Chapter 16: Volume of Progress (1)

"Zeng Tai, come and try this new tea given by the emperor." As soon as Di Renjie finished speaking, Zeng Tai carefully picked up the celadon tea cups on a few, sipped a small sip, and then savored it carefully: "The tea has a rich aroma and a long and long life. Judging from the taste, it should be the purple bamboo tea from Huzhou. Teacher, the first batch of purple bamboo shoots around Qingming Festival is indeed fresh and elegant, with a endless aftertaste, and it is much more timeless than the tea flavor in other seasons." Di Renjie narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: "Zeng Tai, you have made great progress in tea tasting. It seems that you have drunk a lot of good tea in these years. Then tell me, what water did I use to cook this tea today?"

Zeng Tai's face was a little red, as if he was drinking it was not fragrant tea but fine wine. He sipped a small sip of the soft and soft soup in the tea cup, and hesitated: "Well, this water is soft and sweet, and it can inspire the tea flavor. It should be the southern water of Jiancha in Huishan Spring in Wuxi?" "Hahahaha!" Di Renjie burst out with a burst of laughter, and laughed so hard that he leaned back and forth. Even Di Chun, who was responsible for Jiancha, could not help laughing. Zeng Tai was a little embarrassed by their laughter, so he had to drink tea. Di Renjie finally stopped laughing, lifted up his sleeves and wiped away the tears of joy from the corners of his eyes, and ordered: "Di Chun, let me tell Mr. Zeng about the origin of this Jiancha water."

Di Chun smiled and pointed to the wooden barrel resting at his feet: "Mr. Zeng, there is no Wuxi Huishan Spring Water here. This bucket of water was small. This morning, it was just shot from the well in the backyard of our mansion. It was the real water from the backyard of the old mansion in Shangxianfang, Luoyang, and the real god capital!" Zeng Tai couldn't help laughing when he heard this. Di Renjie pointed at Di Chun and scolded softly: "You little man, you are getting more and more poor! Why don't you have some snacks?" Di Chun walked to the door with a smile, took the tray from the servant who had just entered the house and put it on a square table. In the plate was a steaming plate of spring rolls, a plate of osmanthus cake and a plate of fine sand date cake.

Di Renjie pointed at the dessert, smiled kindly, and said, "Although there is no Jiancha water from Jiangnan, these small pastries are made by the Bingzhou master in the mansion, and they should be worthy of the appetite of the third rank of the dynasty." Zeng Tai bowed with a blushing face: "Mr., you will kill the student!" Di Renjie shook his head and comforted him: "Hey, Zeng Tai, you don't have to be so nervous. This cabinet is just a joke with you. Our cabinet knows that you must have thought that the emperor gave tea, and sometimes he would also give tea water from Jiangnan, so there is a saying that Huishan Spring Water in Wuxi. You guessed it right, the emperor did give tea water from Jiangnan, but was rejected by our cabinet."

Zeng Tai said in surprise: "Mr., you politely rejected the gift from the emperor?" Di Renjie silently said: "Well, when I reach this age of this cabinet, I want to express my feelings to the emperor more than just accommodate the will of the emperor. In fact, she can understand." Zeng Tai nodded repeatedly with insight and said happily: "Mr., it has been a long time since the student has seen you feel so cheerful. I feel very relieved. Did the teacher encounter any happy events today?" Di Renjie frowned his eyebrows slyly: "Well, guess."

Zeng Tai thought for a while and asked inquiringly: "Well, is the third young master and Yuan Fang's letter?" Di Chun was shocked by the audience. He looked at Di Renjie again. His face was covered with clouds in an instant, and the loneliness in his eyes rose from the infinite depths. The relaxed atmosphere in the room suddenly became stagnant. Zeng Tai knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he had to watch Di Renjie. After a long time, he heard him sigh slowly and said sadly: "Hmph, these two guys have long become kites with broken strings." Zeng Tai took a deep breath, speechless.

Di Renjie smiled bitterly, as if he was talking to himself: "Whoever goes out to the frontier to guard the border is always concerned about his family's family? There are so many difficulties on the journey. Outside the frontier, there are vast wilderness. Others have letters flying over and over again, contacting family messages, or asking for clothes and money. I have never seen two boys like me, who never look back and don't even talk about them, and they just don't even bother to write a letter. I'm really happy to leave!" Zeng Tai did not dare to respond, but Di Chun muttered softly: "Master, you ask Mr. Mei to send silver to the young master and General Li." Di Renjie snorted softly: "I see, they have to ask me, the old man, to bow to them before he can give up!"

Zeng Tai felt sad when he heard it, and wanted to persuade him but didn't know where to start. The study was silent. After a long time, Di Renjie sighed and said with a sigh and said, "As aged, I am really more and more able to nag." He looked at Zeng Tai and apologized: "Zeng Tai, now I can only nag you." "Mr.!" Di Renjie waved his hand and said, "Okay, I won't say this anymore. Zeng Tai, this pavilion is indeed happy today. Since you can't guess, I will just tell you." He paused deliberately before smiling.

He said, "The Master has appointed our cabinet as the chief examiner of this year's examination for the subject matter." Zeng Tai was surprised and happy: "Is that right? The student heard the day before yesterday that the date of the subject matter was set, but the candidate for the examiner has not been implemented yet. I didn't expect that it was your mentor!" Di Renjie smiled and stroked his sparse and gray beard and said, "What our cabinet wants to do most now is to promote the younger generation and select talents for the imperial court. I am old. The country and the welfare of the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty will depend on you younger generations in the future."

Zeng Tai was overjoyed and sighed loudly: "That's great, this is great! It turns out that the last time the emperor summoned his mentor to Shangyang Palace, and he was talking about this matter! Although the imperial court has set up regular subjects every year, students or villagers' tribute must pass layers of screening. This process is hard to say that it is very fair. When it comes to the Jinshi examination, it is even more difficult to get one in a hundred miles. The talents selected in this way are good, but it is difficult to meet the needs of our Dazhou to employ people. Therefore, the emperor always personally convened a discipline, which is a rare opportunity for scholars in the world and those who are willing to serve the court and those who are willing to benefit the people. Now the mentor has come out to preside over this year's training. Oh, this is really a blessing for scholars in the world!"

"Okay, okay." Di Renjie smiled and shook his head: "A test for the science and technology will bring you such a great deal of emotion. I said Zeng Tai, let's not mention anything else. This time you have to be responsible for discovering some materials that can be made. Recommended for this training. You, the first top scholar, is time to promote the younger generation!" "This is natural!"

After taking a few more sips of tea and eating a snack, Zeng Tai hesitated for a while, and finally plucked up the courage and said, "Mr., what you asked me to do last time..." "Hmm?" "The student is ashamed, but there is still no progress."

Di Renjie lowered his head, his expression on his face was very plain, and he only said softly: "This is really not easy, don't worry, take it slowly." Zeng Tai frowned and said: "Mr., the most difficult thing is that Xie Lan, if she had really escaped from the tragedy of the family, the student thought that he would never use his original name again, and would have to change his name. Looking for it in this way would be even more like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, the student would definitely do his best. But there was a question..." "What's the problem?"

Zeng Tai cleared his throat and asked hesitantly: "Master, have you ever seen Xie Lan?" Di Renjie was slightly stunned, and after a long time, he shook his head and said hoarsely: "No, I have never seen that child." "Then... If there is someone who is suspected of Xie Lan, how can you be sure that it is him? What evidence does he have?" Di Renjie put down the teacup in his hand, sighed, and looked ahead and said: "If Xie Lan wants to prove his identity, he will definitely give it evidence, and I have a way to verify it. However, I don't think this is possible. Because over the years, I have been looking for him through different channels and different ways. If he is willing to be found, he should appear by himself." Zeng Tai asked in confusion: "Master, do you think Xie Lan doesn't want to be found by you?"

Di Renjie nodded with a wry smile and said, "Either he is really no longer alive, or he doesn't know that I'm looking for him, or he has lost his memory of everything in the past, or... he deliberately doesn't want to return to Xie Lan's identity and doesn't want me to find it." "But why is this?" Di Renjie replied archly: "Because Xie Lan, he hates me."

Zeng Tai was startled and stared at Di Renjie blankly. Di Renjie looked like frosty face and stared at the soup floating in the teacup without expression. After a long time, he woke up from a dream and smiled apologetically at Zeng Tai: "I will tell you about the past slowly in the future so that you can know the whole story. I am a little tired today, so you can go first."

Zeng Tai agreed and quickly stood up and said goodbye. When he walked to the door, Di Renjie called him again and asked, "There is another matter. Have the three murders on the night of the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month been settled?" Zeng Tai quickly replied, "Mr., you are very clear about these three cases. Although the case of the young minister of the Honglu Temple, Liu Yifei, was confirmed by his mentor, the murderer was Zhou Liangkun, the result of the case was not disclosed, and it was still a unsolved case in Dali Temple. When encountering the case of Fu Min, the Minister of Personnel of Xianlou, the victim did not report the official position. The real murderer Liu Yan'er was killed in "Samarkand". Another murderer Gu Xianji has returned to the Liang Palace. Finally, there is the case of monk Yuanjue falling from the tower in Tianjue Temple. Due to the lack of progress in the investigation, he can only be sentenced to Yuanjue's accidental incident of being confused after drinking and falling from the tower."

Di Renjie nodded: "Well, let's just do it. The Liu Yifei and Yuanjue case are not settled, but it is difficult to make any breakthroughs at the moment, so it's better to put it aside for the time being. I believe that the truth will surface soon, and we only need more patience and time. Wait, someone will not be able to withstand it before us."

On the north bank of Luoshui, in front of the Ministry of Revenue Selection Hospital in Qiaodong, Tianjin, it has been noisy every day since the end of March. The emperor issued an edict to determine the time for this annual system examination, subjects and examiners, and candidates who were looking forward to everywhere finally waited for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and all seized the time to take action. The first thing to do is of course: registration.

The Ministry of Revenue Selection is responsible for accepting candidates' registration, and they are already busy these days. Each candidate must submit a document according to the rules when registering, including family statements and guarantee documents. The Ministry of Revenue Selection must carefully check and select each document. It is really not an easy job to be cautious and cautious in terms of responsibility. The examination of the examination is not like the ordinary subjects. There are no restrictions on the qualifications of candidates. It does not have to be a student selected from the Imperial College or a tribute student who passed the provincial examination. Even Bai Ding, common people, or officials of the current dynasty, or even golfers, can recommend themselves or invite celebrities to recommend them to the examination. Therefore, this examination is indeed a process of selecting talents in an unconventional manner.

In order to facilitate registration and examinations, the candidates took the exam gradually filled the inns closest to the Ministry of Revenue Selection. The teahouses and restaurants near the Ministry of Revenue Selection have been booming and crowded these days. The grass in Luoyang in spring is flying in the green and beautiful scenery. It was originally full of tourists, and there were endless red men and green women who went out for a walk to visit the spring. Now, a large group of young students from all over the country who were full of confidence and spirit are even more lively.

Huixiang Teahouse is on the south side of Tianjin Bridge, just across the Qingqingluo Water to meet the Ministry of Revenue Selection Hospital. Looking out from the window along the river on the second floor of the teahouse, the scenery in front of the Ministry of Revenue Selection Hospital is unobstructed. These days, this Huixiang Teahouse has been completely occupied by candidates from all over the world. It is only the morning of the morning, and the teahouse is already full of people and noisy. The main hall upstairs and downstairs are full of tea guests. The guy ran up and down sweat and ran up and down.

When I was serving tea, I looked up and saw that the top ten tea guests were all scholars with dignified manners. I knew they were here to take the exam without asking. However, among these literati and poets, there were also a few unique people. Some of them were messy and wild in their clothes, and some looked like wanderers in the world, while others were serious and restrained in the official voice. They should be in court officials. Of course, they are all candidates now, otherwise they would not have been scattered in Huixiang Teahouse at this moment.

Throughout the morning, these people at Huixiang Teahouse were making noises loudly, exchanging their experiences on the exam, guessing the exam questions, or boasting about their talents. However, the topic they talked too much was how to find a person with great importance in the capital, collect papers to him, and revealing what they learned throughout their lives and their talents to Bole who knew talent with keen eyes, so that their path to taking the exam could be smoother and more confident.

On the square table in the middle of the main hall on the second floor, a round-faced fat man was talking, "Hey, do you know, the examiner of this time is Lord Di Renjie!" A person next to him said, "If I had known, so what?" The fat man said, "What, we should find a way to find Lord Di Renjie to do the papers." Everyone burst into laughter: "You should remind me of this?! The problem is that Lord Di Renjie is the prime minister of the world, and we can't touch where his mansion door is opened. We are still going to do the papers, but I'm afraid that it will be called out after three streets!"

The little fat man was coaxed by everyone and his face turned red and his neck was thick, and he was stuttering in his words: "You, what do you have not tried before? How could you know it's not possible!" The man beside him refused to give in: "Oh? Then you go and try?" Then he winked at everyone: "Let's talk, let's ask Zhao Mingyu to try to find Lord Di Renjie to carry out the book? If he can succeed, we all have multiple paths, right?" "Yes, right! Brother Mingyu, if you can carry out the book to Lord Di, we will treat you to dinner together, how about?" "Brother Mingyu, we are all counting on you!"...

On a elegant seat by the window, two people watched all this quietly. The young man with an officer-like appearance on the top smiled coldly and said to the person opposite: "Look, compared with them, your luck is simply too good." The man opposite was pale and had a straight face. His clothes were neat and clean, but hesitated. He could not hide his decadent and confused expression. Hearing the officer's words, he licked his lips nervously, hesitated for a long time before asking: "You, are you going to help me with the scroll to Di and Di Renjie?"

Chen Huai sneered again: "That's right, it's this Lord Di. This is just the first step, and I will let you see him in the future." Yang Lin became more and more nervous and asked stammered: "Mr. Di will meet me?" Chen Huai snorted: "That depends on your performance. Are you ready for your poems and essays?" "Accurate, you are almost ready."

Chen Huai looked away from Yang Lin with contempt and turned to the window. In front of the Ministry of Revenue Selection Governors on the other side of Luoshui, there were groups of candidates who registered in the form of a continuous stream. Suddenly, his face changed, he frowned slightly, and stared at an old woman who was surfing in front of the entrance to the entrance of the school. Yang Lin was originally in a daze and lowered his head to drink tea. He accidentally noticed Chen Huai's strangeness, and he also turned his eyes out the window. This shock was extraordinary!

"Mom!" Yang Lin's scream almost blurted out. Although he tried his best to restrain himself, he still couldn't help but rise from the chair and rushed to the window. He Shuzhen was looking around in front of the entrance of the school. At this time, he seemed to be telepathic, and looked up at Huixiang Teahouse. Just like lightning, Chen Huai pushed Yang Lin backwards and blocked himself in front of the window. Aunt He looked up and saw Chen Huai standing in front of the teahouse window, staring at him with a deep face. He was so scared that he took a big step back, quickly lowered his head and closed his sleeves, and walked quickly towards the south of the city.

Chen Huai slowly turned around, and saw Yang Lin's face as if he was looking earthy, and he fell on the chair half-deadly. Chen Huai looked him up and down in contempt and said slowly: "Have you drunk enough water? Get up, I'll take you to register now." Yang Lin stood up dejectedly and followed Shen Huai to the outside of the teahouse. After passing the group of candidates who were having fun in the middle, Yang Lin's steps suddenly rubbed, and the fat Zhao Mingyu rushed out: "Hey, Yang Lin?! Why are you? Hey, you guy, I said you didn't wait for you in Lanzhou. It turned out that you came to take the exam by yourself!" He raised his hand and was about to slap Yang Lin's shoulder, but Chen Huai raised his hand to stop him. Zhao Mingyu frowned and was about to make an attack. Yang Lin lowered his voice and muttered, "You recognized the wrong person." As he said that, the two walked out of the teahouse without looking back.
Chapter completed!