Chapter 127 Changing the Door Lintel, Reactions from All Sides
Chapter 127 Changing the Door Lintel, Reactions from All Sides (Subscription Request)
Hosting a buffet and receiving guests was just the beginning of Xu Qing's success as a champion. Even though he was impatient with these mundane tasks, he had to attend various social gatherings and write poems in recent days.
The only thing he was thankful for was that he didn't have to attend the Lu Ming Banquet after the provincial examination.
Because the chief examiner, Shen Mo, actually gave up the opportunity to recruit many students and returned to Beijing to report after the results were announced.
You know, every provincial examination is an opportunity for quasi-big shots in the court to recruit their own cliques.
Therefore, any examiner of the provincial examination attached great importance to the Deer Singing Banquet after the announcement of the results and tried to get close to the new candidates.
A juren from a place, even if he fails to pass the imperial examination, can still get involved in local official affairs.
If one is willing to spend money and find the connections, many county magistrates or county magistrates in remote areas can be directly manipulated by the Juren.
Moreover, the ceiling for Juren is not very low. If there is an opportunity, it is possible to become a governor. Of course, this situation is extremely rare.
The actual situation is that in today's Dayu Dynasty, if one really wants to be promoted smoothly in the officialdom and become a senior official, one must at least be a second-class Jinshi.
It is rare in decades for a third-class Jinshi like Lord Wu to be able to become an Inspector General or the Prefect of Zhili in the early or middle stages of his official career.
Because of this, Lord Wu is now very famous in the officialdom. Everyone knows that he has a strong background and is extremely lucky.
Originally, the former Inspector General of Southern Zhili was a big fire pit, but Lord Wu managed to accomplish what the big boss wanted to do.
Open customs, crack down on salt gangs, and eliminate bandits...
Everything he does is done beautifully.
Officials who can do practical work in the imperial court have always been scarce. It happened that the court was undergoing a reform, and the Prime Minister urgently needed capable officials as his followers. Therefore, Lord Wu not only caught the attention of Zhang Yan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who was from the same hometown, but was also mentioned by the Prime Minister many times in Yanyue Hall. He was someone that the Prime Minister could keep in mind.
Of course, putting aside the sourness of others, objectively speaking, it cannot be said that Mr. Wu’s work is entirely due to having a good student.
Being able to identify and employ people is the most important skill that an official should have.
Therefore, the Prime Minister’s evaluation of Lord Wu as a capable official is indeed correct.
As for Zhang Yan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he actually had a friendship with Lord Wu in the past. They all went to Beijing together to take the imperial examinations. Zhang Yan was set up and had no money to pay for drinking. In the end, it was Lord Wu who paid to settle the matter.
As a result, Zhang Yan passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, but Lord Wu failed.
From then on, Zhang Yan became an official in Beijing, and Lord Wu went back to prepare for the exam.
Because officials in Beijing were not well-off, Zhang Yan never paid back the money. Later, Lord Wu passed the imperial examination and became a top-ranked Jinshi, and Zhang Yan gradually rose to the position of assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Therefore, Lord Wu was able to be promoted quickly as a third-class Jinshi, which was also due to this relationship.
Of course, a lot of money was spent.
However, this is the current trend in the Dayu Dynasty.
An official position in a prosperous place like Nanzhili.
If you give me money, at most I can show you a way, but I can't guarantee that you can get it done.
Therefore, even though Qingshui County, where Lord Wu was appointed, was the seat of the prefecture, it was still a rare thing to obtain it as a third-class Jinshi.
Moreover, with the experience of being the magistrate of Zhili Prefecture, it would be convenient for him to be promoted in the future.
This is probably a little compensation from Minister Zhang for not paying back the money he owed for many years.
What even Minister Zhang didn't expect was that his old friend would have such luck.
Nowadays, the correspondence between Lord Wu and Minister Zhang is much closer than in previous years, and they have returned to their former "brother" relationship, except that now Minister Zhang is the "older brother", even though he is actually younger than Lord Wu.
Even so, Lord Wu was very happy.
After Lord Wu took office in Jinyang Prefecture, he often corresponded with Xu Qing, and implicitly revealed his relationship with Minister Zhang and some other matters to Xu Qing in the form of casual chat.
In fact, it was Minister Zhang who was quite optimistic about Xu Qing's future and hinted to Old Wu that he wanted to lay a foundation with Xu Qing in advance.
As long as Xu Qing arrives in the capital in the future, if he wants to pay a visit, he can definitely enter the door of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel with the help of Lord Wu's relationship.
After all, the Minister of Personnel is known as the "Grand Chancellor" in the Jianghu. He is extremely powerful, and the more powerful ones can even challenge the Prime Minister. The Left Vice Minister is called the "Young Chancellor", and his official status can be imagined.
Many second-class Jinshi candidates wished they could go to Minister Zhang's house every day to clean the yard.
In his heart, Xu Qing still wanted to rely on Minister Zhang's connections.
How should I put it? Although people like my father-in-law, Zhou Tixue and He Zhifu all have strong connections, overall, Xu Qing and Master Wu are the ones who can truly be called close friends.
Another point is very important.
The seniors mentioned above all have their own opinions.
Only Old Wu really listens to Xu Qing.
The main thing is to obey your words.
In this world, how can we not cherish a wise man like Mr. Wu?
In his opinion, Lord Wu had only one shortcoming, which was to give him the nickname "Young Phoenix" and the character "Gongming".
Not very auspicious.
but now……
He knew that a young man like him who was handsome and elegant would be called "Jieyuanlang" if he passed the imperial examination, unlike an old man who could only be called "Jieyuangong" if he passed the imperial examination.
The question is, what the hell is "Jiangzuo Xu Lang"?
Before Xu Qing knew it, he had earned another nickname, "sudden death" or "short life".
He is now worried that if he takes the imperial examination in the future, if he is unlucky, he might get the title of "Tanhua", which doesn't sound very good.
Mr. Xu, the third place winner?
It sounds particularly indecent.
"Forget it. If I can pass the imperial examination successfully in the future, I won't mind a little hardship."
For the Jieyuan in Nanzhili, it would be no problem for him to pass the imperial examination, but whether he could get into the first class depended on luck.
Because the writing level of the candidates who can pass the joint examination is not bad, while the palace examination mainly depends on luck.
Generally, the bigwigs in the court would review the papers, discuss, and then select ten essays to be handed over to the emperor to determine the final ranking.
If the emperor was too lazy to take care of it, the prime minister would often provide advice directly and handle the matter according to the rules.
Therefore, the ranking in the palace examination is more or less determined by background and connections.
In addition, if Xu Qing does not take part in the imperial examination next year, he will have to take part in it the year after next.
However, Xu Qing still decided not to take part in next year's imperial examination.
Taking part in the imperial examination would only mean becoming a Jinshi, and he would have to stay in the capital, which was much more dangerous than Nanzhili and was not conducive to his development of power.
If he stayed in the local area, he could also try to teach, educate, and do more things that would be conducive to obtaining "holiness".
Even if he really died young, at least he had made some contribution to the people of this world and would be remembered for a long time.
If a person cannot live forever, but can make others remember him for a long time, it is another kind of longevity.
Being forgotten by everyone is the real death.
...
...
Xu Qing was busy with social engagements and constantly thinking about his own affairs.
On the other side, Zhou and Li Gongyu were also very busy.
There are three major things to do right now.
The first thing was to change the door lintel, the second thing was to erect a Jieyuan archway, and the third thing was to find a matchmaker to propose marriage to the Inspector General.
Since ancient times, both parties have paid attention to matching their social status when getting married.
Bamboo door faces bamboo door, red door faces red door.
To be honest, it is a legendary story in modern times that Feng Xifeng, an ordinary scholar, was able to marry the eldest daughter of the Zhou family.
It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the Liang Shanbo of the modern world.
It was just related matters, so Xu Qing didn't ask or inquire about them.
No matter how difficult and unfair the events of those years were, after Feng Xifeng passed the imperial examination and became an imperial censor, they would no longer be mentioned repeatedly by the Zhou family.
Wanting to honor his deceased wife was probably the reason why Feng Xifeng was so eager to achieve success.
There are bound to be unexpected events in the future of life, so we can only grasp the present and seize the day.
The same applies to my daughter's marriage.
The messenger who came to announce the good news came from the Inspectorate's Office, and he also brought a hint from Inspector Feng, asking them to quickly prepare for the marriage proposal.
In order to welcome the bride, the door lintel must be replaced quickly.
At this time, it is no longer appropriate to call it "Li's House".
The lintel, also known as the "door eyebrow", is the horizontal beam on the upper part of the door frame above the main door.
The height of the door lintel is mainly determined by the number of door stops and steps.
The two gate levels correspond to officials of the seventh to fifth ranks, and so on, the higher the rank, the more gate levels there are.
In addition, there are steps. For officials of the sixth and seventh ranks, the number of steps in front of their doors cannot exceed two. And so on. The higher the rank, the more steps there are.
Xu Qing is now a juren. Even if he is a jieyuan, because he has not become an official, after changing the door lintel, he can only make changes to the logo on the lintel.
In short, it should be low-key, yet look refined and high-end.
It is a great test of the craftsmanship of the craftsman.
In addition, there is the Jieyuan Archway.
This is the top priority.
In Nanzhili Province, because he was the first Jieyuan in the world, the Jieyuan archway was often more high-end and majestic than some Jinshi archways.
Even though Zhou was pregnant, she still did everything herself, kept an eye on these things, and even asked someone about the relevant details, for fear that something might go wrong and she would be laughed at.
In addition, she had already discussed with Li Gongyu that after finishing these things, she would move out of the Xu Mansion completely.
Otherwise, the new mistress will feel awkward when she comes in later.
She was also a woman, and she knew it very well. She was not Xu Qing's legitimate elder, and even if Qing'er didn't think so, the new daughter-in-law might not think so.
Someone told her that this was not the door lintel of their Li family, so there was no need to stare at it so closely.
If you do a good job, you may not be thanked by your future bride, but if you do a bad job, you will definitely be criticized.
Zhou knew this truth very well.
So she must do this matter very properly.
We can’t let the new bride find fault with the Xu family.
I think the Li couple didn't care about Xu Qing.
In fact, it was because she felt a little guilty. Qingger had just woken up from a serious illness, and she actually wanted to let an outsider take over Lao Li's job.
Fortunately, Lao Li stood up for once and did not leave any grudge in Qing'er's heart.
Even so, the more Xu Qing achieved, the more benefits he brought to the family, and the more uncomfortable Zhou felt.
Even though Xu Qing treated her much better than before he got sick, and treated her like his own aunt, Zhou felt even more ashamed because of this.
She would feel much better if she did these things.
...
...
Time goes back to the day when the results of the provincial examination were announced.
Many people were keeping an eye on the list of this provincial examination. As soon as the yellow list came out, the news of the provincial examination rankings quickly spread to all the prefectures in Nanzhili.
Every time the results of the provincial examination came out, it would actually cause a certain fluctuation in the power of the local prefectures.
Because only a few people can pass the imperial examinations, most of the candidates will stay in their hometowns and participate in local governance.
"What? Li Yuan among the beasts."
The young master of the Duke of Wei's mansion found it hard to accept this news.
He already knew that if Xu Qing did not rank among the top five, his father would directly take action to eliminate this threat.
However, the other party turned out to be the top scorer in the provincial examination, the top scorer among the top scorers in this provincial examination.
"Okay, don't make a fuss. He is just a Jieyuan. No matter how much trouble you make, he is still just a Juren. Is this the only thing that the eldest son of a Duke's Mansion has?" The Duke of Wei snorted coldly.
He was not at all surprised to hear that Xu Qing had passed the provincial examination and won the first place.
Because he had roughly guessed it after knowing that Fang Laogui had entered the provincial examination hall, and now he was just verifying this result.
"I didn't expect that in this provincial examination, they would invite Fang Laogui to support them." Duke Wei was actually a little discouraged.
But he couldn't show it.
Especially at times like this, the more you need to stay calm.
"Father, this kid is cruel and ruthless, and has great martial arts skills. He will definitely take revenge on our family." said the young master.
Duke Wei said calmly: "Although he has become the emperor now, the influence he can borrow is not as much as before. There is nothing to worry about."
"Why?" The young master found it a little difficult to understand. Isn't it true that if Xu Qingzhong understood Yuan, his influence and power would become stronger and stronger?
"You, it's all my fault that I spoiled you. Let me ask you, if you had a very powerful person under you, and he was involved with other people's families, and one of them was even your enemy, what would you think?"
"Of course we can't let him go. First, we need him to cut off these relationships. If he can be used, continue to use him. If he can't be used, get rid of him." The young master said as a matter of course.
For those in power, loyalty is the first criterion, and sometimes even the only criterion.
Duke Wei said leisurely: "Good fortune is closely related to misfortune, and misfortune is closely related to good fortune. The Taoist scriptures say it well."
The young master seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "So, if that kid gets rid of Li Yuan, it will be even more troublesome."
When he thought of this, he felt a lot more relaxed.
This person was so scary that it made him very uncomfortable.
He didn't even dare to admit that as the prince of the Duke's Mansion, he was actually no match for others.
Duke of Wei: "Not a big deal, but he will be in big trouble soon. Your understanding of political intrigue is still superficial. Go back and read more history books, especially the Zizhi Tongjian. You must read it repeatedly."
"Yes." The young master was relieved by his father's comfort and said goodbye to his father and left.
Recently, he also felt that his understanding of the world was too superficial and he needed to learn.
Watching his eldest son leave, Duke Wei couldn't help but sigh.
I really don't understand.
Any political scheme must be based on strength.
Powerful tactics are just a minor trick.
"Master, don't be too angry." The butler said hurriedly.
Duke Wei shook his head: "I'm just disappointed."
"In fact, the young master has changed. You should be more patient with him."
Duke Wei nodded, but he knew very well in his heart that people's aptitudes and talents were determined by heaven and were difficult to change.
Boer really doesn't have this talent.
What he said just now was all true, but his son never understood one thing, that is, while it was difficult for Xu Qing to take advantage of the situation, it also meant that he was truly the number one figure.
There are actually two paths in front of Xu Qing: either join a big boss and rise to the top from then on.
There is also a more difficult path, which is to make yourself a towering tree that others can truly rely on.
The former's path is easy and bright.
The latter path is difficult, but once successful, the future is unimaginable.
If it were an ordinary champion, there would be no such opportunity.
However, Duke Wei had been running the business for many years, so how could he not see that Xu Qing's early layout had just created the fertile soil for him to grow into a towering tree.
The key is that he has the support of Fang Laogui.
This is also what Duke Wei is very wary of.
Old Ghost Fang played this trick brilliantly. He used Xu Qing's identity to push Xu Qing to the front, allowing him to continue to oppose the Duke of Wei's Mansion while also being able to get himself out of it.
And he successfully completed the task assigned to him by the emperor - to suppress the Duke of Wei's Mansion.
This man has grown old, but instead of becoming confused, he has become more and more shrewd.
Whenever there was a member of the Fang family who took the imperial examination and entered officialdom, Duke Wei would be able to find a flaw in him, but Old Man Fang was extremely cautious.
"You old fool, aren't you afraid that after your death, the Fang family will have no one to support them and will be destroyed?" Duke Wei hated him secretly.
But he thought, if Xu Qing succeeded and successfully suppressed the Duke of Wei's Mansion, how could he not take care of the Fang family?
What if Xu Qing fails?
"You are already over eighty years old. Why bother working for the Great Yu Dynasty?" Duke Wei hated and feared the elder Fang.
On the surface, it is indeed more difficult for Xu Qing to take advantage of the situation, but in fact, because of Fang Laogui's support, Xu Qing was labeled as Fang Laogui.
What’s even more amazing is that outsiders think that Old Ghost Fang won’t live for many years.
Once Old Fang is gone, will Xu Qing accept Old Fang’s political legacy?
In this case, if anyone tried to subdue Xu Qing at that time, wouldn't it be...
Someone must think this way. The more top-level chess players are, the more they like long-term planning and do not care about immediate gains and losses.
Therefore, although it is difficult for Xu Qing to take advantage of the situation, he can rely on his relationship with Fang Laogui and does not need to rush to take sides for the time being.
After all, the emperor is behind Fang Laogui.
If we have to say who Xu Qing belongs to, then he must be the emperor's man.
If we have to say that he has a party, it can only be the Imperial Party.
Therefore, when Duke Wei heard that Shen Mo was going to leave Yingtian Prefecture today and return to Beijing to report, he knew very well that he had lost a great opportunity.
"Hey, Shen Junshan, you have always been so arrogant that you want to be the prime minister in the future. But as the chief examiner of the Nanzhili provincial examination, you didn't take the opportunity to recruit your followers. Why?"
Shen Mo's sudden departure also made Duke Wei feel as if he had been attacked from behind.
If Shen Mo took the opportunity to show closeness to Xu Qing and recruit his followers, he would have another way to cause big trouble for Xu Qing.
But this guy was crazy for some reason and just left without wanting to take the opportunity to recruit disciples.
This is a disciple of a juren from Nanzhili!
It is not easy for a person to be the chief examiner of a provincial examination once in his lifetime. What is Shen Junshan thinking?
Even though Duke Wei was always able to understand people's hearts, he still couldn't figure it out.
Because Shen Mo's other identity is the teacher of the emperor's eldest son, Prince Yu.
Prince Yu is the de facto crown prince.
His recruiting of disciples and his closeness to Xu Qing would undoubtedly make the suspicious old emperor feel that Xu Qing was unreliable.
Then Lord Fang will also give up Xu Qing.
In this way, Xu Qing would truly be in the whirlpool of Southern Zhili and could be crushed to pieces at any time.
Duke Wei naturally didn't know that although Shen Mo didn't realize this, he also realized the great truth that one can be strong without desire. His identity was destined to "win without fighting".
Since you can win without fighting, why fight?
This is an opportunity that many people want all their lives, but when the opportunity comes, few can actually do it.
Micro-management is the nature of smart people.
It is precisely because of Shen Mo's experience as someone else's adopted son that he has a different kind of awe for fate and takes many things lightly.
He is a very complicated person.
During the imperial examination, young people were full of vigor and their writing style was sharp.
But everything changed after he became the top scorer in the imperial examination.
He won the first place in the imperial examination and went home to bring honor to his family. However, his father, who had raised him for twenty years, told him that he was not a child of his family and asked him to restore his original surname. He even did not want him to bring honor to his adoptive father's family, but asked him to bring honor to another family that was completely unfamiliar to him.
This kind of blow is unimaginable for those who have not experienced it personally.
So Shen Mo has been conflicted since then. He wants to do things, but is afraid that after doing them, just like when he passed the imperial examination and became the top scorer, all his actions will become meaningless in front of the person he wants to prove himself to the most.
The matter of the provincial examination finally made Shen Mo realize the truth.
His life is destined to be like this, there is no need to fight.
If you don't do anything and don't risk your life for the people of the world, you won't have any disappointments and you will be able to succeed.
Duke Wei is now feeling angry and cannot talk to anyone.
He was secretly melancholy for a long time, and then ordered the chief butler Yan Fu: "Go and prepare some rare gifts, and when Xu Gongming and the daughter of the Feng family get married, send them on behalf of the Duke of Wei's Mansion."
"Do you want to give me another gift?"
"Ms. Feng's mother is a noble lady of Taicang Zhou family, and her father was a member of the second class of the imperial examinations. Now he is the Inspector General of Nanzhili. They are all respectable people. How can they not observe etiquette?" Duke Wei said indifferently.
"promise."
Yan Fu felt that the master was just being tough on the outside and actually wanted to take the opportunity to ease the relationship with Xu Qing.
Duke Wei seemed to be afraid that Yan Fu would misunderstand him, and said, "These days, I expect the wealthy people in Jiangning Prefecture to instigate those ignorant people to donate a large amount of their lives, land, and various industries to Xu Gongming. Let's see how Xu Gongming responds."
The country has its own laws, and the contributions it can accept are limited.
But under the instigation of the gentry, ordinary people don't care so much.
Since they think Xu Gongming is a good person, they will definitely be willing to follow him.
At this time, if Xu Gongming rejected most of them, it would be a lot of fun.
Duke Wei acted as if he had mastered the wisdom of the matter, and said leisurely: "As the saying goes, a little bit of rice is a favor, and a big bit of rice is a grudge! Xu Gongming established himself in the world with benevolence and righteousness, and he will definitely be bitten back." At this point, he smiled and said: "If he wants to be Liu Xuande who led the people across the river, it depends on whether he has the ability to do so."
Although Yan Fu felt that what the master said made sense, "Liu Xuande really succeeded."
Come to think of it, the master is quite a good wife. Is he learning from Cao Mengde?
Although he was complaining in his heart, he didn't show it on his expression, and acted as if the master was right!
(End of this chapter)