Catching an adulterer
Who are you catching cheating
It took Xu Zhiqian a while to react, and she wanted to chase Zhang Fei for nine blocks.
But it was too late, because Wang Ye had already entered.
Zhang Fei has always had a good impression of Wang Ye, and seeing that Wang Ye was still willing to come and congratulate him, after all, he had not sent out wedding invitations. This matter happened suddenly, and he was really happy. He immediately went out to the hall with Xu Zhiqian to greet him.
"I originally planned to come and congratulate Sanlang on his move to a new house, but I never thought today would be a double celebration. Congratulations, congratulations!"
Wang Ye bowed repeatedly and waved his hand. Two servants behind him immediately stepped forward, holding several boxes of gifts in their hands. "It's just a small token of respect."
"You're welcome! You're welcome! Senior Brother Wang, you're really polite."
Since he didn't drink too much today, Brother Wang turned back into Senior Brother Wang. Zhang Fei continued, "Actually, I'm very happy that Senior Brother Wang can come today. This gift is really too polite. Please come in and take a seat."
At this time, Xu Zhiqian suddenly said: "Brother Wang, Zhang San, I just remembered that I have something to do, so I won't stay here with you two."
Wang Ye nodded slightly: "Junior sister, please do as you please."
Zhang Fei teased, "Now that my junior sister is gone, there's no one to pour the wine for us."
Xu Zhiqian was not annoyed, but smiled and said, "I dare not rush to do this again, lest your bride get jealous."
"Go quickly!" Zhang Fei waved his hand.
Xu Zhiqian pursed her lips and smiled, nodded slightly to Wang Ye, and left.
Wang Ye laughed, entered the hall, and looked around again, "Did Sanlang hide his wife?"
Zhang Fei said seriously: "Brother Wang, do you think I still need to hide given my appearance and strength?"
"That's it! That's it!"
Wang Ye smiled and nodded, and then said, "Sanlang's poem last night was truly stunning in Tokyo, especially the last three lines, 'Don't say it's not heartbreaking, the curtains roll up in the west wind, and people are thinner than yellow flowers.' In just three short lines, it fully expresses the pain of lovesickness, as if you were there in person. It's truly a quatrain. I admire it, I admire it."
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "No way! No way! After living for more than 20 years, it's only natural that I can come up with a few quatrains occasionally."
"That's wrong."
Wang Ye said hurriedly: "How many people have spent their entire lives writing tens of thousands of poems and lyrics, but no one can remember even half a sentence of them. This shows that Sanlang's talent is far superior to theirs."
At this point, he paused for a moment, "Sanlang said before that he would not pass the exam, it turned out to be a humble statement."
Writing a petition well has nothing to do with passing the imperial examination, but writing a poem well can be linked to imperial examination. At present, it is not yet the eight-legged essay, and literary talent is very important for passing the imperial examination.
If one can write a quatrain like this, then one can’t be too bad.
He is indeed my little fanboy. His flattery skills are quite interesting. Zhang Fei said awkwardly, "It's different. It's different. You can occasionally write a quatrain, but fame and fortune are based on real ability. They can't be confused with each other."
Wang Ye smiled slightly: "That being said, if it were anyone else, I would agree, but I really cannot agree with what Sanlang said. I think Sanlang has no intention of being an official, so he is unwilling to take the imperial examination."
Zhang Fei was stunned. "Where did you get this from?"
Wang Ye smiled and said, "My mentor has already told me that he wanted to recommend Sanlang to join the government, but Sanlang refused."
Zhang Fei exclaimed: "My benefactor even told you this."
Wang Ye hurriedly explained, "Sanlang, you don't know that I was talking to my teacher before. I felt sorry for you, Sanlang. I thought that with your talent, you should not be confined to a bookstore, but should be in a high position in the government. My teacher also agreed with this, so he mentioned this to me."
"I see." Zhang Fei nodded.
Wang Ye saw that Zhang Fei didn't seem to want to say more, so he took the initiative to ask: "Why doesn't Sanlang want to be an official?"
Zhang Fei asked, "Didn't the benefactor tell you?"
Wang Ye nodded and said, "My dear teacher did not elaborate, but told me that Sanlang felt that even if he entered the court as an official, it would be difficult for him to achieve anything."
"That's right." Zhang Fei nodded.
Wang Ye said: "But I think that whether you are an official in the court or a bookstore owner, you have to rely on your ability to gain status. With Sanlang's ability, he will definitely be able to stand out in the court."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Unless I can gain the trust of the government, it will be impossible for me to make a name for myself."
Wang Ye asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei said, "According to the system of our dynasty, even if we want to build a toilet, we have to get approval from three or five government offices, and it may not be built in the end. I have nothing, so what can I do? If I stay in there for two or three years, I'm afraid my spirit will be worn out and I will directly enter old age. What's the point of that?"
Wang Ye blushed slightly and sighed, "Sanlang is right. Too many people and too little work has always been a big problem in our dynasty!"
But at this point, he changed the subject: "But there is a great opportunity right now."
Zhang Fei asked: "What opportunity?"
Wang Ye said, "I heard that the Grand Secretary Wang is planning to reform the law and is currently recruiting talented people everywhere. To be honest, I am also planning to follow Grand Secretary Wang in carrying out the reform."
"Is it true?" Zhang Fei asked in surprise.
Wang Ye nodded and whispered, "It's absolutely true. I heard from my mentor that the Grand Secretary Wang also admires Sanlang's talent. Why don't you follow Grand Secretary Wang with me and serve the country? This is a great opportunity!"
Zhang Fei frowned and thought.
He now also has plans to enter the officialdom, but he has not yet figured out how to do it, whether to stand, kneel, or lie down, whether to wear a raincoat, or carry medicine with him.
Seeing that he was silent, Wang Ye did not dare to disturb him and waited quietly.
After a while, Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "Forget it! For the time being, I just want to manage my bookstore well."
Wang Ye's eyes flashed with doubt, "Why? Such a great opportunity, Sanlang just let it go."
Zhang Fei only said: "Thank you for your kindness, Excellency, but I really have no plans to enter the government at the moment."
Wang Ye hesitated for a moment and asked again, "Sanlang, are you not optimistic about the reforms of Wang Daxueshi?"
As he said this, he clenched his fists.
Zhang Fei said with a smile: "Reform is no joke. For a commoner like me, it is really unaffordable."
Wang Ye's eyes flickered a few times, and he said in a low voice: "If Sanlang has any opinions, can you tell me? I promise not to tell anyone. I won't hide it from Sanlang. Now that you say that, I am also afraid."
Zhang Fei and Wang Ye hit it off right away, and seeing that Wang Ye was so innocent and cute, if he got involved in this vortex, he would probably be dead or alive. After hesitating for a while, he said, "I very much agree with what Grand Secretary Wang said. I... I just think this is not the right time."
Wang Ye immediately asked: "When is it?"
Zhang Fei asked: "Reform the law, reform the law. Which is more important, reform or law?"
Wang Ye said: "Of course the law is important."
"wrong!"
Zhang Fei said: "Change is more important."
Wang Ye asked: "Why?"
Zhang Fei explained: "Throughout history, many famous officials have been able to make suggestions that are beneficial to the country, but only a very small number of people have been able to turn their suggestions into laws and implement them.
As I said, anyone can say it, but the key is whether one can do it. The failure of reform is never due to the law, but to the change. "
Wang Ye nodded slightly: "Sanlang's words make sense, but I heard that Wang Daxueshi is now deeply trusted by the emperor, just like Shang Yang's reforms, which also relied on the support of Qin Xiaogong."
Zhang Fei evaded the point and said, "Of course, so I didn't say it would fail. The support of the government can indeed make many things simpler. But in terms of the conventional process, we should govern the officials before governing the country, and governing the officials will take at least ten years."
Zhang Juzheng's reform was entirely based on the experience of Wang Anshi's failure. Although most people only remember the Single Whip System, the key to the success of Zhang Juzheng's reform was actually the Kaocheng System he promulgated in the first four years.
The Kaocheng Law is a law for governing officials. The central government used it to extend its tentacles to the localities and integrate the entire country into a chessboard, so that the government orders after Zhang Juzheng could reach the localities directly.
But if Wang Anshi used the performance evaluation system, would he have succeeded
Zhang Fei thinks it’s also very risky!
Because the Ming Dynasty's system was already highly centralized, once Zhang Juzheng lay on the dragon bed, he would be the regent, which meant that he controlled everyone from top to bottom. At that time, power was highly concentrated in his hands.
The Song Dynasty was simply more centralized than the Tang Dynasty, dividing the aristocratic families into individual literati. However, it was not a family business but a joint-stock company. The emperor and the literati ruled the world together, and it was not the emperor who had the final say.
Zhang Fei believed that more time was needed to rectify the administration of officials, and ten years was an understatement.
This is why he was wavering. He felt that the political environment at the time was not yet conducive to reform. Local officials did not listen to Wang Anshi. No matter how good the seeds were, nothing could be grown in the desert.
As for the problems with the new law, Zhang Fei believes that they are all secondary. When people reform the law, they always make revisions as they go along. Things on paper will always have various problems when put into reality, so they just need to be revised in a timely manner.
Even if Zhang Fei has a bird's eye view, there will definitely be many problems in the implementation process of his suggestions, and there is a great possibility that they will not be accepted by the local environment.
This requires official administration.
Official administration is of paramount importance.
"ten years
Wang Ye said in surprise.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "You just said that it is troublesome to manage when there are too many people and too little work."
Wang Yezhi shook his head and said, "That's wrong. I believe that Wang Daxueshi also knows this truth. His reforms must also include rectifying the officials."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "To govern a country, one must first govern its officials. The key is to govern them first. This order is irreversible. If both are done at the same time, it is equivalent to not governing the country at all."
Wang Ye gradually seemed a little uneasy, and said hurriedly: "Sanlang's words are really like a revelation, which makes Ye suddenly enlightened. Therefore, I think Sanlang should enter the government. If Wang Daxueshi has Sanlang's assistance, I believe he will succeed."
It's all in vain to talk about feelings for a long time. Brother, this is not a problem of people, but a problem of timing! I can't do it even if I do it! Zhang Fei smiled and nodded and said, "Let's wait and see. Uh... I advise you to wait and see, you are still young and have plenty of opportunities, don't rush."
He was already considering entering the officialdom. It was said that Wang Ye also came from a family of officials and was about the same age as him, so he wanted to bring Wang Ye to his side and make him his younger brother.
Are you still waiting and watching at this time? Wang Ye asked again: "I wonder if Sanlang has any method to govern officials?"
Zhang Fei was stunned, then laughed and said, "One should not meddle in other people's affairs if one is not in their position. I have never thought about this."