The Yamen in Jinling City are the same as those in Guobeicheng.
There were certain specifications for the construction of yamen by the imperial court. The yamen in prosperous places were not more grand, but the yamen in remote places were poorer.
At most, the government offices in prosperous places are repaired and well taken care of, making them appear newer.
The layout of the yamen is the same, which avoids the embarrassment of not recognizing people who have entered the yamen when they go to another yamen.
"Master Li, please wait here while I let you go and inform the Lord." The yamen servant named He Yong stopped walking with his hands raised.
"Thank you." Li Xiuyuan nodded.
In the yamen at this moment, a middle-aged man with a thin face, a serious expression, and no anger or self-respect is sitting in front of the documents, carefully reading and correcting the documents sent from various places.
It has only been a few months since the floods, and the aftermath of the plague has barely subsided. It is the winter season again, and there are already overflowing refugees in various places in Yangzhou. As a county magistrate in various places, the prefect has many things to do, and he, the imperial envoy, is even more busy.
The responsibility is even more important. If something goes wrong, not only will you be held accountable, but you will also lose the trust of the emperor and the expectations of the people.
But below this middle-aged official, there were still several officials sitting.
These are all local officials, but now these officials are very cautious. They used to be in high positions in the yamen, but now they can only accompany this gentleman to handle government affairs, and they don't dare to be lazy.
Because the imperial envoy in front of me is the minister of war of the imperial court. He is ordered to provide disaster relief and save lives at this moment. It can be said that he has a high position of power. No one dares to offend him.
At this time, a civil servant walked in from the side carefully and quickly, and whispered a few words cautiously in the ear of Fu Tianqiu, the Minister of War.
Fu Tianchou, the Minister of War, put down the documents in his hand, raised his head and said with a bit of surprise: "Oh, you said that Li Xiuyuan, the one who quelled the flood and plague in Guo Beicheng, is here?"
"Yes, sir, just now a yamen servant saw him looking at the list outside the yamen, and now he is waiting outside," the clerk said.
Fu Tianchou stroked his beard and nodded and said: "Although he is a scholar, he saved the lives of a whole city of people when the disaster struck, and spread the method of treating the plague to countless people. Even though he was not a scholar,
I also want to meet this man of great kindness and virtue. Go and invite Li Xiuyuan to come in. I want to see who this person is and how capable he is."
The clerk responded and retreated.
Fu Tianchou said again: "My lords, please take a closer look at this Li Xiuyuan to see if he really has real talent and learning. If so, I will definitely recommend him to the emperor for promotion."
All the officials under his command were shocked.
Isn't this Fu Tianchou too straightforward? He said he wanted to be promoted without seeing him?
"Ahem, Mr. Fu, I think this person, regardless of his moral integrity, is just a scholar at the moment. If you want to promote him, you have to wait until he passes the Jinshi examination, otherwise it is against the rules."
It was an official with a fair face and no beard. He was none other than the acting magistrate of Guobei County who had crossed paths with Li Xiuyuan, named Song Yuan.
Now that the situation is stable, Song Yuan naturally withdrew and replaced him with another prefect.
"I think that if Li Xiuyuan is really talented and hard-working, it would be inappropriate to recommend him to the imperial court." Some officials agreed with Fu Tianchou's request.
They didn't mean what they said, they were just saying it to suit Fu Tianchou's words.
Fu Tianqiu said with a smile: "Let's put aside the matter of recommendation and promotion for now. I'll ask you all to study carefully first, and I will decide based on the situation. Several of you are all Jinshi, and some of them even went to Tongtian Pavilion to follow them.
I am Zhuge Wolong's bachelor, and his literary talent is first-class. I believe he will not disappoint me in the future."
"Your Excellency, please rest assured that the imperial court will review talents carefully and will never be partial." Several officials said righteously, while some of them had long beards and were proud of themselves.
After all, officials who were born as scholars care most about reputation and talent, which is more important than their being an official and benefiting the whole place.
"That's good." Fu Tianchou nodded.
After a while, Li Xiuyuan was led to the lobby by a civil servant.
Li Xiuyuan glanced slightly and saw these people sitting in front of the desk, wearing official uniforms. They were all high officials from all over Yangzhou. The official uniform of the leader was different from the others. It was the official uniform of the six departments of the imperial court.
Judging by his style, he should be the Minister of War.
"Li Xiuyuan, who was born late in Guobei County, has met all of you, sir." He cupped his hands and saluted.
As a scholar, he could meet officials without kneeling, and he would not call himself a villain, just a late student.
"Excuse me, are you Li Xiuyuan? I heard that you helped relieve floods and plagues in Guo Beicheng. Is this true?"
Fu Tianqiu's voice was calm, and he carefully looked at the elegant-looking scholar in front of him.
But I saw that Li Xiuyuan was tall and straight, with a handsome appearance, and his eyes were clear and lively. There was an air of majesty that was hard to be discerned when he looked around. This majesty was not the majesty of being in a high position for a long time, but a kind of convincing and trustworthy one.
Majesty, in addition to that, he does not have the weak posture of an ordinary scholar. Instead, his body is strong and strong, and there is even wind in his feet, which shows that this person is also a vigorous and resolute person.
Fu Tianchou has seen countless people, and he couldn't help but admire him in his heart at this moment. This person is a dragon and a phoenix among people.
It's just the appearance, I don't know what it's like on the inside.
"However, Wansheng contributed to the flood disaster and spread the prescription to treat the plague. Moreover, Wansheng did not do this alone. His friends Ning Caichen, Wang Ping, Zhu Yu and others also contributed a lot.
." Li Xiuyuan said.
"Their names are somewhat familiar." Fu Tianchou suddenly said with some confusion.
A local official raised his hand and said, "Sir, Ning Caichen is at the top of this imperial examination. Wang Ping and Zhu Yu are also on the list and have won the title of scholar."
"I see, no wonder it sounds familiar."
Fu Tianchou nodded and said: "The fact that you can mention their names here shows that you are also a person who values ​​friendship. Yes, it is rare and valuable. I heard that you spent tens of thousands of taels of silver on this disaster relief. Is this true?"
Li Xiuyuan said: "It's true."
"Where are the flowers?" Fu Tianchou asked.
"Hire young men and women to quell floods and cure plagues," Li Xiuyuan replied.
"Why do you hire young men and women? Why don't you hire women? They are old and weak?"
Li Xiuyuan said: "When there is a flood, the victims are all over the place. It is easy for young people to get together and cause trouble. Once the disaster relief is not timely, there is a possibility of rebellion. Therefore, they spend a lot of money to hire young people. One way is to solve the flood, the other is to solve the rebellion. The third thing is that the young people are here."
If you are strong enough, you can provide disaster relief quickly. If there is a rebellion, you can also train as a soldier. At the worst, you can defend the city against the enemy."
Fu Tianchou smiled and said: "You can think of these, you are already a magistrate with talents, but with the disaster, are you really willing to spend tens of thousands of taels of silver to hire young men for no reason?"
Li Xiuyuan said seriously: "I am a child of a merchant family. If I use the word business to talk about it, it will naturally be a loss, but if I look at it from a long-term perspective, it will be a gain. Disasters and injustices will affect the family business, and plagues and injustices will affect the family business.
It will also hurt your loved ones, and as the ancients said, if you are successful, you can help the world, if you are poor, you can only take care of yourself. If you are born late, you will naturally practice the principles of sages."
His words were not remarks for the occasion, but the truth.
The Li family owns the property in Guobei City, and plagues and floods have spread to Guobei County. If he doesn't go to the disaster relief, there will be real turmoil, and his family will lose more than ten thousand taels.
Only short-sighted businessmen will live on their own one-third of an acre. When disaster strikes, the great family fortune will be handed over to others.
Li Xiuyuan's words are flawless and completely consistent with the image in the minds of scholars that everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of a country.
Any scholar who doesn't have a problem with Li Xiuyuan will appreciate it very much.
Several officials nearby nodded their heads after hearing this, and Song Yuan was no exception.
But he had forgotten what happened that day. Of course he would not remember that he was tied up by Li Xiuyuan's guards, knelt on the ground and almost beheaded.
Fu Tianchou also laughed and said: "Well said, you eat the emperor's salary and worry about the emperor's worries. You can quell the epidemic in a city and a place as a scholar. It really impresses me. I decided
After returning to Beijing this time, I will recommend you to the imperial court and ask you to serve the country."
"Sir, it is against the rules for a scholar to serve as an official." Li Xiuyuan said.
He was not dazzled by the so-called benefits, because he knew very well that if he became an official all of a sudden without following the rules, the end would definitely be bad.
There were so many candidates, but Jinshi did not become an official. Now I was ahead of them. Wouldn't this offend the public?
Fu Tianchou said, "Although there are violations, if you can pass the examination in the spring of next year, you will be able to participate in the autumn palace examination. In this case, there will be no violations."
Li Xiuyuan was stunned. How could the scholar examination be so fast? It would take at least next year, and the palace examination would be scheduled four years later.
He must pass every exam, and it will take him five years to become a Jinshi.
"Sir, do you want to exonerate Enke?" Suddenly, Song Yuan said with a bit of surprise.
Song Yuan's words immediately reminded Li Xiuyuan.
Yes, the court and Enke said so. The so-called Enke is to temporarily add an exam to shorten the time of the imperial examination. Scholars who meet Enke are lucky, because they can take the exam one more time. If the time is right,
There are exams twice a year.
"Haha, of course." Fu Tianchou said with a smile: "This time, the emperor has asked the old minister to grant permission to open Enke in Yangzhou once to quell the public complaints."
Li Xiuyuan also became a little happy.
If Enke were to succeed, as long as he passed the Juren examination, he would be able to catch up with the imperial examination next year. Not to mention being the top pick, it would be enough to be the Jinshi.
Completing the imperial examination process in advance can also save a lot of time.
"But I want to recommend you to the emperor, so you can learn well, otherwise it will be difficult to convince the public. Today I am recruiting you, firstly to ask about disaster management, and secondly, to test your talents and knowledge."
After Fu Tianchou finished speaking, he pointed at the other officials in the hall and said: "The adults here are all Jinshi, and they will test you today. If you are really talented and knowledgeable, I will spare no effort to promote you."
Fan, let you serve the imperial court."
After saying this, he stopped abruptly.
Obviously, if Li Xiuyuan is not good enough, this promotion will not happen again.
If there were other scholars here, they would definitely be envious of Li Xiuyuan. After all, the man in front of him was the Minister of War of the Imperial Court, a high-ranking and powerful official.
If he is upright and upright, the road ahead can be said to be a smooth one.