"Uh..." The priest calculated in his mind for a while, "My lord Wang doesn't offer any discounted benefits, and the fine is 81 taels in three months."

Huo Bing sighed: "It's not easy to be a small official. The salary for three years is no more than that of others for three months."

The priest echoed and sighed: "Yeah! It's not easy for us. I heard that working in Shejitan, it's not much to eat every day, but that's called being poor! I dare not even accept a basket of mushrooms. In order to show our The theological atmosphere is all-inclusive and a hundred flowers bloom. I only accepted a bribe from a foreign missionary—a gold coin, but I couldn’t spend it. It was just a little bit if it was melted. My colleagues even went out to work as bribes to supplement their families A fortune teller..."

Huo Bing was very interested: "Fortune-telling? Can you tell me more about it? To tell you the truth, my dream when I was young was to go out and tell fortunes. I planned to find a blind man to partner with me to make money. Look, one paralyzed man and one blind man. Are there two heroes in Qiaodunzi?"

The priest and Huo Bing hit it off immediately, and were immediately invited into the room for tea.

Mingshen got up from the ground alone, put the imperial decree into his sleeve, and then went to the treasury to get the money.The Ming family was ransacked, and the Huo family was not spared. Fortunately, there are still a few acres of land left in Jiangnan, but the land deeds and the like are unclear. When the two brothers were in Jiangnan, they relied on rent collection to get by. So, most of the money was spent on medicine.

Others often say: "Ming's family has raised two pots of medicine." That's the reason, Huo Bing needs medicine for his legs, and he takes tonics all year round. I went to change the medicinal materials, and the remaining money was tight, and there was nothing left every year.

He is a queen in the palace, but a sixth-rank sesame official outside, and he does what he wants.Mingshen dug out the silver deposits he had on his way to Beijing, then dug out the scorpions and steel from his brother's luggage and cut them out. After cutting a few pieces of silver, he weighed it, and it was still close, so he reluctantly took out the last piece. The whole silver, cut it into pieces and mended it, then took it out and handed it to the attendant of the ceremony officer.

After doing all this, he saw that Huo Bing was still chatting with the etiquette officer, so he went over and said that he was a little sleepy, and he went to take a nap first.

He has been sleeping badly for the past few days, light sleep, when he can't sleep, he often thinks of Yumin's expression when he was angry a few days ago, his face was ashen, and he walked away, Mingshen still didn't understand why he got so angry .

Sending beautiful women, why can Wang Ba not him?If it really counts on the bright side, his identity should persuade Yumin to get a concubine as soon as possible, so that there will be successors in the country.

He thinks that he has worked very hard to follow Yumin's request. He is a minister on the outside and a queen on the inside. He has agreed to any weird request Yumin made, so there is nothing to be angry about. Woolen cloth?

He couldn't fall asleep left and right, and after a while, Huo Bing came into his room, seeing that he was still awake, so he pushed him: "Go in."

Mingshen obediently fell asleep leaning against the corner of the wall, Huo Bing climbed up, lifted his legs up with great effort, and went to grab the quilt from Mingshen.Mingshen obediently gave him the quilt.

Huo Bing said: "Not happy yet, my dear Shen Shen?"

Mingshen said weakly: "Anyone who has been reprimanded by His Majesty in court and fined his salary, and made troubles known to everyone, cannot be happy."

"Then do you still remember what I told you?" Huo Bing reached out and touched his hand, and found that it wasn't particularly cold, so he felt relieved.

Ming Shen said: "Remember, brother, you said that sending beautiful women over is a tactic to slow down the army. Wang Ba tried every means to curry favor with His Majesty in the past few days, but His Majesty can't express his position immediately, so we need to follow the example of this trip, so that His Majesty can have a comparison. Ba's graciousness, but also to be able to coax Wang Ba, making him feel that Brother Min is not going to completely tear his face. So I punished him a little harder, and Wang Ba was a little lighter. Even though he was punished, he would feel that. It's Brother Min's favor."

"Yes, since you know it, why are you still not happy?" Huo Bing continued to ask.

Ming Shen said sadly: "But Brother Min seems to be really angry, not fake. I can tell the difference between his fake anger and real anger."

"So what if you're really angry? What about fake anger? As soon as he did this, everyone in the court heard your name and knew that you were a petty official who tried to curry favor with His Majesty but was reprimanded in court. If they thought you If you are on Bu Yu's side, then they won't be afraid of you for the time being, and they will attack you; if they think you are not on Bu Yu's side, that would be even better." Huo Bing sighed at this point, "Coax Wang Ba, Coaxing the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, and setting aside party affiliation for you, killing three birds with one stone, your Majesty really tries to do things simply and save trouble."

Mingshen is still sullen: "Oh."

"Be careful, don't be sad, do you remember when we were young?" Huo Bing reached out and touched his head, "You were too young at that time, and I went too early when I went to Huo's house, I'm afraid you don't remember much Already... my brother told you that at that time, my parents asked us to prepare for the children's exam together, and asked me to teach you how to learn books. They also sent another relative's child over. We all hated that person because he used to steal credit. Flattering, and dirty your schoolbook on purpose, remember?"

Mingshen had no memory at all: "I don't remember." He was too young at that time, and he didn't remember much, even the child who ransacked the house back then, how could he be expected to see clearly the twists and turns of the years? ?

"It doesn't matter if you don't remember, I will tell you later. At that time, we hated that person very much, so I took advantage of the day when the person was not around, and suddenly reprimanded you in front of my father, asking why you only knew how to play with others and learned to be bad. You could even dirty your schoolbooks. You were so wronged that you cried. After hearing this, your father thought that the relative’s child had spoiled you, so he sent him back. After that, I bought you five bowls of egg rice wine before you agreed. talk to me."

Ming Shen muttered: "Brother, you are really bad."

Huo Bing smiled easily: "Yeah, I'm very bad. After that, you understood, and you often acted together with me, and we played one set in front of the other. I often felt that if it continued like this, you would Might follow me into a smart little villain."

Watch him carefully.

Huo Bing stretched out his fingers to poke his forehead again, and sighed with a smile: "What a pity, what a pity! You grew up to be a little fool with another guy, and you have lost all your villainous temperament."

Mingshen distributed the quilt to him a little more, and muttered, "Don't bury me, brother."

"Then don't be sad, it's my brother's fault, I didn't tell you in advance, and I didn't make you mentally prepared." Huo Bing said, "But I promise you, the dog emperor will regret it, he dares to be fierce You, after taking care of him, you won’t be able to eat and walk around, and you will come to invite you.”

Mingshen was amused by his "dog emperor": "Stop messing around, brother. I've made up my mind, as long as it's for Brother Min's good, it's okay for me to suffer a little verbal grievance, and it's okay to pay a little fine. Brother Min bought the mansion for us, so I really have no reason to be angry. It will be fine when I get over it for a while."

But Huo Bing became serious: "Who wants you to slow down? Why slow down? I really don't believe why our family Shenshen has been wronged like this. This time, let him coax you no matter what you say, you must coax. Are you kidding me, the precious little brother I hold in my hand, can he be so fierce when he becomes the emperor?"

Ming Shen looked at him suspiciously: "But brother, you are the one who shoved me into the palace to be scolded."

Huo Bing said sternly: "I have already apologized! Come on, Shen Shen, my brother will rub your legs with you... I will treat you to some oranges later."

Mingshen couldn't do anything about being troubled by his brother, he smiled and pushed his hand away: "You can rub it for yourself, sleep if you want to sleep, where did all this nonsense come from."

Huo Bing said that there is one more sentence that must be said: "Then are you still going to court these days?"

Mingshen thought about the onlookers and discussions he would encounter after going to Yushitai, and was a little depressed: "I want to ask for a few days off."

"Okay, my brother will help you." Huo Bing agreed, "You can just rest at home for a few days. Last time, I heard that there is a brothel in Beijing that is not bad... What do you think I am doing? Say I invite me Please help me, last time I was borrowed by Mr. Yuyu, and I am already familiar with him, so it is not difficult to ask for a leave of absence for you."

"..." Mingshen corrected patiently, "His name is Bu Yu."

"Didn't it mean the same thing?" Huo Bing was still chattering there, planning "Ten must-go places for vacation" for him, and Ming Shen fell asleep after listening to it.

That night, Mingshen developed a fever again.

Recently, the cold spring came, it was winter-like in the morning and evening, and it was unbearably hot to wear a padded jacket during the day, so Mingshen got sick just as he and his brother had expected, and asking for leave became extraordinarily logical.

When he felt a little better, he went to the brothel with Huo Bing a few times, but he always fell ill as soon as he went out, and he always thought he was going to be better, but he didn't.This procrastination, even he himself could hardly remember how long he had been ill, but he just remembered to eat and sleep, eat and sleep, and play with Huo Bing from time to time, a long time passed in a flash.

Recently, the court officials have noticed one thing: His Majesty seems to be in a bad mood recently.

With Wang Ba being fined for three months, no one dared to cause trouble on this outlet. Many people tried to ask for peace, but they didn't hear back for a long time.Foreign ministers' requests for interviews are also not allowed.

The most important thing is that no one knows why the emperor is in a bad mood.A group of people guessed and guessed, and even the reason why Yumin suffered from kidney deficiency and was frustrated in bed was mentioned.

Yushitai found out about this matter, and after three days of intense debate, he finally decided to push out a representative to go to the gun and enter the palace to condolences to the emperor.

Yushitai's efficiency has always been very high. After half a day, Bu Yu stood in front of the gun.

The expression on the muzzle of the gun is very gloomy: "If you are saying something that I don't like to hear, then get out now."

Bu Yu thought about what his colleagues at Yushitai were talking about a few days ago, and thought that it was pretty much the same. Although Yumin didn't suffer setbacks in bed, it seemed that the setbacks in love were not far behind.

The person he likes presents eight beauties in front of him, and he still hopes to get a reward. That is the kind of slapping Yumin in the face in front of a group of old subordinates, or the kind of smoke.

He respectfully said: "That's not the case. I'm here to report to you the situation of the officials of the Qing Dynasty this month: everything is good, my colleagues are working hard, and the few adults who were absent before have also rushed to Beijing. Only Wanling There's something wrong with Ming... he's sick."