Chapter 6 All the heroes of the world enter my heart
The words are divided into two parts.
At the same time, the Nanjing Civil Service Examination Department was held.
Several grassroots officials who used to work in various prefectures and counties in southern Zhili Province received official documents from the Nanjing Ministry of Civil Affairs inexplicably a few days after the Lantern Festival. It was said that their political performance last year was good and they met the conditions for transfer, and they were asked to rush to Nanjing as soon as possible.
Debrief.
So, this morning, this group of people came early in the morning, but were ignored by the officials of the merit examination department and asked to wait.
There was someone in the crowd who was actually a military attache, which seemed quite unexpected. One of them, who was in his thirties, was impatient and wanted to find someone to ask, but the clerk from the Ministry of Civil Affairs only said, "The person who handles your affairs has not come yet."
"Isn't this just a way to entertain people? You didn't tell them clearly when you hired them. Even if we want to be transferred, it should be under the control of the Ministry of War. How can anyone come to the Ministry of Personnel?"
The military attaché looked around for people, but couldn't find out what was going on, so he had to sit back on the chair bitterly. The chairs in the waiting area were not very comfortable, but they were just long benches.
He looked around and saw that the people next to him were more calm than him, probably because they were all civil servants.
He scratched his hair and, saving his face, took out a snuff bottle from his pocket, intending to pass it to the people waiting together to share it and make friends with him.
As soon as I stretched out my hand, I realized that others might think it was dirty, so I wiped it hard with my sleeve a few times. Unexpectedly, I used too much force and it fell off and broke into pieces.
A young but sturdy civil servant next to him opened his eyes when he heard the sound and looked over. He bent down to pick up the fragments, picked up some cigarette oil with his fingernails, put it to his nose and inhaled, and then handed the remains back to the owner.
.
Seeing his kindness, the military attache relieved his embarrassment and quickly chatted with him: "Nanhui Station guard Zhang Mingzhen. What do you call this brother? He is also here to wait for transfer, right? Do you know why even the transfer of military attache is arranged here?"
"
The civil servant bowed his hands to him and said, "It turns out it's Brother Zhang. I'm glad to meet you. I'm here with Yan Yingyuan, the magistrate of Jiangyin County. We don't know anything about the matters above. I'm ashamed to say that the merits I want to talk about this time are actually military affairs.
At the beginning of the year in Jiangyin, I just encountered the pirate Gu Sanmazi who invaded Huangtian Port and was shot to death by me with an arrow. It is said that this should be under the control of the Ministry of War. Could it be that all the people from the Zhongfang Division were transferred to Xiangyang by Mr. Yang Ge?
Are you asking someone from the merit examination department to help you with it?"
Zhang Mingzhen thought for a while, with the current chaos and unclear powers and responsibilities of each government office, it was really possible.
In fact, he didn't really care where he went. He just felt that most of the people here were civil servants, and he was just a military attache, so he felt awkward and was afraid of being looked down upon.
Hearing Yan Yingyuan say that people were transferred based on their military exploits, Zhang Mingzhen immediately felt at ease, and his inferiority complex as a military attache also disappeared for a while.
He then looked at Yan Yingyuan carefully and admired sincerely: "Brother, you have such a majestic appearance. You can tell that you are a hero at a glance! If you can kill Gu San Mazi with one arrow, your martial arts must be great."
We at Nanhui Institute also witnessed Gu San Mazi’s harassment, which was a serious problem in the Yangtze River Estuary. Have you heard of it? A few years ago, the richest man in Suzhou, Mr. Shen, a large businessman, even offered a red bet on Gu San Mazi’s head.
Well - did you get it this time?"
These words are not flattering. Yan Yingyuan is tall and strong, with a red face and a long beard. He looks like the statue of the god in Guandi Temple. He is just a little fatter, estimated to weigh about two hundred pounds. This made the generals take a look.
His appearance makes me feel friendly.
Yan Yingyuan shook his head: "The prefecture and county have already given rewards, so the maritime merchants won't really offer bonuses anymore, right? But I can't say for sure. After all, it just happened in the first month of the year. Maybe Suzhou doesn't know about it yet."
After hearing this, Zhang Mingzhen also helped, casually condemning those wealthy businessmen for not keeping their promises.
Some other waiting civil servants and military attachés gradually joined in after hearing this topic, and the atmosphere of mutual respect between civil and military officials gradually faded away.
…
After a long while, there was finally a rush of footsteps at the door of the hall.
Several officials from the Ministry of Personnel and a young fifth-rank official in luxurious clothing walked in hand in hand.
The officials waiting in the hall also quickly became quiet.
The person who came was none other than Shen Shuren, and he was accompanied by a subordinate of Xu Shiqi, the Minister of Civil Affairs. Xu Shiqi was considered a high-ranking official, so how could he show up in person to handle such trivial matters.
This is not to blame for Shen Shuren's pomp and circumstance, but because he has stuffed enough money into the Nanjing officials, so they naturally want to be polite to him. When notifying him, they can only ask those petty officials to wait for him, not others.
Chen Shuren had already been taken care of and knew what to say, so he didn't show up. He sat directly on the main seat in the middle and announced frankly:
"Everyone, I am the magistrate of Huangzhou, and I am the newly appointed Hubei Military Preparation Officer Shen Shuren. Previously, due to the recovery of the lost land that was destroyed by the Fifth Battalion of the Revolutionary Zuo, many local official positions in Huangzhou and Suizhou are vacant.
This time I returned to Nanjing to report on my work, and it was a good time to meet up with Mr. Cai and Mr. Liu. Under the jurisdiction of the Nanjing Ministry of Civil Affairs, there are people who are loyal and brave to the country, have excellent performance, and dare to serve as officials on the front line. After Mr. Cai approved, he Recommended to you.”
After Chen Shuren said this, he paused for a moment and observed everyone's expressions. No one looked timid, and Chen Shuren nodded secretly with satisfaction.
Several of the officials heard him announce his family status, and showed awe on their faces: "It turns out to be Shen Futai! I have admired his name for a long time like thunder, and I am lucky to meet you today."
The commotion made Chen Shuren stunned, and couldn't help but joked: "Why have you admired me for so long?"
Yan Yingyuan and Zhang Mingzhen both said: "When I was working in Jiangyin/Nanhui to fight against the pirates, I heard about the generosity and righteousness of the Shen family in Suzhou. The young man in Futai became a successful man. He was awarded the second place in the high school and won the reputation of being honest in the world. Everyone knows it."
Chen Shuren suddenly realized that it was normal for him to then think about it - many of the people he knew were martyrs in the "History of the Ming Dynasty" who later followed the King of Lu's regime and retreated to Zhoushan and persisted in resisting the Qing Dynasty.
(Note: Historically, Shen Tingyang retreated to Zhoushan and spent all his wealth to build ships to fight against the Qing Dynasty. In fact, it was also under the banner of King Lu. King Lu was in Zhoushan at that time and appointed Shen Tingyang as the Minister of Household Affairs. In fact, he was taking Shen Tingyang as his minister. The family’s money served as the source of military expenditure for King Lu’s regime.)
In the future, those generals who are capable of retreating to Zhoushan to fight naval battles with the Qing army are now mostly stationed in coastal guards and county towns to defend against pirates. The Shen family is the largest maritime merchant in the north, and these civil and military officials usually receive more or less benefits from the Shen family. ,reward.
As soon as Shen Shuren showed up, the effect was naturally surprisingly good. He had already gained considerable loyalty from these people just by showing his face.
Chen Shuren was in a happy mood and continued: "Although according to the law of the imperial court, there is no need to discuss the transfer with me. But I think that forcing a cowardly person to go will only make things wrong, so I still want to support some voluntary people this time. People.”
With that said, he asked everyone to sit down, introduce themselves one by one, and get to know each other.
With the foreshadowing just now, the atmosphere is very relaxed, a bit like an interview in later generations, rather than a selection by the Ministry of Officials.
As expected, no one flinched. Yan Yingyuan and Zhang Mingzhen were the first to raise their arms and shout: "It is the duty of a minister to fight against thieves and defend the country for the country. How dare you refuse to fight!"
After half a stick of incense, Chen Shuren also understood the situation of Yan Yingyuan, Zhang Mingzhen, Wang Yi, Yang Jinjue and other grassroots civil and military personnel, and also matched their names and faces.
These people generally have low-level positions. Historically, it was not until the Southern Ming Dynasty that they gradually rose to the top after a large number of high-level officials surrendered.
Yan Yingyuan was no more than a canon historian and was in the eighth rank. Wang Yi was the Cheng of Yuyao County and was in the seventh rank. Zhang Mingzhen was a military garrison officer, and Yang Jinjue was about the same.
With Chen Shuren's rank, after the transfer is completed, he has full authority to command them, and there are no obstacles in the procedure.
After finding out everyone's motives, Shen Shuren began to discuss the issue of remuneration, telling them that anyone who is willing to go to a war zone where bandits are raging can generally be promoted to at least half a level compared to the current level. If they have done well in the recent test, they can be promoted directly to one level. class.
Then, he also announced the vacancies in Huangzhou and Suizhou counties and the situation of each guard, letting them choose their own first. If there is a conflict, Shen Shuren and Cai Langzhong from the Ministry of Personnel will make adjustments.
Usually, transfers do not come with such generous conditions. In the final analysis, it is Shen Shuren’s money that makes the arrangements.
After working hard for half an hour, Dr. Cai can be regarded as "working on site to solve urgent problems".
Finally, it was approved that Yan Yingyuan be promoted to county magistrate and appointed as Xiaogan County, Suizhou Prefecture.
Wang Yi was also promoted to the county magistrate and served as the magistrate of Huangpi County, Huangzhou Prefecture.
Zhang Mingzhen and Yang Jinjue were both promoted to Dusi.
When everyone saw that following Shen Shuren was actually beneficial, they became more and more convinced of him.
Finally, Shen Shuren followed the example of those in human resources and asked everyone, "Do you have any other questions that you would like to know from me?"
Several people looked at each other, and Yan Yingyuan was the first to ask: "Shen Futai, to be honest, I saw it just now. It is mainly because of our military achievements in expelling and annihilating the pirates in the past two years that we were chosen by you." value.
However, when you transfer us to Huguang, aren't you afraid that our generals will not be able to give full play to their talents? Since ancient times, we have been separated by mountains, and we are good at water battles, but not necessarily good at mountain battles. Naturally, we are not timid in serving our country, but I am afraid that we will not be able to make full use of our talents. You can't make more contributions to the imperial court."
Chen Shuren immediately felt relieved: "Hey, don't worry about this, I believe you. My employer attaches great importance to character and loyalty. As for the specific tactics, can I continue to learn them? The art of war is all based on analogy."
Yan Yingyuan thought for a while and said nothing more.
On the other hand, Zhang Mingzhen, who was on the side, was reminded by this conversation and suddenly remembered: "Shen Futai, I heard that your Majesty once offered a reward of three thousand taels of silver to anyone who can kill the pirate Gu San Mazi.
This time Yan Dianshi's performance test was the one that killed Gu San Mazi. I wonder if in addition to the official reward from the imperial court for promotion, the Shen family's private reward was not counted."
"Of course," Shen Shuren said without even thinking about it.
"I've already held a banquet at Meilou tonight, and a junior fellow student who was my best friend when I was in the Imperial College will also attend the appointment. Magistrate Yan, you can come directly to collect the money when the time comes.
My junior brother, you should also recognize him, Zheng Sen and Zheng Chenggong, the direct son of General Zheng of Fujian Province. This time, the official position has been decided, and he has been given the title of official in Suizhou, and he will work with me to contribute to the country. I also hope that everyone will be in harmony in the future. Help each other and work together.”
——
PS: Sorry for being late...I haven't slept well in the past two days and I felt a little dizzy during the day. Before the launch, I often stayed up late and had endocrine disorders. I should be able to recover tomorrow.