Luoyang’s Li is Fang, named after its radius is one Li. To put it more simply, it is a fully enclosed community.
There are only four gates in each mile, and there are no other passages connecting the inside and outside. There are two people in each mile, and twelve officials and disciples, who are responsible for everything inside.
Regardless of whether you are a high official or a small official, a citizen or a slave, you must verify your order or name (similar to an ID card) when entering the inner gate.
Because they are foreigners coming to Beijing and may have to stay permanently, the procedures are very troublesome. Li Chengzhi and Li Shiliang were delayed for nearly an hour at the inner gate.
Li Chengzhi felt like he was about to be dried out. He poured cold water into his stomach one by one, but he couldn't keep up with the rate of sweating.
Don't even think about it. Only officials of the fifth rank and above are qualified to be employed. Li Shiliang is from the sixth rank, which is three levels behind.
Fortunately, he is Guang Lucheng and is temporarily in charge of the Qingzhang Department that specializes in ice matters. Although he dare not take more, he can still get some ice cubes for cooling soup and wine.
It was almost dusk when we finally got to the house.
After meeting his aunt and two aunts, and meeting his two concubine cousins, Li Shiliang asked his servants to set up a table under the shade of a tree in the backyard, and the father and son drank with Li Chengzhi.<
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Both father and son are officials, and the weather in Jingzhou has been good these past few years, with good interest rates. Li Shixian will find ways to bring money to Luoyang every year, so the living conditions are pretty good.
There were three kinds of wine on the table, and there was also a lot of food: cold-cut mutton, air-dried smoked chicken, slightly blanched fish fillets, whole elbows... The table was filled to the brim.
In contrast, there are many fifth and sixth grade Beijing officials who go without a meaty meal for ten and a half months, and even low-level officials are not full...
Li Shiliang and Li Shixian are very similar. They are both people who look down upon the wolves and never get angry... Well, to put it more simply, they don't look like good people at first glance.
Maybe he inherited his mother's genes, but Li Chengxian's face is very kind. Although he is not as outstanding as Li Chengzhi, he can definitely be said to be personable.
After all, he plays music and studies "rituals", and he is a "poet" passed down from generation to generation, so his temperament is naturally extraordinary.
After a few words of emotion that Li Chengzhi was so free, Li Shiliang started talking about business, but he laughed as soon as he said it, as if he couldn't understand, how can a man be more beautiful than a woman?
"You're lucky. You were almost kidnapped as soon as you entered the city. I don't know if there will be any trouble later...
Say you are unlucky. With today's move and your achievements in Jingzhou, Jian must be in the emperor's heart. What's more, there are experts helping behind the scenes..."
Expert help?
Li Chengzhi was a little suspicious: "My nephew also felt something strange. It stands to reason that the prince was beaten. No matter how slow Zongzheng Temple responded, he should have been notified at the same time as the Luoyang Order. But the Luoyang Order finished the case and Henan Yindu arrived for a while.
Is Zongzheng Temple’s minister late in arriving?”
"That's why I said you're lucky, otherwise I wouldn't be in the mood to drink with you right now... Is it the King of Ruyang who has your teeth knocked out?"
Li Shiliang was not polite to him and glared at him: "After leaving the palace, I paid a special visit to Brother Ji Sun (Luoyang Ling Yang Jun) and found out that Gao Zhan, the Yulin Supervisor who was on duty at the city gate today, helped you a lot.
?"
He paused again, looking extremely puzzled: "Even if he is not an enemy, Gao Zhao has always been at odds with the Guanlong clan, so how could Gao Zhan save you?"
Li Chengzhi sighed secretly: How could we become enemies? Maybe it won’t be long before we become in-laws...
He can't talk about the private life-long contract yet. He just talked about how he rescued Gao Wenjun in Hexi.
"Are you really lucky?"
Li Shiliang was amazed when he heard this, and he said seriously: "In the capital, Gaozhao is a mountain that cannot be bypassed. Compared with it, Yuanyue and his followers are not even Daotian Gong.
I won’t wait to cling to you, but at least I need to know the etiquette. So I’ll prepare two gifts tomorrow, they don’t need to be too expensive, and come to thank Gao Zhan..."
Li Chengzhi nodded in agreement and sighed in his heart: Just look at his father and you will know that there are no pedantic people in the Li family. What is the enemy or not? Is it so simple as black and white?
Regardless of the officialdom or the aristocratic family, only interests matter...
Even if Li Shiliang didn't say anything, or even if he didn't come out today and meet Gao Zhan, he would have to pay a visit to Gao Zhan sooner or later.
Not for anything else, just for Gao Wenjun.
Li Chengzhi recalled the secret conversation between Zhang Jingzhi and him after the Dragon Boat Festival: Gao Meng seems to have something in mind for you, but I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing...
Regardless of good or bad things, Li Chengzhi just couldn't figure out what he had in mind?
After chatting for a while, seeing that it was getting dark, Li Shiliang asked Li Chengzhi to rest early, and told him not to rent a house but to stay at home.
Li Chengzhi said yes, but he was scratching his head in his heart.
He can live there, but what about Li Xie, Li Rui and the ten personal guards?
Besides, it’s not convenient.
It would be best to buy one, but money is a big problem. For now, the only option is to rent one first...
……
Early the next morning, before dawn, at least at the beginning of Yinshi (three o'clock), I heard the news of Li Shiliang leaving the house.
The Qingzhang Bureau had to finish dividing the ice before sunrise, so it was so early.
Li Chengzhi simply stood up: It’s too hot!
It felt like the sweat on his body had not dried. He drank seven or eight kilograms of plum wine with an alcohol content of maybe only one or two degrees. He felt as if he was drunk, and he felt a little giddy.
Unable to bear it anymore, Li Chengzhi took a blanket and sat under the shade of a tree in the yard until dawn.
The sun had just emerged, and the sweat on his body began to pour out in waves. In the blink of an eye, Li Chengzhi looked like he had been fished out of the water.
It is now the end of May in the lunar calendar, and it will not get cooler until at least the beginning of August. How will you spend the intervening two months?
Just as he was feeling worried, Li Chengxian called him in for a meal, dealt with the two of them casually, and then the two brothers went out together.
Li Chengxian may have something on his mind, and he hasn't spoken much since meeting Li Chengzhi last night. Li Chengzhi was so upset that he was thinking about how to get through the past two months, but he didn't feel like talking.
The two of them each rode a horse and wandered out of Yannian. It was not until they were about to separate at Tongtuo Street that Li Chengxian finally spoke: "Chengzhi, brother... brother may be promoted?" Li Chengzhi was confused: If you are promoted, you will be promoted. This is a good thing. Why do you have such a strange expression?
After waiting for a long time, Li Chengxian gritted his teeth: "I have never dared to tell my father. I just found out last night that it was because of you who saved Gao Nv Shi... Well, just a few days ago, Gao Nv Shi resigned from his wife's office.
Yue Ling recommended me to the temple minister again..."
Tai Le Ling?
This is an official of the seventh rank. It is not very clear, but it is not dirty either. It should not be something that Gao Wenjun can control.
Li Chengzhi thought: Could it be the work of the Gao family?
ps: This chapter is a bit confusing, so I apologize.
I took the second shot in the afternoon, and my condition was very bad after I came back. I always felt like I was drunk. I will ask the doctor tomorrow to see if there is any way to relieve it.