Regarding Huang Qiong's plain tone, Jia Quan seemed not to hear it, and said directly: "Given the current situation of the prince, Quan doesn't know how to protect himself other than inheriting the throne. The four ministers from the middle palace I regard the prince as my mortal enemy, and now I am afraid that I am worried about him."
"The clans in the world also regard the prince as the primary target for eradication. Even the other brothers, as long as they are a little ambitious, will not regard the prince as a masterless one. Perhaps for other princes, protecting oneself wisely is a retreat. But For the prince, unless he fights for that position, there is no way out."
Huang Qiong did not answer Jia Quan's words immediately. Instead, he just sat there and stared at him. It wasn't until this time that Jia Quan really felt his heart go crazy and said, "I admit that what you said is not wrong. But these words of yours are really for the sake of me." The king thinks about it. Or do you want to create the power of following the dragon so that you can win the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households?"
In response to Huang Qiong's answer, Jia Quan said calmly: "Your Majesty, Quan is thinking about your Majesty, and he also wants to achieve the feat of Conglong and become a Marquis of Ten Thousand Households. Quan considers himself full of knowledge and is really unwilling to return to his hometown. Being a private school teacher will ruin your life. What's more, Quan is still shouldering the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the family."
"There are only four ways for scholars in this dynasty to enter the officialdom. One is to pass the Jinshi title, which is the first choice for most scholars. Only by passing the Jinshi title can they go to a higher level and enter the Zhongshu Province, Shangshu Only by saving these two centers of power can it be possible to achieve the position of a great scholar and Pingzhang Zhengshi, a highly respected minister."
"As for Enmeng, first of all, Quan doesn't have a good father, and he doesn't have that relationship if he wants Enmeng. What's more, it's difficult for an officer of Enmeng to be above the fourth rank. Although there is no order prohibiting it, officials of Enmeng are not allowed to serve as Hanlin bachelors, and The head of the six ministries and above are officials. And if a civil official does not pass these two articles, it is basically impossible to serve as the minister of the six ministries."
"This dynasty has stipulated that those who have not served as civil servants in two or more of the six ministries are not allowed to enter the Zhongshu Province to serve as prime minister or deputy prime minister, not even the ministers and ministers. Therefore, for civil servants, Enmeng is not only born with too high conditions. There is also The most critical point is that career options are limited. It is much more difficult for officials to reach a higher level than for officials with the rank of Jinshi."
"The other one is to elect officials. This one, the right is sufficient. However, the officials selected by the election are not allowed to serve as official officials above the prefecture level, and are not allowed to enter the Hanlin Academy, the Sixth Ministry, the Yushitai Central Department, or even the Imperial College Those who hold sacrificial wine, Taichang Temple, and elect officials are not qualified to serve.”
"That is to say, the officials selected by the election can only serve as county magistrates, prefectural magistrates, prefectural magistrates, and general magistrates. Even if they do well and serve as full-time seal officials, the highest official position can only be one term as prefectural magistrate. . It is said that officials cannot exceed the fourth rank, but officials with a Juren background can already reach the rank of Mao Linfengjiao from the fourth rank. How can the fourth-rank officials get the so-called miscellaneous officials with a Juren background?"
"As for the imperial examination, Quan originally had hope. But now, he doesn't dare to think about it. Although his family was in decline and his ancestors had long been reduced to a farmer, he still never forgot to restore the family's glory. He gritted his teeth It is for my father to study. I just hope that one day my father will be able to win a gold medal and revive the family business."
"Even if I can't be a member of Zhongshu's family and participate in political affairs, even if I can be a minister, it's fine. It's just that my father was really unlucky. Although he passed the childbirth examination at the age of eighteen, he didn't wait until he was in his thirties. Passed the provincial examination and obtained the qualification to go to Beijing to take the national examination."
"My father, who has read books about saints and sages since he was a child, thought that with his own ability, he would be able to win the gold medal and pass the Jinshi this time. But he didn't expect that he would fail to pass the exam three times in three years. Let alone the top three. None of the three ranking candidates passed the examination. However, despite repeated defeats, my father still did not give up."
"This year is another year of competition. My mother has passed away three years ago, and there is no longer any concern in the family. In order to prepare for the exam, my father sold off his home early last year. After going to Beijing several times to take the exam, he left the last bit of family property to pass on to his ancestors. The dozen or so acres of Susukaku farmland we brought here were also sold. Last year, he took me to Beijing to prepare for this year’s exam.”
"I thought that soon after arriving in the capital, I fell seriously ill and couldn't afford to be ill. I sold all my family's assets, and the little money I got was not even enough to treat him in this capital, where water is three cents more expensive. If it weren't for me, By selling calligraphy for a living, he could still earn some money and grab some decoctions, but I'm afraid he would have passed away long ago, and he could still survive today."
"Thanks to the kindness of the shopkeeper Fang, he has never asked for our shop money and meal money, and he also gets some things for the old man to replenish his health from time to time. Otherwise, based on the little income I earn from writing for others, the two of us would have been In Luoyang City, there are corpses lying on the road in the alley."
"Actually, my father didn't know until his death that the reason he failed several times in the imperial examinations was not because he had no talent or knowledge. In addition to not giving gifts to the examiners, a key reason was his age. Even if he joined the officialdom at this age, he might not be able to do it. He will retire from office within a few years, or his body will simply collapse."
"It's hard to give much help to the examiners who selected them, the so-called tutors. They are also candidates. Wouldn't it be better for them to recruit students who are in their twenties or early thirties? Because those students People, for those examiners, are easier to seduce. My father is old, so naturally no one will be willing to help, so it is not surprising that he failed. "
After taking a look at Huang Qiong, who had stood up and looked out the window at some point, Jia Quan shook his head and continued: "Besides, once the prince is crowned, is it possible not to have contact with the local officials when he gets there? Especially Are these princes of the vassal vassal responsible for part of the supervision of the officials? How dare that official really ignore the prince of the vassal vassal in his own territory?"
"The most important thing is, does that prince really have no ambition at all? If one has ideas and the other is interesting, it will be natural for them to take advantage of each other. What's more, these princes are either bribed by their mother's family, or after leaving the palace, or There are other ways, and there are many different methods, but they have all built their own power in the court, especially the Zhongshu Province and the Sixth Ministry."
"Although their positions in the Zhongshu Province or the Sixth Ministry are not too high, these people have played a role that is difficult for outsiders to do by liaising between them and liaising with various officials on behalf of the prince. To be honest, the prince gives his ministers It’s funny to say gift-giving, but it’s just a fact of life.”
"Not to mention anything else, last year for the sixtieth birthday of Mr. Chen, the counselor and political minister, King Jing of Zhengzhou, in addition to a pair of crystal Ruyi and a jade Guanyin statue, also gave an additional 200 gold ingots worth ten liang. He also called it powder money for Mrs. Chen. King Duan was no less generous. In addition to a complete set of Jun porcelain from the imperial kilns of the former Tang Dynasty, he also gave an additional one thousand ingots and ten taels of silver ingots."
"Even the King of the Song Dynasty asked his uncle, the Zhengqing of Sinong Temple, to take his place and presented him with a silver note worth one hundred thousand guan, plus a set of glass wine sets from the Western Regions worth thousands of gold. That Sinong Temple was in charge of a Qingshui Yamen Zhengqing, he may not be able to get the money on his own, but he is definitely not so generous as to spend thousands of dollars."
"Although Mr. Chen is a bastard, he has never participated in the princes' fight for the crown prince. But since he has received money, he will naturally not transfer an official without giving face to these princes. As the deputy prime minister, this kind of thing is too much for him. It's easy. If not for the sake of installing their own people in the court, why do these princes who are so quick to please the officials have no need to do so?"
"Although these princes are not as powerful as Zhongshu Sheng and the Six Ministers, or as important officials as the appeasement envoys of the First Constitution, it is still better to change the position of the magistrate of Longyou Ningxia Prefecture and transfer it to Changsha Prefecture or Songjiang Prefecture. It can be done. Not to mention the transfer of officials below the prefect level?"
"If you take a ride on the prince, your promotion will not be that slow. And once the prince ascends the throne, for the officials or people who are waiting for the Dragon Minister, their future career will probably be even more difficult. The day when everything will be smooth sailing and even the chance to become prime minister is just around the corner. Quan thinks so, and many officials think so too."
When Jia Quan said these words, Huang Qiong did not look at him, but looked at the eunuchs and guards outside the window. He was spinning a string of jade rosary beads in his hand at an unknown moment, and there was also a string of jade beads in his head. It is also running rapidly. The meaning revealed by Jia Quan's words was very unusual. He was clearly telling himself that he knew a lot.
Just like whether it was King Rui or King Jing, no one would make a fuss about secretly sending heavy gifts to the minister who was involved in political affairs under the premise that the prince was not allowed to interact with ministers unless he was ordered to do so. Everyone knows it. Everyone knows that Mr. Chen who accepted the gift will not publicize it. How could he know about something that both parties tried their best to cover up?
For a person who knows such hidden things, could his true identity be as simple as a Juren? Besides showing off, what else does he mean by these words? This person cannot be kept, at least not by his side. This is the first thought in Huang Qiong's mind at this moment.
But just when Huang Qiong was thinking about it, the coldness coming from the jade rosary beads that he was turning in his hand made the thought that he had raised quickly cool down. This rosary was given to him by his mother when he was about to leave the palace, and she told him to turn it around when he was upset.
Unlike the emperors and queens of the Daqi Dynasty who generally believed in Buddhism, my mother did not worship Buddhism. As far as Huang Qiong knew, he had some distant connections with Taoism. So Huang Qiong was somewhat surprised when he received the rosary. Knowing that Chen Yao told him that this was given to his mother by her grandmother Huang Qiong since she was a child.
It was Huang Qiong's maternal grandfather who accidentally bought it from a Liao businessman when he was fighting in the frontier army. It is said that it is cold jade dug out from the extremely bitter and cold place around a large lake in the far north. It has the effects of clearing the mind and improving eyesight, reducing noise and removing irritation. When Huang Qiong's mother left home to study art since she was a child, her grandmother personally wore this bracelet on Huang Qiong's mother.
Whether Huang Qiong's mother was studying under a teacher or traveling abroad to study, this rosary never left her body. If Huang Qiong was not his biological son, I am afraid that Huang Qiong's mother would never part with this rosary. Precisely because this rosary is so precious, Huang Qiong is only willing to take it out when she encounters something important and has difficulty making a decision.
