I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 5 The Paper Tiger Surrenders, the Little Emperor Arrives
In the review room.

Yu Daen, a clerk in the Hanlin Academy, walked out holding the memorial while uttering some harsh words.

"From now on, I won't come to the review room anymore. I can't serve you gentlemen!"

What he meant was: he was going to sue the entire Review Office.

The editors and compilers next door had been giving him their regular salary, but now that he had encountered two stubborn reviewers, he, who was used to being arrogant, naturally didn't want to bow his head.

In his eyes, the regular money is what he deserves.

Liu Chuxian, who had been silent all this time, quickly stopped Yu Daen.

He took the memorial first, then said with a smile: "Yu Kongmu, don't be angry! Don't be angry! Isn't it just some official business? We will do it! We will share the burden and I guarantee that nothing will go wrong!"

This action reduced Yu Daen's anger a little.

Yu Daen looked at Liu Kezheng and Shen Nian and said in a deep voice, "I, Yu Daen, have never asked you for a penny!"

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and left.

Liu Chuxian smiled helplessly.

He divided the memorials that needed to be processed into five parts and placed them on everyone's desk.

"Everyone, I estimate that these memorials should have been distributed before noon. This old official stopped them. But if we fail to complete them, it will be our fault. Let's all leave half an hour later!"

Everyone else nodded.

Then, Liu Chuxian looked at Shen Nian and Liu Kezhen.

"You two, why bother getting angry with an old official? It's the time for the imperial inspection. If he speaks ill of us in front of his superiors, we will be the ones who suffer."

Liu Kezhen (Zi Maoyi) clenched his fists.

"This corrupt official is truly despicable. I... I will go to the scholar later and accuse him of soliciting bribes!"

Wang Zudi shook his head.

"Maoyi, don't act on impulse!"

"Superiors like to see results. In matters like this, they will only think that you are lazy and slow in your work. Just pay the regular fee. If you don't have any, I can give you some."

"I will never give him another penny! I have no hope of staying in the Imperial Academy, so I'm not afraid of him doing something bad behind my back. I'm really sorry for causing trouble for you all today!"

After saying that, Liu Kezheng bowed to everyone.

"Ugh!"

Zhao Yongxian sighed deeply and said, "This evil official only cares about the patch on our chests. As long as we are reviewing from the seventh rank, we will inevitably be asked for bribes by him!"

They could not change the unspoken rules of officialdom, but Yu Daen asked for it too frequently.

At this time, Shen Nian raised his head.

"Everyone, the more we show weakness, the more we'll be bullied. Since we've already offended him, I have a plan that can make him bow down to us and stop asking for the regular payment. Do you dare to do it?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the other four looked at Shen Nian.

Everyone's monthly salary was not high, and the court often failed to pay it on time.

The expenses of living in the capital were high, and no one wanted to keep paying this regular fee, including Zhang Juzheng's fellow townsman Liu Chuxian.

"Ziheng, tell me quickly!"

Shen Nian glanced at the piles of documents on the table and said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

……

The next day.

As the court was about to close, in the review hall.

Wang Zudi stood up first and said, "I'll go first!"

Say it.

Wang Zudi walked towards the library in the West Pavilion.

The West Library houses nearly 10,000 books, memorials, official documents, and court reports.

The main person in charge is Yu Daen.

Shen Nian's strategy is -

Every day when office hours were about to end, the five of them would take turns going to the West Library to borrow various official documents and reports from Yu Daen in preparation for compiling the official records.

Recently, due to the restoration of the daily records and the need to complete the contents of the previous two years, the documents in the West Library have been particularly messy.

There were simply not enough clerks under Yu Daen.

The five people only needed to deliberately dawdle for a while and specifically ask Yu Daen to borrow some obscure and hard-to-find documents, and Yu Daen would have to work overtime, at least half an hour.

In addition, Liu Chuxian also went to find colleagues from the Compilation Office and the Editing Office.

They were also happy to do so. If everyone united, this kind of "mutual harm" would certainly not allow Yu Daen to persist for more than a few days. He dared to offend the Review Office, but he would never dare to offend all the historians.

……

Five days later, early morning.

Shen Nian came to the desk in the review room and was suddenly stunned.

The desk was tidied up very cleanly, and a batch of high-quality pens, ink, paper and inkstone were replaced. Even the ink spots on the wall that had remained for nearly a month were washed away.

He looked ahead.

The desks of other people were also very clean, with brand new pens, inkstones, and paper placed on them.

Liu Kezhen turned to look at Shen Nian and smiled.

"Ziheng, it was Yu Kongmu who did this. He did this to compromise with us. I saw him this morning and he had dark circles under his eyes. It was obvious he had been staying up too late!"

"Those people in the Compilation and Editing Offices are even worse than us. When they leave the yamen, they each hold a long list of books, saying they're in a hurry to get them!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Shen Nian, Wang Zudi, Zhao Yongxian and Liu Chuxian couldn't help laughing.

Liu Chuxian looked at Shen Nian and said, "Ziheng, your plan is very good. If that old official comes to our review office again, he will definitely not dare to act so arrogantly!"

Wang Zudi stroked his beard lightly.

"Since Yu Kongmu has shown weakness, let's stop here and see what he does next. Also, everyone, please remember, this plan wasn't Ziheng's. It was thought up by everyone in the Review Office."

"I understand." Liu Chu was the first to respond.

An unnatural expression appeared on his face, but it disappeared in an instant.

If word gets out that this plan was from Shen Nian, then Yu Daen will definitely take revenge on Shen Nian in the future. If it was a group of people, he wouldn't have the courage to do that.

The others nodded, appreciating Wang Zudi's thoughtfulness.

Shen Nian doesn't care about this.

If Yu Daen dares to do bad things to him again, as long as Shen Nian is right, he will definitely make this old corrupt official pay for it.

……

This afternoon.

Shen Nian came to the inner study hall again. Today he will lecture on "Shangshu·Zhoushu·Luo Gao".

At this time, there were more than ten tables and chairs placed behind the inner study hall.

Some eunuchs who were not on duty also heard the news and came to listen to Shen Nian's class.

The current eunuchs.

They are much more lively than when Shen Nian taught them half a month ago.

When they saw Shen Nian, they were as excited as baby birds crying for food in a tree nest.

This also made Shen Nian more excited as he spoke.

Immediately.

Shen Nianguan rolled up his sleeves, walked to the stage and began his speech.

This time, Shen Nian spoke very fluently.

His body movements, facial expressions, various vivid metaphors, and allusions that came to his mind fascinated the young eunuchs.

The eunuchs who were not on duty also listened with great interest.

In the past, faced with such boring courses, they had to pinch their thighs until they were blue in order to stay focused.

But Shen Nian's class allows them to stay focused, fearing that it will end too early.

Before I knew it, more than an hour had passed.

After Shen Nian finished speaking in one breath, he took a long breath and said, "That's all for today!"

The young eunuchs stood up one after another and bowed to Shen Nian.

And this time.

Behind a few young eunuchs in the inner study hall, a young man in black couldn't help but say, "This is how teaching should be done!"

This person was the thirteen-year-old Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun.

However, none of the young eunuchs recognized him, and Shen Nian did not notice him either.

But the young Emperor Wanli remembered Shen Nian's name.

(End of this chapter)