Ma Xiao Shuai frowned slightly, somewhat surprised. According to his original thoughts, since Dongfang Mu was willing to arrange an official position for him, he naturally had to consider what he was good at. Logically speaking, he should be a civil official, but now Dongfang Mu was talking about a rear military officer, which was obviously an official position linked to the military.
"Grandfather, this rear commander…"
Dongfang Mu finally turned around and looked at the confused Ma Xiaoshuai. He slowly said,""The rear military division is the yamen in charge of military supplies and equipment. There aren't many things usually. Qingshui yamen."
Although Ma Xiao Shuai was puzzled, he nodded, understanding that Dongfang Mu had his own plans for this arrangement.
"I'll listen to Grandpa's arrangements.”
"Yes…"
Dongfang Mu turned around and looked at the courtyard again.
"Have some breakfast in the hall. I'll be there soon.”
Ma Xiao Shuai bowed and left.
Walking in the hall, Ma Xiaoshuai frowned and thought to himself.
According to the poor son-in-law's vague memories, this military officer who was rumored to be the back of the Qingshui Yamen was not that simple. Just the fact that he was in charge of most of the country's military supplies was also a very important position. Although most of the time there was nothing to do, no one ignored the importance of this position.
While thinking, Ma Xiaoshuai quickly came to the hall.
At this moment, only Butler Wang and one or two servant girls were standing in the huge hall.
"Guye."
Butler Wang saw Ma Xiaoshuai and quickly came up to greet him. However, when he saw Ma Xiaoshuai frowning, he obviously had something on his mind. He was smart enough not to disturb him.
"Yes."
Ma Xiaoshuai answered absent-mindedly and sat down.
Not long after, Dongfang Mu, who was dressed in court clothes, walked in.
"Let's eat."
Dongfang Mu said to Ma Xiaoshuai, who had stood up to carry the luggage. He sat down and started to eat the hot porridge.
Ma Xiaoshuai ate his food with his head lowered.
The breakfast was finished in silence. After the meal, Dongfang Mu brought Ma Xiaoshuai out of the Prime Minister's Mansion. However, there were already two sedan chairs parked outside the door. There were also a few sedan bearers and a pair of servants armed with knives.
Ma Xiaoshuai got into a smaller sedan chair behind him. Dongfang Mu was naturally the one in front.
"Charming!"
Under Butler Wang's shout, a group of people set off in a grandiose manner.
The court system in Murong Kingdom was not much different from the ancient history of Ma Xiaoshuai's original world. Basically, there was no rest throughout the year. Every morning, the court would be held to discuss some national affairs. Generally, civil officials of the second rank and above had to be present. As most of the military officials were outside, most of the people who could attend the court every day were the generals who had been idle for their entire lives.
Ma Xiaoshuai read the unlucky son-in-law's memory and soon felt the palanquin stop.
Ma Xiaoshuai walked to Dongfang Mu's side and looked up at the gate of the Imperial City.
Majestic, solemn, and dignified.
This was Ma Xiaoshuai's first impression. It seemed that no matter where it was, no matter the cultural differences, most of the palaces where the emperor lived were like this. They paid attention to the majestic atmosphere, and of course, the majesty that shocked people's hearts.
However, although the imperial palace of the Murong Kingdom was majestic, it was still inferior to the Forbidden City that Ma Xiaoshuai had seen before. Ma Xiaoshuai used to live in Beijing and was lucky enough to visit the Forbidden City, so he was not too shocked. After looking at it for a while, he did not go back.
"Prime Minister Dongfang, good morning."
"Good morning."
It was the time for the court session, which was the peak time for Ma Xiaoshuai to go to work. A lot of civil officials and generals in court clothes had gathered. Seeing Dongfang Mu greet them, Ma Xiaoshuai glanced at them. As expected, most of the smiles on the faces of the officials were fake when they greeted him. Of course, there were a few exceptions. Dongfang Mu was also very polite to these people.
The group of officials naturally noticed the young man behind Dongfang Mu. Most of them seemed to know some information, but they did not show any surprise. However, seeing that Dongfang Mu did not introduce them, they did not go forward to greet him. Actually, everyone knew that this kind of exceptional promotion of the direct descendant's family members happened in every family. It seemed that they had formed a tacit understanding when they met for the first time. Usually, they would not ask or greet each other.
Ma Xiao Shuai saw this scene and was happy to be quiet. He followed behind Dongfang Mu silently with his head lowered.
After saying this, a group of officials walked into the palace in twos and threes. After passing through a large gate, there was a huge open space in front of them. The ground was paved with green bricks and was flat and clean. It was time for the court session. Other than the officials who were waiting for the court session, there was also a group of young eunuchs standing neatly.
"De Fu, I'm going to attend court next, so I'll bring you here.”Dongfang Mu said to Ma Xiaoshuai as he walked.
Ma Xiaoshuai nodded. It was within his expectations.
At this moment, a young eunuch wearing a tall hat walked over and bowed to Dongfang Mu.
"Lord Prime Minister."
"En……bring Lord Zhang to the rear commander.”
Dongfang Mu stopped and ordered the young eunuch.
"Yes."
The young eunuch had probably lowered his head because of his status, so when he heard Dongfang Mu's words, he responded and walked to Ma Xiao Shuai's side, lowering his body again.
"Lord Zhang, please follow me."
Ma Xiao Shuai nodded and bid farewell to Dongfang Mu before leaving with the eunuch.
After passing through the side door, they walked for a while. The eunuch walked in front and didn't say anything. Ma Xiaoshuai was too lazy to get close to people, so he didn't pay attention to them. He looked around while walking. Soon, they arrived at the destination.
At this moment, there was a large courtyard that was built alone. It had a high door and was painted red. There was a large golden plaque with a few large words written in calligraphy-General of the rear.
After crossing the door, the two of them walked in one after another.
At this moment, a middle-aged man in official robes walked over. The young eunuch immediately stopped his luggage.
"Lord Li."
The middle-aged man who was called Lord Li waved his hand and ignored the eunuch. Instead, he looked at Ma Xiaoshuai, who had been ignoring him, and smiled meaningfully.
"Zhang Defu?"
Ma Xiao Shuai nodded, thinking that it was probably arranged by Dongfang Mu.
"You may leave." Lord Li waved his hand at the young eunuch and said to Ma Xiaoshuai,"Lord Zhang, follow me."
Ma Xiao Shuai cupped his hands and followed him.
Not long after, the two of them entered a house with a red painted door. Ma Xiaoshuai had just smelled a strong smell of tobacco, which made him somewhat surprised. Could it be that there was tobacco in this world?
However, Ma Xiaoshuai's doubts were replaced by a bigger surprise.
Because he saw someone who shouldn't be here---the middle-aged man who had set the questions for the second round of the street challenge.
This middle-aged man with a ruffian-like face and a bit of a bandit aura seemed to have a high status in the rear military division. At this moment, he was sitting at the head of the large hall with a familiar arrogant expression on his face. He was leisurely drinking tea and holding a pipe in one hand!!？？？
That's right! Ma Xiaoshuai was sure that he was not mistaken. Although in the original 21st century where technology was advanced, this kind of thing was rarely seen, but it would appear from time to time in movies and TV dramas, so Ma Xiaoshuai was not unfamiliar with this kind of thing. However, what made him headache was that he searched all the memories of the unlucky son-in-law and found that there was no such thing in this world. It seemed that there was no trace of tobacco.
"Haha, Zhang Defu, I told you we would meet again.”
The middle-aged man laughed heartily when he saw Ma Xiaoshuai. Ma Xiaoshuai nodded with a bitter smile.
"Sir is here…"
"Oh, just looking around."
The middle-aged man put down the teacup, but he didn't throw away the tobacco pipe. He gestured for Ma Xiaoshuai to sit down, and bit the obviously expensive tobacco pipe with some satisfaction, puffing out smoke.
Ma Xiaoshuai took this opportunity to look around the entire hall. There were seven or eight tables in the large hall. Some young and old people were busy dealing with official business. It was very similar to the office in the original world. There were no high-tech computers and phones. Instead, it was a complete set of paper, ink, paper, and ink stones. There were also a lot of messy books.
"Defu, you're going to be working here in the future. What do you think?”
The middle-aged man continued to smoke and chat with Ma Xiaoshuai.
Ma Xiaoshuai turned around and smiled,""It's alright."
The middle-aged man nodded. Seeing Ma Xiaoshuai staring at the pipe in his hand, he laughed and sat up. He raised the pipe to Ma Xiaoshuai and said,"What's wrong? Are you interested in trying it?"
Ma Xiaoshuai smiled bitterly and waved his hand, thinking to himself, why did you give me the one you had already sucked?
The middle-aged man seemed to know that Ma Xiaoshuai wouldn't accept it, so he didn't decline and sat back down.
"Sir, can you tell me your name now?”
"Ah?"
The middle-aged man scratched his head in surprise." Didn't I tell you?”
Ma Xiaoshuai gave him an affirmative look, which meant that he really didn't.
The middle-aged man smiled and said,"My name is Murong Junhua."”
Ma Xiaoshuai's heart skipped a beat. Murong? Huang surname?
"Defu failed to recognize Mount Tai. I've offended you in the past…"
Seeing Ma Xiaoshuai's panicked explanation, Murong Junhua waved his hand impatiently and said,"Don't give me that. Sit down and talk to me.”
Ma Xiaoshuai returned to his chair with a grateful look, but he was cursing in his heart. This guy was pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger.
"Handsome, I saw you compete with the Qian Family's girl last time. I don't understand where you learned such a strange question. And who was that Little Ming? Why do you keep talking about him?"
Ma Xiaoshuai broke out in cold sweat, thinking that this Xiaoming was quite famous.
"No, that Little Ming is just a name. I just thought of it.”
Murong Junhua nodded and smiled.
"However, when I think of that old fellow's defeated look, I want to laugh. Haha, you brat.”
Ma Xiaoshuai smiled awkwardly, suddenly remembering something.
"Mu…"
"Call me Uncle Murong. Xue Yu also called me that when she was young.”
Murong Junhua could tell that Ma Xiaoshuai didn't know how to address him, so he took the initiative to speak.
"Uncle Murong, where did you get that thing in your hand?" Ma Xiao Shuai nodded and continued.”
"You recognize this thing?"
Murong Junhua was a little surprised." Not many people know about this."”
Ma Xiaoshuai smiled." I've seen him before.”
Murong Junhua looked at Ma Xiaoshuai with a confused and strange expression,""This thing is very rare. The tobacco in this pipe is also very rare. As far as I know, Murong Kingdom doesn't produce this kind of thing.”
"Then you…"
Murong Junhua smiled proudly," This, I secretly brought this from Purple Jade Country. Even the tobacco pipe and a pound of tobacco cost me five hundred silver taels. This was the low price given by an acquaintance. Ordinary people wouldn't be able to smoke it even if they wanted to.”
The Purple Jade Nation was one of the three largest nations in the world, alongside the Murong Nation and the Yunshui Nation. It was located in the northwest of the Murong Nation. Its land was barren, but its territory was huge. After more than ten years of war, its national strength had been declining day by day. However, it had always been in constant conflict with the Murong Nation's border guards. The main reason was that it coveted the rich land of the Murong Nation.
Ma Xiaoshuai secretly memorized the information and was enlightened.
"In that case, aren't there very few people in Murong Kingdom who can afford to smoke tobacco?”
"It's rare, but it's not like there's none.”
Murong Junhua sighed heavily." There are many people who can afford to take bribes from merchants and corrupt officials who exploit the people. The reason why it is rare is that merchants are afraid of losing money, and officials are afraid of revealing their wealth. Even if they do, they will secretly enjoy it, so ordinary people rarely see it.”
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]