Entering from the East Gongsheng Gate, the left head is the military department, the right head is the Zongren Mansion, and the Zongren Mansion is adjacent to the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Officials is the head of the six departments, in charge of the appointment and dismissal, assessment, promotion and transfer of officials across the country, the power is great, the current Ministry of Officials is Zheng Jizhi of Chu - Zhang Yuan, Wen Zhenmeng, Qian Shisheng, the three first-class Jinshi today said to the Ministry of Officials Wenxuan Division to register, according to the usual practice to first meet the Ministry of Officials Palm Seal Officer, the three of them came to the hall of the Ministry of Officials, but saw that the Ministry of Officials Zheng Jizhi goosebumps, old and faint, speaking a little softer can not be heard clearly, You have to speak loudly and laugh heartily, otherwise you may be mistaken for cold words or ridicule, the hall officials are like this, and the whole ministry is particularly noisy - after a loud noise, the three of them resigned and went to visit Wang Dazhi in Wenxuan Shilang, and on the way Zhang Yuan asked Wen Zhenmeng: "Brother Wen does you know that Zheng Shangshu has a long life?" ”

Wen Zhenmeng said: "Tianguan has a high life expectancy of eighty and six. "The official department is also known as the heavenly official.

Qian Shisheng said with a smile: "Zheng Shangshu should be the longest-lived celestial official in history. ”

Zhang Yuanxin said: "Emperor Wanli is preparing to make the six Shangshu vacant, now the household department, the Ministry of Industry, and the Criminal Department are all signed by the squire Lang on behalf of the Ministry of Seal, from the Beijing officials to the local seal officials are lacking a lot of officials, the Wanli Emperor has made this piece of cake very big, and the parties are eyeing it." ”

The Ministry of Officials is the head of the six departments, the Department of Literature and Literature is the head of the four divisions under the Ministry of Officials, the power of the Department of Literature and Literature is greater than that of the three products, the current Wang Dazhi and Zheng Jizhi are both Chu people, won the trust of Zheng Jizhi, obeyed the words, Wang Dazhi became the core figure of the Chu Party, saw Zhang Yuan and the three people to register, Wang Dazhi was very enthusiastic, all the parties are trying their best to win over the new science and technology, not to mention that these three are a Hanlin, Zhang Yuan is the leader of the Hanshe who has a great influence in Shilin, The most important thing is that Zhang Yuan's current party tendency is ambiguous, born in a Zhejiang Party family, married the sister of Zhou Zuo, the imperial history of the Zhejiang Party, but he is friendly with the leader of the Donglin Party, but he completely exaggerates Dong Qichang, who is pro-Donglin, but he is regarded as an enemy by Yao Zongwen in the matter of the Zhejiang Party's officials, Zhang Yuan's social relationship is very chaotic, it seems that as long as he is good to him, he will not refuse, and if he is bad, he will fight back decisively, such a person should be able to win over - Wang Dazhi asked his subordinates to quickly complete the relevant procedures for Zhang Yuan and the three of them, and issued the corresponding tooth card, This ivory plaque is the identity certificate of the official, Zhang Yuan's ivory plaque is made of ivory, the size of a thumb, engraved with Zhang Yuan's name, official position and the yamen where it is located, hanging on the belt, and entering and exiting the yamen in the future can be unimpeded - Wang Dazhi asked diligently: "Are the three Hanlin all assigned to the residence of the Ministry of Industry?" Oh, not yet, then I'll take the three of them, the Wu Institute of the Ministry of Industry is my fellow villager, and look at the better mansions near the Daming Gate of the Imperial City, and the three Hanlin should be the priority. ”

Zhang Yuan did not refuse the kindness of Wang Dazhi of the Chu Party, the Ministry of Industry should have allocated them a place to live, Wang Dazhi came forward to help them pick a good residence is the icing on the cake, not like Zheng Yang's surname to give him a courtyard house must refuse, once he enters the officialdom, he does not have to be so clear and observant, what he wants is this ambiguity, the political situation in the last years of Wanli is chaotic, and there are opportunities to fish in troubled waters. The forces of the various parties are exactly what he Zhang Yuan needs to unite and strive for, do not have prejudices, reduce internal friction, and work together to save the country is the general direction - the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Officials across the street, Wang Dazhi found Wu Suozheng of the Ministry of Industry, explained the intention, that Wu Suozheng immediately ordered the Cheng to take the books, rummaged through them one by one, and said: "There is a courtyard house in the old alley of Li Ge, although it is a small courtyard, but the location is good, the ventilation is sunny, there is no problem with living more than a dozen people, it was built in Zhengde 11 years, and it was renovated last year, Sun Chengzong, my lords - how about this place assigned to Zhang Xiu? ”

Zhang Yuanxi said: "Has Mr. Jiao ever lived in that house, great, thank you, thank you." ”

Wang Dazhi said with a smile: "Jiao Taishi is the champion of Wanli for 17 years, Zhang Xiu is the champion of Wanli for 44 years, and in 30 years, the teacher and student are both champions, a good story through the ages." ”

The courtyard house that Wen Zhenmeng and Qian Shisheng were assigned to is on Taifusi Street, adjacent to Li Ge Old Hutong, and it is also a better house among the empty houses that have not been allocated by the Ministry of Industry - Wu Suocheng said: "The three Hanlin still have to report to the Hanlin Academy, right, please come again, the lower official asked the three to take the three to see the house, if there are any places that need to be repaired, although it is said, this is the matter of the Ministry of Industry." ”

Although this is a matter of the Ministry of Industry, but the general stay in Beijing Jinshi obviously do not have such a good treatment, Zhang Yuan three thanked Wang Langzhong of the Ministry of Officials and Wu Suocheng of the Ministry of Industry, with the license and survey issued by the Ministry of Officials, out of the East Gongsheng Gate to the right dozens of steps to the Hanlin Academy - Hanlin Academy gate three, facing the East Chang'an Street, before Zhang Yuan in front of this gate many times, this time finally walked in, through the triple gate, to the main hall to visit the Hanlin Academy of Bachelor Guo Shu, the Hanlin Academy palm seal official by the Ministry of Rites Liu Chuxian concurrently, Liu Chuxian rarely came to the Hanlin Academy to do things, All by the five-grade bachelor Guo Shu Prime Minister Academy, the Hanlin Academy is just a five-grade yamen, the grade is not high, but the honor is noble, it is the department that cultivates cabinet ministers, and non-Hanlin is not allowed to enter the cabinet.

Guo Shu is in his fifties, a native of Henan, a loyal elder, and Zhang Yuan exchanged a few words with the three of them, and then said truthfully: "The emperor has been feasting for many years, and the East Palace has been abolished to give lectures, and the "Shizong Record" has also been revised. Then take the three of them to see Zhou Shi to speak.

There is a small courtyard on the side of the Hanlin Academy in the Yuhe, there are three halls, but there is no wall in the house, more than ten people are working in this hall, the waiter is the sixth product, which is one level higher than Zhang Yuan's revision from the six products, the Zhou waiter said that it is three years ago Zhou Yanru, Zhou Yanru, the champion of Zhou Yanru, the champion Lian Jie was twenty-one years old, and it was the second young champion since the Ming Dynasty, the first is the champion Fei Hong during the Chenghua period, and the champion was twenty years old, and now, Zhang Yuan, the champion of Bingchen Branch, was only nineteen years old, and he took away Zhou Yanru's aura at once - Zhou Yanru became famous as a young man, arrogant and proud, and stayed in the Hanlin Academy for three years, from the revision to the waiter, he was still just a noble and idle official, quite unwilling to be lonely, and saw the three Zhang Yuan who met for the first time, especially for Zhang Yuan, Zhou Yanru was faintly jealous, and after Bachelor Guo left, he had nothing to say, he took care of reading and writing, and put Zhang Yuan and the three of them aside - Zhang Yuan, Wen Zhenmeng, and Qian Shisheng looked at each other, Zhang Yuan stepped forward and said: "Zhou Shi said, What else is going on in the courtyard for the three of us? ”

Zhou Yanru didn't raise his head when he read the book, and spit out two words in his mouth: "It's nothing." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "If there is nothing to do, then I will wait for the three of us to go to the Ministry of Industry to see the residence first, and then come back tomorrow." ”

Zhou Yanru let out a breath from his nostrils and let out a "hmm".

Zhang Yuan bowed his hand to all the Hanlin in the hall, turned around and went out, Wen Zhenmeng and Qian Shisheng followed, Qian Shisheng said unhappily: "What is going on with this Zhou attendant, where did we offend him!" "On the first day of entering the Hanlin Academy, I met such a face, of course I was not happy, but they were still in the first and first place.

Zhang Yuan didn't care about Zhou Yanru's cold attitude towards them, and said with a smile: "Maybe he has his own troubles, he has seen people's hearts for a long time, and he has slowly gotten along." ”

The three of them turned back to the Ministry of Industry, Wu Suozheng and the two deputy of the camp led Zhang Yuan and the three of them to the West Chang'an Street, from the Shichang Street under the root of the imperial city to the old alley of Li Ge, Li Ge Lao is the first assistant of the cabinet during the Hongzhi period, Li Dongyang's house is here, so the name Li Ge Old Hutong, the courtyard house assigned to Zhang Yuan sits in the north and faces south, slightly smaller than the courtyard of Shang Zhou Zuo in the East Fourth Archway, but there are also outer courtyards, inner courtyards, although it is a century-old house, it is still tidy after last year's repair, it is spacious in the remaining houses of the Ministry of Industry, Zhang Yuan is more satisfied, A few days ago, he asked Laifu to inquire, to lease such a courtyard near the imperial city, the annual rent should be more than thirty taels of silver, and now it is free to live, what else to say - Zhang Yuan received the key, and then went to the alley of Taifu Temple to see Wen Zhenmeng and Qian Shisheng's house, the two courtyard houses are smaller, but they are also clean and tidy, after the handover, Wu Suozheng and the two deputy directors went back to the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry, Wen Zhenmeng and Qian Shisheng had been living in the Huitong Pavilion before, and the two of them soon moved here to live, And Zhang Yuan will live in his brother-in-law for the time being, and then move here when he enters Beijing in the second half of the year, and the house is to be occupied first - the residence of Wu Daonan, the master of the seat, is here, since he has arrived here, of course he wants to visit, but he heard the old servant who answered the door and said: "My master has entered the cabinet and is on duty." ”

Zhang Yuan was overjoyed, Emperor Wanli must have issued an edict to keep Wu Ge old, and the cabinet finally added a person, and Emperor Wanli naturally refused to let him go easily, otherwise he would push the cabinet ministers again, and the party struggle would be even more intense.

……

In this way, Zhang Yuan began his Hanlin career, receiving pen, ink and paper, morning and evening food, candle fire fees every month, one tael or eight dollars of silver, and four taels of silver per month, speaking of which the Ming officials' fortune is really pitiful, relying on this bit of silver to pass the day that is quite bitter, the cold window for decades finally became an official is it to be a cow and a horse, so few people can endure poverty, both as an official, there are many ways to make a fortune, needless to say, some officials in order to have a future and prestige, not to be corrupt or bribe-taking, But how to support his pomp and circumstance in the capital, it depends on the support of the family, the family or business or farming, it is indispensable to rely on his power, if the relevant decrees of the imperial court are detrimental to the interests of his family, then he must be opposed, so it is difficult to have justice, even if it is an official who can keep the poverty and conduct integrity, but for the sake of the battle of will, he often puts the interests of the party above the interests of the country, in order to exclude dissidents and ignore the overall situation, many Donglin officials are like this, not to mention the other three parties - although Zhang Yuan does not like luxury, but shabby can not stand itAccording to his current expenses, he will use about three hundred taels of silver a year in Beijing, and after he comes, the expenses will naturally be doubled, and the six or seven hundred taels of silver will depend on the Hanlin Academy's money, but fortunately, he now has his own way to make money, Hanshe Bookstore, Hanshe Mirror Fang, Shengmei Firm, a year bonus is less than three thousand taels, he can be a clean official, he is also in favor of paying taxes, and his vision is naturally longer than others - Zhang Yuan goes to the Hanlin Academy every time he drinks tea, reads, and practices calligraphy, Zhang Yuan doesn't want to study much anymore, and the door has been knocked, Bricks can be thrown away, Zhang Yuan now reads a lot of Di Bao, starting from the Di Bao in the fifteenth year of Wanli, and also making notes, which is the most diligent in the compilation and editing of the same hall, which makes Zhou Yanru feel very ridiculous, just look at the new Di Bao, and read the Di Bao decades ago, and make notes, is this person too bored, or is it a roundabout reading of Baguwen?

So on April 28, it was Zhou Yanru's turn to give a lecture to Shu Jishi, Zhou Yanru said that he had a sore throat, and recommended Zhang Yuan to teach on his behalf, what he wanted to teach was how to draft the three courses of employment, election, and examination, Fan Wen was "The Recital of Famous Ministers of the Past Dynasties", Zhou Yanru thought that Zhang Yuan did not dare to agree, he wanted to see Zhang Yuan ashamed and resigned, but Zhang Yuan just asked about his condition with concern, and went to the lecture hall of Hanlin Academy with tea. They are all stunned, how can there be any reason to give lectures to their fellow scholars!

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "Brothers, Zhang Yuan is rude, Zhou Shi said that your body is not safe, so I will discuss with you young brothers how to draft the fold, which is to discuss rather than teach." ”

The twenty-four Ji Ji Shi all laughed, and someone said, "Zhang Xiushu is erudite and knowledgeable, and we are about to ask for advice." ”

Zhang Yuan took a cup of tea, and began to talk about the "Recitals of the Famous Ministers of the Past Dynasties", this book is voluminous, collecting more than 8,000 articles of the famous ministers of the past dynasties, most of which Zhang Yuan listened to Huang Zunsu and others read for him, most of them were remembered in his heart, at this time, when he encountered the chapters that needed to be cited, Zhang Yuan recited casually, showing his amazing memory, a class down, recited tens of thousands of words, and the ideas were clear, concise and easy to understand, all the Shu Ji Shi were amazed, this book was actually read by many Shu Ji Shi, but no one could be as clear as Zhang Yuan, can speak in simple terms - when Zhang Yuan came out with a teacup, he saw the bachelor Guo Shu standing outside the long window of the lecture hall, obviously having been listening for a long time, Zhang Yuan quickly put the teacup on the corridor railing, and saluted Bachelor Guo, Guo Shu nodded and said: "Zhang Xiushu gave an excellent lecture, and you will teach this course in the future." ”

Zhang Yuan hurriedly said: "Bachelor Guo, this is absolutely unacceptable, today it is Zhou Shi who is unwell and wants me to temporarily replace, I can only reluctantly make it difficult, how can I give a lecture to myself in the same year, I don't have this qualification, and today I just say that I am in power." ”

Guo Shu saw that Zhang Yuan refused, and also felt that the system of the Hanlin Academy was incompatible, so he did not ask for it again.

Zhang Yuan returned to the small courtyard near the Yuhe River, Zhou Yanru was no longer there, saying that he was sick and went back to the apartment to rest, Zhang Yuan smiled and thought: "I'm not afraid of such difficulties, it's good to come once in a while." ”

At dusk, Zhang Yuan and his eldest brother Zhang Dai came out of the Hanlin Academy, Mu Zhenzhen and Wuling were waiting on the north bridge of the Jade River, as well as Nengliang and Mingyan, Nengliang handed a large envelope to Zhang Dai and said: "Young Master Zongzi, this is sent by the eldest master of Shanyin." ”

Zhang Rulin sent letters by post, which was much faster than the Civil Information Bureau.

Zhang Dai saw that the envelope was very thick, and said, "Jiezi, there should be your letter in it." "Open the big envelope, there are really five letters from Zhang Yuan inside, which are Zhang Rulin, Zhang Ruiyang, Zhang Ruoxi, Zhang Cao, Shang Ran and Wang Wei's letters to Zhang Yuan - in an instant, Zhang Yuan's mouth was dry, which made him nervous and excited more than the spring list, and quickly opened the letter, ten lines at a glance, Zhang Yuan shouted: "Three officials bless, mother and son are safe, Zhang Hong is gradually born!" "The ecstasy is far better than the champion.

On the eve of Zhang Yuan's departure from Shanyin's hometown to Beijing to take the exam last year, Zhang Yuan and Ran talked in the middle of the night, Zhang Yuan said that the boy was called Zhang Hongji, and the girl was called Zhang Sirou

(To be continued)