I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 4: PUA in the Officialdom, Superiors Bully Their Subordinates
Three days later, early morning.

Shen Nian came to the inner study hall again. Today he will lecture on "Shangshu·Shangshu·Pan Geng".

Once inside.

The young eunuchs all kowtowed to Shen Nian.

"Meet Instructor Shen!"

Shen Nian smiled faintly and walked to the podium, where he was surprised to find two plates of snacks on the table.

A plate of silver ingot pastry and a plate of nectar cakes.

Both of these pastries are palace pastries, and you can tell at a glance that they were made by the Shangshenjian chef.

at the same time.

A student brought a cup of tea to Shen Nian.

"Teacher Shen, have some tea!"

Shen Nian took the teacup, put it to his nose and took a light sniff, and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Yangxian's Purple Bamboo Tea!"

The pastries from the Imperial Kitchen and the famous teas from Yangxian are both hard to buy outside the palace.

The court obviously would not make any preparations for a low-level official like him.

Shen Nian glanced down and immediately understood.

He took a sip of tea, ate a piece of silver ingot pastry, looked around, and said with a smile: "I've eaten yours and drunk yours. Now it's my turn to work hard!"

"Don't spend money like this anymore!"

"Today, we will discuss the Book of Documents, Book of Shang, and Pan Geng. Following my tradition, I will take you into the world of King Pan Geng of the Shang Dynasty and let his teachings become clear to you!"

Hearing this, the young eunuchs all held their heads high.

They were afraid that Shen Nian was just giving lectures on a whim three days ago, so they collected money to "honor" him. Now, hearing that Shen Nian would give lectures as usual, they couldn't help but get excited.

"Who is Pan Geng? The Shang king who moved the capital, the ancestor of the Yin people..."

Shen Nian walked among the young eunuchs with his hands behind his back, quoting various allusions and famous sayings at will.

The body movements and facial expressions are still rich.

He was immersed in the joy of giving lectures.

He didn't notice at all that three eunuchs, about sixteen or seventeen years old, had appeared behind the school.

They were not students, but eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department.

After more than an hour, the class ended.

Shen Nian left the inner study hall amid the reluctant gazes of the young eunuchs.

……

Near dusk.

Shen Nian returned to the review hall of the Hanlin Academy.

By the time he finished sorting out the remaining documents on the desk, it was almost time to leave the office.

At present, he doesn't like to work overtime.

at this time.

Yu Daen, the eunuch of the Hanlin Academy, strode over with a pile of documents in his arms.

"Bang! Bang!"

Yu Daen came to Liu Kezheng and Shen Nian separately, divided the documents into two piles, and placed them on their desks.

"Liu the Reviewer, Shen the Reviewer, I'm afraid you'll have to work hard tonight! These are the memorials from the Six Departments compiled by the officials in the Compilation Office. We need to check and transcribe them. We need them urgently tomorrow morning, so there's no time to waste!"

Liu Kezheng frowned slightly and looked at Yu Daen.

"Yu Kongmu, this... this... there are so many things to do. If I stay up all night to finish them tonight, I'm afraid I won't be able to complete tomorrow's work. Do you think it can be postponed until tomorrow afternoon?"

"I'm afraid that won't work!" Yu Daen shook his head slightly.

“But…but…this…this is really too much!”

Yu Daen glanced at the "Hongwu Zhengyun" on Liu Kezheng's desk and said with a smile, "Liu Jiantao, if you put the same energy you put into learning Mandarin into reviewing memorials, you'll definitely be able to finish it before midnight!"

Swish!
Hearing this, Liu Kezhen stood up suddenly.

His face was gloomy.

What he hated most was being accused of learning Mandarin.

"Yu Da'en, don't think I don't know. You're deliberately delaying official business until the end of the day in order to extort a bribe. I... I don't have any money! Even if I did, I wouldn't give you a penny! You, a lowly clerk with no rank, dare to bully an official. You're truly lawless!"

As soon as these words came out.

Wang Zudi, Zhao Yongxian, and Liu Chuxian looked at Liu Kezhen almost at the same time, and Shen Nian even looked at him with admiration.

He was right in saying that.

Yu Daen has handed over official duties near the end of his term no less than five times this year, and his targets were Liu Kezheng and Shen Nian.

The purpose was to extort bribes. The salaries of Ming officials were very low, and most clerks only received subsidies.

Their main source of income is the regular money they get from extorting bribes.

The five people in the Review Office all gave Yu Daen regular money when they first entered the Hanlin Academy.

This is an unwritten rule in officialdom.

In the Ming Dynasty, it was common for superior officials to bully their subordinates and demand bribes in disguised forms.

Yu Daen did a lot of work for the scholars, readers and lecturers of the Hanlin Academy.

In the review room, he considered himself a superior official.

In addition, ministers such as Zhang Juzheng, Lu Diaoyang, and Zhang Siwei also gave benefits to Yu Daen, so he was extremely arrogant.

Although I dare not ask for it openly.

But if someone doesn't give it, they will hint at it in various ways.

The reason why they targeted Shen Nian and Liu Ke Zheng.

It's because the two of them didn't do anything good for Yu Daen this year, and they are most likely to be sent away.

Liu Kezhen refused to give it because he had no money.

After being rated as "half-rank official", Shen Nian became disheartened and unwilling to give.

This kind of bribery belongs to the category of "it weighs less than four ounces if it's not weighed on the scale, but it weighs more than a thousand pounds if it is weighed on the scale."

Yu Daen would naturally not admit to the charge of soliciting bribes.

"I...I demand a bribe?"

"Liu Jiantao, if you don't want to do it, I will report it to the editors immediately. Why are you accusing me of soliciting a bribe?"

"I understand that you're from Panyu and it's been very difficult. I wanted you to do more to show your face in front of your superiors so you can get a promotion. I didn't expect you to slander me like this!"

"Forget it! Forget it! From now on, I will never send you, Liu Jiantao, on any errand again. Let other adults come and invite you personally!"

Yu Daen looked aggrieved, his eyes red, and tears were about to fall.

Those who don’t know would think that he had suffered a great injustice.

In fact, everyone present here knows that doing such official work does not count towards performance appraisal.

If you do well, you get nothing in return; if you do poorly, you get blamed.

immediately.

Yu Daen looked at Shen Nian and said, "Shen Niechao, can you finish it?"

Yu Daen wanted to regain some face from Shen Nian.

Shen Nian's eyes rolled.

Even a good-tempered person like Liu Kezhen was angered. If he agreed, he would be bullied to death in the future!

He had cursed Yu Daen countless times in his dreams: Your mother is a servant!
Shen Nian spread his hands and curled his lips, saying, "No!"

Swish!
At this moment, Yu Daen's face turned pale. He didn't expect Shen Nian to dare to refute him.

He picked up two stacks of memorials and walked outside.

This is definitely for filing a complaint.

At this time.

The oldest one, Wang Zudi, stopped him.

"Yu Kongmu, Liu Jiandao has been ill recently and shouldn't stay up late. Don't bother with him this time!"

Zhao Yongxian on the side looked at Zhang Zou and frowned slightly.

"Yu Kongmu, this... this is indeed a bit much. You brought it just now, and you need it urgently. Liu and Shen really can't finish it. Can you postpone it for half a day?"

Zhao Yongxian's words "You brought it now" were like stepping on Yu Daen's tail.

His voice suddenly became louder and he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Are you blaming me for bringing it late?"

"I've been busy all afternoon in the rooms of the tutors and lecturers. If you feel I've caused you trouble, you can report me to the maester. We'll see who's right then!"

The reason why he is so unscrupulous.

This is because if officials debated with him, even if they won, they would still be disgraced.

At a time when the performance evaluation system is progressing rapidly.

The ethos of the Ming officialdom is—

Working yourself to death is glorious, being lazy is shameful. An official who cannot stay up late is definitely not a good official.

Once the label of "lazy, procrastinating, and inactive" is put on your head, your future career path will be full of ups and downs.

(End of this chapter)