Shaodi Chunxin

Yu Ruicheng was standing under the peach tree in the courtyard with a small iron shovel in his hand. He looked up at the tree. The snow had fallen on the tree, and buds had sprouted. In a few days, when the ice and snow melted, he would wait Peach blossoms bloomed.

When the sky was dark and the goose feathers were snowing heavily, Yan Jifan, Minister of the Criminal Ministry, was admitted to the hospital and reported to him: "Mr. Liu Chang went to the prison to interrogate Hou Xinghai, but returned without success. He asked someone to send a message to Mr. Ge and you, saying that if necessary He went to the Hall of Mental Cultivation overnight to ask for an order."

"The royal family has always been afraid of eunuchs' private contacts with foreign ministers. If he goes to the emperor to ask for an order for Hou Xinghai's affairs, it will confirm that he has a close relationship with the cabinet and foreign ministers. This kind of thankless thing, Liu Nine can't do it." Yu Ruicheng seemed to have expected it a long time ago. .

Yan Jifan nodded and sighed: "Then what should we do? Does it really depend on the eunuch headed by Fu Yuanqing to disrupt the government? This time goes by moment by moment, and Hou Xinghai was beaten into a trick in the imperial prison. What's the point of interrogating him then? Give the court an innocent truth? What should I do as a Minister of the Ministry of Punishment?"

As he spoke, he watched Yu Ruicheng squat down on the peach tree and began to dig the ground with a small shovel.

He turned over the frozen ground and dug down for a while, finally revealing a few wine jars that had been sealed in mud for a long time.

Yan Jifan was puzzled and said, "Mr. Xiaoge, this is..."

Yu Ruicheng brought out a few jars of wine and said with a smile, "Master Yan, don't worry, I'll go to Fu's house."

The wind and snow whimpered.

Chen Jing carried Fu Yuanqing into Tingtao Residence. Behind the rocks in the courtyard, a corner of the main hall was exposed, and the window frame was lit with orange light.

At this time, Chen Jing asked: "What about the ancestor himself? Have you prepared a coffin for yourself?"

Fu Yuanqing replied: "No, I won't have a good death, and it's not my turn to worry about the funeral."

He smiled with relief.

It seems that there is some expectation for the upcoming fate not far away.

When Chen Jing was entering the main hall, he paused when he heard this sentence.

"What's wrong?" Fu Yuanqing asked him.

"It's nothing..." He continued to move forward, finally passed through the main hall and the study, entered the Nuan Pavilion, placed Fu Yuanqing on the couch, and said: "The old ancestors are different from what they said."

"who are they?"

"People outside. People around." Chen Jing said.

"Oh? What did they say about me?"

Chen Jing went to get hot water to wipe Fu Yuanqing's body, while saying: "They said that you regard Daduan's law as nothing, and act recklessly. You cover up the holy hearing, and cover up the bright sun. You use your power to exercise power, and you have private affairs in the world."

"Some people knew you before." Chen Jingdao, "They said that since you were corrupted, you have become depraved, lost your conscience, are ruthless, abused torture, and appointed cruel officials like Fang Jing and Lai Liqun. They said you It’s changed, if you haven’t changed, why didn’t you eliminate these treacherous ministers and eunuchs, instead, you joined them, joined those eunuchs, became their kind, and became eunuchs.”

"Yeah." Fu Yuanqing was not angry, "It's not unreasonable."

"Aren't the palm prints angry? What they said is so ugly." Chen Jing said again, "You are a generous person, even if you are humble and polite to your servants, you are not such a person. Why don't you prove your innocence?"

"There are so many people talking, how can I prove myself?"

"The 24 prisons in Da Nei will be banned, and there will be two factories and one guard, and the power will be returned to the emperor, the cabinet, and the court. There will be virtuous ministers to rule the country and restore prosperity." Chen Jing said, "At that time, no one will dare What did you say?"

"Abolish the inner prison and return to politics?" Fu Yuanqing pondered, shaking his head slowly.

"Is what the subordinate said wrong?"

Fu Yuanqing laughed: "Your idea is good, but it's hard to realize."

"Why?"

Fu Yuanqing sat up on the bed, Chen Jing put on a clean robe for him, supported him, and walked into the study room, all kinds of classics were packed into the not-so-large study room, and there was a whole wall with a map of Daduan Dynasty in the sea .

Fu Yuanqing lit the oil lamp, walked over, and looked up.

"My Daduan dynasty has two capitals and thirteen provinces, 2000 miles of fertile land, and [-] million households... It is the number one empire in the world." He said, "But there are Tatars in the north, and the East China Sea is plagued by pirates. There are endless natural disasters in the territory, the common people are heavily taxed, the tyrants annex land, sell officials and sell nobles, and officials are corrupt. Do you think that these problems can be solved as long as I ban the internal prisons and return the government with my hands back, and the six cabinet ministries will lead the government? "

In the shadow of lights and candles, his thin figure was reflected in the map, and Chen Jing had a real illusion that this seemingly thin man was holding Da Duan Chao firmly with his slender shoulders.

"The first emperor ordered me to lead the inner prison, because he knew that the problem with my Daduan Dynasty was not with eunuchs, at least not now." Fu Yuanqing said.

"What's the problem?"

"In people's hearts." Fu Yuanqing was decisive, "in people's greed for power, gold and silver, and desires. One can prosper a country with one heart, and one can destroy a country with one heart, only between public and private. Since I was entrusted by the late emperor, I dare not be selfish. As for It doesn't matter what others say about me or how they see me. Now that Emperor Shao is young, if he returns to the court, there will be fewer checks and balances in the outer court... There will only be more corrupt officials like Hou Xinghai, and the court will lose control at that time. The society collapsed, and I was the real sinner through the ages, and I had no face to see the late emperor."

He sighed softly: "I said so, you can understand."

Chen Jing clasped his fists and bowed: "Thank you for the palm print."

Fu Yuanqing is always more tolerant towards motivated young people, so he said gently to him: "It's good that you are interested in national affairs. You should also learn more about these things, so that your eyes and ears can be clear and your mind sharp. I don't know if Fang Jing has arranged for you, but after the beginning of spring, you must go."

"……it is good."

Chen Jing knew that he probably couldn't escape this lesson.

While the two were talking, Fang Jing said outside the door: "Old Ancestor, Xiaoge is getting old."

Fu Yuanqing was startled: "Who?"

Fang Jing said again: "Yu Ruicheng, Yu lord."

"I know it's him." Fu Yuanqing said, "It's just..."

What does he come to do?

Fu Yuanqing met Yu Ruicheng in the Luoxue Pavilion.

As a member of the cabinet of the court, Yu Ruicheng, Minister of the Ministry of Finance, was slightly fat and had a kind face. Holding two jars of old wine in his hands, he entered the courtyard from the porch, climbed up the rockery steps from the snow, and put the wine in the pavilion. On the middle table, I looked around and said with emotion: "It's been many years, and nothing has changed here."

Fu Yuanqing stood a little further away, clasped his fists and saluted: "Old Xiaoge."

Yu Ruicheng paused, and forced a smile again: "Why is Lanzhi so polite?"

"Xiao Ge is always an important minister of the court, Yuan Qing should be respectful." Fu Yuanqing still replied politely, "Is there any training for Xiao Ge to visit the humble house at night?"

Yu Ruicheng coughed, touched the wine jar on the table, and said, "Seeing that the peach tree sprouted today, I remembered the wine we buried under the tree back then. So I dug it out and gave the two jars to Pu Ying. Go, I kept two altars for myself, and the rest... I brought it to you."

Fu Yuanqing raised his eyes to see that on the two mottled wine jars, there was still the imprint of Qiongyulou, the most prosperous restaurant in Dongshi at that time.

"Is there a bowl?" Yu Ruicheng asked.

Fu Yuanqing ordered Fang Jing to bring the drinking utensils over.

Yu Ruicheng pried open the mud and the butter paper, the rich aroma of wine overflowed, and those days were still there.

Fu Yuanqing lowered his eyes, and said in a low voice: "The name of this wine is Taoli Chunfeng. Naturally, we want to drink with Taoli Chunfeng's people on the day of Taoli Chunfeng... the agreed day has passed, and those people are not here. Xiaoge Why bother to dig it out again."

"Under the peach tree in my house, if you want to dig it, you can dig it." Yu Ruicheng said, holding the wine jar and poured two bowls, one bowl for self-drinking, and one bowl for giving away: "Although the heart is gone, there are still three idles left. Are you still there? Lanzhi, don't stand so far away, come and drink with me."

Fu Yuanqing stood in the distance with his head bowed, and slowly shook his head: "People in Gongye must not give or receive privately with foreign ministers."

Yu Ruicheng's wrist froze, and he said with a smile: "If you give and receive privately, I have entered your Fu's house, do you have a private relationship? There is only Fangjing here, so don't worry about it, come and have a drink."

Fu Yuanqing could see the stars reflected in Yu Ruicheng's eyes, which warmed his lonely heart for a moment, but it was limited to this.

"Slaves don't dare to violate the high-level laws with a lowly body." He saluted and said slowly, "If the old man wants to drink wine and watch the snow, the servants will serve him with him. But they dare not sit and drink with the current court officials. "

Although he has a respectful attitude and calls himself a slave in words, the feeling of alienation is even stronger.

After hearing this, Yu Ruicheng sadly drank the wine in the bowl.

"Lanzhi, it's fine if you don't want to drink together. You can keep these two altars of peaches and plums, okay?" He begged, "In my heart, you will always be my little brother Xiaoxian."

The night got darker.

The wind and snow intensified.

Tingtaoju lighted up lamps everywhere.

Looking from the Luoxue Pavilion on the rockery, the entire Fu Zhai is set off in a circle of light.

Yu Ruicheng left, Fu Yuanqing sat in the seat he had just sat in, and watched Chen Jing go up the rockery in a daze.

"Old ancestor, do you still drink?" Chen Jing asked him.

Fu Yuanqing poured two bowls, picked them up and lowered his head to look. The wine was clear and the aroma was still lingering.

When they were young, they held a banquet in Qiongyu Tower, no matter who they were, from the royal family and nobles to the traffickers and pawns, whoever could match their match could enter and drink to their heart's content without paying for alcohol.

They drank all the best wine in Qiongyu Building, and then took the rest home and buried it under the newly planted peach tree in Yu Ruicheng's yard, and agreed to dig it out ten years later.

What will it look like ten years from now?

Young talents don't have so many worries, pointing out the country and scolding Fang Qiu... that's what they should do when they are proud of their spring breeze.

In the blink of an eye, almost two decades have passed.

The appearance of those young men who are weak and weak, acting recklessly and riding their horses in Chang'an, seems to be still yesterday.

But time and this wine jar have been mottled.

Fu Yuanqing seems to have heard the poems that he once recited when he was drunk - Tao Li Chunfeng a glass of wine, rivers and lakes night rain ten years lamp.

The sadness that young people will never understand fills their hearts.

Fu Yuanqing smiled dejectedly and drank the wine in his glass.

I live in Nanhai, the king of Beihai.

Tao Li Chunfeng has a glass of wine, the lights of the rivers and lakes night rain for ten years.