I studied in modern times

Chapter 797 Summoning (2)

Standing behind Cui Taifu was a civil official in his forties with a beautiful beard.

Zhao Xu knew that he should be Cai Qian, who was recommended by the capital to be appointed as the Junior Supervisor of the Taifu Temple this time.

This is a second-generation yanei.

His father, Cai Kang, was Emperor Yingmiao's absolute confidant at that time.

Before his death, he served as the Privy Councilor. During the Yingmiao era, he served in various important posts, including the Attendant of the Imperial Court, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and the Director of Imperial Edicts (Hanlin Academician).

Shortly after Emperor Yingmiao's death, Cai Kang also died in Qinzhou.

It was said that before his death he had a dream in which he dreamt of his past interactions with Ying Miao. After waking up he was overwhelmed with grief and died soon after.

After Cai Kang's death, Cai Qian got an official position with the help of his father. He worked in local prefectures and counties for more than 20 years before he finally broke free from the election and successfully changed his position in the first year of Yuanyou.

Now, he is even appointed as the Junior Supervisor of Taifu Temple.

You may ask - Chengshilang is a ninth-rank official in the capital.

Then why was he wearing the scarlet robe that only civil officials above the seventh rank were qualified to wear?
The answer is: the Song Dynasty had a system that allowed those who had served for a long time and had made achievements to wear red and purple.

This is called Jie Fei and Jie Zi.

This is an incentive policy for grassroots practical civil servants. As long as the selected person has served for 15 years, has not made any major mistakes, and has not been formally punished by the court, he can be allowed to wear red robes.

On this basis, if one continues to work hard for another 15 years, he will be allowed to serve as a purple official.

This is the same nature as Yinwujian wine.

However, levels of red and purple are not something that ordinary people can obtain.

Therefore, in reality, officials of the red and purple ranks are widely respected.

At least that's what it looks like on the surface.

Therefore, Cai Qian, a small official, could wear a scarlet robe and even enter the Chongzheng Hall in a dignified manner.

This is to reward him for his 15 years of hard work at the grassroots level.

It also gives other candidates a carrot - work hard and you can be like Cai Qian.

However, if anyone really believes it, there is a high probability that he will be fooled.

Because Cai Qian is from a yanei family, a second-generation descendant!

Although his father had passed away long ago, there were still high-ranking officials in his family.

For example, his cousin Cai Meng is now one of the backbones of the imperial party among the supervisory officials of the Song Dynasty - he is one of the few supervisory officials appointed by Zhao Xu himself: in the first year of Yuanyou, he was appointed as the Transport Envoy of Zizhou Road with the rank of Chao San Da Fu and Zhi Bao Wen Ge.

He was also specially granted full responsibility for the production of well salt and the purchase of tea in the western Sichuan region.

Nowadays, the inferior tea and aged tea that the Liao people are frantically ordering are purchased by Cai Meng in western Sichuan and Chengdu Fulu.

The fact that Cai Qian was able to be appointed as the Junior Supervisor of the Taifu Temple by Du Tangtang this time may have been due to the influence of Cai Meng.

Taking his eyes away from the four ministers, Zhao Xu said, "You are all wise local officials and pillars of the country. You have come to the capital and received new appointments from the court. You should guard against arrogance and impatience, and make new contributions for the country, the court, and the people of the world!"

"Yes!" The four ministers bowed again.

Zhao Xu nodded, stood up, walked to the imperial steps, looked down at the four people, and allowed them to see him.

"Mr. Zhang!" Zhao Xu looked at Zhang Wen.

"I'm here!" Zhang Wen stepped forward and bowed excitedly. He lowered his head and carefully looked at the young master in the hall with his peripheral vision, admiring the imperial appearance.

Since the Ren Temple, he rarely had the opportunity to see the emperor's portrait.

Especially the late emperor, he had returned to the court several times to report on his work, but was unable to see the emperor's face.

Because the late emperor did not like him, he was always reporting worries and talking about local difficulties.

"The Jieshizhong is the ancient Zhuxiashi. He reviews memorials, corrects mistakes, and corrects officials. This is the job of a minister!"

"You are also a veteran minister of four dynasties, and you have a good reputation. You should be a role model for the other officials, and follow the rules for me, so as not to allow the officials to overstep their authority or neglect their duties!"

Zhang Wen listened, his eyes welled up, and he immediately bowed and said, "Yes!"

"I will fight till my death to show my loyalty!"

Zhao Xu nodded, Jieshi Zhong was a very critical position.

Of course he hopes that everyone will release his people.

But Zhao Xu also wanted to erect a memorial archway to honor his superiors, as he did not want to leave the impression of being autocratic and dictatorial to the outside court.

Therefore, Zhao Xu always delegated the power of appointment and dismissal to Dutang.

However, since the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Zhao Xu has screened and tested every Jieshizhong.

If you use the wrong person, replace him immediately.

Fortunately, so far, the several officials appointed have been relatively obedient.

Almost all of Zhao Xu's personal appointments were passed with his eyes closed. He only found some faults in some minor matters and problems to show that he was definitely not the emperor's lackey.

Some time ago, Fan Bailu closed his eyes and approved a large number of imperial edicts that seemed unusual to the ministers in the outer court.

Including the imperial edict appointing Cui Taifu as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Minister of the Dali Temple.

On the contrary, the teachers in the hall love to find faults and problems.

He would always try to make things difficult for himself, making the officials in the capital feel uncomfortable.

Perhaps it is for this reason that the ministers in the capital wanted to place one of their own in the Menxia Province?
However, Zhao Xu will not let them have their way!
Look, he started NTR right in front of Lu Gongzhu.

So, after finishing his words, Zhao Xu observed Lu Gongzhu in the hall out of the corner of his eye.

However, Lu Gongzhu was standing in the hall, his eyes looking at his nose, his nose looking at his heart, looking calm and composed.

This made Zhao Xu feel a little bored.

Then he looked at Cui Taifu: "My dear Cui!"

"I'm here..." Cui Taifu immediately stepped forward and bowed.

"You are a minister used by the Emperor!" Zhao Xu said, "Now I am calling you back to the court to take charge of law for me... and law is the fruit of the Emperor's hard work!"

"It is a major event to reserve materials for the country!"

"You are one of the most famous criminal justice experts in the world. As the jurisprudence professor, you should educate the jurisprudence students for me and recommend more legal talents to serve as jurisprudence professors!"

"I will express my position to you today..."

"In the field of law, if you need anything reasonable, I will provide you with money from the sealed treasury to help you!"

"Just like martial arts!" he emphasized.

The martial arts of the Song Dynasty have undergone a complete transformation since Guo Kui personally judged the case last year.

Not only did the number of students increase greatly - Guo Kui was a military leader who rose to prominence in the Western Army, and his former generals and former officials were spread throughout the northwest.

Now, Guo Kui is the judge of the Imperial Academy. Even if it is just to show closeness and dependence, the leader of the Western Army will send a few of his sons to the capital to study martial arts.

Thus, the martial arts of the Song Dynasty swept away the heaviness of the old years.

Zhao Xu also spared no expense in his investment in martial arts.

In addition to the income from the Bian Jing Academy, he took out tens of thousands of strings of cash as funding for martial arts.

He also specially ordered that the salaries of martial arts instructors and officials should be paid from the Fengzhuangku account.

In addition, Zhang Xi's shop and house business was asked to provide cheap rental housing to these martial arts officials.

As for the bureaus that specialize in manufacturing military equipment, they are also open to military students.

They were allowed to visit and get in touch with the latest weapons and learn about the use of firearms.

He also asked Guo Kui to take them to the First General's House of Yulong every month to experience military life and eat, live and train with the officers and soldiers.

It can be predicted that these martial arts students will shine in next year's martial arts examination.

Cui Taifu didn't know how devoted Zhao Xu was to martial arts, so he just bowed again: "Yes!"

However, the ministers in the palace all narrowed their eyes.

Because they knew that Zhao Xu was determined to invest in martial arts. He was investing real money.

In martial arts training every month, I can break several sand tables alone!

Nowadays in the capital, it is common to see martial arts students, led by Guo Kui, wearing mountain-patterned armor and leading war horses, walking towards the camp of the First General Yulong outside the city.

According to intelligence from the Three Yamen, the martial arts students are not just visiting and learning at the First General of the Dragon.

They will be assigned to the grassroots level by Di Yong and become adjutants of the captains and commanders.

and so……

If we speculate based on the situation of martial arts, future law students will probably appear in large numbers around the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, the Kaifeng Prefecture's Silusi and even the grassroots officials of Kaifeng Prefecture.

If this is true...

Then, wouldn’t the study of law be upgraded?

Thinking of this, Lu Gongzhu closed his eyes and thought to himself, "For next year's Longfei List, the government has clearly told me that they will open two subjects, namely, Mingfa and Mingsuan, to recruit candidates... and they will also increase the number of candidates admitted to Mingfa and Mingsuan..."

This is also the characteristic of the current official.

Basically, he would discuss and communicate with the ministers in the outer court about everything he was going to do.

Although, the ventilation objects are generally confined to a small range.

For example, regarding matters concerning the Ministry of Works, he only communicated with Su Song.

For matters concerning the Ministry of Revenue, he would only report to him, the Left Prime Minister, and the Shangshu Zuocheng Deng Runfu.

But this is still a rare progress!

The authority of the prime ministers was thus established.

According to the government's idea, next year's Longfei List will include two subjects, namely Mingfa and Mingsuan, to increase the number of Jinshi candidates in the Mingfa and Mingsuan subjects, and to raise the standards for appointing Jinshi candidates in the Mingfa and Mingsuan subjects.

According to what the government had communicated to him, future Jinshi candidates who passed the Ming Law and Ming Mathematics examinations would have their own promotion path established.

Let them be responsible for criminal litigation or accounting.

Officials call it 'bureaucratic professionalization'.

so……

Lu Gongzhu thought: "It's time for one of my Lu family's descendants to study mathematics and law!"

Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet!
Lu Gongzhu has already realized that the official system of the Song Dynasty in the future may usher in a reform that is no less than the Yuanfeng Reform.

Considering the current emperor, he calls himself the "most filial son" of the late emperor.

The probability is almost 100%.

Of course, the Lu family has to invest.

First, let some of the collateral relatives participate, and when there are real clues, increase the investment.

As Lu Gongzhu was thinking, he heard the official in the hall start talking to Gu Lin and Cai Qian.

The government has done a lot of homework on these two ministers.

He talked to Gu Lin about the affairs of Hedong, focusing on the issue of trade with the western bandits and also mentioned the issue of reducing the burden on the people of Hedong.

He also instructed Gu Lin to inspect the states in Hedong after he took office, find out all the problems in each state, and then report them to the court.

The emperor promised that he and the court would increase their support for Hedong.

Gu Lin was deeply moved after hearing this, and swore in the palace that he would die for the government.

When it came to Cai Qian, the emperor skillfully mentioned that his father, Cai Kang, had served in the Temple of Emperor Ying in the past.

Then he mentioned Cai Qian's past experience of serving in local posts for a long time and working diligently, and encouraged him to learn from his father's spirit of "loyalty, diligence and hard work."

After the emperor has consoled and encouraged these four ministers, today's audience will come to an end.

Lu Gongzhu led all the ministers to bow respectfully and escort His Majesty back to the palace.

When Lu Gongzhu returned to his command hall in the capital.

Someone told him a shocking news: "En Xiang..."

"Pu Chuanzheng, the scholar of the Zizheng Palace and the governor of Bozhou, has returned to the capital!"

Lü Gongzhu was so shocked that his eyes widened. He looked at the person who came and asked anxiously, "Has Pu Chuanzheng returned to the capital? Where is he?"

Pu Zongmeng, shouldn't he be busy suppressing bandits in Bozhou?
In March, Pu Zongmeng reported to the capital that he had wiped out dozens of gangs of bandits, both large and small, in Bozhou.

He also said that he would continue his efforts and strive to bring peace and prosperity to the people of Bozhou this year.

The man replied, "I heard someone mention it, Prime Minister En, and I just met the governor of Bozhou, Pu Chuanzheng, at the Ministry of Personnel..."

"He should be on his way to the capital now..."

Lu Gongzhu listened, pursed his lips, and murmured to himself: "Pu Chuanzheng..."

"Why did he return to Beijing?!"

This is something that has not been heard of at all.

There can only be one possibility - the emperor or the two palaces sent eunuchs to Bozhou to recall him.

Why recall him?

Isn't it obvious that he is being evaluated as a candidate for right prime minister?

It should be noted that Pu Zongmeng had already been appointed as Shangshu Zuocheng and Menxia Shilang during the Yuanfeng period.

He fully meets the qualifications to be appointed prime minister.

Just thinking that his future deputy would be this guy Pu Zongmeng, Lu Gongzhu's expression became a little ferocious.

Pu Zongmeng’s reputation is really too bad!

When people mention him, they subconsciously think of the bright lights, wine, women, singing girls and dancing girls.

"Could it be..." Lu Gongzhu looked towards the direction of the imperial city: "What did the Empress Dowager mean?"

Pu Zongmeng is now the governor of Bozhou.

Bozhou is the ancestral home of the Gao family, and Gao clan members still exist and occupy a large number in Bozhou.

When the Xining Reforms took place, these people once rushed past Wang Anshi - Wang Anshi's exemption law required them to pay money.

The Empress Dowager also disliked Wang Anshi because of this incident.

And Pu Zongmeng...

It is really possible to get along with Gao's in-laws.

Because he lives a very exquisite and extravagant life!
Legend has it that when he was in the imperial court, his bathing every morning and evening was divided into more than a dozen procedures, including big face washing, small face washing, big foot washing, small foot washing, etc.

He needed several maids to serve him every time, and there were seven or eight servants just to boil water for his bath.

Every year, almost all of the money the court gave him as a diplomatic mission was used by him for his own personal enjoyment.

Such a person can naturally mix with those playboys of the Gao family.

Considering that the current Empress Dowager is in a dilemma, she is eager to appoint an important official who is attached to the Qingshou Palace to establish her authority.

and so……

With the support of Gao's in-laws, the Qingshou Palace was able to use Pu Zongmengwei as the right prime minister!
Thinking of this, Lu Gongzhu loosened his clothes.

He and Pu Zongmeng had a personal grudge - when Pu Zongmeng was in the court, he not only spoke ill of Sima Guang in front of the late emperor every day, but also did not let him go.

Now, if Pu Zongmeng returns to the court...

At this time, outside the hall, an old official came in holding a visiting card and bowed to Lu Gongzhu, saying, "Sir, the scholar of the Zizheng Palace, the governor of Bozhou, Pu Gong, sent someone to deliver a visiting card to ask for an audience!"

Lu Gongzhu let out a sigh, stretched out his hand to take the visiting card, and looking at the neat regular script on Pu Zongmeng's visiting card, he sighed: "This Pu Laoliu has really returned to Beijing!"

As the brother-in-law of Mr. Lianxi Zhou Dunyi, Pu Zongmeng's calligraphy was deeply influenced by Zhou Dunyi. He focused on Yan style, which is upright, powerful and clear.

(End of this chapter)