Qing Yao

Chapter 144 Under Heaven Lies the Grand Secretary!
The Jiangyin Post Station was located outside the city, about ten miles away from the Xuezheng Guesthouse where Zhao An was staying.

In the rush, there was no way to get the education department to send a car, so Zhao An, in his capacity as a committee member, asked the guesthouse to provide an official vehicle.

Knowing who Zhao An was going to see, Suodi and the others did not go to the post station with Zhao An; only Minglu accompanied them.

The driver was a long-time employee of the guesthouse, and his driving skills were top-notch.

As soon as he got into the carriage, before Minglu could even sit down, Zhao An took out a hundred-tael silver note from his sleeve and stuffed it into his hand, then earnestly asked, "Brother Ming, may I ask what business Master Quan has with me?"

The way he addressed him as "Brother Ming" was natural and warm, without feeling out of place at all.

They genuinely sought guidance, placing themselves below the other party, daring not to be negligent in the slightest, nor to show the slightest contempt.

Zhao An knew that clerks working in large units in the capital were better informed than governors and viceroys. Moreover, the man in front of him was of Chinese descent. Although he was just a clerk running errands now, he might be promoted several ranks and appointed as a powerful official after returning to the capital.

Otherwise, why would it be said that the position of scribe was one of the three major official posts for Chinese people?

During the Qianlong era, many people rose from the ranks of scribes to become high-ranking officials, ministers, vice ministers, and generals.

It has enormous potential.

Therefore, one should treat others with courtesy to avoid unintentionally offending them.

This kind of person, even if they don't kill you, will at least give you a lot of trouble.

"Committee Member Zhao is young, but he is quite proficient in the ways of officialdom. No wonder the Emperor and Grand Secretary Tonghe value him so much."

Minglu stuffed the silver note into his pocket without even looking at it, and said with a smile, "Commissioner Zhao, do you know why the court transferred Hu Gaowang, who framed you, away from Jiangsu?"

"I truly do not know, and I would be grateful if Brother Ming could enlighten me!"

Zhao An vaguely guessed the reason, but it was best to pretend not to know in front of a Beijing native. If he could guess everything, how could he show his great abilities?

The principle that "a sedan chair is carried by many people" applies here; it's absolutely right to coax, carry, and worship it.

Even a low-level employee without any official rank.

There's nothing we can do; it's just that they have those deep forehead wrinkles.

Minglu laughed: "Could it be that Committee Member Zhao is pretending to be confused while knowing the truth?"

"Don't dare, don't dare."

Zhao An almost without hesitation gave Minglu another large red envelope.

It was a New Year's gift from Guo Dongyang, a professor at Changzhou Prefectural School, which cost a full 860 taels of silver.

This is an incredibly high level of tact in presenting something borrowed from someone else.

People of the rank of Bai Tang'a and Bitieshi in the capital would receive at most a few taels of silver in red envelopes, at most twenty or thirty taels, and they generally didn't receive any red envelopes at all, because their main business was selling insider information.

This was connected with officials from various regions who were stationed in Beijing as "sitting officials in the capital."

The price is determined by the official rank involved in the news; for example, news about a fifth or sixth-rank official would cost at most thirty taels.

If it involves a local governor or viceroy, it could fetch over a hundred taels of silver.

However, the profits need to be divided equally within the unit.

Therefore, the amount of money that could actually be pocketed was not much, which prompted the grassroots staff of various departments to yearn for "official business trips," since an official business trip would cost at least one hundred taels of silver.

Just like gift-giving in official circles, no official would break this rule, because that would increase their expenses and make the grassroots staff in the capital even more greedy because they were fed too much.

The local officials are the ones who are most unlucky.

Zhao An was a man who didn't follow the rules.

To be precise, it was due to his nouveau riche temperament.

They have money and are willing to give.

It's not his money anyway.

No matter who it is, even if it's just a groom, Zhao An is the kind of person who can reward someone with ten or eight taels of silver when he's in a good mood, so that if he, Lord Zhao, ever goes to the battlefield, he won't be dragged directly to the enemy camp by the groom to be presented as a prisoner.

This kind of thing has happened in history.

He was given 300 taels of silver when he completed the formalities at the guesthouse, another 100 taels when he got on the carriage, and this time more than 800 taels. In total, it was almost 1,300 taels, which was equivalent to Minglu's earnings from ten official trips.

On average, a minor figure like Minglu in the department would only be allowed to go on official business a maximum of three times a year.

There was no other way; there were too many people in the ministry, and the vice ministers above couldn't assign them all.

Sending the same few people on business trips all the time is likely to provoke public anger.

Faced with such a huge sum of money, Minglu, who had seemed indifferent to the world's affairs, remained unmoved, but his eyes visibly faltered for a moment before he nodded slightly and said, "If even Lord Zhao, who runs errands for my department, can give so much, it must be true that Lord Zhao bribed the old master of the academy with ten thousand taels of silver."

"."

How was Zhao An supposed to respond to that?
The wise choice is to just smile and not engage in conversation, and see what you have to say.

"You Han people have an old saying: 'One travels a thousand miles to become an official only for wealth.' I've come all the way from the capital for nothing more than some small gains. Since Lord Zhao is so generous, I can't let him say that we people from the capital are ignorant."

After accepting the red envelope without hesitation, Minglu told Zhao An two things.

The first thing was that he was reported to the Grand Secretary by Hu Gaowang when he was imprisoned, which was consistent with Zhao An's guess.

The second matter was that the Emperor transferred Hu Gaowang to the capital to take up a post, because he did not want this old master to interfere in Jiangsu. "As far as I know, the matter of Lord Zhao studying at the Yangzhou Prefectural School has been reported to the Emperor by Minister He, and the Emperor summoned the officials of the Ministry to inquire about his opinion on this matter."

As he spoke, Minglu shifted his position.

The guesthouse's bus had limited interior space, and he, being tall, found it uncomfortable to sit for extended periods.

Zhao An asked curiously, "What did the ministry say?"

Minglu did not answer directly, but instead asked with a smile, "If Lord Zhao is the head of this department, how would you answer His Majesty about this matter?"

"The fact that His Majesty summoned the officials in charge of this matter shows that His Majesty intends to promote the policy of allowing students to study outside their home province. As his subjects, we should support it."

Zhao An's stance was very clear: whatever the old master said was right, and whatever he did was good; as a subject, the only path was to execute and execute again.

Well, he supports whoever is the old master.

"Lord Zhao guessed correctly. His Majesty intends to extend the policy of allowing students to study in other provinces, but many officials in the court oppose it. Therefore, His Majesty plans to let Jiangsu Province do it first."

According to Minglu, Jiangsu is going to become a pilot area for the industrialization of education, and this pilot project is being promoted by Zhao An, the instigator of the "borrowing school" issue.

Because the Yangzhou Prefectural School was indeed very well run.

Otherwise, the old master would not have broken the rules again and appointed Zhao An as a supervisory committee member.

In other words, Zhao An's next task is nothing more than to squeeze as much profit as possible out of education.

"As long as Lord Zhao handles this matter well, it wouldn't be surprising if I saw you in the ministry one day."

Minglu's words were clearly just polite formalities. No matter how well Zhao An performed in Jiangsu, he could never be promoted to a position in the ministry; at most, he would be promoted one or two ranks.

"Then I'll accept your kind words, Brother Ming!"

Zhao An's mind was racing, and he was about to ask which officials in the Minglu court opposed the practice of borrowing students to study when he heard the coachman's "whoosh" from ahead, indicating that they had arrived at the post station.

As Zhao An and Minglu alighted from the carriage, a courier saw that Zhao Lu was wearing the official robes of a seventh-rank official and hurriedly came to inquire what was going on. Upon learning that they had come to pay their respects to Lord Quan, who had come from the capital, the courier quickly led Zhao An and Minglu over.

Lord Quan is a fourth-rank official, so he must be staying in a superior room at the post station, with several attendants guarding the outside.

After announcing his identity, Zhao An entered alone to meet Lord Quan. He found that Lord Quan was about forty years old, with a very honest and kind appearance, a typical square face, and a very dignified air. He looked like someone who could become a high-ranking official.

She was also wearing an emerald ring.

"Your humble servant Zhao Youlu greets Your Excellency!"

After bowing respectfully to Quan De, Quan De, who was sitting there reading a book, slowly looked at Zhao An, who was kneeling on the ground with his head bowed, and asked, "Did Suodi come with you, or did Minglu come with you?"

Her voice sounded somewhat effeminate.

It's not as robust as its appearance suggests; rather, it has a voice somewhat like that of Rabbit Brother.

It presents a stark contrast to reality.

Zhao An truthfully replied, "Reporting to Your Excellency, it is Minglu."

“Minglu should have told you everything. Now get up.”

Master Quan put down his book and said directly, "The Grand Secretary's intention is for you to get the matter of studying in Jiangsu done immediately, and all the fees collected should go to the Imperial Household Department. Your new educational commissioner in Jiangsu will not be appointed until May next year, so these few months should be enough for you to do it."

Zhao An hesitated for a moment: "Reporting to Your Excellency, the Governor has also approached me."

"Fu Song?"

Quan De, a fourth-rank official in the Imperial Household Department, showed no courtesy whatsoever to the Jiangsu governor. "What does he want with you?"

Zhao An quickly relayed Fu Song's request.

Quan De snorted slightly after hearing this: "The affairs of official schools are under the jurisdiction of the Education Administration Office. You are the Education Inspector of Jiangsu, so you don't need to pay attention to the Governor's Office."

That being said, Zhao An was unsure and said somewhat nervously, "Lord Fu is, after all, the provincial governor and acting governor-general of Liangjiang. If I don't follow his orders, what if Lord Fu..."

Before he could finish speaking, the officer interrupted him, staring directly into Zhao An's eyes and saying in a deep voice, "Zhao Youlu, I ask you, in your heart, who is the heaven of our Great Qing Dynasty?"

Without a second thought, Zhao An blurted out, "Of course it's His Majesty the Emperor!"

"And what about the world below?"

"It's He Zhongtang!"

"Do you know who you relied on to get to where you are today, given that you started from humble beginnings as a minor official?"

"It's He Zhongtang!"

Zhao An's unhesitating reply surprised Quan Zuoling for a moment, then he said calmly, "Since you know, what are you worried about? Just do it with peace of mind. Even if Fu Song has A Gui backing him up, if he really ruins the Grand Secretary's plans, A Gui can't save him!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Zhao An had no choice but to agree, as he knew he had no other option. He bowed and said, "If you have no further instructions, sir, I will take my leave."

Unexpectedly, Master Quan asked, "Is the son of the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai taking the imperial examination in Yangzhou?"

Zhao An nodded and said that the young master's son was the top scorer in the Yangzhou prefectural and county examinations and was expected to become the top scorer in the provincial examination. In that case, he would be the first Manchu to achieve the "Triple Crown" in the Qing Dynasty.

He had thought that the man in front of him, representing Heshen, was there to ensure that his son would become one of the top three scholars and please the old master. However, this man turned the emerald ring on his hand and ordered in an unyielding tone, "During the provincial examination, you must eliminate this young master for me."

(End of this chapter)