After listening to Wei Chen's explanation, Sheng Changbai's expression softened slightly.
He did not suspect that what Wei Chen said was false.
Yesterday, Wei Chen hung up his nine-faced title card and entered the city, causing the city's officers and people to rush to tell each other, causing quite a stir. Sheng Changbai also heard about it in the Hanlin Academy.
Zhuang Jun was at home, so it was natural for Wei Chen to go back to meet his mentor first. If he rushed to the Sheng family in a hurry, it would be a real matter of priority.
As soon as he thought of this, most of Sheng Changbai's resentment towards Wei Chen disappeared.
Wei Chen caught a glimpse of his uncle's expression and immediately struck a chord while the iron was hot: "Zecheng, don't you like Wang Mojie's paintings the most? I just happened to find a painting of Wang Mojie's "Snow Stream" by accident in Yuzhou.
Could you please take the time to help me identify the authenticity of this painting?"
"Wang Mojie, Snow Creek Picture?" Sheng Changbai's eyes lit up when he heard this.
Wang Mojie is Wang Wei, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty. He admired Buddhism and liked mountains and rivers. He was extremely accomplished in poetry and was known as the Buddha of Poetry. Lan
In addition to poetry, he is also particularly good at painting, and he combined the two art forms of poetry and painting. There is painting in the poem, and there is poetry in the painting. He has a great influence on the literati paintings of later generations.
The picture of the snowy creek mentioned by Wei Chen is an example of Wang Wei using snow to paint and write poems with pictures.
Sheng Changbai was a die-hard supporter of Wang Wei's poetry and paintings. When he heard that Wei Chen had Wang Wei's painting of a snowy stream in his hand, his self-cultivation was reduced a bit, and his eyes flashed with unconcealable joy.
"Where is the painting?"
Sheng Changbai asked impatiently, and kept looking into Wei Chen's arms, as if expecting Wei Chen to take out the painting and show it to him on the spot.
Wei Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he saw this, so he had to say: "The painting is still in my house, don't worry, I will have someone send it to you later."
Sheng Changbai also realized that he had lost his composure. He coughed lightly, straightened his appearance, and then nodded indifferently. Lan
Seeing this scene, Wang Yaochen couldn't help but smile and shook his head.
Sheng Changbai always behaved in a dignified and rigorous manner in the Hanlin Academy. He was young and mature but taciturn. Only in front of Wei Chen could he open up his heart like this and reveal his true nature.
It was almost noon, and all the officials who were chatting with each other fell silent. They quickly stood up and left their seats, and kowtowed and sang in the direction of Jianji Hall.
The emperor has arrived.
"Your Majesty has a decree!"
A chamberlain walked out of the palace to read the imperial edict.
"In ancient times, when emperors governed the world, they had to be broad-minded and wise to prevent obstruction. I know the importance of appointing officials, so I followed the methods of Yao and Shun and asked foreign officials to come to the court to inquire about their words and deeds and examine their achievements in order to observe them.
Is it possible? If you can manage effectively, you will be considered a virtuous person. Why should the world worry if you don’t manage it! 阑
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Those who are qualified will be promoted; those who are ordinary will be reinstated; those who are incompetent will be demoted; those who are corrupt will be punished by the law; those who have no virtue and talent will be exempted from being common people. Now I hand it over to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for merit examination, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ducha
The court will conduct a joint inspection and inform all officials and people in three days!"
These punitive measures sound scary, but since Zhao Zhen is the emperor today, they are actually just like that in practice.
Moreover, now that Zhao Zhen is old and weak in ambition, he cannot move as quietly as he should, so he will definitely not make a big move during the Hajj inspection.
Therefore, the officials below did not take it seriously. They just respectfully accepted the order and thanked them for their kindness.
After the imperial edict was read out, the chamberlain shouted at the top of his lungs that the banquet was open, and all the officials stood up and took their seats again.
Then I heard a loud shout from the palace: "Xuan, Xiang Shiyuan, the co-president of Jiangning, has come to the palace to see you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged official with a short beard stood up happily. All the officials at the table looked at him with envy.阑
The so-called Hajj inspection naturally involves rewards and punishments. The punishments will not be announced at the banquet, otherwise it will be too shameful, but the rewards can be given on the spot, pushing the atmosphere of the banquet to a higher climax.
At this time, Jiangning's colleague Xiang Shiyuan, who was summoned, slowly walked into the Jianji Hall under the guidance of the chamberlain.
Zhao Zhen asked a few questions as usual, went through the formalities, and then conferred the title of official.
After a while, a decree was announced in the palace: "Your Majesty has decreed that Xiang Shiyuan, the former Jiangning magistrate, be promoted to the magistrate of Jiangning, and he will be given a seat in the palace!"
Wei Chen looked at the high-spirited Xiang Shiyuan in the palace from a distance, and felt quite emotional in his heart.
Last night when the family was having dinner and chatting, Zhang Ming mentioned this person to Wei Chen.
In July last year, floods occurred frequently in Hangzhou. The former governor of Hangzhou, Yong Qian, was incompetent and could only sit back and watch the people suffer. The court was very dissatisfied and transferred Shen Du to Hangzhou as the governor to carry out emergency rescue and disaster relief.阑
After the prefect Shen Du left, the official who succeeded Shen Du to temporarily take charge of Jiangning government affairs was Xiang Shiyuan, a fellow magistrate of Jiangning.
Jiangning is Wei Chen's hometown, and Jiangning's Wuquan Winery was Wei Chen's small treasury when he started his business, saving a lot of wealth for Wei Chen.
After Wei Chen became an official, he cut ties with the winery and handed over all business matters to Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi.
Of course, Wei Chen only officially no longer has a share in the winery. Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi will not lose any of his share of the share, but they will just give it to Wei Chen in another way.
For example, this time I spent tens of thousands of taels of silver on organizing Wei Chen's wedding, purchasing a wedding house and a betrothal gift. Wei Chen didn't pay a penny, it was all paid by Wei Ruyi and his wife.
The reason why Wei Chen confidently handed over the winery business to them was due to more than ten years of family affection and trust, but it was also based on practical considerations of interests.
Nowadays, the glycerin formula is no longer a secret. Once Wei Chen's protection is completely lost, Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi will not be able to keep their shares in the winery with their own strength.阑
This also determines that no matter whether Wei Chen holds shares in the winery in name or not, he will have a decisive influence on the winery, not only on Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi, but also on another partner Sheng Wei. p>
Let’s talk about Xiang Shiyuan.
When Shen Du was the prefect of Jiangning, he always took good care of Wuquan Winery because of his relationship with Wei Chen.
When Shen Du went to Hangzhou, it stands to reason that it was normal for people in official circles to take tea to cool off, so it was natural for Xiang Shiyuan to no longer take care of Wu Quan Winery.
But after Shen Du left office, Xiang Shiyuan, who succeeded him, opened the door to Wuquan Winery as usual, which made Zhang Ming a little uneasy.
After Wei Chen got the news in Yuzhou, he was a little strange. He wrote to Shen Du to inquire about the details of this scholar. Only then did he know that the position of Jiangning magistrate was vacant and that Xiang Shiyuan, a fellow scholar, had been seeking to become a regular official.
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Officials who are sent to other places must have connections in Beijing if they want to be promoted. One of the most effective ways is to make good friends with Beijing officials who were born in the area under their jurisdiction.阑
For example, when Xiang Shiyuan was an official in Jiangning, he had to make good friends with the Beijing officials from Jiangning and take care of his family's property locally. In this way, the Beijing officials would facilitate his promotion.
This is power rent-seeking that is common in official circles, and there is nothing unspeakable about it.
In fact, Xiang Shiyuan was able to get what he wanted today and was promoted from Tongzhi to magistrate. Many Jiangning-based officials from the capital contributed, more or less, including Sheng Hong and even Wei Chen. p>
The reason why Wei Chen did this was only secondary to the wine shop business, mainly because Shen Du gave Xiang Shiyuan a very high evaluation in his letter. In this case, Wei Chen was happy to follow the trend and give Xiang Shiyuan a thumbs up. p>
Of course, Wei Chen himself couldn't figure out how much Wei Chen's help played in Xiang Shiyuan's promotion.
Just when the officials were busy congratulating Xiang Shiyuan, they heard a loud voice from the palace: "Wei Chen, the magistrate of Xuan Yuzhou, comes to the palace!"