His mentor Xu Jie had to sell bath buckets to help him pay the fine. How could Zhu Pingan not be "horrified" and "cry with gratitude"? .
"Once a teacher, always a father. Come on, you can be considered half of my younger brother. Why are you so polite to our old man?" Xu Zilai patted Zhu Pingan's shoulder familiarly, as if he regarded himself as an elder brother.
Ahem...
You really can't stop talking without surprising...
After Zhu Ping'an listened to Xu's words, he almost missed a somersault. Why did he become half your brother in the blink of an eye? The slope was too fast and he couldn't keep up...
"Zihou is here. Sit down first and wait until I finish writing this."
When Zhu Pingan visited Xu Jie in the study, Xu Jie was writing. He was wearing a set of off-white gauze uniforms and a black square soft hat on his head, a look common among Confucian scholars and virgins. After seeing Zhu Pingan come in, Xu Jie nodded and asked Zhu Pingan to sit down, then lowered his head and continued writing.
"Teacher, you are busy."
Zhu Pingan bowed his hands and saluted before sitting down.
"Dad, your handwriting is really good. You have the style of Wang Xiyan." Xu saw Xu Jie like a mouse seeing a cat. He stepped forward to help him grind the ink and glanced at Xu Jie. As soon as I wrote the words, I started to flatter him.
Xu Jie stopped writing and glanced at Xu. Xu smiled and shrank his neck angrily.
In just three to five minutes, Xu Jie finished writing, put the brush on the pen holder, and waved to Zhu Ping'an to come closer.
Zhu Pingan came closer and saw that Xu Jie had just written a couplet:
Be upright and calm;
The breeze on my sleeves makes me sleep peacefully.
Xu Jie is written in regular script. The regular script is neat and fits the couplets. Xu Jie's regular script is very good, and his calligraphy is no less than that of Yan Song. Just like Xu's, Xu Jie's calligraphy has the feel of Wang Xizhi and Yan Zhenqing, and the bones of Yan Zhenqing's regular script, Wang Xizhi is the god of regular script.
"What do you think of this couplet, Mr. Zi Houjue?" Xu Jie waited for Zhu Pingan to approach and asked Zhu Pingan to comment on the couplet he had written.
"Lian is like a person, he is full of righteousness. His words are full of aura, and his face is full of spirit." Zhu Ping'an said seriously.
Zhu Ping'an's comments are very consistent with the couplet and are not just flattery. The content of Xu Jie's couplet is about righteousness and incorruptibility, and the regular script font has the style of Wang Xizhi and Yan Zhenqing. It is exactly the bones of Yan Zhenqing and the spirit of Wang Xizhi, and the whole has an awe-inspiring righteousness.
After Zhu Pingan finished his comments, Xu Jie shook his head with a smile.
"Dad, look, Zihou is like this too." Xu Que was overjoyed when he heard this. Zhu Ping'an's Yan Guxishen was similar to the flattery he just flattered, so he excitedly said to Xu Jie, "It wasn't my son Hu just now."
"If you were half as rich, I would be relieved." Xu Jie glared at Xu with a look of disgust on his face.
"Ahem, my teacher is like this, and the student is so ashamed." Zhu Pingan said with an embarrassed look.
"It should be him who is ashamed." Xu Jie smiled slightly.
Xu looked indifferent, probably because he was used to being beaten by Xu Jie.
All right.
Hitting means kissing and scolding means loving.
Zhu Ping'an finally understood. Although Xu Jie looked disgusted with Xu, he must be very satisfied with the eldest son in his heart.
Next, Zhu Pingan commented on the couplet again, this time more carefully. However, Xu Jie still smiled and shook his head.
"Students are stupid, so please ask your teacher for guidance." Zhu Pingan looked at it for a moment, shook his head, and said frankly with a frustrated look on his face.
"Oh, I discovered, Ping An, the couplet ends with the word 'Ping An'." Xu suddenly's eyes lit up, as if he had discovered a new world, he pointed at the ends of the first and second lines and said loudly.
Be upright and calm;
The breeze on my sleeves makes me sleep peacefully.
Only then did Zhu Pingan notice that the first line of the couplet written by Xu Jie ended with "ping" and the second line ended with "an". It was really the word "ping", implying his own name. Is this a couplet written by Xu Jie to himself? Zhu Ping'an looked up at Xu Jie.
"You did a very good job in Taicang. You are ahead of the curve, which brings glory to my face. I wrote this couplet for you. I wanted someone to send it to your house. Since you are here, it will save you trouble. I will go directly to you later. Take it back." Xu Jie smiled and nodded, looking at Zhu Pingan with satisfaction.
"Ashamed of me, student, I don't deserve this couplet from my teacher." Zhu Ping'an cupped his hands and said.
"You've done a great job. Taicang has been suffering for many years, and it's time to scrape the bones and cure the poison. With your inspection of the treasury, you hit the mark and brought the disease-ridden finances of the Ming Dynasty back to life." Xu Jie stroked his beard and said to Zhu Ping'an was highly appreciative of Chaku's errand.
"The student is ashamed. This time it just happened to happen. It also caused the teacher to be fined 6,000 taels of silver. The student really has no face to meet the teacher." Zhu Pingan apologized.
"Money is something external to oneself, no more than six thousand taels, so what if it is my entire net worth. Taking it from me is for the benefit of others, and this is nothing but an honor." Xu Jie waved his hand indifferently.
"Besides, it is an indisputable fact that treasury officials and censors took bribes and enriched their own pockets. I also heard about it back then. However, during a routine inspection of the treasury, there was a flood in the south of the Yangtze River and people were in distress all over the country. I was seconded to the south of the Yangtze River by my mentor Xia Gong to provide relief. I failed to participate in the bank check. By the time I came back from disaster relief, the bank bank check had already been completed. Even so, I was guilty of negligence and should have been fined. What does it have to do with you?" Xu Jie continued.
This is indeed the case. Xu Jie also served as the Chaku envoy back then. However, before Xu Jie took office, serious floods occurred in the south of the Yangtze River. The hometown of Xu Jie's teacher, Xia Yan, who was the chief assistant at the time, was in Jiangxi. Affected by floods. There was a flood in his hometown, so special care must be taken, so Xia Yan transferred his most trusted student, Xu Jie, to his hometown to provide disaster relief.
So, before Xu Jie, who was supposed to be checking the treasury, went to Taicang to take up his post, he was transferred to Jiangnan for disaster relief by an official document. By the time Xu Jie came back from the disaster relief work, the other treasury inspectors had already finished checking the bank treasury.
Therefore, to be honest, Xu Jie's fine this time was really a mistake.
"Oh, by the way, Zihou, you were also fined more than one hundred taels of silver, can you collect it all?" Xu Jie looked at Zhu Pingan with concern and asked. Before Zhu Pingan could reply, Xu Jie turned to Xu, "Son, go and pay one hundred taels of silver to your account, and let Zihou bring it back later."
"Thank you very much, teacher. I am very grateful. However, I don't dare to worry about my teacher any more. Ping An has already been prepared." Zhu Ping'an thanked Xu Jie.
"Well, just get it together." Xu Jie nodded, "You have made great achievements this time, but you are still fined silver. I know you were wronged, but you should not blame the Holy One. This is also for the sake of the overall situation. Once a precedent is set, it will be difficult to enforce the fine."
"Student understands." Zhu Pingan nodded.
