There are only three entrances to the courtyard of the official residence, but it occupies a large area. In the center of each of the three courtyards, there is a lush sycamore tree.

If it passes through the window and gently falls on the desks of young people, it will be collected or used as a bookmark, which is regarded as a good omen.

An old pine was transplanted from a certain fairy mountain. Its branches are like Qiu, its skin is like dragon scales, and it is lush and green. The breeze passing through the dense leaves seems to be cooler than elsewhere. There is a circle around the tree.

A long strip of bluestone serves as a bench, making it easy for the officials in the courtyard to go out and relax and chat. In the shade of greenery, there is also a stone table with a chessboard engraved on it. Whenever the golden sunlight shines through the shades of trees, it shines on the table, making it look like a fairy.

Drop.

There is also a peach tree in the backyard, which was replanted by Cui Chan more than ten years ago. At that time, Rong Yu was still a little girl who would cry when she missed home.

When Rong Yu gradually grew into a graceful girl, she also saw many beautiful poems about peach blossoms in the book.

Putting the brush on the three-mountain-shaped celadon penholder and closing a file, Chen Ping'an called Fu Qing and wanted to retrieve a confidential file. Cui Chang's detailed itinerary of inspecting various departments in the capital in the past twenty years, as well as

It would be best if there were detailed records of who was met in this official residence every day, for how long, and the specific content of the discussions.

I never thought that Fu Qing would say that the Imperial Prefect's Office did not have such files.

Chen Pingan asked tentatively: "Where is the Criminal Department?"

Fu Qing shook his head and said: "There will be no such archive."

Chen Pingan had a headache. He leaned on his chair, put his hands in his sleeves, and looked up at the ceiling.

A country is like a person. The number of household registrations on paper, the strength of the garrison, the total amount of taxes, etc., can be seen with the naked eye just like the appearance of a person. In addition, there are some commercial and trade flows that are similar to the endless flow of private money, such as the official road and inns.

The constant flow on the river is the blood of the people. The real combat power of the frontier soldiers on the battlefield is like the muscles and bones under the skin. As for the lectures in the academy, the education in the village school, the hearts and minds of the people, etc., summarized, they are the most important people.

Spirit.

Therefore, a country also has its own pulse, and Chen Ping'an wants to find out the clues, just like studying how Cui Chan diagnosed Da Li's pulse.

Fu Qing said: "Master, Rong Yu has a good memory. She entered this place when she was six years old. Do you want to call her over?"

Chen Pingan nodded and said, "Let her come here."

Rong Yu quickly knocked on the door, crossed the threshold, walked lightly, silently chose a place, and stood on a specific blue brick.

Chen Ping'an smiled and asked: "I heard from Fu Qing that you have a good memory. What's the best way?"

Rong Yu said: "I can tell you, Imperial Master, that I can clearly remember everything I have seen and heard in the past ten years at least. I can write it down, draw it, and imitate my accent."

Chen Pingan was stunned.

Rong Yu explained: "It's not a divine power or a secret from the immortal family, it's just a matter of good memory."

She pointed at her head and said with a smile: "I was brought here by Cui Guoshi, maybe because I was still young at the time, so I was relatively free. Furthermore, if Cui Guoshi did not remind you in advance, things that are expressly prohibited are generally equivalent to being banned.

Acquiescing can be done. Therefore, Cui Guoshi’s schedule for the past ten years, who he met in the study, how long the conversation lasted, whether Cui Guoshi sat still or stood up to greet him, and asked the official

The official stood and talked, or moved a chair to someone. After talking about the matter, did Cui Guoshi see the guest off? Where to send it, whether it was the door, the door of the verandah when entering the courtyard two or three times, or all the way to the gate of the official residence. Did Cui Guoshi see him off?

When a guest dines here, what files he asks from the houses every day, and the various transcripts going back and forth between the official residence and the Qianbu Corridor Office, as long as I have handled them, I dare not write them down on paper without permission, so they are all recorded here."

Chen Pingan smiled and said: "Then you should work harder in the near future and copy them all."

Rong Yu asked: "Cui Guoshi often walked in the yard outside the house. What did he eat every day? Occasionally when he went out to eat, he chatted with a certain secretary, as well as the answers of those officials and the subtle changes in their expressions.

Do you want to write about their respective expressions after Cui Guoshi got up after eating?"

Chen Ping'an couldn't help but laugh, waved his hand and said: "These are exempted."

Rong Yu said goodbye and left. Fu Qing still stayed at the corridor, occasionally walking around to inspect the two courtyards in front of the Imperial Master's Mansion.

The young officials in the previous offices all regarded the beautiful scenery of Fu Qing slowly walking through the window as a kind of blessing to relax their mood a little.

Not anymore.

Xie Gou sat quietly on the threshold, listening to the rustle of the brush on the paper on the other side of the desk.

Chen Ping'an didn't raise his head, kept writing, and said casually: "With the jade plaque given by the Imperial Prefect's Office, you can wander around the capital of Dali. You don't have to be bored here. You can go find books, Qin Tianjian, and Hanlin.

There are many rare and unique books in the libraries of the courtyard and the Imperial College, and they are all quite impressive. Remember to peek, don’t steal.”

Xie Gou said: "It's not interesting."

Chen Ping'an remembered something and said: "You sent a message to Jise Peak with your flying sword and asked Peixiang from the Fox Country to transfer someone, her direct disciple Luo Fumei. She stayed in the Fox Country to be a monk of the Zhanglu lineage.

, You are overqualified and overqualified. Gouzi, go tell Fu Qing and go to the Office of the Ministry of Punishment to reserve a third-class sacrificial plaque, and then give Luo Fumei the lowest-ranking official status, register her, and she will train in the Ministry of Punishment from now on."

Xie Gou asked doubtfully: "Mountain Master, isn't that little vixen Luo Fumei following Sun Wanyan, Cao Shun and Yuan Huang on their travels in Tongyezhou?"

Chen Ping'an's expression remained unchanged and he said: "Then just send the message directly to Cui Dongshan with Feijian, and let him remember to say hello to Peixiang."

Xie Gou sighed, knowing that this was the sequelae of that war. Some of the "forgetfulness" that was originally used to restrain the "divinity" were gone like flowers and crushed into mud. Xie Gou was Xie Gou after all, so why not

It’s not like I’m going to frown or sigh over this, it’s just a little bit of regret.

After Xie Gou jumped away, Chen Pingan stopped writing, shook his wrist, rubbed his eyebrows, and then picked up an uncarved white jade handle from the table and held it in his hand. This object was used for hiking while traveling.

The seeds were poked out by the stick in the rapids of the river.

Regarding the selection of the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Dali, Chen Ping'an consulted two people in advance for their opinions: Emperor Song He, and Lin Zhengcheng, the first chief officer of the Yuzhang County Logging Institute in Hongzhou.

The content of Lin Zhengcheng's reply was very simple. It was the best policy for the Imperial Guard to lead the civil service on his own for a long time.

The central strategy is to either select one person from among the six officials of the capital, preferably no more than sixty years old. Or one is to be selected from among the generals of the border army. Since civilian officials Shen Shen can be in charge of the Ministry of War, then a meritorious military general should be in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

, Forging ahead is nothing. Otherwise, if Fan Xie, the minister of civil affairs in the capital, was promoted on the spot, he would be able to make do with it for a few years if he followed the rules.

The next best thing is to randomly choose the current head of the family or the planned next head of the family among the surnames of the Shangzhu Kingdom. It doesn't matter if the national master draws lots.

Chen Ping'an was surprised by Emperor Song He's choice as Minister of Civil Affairs.

It's Lin Shouyi.

However, the emperor also had several transitional candidates. Ma Yuan, Cao Qiao, Yuan Chong, Changsun Mao, and Wei Li each had their own advantages and disadvantages.

Chen Pingan made a list of a group of Dali civil and military officials he would meet in the near future.

Let Rong Yu and Fu Qing be responsible for connecting with various ministries and offices.

Wang Yifu, a mountain warrior. In the past, he was the first military general in the Lu Dynasty. After the fall of the country, he was similar to Yang Hua, the current Changchun Marquis of Dadu. He was once the escort of the Empress Dowager Nan Hairpin, and later served as Liu Qingfeng's retainer as Wu Secretary Lang.

, traveled around various places, and served as county captain several times. After Liu Qingfeng's death, Wang Yifu resigned and did not return to the territory of the old Lu family to "retire", but lived in seclusion in the city near the capital.

Wei Li was an official from the Huangting Kingdom of the old Sui Dynasty. He served as the governor of Longzhou in Dali. In about thirty years, he was promoted to the official position of the Minister of Rites of the accompanying capital.

Wei Liang, a Legalist monk, assisted Cui Chan in formulating the rules on the mountain and compiling the genealogy of the gods. He was the chief governor of the old Qingluan Kingdom and accompanied the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Liu Xunmei, the younger brother of General Chierjie, has outstanding military exploits and is one of the governors of Dadu. He is currently the right minister of the Ministry of War of the accompanying capital.

General Cao Wu of Yuzhou, a military general of Shihao Kingdom, whose real name was Xu Mao, married a direct daughter of the Yuan family of Shangzhu Kingdom.

Da Li Chongxu Bureau went to the Daolu Academy of the capital. Hong Fengxia, the Daozheng of the capital, was named "Yufeng". He was a Taoist official in the Golden Core realm and was also a swordsman.

Han Yi. General of Yizhou, stationed in the capital. He was once the guard general of Yefu Pass bordering Huangting Kingdom.

There are also three doctors, respectively from the Ministry of Husbandry, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War.

Guan Yiran, a doctor in charge of the household affairs department, is said to belong to his family. The official surname has been Guan for many years. Guan Yiran is also one of the three supervisors. The oldest one, Liu Qingfeng, is the

When he became the Minister of Rites of the Capital, Liu Xunmei was also the Minister of War of the Capital. On the contrary, it was Guan Yiran who came from the best family background. His official career was average, if it was said to be bumpy, it was not that bad.

The Temple of the Ministry of Rites in the capital commemorates the officials of the Qing Dynasty, Hanhong of the Song Dynasty. When traveling to the capital for business, there are many aliases. Just change the "rank" of the first and last names. The old doctor who has stayed in this position for many years and likes to open a shop in Hongzhu Town

Li Jin, the water god of the Chongdan River in the book, is an old acquaintance. In his early years, he participated in a "hunting", went to the mansion of the married woman ghost, and even walked through Shujian Lake. I met Chen Ping'an not long ago.

.The Minister of Civil Affairs is known as the Heavenly Official, so this doctor is the little Heavenly Official in the officialdom of mountains and rivers.

Chao Baoxiang, the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War, was also in charge of some of the Jianghu affairs of the Dali Dynasty, and secretly admitted martial arts masters into various departments of the Ministry of War.

Those who were in Beijing were given priority to enter the Imperial Prefecture Office. Chen Pingan specifically selected Guan Yiran to meet him first, and the rest were free to do as he pleased.

This was the first time in Guan Yiran's life that he set foot in the legendary Imperial Office.

The Eighteen Divisions of Qing officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs were in charge of the money bags of the Great Li Dynasty.

Fu Qing was waiting at the door. He took the Imperial Preceptor, who was the first of the officials to formally receive him, and entered the gate of the government office. Guan Yiran saw the sycamore tree, and when he entered the second courtyard, he saw the ancient pines and the inside of the window of the wing.

These heads are all material for high officials. Then along a corridor, I saw a peach tree with only green leaves remaining after its flowering period, and the man in green shirt standing next to the tree.

With his hands behind his back, he held a jade bamboo fan in his palm.

Guan Yiran had been a military general and a civil servant, but he still chose to bow and salute. He suppressed a smile and said loudly: "Guan Yiran, a doctor in the Ministry of Household Affairs Bureau, pays homage to the Imperial Master."

Chen Ping'an walked towards the house and said with a smile: "I'm very busy. I can only spare time to chat with you for a quarter of an hour. I'm going to meet Han Yi and the Wu Xuan Division, the doctor of the Qing Li Division, and I have to talk to them about serious business.

.”

After entering the house, Chen Ping'an moved two chairs and placed them near the door. Guan Yiran sat down, shook his official robe, and crossed his legs.

Good guy, you are so bold, are you turning against customers?

Chen Pingan also followed suit.

From the corner of his eye, Guan Yiran caught a glimpse of the woman at the door of the verandah. Just looking at each other, Guan Yiran felt guilty and silently put down her unruly legs.

There are too many smart people in the officialdom who are good at understanding people's hearts. There are a few people who are close to me and don't want anything. You need to really understand the similarities and differences between what they say and what they think in their hearts. The similarities and differences between the two cannot be confused.

There are a lot of people down there, and they have to understand clearly what they want, what they can give to them, and what they cannot give to them.

Yichi Lane, Chier Street, the truth that a teenager can understand may take many officials twenty or thirty years to understand, or even a lifetime to figure it out.
To be continued...