Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 269: Can a scholar become an official?
Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming and three others had already arrived in Peking, along with them was a juren from Xinyang, Henan.

……

In Huaihua Hutong, Wang Shouren found Chen Ce.

Chen Ce knew that he would definitely convince his father and would definitely come to find him.

In fact, Chen Ce felt very sorry for Wang Shouren, so he deliberately used the content of his studies to guide Wang Shouren to find him.

He didn't have to go to the southwest to suffer, but the southwest needed a backbone. Chen Ce believed that only if Wang Shouren went to the southwest could he calm the southwest and change the complicated situation in the southwest.

"Just as your father said, the journey to the southwest is full of difficulties."

"The forces there are intertwined, the chieftains control the local people, and the local people reject the Han people. But it is precisely because of this that you can be trained more and some heavy things can be added to your path of growth."

Wang Shouren nodded.

Obviously, Chen Ce was just a businessman and an ordinary citizen, but Wang Shouren believed in Chen Ce very much and took his words as his guiding principle.

“Don’t rush for success. Do things one step at a time, deal with people one step at a time, differentiate, use strategies, show favor, extend favor… Governing the southwest starts with governing the people.”

"First, we need to heal the people, then we can realize our ambitions, encourage agriculture and mulberry cultivation, develop water conservancy, set up schools, allow imperial examinations, etc. Don't rush to give out these favors, let the local people enjoy the emperor's grace little by little."

"Special matters should be handled specially. If you encounter something that you really can't solve, write to me and I will help you."

"I will also ask the Mu Palace to send an army to the southwestern Tusi territory to ensure your safety within the Tusi tribe."

Wang Shouren took Chen Ce's words to heart and nodded, "Okay!"

"Someone will go with you to assist you. If the southwest is peaceful, it will benefit the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years."

Chen Ce and Wang Shouren chatted until the sun set in the evening, and then Wang Shouren left.

When Wang Shouren returned to his mansion, he found Wang Hua in a daze.

"Father, what's wrong?"

Wang Hua sighed and said, "He's right again. The court has spread the news that they want to select talents to go to the southwest and carry out reforms in the southwest... The emperor is testing whether there is anyone willing to go to the southwest, and deliberately released the news."

"He really knew the news in advance."

Now if you say that Chen Ce has no connection with the higher-ups, Wang Hua won't believe it. He just doesn't know what role Chen Ce is playing and why he is influencing the emperor's decision. This really puzzles Wang Hua.

Wang Shouren said calmly, "Is there anyone willing to go to the southwest?"

Wang Hua smiled bitterly and said, "What do you think? When the rumor got out, all the officials were trying to avoid it. Who would be willing to go to the southwest?"

"Fool, why are you so stupid?"

Wang Shouren smiled and said, "They are lucky not to go to the southwest, but I am sad not to go to the southwest."

Wang Hua: “…”

I can't argue with you.

……

As the sun was setting, Tang Yin found Chen Ce, exhausted, and asked, "Sir, why did you call me back so urgently? Is there something important?"

This time, Chen Ce not only sent a letter to call Tang Yin back to Beiping, but also called Wen Zhengming and the other two over, presumably because he had something to tell them.

Chen Ce said to Tang Yin, "Please help me arrange an appointment with Wen Zhengming and others. We will go to Wang Wubi's residence tomorrow. I have already sent a visiting card to Wang Wubi."

"it is good!"

Tang Yin seemed to remember something and said, "By the way, sir, Zhengming brought a friend with him. Do you mind?"

Chen Ce thought for a moment and said, "It's okay, take them with you, see you tomorrow." "Okay!"

……

As a representative of the retro school, He Jingming came to the capital with Tang Yin and others.

Unlike Tang Yin and others who came by invitation, He Jingming came to Beijing this time to visit his good friend Li Mengyang.

Li Mengyang is currently the director of the Ministry of Revenue. Due to the successive deaths of his parents in the past few years, he has been in mourning in his hometown. He only came to Beijing last year to take up the position of director of the Ministry of Revenue.

Hearing that the four talented men of Wuzhong would have a small gathering at Wang Wubi's house tomorrow, he also planned to go there and catch up with He Jingming.

Wang Wubi is still a Jinshi in the Ministry of Justice, without any real power, and is relatively free these days.

The next morning, Tang Yin and others arrived at the palace early.

The group had not gathered together for a long time, and everyone was particularly happy to meet this time. It was a pity that Xu Jing had gone to the southeast and had no time to return for the reunion.

Li Mengyang and He Jingming had a very pleasant conversation. Li Mengyang should be the one with the highest official position here. They first talked about ancient poetry and prose. Both Li Mengyang and He Jingming advocated the idea of ​​"prose must be from the Qin and Han dynasties, and poetry must be from the Tang Dynasty", and opposed the current eight-part official style. Naturally, they had endless topics to talk about.

The conversation did not end until Chen Ce arrived.

Wang Wubi, Tang Yin and others came to greet Chen Ce in person, but Li Mengyang looked at He Jingming with some confusion, not knowing who this young man was and why they admired him so much.

He Jingming briefly introduced Chen Ce, saying that he was nothing more than Tang Yin's painting teacher.

He didn't know much about Chen Ce. It was Tang Yin who introduced him to him on the road. He just heard that Chen Ce was very knowledgeable.

Li Mengyang suddenly realized, and immediately took He Jingming over to greet Chen Ce.

When Chen Ce heard that Li Mengyang was the head of the Ministry of Revenue, he bowed and said, "Greetings, Lord Li."

He had also heard of the names of Li Mengyang and He Jingming, two figures that cannot be avoided in the mid-Ming Dynasty and typical examples of taking history in the opposite direction.

Although the poetry and prose of the Ming Dynasty is indeed not as developed as those of the Tang, Song, Qin and Han Dynasties, Li Mengyang's blind denial of cultural development and his desire to restore the ancient system inevitably lead to his inferiority.

However, Chen Ce obviously did not want to discuss poetry and other things with them.

After Chen Ce and Li Mengyang greeted each other, they said to Wang Wubi, "Sir Wang, there is something I want to recommend you to do."

Wang Wubi bowed and smiled, "Mr. Chen, please feel free to speak."

From Xu Jing, Wang Wubi has deeply understood how powerful this gentle and elegant young man is.

Xu Jingcai had only been observing the government for a few months when he was directly transferred to the southwest under Chen Ce's management. He did not dare to underestimate Chen Ce's power.

Li Mengyang was very puzzled. Wang Wubi seemed to be very respectful to Chen Ce, but didn't He Jingming say that this man was at most a businessman and a commoner with some knowledge?

Why did Wang Wubi respect him so much?
Besides, he has never heard of such a person?

Chen Ce did not beat around the bush and spoke directly: "The southwest is short of people to govern, and it is the easiest place to achieve political achievements. This is a rare opportunity. I wonder if you are willing to go?"

Wang Wubi was stunned.

Chen Ce was not anxious to wait for Wang Wubi's answer, and said to Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming and others: "You can also consider it. I can recommend you to serve as officials in the southwest."

Hearing this, Li Mengyang finally couldn't help but speak. He was very straightforward and asked Chen Ce: "Your Excellency is serving in Beijing? Can you recommend so many people to serve as officials in the southwest with just one sentence?"

It was obvious that he felt that Chen Ce was bragging, and even more so that he felt that Chen Ce was harming people!

What is the southwest? There are a lot of locals there. What is the difference between being an official in the southwest and being exiled? What kind of opportunity is this?
Also, Tang Yin and his companions were just juren. When did it become so easy for juren to become officials?

(End of this chapter)