In the summer of Beijing, the air is hot and dreary, and under the sunshine, the road is dusty, mixed with the smell of mule and horse feces and urine, and it goes straight to the noses of pedestrians, and even the officials and gentlemen who ride high-headed horses or sit on the sedan chair find it unbearable.

The chubby Ministry of Industry Shangshu Li Youzi covered his nose with a handkerchief, the two high eyebrows wrinkled into a ball, the summer sedan chair is said to be a sedan chair, in fact, it is similar to a sliding rod, a backrest chair, wearing two bamboo poles for the sedan chair driver to carry on his shoulders, and then holding an umbrella on the top of his head, of course, can not block the dust rising from all directions.

But what made him even more anxious was the illness of his old fellow countryman and old friend Zhang Juzheng, since the master was sick and could not go to the court, the atmosphere in the Beijing division has become more and more strange, and the civil and military officials are busy like headless flies, asking for help, climbing, visiting, and probing, and when they are asked by others, they all pretend to be profound, in fact, everyone has no bottom in their hearts.

Pan Jitao, the waiter of the Ministry of Industry next to him, also sat in a sedan chair, compared to Li Youzi, his four sedan chair drivers were much more relaxed, because this adult who had been busy on the construction site of Huang and Huai all year round was so thin that he was pitiful. Coupled with his sun-tanned face and his wrinkled face due to too much hard work, Pan Jitao is no different from the old farmer in the field as long as he takes off his official uniform.

"Lao Pan, you have to hurry up in this chapter of Zhihuai," Li Youzi suddenly said without a head.

Pan Jitao was stunned for a moment, a little unclear.

The Yellow River, the Huai River, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal not only nourished the people of Li on the fertile soil of the Central Plains, but also flooded and will be red for thousands of miles, so it has always been the top priority of the imperial court to control water.

A few years ago, Pan Jitao's focus on the Yellow River was strongly supported, and the imperial court allocated a large amount of money and grain, mobilized a large number of people, and finally renovated the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

This year's focus on water control will be shifted to the Huai River, Pan Jitao made corresponding preparations at the beginning of the year, but at this time, when Li Youzi suddenly mentioned it, he didn't quite understand: "Brother Yihe, it was a summer flood and the Huai River was rising, so we ordered all prefectures and counties to strictly guard against it, and Ji Tao also went to the front line of water control to prevent leakage; As for the construction of the river control project, it will not be started until the dry season in the autumn, and I am in a hurry to start the chapter now...... Moreover, the strategy for governing Huai has been roughly decided, but there are still a few details, and Ji Taming has not yet considered it properly. ”

"When you think about it properly, the imperial court may not be able to allocate money and food!" Li Youzi smiled bitterly and sighed, saw that there were no pedestrians on the empty street, and said in a low voice: "Once Mr. Taiyue is sick, who will take the position of first assistant?" Shen Rumo (Shen Shixing) is a good gentleman, he won't spoil your business, Zhang Fengpan (Zhang Siwei) is okay, I'm afraid that the emperor will be strict and clear, and then the river workers are afraid that it will not be appropriate, just find some excuse to card you, and you will not be able to do anything. ”

Pan Jitao was dumbfounded: "This, how can this be? Whoever is the first assistant has to govern the river! Could it be that the net worth and lives of thousands of people on both sides of the Huai River can be taken seriously and can be used as bargaining chips in party struggle? Outrageous! ”

"Brother Pan, Brother Pan!" Li Youzi smiled bitterly and shook his head repeatedly, "Of course, you are pure-hearted, but do you think everyone cares about the people of Li like you?" ”

Pan Jitao was silent, in fact, he had lived for most of his life, and he had achieved the three-grade high position of the Ministry of Works, he knew very well that he was not suitable for this officialdom at all, if it wasn't for the thirsty Zhang Taishi and the heartfelt Li Youzi, I am afraid that he would never have had the opportunity to stand in the position of the Ministry of Works, who presided over the world's water conservancy plan, like now!

"Alright, I'll go to the river now," Pan said, tugging at his beard.

Li Youzi smiled, leaned over a little on the sedan chair, and said in a low voice: "What I just said is just to ensure safety, and Brother Pan should not be depressed." Mr. Taiyue is in his prime, and may get better as soon as possible; We also have the upper hand in the DPRK, Feng Pan and Ru Mo are ranked as the second assistant and the third assistant, even if Mr. Taiyue is sick, the chance for them to take over the first assistant is far greater than Yan Qing. ”

Pan Jitao thought for a while and cheered up: "Then, let's hurry to Longfu Temple and pray for Master Tai, hoping that the gods will bless him to get better soon." ”

After that, he patted the handrail of the sedan chair and urged the sedan chair driver to speed up his pace.

Li Youzi couldn't help laughing, his deputy was really incompatible with officialdom...... Of course, the officials who prayed for Zhang Juzheng in Longfu Temple were not only Li and Pan, but also the ministers of the Gangneung Party and some people who tended to be attached to the flames engraved their names on the inscription that prayed for Zhang Juzheng.

Supervising Yu Shi Qiu Hu is absolutely unwilling to let go of this kind of good opportunity, he not only included his own name, but also recruited people everywhere, and engraved other people's names, it seems that the more people, the more sincere he is to Zhang Taishi's fist.

Perhaps because he was too busy, he actually listed the names of Gu Xiancheng and several others, so when Li Youzi and Pan Jitao came to Longfu Temple, there was a big dispute here.

Gu Xiancheng's eyes were stunned, and he shouted confidently: "Qiu Yushi, why did you list my name on the inscription?" It must be known that Gu will never be the one who tends to be inflammatory, how can he be willing to do such a servile thing! ”

Of the officials who came from Longfu Temple, nine out of ten came to pray for Zhang Juzheng's blessing and eliminate the disaster, and they were all so angry that they had smoke in their stomachs when they heard the words.

Only Liu Tinglan and Wei Yunzhong, these old friends, applauded, it seems that their friends have done such a great thing, and they are all honored.

Li Youzi whispered to Pan Jitao: "Brother Pan, you said that whoever is the first assistant will govern the river, please take a look at the faces of people like Gu Xiancheng, if he is the first assistant, will he use the net worth of the people of Li Min as a bargaining chip for the court party struggle?" ”

Pan Jitao was silent, even in the face of the rolling flood peak of the surging Yellow River, even if he stood in the dangerous section of the embankment that was constantly trembling by the flood, he was never afraid and never retreated, but he could see Gu Xiancheng's face flushed and inexplicably excited, but his mood was unprecedentedly heavy.

Qiu Hu was reprimanded by Gu Xiancheng, his eyes were stunned, and he said in amazement: "Last time I asked Mr. Gu, didn't you, didn't you nod and agree?" ”

"At that time, a number of colleagues were there, how could Gu agree to a word?" Gu Xiancheng asked in a fierce voice, but there was a smug look in his eyes.

Qiu Hu suddenly woke up, knew that he had fallen for Gu Xiancheng's evil deeds, and when he asked him if he would like to sign his name, he gave you a lot of advice, thinking that he was willing to be listed; As a result, when the inscription was carved, he said that he did not agree, but fortunately, he became famous in front of the door of Longfu Temple, so that everyone in the world knew that he was upright and upright, and did not attach himself to the powerful.

Qiu Hu is shameless, but Gu Xiancheng is even more shameless, and his means are much more advanced than him...... "Mr. Gu, I'm sorry, it's Qiu Meng Lang!" Qiu Huan admired that Gu Xiancheng was more shameless than himself, and at the same time considered himself unlucky, and ordered the stonemason to polish Gu Xiancheng's name from the inscription.

Gu Xiancheng was proud, and a few friends left with their eyebrows raised and puffed up as if they had won a battle, anyway, they had already offended Zhang Juzheng so badly, they had been sitting on the cold bench for two years, and they didn't feel interesting when they thought about it, so they simply took advantage of this to make a big name, take advantage of Zhang Juzheng's illness, and disgust him well, it's a big deal to be dismissed and go home, it's better than being so immortal and not living in Beijing.

A few people talked and laughed, and went to the mansion of Yan Qing, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and recently, they and Yan Qing got very close.

The housekeeper smiled and brought them in: "My lord is meeting guests, please treat a few adults less." ”

Gu Xiancheng and the others sat down in the front hall, slowly drank tea and waited, and after a while, the housekeeper came over again: "My lord is invited." ”

Others didn't think much about it, but Gu Xiancheng was a little obedient, and suddenly felt a little surprised: he said that he was meeting guests, and he must have invited them in to meet when the guests left, but he sat in the front hall and didn't see anyone from here, where did the guests leave from? Is it the back door to walk?

Entering the two courtyards, it is the flower hall where Yan Qing meets relatives and friends, Yan Lao Shangshu wears a crown of loyalty and wears a swallow suit, and several guests are brought by the housekeeper, he stands up to greet him, and said with a smile: "All the young talents come to visit, and the old man suddenly feels that the dead wood is in spring, and the decay is swept away." ”

Gu Xiancheng hurriedly politely said: "Lao Shangshu is polite, you are in the spring and autumn period, and you are deeply disappointed by the expectations of people at home, you should go further and serve the imperial court, why talk about decay?" It's too modest. ”

Meng Huali also said: "Yan Shangshu is an honest and honest official, not only deeply expected, but also simple in the heart of the emperor. ”

Yan Qing has achieved the secretary of the criminal department, although the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of War ranks in front of the Ministry of Justice, but the change to the secretary of the Ministry of Officials or the secretary of the Ministry of Industry is not "going further", and only by being an auxiliary minister of the cabinet can he be called "the one who does not give in".

"Hahaha, everyone's fists are generous, Yan Mou's heart leads, ah, heart collars," Yan Qing laughed, let the four small-character officials into the flower hall to serve tea, and then changed the conversation: "However, the national dynasty is not from Hanlin, but Yan is not from Hanlin, so there is no need to mention the matter of entering the cabinet." ”

These words made the hearts of the four guests sour, they were put together by Qin Lin, and they did not enter Hanlin as Xie Yuan, and lost the opportunity to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister forever, Yan Qing's words really made them empathize, and at the same time, they hated Qin Lin once again into the bone marrow.

Gu Xiancheng lowered his head and sighed, suddenly saw something under a chair, and looked closely, it turned out to be a small Yellow River beach stone, and the naturally formed lines on it were very similar to the shape of a phoenix, and he was suddenly shocked - this fan pendant is the second assistant Zhang Siwei Zhang Fengpan often hangs under the fan!

The friends were still waiting to persuade Yan Qing to make an exception to enter the cabinet with his holy family, but Gu Xiancheng glanced at his friends, and after greeting Yan Qing, he said goodbye and left.

"Brother Gu, why don't you persuade Yan Laoshangshu more?" All friends feel that it is a pity, Yan Qing's holy family is very good, and it is not completely hopeless to enter the cabinet!

Gu Xiancheng smiled and said nothing, he had discovered a great secret......

(To be continued)