Sun Yuanqi suddenly thought of a question: "Uncle and grandfather, after I go to Hubei, can I take two or three months off every year?" Not only do I have to go abroad to investigate, but I also have to go back to Beijing often to see the school."

"According to the usual practice, that will naturally not work, but," the old man's tone changed, "you should have no problem returning to Beijing for a few months every year." It's just going abroad, I'm afraid it won't work. ”

With a flash of inspiration in his head, Sun Yuanqi roughly understood the reason: "The Empress Dowager is still worried about my recruitment of international students, so she will allow me to return to Beijing, right?" ”

The old man quietly bowed his head: "Yes, the reason why the palace will let you out this time is that I hope you can build another school in Hubei and continue to recruit foreign students." After the Gengzi State Change, the imperial court promised to pay 45,000,000 taels of silver to each country, which would be repaid in 39 years, with an annual interest of 4%, and finally the total principal and interest were nearly 100,000 taels. If you can set up a few more schools and recruit more students, you can go to Hubei, you can investigate the school settings in the province, establish the old and the new, and do your best. This move is not only unhindered by Zhang Nanpi, but also in the palace. It's just that you have to give the palace a share often, so that others don't attack you. ”

When Sun Yuanqi heard this, he scratched his head a little: "Write an excerpt......"

Writing a recital is definitely a huge test for Sun Yuan. In the past few years in the Qing Dynasty, Sun Yuanqi's progress has been limited to reading ordinary ancient texts without punctuation, and he can barely write a few neat characters when he picks up a brush. And writing a fold requires a flowery four and six, a round and plump fly's head, which is not something that can be done overnight. When the old man saw Sun Yuanqi's ink, he sighed more than once: "Baixi, you should practice more when you are free" Usually Sun Yuanqi uses a pen and a copyist to deal with the correspondence in the officialdom. Could it be that when you go to Hubei, you still take a few students to work as scribes?

The old man was not bothered at this time, and said in a harmonious voice: "Baixi, now that you are a member of the second grade, you don't need to do many things yourself. Especially when you go out of Beijing to a local place, the affairs are complicated, how can a person handle it? Not to mention the envoys, even ordinary magistrates will hire staff, as few as two or three people, and as many as a dozen people. The imperial court gives you at least 6,000 taels of incorruptible silver every year, isn't it just for you to find some helpers?

"The staff can help you draft documents, manage accounts, write exam questions, register correspondence, etc., and generally choose experienced and meritorious scholars. Especially if you are in charge of school affairs in the province, it is better to be from an elector. Jinshi can also do it, but I'm afraid that people won't give in.

"The most important thing in hiring staff is to get along with yourself, so the old man won't recommend it to you. Don't worry, don't worry about no one coming, I'm just afraid that Mao Sui will recommend yourself and others too much, and you will end up picking."

Hearing him say this, Sun Yuanqi had no choice but to dispel the idea of digging the foot of the wall, and asked the last question: "Uncle and grandfather, now that I have received this holy decree, can I wait until the end of June to take up my post?" ”

Because it is now the end of April, Sun Yuanqi wants to hurry up and quickly finish defending the thesis of the senior students, so that he can go to Hubei to take up his post with peace of mind.

The old man slapped the table: "The country has its own system, after receiving the order, you will leave Beijing within ten days and take office within three months, so you can change it at will?" After having lunch here, and after writing the thanksgiving fold, you hurry back and clean up. Then I went to the ministry to get the seal letter, and immediately left Beijing after His Majesty's resignation."

Only ten days?

Sun Yuanqi began to feel that time was pressing, and many things in the school had not yet been explained, so he came out of Lianzi Hutong and hurriedly came to the yamen of the school. The yamen was originally the mansion of the Gonggong Quanrong of Feng'en Town, and after the school made up 13,000 taels of silver, it was requisitioned as a daily office space. These days, Zhang Yuanji, Luo Zhenyu, Yan Fu and others are busy here.

The gossip in officialdom spreads the fastest. When Sun Yuan entered the yamen, he found that everyone knew about his release, and he was full of joys all the way. In fact, this is not a happy event: after all, I saw that the person who got it changed from a second-grade Beijing official to a magistrate in the blink of an eye, so how could I be happy?

Zhang Yuanji and a few others had already gotten the news, and when they saw Sun Yuanqi, they went straight to the topic: "After you leave, what will Jingshi University do in the next few years?" ”

You must know that the envoy is appointed for three years, and he cannot leave his post and enter Beijing casually during his tenure. Who can be sure that he will definitely enter Beijing in three years? What if you come back for another three years, or go elsewhere to continue your job, and the school will not be able to function?

Hearing Sun Yuanqi say that he could come back for a few months every year, the big stone in everyone's hearts fell to the ground. Luo Zhenyu said with a smile: "This is better than Principal Baixi going abroad in the past few years, after all, Hubei and the capital are in good spirits, and they can be contacted at any time by letter and telegram."

Sun Yuanqi said: "I know a little about physics, but I don't know anything about school management, but at the beginning of the school's founding, I drove mules to the shelves and tried my best to become the principal." However, I often go abroad for five or six months a year, or even longer, and most of the school affairs are entrusted to the two principals, Jusheng and Shuyan, and I am grateful that Xiaosheng is now in officialdom, and I am afraid that the affairs of the school will not be able to take care of it, so I want to resign as the principal——"

Before the words were finished, several people exclaimed in unison, "No"

Zhang Yuanji said: "Students at home and abroad are all the prophets and presidents of Baixi, and then they know about Jingshi University. Now that the school is just on the right track and has just started to become famous, if you go to work, the students will regret it, and the enrollment will be blocked in the future. So for the sake of the school, you must not quit"

Luo Zhenyu also said: "The school is now developing well, and the situation needs to be stable the most, Baixi, if you resign, I am afraid that the school will be greatly damaged."

Sun Yuanqi shook his head: "After the school, we can have today, it is the result of the concerted efforts of all teachers and students, what does it have to do with me personally?" Besides, I just resigned as the principal, but I am still a teacher at the school, and I will not get in the way. ”

Everyone still refused, and persuaded him several times, before Sun Yuanqi retracted his mind, but made a slight adjustment to the school's leadership: Zhang Yuanji stepped down as the director of the school committee and acted as the principal during Sun Yuanqi's departure from Beijing; Luo Zhenyu was reappointed as the director of the school committee and vice president; Yan Fu served as the director of the Teaching Committee and vice president.

Back at school, Sun Yuanqi began to prepare for leaving Beijing. In the past few months, because of the affairs of the school, Sun Yuanqi often lives in the city, while Lao Zhao and Lao Zheng are busy in the school, but they do not follow with them. Seeing Sun Yuanqi returning to school, both of them rushed over.

Sun Yuanqi was packing up the books and magazines on the shelves in the principal's office, and when he saw the two of them, he entertained: "Lao Zhao, Lao Zheng, you are just in time, hurry up and find a few people to help me move these books back." ”

Old Zhao Qi said: "Master, what are you doing here?" Uproot? ”

"Yes, I'm going to Hubei in a few days. This time, I've really become a master," Sun Yuanqi joked as he cleaned up.

Lao Zheng was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked, "Master, what kind of errand did you get?" ”

"Oh, it's the Messenger." Sun Yuanqi was afraid that he would not understand, and added, "Similar to the previous Xuezheng"

When the two went out together to find someone to come over to help, Lao Zhao asked suspiciously: "Second Brother Zheng, how big an official is the envoy?" ”

In Lao Zhao's eyes, from the emperor, prime minister, and Shangshu down, there are only governors, governors, prefects, and prefects, and other officials are not in the scope of cognition.

Lao Zheng replied: "I heard the master say, this scholar is equivalent to the previous school and politics, and it sounds like this name is similar to the political envoy and the inspection envoy, it is estimated that it is the third product, right?" ”

"How big is Zhengsanpin? How much bigger than the prefect? Is there a governor? Lao Zhao continued to ask.

Lao Zheng said: "Zheng Sanpin, three or four levels older than the prefect, one or two levels higher than the governor. ”

"Oh, it's amazing" Lao Zhao said in surprise, "The old man Bao will be able to be the prime minister like the old lady"

"That's the old man, who is only thirty years old now, and there will be opportunities in the future." Old Zheng Yinghe said.

Suddenly, Lao Zhao slapped his thigh: "Master, I'm afraid it will take at least two or three years to go to Hubei, and no one around me can take care of it, no, I have to go back and clean up."

Originally, Sun Yuanqi was only going to bring a dozen or so security guards to his post. As a result, Lao Zhao went on the offensive with tears, and Sun Yuanqi had no choice but to take his old couple with him, but Jing Hui and Jing Fan stayed in school. Lao Zheng also took the initiative to ask Ying, and Sun Yuanqi appeased him on the excuse that his family business was still in Beijing and needed someone to take care of him.

The boss said that there would be people in the staff who would recommend themselves and recommend him, but Sun Yuanqi was not good at first, but as soon as he showed his tone, he received thirty or forty famous posts similar to "job resumes" in two or three days. Especially when the officials from Beijing and Hubei hosted a banquet for themselves at the Huguang Guild Hall, almost everyone handed them a famous post. In addition to the self-recommendation of those who are down-and-out in Beijing, more people recommend their relatives and friends in the township. Among all the famous posts received, Sun Yuanqi only liked one person: Lin Shu.

Lin Shu was recommended by Yan Fu. Both of them are Fujian marquis officials, and they can be regarded as world friends, plus they are both in the capital and love translation, so they have close contacts. Speaking of which, Lin Shu's road to the imperial examination is quite bumpy, after he was raised in the middle of his 30s, he went to Beijing seven times to participate in the Ministry of Rites examination, and the result was "seven spring officials, repeatedly tried and failed", since then he has been determined to pursue a career and embarked on the road of literary translation, which has also achieved his reputation as "the king of the translation world" and "the master of the translation world".

Although Lin Shu was shocked when he translated Alexandre Dumas's The Affair of the Lady of the Camellias in Paris in the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897), his life did not seem to have improved much except for his great fame, and he is still working as a Chinese language teacher at the Wucheng School in Beijing.

In addition to the general employment relationship, the staff and the employer are more friends who help each other. Especially in the Qing Dynasty, the staff members who showed off their talents and raised their backgrounds assisted their employers in handling various official duties, not only to earn high salaries, but also to further their political experience. Employers show great respect for these gentlemen who may become officials in the future, and after all, many people have come over the same way. In the absence of outsiders, the two are usually referred to as "brothers".

After Sun Yuanqi received Yan Fu's recommendation, he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly threw away the work of packing his luggage and rushed to the Five Cities Academy to meet Lin Shu. Lin Shu was not very conservative ideologically because he had translated a large number of Western literary works, and after chatting with Sun Yuanqi for a while, he gladly accepted Sun Yuanqi's offer. Of course, two thousand taels of silver per year is indeed much higher than the salary of a Mandarin teacher.

While in the city, Sun Yuanqi went to the Yamen of the Ministry of Officials to receive the seal letter of the envoy. Generally speaking, the official seal should be at the place of the position. After receiving the holy decree, the new official rushed to the office to hand over the affairs with the predecessor, and only after the official seal was officially handed over. There is also a special term for this process, called "sealing". However, the provincial envoys have just been established, and the official seal is naturally in the ministry.

Sun Yuanqi also saw the official seal of the Qing Dynasty for the first time, and he was very curious. When he left the ministry, he opened the seal box, took it in his hand and flipped it over and looked at it a few times: unlike the legendary square official seal, this bronze seal is two inches and nine minutes long and one inch and nine minutes wide, but it is a rectangle. On the right two lines of the seal, the eight characters of "Hubei Mention the Seal of the Envoy Division" are written in the small seal of Shangfang in Chinese; The three lines on the left are Manchu text with twists and turns, and I think it also means the same thing.

After reading it, he handed it to Lao Zhao behind him. After walking more than a dozen steps, Sun Yuanqi felt that something was wrong, and when he looked back, he saw Lao Zhao respectfully holding the seal box to his forehead with both hands, and walking cautiously, with a trembling face. couldn't help laughing and said: "Lao Zhao, you just put it in your arms and carry it".