Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 249: Ruined Official Family

"Bachelor Huihai, I have been engaged to the sixth girl of the Sheng family." Li An said.

"But the Sheng family in Jiying Lane?" Hai Wenren asked.

"Exactly." Li An nodded.

"Old man Shengtai Ren has also heard that he is an honest official and has good abilities. You have found a good wife." Hai Wenren said with a smile.

This is not a polite statement. Hai Wenren looks down on cliques in the officialdom.

However, Sheng Hong was smooth and never participated in these things. In Hai Wenren's eyes, he was an upright and good official.

Next, Hai Wenren did not continue to talk about these, but changed the topic to talk about some current affairs.

The Su family father and son both expressed their own opinions, but Li An only said a few words occasionally, giving the Su family father and son the opportunity to express themselves.

At noon, Hai Wenren left them to have dinner at home, and then Li An left with the Su family and his son.

Generally speaking, after being named on the gold list, only a small number of people will stay in the capital and serve as officials, except for the top two candidates.

Li An smiled bitterly and shook his head. Although he had some confidence, he was not very sure.

Those who made the list can't be more talented and knowledgeable than Su Xun, right?
Talent and learning in the imperial examination were only one aspect; on-the-spot performance and luck also accounted for a large factor.

Most of the remaining people are either given casual positions to wait for vacancies, or they are sent to various places to serve as county officials.

As long as he can show his talents and is recommended by Hai Wenren, he will have a chance to be admitted to the Imperial Academy and become a secretary in the Secretarial Department.

Hai Wenren has a high reputation in the stone forest. Being praised by him can indeed make Li An famous in a short time. However, if Li An cannot show his corresponding talents, not only will his fame disappear soon, but even Hai Wenren will be criticized.

"By the way, during this time, remember to prepare well for the Shangyuan Poetry Festival. Xuexue Hai praised you very much, and he will definitely praise you in front of the officials and some ministers in the court. By then, you will definitely be famous in Bianjing. If If you can't show a certain amount of talent and learning, you will have failed to live up to Xueshi Hai's hard work." Su Shi said.

Even if Li An has a photographic memory, he is not very sure that he can pass the exam in one go.

"Yes, I understand!" Li An nodded.

Li An doesn't care if he is simply famous, but if there is any benefit, he will definitely seize it.

"Zi Qian, even Academician Hai admires your remarks about reform. When you are named on the gold list next year, your future will be bright."

"Don't be self-effacing. With your talent and learning, a provincial examination will not be difficult for you." Su Shi was very confident in Li An.

After several years of studying, Li An has a certain understanding of many things in the officialdom.

As a result, I didn’t fail the test.

It is very difficult for a county official to be promoted to a county official, and most officials may stay in the position of subordinate officials for their entire lives.

On the way back, Su Shi and Li An were riding in the same car and said with a smile.

Take Su Xun as an example. He was one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and his articles were praised even by Hanlin scholars like Hai Wenren.

"Zizhan is overly praised. I don't know if he can pass this year's provincial examination." Li An shook his head.

The only thing Ang Lee lacks is that he has too few works. Otherwise, the fame he accumulated with his Four Words of Warning and a few good articles and poems would have been famous all over the world.

At first he was praised by Master Hai, and soon he became famous in Bianjing. His articles and poems were very popular for a while.

Although the school secretary is only in charge of the school's classics and is a Qingshui yamen without real power, he is at least a Beijing official.

On the contrary, those who can stay in Bianjing basically join some Qingshui Yamen and have no real power. After a few years, they are transferred to other places and start out as chief officials of a county.

This is also one of the reasons why it is difficult for subordinate officials to be promoted. If local governance is good, the chief official will take most of the credit.

When there are vacancies for county magistrates or something like that, officials sent from outside the capital have filled them, so there is no chance of becoming an official.

Local bureaucrats and gentry have complicated situations and cannot become chief officials, so it will be even more difficult for them to do so.

Li An didn't plan to make money by being an official. Going to a local official would not be as comfortable as being in Bianjing. More importantly, he was valued by Hai Wenren. Even if he failed the imperial examination, he would still have the opportunity to become an official.

He remembered that although Su Xun failed the exam, he was later recommended as an official.

This time was an opportunity for him, so he couldn't let it go.

……

Except for a few necessary officials during the New Year, the rest of the officials will not continue to work until the Lantern Festival.

Hai Wenren, a Hanlin bachelor, has a leisurely life and does not need to work before the Lantern Festival.

The Su family's father and son and Li An were entertained at noon, and Hai Wenren also drank a lot of wine.

After the Su family father and son and Li An left, Hai Wenren wanted to go back to his room and sleep for a while, but an internal official came to the palace and said that the official family summoned him to the palace.

Although Hai Wenren was confused, he did not dare to delay. He put on his official uniform and hurried to the palace.

When he arrived at the palace, he was taken directly to Longtuge by the internal officials.

Longtuge is a place in the palace where books are collected and government affairs are managed. It is also commonly known as the Imperial Study Room.

Hai Wenren entered Longtuge, bowed and saluted: "I pay homage to your Majesty!"

The official waved his hand, asked someone to sit down, and said apologetically: "On the New Year's Day, I summoned your family to the palace, which disturbed your family's enjoyment of the festival."

"Your Majesty's words are serious. As the saying goes, eating the emperor's salary is a matter of loyalty to the emperor. As a minister, it is his duty to be summoned by your majesty at any time. Why bother?" Hai Wenren said respectfully.

"Despite this, the Qing family is busy all year long, and it is rare for them to have free time to spend time with their families. I really can't bear to disturb you. I have called you here because I have encountered something troubling, and I want to hear the opinions of the Qing family." The official said. .

"I wonder why your Majesty is troubled?" Hai Wenren asked.

The official picked up a memorial from the table, handed it to the chamberlain beside him, and said, "Show it to Academician Hai."

The chamberlain bowed and took the memorial and handed it to Hai Wenren.

Hai Wenren opened the memorial and read it. When he saw the contents, his eyes froze.

This turned out to be a memorial requesting officials to conduct a comprehensive reform of the laws since the founding of the Song Dynasty.

The contents of the memorial are eloquent, with more than ten thousand words, and Hai Wenren is very familiar with the handwriting. The last signature of the memorial is also Wang Anshi, the judge of Duzhi.

After a long time, Hai Wenren gathered the memorial together and said, "Your Majesty, I have finished reading it."

"The Qing family has also read the letter written by Wang Qing's family, and I also know that what Wang Qing's family wrote is true. However, now my mind is focused on the selection of the crown prince, and I really don't care about others." The official said.

He did have the idea of ​​​​implementing reforms again before, otherwise he would not transfer Han Zhang back to Beijing to become the Grand Prime Minister.

But all his ideals and ambitions disappeared when his son died.

On the one hand, he implemented reforms in his early years because many shortcomings were exposed during the Song-Xia War, which made him realize that he had reached a point where he could not do anything without reform.

In addition, the officials at that time were in their prime and wanted to work hard to govern.

Later, he wanted to implement reforms again. On the one hand, he was unwilling to do so, and most importantly, he wanted to hand over a powerful Song Dynasty to his son.

Now he is over fifty years old, and he was deeply affected by the death of his son, and his health is deteriorating.

For the current officials, they just want to maintain the current situation and have long forgotten about reforms.

The reform may not be successful, and he has no heirs, so why risk his life to carry out the reform?

However, because he appointed Han Zhang as Grand Prime Minister, some ambitious people and those who wanted to take advantage of the situation saw that the officials had a desire for reform, and they petitioned for reform many times.

Among them, Wang Anshi was the most persistent. He would submit three or five petitions for reform every month, which made him tireless.

(End of this chapter)