Gifts can be roughly divided into three kinds, one is to participate in the three township examinations have failed to Chinese style of 80 years old scholars, the example can ask for a reward to lift people or raise people deputy list (deputy tribute); One is Zhou Wengong, the son of Zhou Zupei, a scholar, and Weng Zengyuan, the grandson of Weng Xincun, a scholar of the Ministry of Officials.

The former will not participate in the examination even if he is rewarded, and even if he can be named on the gold list when he participates in the examination, he will not be able to be an official because of his advanced age. The latter not only came from a scholarly family, but also entered the country early to study, and some even were admitted to the cabinet secretary, or worked as an errand in the National History Museum and the Classics Museum, coupled with the high power of their father and brother or their grandfather, others are too late to talk about them, and they will not talk nonsense, let alone look down on them.

There is also a kind of reward purely because the emperor is happy, for example, Qianlong Ye likes to patrol luckily, every time he goes out to see "the small people help the old and the young, and welcome the road", he will be happy, either to reduce the money and grain to be levied, or to allocate silver to fill the deficit caused by the maintenance of the palace in the local area, in order to show compassion, and sometimes give food to the merchants.

Seeing the scholars welcoming Luan's dedication, they were even more happy, and several times they ordered to take separate exams, and the best ones were divided into one and two classes, and five people were first class, and they were rewarded to the cabinet secretary, and they were used in order as usual; Tribute students and students are rewarded to lift people, and they will be tested in one piece; Four people who won the second prize were rewarded with a piece of satin, which was like an additional "Enke".

Qianlong Ye can do this, but it doesn't mean that he can do it today.

Prince Zheng Duanhua didn't want to cause an uproar because of this matter, and he really couldn't think of a good way, so he simply handed over this tricky errand to his half-brother Su Shun as usual.

Su Shun didn't expect the emperor to reward Han Si for such a grace, and he knew very well that compared to adding an official to a knighthood, this was what Han Si really wanted. On the way home, I regretted it, I felt that such a simple thing should have been thought of a long time ago, if I could think of it in front of the emperor and help Han Si ask the emperor for a background, then Han Si would definitely be grateful to him.

Thinking that the emperor neither asked the Military Aircraft Department to draw up the decree, nor did he order the cabinet to draw up the decree, but asked Duanhua, who also did not have much ink in his stomach, to do this errand, Su Shun smiled again.

"Master Yu, Master Jiao and Master Wu have arrived and are waiting for you in the flower hall."

"Got it, I'll go and change my clothes first, and ask them to wait."

"Huh."

Wu Zhaoling and Jiao Youying didn't know what Su Shun's family had asked them to come over quickly, and they were drinking tea and chatting, when Su Shun changed into a gown and walked in, and the two hurriedly got up and saluted.

"The two of you are exempt from courtesy, and it ...... to get down to business"

After Su Shun finished talking about the ins and outs of the matter, he immediately pointed to the pen, ink, paper and inkstone that his family had just prepared: "The emperor neither asked the military aircraft department to draft the decree, nor did he order the cabinet to draft it, which shows that the emperor is like a mirror in his heart, knowing that they not only do not wait to see Zhixing, but will even admonish him, so he handed over this errand to us." The two are full of economy, and the pen is wonderful, and the next thing to look at is the two. ”

Wu Zhaoling also didn't expect that the emperor would plan to reward Han Siju's background, and he was happy for Han Si in his heart, and couldn't help laughing: "Zhixing is really a saint, but this edict is not easy to draft." ”

Jiao Youying, who looked down on Cao Yuying and Han Xiufeng, was a little sour in his heart, and walked to the desk and muttered: "My lord, Brother Songsheng, it is not difficult to draft this edict in Youying's opinion, but it is difficult to convince the public. ”

"Gui Qiao's words are on point," Su Shun put down the teacup and said, "So we have to do this errand beautifully, so that those pedantic people can't say anything." ”

"There has to be a reason, it's not easy to block Yoyo's mouth." Jiao Youying frowned and said.

"Actually, it's not that hard!" Su Shun smiled confidently.

"Youying is stupid, I beg your lord to make it clear."

"Guiqiao, the reason why you don't know how to write is because you are not familiar with Zhixing." Su Shun turned his head, looked at Wu Zhaoling with a smile and said, "Brother Songsheng, you and Zhixing are fellow villagers, and you are most familiar with Zhixing. He is not illiterate, and the reason why he failed to enter the imperial examination and can only donate is the reason why he knows best. ”

Wu Zhaoling reacted: "Adults are saying that you can make a fuss about cold books?" ”

"Exactly!" Su Shun walked up to the two of them and said with a smug smile: "So we not only have to help the emperor draft an edict, but also have to draw up an excerpt, and then find a suitable person to hand it over." ”

Wu Zhaoling subconsciously asked: "How is Ji Yunfei, the editor of the Hanlin Academy?" ”

Su Shun weighed it and shook his head: "Ji Yunfei is not enough, Brother Songsheng, think about it again, is there a more suitable candidate." ”

"If you want to say that it is appropriate, Wu Fuxiang is the most suitable for the officer. But after all, this is a matter of offending people, and it is the old gentry who is offended, I don't know if he is willing to help this fold. ”

"Aren't Wu Fuxiang and Zhixing fellow villagers?"

"My lord doesn't know that he and Zhixing are indeed fellow villagers, and the two families are not far away. But his ancestral home is Guangdong, he is a Hakka, in the past two years, because of the bandits in Guizhou, worried about the safety of his hometown, knowing that Zhixing led a group to practice in his hometown to handle the blockade only a few times, and he didn't regard himself as a Sichuan person before, so this fellow villager naturally can't talk about it. ”

At this time and that time, Zhixing helped him keep his hometown, and he couldn't help but return this great favor. Besides, since he didn't regard himself as a native of Chongqing, he wouldn't care if the gentry in Chongqing were unhappy. ”

"What the adults said is very true, or I will go to him first and find out his tone."

"Then go and go back quickly, this matter must be done quickly, so as not to have too many dreams at night."

"Adults love Zhixing so much, Zhixing must be grateful when he knows it."

"I want him to be grateful, and besides, it's not done yet."

……

Han Xiufeng didn't know that Su Shunzheng was busy with his affairs, and he didn't know that Wu Zhaoling was running for him, but he only knew that waiting for the emperor to send an edict would be filial piety in the future.

People are in good spirits when they come out of the palace and do not return to the hall, but go straight to the "Houyi Hall".

His "old shopkeeper" came back, and Lin Qingxiang and other interpreters hurriedly put down what they were doing and came to the exhibition hall to meet him. After greeting everyone for a while, he asked everyone to go back to each room and continue to run errands, and then talked to Wang Naizeng, Qingxian and Liu Shanyang, who had just opened his eyes for a long time.

"This is a detailed battle report that I just received at noon, and it is actually inappropriate to say that the battle report is not appropriate, because Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui did not order the defense at all." Qingxian flipped out the photo sandwiched in the dossier and said with a wry smile: "When Xiyi was attacking the city, he watched the township in the school field and tried to shoot horses, which was really in danger. Not only did he not order the garrison of the Eight Banners, the Green Battalion and the Sailor Division to counterattack, but even appeased the civil and military officials who were frightened by the sound of gunfire, saying that it would be okay and that Yingyi would withdraw his troops soon, but as a result, Xiyi not only did not withdraw, but even attacked the inner city and looted his governor's yamen! ”

Hearing is false, seeing is believing.

Looking at the photos sent back by the Nanhai branch through the ticket number, Han Xiufeng felt very uncomfortable.

Qingxian continued: "Miyi claimed to be 'neutral', but dispatched three gunboats originally anchored in Hong Kong to cooperate with Yingyi's operation. Miyi's consul in Hong Kong, Kennan, and the consul in Guangzhou, Bai Lei, aided the abuse, and personally led his marines to help Yingyi attack the city. Kennan first planted the flag in the gap in the wall that had been blasted open, then brought the flag into the city, and even shot at the innocent people in the city.

When Yingyi burned and looted, Bai Lei was not idle, he followed Yingyi into the governor's yamen, and happened to meet Yingyi's commander Xima Jigo. With the approval of the West Horse, he also robbed a lot of property. He also brazenly claimed in the newspapers of Hong Kong that it was some kind of souvenir he had taken from the Governor's Yamen. ”

Han Xiufeng threw down the photo and said coldly: "What kind of neutrality is this, a raccoon dog, it's not a good thing at all!" ”

Qingxian sorted out the photos and said with a bitter face: "If the emperor sees this, he will definitely be furious." Fourth master, do you want to tell the truth about these things? ”

Han Xiufeng thought for a moment and asked in a low voice, "How many people know that we are investigating the situation now?" ”

Qingxian didn't expect Han Xiufeng to ask this, and hurriedly said: "In addition to several ministers of military aircraft and Prince Zheng, Prince Yi, and Lord Sushun, Zhou Zupei, a scholar, Weng Xincun, a scholar of the Ministry of War, Hua Shana and Chen Fuen also know, but they just know that they have never been to the bookstore, and they don't even know where the bookstore is. ”

Wang Naizeng added: "Among the princes and ministers who knew that we were inquiring about the situation, Prince Gong and Wen Zhongtang had come. You may not have paid attention when you came in, because more and more people knew about it, and Master Wen changed the plaque half a year ago. ”

Even if the plaque is changed here, it is still "Houyi Hall", Han Xiufeng is not interested in what is the font size on the plaque outside, but asked in a low voice: "Didn't the emperor order King Gong to study in the south study, why did he come to us, who brought him here?" ”

"He wanted to come by himself, and he invited the emperor before he came, and the emperor gave permission and ordered Enjun to pick it up." Wang Naixin paused, and then said: "He has been here seven times, and each time he came to stay for a whole day, he read almost all the official documents and translated newspapers and books, and the last time he talked with Lord Wen for an afternoon. ”

"What are you talking about?"

"Talking about Xiyi, nothing else."

"Did the emperor ask about King Gong's presence here?"

"Master Wen said that the emperor asked once, and learned that King Gong was here with us just to read the official documents, just to understand the situation, and did not see other civil and military officials, so he ordered us to serve King Gong, saying that if King Gong is a little wrong here, he will take us to ask."

Han Xiufeng asked, "Then how do you serve?" ”

"Specially cleaned up a room, tables, chairs, benches and other utensils were all replaced with new ones, usually cleaned diligently, and no outsiders were allowed to enter, so they were kept for King Gong. Then there are the wines, dishes and refreshments, all the best ones are selected, and these things are all left to Jilu. King Gong is very satisfied and gives a reward every time he comes. Seeing Han Xiufeng thoughtful, Qingxian hurriedly said: "Fourth master, I think the reason why the emperor ordered us to serve carefully should have no other meaning, it should be to make King Gong feel comfortable." ”

"In that case, then be careful, don't be reluctant to give up the silver."

"Yes."

"As for the detailed battle report just sent back by the Nanhai Branch, I first drafted an official document and sent it to Cao Yuying, asking him to report it to several ministers of military aircraft. In addition, I copied a few more copies and reported them to the adults who knew the inside story. ”

"Who's going to report it?" Wang Naizeng asked subconsciously.

"It's not convenient for me to show my face, otherwise it would be easy for people to mistake me for camping around. Brother Yunqing, these things can only bother you and Eunjun. ”

"What about the emperor?"

"I just met yesterday, and today I handed over a sign to ask to see it, and it is not appropriate to hand over a sign to ask to see tomorrow. And this is not new news, Bochuan has already been on the fold before, this time it is just the details, put it aside for a while, and talk about it in a few days. Seeing that Qingxian wanted to speak and stopped, Han Xiufeng got up and said: "The reason why I plan to put it aside for a while is not to deceive my superiors and subordinates, let alone worry about angering the emperor and losing my holy family, but to better serve the court." ”

"Fourth master, you misunderstood, I didn't mean that." Qingxian hurriedly said.

"I know that now that I've said that, I'd like to say a few more words from my heart to you. The emperor treats me like a mountain, and he gives people to raise people, throughout the ages, there are a few people who can be rewarded with this grace, even if I Han Xiufeng dies on the battlefield, I can't repay the emperor's kindness! But the situation is stronger than people, and the emperor's immediate worries, I, Han Xiufeng, really can't share it. In an urgent situation, I, Han Xiufeng, can't do anything. We can only take precautions, share the emperor's worries in the future, and solve the future needs of the court! ”

Han Xiufeng took a deep breath and continued: "Several princes and ministers who know the inside story have always thought that we are doing the work of scouts, only Wen Zhongtang and King Gong know that what we have done in the past few years is not just to probe, sort out and verify the situation. Those who know us are worried, and those who don't know what we want from us, and the current situation is so urgent, how to do this errand in the future, we have to think about it. ”

"Fourth Master, are you saying that we have done too much?" Wang Naizeng asked with a bitter face.

"For the sake of the country, we are not doing too much but too little, but the current situation does not allow me to wait for another step-by-step, so we have to change our path."

"How?" Kyunghyun asked puzzled.

Han Xiufeng looked around at the three of them and said in a low voice: "In the past, we always thought that as long as we had money, we could find people and do what we wanted to do. For example, translating books on astronomy, geography and arithmetic for foreigners, or copying new foreign guns and cannons, but two years have passed, but there has been no progress.

Since this road does not work, then we can only take advantage of the situation. Didn't the foreigners run schools in Hong Kong, Macao, Ningbo, and Shanghai, especially the missionaries who were foreigners liked to run schools the most? We might as well push the boat down the river and quietly help to promote it. If they don't have enough money, let's help gather the enlightened gentry to donate something. If they can't recruit students, we can secretly help recruit them.

Persist in three or five years, and always cultivate a few talents who are truly proficient in Xiyi language and writing; If we can persist for more than ten or twenty years, we will definitely be able to cultivate a group of talents who are proficient in Xiyi astronomy, geography and arithmetic. When the time comes, not to mention the imitation of new foreign guns and cannons, we can build a steam engine, a camera, and a telegraph that transmits sound for thousands of miles. ”

Wang Naizeng thought so: "Compared with exploring the situation, this is what we should do." ”

"So I can't lose my official position, and 'Houyitang' can't close its doors, let Guangdong be tight, and let it be tight if Guangdong is tight, anyway, it's useless for us to be in a hurry. In short, we will be able to keep our position and keep the 'Houyitang' as the first priority in the future, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. ”

"Not only is there no shame, but there is also a clear conscience!"

"Yes, we have a clear conscience, we are worthy of the court and the emperor!"

……

Han Xiufeng explained everything and returned to the hall.

Unexpectedly, Wu Zhaoling not only waited in the guild hall, but also mysteriously, as soon as he saw him, he ignored Ji Yunfei and Ao Tongchen, who were sitting on the side, pulled him to the inner courtyard, took out two folds from his sleeve, and happily reported the good news.

I heard that Su Shun helped to do the matter of rewarding people, and there would be news the day after tomorrow at the latest, Han Xiufeng was very happy. But looking at the fold in his hand, Han Xiufeng couldn't be happy.

Wu Zhaoling was still unsatisfied, and when he saw that he was stunned, he leaned over and said in a frustrated voice: "The country is talented, and I hope to get real people, in order to do real government." But the virtuous people are born without choosing the place, and there have always been many heroes who are more cold, Fu said that he was raised in the plate building, Taigong started from slaughtering and fishing, Han Xin begged for his mother, and Ning Qi was a man who was a cattle, and then met the lord when he was born, all of which were famous at that time and appeared in later generations...... Zhixing, look, how well this paragraph is written, who would have thought that this was written by Jiao Mazi! ”

Han Xiufeng didn't feel anything bad in this paragraph, but the words under the previous excerpt and the just-drafted edict.

The excerpt was drafted in the tone of Wu Fuxiang in the affairs of the bureaucracy, saying that the bad rules of Ba County, Sichuan, and the children's examination, there are warm and cold records. Even if there is a father and brother, the first time they send their children to study, most of them are rejected because of their cold status, and they are blackmailed, which is not a reason. also took him, the new Shaoqing of Taifu Temple, as an example, who had both ability and political integrity, but he missed the imperial examination because of his cold nationality. So he asked the emperor to issue a decree to prohibit it forever, and if there are any more blackmailers, they will be strictly investigated.

If there is singing, there must naturally be harmony.

Therefore, they helped the emperor draft an edict that was furious, first quoting scriptures to say that heroes regardless of their origins, and then moving out of the laws and regulations that had been promulgated by the imperial court for hundreds of years. For example, as early as the Shunzhi Dynasty, the imperial court abolished the old system that Manchurian, Mongolian, and Han military servants were not allowed to take the exam, let alone the bad habit of cold nationality.

If that's all there is to it, it's okay, it's the last paragraph.

Han Xiufeng pointed to the edict drafted by Jiao Youying, and read with a wry smile: "I live in the deep palace, and I can't tell the truth from the false. The merits and crimes of merit and wrongness cannot be fully understood, and they are all based on the chapter performance as a reward and punishment. Every time I heard that the courtiers of the previous generation were divided into separate households, planted the party for personal gain, deceived and controlled, recruited power and accepted bribes, friends suddenly gave birth to wings, and dissidents fell into the abyss. In addition, in the same year, the same seniority, teachers and students, relatives and deceased each other, squeezed out the lonely traces, floating discussions are chaotic, wrongs are uncontrollable, the dynasty is bad, and the country is tilted, which can be deeply admonished. Now I am afraid that the officials in the DPRK are still accustomed to it, and they are not able to change their past wrongs, and the chaos they are concerned about is not a trivial reason, so how can they reform their disadvantages later? ”

Wu Zhaoling smiled proudly: "This paragraph is nothing, only in this way can it be smooth and convince the public." When others see it, they will feel that the emperor is furious and has issued a decree to get rid of bad habits, and you are only incidental to the reward. ”

Han Xiufeng didn't want to go around in circles with him, so he said bluntly: "Brother Songsheng, you and Lord Sushun are drunkards, not drinking!" But you are right, the excerpt is handed over, this edict will come down, and I, Han Xiufeng, will be rewarded and raised, which is really incidental. ”

Thinking of this just-drafted edict, it was indeed aimed at Bai Ye, Zhou Zupei, Peng Yunzhang and Weng Xincun and others, Su Shun really wanted to use the topic to play, Wu Zhaoling said with embarrassment: "Zhixing, this is also a helpless way, if you don't make a fuss about the cold book, this edict really can't be drafted, even if it is drafted, it will be difficult to block the mouth of Youyou." ”

"This is a plug in the mouth of Youyou, if the emperor really adopts this edict you drafted, if it is really issued clearly, those adults who have just been rewarded this morning are still panicked, and everyone is in danger!"

"Zhixing, you don't have any friendship with them, they don't want to see you, what's there to be afraid of?" Wu Zhaoling asked rhetorically, and said confidently: "What's more, there are still few civil and military officials who plant the party for personal gain, deceive and control, and recruit power and accept bribes, Lord Sushun, as the imperial history of the Zuo Capital, who supervises hundreds of officials, has been ordered by the emperor to rectify the rule of officials, why not take this opportunity to knock on the mountain and shock the tiger?" ”

"Brother Songsheng, I know that Lord Sushun is here to refresh the rule of officials, but why do you have to make a fuss about me Han Xiufeng, isn't this roasting me on the fire!"

"With Lord Sushun here, even if those people don't like you, how can they tolerate you."

Han Xiufeng didn't want to be a thorn in the side of the Manchu civil officials, so he got up and said, "No, I have to go to Lord Sushun and beg him to take back his fate." ”

Wu Zhaoling didn't think that this would have any impact on Han Xiufeng, who was not an orthodox scholar, and he didn't think that those political enemies of Su Shun could do anything to Han Xiufeng, so he couldn't help laughing and said: "It's late, this is a transcription, Wu Fucheng has already handed it over, and the draft edict Prince Zheng has also been submitted." ”

……

PS: It looks like one chapter, but it's actually two chapters, so it's not divided into chapters for the sake of plot coherence.

(End of chapter)