Chapter 566: Men are reliable, sows can climb trees
One hundred flintlock rifles were delivered to Huben Zuowei. Chen Ji thought that Ye Bushu would be given priority in equipping them, but unfortunately, it was not him.
"Why?"
Chen Ji was dissatisfied, so he went to see Yan Xu to seek justice.
Ever since they witnessed the power of the flintlock rifle, the generals who did not dare to seek connections with Jiang Qingzhi regarded Yan Xu as a breakthrough point and frequently came to beg him. Their purpose was the same as Chen Ji's, which was to ask for the flintlock rifle to be equipped to their headquarters first.
Yan Xu cursed, "Damn it, you ask me, who should I ask? Lord Bo ordered that whoever performs the best in simulation drills will be given priority in equipment.
"You, Ye Bu Shou, have been so proud of yourself these days, thinking that swords and guns are the best. I heard someone complaining that it's no use training with a stick, it's worse than using a fire stick. Do you regret it now? It's too late!"
Chen Ji returned to Yebushou, cursing, and summoned all his men, saying, "From today on, you must train me hard."
"How cruel?" someone asked.
"My uncle said that as long as you don't die from practicing, you should practice until you die."
Starting from Yebushou, the entire Huben Zuowei launched a large-scale military training campaign.
……
“Time flies!”
In the morning, Lan Zhen walked into the engineering department and looked at the duty room in the morning light, feeling refreshed.
Last night someone invited him to a brothel for a drink, and during the meal he mentioned his career, saying that the position had been vacated and that he was now trying his best to delay the selection process at the Ministry of Personnel.
Since coming out again, Xiong Jia has shown an outrageous work enthusiasm. Jiang Qingzhi's trip to the south caused many vacancies in the south and Suzhou Prefecture. While Xiong Jia was investigating, he sent people to inquire about the actual conditions of the candidate officials and was preparing to hand over the preliminary candidates prepared by the Ministry of Personnel.
If Lan Zhen wants to catch up, he has to rely on the battle before the end of the year.
The battle between Confucianism and Mohism!
He walked into the duty room, picked up the paperwork, and for the first time he was absent-minded and didn't care about anything.
It is a different feeling to serve as an official in a local area and be in charge of a region.
The life and death, honor and disgrace, wealth and poverty of the people under his rule are all in his own hands.
What does that feel like?
“It’s a god!”
A kind of floating pleasure made Lan Zhen squint his eyes and whispered: "This is the taste of being an official. Isn't it just for this moment that we study so hard?"
Someone knocked on the door, and Lan Zhen said, "Come in."
The person who came was his servant. After entering, he looked around furtively. Seeing that there was no one around, he stepped forward and whispered, "Master, someone came to our house earlier and delivered a box. When I opened it, I saw... it was full of silver. Madam asked me to ask you what to do with it."
A box of silver?
Lan Zhen was startled, "But who did you say it was?"
"He said he was the one who talked with the master last night."
Lan Zhen covered his forehead with his hands, feeling torn between his conscience and his desires.
He was not only an incorruptible official, but he also accepted bribes of any kind. But to be honest, this was the first time he had received such a large bribe.
If you accept it, the values in your heart will collapse in an instant.
Years of persistence will become a joke.
There was a vague feeling in his heart telling Lan Zhen that he couldn't accept it.
But the tenderness of the prostitute last night made him feel the youth and dignity of a man.
And the fine wine and delicious food...all of this costs money.
Lan Zhen opened his eyes, with a look of struggle in his eyes, "Don't make a sound."
"Yes." The servant happily took his leave.
The duty room fell silent again. Lan Zhen said faintly, "Half a lifetime of persistence has become a joke."
Knock knock knock!
"Come in." Lan Zhen perked up, put on a stern face, and looked majestic.
The door opened, and the familiar man smiled and said, "Minister Lan, are you busy?"
When Lan Zhen saw that it was him, his stern face turned into a smile involuntarily, "Sit down."
"How was the prostitute last night?" the man asked with a smile.
——How about that box of silver?
Lan Zhen smiled and said, "Not bad."
They both understood.
"Jiang Qingzhi has been going to the Armory Bureau frequently recently. Our people want to go there to get information, but the place is so heavily guarded by the palace guards that not even a fly can get in. Minister Lan, do you have any ideas?"
Lan Zhen frowned, "Your Majesty's guards?"
The man nodded, "It's genuine. To be able to use His Majesty's guards, it must be something extraordinary. Our people suspect that it might be the treasure that Jiang Qingzhi mentioned."
Lan Zhen said, "Let me try this." He then called a confidant and said, "I heard that the Armory Bureau is doing something very cautious recently. Do you know about this?"
"I only heard that the Armory Bureau has gathered dozens of experienced craftsmen, but I don't know what they are making."
Lan Zhen asked: "Is there any way to test it out?"
"It just so happens that the Ministry of Works has something to discuss with the Armory Bureau, so I will go and give it a try."
"Go quickly."
Lan Zhen and the man were drinking tea in the duty room, whispering about what to do if Jiang Qingzhi couldn't produce anything before the end of the year.
"If you don't kill the snake, you will suffer from it. We must mobilize all the officials and scholars in the capital to make Jiang Qingzhi lose his reputation." Lan Zhen said, "Otherwise, once he recovers, it will be a huge trouble."
"Are you worried about retaliation?" the man laughed.
"I am the first to bear the brunt of this." Lan Zhen did not hide the fact. "Last time Jiang Qingzhi said that he would definitely make me suffer. If he is allowed to recover, he and I will definitely fight to the death."
"Don't worry, someone is watching his every move." The man said confidently.
"Knock knock!"
"Come in."
The door opens.
"Minister Lan, something happened to Master Ma."
The trusted official who went to test him came back.
But he was carried back.
The two guards left Lan Zhen's confidant at the Ministry of Works and turned away.
Lan Zhen was stunned. A clerk walked over and leaned over to sniff his breath.
"How?" Lan Zhen asked in a trembling voice.
The clerk shook his head.
"died."
……
"Lan Zhen's men went to investigate, but were killed by the palace guards."
When the news reached Jiang Qingzhi, he couldn't help but laugh, "But did anyone say that he was violent or something?"
Xu Wei shook his head, "No one said anything."
Damn it, the emperor is killing people and you guys don’t say a word, so I’ll kill a few... no, I’ll kill a dozen tyrants, violent, cruel, murderous, butchers... as if they are unforgivable criminals.
"My Lord, the old gentleman has handed over the private school to his students, and he will go to teach outside the city tomorrow." Xu Wei looked at his host. "The famous scholar Wang Tingxiang in the capital actually taught Mohist students. If this news spreads, many people will not be able to sleep well."
"Just impotent rage." Jiang Qingzhi said calmly, but he really wanted to see how those people looked after hearing the news.
Is there anything more satisfying than poaching your rivals?
Xu Wei left the Bo's Mansion and walked out slowly.
"Mr. Xu, are you out for a walk?" asked an old man who was taking his grandson to bask in the sun.
"Yes! The sun is shining, let's go out and get some sun."
"Yes, it's better to dry it in the sun, so it won't get moldy."
"Mr. Xu, have you eaten yet?"
"I ate it. I just ate the pancake."
"Mr. Xu, my wife just gave birth to a child. I wanted to ask my uncle to name the child, but I was worried about bothering him. How about... Mr. Xu help me take a look?"
"Is your surname Li?"
"Mr. Xu has a good memory."
"Son or daughter?"
"son."
"How is Li Zhe?"
"What a nice name! Thank you, Mr. Xu. I will definitely invite Mr. Xu to sit at the head of the table at the full moon banquet later."
"Just let me know when the time comes. But you need to prepare more wine."
"Don't worry, Mr. Xu. There's plenty of good wine!"
Xu Wei walked out of Xin'an Lane and felt relaxed all over.
It was as if what just happened was not a greeting, but a baptism in the world.
Extra warm.
He wandered to the vegetable market and saw Yang Zhaodi sitting there eating, so he walked over and shouted, "Top quality pork! Freshly slaughtered, the fat is three fingers wide, one bite will make your mouth full of oil..."
Yang Zhaodi looked up and asked, "I heard that Chang Wei Bo was being bullied?"
"Ok!"
Xu Wei skillfully removed the hind leg, lifted it up and shouted, "The best pig's trotters, take them home and simmer them over low heat at night, and when you open the pot in the morning, it will be filled with that... the gelatin for beauty. One bite will make your face more tender, and if you eat one, even the beauties in the palace will be ashamed..."
"Give me one." A woman brought a pig's trotter, and Xu Wei used his eloquence to successfully get her to buy a pair of pig's kidneys, saying that he would take them home to nourish his man.
Putting down the butcher knife, Xu Wei sat on the chopping board and said, "Your family... You are so old, why haven't you thought about getting married?"
Yang Zhaodi said, "Who would like a female butcher?"
"Me!" Xu Wei mustered up the courage to say, then turned his head away, not daring to look at Yang Zhaodi.
"You!" Yang Zhaodi looked at him and shook her head for a long time, "You are a rich man, I am not worthy of you."
"It's up to me whether it's suitable or not."
"Where are your parents?"
"It's all gone."
"Where's my brother?"
"No... we each live our own lives and don't interact with each other."
"Then you are a star of misfortune."
Later, Xu Wei left in disappointment.
The old man next to him said, "Zhao Di, that's enough. This guy seems to be sincere. If you miss this opportunity, you will never get it again."
Yang Zhaodi put down her chopsticks, with a look of disappointment in her eyes, "He may look sloppy, but he is proud in his bones and knows how to check people's thoughts, which shows that he is talented.
If I give in to him, it will be fine at first, but later on others will make fun of him for marrying a butcher girl. What will he think? If he doesn't feel anything today, what about tomorrow? What about the day after tomorrow?
My father said, women should not be too ambitious, because if a man is reliable, a sow will climb a tree. "
Proud people like to go to extremes, either being dismissive or stubborn and refusing to give up.
Xu Wei attempted suicide nine times in history, which shows that he was quite stubborn.
He was melancholy for a while, then he laughed, "I think I, Xu, boast about my unparalleled intelligence, but I have been repeatedly frustrated by a woman. I am going to compete with you... Let's wait and see."
Xu Wei rode out of the city, wanting to see Mr. Wang, who was regarded by his employer as a powerful weapon to strike against Confucianism.
When he arrived at the construction site outside the city, before entering, Xu Wei saw several men who looked like scholars blocking Wang Tingxiang, and one of them even pointed at Wang Tingxiang and cursed him.
"Prime Minister Wang Ting, are you going to help the tyrant?"
Xu Wei was unhappy when he heard this, and he dismounted and said, "Hey! What are you talking about? What are you talking about?"
The scholar turned around and saw that it was a slovenly man he didn't recognize, so he cursed, "You son of a bitch, who let you out by not holding your pants tight? Get out!"
Xu Wei slapped him in the face.
The scholar was furious and picked up half a brick from the ground, "Old dog, how dare you hit me?"
"What? Are you not convinced?" Xu Wei laughed and was about to speak when the scholar raised a brick and hit him hard.
Bah!
Xu Wei rolled his eyes, burped, and fell to the ground.
Blood continued to flow down from his forehead...
(End of this chapter)
