The next day it rained and it was not sunny.
Cai was reprimanded yesterday, and this morning he said he could not afford to be ill. Luo Mu didn't sleep well at night. After breakfast, he heard someone coming to Cai Yu to send him a message, inviting him to go to the bureau.
Luo Mu took the post and knew exactly the intention of Cai Yu's invitation today. He wiped his hands, and without even changing his robe, he said bluntly, "Prepare the sedan chair, I'll go right now, don't make my brother wait too long."
Cai Yu was a big bandit in Chazhou, and Hezhou Yan Heru called him grandpa. But he didn't deal with Luoshan Lei Changming. Others didn't know the reason. They only knew that before Lei Changming died, the two also ignored each other at the banquet of the bandits.
When Luo Mu arrived at the Cai Mansion, Cai Yu had already greeted people for a meal. Cai Yu's mansion is more lavish than Luo Mu's mansion, with more than a thousand servants, but he himself is a person who does not pay attention to red tape, and most of his contacts are grass bandits and bandits, so the banquets are also wine and meat feasts, roasted meat is strong. Wine is available.
As soon as Cai Yu saw Luo Mu, he leaned back and smiled, waving his hand and saying, "Dream is coming late, three drinks will be punished, sit down quickly."
Luo Mu always bowed his head in front of Cai Yu. He sat down to his seat, and there were strangers in strange clothes on the table, and he didn't ask much. Cai Yu waited for Luo Mu to finish drinking before saying, "I heard that the girl was annoying you yesterday?"
Luo Mu showed panic and said, "Brother—"
"It's right to train her!" Cai Yu pressed down Luo Mu's arm and smiled, "You are her husband, and a man is in charge of the front office. There are many things that she should not let her dictate. She is used to being arrogant at home, and it's okay to marry out. No big or small. In the future, you can train wherever you should, don't worry about my face, and spoil her even more unruly. "
Cai Yu knew everything that happened in Luo Mu's house. The strength he pressed against Luo Mu was not heavy, but because it was not heavy, it seemed so easy. He told Luo Mu to go to the left, but Luo Mu didn't dare to go to the right. Luo Mu was an official who went to the capital for a serious examination, and then passed through the officials who were sent to the capital, but what happened? When he arrived at Chazhou, Luo Mu was a grandson. Emperor Tiangao was far away, and during the Yongyi years, the bandits in Zhongbo were very serious. Before the defeat of Zhongbo, they did not take Jianxing Wang Shenwei in their eyes, and after the defeat of Zhongbo, they did not take Qidu seriously.
Sweat oozes from Luo Mu's forehead.
Cai Yu saw it in his eyes, and was satisfied, he retracted his hand, and then said with a smile, "It's really a strange story, I heard half a month ago that Qi was going to be replaced in the Dragon Court. He ran back to his hometown and found a child to act as the emperor’s heir, who would have thought that the old Haige would not agree and slammed his head into the hall, his blood and brain splashed all over Han Cheng’s body, so scared that Han Cheng wet his pants on the spot.”
They laughed in unison. In this word of mouth, Han Cheng has long been said to be a wretched villain with a hunched body.
After Cai Yu finished laughing, he sighed and said, "But we must pay attention to loyalty and benevolence. This is the case with the elders. My generation admires! There have been many deaths, but there are very few important ministers who are so staunch."
Luo Mu listened to the words without interrupting or raising his head. He seemed to be focusing on eating, and only dared to pick what was in front of him with chopsticks. Although he was handsome, he always felt weak and cringe.
Cai Yu didn't look at Luo Mu again, and the words came to Xing's head: "But I'm afraid the old man didn't think that Long Ting, which Han's son didn't sit on, will now be given to a woman. I think that since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, it has never been like this. Isn't this a violation of the law of heaven and the inversion of yin and yang? This is the sign of the collapse of the Great Zhou! I would rather listen to the words of a naive child than to listen to a woman's errand. What does it look like for a man to stand tall and worship a woman? With Qi Zhuyin, I think it’s just a coincidence, she is in a good time when the Queen Mother is in power, otherwise how could she be the commander
The surrounding crowd echoed, and one of the bearded people patted the table and said, "Old Cai is right, that's all, what kind of thing is a female emperor? The first few are really bad, but Mr. Lao Tzu said I am also not convinced. If the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty knelt down and gave her a great salute to her monarch and ministers, they would be a bunch of cowards, no wonder we were beaten by the Twelve Biansha Division for so many years."
"Youngest daughter, it's my duty to marry a woman. If you love her, you can keep her petite, and that's fine, but it's a bad thing to let them go out to fight and govern." Cai Yu said here, He said with emotion, "I heard that the students in Qedu are also very willing. I think reading is bad and stupid! I can't tell the difference between good and bad."
They talked about Qidong's military affairs from Qidong's political affairs, and from Qidong's military affairs to Libei War, and finally fell on Lei Changming.
The bearded man said, "Lei Changming also took advantage of his luck, he was lucky, and when Young Master Yan was in trouble, he helped him get up. But he can't last long, and he is very domineering. If he wants to be a regular army in Luoshan, why should he? Like? If you meet the embargoed army, don't you disappear immediately?"
Cai Yu snorted coldly.
The person next to him said, "Elder Cai and Lei Changming are the two heroes of China and Bo, but where does he match? It's too far!"
Cai Yu was not moved by this kind of flattery. He opened his arms, sank comfortably into the chair, and said, "Do you know why I don't like Lei Changming? I think he is dirty." He pronounced the last word heavily. , Just as the maid came up to serve the smoking gun, Cai Yu took two sips and continued, "Lei Changming was a dartman in his early years, you all know about this, but why didn't he leave later? He told people because he took the girl Married to the Zhu family in Duanzhou, she wants to enjoy happiness and refuses to do this work. This is a lie, and he has a hobby. "
Luo Mu didn't know when he put his chopsticks down.
Cai Yu recalled in a haze, and said, "When I first started doing this business, when it was time to graduate, my master said that being a gangster and bandit should also pay attention to benevolence and righteousness. It hurts Yin and virtue. For so many years in Chazhou, there have been many business trips to and fro with family members, but if I really meet orphans, widows and mothers, I will never touch them. But Lei Changming is different. He used to send darts too Family members, once Dengzhou darts, sent half of the men to die, leaving the orphans and widows and their mothers. They couldn’t even pay the darts. When they arrived in Dengzhou, the original in-laws only wanted grandchildren, not daughters-in-law. The woman refused to After being separated from the child, he was desperate and wanted to die, but Lei Changming took the two of them back and said he wanted to raise them."
"I was still working as a thief in Chazhou at that time. After hearing this kind of thing, I took Lei Changming as a person and felt that he was different from people like me. I paid attention to him when I was doing things, and wanted to find an opportunity to have a hand with him. But I went to Dengzhou later, and I heard that he was quitting, and I found the place along the way, and I found out that the woman and the child were all dead. How did they die? He abused after drinking and attacked the five- or six-year-old child. The woman refused, and he beat him to death. The child didn't live for a few days.
Cai Yu pushed the smoke away, frowned and asked the maid to take the smoking gun away.
"He went to Duanzhou, and his hobby has not changed. This man loves his reputation and never dares to do it openly. When Lei Changming rescued Young Master Yan, he was still young. The helper of the family, although he has never met the son, he regards him as his own heart and soul. Hearing about this, he immediately chased after him. At that time, I was wearing a bright jade pendant, made of pink and jade, very clever. When I saw me, I called him Grandpa, not to mention it made me feel distressed. I saw that the son was safe, so I didn't bother with Lei Changming."
Later, when Lei Changming saw Cai Yu again, he consciously lost his head. Cai Yu didn't look down on him, and he didn't approach Cai Yu, so everyone took one side.
"Young master is a good boy. I am very grateful for Lei Changming's life-saving grace. For this reason, I have repeatedly helped the Luoshan bandits." Cai Yu originally wanted to ask Luo Mu about Kong Ling today, but he was taken away by these past events. Tan Xing, when he remembered, Luo Mu had already left.
* * *
Luo Mu got into the sedan chair and didn't go very far, so he changed his way to the gouache shop, and wanted to buy some popular fat powder in Yedu and take it back to coax the Cai family. The largest gouache shop in Chazhou was opened by a businessman from Juexi. Luo Mu was a regular customer. As soon as he got off the sedan chair, a steward came to greet him, served tea and water in one go, and finally said to Luo Mu, "Yes. I can't live with Lord Luo, unfortunately today, the shop is out of stock, and the good things are prepared in the shop in the east end, and haven't been delivered to us yet. Look at it, can't we deliver it to the house tomorrow?"
Luo Mu nodded, raised his feet and wanted to leave. He remembered how Cai Yu was holding him just now, so he couldn't help but change his mind and asked, "Which shop in the east?"
The person in charge called a walker and personally led the way for Luo Mu.
When Luo Mu arrived, he saw that the shop was not large, but it was indeed next to the horse road, which was convenient for unloading. He entered the door and saw that there were few people inside. The walker took him inside, there was a yard behind, and he told him to wait for a while for tea.
Luo Mu sat for a while, when the curtain was lifted, it was Kong Ling who came in.
"How do you..." Luo Mu asked in surprise.
But Kong Ling didn't answer, he lifted the curtain to let him go, and a white robe came in with a slight bend at the back. As soon as Shen Zechuan looked up, Luo Mu stood up.
Shen Zechuan came here in a sedan chair, not soaked in water. He looked at Luo Mu and motioned for Luo Mu to sit. Qiao Tianya, who followed behind, came in to change the tea and sent it to Shen Zechuan hotly.
Seeing Luo Mu still standing, Kong Ling said, "Mengzheng, this is—"
"Lord Tongzhi," Luo Mu respectfully saluted and said, "I have heard the name of Tongzhi for a long time, and student Luo Meng is listening to the training."
"I heard Mr. Chengfeng's praise for Mr. Luo's prudence and excellent eyesight. It's true when I see it today." Shen Zechuan smiled slightly, "I don't need to be a fellow of Jinyiwei now, I don't have a waist card, and I don't have an official position, it's just ordinary. In white, it's time for me to salute the adults."
How could Luo Mu dare to accept it, Shen Zechuan, a close minister of the Son of Heaven, was enough for the local prefectures to fear the position of Jinyiwei Beizhen Fu. In the past, Jinyiwei, together with the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Court, had to go to the local area to check the accounts. Shen Zechuan also befriended Cen Yu of the Supreme Court and Kong Qiu of the Punishment Department, and Luo Mu had not only heard of him. Officials like them who were sent to local places were originally based on experience, and after they had achieved political achievements and considered their qualifications, they could be promoted to Qidu, and they could become capital officials. What Shen Zechuan held in his hand was their Ducha evaluation, as well as their net worth and life.
The key is evident from Luo Mu's self-proclaimed "student".
Shen Zechuan is different from Zhenfu in front of him. He was not from a "right" background. His biological father was Jianxing Wang Shenwei, who was defeated by Zhongbo. He was brought in by Jinyiwei from the Libei Iron Cavalry. It is rumored that he will be executed. But he not only survived, but also allowed Emperor Tianchen to be promoted repeatedly. The position of Beizhenfu was related to the two factions of Qidu, and Hailiangyi was willing to nod. This man was young, which made him even more fearful.
It was only then that Luo Mu understood that what Kong Ling said was certain, not a pretense, but a real certainty.
Fortunately, Shen Zechuan was just talking, he didn't get up to worship. Luo Mu calmed down a little, didn't dare to sit down, stood in front of Kong Ling with his hands down, and said, "Your Excellency is visiting Chazhou in person, and the students are far away to welcome them, so I'll send someone right away..."
"I went out of the capital with the Duke of Dingdu, and I'm already a traitor to the capital. You really don't need to be polite." Shen Zechuan ate the hot tea, his throat became more comfortable, and then he said, "I've been here for a long time, and I've wanted to meet Luo for a long time. Your Excellency, it is fortunate to have Mr. Cheng Feng to accompany you today."
Kong Ling looked at Luo Mu, smiled, and said, "Mengzheng, don't be cautious. Tongzhi is now the backbone of Cizhou, and this time he came to solve the bandit troubles in Chazhou, and he is all his own."
Luo Mu looked at him, his eyes were not as explicit as yesterday, and he said cautiously: "How do you know that I will definitely come?"
"Chazhou is so big, you can find out a lot of things after a little inquiries. Your fourteen-bedroom concubine has a lot of background and a good temper, so she loves Qidu gouache. Madam is happy, so she will go there in person." Kong Ling smiled at Shen Zechuan and shook his head, "Do you know that Mengzheng was very popular with girls when he was still in the academy. He is very romantic, and before he entered the office, I know this very well.”
When Luo Mu heard Kong Ling talk about the academy, he relaxed a little and said, "I was very disciplined when I was studying, and I stayed with you all day. Where did the romance come from? It's you, who have made countless friends and can be called brothers and sisters with anyone."
When they said this, the atmosphere eased, and Kong Ling took Luo Mu to the seat.
Shen Zechuan was in the top seat, and his speech was not as aggressive as Luo Mu had expected. He said, "Mr. Chengfeng must have already discussed with the adults about our intention to come here. It was inconvenient to discuss in depth yesterday, and it is inevitable for adults to have concerns. Speak freely. If you have any difficulties, you can discuss it.”
Shen Zechuan spoke softly and looked natural, but there was obviously no room for "negotiation" in the last sentence. His seemingly peaceful attitude was irreversible, and Luo Mu understood what Shen Zechuan meant by just listening to this sentence.
If there are difficulties, it can be negotiated. What is the purpose of negotiation? to act faster. Shen Zechuan didn't give Luo Mu a chance to refuse at all. As soon as he opened his mouth, Luo Mu had no other choice.
When Luo Mu raised his head again, his cowardice was swept away, and he said, "If Tongzhi can pacify the bandits in Chazhou, I would rather look forward to Tongzhi's horse head. But Cai Yu is not Lei Changming, and Tongzhi has no marquis. Master's 20,000 strong soldiers, it is really difficult to do with the strength of one person."
Shen Zechuan said calmly: "When you and I meet today, we are worth more than a million soldiers."