Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 224 The troubles at work

After coming out of the Dragon Head Palace of the Supreme Emperor, Jia Rui only felt high-spirited.

Regardless of the emperor, he just appointed Jia Rui as the bachelor of Wuyingdian, and he seemed to be on an equal footing with the other two bachelors.

But it can be seen from the tone of the Emperor just now that he is letting Jia Rui make the decision in the cabinet.

Jia Rui walked in a circle with a smile on his face and walked to the cabinet office outside Qianqing Gate.

The eunuchs and guards serving outside had all heard about what happened in the court, so when they saw Jia Rui coming, they all hurriedly came up to fawn over him.

"Master Jia, you are here."

"Master Jia, be careful there is a small stone under your feet."

"Master Jia, there is water here, don't get your shoes dirty."

Jia Rui's tone was very polite to those who came to curry favor with him, as if he were talking to his equals.

This time the eunuchs and guards were deeply moved.

It has to be Mr. Jia, he is one of our own, unlike several other bachelors whose noses are almost sticking up to the sky.

Jia Rui got rid of these people, raised the curtain and entered the cabinet.

I saw that two college students, He Chaodong and Li Chengyang, were not in the office. Instead, they were sitting in a corner, drinking tea and muttering. I don't know what they were talking about?
As soon as Jia Rui came in, the two of them immediately stopped talking, then put down their tea cups and walked towards Jia Rui with a smile.

"Master Jia has returned from the Emperor? Does the Emperor have any orders?" He Chaodong asked first.

Jia Rui also had a smile on his face, "The Emperor knew that I was young and inexperienced, so he gave me some pointers."

While talking, the three of them sat on the kang again, and the little eunuch below brought them fragrant tea.

Jia Rui took a sip of tea and felt it was similar to the tea at home. He put down the tea cup and said:
"I'm new to the cabinet, and I'm not very familiar with the cabinet's procedures. If I make any mistakes in the future, I'd like to ask my two elder brothers to give me some advice."

He Chaodong and Li Chengyang both laughed and said, "Everyone works together and takes care of each other. This is how it should be."

Then a few people joked a little and started working separately.

The power of the cabinet is indeed not small. Memorials of all sizes across the country, and even suggestions made by ordinary people to the emperor, are summarized by the General Affairs Secretary and handed over to the cabinet. The cabinet is responsible for drafting opinions and then submitting the opinions to the emperor. After approval, it will be finally reviewed and issued by the Sixth Section.

If you encounter an emperor who is relatively lazy in politics, the cabinet is equivalent to the prime minister, and can almost control the operation of the entire empire.

If you meet a diligent emperor, the cabinet is a secretarial agency.

But then again, there are hundreds of memorials sent to the cabinet every day. No matter how diligent the emperor is, he can't read them all. He can only read some important ones and approve a hundred or so, even if he is a great emperor. .

Therefore, even with the most diligent emperor, the cabinet still controls huge power.

Jia Rui was sitting in his seat, and there was a young eunuch next to him who was grinding ink for Jia Rui, pouring tea and water, or delivering some documents?
And Jia Rui sat there, correcting various memorials that were sent to him with ease.

The other two military ministers glanced at Jia Rui. When they saw Jia Rui, nothing happened, or they asked them for advice. They all looked at each other, and then nodded secretly.

Although Jia Rui is young and considered a sycophant, he still has abilities.

The cabinet handles too many things every day, which cannot be completed by one person, so the cabinet divides the memorial into three parts. After the cabinet bachelors each review one part, the other two people check the content that the others have reviewed. If If it's appropriate, I won't say anything. If it's not appropriate, I'll put forward my opinion, and then the three of us will discuss it together.

Because of this, the bachelor of the cabinet was very busy. Jia Rui started approving memorials from the next day. He also had dinner in the cabinet at noon. When it was almost time to turn on the lamp, he was finished with the day's work.

No wonder the bachelor doesn't concurrently serve as the chief officer of other departments, because the cabinet bachelor is too busy, and it would be too much to take care of other chief officers.

Jia Rui dragged his tired body back home.

As soon as he sat down and before taking a rest, Xue Baochai came over in a hurry.

"Uncle, there was a traffic jam at the door of the mansion today, and the people giving gifts were all lined up."

Xue Baochai also learned from other people that her husband had become a cabinet bachelor, so he was in high spirits now.

Jia Rui rubbed his temples tiredly, and then said, "You can't accept any of these people's gifts."

Xue Baochai nodded, "You're right, I didn't accept any of these gifts from them."

"Did you tell them how to find a way?"

"The butler below has already hinted."

Jia Rui breathed a long sigh of relief, "That's good."

Xue Baochai saw Jia Rui's fatigue, so he hurriedly said: "Uncle, please wash up first, and then let's eat quickly."

Jia Rui nodded and stood up. Ying'er and Ying Ge, two personal maids, followed Jia Rui to the bathroom next to him.

By the time Jia Rui came out again, an hour had passed. At this time, Jia Rui was refreshed and there was no trace of fatigue.

A large round table with a dozen dishes on it has been placed in the middle of the room, where Xue Baochai is waiting for Jia Rui.

Jia Rui walked slowly to the table and sat down firmly.Immediately a little maid came over to serve Jia Rui for dinner.

As Jia Rui's status gets higher and higher, he becomes more and more ostentatious. In the past, he needed to be served wherever he ate, but now it's different. For dishes that are a little further away, Jia Rui just hints at them, and a maid will be there immediately. Add it to the plate in front of Jia Rui.

After finishing the meal, Jia Rui went to the back and went to Jia Dairu and Mrs. Wang to say hello.

Mrs. Wang was naturally very happy about Jia Rui's promotion. She pulled Jia Rui to her side and kept praising him.

But Jia Dairu was different. When he met Jia Rui, he gave him a lecture, and then told Jia Rui with a serious face that he must be loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and serve the emperor loyally.

Jia Rui already has a way to deal with Mr. Jia Dairu, that is, when you face him, just listen to him respectfully. When you come out, you can do whatever you want without paying attention to what he says.

After Jia Rui came out of the old man's place, he went to Xue Baochai's place to rest.

After all, today is his big day, so he naturally wants to rest here.

Early the next morning, Jia Rui got up early, ate breakfast casually, and hurried to the cabinet again.

When he went in, he saw that He Chaodong and Li Chengyang were already here, and they arrived earlier than him.

"Two adults, I apologize for being late for coming down."

He Chaodong and Li Chengyang welcomed Jia Rui in enthusiastically, "Haha, we don't have a fixed time. We two old guys didn't have much sleep, so we had nothing to do, so we came early. Mr. Jia doesn't have to imitate us."

Then several people sat down and started their work for the day.

When it comes to cabinet matters, those are the big ones, they are mainly trivial matters.

For example, there was a memorial in a county, requesting that a married woman in the county be given a chastity memorial arch.

In fact, if this kind of thing is sent to the cabinet, the ministers below can handle it. However, building a chastity memorial arch in this feudal society is not a trivial matter. Without the order of the court, the ministers below really dare not do it. .

Because a chastity arch is a life-saving talisman that can guarantee the wealth of the family for decades.

Fortunately, it was relatively easy to deal with these trivial matters. I got off work quite early and finished the matter soon in the afternoon.

The other two ministers were naturally fine and had gone home, but not Jia Rui. He had to go to Longshou Palace to see the Supreme Emperor.

For his great supporter, Jia Rui couldn't wait to tie him to his belt and meet him every day. Naturally, he would not slack off for a day.

Jia Rui's entry into the Dragon Head Palace was so smooth, and he was quickly taken to the side hall where the Supreme Emperor was by the eunuch.

The Supreme Emperor was completely relaxed today. There were no memorials and no one bothered him about court affairs.

Now he is humming a tune and eating a small drink, accompanied by two young concubines.

Jia Rui glanced at the two young concubines and immediately lowered his head. He was a little confused, had he never seen these two people before?

So Jia Rui gestured to Dai Quan next to him, and then nuzzled at the two concubines.

Dai Quan glanced at Jia Rui, then shook his head gently.

Just when Jia Rui was confused and wanted to ask Dai Quan gently, the Supreme Emperor above him spoke.

"What are you doing, kid, flirting down there?"

Jia Rui was startled and hurriedly walked to the Supreme Emperor and kowtowed.

The Supreme Emperor did not embarrass him and simply asked Jiarui to stand up.

"Is your work in the cabinet going well today?"

"Back to the Emperor, everything goes well."

"It's fine."

Jia Rui stood below and blinked. He felt that the cabinet's handling of matters was too cumbersome. He was tired and his arms were sore at the end of the day.

He is a hand with swords and guns, but now he picks up a pen and writes tens of thousands of words a day. Jia Rui thinks about it, and feels a little scary that he will have to live like this in the future.

Now, he felt that he should find a way to free himself from the heavy labor.

Now Jia Rui is already pushing his limits. He has just served as cabinet bachelor, and he is thinking about how to reduce his work.

The Emperor was very familiar with Jia Rui. One look at his expression and he knew what this guy was thinking.

"You boy, what's your idea?"

Jia Rui smiled and picked up the tea on the table and handed it to the Supreme Emperor. "Back to the Supreme Emperor, aren't we ministers thinking that there are too many things to do and no time to honor the Supreme Emperor? So I just thought of a solution that is not a solution. I want to protest to the Supreme Emperor."

The Supreme Emperor drank Jia Rui's filial tea and looked at Jia Rui with doting in his eyes.

"Tell me, as long as it doesn't involve a big fight, I will agree to it."

(End of this chapter)