Go to Kaifeng to be a civil servant

In Bianliang, Tokyo, the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, the peace has lasted for a long time, the people are prosperous, and the residents are over one million.Although the land is wide and there are no mountains, the military defense is very strict. The capital is surrounded by the walls of the city and the river, and outside the walls, the enemy towers face each other.But inside the city wall, there are shades of elms and willows, and the roads are full of flowers, with its own infinite style.

Within the capital, there are four rivers passing through the city. The waterways are smooth, the boats reciprocate, and the bridges are densely covered.

On the land bank, there are many shops, heavy traffic, and prosperous shops, collecting rare things from all over the world, all of which belong to the market.

Among them, outside the Donghua Gate, the market is the most prosperous: all food, fresh flowers and fruits, fish, shrimp, turtle and crab, preserved quail and rabbits, gold and jade treasures, and clothing are nothing but wonders in the world.When he was old, fruits, melons, and vegetables were newly released to the market, and they were rare and expensive, and all the pavilions were fighting to get them at expensive prices.

At this time, it was the beginning of summer in May, and the melons and fruits were newly ripe, and the market was full of fruity aromas, and everyone who came and went stopped to salivate.But even with such an alluring fragrance and intoxicating scene, it didn't saturate the pure blue shirt at all, and didn't reflect into those bright black eyes.

I saw this young man in blue, with a hurried expression, his boots not touching the ground, although he was covered in dust, he was tall and straight, without any sign of fatigue, he walked quickly through the noisy crowd without any hesitation, as if he was walking in the middle of no one General environment.

Suddenly, the young man in blue froze his steps, frowned slightly, and quietly looked at the dense crowd gathered in front of him for no reason, wondering inwardly.

Although this street is full of people on weekdays, there has never been a crowd to make trouble. I have only been away for more than ten days. Could it be that something happened in the capital?

Thinking of this, the blue-clothed youth couldn't help but sprinted a few steps, squeezed into the crowd, and wanted to find out what happened in the center of the crowd.But just when they squeezed into the middle, a shout came from next to their ears.

"I'm talking about this big brother. As the saying goes, friendship comes first and business comes second. Now that we've all laid our cards down, can't you be more accommodating with this price?"

The young man in blue couldn't help being taken aback. He seemed to have heard this confident voice somewhere before, and it seemed familiar. He couldn't help pushing a few steps forward.Through the crowd, the man in blue vaguely saw a figure standing in the middle of the crowd.

I saw this person, dressed in a black and red uniform, with a thin body, but there was no sense of thinness in his posture.A pair of sleeves rolled over the elbows, hands stuck to the waist, and one foot still stepped on the bamboo basket full of green pears on the opposite side.

The peddler on the opposite side was also unambiguous, with his arms crossed and his brow raised and his face cold. He was only about [-] years old, but he had a disheveled beard all over his face.

"Boy! Don't think that I'm afraid of you just because you're an official?! Of these officials nowadays, which one doesn't let the big fruit and vegetable sellers directly transport the new high-quality fruits and vegetables to the mansion? Who can send his men to this city? Inoue shopping? I see that you, a little servant, must be hungry for pears, and you don’t want to pay more, so you talk nonsense, lower the price, and say you are buying pears for your own adults!"

The little guard got angry when he heard it, and immediately yelled loudly: "I said you have a big beard, you can eat indiscriminately, but you can't talk nonsense. We don't care about the adults in other people's houses, but the ones in our house My lord, since I took office, I have never received any filial piety from others! Don't think that you can talk nonsense because you have a big beard and you can't see your mouth when you speak, be careful, I will sue you for defamation!"

The onlookers around were stunned when they heard the words, and thought to themselves: What is this crime of defamation? Why have they never heard of it?

The bearded peddler didn't care, just crossed his chest and smiled: "Hmph, I, Li Da, have never heard such a joke since I was sensible. Boy, you said that your adults are so clean, I want to hear it, yes Where can the adults of this prefecture boast so much?"

After hearing this, the guard became complacent, raised his chin high, and raised his voice: "Big beard, you can hear clearly, our lord is Bao Qingtian and Bao lord of the governor of Kaifeng!"

When the bearded Li Day heard this, he was taken aback for a moment, and then asked after a pause, "Are you talking about Mr. Bao who just killed the son-in-law?"

"Exactly!" The guard raised a finger and said.

Li Da nodded and said: "If it's Mr. Bao, I believe it. Mr. Bao is indeed a good and honest official." The price cannot be compromised!"

"What?" The guard couldn't help being stunned when he heard the words, his narrow eyes widened.

Someone in the crowd said with a smile: "Hey, the little servant of Kaifeng Mansion, you have met your opponent today, this Li Da is the famous one in our street!"

There was a burst of laughter in the crowd.

Another person laughed and said: "Little servant, you have been here for less than half a month, and you have slashed the prices of the vendors on this street. It's not bad, why don't you admit defeat today!"

There was another burst of laughter from the crowd.

Standing in the crowd, the young man in blue could hear clearly, but he was very puzzled in his heart, so he couldn't help asking an old man beside him: "This old man, may I ask who is this servant—" After thinking for a long time, the man in blue didn't know what to do. Asked, his mouth couldn't help but blurred.

The old man took a look and saw the young man in blue. He was handsome and heroic, but his tone was gentle and gentle. He couldn't help but make people feel good about him. He hurriedly replied: "My little brother, you don't know, this Kaifeng The new servants in the mansion are very interesting. In our street, there are not many officials who buy goods. Let's go. This little servant is different, since he came, he has put all his energy into bargaining, and he has made a good deal.

The young man in blue frowned slightly when he heard the words, and said in a deep voice: "Then he didn't use the name of the government to bully the merchants?"

After hearing this, the old man was taken aback, paused, but smiled again: "My brother's words are wrong. The current prices of goods in the market are not fixed, and it is common to bargain with each other. Don't say that this young servant is eloquent. The words are convincing, and I have to give up the price, because Mr. Bao has done so many good things for us common people since he took office, this price should be a little bit more."

Hearing this, the blue-clothed youth stretched his brows and nodded slightly.

The old man said again: "However, if this little servant hadn't said something so interesting every time, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to convince all the vendors on the street."

The young man in blue was taken aback, and couldn't help asking: "How interesting is this bargaining?"

The old man smiled and said: "Brother, you don't know something. Every time this little servant uses the speech, behavior and behavior of everyone in Kaifeng Mansion as a bargaining chip, his speech is more exciting than that of Nawasili's storytellers. Everyone is happy to listen to it." , Of course I was convinced. No, here it is again..." (Note "Wasi": Storytelling and entertainment venue in the Northern Song Dynasty)

When the young man in blue heard this, he hurriedly looked towards the center of the crowd.

I saw the little guard, with his hands behind his back, pacing slowly among the crowd, clearing his throat from time to time.Looking at the people around, they all looked expectant.The young man in blue couldn't help but be a little curious at this moment, silently pushed forward a few steps, and realized that he had already reached the innermost layer of the crowd.

Seeing the little servant, he said solemnly: "Old man with a big beard, do you know why I, a dignified official of Kaifeng Mansion, want to compete with you for a few pear money?"

Li Da still hugged his chest, looked uneasy, and shook his head.

The little officer asked again: "Do you know that Mr. Bao of our Kaifeng Mansion is an honest official as clear as water and as bright as a mirror?"

Da Li nodded.

The little guard asked again: "Then do you know why Mr. Bao's face is so dark?"

Uh?

Li Da couldn't help but everyone couldn't help being stunned when they heard the words.The young man in blue was also surprised.

"The main reason is—Master Bao is too busy! Not to mention anything else, just say that the official documents on Mr. Bao's official case are piled up to a height of more than three feet every day. Mr. Bao is looking at it every night and seeing it in the middle of the night, causing him to fall asleep. Insufficient, the complexion darkens, moreover, every day you have to get up early, Mr. Bao is so busy that you don't even have time to wash your face, the skin has become so dark over time!"

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was silent, and then there was a faint sound of muffled laughter from the crowd.The blue-clothed young man was full of black lines, and thought: This adult reads the official documents very late every day, but it is true, but I seem to have never heard of this unwashed face.

The little guard paused, and said again: "Then, do you know why Mr. Gongsun's face is so white?"

The muffled laughter stopped.

"That's because Mr. Bao believed in simplicity. Even though he read official documents every day until late at night, he didn't want to waste lamp oil. That's why he asked Mr. Gongsun to paint his face with flour and reflect the moonlight instead of the lamp. Over time, Mr. Gongsun's face That's all."

There was another burst of muffled laughter in the crowd, only someone interrupted and said, "Wouldn't it cost a lot of flour money?"

The little guard shook his hand and said, "Compared to lamp oil, flour is naturally much cheaper."

Laughter suddenly broke out.

The young man in blue at the side immediately regretted it, not knowing why he came here.Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he couldn't help but froze when he heard the little guard say another sentence.

I just heard the little guard say: "Then everyone, do you know why Mr. Zhan, the fourth-rank imperial guard with a knife in Kaifeng Mansion, is called 'Royal Cat'?"

Someone in the crowd shouted: "Of course it's because Master Zhan's lightness kung fu is good!"

The little guard nodded and said: "This man is right, I just want to ask if you know why Mr. Zhan's lightness kung fu is so good?"

"What?"

The little guard immediately made a heartbroken look and said, "That's because Mr. Zhan is so busy that he doesn't even have time to eat, and he's so skinny that he only has a handful of bones left. How could light work be bad?"

After everyone heard this, the crowd stopped laughing and became extremely quiet for a while.

But he saw the little guard walking slowly in front of a blue-clothed youth in the crowd, cupped his hands and said with a slight smile, "Master Zhan, I haven't seen you for a long time, sir, thank you for your hard work."

Everyone was surprised and happy when they heard the words.

Thinking about Master Zhan of Kaifeng Mansion, the name of "Royal Cat" has long been spread among the people, but the common people rarely know this fourth-rank guard. Hurry up and surround Zhan Zhao all at once, surrounding Zhan Zhao in an airtight way, all staring at him carefully.

I saw this young man wearing a plain blue gown, a black cloth belt around his waist, a pair of thin-soled fast boots on his feet, holding an ancient sword in his hand, his back straight as a pine, his face elegant and handsome, and his charm as gentle as the wind. My heart warmed up and my spirit lifted.

Everyone couldn't help admiring inwardly: Master Zhan really lived up to his reputation, he is really a rare hero in the world.

I saw the little guard grab Lord Zhan's arm, push away the onlookers, walked to Li Da's pear basket a few steps, and said, "Big Beard, this is the fourth-rank guard with a knife in Kaifeng Mansion, Master Zhan. You Take a look—" As he spoke, he suddenly stretched out his hand and patted Zhan Zhao's hem vigorously twice, causing dust to fly everywhere.

The little guard said again: "Did you see that? Master Zhan is unrivaled in lightness skills, but his body is full of dust and dust, which shows how hard it is for him to go out to handle cases. Look again, the clothes of Master Zhan—tsk tsk, I want Master Zhan to worship the fourth rank , the salary is naturally quite a lot, but it’s so simple, doesn’t it make our little yamen servants admire? So in order to keep the simplicity of Kaifeng Mansion, we naturally have to fight for money. Beard, I’m talking about this, Are your pears cheap or not?"

But that bearded Li Da didn't answer, just like everyone around him, silently looking at Zhan Zhao opposite.

The little guard couldn't help being taken aback when he saw this, and thought: What's the matter, why are everyone's expressions so focused? Could it be that this cat has a beard growing on its face?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his head and look at it. The little guard suddenly felt amused when he saw it.

I saw Nan Xia Zhan Zhao, with an embarrassed look on his face, two suspicious crimson colors floated on his face, and for a moment he was extremely gorgeous.

The little guard couldn't help feeling: Tsk tsk, it's not easy to see peach blossoms all over the sky in early summer!

Besides, Zhan Zhao is a master of martial arts and lightness kung fu. When he was young, the name of Nan Xia was powerful in the world. Even in the face of dozens of opponents, he never retreated half a point; , with the responsibility of protecting the blue sky, even in the face of thousands of troops, he never frowned.But now being surrounded by these people who like to be lively, under the watchful eyes of everyone, I can't help but feel like thorns all over my body, and I am immediately extremely embarrassed.

The little guard looked at Zhan Zhao, nodded thoughtfully, then turned back to Li Da and said loudly: "Big beard, what's the matter, will the price of this pear drop or not?"

Only then did Li Da come back to his senses, he coughed uncomfortably and said: "Boy, for Master Bao's sake, I will sell it to you at half price!"

The little guard thought to himself: This is not looking at Mr. Bao's face, it is simply looking at this cat's "face"!But his face was full of smiles, and he said: "Brother Li is really a cheerful person! Then I wonder if these two baskets of pears can be sent to Kaifeng Mansion for us?"

Li Da patted his chest and smiled, "Okay, just wrap it on me."

When the servant heard this, he quickly took out the money bag from his pocket, counted it carefully, and handed it to Li Da.

Li Da took the copper coin, nodded, picked up the burden and walked towards Kaifeng Mansion.

When the little guard saw him, he turned around, cupped his hands and bowed to Zhan Zhao: "Master Zhan, thank you Mr. Jin Qian for your help." After a pause, he said again: "That—Master Zhan, if you don't mind, please feel free to let me know." How about Jin Qian going to buy two more baskets of vegetables?"

-

Kaifeng government office is located in the east of Xijiaolou Street and north of the Bian River in Tokyo. The government office covers an area of ​​more than ten hectares, with majestic and solemn buildings.There are four gates on the periphery of the mansion. One is the front gate of the mansion, which is not allowed to trespass without important official business; On the east and west sides are the east and west gates, which are mostly used by yamen servants to go out for private affairs, miscellaneous servants, cooks, and shopkeepers to enter and exit, and soap servants to leave the yamen to handle goods.

It was almost dusk today, the twilight was like gold, and the evening clouds were like illusions. A yamen servant was standing outside the east gate of Kaifeng Mansion, looking around.

This yamen servant was dressed in neat yamen attire, black boots around the waist, tall and thin, like a bamboo pole, a pair of big leopard eyes, black and white, ingot ears, and a pointed chin. Looking carefully, he was only seventeen or eighteen years old.

I saw him looking anxious, looking around frequently, as if he was waiting for someone.Not long after, I saw him with a happy expression on his face, and he hurried up to the thin guard who was walking in front of him and shouted: "Jin Qian, you are just going to buy goods, why did you come back so late, it's almost time for dinner—ah, Zhan grown ups?!"

Just halfway through the conversation, the yamen servant noticed that there was another person beside Jin Qian on the opposite side, and this person was actually a fourth-rank guard with a knife that he hadn't seen in half a month, Mr. Zhan.

The young yamen servant hastily bowed to salute, and said loudly: "My subordinate Zheng Xiaoliu has met Mr. Zhan!"

Zhan Zhao nodded, and said in a deep voice, "There's no need to be too polite."

"Thank you sir!"

The guard Zheng Xiaoliu straightened up immediately, and stood respectfully aside, carefully sizing up the fourth-rank guards in front of him with big eyes, and couldn't help but feel admiration in his heart.

This current imperial guard with a sword, who was sealed by the emperor himself, is a top hero in the eyes of all the officials and servants in the entire Kaifeng mansion.Not to mention Master Zhan's superb kung fu, just looking at Master Zhan's appearance and demeanor, he is also a rare figure in the world.And the most rare thing is that although Lord Zhan is favored by the emperor and is a fourth-rank official, he has no arrogance. He has always been kind, gentle and courteous to the servants in the Kaifeng mansion, which makes people heartbroken.

However, Mr. Zhan's complexion is a little strange today. At first glance, he is on par with Mr. Bao—why does he look like a black pot?

Seeing that Zhan Zhao's face was solemn, his eyes forbearing, he slightly cupped his hands and said to Jin Qian: "Brother Jin, Zhan has important things to do, so let's go first. Brother Jin's care today - Zhan - thank you."

After that, he turned and left.

Zheng Xiaoliu on the side couldn't help being stunned, "The atmosphere just now, is it difficult, could it be that Mr. Xiang, who has always been good-tempered, got angry... Could it be that he was dazzled?"

Zheng Xiaoliu felt puzzled, and couldn't help looking at Jin Qian who was beside him.

Only then did I realize that Jin Qian had been weeping from the moment he appeared, and murmured regretfully: "The old saying goes well: born in sorrow, die in peace! Could it be that we have lived in peace for too long, so we forgot Is this cat not easy to mess with? But we didn’t do anything, just let this cat stand in front of someone else’s shop, at most it’s a ‘beautiful cat trick’, it’s not illegal, but this It is also for the welfare of all the employees of our Kaifeng Mansion, it is understandable..."

Zheng Xiaoliu couldn't help shaking his head helplessly, and let out a long sigh.

This strange behavior of Jinqian was no surprise to him, his roommate.But he was able to annoy Mr. Zhan, it seems that he has some skills.

During the dinner, Bantou Xu of the soap class was full of praise for Jinqian, exaggerating that Jinqian was good at shopping, and he bought back the best fruits and vegetables for less than [-]% of the world's price.But that Jinqian is also strange, if it is a normal day, he will definitely ask for a lot of credit, but today, for some reason, he still looks bad and sighs, and he doesn't get better until he returns to the dormitory of the third class courtyard.

Zheng Xiaoliu was puzzled, but he couldn't ask. After hesitating in the room for a long time, he asked, "Jin Qian, today you and Mr. Zhan—"

Jin Qian was sitting by the bed in a daze, when he suddenly heard the word "Master Zhan", he couldn't help jumping up, and shouted: "Master Zhan! Where is Master Zhan? Xiao Liu, quickly find a sack to cover us up, Put it in the box, don't let that giant que chop me up, we don't want to die young!"

Zheng Xiaoliu couldn't laugh or cry at once, paused for a few moments, and then said: "Master Zhan is not here, I am asking you, what did you do today, why are you so abnormal?"

Only then did Jin Qian regain his senses, looked at Zheng Xiaoliu, and said with a sigh of relief: "Xiao Liu, you are still young, and you naturally don't understand the complicated world of adults. I don't know the heart. The so-called guard against others is indispensable, and you should be careful in everything in order to live for a long time."

Zheng Xiaoliu was even more puzzled when he heard the words, and thought: You are only sixteen or seventeen years old, yet you still say that I am young, what is the reason for that.Thinking of this, he couldn't help but stood up, stood up straight and said: "Jin Qian, I'm old enough to be your brother, how can you talk to my brother like this?"

Jin Qian couldn't help being taken aback, and looked up and down the boy who was a full head taller than him, and couldn't help laughing: We forgot that I disguised myself as a man, so I naturally looked much younger than I really was, but this kid He doesn't have all his hair yet, yet he still wants to act as an older brother. This is too comical.

Zheng Xiaoliu saw that Jinqian hadn't spoken for a long time, thought he was afraid of herself, so she couldn't help being happy, and asked with an old-fashioned expression: "Then tell me, what happened today?"

Jin Qian had no choice but to shake his head and said: "It's nothing, it's just that we accidentally annoyed Mr. Zhan, and we are afraid that he will wait for an opportunity to retaliate. You also know that we only have the ability to run for our lives. If Mr. Zhan is serious, we will definitely lose our lives." .”

When Zheng Xiaoliu heard this, he couldn't help shaking his head, and said: "Impossible, Mr. Zhan is a great hero, a great hero, how can he be so small-minded?"

Hearing the words, Jin Qian's head was full of black lines, and he thought: I really have no common language with you, a "cat chaser", it's like talking to a duck!You almost had a poster of that cat hanging in your room, drooling at it every day.

But Zheng Xiaoliu said again: "Master Zhan is upright and self-reliant, he handles things prudently, and puts morality and legal principles first in everything he does. I'm afraid you are worrying too much, Jin Qian."

Jin Qian couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the words, and after thinking about it, he felt that it made some sense.Xindao: Unexpectedly, this little devil actually has some insights when he speaks.It's just that today we were frightened by the cat's rare black face, and our brains were a little short-circuited. Now that we think about it, it's really not that serious.

Thinking of this, Jin Qian couldn't help feeling enlightened, he patted Zheng Xiaoliu's shoulder with a smile and said, "Little Sixth Brother, you really can't be judged by appearances."

Zheng Xiaoliu felt a little embarrassed when he was praised so much, scratched his head and smiled and said, "Jin Qian, you're overdoing it. I'm a few years older than you, and it's normal to have a little more knowledge."

Jin Qian heard it: Hey, this kid, it really shines when given some sunshine, and climbs along the pole when given a bamboo.Looking at Zheng Xiaoliu's smiling face again, Jin Qian felt teasing, raised his eyebrows and said, "I said Brother Liu, if you go home to visit your father today, did you tell your father that you accidentally smashed Mr. Bao's washbasin today?" thing?"

When Zheng Xiaoliu heard this, his complexion darkened immediately, and he lowered his head and said, "Say it, my father scolded me a lot, and even asked me to wrap up the pottery basin that the old man just bought, saying that he wanted me to accompany Bao Bao. My lord, Jin Qian, help me to see if this earthen basin is okay."

After finishing speaking, he turned around and went to his bed to fetch a bundle and opened it, and took out a pottery pot and put it on the table.

I saw that this pottery basin was uniform in texture and pitch-black throughout, and under the light, it could actually reflect fluorescent lights.

Jin Qian was taken aback for a moment, then slowly looked at Zheng Xiaoliu, and asked solemnly: "Xiao Liu, do you really want to use this washbasin that I am sorry for?"

Zheng Xiaoliu nodded.

"Pfft!" Jin Qian couldn't hold back, spit out a mouthful of saliva, and laughed loudly: "Creative, creative!" Looking up at Zheng Xiaoliu's puzzled look, Jin Qian slapped his legs and laughed: "Use Washing your face in this basin, wouldn't Lord Bao lose face?"

"what?"

"The black face fell into the black basin, where can I get it out?"

Only then did Zheng Xiaoliu understand, she was instantly annoyed, her eyes widened, and she shouted angrily: "Don't talk nonsense, my father said, this black basin is a fine product among clay basins, it's rare to see it, how can it be?" Let you talk nonsense?"

Jin Qian stopped laughing when he heard the words, looked up at Zheng Xiaoliu and asked: "You, you, you, what did you call this basin?"

Zheng Xiaoliu was puzzled, and replied, "Wuben."

Jin Qian's scalp felt numb all of a sudden, and he walked around the table, thinking: Wupen?Could this, this, this, this be the black basin?Impossible, the last time I met Qin Xianglian, I was already devastated, if I met that famous black basin again this time... we wouldn't be so unlucky, would we?Turning his mind, Jin Qian gulped, stretched out a finger tremblingly, and tapped twice on the black basin.

"Dong Dong." The crisp sound was exceptionally clear in the silent night.

"Don't knock!" A voice sounded at the same time as the thud.

Jin Qian and Zheng Xiaoliu were stunned at the same time, they couldn't help but look at each other with strange expressions, not because of anything else, but because the words just now didn't come from their mouths.

Zheng Xiaoliu also stretched out a finger and tapped on the black basin twice.

"Don't knock!" After the thud, the voice said again.

Jin Qian and Zheng Xiaoliu jumped ten meters away in an instant, staring straight at the black basin on the table.

I saw a wisp of white mist rising slowly from the black basin, floating around the black basin, and then gradually congealed in mid-air, forming a figure after a while.I saw this man with three black beards, a messy bun, and a white dress, but his face and figure were uncertain, as if covered by a layer of mist.

Jin Qian blinked his eyes, blinked again, finally closed his eyes involuntarily, and said in his heart: Calm down, calm down, we are dignified modern people, we have been educated in materialism since we were young, old man Marx said that the world is material, material is Movement, idealism... no, it's superstition, we, a dignified future civilized person, naturally don't believe it.

After some intense psychological struggle, when Jin Qian finally mustered up the courage to open his eyes, he found that the white shadow was a little clearer.

"Plop!" A strange sound came from behind, and Jin Qian looked back, only to see Zheng Xiaoliu sitting on the ground paralyzed, his eyes popped out, his face was pale, and his whole body was trembling.

Jin Qian shook his head secretly, thinking: This kid is so unimpressive, he has completely disgraced our Kaifeng government servants.Faced with this critical moment of life and death, it is the best time to carry forward our personal style.

Thinking of this, Jin Qian couldn't help taking a deep breath, his eyes were shining brightly, and he stepped hard, a fierce man rushed out of the room, and shouted loudly: "Help me... there is a ghost!!"