Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 376: Speeding Life
Of course, the fast-paced lives of the censors are nothing in front of the bigwigs in the Hanlin Academy.

What is the life of the bigwigs in the Hanlin Academy like?

When he first entered officialdom, he was just walking his bird in the Hanlin Academy and had nothing to do.

Becoming Xiao Deng, he walked his bird in the Hanlin Academy and had nothing to do.

After becoming a Zhongdeng, he walked around the Hanlin Academy and had nothing to do.

Become Lao Deng, walk your bird in the Hanlin Academy, no... Wait! Don't waste your life in the Hanlin Academy, the country needs you!

"?"

Third rank minister, let’s go.

"!"

If Pei Yuan wasn't such a complete idiot when it comes to eight-legged essay, he would have wanted to try taking the exam.

Even if it costs some money.

There are successes and failures in one's career.

For example, in the early Ming Dynasty, the court valued the six ministries the most, that is, the people who served as directors, deputy directors, and directors in the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Revenue.

According to the situation at that time, even if a censor was very competent, it would take nine years to be promoted to the sixth rank.

However, during the Zhengde period, the status of the Langshu declined.

"The second-class officials are the next in line, but they are no more than the governors of the two departments. They bow their heads and hold their hands, looking up at the government as if it were in the sky."

What this means is that, among those second-class Jinshi scholars, those who were assigned to the six ministries and served as sixth-rank officials basically had no future.

Even if you wait for promotion by accumulating experience, by the time you die you will only be a local governor, an official under the provincial court, or a prefect.

Even if one has worked diligently all his life and has been promoted to a higher rank, any low-level official sent down from above would have to look up to him.

Some people may be surprised. Aren’t there a total of three top places in the imperial examination?

Yijia is a person in heaven, so his future will naturally be worry-free.

Aren’t there still the top three at the bottom?

This is the characteristic of the times.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the top three were indeed at the bottom, and were basically assigned to local areas to serve as the top leaders of some prefectures and counties.

With the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty, the two or three hundred people who passed the exam every three years were simply not enough.

Therefore, the prefects, county magistrates, associate prefects, magistrates, and prosecutors of some places were appointed by Juren and Jiansheng. The number of these miscellaneous officials far exceeded the top three officials who came out of the imperial examinations.

This has lowered the overall level of local officials.

The top three Jinshi are also Jinshi, and they are the best among millions.

Many top three Jinshi candidates were as upset as if they had lost their parents when they heard that they would be sent to the local areas.

——"He looked at the county magistrates as if they were phoenixes looking at rotten mice. If he caught one, he would be so exhausted that he would lose face in front of his wife and children, and even beg for mercy in the dead of night."

However, this situation underwent a dramatic change during the Chenghua period.

Because the Juren and Jiansheng themselves had no future, they could easily give up on themselves and collude with local powerful people, thus weakening the court's control over the local areas.

Therefore, Emperor Chenghua wanted to strengthen his control over the local areas through the Jinshi scholars appointed by the court.

However, the strong resistance from the top three Jinshi scholars greatly undermined Emperor Chenghua's plan.

Later, Emperor Chenghua thought about it and decided that since you all want to be officials and don’t want to work in local positions, this is easy to handle.

When the imperial court selects officials for the imperial examinations in the future, shouldn’t it give priority to selecting the top three county magistrates in the local area?
As soon as this policy came out, the second-class Jinshi candidates burst into tears.

The careers of the Jinshi scholars who were assigned to serve as the sixth-rank officials took a sharp nosedive.

The top three successful candidates all put their hands on their hips, realizing how incredibly powerful they were.

These top three Jinshi scholars first went to local places to work happily as seventh-rank county magistrates for a few years.

He holds all the power in his hands, and no one dares to turn the table when eating.

When the time comes for inspection, as long as you are a little better than your peers, you will be promoted on the spot and serve as an imperial censor in the court.

If you are lucky, in a few years you will be able to directly point to the seventh-rank official title.

Zhengde, give me some more!
If you are unlucky, you will be busy and fulfilled on official business, inspecting everywhere and meeting old classmates who have been promoted from the six ministries to high-ranking local officials.

The old classmate worked diligently and conscientiously, and the weather was good, so the place he governed was peaceful and harmonious.

What was even more fortunate was that the leaders of my old classmate died earlier than the last, and he was promoted to a third or fourth-rank official at a young age. He was in the prime of his life and was unrivaled at the time.

And then what?

Your old classmates kneel down when they see you.

——It turned out to be my old classmate from the third class, the respected seventh-rank censor!

So say it.

Sometimes, some of the disappointments in life are really not because you are not good enough.

……

Pei Yuan's plan was to take advantage of this great victory in suppressing the rebellion and encourage Lu Ting to persuade the emperor to hold a special examination.

Then, taking advantage of this trip to Shandong, he asked the governor Wang Chang to cooperate with him to recruit a group of obedient candidates. Then, he relied on the simulation of Huo Tao and Tian Fu's writing style to select a group of Jinshi candidates.

After that, he can join forces with Xiao Yan to attack the governor of the river, Zhang Feng.

By then, Pei Yuan will expose Zhang Feng's corruption in repairing the river and supervising the construction of warships, and try to implicate more officials in the river governor's office, creating a case that will shock the court and the country.

Shandong is adjacent to Beijing, and with such a big incident happening, the imperial court would certainly send a large number of imperial censors to investigate thoroughly.

Pei Yuan could seize this opportunity and create a large number of vacancies for the positions of Imperial Censors at once.

If they want to thoroughly root out Zhang Feng and his gang of malignant tumors, they naturally have to use a Shandong Jinshi who is familiar with the people's sentiments and can conduct in-depth investigations.

At that time, Pei Yuan could exchange interests with Li Shishi and place a large number of his Jinshi scholars as censors.

Not only can these censors become Pei Yuan's mad dogs that bite people, but after three to five years, they can also increase their reputation and directly rise to various places to become one of the three officials in charge of a province.

Pei Yuan thought about it and no longer envied Zhang Lian.

He looked at the followers behind Song Chunniang and asked, "Your people?"

Song Chunniang glanced back and said proudly, "How is it? All good, right?"

After that, he explained, "They are all my fellow apprentices."

Then he told those people, "Come over and meet Captain Pei."

Song Chunniang's fellow disciples had obviously been taught some rules by her, and they came over to greet her in a panic.

Pei Yuan ignored them and asked Song Chunniang, "Where is old escort leader Song?"

Song Chunniang replied, "I don't want him to fight and kill. I plan to ask Kong Xu to find a small temple for him to be a Taoist priest and live out his old age in peace."

"Tsk." Pei Yuan smiled, "Very good." Pei Yuan asked again, "Where is the monk Daigo? Didn't you ask him to be the criminal justice officer for you?"

Song Chunniang replied, "I asked him to recruit people. The West Factory has just been established and is in need of manpower. Fortunately, the West Factory has a strong reputation, so we are not afraid of not being able to recruit people."

Pei Yuan then looked as if he had seen those followers prostrating themselves on the ground, and said to Song Chunniang, "You should pick a few reliable ones from among your fellow apprentices and train them. The monk Daigo has the title of a hundred households in charge of criminal justice, so he can be your thug."

After being cared for by the dog, Song Chunniang finally regained some spirit, "Don't worry, I will be careful."

Then, he said to those followers who did not dare to stand up, "You guys leave first. I have some secrets to discuss with Qian Hu."

Although those followers were Song Chunniang's fellow apprentices, they were wandering around the world and had long heard of the ferocity of the Western Factory. They knew the power of an official was terrifying, so they dared not treat Song Chunniang with the same attitude as before and responded obediently.

Pei Yuan also became a little more alert. Could it be that Song Chunniang had some useful information?

After the followers left, Song Chunniang came up to Pei Yuan and tried to put her slender arms around his shoulders.

Pei Yuan stopped her rudely and asked, "Let's talk it over."

On the street.

Song Chunniang asked suggestively, "Is Yan'er okay?"

Pei Yuan was angry, "Get out!"

Song Chunniang laughed and straightened her back, ready to leave.

Pei Yuan called her back again.

"By the way, you don't need to go to Shandong this time."

"Going to Shandong?" Song Chunniang was a little confused.

Pei Yuan then remembered that General Song had been having a great time at Zhang Lian's house a few days ago and had no idea about the Luo Sect.

Pei Yuan said directly, "It has little to do with you. Your subordinates are just a motley crowd, so you can spend some time to manage them properly. The one left here is Tan Tai Fang Tu, if there are any problems that cannot be solved, you can go to him for help."

Song Chunniang thought of old man Tan Tai who had always disliked her, and said with some resistance, "Then I'd rather go find Kong Xu."

Pei Yuan was somewhat surprised to hear her mention Kong Xu twice and asked, "Are you very familiar with Kong Xu?"

Song Chunniang replied, "He is the governor. I have to go and give him an account for the money I collected. Besides, he gets along well with everyone."

Pei Yuan thought about it and couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't expect that there would be times when I, a thousand households, would bury talented people."

Pei Yuan originally brought this ninth-rank inspector named He Ru from Guangdong because he was optimistic about his communication skills.

However, making use of talents does not mean just giving him a sixth-rank official position, but also putting him in the right position.

However, in this case, the Qianhu Office must have an internal affairs talent who is good at handling things to help manage the affairs here.

Alas, talented people are hard to come by.

Pei Yuan told Song Chunniang that the Puxianyuan Hundred Households Office had been restored.

He added, "The Western Investigation Bureau is still slowly recovering, so you don't have to stay there. You still have to help me take care of my backyard. If there is anything urgent, go and call for help immediately, or take Yan'er to the Puxianyuan Hundred Households Office to take shelter."

Song Chunniang was already very familiar with the process of escape, and she replied perfunctorily, "I understand."

It all depends on the severity of the matter. Next, he would take refuge in the home of the unnoticed censor Zhang Lian, or defend Zhihua Temple, or try to sneak out of the city and have Cheng Leixiang send someone to pick him up and go to Tianjin.

Pei Yuan was about to say a few more words when he saw Zang Xian, dressed in casual clothes, coming over with a man, smiling.

Pei Yuan was delighted when he saw this, and hurried over to talk to him, "It turned out to be Zang Fengluan, I was just sending someone to look for you."

Zang Xian asked with a smile, "Are you satisfied with the two women I gave you?"

Pei Yuan was still very grateful, "Thank you for your trouble, Fengluan, I am very satisfied."

Zang Xian did not talk much with Pei Yuan. He pointed at the man he brought behind him and said, "This is Zhang Song, the judge of the Dali Temple. He and Wang Qiong are from the same hometown. They have a good relationship and can talk to each other."

The man named Zhang Song looked to be in his fifties, with a haggard look on his face. When he saw Pei Yuan looking at him, he forced a smile.

Pei Yuan went to see Wang Qiong to ask for something. Although he understood that it was just a transaction, he still treated Zhang Song with courtesy.

Zang Xian didn't have so many concerns. He seemed not to care that Zhang Song was right beside him. He told Pei Yuan about Zhang Song's background, "When he was young, he was also quite talented, but somehow he offended Xie Qian, and his official position has been getting lower and lower."

"After Xie Qian left office, no one cared about his grievances. Prices in Beijing are now high, and the treasure notes and discounts issued by the court are of little use. He himself is in debt, and being able to have this favor is like us brothers taking care of him."

Pei Yuan sighed.

Many Beijing officials who have no real power do have a hard time.

You can still be a little greedy at the local level, but even if you are not greedy, all kinds of expenses can be spent on public affairs.

But life for officials in Beijing was too difficult.

The little money given by the court was not enough to live on.

It would be okay if they had some family background, but if they were born into ordinary families, just wasting a few years in Beijing would be enough to make them impoverished.

When it came to that point, many officials could only borrow high-interest loans, buy a position as a local official, and then embezzle money to slowly pay off the debt.

Pei Yuan didn't want to continue the topic, so he changed the subject and said, "I heard that Xie Qian is well-received. He shouldn't be so unreasonable."

Zang Xian smiled and said leisurely, "Sometimes a big shot's momentary true nature can ruin someone else's life. What's so strange about that?"

Pei Yuan couldn't answer it.

Zang Xian did not continue the topic and said directly, "Let's go and meet Wang Qiong."

Pei Yuan was a little surprised when he heard this, "Why? Feng Luan is going to see Wang Qiong too?"

Zang Xian said, "That's not the case. Since you are looking for someone from me, I must make sure you meet the right person."

Pei Yuan was once again impressed by the business ability of this political broker.

Then Pei Yuan thought of Zang Xian's sudden appearance here with his men. He smiled and asked, "Could it be that Feng Luan has been keeping an eye on my movements?"

Zang Xian did not evade the question and said with a smile, "That's true. When I heard you were in a hurry, I got the job done overnight. I didn't expect that you would indulge in women and indulge in pleasure for several days. I was a little confused."

After hearing this, Pei Yuan just sighed and said nothing.

Was he having a few days of pleasure? Of course he was.

However, only Pei Yuan himself understood his own laissez-faire thoughts.

A gentleman stays away from the kitchen, which is naturally a refined and selfish approach.

He could use moral blackmail on Wang Qiong and let Wang Qiong decide for himself whether to save the chaotic troops led by the Bazhou Army, and whether to bear the wrath of meritorious civil and military officials such as Ke alone.

As for Pei Yuan, he was completely unharmed and enjoyed the moral comfort of saving tens of thousands of lives.

Even one day, when everything is calm, you can jump out and speak out, promote your own initiative, and enjoy the admiration of others.

But Pei Yuan can't let honest people suffer because of his exquisite selfishness.

The ones who were charging through several prefectures were the Bazhou bandit troops, not him, Wang Qiong.

If the tens of thousands of Bazhou bandits are more powerful than Wang Qiong, Wang Qiong can be made a sacrifice in order to save those tens of thousands of heads.

Then, will Pei Yuan himself become the one to be sacrificed one day?

(End of this chapter)