Great Blue Night Watchman

In the early morning of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, Lin Su left the Zui Guest House and went to the Supervision Department.

As a person in the Inspectorate, he has to go to work. No matter how much he dislikes seeing those faces in the Inspectorate, he cannot help himself in officialdom.

Compared with the other six departments of the imperial court, the Supervision Department is quieter.

After all, not many people want to hang out in a place where their lifelong mission is to make trouble for others.

He met several inspectors, including two fifth-grade inspectors of the same rank as him, Chen Dong and Li Zhiyuan.

Chen Dong is relatively young. In the imperial examination three years ago, his ranking was not high and he was almost at the bottom. Therefore, the first time he was awarded an official, he was from the seventh rank. However, in just three years, he reached the fifth rank, and he was the same as the number one scholar Lang Lin. Su is on the same level, awesome, right?

Li Zhiyuan is another extreme.

He became a Holy Jinshi twelve years ago, and the official he was awarded at that time was the fifth rank of Cong. It took him twelve full years to remove one word: Cong.

Lin Su looked at his face that was full of years and weather, as if he were seeing himself twelve years later - if his situation remained unchanged.

But when he lowered his head and took a look at Li Zhiyuan's white-washed official uniform, he was somewhat comforted. At least, this handsome guy would probably not be like this in his "money career".

He just bowed to the two of them and passed by before entering the office of his immediate boss.

After a year passed, Zhu Shiyun gained weight again. The large official uniform on him looked a bit funny. When he saw Lin Su, his smiling face was like the Maitreya Buddha in the temple...

"Master Lin, the vacation leave His Majesty gave you is too long. How long has it been since we last seen each other?"

"More than three months!" Lin Su said with a smile: "These three months are not all the vacation leave given by His Majesty. I was also working hard in Xizhou for two of them. Sir, you can learn from this."

"That's...it's still the first month of the year. It's a folk custom not to complain in the first month, so the office is very free during these times. If Mr. Lin is concerned about the family and the children, he might as well go home and live for a while."

"My lord, I will bear in mind your love for Xiaguan. I should go on duty as normal these days. After the Lantern Festival, I want to inspect various parts of the south of the Yangtze River. After all, as an inspector, I can't just wait. When others file a complaint, you have to go to the local area voluntarily to get first-hand information so that you can share your Majesty's worries."

"Mr. Lin is really diligent and a model official..." Zhu Shiyun dealt with him and let him go to his office.

As a fifth-grade inspector, Lin Su still has some privileges. At least, he has his own dedicated office.

Even though he had never been in this office, the office staff still cleaned it regularly and kept it clean and tidy.

Today, the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, he entered his office for the first time.

A servant came in, poured him tea, and then stood by the door with his hands down, waiting for instructions.

Miscellaneous errands are also assigned to the department. At level 5 or above, special errands can be assigned to clean the house, tidy up the office, and also help adults with some more "personal" things.

This errand boy has not seen his master for more than half a year. Although he is very leisurely, he is so leisurely that his heart goes crazy and he has no status in the department. He is always looking forward to his return, and he finally came back today.

"May I have your name?"

"Back to my lord, the villain Li San."

Lin Su looked at the clothes on the errand. If he read correctly, the clothes were of the same quality as the sacks. He really didn't look like an errand from the Supervision Department. He casually asked, "How much is your salary?"

"Sir, one, two or three dollars a month."

One, two or three dollars? Lin Su was so surprised. Do miscellaneous workers in the Supervision Department get paid so low?

Li Si was a little embarrassed and told Lin Su that there were three, six or nine levels of miscellaneous workers in the company. The highest-level miscellaneous workers were working for Si Zhenglei, and their monthly salary was only five taels of silver.

He is the lowest.

Lin Su understood that if he didn't choose the lowest-ranking errand boy, the laws of heaven wouldn't allow it...

Lin Su smiled and said: "I am unlucky, and so are the people who work with me. I guess you will be the worst offender in the entire Supervision Department."

Li Sanpei smiled and said, "Sir, you are wrong. Zhang Laoer is so envious of me that he even wanted to trade with me a few days ago."

Um? Is there anyone worse off than you?

Li San responded to him and explained with a smile, "Zhang Laoer, he is from the same hometown as Li San. He joined the Supervision Department at the same time as an errand. He was assigned to Mr. Li Zhiyuan as a miscellaneous errand. At the end of last year, he made a inventory. Sir, Do you know how much salary he gets in a year? Give it a thumbs up! His family originally hoped to find him a wife, but this time it fell through again.

After working hard all year long, you end up losing money?

What tricks are you playing?

Li San said, it's not the department that deducts wages, it's Sir Li Zhiyuan. What does this gentleman say? In fact, from the bottom of our hearts, those of us who work as errands admire him. He is neither greedy nor embezzling. When he goes out on errands, when he sees those poor people who are too poor to expose themselves, we can't bear to lend money to them.

His own salary was only so much, and he was always penniless because of the shackles. What should he do with the miscellaneous workers who followed him? You can't watch adults starve to death, right? Expenses outside the home were occasionally supplemented by miscellaneous errands, a little at a time. In the end, a whole year's salary was spent, not to mention being paid back.

Li Zhiyuan?

Lin Su vaguely saw a familiar figure in this elder brother - another Zeng Shigui!

"Sir, did you see the look on Mr. Li's face just now?"

"Yes! It's quite gloomy. What's wrong?"

"He just had a fight with me..." Li San's voice was very low.

what happened?

Li San said it was because the superiors had deducted his bonus for the whole year.

For what reason?

Li San shook his head. There was no need to mention the reason for deducting the bonus. Anyway, that was not the real reason at all. The bonus book had been prepared as early as two years ago. It was just that the Ministry of Accounts did not have the money two years ago and it was delayed until the end of the year. It was originally planned to be done yesterday. It was posted. If it was true that he had a problem with his business last year, why didn't he mention it last year? Do you have to suddenly deduct money when everything is ready this year?

The real reason for deducting money is the big court meeting the day before yesterday.

The day before yesterday at the great court meeting, Mr. Li Zhiyuan was one of the people who knelt down on the spot!

Lin Su was very happy!

revenge!

The official's revenge is coming!

Forced by the situation, His Majesty finally sided with them and pardoned Li Xiaotian. He did not dare to hold those warring factions accountable. However, this did not mean that they did not hate them. He could not find any reason to punish them, so he secretly punished them. Played a little trick.

It's so mean to even deduct bonuses.

"Besides Mr. Li, who else has been suppressed?"

Lin Su also asked himself more about this topic. He didn't expect Li San to answer it, but to his surprise, Li San actually answered...

Judging from the current situation, three people have been suppressed.

The most serious one is probably Master Deng Hongbo. Yesterday, Master Deng received an order from Master Shangshu, asking him to review the accounts of the Department of Revenue for the whole year within half a month. Sir, in half a month, the accounts of the Department of Revenue for the year are piled up. , how can we review it clearly within half a month? Lord Shangshu made it clear that this is what His Majesty wants. If it cannot be completed, please ask him to become an official!

Master Deng was angry and anxious and fell ill.

It's pity for such a third-grade official. Regardless of whether his illness can be cured or not, his official career is over.

Lin Su looked him up and down: "Li San, how do you know the inside story of so many officials?"

Li San smiled: "This is called the official way, and the errand way. We work as errands, and we communicate from time to time. I also know the errands of Mr. Deng's family. Yesterday, he followed Mr. Deng's family. Young Master, I made a special trip to Bailu Academy to ask for a meeting with the professor of the arithmetic department of Bailu Academy, but the professor refused to accept me."

Lin Su stood up, held his hands together, and handed a silver check to Li San: "Li San, today is the fourteenth day of the first lunar month. It's the first time you and I have met. I'll give you a small new year's gift. I'll leave first."

"Sir, this is impossible..."

"Take it!" Lin Su patted the banknote on his hand and turned around.

Li San unfolded the banknote and looked at it, his eyes suddenly widened, oh my god...

He rubbed his eyes and looked again. It was still the same. The amount was clearly written on the banknote: One hundred taels of silver!

One hundred taels of silver, my God, his errand wages are one to two or three dollars a month. How long does it take to get together one hundred taels? Seven years!

Lin Su's "small gift" during the New Year was his seven years' wages!

…

At the same time, at the north peak of the Western Mountain, in front of the Tianji hut, a guest came.

This is a young man, dressed in commoner clothes, with an extraordinary appearance. He is accompanied by a companion, also a young man, dressed in green clothes. He is said to be a son of a wealthy family in the capital, and he wants to come to the owner of the hut to calculate his fortune.

The old Taoist sat under the tree, inscrutable. After listening to the young man's introduction, the old Taoist smiled, raised his hand to pick off a leaf, waved his nails, and the lines on the leaf suddenly changed and turned into one word: white!

The white letters floated up and landed on the young man's head.

The young man's brows were furrowed and he didn't know what he meant, but the young man in Tsing Yi next to him was beaming with joy and bowed to the ground: "Thank you for your prediction, senior, a small gift is not a sign of respect!"

A piece of gold was placed on the stone table next to it, and the two of them walked away quickly.

As soon as they left, they went straight down the mountain. When they reached a secluded place, the young man stopped: "Du Qing, what did he mean?"

"Congratulations, Your Highness!" Young man Du Qing bowed deeply.

They are the third prince and his close advisor Du Qing.

They didn't dare to approach Tianji Thatched Cottage at first, but yesterday Emperor Father ordered Shaoqing Si Tianjian to go to Tianji Thatched Cottage in person, which had already sent a clear signal. Emperor Father planned to re-establish contact with Tianji Dao Sect, so what was he afraid of? Come to the door as soon as possible to make a good impression. When his father Tianji asks about it in the future, the Tianji Taoist Sect will help him say a word, which may affect the outcome of the entire battle for the heir.

He came and got a message.

But he didn't understand its meaning.

Du Qing bowed deeply and beamed with joy: "Your Highness, you are the prince! What does the word 'white' mean when it falls on the head of 'king'?"

The third prince was shaken all over...

The word "白" falls on top of "王", and the resulting word is: "皇"!

This is the judgment of heaven!

He will finally win the throne!

"Such a heavy sentence. Is your mere fifty taels of gold too light? Do you want to..."

"Don't! Your Highness, it's not time to invest heavily yet. Since Tianji has already made a prediction, you must not dare to let your prediction fail. They know what to do... Ah, His Highness the Crown Prince is here too. Let's hide quickly. stand up."

The two hurriedly hid under the big tree on the roadside, pretending to be ordinary pedestrians, and watched the prince's motorcade pass by them and go straight up the Western Mountain.

In the Tianji hut, Zhizhen came out from behind the tree and said, "Senior brother, do you really predict that this person will be the Lord of the Blue Sky?"

The old man smiled lightly: "Did I say that?"

"White character, white character falls on the head of Prince Ping, what is he if he is not the emperor?"

The old Taoist smiled: "What I'm saying is...his work will be in vain in the end!"

Zhizhen was stunned. The white character fell on the king's head. It could be "Emperor", but it could also be "It's all in vain." Senior brother, aren't you afraid of others vomiting blood when you play like this? …

The old man's smile slowly faded: "Last year at this time, the two sons were still equally divided in the fight for the throne. Back then, King Ping still had three parts of the imperial purple energy, but today, when we saw him, there was no purple energy at all. It seems that in just one year, there must be something in the capital. After a huge change, the two sons’ struggle for the heir apparent has come to an end.”

Zhizhen said: "According to what my senior brother said, His Highness the Crown Prince's situation has become overwhelming, and we should stand on the Crown Prince's side."

Whether you are a Taoist or a Buddhist, the biggest taboo when participating in human affairs is to bet on the wrong money.

What is a wrong bet?

Two forces are vying for a big position, and you go with the wrong person. In the end, the other party gets the big position and has all the power. You can't get any benefits, and you attract a big enemy out of thin air. That's a wrong bet.

But for Tianji Daomen, this problem does not exist.

Their biggest advantage is "prediction". They choose the person who is going to be the best and make arrangements in advance. When this person takes over, their spring will come.

Lao Dao came to the capital this time. In addition to eliminating the conflict between Tianji Guan and His Majesty that day, he also had a far-reaching plan to find the successor of Da Cang Jiangshan and invest in him in advance. In exchange for the prosperity of Taoism for the next hundred years.

The two sons were competing for the heir apparent, and everyone knew that the future king of Da Cang would definitely be one of the two.

The Tianji Dao Sect used the Tianji Qi Testing Technique to see that His Highness the Third Prince had no Imperial Qi, so they could make a bold bet on His Highness.

This is the advantage they have.

At this moment, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked for an audience.

The prince was different from the third prince. He asked to see the old Taoist directly as the prince. The old Taoist also greeted him politely and did not say much private words. What the prince said was exactly the same as what the Si Tianjian Shaoqing said yesterday. Cang is inclusive and does not exclude all kinds of sects. This is true for both Buddhism and Taoism. However, whether Taoism or Buddhism, they all need to abide by their duties. Only in this way can they get along with the court and the royal family, and the royal family can support them in their legitimate rights. So much...

These words were in line with his position and identity, but they also implicitly conveyed the importance he attached to the Tianji Dao Sect. After the visit, he gave the gift and said goodbye before returning.

Zhizhen was very happy: "Brother, have you noticed? His Royal Highness the Prince still respects the Tianji Dao Sect. I heard that he has a most trusted disciple named Qiu Zixiu. In the past, he stayed close to him, but today, this person is not here. There is only one reason for him. Qiu Zixiu has a Buddhist background, and the prince is worried about our displeasure. He even takes this into consideration, which is true respect..."

He talked a lot, but the old man still had no response, and the expression on his face was very strange.

"Brother, what did you see?"

The old Taoist slowly raised his head: "It's really strange! Although the third prince has no imperial energy, the prince's imperial energy is also decreasing. Could it be that there is a third person in today's fight for the throne?"

His face changed drastically...

The competition between the two Royal Highnesses for the reserve position is theoretically a situation where one loses and the other rises.

But now, both of them are declining, who is rising?

Could it be that the other two princes in the capital have begun to exert their strength?

…