Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

Duan Jiong has been in a very gloomy mood recently. He is from Lanzhou, Gansu Province.But I didn't want to meet Emperor Hongzhi's visit, so the examination was postponed for one year.

If it is a child from other places, when encountering this situation, most of them will go back to their hometown first and wait until the next year.

However, the transportation in the Ming Dynasty was inconvenient. From Lanzhou to the capital, there were thousands of mountains and rivers along the way, and the journey was tiring. It took two or three months to walk.If I go home, it will take another two months.The problem is that within two months of returning to Lanzhou, I have to come to the capital to rush for the exam.

In this way, it takes half a year to spend on the road, so what energy is there to study for homework.

As a well-known talent in Lanzhou, he vowed to win this exam, so naturally he dared not be sloppy.Besides, he didn't have the travel expenses to go back to Lanzhou again.

The family was too poor for a long time, and if they failed to pass the Jinshi examination, they might starve to death.

Therefore, when Duan Jiong came to the capital last year, he simply brought his wife and children here, planning to go directly to the office with his family once he passed the Jinshi examination and was awarded an official position.

The dignified Duan family in Lanzhou is so poor that they can't afford to eat. It is indeed shocking to hear the news.

Duan Jiong is considered a celebrity in the Northwest, but his reputation is limited to Gansu.

But when it comes to his father Duan Jian, it can be said that no one knows.

Duan Jian, named Keda, nicknamed Baixuan, also named Rongsi, was born in Duanjiatan, Lanzhou in the Ming Dynasty.Jinshi in the fifth year of Jingtai in the Ming Dynasty, he was awarded the magistrate of Fushan County in Shandong, the magistrate of Laizhou, and the magistrate of Nanyang, Henan.In office, Duan Jian was a clean and honest official, taking nothing.

But his reputation comes from the founding of Zhixue Academy, where he convened school students and other students to explain the essentials of the Five Classics in person.In the nine years in Nanyang, there are countless disciples, and many talents have emerged among them.

However, setting up an academy is a big waste of money, and Mr. Duan refuses to accept a penny of tuition fees.After such tossing, when he left office, his luggage was empty, only a dozen boxes of books.Others become richer and richer as they become officials, but he is good. Not only does he not have any income, but he fills in his not rich family background.

Master Duan has a good reputation, but Duan Jiong has suffered a lot. In ten years, he has changed from a noble son to a poor scholar.

The culture and education in the northwest region is backward, and the economy is underdeveloped, so it is already a great event to be able to raise people.Therefore, according to the system, when a child enters Beijing to take part in the general examination, the local academic administration will give 30 taels of silver to the examinee to give him a good look.

Because the exam is postponed, it is impossible for the local government to give it to the exam next year.

This amount of money is only enough for Duan Jiong to come to the capital once.

Therefore, after he and his wife and children came to the capital, there was no way to go back.For the examination, he put all his efforts in one battle, if he fails, he will be benevolent, and there is no other way to go.

Living in the capital is not easy. The rent alone is enough to feed the family for two or three months, not to mention other expenses, which immediately caused Duan Jiong to be devastated.

I had no choice but to grit my teeth and search for those old friends from the same year when my father was alive.

Fortunately, Lord Duan had a very good reputation when he was alive. Others saw Duan Jiong as pitiful, and knew that he had outstanding talents and learning. He was sure that he would be a Jinshi in the future, so they left the door and asked him to become the governor of the General Administration Department. He also had a monthly salary of two taels of silver Ke Na, at least able to maintain his family's food problems.

Indeed, only enough to eat.

This is the capital.

If you love him, send him to Beijing, because there is heaven; if you hate him, send him to Beijing, because there is hell.

It is said to be heaven, because there will be countless opportunities in the future, and when the fortune comes, it will be the farmer's old man in the morning and the Tianzitang in the evening.It's hell, because the prices here are ridiculously expensive, especially in recent years, with the further development of the economy, it is so high that it is unacceptable.

At the foot of the Son of Heaven, a single Chinese cabbage can be sold for [-] Wen. You know, in Lanzhou, [-] Wen can buy you a lot.It's not too much to charge you two pennies for a steamed bun.

The salary of two taels of silver seems to be a lot, but a few members of the family eat and use it, and there will be a deficit at the end of the month.

By this month, Duan Jiong still owed four qian silver to the butcher at the gate and the owner of the rice store, but he still hadn't paid back the credit.

It's the new year's end soon, and it's conceivable that this year will definitely pass without any quality.

"Come on, as long as I survive until the spring of March, I will be worth a hundred times once I climb the Dragon Gate, and my life will be another scene."

"Heaven will send a great mission to the people, and they must first toil their muscles and bones and starve their bodies..."

Duan Jiong has said this kind of inspirational words in his heart countless times, but his money is tight, material determines his spirit, and he can only carefully count the few pieces of money in his shy pocket to comfort himself.

Fortunately, there is an exciting news recently. There are many things transferred from Dao Lusi, but they are wild goods.In the entire Department of General Affairs, from the Secretary of the General Administration to the governor, as long as they have official positions, everyone has a share.

In total, [-] catties of waxed meat, [-] pheasants, a basket of pears, [-] catties of Jianghan rice, [-] catties of lotus rice, a pack of lotus root powder, and a few local specialties such as pine nuts, melon seeds, astragalus, and red dates.

It turned out that these things were all sent by a Taoist named Chongxu from Wudang Mountain through the Daolu Department.

The Daolu Department is in charge of Taoist temples all over the world. Taoist Chongxu is very well-known in Taoism, and Wudang Mountain is a major school in the martial arts. Today's son is fond of martial arts. After hearing his name, he sent an imperial decree to pass it on to him. He came to Beijing to face Sheng, saying that he wanted to see for himself the peerless martial arts created by Taoist Sanfeng.

Ordinarily, Daoist Chongxu and the Secretary of the General Administration couldn't get along with each other, even if he wanted to send some kindness, he couldn't send it here.

However, in ancient times, if a monk or a Taoist wanted to become a monk, the central authority had to issue a certificate such as a degree certificate.Otherwise, if the young and middle-aged are all monks, who will plant the land?

Also, monks can be exempted from all corvee taxes, so it is hard to guarantee that no one will maliciously evade taxes by shaving their hair.

The Senglu Division and the Daolu Division are institutions that issue identity certificates to family members, and are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites.

However, these documents have to go through a process with the Secretary of General Administration when they are issued.

Taoist Chongxu has recently recruited many new apprentices, and he has just received approval from the General Administration Department.When I came here to the capital, in line with the principle of being courteous to many people, I asked the officials of the Daolu Department to help send some local products.

Some local products are not worth mentioning in the eyes of the general political envoys and councilors, but to Duan Jiong, they are a timely help.

With these things, not only are the New Year's goods available for the New Year, but also the unfinished ones can be sold and paid back on credit.Otherwise, the dignified master will be pursued by butchers and peddlers all day long, which will be humiliating and unseemly.If you spread the word, how will you see people in the future.

I heard people talking about this yesterday. When Duan Jiong went home and told his wife and children, the whole family was excited and excited.

But as soon as he arrived at the Yamen today, Duan Jiong's mood was so bad that it couldn't be worse.

Today is the day when Wu Shiqi came to experience taking office as the boss. This person's name was very famous in the capital some time ago.The Secretary of General Administration was in charge of compiling the Dibao, and Duan Jiong also watched his deeds.

In his opinion, Wu Shiqi is a master of financial management, a master of drilling, and a master of gold-faced iron mask.

When he was an agent of the Cangzhou Changlu Salt Transportation Envoy, he wiped out his predecessor's 200 million taels of deficit in half a year, and saved a large sum of money for the emperor's wedding.This method alone is indeed awe-inspiring.

It is said that he is a master of drilling, but Wu Shiqi has turned into a Yangzhou Tuiguan of the seventh rank, which is shocking in the Ming Dynasty officialdom where non-jinshi are not allowed to be officials.Later, he even acted as an agent for such a large provincial yamen as the Yansi. The means of being an official are unimaginable.

As for thick-skinned, that is even more unprecedented.A juren, relying on sycophants to push officials and act as an agent, for the sake of his own official position and interests, he is willing to become a laughing stock among the world, what a villain!

For this person, Duan Jiong is contemptuous on the one hand, and curious on the other. He wants to see what such a legendary figure looks like, but he never thought of going against him.

There are quite a few colleagues who have the same thoughts as him.

But as soon as we met today, Mr. Wu gave everyone a big blow.

The new official took office three fires, Mr. Wu came before dawn to experience the truth, the first thing he did was to ask everyone to sweep the yard, saying that it was snowing heavily and the yard was dirty, how could you sweep the world if you didn't sweep a house.

In the early years of the Kingdom, the General Secretary was a large-scale yamen, with many yards and many houses. The poor governors were all inactive and indiscriminate. When did they suffer this kind of hardship?After working for an hour, I was so tired that I staggered around.

This can be tolerated. After Master Wu said that he would return the local products sent by Taoist Chongxu, Duan Jiong completely broke out when it came to his own interests, and confronted Wu Shiqi: You, Master Wu, are in Yangzhou's fancy world Once worked as an official of the seventh rank, and later worked as a transfer envoy in the Yansi, it is estimated that the benefits of one hundred thousand taels can also be seen.These things are naturally not in the eyes, but if you eat meat, you must let us drink some soup!You are good at financial management, but you want to pretend to be clean and honest in front of us, who will you show it to?

"You", Duan Jiong said angrily: "Master Wu, that's right, the lower official is a scholar, but the sage said that as long as the scholar is open-minded and upright, he doesn't have to stick to the small details. My lord says that the lower official is not, but I say it is." , and why mentioning your late father, isn’t it against the way of a sage?”

In ancient times, it was a great offense to call someone's father by his name in front of others.This is better in the Ming Dynasty. If it was changed to the Wei, Jin and Three Kingdoms period, the Son of Man would cry bitterly and swear to be at odds with Lord Wu.

Wu Shiqi also knew that he had made a slip of the tongue, so he cupped his hands: "It's my fault to call Governor Duan's ancestor's name directly, so please forgive me."

It's an apology to Duan Jiong.

However, he changed the subject: "Don't think that it's just some local products, not worth a lot of money, so you don't take it to heart. As an official, you should be loyal and honest. In the eyes of this official, honesty should be put in the first place." One. Today you can take some local products from others, and tomorrow you dare to collect money."