Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 361 The Yu Family's Assessment Begins with the Provincial Examination

……

Sheng Changquan began his exams, while things were starting to get turbulent in the Shen and Yu families on the other side.

The Shen family was somewhat agitated because they were worried about Shen Li's performance in the provincial examination, while the Yu family was alarmed because of a letter sent by Sheng Changquan.

That is, the letter that Lord Shen had Sheng Changquan deliver. In this letter, Lord Shen wrote down his promises to Grand Secretary Yu and his proposed policies, intending to impress Grand Secretary Yu in order to gain his recommendation.

Yu Mansion.

"Ugh!"

Grand Secretary Yu sat alone at his desk, his expression very solemn.

"What...is this?"

Looking at the letter in front of him, Grand Secretary Yu pondered deeply.

At this moment, Grand Secretary Yu was not only solemn on the surface, but also very complicated in his heart. He reached out his left hand, hesitated and picked up the letter, and held the pen in his right hand. He wanted to write something, but felt that he did not know where to start.

"Shen Shouzhen?"

Is what this person says reliable?

Grand Secretary Yu pondered silently in his heart: "If what this person says is true, then it is indeed the best solution!"

In fact, Grand Secretary Yu was quite familiar with Shen Shouzheng. After all, they served in the same court, and Shen was the Minister of Revenue. As a member of the cabinet, Grand Secretary Yu had to deal with him frequently.

Not to mention, the other party is a favorite of the current emperor. As a Grand Secretary, Grand Secretary Yu would naturally investigate him. Therefore, the two of them would certainly know about him.

However, at that time, his understanding was only regarding official preparations. To be honest, Yu Ge Lao didn't really have much in-depth knowledge of his character and personality in private.

In other words, based on Grand Secretary Yu's current understanding of him, he still doesn't have enough confidence to trust Lord Shen.

And now, because of the impact of the matter of retiring to his hometown, not only Shen Shouzheng, the Minister of Revenue, but also Sun Zhixing, the Minister of Personnel, secretly asked someone to make peace with him. Their purpose was exactly the same as Shen Shouzheng's letter: to get the recommendation quota in the hands of Grand Secretary Yu.

"Alas! These are truly turbulent times!"

Grand Secretary Yu shook his head and put down his pen.

"However, neither Sun Zhixing nor Shen Shouzhen are actually the most suitable candidates in my mind!"

Grand Secretary Yu sighed and began to analyze the whole story.

"If I were to retire this time, the only ones qualified to fill the vacancy besides Sun and Shen would probably be Li Dongyang!"

"However, Li Dongyang is upright and straightforward, and seems to be disliked by the officials. If we recommend him this time, without external help, it may be useless!"

"What should I do?"

Li Dongyang, the Imperial Censor, is the current head of the Censorate and also the number one critic in the court. From the emperor and empress down to a lowly county magistrate, anyone he has evidence against has been criticized by him.

Even the Empress, who didn't concern herself with politics, was once angrily rebuked by Li Dongyang in a memorial!
That year, the Empress had casually remarked in the palace that the silk from Jiangning was good. Subsequently, her subordinates used this as an excuse to arbitrarily confiscate and seize goods in Jiangning, causing the cloth business in the city to fall into chaos. Many people who were involved in the cloth business suffered greatly and were in a sorry state.

Fortunately, Li Dongyang's friend discovered that the angel was arbitrarily collecting tribute, and then informed Li Dongyang, along with evidence of the angel's misconduct.

Therefore, on that day in the imperial court, Li Dongyang, full of fighting spirit, not only impeached the eunuch who arbitrarily levied cloth in front of the emperor and officials, but also pointed directly to the source of the matter, namely the empress who was being flattered by the eunuchs.

Although Li Dongyang's claims were all true, and the fault did indeed lie within the palace, the Emperor had no choice but to reluctantly accept Li Dongyang's impeachment that day. He imprisoned the misbehaving eunuch in the imperial prison to await trial. At the same time, he also verbally reprimanded the Empress in the inner palace, blaming her for speaking recklessly and causing the people of Jiangning to suffer this calamity!
Furthermore, the Emperor even deliberately reduced the palace expenses for everyone except the Empress Dowager, including himself, as a warning to future generations.

It is said that when the Empress received the imperial edict, she was so angry that she burst into tears on the spot!

However, although Li Dongyang offended many important figures in the palace, he also won the respect and praise of the officials. Even the literary world outside the palace was proud of him, praising him for his fearlessness of imperial power, his uprightness and integrity, and for being a virtuous and talented gentleman.

but!

Apart from a few members of the cabinet, the world was unaware that although the Emperor was furious at Li Dongyang's impeachment and felt that he was disrespecting the royal family, he still admired Li Dongyang. Even the Empress, who was so angry that she cried, personally sent someone to apologize to Li Dongyang afterward and admitted her mistake.

It was precisely because of the Emperor and Empress's actions that Grand Secretary Yu and others were moved. These two, the Father and Mother of the Nation, were truly wise and virtuous rulers!
Therefore, it is now quite clear that, apart from Sun and Shen, the only truly competitive candidate is Li Dongyang.

In fact, the person that Grand Secretary Yu most wanted to recommend was Li Dongyang.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Grand Secretary Yu and Li Dongyang had a particularly good relationship. In fact, the two families had no personal connection whatsoever, and could even be said to have never interacted at all.

Because Li Dongyang looked down on the son of Grand Secretary Yu, who was also Yu Yanran's father, Lord Yu. He felt that Grand Secretary Yu had done nothing wrong in court, but had some shortcomings in his family life. In fact, Lord Yu had also committed some disciplinary violations.

If it weren't for Grand Secretary Yu personally cleaning up his son's mess and resolving the issue in time, Li Dongyang would probably have had to go to court to impeach him again.

Nevertheless, Grand Secretary Yu still held him in high regard, believing that Li Dongyang was a rare pillar of the court.

However, Grand Secretary Yu was also human, and he was not a saint who was devoted to public service. He also had his own obsession with the continuation of the Yu family line.

Among Sun Zhixing, Shen Shouzhen, and Li Dongyang, the first two made it clear that they would take good care of the Yu family members in the future. In fact, Sun Zhixing even said that he would recommend Yu Ge Lao's son, Lord Yu, to go further and be sent to a local post as a high-ranking official.

Unfortunately, Minister Sun was unaware that his condition was something that Grand Secretary Yu found utterly repulsive!
Those who are family know their own situation. Given their son's character, if he were sent to a local post, he would likely quickly fall into depravity, break the law, and become the kind of corrupt official that Grand Secretary Yu despised most.

After all, the countryside is not like the capital. In the countryside, Lord Yu would be all-powerful. If no one is watching over him, Grand Secretary Yu knows very well that his son will soon go astray.

Therefore, almost immediately after Grand Secretary Yu saw Sun Zhixing's words, he excluded him from the discussion.

Grand Secretary Yu had made up his mind: he absolutely could not allow Sun Zhixing to enter the cabinet. After all, this man had no bottom line and was truly unsuitable for the central government. Moreover, even if Sun Zhixing might eventually enter the cabinet, Grand Secretary Yu still had principles; at the very least, he would absolutely not allow him to have the opportunity.

However, Li Dongyang, whom Grand Secretary Yu considered the most suitable, was completely unyielding and refused to give the Yu family any information. In other words, Li Dongyang might not necessarily take good care of the Yu family in the future. Therefore, Grand Secretary Yu was still hesitant and unsure whether to recommend Li Dongyang.

If I recommend him, the Yu family will inevitably lose some of its foundation, and the Yu family's descendants will likely have one less layer of protection in the future. However, if I don't recommend him, I can't get past my own conscience and it goes against my principles of conduct.

That is precisely why Grand Secretary Yu hesitated so much.

As for Shen Shouzhen, he was also someone that Grand Secretary Yu had been hesitant about.

In his letter, Shen Shouzhen subtly revealed his intentions, meaning that he had almost made it clear that he would take care of the Yu family members in the future, and that he would do his best to help them as long as they were capable.

At the same time, Shen Shouzhen also explained his thoughts and told Grand Secretary Yu about the direction he envisioned for the court. If he were to enter the cabinet, he would dedicate himself to developing the people's livelihood and economy, and while ensuring that the court's borders were not disturbed, he would try his best to improve the people's living standards, thereby enhancing the court's national strength and waiting for the efforts of future generations.

Grand Secretary Yu understood Shen Shouzheng's meaning perfectly. In other words, Shen Shouzheng did not support starting a war at the moment, but rather wanted to strengthen the country first and leave the recovery of lost territory for the future.

In this regard, Grand Secretary Yu's thoughts were exactly the same as his.

For the past ten years, the military nobles in the imperial court have been urging the emperor to recover Yanzhou and strike at the many small countries in the south, in order to demonstrate the might of the Celestial Empire, to dazzle the world, and to intimidate the barbarians.

Among them, the most inspiring idea is to go to war with Northern Liang and reclaim the several counties of Yanzhou that were lost during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong!

If the Emperor hadn't yet designated an heir apparent, and many civil officials hadn't used this as an excuse, the court would likely have already begun its attack on Northern Liang under the instigation of these military officials.

In fact, Grand Secretary Yu was not simply against going to war. Rather, he was a prudent man and felt that this was not the best time to start a war. After all, the losses caused by Emperor Zhenzong's reign had not yet been fully recovered.

Regardless of whether the national treasury is sufficient, just consider the soldiers who died in battle back then. The loss of their generation could affect one or two generations!
Therefore, the best time for Grand Secretary Yu to start the war was in the next dynasty, that is, the successor of Emperor Renzong.

Now, what Shen Shouzhen said coincided with Grand Secretary Yu's thoughts.

However, what Grand Secretary Yu was hesitant about was whether what Shen Shouzhen said was true.
Or was he just saying this on purpose to get his own recommendation? Grand Secretary Yu was full of doubts about this.

"Perhaps, I should still meet with this Minister of Revenue!"

Grand Secretary Yu murmured softly.

……

The examination hall for the provincial examination.

Sheng Changquan, carrying his belongings, found his examination seat according to the plaque issued by the Ministry of Personnel officials.

"Hehe, the Bingxu position!"

Looking at the number on the tag in his hand, Sheng Changquan smiled slightly.

"Luckily, it wasn't near the outhouse, otherwise I would have been in real trouble!"

Within this venue, there are two areas that are considered "forbidden places," places that all students are extremely afraid of.

One is the exam number closest to the latrine.

You have to understand that the provincial examination is closed for three days. Therefore, the food, drink and sanitation of these hundreds of people all have to be gathered here. The accumulated smell is absolutely comparable to a biological weapon!
Therefore, the students involved will definitely be upset and irritable, which will greatly affect their grades. Apart from a few people with strong willpower, even Sheng Changquan himself may not be able to withstand it.

Fortunately, in this life he was born into the Sheng family. Although it wasn't a top-tier family, it was still related to them. Therefore, Sheng Changquan was extremely "lucky" to stay away from this nightmare.

Indeed, Sheng Changquan's examination number was also manipulated. Although the provincial examination was strict and cheating was prohibited, adjusting the position of the examination number was still possible. The officials in the Ministry of Personnel responsible for issuing the examination numbers were quite willing to do this for their colleagues.

Not to mention someone like Sheng Changquan, a man of considerable literary talent. These seasoned officials would naturally not make things difficult for someone as gifted as him; in fact, they would personally curry favor with him and offer him some benefits.

On another note, the second forbidden area in the arena was the resting place for the examiners.

The students there are essentially taking exams under the watchful eyes of proctors, and the pressure they face is unimaginable.

After all, the students elsewhere were only supervised by the yamen runners and occasionally patrolled by these adults. Compared to the candidates taking the exam near their resting place, they had it much easier.

Of course, for talented students, this second place might be a blessing, but for the vast majority of people, it is not desirable.

"Boom!"

Sheng Changquan walked into the Bingxu examination room and placed the things he had brought in on the only small table inside.

"Hey, the stuff in here is really simple!"

Looking at the layout of the exam room, Sheng Changquan sighed speechlessly, "It really is just like what my second brother said, there's only one table and one stool inside."

"Oh, right! There's also a bed board!"

Sheng Changquan looked up and discovered that there was a bed board behind the small table.

However, this bed board was really just a piece of wood. At this moment, it was lying naked on the straw-covered ground, "laughing" at Sheng Changquan.

Of course, this was just Sheng Changquan's way of making a laugh out of a bad situation; after all, how could this thing possibly laugh!
"No wonder!"

"No wonder some people fall ill after taking this exam; the conditions here are truly that harsh!"

As Sheng Changquan sighed, he took out the writing brush, ink, paper, inkstone, and other tools from the examination box and arranged them neatly.

I'll finish revising it tomorrow; it'll be 4,000 words!
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(End of this chapter)