The winter months have passed and the beginning of the twelfth lunar month has come. On the official road from Cizhou to Anyang County, the seat of Zhangde Prefecture, a group of knights escorted several carriages, running through the thin snow and moving forward slowly.
In the only carriage for passengers, Gao Pragmatic and Shuai Jiamo sat opposite each other.
In fact, only Shuai Jiamo was sitting on his knees, while Gao Pingshi was leaning on a brocade pier with one hand, half lying down.
There was a small copper stove between the two people to ensure the temperature inside the car. There was a table next to the copper stove with a lot of paper on it. The paper was filled with words written with Gao Pragmatic's "invented" charcoal pen.
"Your math talent is indeed very good." Gao pragmatic looked at Shuai Jiamo who was doing the problem in front of him, smiled and said: "After the Huizhou case is over, how about coming to the capital to help me?"
Shuai Jiamo raised his head, smiled, and replied: "If I don't invite you anymore, I will have to recommend myself."
Gao pragmatic laughed, pointed at him, and said: "With your skills, you can even check the accounts in She County, and you see, you also found out what happened. After this matter is over, I guess you will also be there." I can’t stay in Huizhou anymore, but it’s just the right time to come here. I have many things and I may have to rely on you in the future.”
"How dare you be a Shidu and rely on the word "Zhou"?" Shuai Jiamo said with a wry smile: "Shidu's math skills are a hundred times better than mine. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it." He paused and then said: "This summer tax production silk case It turned out to be like this. To be honest, it is far beyond Xiaosheng's expectation... I just hope that I can have a stable meal in the future."
"You still don't understand my concern for numerology." Gao Pragmatic shook his head: "In fact, there are many things in the world that require the support of numerology. In addition to the ones you can think of, there are many... more."
"The attendant has a far-sighted vision, how can someone like Xiaosheng understand it..."
"Ha, here we go again." Gao Pragmatic waved his hand and suddenly said: "If I told you that even fighting is actually just arithmetic, would you believe it?"
Shuai Jiamo opened his mouth, hesitated for a while, and said awkwardly: "This... I don't believe it."
But Gao Pangshi was too lazy to explain. He changed his position, slightly opened the car curtain, looked outside, and asked: "We should be approaching Anyang soon, right? I heard that Anyang was Yecheng back then? "
Shuai Jiamo nodded and said: "Yes, Zhangde was called Yin, Xiang, and Ye in ancient times, and its place is today's Anyang, but the ancient city of Ye should be about twenty miles north of today's Anyang, which is almost where we are now. "
Gao pragmatically said: "I don't know much about Anyang. When it comes to Yecheng, I can almost only think of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao."
You can even write "Longwen Whip Shadow", how can this be your only historical level?
Shuai Jiamo only regarded himself as pragmatic and humble, and smiled without saying anything.
However, Gao Pingshi didn't intend to have a drink with Shuai Jiamo and talk about heroes. He changed the subject directly and said, "If I remember correctly, Zhangde seems to have been granted the title of King Zhao?"
However, Shuai Jiamo didn't know clearly, so he could only say: "Judging from the position, it should be so... We have too many princes in the Ming Dynasty, and I really can't remember them clearly."
"Yes, too many." Gao pragmatically nodded, but did not continue.
Shuai Jiamo sensed from Gao's pragmatic tone that he seemed to have more to say. This man was really not a very talented official, so he subconsciously asked, "The attendant seems to be a little dissatisfied with this?"
"Dissatisfied?" Gao Pingshi turned to look at him and smiled: "Why should I be dissatisfied?"
Shuai Jiamo hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Actually, many scholars feel that we have too many princes in the Ming Dynasty, and the burden on the country is getting heavier and heavier..."
"Do you have data?" Gao Pragmatic said calmly: "How much does it weigh exactly?"
"This..." Shuai Jiamo said with a bitter smile: "The attendant is joking, a young student is just a small official, how can there be such data?"
"That's it. Confucius said: 'If you are not in his position, you will not seek government.' Zengzi said: 'A gentleman cannot think about his position.' Since you are just a minor official, why do you need to ask about this?"
Gao pragmatic sighed: "There are many things. It hurts to stand and talk when you are in the opposition. Only when you are in government will you know how difficult it is to deal with. Do you think that there are so many high-ranking officials in the country and the government are really too stupid to see these problems? ?Shuai Jiamo, when it comes to the human silk silk tax, you know that it is useless to just ask questions, you have to give solutions. Why do you still ask me if I am dissatisfied with too many princes? I may be satisfied or dissatisfied. , can I solve it now?"
Shuai Jiamo was a little embarrassed and argued: "Perhaps you can... uh, influence me by serving as a minister to the Crown Prince."
"Not yet." Gao pragmatically put out his hand to stop him.
Shuai Jiamo didn't dare to ask any more questions. After a while, he said: "Attendant, what do you think Xiaosheng's chances of winning are regarding the human silk silk tax? Xiaosheng heard that the five counties have come up with new evidence."
Gao pragmatic nodded and said: "They did produce new evidence. As far as I know, you are not in a dominant position in this matter now, at least in terms of evidence."
Shuai Jiamo looked worried and hesitated: "But no matter what, it is indeed unfair for She County to pay this tax bill."
"Fairness and justice are not the same thing." Gao pragmatically smiled and said, "Besides, what this matter requires is neither fairness nor justice."
Shuai Jiamo was stunned for a moment: "Why?"
"Neither fairness nor impartiality can solve such a problem." Gao Pragmatic said calmly: "After the last assassination, I was forced to stay in Ansu for six days, and then all the places along the way were very... Nervous, they are not only nervous about me, but also nervous about you, because this case has become a big deal now."
Gao pragmatically blamed the last assassination case on Shuai Jiamo, so that now even the cabinet is paying attention to the case of Ding Sijuan from Huizhou.
Shuai Jiamo asked in surprise: "How big is it?"
Gao pragmatic laughed and said: "You have outstanding people in She County, and a lot of high-ranking officials of the Xiang Party have been dismissed."
This is indeed true. In such a short period of time, officials from Shexian County have already gone public in order to build pressure from public opinion. The following can be considered representatives:
Wang Shangning was born in Songkou, She County. He was a Jinshi and served as the right deputy censor of the capital procuratorate.
Wang Daokun, a native of Qianqiuli in She County, was a Jinshi and served as governor of Yunyang (historically, he would be promoted to Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War a year later). Moreover, his literary reputation was extremely prosperous. Together with Wang Shizhen, he was known as the two Sima of the North and the South, and one of the "Later Five Sons".
Jiang Zhen, a native of the south of She County, was a Jinshi and served as the envoy to Zuobu, Guizhou.
Fang Hongjing was born in the south of She County. He was a Jinshi and served as the Right Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing.
Cheng Dabin, a native of Huaitang, She County, was a Jinshi. He served successively as the director of the merit examination of the Southern Civil Service Department, the deputy envoy of Guangxi, and the Xuezheng of Southern Yunnan.
Cao Lou, a native of Xiongcun, Shexian County, was a Jinshi. He became an official in Jiangxi Province and participated in politics.
Jiangdongzhi, a native of Jiangcun, She County. At this time, he had not yet been admitted as a Jinshi, and he would not pass the exam until the following year. Later, as a censor, he was the first to attack Feng Bao, and he was also a celebrity in the Wanli court.
Shuai Jiamo was stunned when he heard it, and it took him a while to react: "What about the other counties? They didn't respond?"
