"Strong enough to overcome difficulties, brave enough to make choices." [Congratulations to Prime Minister Han on his return to the Qi Dynasty]
In late June, the rain in Guanzhong gradually decreased, the heat on the ground began to steam, and Chang'an officially entered the hot summer.
Various major cases have long been over. Although there are discussions about establishing a queen, recruiting people to work in the fields, and lifting the ban on the forest, one after another, everyone in the court has no time to spare. Only the Tingwei is free.
.
Tingwei Fayan was weak and intolerant of heat. He took advantage of his rest at home that day and simply hid in the verandah built near the water in the backyard to rest and enjoy the cool air.
His son Fazheng was fanning him by the side and chatting away from time to time. One of the father and son was Jiu Qing, and the other was the emperor's closest secretary. They were so busy every day that no one was seen, and they didn't have much time to see each other.
Now we finally have a time to talk about our family relationship, but we are disturbed by an unexpected guest.
"Meng Ta?" Fa Yan was a little surprised and looked at Fazheng with inquiring eyes, "Although we are acquaintances in the old years, we haven't seen each other for a long time. Why are you looking for me now?"
Fazheng thought for a moment and replied: "It must be about Shanglin."
Meng Ta and Fa Yan were both from Fufengyin. Meng Ta took care of him many times when the Fa family was in decline, and they had a good rapport with each other.
Due to emotions and reasons, the other party came from afar. Fa Yan could not turn him away, so he had to say reluctantly: "It would be great if I can help. If not, just don't get into trouble."
Not long after, I heard a burst of hearty laughter coming from the end of the corridor: "I haven't seen you in a few years, do you still remember me, my old friend?"
The visitor has white hair, is over fifty years old, and has a pair of extremely shrewd eyes set deep in his thin face.
Fazheng stood up quickly and saluted the man who came to him: "Young man, I have met Shibo."
Meng Ta looked at Fazheng up and down for a while with a smile, and praised: "Yes, yes, although he is young, he has the ability to be a prime minister. He deserves to be called the 'Eighth Secret of the Province'."
This is a saying that has begun to spread in recent times. It refers to the eight secretaries around the emperor, including Fazheng, Fu Qian, Wei Kang, Wang Can, Yang Xiu, Huan Fan, Shi Sunmeng, and Pei Qian. These people are all
Young and wise, a moment of great talent.
They stayed in front of the emperor for a long time, studying with the emperor, and often made eloquent remarks that astonished outsiders. Someone with good intentions picked out the eight most outstanding secretaries for review, and they were called the Eight Secretaries. Because they were often in the province,
Therefore, it is called the Eight Secrets of the Province.
As for Wang Fu, who was also the secretary, he was unlearned and unruly. Although he was the emperor's cousin, he was not valued by the scholars, so he was not included in the Eight Secrets.
Fazheng said modestly: "They are all lies in the public eye. Shibo is just joking."
He asked again: "Why don't you see Brother Meng?"
Speaking of his son Meng Da, Meng Ta frowned inadvertently, waved his sleeves and said: "Don't mention this traitor. I asked him to review his knowledge that day and prepare to participate in the Chengming Palace Ceremony Examination. Who would have expected that this boy would speak arrogantly?
He actually doesn't think highly of the job of secretary supervisor and refuses to come. Now I guess he regrets it and has been studying behind closed doors all day."
Fazheng was well aware of this, and it was not so much Meng Da who was not optimistic about the secretary-supervisor as it was Meng himself who was not optimistic about the matter and shifted the responsibility to his son.
It must be known that the struggle between the emperor and Wang Yun was at an intense stage at that time, and the rebels such as Li Jue were eyeing the situation in Shaanxi County, which indeed made many people not optimistic about the situation of the court and unwilling to send their children.
Now it seems that in addition to Yang Xiu, Shi Sun Meng and other people whose fathers have already sided with the emperor, as well as Fu Qian and Wang Can, who are important officials valued by the emperor, such as Fa Yan, Wei Duan, Pei Mao and others are not included.
Particularly outstanding scholars were able to gradually enter the inner circle of the imperial court because of the favor of the emperor such as Fazheng and other juniors.
This made those timid and hesitant nobles regret it endlessly, as if they had eaten yellow lotus.
At the beginning, at the suggestion of his friend Lu Chong, Fa Yan just wanted to give it a try. He did not expect that there would be such a huge reward today. At this time, he said with a satisfied smile: "My nephew is very eloquent, and I missed Cheng Ming."
It doesn't matter if you choose wisely, you must know that a real man will eventually become famous."
These words sounded like sarcasm to Meng Ta's ears. He was asking for help at this time, but it was hard to get angry: "Everyone has his own destiny. Dogs don't have this blessing, so they can't blame others."
The guests and the host sat down and chatted for a while, then Meng Ta suddenly sighed: "Originally, this time I just want to talk about local customs with you, and I don't want to come to ask for anything. It's just that there is an edict involving me at the moment. I have been waiting for a long time."
From the temple, I came here specifically to seek your opinion, my old friend."
"But you came here for the matter of Shanglin?" Fa Yan asked. In fact, the answer was already obvious.
Meng Ta said truthfully: "In the past few years, there was no peace in Guanzhong. The refugees gathered in the countryside. I couldn't bear to see them starve to death, so I asked people to lead them to reclaim wasteland near Shexiong Temple to make a living. But I didn't expect...
"
Unexpectedly, the imperial court would move the capital to Chang'an, and Shanglin Garden, which had been deliberately ignored in the past, would suddenly be valued by the emperor and be measured and inspected.
Fa Yan pursed his lips, knowing that the other party's words were just whitewashing words and it was difficult to explain, so he could only say tactfully: "The holy will has been decided, how can we disobey it?"
"If it weren't for Dong Cheng, the captain of Sili School, Shang Shu, how could the country be like this?" Meng Ta said: "Dong Cheng didn't know the inside story of Shang Lin, and blindly flattered him. He is really a villain."
Fa Yan coughed dryly and said, "You are serious. Although General Dong's behavior is informal, his policy of clearing up the forest and deepening the country's farmland is beneficial to the people. We cannot criticize ourselves."
The other party was cautious in his words and refused to follow Meng Ta's words. Meng Ta shrank his head and no longer dared to talk easily.
Fa Zheng was moved in his heart and glanced at his old father without saying anything.
The father and son were extremely cautious when communicating in private. Fa Yan never asked about the secrets of the palace, and Fa Zheng never mentioned the emperor's words and deeds. Therefore, Fa Zheng understood the emperor's thoughts better than his father. According to Fa Zheng, the emperor had intentions.
Inheriting the political tradition of the Han Dynasty, he supported his relative Dong Cheng as a force to check and balance Ma Rixi and other scholars.
Lifting the ban on Shanglin was not only a testimonial for Dong Cheng to demonstrate his abilities, but also a tool used by the emperor to test the bottom line of the nobles. The intensity of the reaction of the nobles could be said to determine how the emperor would act next.
But now I heard from outside rumors that regarding this matter, the Kanto nobles, including the Hongnong Yang family, all chose to sit on the sidelines, while the interested nobles in Sanfu and other places failed to persuade Ma Rixi, who chose to protect himself wisely, to come forward.
Seeing this situation, as one of the emperor's closest secretaries, Fazheng had already vaguely guessed what the emperor would do next.
Seeing the two of them sitting in silence for a while, Fazheng deliberately eased the atmosphere and wanted to win over this family friend: "In those days, Shibo was so heroic that he made friends with knights and talented people, and spent thousands of gold in one day. How did he end up like this now?
At that time, did you actually be stingy with your family wealth?"
When Meng Ta and Fa Yan heard this, they were stunned for a moment, then looked at each other and suddenly laughed together.
When Fazheng saw this, he also laughed.
There is actually a reason in his words: In order to cling to the powerful, Meng Ta spent all his wealth to befriend Zhang Rang, the prison slave of Zhongchang Shi. As a result, not to mention not getting an official position afterwards, even he himself became impoverished.
When the slaves saw that Meng Ta's family fortune had declined in order to bribe them, they felt ashamed and agreed to do something for Meng Ta.
This played into Meng's wish. He said at the time: "I just want you to pay me a courtesy."
All the slaves in prison realized that they could cancel their kindness by bowing down and bowing down, which was not a loss at all, so they all agreed to him.
At that time, countless people brought thousands of vehicles loaded with money and crowded in front of Zhangrang's gate for the sake of high-ranking officials and generous salaries, and were not allowed to enter. Meng deliberately chose a time when there were the most people, came to the gate alone, and was naturally detained.
The chief of the pavilion stopped him and ordered him to line up.
At this time, the prison slaves who had been ordered early went out with the Cangtou of the mansion to greet Meng Ta on the road, and surrounded Meng Ta's car as if he were a distinguished guest.
The guests who saw this scene were all surprised. It was said in private that Meng Ta had a close relationship with Zhang Rang, so they all tried to bribe Meng Ta with treasures. Meng Ta not only restored the family property, but also generously gave most of it to Zhang Rang, and also
Zhang Rang was overjoyed when he was presented with a bottle of sycamore wine, which was rare in the Central Plains, and appointed Meng Ta as the governor of Liangzhou.
After Meng Ta became successful, he saw that Liangzhou was becoming more and more chaotic, so he abandoned his official position and returned to his hometown. He made large purchases and annexed land, and his family property gradually became rich. It took several years of operation to reach its current situation.
After the two of them finished laughing, Meng Ta left the table and stood up, bowing to Fazheng solemnly: "I didn't expect that people are old and stupid, but today I let this kid enlighten me!"
Fa Yan on the side could not help stroking his beard and smiling, looking very proud when he saw that the matter had not only been resolved and he would not be in trouble, but also could repay Meng Ta's favor with the Fa family in the past.
"While no one has spoken yet, I will report to the state and dedicate my family's fields in Shanglin, Fufeng and other counties to the imperial court for the purpose of farming." Meng knew that this was very similar to the situation back then. If
If you are reluctant to part with your current wealth, how can you exchange for future glory?
Meng Ta was a shrewd man, but he was temporarily blinded by the wealth in front of him. At this time, he was awakened by the righteousness of the law, and it was naturally not difficult for him to make the right decision.
"Shibo is really heroic!" Fazheng smiled and echoed, "I admire you."
"Hahaha." Meng Ta was heartbroken and smiled proudly for a while. He couldn't help but envy him for having such a good son.
If Meng Da had insisted on letting Meng Da enter the palace to participate in the Ming Dynasty test, he would definitely win. With him figuring out the holy will for himself, why would he have to go through this process today?
Thinking of this, Meng Ta couldn't help but secretly compare Fazheng and Meng Da, and unconvincedly came to the conclusion: 'My good horse is no worse than others!'