Confucian and Taoist scholar

The Lantern Festival Literary Fair continues, and scholars from all over the world have submitted their own poems. Occasionally, rare Mingzhou works will appear, but they are undoubtedly far from Du Ning's handed down poems.

At the end of the literary meeting, Du Ning's poem "The Sapphire Case" deserved to be at the top of the list. Even if Wei Boqing and Lu Xionghua were present, they could not deny the status of Du Ning's poems handed down from generation to generation.

After the Lunar New Year's Eve Literary Meeting, scholars from all over the world left in despair. They wanted to use the Literary Meeting to undermine Du Ning's confidence before he left for Lanzhou to take up his post, but in the end, Du Ning wrote a poem that will be handed down from generation to generation.

Come on, everyone is so angry that they feel uncomfortable, just like a mute eating Coptis chinensis, unable to express their suffering.

The next day.

"Kongcheng Wenbao" published many poems from the Lantern Festival Gala, and Du Ning's poems from ancient times were on the headlines, attracting a lot of heated discussion.

And this day was also the day when Du Ning left for Ang Lanzhou to take office.

Early in the morning, Du Ning received a set of Confucian cultural treasures sent by someone from the Confucius family, which was the prize that Du Ning won at the Yuanxi Cultural Festival.

After that, Du Ning went to the Great Confucian Hall to receive the seal of the state shepherd, and set off on the dragon carriage.

Accompanying him are a thousand elite soldiers assigned to Du Ning by the Holy Academy, with a military scholar as the general. During the period when Du Ning serves as the governor of Lanzhou, this thousand elite troops will directly obey Du Ning's orders.

Military order.

This not only demonstrates the status of Duning as a state pastor, but also consolidates the real power of Duning as the leader of the state.

The state pastor is the highest official of a state, administering various prefectures and counties, and is in charge of the military and political power of the state.

Only when you have soldiers and horses at your disposal, and generals at your disposal, can you speak with confidence.

When the dragon carriage left Kongcheng, many people were standing outside the inn not far ahead, waving to Du Ning.

"Brother Du Ning! This way!"

Among the crowd, Fan Rulong, Fu Yue, Tian Feipeng and many other friends gathered here, and many people from Kongcheng also came to see Du Ning off.

Du Ning ordered the team to stop at the inn, and then got off the dragon carriage.

"Du Jun, I heard that you are going to Lanzhou to take up your post today, so we and everyone are waiting here specially."

Fu Yue took the lead and said: "Those of us have been busy recently and did not attend last night's Lantern Festival literary party. However, we all read your "The Sapphire Case" in the "Kongcheng Literary News" this morning."

Fan Rulong nodded and said: "I like the last part 'Looking back suddenly, but the person is there, in the dim light'. It is the finishing touch. Brother Du Ning, you have a long way to go to Lanzhou to reform the law.

Even if scholars from all over the world have misunderstood you, please stick to your beliefs. If you encounter any difficulties in Lanzhou, just send us a letter from Hongyan. We are all your close friends and will be among the families of all countries.

There are quite a lot of connections among them, and they can also help you solve problems in Kongcheng."

"Yes, yes! You must always remember that we are still behind you."

"As your friends, we all believe in you and support you."

"Work hard! Abolish all instruments of punishment in the courts of the world and achieve the highest level of Legalism's "stopping punishment". You will be the greatest contributor to the Legalism of the human race!"

In addition to the encouragement of many scholars, there is also the support of many ordinary people.

"Mr. Yunqi, we are all people who moved to Kongcheng from other countries. Many children of aristocratic families are doing whatever they want by taking advantage of their privileges. If you can successfully reform the law so that princes who break the law are guilty of the same crime as the common people, you will definitely be able to deter those members of the aristocratic family and let them do whatever they want to do again.

We don’t dare to be domineering and bully ordinary people like us who have no power.”

"Yes! We often hear people say that those people from aristocratic families rely on the privilege of being exempted from some punishments to unscrupulously oppress the people. If you can succeed, the people of all countries will be protected by the law.

."

"The children in our family have all read your "Thousand Character Essay" and your poems. No matter what others think, we all believe in you. Please persevere. This burden is very heavy.

No one can carry it except you!"

Seeing that there were so many people supporting him, Du Ning was very moved. He gratefully raised his hands to everyone and said, "Thank you all for your kindness. When Du goes to Lanzhou to take up a post, he will definitely overcome many difficulties and fully implement the "Hua Xia"

"New Law", I will never betray your trust."

Tian Feipeng in the crowd took out a wine jar and poured a bowl of wine for each scholar.

Fan Rulong said: "Come, let's all offer a bowl of wine to Mr. Du, and wish him the best to overcome all obstacles and realize his ambition to implement the new law."

"Okay!"

Everyone picked up their wine bowls and toasted to Du Ning.

"Thank you all. After drinking this bowl of wine, Du will be able to handle it calmly no matter what difficulties and obstacles he encounters. I will do it first as a token of respect."

Du Ning also picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. He felt his chest filled with intense heat.

"Do it!"

Everyone also drank together.

At this moment, Du Ning felt that his blood was boiling and his heart was full of pride.

"Everyone, Mr. Du has set off. When we get together next year, I will wait for everyone to have a drink and talk happily."

Du Ning put down his wine bowl and sat back in the dragon carriage.

The dragon carriage moved forward slowly, and many scholars watched Du Ning's team leave and drift away.

…………

Walking on the official road, the dragon carriage began to speed up, and the entire team also galloped forward, immersed in driving.

One day later, Du Ning successfully arrived at Lanzhou City.

Many officials in Lanzhou City had long known that Du Ning was coming to take office today, so they had been waiting outside the city for a long time. Many local scholars and people also organized themselves to come to greet Du Ning.

When Duning's dragon carriage appeared in everyone's sight, there was a commotion in the crowd.

"Everyone, look! That's Lord Yunqi's dragon carriage! Lord Yunqi is here!"

"Huh! He finally came to our Lanzhou City!"

"Attempting to carry out legal reform with the power of one person is like shaking a tree with a worm, without overestimating one's own capabilities!"

Many people showed contempt and disdain, but after Du Ning's team approached, they quickly put on a respectful look that they had admired for a long time.

The dragon carriage stopped moving, and Du Ning walked down slowly, with a smile on his face.

"We look forward to welcoming Mr. Yunqi!"

"Meet the new Lord Shepherd!"

Everyone bowed to Du Ning together, with thoughtful etiquette.

Du Ning glanced at the crowd and found that most of them were smiling. Some smiled warmly, some smiled coldly, and some even showed unabashed hostility towards Du Ning.

Du Ning bowed his hands to everyone and said, "You don't have to be polite. From today on, Du will be the state pastor of Lanzhou. I ask my colleagues to take good care of me in the future."

"No, Du Jun is really too polite."

"It should be Du Jun who takes care of us!"

"The future development of Lanzhou will depend on Du Jun."

Everyone was polite, but a few couldn't help showing disgust towards Du Ning, and Du Ning just pretended that he didn't see it.

"Ahem..."

Suddenly, an official in the crowd coughed, and everyone's voices suddenly stopped.

This also attracted Du Ning's attention, and he followed the sound and looked over.

The person who came into view was a middle-aged man who was a scholar of Confucianism and Taoism. There was a trace of contentment on his face. He cupped his hands towards Du Ning and said: "Xing Feng, the Prime Minister of Lanzhou, has met Du Ning."

Sir, Mr. Du is here for the first time, so please let me introduce you to our colleagues in the Yamen!"

Zhou Cheng is the assistant officer of Zhou Mu. He takes the second highest position in the state government and assists Zhou Mu in handling many official documents and governing the state.

The Xing Feng in front of me is one of the Legalists.

Before coming to Lanzhou, Du Ning had obtained information about the officials in Lanzhou when he received the official seal at the Great Confucian Hall.

"Then it's up to Prime Minister Xing Zhou," Du Ning said politely.

Xing Feng pointed to his colleagues and began to introduce them one by one, "This is Mr. Shi Zhaodong, who is in charge of the execution room."

"The lower official has met Du Jun."

Shi Zhaodong handed over to Du Ning, with a fierce light flashing in his eyes. As an official in charge of the torture chamber, he naturally advocated the Legalist concept of using punishment to terminate punishment, so when he learned that Du Ning was coming to Lanzhou to serve as the state shepherd.

, extremely repulsive to Du Ning, and even attacked Du Ning in the literary world.

"So you are Lord Shi, I have admired you for a long time."

Du Ning's words were polite, but Shi Zhaodong felt inexplicably that the air was a bit cold.

Some time ago, Du Ning has been paying attention to the news in the literary world, and naturally he has seen Shi Zhaodong's remarks published in the literary circles of various countries.

Now it was the first time that the two met, but it was as if they had known each other for a long time. However, the two of them didn't mention the old things at all, as if they had never happened.

"Du Jun is so polite. I am really flattered that Du Jun pays attention to me for my mere reputation." Shi Zhaodong said.

Xing Feng began to introduce the next official, "This is Xiang Xuan, who is in charge of the official office, Mr. Xiang..."

"This is Yan Maoquan from the military room, Lord Yan."

"This is Mr. Cao, the chief copywriter of the Yamen Administration Department..."

Du Ning greeted many officials one by one.

The state government office is a large military and political institution, with six rooms for officials, households, rituals, workers, soldiers, and punishments, corresponding to the six departments of the imperial courts of various countries.

The "Ya Zheng Si" is responsible for the unified operation of the six offices, which has many officials, and the top leaders of these officials are Zhou Mu and Zhou Cheng.

After Xing Feng introduced all the officials, Du Ning also had a relatively basic understanding of many of his colleagues.

"It's getting late, please invite Du Jun into the city!" Xing Feng said with a smile.

"Okay."

Du Ning raised his hand and ordered the team behind him: "Enter the city."

The entire team entered from the main gate and arrived in the city.

There were local people on the left and right, pointing at Du Ning.

"Look, that's Mr. Yunqi who came to our Lanzhou to take up a post!"

"Is this guy trying to subvert the legalist philosophy of governing the country and reform the laws of the human race?"

"Presumptuous! As a scholar, how can you subvert the holy teachings of the Legalists? Isn't this the height of rebellion? Who is he, just a bachelor?"

"We don't welcome people like this to our Lanzhou, go back!"

Many people got excited and started yelling at Du Ning, as if they had some deep grudge against him.

Du Ning turned a blind eye and looked towards the attic in the distance, and found that many people were looking at Du Ning with worried looks.

A certain official suddenly raised his head, and those people hurriedly hid in fear.

The corners of Du Ning's mouth raised slightly, revealing a smile, and then quickly disappeared.

Xing Feng, Shi Zhaodong and other officials secretly looked at Du Ning, showing a bit of contempt. As a state pastor who is about to take office, he was so disgusted by many people when he first arrived in Lanzhou City. This will greatly affect Du Ning.

mentality.

There are also some scholars who take pleasure in others’ misfortunes.

Only a few people have no expression on their faces, hiding all their emotions.

Unexpectedly, Du Ning whispered in a low voice: "These so-called 'common people' are really poor in acting, and they don't look like common people at all..."

These words seemed to be spoken to himself, but many officials present heard them clearly, as if Du Ning was telling them deliberately.

The proud expressions of many officials instantly froze, some became angry, some changed their expressions, and some gave Du Ning incredulous expressions.

Du Ning was like a mirror in his heart. No matter how much the real people disliked Du Ning, they would never abuse themselves like this in public. Otherwise, how could the children of aristocratic families bully the people with their privileges? How could they still ride on the heads of the people?

Do you want to be arrogant?

So those members of the aristocratic family who opposed Du Ning disguised themselves as common people and yelled and cursed on both sides, while the real people hid in a distance and watched all this, worried about Du Ning, and hoped that Du Ning would not join the aristocratic family.

The middleman’s fault.

At this moment, the situation of many officials became extremely embarrassing. Du Ning saw through the identity of the "common people" at a glance, and everyone was extremely angry.

Finally, an unknown official waved his hand, and the shouting and cursing stopped.

Surrounded by many officials, the team finally arrived at Lanzhou Yamen.

Many yamen servants had already lined up at the yamen gate to greet him. They saluted Du Ning respectfully and said, "See Mr. Zhou Mu."

"You don't have to be polite."

Du Ning raised his hand to signal everyone to stand up, but these government officials did not stand up immediately.

Xing Feng said: "Du Jun took office in Lanzhou Yamen today. He is a very easy person to get along with. We don't need to stick to trivial matters."

"Thank you, sir."

Only then did the government officials hold their heads high.

Many people snickered secretly. Xing Feng was the second-in-command in Lanzhou. Most of the yamen were from Legalist forces. Du Ning's words didn't work, but when Xing Feng spoke, all the yamen officials accepted the etiquette. This

It was Xing Feng who was deliberately trying to give Du Ning a blow.

Xing Feng was very proud, and his expression when he looked at Du Ning was even more sarcastic.

Du Ning smiled and said to Xing Feng: "As expected of Xingzhou Cheng, your words are more effective than my Zhou Mu."

"Mr. Du has overestimated the award. I feel ashamed to be a subordinate."

Not only did Xing Feng not take Du Ning's warning seriously, he actually looked contented with it.

Du Ning's smile turned cold. Good guy, this guy didn't even restrain himself at all. He was simply provoking his authority as a state shepherd!

"Humph!"

Some soldiers and scholars behind Du Ning had cold eyes. They were ordered to serve as Du Ning's soldiers, but they did not want to see Du Ning suffer such humiliation.