Chapter 816 Returning Home in Glory and Seeking Help
After seeing off the He family, Sun Shan received invitation letters from new Jinshi from time to time.
Haha, it seems that I am quite popular. Many people have invited me to their banquets.
Based on the principle of killing those who were wrong and letting those who were wrong go, Sun Shan accepted the banquet one by one.
As for Sun Shan himself, he had never thought of holding a banquet.
There is no way I can do that because my strength is limited and I can’t afford the waste of effort and money.
Then the examination results came out, and Sun Shan still got third place.
It doesn’t matter what the result is. I have already decided to give up and just lie down like a salted fish.
Han Jieyuan passed the examination and became a scholar. Sun Shan was really envious and even attended Han Jieyuan's banquet.
As for Senior Brother Chen Jin, haha, unfortunately he failed the exam and has to wait for an official position just like Sun Shan.
There is no way. The competition is too fierce. You can’t pass the exam just because you want to.
Those who were not selected all waited with Sun Shan for the Ministry of Personnel's selection.
The so-called selection is to wait for official positions to become vacancies in various government offices in Beijing and in provinces, prefectures and counties.
If you are lucky and there are a number of vacancies, you may be able to be appointed soon.
If there is no vacancy, you will have to wait.
Sun Shan didn't know how long he had to wait. A good official position requires not only connections but also luck, as the saying goes, it all depends on the right time, the right place and the right people.
As a series of celebrations came to an end, the top scorer, role model, third place winner, and the new Jinshi who were selected to intern in the Hanlin Academy began to return home in glory one after another.
The imperial court would give a sum of money to allow the new scholars to build a monument in the local area, and give them a period of vacation to return to their hometown to show off.
In addition to receiving the highest honor, the more important thing for the new scholars to return home is to "seek sponsorship".
The newly-minted Jinshi returned home in glory not only to bring honor to his family, but also as it was a good opportunity to make money.
It is said that Zeng Guofan returned to his hometown after being granted the title of Jinshi. Some people have verified that Zeng Guofan stayed in his hometown for a total of 296 days, and he was not at home for 198 days. And more than half of this time was actually spent "collecting money".
If you come from a wealthy family or a wealthy businessman's family, you don't need to follow these routes. However, no one has too much money, and many new scholars will plan a "collecting money" route as soon as they return home.
From inside to outside, from near to far, from relatives to strangers, from relatives to officials, from officials to businessmen, the four industries of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, as long as there is money, the new scholars will go to "visit".
For example, when Sun Shan returned to Sunjia Village, he would first start from his home, wander around the village, and visit every household one by one.
My second uncle and third uncle gave ten taels, the village chief gave five taels, the clan elders gave a few hundred dollars, and the villagers gave more than ten or twenty cents.
After beating the autumn wind in the village, they would attack the relatives outside the family, such as Grandpa Su and Aunt Su, Yun Jie'er's parents' family, the husband's families of several sisters, etc.
After defeating the maternal relatives, they went around the area to collect money, and visited landlords and wealthy families in Zhengjia Village, Yangjia Village and other places.
Afterwards, they left the village and went to the county town to extort money from merchants and landlords, such as Hong Xiucai and Huang Xiucai.
Except for the He family, most of Sun Shan's relatives are poor. But don't treat your relatives as poor relatives. A few dozen coins here and a few taels of silver there will add up to a lot.
This money can be kept for use after taking office. It can be used as living expenses or to prepare for the future.
If Sun Shan still had very little money after asking all his relatives, wealthy families, merchants and officials in Huangyang County for money, he would have to go to Zhangzhou Prefecture to ask for money.
For example, Li Xinyun, a good friend of the prefectural school, was Sun Shan's main target for extortion. Later, the teacher who had taught in the prefectural school, and so on, were all good targets for extortion.
Don't give too much to each household, just one or two taels, the total amount will be a large sum.
Sun Shan could also visit pawnshops, drugstores, cloth shops, wineries, tea factories, blacksmith shops, etc. one by one to ask for money.
The reason was that he was from Zhangzhou Prefecture (Sun Shan’s school record was in Zhangzhou Prefecture), and he had finally passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, so he had to come out and walk around so that everyone could get to know him.
As for these merchants, they naturally knew what to do, and would more or less give Sun Shan some red envelopes.
If I don't cover it, I'm worried that I'll be criticized.
If Sun Shan felt that the money collected from Zhangzhou Prefecture was still not enough, or that the money was too shameless and greedy, he could go to Guangzhou Prefecture to collect money.
Starting from the two-courtyard house I bought in Guangzhou, I started to collect money from the surrounding area.
Find out clearly, choose the right time, visit them at their homes, or take a few inexpensive cakes and deliver them to each household.
Haha, the newly-minted scholar has given you a gift, so you must return the gift in return.
Usually, the return gift is a red envelope.
There are many households from the beginning to the end of the street, and from the east alley to the west alley. A few worthless cakes can get several times or even dozens of times the return. This is a business with small investment and high profit.
Sun Shan just needs to be thicker-skinned and walk faster.
After soliciting the autumn wind from the neighbors in Erjinzhaiyuan, Guangzhou, Sun Shan could go to Hejia Village opposite to solicit the autumn wind.
Who says he is half a son of the He family? Who says he has Aunt Sun?
Especially the merchants on the main street, Sun Shan walked over step by step to "visit" them, and people often gave him red envelopes.
Haha, especially since there are many wealthy families in Hejia Village, Sun Shan has more opportunities to make a fortune.
Although the behavior of "asking for money" is not encouraged, this is a rare opportunity to ask for money in a fair and open manner.
Doing so is neither illegal nor will you be criticized. It is also reasonable and compliant and has become a common practice.
As long as Sun Shan is thick-skinned enough and willing to beg for money, his pockets will be full.
According to research, the money Zeng Guofan earned from begging in his hometown of Xiangxiang County was enough to buy 50 acres of fertile land or 40,000 kilograms of pork.
When Zeng Guofan left his hometown and went to Beijing to report, he begged for money along the way and earned about two thousand taels in total.
Sun Shan was thinking, when he gets his official position down and returns home in glory, should he go out to beg for money?
Hejia Village, in particular, is an important target for Sun Shan to "visit".
After going through all the steps, I should make at least a few hundred taels, if not a few thousand. This way, I would have a sum of money when I took office, and I wouldn't have to worry about money.
This kind of "money-making" behavior is the routine of new scholars. It is an act of following the crowd and following the trend. If Sun Shan really did it, he would not be infamous for eternity.
After all, it is an unspoken rule that everyone tacitly accepts, and whether you do it or not will not have any negative impact in the officialdom.
Moreover, some newly-appointed scholars would do even more extreme things and use their status to openly extort money.
How could ordinary merchants and farmers dare to confront the "official" Jinshi? They would generally choose to keep quiet within the limit of tolerance.
After all, there are few new scholars, so even if they are blackmailed, they will just accept it.
Sun Shan shook his head vigorously. He would never do such a thing even if he was beaten to death. He was a thin-skinned person and valued "benevolence, righteousness, and morality" the most.
Not to mention that he went to visit to seek benefits, even if others came to give him benefits, Sun Shan would not dare to accept them.
He was very timid and was afraid of being asked for money. He was in a constant state of anxiety and the result was not worth it.