The East Palace has been established, and the emperor even crowned the newly minted Crown Prince in advance. This is naturally the biggest topic of heated discussion among the people, and other matters have to be put on the back burner. But for many officials, catching the Chief of Ceremonies who suddenly revealed his
Pursuing the weak points and attacking them fiercely is also a top priority. However, the matter of the attendants in the East Palace raised by the emperor also attracted the attention of many people.
How tempting is it to have your children and grandchildren stand beside the future emperor in advance and have their names remembered?
After all, it is not uncommon in this dynasty to have second-generation or even third-generation officials. However, it is not a common practice in this dynasty. Even if the founding honors are noble, their romance will always fall with the rain. Now the family of the founding hero,
It has long since fallen into disrepair, but the lineage passed down by the ancestor of Ge Yong, who had resigned from the title of nobility, has gone through wind and rain and is still splendid.
Who made the Ge family really talented in the imperial examination?
As for the children and grandchildren of Mr. Ge and his family, it is simply too common to fail in the imperial examination. If the imperial examination fails, the only choice is Enyin, but the descendants of Enyin's officials can only hang around in local officials.
It is absolutely impossible to reach the fifth rank in the central government. This is almost an iron rule. Therefore, many people were very excited when they first heard about the matter of serving in the East Palace.
It wasn't until the Sixth Hall of the Imperial Academy was allocated the places for the East Palace Attendants, and the places were determined by examination regardless of one's birth status, countless people were dumbfounded. Especially when people found out who was in charge of the examination, their eyes were shattered.
son.
As the Zongzheng King of Jiangdu, Xu Heigu, the former Chief Superintendent of the Imperial Academy, was transferred to the position of Prince Jiangdu's chief historian to assist King Jiangdu in his examination and selection. As for setting the questions... that was actually the responsibility of the young Prince of the East Palace himself!
"Oh, everyone says that His Highness the Crown Prince is talented and smart, and this is His Highness the Crown Prince's mission to admonish the Emperor?"
Chu Kuan, who was recuperating in his room by the river in the Outer Imperial City, listened to Lu Chan talk about recent events. He had a wet soft towel on his head. He looked sallow and haggard. He couldn't help but think deeply. However, he didn't
He did not give Lu Chan any suggestions, but said lightly: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince implemented the idea proposed by Zhang Shou personally, and the Emperor nodded again, haha..."
"Nowadays, even if all the lecturers and readers take turns to serve in the East Palace, it is difficult to say whether all these lecturers and readers together can be as good as Zhang Shou! Anyway, the director of rituals does not have such talent, and some people say that Ciqing Palace does not need to be able to read and write.
Of eunuchs, now that Ciqing Palace simply doesn’t need any eunuchs, they should be satisfied, right?”
"Ancestor, if you are disheartened, it will really be the end of you!"
Lu Chan finally shivered in shock and knelt down on the ground in front of the bed: "In just a few days of your absence, the Supervisor of Ceremonies has become a mess, and everyone is forming cliques to connect with each other.
Maybe I’m just thinking about you vacating the seat for that palm print, and even when you speak in front of me, you feel weird! Ancestor, His Royal Highness has never had a powerful person around him..."
What this means is that because the eldest prince and the second prince have always been the most powerful candidates for the East Palace, the Chief of Ceremonies has made preparations early and placed new people with high quality around them - even though the eldest prince and the second prince are not as good as they are.
, the carefully selected people did not stand out, but were overshadowed by some villains, but it is better than having no one around the third and fourth princes!
"Now is a time of internal and external troubles, so don't even think about scheming against His Highness the Crown Prince."
Chu Kuan smiled and said calmly: "Liu Feng came out. Not to mention the other people in the palace, even me, in the minds of the Queen Mother, the Emperor and the Crown Prince, maybe he has ulterior motives. Who else wants to run around?
Jump, that's a fool! Of course, if you want to serve His Highness the Crown Prince, I can help you."
"No, no, no!" Even though Lu Chan really wanted to get close to His Highness the Crown Prince, he didn't dare to accept Chu Kuan's words at all. Not only did he not dare to accept them, he didn't even dare to linger anymore. After staying for a while, he hurriedly
He resigned as if he were running away.
As soon as he left, Chu Kuan threw away the soft towel on his forehead, then got out of bed, twisted the soft towel and wiped his face. After a while, the sallow color on his face disappeared and was replaced by a healthy ruddy color.
Just as many people, including Lu Chan, had speculated, apart from his physical defects, he had practiced martial arts since childhood and was in better health than the emperor. He was not sick at all. As for his sallow complexion,
Even a haggard face can be easily disguised.
Even for the pulse, he could prepare a potion at will, or use his own power to cover it up.
Fortunately, the emperor didn't even bother to question whether he had a real illness or a fake one. He directly sent a young medical officer from Tai Hospital with a large bag of medicinal materials including ginseng, deer antler, Ganoderma lucidum, Shouwu, etc., and also gave him instructions.
Stop thinking so wildly. The Queen Mother sent Yuquan to deliver medicine twice, but Yuquan had no intention of checking his pulse. As for other colleagues, it was easier to deal with.
Now that the crown prince has been established and the East Palace is selecting a candidate, the focus of the ceremonial supervisors, Da Yun, has already shifted. They are even busy fighting among themselves, completely forgetting that there is already a group of wolves watching eagerly outside.
Thinking of this, he narrowed his eyes slightly and was lost in thought. When he heard a rustling noise, he frowned and immediately relaxed, but he leaned back comfortably and said calmly: "What's wrong with Mr. Hua Qi?"
Do you have time to come see me, an idler?"
"Of course I'm here to see if this old guy like you is pretending to be sick or if he's really sick." Hua Qi appeared in front of Chu Kuan silently. She didn't dodge when he saw anyone, and she was leaning there with a leisurely look on her face. It didn't matter.
Pretending to be sick, he stood angrily in front of the bed, folded his hands and said, "Why, do you want to lure some restless people from the Supervisor of Ceremonies to jump out, and then put out the fire?"
"Did you know that Wang Jie's memorial had already reached the Secretary of General Affairs before? He, who is known for his strong and responsible leadership, was followed by a large number of ministers and ministers, and now the one who impeached the Secretary of Ceremonies for his various actions
Memorials are like snowflakes, and with the addition of foreign ministers, it won’t be long before the Chief of Ceremonies really turns into a rat crossing the street and everyone is shouting to beat him up?”
"Just shout." Chu Kuan chuckled and said disapprovingly, "Others don't know how much authority the Supervisor of Ceremonies has, but don't you know it? They are just domestic slaves, but many people want more. Those kind people
The church has been around for too long. At first, those people might have been a little compassionate, but over time they have deteriorated."
"Just like those places in the outer city that do some despicable things under the banner of charity halls, do those charity halls really only teach loyalty and righteousness? Haha, they probably teach more loyalty to the ceremonial supervisor! Mr. Hua Qi, can you?
You know, there used to be a waiter in my house, a boy who was emptying the toilet and I stopped him on a whim when I was walking around in the outer imperial city."
The number of eunuchs in this dynasty was small, and the people working in the outer imperial city were all servants who had not yet purified themselves. And these servants were all orphans from the charity halls of the Secretary of Ceremonies. They came to work at the age of thirteen, and they could work at the age of twenty-five. They were required to leave the palace to make a living on their own. These were all people who had been eliminated through layers of screening, so Hua Qiting was surprised when Chu Kuan actually used a handyman who originally emptied toilets as his attendant.
"I never thought that Eunuch Chu would show mercy again."
"I was quite idle at that time, but not that idle. I just asked the person's Shantang where he came from to find out that I didn't care about it. He claimed to be literate, so I asked him to recite the Analects of Confucius. As a result, that The boy, who looked thin and useless, recited the Yan Yuan chapter of the Analects of Confucius to me in one breath. Out of curiosity, I brought him back as a long-term follower, and within a few days, Eunuch Xu came."
Knowing that Chu Kuan was talking about Xu Liu, the former palm seal of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, Hua Qi couldn't help but put away her initial intention of joking. Since the emperor came to the throne, the seal of the Supervisor of Li Li has changed three times, Chu Kuan is the third, and Xu Liu is the third. The second one, who has been in charge of the Supervisor of Ceremonies for fifteen years, has always been known for being cautious and cautious, and has always gotten along well with Chu Kuan. But today, hearing Chu Kuan's tone, he clearly disapproved of Xu Liu.
"Eunuch Xu said that the boy was arrogant and disrespectful in the inner study hall, so he was kicked out to empty the toilet. His talent is good, but he has no personality. He is not a good material and is not suitable for me to be a pawn. Long follow. I always give him three points, and of course I won’t let him take someone back just because he has a grudge against a handyman.”
"Then this kid never showed up in the palace again. You know, he didn't say a few words to me at all. I have several followers around me, so how can he, a newcomer, get a chance to get close to me?"
"But since I can't see the living person or the dead body, I have to investigate carefully. After this investigation, I found out that the inner study hall is indeed known as teaching classics and history, and uses the method of training scholars to train the future pillars of the ceremonial supervisor - although I think the word "beam" is too conceited to describe people like us - but once you enter, you will never get out."
"The boy who emptied the toilet was once the number one in the inner study hall. He just had an idea in his heart and didn't want to cleanse himself. He just wanted to do a good job as a handyman for ten years and then leave the palace, live an ordinary life, and raise a son who can study. .The result? If a boy who grew up in a charity school and has been raised to read and write dares to be so disloyal, of course he will be kicked out to empty toilets and work as a handyman as punishment."
"When I get involved unintentionally again, I probably suspect that kid knows something else. Even if he doesn't deserve to die, he deserves to die!"
Even if Hua Qi didn't say that he was a good person, he still knew about 70% of the skills of the Supervisor of Ceremonies. After all, at the beginning, he wanted to train Ah Liu, who was quite talented, to become a servant of the imperial court! As for the Supervisor of Ceremonies, whom outsiders are criticizing now Being unfilial would mean being unfaithful, and he would sneer at it.
They have already thrown away the children they cannot afford to raise and care whether they live or die. Are these parents still going to be filial? Are they crazy?
You can say that you can't afford to raise your children, so you have to throw them away with pain and tears, but since you have thrown them away, then they are not the parents, but the enemies who harmed their children's lives. Severing kindness and righteousness is never considered light. I have never heard of the victim still Be filial to the perpetrator!
Therefore, Hua Qi sneered, and then said clearly: "So, you really want to take the opportunity to make those guys jump out, and then catch them all in one fell swoop? Well, then I will go back and tell the emperor to let him be ruthless. I’m going to warn you, it’s best to demote you to another three levels, I think then the palace will be full of demons.”
"Then I would like to thank Mr. Hua Qi for making it happen." Chu Kuan chuckled, and then said nonchalantly, "I have seen all kinds of scenery in my life, and I really don't care about power and position for a long time. Since you If you talk about being demoted to the third level, then you might as well send me to sweep the floor in Qianqing Palace, which is just a good time to talk to Youyou."
Hua Qi had already walked slowly out the door. When he heard this, he couldn't believe it. He glanced back at Chu Kuan to make sure that he was not talking nonsense. He frowned and stood for a while, and then said angrily. : "I will take what you say, but if you want to act, don't go too far."
Watching the elusive guy leave through the main entrance, Chu Kuan rubbed his hands gently, knowing in his heart that all his chess pieces were out, but some had already floated on the water, and some were still sinking into the water. The next step was to wait.
Zhang Shou already had the right time, place and people, and even Confucius, a great scholar, was in trouble. Although he had used Hong's chess move, the effect was limited. As for those famous scholars, he had many ways to do it. exerting influence, but expecting these people to be able to establish the same level of trust with the third prince as they had with Zhang Shou is a fool's errand.
When we meet in humble circumstances, this is the stage where it is easiest to forge deep friendships. Even if we may share hardships and not be rich together in the future, that will be a matter of the future. I have to say that Zhang Shou's luck is simply extremely good.
There were endless disputes outside, but inside the East Palace, there was a lot of reading and calm. As the third prince asked for a ten-day wedding leave for his senior brother Lu Sanlang, the emperor specially approved the name of Jiuzhangtang's tutor and gave him Everyone had a ten-day vacation to move from the Imperial Academy to the outer city. Lu Sanlang was so happy that he even invited a lot of classmates and juniors to be his besties.
Seeing that Jiuzhang Hall is thriving, everyone in Banshan Hall, who had lost their energy after the previous division, heard that the emperor was also moving Banshan Hall to the Outer City Public School. They originally wanted Banshan Hall to have a quota for the East Palace attendants. Everyone exploded.
For example, Zhang Datou, who was finally able to go to the ground after being beaten, raised his arms and brought a group of people to join Zhang Shou, but some people preferred to join the Sixth Hall of the Imperial Academy. As for Xungui and He, who originally planned to send their incompetent children and grandchildren to Banshan Hall. Officials were in a dilemma.
And Zhang Shou, who had a rare ten-day free life - after all, the public school had Lu Wan, who was full of energy, distracted but still in high spirits. He had no intention of fighting for power - he had some He was curious about how Zhu Ying went to meet the girl on the list of concubines, but Zhu Ying would rather ask Hong to accompany him than to let him take care of her, so he simply gave Ah Liu a task to keep an eye on Zhang Chen.
As for himself, of course he had to be a good student. Accompanying his teachers Ge Yong and Qi Chu, he met astronomical and mathematical talents from all walks of life in Beijing. He was dizzy by the bombardment of all kinds of stars, and had to study hard. Such common knowledge of astronomy in these days.
It's a pity that he is probably better at the names of galaxies, clusters and constellations. He can remember the names of things like the Twenty-eight Constellations and distinguish the stars clearly. Now he still needs to help Ge Yong improve some calculation methods... He It's really tricky.
After three or four days, it was the happiest day of Lu Sanlang's life. The wedding ceremony was decorated with flowers and candles! When Zhang Shou arrived at the Lu family with congratulatory gifts, Lu Dalang stepped forward and saluted, and then gave the instructions that his father had prepared long ago. .
"My father said that we must invite Academician Zhang to sit in chief today!"