Chastity Layman

  Chapter 246 Xu Jingzong

  Qinren Square, Qi State Duke's Mansion.

  The mansion is busy exchanging new peaches for old talismans, putting on lights and festoons.

  Qin Lang entered the hall with a jade flute with a slightly protruding belly, and greeted Qin Qiong and Cui Shi first. Qin Qiong was smiling all over her face today, and she seemed to look much younger.

  For Yu Xiao, his son and concubine, he didn't think he was humble, so he sat there and accepted her salute calmly, and even took out a gold bracelet to reward her.

   "Nine years of Wude are about to pass!"

  Qin Qiong sighed.

For Qin Qiong, Wude represents not only a year, but also an era. If it goes on and on, the people will not live in peace, the court will be chaotic, and the world will be in trouble.

   Now Wude is finally coming to an end, and Zhenguan has arrived. Qin Qiong is full of hope for Zhenguan, hoping that Zhenguan can be another prosperous age.

   "Xue Wanche stayed in Jiangnan and didn't come back!" Qin Qiong told his son.

   "Your Majesty shouldn't hide it from him?"

   "I can't hide it, but His Majesty definitely hasn't told Xue Wanche right now, but I believe that this kind of thing can't be hidden. Xue Wanjun must have heard about it a long time ago, and probably already told Xue Wanche."

  Qin Lang thought about it, what can Xue Wanche do if he knows?

   Could he ask the emperor to divorce Princess Danyang? If the eldest princess makes a mistake again, she will also be the royal princess, and Li Shimin must face his imperial sister.

   It can only be said that Xue Wanche is very unlucky.

  Qin Qiong said to her son apologetically, "Before, as a father, I persuaded you to accept the marriage offer. Now that I think about it, I was right to refuse at the beginning. Otherwise, my Qin family will be unlucky!"

  The two were silent.

   It's bad luck for this kind of thing to happen.

The father and two were chatting, and the three Huaidao brothers were playing with Pei Xingjian and Luo Tong. It could be seen that the Huaidao brothers were much closer now, and there was no such estrangement as when Qin Lang first met. , even Pei Luo and his righteous brothers have a good relationship.

   This is comforting.

  Cui Shi and Yu Xiao were chatting on the other side, Yu Youwei also came today, the three of them had a good chat.

   "Ah Lang, come and meet my brother!"

  Qin Qiong hurriedly asked the housekeeper to bring in.

  The brothers in this family are all under 20 years old, but they are also good-looking talents. They are dressed in Confucian robes. These two brothers are also related to the Qin family.

   One of the brothers from the Lai family is called Lai Ji and the other Lai Heng. Their father is Lai Huer, Duke Rong of the Sui Dynasty, and General You Yiwei.

   Lai Huer attaches great importance to the young Qin Qiong. Qin Qiong's mother passed away and went home to attend the funeral. Lai Huer also specially sent his family generals to bring rich gifts to mourn the funeral. He believed that Qin Qiong was a capable person and would have great promise in the future.

  After that, Qin Qiong was unable to return to serve under the command of Lai Huer due to the chaos in the Central Plains. Instead, he was recruited by Zhang Xutuo to the army of Qi County to fight for thieves.

  Although she didn't come back to Hu'er since then, the contact between the two has never been broken, and Lai Huer has always taken good care of Qin Qiong.

   Lai Huer was later killed by the rebels in Jiangdu, and his son Lai Liulang were also killed. Only the two young sons, Lai Heng and Lai Ji, escaped in their hometown.

  The two brothers were funded by Qin Qiong when they were young. They studied in their hometown and abandoned martial arts.

   "Both of you brothers have passed through Daozhou to become Juren, what subject will you take when you come to Beijing this time?" Qin Qiong asked.

   "Go back to Qi Guogong, we are going to take the entrance exam!"

  Although the two brothers are young, they have also worshiped famous teachers and studied hard, but they have great ambitions.

   "Jinshi is the most difficult exam, and the admission rate is the lowest. Why don't you take Mingjing?"

   Thirty old Mingjing, fifty young Jinshi.

  Thirty-year-old can be regarded as old if he passed the Mingjing examination, while Jinshi in the 50th ability is considered young, which shows the difficulty of Jinshi. But the brothers are undeniably confident.

Back then, Lai Huer was Qin Qiong's boss, and he treated Qin Qiong like a nephew. Qin Qiong and Lai Liulang used to have a close relationship. In this way, although Laiheng Laiji was as young as Qin Lang, he was actually in the same generation as Qin Qiong, but Qin Qiong Lang was a generation behind them.

   "Although Huailiang knows the tribute exam next year, it won't be able to help you. Be clear about this." Qin Qiong reminded.

"We also know that the reform of the imperial examination no longer only focuses on family background and fame, so we are more confident in the examination of Jinshi. We never thought of following the path of Lord Yi. did not do."

  The previous imperial examinations for scholars in the Tang Dynasty were too simple and too influenced by examiners. Therefore, after the scholars entered Beijing, they would find a way to find the princes and high officials of the dynasty to submit papers, and collect the good poems and essays they usually wrote into a volume, called Gan Yejuan, and voted for these nobles of the dynasty. They appreciate it after reading it, and then recommend them to the examiner.

  If you are recommended by a noble person to say hello, it doesn't matter if you don't do well in the exam, you can often be selected.

  But this time it’s different, the papers are graded with ambiguous names, and there is a new examination in the Gongyuan’s room, and you have to be searched when you enter, and the examination questions are only mastered by Qin Lang, the Zhigongju, and there is no way to leak it.

  Qin Lang saw these two young scholars calling Qin Qiongyi brother, and always felt that they were taking advantage of him, so why didn't he call them Yishu?

  He really wanted to say that it is better to talk about each other, but Qin Qiong is a relatively rigid person, so forget it.

"I will give the tribute examination next year, and I will definitely abide by fairness and justice. I can't give any extra care to the two uncles, but I can guarantee that you can enjoy fair and just treatment. As long as you are really talented and perform well in the exam, then I will not It will make you squeezed out by others, and that's all I can do."

  Brother Laiheng Laiji was overjoyed when he heard this.

  The promise of getting Qin Lang is enough. If the ranking is judged by talent, of course they are not afraid of anyone and dare not say they will win the first prize, but at least they can guarantee that they will compete for the top ten in the Jinshi examination.

  Qin Lang remembered that these two seemed to be the prime ministers of the Gaozong Dynasty, so it should be no problem to be admitted to Jinshi.

The status of the Qin family in the military is very strong now, but their influence among the gentry is not high. Now it mainly relies on the marriage with the Cui family of Boling. However, Qin Lang always feels that the Cui family of Boling is not reliable, so it is better to support them Come down brother.

  Qin Qiong stayed with his brothers to have a New Year's Eve dinner together in the mansion, and the two brothers were not polite.

   "It's better for the two uncles to temporarily live in the Duke of Qi's mansion while they are in Beijing, and you can also guide my brothers to enlightenment study." Qin Lang suggested.

The two are now renting in Pingkangfang. The two brothers have always been supported by Qin Qiong, and the family still has some property, so they are not short of money. However, being able to live in the Duke of Qi's mansion will strengthen the relationship between the two families. This is a good thing .

   Chatted for a while.

  The housekeeper reported that Xu Jingzong, the assistant teacher of Guozijian, had come.

   "I'll go meet him."

  Qin Lang knew that Xu Jingzong probably came to find him. This year, this year is really a bit of Mercury retrograde. Originally, the future was smooth, but who knew that he suffered successive setbacks in the second half of the year, and now he has become a seventh-rank assistant teacher of the Imperial Academy.

  He was an 18th bachelor with Guozijian Jijiu Kong Yingda before, and he also worked as a school inspector and engaged in administrative affairs in Yongzhou, so he was almost able to enter the center.

   After repeated setbacks, Xu Jingzong was in despair.

  Born from a famous family, he is conceited and talented, and has the ability to govern, but because he hated the emperor, he is now reduced to this state.

   These days, he has been thinking about how to make a comeback every day. He has thought about it a lot and for a long time.

  Finally, I reflected that I should find a helper.

Think about Ma Zhou, a down-and-out scholar who got Qin Lang's help, and ended up being the chief bookkeeper of the Zhenfu Division first, and then he was recommended to the emperor. Deputy envoy.

   There is also Wei Zheng, who is also assisted by Qin Lang, and now he has participated in politics.

  In addition, Cui Dunli, Su Lie and others, all of them are lucky. On the contrary, those who are right with Qin Lang will have no good end now, and Zheng Xuanli is not much better than him now.

  After thinking about this, Xu Jingzong didn't care about his face and dignity, and ran directly to Qin Lang.

  In the end, he ran to Changlepo, where they said that Qin Lang had returned to Beijing, and ran to Pingkangfang, and said he had come to Qinrenfang, so he ran to Qinrenfang again.

   "Mr. Yi, I want to work under your command."

  After the meeting, Xu Jingzong got straight to the point and stopped hiding.

  Qin Lang looked at him with a smile, but didn't respond.

"I've thought about it for a long time. I've thought about the plan of Yi Guogong's transshipment department, and found that this is indeed a good strategy to make the country prosperous and prosperous, but it's not easy to achieve this, not to mention resistance from the government and the opposition. Even if the court fully supports it, However, with the existing officials of the Transshipment Department, I am afraid that it will be difficult to complete this task, so I would like to recommend myself..."

   "I have seen Mr. Xu's ability when he was in the Zhenfu Department."

Qin Lang's words made Xu Jingzong a little ashamed. When he was in the Zhenfu Division, he was actually pushed aside and did nothing. He argued, "If I work under Yi Guogong in the Transit Division, I will definitely be the same as I was in the Zhenfu Division before." Times are different, I will accept my position and do my best.”

   "There is no basis for my words. Why should I trust you? Besides, the Transshipment Department is such a big yamen, even if you have one more person, it may not improve much."

   "I implore Lord Yi to give me a chance. I am willing to be the worst one as the Changping Envoy. If I fail to achieve results within a year, I am willing to take the blame and resign myself!"

  Xu Jingzong's attitude was very sincere this time. He talked about the advantages and disadvantages of Qin Lang's transshipment department's strategy of reforming finance and taxation, which showed that he had indeed penetrated into Qin Lang's plan, and also talked about his own advantages.

He was born in a famous noble family, and was one of the eighteen scholars of the Qin Palace. He also served as the magistrate of Chang'an County and inspected the school of Yongzhou Zhizhong. If you join the transshipment department, it can be of great help to the transshipment department.

"There is no shortage of officials under Yi Guogong's command, but there is a lack of generals who can stand alone. Now the Transshipment Department has to set up Changping Divisions in various roads to be responsible for various affairs such as finance, taxation, money, grain, salt, iron and water transportation. Fifteen Dao's need fifteen Changping So, if you employ the wrong people, it will be very troublesome."

"Old Xu, in fact, I treated you pretty well when I was in the Zhen Fusi, but you didn't treat me very well. Moreover, His Majesty doesn't have a good impression of you. The reason why you were demoted to the Imperial College last time is that His Majesty told me personally, tell me, why should I trust you again?"

"I have realized the mistakes I made before, and now I am willing to correct them. I should not regard Yi Guogong as an opponent. I am not equal to you. I have ambition and ability. This is what Yi Guogong needs most now. People. Lord Yi invested a lot in the Transshipment Department this time, surely he doesn't want him to fail, right?"

  Xu Jingzong's confession is actually a bachelor. He admits that he used to take Qin Lang as an opponent and wanted to attack him instead, but now he admits that he is not Qin Lang's opponent, so he doesn't want to make troubles, but only wants to do things down-to-earth in order to turn himself around.

   Qin Lang actually admired this kind of bachelor and smart person.

  It is true when you think about it, what Xu Jingzong wants is to turn over, but what Qin Lang needs is to do practical things, the two have their own goals, and there is no conflict now, but they can cooperate.

"Old Xu, now that I've said this, I'll trust you once. You can choose a way. Of course, I'm also ugly. You are only a seventh-rank assistant teacher now, and it is impossible for you to directly serve as a permanent envoy. Even if I recommend it, it won't pass. So, at that time, you can be the chief secretary or Sima of one of Changping's divisions, and be the second official, would you like it?"

  Xu Jingzong was stunned for a moment, but only for a moment, he knew that this might be the only chance to stand up.

   He gritted his teeth and said, "Thank you, Lord Yi, for giving me this opportunity. Even if someone is the master, as long as you give me a chance to do practical things, I will definitely work hard and do my best, and I will never disappoint Duke Yi's trust!"

   "Okay, then it's settled. You go back and wait for the news. When you have time, you can think about how to implement the New Deal. I won't keep you."

  Being ordered to evict guests, Xu Jingzong was not even half dissatisfied, and crossed his hands respectfully to leave.

  Seeing Xu Jingzong's figure disappear into the distance, Qin Lang shook his head and returned to the hall. People like Xu Jingzong, how should I put it, do have abilities, but this kind of people can't really be trusted, but at certain times, appropriate cooperation is possible.

   Just have to be on guard all the time.

  Back in the hall, Qin Qiong asked Xu Jingzong what he was doing here, Qin Lang simply said that Xu Jingzong wanted to work in the Transshipment Department.

   "You have to be careful with him." Qin Qiong just said this, and didn't mention him any more.

  Even Qin Qiong knew that Xu Jingzong's reputation was not very good. This person was too self-indulgent and had such an ugly reputation that even the emperor hated him a long time ago. No one likes him wherever he goes now.

   "The son has his own measure!"

Later, Cui Dunli and his wife came with their children, and Jia Wuben also came with his son Jia Runfu. Jia Wuben was still a little unhappy when he saw Qin Lang, and taught him a lesson, so Qin Lang had to keep smiling. Let the family be his grandfather in name.

  However, when Qin Lang mentioned that he had bought a new piece of land in Changlepo and wanted to give it to Jia Wuben to build another business, Lao Jia accepted it with a smile.

   also directly praised Qin Lang for being sensible and filial.

  Cui Dunli had a complacent look on his face when he arrived.

   After a while, I couldn't help but take the initiative to mention that today the emperor issued a decree to grant him the title of Zhongshu Sheren.

  Zhongshu Sheren is an official position on the fifth rank, and there are six members in Zhongshu Province, who are in charge of drafting edicts.

  The Zhongshu decree is either issued by the emperor, or the decision of the prime minister of the Zhengshitang is handed over to his subordinate Zhongshu Sheren to draft the edict.

  In the process of drafting the edict, they can also discuss with each other, allowing each to stick to what he sees, and sign their own names. This is called five-flower judgment.

  One of the six Zhongshu Sheren corresponds to one of the six books.

   To put it bluntly, these people are the imperial penholders, who draft an imperial edict in the emperor's tone using the emperor's instructions or the resolutions of the political affairs hall, so this job requires good writing.

But because Zhongshusheren can still have their own opinions when drafting edicts, and can judge things in a random way, so it is not just an ordinary pen. called storage.

  Cui Dunli endured and endured, and now he has finally become a member of Zhongshushe. Naturally, he is very excited and can't help showing off.

  Qin Lang smiled, showing respect to Cui Dunli.

  Cui Dunli didn't dare to take the big one, knowing that he has today, but in fact it is thanks to the help of Qin Qiong and his son, "I have to thank Shubao and Sanlang for this matter. I will toast and thank you later!"

  (end of this chapter)