Front yard, study.

The second master took a piece of paper from the eldest master's hand, looked at the several local official positions listed on it, from the fourth rank to the fourth grade, and was speechless.

"You have been in the position of a priest for nine years. Now the pattern, not to mention that the new bachelor has taken office, even if the new bachelor is promoted in two years, the three behind you are not vegetarians. Why bother to stay in the square inch and fight for everyone to tear their faces? Master Shen said.

Among the four scholars and lecturers in the Hanlin Academy, the second master is the most qualified, but because the Shen brothers are neutral so far, they have become the weakest backers.

Behind those three, there are more or less shadows of cabinet ministers. The second master continued to survive in the Hanlin Academy, and when the university scholars were replaced, he might not be able to fight for those few.

"What do you mean, big brother? Is it in favor of me going out of Beijing? The second master pondered for a moment and raised his head and asked.

The qualifications of the second master are promoted to two levels after nine years without objection, that is, from the fourth grade. But in the position of Jingguan, there is only one shortage of Guozi priest wine from the four products.

Guozi's sacrificial wine is one of the "Little Jiuqing", and it is a very noble official vacancy. As early as the beginning of the "Jingcha", there were many people staring at this position.

The position of the kokuko priest began to vacancy after he was dismissed from office in the twelfth year of Hongji for "dereliction of duty". Li Dongyang recommended Xie Duo, the former Nanjing Guozi priest who died of illness in Hongzhi's fourth year, to succeed the Guozi priest wine, and many officials also recommended Xie Duo.

In August of the twelfth year of Hongzhi, the imperial court promoted Xie Duo to be the right attendant of the Ministry of Officials to supervise the sacrificial wine of the country, and the first official of the Ministry and the chief of the country to supervise the sacrificial wine.

However, Xie Duo had no intention of going out of the mountain, and resigned many times, and refused to leave for Beijing. It was not until April of the thirteenth year of Hongzhi that Jin Shang sent a messenger to Xie Duo's hometown, and Xie Duo began to set off for Beijing. Today, we cherish talents, do not allow resignation, and call each other again.

Xie Duo had no choice but to leave his hometown again and arrived in Beijing in November.

After this year's "Jingcha", Xie Duo once again went to the fold to beg for the old.

There are not one or two staring at Xie Duo's position, but the hope is still disappointed, and he is still not allowed to resign

The second master has seniority in the Hanlin Academy, but he has no political achievements that can be promoted beyond the ranks. If you want to continue to stay in Beijing, you can only look at the job vacancies of Zhengwupin.

The Shen family is also a eunuch for many generations, and the eldest lord is now in the Jiuqing position, and it is not difficult to find a shortage of Beijing for the second master.

But to be a five-grade Beijing official, it is not as expensive as the current bachelor from the fifth grade.

The eldest lord said: "If you want to be promoted, the shortage of Beijing can't, if you release it, you can make up for it from the Senate of the Fourth Rank of the Political Secretary and the Salt Transportation Division, and the deputy envoy of the Fourth Grade can also give it a try......"

Speaking of this, he hesitated and said: "If you want to stay in Beijing, it's not impossible, the right of the James Mansion is lacking......

Although the James Mansion is a hot yamen, the right Yude is only from the five grades. The second master is now in the past, and when the prince ascends the throne, he will be able to mix the identity of the prince's close minister, but it is not easy to get ahead, and there are many people on it.

In the outgoing place, even if he is not the palm seal official, but there is the eldest master, the brother of Shangshu, who is in the capital as an Olympic aid, and the second master will not be bullied.

If it is according to the meaning of the eldest master, it is natural to hope that the second master will choose to be released.

The second master is also a person who is fifty years old, and he continues to live in the position of the fifth grade, and he will stop at the fifth grade if he can't say it. Take advantage of the release of the Lu when it is released, the grade will be upgraded, and if you return to Beijing in the future, you can seek the position of Xiao Jiuqing.

However, the second master has been in the Hanlin Academy since he entered the office, and he has never been out of Beijing. The eldest master, who is an elder brother, is really a little worried about him going out.

The second master listened to his brother's words, and a sentence sounded in his ears: "To be an official is to be a man, you can't be a man, and you can't be an official, but it is also a blessing for the world to add a sour Confucianism to the Hanlin Academy, so that you can't live up to the king and the people."

More than 20 years of stumbling have confirmed that the third master's words were so accurate and sharp.

The second master only felt a pang in his heart, and was silent for a long time and said: "Big brother, I want to go out of Beijing......"

The third master is not in good health, and he is carefully cared for in dog days, but there is no problem; Unexpectedly, when the autumn wind first rose, the third old man was greedy for the night breeze, and began to start a fever, which immediately induced chronic illness, and he was bedridden within a few days.

The third wife has been eight months old, her belly is pregnant, and for the third master's illness, she almost had fetal gas, and was ordered by Xu to stay in bed to raise the fetus.

The eldest master and the second master both have jobs, and they can't get out of it easily. The third wife is inconvenient, and the Xu family has to be busy with things inside and out, so the errand of serving the sick will be handed over to Shen Rui and Shen Jue.

Shen Rui naturally had nothing to say, although after the third wife became pregnant, the eldest couple did not mention that he would have two rooms at the same time, but as the heir of the long house, he shared the worries of the Xu family and served his uncle with filial piety.

He has been in Beijing for half a year, and he has already seen that the eldest master and his wife have no model for raising their son to the third master. Maybe the third room didn't choose an heir, and the eldest couple didn't worry about handing over the third master to others to take care of.

As for Shen Jue, it has become a habit to go out and go with Shen Rui in the past six months. Even though he was a little clumsy in the process of serving the sick, his face was a little stiff when he saw the third master coughing up yellow-green thick phlegm, but the overall performance was still remarkable.

The third master has to get sick once or twice a year, and in addition to the brother and sister-in-law who inquired before, it was the third wife who served carefully. Now that the younger generation is by his side, it is a novel experience for the third master.

Shen Rui and Shen Jue were sick for two days, and Shen Qin and Shen Bao also took the initiative to ask for help.

After living in the guest house for half a year, the three masters treated the two of them with their intentions, and they also thought of the three masters in their hearts. At the beginning, the two were embarrassed to take the initiative to ask for help, because the Xu family only arranged Shen Rui and Shen Jue to serve the sick, and did not order the two of them.

The two of them have the name of a student, and the other has the fact of a student, in fact, it is reasonable to take the initiative to ask for help to serve the sick, but the third master has not yet decided on the heir, and they are afraid of having a gap, so they cowered.

However, the two of them sat for two days, and in the end they were so uneasy that they couldn't sit still......

In this way, the third master was replaced by four people in front of him, and he was divided into two shifts. Shen Rui and Shen Qin are in the first class, and Shen Jue and Shen Bao are in the first class.

Shen Rui's previous impression of Shen Qin was not good, even if Shen Qin didn't have any bad intentions, but he had a very bad mouth and often made "unintentional mistakes".

However, after half a year of contact, Shen Rui also saw the changes in Shen Qin.

Shen Qin was already trying her best to restrain her impulses and acted much more steadily. It's just that he is only fourteen years old after all, and he can already see a little childish impatience and righteousness in his words and deeds.

In the afternoon of this day, it was Shen Rui and Shen Qin's turn to serve the sick.

After serving the third master with medicine and placing him to sleep, Shen Rui and Shen Qin retreated to the west.

There is a "Notes on the Four Books Collection" on the kang table, and there is also a compilation of the current texts of the previous subject examination, the former is Shen Qin's book, and the latter is Shen Rui's.

This is also the Xu family's requirement for them, so that a few of them should also review their homework when they are sick.

Learning has always been like sailing against the current, and if you don't advance, you will retreat. If it weren't for the self-discipline of a few of them, the Xu family would have invited another gentleman to teach the third master temporarily, and would not let them herd sheep, after all, reading is a big deal.

Shen Rui washed his hands, sat on the edge of the kang and began to watch; Shen Qin was hesitant, looking at Shen Rui again and again, wanting to speak and stopping.

Shen Rui raised his head: "Second Brother Qin, is there something wrong?" ”

Shen Qin hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother Rui, is it time for me and Brother Bao to say goodbye?" ”

Shen Rui was surprised, and put down the scroll in his hand: "Aren't you going to wait for the elders of the clan to enter Beijing and go back after next year's spring boudoir?" How did Second Brother Qin talk about this? But the next person is slacking? ”

It is difficult to say whether Shen Yan and other clans can go to Beijing after showing their talents, but Shen Liu, the eighth room, has long been scheduled to enter Beijing for the examination this year.

Shen Qin hurriedly shook his head: "Uncle Niang has a good way of governing the family, where can there be such a thing?" ”

Shen Rui raised his eyebrows and said, "Why do you want to leave?" ”

Shen Qin's expression was a little gloomy: "The third uncle has exhausted his energy, didn't the doctor say that it is appropriate to recuperate?" ”

Shen Rui was silent, about the illness of the third master, he had also talked about it with the Xu family before.

The Xu family was also hesitating about whether to let the third master continue to teach the four brothers of their clan.

Before, it was planned to let the third master teach them for a year, but later the third master came up with the idea of running a school, and the Xu family and the eldest master and his wife couldn't bear to stop them, but they were also worried.

Now that the three masters are sick, it is difficult for them to feel at ease as brothers and sisters-in-law, and they also think of this. In addition to worrying that the third master's body can't stand it, he is also worried that Shen Rui and others will delay their studies.

After all, at their age, it is the age when the master teaches and studies all day long, and it is always difficult for them to use their future to accommodate the third master.

Seeing that Shen Rui didn't speak, Shen Qin said again: "Second Uncle Zhou wants to be released as an official, if he sends an errand to the south, Brother Bao and I just don't need to work and move the crowd, and go home directly......"

The news that Shen Zhou was going to be released was no secret in Shen Mansion.

For this matter, the second wife also cried a lot, and after the trouble reached the most embarrassing, it alarmed the Qiao family, and even the old lady Qiao came to the door in person and broke up with the eldest husband and wife.

Now the name of the second master is already lined up in the ministry, just waiting for the bolt to be chosen.

With the current identity of the eldest master of the Shen family, and the qualifications of the second master, Lao Hanlin, he will not be sent to the poor countryside, and the most likely place to go is Shandong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Huguang, these rich provinces.

Shen Qin was just for the third master's "exhaustion", and he had the idea of leaving early?

Looking at the "Notes on the Collection of Four Books" that had been turned out of the raw edges, Shen Rui frowned and said, "Second Brother Qin wants to participate in next year's county exam?" ”

When Shen Qin heard this, his body stiffened, and then he smiled bitterly: "Brother Rui is really a smart person......

Next year's test will be in February, the palace test will be in March, and the capital will return to his hometown at the end of February, in that case, returning to Songjiang will be in April or May, but the county test time is in February.

"Even the third brother who was the most persistent in the exam before is patient, and after passing next year's college exam, why did the second brother Qin suddenly become anxious?" Shen Rui was puzzled.

Shen Qin said truthfully: "Now what the third uncle teaches us is all simple things, and the master in the clan can also teach, why do you have to stay in the capital, and the third uncle is tired?" Besides, Brother Rui and Brother Jue will definitely end up next year, and Brother Bao and I don't want to fall too far......"

Shen Rui frowned slightly: "This is also what Fourth Brother Bao means?" ”

Shen Qin nodded: "It's just that I'm afraid that the third uncle will think too much, and because Songjiang is far away, I don't want to trouble the elders, so I haven't said it...... Now, if Uncle Zhou sends an errand to the south, Brother Bao and I will go back by the way, and we will save trouble......"