Chapter 317: Forty-six, Coming for the Reputation

Forty-six, Coming for the Reputation

Merit: 6071

Ouyang Rong squatted in front of the small wooden fish, staring at the blue-gold font on it for a while.

Just during the time he was watching, this string of blue-gold numbers would jump from time to time, rising by a small amount.

At the same time, the crisp sound of the wooden fish that followed echoed in the clean and empty tower, one after another.

Ouyang Rong was expressionless.

A short while later, he frowned slightly, stood up, walked around the Merit Tower twice, and his consciousness withdrew from the Merit Tower...

Yinbingzhai, on the bed in the bedroom, Ouyang Rong opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

It was dark in front of the bed, the bedroom was not lit, and the sound of insects in early spring came from time to time outside the tightly closed window.

It was the darkness before dawn.

It was just early spring, and as the saying goes, "living near the Pen River, the land is low and damp," Xunyang City was located by the river.

The Xunyang river wind that could move thousands of sails made the temperature in the whole city very low in the morning.

Naturally, it made people want to stay in bed and not want to leave the warm quilt like a little girl's bosom.

Ouyang Rong lay in the thick quilt, and there was a short leg of a white-haired girl sleeping on her side pressing on his lower abdomen.

In the darkness inside the bed at this moment, except for Ye Weilai's rhythmic breathing with her eyes closed, Ouyang Rong's open dark eyes were staring at the curtain above.

His face seemed to be lost in thought.

He woke up a bit early today.

Or rather, he didn't sleep well last night, only slept for two hours in a daze, then woke up and wandered around the Merit Tower in his heart.

If it weren't for fear that the movement of getting up would wake Ye Weilai, causing the little girl to make a fuss and run to report to the Aunt and Junior Sister with worry,

Ouyang Rong would have gotten up early to work at the desk.

Since a few days ago, the crisp sound of the wooden fish that rang in his ears from time to time made Ouyang Rong toss and turn at night.

He hadn't expected that his response to the Jiangzhou provincial school scholars at the Temple of the Most Holy Teacher would spread throughout the world's literati and become famous again.

Now that the matter had happened, Ouyang Rong was instead worried and puzzled.

By this morning, he had already gained more than 4,000 merit points from this event,

And the momentum of merit rising seemed to be continuing. The small wooden fish had no sign of stopping at all, just that after the first few days, the momentum slowed down a bit.

"If there were no Jiangzhou Temple of the Most Holy Teacher incident, would many bloody conflicts between scholars and the government have occurred as scheduled, and now it's just easing some signs?

"Otherwise, would another tragedy like the Liuzhou scholars happen?"

Ouyang Rong muttered to himself.

He didn't think this was a good sign.

"It seems that the impact of this construction of the Praise-Virtue Hub and the Buddha statues in the four directions is even greater than I expected before.

"The prosperous age promoted by the imperial court is probably just the prosperous age of the people in the two capitals of Guannei. In the southeast Jianghuai area, as a heavy tax area, it is also considered wealthy, but what about other places? These are more like the silent majority.

"I hope that the issuance of this new imperial decree and the return of the Master to the court can ease the situation..."

Ouyang Rong rubbed his dry eyes.

Lifting his hand to brush away the long, silvery-white hair that was a bit itchy at his neck, he turned over and got up, crossing over Ye Weilai,

He walked down and washed his face with cold water.

Regardless, the sun rises as usual, and he has to go to work.

It's another busy day, and this hard-working life of his can't be escaped.

"Get up, the sun is shining on your butt."

Ouyang Rong suddenly lifted the quilt embroidered with mandarin ducks and patted it casually, saying.

"Umm, Master, where is the sun?"

The white-haired girl had a tuft of hair on her head that had been pressed askew; she rubbed her pink buttocks in a daze, looked around, and asked.

Ouyang Rong laughed and walked out the door with big strides...

"Tan-lang, the latest decree issued by the Empress suddenly granted an extension to all provinces... What do you think of this?"

At night, Xunyang Wang Fu, in the study of Juxian Garden.

A group of familiar figures gathered. As soon as everyone was present, Wang Lixian asked impatiently.

What did he think?

Ouyang Rong's mouth twitched slightly.

The provisions of the new imperial decree issued this time, which granted extensions to all provinces, were almost similar to the opinions he had put forward.

"Uncle, actually Big Brother had expected it..."

Xie Lingjiang looked at Big Brother fixedly, with admiration in her eyes, and told Wang Lixian and the others about the memorial.

After hearing this, the latter looked at Ouyang Rong, who had a calm face, with shocked and complex eyes.

"Actually, the Empress issued this imperial decree, in addition to me and the gentlemen of the Hall of Government Affairs cooperating to pass the ladder, it is more to show her stance to the Master who is sick and not attending court, and take a step back from each other."

Ouyang Rong explained softly.

Wang Lixian suddenly realized: "So that's it."

He continued to analyze calmly:

"Weakening the pro-Li civil officials, on this point, the Empress's interests are consistent with the two Wei princes. However, beating the two Wei princes and limiting them from running wild is also the tacit attitude of the Master and the Empress.

"The Master is still considering the overall situation. Now that he has returned to court after leave, in a sense, it represents that this round of shuffling is temporarily over. The Empress should not be wielding the knife against the court anymore. The situation in Luoyang is considered to be balanced...

"Now, just waiting for the start of the next round of shuffling."

Li Dalang couldn't help asking:

"Then what about Master Ji who was dismissed, and Jiangzhou Cishi Li and Jiangzhou Cishi Wei who were demoted? How to deal with them."

Ouyang Rong shook his head and remained silent.

Princess Li Guoer, who had been listening quietly, sat in the farthest place, lowering her head to stroke the cat, and said softly:

"Naturally, they are sacrifices. Grandmother naturally wants to weed out the most disobedient ones."

In the study, it became quiet for a moment.

Ouyang Rong turned his head and said to Li Dalang, who had a regretful and sympathetic expression:

"The Xiang Wang Fu, and us who are gradually improving, are the fundamental interests of the pro-Li faction led by the Master, and also the core of condensing the faction. It is the name and the righteousness, and it cannot be lost.

"As long as these two can be preserved, many things can be sacrificed for the time being."

"Yes." Xie Lingjiang handed a peeled pear to Big Brother, turned her head, and sighed:

"Father said in his letter that when he saw the Master in Luoyang a few days ago, the old man's temples were much frostier. Father once said that as long as you choose to play on that chessboard in the Divine Capital, there are many rules that must be followed..."

The crowd was silent for a while. Ouyang Rong turned his head and said to Wang Lixian and Li Dalang:

"Uncle, instead of worrying and being afraid, it is better to do the work at hand. We are only one step away. This step is both close at hand and like a natural chasm."

He raised his index finger: "Only by reaching that height can we change these."

Princess Li Guoer put down the cat, pinched her fingers and chanted:

"Shang Jiu, the dragon has regrets. Chu Jiu, the dragon should not be used, so now it is..."

Ouyang Rong took a bite of the pear meat and lowered his eyes:

"Jiu Si, or leaping in the abyss, no blame."

Looking at the two who had calm faces, no eye contact but tacit dialogue, the crowd looked at each other.

Xie Lingjiang suddenly reached out, took the half-eaten pear from Big Brother's hand, and took a bite without minding the saliva.

The crowd was stunned...

The calming of this court turmoil in early spring made the hearts of local government officials a little more settled, and also made many people with intentions in the world breathe a sigh of relief.

Accompanied by the spread of his reputation, Ouyang Rong discovered some troubles of being a celebrity.

Perhaps it was because the latest imperial decree issued by the Empress mentioned it at the end, praising the Jiangzhou government office for postponing the twenty thousand guan of powder money.

Or perhaps it was because they smelled some special wind.

Yangzhou, Taiyuan, Guizhou, and other three provinces where statues were built sent people to the Jiangzhou government office one after another to visit Commandant Ouyang and observe the experience. In the following days, the envoys of these three provinces arrived one after another, and Ouyang Rong was quite helpless and received them.

However, it is worth mentioning that, unlike Yangzhou and Taiyuan, which only sent some low-ranking officials to learn.

Guizhou actually sent someone unexpected.

One of the protagonists of the Guizhou tragedy that happened not long ago, the Guizhou Commandant, Lan Changhao.

When Ouyang Rong heard Commandant Chen report this, he couldn't help but put down the documents in his hand, and his eyebrows raised.

He had heard of this person, not just in the Guizhou tragedy.

This Lan Changhao, a native of Yangzhou, was a successful candidate in the second year of Kaihuang, two years earlier than Ouyang Rong.

The age when he was a successful candidate in the second year of Kaihuang was also very young, only two years older than Ouyang Rong when he was a successful candidate.

Most of the imperial examinations at this time were monopolized by noble families, and there were very few successful candidates from poor families in the south, only a few each year.

Lan Changhao was a relatively famous one before the birth of Ouyang Rong, the youngest successful candidate in the south.

However, the first thing that made him famous happened shortly after he became a successful candidate.

Lan Changhao thought he was a great talent in a low position, and directly wrote to a prime minister of the same hometown at that time, saying something shocking:

"The people are starving to death, why don't you recommend a worthy person to replace yourself, resign and go home?"

Although the Metropolitan Graduate subject was the most glorious among the subjects of the Gan and Zhou dynasties and was called "First-Class White Shirt", it was also crazy for a Metropolitan Graduate who had just entered the officialdom to say such things to the prime minister of the dynasty.

At that time, the old prime minister naturally had a boat in his stomach, smiled and ignored it, and didn't bother to pay attention.

But this matter was also taken as a joke by the Luoyang literati at that time.

However, this Lan Changhao still had some talent, otherwise he wouldn't have mixed into the position of Guizhou Commandant at the age of just thirty.

Of course, if compared with Ouyang Rong, who was only twenty years old and was the Commandant of a wealthy upper province, he was naturally a cut below.

Comparing people with people, it's maddening...

The Guizhou tragedy before was quite a big deal.

However, this Lan Commandant was not affected much, only fined three years of salary.

This might be related to the special situation in Guizhou.

Guizhou is located in the western corner of Lingnan Circuit, very remote, adjacent to many Jimi provinces, which are border provinces where barbarians and chieftains gather, and public security is not very good. There are many Han men stationed in troops and reclaiming land.

The Guizhou Jiangzhou Cishi of this term was dismissed for committing a crime, and the government affairs were temporarily led by the Commandant Lan Changhao, who was familiar with local affairs.

And the Guizhou tragedy, although the impact was not good, was also the style of the local government being strong.

It can only be said that the Guizhou incident happened to be on the cusp of the wind, and the public opinion was accidentally made big. If it were in the past, a few people died in the border government, as long as it was not reported to the heavens, the central imperial court would not pursue anything.

This time, I don't know if it was the two Wei princes who wanted to buy a horse bone with a thousand gold, or if this Lan Commandant had collected his arrogant nature and hugged the thighs of the court.

He was not removed from office, only criticized and fined, and then kept a low profile.

"What is this Lan Commandant doing in Jiangzhou?"

"He said he came to visit the Commandant and ask for experience in statue building."

Ouyang Rong sighed, but still got up to pick up people.

Xunyang Ferry, soon saw the people from Guizhou.

Ouyang Rong found that this Lan Commandant was a very tall and thin young man.

His height was similar to Ouyang Rong's, his lips were as thin as paper, and although he was a man, he had a pair of phoenix eyes. When looking around, his eyes were shining.

His demeanor when he got off the boat was somewhat arrogant.

No wonder the Guizhou government's approach was so fierce before. This person doesn't look easy to get along with... Ouyang Rong thought, the first feeling of meeting.

"Lan Commandant."

"Ouyang Commandant."

Lan Changhao got off the boat and saw the white fox-fur young man standing out from the crowd at a glance. His expression was a bit surprised, and he carefully looked at the outstanding demeanor of this young celebrity with a pair of slender phoenix eyes.

Lan Changhao's arrogant expression converged a little, and he bowed politely to Ouyang Rong.

Ouyang Rong kept smiling, led him into the city, and entertained him seriously.

During the lunch banquet, Lan Changhao asked a few questions about the Temple of the Most Holy Teacher not long ago, and then toasted and praised him. However, Ouyang Rong found that his eyes frequently looked at the sun outside the window, as if he was somewhat absent-minded.

After the banquet, Ouyang Rong had official business and apologized for leaving first.

He took the initiative to open his mouth, promising to entertain him well tomorrow and take him to visit the Jiangzhou government office.

Unexpectedly, Lan Changhao waved his hand to refuse.

He politely told Ouyang Rong that he would only stay for two days and didn't need him to accompany him.

"Thank you for the reception today, I won't bother Ouyang Commandant anymore."

"Alright, Lan Commandant, have a good rest."

Ouyang Rong nodded calmly, watching the back of Lan Changhao and others returning to the government station.

The next day, morning.

Jiangzhou government office, Beside Yan Liulang walked into the main hall and said directly to someone burying his head in the documents:

"Prefect, you didn't guess wrong. Lan Commandant went out early this morning to visit someone in the city."

Ouyang Rong didn't lift his head: "Visit whom?"

"Our Wang Great Jiangzhou Cishi."

Ouyang Rong immediately put down his pen, and a vigilant expression appeared on his face: "What is he doing looking for Wang Lengran? A routine visit?"

"Don't know." Beside Yan Liulang shook his head.

After a pause, he revealed:

"Prefect, I deliberately drank and chatted with some Guizhou officials he brought last night and found out that when this Lan Commandant passed through Hongzhou Prefecture, he also stayed for several days and visited the Zhu Great Jiangzhou Cishi of Hongzhou."

Ouyang Rong's face was thoughtful: "Continuously seeking two provincial officials..."

Just then, Commandant Chen walked in and reported respectfully:

"Chief Clerk, today Magistrate Wang suddenly came to the office and ordered us to issue a decree, summoning the generals of the Jiangzhou Zhechong Prefecture to enter the city and discuss military affairs."

Ouyang Rong looked deeply at this Commandant Chen, who had begun to show signs of leaning toward him after receiving the imperial favor of the Prince of Xunyang and becoming the Supervisor of Construction for Jiang Nan, and nodded:

"Got it, thank you, Commandant Chen."

Commandant Chen waved his hand repeatedly: "Commandant is polite, just a small matter."

Ouyang Rong touched his chin and muttered:

"Lan Changhao has visited Hongzhou and Jiangzhou in succession, and Wang Lengran has summoned the soldiers of the Zhechong Prefecture; could it be that something involving military affairs has occurred?"

But he really couldn't figure out how Guizhou, thousands of miles away in the western corner of Lingnan Circuit, was involved with Hongzhou and Jiangzhou in the middle of Jiang Nan Circuit.

It doesn't look like the Wei clan is connecting from the middle, it's too obvious to come over with such great fanfare.

Ouyang Rong shook his head.

Jiangzhou military affairs were all held by Wang Lengran, who guarded against him and never let him intervene.

Before, he was not convenient to interfere openly, worrying about alarming the snake, which led to him being blind now.

It seems that he can no longer sit still and wait for death.

What if it involves the safety of the Xunyang Wang Fu? ===== CHAPTER 318 =====