Manchu traitor, how can you let me be the emperor of the ages

Chapter 175 Double win, Li Gan wins numb

The wheels rolled and rolled against gusts of cold wind.

The temperature in the car is not much better than outside, but the people sitting in this car are either strong men or people with a little training, so they don't care about the cold.

Li Gan was still comforting Zheng Guan with a smile.

In fact, with such a powerful support from the Zheng family, who wouldn't be envious after seeing it?Cai Jing must have been envious too.

It's just that there are invitations to invite and non-invitation to invite.

Cai Jing's solicitation of him is the latter.

Now Zheng Guan has offended Song Qiaonian, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites, one of Cai's party.

The examination is also called Chunwei and Liwei, because it is sponsored by the Ministry of Rites. From this name, we can see how important the Ministry of Rites is in it.

Now everyone, including Zheng Guan himself, must think that he will definitely fail the test.

In this case, as long as Cai Jing wins Zheng Guan in the test, it will inevitably form a strong sense of gap.

Many examinees will definitely praise him, Mr. Cai Jingcai, for being open to all kinds of people, regardless of past suspicions, and caring for younger generations... His evaluation among scholars will be even higher.

And Zheng Guan, who had no hope at all, was very happy when he suddenly passed the test. He would definitely be very grateful to Cai Jing, and maybe he would devote himself to his sect because of this.

And even if this is not the case, it will be difficult for Zheng Guan to stand on the opposite side with Cai Jing again.

Because everyone knows that Zheng Guan was chosen by Cai Jing regardless of the past, and Cai Jing also has the grace to know Zheng Guan.

Under such circumstances, if Zheng Guan still publicly opposed Cai Jing, what would others think of him?

Will the Shihlin style review say that he is an ungrateful person? ?

Therefore, as long as Cai Jing promoted Zheng Guan in the examination, it would be a sure-fire deal.

But after Li Qian's trouble, it's not the case.

Zheng Guan no longer had the possibility of being grateful to Cai Jing and joining his disciples, but instead recorded this kindness on Li Gan's head.

This clever trick not only cut off Cai Jing, but also gained a great favor from Zheng Guan, killing two birds with one stone.

Moreover, Zheng Guan is still from the Zheng family, and if Li Gan wants to disturb the marriage between Zheng Guanyin and Li Jiancheng, he can just ask him to help.

I have to say, it was a big win.

However, is the matter of intercepting Hu Caijing considered a tauren in disguise?

Regardless of previous suspicions, Cai Jing wins Zheng Guan, but Zheng Guan is grateful to Li Gan.

If Niu was someone else, Li Gan still felt a little guilty, but Niu Caijing... can only say that it's okay.

The atmosphere in the carriage was extremely warm, and he rejected Zheng Guan's idea of ​​giving money, and Li Qian told him not to leak the news.

It's best to remain the same as before, and tell outsiders that you can't pass the exam.

"Brother Li, don't worry, I understand everything!" Zheng Guan laughed: "No matter what, this kind of thing should not be known to others."

Li Qian nodded with a smile, mainly because he didn't want Cai Jing to know.

After the test results are released, the news spreads out, saying that Zheng Guanneng is a Jinshi, but He Shen actually asked Cai Jing not to get stuck with him.

At that time, Zheng Guan would not have to be bothered by those messy public opinions. Only then would he be able to better understand the preciousness of this favor.

As for why Master He interceded for Zheng Guan...

There may be different opinions from the outside world, either Zheng Guan used the money, or He Shen made good friends with the Zheng family when he was in Xingyang for disaster relief, and the Zheng family asked him to do so...

But only Zheng Guan and Yan Zhenqing knew that it was Li Gan who helped him.

It's a pity that such a method cannot be used often.

Li Gan did know that there were also secret transactions among the four civil servants.

For example, in this exam, I will be the examiner this time, and you will be the examiner next time. Everyone will come in turn, and they will help out every time they have something to do.

For example, this time I have some relatives, friends, or party members who are going to take the exam, and it happens to be your turn to take the exam, so you have to help pass it.

If you stuck my neck this time, will I not punish you next time?That way no one can please anyone.

Smart civil servants will naturally not fight each other to lose both sides, but choose you to help me, I will help you, and everyone will cooperate sincerely.

Therefore, as long as you have greeted people before, you can usually pass the test.

But there will not be too many such places, usually only one or two for each person, otherwise Li Gan has to ask He Shen to fill in all the people he cares about.

In the carriage, Zheng Guan seemed to let go of his mind, and chatted and laughed with the other people.

He had been helped so much by Li Gan, although he didn't say anything on the face, but he seemed to remember it firmly in his heart, and his attitude towards Li Gan became more intimate.

The carriage gradually slowed down in the cold wind, and there was a burst of noise from the front.

"Master, we've arrived at the guild hall." The coachman's voice came from the front: "There seems to be some trouble here."

"Something went wrong?"

Lu Bu, who was chatting and laughing with Zheng Guan, was taken aback for a moment, and got out of the car first. After looking around to see if there was nothing wrong, he turned his head to the car and said, "Master, there seems to be a gang of people gathered around to watch the fun."

Li Gan had seen a small group of Juren gathered around the entrance of the Yuzhou Guild Hall from the window a long time ago, and he was also a little curious, so he followed Zheng Guan and Yan Zhenqing out of the carriage.

Guild halls are actually found everywhere in Dagan, but they have different uses.

The guild halls in other places are all commercial, and most of them are funded by individual merchants, chambers of commerce, or merchants from the same village. The purpose is for merchants to communicate with each other and discuss business, which is equivalent to Li Qian's club in his previous life.

This type of guild hall is usually named after the name of the chamber of commerce, or the place, such as Jutong Guild Hall, Dongting Guild Hall, and so on.

But only the guild halls on the capital side have different purposes.

Every time before the Spring Festival, people from all over Daqian will come to Beijing, and these guild halls provide free accommodation for them, and are usually funded by local businessmen or various vassal states, such as the Yuzhou guild hall and the Qi guild hall. and many more.

And the reason that drives them to do this is also very simple, that is to provide a better rest environment for their Juren fellow villagers, so as to prevent other messy reasons from causing abnormal performance in the test.

Some people may think that this is too much of a fuss. Do those people have money and nowhere to spend it, so they buy land in the north of the capital, where every inch of land is expensive, and spend so much effort to build a guild hall, helping those fellow villagers for free.

People who have this idea may not know the importance of Jinshi and the geographical grouping with Dagan people.

Jinshi why?Nowadays, the civil officials of the Manchu Dynasty and the local rulers are almost all born in the imperial examination, and the final point of the imperial examination is the Jinshi.

Only Jinshi is qualified to enter the highest temple.

The number of Jinshi in a place will directly determine how loud this place will be in the court in the future, and how much benefit it can seek.

Transportation is inconvenient these days, and a person may not be able to travel far in a lifetime.

Because of this, people who come from the same place have a particularly friendly feeling when facing outsiders, and the phenomenon of grouping among fellow villagers is even more severe.

In the past, in the Dagan court, there were parties formed by Qi Dang, Chu Dang, Hui Dang and other fellow township officials, but for some reason, such parties gradually disappeared.

But even so, the people and businessmen in every place still hope that there will be more Jinshi in their locality.

This is not only a matter of honor, but also represents tangible interests. Jinshi officials will give back to their hometown and work hard to benefit the elders in their hometown.

Even if you don't actively seek welfare, there are many other hidden benefits.

To put it bluntly, Yan Song was born in Fenyi.

When he served as the left prime minister in the court, the magistrates and county guards who were suitable for him must be cautious and tread on thin ice. They would never dare to act unscrupulously in the hometown of the left prime minister and exploit the common people.

Doesn't this mean that people's lives have been raised to a higher level in disguise?

Li Gan also knows a very classic example, Zhang Juzheng, a reformer in his previous life. Before he entered the cabinet, he saw the shortcomings of the water transportation in the Ming Dynasty, and proposed several times to transport grain by sea to relieve the pressure on the court.

But after he entered the cabinet and became the chief assistant, and was able to accomplish the matter, he never mentioned it again, and even took action to suppress the officials who insisted on grain transportation by sea.

The reason is that if you want to transport grain by sea, the tank boats on the river are too small, and you must use large ships that can withstand wind and waves to go by sea.

But building a big ship requires big wood. At that time, only Zhang Juzheng’s hometown—Huguang was suitable for getting big wood. But to cut down trees like that and then transport the trees out of the province would inevitably waste people’s money and make people suffer more. Word.

Coupled with the resistance of the water transportation group at that time, etc., Zhang Juzheng gave up the idea of ​​shipping.

If you think about it, you will know that if you change to a strong chief assistant from another place, you will definitely not care about the life and death of your people in Huguang. This shows how important it is to have a high-ranking fellow in the court.

This is only for the benefit of the locality, and for the vassal states, the benefits are innumerable.

With these benefits, how could they not be keen to help fellow Juren?

Li Gan walked while thinking, and after a while, a few people came to the periphery of the crowd.

Even in the midst of winter, there are still many people who wear sleek black silk robes with round necks to show their identities. Of course, they must wear cotton clothes under the black silk robes.

"Brother, what's going on inside?"

One of the onlookers outside was pulled over by Zheng Guan, but the enthusiasm on his face and the smile on his mouth cooled visibly to the naked eye.

But when he saw Zheng Guan's face, he was taken aback for a moment, as if he recognized Zheng Guan: "Aren't you Zheng Guan? Brother Zheng?"

"It's next." Zheng Guan crossed him and looked back curiously: "Brother, I don't know what happened here?"

This person seemed to be a member of the capital, and recognized Yan Zhenqing behind him, the indifference on his face melted quickly, and a warm smile ignited.

"It's not some other big event, but Yuzhou Jieyuan from Jinke is here, and happened to get into a fight with someone, why don't you come and join in the fun?"

"On the bar?"

Li Gan suddenly became interested, and couldn't help asking: "Who did you fight with?"

Although the Juren didn't know Li Gan, but he saw that he was able to accompany Zheng Guan and Yan Zhenqing, and he was also the leader, but he didn't dare to slack off, so he hurriedly replied: "It seems to be a steward of Mr. Cai's house."

Li Gan nodded. It turned out that it was such a topical matter, no wonder so many people gathered around to watch it.

When they were talking, there was a faint angry shout from inside the hall: "Do you know what you are doing? The surname is Bao, and the Prime Minister has come to invite you over and over again. Don't be ignorant!"

Squeezing in from the front gate, Li Gan took advantage of the situation to look inward, and saw a middle-aged man in a black brocade cotton robe with a flushed face, jumping his feet angrily in front of a small separate courtyard.

But the real situation is also somewhat different from what the person next to him said.

It wasn't that the two were fighting, but that the steward was simply furious.

Bao Zheng seemed to be living in that small courtyard, but at the moment the courtyard door was closed, so there was no intention of paying attention to him.

Outside the door there were two stewards of the Yuzhou Guild Hall, sweating profusely at the moment, helping the steward of Cai Jing's mansion to call the door, as if I felt sorry for the Jie Yuan inside.

And helping outsiders to deal with their own Juren, if it gets out, the reputation will be bad, but no one will dare to come to them!

But if they tried to persuade the manager of the Cai Mansion to leave instead, they wouldn't have the guts.

Even if Mr. Cai Jingcai's power and clique are not mentioned, he is still the chief examiner of this subject!
If you offend Master Cai, who will be able to bear it if someone targets your Yuzhou candidates?
"Bao Zheng, you are too rude!"

The manager of the Cai Mansion blushed, and angrily slammed on the door twice, but there was still no sound from inside.

He laughed angrily, looking like he wanted to grit his teeth, turned around and shouted to the students behind him: "Everyone, have you all seen how rude this dog is?"

"My lord sent me to invite him to be a guest. Only when I saw his face when he came here for the first time, he shirked that he wanted to review the scriptures, prepare for the exam, and would not be able to go out. I believed it at the time!"

"Later, I came here three times in a row and invited him sincerely. This is already the fourth time, but this person was so rude that he didn't even come out to meet him!"

"Right and wrong are just, free people!"

The steward turned around and glanced at the closed courtyard door bitterly: "Just such a rude person, still want to be admitted to Jinshi?"

After finishing speaking, he disregarded the dissuasion of the two guild hall stewards who were crying for their parents, stomped, pushed aside the crowd, and left angrily.

Seeing him walk away, the people present began to discuss: "This Bao Jieyuan, is a bit too...too brainy?"

"Yeah, what scriptures are you still reviewing at this time? Visit Master Cai's house once, isn't it more useful than any scriptures?"

"Oh, I really can't think about it. I offended Mr. Cai. I guess no matter how much I review it, it will be useless..."

People sighed one after another. They not only looked down on Bao Zheng, but also had mixed feelings about him.

In the capital city, how many people want to visit Mr. Cai's mansion but have no way? ?

But he was lucky, except for the first time, the next few times he didn't even see each other, it was really... people had to be convinced.

"What do you know, Bao Jieyuan is an upright person! I didn't see the examiner before the exam, so I avoided suspicion!" Such a voice suddenly came from the crowd.

Li Qian looked up and found that the speaker was a young man in his twenties, dressed in a green silk cotton gown and a sable fur hat, looking up at the few who had just spoken. Juren.

Not only Li Qian and the others, almost all the people present turned their heads to look at the past.

If these juren have gone through more than ten years, decades of ups and downs in the officialdom, they may sneer at this, young man, you are still too immature.

But now they are just tender little people, and they still retain such things as etiquette, justice and shame in their hearts.

So these Juren just glanced at the speaker, blushed with shame, covered their faces and left in twos and threes.

Li Gan just glanced at him, then looked at the gate of Bao Zheng's courtyard, and said helplessly: "It seems that we will be able to meet this Bao Jieyuan today."

Judging by Bao Zheng's posture, he simply doesn't want to see guests or be disturbed!

Lu Bu didn't want to accept the closed door either, he looked at the door eagerly and said: "Master, how about I kick the door open?"

"Forget it." Li Gan waved his hand helplessly.

The stewards in Cai Jing's mansion are so arrogant, so they are not human, and they didn't forcefully kick the door of others. If I let Lu Bu kick it, wouldn't it mean that I am more miserable than Cai Jing?
But apart from helplessness, he also had some concerns.

Sure enough, he had a good idea with Li Qian. With Bao Zheng's personality, he would never dump Cai Jing and those people.

But what about Cai Jing?What about his test? ?

Is it possible to really watch him fail?
Li Qian knew that if people like Bao Zheng were suppressed by the dignitaries of the court and forced to lose their ranks, there would be fewer and fewer honest people who dare to speak out.

Everyone knows that if you maintain integrity, you will be suppressed, and if you are flattering, you will have a bright future.

Over time, people will know how to choose.

At that time, generation after generation, those who dare to speak out will be suppressed, and those who will climb up will be those who can only shamelessly seek profit.

The emperor is surrounded by such things, isn't this a harbinger of the country's subjugation?
He sighed faintly, Bao Zheng was just a microcosm, or a representative figure.

Li Qian felt that he had to keep these people who were not afraid of power and dared to speak out.

"Go back if you don't have a visit."

Yan Zhenqing glanced at the closed door with emotion, as if he had been stimulated and inspired: "The same is Xie Yuan, this Brother Bao is so hardworking, and he is not impatient at the moment of the test, but is alone in the room. .”

"On the contrary, I have been a little slack recently."

He shook his head and said with emotion: "It really shouldn't be, it's better to go back and review the book quickly."

Zheng Guan was also aroused to fight: "You two Jie Yuan are like this, so I can't be left behind!"

He now has the hope of the pilot test, so naturally he should pay attention to it.

Li Gan was a little dumbfounded, so he had to follow suit with a dry smile: "Since you are all like this, then I have to go back to review and polish the article, and I will take the exam after three years."

~~
On the other side, the steward of the Cai Mansion who rushed back angrily reported the incident to Mr. Cai Jingcai.

In Cai Mansion, in the study, the steward thought that Cai Jing would get angry and directly "block" that bastard black boy who didn't know what to do.

Unexpectedly, Cai Jing just waved his hand and said, I got it, and there was no more to say.

The steward naturally didn't dare to question his master, so he bowed and left.

After he left, Song Qiaonian, whose face was darkened, suddenly stood up, angrily paced back and forth, and said, "It's wrong, it's wrong! It's really wrong!"

"These juren are really lawless. Do you really think that if you pass the exam, you can go to heaven?"

He slapped the rectangular mahogany table on the side, and couldn't help saying angrily: "This Bao Zheng, Yan Zhenqing, and that man named Zheng Guan, one counts as the other, and they all go back to their hometowns to farm!"

"They don't even give them the honor of juren!"

The Ministry of Rites does have the power to abolish Juren's fame.

Cai Jing was silent for a moment, then sighed slowly: "Don't be so impulsive, Xianmin."

"As a grand ceremony for the country's talents, the examination must be fair and just. How can it be used to suppress dissidents and cultivate party members?"

Song Qiaonian choked for a moment, his face looked as if he had eaten a dead mouse, but he still cupped his hands and said, "Your official knows."

Cai Jing shook his head and stood up: "It's really time for the examination to be included in the regulations. Today, the old man will go to the palace."

Song Qiaonian was overjoyed at this moment: "Your Excellency, if you step out, you will definitely succeed."

Cai Jing shook his head lightly, and shouted to the servants outside the study: "Prepare the sedan chair."

"Yes, master." The servant's shout came, and then there was a rush of footsteps going away...

When Yan Song and He Shen were around, Cai Jing entered the palace a little more often.

But now that both of them are gone, Cai Jing first had a fight with Qin Hui, and recently he had a secret fight with His Majesty the Emperor. There were conflicts on both sides, so the number of times he entered the palace was much less. .

This time he entered the palace, not to find Qin Hui or Li Gan, but to go to Shang Shu Sheng and the Ministry of Rites.

Mrs. Cai was dressed in a scarlet official robe, a thick black hat, and a red sable fur cloak. Against the wind, he came outside the yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

In fact, it is not the coldest time to say it is cold, and the wind here in the capital is not very strong.

And it stands to reason that obese people have fat to keep out the cold, so they are not very afraid of the cold.

It's just that Mr. Cai's situation is special, and his body is relatively weak, so if he can wrap more, he should wrap as much as possible.

Although there is only one examination room for the general examination, it is much more troublesome than the rural examination.

So from the first few months of the exam, the Ministry of Rites will fall into a continuous cycle of life, day in and day out, and 996 will cry when they see each other.

Therefore, when Master Cai Jingcai stepped into the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, none of the scribes who came and went in a hurry noticed him.

An official following Cai Jing showed dissatisfaction and was about to speak, but Cai Jing stopped him in time.

It wasn't until they were about to reach the stairs that no one noticed them, and only then did exclamations come from the crowd.

"Lord Cai?"

"Cai Chaoduan?"

A cry of exclamation came from the mouths of many officials of the Ministry of Rites, and then these people saluted one after another, and the exclamation here seemed to have alarmed other officials in the duty room, and the sound of hurried footsteps rushed towards this side.

Cai Jing smiled kindly at them, and said helplessly, "Why are you so out of touch?"

"Our etiquette department is the busiest these days. I originally wanted to go in quietly so as not to disturb you, so forget about these complicated etiquettes."

Sima Guang, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, happened to be in the Yamen today, and when he was running out, he heard Cai Jing's words, and he was speechless.

You always dress like a big red toad and walk swaggeringly through the yamen. Can this be called entering quietly?So who can't see you?
But even though he thought so, he still stepped forward quickly and said, "I have seen Mr. Cai."

"You don't need to be too polite." Cai Jing held up his hand with a smile: "Today I came to talk to Uncle Da Zong about something, and you can just do what you have to do."

"Go back, go back!"

(End of this chapter)