After the emperor was fortunate to learn, on the second day, the prince of the country gave a banquet to the emperor's gate, and the prisoner gave a banquet under the Danqi. Reward the sacrificial wine Lu Zhan, Si Ye, silk Luo Yi, two per person; Thirty-five people, including scholars, each wore one piece, and was given a gauze hat and strap; There were 2,754 prisoners, each of whom received a piece of silk and a stone of rice.

The reward is not rich, and the emperor's grace is not immense.

But all the banquets, are in charge of the Ministry of Rites and Diets, Guanglu Temple is organized, people have respect and inferiority, the banquet is also superior and inferior, the luck Taixue banquet is the Hongwu period set the rules, the banquet level is not only high, the quality of the dishes is extraordinarily rich, the table will also be served only for the guests to eat and very noble sheep's back skin (Note 1).

In this way, all show the rank, as well as the emperor's grace.

After the feast, Emperor Yongming left the sacrificial wine Lu Zhan, and the two monarchs and ministers talked daily in the study of the Qianqing Palace. When Zhu Zhongwei was the prince, Lu Zan was the prince's teacher. is not only a monarch and minister, but also a teacher and student, Lu Zan is also deeply respected by him.

In fact, the emperor left him for another reason, that is, he wanted to ask Lu Zhan's opinion, what should he do with Wu Yan, this 'maverick' student?

Lu Zan had already made up his mind in his heart, so he said to His Majesty:

"Since the establishment of Taixue by Emperor Gaozu of my dynasty, not only have there been many instructors, but also many people among the prisoners, and the ministers remember that there are 45 court examinations that have been accurately recorded in the past, and a total of more than 12,000 people have been selected as scholars, of which 6,625 are from prison students. There is also a time when the first emperor won the top three at one time. At that time, Chen was still a young chong, but he remembered that time very deeply. ”

Emperor Yongming smiled and nodded, and said, "I think about it, Wu Yan's messy official document is written 'sacrificial wine career', and I guess a seed has been planted in the heart of the gentleman at that time......"

When Lu Zan heard this, he felt so awkward in his heart, but he was not easy to refute the emperor's words, the previous words were just foreshadowing, in order not to let His Majesty think of any 'sacrificial wine career', he simply omitted the foreshadowing and said the key point directly.

Therefore, the minister thinks that there is no class in education, and that no distinction between the noble and the low, the virtuous or the foolish, can be educated; The second refers to the elimination of existing deficiencies through education. Wu Yan's talent is not reflected in her studies, but in her ability, which is related to her knowledge, but not necessarily related. She can completely save the time of sitting in the hall to study, and start the process directly, thinking that with her intelligence, she will definitely be the first female official with outstanding achievements in my Ming Dynasty in the future. ”

"Mr. said it well, I think Sizong also made General Qin a loyal waiter back then."

"Yes, Your Majesty, Emperor Sizong also praised General Qin for being 'a woman who has always been willing to accept it, why should the general be a husband'. There is also a masterpiece, a young worker Wenhan, who can also hold a stone bow and is good at fencing...... Later, Bi followed his father to join the army, and once attacked the Qing army camp at night, which greatly boosted morale, and the superintendent Wen Jie reported to the imperial court and asked for a military position, but it was a pity that ......"

The reason why the minister mentioned them was to say that there are countless talented women in the world, and not only are they not inferior to men in terms of intelligence, but they can also make contributions through their own efforts, so there is no need to stick to the rules. If a woman can be a marquis and can be given a military position, can't she be awarded a civil official? The minister would like to have a few more women like General Qin and Bi Zhu in the world, and maybe women like Wu Yan. ”

"Good!" Emperor Yongming was very happy when he heard his words: "Then in the opinion of Mr., how should Wu Yan go through things?" ”

"The minister found that Wu Yan's arithmetic is better than other subjects, and her exam scores are among the best, she is proficient in accounting, so it is better to let her go to the household department first."

This is something that everyone agrees with.

"Take half a year to a year as a period, select three or five yamen to go through, and finally still use points to evaluate the upper, middle and lower, etc., the upper class will be sent to the ministry for supplementary selection, and in case of a lack of officials, it will be used in turn, and the middle will be repeated, and the inferior will still return to the country to supervise and study......"

Emperor Yongming groaned, and after a long while, he said: "This method still needs to be considered, and I still have to ask the opinions of the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Households." ”

"Of course."

After Lu Zan and His Majesty finished speaking, they got up and said goodbye, and the scholars and prisoners who accepted the banquet had finished the banquet and returned to Guozijian to continue their studies, and Wu Zhan naturally went with him.

Back in Guozijian, Wang Youren came to her and showed her a letter from home that he had just received.

Wu Yan was quite surprised, holding the letter in his hand and inquiring in his eyes.

Wang Youren explained: "It doesn't hurt to look at it, you also know that my family's dental shop is doing a good business, and my family's dental shop has been booming recently, all because of the sale and purchase of land." I'm just a little worried. ”

Wu Yan smiled: "Are you still worried about good business?" She understood as soon as she heard it, but she didn't immediately open the letter to read it.

"Hey, it's good that I'm worried, the abnormality is a demon, maybe it's far away, but I became a bystander, and I feel like someone is deliberately manipulating, not like a normal business."

Wu Yan became interested and asked, "How do you see it?" ”

Wang Youren's eyes widened and he asked in surprise: "Could it be that someone is really manipulating the business?" ”

"I didn't mean that, how do you think someone is deliberately manipulating?"

"It's not obvious yet? The purpose of the imperial decree was to suppress the price of land, and when the price of land fell to the bottom, someone would come forward to buy it...... I guess the next step is to raise the land price again, and then the previous land sellers will flock to redeem it, and it is impossible to redeem the original price, and the difference in price will not be earned for the acquirer? It's easy to make a quick buck this way. ”

Although Wang Youren is interested in learning, he is not ignorant of general affairs, and the children of merchant families generally understand the world better than those who are simply academic.

"Are you trying to ask if it's too coincidental, the decree, the suppression, and then the big fall, the acquisition...... How seamless is it? ”

Wang Youren nodded.

Wu Yan thought for a while and said, "Your Wang family does everything according to the rules, what is there to worry about?" Even if there is a problem, it will not be able to settle on your head. ”

"That's what I said...... he was speechless for a while, and listening to her tone, even if he knew, he probably wouldn't tell the truth.

"My family naturally came according to the rules, hey~ Just thinking of such a large-scale acquisition, how can ordinary businessmen afford it? Unless you have strong capital, a strong background, and are bold...... If it weren't for the above, it wouldn't be possible. ”

Wu Yan thought of Cao Shuyu, and compared it, it seemed that he was quite compatible. But even if she knew the answer in her heart, she couldn't tell him.

"As long as your family comes according to the rules of the tooth shop, no seller will blame your family, so relax."

Wang Youren had no choice but to say: "Then take your good words." ”

Wang Youren left with a lot of worries, and Wu Yan didn't look at his letter, but he could guess some. Also, he also reminded her that Shu Daizong had been gone for some time, and he must have understood the situation over there, and now he had to pay more attention to the progress of Liuhe.

The next day, Emperor Yongming recruited the secretary of the ministry, and the secretary of the household department came to the imperial council, and Li Ju, the first assistant of the cabinet, also participated.

His impression of Wu Yan has changed a lot now, although she is still a bit 'unlearned', at least she is indeed a capable person and rich......

Thinking like this, it seems that he will only worry about other people's money, but in fact, the problem facing the imperial court today is precisely the lack of money. It's not that she is rich, but that she can make money, and if the court has the slightest ability for her to make money, she won't be overstretched all the time.

When Emperor Yongming talked about the recommendation of sacrificial wine, the three cabinet officials in the hall were silent, and their inner thoughts were different. For a while, the hall was so quiet that you could hear the sound of needles falling.

"This matter still needs to draw up a charter, let's talk about it." The Emperor said.

"Your Majesty," Gu Dehai stepped forward and said, "The household department is short of supervisors, and when she comes, the ministers are naturally willing, so as to solve the problem of lack of manpower." ”

Han Shangwen's face was a little ugly, and he leaned at him: "Gu Shangshu, tell me carefully, where is there a shortage of people in the household department?" ”

People can't arrange it, okay! There are many second-class officials in the back......

"Originally, the calendar items and quotas were fixed, your household department is special, and it depends on the situation, and a lot of regular inmates were retired at the beginning of the year, and now they say that there is a shortage of people?" Isn't this a slap in the face?

"My household department lacks a number of students who are proficient in accounting, and there is no shortage of errands, so can't I?"

"Humph! Ridiculous, a woman just does business and becomes proficient in accounting? There are more housemothers who are proficient in accounting in the world, can't they also come to your household to settle accounts? ”

"You're ridiculous! The account in my hand is not the same, how can it be compared? ”

"Then you say, how is it different?" Han Shangwen was a little reluctant.

"Eh, stop, two," Li Ju hurriedly spoke out to stop: "Off topic, Your Majesty hopes to have a specific charter, this situation may be encountered in the future, who dares to say that there will be no more such a situation as Yan Sizhen in the future?" It's easy to have a charter to compare with. ”

Emperor Yongming listened for a long time before he said: "The old gentleman is right, the two Qing families don't need to talk about those who don't." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister hopes that Yan Sizhen will start from the household department, of course, as for whether she can be rated as superior, it depends on her performance in the past, and the minister will strictly implement it."

"Lao Chen thinks that although he can start directly from the past, he still can't relax his academic requirements, otherwise she will become a very bad example."

"Well, what the old gentleman said is very true, then, what does Han Qing's family mean?"

"The minister is actually not interesting, everything is done according to the rules, and the assessment of the assessment will never relax the standards because of her 'specialness', and it will be strictly implemented."

"That being the case, it is better to go through the regular calendar, miscellaneous calendar, long and short differences, and it does not need to be limited to a few yamen calendars."

"It's okay, more experience will also be beneficial for her to become an official in the future."

Wu Yan didn't know that her hard career was about to begin, and it was not much easier than her studying in Guozijian.

Because they are all doing specific work, such as brushing the scrolls with the imperial history, going out on patrol, supervising the repair of water conservancy, measuring land, verifying taxes and grains, checking household registration, etc., are all specific and complicated work. There are also Qing Huang, writing edicts, continuing Huang, Qing Army, Tiancai Treasury, carrying the treasury to enthrone the money and grain, the Ministry of Industry to clean craftsmen, the Ministry of Rites to write the regulations on people's feelings, repairing fasting, referring to the table, reporting obituaries, squashing, checking the horse book, grinding accounts in the big wood factory, and so on......

And the assessment is the first comment of each calendar yamen, which is divided into four items: diligence, ordinary, talented, and stubborn.

But for Wu Yan, it is not only the improvement of her business ability, but also the tempering of her behavior.