The yamen of Jinling City is the same as the yamen of Guobeicheng.

The construction of the yamen in the imperial court is limited by specifications, and it is not that the yamen in prosperous places is more magnificent, and the yamen in remote places is poor.

At most, the yamen in the prosperous place has been repaired, and it is well maintained, and it just looks newer.

The layout of the yamen is the same, which avoids the embarrassment of people who have entered the yamen and do not know each other when they go to another yamen.

"Li Gongzi, you wait here, let me go and inform the adults. This official named He Yong stopped walking.

"I'm tired. Li Xiuyuan nodded.

At this moment, in the yamen, a middle-aged man with a thin face, a serious face, and no anger and self-authority is sitting in front of the case at this moment, carefully flipping through and correcting the documents sent from all over the country.

Now the flood has only been a few months, the aftermath of the plague can be calmed down, and it is the winter season, Yangzhou has been flooded with displaced people, as the county order of various places, the prefect has things to be busy, and he is the responsibility is even heavier, if something goes wrong, not only will he be asked, but also can not bear the trust of the emperor and the expectations of the people.

And underneath this middle-aged official, there are still a few officials sitting.

These are all local officials, but now these officials are trembling, originally high in the yamen, but now they can only accompany this adult to deal with government affairs, and dare not be lazy.

Because the minister in front of him is the military servant of the imperial court, and he is ordered to provide disaster relief and save lives at this moment, which can be said to be a high authority, who dares to offend.

At this time, a scribe walked in cautiously and quickly, and whispered a few words in the ear of Fu Tianqiu, the squire of the military department.

Fu Tianqiu, the squire of the military department, put down the paperwork in his hand, raised his head and said with a little surprise: "Oh, you said that Li Xiuyuan, who calmed the flood in Guobeicheng and the plague, came?"

"Yes, my lord, just a few officials saw him outside the yamen looking at the list, and now he is waiting outside. The scribe said.

Fu Tianqiu nodded and said: "Although he is a scholar, he saved the lives of the people of a city when the disaster came, and also spread the method of curing the plague around, and there are countless living people, even if he is not a talent, the official also wants to meet this person of great kindness and virtue, go, which Li Xiuyuan is invited to come in, the official wants to see what kind of person this person is, and he has such ability." ”

The scribe answered and withdrew.

Fu Tianqiu said again, "Your Excellency, you will also take a look at this Li Xiuyuan to see if he really has real talent and learning, if there is, this official will definitely recommend him to the emperor and promote him." ”

The hearts of the officials under his command were terrified.

This Fu Tianqiu is too straightforward, right, this person said he wanted to be promoted without seeing it?

"Ahem, Master Fu, the lower officials think that this person doesn't matter what his conduct is, but at the moment he is just a talent, if he wants to be promoted, he has to wait for him to be admitted to the Jinshi, otherwise this is a violation." "The one who spoke was an official with a white face and no beard, he was none other than the acting prefect of Guobei County who had intersected with Li Xiuyuan, called Song Yuan.

Now that the situation is stable, Song Yuan naturally withdrew and changed to other prefects.

"The lower officials thought that if Li Xiuyuan was really talented and hardworking, it would not be inappropriate to recommend him to the imperial court. Some officials agreed with Fu Tianqiu's request.

They didn't say it sincerely, it was purely to cater to Fu Tianqiu's words.

Fu Tianqiu said with a smile: "Let's put aside the matter of recommendation and promotion, please study it first, and then the official will depend on the situation, several adults are all from Jinshi, and some have also entered Tongtian Pavilion and the previous Zhuge Wolong University scholar, and the literature is first-class, I believe that I will not disappoint the official later." ”

"Your Excellency, please rest assured that the lower officials will review talents well for the imperial court, and will never be favoritistic. Several officials said righteously, and at the same time, some of them had long beards fluttering and smug.

After all, as an official born as a scholar, what he cares about most is his reputation and talent, which is more important than them being officials and benefiting a place.

"That's fine. Fu Tianqiu nodded.

After a while, Li Xiuyuan was led to the lobby by a scribe.

Li Xiuyuan glanced at it slightly, and saw that these people were all sitting in front of the copywriter, wearing official uniforms, all of them were senior officials from all over Yangzhou, and the official uniform of the official headed by him was different from others, it was the official uniform of the six departments of the imperial court, and the style should be a squire of the military department.

"Li Xiuyuan, who was born in Guobei County, was born in the evening, and I have seen all of you. He bowed.

As a showman, he can see officials without kneeling, and he is not called a villain, he can only be called a late child.

"Excuse me, you are Li Xiuyuan, I heard that you helped Guo Beicheng from the flood and plague, but is there such a thing?"

Fu Tianqiu's voice was calm, and he looked seriously at the scholar in front of him who looked polite.

But seeing Li Xiuyuan's upright posture, handsome appearance, clear eyes, and looking forward to it, there is already a majestic atmosphere that is difficult to be strict, this majesty is not the kind of majesty that has been in a high position for a long time, but a kind of convincing and trustworthy majesty, in addition to this, he does not have the kind of weak posture of ordinary scholars, but is strong and powerful, and there is a foot wind between the steps, which shows that this person is also a vigorous and resolute person.

Fu Tianqiu has read countless people, and he can't praise it in his heart at the moment, this person is the dragon and phoenix among people.

It's just that it's on the outside, and I don't know what's going on the inside.

"But there is this, but the late born contributed to the flood, and let people spread the prescription for treating the plague, and this is not the credit of the late born alone, friends Ning Caichen, Wang Ping, Zhu Yu and others also contributed a lot. Li Xiu said from afar.

"Their names are familiar. Fu Tian suddenly said with some doubts.

A local official arched his hand and said: "My lord, Ning Caichen is the top of this imperial examination, Wang Ping and Zhu Yu are also on the list, and they have won the show." ”

"I see, no wonder it's familiar. ”

Fu Tianqiu nodded and said: "You can mention their names here, it can be seen that you are also a person who values affection, yes, it is rare, I heard that you spent tens of thousands of taels of silver on this disaster relief, is this matter true?"

Li Xiuyuan said: "It's true. ”

"Where are the flowers?" Fu Tianqiu asked.

"Hire the young and strong, calm the waters, and cure the plague. Li Xiuyuan replied.

"Why do you hire young people, and why don't you hire women, old and weak?"

Li Xiuyuan said: "Floods together, the victims are everywhere, the young and strong get together and it is easy to make trouble, once the disaster relief is not timely, it is possible to rebel, so the heavy money is hired to hire the young and strong, one to solve the flood, the second to solve the rebellion, the third, the young and strong enough, the disaster relief is rapid, if there is a rebellion, you can also train as a soldier, the worst, can also defend the city to resist the enemy." ”

Fu Tianqiu smiled and said: "You can think of this, you already have the talent to be in the prefect's mansion, but with the disaster, you are really willing to spend tens of thousands of taels of silver to hire young people in the plains for no reason?"

Li Xiuyuan said seriously: "Late life is a child of a merchant family, if you use the word business to talk about it, it is naturally a loss, but if you look at it from a long-term perspective, it is earning, and if the disaster is uneven, it will affect the family business, the plague is uneven, and it will also affect relatives, and the ancients have a saying, if you are good, you will help the world, and if you are poor, you will be good alone, and you will naturally practice the principles of sages in your later life." ”

His words are not the words of the scene, but the truth.

There is his Li family's family business in Guobei City, and the plague and floods have already affected Guobei County.

Only short-sighted businessmen will live by guarding their own acres and threes of land, and when the time comes, the disaster will be together, and the good family business will be handed over.

Li Xiuyuan's words are flawless, and they are completely in line with the image in the hearts of readers that the rise and fall of the country is responsible.

Any scholar who reads is very much appreciated as long as he doesn't have a holiday with Li Xiuyuan.

Several officials next to him nodded again and again when they heard this, and Song Yuan was no exception.

But he forgot the events of that day, of course he didn't remember that he was tied up by Li Xiuyuan's guards, kneeling on the ground and almost beheaded.

Fu Tianqiu also laughed and said: "Well said, eat the king's fortune, bear the king's worries, you can calm the plague in a city and a place as a showman, it is indeed impressive for the official, and the official has decided to recommend you to the imperial court after returning to Beijing this time, so that you can serve the country." ”

"My lord, Xiucai is an official who has violated the rules. Li Xiu said from afar.

He was not carried away by this so-called benefit, because he knew very well that his unruly becoming an official all of a sudden would definitely end badly.

There are so many people, and the Jinshi is not an official, and he is ahead of them all at once, isn't this a public outrage?

Fu Tianqiu said, "Although there are violations, if you can pass the exam at the beginning of spring next year, then you can participate in the autumn palace examination, so there will be no violations." ”

Li Xiuyuan paused, how could the Xiucai exam be so fast, it would be at least next year, and the palace exam would be ranked four years later.

He must pass every exam, and it will take five years to become a jinshi.

"Do you want to open Enke?" Suddenly, that Song Yuan said with a little surprise.

Song Yuan's words reminded Li Xiuyuan at once.

Yes, the imperial court also said Enke, the so-called Enke is a temporary additional examination, shortening the time of the imperial examination, and the scholars who meet Enke are lucky, because they can take the exam more often, if the time is fine, the exam twice a year exists.

"Hehe, yes. Fu Tianqiu said with a smile: "This time, the emperor has instructed the old minister to grant permission to open Enke in Yangzhou once to calm down the people's grievances. ”

Li Xiuyuan was also a little happy.

If it is Kaienke, as long as he passes the examination, then he will be able to catch up with this year's palace examination next year, not to mention being the champion, it is enough to be able to win the jinshi.

Completing the imperial examination in advance can also save a lot of time.

"But the official wants to recommend you to the emperor, so you can learn to get by, otherwise it will be difficult to convince the public, today the official recruited you in, one is to ask about the management of the disaster, and the other is to test your talent. ”

After Fu Tianqiu finished speaking, he pointed to the other officials in the hall and said: "The adults here are all from Jinshi, and they will test you today, if you really have real talent and learning, this official will spare no effort to stand up for you and let you serve the imperial court." ”

At this point, it stopped abruptly.

Obviously, if Li Xiuyuan's level is not enough, there will be no more promotions.

If there were other scholars here, they would definitely envy Li Xiuyuan, after all, this person in front of him was a soldier of the imperial court, and he was a high-powered official.

If he is upright, the road ahead can be said to be smooth.