Idle courtiers

Chapter 231

After the Winter Solstice Festival, the rare holiday is over, and the Beijing officials of the Ming Dynasty ushered in the long-lost Beijing Cha.

Early in the morning, the evaluation team entered the Pedestrian Division.

This time, the Jingcha of the Pedestrian Division came with six people, two officials and four officials.

Needless to say, these two officials have the final say on how well the pedestrians work and how to judge the language.It can be said that these two hold the power of life and death for everyone's future career.

Zou Yinglong was naturally among them, the other official looked very old, his hair and beard were all gray, and he was a fifth-rank official with a white pheasant embroidered on the patch on the chest of his official uniform.

After arriving at the Pedestrian Division, a group of people went into Qin Liang's courtroom to talk, which lasted all morning.

They didn't start work for a long time, Zhou Nan was anxious, feeling like a prisoner waiting for judgment, he couldn't help turning around in the room with his hands behind his back.

"Master Zhou, don't turn around. It's not an option if you continue like this." Guo Shuban poured out Zhou Nan's newly brewed tea and refilled the water: "How about... my subordinate will help you find out who these people are. No matter what the background is, it’s better to prepare early.”

"Prepare early, what are you going to do?" Zhou Nan said angrily, "Zou Yinglong and I had a big fight in Yanqing, and he took this errand in Beijing, obviously targeting me. Forget it, it's going to rain, Mother wants to marry someone, let him go."

Guo Shuban: "Aren't you just waiting to die, my lord? According to the court system, two officials have to be dispatched at the same time for this kind of picketing and government affairs errands, and even three officials are required for important matters. Moreover, there can be no any relationship between each other. The relationship is involved, in case someone will cover up the sky and take private revenge. I don't think Zou Yinglong would dare to blatantly harm you, my lord, otherwise, what is the reason for me to visit another lord?"

Zhou Nan's heart moved: "Then I will trouble Lao Guo to go."

Guo Shuban responded and was about to run out when Zhou Nan stopped him again: "Old Guo, hat, hat, you go out with a bald head, that's disrespectful to your boss!"

Looking at his shiny scalp, Zhou Nan shook his head.This old Guo was also born in the right era. Imagine if he was in the Qing Dynasty, he would probably be chopped off for not braiding?
I am very unfriendly to Xie Ding.

Lao Guo is also miserable, he also has fame, and he should have been an official after working in the department for so many years, because he is bald, and he is still an official.It can be seen that if you want to be an official, you have to have a low appearance.

Zhou Nan still had a little fantasy in his heart, hoping that the old official who came with Zou Yinglong would be an upright official like Hai Rui, so he also had concerns about doing things with the surname Zou.

Soon, his fantasy was completely shattered.

After a while, Guo Shuban came back.He sat down on the chair and yelled loudly: "It's bad, it's bad, Mr. Zhou, you are in big trouble."

Zhou Nan: "What's wrong?"

Guo Shuban: "The Master Sun who came here with Zou Yinglong is just a deaf man's ears, and he doesn't care about things at all."

It turned out that this Lord Sun was called Sun Shiyue, and he was You Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, who was the nominal "team leader" of the Si Jingcha team.

The thing is like this, according to the examination system of the Ming Dynasty.The results of the Beijing inspection every six years must be written in three account books.One is kept by the headquarters, one is sent to the six departments, and one is handed over to the cabinet.It stands to reason that these three departments must send people.

However, the Prime Minister of the cabinet has a lot of work to do every day, so naturally he doesn't have time to go to the grassroots.Therefore, under normal circumstances, there is one person from the headquarters and one person from the six departments.

Although the Pedestrian Division belongs to the Kedao system, there is a mother-in-law at the top, that is Honglu Temple.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Honglu Temple was in charge of court meetings, banquets, sacrifices and praise etiquette, and the Department of Pedestrians in the early Ming Dynasty was also managed by him.In the middle and late period, after the Pedestrian Division became a shortcut for Qing rumor officials to support and get promoted, Honglu Temple only guided and liaised with the Pedestrian Division, and had no jurisdiction.

But in name it is still the higher authority of the Department of Pedestrians, so it is natural to send someone over this time.

Sun Shiyue was a fifth-rank official, and Zou Yinglong was a seventh-rank official. Moreover, Mr. Sun was a veteran in the ninth year of Jiajing, so he naturally became the leader of this working group.

"Master Sun Shiyue was bad at that time." Guo Shuban said: "Mr. Sun was in charge of the Ministry of Rites at that time. He was young and had a promising future. Jinshi all gather at the Que Gate. According to regulations, Jinshi must wear Jinshi scarves and gowns. But this day is strange, there are more than a hundred people who did not wear the crown uniform. The imperial court seized Mr. Sun's official salary for one month because of the failure of the Ministry of Rites. Since then, Sun Shiyue's future has been ruined, and it took him a lifetime to get the official position of a young minister."

"Master Sun is very old. I heard that after the New Year, he will beg for bones and return to his hometown for the elderly. The subordinates looked at it and found that the old man is already in a coma. He probably doesn't want to take care of things when he comes to our company this time. Without his restraint, we can only I'm afraid Zou Yinglong will do whatever he wants."

After hearing Guo Shuban's words, Zhou Nan's heart sank.

He is very clear about the way people in the officialdom behave. Sun Shiyue is about to retire, and this time the pedestrian Si Jingcha is his last shift, so naturally he doesn't want to cause trouble.I am just a small pedestrian, and I will not be awarded a Jinshi in the future, and I will have no future at all.But he, Zou Yinglong, is a member of the sixth division and the favorite student of Mr. Xu Ge.Under normal circumstances, Mr. Zou has been in office for more than ten years, and he is expected to be the governor of a province and a great official in Xinjiang.

Old man Sun naturally wouldn't offend Zou Yinglong, a future dignitary, for his little man.

Without the restraint of his boss, Zou Yinglong couldn't make it easy for him to round and flatten Zhou Nan.

After lunch, Sun Shiyue and Zou Yinglong summoned more than 30 officials from the Pedestrian Division to speak, and the Beijing inspection officially began.

Just as Guo Shuban said, Sun Shiyue was indeed in a coma.He is from Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, with a strong accent in Mandarin, "My lords, this time Jingcha is... this, this... oh... um..."

"first……"

"Secondly..."

"at last……"

"I've finished my words, but I'd like to add two more points at the end. The first point..."

There was a phlegm in his voice, and he spoke in a soft voice, which was ridiculously wordy.

It took a long time to finish speaking, and after counting the time, half an hour passed, and everyone stood with sore legs. Unfortunately, no one understood what old man Sun said.

Next, pedestrians stepped forward to salute one by one.

Zhou Nan has the lowest education and the least qualifications, so he is naturally ranked last.

He bit the bullet and stepped forward, bowing his hands and saluting: "The next official, Zhou Nan, has seen Sun Shaoqing and Zou Gezhong."

Before Sun Shiyue could speak, Zou Yonglong took the lead in supporting his hand and said, "Master Zhou, please get up."

Then he turned his head and smiled at Qin Liang who was sitting beside him: "Qin Sizheng, speaking of it, I have a predestined relationship with Mr. Zhou. Last time Mr. Zhou went to Yanqing Prefecture to learn the officiant, I just happened to be there on business. I didn't expect to meet him today." .”

Qin Liang smiled and said, "Isn't this a coincidence?"

"Yes, what a coincidence." Zou Yinglong looked at Zhou Nan with a harmless appearance, and said, "Master Zhou, although you and I are old, but this time the Jingcha has no favors to talk about. I will handle things impartially." Yes, you don't have to worry about anything."

Don't worry?My worries grew, Zhou Nan complained in his heart, since this guy said such a thing, he would completely tear himself apart from me.

After the lecture was over, there was nothing to say about the next thing. Qin Liang asked everyone to deal with the affairs at hand, while he and the other deputy directors cooperated with Sun and Zou to start the inspection.

There is nothing to say about this matter, but all the files of the Department of Pedestrians are brought out, and the two of them will check them one by one.

Sun and Zou commanded the four subordinates to register and make a list of the work done by each pedestrian this year according to the distance of the journey, the priority of the matter, when it was finally completed, and whether there was any delay or slack.

When they encounter something they don't understand, they will send pedestrians into the court for questioning.

This matter is very cumbersome and boring, and there is nothing to look at.

Everything is in order.

It has only been three months since Zhou Nan came to the pedestrian department, and he has only done one thing, and it has been successfully completed, so he is not afraid of being inspected.All he cares about is the interview form in the next procedure, who knows what his colleagues will scribble on it.

Pedestrians could accept the advice of the two adults at any time for convenience, but they didn't have three options, so they all gathered in the hall to drink tea.

They are all high-spirited and popular people in the Qing Dynasty, so when they sit together, they naturally have to discuss the court, whether they like it or not.

Someone's words caught Zhou Nan's attention.

"Gentlemen, you must have seen the fire in Xiyuan last night."

"The fire started at the time of Hai, and last night was the winter solstice. I didn't sleep, so I couldn't see the raging fire. I heard that Xiyuan was under martial law, and I don't know what happened. Do you think there will be..."

"Master Shen said carefully, I am the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Shengminghe Qinghaiyan, how could there be rebellious officials and thieves, in my opinion, it is just an ordinary disaster. Water is also a common thing. Take our capital as an example, how many times do we not burn down houses in a year?"

"It's just as good as Master Shen said." Master Shen sneered: "If it's a fire, why is there still martial law? I heard that the Xiyuan Palace was sealed off last night when the fire broke out, and no one was allowed to enter. Yuan Yuan of the cabinet Elder Wei Yuan Ge and Lu Ben Lu Ge rushed over, but they couldn't get in. The two prime ministers were so anxious that they wanted to beat people. Later, His Majesty passed an order saying that it was all right, and the two elders went home. Even the cabinet ministers Don’t you think it’s strange that you can’t enter Xiyuan even if you’re old? Don’t you forget the old case of the court lady killing the king?”

Hearing what Shen Xingren said, everyone looked awe-inspiring.

After a long time, a pedestrian said: "It's an eventful autumn, and now it's Jingcha again, please be more cautious in your actions."

Zhou Nan was amused. As far as he knew, there had been no serious political incidents in the past 40 years of Jiajing.In ancient times, all buildings were made of wood, and the problem of fire prevention was indeed a headache.

(End of this chapter)