Chen Shuren originally wanted to invite Gu Yanwu privately, and Zhang Huangyan drank some flower wine to relax and comfort Gu Yanwu who had failed.
Unexpectedly, after the provincial examination, the newly promoted candidates, candidates for examination, and examination students had many social activities, and their schedules coincided with each other.
Wu Weiye, the director of the Imperial Academy, personally posted a message, asking relevant people to go boating to Bailuzhou the next day, have a cultural gathering, and encourage everyone to keep up their hard work.
After Chen Shuren got the post, he looked over it carefully. It didn't say "Only those who passed the exam are allowed to attend the meeting", so he suggested to Gu Yanwu:
"It's not just drinking where you go, why don't you go with me regardless of brother Gu? Everyone knows your knowledge, and no one will be dissatisfied if you participate in this kind of literary gathering."
Zhang Huangyan didn't have much experience, so he didn't see anything fishy, so he agreed.
Only Gu Yanwu had participated in the provincial examination several times and knew the tricks after the provincial examination. He laughed at himself: "I am going to join in the fun. There will always be brokers from the civil service department to secretly sell official positions. If you are interested, you can do it privately first." After paying the deposit, the donation will be formally paid later.”
Chen Shuren was stunned and quickly reacted.
Sure enough, even during the Chongzhen period, when the imperial court allowed people to openly sell their official positions, the officials still had to search for the benefits.
You have to pay twice before and after buying an official position. The first time goes into your private pocket, and the second time goes to the court. Moreover, the money embezzled by the officials is definitely more than what is given to the emperor.
After learning the truth, Shen Shuren continued to insist:
"Brother Gu, even so, my younger brother and cousin don't have enough experience after all, so you should do me a favor and go have a few drinks together. I want to get an official position as soon as possible. With someone as knowledgeable as you watching, It’s not easy to be tricked.”
After all the hard talk, Gu Yanwu had no choice but to save face and help his brother to check things out. Shen Shuren was overjoyed and said that there would be retribution in the future.
…
Two days passed by in a blink of an eye, and it was August 27th.
Many candidates have written some poems and lyrics to show off their essays in advance, trying to match the late autumn atmosphere of Bailuzhou, so as to find an opportunity to sing and appear in front of Mr. Wu Shanchang or other literary seniors.
Of course Shen Shuren and Zhang Huangyan didn't do anything.
Shen Shuren doesn't know how to write poetry at all. He spent money to buy the prison students. This is completely meaningless. Sooner or later, he will become a gangster.
Zhang Huangyan can barely write a little, but he also knows that he won't be successful, so he simply hides his clumsiness.
After arriving at the place, Zhang Huangyan was also very curious. They had arrived early and chartered the boat themselves, so they could look around before everyone arrived.
In Bailuzhou, the harbor is crisscrossed with branches, and the reeds are green. There are countless table tables on the long embankment, and there are orchid boats going back and forth on Tingzhou in the water. There are also singing girls playing the piano and singing on Tingzhou to add to the entertainment, looming.
"This prosperous place in Jinling is so extravagant and decadent. The Xinju Humanities Association, with its senior teachers present, actually invites singing girls to join in the fun. If teachers and students all fall in love with the same woman, I don't know how it will end."
After Zhang Huangyan watched it, he couldn't help but complain like this.
Chen Shuren listened and laughed knowingly, despising the hypocrisy of those corrupt scholars in his heart.
Gu Yanwu was relatively knowledgeable, so he made another cameo appearance as the commentator:
"This Bailuzhou Cultural Club is also a method that has been pondered over the years. The harbor here is crisscrossed with branches, but the water surface is not wide. Let the singers go to the island to play the harp, and people on the shore can still see clearly, but they can't touch or reach it.
It coincides with the Book of Songs, "The jianjia is green, the white dew is like frost, the so-called beauty is by the side of the water."
After Chen Shuren heard this, he felt quite disdainful in his heart. In the final analysis, these stunts were still hypocritical.
However, he took a few casual glances and found that behind Tingzhou Reed, there were quite a few women playing the piano. They were indeed pretty, and they must have been carefully selected.
The guests at the cultural gathering soon arrived. Shen Shuren didn’t know many people, so he needed Gu Yanwu to give guidance:
"Today's host is Wu Shanchang from your Imperial College. The two distinguished guests on the left and right seem to be Qian Qianyi and Gong Dingzi, who are as famous as Wumei Village."
It was the first time for Shen Shuren and Zhang Huangyan to meet Qian, Gong and others. But Shen Shuren knew the history, so he was not surprised by this.
Zhang Huangyan was very surprised: "How come the three of them are called the same? Gong Dingzi doesn't look much older than us, but Qian Qianyi is an old man in his fifties."
Gu Yanwu nodded: "Gong Dingzi is indeed young. He was elected in the sixth year of Chongzhen. He was awarded Jinshi in the following year, that is, the first two years, and ranked 97th in the top three. I am ashamed. I also came to take the exam when he was elected. Well, we haven’t taken the exam yet, and we don’t plan to take the exam.”
As the participants arrived one by one, the cultural meeting officially began soon.
Wu Weiye stood up first and said some words of encouragement. He simply asked everyone to serve the country wholeheartedly after learning, saying that in these difficult times, scholars should take the world as their own responsibility.
Qian Qianyi is still a convicted criminal and has resigned from office and is in the opposition. He has not spoken publicly and only accepted private consultations from some scholars.
Gong Dingzi, the youngest of the "Three Jiangzuo Families", will go to the capital at the end of the year to take up a post. He belongs to the real power faction. On such occasions, he cannot help but be complimented and give a speech.
Gong Dingzi was previously a local official in Hubei Province. It is said that he was credited with Xiong Wencan's siege last year and forced Zhang Xianzhong to surrender. Therefore, his political performance was evaluated as the best by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and he was promoted to the sixth rank of the Ministry of War.
None of the other candidates at the cultural conference questioned this statement, but Shen Shuren and Zhang Huangyan felt it was abnormal:
But now that Zhang Xianzhong has apparently surrendered and then rebelled, and Xiong Wencan himself has been imprisoned, the person who helped Xiong Wencan last year can still be successfully promoted based on this old merit. It would be false to say that he was not deceived.
"I guess His Majesty is too busy. He arrests the big ones and lets go of the small ones. He has to personally check on the promotions and demotions of senior officials. The junior officials don't have the energy to look at them one by one. The people below sneak in with personal items."
Chen Shuren speculated in a low voice without any malicious intent. Zhang Huangyan nodded heavily when he heard this. The two men looked at Gong Dingzi with less respect than at first.
In particular, Shen Shuren knew history. He knew about the so-called "Three Jiangzuo Masters". Wu Weiye was a slightly better character and insisted on not being an official for many years (but he was still threatened with force after ten years of Shunzhi and became an official. (who resigned after working for three years), and the others, Qian Qianyi and Gong Dingzi, all have even worse characters.
Qian Qianyi took the initiative to surrender when Nanjing was defeated, while Gong Dingzai was in Beijing when Chongzhen died. He first surrendered to Li Zicheng and then to Dorgon, and the three surnamed family slaves began to take over.
After Shen Shuren put on his colored glasses and looked at the arrogant people showing off next to Qian Qianyi and Gong Dingzi, he felt even more disgusted.
Soon, he noticed that there were two young men surrounding Gong Dingzi. One of them looked lean and had a sunken face, like a tuberculosis man who had spent too much time in prostitution, while the other had a face full of flesh and didn't look like a scholar.
And nearby, many new candidates who had not received high rankings in the provincial examination gradually and naturally gathered around those few people, reciting poems and complimenting each other.
"Who are those two people next to Gong Dingzi? Are they very knowledgeable? Are they so popular?" Shen Shuren asked Gu Yanwu humbly.
Gu Yanwu observed for a moment, shook his head and chuckled: "These two should be the ones responsible for matchmaking and selling officials today, why, Shen Xiandi doesn't know any of them?
The one with the sinister look on his face is Zhu Guangshi. I remember that your father and the Governor of Water Transport, Zhu Dadian, had some quarrels, right? This Zhu Guangshi is the nephew of Governor Zhu. He entered the Imperial College at the same time as you, and you haven't seen him yet?"
Chen Shuren smiled awkwardly. He had been in the Imperial College for more than 20 days, but he had never attended a single day of class, and he had not learned anything about the Four Books and Five Classics. Except for those old friends, he was one of the other classmates in the Imperial College. Don't know anyone.
Gu Yanwu continued to educate him about illiteracy: "I heard that Mr. Yang Ge was in An Lu and deployed troops to contain the bandits and criminals. This year we need to add a lot of money, food and military supplies officials. In addition to the personnel department, these shortages also have to be dealt with by the household department and water transportation. Let's discuss it.
Today, most of the people who want to buy an official position are helped by these people. Zhu Guangshi can go through the route of the Governor of Water Transport. Gong Dingzi is going to Beijing and has friends in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He is helping to collect the money this time.
There is also the consumptive man named Hou Fangyu. His father is Hou Xun, the former Minister of Household Affairs. Speaking of which, Hou Xun was your father's immediate superior before he was dismissed from office.
After Hou Xun was impeached and imprisoned by Wen Tiren for wasting food and salary four years ago, the Hou family lost its power. In recent years, no one has burned the cold stove of Hou Fangyu.
But last year Wen Tiren was dismissed from office and died of illness. There was no one in the court who deliberately suppressed Hou Xun. It was said that there were many old friends who wanted to rescue him.
In addition, Zuo Liangyu from Hubei Province was Hou Xun's man at that time. Most of the money wasted in Hou Xun's illegal "excessive salary" case was also allocated to Zuo Liangyu. This time Zhang Xianzhong rebelled, Zuo Liangyu did not work hard. , surrounded but not attacked.
I heard that someone in the court has suggested that your majesty release Hou Xun and let him use his status as an old benefactor to supervise Zuo Liangyu. If this happens, the Hou family will be in good hands again.
Hou Xun has been the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue for many years, and he is very good at filling the vacancy of the Finance and Grain Officer under the Ministry of Revenue. Now that so many people are surrounding Hou Fangyu to make a cold stove, most of them have seen this clearly."
The Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Water Transport Bureau were all in charge of selecting a new batch of logistics officers needed by Yang Sichang. Spokespersons from the three parties who could speak well were all present.
The price is really clearly marked, so you don’t get deceived.
The one-stop service of selling officials in the Ming Dynasty was indeed in place.
However, one of these three people is an enemy of the Shen family.
Although the other two have no grudges, Shen Shuren cannot talk to those spineless people who will actively serve in the Qing Dynasty in the future, and Shen Shuren does not want to curry favor with these weaklings.
I'm afraid this official is not easy to buy.
"Is there any way to buy this official right away without having to look good on these three people or please them?" Chen Shuren's brain was running at high speed, and many alternative strategies were running through his mind, but he couldn't think of any at the moment. appropriate.
There was no other way, so he decided to wait and see a little longer to see how others bought their jobs.