Three days before the exam, Zhao Donghe, a scholar that Tang Bing had won, and now the magistrate of Daxing County, sent someone to post a message in the name of his fellow disciples, inviting Yuzhu to attend the banquet tomorrow.
Under normal circumstances, the county magistrate is the seventh rank. However, Wanping County and Daxing County belong to "Jingxian", and the county magistrates are both the sixth rank.
Although the county magistrate of the capital is attached to the capital, there are a lot of troubles. However, as long as you deal with the wealthy families well, you can be promoted very quickly.
It is no exaggeration to say that anyone who can become the magistrate of Daxing County has a strong backing.
As the saying goes, there are only three things to do. Don't hit the smiling person with your hand, and there is a friendship between teachers. Yuzhu has pushed twice before, so he nodded in agreement this time.
Zhao Donghe made an appointment in the afternoon, but did not mention the specific time. No matter when Yuzhu went there, he would not be late.
Since Zhao Donghe is so knowledgeable, Yuzhu is also willing to give him face so that he will not wait in vain all afternoon.
At two o'clock in the morning, Yuzhu arrived at the agreed place by car. Zhao Donghe was at a villa in Jiufang Hutong in the city.
After receiving the reward, Zhao Donghe greeted him outside the gate with a smile, cupped his hands and said, "Junior brother is a man of temperament. Brother Yu, I won't say those false polite words, everything is here." He lightly beat his chest.
He is indeed a person who is good at dancing!
Yuzhu smiled and said: "Senior brother, thank you for waiting for a long time. I will punish myself with three cups later as an apology."
Interpersonal communication is essentially an exchange of interests and giving each other face. Now that Yuzhu is here, he naturally hopes that the atmosphere will be better.
Zhao Donghe looked deeply at Yuzhu, laughed, and said, "I'll drink the fine wine with you."
His skill in making face and making peace with the mud is top-notch.
When walking in, even if Yuzhu was smiling and silent, Zhao Donghe could still pick out some of his childhood embarrassments and make them funny, as if he and Yuzhu had known each other for many years.
Wu Jiang, who was following behind, had seen a bit of the world, but how did he know that there was someone like Zhao Donghe who didn't regard him as an outsider at all?
This villa was specially built by Zhao Donghe for the convenience of entertaining distinguished guests after he became the magistrate of Daxing County.
Zhao Donghe's rank is not high, but his actual power is not small. Daxing County is a place where giant businessmen from all provinces gather, so his eunuchs are naturally bulging.
Since Yuzhu was born, he has never looked at anyone's eyes or been angered by anyone. Even if he wanted to cultivate the ability to dance well, he did not have the environment.
Since the age of ten, Yuzhu has adhered to a basic principle: thousands of words are worth speaking in silence.
Zhao Donghe's saliva was dry, but Yuzhu just nodded and smiled frequently, always holding the attitude of listening more and talking less, which was very troublesome.
Are they completely different from the arrogant Tong family?
Zhao Donghe suppressed his doubts and invited Yuzhu into the West Flower Hall, which was specially used to receive distinguished guests.
After the guests and hosts were seated, Zhao Donghe clapped his hands gently and saw two extremely beautiful twin little girls coming gracefully carrying tea trays.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of the twin girls having tea, Zhao Donghe observed them quietly. Yuzhu seemed to be fine and didn't even look at them.
Zhao Donghe was only a Tongjinshi at the end of the top three. He was assigned to the ministry after failing to pass the shujishi exam. After observing the government for one year, he was appointed as the seventh-rank magistrate of Wuqing County.
In just three years, Zhao Donghe was promoted to the sixth rank of Daxing County Magistrate. He relied on his quick mind and observation of words and deeds.
Zhao Donghe's eyes are extremely poisonous. After being exposed to them a few times, he will be able to find his weak points and then suit him. Otherwise, would his big backers appreciate him so much?
Yuzhu was not interested in the twin girls. Zhao Donghe rolled his eyes and then thought of a new move.
As long as we are human, we always have hobbies, and hobbies are our weaknesses. Some people love money, some are lustful, and some like antique calligraphy and painting. These are all easy to deal with.
However, Zhao Donghe couldn't see through Yuzhu's preferences for a while, which made it difficult to deal with it.
The servants here are all clever people who have been trained for a long time. They often only need to look away and they know how to please their master.
When Yuzhu picked up the tea cup, an ethereal ancient clang sound suddenly sounded in the yard.
He doesn't have much musical talent, but he can roughly hear it, like "House of Flying Daggers"?
Seeing Yuzhu listening to the zheng music attentively, Zhao Donghe couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as you have hobbies, just have hobbies!
After playing the song, Zhao Donghe said with a smile: "My sister-in-law likes playing the piano and playing zheng. She didn't know that you were here, junior brother, and disturbed the distinguished guests. Please forgive me, junior brother."
Yuzhu smiled, there was no reason to let his biological sister show her face in front of others, maybe she was mistaken for her godmother?
Seeing through what happened on the scene, Yuzhu simply pretended to be confused and did not continue.
Originally, Zhao Donghe was waiting for Yuzhu to praise her for playing Zheng well, so he took the opportunity to lead the beauty out and let Yuzhu come face to face.
Who would have thought that Yuzhu didn't play according to common sense. Zhao Donghe punched the cotton, and he immediately lost his leverage, making him feel somewhat resentful.
Zhao Donghe knew that Yuzhu was still young, so giving him several beautiful maids was not just for him to take and enjoy them right away, but to facilitate him to send them off to other nobles.
In these days, it was so common for the rich and powerful to give each other beautiful maids, concubines, or young husband-in-laws that they were not even worth mentioning.
Although Zhao Donghe had been waiting in the house, he did not expect Yuzhu to come so early.
The company he had arranged in advance had not arrived yet, and it was difficult to send someone to rush him. Zhao Donghe could only be patient, work hard, and try his best not to make Yuzhu feel bored.
As Zhao Donghe, Yuzhu came as promised, which was a huge favor.
Yuzhu is not someone who accepts posts casually, and he doesn't have much time to waste on meaningless social interactions.
After all, Zhao Donghe is a local snake in Daxing County. If Yuzhu comes to make a good relationship today, he may be useful in the future.
When Zhao Donghe brought the topic back to Tang Bing, Yuzhu was obviously willing to talk more. He couldn't help but secretly regret that he had taken a long detour.
"Junior brother, when it comes to the imperial examination, I have a rule of thumb: guess the questions in advance, and then make hundreds of more papers and memorize them all."
Zhao Donghe knew very well that Tang Bing was very knowledgeable, proficient in Manchu and Mongolian, and he was also a good person. However, his official position had been stagnant, mainly because he had no hard backer to help him promote it.
How could it be such a coincidence that someone who had not touched the rank of fifth-rank servant for almost ten years was immediately promoted to the rank of Zuo Shuzi after accepting Yuzhu, a disciple who entered the house?
What's more important is that, with the title of "Study Master" and becoming the teacher of the princes, this status is extremely valuable.
Yuzhu is definitely worth investing a lot of money in!
After so many years of building relationships through the back door, Zhao Donghe realized a truth: don't be afraid of losing face by clinging to powerful people and climbing up the ladder.
If you don't have thick skin, how can you climb up?