When she arrived at the princess mansion, Zhu Jing could even feel the legs and feet of the officials around her trembling.

Ordinary soldiers have nothing to do, but officials like them are in trouble.

The eldest princess Kunning was named Princess Kunxing during the Chongzhen period of the previous dynasty, and was changed to Princess Changping during the Shunzhi period of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty. In the Shaowu year, the emperor thought that Kunxing was unlucky, so she was granted the title Princess Kunning.

Not long ago, she was named the eldest princess, ranking first among the princesses in the clan.

Her husband, Zhou Shixian, was Zuo Zongzheng of the clan family and had a prominent reputation among the clan's nobles.

His son Zhou Zhao was favored by him and became Lingshou Bo. He got the title of World Noble for no reason and made many people envious of him.

The original Zhou Mansion's reputation was naturally suppressed by the Princess's Mansion.

Not only those subordinates, but also Zhu Jing, who was an earl, felt a little cold and irritable in his heart.

When the Patrol Headquarters was first built, it was almost overwhelmed by such a heavy task.

"Uncle Zhu is polite!"

"Uncle Zhou, you're welcome!"

Zhou Zhao had a smile on his face, but he couldn't hide the panic inside.

Although his family had such a great reputation, they had to bow their heads to Zhu Yi, the emperor's favorite and an important official in the capital.

"What was lost?"

The two of them were almost walking side by side, but Zhou Zhao was half a step behind. He lowered his head and said with a wry smile: "It's a gourd vase given by the emperor. It's a five-color gold-painted palm-shaped bottle with two sections. I heard it was made by Jingdezhen in the 16th year of Shaowu."

Year, a batch specially made..."

"I see."

Zhu Jing frowned: "Your Majesty loves to play with these small and exquisite things. He even tied a rope around his waist, saying something like a gourd doll."

"It seems to mean more children and more blessings."

"It seems like there are only eight of them."

"That's right." Zhou Zhao suddenly puffed up his chest and said proudly: "At the beginning, His Majesty thought of the three former ministers of Xuan Guo Gong (Zhu Meng), An Guo Gong (Li Jizu), and Yi Guo Gong (Li Jingwu), so he gave one to each of them.

handle."

"Xuan Guo Gong got a red doll with a male gourd on its head; An Guo Gong was in orange clothes, and Yi Guo Gong was in yellow clothes."

"My family got a green doll."

"That's right." Zhu Jing nodded: "The one your Majesty plays with every day seems to be a doll dressed in white."

"This thing is very valuable!"

"Yes!" Zhou Zhao's face immediately fell: "There are only eight of them in the world, and they were gifts from the emperor, so they were lost in my house..."

"Trouble!"

Zhu Jing frowned, and there was a strong bitterness in her heart.

This is something that can be heard directly from heaven.

If the eucalyptus is broken, it can increase the number of holy scrolls for others, but it will not be lacking for him!

If it is not broken, the emperor will definitely be disappointed with him, and the newly built patrol headquarters will lose all its majesty, and may even fail to recover.

If this thing were sold, it would fetch tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, which is money that many people will never make in eight lifetimes.

Don't be afraid that no one will dare to sell it.

As long as someone dares to sell, someone will dare to buy. There are countless bold people in the world.

After all, after decades of waiting, who will still remember?

"How did you find out?"

Zhu Jing said in confusion.

Ordinary people naturally cherish the imperial gift so much that they even set up incense burners and burn three sticks of incense a day.

But for honorable nobles, they have seen many gifts like this. If they worship three times a day, there is simply no place to put them down, so they are usually treasured and will not be taken out for inspection.

"The butler who holds the keys to the warehouse is missing."

Zhou Zhao said awkwardly: "That's why we realized something was wrong and took stock..."

"Being a prisoner is stealing?"

Zhu Jing expressed curiosity.

"His family members are all here and they are under control. You can't just run away alone if you are a thief!"

"Moreover, none of the soft goods or anything else has been taken away. The house remains the same as before."

Zhou Zhao puffed up his chest and said, "This principle is very simple."

After many years of writing storytelling, he didn’t have a small hall. Isn’t this the case for Mr. Bao and Mr. Di?

"It's true."

Zhu Jing looked at the entire warehouse. The large number of treasures and gifts from the royal family were so colorful that it blinded her eyes.

The Zhou family's savings over the years are indeed eye-opening.

Ruyi, the porcelain was wrapped in large and small wooden boxes, and there were many gold melon seeds and silver beans in yellow silk bags.

"It's strange. I didn't pick up so many things, but I only picked up a gourd."

Zhu Jing said doubtfully.

"It's probably because the gourd is of high value!" Zhou Zhao said, "This thief is also very discerning."

Zhu Jing checked carefully, but she had no clue.

Reluctantly, he returned to the Yamen and studied it all night, but there was nothing he could do.

At this time, Master Xing Ming said: "Generally speaking, it is almost certain that such a person is from the Zhou family, and it is difficult for others to succeed."

"Sir, can you check the eucalyptus?"

Zhu Jing was overjoyed.

The master said awkwardly: "Student, I'm ashamed. I don't have the skills of Di Gong and Bao Gong. I just know how to break a eucalyptus..."

Mr. Xing Ming doesn't know how to investigate, he just cuts it off.

That is to say, he is familiar with the laws and knows the old city rules over the years, so he can carry out sentencing according to the rules and avoid officials from imposing the wrong punishment.

At the same time, the experienced master Xing Ming will also peep out the details from the scrolls and see through the frame-up and bad habits of the subordinates.

All in all, he is still showing off his literary work, just like the judges of later generations.

Since the separation of officials and officials in the Song Dynasty, officials with imperial examination backgrounds have often been toyed with by local subordinate officials, which is equivalent to college students being fooled by old dogs after graduation. This is very normal.

Being good at reading does not mean you will be an official.

After all, being an official requires a lot of knowledge.

Therefore, over time, hiring a master has become a tradition.

Generally speaking, local officials will have three masters, Master Shuqi, Master Qiangu, and Master Xingming.

Master Shuqi is generally responsible for document writing and document processing, as well as external communications.

When writing a memorial to the emperor, if you make a single mistake, you may be beheaded, so it makes perfect sense to find someone to help you draft it.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan led the Hunan army to repeated defeats. He wanted to jump into the river several times. His master wrote a note to him, changing the word "repeated defeats" to "repeated defeats". The order was reversed, and the meaning was very different. He was always criticized by the Qing court.

trust.

Zhao Shu, the first prime minister in the Shaowu Dynasty, was Sun Chuanting's master Shuqi.

Master Xing Ming doesn’t need to go into details.

Master Qiangu is different. Most of them do not travel around with their proprietors, but stay rooted in the local area.

Because compared to the yellow book of the imperial court, Master Qiangu's private book is the real yellow book, which contains the real local land survey list, list of wealthy households, official relationship chart, industry rules and taboos, etc.

Therefore, Master Qiangu was basically passed down from father to son, or from master to apprentice, and he was the iron-clad local financial director.

Sometimes this kind of yellow book is worth tens of thousands of taels.

Emperor Shaowu was initially prepared to sever it, but after some attempts, the harm outweighed the benefits, so he continued to acquiesce.

The imperial examination, which was born out of studying, is the fairest selection method today, and the shortcomings need to be supplemented by the master.

This is a natural adjustment of history and has its own rationality.

Even if they undergo an internship in government administration, these people with outstanding academic performance may not necessarily become officials.

After all, if the article is well written, the memorial may not be good; if you read a lot of books, you may not be able to understand the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Furthermore, the master is also the official's assistant and can avoid being manipulated by subordinate officials.

The existence of the master has fixed the bottom line to a certain extent.

"However, the people who are best at catching thieves by cutting off the eucalyptus are the old officials."
To be continued...