"Brother, come and have a drink with us."
On the way back, Meng Huo and Zhu Rong said goodbye and left. Only Ma Liang and Zhuo Yang returned to the post house.
Looking at the table full of good wine and delicious food, Zhuo Yang sighed, knowing that it was useless to be depressed, so he cheered up and raised his glass with a strong smile.
"Senior brother, I'd better respect you. Congratulations to junior brother for winning the first place in the general examination. The number one scholar must also be in the bag!"
Zhuo Yang was right. Although the top three candidates were required to be appointed by His Majesty after the palace examination, the number one winner in the previous imperial examinations and the Hui Yuan were all the same person, which meant that His Majesty rarely made changes.
Ma Liang originally got the news from Zhuge Jin. Recently, someone in the court was suppressing Zhuge Jin's faction, fearing that it would implicate him. Ma Liang originally had various worries, but he won the first place in the general examination on the list, met Sun Jiao and Sun Yu from the Sun family, and did not encounter any difficulties as expected. It was so smooth that he was a little suspicious. Is Brother Zhuge worrying too much?
"Let's not think about him for the time being about the imperial examination. Who can guess His Majesty's thoughts? We senior brothers will just drink tonight."
"Okay, okay!"
Zhuo Yang thought that Ma Liang was worried about his mood. He sighed deeply, but he had already let go of the depression in his heart.
"No matter what your Majesty thinks, at the worst, he has the status of Jinshi, which is enough to do things. Junior brother, you don't have to worry about my face. This is not the first time that I have failed for my brother."
Ma Liang was slightly surprised, pondered for a moment and then spoke.
"Now that senior brother has said everything, I have a few words to ask senior brother."
"Didn't the court have a new regulation since the last imperial examination? Those who failed the exam will be selected and sent to local areas to serve as pavilion chiefs for three years. If they have good political performance at the end of the term, they can be directly promoted to sixth-grade township chiefs, or even fifth-grade township chiefs. County Magistrate Pin, this can be regarded as a way. If you are interested, senior brother, how about I help you ask?"
Zhuo Yang was stunned. He knew that Ma Liang was from a scholarly family and had some connections to move around. Hearing this, he couldn't help but feel a little moved. He waved his hand and replied.
"You don't need to trouble me, junior brother. The government officials also came to ask me. I didn't want to do it myself at first, but I will think about it again this time."
Ma Liang was surprised.
"Senior brother, why did you refuse?"
Zhuo Yang frowned, with several wrinkles forming on his forehead. He hesitated for a while before speaking frankly.
"Junior brother, why do we take the imperial examination? To put it bluntly, isn't it just to become a high official? Then I will be sent to a local place to be the chief of a pavilion for three years. What kind of official is a chief of the pavilion? He doesn't even have a rank, and he governs an area of ten miles. , only two or three villages. Are you studying hard for ten years just to become a village official? After you and I return home, how will you explain to your parents and mentors, what will your clansmen think of you, and how will your neighbors think of you? "
"One more way? Haha, junior brother, your thinking is still too simple. How much political achievements can be made in a land of ten miles and three years? At the end of the day, if you want to continue to rise, you have to spend money. I come from a poor family, how can I You can't really use this money to squeeze the people's wealth and support, right? Except for those fools, not many people were willing to go in the last term. They spent this time to achieve political achievements, but they wasted their studies and affected the next big exam."
Zhuo Yang laughed awkwardly and continued.
"Oh, how can there be so many people who come from humble backgrounds and succeed through hard work? Senior brother, I am already thirty years old, how many more times can I choose? This time, I failed again this time. I will take the time to inquire about the last one tomorrow. Are there many of those people who have been promoted? If so, I will consider giving it a try."
The entire Chu Kingdom was prosperous and was dominating the Three Kingdoms, making Qin and Wei breathless. Unexpectedly, Brother Zhuoyang was so worried about the future.
For the first time, Ma Liang felt that perhaps the news itself was a resource, and even if he wanted to be fair, he was already too far ahead.
"Senior brother, maybe it's not as difficult as you think? The big shots above have their own deep meanings. Aren't there many petty officials in state capitals and county offices? Why didn't the imperial court assign them to the list of scholars who participated in the imperial examination? Pai, maybe you don’t need to spend money to manage it, he just simply selects talents for the country? The opinions of others may be a bit harsh, but senior brother might as well give it a try."
Seeing what Ma Liang said, Zhuo Yang pondered for a moment and finally made up his mind.
"It doesn't matter. Anyway, as a brother, I have failed many times, my future is bleak, and I am laughed at by others. This time I will listen to my junior brother."
Ma Liang showed relief on his face, raised his glass and was about to say something, when suddenly there was a rapid knock on the door.
"Brother Zhuoyang, is Brother Xiao Ma here with you?"
It was Meng Huo's voice, and there was anxiety in his voice.
Ma Liang and Zhuo Yang were stunned. Meng Huo often had a cold face and acted like a young adult. During this period of time when he studied with Ma Liang, he gradually acquired the steady temperament of a scholar. It was rare to see him so anxious.
When they opened the door and saw Ma Liang, Meng Huo and Zhu Rong finally showed a hint of joy on their faces and said hurriedly.
"It's not good, Brother Xiaoma, I don't know who the bastard is spreading rumors! Now many people are saying that there is fraud in this imperial examination. The examiner has been bribed a long time ago, and your first place has been pre-determined."
"What?!"
······
The scandal of fraud in the imperial examinations intensified in just two or three days, and scholars wrote to the public asking for a re-evaluation of the examination papers. This was the first time that the imperial court encountered such a situation. Sun Ce quickly ordered Zhang Hong and another group of officials to re-examine the files, and the matter was temporarily stopped.
Taipinghou Mansion.
Liu Zhang looked at the cloaked man sitting opposite and sneered.
"Ghosting, I know you were the driving force behind the Jiangdong murder case, and you only narrowly missed killing Sun Ce. It seems that the recent turmoil was also caused by your handiwork. Why, do you want to do it again?"
The ghost clasped his fists and gave a slight salute.
"Haha, the Lord is so complimentary. I am just carrying out the tasks assigned by the superiors. I don't deserve the Lord's comments. This visit is because I have something to ask the Lord for help."
snort!
Liu Zhang snorted coldly, raised his head and lay comfortably on the back of the chair.
"I think you are delusional. At this moment, at that moment, when Sun Ce had just conquered Jiangdong and his foothold was unstable, he had to enact a new law to distribute the land of the aristocratic families to the common people. This gave you the opportunity to add fuel to the fire. But now, hum, The wealthy families have no private soldiers to use, and tens of thousands of elite imperial guards are in the hands of Wenpin. How can you make waves? You can only torment those few scholars. "
Ha ha.
The ghost smiled apologetically and continued.
"Your Majesty, let's stop testing each other. The purpose of this trip can be told honestly, which is to deal with Ji Shu. Nowadays, the Chu country is powerful, and among them, especially the Xunchen faction headed by Ji Shu, can be said to be powerful. It's overwhelming. Isn't there anyone in the court of the Chu State who is afraid of him? Even Sun Ce, in the name of a sworn brother, did he not suspect Ji Shu at all and have no plan to check and balance him? There are many people in Ji Shu to deal with, and he will never let the prince take risks .”
oh?
Liu Zhang finally showed a look of interest.
"Previously, the court stopped the 'cannon' project that the Department of Ordnance had been studying for many years, and changed the examiner of the imperial examination from Zhuge Jin to Fazheng. These were also your works? Could it be that Sun Quan is also your partner?"
"The people in the net are always watching Sun Quan, how can I contact him? They just have the same purpose. As I said just now, there are many Ji Shu people to deal with."
After the ghost finished speaking, he took out a box from his arms.
"Here are 10,000 taels of Chu State's national debt. As long as you let your people block the roads in Jiangzhou or Yong'an for at least half a month, I will take care of the rest. After that, I will still have 10,000 taels. Give it to the king."
Why don't you tell me the specific plan? It's better to get away with it if you know less.
Liu Zhang paused and tapped his fingers on the table.
"If it is an ordinary bribe to an official, a few hundred taels of silver would be enough. But what you have to do is also unusual. Besides, I am no longer the king of Shu. I don't know how many of those old officials are willing to sell me this face. I can't say one of them. One person would have to spend several thousand taels of silver. Brother Gui, I’m afraid this little money is not enough, right?”
Why is it so difficult to just make up a name and block the road for half a month to arrest a robber?
Guiying cursed in his heart, knowing that this old guy was greedy.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid you already know that it was Zhang Song who presented the map to Sun Ce so that Yu Lin's army could raid the hinterland of Shu. Don't you hate it?"
Seeing Liu Zhang stiffen slightly, Guiying smiled.
"Among the feudal lords, you are the only one who is banned from being near Jianye. Don't you care about other people's opinions?"
"Master Fazheng is Junhou's old subordinate. Although I am afraid he has returned to Sun Ce now, he will always help Junhou because of his old feelings. When Ji Shu's Xunchen faction collapsed, he was also helping Junhou yourself."
"At that time, if you recommend some of your own people to manage Yizhou, won't you also become a powerful prince in the court of Chu State? There will even be no chance of returning to Yizhou in the future."
Liu Zhang squinted at the ghost shadow for a while, and finally nodded.
"Sir, you have such eloquence. It's a pity to be just a mediocre person. I agreed to this."
