Li Weijin pricked up his ears to listen to the conversation in the yard.
"I am his wife, what do you want from my husband?"
"It turns out to be Mrs. Li. We came from Chang'an and wanted to talk to Li Shuling."
Coming from Chang'an, Li Weijin felt excited. Regardless of his physical condition, he quickly got up and put on his outer clothes.
Yang had already invited the two guests to sit down in the room, and asked Achun to boil water.
At this time, Li Weijin walked out quickly. Yang was shocked and said, "Husband, you are not feeling well yet. Go back and lie down quickly."
Li Weijin waved his hand, "I'm fine, don't worry!"
The two officials stood up, saluted, and introduced themselves: "We are coming from Chang'an. I am Zhang Jinguang, a member of the Recommendation Department of the Civil Affairs Department of the Prince of Jin's Palace. This is Yao Min, the chief secretary of the Imperial College. I came from Chang'an to visit Li Shuling."
.”
"It turns out it's two superior officers. I'm sorry to say that I'm rude. Please sit down."
The three of them sat down and Zhang Jinguang asked with concern: "I heard from Madam that Director Li is sick. Is it serious?"
Li Weijin sighed and said: "Actually, it's not a serious illness. It's just that my family has been in a difficult situation recently. There is too much pressure and worry has become a disease."
His family was completely destitute, and his wife was wearing patched old clothes. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that, and there was nothing to hide.
Zhang Jinguang nodded, "We have visited several officials in the past two days. Our families are very poor. No one can bear it without salary for several months! His Royal Highness the King of Jin also learned about this situation, and he planned to give the serving officials in Chengdu a little life."
The subsidy, which is about two dollars a month, will be paid out this month. It is not much, but it can be regarded as a little kindness from His Highness the King of Jin to the officials."
"This is great!"
Li Weijin was suddenly surprised and happy. With two dollars, he could pay the rent and buy rice.
He quickly told his wife, "Go and boil water for the guests."
"Ah Chun has already left, I'll go and urge him."
Mrs. Yang was also very happy and hurriedly went out. Li Weijin said apologetically: "There is really no tea at home, so I can only drink some plain water."
Zhang Jinguang waved his hand and said with a smile: "No need to bother, we came to see Li Shuling for something important."
"What's going on?" Li Weijin asked.
Next to him, Yao Min said: "That's right, according to the request of His Highness the King of Jin, the Imperial College has begun to implement changes. Imperial College continues to teach Confucianism, while Imperial College has been transformed into a professional school, such as medicine, arithmetic, astronomy and geography, agriculture, and water conservancy.
, metallurgy, spinning and dyeing, weapons, etc. In the future, officials will be divided into civil servants, military attachés and full-time officers. Full-time officers must be proficient in their professions and cultivate some master craftsmen who can invent and create. The biggest problem of Taixue now is the lack of teachers. We
We selected a group of outstanding officials from all over the world and wanted to hire them to teach at Taixue, and Li Shuling was among them, specializing in teaching metallurgy."
Li Weijin was stunned. He was not mentally prepared at all. After a while, he stammered: "I'm afraid I'm not very talented..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Jinguang interrupted him with a smile, "Everyone said this. It's so modest. We have strict selection methods. The list was approved by Du Sima and Pan Changshi. I want to tell Li Shuling
It is clear that instead of leaving the officialdom and becoming an external professor, Li Shuling will continue to serve as a seventh-grade assistant professor. The salary will be determined according to the official rank of the seventh-grade official, and then add a Taixue subsidy of 5 guan per month, which adds up to about 15 gu per month, and
An official residence covering an area of two acres..."
‘Bang!’
The sound of bowls and basins being knocked over came from outside the door. Yang's face turned red and she kept saying, "Sorry! Sorry! I made a mistake. I'll boil water again."
"Madam, don't bother me anymore. We drank a lot of water today and we are really full."
"I'm sorry then!" Ms. Yang quickly winked at her husband.
Li Weijin sighed and said, "You guys sit down for a while while I go."
When he came to the yard, Ms. Yang grabbed her husband's hand and said excitedly: "Husband, please agree quickly. This opportunity will be gone once it passes."
"Don't worry, I'll ask clearly. If it's a good thing, I will definitely agree."
"Well, you have to think about your children's education!"
Li Weijin felt awe-struck in his heart. His son was still out of school at home. He nodded, "I understand!"
Li Weijin came back again. At this time, Zhang Jinguang had taken out two documents and put them on the table. He said with a smile: "One is the appointment letter from the Department of Civil Affairs, and the other is the appointment letter from the Imperial College. There are Pan Changshi and Du Sima on it."
With these two seals, please report to the Chang'an Official Affairs Department."
Li Weijin was still in a state of confusion. He looked at the document in quadruplicate. The document from the Department of Civil Affairs appointed him as a seventh-grade Chaosan Lang and as a teaching assistant. This was an official rank and position. The Imperial College assigned him the title of Metallurgical Class.
The professor's appointment letter, which is the specific position, has the seals of Sima Duyou and Chief Shi Pan Liao, as well as the official seals of the Department of Personnel and the Imperial College.
After a while, he gradually regained his senses. He pondered for a moment and said: "In principle, I accept the appointment, but what about the official position here?"
Zhang Jinguang smiled and said: "For the official position here, just write a resignation letter, and we will arrange to hand it over to your boss. This time, you are not the only one, but a total of seventeen people have been hired. Everyone is willing to work in Chang'an, so we also acquiesce to Li Shuling's request."
If you are willing to go, if there is no problem, please sign and deposit, and we will take away two copies."
Hearing that there were still sixteen people like him, Li Weijin breathed a sigh of relief. He took a pen and ink, signed his name on the two documents, and left his fingerprints.
At this time, he suddenly remembered an important question. His family had no financial problems at all, and he still owed five months' rent. How could he leave?
Li Weijin's face heated up, and he squeaked, "Can you advance a little salary first?"
Zhang Jinguang laughed, quickly fetched a wooden box from outside, put it on the table, opened the box, and found that it was full of silver ingots, "This is three hundred taels of silver, it is the An family's silver for you, every official who goes to Chang'an
All, and then I will tell you how to get there. We will meet at Gaosheng Inn outside Beicheng tomorrow morning and set off together at noon."
"Leaving tomorrow?" Li Weijin was surprised.
Zhang Jinguang nodded, "We have been here for several days. In order to avoid long nights and many dreams, now that we have decided, we will set off immediately. All the departure matters are prepared. You pack your luggage tonight and try to bring as little luggage as possible. Throw away the worthless ones!
After returning to Chang'an, there are new furniture, daily necessities, bedding, etc. in the official residence."
"Will it be intercepted?" Li Weijin hesitated and asked.
"Don't worry! We have made arrangements, and removing more than a dozen petty officials will not make the matter a big deal. Besides, we have already made arrangements with Song Chaofeng."
Zhang Jinguang saw the other party's expression was different, so he explained with a smile: "I'm not saying that we have anything to do with the eunuchs, but we are holding Song Chaofeng's hand. He does not dare to go too far. As long as we do it in moderation, I believe
He will also turn a blind eye."
Li Weijin suddenly understood, nodded repeatedly and said: "I understand, let's pack our bags now."
Zhang Jinguang and Yao Min said goodbye and left. Li Weijin was still holding the appointment letter and the letter of appointment in a daze. He felt like he was in a dream.
At this time, Ms. Yang tiptoed into the room and saw the silver box on the table. She exclaimed, rushed forward and asked, "Husband, what's going on with this silver?"
"This is the settlement fee. Every official has it. It's three hundred taels of silver in total. You have to pack it up quickly. We will meet at the Gaosheng Inn outside the city early tomorrow morning."
"Leaving tomorrow?"
Li Weijin nodded, "Maybe Chang'an is in a hurry and is afraid of long nights and dreams here. Let's just pack it up and don't want any worthless things. Let's go back to Chang'an and buy some more."
Mrs. Yang sighed, whatever valuable things there were in their house were all sold out.
At this time, there was another banging on the door in the yard. This time it was the landlord's voice. He said in an evil voice: "Your rent must be paid today. If you don't pay, I will find someone to kick you out tonight."
.”
Ms. Yang had three hundred taels of silver to support her, so she no longer worried. She took out an ingot of silver, about ten taels, and walked out quickly, "We will pay the rent now. You can give us five taels of silver."
.........
In the Bei Yaguan room of the palace, Song Chaofeng was sitting in front of the table in a daze. There was a letter on the table. It was written to him in the name of Jin Wang Guo Song. To be precise, it was not a letter, but a list.
The long list has more than a hundred lines, and it digs out all his base.
Song Chaofeng was from Gaoling County, Jingzhao Prefecture. His original surname was Du. He entered the palace at the age of ten and became the adopted son of an old eunuch named Song, so he changed his name to Song Chaofeng. However, he still had two brothers and parents in his family.
This list includes the burial status of his parents, the names of his two brothers and several nephews, and even his private residence in Chang'an, a manor in Pizhou, and the 100,000 coins he stored in Baoji Cabinet.
As well as a large number of treasures, etc., they were all listed one by one in the list, which made Song Chaofeng sweat profusely.
Song Chaofeng had no heirs, but his nephew in his hometown inherited the incense for him. This was his biggest secret, and this letter also points it out.
Song Chaofeng was very frightened. What on earth did Guo Song want to do?
At this moment, a young eunuch said at the door: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zhang needs to see you in an urgent matter!"
Zhang Xiangguo is Zhang Yanshang, the leader of Nanya officials. Song Chaofeng didn't want to see him at first, but after thinking about it, he didn't know what urgent matter he had. Song Chaofeng still ordered the young eunuch: "Please sit down for a moment, I will come right away!"