Du Zhongxiao returned to the capital, visited Xia Zhu first, and gave him some wool. Because Du Zhongxiao returned to Beijing to test the hall this time, it was recommended by Zheng Jian and Ming Hao, Xia Zhu felt a little awkward in his heart, and he was not as affectionate to Du Zhongxiao as before, and he didn't even leave him for dinner.

Du Zhong didn't care, and from the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to have too much to do with Xia Zhu. Xia Zhu's era has passed, and most of the officials who are now in power in the DPRK and China do not deal with him. Du Zhongxiao has clear grievances, and those who have helped him must remember his kindness, but he will not deliberately stammer.

Leaving Xia Zhu's residence, seeing that it was still early, Du Zhongxiao took Thirteen Lang to the mansion of Song Zhen, the governor of the government.

Song Zhen was the champion of the second year of Tiansheng, and Zheng Jian was the third place that year, and the two were in the same year and had a very close personal relationship. In the past two years of the Volcano Army, Du Zhongxiao's outstanding achievements have brought a lot of benefits to the Hedong Road Economic Strategy Division, and Zheng Jian knows it in his heart. When he said goodbye to Bingzhou, he specially told Du Zhongxiao that he could visit Song Zhen in the capital, and he would write a letter to recommend himself to Song Zhen. Because Zheng Jian understands that Du Zhongxiao is good at political affairs, and he is not good at articles, but the pavilion is trying articles. Without the help of real power figures, it is difficult to say the result of Du Zhongxiao's return to Beijing this time.

During the Kangding period, Zheng Jian was the privy deputy envoy, Song Zhen participated in the governor's affairs, Ye Qingchen was the third envoy in the same year, and Song Zhen's younger brother Song Qi ascended to Tianzhang Pavilion in the same year, and the four had a close relationship. The Jinshi in the second year of Tiansheng was extremely beautiful in the court for a while, and was known as the Four Friends of Tiansheng. Because they were suspected of being friends, the four were demoted out of the capital at the same time, and ten years later, they were able to return to their former status.

After the turmoil in the Kangding years, although there were many twists and turns in their careers, the friendship between the four of them became deeper. At this time, Song Zhen was reinstated as a political participant, Zheng Jianshuai Hedong, Ye Qingchen was a bachelor of Hanlin, and Song Qi was a herdsman envoy, and at the same time he co-edited the "Book of Tang" with Ouyang Xiu, all of whom were high-powered. If he can get Song Zhen's appreciation, Du Zhongxiao's call for the test will be much smoother.

Song Zhen was proficient in calligraphy, ancient and modern characters, and even the vulgar characters commonly used at this time. At the beginning of the Kangding period, when he participated in politics, the Chinese scribe wrote his surname in vulgar characters, but he refused to sign and draw the pledge, saying that it was not his surname. In fact, in Du Zhongxiao's eyes, the vulgar Song character is just a pinch of the following into two points, which are accustomed to in the books of the later world, and they are not other words at all.

It is precisely because Song Zhen has this hobby that when Du Zhongxiao passed through Xiangzhou, he deliberately collected some animal bones and tortoise shells engraved with words. At this time, there were not many oracle bones unearthed in Anyang County, and no one noticed the existence of the oracle bones, which was considered to be to its liking.

Song Qi is extravagant, and his family holds banquets and dances every day, while Song Zhen is the opposite of his younger brother, simple by nature, does not like to be quiet, and his favorite thing in his life is to read and do learning. When he was first in power, on the first night of the year, Song Zhen read "Zhou Yi" at home with peace of mind, and the voice of the younger brother's family next door was endless, and his heart could not be quieted for a long time. The next day, I wrote to my younger brother: "Xianggong sent a message to the bachelor, I heard that I burned the lamp and had a night banquet last night, and I was extremely poor and luxurious, I don't know if I remember when Shangyuan ate in the state school?" Song Qi laughed and replied casually: "But I have to send a message to the public, I don't know why I ate rice back then?" "The two have the same father and mother, and their temperaments are just opposite.

handed the name and stabbed it in, Du Zhongxiao waited outside the door for a cup of tea, and an old servant came out and took Du Zhongxiao inside.

Song Zhen's mansion is clumsy, there is no dazzling decoration, the flowers and trees in the courtyard are also bare, there is no air of the court, it looks like an ordinary well-off home. Of course, as a political participant, the mansion is still big enough, and there are not many places in the capital where every inch of land is valuable.

When he arrived at the partial flower hall, Song Zhen sat there in civilian clothes, with a kind face, and did not have the majesty of an important minister of the court.

Du Zhongxiao stepped forward to see the ceremony, and Song Zhen ordered to sit down and ordered the old servant to serve tea.

After drinking tea, Song Zhen said: "The doctor has returned to Beijing, and the saddle horse is tired, why don't you rest well?" I live in the political hall, the court has a purpose, and it is not good to make guests. If it spreads, it will be seen by narrow-minded villains, and it will be bad for them to oppose the doctor. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Back to Xianggong, today is a day of rest, and it does not violate the ban of the imperial court." In life, who doesn't have a family and friends? The court will not be unkind. When Xia Guan returned to Beijing this time, he was specially instructed by the Prime Minister to visit the Prime Minister and bring some gifts for him. ”

Song Zhen said lightly: "Zheng Jing has a little heart. The capital is the most prosperous in the world, what is not there? Why bother bringing gifts from Hedong Road. ”

"Although Hedong Road is remote, there are always some rare things that cannot be seen in the capital." Du Zhongxiao said as he handed over Zheng Jian's gift list.

Song Zhen took the gift list, didn't look at it, and put it aside.

Seeing that Song Zhen was about to send off the guest in the next sentence, Du Zhongxiao hurriedly surrendered his hand: "Xianggong, the lower official also brought a thin gift." ”

Song Zhen smiled slightly: "It's not easy for you to be an official outside, how can you break the bank by earning some money to support your family?" You don't have to say what you bring, even if you bring it back, everything in the capital will be expensive, and you will have more places to use money in the future. I am the ruler, and the court has given me inexhaustible, how can I accept your gifts. ”

Seeing that Song Zhen resolutely refused to accept it, Du Zhongxiao was helpless, took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve, handed them to Song Zhen, and said: "Xianggong, when the lower officials passed through Xiangzhou, they saw some strange words, which looked like ancient texts. I was curious, and I tried to solve it, but I only solved a few words. I heard that Xianggong was proficient in calligraphy, so I specially asked for advice. ”

This is exactly what Song Zhen is good at, listening to Du Zhongxiao's words, he hurriedly took the paper handed over. Unfolded to watch, I saw that dozens of words were written on it, and only about five or six words were written next to the font used now, all of which were easy to decipher words such as cars and horses, which were the result of Du Zhongxiao's brainstorming. Du Zhongxiao's level can only understand these words in a short time, and some of them are still learned from textbooks.

This is a text that Song Zhen has never seen before, and he vaguely feels that there is a context to be found, and when he looks closely, he feels very strange. After looking at it carefully for a while, Song Zhen already knew a lot of words in it, and asked Du Zhongxiao: "Judging from the glyphs, these characters are much earlier than the seal script, and even earlier than the gold inscriptions on the ancient bronzes, which is extremely rare." Where did you get it from? ”

Du Zhongxiao saw that Song Zhen was extremely interested, and he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and said: "When I returned to Xianggong, I got it by accident when I was in Xiangzhou. The local people sometimes dig up animal bones and tortoise shells from the ground, and some of them have these words engraved on them. They didn't know what to do, so they threw it away, and the lower officials saw it by chance, and thought it was an ancient text that they had never seen before, so they collected some. The words on it are on a piece of tortoise shell. ”

Song Zhen raised his head suddenly: "You mean, this kind of writing is on the tortoise shell, and there are many more?" ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Back to Xianggong, that's exactly the case." The lower officials are shallow in knowledge, and most of the words can't be explained, so they are ashamed of the treasures. ”

Song Zhen said: "These ancient words are different from the current ones, and the things of the ancients are naturally difficult to recognize." However, there is always a context to follow in writing from ancient times to the present. As long as you are familiar with the seal script, it is best to recognize some golden scripts, and many of the characters in them can actually be recognized. ”

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly surrendered his hand: "Xianggong's knowledge is beyond the reach of the lower officials." Today, I brought dozens of tortoiseshell animal bones with words received from Xiangzhou, which was counted as a thin gift, and came to visit Xianggong. If you can decipher the text on another day and send a copy to the official, you will be grateful. ”

Song Zhen didn't expect that Du Zhongxiao said that these are the gifts, and he was stunned for a while. If the gold and silver treasures are sent, according to Song Zhen's temperament, he will never accept them. Even if he was entrusted by Zheng Jian to help Du Zhongxiao, he would not accept his gifts, so as not to damage his reputation. But Du Zhongxiao sent this kind of precious antiquity, which was a different matter, it hit the itch in Song Zhen's heart, and he was busy asking Du Zhongxiao to take it and watch it.

Du Zhongxiao instructed Thirteen Lang to take a burden from his back, put it on the table and open it, which was the oracle bone he had received.