Ming Huiguang got the position of provincial minister without any ostentation. He still followed Ye Yongjia back to the Yamen of the Ministry of War and expressed his gratitude. Ye Yongjia only comforted him with kind words and said, "I hope you will serve the country" and so on, and then sent him back to the Ministry of Punishment. He and Cai Xianqing came to the study to jointly draft a memorial for Cui Yiyin's post.
The emperor in the bedroom read this memorial and saw that Hu Chonglian of the Ministry of Industry agreed with it. It was reasonable and reasonable, so he did not refute it. He ordered Shen Jing to issue an edict to posthumously award Cui Longhuai an official title, and also mentioned that his son was the head of the Ministry of Punishment.
Cui Yi was overjoyed when he received the edict, and immediately told his sister the letter, proving to her how correct his original decision was. Mrs. Cui had long forgotten the previous pain, but was very pleased with her brother's success, thinking that the Cui family could cheer up again. However, Cui Yishang was still in the period of observing filial piety and was not allowed to take up a post in the civil service department, so he stayed at home for a few days and never went out again.
But Ye Yongjia desperately needed such a right-hand man, so how could he allow him to relax at home, so he came up with an idea to make some changes for him. Upon hearing this, Cui Yi hurriedly asked Secretary Zhou to tell Mr. Ye, "This matter can easily lead to disputes, and it must not be like this. If you really want to use Cui Yi's power, you can send someone to your home to ask, and I will reply with a letter next time." It's no different when we meet." Ye Yongjia heard this and left it at that.
On the day of the 27th, Cui Yi had just finished offering sacrifices to his father when he heard a visitor coming from outside the door. Seeing that it was Zhou Chao, he hurriedly invited him to the hall, served him tea and asked what happened.
Officer Zhou took a sip of tea and said: "Master Ye asked me to come here this time. He has been stepping up his efforts to form a party recently, but he has no way to recruit people. I'm afraid it will be difficult to do it for a while, so I want to ask you for your strategy."
Cui Yi thought: "Master Ye shouldn't be unaware of this matter. He is probably deliberately testing my talents." So he smiled and replied: "If you have power, wouldn't it be easy to form a party? As long as Mr. Ye doesn't care about false fame, it can be done. Now that Ming Shilang has become a provincial minister, he can be asked to visit him carefully." Officials who have recently become disillusioned have no roots and no support. The best way to recruit them is to threaten them, lure them with benefits, use soft and hard tactics, and order them to obey Mr. Ye. After knowing their details, they will buy a large amount of land for them. The house will let everyone know that he will rise to great heights. When others see that he can prosper even as a small official of the Han clan, they will rush to join him. Why worry about it then?"
Officer Zhou praised with admiration: "It's extraordinary that Chief Cui can come up with wonderful strategies without even being an official for a day! I will go back and report to Mr. Ye right now, so that he can give you another reward!"
"There is no need for a reward," Cui Yi smiled proudly, "Master Ye still needs the money to gather his wings. If I offer a trick, I will ask for a reward, and I will not have to evacuate his Ye family!" Zhou Chai heard this. , also laughed, and the two said goodbye.
Officer Zhou returned to the Yamen and told Ye Yongjia all Cui Yi's strategies. Ye Yongjia glanced at Cai Xianqing beside him and nodded slightly: "It seems that what Cai Laohui saw is true. This person is indeed somewhat capable, and he is actually better than Cai Xianqing." I thought better before."
"I never lie," Cai Xianqing said while holding the handle of the fan and tapping her leg. "How can my eyes be wrong? But this plan still needs some consideration and can be slightly modified."
"How to change it?"
"For example, what he said about 'interviewing recently unsuccessful officials' is not good," Cai Xianqing said with a frown. "Those people are not known for their talents, and if they are suddenly promoted, how can the government and the public ignore them? Impeachment is inevitable. . It is better to look elsewhere. For example, this year the Ministry of Rites has selected a group of Jinshi. They have not yet been assigned official positions, and most of them may be sent to other places. But if Minghui Guang is given official positions in the DPRK, they will definitely suffer a bloody blow. Rob. Lu Zhixian from the Ministry of Rites is quite easy to talk to. If you give him some money and let him give us a break, it will be easy to form a party."
Ye Yongjia pondered for a while and then said: "Yes, these newly promoted Jinshi are more eager to seek official positions, and they are from the right background. Even if they fall into disgrace in the future, we can promote the underachievers and cherish talents as an excuse. It will not become a stain on the official career." After saying this, he ordered Zhou Chao: "Just follow this strategy and tell Ming Huiguang to go."
At this time, the Zhongshu Province was about to select someone to go to the Hanlin Academy to entertain the newly promoted Jinshi. This suited Ming Huiguang's heart, and he actively asked Su Zongshan to send him there. Most of the people in the capital were tired of this kind of useless entertainment, and people from Hunan and others were eager to avoid it. They didn't think of Ming Huiguang's meaning, but thought that he was ignorant when he came here, so they hurriedly agreed, and went along with the flow, and all of them were blamed. He was afraid that he would have room to regret. Seeing this, Su Zongshan had to hand over this task to the new provincial minister.
In a courtyard behind the Hanlin Academy, all the miscellaneous objects have been removed, leaving a large open space with a long red table and armchairs, full of wine and food, and hanging hangings on the branches of the trees. Covered in red silk, it connects from the east end to the west end to welcome the scholars who are proud of the spring breeze.
Ming Huiguang walked through the corridor and came to the courtyard. He saw peonies planted nearby, a row of bamboos surrounding the pool in the distance, and a water pavilion and stone mountain in the pool. The scenery was very pleasant. He and Su Zongshan, the Minister of Rites, entered the banquet room. There were a bunch of people in front and behind who were flattering and noisy until they walked to the seats and sat down.
Ming Huiguang first read out the emperor's edict, which was nothing more than words of encouragement. The Jinshis shouted long live, and he toasted them. Then Lu Zhixian stood up and said a lot, and everyone bowed again. After sitting down for a while, he started to eat with chopsticks.
After drinking for three rounds, Ming Huiguang saw that Lu Zhixian's face was a little red, so he asked: "Lu Shangshu, who is Lu Tingci who is second on the list this time?"
"If you don't look for the number one scholar, why do you look for him?" Lu Zhixian asked, squinting his eyes.
"I heard from you people in the Ministry of Rites," Minghui Guang said, "I have a good impression of this person, so I want to meet him."
"That's not it," Lu Zhixian raised his hand and pointed far away, "Isn't he that person?"
Ming Huiguang looked around and saw the man sitting upright, with a calm look on his face, a mustache under his chin, and he looked about thirty-five or six years old.
He was very happy and quickly took the wine glass and pretended to stroll in front of him.
"Second place in the rankings is not easy to pass. You have worked so hard this time to show such great ability, which can be said to be a great event to honor our ancestors. I admire you. Here's to you!"
Lu Tingci slowly raised his head and saw that he was from Zhongshu Province. He couldn't help but panic in his heart. He quickly stood up and responded: "I'm scared, scared."
There was a rare smile on Ming Huiguang's face: "Don't panic, we are not meeting the emperor. Are you Lu Tingci?"
"Yes, the villain's name is Tingci and his courtesy name is Enyan."
