Jiangdu is only 1,890 miles away from Jiankang, not to mention the minimum distance. If we set off early in the morning, it will only take one day by carriage.
The delivery speed of Guanyi was naturally not slow. The letter was still in Jiangdu in the afternoon, and by night it had been delivered to Jiankang Capital and to the residence of Zhao Changping, the minister of household affairs.
It was the beginning of October in the fifth year of Hongde. Although there was still some time before the end of the year, as the Minister of Household Affairs, Zhao Changping was already counting the expenses for the first half of the year and the autumn harvest projects. At this time, his desk was piled up. What was sitting there were the general ledgers sent by his officials, and Zhao Shilang was looking through them carefully one by one.
The surname of this Minister of Household Affairs was Zhao, his given name was Zhao Zhi, and his courtesy name was Changping. He was from Runzhou Prefecture. He went to Ganquan Academy in Jiangdu to study when he was a boy. He was a classmate of Master Lu Anshi and was a Jinshi in the same year.
Master Lu got the Jinshi in the scientific examination that year and was ranked 25th in the second class, but Zhao Shilang was the second Jinshi in the first class and the second most serious scholar.
Master Lu worked as an official in the capital for several years. Later, his wife passed away, and the court was controlled by the "Turtle Sect". He became a little discouraged, so he simply resigned and returned to Jiangdu to study, while Zhao Shilang remained in the capital. , worked diligently in the officialdom, and had sufficient business ability, he rose through the ranks and reached the current position of Minister of Household Affairs.
The Ministry of Husbandry is in charge of the imperial treasury. Although its status among the six departments is not particularly high, it has extremely powerful power. Even in the Jiankang capital, Zhao Shilang is already considered the number one figure.
If Mr. Lu is the dean of Ganquan Academy in Jiangdu, then this Minister Zhao can be said to be the backbone of the "Ganquan School" in the capital. Now that the emperor has slowly begun to take charge of the government, Yang Jingzong and Prime Minister Yang may gradually move away from the center of power. According to rumors among the public, this Zhao Shilang is likely to be one of the future prime ministers.
Just when Zhao Shilang was handling official duties, there was a knock on the door of his study. An old servant stood at the door of the study and bowed his head respectfully: "Master, I have your letter."
Minister Zhao frowned subconsciously.
"Didn't I tell you not to disturb my work?"
The old servant lowered his head again and said, "Master, it's a letter from Jiangdu that was delivered to my house overnight."
In the study, Zhao Shilang took a deep breath, clipped a bookmark to the account book in front of him, then closed the account book, then leaned against the back of the chair, closed his eyes, and exhaled a long breath.
"Send it in."
The old servant quickly lowered his head, opened the door carefully and came in. Then he came to Zhao Shilang and handed the letter to Zhao Shilang with both hands: "Master, this is the letter."
"It seems to be from Master Zhang, but it's not Master Zhang who wrote the letter."
As a student of Zhao Changping, Zhang Jian often visited his teacher when he was in Jiankang, so everyone in the Zhao family knew Zhang Jian.
Zhao Shilang didn't speak. After opening his eyes, he took the letter over. After seeing the words "Brother Changping" on the envelope, he recognized Lu Anshi's handwriting.
What is strange is that Lu Anshi did not sign the envelope.
He frowned, sat up straight first, then looked at his servant, and said, "Okay, go out."
The old servant bowed his head respectfully, turned around and went down.
Only then did Minister Zhao open the letter.
The content of the letter is not short, it is three or four pages long.
After all, Minister Zhao was born second in the college entrance examination, and he was also famous as a child prodigy when he was a child. Not to mention ten lines in one glance, there must be no problem with three or four lines in one glance. He quickly read the entire letter roughly, and then took the first one He carefully read the letter paper from beginning to end, then silently took the oil lamp beside him to him, lit the pieces of letter paper and the envelopes one by one, and burned them to ashes.
When it comes to scientific examinations, even if it is just the county examination, it is one of the most serious matters in the court. Even he, the minister, cannot leave anything that may be used.
This is one of the reasons why Lu Anshi did not sign his name.
After burning the letter, Zhao Shilang looked at the pile of ashes in the brazier in front of him and frowned: "Fan You is also considered the number one person in the court. He is known for his intelligence and decisiveness. How come there is such a thing among the younger generations?" A useless person?"
After muttering this sentence, Zhao Shilang walked to the window and looked at the bright moon outside the window, which was about to climb to the sky. After hesitating for a while, he still called out to the door: "Old Zheng."
The old servant quickly opened the door and walked in, respectfully.
"master."
"Prepare the car and go to the home of Fan Shilang of the Ministry of Justice."
Having said this, Zhao Changping rubbed his temples and asked, "Where does Fan Shilang's family live? To the north of the city or to the east of the city?"
Old Zheng lowered his head slightly and said: "Master, Fan Shilang's family is in the east of the city. Previously, the young master of Fan Shilang's family was engaged. You asked me to send the things to you."
"Um."
Minister Zhao stretched himself and said, "Then let's go there. Just think of it as a late-night visit to friends."
Lao Zheng lowered his head: "Yes."
Although it is not midnight yet, it is already approaching midnight. There is a curfew on the streets, and occasionally there are street patrols who will arrest suspicious people on the streets.
However, Zhao Shilang's carriage was obviously not within the inspection scope of these servants. Zhao Shilang's carriage arrived at the gate of Fan's house in Dongcheng without any hindrance. After the carriage stopped at the door of Fan's house, the servant Lao Zheng went up and knocked on the door. door, and then got in touch with the concierge of the Fan family.
As both ministers, Zhao Changping, the Minister of Household Affairs, must be slightly taller than Fan Tong's Minister of Justice. Therefore, not long after Lao Zheng was named, the side door of Fan's mansion opened, and there was Minister Fan, whose clothes were a little untidy, and his feet were still wet. Wearing wooden clogs, he stepped out to greet him.
Obviously, this Minister Fan probably got up from the bed.
However, when he got up from the bed, he had plenty of time to sort out his appearance. The reason why he walked out in such a hurry was to show his goodwill to Zhao Changping.
"What kind of wind brought Brother Zhao here in the middle of the night?"
With a smile on his face, Minister Fan greeted Zhao Changping who was standing not far from his door.
Minister Zhao also had a smile on his face. He looked at Minister Fan up and down, and said with a smile: "Brother Fan, is he already asleep? I heard that Brother Fan just took a concubine into his room not long ago, and he wanted to come to Zhao to bother him late at night, so that Fan could be disturbed. Brother, did you wake up from Wenrou Township?"
"Ashamed, ashamed."
Fan Shilang chuckled: "As I get older, I am not as able to endure as I used to be. When the time comes, I am so sleepy that I can't open my eyes."
"I envy Brother Fan, he has so much time to do his errands."
Zhao Changping smiled and said: "Unlike my errand, let alone the end of the year and the beginning of the year, I will be extremely busy in the second half of the year. I would also like to go to bed early, but with the errand on my shoulders, I can't close my eyes."
Fan Shilang turned aside to invite Zhao Changping into the palace, and said with a smile: "Our criminal department has fewer errands, which shows that the Holy Emperor is on the throne, the prime ministers are able to assist, and the world is peaceful, so there are not many cases to handle."
The two ministers of the imperial court entered the gate of Fan's house while chatting and laughing.
At this time, the Fan family had already started preparing wine and food. Minister Fan led Zhao Changping all the way to the backyard, where the two ministers sat across from each other at a low table.
Fan Shilang picked up the wine glass, toasted Zhao Changping, and said with a smile: "I wonder if Brother Zhao came to my humble home late at night, what can I tell you about?"
"Don't take advice seriously."
Zhao Shilang picked up the wine glass, clinked it with Fan Shilang, and said with a smile: "Tonight, Zhao received news from Jiangdu that the young master of the Fan family wanted to demolish Ganquan Academy."
"Brother Fan also knows that Zhao was born in Ganquan Academy. I am nostalgic, so I came here to ask for a favor from Brother Fan."
He glanced at Fan Shilang with a calm expression.
"Brother Fan is also from Jiangdu. Please, for the sake of Jiangdu and me, Mr. Zhao, ask you, the young masters of the Fan family, to stop and spare our academy."
Hearing Zhao Changping's seemingly low-profile words, Fan Shilang suddenly stood on his back and felt horrified.
The wine glass he held in the air froze, then he glanced at Zhao Changping, took a deep breath, and said with a wry smile.
"Brother Zhao, I haven't been back to my hometown in Jiangdu for several years. I don't know much about things there. If Brother Zhao has any orders, you might as well tell him directly..."
