In the afternoon, Xu Ping left the Sansi Yamen, looking at the red sun hanging obliquely in the western sky, he only felt refreshed.

Today's Chongzheng Palace is the most nervous time he came to this world as an official, this feeling is difficult to explain, anyway, sitting in the palace, I always feel that I am immature, I don't know where there are loopholes. When I was in the palace, I just had this feeling, and I couldn't think of why, until I finished my official business and left the yamen, I didn't remember what the reason was.

Today is the first time Xu Ping has met Wang Zeng, and if you think about it carefully, it may be this person who has put so much pressure on Xu Ping. In the past, even in the face of Lu Yijian, an old fritter in officialdom, Xu Ping could talk eloquently, argue with reason, and would not be stunned. Compared with Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng has a kind face, speaks slowly and drizzly, and the whole person looks gentle and elegant, but he has a different temperament.

The ten years of the Empress Dowager's reign were the era of Wang Zeng and Lu Yijian. The two are the same age, have similar experiences, and stand on the same front in the most difficult days, cooperating and confronting the Empress Dowager Liu, trying to ensure that the little emperor is smoothly pro-government.

In terms of seniority, Wang Zeng completely overwhelmed Lu Yijian.

Lü Yi Jian Xianping was a jinshi in the third year, one session earlier than Wang Zeng. However, Wang Zeng was in Xianping for five years, and he was the third yuan in Lianzhong, and he ascended to the rank of Jinshi as the champion, and the starting point of his career was higher than that of Lu Yijian. In the first year of Qianxing, Wang Zeng paid homage to the prime minister for the first time, and was the third prime minister of the Great Song Dynasty after Lu Mengzheng and Li Di. After Wang Zeng paid homage to the prime minister, he promoted Lu Yijian, who was then in charge of Kaifeng Mansion, to participate in political affairs, and Wang Zeng knew and met Lu Yijian. In fact, the relationship between the two was also good during the Heavenly Sage period, and Lu Yijian was very respectful to Wang Zeng.

The experience of the two as officials is also roughly the same, except for the local appointment, most of the people in the court are engaged in real positions such as personnel and prisons, and then they are the ministers of the Taiwan Command, and they are promoted to the rank of deacon.

The biggest difference between the two is that Lu Yijian is a bureaucrat after all, although he has the ability to do things, he still has bureaucratic habits in his bones. The stability of Lu Yijian's position is more about privately planting party henchmen and playing with power. This is not necessarily a traitor, because although Lu Yijian controls the government, he does not harm the public for personal reasons, and he still grasps the scale in the middle.

Wang Zeng is a traditional literati doctor, who has no private party and acts with public intentions, because of his ability to promote his colleagues and subordinates. There is nothing like this, the Song Dynasty has never lacked this kind of person, and there are many such people among Xu Ping's peers. The biggest difference between Wang Zeng and those people is that although he is this kind of person, he never relies on his own mouth, but on his own real ability. In fact, few of his contemporaries after Wang Zeng had this kind of political ability, and only relied on a mouth and a pen to enter politics.

Wang Zeng did not plant a private party, and the world's corporal doctors looked up, and the supporters in the court were no less than Lu Yijian.

According to Xu Ping's character, he is more willing to deal with Lu Yijian, and everyone has nothing to do with private affairs. Wang Zeng put too much pressure on people, and although he had a very kind personality, his habit of being politically straightforward made people very constrained.

Looking at the slanting sun on the horizon, Xu Ping shook his head, for an official and in politics, how can there be a reason for everything to go well? Let's take it one step at a time.

Tomorrow the eighteenth will not go to court, and the day after tomorrow the nineteenth will start the seven-day winter solstice holiday. Although the first and last days of the long holiday are not off, and they have to go to the Yamen of the Third Division to inspect things, who still has the mind to do things at this time? Naturally, they are all kinds of preparations, calling friends to prepare for a game and a banquet, and some yamen will also use the minister's money to eat and drink.

Speaking of which, the most unaccustomed thing about being an official in the DPRK is that the minister's money is suddenly much less, and although the various official subsidies are much more than in the localities, the actual income is much less. Xu Ping's family is not short of money, but he has no reason to spend money on official entertainment, and the yamen in the capital is much less humane than in the place. On the contrary, people from different yamen, as long as they have similar interests, can invite guests to each other's drinks and feasts, and the scope of communication is much larger than that of other places.

Taking advantage of the winter solstice holiday, Xu Ping wants to move his family outside the city, although the new home has not been fully built, but it can already live in people. The parents live there, and taking care of it also saves Xu Ping from running out of the city every day.

The door plaque of the new home Xu Ping has been made, and the four big characters of "Yongning Marquis Mansion" were written by Cai Xiang. This can only be blamed for Xu Ping's limited level of appreciation, I only know that at this time, there was a Cai Xiang among the well-known calligraphers in later generations, but all important words were entrusted to Cai Xiang to write, and the money for moistening the pen was given to him a lot.

On the twentieth day, the weather suddenly became cold again, and the north wind was not strong, but it blew on the face like a knife, and it blew the face hard at once.

Xu Ping went out of the house, Liu Xiaoyi led the horse, Xu Ping got on the horse, said hello, and carried the horse to the outside of the city.

Parents and Lin Suniang moved to a new home two days ago, and today they are on vacation to celebrate the housewarming. Now it is also a high-ranking official in the court, and on this kind of happy day, it is inevitable that there will be colleagues and subordinates who will come down to say goodbye, and gifts or something are inevitable. There are even major commercial houses that have a direct interest in high-ranking officials like Xu Ping, who have a direct stake in them, and they have to come over to express their hearts.

The biggest difference between Xu Ping and other officials of this dynasty is that there is no shortage of money in his family, not the kind of pure heart and few desires, but really not lacking. He just doesn't have time now, and when he is free, he can do whatever he wants. With his current status as the deputy envoy of the third division and the marquis of the county, he is not afraid that someone will come to find trouble. As for Yu Lu, for Xu Ping, it was pocket money.

Xu Ping's biggest headache for this kind of celebration is that he doesn't want to receive gifts, but he can't stop others from giving gifts. If you receive too many gifts, you will be targeted by Taiwan, and you will usually be fine, but if you have something, you will be turned out to be guilty.

Out of Wanshengmen, Xu Ping's face was numb from the cold, as if it was not his own.

As soon as I got off the road, I saw a person riding on a green donkey in front of me, holding his hand constantly. The whole body shrunk and almost clumped into the donkey's belly.

Xu Ping pinched the horse's belly, sped up to catch up from behind, and said to the man on the donkey: "Jun Zhen, come so early?" ”

Wang Gongchen raised his head, looked at Xu Ping with a bitter face and said, "Don't hide it from my brother, I haven't eaten breakfast yet." I originally wanted to go to your house to have a meal, but I didn't expect the wind to be so strong, but it was a loss. ”

Xu Ping smiled: "What's the loss!" Drink two glasses of wine, your body is warm, and everything is replenished. ”

Wang Gongchen's family has a heavy burden, and now he is not a petty official, and Qingshui Yamen has no oil and water, so his life is naturally inferior to others. Xu Ping's family often helped him, but the situation has not fundamentally changed. It is said that the officials of the Song Dynasty had high incomes, but they only saw high-ranking officials and dignitaries. In this era, the income of officials was very polarized, and the rulers were naturally high-ranking officials, with high-ranking mansions and large courtyards, and groups of slaves at home. The lower-level petty officials are miserable, especially in the capital, and they have to count copper coins to live.

When the two met, a horse and a donkey were in parallel, and Liu Xiaoyi followed behind. It didn't take long to walk, and then he arrived in front of Xu Ping's new home.

Xu Chang was coming to the door with two small servants, and just hung it, when he saw Xu Ping coming, he said happily: "The county marquis is back, hurry, hurry, take out the firecrackers and put them off!" ”

For a moment, the sound of crackling firecrackers sounded, and red scraps of paper flew everywhere. (To be continued.) )