Chapter 305
It was mid-spring, the days were getting longer and the weather was getting warmer. A group of officials in broad robes and long sleeves were digging the ground with hoes. Behind them, another group of officials sowed seeds and covered the soil. After a while, they began to sweat, and then their legs became weak. , the farm implements in his hands are extremely heavy, and the sweat drops on his face crackling down.
But no one dared to complain, and no one dared to slack off, because the emperor walked ahead and did the same job as them.
This was their first stop from Pengcheng. The emperor wanted to persuade farmers in person. The ceremony was ready-made. First, they prayed for rain and worshiped Shennong. Then the emperor gave the local a bag of seeds. The local elders presented the soil wrapped in withered grass. The emperor and a hundred officials went down to plough the fields.
The previous ceremonies are easy to say, nothing more than symbolic movements, and there are also strange dances of local witches to watch, but ploughing the fields is a real effort, but the emperor is a solid eye, and he only needs to help down the plow and lift the hoe. It is enough to dig three or four times, but he personally pushes the plow to till the whole field, and then brings the minions of his officials to sow the seeds.
The ritual of encouraging farmers to end in half an hour, suddenly extended from a cool morning to a sweltering afternoon, even a real farmer seldom works under the sun for such a long time, let alone a group of four-body lack of work. 's civil servant.
An accompanying official of the Ministry of Personnel was finally exhausted, passed out in Tian Gongli, and was quickly carried away by several soldiers so as not to be unsightly.
The last row of officials were all from the local area. After a bit of exhaustion, they finally understood that the emperor’s persuasion to farmers was genuine. The county magistrate was smarter after all. , Master finally reacted and left quietly, changing the arrangement made before.
So, at dusk, when the emperor and officials who had been working all day finally sat down to eat, what was on the table was not the delicacy, but the wild vegetables just dug out of the ground, the miscellaneous porridge made from aged corn, Homemade bean paste and rice wine.
The county magistrate was right, and the master fully understood the master's intention. The emperor was very satisfied with the meal, and the hungry officials ate it extraordinarily sweet, and praised the farm-style meal.
If it weren't for an incident that happened at night, Han Ruzi would even promote the magistrate.
Loach was younger and not stable enough. He dared to speak in front of the emperor. When he served the emperor at night, he couldn't help showing off: "It's really good to follow the emperor."
Zhang Youcai curled his lips in disdain, and Han Ruzi smiled and said, "What's so good? It's not going to war, or eating wild vegetables. Isn't it more comfortable than fishing in Kidnapper Lake?"
"That's different. The loach that fishes... It's always the loach. Following the emperor, the loach has become a big fish. There are so many high-ranking officials that I couldn't even see before, but now they are all polite to me."
Zhang Youcai was even more disdainful, and couldn't help saying: "You have to remember that they are being polite to His Majesty, not you."
"Can I not understand this truth? Kindness is for Your Majesty, and things are always for me, right?" Loach smiled brightly.
Han Ruzi had already changed his clothes. Hearing this, the smile on his face disappeared, "Someone gave you something?"
Before the loach could react, he proudly took out two golden hairpins from his arms. The shape of the hairpins was extremely beautiful, and the loach didn't care at all. The official said, this is a new wedding gift given to me in advance, hehe, when I get married, there are still several years left."
"Which officer?"
"It's the local magistrate Zhu, he's really a good man."
"He gave you a gift without asking anything?"
"No, he said he hoped to get closer to me in the future." Loach finally realized that the emperor's expression was wrong, and he became embarrassed.
Loach used to be a wild child in the fishing village. He was not as familiar with the rules of the palace as Zhang Youcai, nor was it like Du Chuanyun who had been crawling and rolling in the rivers and lakes since he was a child. His mind was relatively simple. Looking at the two hairpins, he said, "Keep the things. When you grow older, I will definitely arrange a good marriage for you."
Loach's face was flushed, and he silently put away the golden hairpin. When the lights were about to go out, he suddenly took out the golden hairpin and said loudly: "I understand, the magistrate Zhu has bad intentions, he wants me to speak for him in front of His Majesty. Well, he's a corrupt official!"
Zhang Youcai waved his hands again and again to let the loach make a little noise.
"I don't want anything from corrupt officials!" Loach raised the golden hairpin and was about to throw it to the ground.
"Gold is gold after all, and it's good to use it to help the poor, so why destroy it?" Han Ruzi advised.
Loach had no choice but to put away the golden hairpin again, "These officials are so sinister, they say they just want to make friends and don't ask for anything else, but in fact, they all hide bad things, so... it's really a tiring job to follow Your Majesty. "
Zhang Youcai snorted, but Han Ruzi laughed, "You know it's hard work, but it's a good thing. Zhang Youcai, you don't have a few minister friends?"
Zhang Youcai was taken aback and shook his head hurriedly, "I don't. I've always been on business. Except for summons, I usually don't even say a word."
"We can talk..." Han Ruzi's heart moved, and he said to Loach: "I'll give you a task, once it's done, it's a great achievement, and then I'll let you choose a daughter-in-law."
Loach's face turned even redder, "Your Majesty is making fun of me. Can I still do the task that Your Majesty gave me? It has nothing to do with marrying a daughter-in-law..."
"This task is very simple. In the future, if an official sends you something, just accept it and show it to me later, it will not be counted as your taking bribes. You have to tell me what the officials say and what they want. "
"It's that simple?"
"Um."
Loach thought for a while, "Am I taking bribes by order?"
"How do you talk?" Zhang Youcai reprimanded.
Han Ruzi smiled and said, "It's an order, but as long as you hide one thing or a sentence, you will be disobeying the order. Every bribe you accept will be convicted together."
"Ah? Then if I forget a sentence, wouldn't it be unfortunate? I understand that doing things for the emperor seems easy, but it is actually difficult, and there are traps everywhere."
"Then do you want to accept the mission?"
Loach frowned and thought for a while, "Your Majesty will finally clean up all these corrupt officials who pay bribes?"
"Of course, it's like fishing, you're the bait."
"This is not like. I used to fish all the time. A piece of bait can only catch one fish. Sometimes I can't catch it. I have to change the bait after fishing. How can I catch so many officials with this piece of bait?"
Han Ruzi said helplessly: "This is just an analogy, there is no need to be similar everywhere."
"Well... well, I'll do it. Corrupt officials are the most hateful. They actually found me, and they must be dealt with severely."
"It's enough to hate in your heart, but don't show it." Zhang Youcai reminded.
"Don't worry, I understand." Loach was really interested, and stopped snoring at night when he went to bed. He kept turning over and beating corrupt officials in his dreams.
Han Ruzi didn't want to disturb the people, so he lived in a barracks outside the city, living alone in a tent, lying on the bed, only to feel a sore back, more tiring than fighting on horseback, and couldn't help thinking that the people were really hard, and for the harvest after the autumn, he wanted to. how much sin.
He hadn't fallen asleep yet when the voice of Liu Jie, Supervisor of the Central Division, came from outside: "Has Your Majesty rested?"
"Come in." Han Ruzi sat up reluctantly.
Liu Jie walked in with the candlestick in hand, and carefully guarded the flame with the other hand, "Your Majesty's body will be sore after a hard day's work. It is not advisable to fall asleep too early. I will find someone to massage for His Majesty, which can relax the muscles and activate the blood, so as not to suffer from bumps tomorrow."
Liu Jie is not only a minister of the bones, but also a very attentive eunuch. He said the emperor's mind at once, Han Ruzi rubbed his shoulders, "Is there anyone in the camp who knows how to massage?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, wait a moment." Liu Jie put the candlestick on the table and lit another candle at the same time, and the tent was brighter all of a sudden.
Liu Jie withdrew, and not long after, the massager came in, not the eunuch Han Ruzi thought, but Zhang Qinyan.
Han Ruzi was stunned for a moment. He had long felt that Liu Jie was acting a little strange in the matter of the piano master, but now this feeling was even stronger.
"why you?"
Zhang Qinyan didn't hold the piano, nor looked at the emperor with charming eyes, but just knelt on the ground, as if begging.
"Do you know how to massage?" Han Ruzi still couldn't get her out.
Zhang Qinyan nodded.
"Then...try it."
Zhang Qinyan got up, walked to the bed with small steps, knelt on it, still refused to look at the emperor, and made a gesture to ask the emperor to lie down.
Han Ruzi leaned over and lay down. He felt a finger pressing on his back. The strength was weak at first, but gradually increased, and moved slowly along the acupuncture points. At first, he felt more soreness in his body, and soon it became comfortable.
Just at this moment, the sound of the piano came from outside the tent. It was not an empty music. Although it didn't feel like a fairy, it cooperated with the massage, but it made Han Ruzi more relaxed.
"You are a violin master, how do you know massage?" Han Ruzi asked, his fingers on his back paused for a moment, "By the way, it's a pity that you can't speak."
The strength of the palm is fixed, neither light nor heavy, and the techniques are complicated. Pushing, holding, pressing, rubbing, kneading, pinching, tapping, tapping, etc. are all complete. It can also be judged that Zhang Qinyan is very good at this technique.
Zhang Qinyan hummed softly as his palm left his back, and Han Ruzi turned around.
Zhang Qinyan still bowed his head, his long eyelashes left two shadows under his eye sockets, adding a bit of mystery. One hand was on his leg, and the other hand naturally stretched into the emperor's clothes and massaged on his chest.
It was another feeling. The strength of the palm was weaker, and it seemed that it did not move on the acupoints, it was as soft as a glass of wine.
Han Ruzi suddenly woke up and sat up all of a sudden. Zhang Qinyan was unprepared. He leaned forward and almost fell off the bed.
"Enough, go and call Liu Jie in."
Zhang Qinyan kowtowed to the emperor, got out of bed in a panic, and exited the tent.
Liu Jie came in immediately, "Your Majesty is looking for me?"
"Liu Jie, I thought you were the official of the bone, why did you do such a shameless thing?"
Liu Jie hurriedly knelt down, "Your Majesty forgive me."
"How many benefits did you receive from Henan Yin by offering your beauty?"
Master Qin and his daughter were both from Yin Han Chou's house in Henan, and Han Ruzi deduced from this that Liu Jie was probably instructed by Han Chou.
"Your Majesty, although I can't afford the four words 'the minister of the bone,' but it won't be used by foreign ministers."
"Then why do you offer Zhang Qinyan to me over and over again? Don't you understand the truth of indulging in drinking and playing with things?"
Liu Jie didn't say anything, as if there was something unspeakable.
Han Ruzi was even more annoyed, "Liu Jie, don't let me regret taking you on an expedition."
Liu Jie kowtowed, "It's His Majesty's mother..."
Han Ruzi was taken aback, "She asked you to present your beauty to me?"
"She is also painstaking, hoping that His Majesty can give birth to a prince early."
Han Ruzi was stunned, and suddenly worried about the queen Cui Xiaojun in the palace.