When Xu Yun hurriedly bid farewell to all his relatives and friends and rushed to the door of his home, he found that his door was already surrounded by Hu Benlang, who was under the command of the school administrator He Zeng.
As soon as he saw this situation, he knew in his heart that things were not simple.
"Xu Langguan, you are finally back, please come with us!"
When the Huben team leader saw Xu Yun, they just smiled and bowed briefly.
Although Xu Yun was worried, he still put on a smile:
"Brothers, I don't know what you are doing by visiting this humble house."
The Huben team leader looked up and down at the well-known scholar in front of him, who was wearing a coarse cloth jacket, and thought to himself: It is appropriate to say that this person's residence is a humble house. Huben laughed and said:
"We are acting under orders. We only know that His Majesty has summoned you for something. Other than that, we don't know much!"
Xu Yun felt happy when he heard Huben say, "I don't know much." He took out the official salary that had just been paid out from his arms, put it all into Huben's hand, and said with a smile:
"Brother, we are all officials in the court, and we know that it is not easy. These are my salary for this ten years. Although it is not much, please take it and have a drink with all the brothers."
Seeing this, Huben weighed the half-sized and fairly heavy money bag handed over by Xu Yun, and then glanced at the white washed clothes on Xu Yun's body, and still put the money into his arms. This time he didn't He smiled again and bowed towards Xu Yun and said:
"Xu Langguan, to be honest, your Majesty has recently heard that many of the officials you have selected are mostly relatives and friends from your hometown, so he suspects that you have the intention to form a clique for selfish purposes!"
After hearing this, Xu Yun felt a chill in his heart. As an official, he elected Cao Lang, and indeed he elected many of his own countrymen. Originally, when I elected officials, I did have some selfish motives, but what I can guarantee is that every official I elected was a person with real talents and learning. But now that His Majesty has discovered his electoral methods, I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to defend himself.
Xu Yun collected his misty thoughts and smiled again and said to Huben:
"Thank you so much, brother! Yun has one more request. My brother's life and death are uncertain now. Can you give me a moment of grace so that I can go into the house and say goodbye to Zhuo Jing?"
At this moment, Huben had a good impression of the poor, smooth and sincere Lang Guan in front of him, so he just nodded without any embarrassment.
Xu Yun bowed his head and came into the house.
When Ruan saw her husband returning home, she immediately hid the worried look on her face for the time being. Xu Yun immediately told his wife what he had just learned. Ruan thought about it for a long time, but could not think of any good countermeasures.
"Madam, take good care of my mother. I will go to the palace to meet Your Majesty right now!"
After Xu Yun finished speaking, he stood up suddenly and walked out of the hall. Ruan's eyes were red and she immediately chased out of the courtyard. She shouted to her husband:
"Husband, please remember that the wise master can reason with you, but it is difficult to ask for mercy!"
Xu Yun felt blessed after hearing his wife's words. He paused slightly, nodded and said:
"Husband, I understand, madam, wait for me to come back!"
Mrs. Ruan responded and kept looking at her husband's back as he disappeared outside the door of the house.
————
Not long after, Xu Yun arrived at the palace.
In the Jiafu Hall, the emperor was taking a nap. When he heard the servant announcing that Xu Yun had arrived, he sat up. At this moment, the gloomy color on his face became darker.
"Tell Xu Yun to come in!"
After hearing the emperor's words, the chamberlain in the palace immediately went out to fetch Xu Yun to the inner palace.
After Cao Ruiping retreated, the monarch and his ministers sat and knelt, relatively speechless.
After a while, Cao Rui asked:
"Xu Yun, do you know your guilt?"
Facing the emperor's pressure, Xu Yun didn't seem to have any fear or lack of confidence at this moment. His voice was not loud, but it was full of energy:
"Your Majesty, I don't know what crime I have committed. Please make it clear."
After hearing this, Cao Rui sneered with a "hum" in his nose, and threw the bamboo slips on the case in front of Xu Yun contemptuously. The bamboo slips rolled to the ground and happened to be opened in front of Xu Yun. Although Xu Yun could clearly see the contents of the bamboo slips, out of respect for the emperor, he still respectfully picked up the bamboo slips from the ground. He looked up and saw a list.
On this list, all are officials, big and small, selected by the officials in these days, and these officials, without exception, are all from Gaoyang, Jizhou, and they happen to be Xu Yun's hometown.
Xu Yun no longer pretended to be confused at this moment. He knelt on the ground and still spoke to the emperor in his powerful voice:
"Confucius has a saying: 'Execute what you know'. All the people in my hometown are people I know. As the saying goes, 'Do not avoid relatives when doing internal promotions, and do not avoid enemies when doing external promotions.' I guarantee that everyone recommended by me will Everyone is a man of true talent and learning! Your Majesty can personally inspect these officials. If there are any who are incompetent, I am willing to suffer the consequences!"
Hearing this, Cao Rui still had a sneer at the corner of his mouth. He clapped his palms three times, and a chamberlain outside the palace entered the hall. Cao Rui handed the list to the servant and ordered:
"Go and teach Ying to test [He Zeng] and Changsi. Find these people on the list immediately and give me a good test to see if they are truly talented and knowledgeable people. In half an hour, you come Reply here!”
The eunuch received the order and immediately left the palace.
In this way, Cao Rui and Xu Yun casually chatted about trivial matters. Not long after, the chamberlain came into the palace.
"Your Majesty, Marquis Yangwuting and Marquis Changping have already tested these officials and said that there are several talents among these people, and the rest, although they are not considered extraordinary talents, can be regarded as quite satisfactory."
The emperor nodded after hearing this. At this moment, both the monarch and his ministers felt relieved. Although Cao Rui was taboo against forming cliques for personal gain, he cherished Xu Yun's talents and did not want to kill more people. Now this result is exactly what he wanted.
Cao Rui had long noticed Xu Yun's white washed clothes. He walked down the steps and personally lifted up Xu Yun who was kneeling on the ground:
"Not only are you talented and knowledgeable, but you are also a poor, loyal and upright minister! Come here, take some new clothes and give them to Shi Zong!"
After hearing the emperor's words, Xu Yun was already flattered. At this moment, Xu Yun bowed to the ground and said with choked sobs:
"I will dedicate my seven-foot body to the great Wei Dynasty until death!"
————
At this moment, in Xu Yun's house, in addition to Xu Yun's wife Ruan, everyone from the sixty-year-old mother to the cook and servants in Xu Yun's house felt that Xu Yun was taken away by Huben from the school affairs office. Yun's situation was far from unlucky. At this moment, there was a sound of weeping and wailing in Xu's house.
Ruan, who was calm and composed, was comforting Xu Yun's mother:
"Mom, don't worry, Mr. Xu will come back if he doesn't go."
After Mrs. Ruan finished speaking, she went to the kitchen in person and started to cook millet porridge for her husband. She thought that it would be time for dinner when her husband would return home later.
Just as everyone in the Xu family was crying, a burst of hearty laughter came from outside the hall:
"You are crying, am I back now?"
Ruan heard her husband's voice and had a sweet smile on her face.
————
A few days later, Cao Rui, who had enjoyed a peaceful life for more than half a year and had presided over the funeral of the Empress Dowager Queen Guo, once again received a worrying news from the school affairs office.
That is Gongsun Yuan of Liaodong, who has been acting abnormally in recent times.
Originally, with the wealth that my father and I had accumulated over the years, it would not be a difficult task to destroy Gongsun in one go.
What makes Cao Rui embarrassed at this moment is that Gongsun Yuan only made small moves in secret instead of raising an army openly and openly to rebel.
You must know that the four counties of Liaodong border Xianbei in the north and are connected to Soochow by sea. If you do not have enough evidence and rush to send troops, I am afraid it will cause chaos among the people on the border. If he makes trouble, he is afraid that he will be disturbed from peace.
Therefore, there are only two things Cao Rui has to do at this moment. One is to send fierce generals and important ministers to garrison Youzhou to ensure that if Gongsun Yuan rebels, the northern border of Youzhou can deal with it calmly at any time. The other is to lure. He wants to lure Gongsun Yuan. He showed his fox tail in advance. Because if you let Gongsun Yuan slowly accumulate strength secretly, it will be difficult to deal with him when the time comes.
Wang Xiong and Wang Yuanbo, the governor of Youzhou, were naturally a worthy general. However, recently, the old Wang Xiong had relapsed and had returned to his hometown. Therefore, who should be entrusted with the important responsibility of being the governor of Youzhou suddenly became a big problem for Cao Rui.
Cao Rui thought about it, and finally remembered his powerful helper, Guanqiu Jian, who had followed him since he was a boy. Now he served as the governor of Jingzhou and had been training for nearly a year.
————
At this moment, in Jingzhou, under the governance and guarding of Guan Qiujian and Xia Houru, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the border is relatively stable.
Du Zhi was a close friend of Guanqiu Jian's hometown. In the early years, he was able to serve as a doctor due to his filial piety and integrity, and later he filled the vacancy of the school secretary.
This is a leisurely position, which is a good job in troubled times, but Du Zhi is a man with high aspirations, so he is naturally dissatisfied with the status quo.
He and Guanqiu Jian were relatives and friends in their hometown. Guanqiu Jian was newly promoted to the governor of Jingzhou, so Du Zhi naturally hoped to be cited by him.
At this moment, in the Jingzhou Governor's Mansion, Guanqiu Jian was reading a letter from Luoyang.
This is a letter from Xia Houxuan. As usual, Guanqiu Jian wrote down the strange things that happened in Jingzhou in recent days and the movements of enemy countries on the border in the letter one by one, then sealed the envelope and sent it to Luoyang.
At this time, Guanqiu Jian opened the letter from his friend Du Zhi asking for quotation:
If the horse does not try, it will whir in the stable. A strong man's ambition is not fulfilled, and there are many hardships.
Yi Zhi is a concubine, and Lu Wangshen is a man. Yiwu is a trapped merchant, but Qi Qi sighs at the cow.
When he was eating at the prison gate, Huaiyin was hungry and refused to eat. A betrayer will never pay back his salary even when his wife calls him.
Shi Zhi served as an official for ten years, but his position did not increase. Talent is not the eight principles of ethics, but the harmonious relationship.
Ignorance is not here, Yuan Ang said nothing. Due to his illness for a long time, Rongwei became uneasy.
I heard that there was Korean medicine, so I sent you a letter and gave you a pill.
"What a letter for Ichimaru!"
Guanqiu Jian couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed. Although he holds the high position of Jingzhou governor, this is the test that the emperor puts to him. Although he and Du Zhi are good friends, a good man must rely on his merits to build a career. How can friends rely on each other to refer to each other?
Guanqiu Jian asked himself that due to his friendship with Emperor Cao Rui, he would not be outdone by Du Zhi no matter what.
Guanqiu Jian, who had been embarrassed for a while, soon felt happy. With a smile on his face, he took out his pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and wrote a long poem in reply to Du Zhi:
The phoenix flies over the capital, whining thoughtfully. He was born in the holy world, so why shouldn't his virtue sound pleasant?
The eight sons have not met by chance, but now they meet the bright future. Hu Kang has cultivated acres, but Yang Wei has no foundation.
Soaring into the sky, rushing to join Guangxi. Junji's bone method is different, Bo Optimism knows it.
But when it comes to raising feathers, there will be a time for success. If you have no minor ailments, please consult a good doctor.
Lian Pian Qing Qi Ji is still a sparrow. Although Korean medicines are good, they may not be able to cure the disease.
Love spreads thousands of miles long, and poems are answered with thin words. Confidence is felt in everything, and the truth cannot be ignored.
After finishing this long and eloquent poem, Guanqiu Jian felt quite satisfied. He blew the ink marks on the paper, sealed it in an envelope, and ordered it to be sent to Du Zhi.
[Note 1: In addition to "Gift to Guanqiu Jian" in the article, Du Zhi also wrote a concise but higher-level song "Gift to Guanqiu and Jingzhou": A swan can fly thousands of miles, and fly across the vast sky. It's rare to have high aspirations, but disappointed to leave Hong. 】
