"A spring springs from the foot of the mountain. A gentleman cultivates virtue through fruitful conduct."
March 16, the fourth year of Chuping.
Zuo Fengyi, on the outskirts of Dong County.
In spring, the grass and trees turn green, and the wilderness that has been dormant for several months finally has some life. Farmers, in twos and threes, use morning oxen to carry plows, and slowly start to plow the fields of powerful families under the warm sunshine.
There is a large melon field in the southeast of the wilderness outside the city. Green melon seedlings are growing wildly on the ground with vines, covering the land like a big net. A young melon farmer is wearing a bamboo hat on his head, sitting on a hoe with his buttocks in his arms.
Holding a volume in his arms and lowering his head, he seemed to be studying hard, but in fact he was dozing off under the shady willow tree. He was sleeping soundly, but a pebble flew from nowhere and hit him with a thud.
on the cheek.
"Ouch!" The man covered his face with his hands and immediately raised his head, revealing a slightly angry round face under the bamboo hat.
"Yan Gongzhong, do you want to sell this melon?" A traveler riding a horse on the roadside said with a smile.
Yan Qian saw the man's resolute and steady face clearly, and said angrily: "The seedlings haven't grown up yet, what a fool! Get out!"
"Hey, I'm talking about you." The man got off his horse. He was tall and burly, with a long sword hanging on his waist. He walked towards Yan Qian with steady steps. As he walked, he complained: "It's so rough to say that, but
Not like a scholar at all."
Yan Gan glared at the man and said, "Your name is Bao Wencai, does that mean you are really talented?"
Bao Chu laughed, put his arm around Yan Qian's shoulders familiarly, and said, "Since you don't have time to eat melon, you can always buy me a drink of water."
Yan Gan unhappily removed Bao's hand and said dryly: "Take care of your horse. If you bite my melon seedlings, I can't spare you!"
"That's natural!" Bao Chu would only appear so enthusiastic in front of his friends. He said, "I'm waiting to eat the melons you planted. Why would I let a horse ruin it?"
Yan Gan picked up the hoe on his left shoulder, tucked the book under his arm, and walked to the end of the melon field without saying a word, where there was a thatched hut enclosed by a bamboo fence. Yan Gan opened the wooden door on the bamboo fence and waited for Bao to come out.
The horse was tied up under the mulberry tree in the courtyard, and then he pointed to the well platform and said: "There is plenty of water here, you can drink it."
Seeing his mature yet childish angry look, Bao Chu found it very interesting. He raised his hand and held a wine bottle in his hand: "You should drink this water, I will drink it. Where is Xiaoyi? Xiaoyi!"
With that said, Bao Chu stepped in and saw his friend Li Yizheng sitting on the banquet and reading.
Seeing Bao come out, Li Yi put down his book and stood up, saying happily: "Literary talent? Why didn't you say anything when you came?"
Bao Chu laughed, pointed at Li Yi, and said to Yan Qian who was following behind him: "Look, this is what a scholar should look like."
"I am a scholar." Yan Gan defended himself expressionlessly: "He is not."
It turns out that a few years ago, Bao Chu traveled around Guanzhong as a knight-errant and forged friendships with Yan Qian and Li Yi. Among the three, Yan Qian was good at swordsmanship and admired knights like Ju Meng. He liked to call himself Li Yi verbally.
A scholar, he is free-spirited but loyal. Li Yi behaves informally and likes to help people with funerals. Bao Chu is pure filial piety, benevolence and enthusiasm.
Although the three people have different personalities, they interact with each other sincerely, so they can be considered compatible.
Bao Chu took the fresh dog meat he brought with him to the kitchen and cooked it. He poured a bowl of wine for each of Li Yi and the others, and then started chatting while eating, telling interesting anecdotes. After drinking for three rounds,
After finishing the five flavors of the dish, Li Yi put down the bowl and said with a soft smile: "Wencai, you have finally become an official."
Last year in Chang'an, Li Yi was attending the funeral for his benefactor Zheng Wenxin, and he met Bao Chu once. At that time, Bao Chu was shocked by the Tiqi holding Jinwu, and he couldn't help but be fascinated. Although he had already moved his mind, Li Yi also tried to persuade him.
He, but Bao Chu still made excuses to refuse at that time. Unexpectedly, just a few days later, Bao Chu would be recommended as Xiaolian because he killed more than a dozen thieves by himself and rescued his mother from their hands.
Now it seems that Bao Chu has been on a meteoric rise since then. In the future, he will be promoted to the commander-in-chief, and he will be appointed to the Lang's Office. His official career will be broad.
However, Bao Chu does not seem to be going in this traditional direction.
"Pingzhun prison?" Yan Qianchang was in the countryside, and he didn't know that the authority of this department had been redefined by the emperor. He couldn't help but asked suspiciously: "Isn't this the job of knowing prices and being the master of training?"
Bao Chu slowly took a sip of wine, nodded to Yan Qian and Li Yi and said, "Supervisor Pingzhun no longer cares about training, and is only responsible for monitoring prices."
"Oh." Yan Qian didn't think this authority was of any importance, so he asked casually: "Then you are a pacification order now?"
"No, the order of Pingzhen is Jia Gong. I am just acting under him to serve as Pingzhuncheng." After Bao Chu was promoted as Xiaolian, he was favored by Jia Xu before he was assigned a job.
Because of his wide-ranging and well-informed characteristics, he was specially adjusted to be Pingzhun Cheng.
"How much is the salary?" Li Yi asked the question he was most concerned about.
"Three hundred stones."
"The county magistrate is at least six hundred dan." Li Yi immediately shook his head, as if he felt sorry for Bao Chu: "As a filial piety and integrity, it is a bit light for you to start as a prime minister with three hundred dan."
"I think it's good. It suits my nature of coming and going at will." Bao Chu smiled disapprovingly and said, "Besides, I don't know how to govern the people. If I were to become the county magistrate, wouldn't it be harmful to the people of this place?
?”
"Come and go at will?" Yan Qian asked intently, as if he had caught something, "Can I still move around at this position?"
Bao Chu put down the wine bowl, looked at the two of them, and roughly explained the apparent and actual scope of authority of the Pingzhun Supervisor.
"Check public opinion and collect rumors?" Yan Qian couldn't help but frown and thought: "Why doesn't it sound like it's as simple as monitoring prices?"
"The Pingzhun Prison is divided into four groups. Some are only responsible for monitoring prices, some are responsible for collecting rumors and public opinions, and some are responsible for sorting out these public opinions and making predictions." Bao Chu spoke for a long time before getting straight to the point.
: "And I am specifically responsible for spying on the enemy. I have much greater powers and responsibilities than those others. I came here to find the two brothers because I have something to ask for."
"Why are you being so coy? If you want to inquire about something from Feng Yi, my brothers and I can help you if you don't say anything." Yan Qian said cheerfully, while Li Yi on the side was silent and didn't know what he was planning.
"It's not about Feng Yi, it's about Hedong." Bao Chu looked at the two of them with bright eyes and said in a solemn tone: "I would like to ask you two brothers to go to Hedong with me."
"Hedong?" Yan Qian and Li Yi looked at each other, a little confused.
"Yes, Hedong." Bao Chu repeated, then suddenly lowered his voice and said quietly: "There are people in Hedong who are plotting to rebel."
"What!" Yan Qian was immediately shocked. He wanted to say that now that there is peace in Guanzhong and the Holy Emperor is in the government, how could there be rebellion. Considering the current world, it is not surprising: "Who is it?
?”
"The only one who can be sure is Fan Xian, the captain of Diannong School in Hedong County, but there is no evidence and it is just speculation. As for whether other people are involved, the court does not know for a while. In order to avoid disturbing the other party, it sent me to Hedong to investigate."
Bao Chu trusted Li Yi and Yan Qian very much, and the knights were very close-knit in key areas, so he was not worried that the other party would leak the news.
"How are you going to check?" Yan Gan asked.
Bao Chu said: "Fan Xian loves to collect guests and knights, so I would like to ask two brothers to help me with this. Try to enter Fan Xian's family and wait for an opportunity to find out the details."
Yan Qian looked at Bao Chu with some confusion, as if he had something to say but couldn't say it.
Li Yi saw this and explained with a smile: "Bao Xiaolian killed a thief to save his mother, and received a royal post. Who knows in Guanzhong? How could Mr. Fan accept Bao Xiaolian as a disciple?"
Bao Chu said with a sneer: "That's true, otherwise I wouldn't bother the two brothers."
He did not seduce Li Yi and Li Yi with the rewards from the imperial court afterwards, because this would be counterproductive and would make them feel that they had been humiliated and not beautiful. Therefore, there is a natural way to treat knights as knights, so use loyalty to convince them.
Let them feel that this is a righteous thing for the country and friends, rather than for some reward.
"Since we are asking for talents, we must do our best no matter what." Li Yi has always hidden his desire for fame, but as a single family member, he has never been able to find an official career, so he had to help with the funeral of a powerful family in the county.
Looking for friendship. Now that he has the relationship with Bao Chu and the opportunity to get ahead, he naturally has no reason to refuse.
"I am a scholar..." Yan Qian interrupted silently. Li Yi and others all looked at him, only to hear him change his tone and say, "I should put loyalty first."
Yan Qian was given the courtesy name Gongzhong, and Li Yi was given the courtesy name Xiaoyi, both of whom were from Feng Yidong County. There was no Guan clan in Feng Yidong County in the past, so they had a single family, and both of them had rich equipment. At the end of Ping Dynasty, there were more than 20 people in the same year who were good at fencing.
, Yihao organizes funeral arrangements... Li Yi's son is Li Feng, the minister of the State of Wei.
The two of them have no historical intersection with Bao Chu, but seeing that there should be some connection between the rangers, they were written as old acquaintances.