Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1109 Official (please vote for me)
Han Songyun, the Imperial College's sacrificial wine, was a Jinshi during the Tianqi period. Now he is already sixty-three, and it can be said that half of his body is buried in the earth.

Therefore, it is also because of his age that he can hold the position of offering wine in the Imperial College.

"what happened?"

Faintly sleeping, he got up from the couch.

"Two students asked to see me and brought gifts."

Han Songyun's eyes lit up: "Let them come in!"

Jiu Jiu from the Imperial Academy was a typical Qingliu official. He had a great voice among the scholars, but his power in the officialdom was low. Even Xiao Jiuqing could not compare with him.

Therefore, after serving as the examiner of the Imperial College Jijiu for many years, the Jijiujiu masters are well versed in the essence:
Receive gifts and improve food.

Meet people and help the family's children in their future career.

With such a prominent status and the importance of the family's future, it is natural that you cannot cheat. Otherwise, the height you fly will be the same as the fall.

Therefore, for the visits of scholars, either the guests should be thanked behind closed doors or the doors should be opened wide.

Han Songyun had no moral obsession, so he naturally chose the second option.

So, Ma Zhiyuan and Guo Junyi met this amiable and white-bearded Jijiu.

"You two, don't be polite." Han Songyun chuckled and chatted about some articles and poems.

The articles submitted by the two of them were also placed on the table after one glance.

The two of them didn't know the truth behind melons and plums, so they immediately said goodbye and left.

"Go, put this thing away."

Han Songyun didn't even read the article and asked his servants to take it down.

As the exam approaches, I don’t know how many articles have been submitted.

Among the five examinations, the eight-legged essay was only one of them, with a large proportion of poems, poems, and policy questions, thus creating a renewed trend of contribution.

Thousands of people in the Imperial College couldn't stand his offering of wine, so how could a few outsiders stand?

After a while, several more scholars came.

"Korean?"

Han Songlin looked at the invitation and didn't take it seriously.

In the imperial examination, in order to take care of the vassal states, Jinshi scholars from all countries were allowed to be treated the same as those in the Ming Dynasty and enjoy the same treatment, so that they could participate in the examination.

At the same time, when domestic candidates go to various vassal states, they are also equivalent to their Jinshi, and they are still in the second grade.

As for Jinshi, they are similar to Jun Bo.

Being a scholar is naturally equivalent to being a scholar.

It is precisely because of this that major vassal states continue to send people to recruit scholars in the mainland to enrich domestic education.

Several North Koreans also presented their articles respectfully, and after chatting for a few words, they stood up and left.

"Fanyang Lu family?" Han Songlin thought about the names of the two Koreans. He felt incredible for a moment, but also thought it was very possible.

After so many years of war, especially the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, it is very possible for these aristocratic families to go to North Korea.

"It's a pity that the family has come to an end..."

Ma Zhiyuan and Guo Junyi left their house and were walking on the road. Suddenly they heard the sound of horse hooves, and they hurriedly gave way to the roadside.

After taking a glance, I felt that although its majesty was majestic, it was always a bit empty.

After taking a closer look, I felt that his face did not have the arrogance of those noble children, but instead looked like an elegant scholar.

You know, in the capital, riding horses is allowed, but you are not allowed to hit people, otherwise the punishment will be extremely severe.

But for Xungui, as long as no one is killed, you can pay as much as you want. Money is nothing.

"These two people are Bo Zheng and Bo Li from the same city."

At this time, a person walked by the two of them and chuckled softly: "Don't think they are all earls. He is just the King of Annan. Even among the nobles, he is at the bottom."

"So, in a capital city where a brick is thrown and can kill an official, what do these two counts mean?"

I saw that this person spoke clearly and eloquently, and he was a little proud of his honor.

"May I ask this brother's name?"

"I am Tang Bin, whose courtesy name is Kong Bo. He is from Suizhou, Henan."

Tang Bin chuckled lightly, raised his hands and said coolly: "Are you two just trying to lift a child for a bus?"

"Brother Tang has great eyesight!"

Ma Zhiyuan and Guo Junyi also gave up.

Fortunately, the three of them are all from Suizhou, and their family background is better than that of Tang Bin. In addition, they are older, so they have never met each other.

Compared to Tang Bin, who is 40 years old, the two of them are only in their early thirties, so they look young and energetic.

The three of them walked together and came to a teahouse. They ordered a pot of jasmine tea and started eating several stacks of snacks.

At this time, the two of them knew that Tang Bin had already passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi as early as the fourth year of Shaowu.

Now 40 years old, he is serving as a prefect. This time he came to Beijing for a job change.

"Brother Tang, what is job transfer?" Ma Zhiyuan asked for advice.

Tang Bin chuckled and said: "The rules of our Shaowu Dynasty are that after the palace examination, they will be elected to the Imperial Academy and the common people. The most pitiful top three can only observe the government in various ministries. After about a year, they will go to local posts."

"The remaining Jinshi also stayed in office for two years, and the Shujishi served as Secretary of the Cabinet for two and a half years."

"The longer you watch politics, the brighter your future will be."

"After a local official is appointed, according to the rules, he will be transferred to a capital official, that is, a transfer."

"In the early years of Shaowu, it was easy for the top three Jinshis to change jobs and get promoted quickly, but now the more Jinshi there are, the more strict the rules are. If they don't do well in the evaluation, they can only transfer to another place."

"The birth and promotion of Jinshi are smooth. Once every three years comes, as long as you pass the examination and pass the examination, you can be transferred to the capital official position."

"Stay in Beijing for a year or two, accumulate contacts, and then go somewhere else, but you have to be promoted one level."

Tang Bin smiled and said: "A certain person was a prefect before, a fourth-rank official, and now he is the young minister of Yuanma Temple."

Ma and Guo were shocked. They didn't expect that someone they met randomly on the roadside turned out to be Xiao Jiuqing.

Although the power is not great, it is noble!
I sighed for a while and started to toast again.

After taking a few sips, the waiter suddenly came over and said, "Sir, I have some wine from Anxi. It's very sweet and has a unique taste. Do you want to try it?"

Guo Junyi got into the mood of making friends, and without even asking the price, he said directly: "Let's have a drink."

Immediately, a bottle of wine in a glass appeared in front of him.

The waiter saw the shock on the three people's faces and the distress in Guo Junyi's eyes. He couldn't help but said: "This is made from grapes from Gaochang Mansion. Although we have come a long way from here, the price is not too expensive. Ten silver dollars is enough." Can."

"If this glass bottle is returned to us, it will only cost nine yuan."

"It's not expensive!" Guo Junyi's heart trembled and he hurriedly said: "Open it quickly and let us have a taste."

The three of them tasted the wine and found that the alcohol content was very low. It tasted similar to sour plum soup, but the taste was different.

"This businessman has made a lot of money." Ma Zhiyuan's close friend couldn't help but say.

But Tang Bin saw something different and sighed: "In this way, Anxi also has special products, and taxation can be easier."

Seeing that the two of them were a little confused, he confided: "Although Anxi's land is large, it is no different from Mongolia. Things can't be sold at high prices. Now that we have wine, we have an extra harvest."

"The court can also be more relaxed."

The imperial court made financial transfers to those border areas every year to subsidize their tax deficiencies, especially in Anxi.The distance is too far and the products are the same as those in Mongolia, so we suffer the most losses.

Ma Zhiyuan drank and said: "As the saying goes, the prime minister must start from a prefecture or county. This is what the court and your majesty want, but this transfer is very good."

"That's right." Although the topic was a little awkward, Tang Bin was very cooperative.

"Then what if you fail the exam? Do you fail continuously?"

"Then the only option is to relocate."

Tang Bin chuckled and said: "You also know that the imperial court takes care of the border areas and mountains. The same county has a higher level."

"When the time comes to transfer from Fu County to Border County, although the official will be promoted, life will be hard. You will have to endure the care of the Qiuba people and the bitter cold..."

Since rebellions occur from time to time in the border areas, the status of civil servants is often subordinate. For example, the magistrate of Chahar has to obey the words of the governor of Chahar and take care of the feelings of the generals. It can be described as bitter.

In this case, it is really torture for the pampered civil servants.

But at the same time, for the border areas, no matter how low-ranking the civil servants were, they were still Jinshi, and their ability to govern the people was better than that of military officials.

"Of course, if you have connections, you can also be transferred to the capital and work as an errand in an idle yamen, running around for some trivial matters..."

Ma and Guo were stunned.

"So, you two township party members, please don't be careless in the palace examination. The top three is miserable, and only by entering the second can you truly have a bright future..."

After saying that, Tang Bin summoned the waiter to settle the bill.

Guo Junyi was anxious, but Tang Bin pressed the button: "The money you have has to be supported by Beijing, don't waste it on me."

"This official from the capital is quite wealthy."

"It won't be too late to treat me to a drink some other time when the two gold medal winners are named."

With that said, he left with a smile.

Seeing his unrestrained spirit, Guo Junyi couldn't help but said: "A person like Senior Tang must have a bright future in the officialdom."

"Yes, you and I need to be very close to each other." Ma Zhiyuan agreed.

……

Guangdong, Qiongzhou Prefecture, Qiongshan County.

"Husband is back?" Zhang Erniang, who was wearing a cloth and a wooden hairpin, hurriedly got up from the stove, asked her youngest son to light the stove fire, and then walked into the yard.

"I'm back." Zhao Cheng nodded, picked up his right hand and said, "I bought two kilograms of sea fish, let's stew it with tofu and eat it tonight!"

"Okay!" Zhang Erniang agreed, then hurriedly took out the kitchen knife from the kitchen, then brought a cutting board, fetched a bucket of water from the well, and began to cut open the abdomen and remove the scales.

The two sons rushed over and saw that it was just sea fish. They couldn't help but curled their lips: "Dad, why are you eating fish again?"

"I want to eat meat, whether it's pork or mutton."

The eight-year-old son came over from the stove with a gray face and said with a pout.

"You are so beautiful. The winter solstice will be here in a few days. We will eat it then." Zhang Erniang refused to say anything else and drove him away.

Zhao Cheng looked at his aggrieved younger son, then turned around and saw that his eldest son was in the courtyard, reading a book in the light and turning a blind eye to the scene in front of him.

He nodded in satisfaction.

At this time, the second elder who lived in the side house also came over. Father Zhao was dissatisfied with his son's fishy smell:
"You are a scholar, why do you smell like fish? If you meet those classmates, wouldn't you lose face?"

"If you want to buy fish from now on, let your wife do it."

"That's right!" Zhao Cheng nodded in agreement.

He then returned to the room.

As a scholar, although he is also a first-class figure in his hometown, his food, clothing, housing and transportation are really poor.

As a teacher of social studies, my annual salary is only ten yuan and ten shi of food. Even if I am somewhat lax, it is difficult to improve the food.

It has been hundreds of years since poor scholars and wealthy people have not completely changed.

The officials in the county government now also have official status, which requires him to pass the provincial examination, but this is too difficult.

He, who has been studying all his life, is not willing.

He was only in his early thirties, so he was asked to give up his career and spend his whole life buried in documents. He was ordered around by the inferior Zuoer officials. He went to the mountains and countryside all day long, which was better than farming.

The rammed floor is paved with a layer of blue bricks. Since it is close to the sea, the floor is always wet and difficult to clean.

A few more weeds sprouted up unconsciously in the corner of the wall. When he took a look, he saw that a green brick had broken into pieces.

He could only go to the study room, look at the books on the bookshelf, find a copy of "Shaowu Pinyin", and start practicing Mandarin.

As a scholar with self-esteem, he believed that he was born to be a court official, so he naturally wanted to learn Mandarin.

Few people in Guangdong and Guangxi can speak Mandarin, but he has heard that in the officialdom, many people speak Mandarin substandardly, causing people in Guangdong and Guangxi to be laughed at.

It can be said that we are closely related to Fujian Province next door.

Therefore, if you want to advance in the officialdom, you must speak fluent Mandarin.

I don't know how long it took, but suddenly he smelled the smell of chicken stew in his nose.

It seems to be mixed with bamboo shoots, mushrooms, wild vegetables, and radishes, which makes people salivate.

He couldn't bear it anymore and walked out the door and said, "Why did you stew the chicken?"

"Husband, this gentleman brought me here. He said he was your friend——"

Zhang Erniang said.

The younger son was drooling next to him, and the older son couldn't read the book anymore, his eyes turned to the stove from time to time.

"Brother Zhao, stay safe and sound!"

Zhao Cheng narrowed his eyes and felt that he looked familiar. Then he remembered that this man used to be from the next county. After the hospital exam, he got drunk in a restaurant and became friends.

"Qi Cong? Qi Ziyu!"

"That's right!" Qi Cong agreed with a smile.

Zhao Chengshi found it difficult to connect this person with the previous Qi Cong.

After the examination in the hospital, the two of them had a banquet and ate fine food, but they were equally depressed.

As far as he knew, Qi Cong's farmland was only five acres, and the whole village pooled money to help him catch the exam and hire a teacher for him.

Looking back now, he is dressed in splendid clothes and cowhide boots. His face is smooth and fair, and his face is radiant. It seems that he has enjoyed glory and wealth.

There were two servants following him, very well-behaved.

"What? Did you win?"

Zhao Cheng felt all kinds of things in his heart.

"How is this possible?" Qi Cong shook his head and asked the servant to leave.

"If passing the examination as a scholar can rely on intelligence and talent, then the promotion of talents requires skills, lintel, and the guidance of famous teachers. How can poor families like me have this opportunity?"

Qi Cong pointed to the gifts on the table and the clothes on his body: "I am now an official."

"Officer?" Zhao Cheng felt even more uncomfortable.

"Where's the official?"

"An official of Qin!"

(End of this chapter)