After listening to Wei Chen's explanation, Sheng Changbai's expression was slower.

He did not doubt that what Wei Chen said was false.

Wei Chen hung a nine-sided sign yesterday and entered the city, which caused the soldiers and people in the city to rush around and tell each other, causing a lot of noise. Sheng Changbai also heard about it in the Hanlin Academy.

Zhuang Jun is at home, so it is natural for Wei Chen to go back to pay homage to his mentor first. If he runs to the Sheng family in a hurry, the real master and secondary are not distinguished.

With this in mind, Sheng Changbai's resentment towards Wei Chen had disappeared.

Wei Chen caught a glimpse of his brother-in-law's expression and immediately hit the railway while it was hot: "Zecheng, don't you like Wang Mojie's paintings the most? I happened to find a photo of Wang Mojie's "Snow Stream Picture" in Yuzhou. I don't know that Zecheng is willing to take the time to help you appreciate the authenticity of this painting?"

"Wang Mojie, the map of Xuexi?" Sheng Changbai's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Wang Mojie was the great poet Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty. He admired Buddhism and liked mountains and rivers. He had a very high attainment in poetry and was known as the Buddha of poetry.

In addition to poetry, he was also particularly good at painting and combined the two art forms of poetry and painting, with paintings in paintings, which had a great influence on the paintings of later generations.

The snow stream map mentioned by Wei Chen is a model for Wang Wei to paint with snow and write poems with paintings.

Sheng Changbai is a die-hard fan of Wang Wei's poetry and paintings. He heard that Wei Chen had Wang Wei's snow stream picture in his hand, and his cultivation skills were reduced a little, and his eyes were filled with unconcealed joy.

“Where is the drawing?”

Sheng Changbai asked impatiently, and kept looking into Wei Chen's arms, as if he was expecting Wei Chen to take out the painting for him to show him on the spot.

Seeing this, Wei Chen was also amused and laughed, so he had to say, "The painting is still in my house, don't worry, I'll send it to you when I look back."

Sheng Changbai also realized that he had lost his composure. He immediately coughed lightly, straightened his appearance, and then nodded calmly.

Seeing this scene, Wang Yaochen couldn't help but smile and shook his head.

Sheng Changbai has always shown people with integrity and rigor in the Hanlin Academy. He is mature and taciturn. Only in front of Wei Chen can he open his heart so much and reveal his true nature.

It was almost noon, and only the quiet whip sounded suddenly. The officials who were talking all over the world were silent, and quickly got up and left the table, bowed and sang in the direction of Jianji Hall.

The emperor is here.

"Your Majesty has an order!"

An eunuch walked out of the hall to read the imperial edict.

"In ancient times, emperors must be smart to prevent obstruction. I know the importance of appointing officials, so I followed Yao and Shun's way of asking for information and speaking, and asked foreign officials to come to court to investigate their words and deeds, and to examine their governance achievements to see whether they can. If they are successful in governance, they will become wise men, so why worry about not being able to manage them in the world!

】

The edict is that those who are competent will be promoted; those who are ordinary will be restored; those who are incompetent will be demoted; those who are corrupt will be punished by the court; those who are not virtuous and talented will be exempted from being common people. I am now handed over to the Ministry of Personnel to examine the Qing Office and the Censorate and announce it to all officials and the people in three days!"

These punishments sound quite scary, but since today I was Zhao Zhen, it was actually just like that when it was implemented.

Moreover, Zhao Zhen is old and weak, and his ambition is worse than his calmness. He will definitely not make a big fuss during the inspection.

Therefore, the officials below did not take it seriously, but just respectfully received the order and thanked him, saying long live the mountain, and it was just a false story.

After the imperial edict was read, the eunuch shouted at the banquet at the top of his voice, and then the officials stood up and took their seats again.

Then he heard the hall shouting: "Xuan, Jiangning Tongzhi Xiang Shiyuan came to the hall to meet him!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged official with short beard stood up happily. During the meal, the officials looked over with envy.

The so-called Hajj inspection naturally involves rewards and punishments. The punishment will not be announced at the banquet, otherwise it will be too swept the face of others, but the rewards can be carried out on the spot, pushing the atmosphere of the banquet to a greater climax.

At this time, Xiang Shiyuan, the summoned Jiangning Tongzhi, slowly walked into Jianji Hall under the guidance of the eunuch.

Zhao Zhen asked a few questions as usual, went through the motions, and then became an official in the palace.

A moment later, the palace promulgated the imperial edict: "Your Majesty has an order to be promoted to the former Jiangning Co-magistrate Xiang Shiyuan as the prefect of Jiangning, and be given a seat to the palace!"

Wei Chen looked at Xiang Shiyuan, who was full of energy in the hall from afar, and was also quite moved.

When the family had supper last night, Zhang Ming also mentioned this person to Wei Chen.

Last July, floods occurred frequently in Hangzhou. The former magistrate of Hangzhou was incompetent and could only sit idly by and watch the people get affected, which made the court very dissatisfied and transferred Chen Du to Hangzhou as the magistrate to rescue and rescue the disaster.

After the prefect Chen Du left, the official who replaced Chen Du to temporarily take charge of the affairs of Jiangning Prefecture was Xiang Shiyuan, the Tongzhi of Jiangning.

Jiangning is Wei Chen's hometown. Jiangning's Wuquan Brewery is a small treasury when Wei Chen started his business, and he saved a lot of money for Wei Chen.

After Wei Chen served as an official, he made a cut with the winery and handed over all the business to Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi.

Of course, Wei Chen was just openly no longer possessing a member of the winery. The ones that should be divided into Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi would not be missing him. He was just handed over to Wei Chen in another way.

For example, this time, I organized a wedding for Wei Chen and bought a wedding house and betrothal gift. I spent a total of tens of thousands of taels of silver. Wei Chen didn't pay a penny, all of which were paid by Wei Ruyi and his wife.

The reason why Wei Chen was confident in handing over the winery business to them was that he had more than ten years of family affection and trust, which was based on the practical considerations of interests.

Nowadays, the glycerin formula is no longer a secret. Once Wei Chen's protection is completely lost, relying on Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi's own strength alone, they will not be able to maintain their share in the winery.

This is destined that regardless of whether Wei Chen nominally holds a stake in the winery, he has a significant influence on the winery. This is not only for Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi, but also another partner, Sheng Wei.

Let’s talk about Xiang Shiyuan.

When Chen Du was the prefect of Jiangning, he had always taken good care of Wuquan Brewery because of his relationship with Wei Chen.

When Shen Du went to Hangzhou, it was logical that it was normal for people in the officialdom to leave tea and cold, so it was natural that Xiang Shiyuan no longer took care of Wuquan Brewery.

But after Chen Du left office, Xiang Shiyuan, who succeeded him, opened the door to Wuquan Brewery as always, which made Zhang Ming feel a little nervous.

Wei Chen was also a little surprised after receiving the news in Yuzhou. He wrote to Chen Du to inquire about the details of Xiang Shiyuan. Only then did he realize that the position of Jiangning's prefect is empty, and Xiang Shiyuan, as a co-magistrate, has been seeking to become a regular person.

Officials who are out of the country must have a background in Beijing if they want to be promoted. One of the most effective methods is to get along with Beijing officials who are from their own jurisdiction.

For example, when Xiang Shiyuan was an official in Jiangning, he had to make friends with Beijing officials from Jiangning and take care of his family and property in the local area. In this way, Beijing officials would also be convenient for promotion.

This is the common power rent-seeking in the officialdom, and there is nothing difficult to say.

In fact, Xiang Shiyuan was able to get what he wanted today, and he was transferred from a magistrate to a prefect. Many officials from Jiangning from Beijing have made some efforts, more or less, and Sheng Hong and even Wei Chen were among them.

The reason why Wei Chen did this was second to consider the winery business was mainly because Chen Du gave Xiang Shiyuan a very high evaluation in the letter. Since this was the case, Wei Chen was happy to go with the flow and promote Xiang Shiyuan.

Of course, Wei Chen himself couldn't figure out how much effect Wei Chen's help played on Xiang Shiyuan's promotion.

Just as the officials were busy congratulating Xiang Shiyuan, they heard the loud voice in the hall: "The governor of Xuan Yuzhou Wei Chen came to the hall!"
Chapter completed!