In the sixth year of Jianyan's reign, autumn turned to winter, and the first snowfall arrived in Tokyo.

But when the first snow comes, it is not as romantic as just snowflakes covering the ground. On the contrary, most of the snowflakes turn into snow water the moment they fall to the ground, and they do so intermittently, causing a momentary dampness and coldness to hit the body.

You must know that people are not only afraid of heat and cold, but also afraid of the process of getting hot and cold. At the same time, they also hate the inappropriate relationship between weather and temperature, and right now, it is undoubtedly the worst state.

Therefore, on the day of the first snowfall, the bustling Tokyo city suddenly came to a standstill. Hanfang Garden in the north of the city even posted a notice early in the morning asking spectators to pay attention to the weather. The Cuju competition was temporarily postponed indefinitely in order to keep the venue clean.

The merchants and hawkers also stayed away for a while.

Of course, all kinds of warehouses and shops with facades will definitely still be open.

In this case, it was somewhat easier for the shop assistants who were carrying food boxes, gift boxes, and even transporting food in mule carts all over the street.

That’s right, food ordering, ordering, and delivery have become popular in Tokyo in the early years. Now with the recovery of Tokyo’s population and the recovery of business, especially the attraction of the capital to the rich and powerful, it has reappeared in Tokyo again, and on a larger scale.

...This is because now not only the powerful, but also wealthy people do this. According to the proposals and arrangements of the officials, from this autumn onwards, in addition to the Imperial College, which has its own canteen, the six provinces, nine ministers and five eunuchs, the Privy Council, and the imperial camp will

The headquarters, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Martial Arts and Hanlin Academy all have officially funded free outsourced lunch services.

This is a small design with extraordinary practical effects.

For some petty officials with modest financial resources, it is really rare to be able to eat delicious food from a real store during working hours. Some people even skip breakfast altogether because of this... which can be regarded as improving their centripetal force to a considerable extent.

and work efficiency; at the same time, various stores are also very happy to compete for this qualification. You must know that once a certain dish or certain snacks are made on a large scale, the cost will also be greatly reduced, and the merchants will not because of this

The so-called bidding price is too low to be profitable.

In addition, regular restaurants that own this business tend to have a better overall reputation and more prosperous business because of this business. Many wealthy families want to be the first to use the same dishes as the bosses, so that a kind of reputation has arisen.

It's a subscription business... It depends on who sells it to the provincial government and the Privy Council on that day. In the evening, servants from powerful people will come to order this kind of takeaway.

There are even rumors that the Zhao Guan family will randomly draw lots to choose a main store that participates in outsourcing, and have lunch delivered directly to Shiting in the harem... Many main store helpers keep saying that they have delivered meals to Yiyoumen.

...And this kind of food is basically priceless.

It sounds like it's real.

But no matter what? This is a very effective method used by the imperial court to win people's hearts when the finances are not rich enough.

But there are also troubles with this kind of thing? Those are the main stores that have outsourced the imperial government offices? Usually, only in the morning will the imperial ban directly notify the store of the results of the temporary lottery decision? These stores only know that they have to pay for the specific details at noon when they come to them.

Which yamen provides services.

So? As soon as noon arrives, the streets are full of meal delivery mules carrying the imperial banners. Even the prime minister’s guard of honor has to be avoided. Otherwise, the reputation of so-and-so for treating his colleagues and subordinates harshly will soon spread.

According to unreliable rumors, an official from a large county who was originally scheduled to go to Beijing was kicked out to Guangnan West Road because he blocked the lunch cart of the staff and made the entire staff drink half-cool batter soup.

.

It was a joke, and not many people really believed it, but it spread anyway, and it did attract the attention of officials who came to Beijing - this rule had only been implemented for more than half a month, and it was said that officials from outside had dinner together in the main store, and supplemented their food, including

In Wuyue Guanguan, there is an unspoken rule that you can only use the food after noon.

In the evening of that day, the snow kept falling. Lin Jingmo, the minister of household affairs, returned home from the public house. He was thinking about whether to let his family order a piece of sweet and sour fish for lunch. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered, he smelled the smell of the nephew of the head of the house.

He came to report that he was a family friend of the Lin family. Mei Quer, the nephew of the Mei family in Jiangning, came after lunch and had been sitting there all afternoon... Lin Shangshu was startled for a moment, then he immediately woke up and asked his nephew to order sweet and sour fish.

At the same time, he quickly asked the junior named Mei to come over.

It turns out that Lin Shangshu, a family friend, was born as a Jinshi in the third year of Jianyan. And that group of Jinshi was the result of the first large-scale recruitment of scholars after Zhao Guan's family ascended the throne, and it is particularly conspicuous in the current political map of the imperial court.

Not to mention anything else, in just three years, three people have already become number one figures in the court.

One of them is Hu Quan, who has mastered the increasingly large and powerful Dibao system. He has a humble and powerful position, is vaguely as famous as Hu Yin and Hu Hongxiu, and is known as the Three Hus (of course, there are also those who say the Four Hus, but Hu Yin's younger brother).

Hu Hong forced his way in)...This person's actions can directly affect the government's affairs.

Secondly, Yu Yunwen, who is also a low-ranking and powerful man, controls the Department of Military Statistics, which has no weak power. What is more terrible is that he has a profound background. His father is a close confidant of the then Prime Minister Zhang Jun. Of course, he himself can be regarded as Zhang Jun.

He is a direct descendant of Jun, and his father-in-law is Zhang Rong, one of the commanders... Speaking of which, Xiao Yu Tanhua is theoretically a subordinate of Lin Shangshu.

As for the last person, of course it was Zhao Boyao, the number one scholar in that period. He himself was from a distant branch of the clan and was the legacy of his father-in-law, Xianggong Wang. Now he has already ended his experience as a general judge in Zhengzhou and returned to the center. And Yi Yi

Now that the imperial court is simplifying various positions and turning them into real ones, this person should be directly worshiped as a scholar or simply a bachelor, and then write history while raising his reputation in front of the official family. His future is better than that of Hu Quan.

, Yu Yunwen also needs to be stable, and it is rare for someone to have an upright career.

As for Yue Fei and Qu Duan of the same period, let’s not mention it.

As for Mei Maoxiu, who was ranked second in the second class, as a family friend of Lin Xueshi, he was certainly one of the best. He was appointed as a judge for the Wuwei Army that day. Later, due to manpower and expertise issues, he was dismissed when Lu Yihao was in charge of the affairs of the two Zhejiang provinces.

In the past, Lin Shangshu, who was still Xiaolin's bachelor, directly recommended him and became a first-term official. Now he has served for three years, but he was named by Zhao Guan's family personally, and he was transferred back to the capital after this big personnel transfer.

Of course, I am afraid that the participation of this Lin Shangshu is indispensable... Therefore, in any sense of secular officialdom, this person can be regarded as a figure in Lin Shangshu's circle, or the kind of person who serves as a political resource for each other.

It is unusual for this person to visit Lin Jingmo after entering Beijing and going through the official procedures.

Without further ado, the two parties met in the hall, served hot tea with ginger juice and milk skin, and took their seats. Although Mei Tiju was young and promising, with a temperament that did not belong to a scholarly family, Lin Shangshu had experienced many years of internal production, plus

After all, he has a better temperament after being appointed as an envoy... The two chatted for a few words, and they didn't fall into the common sayings. They just talked about the scenery of their hometown, local anecdotes, weather and seasons, literature and poetry.

However, all things considered, the two of them are also standard bureaucrats, and they are on the same political party with each other, so they can't avoid getting down to business.

"Public opinion in the South is quite different from that in the Central Plains. Can anyone talk about the political situation of the country?" Lin Shangshu, who was sitting at the main table and holding a cup of hot milk tea, asked casually.

Mei Tiju thought for a moment, but also laughed: "Let Uncle Shi know that Li Xianggong (Li Gang) can't control what he says when he is there, not to mention that the Taoist lineage now mostly goes to the famous mountains and rivers in the south to establish themselves, and Baima Shaoxing

After the incident, the number of officials who returned home from all over the country was also the largest in the south... Even Lu Xianggong (Lu Yihao) couldn't control so many people, so how could he not talk about the country and ignore the political situation? "

"What did you say?"

"Borrowing temples, wealthy merchants, and relatives to issue loans, and collecting deposits from these people. After the deposits were enlarged and handed over to the servants, people all over the south immediately said that this was actually King Wang Shu's young crop loan reappearing in the world, but the officials knew that the servants were unreliable.

It’s just that we have chosen the original loan sharks from the private sector to work together to issue youth loans... We are still taking advantage of the people, and we are still suspected of losing control and causing disaster." Mei Tiju quickly responded and introduced. "But..."

"What do you think, my nephew?" Lin Shangshu suddenly interrupted the other party, and then sat back and sipped tea. "What does your nephew think of their discussion?"

Mei Maoxiu hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke seriously: "My nephew's views are actually similar to theirs. It's still Qingmiao Loan, but the officials have some new ideas. They know that purely using the government will not work, so they supervise the private sector. And since he is the governor,

If the supervision of this kind of thing is weak, or the government and the people collude, it is destined to get out of control in the past... However, my nephew believes that even so, it must be done, and it cannot be neglected, especially when the country has to do things, and the finances are indispensable.

need."

Lin Shangshu nodded, noncommittal, and became more and more serious: "What about this matter? Are there any other big issues in the south?"

"Besides this matter, of course, there was the great debate that arose after the imperial dynasty destroyed Xixia." Mei Maoxiu immediately responded. "But regarding this matter, the discussion process in the south was divided into three parts because of the news from the front..."

Lin Shangshu smiled when he heard the words, as if he understood instantly.

However, Mei Liqing knew that her uncle's inner beauty had woken up, but she still had to laugh and continue talking:

"At the beginning, the imperial court suddenly launched troops in the northwest. Naturally, the whole Jiangnan was worried, and academies everywhere were beating their chests, worried that the officials would lose the victory of Yaoshan in one day; then, the imperial court suddenly swept across the northwest, not only taking Xixia

, will also make an alliance with Jinhebo, but it caused the upper and lower voices to be silenced. Many people directly followed the di report and changed the direction of the wind. They bluntly said that the officials and the court were strategizing, but they were clever and ineffective. The soldiers and horses of the imperial camp were also elite enough to be able to ride Jurchen armor.

But later, after the reorganization of the Northwest Three Roads, the population of Xixia was only 3 million, and the number of 60,000 to 70,000 standing troops was published by the Di newspaper, plus... plus the subsequent Shanghe incident, Yang Zheng case... they

He also said that Xixia was not as powerful as the Puppet Qi. When the Jin people retreated to gather strength, the imperial court took advantage of the opportunity and stepped in. Once successful, it does not mean that the military of the dynasty was strong enough to be on par with the Jin people. But in this way

The argument itself is actually weak... because the posters in their own academy all say that if Xixia is so weak, how come it could not be conquered for hundreds of years before?"

"These people!" Lin Jingmo shook his head and laughed after hearing this. "It's not that they are unintelligent, it's not that they are unfaithful, and it's not that they don't have integrity and virtue. It's just that they don't know much about military affairs. They thought war was as ridiculous as they thought... But

This is not to blame them. How can one understand war without experiencing war? Who dares to say that Hu Shangshu today does not know how to fight? The key is that these people were timid and unwilling to follow the officials to face difficulties at the beginning.

It just got further and further away, and finally it became meaningless.”

"What Uncle Shi said is true." Mei Yue responded at the time, but responded seriously. "However, these discussions have given rise to some matters... It is said that Li Xianggong took the lead and hoped to set up a private newspaper in the south, but he did so under the guise of

The banner of exchanging Taoism was only suppressed by Xianggong Lu... However, Xianggong Li persevered and was said to have written directly to the court asking for a national newspaper ban, so that he could establish a southern newspaper system."

Lin Jingmo hesitated for a moment, then laughed again, but changed the subject directly: "Do you know about Yuan Sheng giving the Pingxia congratulations to the officials from Dongxiao Palace in Hangzhou?"

"Of course we know that Yuan Sheng is young after all... After two years in Dongxiao Palace, he can't stand it any longer." Mei Yue tried her best to smile. "Even the relatives of the emperors in Nanyang and Yangzhou were also in commotion.

Please return to Tokyo?"

Lin Jingmo laughed: "The official returned it as is, and so did the official in Nanyang. The official in Yangzhou actually said a few good words, which gave Empress Dowager Yuanyou a lot of face."

Plum oak finally fell silent.

Anyway, as a newly promoted official who only briefly met Zhao Guan's family during the palace examination, although he has heard many stories about his own emperor, he always uses reason to remind himself that those stories are unavoidable and exaggerated to a certain extent. And this

At that time, facing an important minister of Lin Shangshu's level, who had such a good relationship with his family, and told royal secrets of this level personally, he had to face an incredible reality, that is, this official

As expected, I am an official who dares to speak and do things without scruples - it would be too unscrupulous to smash his brother's congratulatory form directly in front of his face.

And when he came to the capital this time, he most likely wanted to stay in the capital to work, and in all likelihood he would have to sacrifice others, and then face this unscrupulous official head-on.

Or even more directly, why did you come to see your uncle today? Don't you expect the other party to give you some advice on how to face the current emperor as a former confidant of the official family and an important minister of the imperial court today?

In fact, Shangshu Lin is indeed teaching.

"Good nephew." Lin Jingmo saw this and continued to speak seriously. "Do you know where the imperial court will use you when you come to Beijing?"

"It should be about trade, right?" Mei Qu came to her senses and replied quickly. "Since the imperial court opened the two major cities of Lanzhou and Hetao, it naturally wanted to create a general manager here in the central household department to connect the Western Regions, grasslands, Nanyang, and Japan.

Goryeo... placed China in the middle and handed over its interests, handed over its interests and restricted its movement, and then besieged the Jurchen captives. My nephew thought..."

"That's right and well said." Lin Jingmo nodded slightly. "But there is no need to elaborate here. I am the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Sooner or later, these words of yours will be turned into official documents and sent to my desk in the Ministry of Revenue.

Go up... you can just leave it until the interview... Remember, say what you have to say, say what you know, don't make false guesses, and deliberately flatter. Although officials may occasionally get ahead of themselves, they are fundamentally smart and powerful.

, understand everything.”
To be continued...