Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 168 On merit

Wang Xifeng stood up and walked a few steps when another maid came in and said, "Grandma and Fourth Master Jian are here!"

At this time, not only Wang Xifeng had received the order, but Sanchun, Daiyu, and Baochai also came towards the door to greet them.

Jia Mu couldn't help but stretch her neck on the couch to observe, and saw Li Wan and Li Weijian entering the house one after another.

Wang Xifeng went up to her and said, "Sister-in-law, what's the matter? The old lady is worried about you very much."

Li Wan flashed out of his body, took two hurried steps towards Jia Mu, knelt down and said happily: "Old lady Lao is thinking about you. Brother Jian is also doing well this time. He won the third place in the Zhili Provincial Examination and is the economics leader." .”

"Okay, okay!" Mother Jia paused repeatedly while leaning on her cane, and her face was indeed beaming with joy.

At this time, Li Weijian also came forward to meet Jia Mu. Jia Mu congratulated her, and the sisters around her immediately gathered around.

Let’s talk about this: “Fourth brother Jian really won the prize!”

The other one praised: "Brother Jian, you really got what you wanted."

Li Weijian was in the middle of it, chatting with this person, smiling with that person, and was overwhelmed for a while.

After a good time, Sanchun, Baochai and Daiyu took their seats. Mother Jia invited Li Weijian to take a seat, then she nodded to Wang Xifeng and said, "Brother Feng, have you made any arrangements?"

Wang Xifeng smiled and said: "Don't worry, ancestors, I have made arrangements early in the morning. We will have two days of banquets today and tomorrow, and we also invited the theater troupe that Brother Zhen invited last time. There has been no happy event for a long time, so I have to be happy. Hehe. Speaking of which, it’s thanks to brother Jian.”

Jia Mu nodded repeatedly and asked Li Wan, "Have you prepared any money for the wedding?"

Li Wan said: "I have prepared silver barley and copper coins to ensure my dignity."

Jia Mu then smiled at Li Weijian and said, "Brother Jian is already well-known. I can't stay here for a long time. You go back and settle down first. I don't know if the good news will arrive soon."

Li Weijian stood up to accept the order, but Li Wan felt uneasy, so he retired with him.

When I got back to my small courtyard, Wu Haiping came to deliver a message again, saying that the government servant with the good news was coming this way.

Li Wan couldn't go out, so Li Weijian took Wu Haiping out to greet him. When I arrived in front of the door, I could vaguely hear the sound of gongs. Sure enough, I saw three red-robed government servants walking towards me holding colorful flags and banners. When they arrived in front of the door, a person shouted: "Congratulations to Mr. Li of your mansion for being a straight man in high school." Third place in the Lixiang Examination!"

Li Weijian waved his hand: "Reward!"

Wu Haiping immediately grabbed a handful of silver barley and stuffed it into it. The three yamen servants immediately beamed, knowing that they were coming to Rongguo Mansion to deliver good news. They knew that the wedding money was indispensable, so the yamen servants almost did not start a fight.

The leading government servant immediately and respectfully presented the good news. Li Weijian unfolded the red envelope and saw what was written inside: "Good news for your master, Li Weijian, who won the third place in economics in the Zhili Provincial Examination of High School. The Beijing News has won the first prize."

It was expected, and the teacher Yan Xiyao had revealed it before, so Li Weijian didn't care much. After dusting off the good news in his hands, Li Weijian put his hands behind his hands and said, "Haiping, you stay here to welcome the good news, I'll go back first."

There were three groups of good news, but Li Weijian only greeted one group, and he was too lazy to deal with the remaining two groups.

Wu Haiping bowed and accepted the order: "Master, just go on your own. There are minor arrangements here."

This was a success, and Wu Haiping also changed his title. He no longer called him Young Master, but changed his name to Master. No matter how young you are, if you win the imperial examination, you will still be called a master.

Li Weijian Shi Shiran returned to his small courtyard, and the four maids had long been looking forward to it. Hongyu was most eager for fame and wealth, so she just walked out the door.

"Fourth Master, where is the good news?"

Li Weijian smiled and handed over the good news. Hong Yu held it in both hands, unfolded it and looked at it happily, then closed it and said: "I will go and offer it. If the master and grandma know about it, they will definitely smile."

Hongyu walked away happily, and when Li Weijian entered the courtyard, he was surrounded by Qingwen and other maids. Several maids congratulated him one after another, and rewarded him with money.

When Qingwen caught a glimpse of Li Weijian's dull expression, she couldn't help but said, "Fourth Master doesn't seem to care? This is a job, how many people want it."

Li Weijian's expression stagnated, and then he said: "Yes, I should be happy." His face suddenly became exaggerated, and he clasped his hands together: "Oh! Okay! I won!"

His eyes rolled up and he leaned back as he looked. Xiu Ying and Xiang Ling were startled and hurriedly came over to help. Li Weijian stood up and said with a smile, "How is it? Isn't this how you are happy?"

Qingwen couldn't help laughing and said angrily: "How can there be such a fourth master!"

Xiu Ying and Xiang Ling also chimed in and said a few words of blame, before Li Weijian entered the main room with a smile. Just as he sat down, servants came from outside to congratulate him.

Li Weijian simply moved a chair into the courtyard, and four maids maintained order. A group of servants asking for rewards came to congratulate them. Qingwen scattered the reward money and replaced it with another group. In this way, hundreds of servants in the He Mansion came to ask for rewards. Not counting all the silver barley grains in the box, even the basket of copper coins sent by Li Wan was scattered.

Fortunately, Wang Xifeng sent Ping'er to help. Seeing that the reward was not enough, Li Weijian hurriedly asked Ping'er to cash a silver note. After counting, four hundred taels of silver were actually scattered!

Li Weijian couldn't help but was speechless, thinking that the Rongguo Mansion would give out rewards during every year and festival, and the rewards alone would cost several thousand taels every year. It’s no wonder that with such a huge family fortune, they can’t make ends meet now.

By noon, the eldest master Jia She, the master Jia Zheng, and even Jia Lian and Baoyu all returned to the house. When I heard that Li Weijian had won the exam, I naturally wanted to congratulate him.

Jia Lian and Baoyu sat around for a while, and then saw Jia She and Jia Zheng sending people, and then left. Li Weijian did not dare to neglect the two elders, so he immediately went to have a chat with them in person.

Jia Zheng is just that, he teaches earnestly, don't think that this official is not very good at his job, but he talks a lot when admonishing people. Li Weijian secretly complained that if he followed Jia Zheng's instructions and became an official, he would be tricked into being dismissed from his post within two days.

On the other hand, the eldest master, Jia She, pulled Li Weijian and was very affectionate. After a while, he said that this time it seemed that he was going to be awarded an official position. His eldest brother still knew a few old friends, so he couldn't take them to the official department to serve as officials. After a while, he said that being in the officialdom always requires a lot of friends. The eldest brother would personally introduce him someday. I know a few good friends.

Look at what Jia She said, and then look at what Jia Zheng said. It's not that the great master Jia She is plotting against him, Li Weijian is really more willing to deal with Jia She. After a long time passed, a servant came to report that a banquet had been prepared in Rongqing Hall, and invited Jia She and Li Weijian to come and attend the banquet.

The two of them walked towards Jia Mu's courtyard, but as soon as they went out, they bumped into Jia Zhen who came to congratulate her. The three of them left talking and laughing.

Daming Palace, Imperial Study Room.

The meeting had just dispersed, and Emperor Zhenghe ordered four people to stay and play the duel.

The little eunuch moved the embroidered pier, and the four people sat on the left and right. The one on the left is headed by Chen Hongmou, the chief assistant of the dynasty, and the one on the bottom is Gu Weiyue, the minister of the Ministry of Industry. The one on the right is headed by King Zhongyong, the minister of the internal affairs, and the one on the bottom is Yan Xiyao, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment.

Emperor Zhenghe's face was as dark as water. He threw a memorial on the table and said coldly: "The battle report I just received shows that in mid-August, Dzunggar Dace Ling sneaked seven thousand miles south and annexed Uzbekistan in one fell swoop. Now not only Qinghai , nine sides, even Sichuan are under the threat of Junggar Army Peak.

Dear ministers, please discuss how our government should respond? "

After the words fell, King Zhongyong frowned without reading the battle report and said: "What else can I say? The Zungar traitors will never be wiped out, and our country will never have peace! I would like to lead 20,000 troops. When the troops go out to fight the arrow furnace, Uzang will definitely be included. I’m heading towards the territory!”

Chen Hongmou didn't say much. He read the battle report over and over again, and then said: "Da Ce Ling is indeed a famous general. No wonder he destroyed 20,000 soldiers of our dynasty last year. This time the troops made a dangerous move, but if something goes wrong, they will be shattered into pieces." Seeing King Zhongyong looking at the general with a puzzled expression, Chen Hongmou added: "But our dynasty is not the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Uszang is not Tubo now. Qinghai was lost last year. This time Junggar took all Uszang and returned to our dynasty." Maybe words aren’t such a bad thing.”

King Zhongyong couldn't bear it anymore and said: "This is a big fallacy, Mr. Chief Assistant! Before Qinghai was lost, Junggar was just a danger to the northwest. Once Qinghai was lost, we would be attacked from both sides and would be extremely passive. After losing Uzang this time, I can’t say I will be attacked on three sides from now on, I’m afraid it won’t be easy to support us in the future.”

Before Chen Hongmou could speak, Gu Weiyue said: "I don't agree with what the loyal and brave king said. I don't know about military affairs, but I also know how to use money and food to lead soldiers. Now that the autumn harvest has passed, all the money and food have been sent to the northwest to prepare for the Western Expedition next year. . If we use troops to hide at this time, I'm afraid we will have to allocate additional money and food."

At this time, Yan Xiyao had just finished reading the battle report, put down his hand and said: "Da Celing only used 7,000 troops to capture Uzang. It can be seen that Uzang is now empty of troops. I thought that even if it could not capture it while its footing was not stable, Uzang should also send troops to attack Arrow Furnace so that it has no time to integrate Uzang."

Emperor Zhenghe immediately nodded and said: "What Yan Qing said makes sense. I have drawn up a decree and ordered Sichuan Commander-in-Chief Yue Zhongqi to send troops to Wusuzang. This battle is not about attacking the city, but just making it difficult for the Junggar traitors to live in peace."

Chen Hongmou knew a lot about military matters, so he thought about it carefully and finally did not raise any objection. Yue Zhongqi once served under him. He was quite brave and acted prudently. With his leader, Sichuan was expected to be fine.

The matter was settled, and Emperor Zhenghe said again: "Now that autumn has passed, a total of eighty talents from various places have been selected. How to arrange them, the court must come up with a way."

Chen Hongmou glanced sideways at Yan Xiyao and said coldly: "I haven't congratulated Young Sikou yet. It's really gratifying and congratulatory for your son to win the title of Jieyuan."

Yan Xiyao smiled and said: "Toefl, TOEFL, it's all thanks to Mr. Chen Ge's kindness. I would like to thank Mr. Chen Ge on behalf of Quanzi."

Chen Hongmou secretly hated Yan Xiyao, but he could do nothing about Yan Xiyao, an old fox. Who would have expected that the two men would be at loggerheads with each other, and that the second son of the Yan family would praise the stinky New Party in his policies?

Chen Hongmou knew that Yan Xiyao's son and his disciples were participating in Shixue Qiuwei, so he sent his confidants to identify carefully in private. Li Weijian's roll is really easy to recognize, and the person who can use calculus to perfection is Li Weijian in Shixue Qiuweili.

Because of some nitpicking and looking for comments in policy papers, Li Weijian was suppressed and became the chief executive. Unexpectedly, Li Weijian was suppressed, and Yan Fengzhen appeared behind him. This incident made Chen Hongmou quite angry.

With a little bit of luck, Chen Hongmou handed over his hand and said: "Sage, the imperial examination is to open a subject for the imperial court to select scholars. The Qiu Wei of practical studies should be the same as the Qiu Wei of Confucianism. Those who pass the Qiu Wei will be selected as candidates. Leave it to the future to hold the practical academic examination and choose the best ones. Only when the person is a Jinshi can he be awarded an official position."

Emperor Zhenghe nodded and said, "It makes sense. In that case, why not discuss when the practical academic exam will be held?"

Chen Hongmou said casually: "Sage, now Qiu Wei can only win 80 practical academic examinations. If there is a conference examination in the near future, there will be too few candidates, and I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the public."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Xiyao retorted: "What Mr. Ge said is wrong. Since practical learning is a new thing, it must be promoted from small to large. Think about the Tang Dynasty when subjects were opened to recruit scholars, and the number of Jinshi for each subject was only twenty-seven or eight. We will wait for the future Will it increase by more than ten times tomorrow? In my opinion, regardless of how many people are selected, this practical academic examination must always be held.

In this case, it is better to open it early than to open it late, so as to express the court's attitude and inform the scholars of the world that the court attaches great importance to practical learning and cannot change it. "

Chen Hongmou said: "Young Sikou also knew that it was the Tang Dynasty. Now I have opened a new subject in the court and can only recruit about ten people. Isn't it like being crowned a monkey and making the world laugh?"

"A joke? This is a pioneering move, what is there to laugh at?"

Seeing that the two of them were about to quarrel, Emperor Zhenghe quickly stopped talking: "Since the two ministers have differences, let's postpone the matter for further discussion."

Seeing that the two men bowed their hands and agreed, Emperor Zhenghe said again: "There is just one thing that cannot be discussed. This time, Li Weijian, the leader of the Qiu Dynasty, has made great achievements many times. If he is not awarded an official position, he must be rewarded with a title."

Li Weijian? Isn't that Yan Xiyao's disciple?

Chen Hongmou suddenly became unhappy and said: "Sage, the previous time Li Weijian was in charge of water affairs, the saint had already rewarded him with 10% of the water affairs shares. As far as I know, Li Weijian became extremely rich because of this. I think that since he has been rewarded, this contribution cannot be rewarded twice. .”

Emperor Zhenghe smiled and said: "Mr. Ge has misunderstood. I want to reward you for your merits, not because of the water affairs."

"Isn't it because of the water service?" Chen Hongmou looked at Yan Xiyao in confusion, and saw the old fox stroking his beard and smiling, with a smug look on his face.

Just then, King Zhongyong said: "I know this best at this time. This son has made many contributions. First, after the water affairs, he also prepared the Xishan Coal Mine. In the past few months, he has collected an additional two million yuan for the inner government. Second, change the straight rifling to spiral rifling, which greatly increases the range of the musket and makes it extremely accurate;"

"Accurate? How accurate?"

King Zhongyong said: "I have tried it, and nine out of ten shots from a hundred paces hit."

Chen Hongmou took a breath, the hit rate was quite high. For ordinary fire guns, let alone a hundred steps away, if it can hit 30% of the hits at a distance of fifty steps, it would be pretty good. This Li Weijian is like making a new blunderbuss.

While he was pondering, King Zhongyong said again: "Thirdly, to measure the range of the new artillery, a new mount for the ten-pound cannon was recently built. The Armed Forces Academy sent a message saying that the mount has been built and only needs to be installed and calibrated. try."

King Zhongyong said that Emperor Zhenghe smiled and said: "Not only that, but there are four more."

King Zhongyong held up his hands and said that he didn't know there were four of them, and the others all looked at Emperor Zhenghe. The sage smiled and said: "Lin Hai, the censor of salt inspection, came to report that Li Weijian drafted the salt law. After Lin Hai changed it, he asked the court to try it out. I have seen the salt law and it is quite exquisite.

Li Weijian has made great achievements one after another, and I think I must reward him. "

(End of this chapter)