Hearing the news of Sun Yuanqi's ascension, the back kitchen exerted twelve points of strength, and in a hurry, he actually made the dinner extremely sumptuous.

Lao Zhao and his wife and the security guards were eating in the side room, and they could be heard cheering and pushing cups and changing lamps from so far away. Sun Yuanqi and several of his staff members sat down in the main hall, and the banquet was obviously much quieter. The staff knew that Dong Weng was about to leave Hubei, and they all arrived very well, and even Chen Qiansheng, who had rarely appeared in the past, rarely appeared at the wine table.

Seeing that the wine and food were neat and in place, Yang Du, the chief staff, took the lead in raising his glass: "First of all, let's congratulate the adults on their promotion to the left waiter of the school!" ”

Everyone raised their glasses together: "Congratulations to the Lords on being promoted to the left waiter of the school!" ”

"Thank you!" It is difficult to resist the hospitality, and Sun Yuanqi can only drink this cup. put down the wine glass, and then continued: "This position change is actually in exchange for sycophants and bragging, which is not a real skill." It's like a stolen gong and drum, which can't be beaten or beaten. Your congratulations, but I am disrespectful and deserved! ”

"Your Excellency's words are wrong!" Zhang Shizhao said, "The so-called being an official is nothing more than doing things and being a person. Qing officialdom has always had a saying of 'three points of work, seven points of life', think about it carefully, but it is also reasonable. If you can't please Shangguan, how can you please thousands of people? If the relationship with the superior is not handled well, how can the complex disputes between the subordinates and subjects be properly handled? Therefore, if you want to do something, you must first be human. The adults have made remarkable achievements in Hubei, and they are doing things for good; can also get the praise and approval of the superiors, it is for the sake of being a good man. Being a man and being good at doing things, promotion is a matter of course, how can adults be ashamed? ”

Everyone nodded in unison: "Xingyan said what we thought!" ”

Yang Du raised his glass again at this time: "This second glass of wine is to congratulate the Lord on becoming the youngest Han squire since the founding of the Qing Dynasty!" ”

Sun Yuanqi held the wine glass and looked at Yang Du with some doubts: Is there still such a Guinness record in the Qing Dynasty?

Yang Du first acted as respect, and then slowly explained: "In the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, the Han and the Manchu are very different. Manchu people can become high-ranking officials at a young age by virtue of hereditary and family lineage. For example, Zhen Beizi (Zai Zhen), at the age of 28, he can be the secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, and at the age of 31, he can be the secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Industry. Another example is Chongshi, two years after the Hanlin Academy was disbanded, he was promoted from the Zhengqipin Hanlin Academy to the Zhengsanpin Hubu Zuo Shilang. ”

"How old are the children of the Manchu royal family, the emperor in their teens, and the prince and the prince of the county, what are the Shangshu and the squire?" Chen Qiansheng interjected. Seeing that everyone was staring at him, he hurriedly drank the wine in the cup: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Brother Huizi, please continue." ”

"As for us Han people, although there are also hereditary, donation and other ways to enter the official career, after all, there are a few, after all, they still take the imperial examination as the right way, and in the imperial examination, they take the jinshi as the right way. As the old saying goes: thirty old Ming Jing, fifty young Jinshi. It shows that it is not easy for the middle jinshi. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Qing Dynasty has opened a total of 112 courses, and 27,000 Manchu and Han Jinshi have been admitted. The specific age of these people is difficult to know, no matter what can be glimpsed from the champions of each subject. Yang Du took out the folding fan and began to tremble:

"More than half of the 114 champions were in their thirties and forties when they won the championship. The oldest was Wang Shidan, the champion of the Kangxi Forty-second Year, who was already nine out of fifty at that time. The youngest are Yu Wenxiang Gong (Min Zhong), Dai Wen Duan Gong (Qu Heng) and Pan Wen Gong Gong (Shi En), all of whom are only 24 years old. However, Yu Wenxiang Gong and Dai Wenduan Gong were forty years old when they were appointed as waiters, and only Pan Wengong Gong was thirty-three years old when he was appointed as the right waiter of the Ministry of Rites, which was the same age as adults. But the adult is the left waiter of the school, the left waiter is originally above the right waiter, and the order of the school is before the rite department, so the adult is still better than him!

"Of course, there are younger ones among the jinshi. It is said that Qiao Tinggui of the former Ming Dynasty was admitted to the Jinshi at the age of fifteen, which is really appalling! Naturally, there are many young talents in my Qing Dynasty, and as far as I know, Zhu Wenzhenggong (珪) was a seventeen-year-old Zhongjinshi. He was enough to occupy the top three positions among the 112 subjects and nearly 30,000 jinshi, but he was already over fifty years old when he became a squire.

"In the Dao and Xian years, Shilin mostly took the Hanlin as a shortcut to officials, and believed that the Hanlin Academy edited and reviewed for ten years could be an official to a servant. But how easy is that? Amazingly talented and prosperous, such as Zeng Wenzheng Gong (national domain), it took 9 years from the dissolution of the Hanlin Academy to the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites. Not to mention the others! Even so, if you want to be a squire before the age of thirty-three, you must dissolve the Hanlin Academy before the age of twenty-three, that is, before the age of twenty. In the past ten years, no relatives in the family have passed away, because once the mourning is held, it will have to be delayed for one to three years.

"One come and go, and you will become the youngest Han squire since the founding of the Qing Dynasty! Isn't it worth a toast for this? ”

Count you ruthless! Sun Yuanqi had no choice but to smile bitterly and drink the wine in the cup.

Just after eating a few chopsticks dishes, Yang Du raised his wine glass for the third time: "The third glass of wine, I wish the adults to rise step by step and show their chest as soon as possible!" ”

"Thank you!" Sun Yuanqi no longer resisted and toasted directly.

Lin Shu put down the wine glass and said slowly: "From this point of view, my lord can be a black-headed man one day." ”

Black-headed male? Wrap sunspots?

"The black-headed male, even if the hair is still black, is already ranked as the third male." Lin Shu knew that his owner had no culture, and then explained, "Now the three dukes are purely fictitious, but the officials are university scholars and military ministers, which are roughly equivalent to the three dukes in ancient times." ”

Sun Yuan said in his heart: Brothers, wake up, don't talk drunk! The Qing Dynasty still has three years to braid, where will there be any more scholars and military ministers?

Liu Shipei saw Sun Yuanqi's expression of disbelief, and folded his fingers and said, "Don't believe it, my lord, Mr. Lu's words are still very possible." After the reform of the bureaucratic system in the previous year, the position of the Faculty was second only to the three ministries of foreign affairs, civil affairs, and degree support, and before the five ministries of the army, navy, law, agriculture and commerce, and post and telecommunications. There is only one step between Zuo Shilang and Shangshu, as long as there are no mistakes and effective operation, there is great hope for becoming a Shangshu before the age of forty! As long as you become a scholar, in three or five years, you will be able to join the military aircraft and be appointed as a university scholar! ”

Yang Du also nodded in approval: "What Uncle Shen said is right, but the most important thing is the step between the squire and the monk." Don't look at the squire and the monk, it seems to be close at hand, but in fact, it is a gap that many people are difficult to cross. Just take our Hunan township sage Xu Shuming as an example.

"He was a scholar of Ding Weike in the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang (1847). In the fourteenth year of Guangxu (1888), he was appointed as the right attendant of the Ministry of Industry by the Left Deputy Metropolitan Imperial History Department of the Metropolitan Inspection Yuan; In the fifteenth year (1889), he was officially transferred to the right waiter of the Ministry of Works; In the nineteenth year (1893), he was promoted to the right attendant of the military department; Twenty-one years (1895), he was transferred to Zuo Shilang; In the twenty-second year (1896), he served as the left waiter of the military department and the right waiter of the criminal department; In the twenty-third year (1897), he was transferred to the right squire of the Ministry of Officials, and then reappointed as the left capital of the Imperial Palace. In the past nine years, he has served as a servant of the four departments of workers, soldiers, criminals, and officials, and in the end, he has only been promoted by one level from the previous left deputy capital imperial history and has become the left capital imperial history, and he has not even touched the edge of Shangshu!

"My lord's promotion this time can be described as a spring breeze. However, after arriving in the capital, I hope to be a low-key person, make friends with all the officials and colleagues, and strive to make further progress as soon as possible! “

Sun Yuan saw that Yang Du had a tendency to toast again, so he hurriedly turned against the guest and picked up the wine glass first: "Since we arrived in Hubei, the general affairs depend on the monarchs. I am very grateful to have some achievements today and be promoted. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you with the wine in your glass! ”

After drinking, Sun Yuanqi picked up the wine jug and filled it for everyone, and asked by the way: "Huizi, in the edict sent by the imperial court, who is the new envoy of Tixue?" ”

"Nope."

"That's good. In this way, we should have a week to a month or so to deal with the rest of Hubei's affairs. Sun Yuanqi put down the wine jug, "Everyone will work hard for a while, and when the matter is over, we will have a good time when we arrive in Beijing." ”

"Go to Beijing, ......" The staff members suddenly looked different.

The staff is like the secretary of the officialdom in later generations, every time the leader changes his position, the staff will follow the change of a batch, and only a small number of loyal and like-minded dead friends will follow the leader to run around, and even serve for a lifetime. Although these five people may not all be staff materials, for example, Lin Shu is busy with his own translations every day, and Chen Qiansheng is often absent for ten days and half a month, but after all, they have been together for two or three years, and the relationship is very harmonious, Sun Yuanqi still hopes that everyone can follow him to Beijing: "You don't have to worry about 'rice is expensive in the capital, and it is not easy to live in a big place'." When you arrive in the capital, your salary will be 50% higher than when you were in Hubei. And I have a house in Houhai, and there is no problem with living dozens of people! ”

The staff members looked at each other and did not speak.

"Of course, if you don't want to go to Beijing, please say it as soon as possible, and I will try to find a decent errand for everyone in Hubei." Ten fingers are still long, not to mention that all the staff members are educated and thoughtful? Sun Yuanqi knew that "there is no banquet that will not be dispersed when building a long shed for thousands of miles", so he did not force it, "If you haven't thought about it, you don't have to answer in a hurry, anyway, there will be a while." ”

Yang Du stopped the fan in his hand and glared at Sun Yuanqi: "Baixi, when you returned from Japan together, you promised 'Gou Fugui, don't forget each other', does it still count now?" ”

"Naturally counts, as long as the skin is not disgusted!"

Yang Du put down the fan and picked up the wine glass with both hands: "Since this is the case, I will bother in the future!" ”

"It's too late for the little brother to welcome!" Sun Yuanqi didn't shirk anything, and the glass was dry.

Among the five current staff, Yang Du is undoubtedly the most helpful to Sun Yuanqi. With his assistance, there is no need to bother yourself with intrigue in officialdom. Therefore, for Yang Du's statement, Sun Yuan welcomed it with 120,000 points.

Lin Shu, who was sitting on Sun Yuanqi's right hand, also twisted his beard and said: "The old man translated the Taixi script and asked Baixi for advice a lot, I wonder if Baixi can continue to teach?" ”

Lin Shu is a famous translator in modern times, and his knowledge of ancient Chinese is extremely profound, and he often writes it before the dictator finishes speaking. But he has a fatal flaw, that is, he does not know a foreign language, he cannot choose the right script, and the decision is entirely in the hands of the interpreter. As a result, he has made jokes, such as treating children's books adapted or abridged from famous books as original masterpieces, and translating plays by Shakespeare and Ibsen.

Although Sun Yuanqi has not read a few foreign literary masterpieces, has he never eaten pork and seen a pig run? Suggestions that are of great value are often put forward. In addition, I know so many acquaintances in Europe and the United States, and I can always find the most reliable foundation for Lin Shu. Lin Shu was also quite grateful for this, and repeatedly mentioned Sun Yuanqi's assistance in the preface and afterword of the translation.

Sun Yuanqi picked up his wine glass again: "What did Mr. Weilu say?" It's really hard to learn. You are very welcome to go to Beijing together, and I would like to ask you about Tongcheng writing! ”

Liu Shipei was not to be outdone: "The little brother is willing to follow Baixi to Beijing!" ”

Zhang Shizhao pondered for a moment and agreed.

Only Chen Qiansheng said apologetically: "Brother Baixi, the younger brother knows that he is not the material to be a staff member, and he has been busy with his own affairs in the past few years, which does not help the yamen. However, you don't have a word of complaint against your little brother, and your little brother is really ashamed and ashamed! Now that Brother Baixi has been promoted to Zuo Shilang, I think there will be more talented people under the scenes, and the younger brother happens to be in Hubei and has not finished some mundane affairs, so he will not go to Beijing with everyone. Live up to Brother Baixi's kindness, I hope you will forgive me! ”

"Since Zhongfu intends to stay in Hubei, what can Brother Yu do?" To be honest, Sun Yuanqi really didn't care much about Chen Qiansheng's goings and stays.

"If you can, junior brother wants to ask Brother Baixi to arrange me to be in the Law and Political Science Academy, even if it is a miscellaneous servant!"

Now the Hubei School of Law and Politics is mainly handled by Wang Chonghui and Song Jiaoren, and it can be imagined that it is full of revolutionary atmosphere. Chen Qiansheng's purpose here is like lice on a monk's head - it is obvious that he wants to form a gang and prepare for rebellion.

Sun Yuan nodded: "There should be no problem with this!" ”

Although there is already an edict, after all, he has not officially left his post. Even if he has already left his job, arranging an overseer or provost in the Fazheng School, in front of his own face, can Chen Kuilong or the later envoy say anything?

Subsequently, he added: "When Zhongfu arrived at the Fazheng School, he had to think twice before acting, and everything should always be done with the safety of students and the overall situation of the school. ”

Chen Qiansheng bowed slightly: "The little brother has been taught!" I would like to use a glass of wine to thank you for your care of Chen over the years, and I wish you all the best in every step! ”

!@#