Emperor Daojun was slightly startled when he heard this, and then frowned.
He could still barely remember the magistrates of various states in the Song Dynasty, but he could not remember all the general judges, but he knew Zongze.
Just after the New Year, Zongze begged to become an official, retire and return to his hometown, and it was with his own hand that he approved it.
Feeling that he had made meritorious service during his half-life as a judge, he was appointed as a nominal envoy to promote the Hongqing Palace in Yingtian Prefecture, Nanjing.
But then, Lin Lingsu sued Zongze for his contempt for the Shenxiao religion and his impiety and impropriety in building the Shenxiao Taoist Palace in Dengzhou.
After sending someone to investigate, it turned out that the Shenxiao Palace in Dengzhou was poorly built. But if that was the case, that was it. After all, Dengzhou was located on the border of coastal defense and had limited money.
However, the area occupied by the Shenxiao Palace in Dengzhou is actually only about half of that elsewhere. Could it be difficult to use more land? This is truly an impious sin.
Therefore, it is natural that he is not allowed to become an official, dismissed from his post, deposed, and demoted.
Emperor Daojun thought of this and rubbed his temples. He had forgotten where Zongze had been demoted, but judging from the time, the decree might have just arrived in Dengzhou, and Zongze might not have got up and left.
He said: "Why do you want to use Zongze?"
Zhao Tong was calculating in his mind that if Zongze was not in Dengzhou at this time, he would have been dismissed from his post and sent to Zhenjiang.
If Zhenjiang has been detained, under normal circumstances, it would not be until the Song, Jin and Liao Dynasties, when Tong Guan spent money to buy Yan Yun, and Emperor Daojun held a sacrificial ceremony to implement an amnesty, that Zong Ze would regain his freedom and be sent to supervise the wine tax of Zhenjiang Prefecture and carry out missionary work. Lang.
Of course, it is impossible to become an official. This is the rule of this dynasty. If it is not approved, you cannot even retire.
Later, Zongze's position in Zhenjiang was from the seventh rank, which was insignificant. However, he was still self-denial and dedicated to the public affairs. He did his job well for this small official, which doubled the local liquor tax revenue.
Later, it was not until the first year of Jingkang, when he was already in his sixties, that Zongze became the magistrate of Cizhou, and from then on he began his magnificent anti-golden career.
There are actually two reasons why Zhao Tong wants Zongze. One is that outside the Western Army, there are very few civil servants in the court who know military affairs. Zongze does, Zhang Shuye does, but Li Gang does not.
The second one is after Jingkang, Zongze regained Tokyo and sent 24 "Begging Letters" to Zhao Gou, imploring Zhao Gou to return to Luan Tokyo to boost morale, but was ignored. Finally, he became ill with sorrow and anger, and died of depression. Three "cross the river" sounds, which makes people feel uncomfortable.
Zhao Tong replied: "Dad, before I went to sea last year, I was stationed in Dengzhou. I heard that although this man has a rigid and stubborn personality, he knows the army well. Both of these qualities are suitable for him to be a deputy supervisor."
Emperor Daojun thought for a moment and realized that he was a rigid and stubborn person, so that was it. Otherwise, how could the land of Shenxiao Palace be so small? That was official land, not civilian land. Zongze was the kind of person who strictly abided by the rules.
However, although this kind of person is rigid, there is also an advantage. He is not a bad person in the eyes of the army. Moreover, he knows the soldiers well, so he is a good candidate to supervise the army.
Emperor Daojun said: "This Zongze has just been demoted not long ago. He probably hasn't arrived yet. I will give you another decree and hurry over and let him enter the capital."
Zhao Tong said: "Thank you very much, dad."
Jingdong East Road, Dengzhou.
Zongze is packing things in an old house. He was a Jinshi in the sixth year of Yuanyou and is fifty-nine years old this year.
Since the imperial examination, he has been an official in the border states and counties of Hebei and Shandong for many years. He is very familiar with both land and maritime affairs.
At the beginning of the year, he wrote a letter begging to retire and return to his hometown. After being approved, he was granted a promotion to the Hongqing Palace of Yingtian Prefecture. Just after Xintongxuan came to hand over the job, a derogatory decree came down.
He was actually demoted to Zhenjiang, cut off his position and detained. After asking, he found out that because of the Shenxiao Palace incident, he thought carefully and found out that he punished Taoist priest Gao Yanzhao and was sued by Lin Lingsu, Gao Yanzhao's patron.
After the Taoist Emperor became confident in Lin Lingsu, he ordered all states and counties to build the Shenxiao Palace. The Taoist priests of the Shenxiao Palace took advantage of their power to break the law, plunder and seize a large number of farmers' fields, and the people were displaced.
Gao Yanzhao was the presiding officer of the Shenxiao Palace in Dengzhou. Zongze punished him for several major crimes, and he was really ineffective in the construction of the Shenxiao Palace, which was why Lin Lingsu was sued today.
At this moment, Zongze's beard and hair were half gray, but his body was still strong, even his waist was still straight and straight.
After he and the new Tongpan were handed over, he moved out of the Tongpan Mansion. He planned to stay in Dengzhou for another two months, meet old friends for a while, and then return to his hometown. Unexpectedly, the decree of demotion came, so he had to pack his things and prepare. Go south.
I don’t have too many complaints. I have been an official for most of my life, and I have seen many things clearly. However, my original intention has not changed, and my heart is still in the jade pot. Now that I am old, I feel powerless in the country and politics, so I may resign or be demoted. Regardless of restraint, there is no difference between making a flat boat while spreading hair and looking at the bright moon in front of the bed.
Zongze stood silently in the courtyard as he watched the old servant and the bookboy packing many books into boxes, and sorting out the scattered and forgotten poem manuscripts and old study utensils.
The family members all returned to their hometown early, unaware that he had been demoted. Now he was alone, and it didn't matter where he went.
At this moment, the courtyard door suddenly opened, and it turned out to be officers and soldiers from the state. They were polite when they entered, but they just said: "Sir, have you packed up yet?"
Zongze knew that after the demotion was issued, there was a time limit for him to leave. Today was the last day. If he didn't leave, Lin Lingsu would have a new excuse to accuse him of disobeying the order again.
Just as Zong Ze was about to speak, a strange and sinister voice suddenly sounded outside the courtyard door: "Oh, Judge Zong Tong seems to be reluctant to leave Dengzhou!"
As the words fell, several people walked in outside the courtyard gate, all Taoist priests. The first one was wearing a feather crown and bright Taoist robes, with a mocking and gloomy look on his face.
Zongze saw this person, it was Gao Yanzhao, the host of Shenxiao Palace in Dengzhou. He had severely punished him once for taking advantage of the situation and seizing people's land and good property.
It's just that nowadays Shenxiao Palace has privileges, and its status is second only to the government, or even the same. Even the magistrate of Dengzhou cannot directly convict and try him. If he has to report to the court, he can only imprison this person for a while, but cannot cure him. The great sin is let go.
Zongze was silent, his half-grey hair was a little messy, and his hair was slightly scattered in the wind, and his expression was a little sad.
Gao Yanzhao walked closer with several Taoist priests behind him, looked at the wooden boxes on the ground, and opened one casually. Seeing that it was full of books, he couldn't help but sneered: "Who is Zong Tongpan showing these to? I'm afraid not. Have all the gold and silver goods been transported back to your hometown?"
Zongze remained silent after hearing this. He had nothing to say to this kind of person. He even looked at him and felt filthy.
Seeing this, Gao Yanzhao said to the Taoist priest behind him: "Open them all and take a look. Are there any private goods inside? Zongtong decided to go to Zhenjiang without taking any gold or silver with him. How can he take care of himself and live comfortably there?" ?”
The two Taoist priests came up and started to rummage through the box. The little book boy next to them immediately rushed over and shouted, "What are you going to do?"
A Taoist priest reached out and pulled him aside: "Gungun, little guy, do you think your old man is Tongpan? Get out of here."
At this time, the leader of the state soldiers couldn't stand it and said: "Master Gao, isn't this not good?"
Gao Yanzhao glanced sideways at him and hummed: "Who do you think you are, you dare to talk to me like this? This is what Master Lin ordered to check. Even Qu Zhizhou doesn't dare to deny it here!"
The leader of the state soldiers looked unhappy, but he did not dare to say anything, so he retreated and gnashed his teeth.
The Taoist priest rummaged through the box and scattered some books on the ground. The little book boy immediately started crying. The old servant pulled him over, with a sad look on his face, and whispered to Zongze: "Sir..."
Zongze said calmly: "Just let them translate it."
But even though he said this, his eyes always looked at the books on the ground with a distressed expression.
The Taoists rummaged around and found nothing of value, let alone gold and silver, so they returned to Gao Yanzhao to return to his life.
Gao Yanzhao swept the ground, looked at Zongze again, and said with a twitching corner of his mouth: "I'm afraid Zong Tongpan has hidden all the good things in the house? Go to the house and take a look again!"
Zongze frowned when he heard this and said, "I was just demoted, not ransacked my house. What are you going to do next?"
Gao Yanzhao chuckled and said: "Zong Tongpan, this is not what I mean. I am just an abbot of Dengzhou Shenxiao Palace. No matter how courageous I am, how can I dare to search the home of the imperial official? This is Lin Xianshi I mean, if Zong Tongpan has any dissatisfaction, go tell Lin Xian."
Zongze took a deep breath after hearing this: "If God wants him to die, he will be driven crazy. Lin Lingsu dares you!"
"Haha, why don't you dare!" Gao Yanzhao laughed and said, "I will also bring these words of Zong Tongpan to Master Lin Xian. I'm afraid Zong Tongpan will no longer be in Zhenjiang by then. I can't tell you. Go for a walk to Lingnan and enjoy your old age there!"
After finishing speaking, Gao Yanzhao commanded the two Taoist priests to enter the house, but the little book boy came up to stop him again. The Taoist priest reached out and grabbed the lapel of his clothes and threw them aside. The little book boy said "Ahhh" and fell to the ground crying. stand up.
The old servant hurriedly ran over and helped him up: "Yu Mo, did you break anything?"
Zongze said angrily: "Gao Yanzhao, what did you do to a child?"
Gao Yanzhao snorted coldly: "So what if you do it? Why don't you go into the house and search it to see what kind of property this old thief has hidden!"
The two Taoist priests rushed to the door like wolves and tigers, but at this moment, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from outside the courtyard, and they were approaching in an instant.
Four horses, a red-clothed chamberlain, a man in light armor, and two soldiers.
The man in light armor entered the door first. Seeing the scene in front of him, he shouted: "What are you doing?"
Zongze seemed stunned. He recognized that the one in red was the eunuch. When the Jinshi roll came to Donghua Gate, he had seen the eunuchs in the palace wearing the clothes. As for the one with light armor, he was dressed as an officer of the Forbidden Army.
Gao Yanzhao only recognized the clothes of the imperial guards but did not know the eunuchs. He said angrily: "Who dares to act wild in front of me?"
The military officer didn't say anything. He went over and pulled over the two Taoist priests who were heading into the house. The two tried to struggle, but the military officer kicked them one by one and kicked them away like a gourd. Suddenly they started crying for their father and mother. .
Gao Yanzhao was furious: "Where did you come from as a traitor to the army? How dare you beat the real person of Shenxiao Palace?"
The military officer smiled ferociously on his face, then thought for a moment and said, "Your name is... Gao Yanzhao?"
Gao Yanzhao stuck the fly whisk behind his neck and pointed at the officer: "This is your real man. How do you treat him?"
The officer man came over and muttered: "How dare you accuse me of being a traitor to the army, and how will I be treated..."
He came closer and slapped Gao Yanzhao hard on the face: "You tell me how I will treat you, I can't beat you to death!"
The slap made a "pop" sound, and one side of Gao Yanzhao's face suddenly swelled up. His body stumbled against a wooden box in the courtyard, and then he sat down in it, opening his mouth and spitting out two big molars.
"You, you dare to hit the real person of Shenxiao Palace!" Gao Yanzhao was stunned. He had been dominating these years and beat him wherever anyone dared to come up. Even if Zongze punished him, he didn't say to beat him directly. He called Said: "You dare to hit a real person, I think you, a thief who joins the army, don't want to live..."
Before he finished speaking, a military officer came over and grabbed him out. He slapped him repeatedly until the corners of his mouth were bleeding and his eyes were swollen. He no longer had any hard words in his mouth and began to apologize: "Grandpa, Grandpa, stop it, I don’t dare anymore, I won’t dare anymore!”
The book boy next to him got up from the ground, wiped away his tears, clapped his hands and said, "This person is the worst. He comes here to bully others."
Zongze was a little surprised and confused. Although he knew that the person in red robe behind him was a chamberlain, the soldier's clothing seemed to be of a low standard. How could he be so bold and dare to attack the host of Shenxiao Palace?
He knew that the military man was standing up for his family, but he was worried that the military man would not know the identity of the other party, causing trouble, and in the end he would be retaliated by the Shenxiao Palace. He hurriedly walked over and said: "General, please stop, this man He is the host of Shenxiao Palace, so it would be bad if something happens."
The military officer glanced at him and said with a smile: "Is he Master Zong? It doesn't matter, even if I don't kill him today, I still have to give him a memory."
After saying that, he kicked him again.
Gao Yanzhao was stunned by the beating at this time, but he was filled with hatred in his heart and did not dare to speak out. He was only thinking about how to get revenge and go back. At this moment, he suddenly heard the man in red robe shout loudly: "Dengzhou Tongpan Zongze Take the order!"
Gao Yanzhao was suddenly shocked. These people were actually from Tokyo? Are you here to see Zongze? But how could there be an imperial edict issued?
Over there, Zongze hurriedly knelt down. He guessed that this group of people came to see him, but he still didn't know what the specific matter was. He said: "The guilty minister Zongze accepted the order."
The etiquette for receiving orders was different this time. Some could stand while others needed to kneel. For orders like this sent from the capital to other places, it was generally necessary to kneel down to receive them.
The red-robed chamberlain held the imperial edict in his hand and read out a bunch of prefixes, including the year Zongze was a Jinshi and what official positions he had held before. Then he got to the main text: "Dengzhou Tongjian Zongze, courageous and perseverant, judged the border. If you have meritorious service, you will not be promoted to an official position. You will be promoted to a high official, serve in the Baowen Hall, move to the Ministry of War as a doctor, and be granted the title of "Chasing Thieves and Supervising the Army." He will go to the capital today to obey the orders of the King of Qi!"
Zongze was stunned for a moment, even though he had thought about it just now, this group of people protected his side after entering the hospital. Maybe it was because of the change of demotion, but he never expected that it was actually a promotion!
Dr. Zhengfeng is a fourth-grade casual official, but the Baowen Hall servant system is a real fourth-grade official. As for the doctor of the Ministry of War, he has taken a temporary post. As for the traitor-supervising army, what is it? And King Qi...
Next to him, Gao Yanzhao listened to the imperial edict, and his head was buzzing. He couldn't quite understand the official positions in front of him. Court officials were complicated, and no local official positions were easy to understand, but the words "supervisor and army" in the back could be clearly heard. This is amazing. You are an unworthy official. When the supervisors appear on the stage, they only kill Zhongliang. They kill all Zhongliang, let alone a traitor like him?
When he thought of this, Gao Yanzhao couldn't help but roll his eyes and fainted from fear.
At this time, Ouyang Bei, who was dressed as a Forbidden Army officer, smiled and said: "Master Zong, if you don't hurry up and accept the order to thank me, you can quickly serve under King Qi."
Zongze came back to his senses and hurriedly thanked him and accepted the order. He didn't know at this moment that this encounter must be related to King Qi, but King Qi... he didn't recognize him.
(End of chapter)
