Madam, protect me!

The official office, the entrance.

Two figures stood there, waiting quietly.

Li Nuo wanted to go to the Ministry of Personnel to check the files, but he couldn't do it alone. He and his wife had only gotten to know each other a little bit in the past two days, and they had never even spoken to his father-in-law.

After the concierge made the announcement, a thin middle-aged man walked out not long after. Seeing Li Nuo and Song Jiaren standing there, he asked in surprise: "Why are you here?"

Before Li Nuo could answer, he spoke again: "Come in first."

Li Nuo and Song Jiaren followed him, passed through three doors, and entered a duty room in the courtyard on the left.

In terms of real power, the Ministry of Personnel is undoubtedly the first of the six.

There is one Shangshu and two ministers in the ministry. They have four departments under their jurisdiction, namely the Department of Officials, the Department of Feng, the Department of Honors, and the Department of Kao Gong.

Among them, the Department of Personnel is the main department, and the chief officer is the Right Langzhong. His father-in-law is the Right Langzhong of the Department of Personnel.

Although compared to his father, the official position of the fifth rank is really insignificant, but in the official department, he is undoubtedly the fifth most powerful person. Although the doctor of the examination department is on the same level as him, his actual power is far less than that of his father. .

This duty room is his independent office. Song Zhe asked the two of them to sit down on the two chairs in the guest area, and then asked: "What are you doing in the official office?"

Li Nuo did not beat around the bush and said straight to the point: "Father-in-law, I want to see the files of Qinghe County Magistrate Gu Wenhan."

"Gu Wenhan?" Song Zhe glanced at Li Nuo. In the morning, the Gu Wenhan case was brought up again. In the afternoon, Li Nuo came to the official office and wanted to check Gu Wenhan's files. He did not agree immediately. , but asked: "What are you looking at his dossier for?"

Li Nuo didn't hide anything and said, "I want to know if he is really a heinous and corrupt official."

Song Zhe glanced at Li Nuo again, took a sip of tea, walked out the door, waved gently, and a figure immediately ran over and asked, "What are your orders, Master Song?"

Song Zhe said: "Go to the archives and ask Fang Zhanggu to find the files of the former Qinghe County Magistrate Gu Wenhan and send them to me."

"yes."

The official responded and immediately turned around and trotted away in a certain direction.

Libu Yamen, a quiet little courtyard somewhere.

Two Zhang Gu officers were sitting in the duty room, playing chess boredly.

Every yamen in the imperial court produces official documents every day. These official documents may be consulted at any time in the future. Generally, they cannot be destroyed at will and need to be properly stored. The files of the Ministry of Personnel involve the resume and assessment of officials in the court, which is particularly important.

For this reason, the Ministry of Officials set aside an entire small courtyard in the deepest part of the yamen as a document warehouse, specifically for storing files.

The person in charge of the official department, Zhang Gu, is responsible for taking care of the record library.

Zhang Gu's official position is not high, only ninth rank, and he is one of the lowest-rank officials in Daxia.

However, their duties on weekdays are relatively leisurely. They only need to ensure that the file library is not caught in fire or stolen when they are in charge of it, and take out the files to dry them after a period of time to prevent them from growing mold and insects.

This is undoubtedly a good job for officials who like to relax and don't have too many ambitions.

But for those who are ambitious and want to make a difference in the officialdom, this position is too boring.

Among the two palm players, the slightly younger one dropped the chess piece, sighed softly, and said: "I, Mr. Zhao, have studied hard for more than ten years and are proficient in all six arts. I finally became a Jinshi in high school. Is it just to do this?" A person who looks after the warehouse..."

He shook his head and continued to sigh: "If I had known this, it would be better to be a rich man in my hometown and live at ease all my life..."

The middle-aged Zhang Gu opposite said with a smile: "You have just studied hard for more than ten years, and I have studied hard for thirty years before I made a Zhang Gu. I can only blame myself for not living up to expectations. If I hadn't been waiting for you." We are at the bottom of Jinshi, but we are the top scholar in high school. The first official position we are awarded is the sixth rank. Even if we are ranked in the middle, we can still be a seventh-rank county magistrate in a remote state or county. Who makes us rank last among Jinshi? Wait, we can only come and take care of the warehouse. There are many people who want to come to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to take care of the warehouse, but they haven’t had the chance yet..."

The young Zhanggu sighed. Fang Zhanggu was right. Even a small official, Zhanggu, was one of the best. The other 999 people were not even qualified to look at the warehouse.

But he still refuses to accept it...

He became famous at a young age, and has always been a genius in the eyes of others.

In fact, he was indeed a genius. He took part in the imperial examination for the first time three years ago and lived up to expectations. He reached high school in one fell swoop and became the only Jinshi in Liangzhou in that imperial examination.

In his hometown, Shahe County, Liangzhou, there have only been two Jinshi scholars throughout the ages, and he is one of them. In the future, he will also have his own separate page in the county annals.

However, even though he has become a legend in his hometown, due to his poor ranking in the imperial examination, he only got a ninth-grade official position and has been working in the Ministry of Personnel as a warehouse for three years.

He didn't want to waste his life here. This was not the life he wanted. The young Zhang Gu took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and said firmly: "I still believe that I, Zhao He, will one day become successful!"

The middle-aged Zhang Gu shook his head slightly and said: "I don't want to get ahead, as long as I don't lose my head and can work stably, it will be fine."

Because he had no background and had been reading the records in the Ministry of Civil Affairs for twenty years, he had no hope of promotion.

Over the past twenty years, officials in the DPRK and China have changed one batch after another, and he has personally handled countless files, and he has already seen through this.

Most of those mediocre and unambitious eighth- and ninth-grade officials were able to secure their official positions in the end, but those ambitious people who were unwilling to be mediocre and always wanted to get ahead often ended up with their heads down and their families destroyed...

The two of them made a few more moves, and then a figure walked into the check-in room. They turned to look at each other, and the middle-aged Zhang Gu smiled and said, "Feng Lingshi, why are you here today free?"

When Feng Lingshi saw the two of them playing chess, he didn't say much. He just said: "Fang Zhanggu, we will play chess later. Dr. Song wants the files of Gu Wenhan, the former Qinghe County Magistrate. Please look for them quickly. I'll wait." I’m sending it to Mr. Song..."

As Zhang Gu, it is their daily job to search for files in the vast archives. Fang Zhang Gu stood up and said to the young Zhang Gu: "I will come back when I find the files Master Song wants. In this game of chess, let Feng Lingshi Let’s get down with you first…”

After saying that, he took out the key from the cabinet and walked towards the warehouse.

Feng Lingshi waved his hand and said: "Forget it, Mr. Song seems to be in a hurry. I don't have the intention to play chess. You should find it later and continue playing..."

After saying that, he walked to the warehouse door and waited.

Neither of them noticed that when the young palm player heard a certain name, his body trembled slightly and quickly returned to normal.

Ministry of official affairs.

The right man of the Ministry of official affairs is the middle-valued house.

The official just now acted very quickly. Li Nuo had only finished half of his cup of tea when he found the file Li Nuo wanted.

The so-called dossier is actually a book that records an official's records of all promotions, demotions, and performance assessments from his entry into office to his last official career. It is equivalent to the personnel files of later generations and has existed since ancient times.

The junior official from the Ministry of Civil Affairs respectfully handed the file to Song Zhe and said, "Sir Song, this is Gu Wenhan's file."

Song Zhe took it without even looking at it, then handed it to Li Nuo and said, "The file is old, read it carefully and be careful not to damage it."

An official's files begin to be recorded from the day he becomes an official.

Gu Wenhan had been an official for more than ten years, and this file had existed for fifteen years. Before Li Nuo opened it, he smelled a faint smell of old books.

The files of the Ministry of Personnel were well preserved, and he did not see any moldy areas.

Li Nuo placed the book on the table and carefully opened the first page.

This page records his experience when he first became an official.

Gu Wenhan was a Jinshi in the 18th year of the Holy Spirit, and this year is the 33rd year of the Holy Spirit. In other words, he was a member of the imperial examination high school fifteen years ago.

In that imperial examination, a total of 100 Jinshi were admitted. Gu Wenhan ranked 96th, so he only got the official position of Ninth Grade School Secretary.

Ninth grade is the lowest grade official in Daxia.

The official ranks before the ninth rank are also divided into several grades, one is the official rank and the other is the subordinate rank. The ninth rank is just the ninth rank. There is no distinction between the official rank and the subordinate rank. It is the lowest level of the real Daxia officials. After studying hard for more than ten years, he finally became a high school Jinshi. They may be doing chores such as looking after warehouses, running errands and delivering messages.

However, it cannot be said that the court was unfair. The first official position of a new Jinshi was directly related to the ranking in the imperial examination.

If you can be the top pick in high school, you will start at the sixth level.

The second and third best ranked candidates ranked from sixth grade, fourth to tenth and seventh grade, and then the official positions decreased with the ranking, until the ninth grade was the lowest.

Gu Wenhan's first resume was as the Collector of the East Palace Direct Bureau, responsible for collating and sorting out the books and classics of the East Palace.

Although the position is low, the future is unlimited.

If the librarian in other departments has no background, he may just be a librarian all his life. The Internal Affairs Bureau is subordinate to the East Palace. Once the prince ascends the throne, he is the direct descendant of the emperor, and his promotion speed is far beyond that of others.

But Gu Wenhan was unlucky.

In the eighteenth year of his reign, he entered the Eastern Palace. Five years later, in the twenty-third year of his reign, the prince died of illness. He was transformed from a promising direct lineage of the future emperor to a motherless child overnight.

Even if His Majesty appoints a new crown prince soon, the new crown prince will bring his own direct lineage to the East Palace.

What's more, after the prince died of illness, His Majesty was deeply affected. From then on, he devoted himself to cultivation and ignored the government affairs. The East Palace existed in name only, and all the former East Palace officials were transferred out of the East Palace.

Gu Wenhan was transferred from a ninth-grade school clerk to a lower county thousands of miles away from Chang'an to serve as a ninth-grade county captain.

In the next ten years, his official position was promoted step by step, from the ninth rank to the eighth rank, to the eighth rank, to the seventh rank... and finally four years ago, he was transferred to Qinghe County and became the Qinghe County Magistrate of the seventh rank.

And his performance evaluation has always been very good.

Daxia has set nine levels for the evaluation of officials, A is superior, A is inferior, A is inferior, B is superior, B is inferior, B is inferior, C is superior, C is inferior, C is inferior, if A is good, if B is average, if there is C It is deemed unqualified.

Gu Wenhan's political performance evaluation in the past ten years has mostly been in the "A" level, and there are many A's, especially in the later years, there is not even a B.

If the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel is to be believed, then he is not only an upright official, but also a capable minister.

After thinking for a moment, Li Nuo looked at Song Zhe and asked carefully: "Father-in-law, are the assessment results of your official department true?"

[PS: It will be released in the early morning of the 13th, and there will be more updates then. 】