a month ago.
Luodu.
Ziwei City.
Early summer, afternoon.
A jujube tree grows beside the side wall of the main hall with red walls and tiles. It is unknown how old it is, and its lush branches and leaves almost reach into the window.
"I see—I see—"
The warm sun scorched the brown-skinned cicadas on the branches and chirped incessantly.
But it didn't disturb the people at the window at all.
Wow——
In the center of the table filled with papers, a pile of small wooden sticks of the same length were scattered on the empty table.
They were frequently manipulated by the wrinkled palm of a hand.
There were constant clattering sounds, and small wooden sticks were being moved around.
It's not like playing, the old withered palms are playing with them very seriously.
Upon closer inspection, this pile of small wooden sticks is not messy, but has a vague pattern.
Next to the pile of small wooden sticks, there was a thick booklet.
The other one is holding a slender wolf-hair pen in his withered palm, slowly writing lines of regular characters on a certain page of the thick book.
The regular characters are neat and neat, one stroke at a time, just like engravings, without any spirituality.
On the thick volume, the ink that has not yet dried is filled with boring numbers:
[Millet, more than 2,357,000 stones],
[Silk, more than 3,719,000 feet],
[Ma, five hundred and fifty...]
etc.
The fat old man knelt down in front of the desk, bent over and lowered his head, his eyes very close to the album page.
Habitually squinting eyes and registering accounts with dry hands.
It turns out that the pile of small wooden sticks in the fat old man's hand was a plan.
Similar to Ouyang Rong's abacus and abacus in his previous life, but more complicated and inconvenient.
The fat old man is settling accounts.
There are piles of papers on the table in front of him, and the inner side of the table is painted with wine red paint.
The palms and wrists manipulated by the old man were smooth and oiled, and were faintly reflective.
This fat old man in official uniform, with squinted eyes and wrinkles, seems to be at his workstation by the window, doing boring accounting day after day in spring, summer, autumn and winter.
If you move your eyes upward, past the towering desks, you can see that the fat old man's work station is at the top of the entire hall.
In addition to him, there were more than ten officials in the palace.
They sat behind their desks and focused on their work.
There are young and strong people with majestic appearance, and there are old people who look like a deep pool at dusk. They are all wearing official uniforms and neat fish bags. Looking around, you can see a sea of crimson official uniforms, most of which are fifth grade or above.
More than a dozen officials were calm and composed, implying their noble appearance.
On the corridor outside the hall, from time to time, officials in green robes rushed to the hall with documents in their arms.
But as soon as they approached the palace gate, they unconsciously bowed their waists slightly. After entering the palace, they presented official documents to the Feiyi officials. These foreign officials spoke in thin voices, appearing cautious, as if they were afraid of disturbing anything.
As a result, the main hall and the more than ten officials working in the hall seemed more serious and profound.
However, when the eyes of these Feiyi officials fell on the workstation at the innermost part of the hall, with a small green window in the background.
After seeing the figure of the ordinary fat old man quietly settling accounts, they all lowered their heads slightly, lowered their eyes, and continued to work with a flash of awe in their eyes.
Speaking of which, this solemn office hall, in terms of luxurious decoration, is inconspicuous in the entire luxurious palace city.
Not to mention competing with the Zichen Palace not far away, where Empress Wei had gone to court earlier.
But it's called Zhongshu Province...no, it's called Fengge.
One of the highest authorities in the city of God.
At the simple workstation by the window, the fat old man buried his head in settling accounts. Occasionally he would hide his book and look at the green branches outside the window, murmuring with a frown:
"It costs money again..."
He shook his head and continued to work at his desk.
As the cicadas sang their hearts out, the sun on the branches of the jujube trees slowly began to set towards the west.
"clang--"
The rhythmic sound of ringing bells resounded among the buildings of Ziwei.
At the second quarter of the first lunar month, it is the next time.
In the main hall of Feng Pavilion, more than a dozen officials in Feiyi did not raise their heads and continued to work with their heads down.
However, at the workstation next to the small window at the top, the fat old man put down his pen and closed the book. He immediately stood up, left the desk, passed everyone, and walked out of the hall.
More than a dozen officials in scarlet clothes let out a sigh of relief, then stood up one after another, packed their things, and left the palace.
A Feiyi official had a smile on his face.
The highest official of Feng Pavilion, who spends his days settling accounts in a boring way, is good at this. He never procrastinates and leaves when the time is right.
Even the last time the Queen passed by Feng Pavilion on a whim and entered the palace to offer condolences and inspections, the fat old man was also like this. His Majesty was not allowed to occupy everyone's off-duty time.
Ziwei City is the main palace of the Zhou Dynasty and a symbol of imperial power.
It is located at the highest point in the northwest corner of Luoyang, the sacred capital.
The entire Ziwei City is roughly composed of two main bodies: Ziwei Palace and the Imperial City.
Ziwei Palace, inside, is the residence of the Queen and the place where she governs and goes to court.
Outside the imperial city, there are central official offices of the five provinces, Santai, etc., as well as buildings for receiving foreign guests.
Therefore, there are very few official offices that can be located in Ziwei Palace and are close to the emperor. Almost all of them are the highest institutions of real power or etiquette.
For example, this Phoenix Pavilion.
Feng Pavilion is located in the inside, but the fat old man who was the first to leave Feng Pavilion was the first official to walk to Yingtian Gate, one of the main entrances of Ziwei Palace, and waited for the door to open and leave the palace.
Everyone was left behind.
However, as time passed, a group of veterans and young officials who were at the core of the Zhou Dynasty gradually gathered outside Yingtian Gate and waited for the door to open.
Seeing the familiar figure of the fat old man in front of him, a small number of officials gathered and stepped forward.
Words such as "Master" and "Duke Di" were spat out from the mouths of this small group of distinguished officials.
The fat old man, who was meditating in his sleeves in front of the city gate, turned around and bowed slightly in return.
The old man who stepped on the lower value was none other than Di Fuzi, the famous Prime Minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the respectful elder of the country in the mouth of Empress Wei.
The word "Master" is originally a title within the Confucian sect. It comes from the real name of a high-ranking scholar in the scholar's lineage. It is considered one of the highest honors in the Confucian sect.
It is conceivable that the old man has a high status in the hearts of scholars all over the world.
Most of the civil servants in the Manchu Dynasty were scholars, so naturally they were often called "Master", which was used interchangeably with the honorific title "Di Gong".
Gradually, people all over the world called him this. As for Di Fuzi's real name, no one knew it.
Under Ying Tianmen, facing his colleagues.
The fat old man smiled broadly.
The conversation was quite humorous.
With this being the case, the atmosphere is naturally harmonious.
After a while, the time came, and the imperial guards at the top of the city opened the city gate as usual.
All the ministers went out one after another.
As soon as they left the city gate, several palace servants who had been waiting for a long time came forward, with a luxurious sedan behind them. They respectfully handed over:
"Welcome to you, Master, please get on the sedan chair."
Master Di shook his head and declined, took the reins from the old servant, got on his horse, and rode away.
The palace servants who accepted the emperor's order had no choice but to pick up the empty sedan and follow the fat old man riding in front back to the mansion.
Around them, the ministers who boarded the carriages of various houses lifted the curtains and smiled at the sight, which seemed to be a habit, and some people were envious.
Sitting in a sedan chair is not something that ordinary Zhou officials can enjoy. Only senior ministers who are old and highly respected can enter and leave the court in a sedan chair.
It's just that Mrs. Di didn't seem to be used to the Queen's compassionate arrangement.
Master Di rode out of the city and went home along the street.
After bidding farewell to his colleagues, the smile on the face of the fat old man on the thin horse had long faded, and he was looking down and distracted.
He held the reins in his hand, curled his two withered fingers slightly, and tapped the mane on the horse's back rhythmically.
He muttered from time to time.
It's settling accounts again.
In the hearts of scholars all over the world, this famous Prime Minister of Zhou Dynasty, who was the mainstay of the Liberation faction and was at the forefront of fighting against the Wei family, did not have any impassionedness or insidiousness in his daily life. Instead, he did the most boring things in the world.
Settlement of accounts.
The fat old man was calculating the rent and taxes of more than a thousand states and counties in the world, the deficit in the national treasury, and the budget for the coming year.
There are also the wanton and extravagant spending of Empress Wei and the nobles and princesses of the Zhou Dynasty in Luoyang City.
By the way, there are also the handful of useless Qigong practitioners who are favored by the imperial court.
In the eyes of the fat old man who came from a Confucian family,
Forget about those who live in seclusion from the outside world, but those who live in the world, those who are outside the Confucian sect and other prominent sects, are not engaged in production themselves, and they are not able to govern and secure the country.
In addition to being the icing on the cake for the already fierce and fierce peripheral army on the battlefield, it is just a beautiful pendant.
Because of various restrictions such as the mythical cauldron pressure, these Qi practitioners outside the Confucian sect should have stayed away from the supreme imperial power, which is most likely to alienate the Taoist heart, and went to the world to become "lonely souls and wild ghosts". Life and death depend on heaven.
As a result, he took shortcuts, studied Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism for the sake of resource supply, and entered the world under the guise of cultivating his mind.
However, powerful families such as Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Wei's Mansion just like this kind of "beautiful pendants", or in other words, they themselves invest in and produce such "beautiful pendants".
It is nothing more than free rice and only increasing the severity of internal strife such as party struggles and power struggles.
But the most helpless thing in the world is:
There are not many people who are willing to farm, and there are few cooks who cook well, but there are many people who climb on the table to eat dry rice, and they are also talking about big fish and meat, and some of them kick under the legs of the table after belching.
If you ask Master Di, what is the prime minister of the Zhou Dynasty?
He is the biggest cook above, and he has to prepare meals for the whole family. In the words of a young county magistrate, the economy determines the superstructure.
On the street, the fat old man on horseback stared straight ahead, very quiet.
A skinny old servant following closely from the side was not surprised when he saw his master's silence.
This master who settled accounts and scratched his stubby white hair looked the same in the court or in front of a crowd...he talked with humor and sharp words.
But when he's at work or alone, he's the same again... he's taciturn and cherishes words like gold.
To leave the graceful Ziwei Palace, you still need to take the right door to leave the imperial city.
After leaving the imperial city, directly ahead in the distance is the endlessly flowing Luoshui River.
If Luoyang City is viewed from a bird's eye view, it is almost square.
A Luoshui River runs through the central part of the city, dividing it into two areas: North Luo and South Luo.
The Imperial Palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty is located in the northwest of Luoyang.
The royal family and nobles live in Lifang District, northeast of Luoyang.
Luonan Lifang District, separated from them by the Luoshui River, is where most ordinary people live and move.
Most of the officials and ministers of the imperial court also lived in Lifang District in Luonan.
However, most of them are close to Luoshui, because there are long bridges in Luoshui. In this way, they only need to cross a few bridges to reach the imperial city directly and go to the morning court.
Master Di's residence is located in Jishanfang, adjacent to the south bank of Luoshui River.
The group crossed Luoshui and as soon as they arrived at the main street of Dingdingmen, they bumped into a group of Fan envoys in strange clothes.
They seemed to be on their way to Beijing to pay tribute, looking here and there, looking at the colorful streets of Luoyang with novel eyes.
The entire city of Luoyang is filled with an open and prosperous atmosphere.
There are young men from Luoyang wearing Hu robes and hats, there are also bold young ladies wearing chest-high underskirts like ladies in paintings, and there are also Taoist priests and monks walking slowly to observe the ceremony.
There is a saying that the nine heavens open the palace, and all the nations wear their hats and worship them.
Luoyang people on the street have long been surprised to see these high-nosed people coming from nowhere.
In the whole city of Luoyang, the most indispensable thing is the Hu people. There are Hu merchants in the West Market, Hu Ji in the wine shops, and envoys from the vassal country. In the business.
There were even many Luo people who looked at these new foreigners teasingly like country bumpkins.
Master Di frowned slightly when he saw these foreign envoys popping up from nowhere.
"It costs money to return a gift."
After muttering, the fat old man rode away, but the size of the empty car following him revealed his identity.
On the main street of Dingdingmen, the common people and envoys saw the prime minister's cars and sedans giving way to him.
"It's Mrs. Di!"
"At this point, it should be the next court. Master still doesn't like to ride in a sedan chair..." Youluo people showed off their knowledge to their companions.
The blond foreign envoys did not know that they were slightly disliked by the fat old man. The Dali Temple officials who were received quickly pulled the envoys aside and moved them sideways to the roadside. They turned and stared at the back of the powerful prime minister of the heaven. Eyes filled with admiration and admiration.
Master Di rode back to his residence in Jishanfang.
This mansion is not big. When she first came to power, the Queen favored her and rewarded her with a luxurious mansion, but it was in the Xungui District in the northeast of Luoyang.
He didn't go to live there because it was too far away from the imperial city and it was not convenient for him to go to court on duty.
This simple mansion in Jishanfang was close to the imperial city, so Master Di often lived in this mansion and hired few servants, which saved money.
However, a small house also has its disadvantages. For example, at this moment, people from all over the country who came to visit and submit subsidies were queuing up on the street, and the parked carriages almost blocked the street of Jishanfang.
The fat old man was very experienced. He whipped his horse quickly, threw away the clumsy sedan behind him, took a detour, and entered the house through the back door of the house.
The old steward had been waiting near the back door for a long time. He hurried forward and handed over the compiled post:
"Master, please take a look at today's delivery..."
Master Di got off his horse, led the old man into the stable, squatted down and sprinkled some fodder, clapped his hands and walked out of the stable, taking the invitation.
He squinted his eyes habitually, scanned it once, then suddenly took out the last one, opened it and took a closer look.
The fat old man took care of the other stack recursively:
"Rejected."
After a while, he closed the invitation he left in his hand and said:
"Take Disciple Xie Xun to the study."
"Yes, sir."
About half an hour later.
A simple study room with books piled high on a wooden couch.
With a slight "squeak", the door opened from the inside.
There was a young man with a serious face who had rushed from Jiangzhou, Jiangnan Province. He quietly walked out of the study, closed the door respectfully, and walked away along the corridor.
In the room, under the half-closed window.
Master Di sat behind an old koan with a book on the leg of a table. He casually opened the letters and... a picture album sent by Xie Xun.
The album is spread out.
A very familiar, yet slightly unfamiliar county map came into view.
Master Di raised his eyebrows.
Familiar, because this is Longcheng County where he was once demoted and served.
Strange, because this Dragon City lacks something and has something extra.
The fat old man, who was silent in private and unsmiling, narrowed his eyes and continued to look.
After a while, he suddenly said "Hey", covered his head and raised his head, muttering:
"Can you still save money like this?"
Master shows his face.
PS: This chapter tried the illustration function
(End of chapter)
