The Lord who use immortals as food

The buns really tasted good. Xu Chuo asked for four drawers, and Pei Ye ate three and a half drawers by himself, and drank two large cups of hot tea.

Xu Chuo sighed softly, turned to the waiter and said, "Please put another drawer on this table."

"Ah, no need, I'm full." Pei Ye smiled, "Thank you, host, for your hospitality."

Xu Chuo looked at him.

"What's the matter?"

"It's not for you." Xu Chuo pulled back the edge of his cloak and looked out the window, "We have another guest."

"Ah?" Pei Ye was stunned, "Who?"

"Yuan Zhao, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, has a mirror in his name. He is considered the leader of a poor family in the world." Xu Chuo glanced at him and said, "You eat him."

"..."

The man came with somewhat heavy steps.

He was picking off the mud from the soles of his feet on the steps next to him. When he raised his head, he saw a pair of eyes that were as bright as Yun.

Pei Ye wondered for a moment what mental spell he had practiced, but the next moment he realized that it was just a pair of eyes, and except for these eyes, everything about the man was unremarkable.

A six-foot-tall, forty-year-old typical man, wearing expensive but not glamorous clothes and boots, with many wisps of gray in his rough bun. His appearance is even more mediocre. His head shape is not straight, and he has two slender eyes. It doesn't help that his nose bridge is straight. The only distinguishing feature is his thick mustache, which is quite rough - - This face looks like a farmer if he wears short brown clothes, and he can drive horses if he wears a bamboo hat. However, he doesn't have much nobility after wearing purple clothes.

There was no expression on his face. He held a booklet in his hand, sat down with his legs crossed on the table, and said "Hello, young gentleman."

"Hello, Mr. Yuan."

"Hmm... haven't the buns been served yet?" Yuan Zhao glanced at the table and didn't pay much attention. He raised his hand and handed the buns to Xu Chuo, "I plan to serve this tomorrow. You can take a look first."

He picked up his tea cup, held it to warm his hands, and drank it slowly in one gulp.

Pei Ye felt relieved when he saw that no one was pursuing him about the buns. Xu Chuo looked at him opposite him. The adult on the side was holding an empty cup and was motionless, looking at the table in front of him with empty eyes. Pei Ye then took a sip. He pursed his lips and became a quiet wooden figure.

"Two things." Xu Chuo put down the note, "Firstly, there are still some thresholds to be crossed in the Tianliyuan, and it will definitely not be possible within at least ten days; secondly, I still remind Mr. Yuan that we are strong on the outside and soft on the inside. Remember to leave a way out for yourself in your words and deeds, otherwise things will fall apart and you won’t be able to protect yourself.”

Yuan Zhao still stared at the empty space and nodded slowly.

Xu Chuo handed the book back to him.

Yuan Zhao casually put it on the table. When the steamed buns came, he took one in front of him and ate: "I can't cooperate with the progress of Tianliyuan. After a long time, the strength of the people is also weak, and I can only shout once, and it is only enough to shout once."

Xu Chuo nodded: "I know."

Yuan Zhao didn't even take the chopsticks, he held the bun in his hand and put it in his mouth without affecting his words.

"In addition, the 'Practical Section' is indeed not stable on its own. It has been criticized externally and has caused doubts internally." He whispered, "I think it is better to go back to the old scholars and stand in the saint's gate wall. Always block some flying debris.”

"It should be like this. He has the power of heaven, and I have the power of human beings - Confucianism is the greatest human principle."

Yuan Zhao nodded and said no more.

"By the way, let me introduce you." Xu Chuo raised his eyes, "This is Pei Ye, who comes to the stage."

"Ah, young hero." Yuan Zhao looked over, and when his eyes looked directly at him, Pei Ye felt the silent oppression even more frighteningly. But the man seemed to know this, and his gaze only stayed for a moment. Then he tried his best to smile as kindly as possible and said, "I've heard about his reputation for a long time."

"Don't dare, don't dare." Pei Ye quickly stood up and bowed.

"This is Yuan Shangshu, the only person we can call a pillar in the court. If he is killed, we will be in serious trouble."

Pei Ye was speechless and subconsciously looked at Yuan Zhao, but the man laughed, swallowed a bun and said, "Between me and Li Du, only one will die."

However, the smile faded quickly. This expression seemed rather stingy on the man's face. He turned around and looked at the young man again: "He is indeed a talented person... Do you want this kid to come?"

Xu Chuo nodded, looked at the young man with a smile, and said softly: "Of course, you will truly become a popular martial artist in Shenjing after singing this scene."

…

Pei Ye couldn't quite understand what the two talked about next. It seemed to be related to the ban on recommendation a few days ago, and they were constantly discussing and finalizing some regulations.

The bustle in the building gradually dissipated, the breakfast hour passed, and the sun began to shine down diagonally from above. Pei Ye turned her head and looked out the window. There were more vendors pushing carts and setting up stalls on the street, and there were also cars and horses coming and going. Begins to become dense.

The two stopped talking at this time. Yuan Zhao drank the last sip of herbal tea, bowed his hands to the two of them, stood up and left the table.

Pei Ye watched him leave and looked away. The woman in front of him also wrapped herself in a cloak and stood up.

"Let's go."

"Go back to the library?"

Xu Chuo glanced at him: "Huh? Do you really want to go back to the small building?"

"It should be warmer over there." Pei Ye looked at her and had the impression that a woman shouldn't sit by the window in such a winter day.

Xu Chuo smiled: "I brought a warm-up instrument today."

"oh."

"After finally going out, let's go check out another house." Xu Chuo went downstairs first, "——Do you understand what we were talking about just now?"

"...about the imperial examination?"

"Yes, the "New Law on Imperial Examinations". [The Ban on Recommendation] is the one that caused the most waves. We want to implement it, so that from now on, the upward path for the poor scholars will be much smoother and fairer."

This was easy to understand, and Pei Ye nodded.

"I heard that when you unveiled the Buddha's face in the fantasy building, it was Li Du, right?" Xu Chuo said, "Shang Shuling and Zuopushe are now vacant. He is on the right and has already done his job. "One Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty" in ten years.

Pei Ye nodded silently. He had been thinking about this while lying in bed for the past two days. He has always believed in the principle of a life for a retribution. No matter what your status is, the victims in the Liguan and Winter Prison must pay for it with their own lives. It cannot be repaid by copying scriptures and squandering huge sums of money.

But "Prime Minister" is indeed a name that is too high and heavy. Pei Ye has only been in Shenjing for more than a month. He actually can't think of how to start, so he is willing to discuss with the woman.

"Li Du comes from a noble family, has elegant poetry, and has a beautiful appearance. In his early years, he worked as a scholar in the middle school, and later he entered the Shangshu Province. The journey was very smooth, and he almost never did any hard work or demolition." Xu Chuo said, " He is much older than Master Yuan. Master Yuan even visited his house when he submitted his application, and was ridiculed by him in public, saying, "Senior men with dragon and phoenix looks are of no use, but sons with deer-headed and mouse-like eyes only seek official positions."

"..."

There were no carriages and horses downstairs, so the two of them walked along the street. Xu Chuo smiled: "Today's imperial examination is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, but the current system was created by Li Du. After Li Du took over the position, , a major reform was made to the rules for selecting scholars. Generally speaking, it requires not to stick to classics and history books, but to pay more attention to the actual abilities of those who take the exam. "

Pei Ye was slightly startled: "Isn't this... bad?"

"Okay, that's why 'public recommendation' is so important now." Xu Chuo looked at him with a smile.

"..."

Xu Chuo sighed softly: "The Han family has studied hard for ten years. It is already valuable to be able to master the Four Books and Five Classics. It is even more talented to be able to write articles and understand the administration of officials... But let me ask you, where are they going to prove their 'actual ability' Woolen cloth?"

"..."

"As for the aristocratic family, entrusting them to be a staff member in a certain government and doing some official duties with a certain adult is just a matter of eating and drinking. When it comes to taking the exam, the children of the aristocratic family take the recommendations from various government offices. The scholar only carries a box of broken books, how can you compare?"

Pei Ye was stunned.

"The 'Practical Section' mentioned on the table just now refers to this one." The two of them turned into a quieter street. The stone brick walls were of an older color, and holly trees grew on both sides. Xu Chuo said slowly Such as chatting, "There is nothing wrong with this direction of Mr. Yuan. I just hope that I hope the changes will be more fair, such as increasing the opportunities for poor people to participate in government affairs in advance, and including "staff" in the government system... But it will always lead to new problems. At critical times, it is better to choose one end than to stick to the middle. , so I advised him to retreat into the Confucian gate."

"Confucian gate wall?"

"It's the opposite of Li Du's 'sticking to classics and history books'." Xu Chuo smiled.

"..."

"It's not very popular, but it's an effective method." Xu Chuo smiled, "And with a few sets of books, more people can afford them."

"...Can this "New Law" be implemented?"

"With any new policy, there must be resistance, varying in size." Xu Chuo straightened his face, "The resistance of the "New Law" is huge, or in other words, it is almost a natural chasm."

"..."

"When you go to Huanlou, you will meet the four princes who wrote the will of heaven, and you will also meet the Tang Dynasty family. It is an unbreakable sky. Many times we are enemies of the entire Tang Dynasty." Xu Chuo said, "This is me Try your best to avoid it, and in this case... the resistance is Li Du. "

The woman looked at him with a smile: "Look, we are in the same dilemma. The Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty is standing in front. You want to kill the person under this name, and I want to implement my new policy... but I am blocked by this name. ”

Pei Ye looked at her blankly, it was not his time to think of a solution.

But the woman actually asked: "What can you do?"

Pei Ye shook his head.

Xu Chuo sighed softly: "Then we have to change the prime minister."

"..."

The woman stopped and looked across the street, and Pei Ye also stopped beside her.

This is not the end of the long street, and there is nothing special on the opposite side, just a small garden.

There seemed to be some rockery and small ponds inside, but the winter had arrived, and only the cold rocks and withered grass were left. As far as the gardens that Pei Ye had visited in Shenjing these days, they were not only shabby, but also a bit crude.

However, there were still a few children wearing tiger head hats jumping and playing inside, running back and forth between a few stones, and the play was particularly intense.

There were jugglers and jugglers in front of the garden. On one side there were all kinds of flower artists and on the other side there were a few people fighting with swords. The adults gathered around and talked, laughed and applauded.

"I don't know why this place is so popular with them." Xu Chuo looked at it quietly for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, "For many years, there have always been people performing arts here."

Pei Ye didn't find it strange: "This is an open space and there are people there, so it's naturally a place for performing arts."

"……Yeah?"

"Yeah."

For the vast majority of people with low abilities, this is indeed the most common means of making a living. Anyone who gets a chivalrous certificate can find a place to eat, while those who do not meet the threshold or are ambitious can earn money wherever they go. Wherever you go, an open space with people is a natural theater. This is also the reason why the faces of entertainers in Shenjing are often from different places, and it is difficult for them to be familiar to each other.

Xu Chuo tilted his head, as if he understood, looked at him, and said with interest: "So you understand this, then let me ask you, those of them who 'swallow iron balls', those big and solid ones - I I even weighed it with my hands - how to swallow it."

"How can I swallow it?" Pei Ye smiled. He found this woman's ignorance on this matter strangely interesting. "Have you seen it with your own eyes?"

"Of course, he opened his mouth wide for people to see." Xu Chuo looked at him, "Of course, I know that you have a high level of cultivation and there are countless ways to do it. But they don't seem to have any level of cultivation, so they really put it in In the mouth."

"It was indeed put in, but it was definitely not swallowed." Pei Ye pointed at his throat with a smile, "There is a twist between the esophagus and the mouth. Skilled artists hide the iron balls here. It's like swallowing something and spitting it out again. It doesn't require any cultivation. When practicing, you should first practice throat training by swallowing other things. In this skill, you must first relax and secondly overcome the instinct of swallowing. If you do the former, you will fail, and if you do the latter, you will fail. It will kill you."

"Well..."

"A person with advanced skills can swallow a second or even a third piece. When he jumps, you can still hear the iron balls colliding inside, right?"

Xu Chuo touched his palm and said, "That's right!"

Pei Ye smiled: "Actually, the general tricks are nothing more than the four words 'sword, pill, bean, and ring'. The sword means swallowing the sword, the pill means swallowing the iron ball, the beans means the fairy picking beans, and the circle means a clever chain. All of them do not require any cultivation. It can also change.”

Xu Chuo opened his eyes and nodded slowly. She was pretending to be a handsome young master. With this expression, she looked like she was pampered and had never seen the world.

Then she looked at him with a smile: "I thought you only knew how to use a sword - now it's better, if we fail and you have your martial arts disabled, you can still make a living with these methods."

Then she sighed: "I don't know anything anymore."

"How is that possible?" Pei Ye said, "You... are good at writing, you can make a living by copying and writing."

"...That's right." Xu Chuo nodded and said slowly, "Besides, I am good-looking, so I should get a good price if I sell myself."

"...Where are we going?" Pei Ye quickly changed the subject.

"Huh? This is it." Xu Chuo raised his head back and looked at the old plaque above. Pei Ye was startled for a moment before turning back to look at the door of this quiet house that always faced away.

"There should be a letter of recommendation written to Tianliyuan more than ten years ago in the residence of the former Prime Minister Xu Ji. Let's go in and look for it and give it to you."