Qing Yao

Chapter 140 Has Little Zhao arrived yet?

The imperial court has not yet appointed a new Jiangsu education commissioner, and has ordered that Fu Song, the Jiangsu governor who is currently acting as the governor-general of Liangjiang, temporarily take charge of education affairs.

There wasn't much for Fuzhou University to manage, except for the provincial college entrance examination organized this year.

Fu Daren himself had never participated in the imperial examinations. He took the path of becoming a secretary in the Grand Secretariat through the Manchu translation department. This path was a special way for the court to enter officialdom for its citizens, which resulted in at least eight out of ten bannermen being translators.

However, this did not diminish the importance that Fuzhou University attached to this year's provincial examinations. Therefore, despite his busy schedule, he made a special trip to the Jiangyin Education Office to inspect the relevant work for the examinations.

After all, the imperial court had entrusted him with the management of educational affairs, and the provincial examination was the most important imperial examination in each province, second only to the provincial examination. It would be unreasonable for Lord Fu not to come and take a look.

Traditionally, the provincial examinations are held in August each year. However, this year, due to the Emperor's birthday celebrations and the granting of additional examinations, the provincial examinations in Jiangsu have been postponed to mid-November to mid-December.

The lottery ceremony for the provincial examination had already concluded under the supervision of Hu Gaowang. Due to the absence of Zhao An, who was representing Yangzhou in the lottery, Yangzhou was scheduled for the last round by Master Hu.

Currently, five prefectures—Suzhou, Songjiang, Xuzhou, Huai'an, and Changzhou—have completed the preliminary examinations, while three prefectures—Jiangning, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou—have not yet completed them.

The provincial education administration office could not cease operation simply because the provincial education commissioner was absent. Its daily work was mainly maintained by the internal departments of the administration office, namely the Department of Dispatch, the Department of Examination Supervision, and the Department of Examination.

Teacher Lou was a scholar-official in the Examination Administration.

Upon receiving the notification that the Governor was coming to the Education Bureau, the entire bureau mobilized immediately, with all the officials waiting outside the office early in the morning.

The prefect of Changzhou and the magistrate of Jiangyin, as well as the academic officials at both the prefectural and county levels, all arrived by carriage. Guo Dongyang, a professor at the Changzhou Prefectural School, was also there. He treated Zhao An to a meal and gave him 860 taels of "New Year's gifts" in advance.

Perhaps having received word of the governor's impending arrival, Professor Guo did not return at all.

Although the official documents from the Ministry of Personnel have not yet arrived, as the news spreads, everyone knows that Professor Zhao has been promoted to Committee Member Zhao.

Although the Education Commissioner was not a government official, he wielded considerable power in the education sector because he could report on others to the old master at any time. Therefore, even though Zhao An did not hold a real position, the several principal officials of the Education Bureau tacitly invited Commissioner Zhao to the bureau to welcome the governor together.

Just like giving gifts, there are also rules to follow when welcoming superiors.

Who stands in front, who stands behind, and who speaks first on behalf of their unit—these are all very important and cannot be confused at all.

So, trouble ensued.

Should Commissioner Zhao, who holds no real post, stand at the front to await the governor on behalf of the Education Bureau, or should he stand at the back as a former professor of the prefectural school?

Several academic officials who had passed the imperial examinations were getting a bit annoyed by this matter. Putting Committee Member Zhao first felt like they were "unjustified," since their personnel files and work permits hadn't been issued yet.

If we put people at the back of the list, we might upset Committee Member Zhao.

If Committee Member Zhao is unhappy, the consequences will be severe.

Didn't you see that the old master, whom even the governor treated with utmost courtesy, quietly packed up and returned to the capital?

Despite being a prisoner, Committee Member Zhao is now a bellwether for Jiangsu's education sector, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he is a bellwether for Jiangsu's officialdom.

The signals released in each rise and fall were too obvious.

An official who cannot determine the wind direction is undoubtedly an unqualified official.

Therefore, after discussion, the several academic officials reached a consensus to ask Commissioner Zhao to represent the Education Administration in welcoming the Governor's inspection.

The opinion was conveyed by Teacher Lou.

"Alas, what merit do I possess to represent the Education Bureau?"

Despite the goodwill of the education authorities, Zhao An firmly declined, ostensibly because it was against regulations, and even if his work permit was issued and the personnel procedures were completed, he couldn't really consider himself a senior education official.

The real reason was that he was worried about giving the governor a bad impression of usurping power. What if the governor and the former governor, that old man Hu, had some private dealings? His blatant display of power would only make him look foolish. He didn't want the governor to say, "What right does a mere scholar who bought his way into the imperial examinations have to act like a master in front of me?"

Are you embarrassed?

Committee member Zhao resolutely refused to represent the education administration, leaving the education officials with no choice but to place him in the list of heads of subordinate units according to his wishes.

Standing next to Zhao An is Guo Dongyang, a professor at Changzhou Prefectural School.

Seeing that Committee Member Zhao was standing at the back just like him, Professor Guo was clearly a little angry. The way he looked at the group of "provincial department" directors in front of him could be summed up in five words: looking down on people!

The governor's arrival was bound to be a grand affair, with drums and gongs beating all the way, and it was anyone's guess when he would arrive. With nothing else to do, Zhao An chatted with Professor Guo about the imperial examination.

The exams in Changzhou were over a few days ago.

No matter how Zhao An tried to subtly steer the conversation toward the exam papers, Professor Guo refused to do so. This made Zhao An think that Professor Guo was boring. He thought to himself, "Don't think that just because you gave me eight hundred taels of silver, I won't go to Changzhou to supervise your studies. Wait until after the New Year and see how I make trouble for you. If you don't bribe me then, I'll report you to the old master!"
Just as he was feeling smug about his privilege of tattling, several government officials galloped up from afar and shouted at the top of their lungs before the governor even arrived: "The governor has arrived! All officials respectfully welcome him!"

Upon hearing the sound, the instructors in front immediately knelt down, and Zhao An quickly followed suit.

A large group of people knelt down in front of the school administration office.

After kneeling down, Zhao An instinctively peeked ahead: Goodness, this governor's travels are really impressive.

At a glance, there must be several hundred people, including the honor guard, yamen runners, soldiers, attendants, and guards!

They marched in from the south in a grand procession, almost like a small army.

It has everything: red and green umbrellas, official rank plaques, and fire and water sticks.

As they got closer, they saw that the governor's carriage was a large sedan chair carried by eight men!

It was much larger than the small sedan chair that Zhao An had, which was carried by three people.

Zhao An was extremely envious, and subconsciously muttered, "A true man should be like this."

"What did Committee Member Zhao say?"

Professor Guo, standing to the side, looked visibly puzzled.

"Ah, no, it's nothing."

Zhao An coughed lightly and lowered his head, just like the instructors in front of him.

After a series of footsteps, the sedan chair landed, and then a voice said, "Gentlemen, you may rise."

"Thank you, Lord Futai!"

The academic officials representing Jiangsu's education sector, who were kneeling in front, quickly took the lead in standing up, and Zhao An and Professor Guo, among others, followed suit.

Because two of the instructors in front of him were quite tall, Zhao An couldn't see what the governor looked like. He couldn't stand on tiptoe and crane his neck to see, so he had to put his hands in his sleeves to keep them warm.

The temperature today is probably several degrees below zero, and it's chilly and gloomy.

The Zheng family official from the Commissioner's Office, representing the unit, warmly welcomed and expressed deep gratitude to the Governor. It was all just bureaucratic platitudes, which Zhao An was tired of hearing.

Just as they were annoyed that Zheng Xueguan was talking too much and should hurry up and welcome the governor inside so that everyone wouldn't have to stand outside in the northwest wind, a voice came from beside them: "Has Inspector Zhao Youlu arrived yet?"

(End of this chapter)