Top Scholar

Chapter 219: Everyone's Getting Promoted!

The third watch drum sounds.

Su Lu and You Muyou chatted until they ran out of things to talk about, and then Magistrate Lu staggered back.

"How much did you drink, sir?" Su Lu quickly got up to help him.

"No, it's nothing, I didn't drink much!" Magistrate Lu's face was flushed, and he slurred, "Huang, Huang Bingxian, wasn't in a good mood today, and he left early again! My father and I, we've been drinking together, and we've had a lot of private conversations. We've learned a lot!"

"Congratulations, sir." Su Lu thought to himself, what's the point of chatting now? He helped Magistrate Lu sit down, and the servant brought him strong tea to sober him up.

After taking a couple of sips of strong Meiling tea, Magistrate Lu finally straightened his tongue and smiled at Su Lu, saying, "I've heard about your deeds in the prefecture. Even the prefect himself speaks highly of you, calling you 'Little Yang Shen of Luzhou.'"

"Hehe..." Su Lu really disliked this nickname, but he couldn't say it anyway. Unless he could one day really beat Yang Shen to a pulp, he probably wouldn't be able to shake off this moniker.

"With the addition of the phonetic symbols this time, your reputation will rise both in official circles and among the people." Magistrate Lu said, glancing at Su Lu, "It's time to deliver on your promise."

"What do you mean, sir?" Su Lu asked softly, a thought stirring in his mind.

“What I mean is, you should take the county exam next year,” Magistrate Lu said bluntly. “Although there will be another one the year after next, I’m afraid I won’t be in Hejiang by then.”

"Yes, sir." Su Lu had been thinking the same thing. He had come back this time intending to talk to Magistrate Lu about this matter, and now he didn't have to ask. He said with a happy face, "Sir, are you going to be promoted?"

“Weren’t you there this morning? Didn’t you hear what the prefect said?” Magistrate Lu couldn’t help but feel smug again.

"Of course I heard it. My husband said that your promotion is just around the corner," Su Lu said with a smile.

“That’s right.” Magistrate Lu clapped his hands, beaming with pride. “We had another long talk that night, and the old man made his point even clearer—my judgment was correct, Hongzhi, your phonetic notation scheme is worthy of the Emperor’s attention!”

"Really?" Su Lu asked, feigning surprise.

“Under any other emperor, this might not have worked, but it suits the tastes of the current Hongzhi Emperor.” Magistrate Lu said, bowing towards the northeast, “The current emperor is single-mindedly focused on good governance and places too much emphasis on the Way of the King! To practice the Way of the King, educating the people is of paramount importance!”

“That phonetic spelling scheme is just the right time,” You Muyou said with a smile from the side.

"That's right! The Prefect realized this long ago, which is why he generously allocated us two thousand taels of silver." Magistrate Lu exclaimed excitedly, slamming his hand on the table.
"After this inspection, the Prefect is now completely convinced of our phonetic notation scheme and will definitely report it to the Censor-in-Chief and the Provincial Governor-General even more than we are!"

Su Lu nodded; that wasn't hard to understand. The emperor was still too far removed from the prefectures and counties, but ministers at the level of governors and provincial governors were all favored by the emperor, and to advance, one had to please him.

"So, let's just wait for all sorts of awards to come!" Magistrate Lu said contentedly, half-reclining on the daybed, legs crossed, lost in thought.

"I originally thought that being a junior official in a prefecture or county would be quite good. But now the situation has changed. If I'm not given a full official position, I won't go anywhere!"

“Indeed.” You Muyou also supported the master’s ambition, because once he became a Zuo Er (assistant rank), his power would shrink drastically, and he would no longer be able to use the emperor’s authority. “If you’re going to be an Zuo Er, you might as well have agreed to Huang Bingxian’s request to become the deputy envoy of Yongning Xuanfu Division. At least you could have been promoted three ranks and put on a blue robe.”

"Something big is about to happen in the Pacification Commission; we can't get involved in that mess," Magistrate Lu said, waving his hands repeatedly. "Otherwise, why would Military Commissioner Huang suddenly want to see Commander Ma?"

"What's the big deal?" Since it concerned his second brother, Su Lu had no choice but to ask.

“She Saihua is too domineering. Not only does she become the Pacification Commissioner herself, but she also wants her daughter to succeed her. You may not be familiar with the way the Luo Luo people operate…” Magistrate Lu was also at a loss, not knowing how to explain it to him.

“My home is not far from Lincheng, so I have heard about the Luo Luo people.” Su Lu said, “It seems that She Saihua’s late husband, She Jiye, had a son, She Yunming, who was born to her concubine, She Ziying. The two women fought fiercely, and later She Saihua put the concubine and her son under house arrest, which gave her control of the situation.”

“That’s right.” Magistrate Lu nodded. “I also thought the matter had settled down, but Huang Bingxian said it hadn’t… She Ziying’s brother found outside help.”

"What foreign aid?" Su Lu asked hurriedly.

"I'll scare you to death if I tell you, it's Yang Bin, the Pacification Commissioner of Bozhou!" Magistrate Lu said in a deep voice.

"Ah?" Su Lu's expression changed drastically. Bozhou was incredibly powerful. This Xuanwei Division, established by the Han people, had existed for six hundred years since the Tang Dynasty, and its strength far surpassed that of the Yongning Xuanfu Division.

And the most critical thing is that Taiping Town and Bozhou are closely connected, separated only by the Chishui River...

"Scared now? Old Ma almost wet his pants when he heard that yesterday." Magistrate Lu chuckled. "The Yang family of Bozhou is ambitious and has long wanted to seize Yongning. Now that they've finally got this opportunity, how could they not interfere?"

He then emphasized, "If things go wrong, the two chieftains might turn into a war, and your hometown could become a battlefield."

"Yes." Su Lu nodded with difficulty: "Please don't mess it up."

"Of course, no one wants to see that day, but Yang Bin has already ordered someone to escort She Ziying's brother to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor. The court sent Huang Bingxian, a capable official who has a past relationship with the She family, to mediate this matter."

"But I heard that She Saihua's daughter has already entered the Luzhou Martial Arts Academy. Doesn't that mean the imperial court has already recognized her identity?" Su Lu asked, puzzled.

“As long as he hasn’t been officially appointed, nothing else matters,” Magistrate Lu said with a smile. “The simplest solution now is to have She Saihua fulfill her promise and give up her position to She Yunming as soon as he comes of age.”

“Indeed, this way the Yang family has no excuse to interfere,” You Muyou nodded. “But that woman, She Saihua, is not easy to deal with. I heard she even sent her daughter to Huang Bingxian’s house to be raised. Isn’t she just trying to show that she’s as close as family with Bingxian?” Magistrate Lu’s smile widened, seemingly somewhat displeased with Huang Bingxian.

"But the military governor can't just kick them out. But if he does, it will seriously upset the other side. Can you imagine how he's going to be in such a bind?"

“Then you really shouldn’t get involved in this mess, otherwise it will all be your problem,” You Muyou stroked his beard and nodded.

Most of the time, the officials in the Pacification Commissioner's Office had a lot of free time, but they were afraid of encountering this kind of situation. It was like a scholar meeting a soldier, and they couldn't reason with him.

“Who says otherwise?” Magistrate Lu yawned widely and said, “But I’ve already declined, so this matter has nothing to do with us anymore.”

Seeing that Magistrate Lu was tired, the two men wisely took their leave.

"Then I won't see you off." Magistrate Lu waved to Su Lu, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Let your father also review his studies, so he can take the exam with you next year."

"Yes, I thank you on behalf of my father, sir." Su Lu bowed deeply.

"Go ahead." After saying that, Magistrate Lu closed his eyes and fell asleep on the daybed. He was exhausted these past few days.

~~
After they came out, You Muyou escorted Su Lu out of the yamen.

On the way, she whispered to him, "Hongzhi, you seem to care a lot about the She family's affairs."

“How can we not care? Our Erlangtan is only a few dozen miles from Lincheng, much closer than the county seat.” Su Lu sighed. He was indeed worried about his second brother at first, but now he was worried about more than just his second brother. “If the two chieftains start fighting, our place will become a battlefield.”

“You don’t need to worry too much,” You Muyou comforted him. “Firstly, your whole family has already moved to the county town, so the fighting is no longer your concern. Secondly, both the She and Yang families are model chieftains. Since the founding of the country, they have never rebelled. On the contrary, they often help the court quell rebellions, so the possibility of them fighting is extremely small.”

"Hmm." Su Lu nodded and smiled, "Now that you say that, I feel much more at ease."

"In short, in a place like ours where Han and Yi people live together, this kind of thing is unavoidable." You Muyou said with a smile, "But if your family still has people in Erlangtan, you should move them all to the county town as soon as possible. While the magistrate is still here, he can help make arrangements."

"Thank you very much, sir." Su Lu smiled gratefully, then asked in a low voice, "How much longer will the master stay here?"

"That's hard to say," You Muyou stroked his beard and said, "The report goes from the prefecture to the province, from the province to the imperial court, and from the imperial court to the emperor. The emperor then instructs the Ministry of Personnel to make selections. At the earliest, it will take at least half a year to receive the imperial edict."

"Moreover, you can only officially leave office after the new magistrate takes office and hands over the seal of office, which will take at least another six months." You Muyou calculated with his fingers: "In short, the magistrate will definitely be in charge of the county examination next year, but it's hard to say after that, which is why I'm urging you to hurry up."

"Understood." Su Lu nodded gently.

~~
When Su Lu returned home, all was quiet, and the moon had already set in the west.

He then noticed that the light was on in the east wing of the front yard, where Commander Ma was drinking with the old man, with Su Daji keeping him company.

Su Lu went in to greet them and was about to go back to sleep when Ma Qianhu stopped him, saying, "Hongzhi, you've come back just in time. Your uncle has a worry on his mind, could you please help me figure it out?"

"Yes." Su Lu roughly guessed what it was about, and took his seat at the lower end.

"Are you acquainted with Huang Bingxian in Luzhou?" Ma Qianhu asked.

"How could that be?" Su Lu chuckled.

“I saw that you arrived on the same boat, and he often chatted with you,” said Commander Ma.

"You were just joking with me. How could you possibly talk to me about serious matters?" Su Lu chuckled, then said seriously, "Just tell me what it is, Commander. I'll tell you everything I know."

"After Huang Bingxian finished his inspection of the county, he's going to visit our Taiping Town again." Ma Qianhu took a swig of wine in silence.

"What are you going to do there?" Su Lu asked knowingly.

Commander Ma didn't hide anything from him, and after exhaling a long breath, he said, "They want to upgrade our Taiping Commandery to a Garrison Commandery."

"This is a good thing," Su Lu said with a smile.

Although the garrison commander was still a fifth-rank official, in the Ming Dynasty, rank and official position were not directly correlated. Official rank was determined by actual power and subordinate relationships, not by rank.

Therefore, being promoted from a sixth-rank prefect to a seventh-rank censor is definitely a promotion. Being transferred from a third- or fourth-rank governor to a second-rank provincial treasurer is definitely a demotion.

The garrison commanders were directly under the command of the military governors and were no longer under the jurisdiction of the garrisons; in fact, they were now on the same level as the garrisons.

Just like when a commander is promoted from a scattered prefecture to a directly governed prefecture, the power of a commander increases significantly, which naturally leads to a promotion.

P.S. I haven't finished proofreading the last two chapters yet...

(End of this chapter)