It is not unusual for a person like Zhang Xuezhou who wants to die to become a bachelor.
Many high-ranking officials in the imperial court are half-dead as they age, and some even serve as officials until the moment of their death.
As long as Zhang Xuezhou is still gasping for air, he, the official of Jinmamen who is waiting for the imperial edict, will be very stable.
As a member of the court system, if you don't do anything outrageous, your rank will not be demoted, but will be gradually promoted over the years.
The position of Jinmamen Daizhao Bachelor is very interesting. It means having an official position, but it is not an actual official position.
This position belongs to the imperial court's alternate officials. Considering Zhang Xuezhou's physical condition, Zhang Xuezhou feels that his waiting time will be extremely long.
He could only take it one step at a time. Zhang Xuezhou had successfully solved the problem of being unable to perform his duties normally, and he could not ask himself to do any better.
After checking on the conditions of Chunyu Tiying and Zheng Wukong, Zhang Xuezhou stayed at home for another night.
It was early in the morning before he wandered to the Golden Horse Gate.
"Here comes the meal, a big portion of meat!"
Jinmamen is the place where bachelors wait for orders. To put it simply, waiting for orders means that you have to wait. If you wait, you will get hungry. If you are hungry, someone will take care of the food.
The benefits of the imperial court would be wasted if not used, and he used them rationally at this time, even coming to Jinmamen for breakfast.
Zhang Xuezhou thought that this kind of thing would take a long time, but he didn't expect that after just a short while, a boy hurried over with a tray.
There was half a chicken on the tray, which was steaming hot at this time, as well as a large portion of millet porridge. Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but be amazed, and felt that the chef at Jinmamen was very capable.
There are not much tables and chairs to look at here at Jinmamen, so Zhang Xuezhou just wanders around in his free time and asks for a portion if there is food.
He felt that according to his rule of being sober for twelve days, it would be enough to come once a month.
After making this trip today, he will be busy with his own affairs for the next ten days.
"Where is my bachelor's breakfast?"
Zhang Xuezhou was halfway through chewing when he saw a tall, handsome young man walking into the inner hall of the Golden Horse Gate.
Holding the token of the Jinmamen waiting for the imperial edict, the young man also found a place to sit down, and then began to drink.
"I asked for half a piece of chicken and millet porridge in advance yesterday. You should prepare some in advance." The young man said dissatisfied: "Please note that this time is wasted if delayed, and waste is a very shameful thing!"
"Isn't this just... huh?"
The boy came again to run errands, and found out that there were two bachelors at Jinma Gate at this time.
You cannot enter the Golden Horse Gate without a bachelor's token, and both bachelors are real.
But from what the young man knew, he knew that there was a new bachelor in Jinmamen who had to eat breakfast and lunch. The rest of the things were unclear.
He looked at Zhang Xuezhou and then at the young man.
"Sir, please wait a moment, we will ask the cook to do it now!"
The boy glanced briefly and quickly replied to the young man's words, which made the young man point at the boy.
"You mean you haven't made my breakfast yet?" The young man said slightly angrily, "This is really unreasonable, I clearly told you yesterday!"
"Sir, we did it," the boy said, "but we didn't know that two bachelors would come here today."
"You two...it seems that that dear friend has eaten Kong's breakfast," the young man said with a frown.
"He came early," the boy squirmed, "We'll do it for you now!"
"If you are only going to make one serving, you must not have much ingredients there. It takes half an hour to get the ingredients back and forth, half an hour to cook them, and it will take time to bring them here. Kong will not eat this breakfast. Whatever!"
The young man was angry, but he was very well-educated. After being angry, he decided not to eat.
This kind of anger made Zhang Xuezhou a little bit dumbfounded when he heard it.
"Brother Kong, come on, I have half a portion here, let's eat together," Zhang Xuezhou extended his hand to greet him.
"Eat together... We will eat together until we are full. We will share the meal without being picky. No fighting for the rice. No letting go of the rice. No singing. No eating. No eating. No eating. Do not eat fish meat. Do not throw in dog bones. Do not seize the harvest. Do not eat. When raising rice, do not use chopsticks to cook the rice, do not catch the soup, and do not prick the teeth."
The young man thought for two seconds, then read aloud, wiped his clean palms on his sleeves, and then quickly sat down to the side of Zhang Xuezhou's desk.
"Brother, if you are willing to eat together, you are truly a gentleman!"
"Uh~"
In order to let Medical Officer Zhao Rui see that he would rather eat as indulgently as a dead man, Zhang Xuezhou ate a little too much yesterday.
He was already full after eating half of his meal, and it didn't matter whether he ate or not.
After giving away the remaining food, Zhang Xuezhou didn't expect that he would be praised as a gentleman.
To be honest, Zhang Xuezhou felt that his character was still far from that of a gentleman.
"Master Dong once said that a gentleman should be benevolent, righteous, propriety, wise, and trustworthy," Zhang Xuezhou said, "Only those who comply with these qualities can be considered a gentleman. Public food is not enough to be called a gentleman."
"Sage Confucius once said that benevolence, righteousness, and propriety make a gentleman, while Sage Meng called benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom." The young man asked curiously: "What is this belief?"
"Faith and knowledge are opposites. Those who know what is appropriate can only do what is appropriate; those who do not know what is appropriate should trust what others say, and then observe etiquette and be close to benevolence." Zhang Xuezhou recalled: "This is trust!"
"Master Dong, are you talking about Dong Zhongshu and Dong Daru?"
"right!"
"Dong Daru is truly a man of many talents!"
The young man praised him repeatedly.
He stretched out his sleeves to cover his mouth. While talking, he ate very quickly, but he couldn't seem to eat.
This made Zhang Xuezhou marvel.
Compared to country roughnecks like them, young people are undoubtedly very particular about etiquette, and they should come from a family with a long history.
He thought about the young man's self-identification, and how the other person spoke was somewhat similar to Dong Zhongshu, and he felt that he had roughly guessed the other person's background.
"Do you know Kong Zhong?" Zhang Xuezhou asked with a smile.
"Is the Kong Zhong you are talking about the Confucian Kong Zhong?" the young man asked doubtfully.
"right!"
"That is my father!"
The young man opened his mouth.
There are many people with the surname Kong, and the name Kong Zhong is also relatively common, but there is only one Kong Zhong among the great Confucian scholars.
The young man did not expect that he would meet his father's acquaintances while sharing a table.
Based on how familiar the other party is with Dong Zhongshu, there is a high probability that the other party knows Kong Zhong.
This made the young man quickly stand up and salute.
"My dear Anguo, I haven't asked you your name yet," the young man asked.
"Kong Anguo, you are famous for running the country and bringing peace to the country. It seems that you will show off your talents in the future." Zhang Xuezhou praised him and said with a smile, "My name is Dongfang Shuo!"
"Oriental Bachelor, you recognize my father, but do you know where my father is?" Kong Anguo asked.
"What's wrong, you didn't find your father?"
This was the first time that Zhang Xuezhou saw his son asking his father for help from an outsider.
But looking at Kong Anguo's appearance, it seems that the other party has not really reunited with Kong Zhong.
"I received a message from my father, saying that he had asked for a Jinmamen bachelor's position in the imperial court for me, and asked me to come to Chang'an City quickly." Kong Anguo said: "But I haven't seen my father in the past few days since I arrived in Chang'an City. , I have to look around for it!"
"Kong Zhong, Du Wencai and others returned to Chang'an City. Weren't they at the gathering place of your Confucians?" Zhang Xuezhou asked curiously.
"I didn't see Uncle Du," Kong Anguo said, "Neither Uncle Ye, Uncle Zhu, nor Uncle Li saw it!"
"Five people were not found?" Zhang Xuezhou said in surprise: "You don't have to worry about them, they are so good at digging holes, maybe they are hiding in some hole to do their work!"
"That's the Earth Escape Technique and the Earth Movement Technique." Kong Anguo corrected and added: "My father's technique is naturally excellent, but these are troubled times. I heard that the imperial court has recently been strictly investigating official corruption and other issues. Lord Zhao Wan and Wang Zang All the adults have been investigated for this, and I’m worried that they will also be in big trouble!”
"Zhao Wan and Wang Zang are in prison?"
After learning the latest news from the imperial court from Kong Anguo, Zhang Xuezhou looked a little strange.
Zhao Wan was ranked among the top three officials. Zhang Xuezhou did not expect that such a top official would be dragged into the water.
If the guess is correct, Kong Zhong and others should have played an important role in Zhao Wan's imprisonment.
Kong Zhong and others are indeed nowhere to be found at this moment. These people may have entered the process of interrogating San Gong, or even exist as witnesses.
The level of confidentiality involved in this kind of incident is extremely high, so it is normal for Kong Anguo to not be able to find his father.
