Behind the desk, Gu Zhengchen sat, leaning slightly forward.
In front of the desk, Guo Baobao stood, his chest pressed against the edge of the desk, his eyes shrewd.
"Is it possible to turn around?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at Guo Baobao, his eyes starting to become less firm.
When Guo Baobao saw Gu Zhengchen like this, he smiled calmly: "The county magistrate is so young and has a promising future. It would be unwise to lose his appearance in such a small part."
Gu Zhengchen didn't know where to place his hands. He stood up and sat down again, with a worried look on his face: "I didn't make any mistakes, and I didn't offend anyone."
Guo Baobao took a step back and said coldly: "You made three mistakes! First, you broke the county government's rules. When you recruit corvees, you will be given one dou of grain per month. The people will starve to death and the officials will have food to eat. But what about you? You After feeding the people, what will the subordinate officials eat and what will the government servants eat?"
"Is this also wrong?"
Gu Zhengchen gritted his teeth.
Guo Baobao shook his sleeves and took two steps: "Your Majesty, you can't live alone! If you sit in this position, you need to think about everyone. If you break the rules and ruin everyone's jobs, isn't it wrong?"
"anything else?"
Gu Zhengchen's eyes wandered.
Guo Baobao's tone became stern: "Secondly, you actually plan to give money to the laborers! No prefecture or county would dare to do such a violation of rules. How dare the county magistrate be so presumptuous! This money comes from the county government , it is against the rules, if it comes from other places, haha, it will be an invitation to buy people's hearts. Have you ever thought about it, once this matter is spread to Jinling, will the emperor let you go?"
"For a group of untouchables, it is enough for the county magistrate to do good deeds, but you should never use the emperor's name! In this way, although the people will be grateful to the emperor and the county magistrate, you are committing the crime of beheading! And false rumors What is the difference between an imperial edict and an oral edict? How dare you do the crime of killing a whole family?"
Gu Zhengchen looked sad and slumped in his chair, feeling weak.
Seeing that Gu Zhengchen's mind was broken, Guo Baobao spoke again: "Thirdly, don't investigate things that the county magistrate should not investigate. Just turn a blind eye and close one eye. He was sent to the magistrate's house. Being an official is just for seeking money. Being too serious can easily damage the harmony. If the county magistrate makes some people sleepless, haha, then the magistrate will probably have to find another place to sleep."
Gu Zhengchen frowned, raised his head and asked: "Thirdly, I don't quite understand. What is something that should not be investigated? The case of Sun Niang digging a grave, or did Sun Yiyi die under strange circumstances, or is Sunni Yiyi missing?"
Guo Baobao walked to the desk, glanced sideways in the direction of the door, and said in a low voice: "In the past few days, a vendor went to Hezhuang, wandering around, inquiring about information, the county magistrate Do you know or not?”
Gu Zhengchen stared, feeling startled.
Sun Shiba went to Hezhuang, was he still exposed?
Guo Baobao grinned and warned: "As you said, accept the money and everything will be fine. If you don't accept the money and insist on summoning, investigating, and investigating, then the county magistrate had better buy a coffin first. As a human being, you must be aware of current affairs... …”
Gu Zhengchen raised his hand.
Guo Baobao watched as a copper coin flew up from Gu Zhengchen's hand, spun and fell, and was suddenly caught in Gu Zhengchen's hand, and he slapped it on the table with a crisp sound.
"Baby Guo!"
Gu Zhengchen swept away his fear, with a cold look on his face, and said slowly: "You advised me to turn back to reach the shore, but you forgot one thing, those who are in the water will reach the shore when they turn back. I am on the shore, who is in the water?" ?”
Guo Baobao stared at Gu Zhengchen and his expression changed.
Gu Zhengchen moved his chin, looked at Guo Baobao and said, "Come on, guess how many copper coins are here?"
"Of course it's one!"
Guo Baobao said in a deep voice.
Gu Zhengchen took his hand away.
Guo Baobao's eyes widened and he saw three copper coins on the table!
Gu Zhengchen picked them up one by one and said coldly: "You are a good lobbyist, but your eyesight is a bit poor. Go back and bring a message to the people behind you."
"What words?"
Guo Baobao had a cold face.
Gu Zhengchen stood up, walked out from behind the desk, and looked at Guo Baobao sharply: "If you want to teach Gu how to do things, you should be at least a fourth-grade prefect! Who do you think you are?"
Since ancient times, the people have not controlled the officials!
The powerful clan is indeed influential in the local area, but in the final analysis, apart from their financial resources, they are just the people.
If a lone hero like Hai Rui really gets tough, the powerful clan will have no choice, and even the retired chief minister's words will be useless. It's just that the price of such a lone hero is too high, and it is not something ordinary people can do.
But it also shows from a certain aspect that the county magistrate is not powerless to fight back against the powerful clans. When pressed, it is not impossible to defeat the powerful clan!
After Guo Baobao heard this, the flesh on his cheeks trembled with anger: "Gu Zhixian, you are seeking death, but no one can save you! Don't make things impossible to end!"
Gu Zhengchen pointed to the door: "Go slowly, I won't see you off!"
Guo Baobao looked at Gu Zhengchen, turned around and left. He stopped at the door and turned around and said, "It's going to rain. Magistrate Gu, please take care of yourself."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Guo Baobao leaving and glanced at the file next to the desk.
I haven't started a formal investigation yet, but I just summoned Guo Jie, Guo Ning, and Guo Liang from Hezhuang. They were so panicked that they hurriedly sent lobbyists!
Lure, threat, what a drama!
But, are the Guo family members too impatient?
Or is it that the relationship behind the case is too great that many people cannot bear the consequences of investigating it further?
Gu Zhengchen knew that after rejecting Guo Baobao, there might be resistance in every step in the future.
People have already pointed out Sun Shiba and warned him. From this point of view, the power of the Guo family in Jurong cannot be underestimated.
At nearly noon, Liu Xian walked into the second hall, holding an invitation in his hand: "Your Majesty, the abbot of Chongming Temple, Zhi Zai, has sent you an invitation."
Gu Zhengchen took the invitation, opened it, took a look at it, and said to Liu Xian: "Tell the person who sent the invitation that I will be here after sunset."
Liu Xian left in response.
"Ruqi?"
Gu Zhengchen didn't know much about Buddhism and had no impression of this person, but looking at him from Tianjie Temple, he knew he had taken the bait.
Sunset.
Gu Zhengchen changed out of his official uniform and walked out of the county office with Gu Cheng.
Before he had walked a few steps, Dahong, a disciple of Zhizai, had already stepped forward to greet him and said in a Buddhist salute: "Your Majesty is a distinguished guest, please let me lead the way."
"That would be troublesome."
Gu Zhengchen smiled lightly.
It seems that Buddhism attaches great importance to the news of the relic of Sakyamuni Buddha, and specially arranged for people to wait for it.
Dahong led Gu Zhengchen to the backyard of Chongming Temple and entered the Zen room to report.
The door of Zen is wide open.
An old monk wearing brown monk's robes and jade-colored cassocks walked out. He had a very peaceful face, big ears and kind eyes, and held a glass Buddha bead in his hand. Behind him is Elder Zhizai, who is wearing a light red cassock.
"Amitabha, Mr. Gu County is so young!"
Ruqi walked forward.
Gu Zhengchen looked at the Buddhist bead in Ruqi's hand. This thing was so colorful and beautiful that it was not ordinary at first glance. Glaze was not glass. Besides, this bead had been held by the old monk for who knows how many years. It was just a piece of jewelry. A string of ordinary trees is already unusual.
A Buddhist monk, why do you do such fancy things?
"I think this is Elder Ruqi. I heard that Buddhist beads have the effect of calming the mind. Is that true?"
Gu Zhengchen asked with a smile.
Ruqi nodded slightly: "Buddha beads have their own Buddha nature and bring peace of mind."
Gu Zhengchen glanced at the string of beads in Ruqi's hand and said calmly: "I haven't slept well for a day since I came to Jurong. If I could have a string of beads to soothe my nerves..."
The old monk Zhizai's pupils dilated and he looked at Gu Zhengchen, "What do you mean, robbing in broad daylight?"
Ruqi was stunned for a moment, then calmly handed over the beads in her hand and said gently: "This beads has been with me for twenty years, and today I finally met the person I am destined for."
Gu Zhengchen took the beads and played with them, and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter if you have a destiny or not, as long as it's valuable..."
Wisdom lies in the twitching of the beard.
So brave!
How dare you be so unreasonable to a Buddhist monk.
Ruqi had a calm look on her face and did not feel dissatisfied. It was just a Buddhist artifact, and it was nothing compared to the real relics of Sakyamuni Buddha.
Gu Zhengchen handed the Buddhist beads to Gu Cheng and clapped his hands: "Since you are here, please ask Elder Ruqi to teach me the Dharma alone."
"I think so too."
Ruqi glanced at Zhizai, who understood, took two steps back, turned and left.
Gu Cheng also walked far away.
The night falls gently, it is not dark yet, and the stars are already exposed, like a sleepy person rubbing his eyes.
Ruqi saw that Gu Zhengchen had been silent, so she had to take the initiative to speak: "I received a letter from Lord Gu, and I want to exchange news about the relics of Sakyamuni Buddha for a thousand coins. I don't know whether this news is true or false."
The two of them were sitting on a stone bench.
Gu Zhengchen said seriously: "Whether the news is true or false, we need to dig it out and identify it."
"dig it out?"
Ruqi frowned.
Gu Zhengchen spread his hands: "You don't think it's in my hands, do you?"
Seeing that Gu Zhengchen didn't seem to be lying, Ruqi said in a deep voice: "If it is true, Tianjie Temple is willing to pay five thousand guan as a reward!"
Gu Zhengchen was secretly shocked.
As expected, he is very wealthy. It is said that Tianjie Temple has more than 13,000 acres of land. No matter how much you look at it, you cannot be poor. Each and every one of them claims to be a poor monk, but they are so poor that they say...
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly: "If you are willing to give more, I will not refuse. It's just a thousand gu in advance, so I need to give it first."
"No problem, as long as what he said is true, Buddhism will not bother the county minister again."
Ruqi readily agreed.
Gu Zhengchen understood that the so-called "disturbing" meant making trouble. Seeing that there was no one around, he leaned close to Ruqi's ear and whispered: "Beigu Mountain, Ganlu Temple Underground Palace."
Ruqi's eyes lit up and she looked at Gu Zhengchen excitedly: "Sure enough?"
Gu Zhengchen smiled and said confidently: "The road is not far. We will find out if we find someone to dig around."
Ganlu Temple is located in Zhenjiang. It was built in the Soochow Dynasty and was famous for its iron tower in the Song Dynasty. However, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Ganlu Temple lost its popularity. Later, a tsunami caused seawater to pour in and destroy the iron tower.
At this time, Ganlu Temple had not been rebuilt, and even if it was rebuilt later, no one touched the underground palace. The treasures there were not unearthed until later generations, so there is no reason why they are not there now.
There is nothing wrong with Tianjie Temple digging up an abandoned temple.
Ruqi had an intuition that Gu Zhengchen was right. After all, Ganlu Temple was very old and was particularly popular during the Tang and Song Dynasties!
Phi Xing returns.
Gu Cheng was a little puzzled and asked: "I have never liked Buddhism. Why did you tell Buddhism such news? Wouldn't this make Buddhism more prosperous?"
Gu Zhengchen hummed a tune and was in a good mood, and said to Gu Cheng: "Did you know that there is a word called Pengsha? It doesn't matter if you don't know. You just need to know that the fate of Buddhism does not depend on a few stones to dominate them. The fate is that of Emperor Hongwu..."
