Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 630: Comradeship
What they want is for you to recommend him to your young master, Zhang Shou, the teacher of the future crown prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince. Who wants you to recommend him to that ruthless Wang Datou? It has only been a short time since he left, but Wang Datou has been changing his trusted clerks like water. This kind of difficult to serve boss is simply a nightmare for the subordinates!
Seeing that after Deng Xiaodai broke free from his hand, he actually opened the leather bag at his waist, took out a booklet, then took out a charcoal pencil, and then raised his head to look at him expectantly, the middle-aged man who had just held his hand to introduce his son was stunned.
However, he soon woke up, stepped back hurriedly and said: "My child is weak and sick, I am afraid he can't bear the command of President Wang..."
Deng Xiaodai grinned and said, "That's not right. My teacher said that astronomy and numerology are more demanding than classics and history. People who can learn well will not be sick! Elder, please don't be so modest..."
Before he could finish his words, the extremely enthusiastic middle-aged man ran away and disappeared into the crowd. Deng Xiaodai then revealed a bewildered expression: "My Master Wang is kind and tolerant, a very good person, otherwise why would my master send all the students of Jiuzhang Hall to train there? After this group of people come back, I heard that the next group will go again!"
"My young master also said that the first thing that the students admitted to Jiuzhang Hall in the future should do is to go to Xuanda for training for several months. Going to the most difficult place, to the place where the court needs them most, is the way to endure the most hardships and become a superior person."
After these words, he saw the crowd dispersed, and in an instant only the few clerks who had just explained the recent events in the capital were left. Only then did Deng Xiaodai scratch his head, put the booklet and charcoal pencil back into the leather bag, and sighed and muttered: "General Wang is really a good person, my little master also said so..."
This time, even the soldiers who had accompanied Deng Xiaodai to Beijing felt itchy in their throats and started coughing. After a few petty officials looked at each other, the man who had just shown off to Deng Xiaodai about Zhang Shou stepped forward awkwardly and said, "I didn't know that you, Mr. Deng, were Zhang Xueshi's student..."
"Don't call me Master Deng. My family has been farmers for generations, and I am just a minor official now." Deng Xiaodai smiled at him naively, then bowed and said seriously, "I have been away from Beijing for too long. I am grateful to you for telling me about the current situation in Beijing, otherwise I would still be confused. May I ask your name? I will definitely recommend you to my husband, General Wang... Hey, please don't leave!"
When they found that the petty officials had also fled at full speed, several of the guards burst into laughter. Some of them laughed so hard that tears came out of their eyes. They almost laughed to the ground: "Wang Zongxian's reputation in Xuanfu and Datong is enough to stop children from crying at night. I didn't expect that he can also scare people in the capital!"
"Of course. Wang Zongxian was the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. I heard that Wang Zongxian admired the first magistrate at that time, but his appreciation was to give him a lot of things to do..."
Seeing several people laughing and gossiping, Deng Xiaodai said quietly, "Brothers, you have been traveling to the capital with me in such a cold weather. It's really hard. I will tell the General Secretary about your hard work when I go back!"
"No, no, please don't!"
The people who were joking with each other stopped immediately, and when they saw Deng Xiaodai get on his horse, they hurried to follow. When they left the area where the Tongzhengsi and a large number of government offices were located, and walked from Rongxian Hutong to Xuanwumen Street, Deng Xiaodai reined in his horse and looked around and said, "General Wang said before that we will have three days off when we arrive in the capital, and then we will set off to go back. Are you going to find an inn to stay in first?"
If Deng Xiaodai had not pretended to be ignorant and used the reputation of Black-faced Wang Datou to scare away those who were more interested in Zhang Shou, some of the personal soldiers might have been trying to see if they could stay at the so-called Deng house.
Although Deng Xiaodai had repeatedly stated on the way that he first stayed at his uncle's house when he came to Beijing, and later moved to the official residence of Shuntian Prefecture, and had no private residence in the capital, who would believe that one of Zhang Shou's students would be so shabby? But now, as pure outsiders coming to Beijing, they dare not do so. Honest people are easy to bully? That's an illusion!
At this moment, a group of people looked at each other, and someone asked tentatively: "What about you, Xiao Deng?"
"Me? I'm going to pay my respects to the teacher and visit my uncle." Deng Xiaodai did not explain the order in detail. Seeing several people's eyes rolling around, it was obvious that they wanted to go and see. However, he was a little hesitant whether he should bring so many people to the visit - those who knew him would say that he, the student, was going to pay his respects after returning to Beijing, while those who didn't would think he was going to fight!
But thinking about how he had just brushed off those overly enthusiastic guys, if Zhang Yuan was in the same situation again, he might be blocked by others again. So, he made a quick decision and said, "If you have nothing to do, you can come with me."
"That's great!" Several guards were already very interested in Zhang Shou - the Nine Chapter Hall had performed well in Xuanfu and Datong, and Deng Xiaodai was also Wang Jie's most useful confidant, and the always arrogant Wang Zongxian spoke highly of Zhang Shou. Now that they heard that this scholar Zhang was so popular in the capital, they were even more curious!
The group rode along the way. After a long time, Deng Xiaodai saw the white walls and black tiles in front of him. He was excited, but then he found that there were too many pedestrians and carriages. Although a few days had passed and the Shuntian government's fast-moving police chief Lin Laohu sent people to maintain order, there were not so many people trying their luck here, but there were still a lot of people and vehicles.
Especially when Deng Xiaodai and his party arrived at the gate of Zhang Garden, they heard a burst of discussions behind them, among which there was one statement that made them really helpless.
"Look, there are people from other places who have heard of Master Zhang's reputation and come here to study!"
Facing this voice, Deng Xiaodai went to the door to report with a smile, only to find that the young men from the same village, Yang Hao and Zheng Dang, who were familiar to him, were not at the door. He thought he would have to spend a lot of time introducing his origins, but who would have thought that just by reporting his name, one of the young doormen who had a businesslike expression on his face immediately smiled.
"May I ask if you are my master's student, Mr. Deng who followed President Wang to Xuan University?"
Hearing the name "Mr. Deng" again, Deng Xiaodai felt his face stiffen. With his background, how could he be called "Mr. Deng" one day? He coughed dryly and was about to correct the other party's inappropriate title when he heard a commotion behind him. When he turned around, he saw a familiar figure jumping off the horse.
"Judge Song?" Deng Xiaodai exclaimed in surprise. Seeing the man staring at him for a moment with wide eyes, and then walking towards him with a smile, he quickly took a step back and saluted respectfully. As a result, he was immediately pulled up by Judge Song.
"I heard that you were like a duck in water under General Wang and helped a lot. I thought you were enjoying yourself and didn't want to leave. How come you have time to come back?"
One was a double-listed Jinshi, a sixth-rank magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, while the other was just a minor official. Yet they were so close to each other that the personal soldiers were all stunned.
Only Deng Xiaodai himself knew how he and Song Tuiguan got to know each other. It was because his own young master had simply dumped the burden and pushed the matter of the first primary election of Jiuzhangtang to him, so he and Song Tuiguan formed a deep friendship - the kind of comrades who worked late into the night and graded all kinds of strange papers! Even the feared former Wang Dayin, now Wang Zongxian, was his comrade, so when he got along with these two people, although he never dared to get carried away, he was not so trembling.
Therefore, when he saw Song Tuiguan smiling and wanting to walk with him, he naturally said he didn't dare. And when he saw that the gatekeeper let them go without saying anything, he quickly introduced the soldiers behind him one by one. Sure enough, when he learned that they were Wang Jie's soldiers, the gatekeeper immediately greeted them warmly and took them directly to see Zhang Shou... Deng Xiaodai was not so naive!
He briefly instructed the person and followed Magistrate Song inside. While greeting the person and asking about his purpose, he learned about the strange case that happened not long ago.
In this regard, he, who had seen Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying get into all kinds of strange cases, remained very calm - it was just because a villain was dissatisfied and jealous of the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department and the successful candidates in the imperial examinations, so he got the candidate into trouble; was it comparable to the son of Prince Sihe giving Zhang Shou a bladeless sword and intending to kidnap and threaten people on the mountain; was it comparable to the rebels digging tunnels in the nobles' villa with the intention of harming Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying; was it comparable to Zhang Shou encountering and being shot by an arrow?
However, he still wanted to express his condolences to Magistrate Song: "You have worked hard to investigate such a case, Magistrate Song."
"Is it hard... not necessarily." Magistrate Song smiled and said in a relaxed manner, "Your teacher, Master Zhang, sent the prisoner directly to the Wanping County Court, and Magistrate Shen personally detained him. It's actually none of my business."
He suddenly changed the subject and sighed, "It was just that at that time, the head of the fast squad of the government office, Lin Lao Hu, happened to be there, so County Master Shen regarded him as a talent and forced people to help investigate the case. Now that Zhang Dayin ordered me to assist, I just asked for an easy job. I have nothing to do but come to your teacher to ask the three candidates who served as witnesses . I can't help with anything else."
Deng Xiaodai suddenly realized, and then he couldn't help thinking that with the departure of Wang Jie, who never shirked responsibility, Zhang Shou would finally no longer have to trouble the Shuntian government office for everything - although Qin Duke Zhang Chuan was still Zhang Chen's father, he was different from the strong-willed Wang Datou after all.
He had just arrived in the capital and had only heard about his teacher's recent success, but he was still not very clear about the case. He curiously asked for some details, and then he asked in confusion: "Song Tuiguan, then the Imperial Household Department has no reaction now?"
"No, it is said that Chu Kuan, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, has caught a cold and is suddenly ill. Now the group is leaderless and has no direction to go."
Song Tuiguan said this, but he didn't believe it at all. Not to mention how Chu Kuan, who was as strong as a general, could suddenly fall ill, the Imperial Household Department... that was definitely not a place without a leader. Obviously, there was something fishy going on.
However, he could talk about these things with Zhang Shou, but there was no need to talk about them in such depth with Deng Xiaodai. He continued to chat with Deng Xiaodai as he walked along, asking him about the time he had been following Wang Jie out and about his return to Beijing. When he mentioned in a somewhat shy tone that he had just been surrounded by people in the Tongzhengsi, and therefore had no choice but to use the trump card of recommending him to Wang Jie, he could not help but laugh.
"These people in the capital are just like that. They are afraid of difficulties and take the easy way out. Of course, everyone would flock to become your teacher's disciple and be able to be a classmate of the prince. But if they go to work under the command of General Wang and are criticized, then I respectfully decline. I will remember your excuse, maybe I can use it next time."
"Don't laugh at me, Magistrate Song. I was just playing dumb because I was in a hurry. If General Wang knew that I used his reputation to scare people, he would scold me severely when I go back."
Deng Xiaodai said this with a look of fear on his face. Song knew that Deng Xiaodai was indeed a relatively honest person, but an honest man would bite when pushed to the limit. So he smiled and said a few words to comfort him. But then he suddenly heard a noisy voice: "I was wondering who it was. It turns out to be you, my brother! You came at the right time. I have an important favor to ask of you!"
Seeing Song Juren rushing over like a gust of wind, then stopping just three steps in front of him and bowing to the ground, Song Tuiguan was simply stunned. He had a good relationship with Zhang Shou, and of course he knew this man with the same surname who didn't like studying for the imperial examination but loved cooking, but every time he heard the word "brother", he got goosebumps.
He doesn't seem to be from the Guangdong Song family, right? It's just that after he met Mr. Song, because of a joke Zhang Shou made, they talked about their age, and then Mr. Song took advantage of the situation and climbed up the ladder, calling him "brother" all the time.
At this moment, he saw Deng Xiaodai standing beside him dumbfounded. He could only step forward and help Song Juren up. Then he asked angrily and amusedly, "What kind of big deal is this that requires you to be so polite and entrust someone with this?"
Song Juren, beaming with joy, said in high spirits, "Of course I will ask my cousin to help me find a marriage."
Magistrate Song was originally holding Mr. Song's arm, but upon hearing this, he immediately let go of his hand, hurriedly stepped back two steps, and then asked with an extremely cautious attitude: "Isn't your uncle, the head of the Guangdong Guild Hall, Mr. Song, in the capital? Why did you think of looking for me?"
"My uncle had a ship going to Guangdong, and he was going to bring some information to the clan, so he went to Tianjin Port a few days ago." Mr. Song explained with a smile on his face, and then glanced at Deng Xiaodai with some curiosity, and then said seriously: "On the day of the final of the Imperial Chef Selection Competition, I asked the Princess of Hailing in front of the emperor, and then I was ordered to deliver snacks to the Jiangdu Palace. I was fortunate to meet the King of Jiangdu and the Princess, and we had a very pleasant conversation. I am grateful to the two elders for not abandoning me..."
"Stop, stop!" Song Tuiguan hurriedly raised his hand to ask Song Juren to stop for the time being, took a deep breath, and then began to try to digest this incredible thing. He did hear people mention that there seemed to be some disputes in Xinglong Tea House that day, and he also heard some rumors that the emperor wanted Song Juren to be his son-in-law and planned to marry him to Princess Yongping. How did it suddenly become the Princess of Hailing County? The news was too delayed these days!
