Shen Shuren originally wanted to privately invite Gu Yanwu and Zhang Huangyan to drink flower wine to relax and comfort Gu Yanwu, who was not on the list.

Unexpectedly, after the end of the township test, there were quite a lot of social activities for the newly promoted people and the prisoners and tribute prisoners, and the time collided together.

Wu Weiye, the director of Guozijian, personally posted a post, asking relevant people to go to Bailuzhou for a boat tour and a drinking party in Bailuzhou the day after tomorrow, and encourage all living beings to make persistent efforts.

After Shen Shuren got the post, he flipped through it and looked at it carefully, and it didn't say "Only those who are successful in the exam are allowed to go to the meeting", so he suggested to Gu Yanwu:

"Where to drink is not to drink, you have to ignore your brother. Everyone knows your knowledge, and no one will be dissatisfied with this kind of cultural meeting. ”

Zhang Huangyan didn't have a lot of experience, and he didn't see it either, so he echoed it.

Only Gu Yanwu had already participated in the township examination several times, and he knew that he was tired after the township examination, so he laughed at himself: "I go to join in the fun, this kind of literary meeting will have brokers from the Ministry of Officials to secretly peddle official positions." If you are interested, you will pay a deposit in private, and then you will officially donate. ”

Shen Shuren was stunned for a moment, and quickly reacted.

Sure enough, even in the Chongzhen period, when the imperial court allowed the Ming to sell officials, the people in the ministry still had to search for benefits.

Before and after buying an official, you have to pay money twice, the first time it goes into a private pocket, and the second time it goes to the imperial court. Moreover, the officials embezzled more money than they gave to the emperor.

After learning the truth, Shen Shuren continued to insist:

"Brother Gu, even so, but the younger brother and cousin are inexperienced after all, you should do me a favor and go have a few drinks together. I want to buy an official as soon as possible, and with a well-informed stare like you, it's not easy to be cheated. ”

After saying it, Gu Yanwu had no choice but to pull down and help his brother check it. Shen Shuren was overjoyed and said that there would be a report in the future.

……

Two days passed in a flash, and in a blink of an eye, it was August 27.

Many people have made some poems in advance to show the use of poems, and strive to adapt to the late autumn atmosphere of Bailuzhou, so as to find an opportunity to chant and show their faces in front of Wu Shanchang or other predecessors in the literary world.

Of course, Shen Shuren and Zhang Huangyan didn't do it.

Shen Shuren doesn't know how to write poetry at all, and the prison students he paid for are completely meaningless, and sooner or later he will be a gangster.

Zhang Huangyan can barely write a little, but he also knows that he can't be brilliant, so he simply hides it.

After arriving at the place, Zhang Huangyan was also very curious, they had come early, and they had chartered the boat by themselves, so they could take advantage of the fact that no one had arrived and watched around.

In the Egret Continent, the harbor is vertical and horizontal, and the reeds are green. There are countless tables on the embankment on the shore, and there are blue boats going back and forth in Tingzhou in the water, and there are singers stroking the piano and singing songs on Tingzhou, looming.

"This prosperous place in Jinling is extravagant and decadent. The new humanities club, with the presence of senior teachers, even invited singers to help the fun. If teachers and students all fall in love with the same woman, they don't know how to end it. ”

After Zhang Huangyan observed, he couldn't help but complain.

Shen Shuren listened to it on the sidelines, and he also laughed heartily, despising the hypocrisy of those rotten Confucians in his heart.

Gu Yanwu was relatively knowledgeable, so he made another cameo as a commentator:

"This Egret Continent Cultural Club is also a way to play over the years. The harbor here is vertical and horizontal, but the water surface is not wide. Let the singer go to the island to stroke the qin, and the people on the shore can still see clearly, but they can't touch it.

The secret combination of the poetry of "the leaves are pale, the white dew is frost, the so-called Yiren, on the water side", is the teacher and student together, and it is not disgraceful. ”

When Shen Shuren heard this, he was quite disdainful in his heart, these gimmicks were still hypocritical in the end.

However, he took a few casual glances, and after the Tingzhou reeds, there were quite a few women who played the piano, who were indeed beautiful, and it was estimated that they were all carefully selected repeatedly.

The guests of the Wenhui arrived soon, and Shen Shuren didn't know many people, so he needed Gu Yanwu to guide him:

"Today's host is Wu Shanchang, the chief of your country, and these two distinguished guests on the left and right seem to be Qian Qianyi and Gong Dingyu, who are as famous as Wu Meicun."

Shen Shuren and Zhang Huangyan were both meeting Qian, Gong and others for the first time. But Shen Shuren knows history, so he is not surprised by this.

Zhang Huangyan was very surprised: "How did the three of them weigh together?" That Gong Dingyu doesn't look much older than us, but Qian Qianyi is a fifty-year-old man. ”

Gu Yanwu nodded: "Gong Dingyu is indeed not very old, he is the sixth year of Chongzhen, the second year's jinshi, that is, the first two sessions, the ninety-seventh in the top three." I'm ashamed, the time he was raised, I also came to take the test, we haven't taken the test yet, and we don't plan to take the test. ”

With the arrival of the participants one by one, the conference soon officially began.

Wu Weiye took the lead in getting up and said some words of encouragement. It is nothing more than to let everyone serve the country wholeheartedly after completing their studies, and when it is difficult to make a speech, readers should take the world as their own responsibility.

Qian Qianyi is still guilty of sin, leaving his post in the opposition, saying that he did not speak publicly, but only accepted private advice from some scholars.

Gong Dingyu, the youngest of the "Jiang Zuo Three Families", will go to the capital at the end of the year to take up his post, and he belongs to the real power faction.

Gong Dingyu was a magistrate in Hubei before, and it is said that Xiong Wencan made meritorious contributions in the process of encircling and forcing Zhang Xianzhong to surrender last year, so he was evaluated by the Ministry of Officials as the best in the evaluation of political performance, and was promoted to the Ministry of War as the head of the six products.

The other lifters at the meeting did not question this statement, but Shen Shuren and Zhang Huangyan felt that it was very abnormal:

But now that Zhang Xianzhong has obviously reverted, Xiong Wencan himself has been imprisoned, and the person who gave Xiong Wencan last year can still rely on this old skill to be successfully promoted, it would be too fake to say that he did not deceive his superiors and subordinates.

"It is estimated that Your Majesty is too busy, grasping the big and letting go of the small, and the promotion and promotion of the big officials have to be personally inquired about, and the small officials don't have the energy to look at them one by one, and they are mixed up with the private goods by the people below."

Shen Shuren whispered and speculated maliciously, Zhang Huangyan also nodded heavily when he heard this, and the eyes of the two of them looking at Gong Dingyu were not as respectful as they were at the beginning.

Especially Shen Shuren knows history, he knows the so-called "Jiang Zuosan family", and Wu Weiye's character is slightly better, and he has not been Shiqing for many years (but Shunzhi was still threatened by force ten years later, went to be an official, and resigned after three years), and the rest of Qian Qianyi and Gong Dingyu are even more unbearable in character.

Qian Qianyi took the initiative to surrender when the city of Nanjing was broken, and Gong Dingyu was in Beijing when Chongzhen died.

After Shen Shuren put on his colored glasses, he felt more and more disgusted when he looked at the people who were showing off their articles next to Qian Qianyi and Gong Dingyu.

Soon, he noticed that there were two young people surrounding Gong Dingyu. One of them looked lean and sunken, like a prostitute, and the other had a fleshy face that did not look like a scholar.

And many of the newcomers who are not very high in the township examination admission rankings next to them gradually and naturally surrounded those people, chanting poems and complimenting each other.

"Who are the two people next to Gong Dingyu? Are they very knowledgeable? So sought-after? Shen Shuren humbly inquired about Gu Yanwu.

Gu Yanwu observed for a moment, shook his head and smiled: "These two should be the ones who are in charge of matchmaking and selling officials today, why, Brother Shen Xian doesn't know any of them?"

The one with a fierce face is Zhu Guangshi, I remember that Ling Zun and Zhu Dadian, the governor of Caoyun, had some festivals, right? This Zhu Guangshi is the nephew of Governor Zhu, and you have not seen the Guozijian who entered at the same time as you? ”

Shen Shuren smiled embarrassedly, he had been in the national prison for more than 20 days, but it was true that he had not been to class for a day, and he had not made up for any of the four books and five classics. Except for those old friends, he didn't know any of the other Guozijian classmates.

Gu Yanwu continued to give him illiteracy: "I heard that Yang Ge Lao deployed troops in An and Lu to surround the rogue thieves and easterners, and this year a lot of money, food, and military quartermasters need to be added. In addition to the Ministry of Officials, these deficiencies also have to be discussed with the Ministry of Household and Caoyun.

Today, most of the intention of buying officials is that these people help pull the strings. Zhu Guangshi can go the way of the governor of Caoyun, Gong Dingyu wants to enter Beijing, and he has friends in the ministry, and he is helping to collect money this time.

There is also the same leprosy ghost, named Hou Fangyu, his father is the former head of the household department Hou Sui - speaking of which, before Hou Sui was dismissed, he was still Ling Zun's top boss.

After Hou Sui was impeached and imprisoned by Wen Tiren for spending money on food and salary four years ago, the Hou family lost power. In recent years, no one has burned Hou Fangyu's cold stove.

But last year, Wen Tiren was dismissed and died of illness, and there was no one in the court who deliberately suppressed Hou Sui, saying that there were many old people who wanted to rescue him.

In addition, Hubei Zuo Liangyu was Hou Xun's person back then, and most of the money wasted in Hou Xun's violation of the 'extravagant salary' case was also allocated to Zuo Liangyu. This time, Zhang Xianzhong rebelled, and Zuo Liangyu did not contribute to the work, and surrounded but did not attack.

I heard that someone in the court has suggested that His Majesty release Hou Sui and let him use his old benefactor status to supervise Zuo Liangyu. If this thing is done, the Hou family will be beautiful again.

Hou Sui has served as the secretary of the household department for many years, and the money and grain officials under the household department want to fill the vacancy, and he is very able to speak. At present, so many people are surrounding Hou Fangyu to burn the cold stove, and most of them have seen this clearly. ”

The Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Households, and Caoyun are the selection of a new batch of logistics officers required by Yang Sichang. The spokesmen of the three forces who can speak are all here.

It's really a clear price, and Tong Su is not deceived.

The one-stop service of the Ming Dynasty is really in place.

However, one of these three people is an enemy of the Shen family.

Although the other two have no enmity, Shen Shuren can't talk about going together with those spineless people who will be active in the future, and Shen Shuren doesn't want to curry favor with these soft bones.

This official, I'm afraid it's not easy to buy.

"Is there a way to buy this official standing without giving these three people a good face or flattering them?" Shen Shuren's brain was running at a high speed, and one after another alternative strategies passed through his mind, but he couldn't think of a suitable one for the time being.

There was no way, he decided to wait and see how others bought officials.