Top Scholar

Chapter 441 Authentic Old Beijing Breakfast (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
The next day, just as dawn broke, there was commotion in the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The young firefighters quickly set up the mahogany tables and chairs, laid out tablecloths and tableware, and then prepared a hearty breakfast for five people.

Every day at dawn, the five chief eunuchs would arrive at the Directorate of Ceremonial for breakfast, a rule established by Eunuch Liu after he took over the position.

In his own words, "The Emperor has entrusted the entire empire to us; the two capitals and thirteen provinces rest on our shoulders. How can we not be diligent?"

Therefore, he required the four chief eunuchs to come for breakfast on time, and they could also hold a meeting to discuss the important military and national affairs of the day...

~~
Soon, the five chief eunuchs arrived one after another. Liu Jin sat in the center, flanked by the four chief eunuchs who held the highest office: Ma Yongcheng, the chief chief eunuch and director of the Eastern Depot; Luo Xiang, who also headed the Directorate of Palace Attendants; Wei Bin; and Gao Feng. The five of them slowly ate their meal, each holding a bowl.

Although Liu Jin was from Shaanxi, he had lived in Beijing since childhood and had long since developed a taste for authentic old Beijing cuisine. In front of him was a bowl of grayish-green douzhi (fermented mung bean juice), a plate of golden fried dough sticks, and a small dish of pickled vegetable shreds.

He picked up half a fried dough stick, broke it into pieces, soaked it in soy milk, and swallowed it with shredded pickled vegetables. Suddenly, he felt a jolt of energy and his whole body seemed to come back to life.

The eunuchs in charge of writing naturally followed their superiors' lead and drank soy milk and ate fried dough rings together.

However, there was a slight difference. Luo Xiang didn't like eating it with pickled vegetables. He just picked up some fried dough sticks, rolled them in a dish of white sugar, and made a crunching sound when he bit into them.

Ma Yongcheng, sitting opposite him, noticed his way of eating and shook his head, saying, "Your way of eating is not authentic. Fried dough sticks should be eaten with fermented bean juice and pickled vegetables to be truly delicious."

Luo Xiang chewed his food heartily and mumbled, "I can eat it with sugar or pickled vegetables if I want. Does the Eastern Depot care how people eat?"

“You fucking…” Ma Yongcheng was stunned by the words.

"Alright." Liu Jin put down his bowl, let out a sour burp, and said, "What kind of people are you? Still arguing over such trivial matters. You need to have a broader perspective and understand the importance of respecting differences."

"Yes, yes." The two nodded quickly.

Liu Jin wiped his lips with a handkerchief. "Let's get down to business—have the results of the external investigation come out yet?"

"Brother, I've got it." Ma Yongcheng waved his hand, and a little eunuch behind him presented a red invitation card.

Since Liu Jin came to power, all memorials submitted, both inside and outside the government, had to first be submitted to the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs in red, known as the "Red Book," and then forwarded to the Office of Transmission for the Grand Secretariat, known as the "White Book."

The cabinet, upon receiving the blank draft, dared not draft it on its own. It had to wait for the Directorate of Ceremonial to send the official red draft. If there was already an approval from above, it had to copy it. Only if the Directorate of Ceremonial did not interfere could it draft it on its own...

Under Liu Jin's tyranny, the cabinet was completely reduced to a copying tool for eunuchs, and Grand Secretary Li Dongyang was criticized by the court and the public as a "mere figurehead prime minister".

Ma Yongcheng wiped his hands, took the red booklet, and presented it to Liu Jin, saying:

"The Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate jointly conducted a major assessment of local officials and proposed to dismiss or demote more than one hundred officials of the rank of regional commander or above."

He chuckled and said, "Those who dared to challenge us last year are basically all in here this time."

"Hmm." Liu Jin nodded, glancing at the list. He wasn't very familiar with the local officials. However, he did recognize a few names, such as Wen Shu, the prefect of Chongqing, and Xiong Da, the prefect of Kuizhou, both of whom had retired due to old age.

Also included were the prefects along the Yangtze River who organized the welcoming of Su Jieyuan...

“Apart from the prefects of Chongqing and Kuizhou, there are many other prefects who were coerced, so we should treat them differently.” Eunuch Liu said seriously, “Local officials are different from those in the capital, and they are prefects along the Yangtze River. Replacing too many of them at once will affect the court’s finances.”

“There are definitely die-hards among them. Letting them go indiscriminately will only embolden them,” Ma Yongcheng said.

"Simple, make them give gifts. Those who refuse are unrepentant die-hards, so demote and dismiss them all," Wei Bin said coldly.

“Alright.” Eunuch Liu nodded and handed the red book back to Ma Yongcheng, saying, “The others on the list can also do the same. As long as they are willing to pay, we will let them off the hook.”

He paused for a moment and then said, "Even the prefect of Chongqing and Kuizhou could be given a chance."

"Great!" Luo Xiang exclaimed with delight. "Brother wants to renovate the Leopard House for the Emperor, and I'm worried about where to get the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver."

"Yes, the money for repairing the Leopard House must be prepared and firmly secured; it cannot be used for any other purpose." Eunuch Liu nodded and admonished Gao Feng, who was in charge of the Imperial Treasury, "Eighth Prince, this is of paramount importance. If the Emperor cannot rest in peace, how can we servants sleep soundly?"

"Don't worry, brother." Gao Feng nodded: "I'll squeeze the money out of you no matter what."

"We still need to find a way to increase revenue," Liu Jin said, frowning slightly. "Cutting costs will offend people. How can you expect the horse to run fast without feeding it?"

"Isn't there still the provincial examination?" Wei Bin seized the opportunity to say, "Since we've already started selling, why bother being secretive? Let's sell as many spots as possible; every little bit helps. We can sell more for the palace examination later!"

"Nonsense! There can't be a single more of the fifty spots!" Liu Jin retorted decisively. "The nation's talent selection ceremony isn't for you to make money! This is the first imperial examination since the Emperor ascended the throne. Wouldn't it be a disgrace to the Emperor to select so many useless people? We'll have to rely on them to govern the country in the future!"

"Hey, big brother is right, I was short-sighted." Wei Bin, feeling awkward, quickly shrank back.

“Since you don’t want to embarrass the Emperor, there’s something I need to report,” Ma Yongcheng said upon hearing this.

"It's widely rumored that Minister Jiao's son has secured the top spot in the imperial examination, and Minister Liu's son has secured the second-highest spot!"

"You two little bastards, why are you so loose-lipped?" Liu Jin's face immediately darkened.

“I asked the two old gentlemen, and they both said it didn’t come from them,” Ma Yongcheng said. “Then who leaked the information? Have you found out?” Liu Jin’s face darkened even more.

"We're still investigating," Ma Yongcheng said in a low voice. "What I mean is, with all this talk right now, should we move them to the back of the list? Otherwise, after the exams, the candidates will probably cause trouble, and it won't look good for anyone."

"We should try not to change what we've agreed on." Liu Jin clicked his tongue, his tone full of impatience: "We can't go back on Old Jiao's favor... If it weren't for him back then, none of us brothers would be alive. How can we not repay kindness?"

"But he's too greedy." The crowd said indignantly, "Last year, he increased the quota for his hometown in Henan. This year, he not only reserved the top score for his son, but also wants to guarantee ten Henan scholars to pass the imperial examination. He actually wants to match his elder brother."

"Just getting the top score in the provincial examination isn't enough; he definitely wants his son to become the top scholar in the imperial examination as well!" Wei Bin spat, saying that the man surnamed Jiao was seriously affecting his business.

Seeing Liu Jin's unfriendly expression, Gao Feng quickly tried to smooth things over: "There was nothing we could do about it, after all, it was a life-saving favor."

"Sigh, Old Jiao's behavior this time was truly disgraceful. We are in charge for the Emperor, and we can't let the court's atmosphere become corrupted." Liu Jin sighed and made a decision: "This time, we'll grant his wish, but this will not happen again."

The topic of the imperial examination reminded him of another person, so he asked quietly, "Speaking of which, has that little beast gone to the capital yet?"

Although he didn't name names, everyone knew who he was talking about. Last year, Eunuch Liu suffered a great humiliation, but he couldn't do anything about Eunuch Zhang... so he blamed that kid.

Jiao Fang did this to vent Liu Gonggong's anger, so he used the pretext of an external inspection to dismiss and demote all the prefects who had received that brat.

"He's arrived in Beijing. He came the day before yesterday," Ma Yongcheng quickly said with a smile. "Zhang Yong really put in a good show for him. Yesterday, he went to great lengths to present him with an imperial plaque..."

He then paused to create suspense, asking the eunuchs, "What do you think the Emperor wrote?"

"What?" everyone asked in unison.

"A first-rate filial son!" Ma Yongcheng said in a strange tone.

"Pfft..." Luo Xiang almost spat out a mouthful of soy milk on him.

"Hahaha!" The eunuchs burst into laughter. They had watched the emperor grow up, so they knew immediately that Zhu Houzhao was trying to insult Su Lu in a roundabout way.

"The Emperor is trying to smear him!"

"The Emperor didn't take him seriously at all..." Everyone wiped away their tears and said, "It's us who took him too seriously."

Liu Jin also revealed a sinister smile.

Seeing this, Ma Yongcheng volunteered, "Brother, I'll just find a pretext to send him back to the Eastern Depot and deal with him."

"Why bother with him? It's so boring." Liu Jin sneered, a sinister glint in his eyes. "The exam is in ten days. When he enters the examination hall, arrange for someone to sabotage him and make him the next Tang Bohu!"

The word "tiger" was pronounced very heavily, which shows that Eunuch Liu had had this idea for quite some time.

“Aren’t these two top scholars kindred spirits? Let them share the same plight!” Gao Feng immediately chimed in.

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! This is far more painful than killing him!" The eunuchs all praised the old man's wisdom.

"We'll make sure he's utterly disgraced without even severing a hair on his head, then we'll see who dares to pull this stunt on us!" Liu Jin picked up his soy milk, took a satisfying sip, and then shuddered, saying, "He dares to go against me? Who does he think he is?!"

"Pah! He doesn't deserve it!" the eunuchs echoed.

As the eunuchs were enjoying themselves, a middle-aged eunuch dressed in a red robe entered and bowed respectfully. "Godfather, uncles, are you eating?"

"Ah Bin is here. Haven't eaten yet?" Liu Jin called to her eldest son, "Sit down and have some pea juice."

"Oh, thank you, Dad." Li Bin then sat down at the lower end and, imitating Liu Jin, broke up the fried dough rings and soaked them in soy milk.

"Was everything peaceful at the Leopard House last night?" Liu Jin asked.

"His Majesty went out last night." Li Bin, the gatekeeper of the Leopard Chamber, quickly put down the charcoal ring and replied, "He only returned in the early hours of the morning."

"Oh dear, where has the Emperor gone?" the eunuchs frowned. "Why isn't Zhang Yong trying to persuade him in the middle of the night?"

“It was Eunuch Zhang who took him there.” Li Bin paused, then reported in a low voice, “He took the Emperor to Mule and Horse Market Street to find that little beast. They ate and played all day, and the Emperor was very happy when he returned…”

"What? Holy crap!" Liu Jin blushed instantly upon hearing this, and his old habit of smashing anything he could grab resurfaced.

With a snap, this time the teacup didn't break, but half a bowl of soy milk was smashed...

Good heavens, this expensive carpet is completely unusable.

P.S. Thank you to reader Wonderet for the generous donation; this flavorful chapter is dedicated to you.

Also, does anyone have any monthly passes left?! We've been overtaken again!!!

(End of this chapter)