Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 994 Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi
"Blind your dog eyes."

As the saying goes, the emperor is not in a hurry for the eunuchs, and Liu Afu who was on the side immediately glared: "My young master has plenty of money."

As he spoke, he took out a stack of bank notes from his pocket.

"This money can teach you to buy the entire bookstore."

"Okay." Zhu Yixi stopped his noise, and he also bowed his hands to the surprised few scholars, keeping his dignity.

Glancing sideways at Liu Afu, the latter immediately flinched.

Isn't this flooding the Dragon King Temple?

"You just look, you look!"

The guy shrank his neck, knowing that he was a big man, he immediately respected him very much.

In this regard, Zhu Yixi waved his hand and continued to watch.

Apart from the little knowledge of physics, there is nothing more eye-catching than Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Journey to the West.

Although the Ming Dynasty banned the Water Margin and Journey to the West several times, it was useless. The more banned it became, the more popular it became, and even officials took it for granted, so that it became a common saying.

The prevalence of imperial examinations has made popular culture more and more popular. The common people do not like poetry and poetry, but novels.

In the Ming Dynasty, three kinds of novels were popular: ghosts and ghosts, history books and romances, and realistic and popular novels. Among them, ghosts and gods are such as Journey to the West, Journey to the East, Journey to the South, and Journey to the North.

The historical novels are Yang Jiajiang, Di Qing's Biography, Huangming Heroes' Biography, Sui and Tang Dynasties; the popular reality is the three words of Jin Ping Mei and Feng Shilong, etc.

The heyday of the novel was the Jiajing and Wanli years, which was the result of the development of the commodity economy and the prevalence of market culture.

But this is the cause.

Zhu Yixi stroked the book, rubbed it, and his mind was spinning.

And the root of the prevalence of novels is the development of productive forces.

It is not false that the Ming Dynasty is known as the peak of feudalism. Its silk industry, ceramics industry, iron smelting industry, etc., reached the peak of handicraft industry far ahead of Tang and Song Dynasties.

For example, in the paper industry, in the Song Dynasty, a piece of paper usually cost seven or eight renminbi, and the worst one cost three or four renminbi. However, in the Ming Dynasty, its price was directly lowered, and the average price of a piece of paper was about 0.3 renminbi.

Even if it is the official document paper used by the government, a sheet is only 0.8 liters, which is ten times the difference in Song Dynasty.

Bamboo paper became the mainstream in the Ming Dynasty, while hemp paper withdrew from the stage of history.

Xuan paper was developed in the Ming Dynasty.

For example, the book "Mencius" has [-] words and [-] volumes.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, in order to encourage reading, the government hired someone to copy it. Just copying one volume cost [-] Wen, and excluding paper for the [-] volumes, the cost of production alone was [-] Wen.

In the Song Dynasty, one volume was as low as [-] Wen, while Mencius had [-] volumes, totaling [-] Wen.

In the Ming Dynasty, at the end of Wanli and Apocalypse, Shu Chongfu of Suzhou Jinlu Bookstore published "Fengshen Yanyi", a total of 20 volumes, with 50 illustrations, about 70 words, and each book only cost two taels of silver.

The "Four Books Chapters and Sentences Collection" with Zhu Xi's annotations is about 1-2 taels of silver a set.

It is an exaggeration that a copy of "Mencius" in the Song Dynasty can buy a set of Four Books and Five Classics with annotations in Ming Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, there are so many scholars in the world, how can the power of civil servants not flourish?

""Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan"?"

Picking up the book, Zhu Yixi was taken aback: "Could it be that this story became popular at this time?"

"Guest officer, recently dozens of theaters, large and small, in Beijing are all rehearsing and singing this play. It has been lively since last year, let alone how hot it is."

The waiter said with emotion: "Everyone scolds Xue Pinggui, loves Wang Baochuan, and even sells the scriptures in our bookstore. Everyone loves to read them."

"Isn't there a theater to watch?"

"There are thirteen episodes in this show, including making trouble in the kiln and dropping horses, giving gold in the garden, three high-fives, three hits by accident, matchmaking for a colorful building, joining the army in another kiln, Hongyan repairing books, mother and daughter meeting, going to three passes, counting military rations, and silver medals." Kongshan, Dadeng Hall..."

The clerk was so familiar, he said with endless aftertaste: "After this pass, even the cheapest standing and sitting will cost a few cents, and it's not worth it."

"Do you think that sometimes you miss a game, or forget the previous experience, so you can't buy a book to reminisce?"

"That's true."

Zhu Yixi was stunned.

This is like the successful adaptation of the TV series of later generations, which can bring fire to the original book, forming a linkage.

He smiled knowingly, inexplicably recalling his previous life, this book is really good!

He reached out to pick up the book, flipped through it casually, then threw it to Liu Afu, and continued to wander in the library.

After searching for a while, there are a few copies of "Jin Ping Mei", but there are no traces of fine works with illustrations.

He couldn't help shaking his head, as expected, his mind was slack, and no one cares about the sale of this kind of book in a fair manner.

Zhu Yixi wanted to set up an organization to control it, but soon gave up.

This thing, once it is tubed, it will die.

At that time, the publishing industry will be depressed, but I don't know how many people's jobs will be ruined.

After searching for a circle, two quarters of an hour passed.

"Unfortunately, "Dream of Red Mansions" will never be seen again!"

Shaking his head, Zhu Yixi left the bookstore, stepping across the threshold.

Suddenly, pedestrians on the street hurried and whispered to each other.

After some inquiring, Liu Afu said: "Master, the test is over."

"it is finally over."

Zhu Yixi sighed.

One session in three days, nine consecutive days of exams, is extremely tormenting for scholars.

Staying in a small cube house puts mental and physical strength to the limit.

But when Zhu Yixi wanted to change, the court officials opposed it one after another.

Whatever suffers from hardships, you can become a master, and the sky will send you a great mission, so people will wait, too many to count.

But in Zhu Yixi's view, this group of people is simply suffering for themselves, and they don't want to make it easier for those who come later.

He thought about it for a second, this kind of difficulty is also in a sense the selection of those who are physically weak. After all, it is the selection of officials, not the selection of writers.

Therefore, the emperor only repaired and expanded the tribute courtyard, such as huts, rain houses and other off-site factors, were excluded and made as consistent as possible.

After getting into the carriage, although the emperor didn't say anything, Liu Afu still walked around the Gongyuan.

Opening a corner of the curtain, Zhu Yixi saw a circle of pale and unable to move people walking slowly with the support of servants.

"Thanks to my benevolent lord, the time has been changed to April. Otherwise, at the beginning of February, the cold spring is expected to be enough to make them seriously ill. Alas!"

With a sigh, Zhu Yixi put down the curtain, and the carriage speeded up tactfully, and arrived in the capital.

Who wouldn't want such a caring eunuch?

Facing the afterglow of the evening, Yu Chenglong, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, boarded the carriage and breathed a sigh of relief.

Relying on that flood discharge canal, he became the naturalized magistrate of Suiyuan, and after that, he passed the examination for three consecutive years and was promoted to Hebei Chief Envoy Si Zuo to participate in politics (from the third rank).

After that, he was rated as excellent in the examination and was successfully promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Industry (Zheng Sanpin) last year.

The journey was extremely smooth, and there seemed to be someone in court.

But in fact, as long as the official rank reaches the fourth rank, the promotion of officials is basically not controlled by the officials, but in the hearts of the cabinet and the emperor.

In particular, there must be no slight difference in the favor of the Holy Grace.

Officials above the fourth rank are the real important ministers of the country.

Why?

Because they can be promoted into the cabinet by the emperor at any time and become the elders that everyone envies.

Therefore, there is no promotion path above the fourth rank, either there are people in the cabinet, or the emperor's family.

"What about me? Is it the emperor's favor?"

He put down the glasses on his ears, rubbed his eyes, and sighed.

The Ministry of Industry has never stopped over the years, focusing on two things: official roads and river embankments and ditches.

Among them, the official road is the most important, worth 10 yuan a year at the same time. It has been repaired from Beijing to Gansu, and it is expected to be repaired to Urumqi in two years.

Zuo Shilang came to arrest him himself.

As the right servant, he can only be in charge of ditches, Yellow River, Liaohe River, Huaihe River, Pearl River, and Han River.Even the Karez plan proposed by Gaochang Mansion (Turpan) must be supervised and reviewed by him.

Copywriting is laborious.

Sometimes he really wants to go to a place, govern a party, and benefit the people.

As for Ruge, he doesn't have the title of Jinshi or Shujishi, so his hope is extremely slim, and the resistance is also quite high.

"Why is it so noisy outside?" Yu Chenglong asked suddenly.

"Go back to the lord, it's the tribute courtyard that's been released."

The groom said casually.

"That's great!" Yu Chenglong showed envy.

Perhaps he has climbed to a position that many Jinshi are difficult to reach, but he can only be a fellow Jinshi all his life, and it is bestowed by the emperor, not a serious admission.

In his heart, a certain feeling of inferiority has always been there.

The students on the side of the road were a little curious when they saw the carriage deliberately accommodating and going away.

"This carriage is on time..."

"Very good, I don't know which dignitary it is—"

Immediately, another slightly shabby carriage passed by, which did not attract Juzi's attention.

But another person cast a little gaze.

"Brother Zhang, did you meet any acquaintances?"

Asked by Juzi on the side.

Zhang Ying's face was slightly pale, but her voice was still powerful: "It looks like it is the carriage of Mr. Yu Gong, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry."

"I heard that it has always been simple, and the carriage is quite shabby in the officialdom. It seems that it is true."

People from the same village said that they would get up.

For the people in Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, the flood discharge ditch led the water from the Huaihe River to the Yangtze River, benefiting both sides of the Huaihe River. Yu Chenglong is worth remembering in their lifetime.

Although the Anqing Mansion where Zhang Ying lives is located in the southwest of Anhui, it is still deeply influenced and admires Jackie Chan.

When entering Beijing, the officials from the two provinces paid a special visit to his mansion to show respect.

"Okay, let's go back!"

Zhang Ying said with a wry smile: "These nine days are really tossing enough, I want to go back and sleep with him for three days and three nights."

"Hahaha!"

Everyone laughed, and then they were helped into the carriage and returned to the inn or clubhouse.

Zhang Ying is a native of Tongcheng, Anqing Prefecture, Anhui. His family has been in the officialdom for generations, and he is a first-class rich family with no shortage of money and food.

Therefore, when he was in Beijing, in order to avoid disturbance, he simply rented a small yard, where the master and servant could study at ease without being disturbed by various banquets and literary meetings.

He can clearly see the reputation, as long as he is in the top two, he will come uninvited.

"My lord, this whale oil candle is really forbidden to burn, and it doesn't have a strange smell, and it has some fragrance!"

When we got home, it was already dark.

The bookboy lit a candle and sighed.

"That's spices in it."

Zhang Ying ate his meal calmly. He had a lot of experience after failing the exam several times. He must not overeat.

"However, the candle is indeed white."

Thick, long, white candles, the thickness of a baby's arm, cost only thirty cash, saving a little money and can be lighted for two or three days.

This is rarely seen in the South.

"This thing is useless today."

Opening the bookcase, a black leather robe rolled into a bundle was also taken out. It was so tight that it looked waterproof.

"Master, is this made of whale skin?" The book boy said, "How big is this fish? The skin can be used as a quilt."

"I heard it's bigger than a boat."

Zhang Ying stretched her waist, and said with emotion: "At first, I thought that I would be assigned a rain number, and this leather robe would come in handy. I never thought that the number room would be neat."

"Even the stinky number is gone, the change is too great."

"That's good, the young master will definitely be able to go to high school." The book boy naturally knew the meaning of the stinky horn and the rain horn, which affected the performance of the examination room, and now they are gone, which is really a great joy.

"How can it be so easy?"

Zhang Ying sighed, shook her head and said nothing.

In fact, the examiners who passed the Jinshi examination, who could have been courted and supported, are just a group of old people who are about to retire, so they have no backing at all.

What about the observation of politics and decentralization in the future?

Thinking of these, he can't help but have a headache.

Soak your feet in the wooden basin, the hot water swept across in an instant, your whole body loosened, and your eyelids became heavier unconsciously, and you couldn't lift them up at all.

"Whoohoo-"

After placing the sleeping young master on the bed, the book boy shook his head:

"The school boy sang in the playbook to see the beauty through needles and threads. Unfortunately, my young master has been married long ago, and I am really calm, unlike ordinary people..."

The next day, the restaurants in the entire capital were overcrowded, and there were drunken people everywhere.

Until the announcement of the rankings, these candidates will take turns to hold banquets, eating and drinking are worthless.

If anyone is in high school, these accounts will be counted on his head.

Therefore, many Jinshi were already in debt before they became officials.

Zhang Ying is not used to such bad habits, but he is cautious and has no objection. It is normal to follow the trend.

After all, it is worthwhile to be able to use money to communicate with a group of candidates.

"Young servant, Your Majesty has a call."

On this day, Yu Chenglong continued to work on the river embankment, and the eunuchs from the inner court suddenly came, making the whole Ministry of Industry lively.

The eunuch looked at Yu Jackie's thin body with scrutiny in his eyes.

The officials were full of envy, and it was a blessing to be summoned by the emperor anyway.

Yu Chenglong put down the paper and followed closely behind.

Immediately, I saw the emperor pruning the branches and leaves.

Didn't the emperor like fishing?Why do you love pruning again?
He was full of doubts in his heart, but his steps were not slow: "Chen, Yu Chenglong, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, kowtows to His Majesty."

"Get up!"

The emperor put down the big scissors in his hand, sat down on the bamboo chair, and tilted his face, but it was as thin and clean as ever, full of spirit.

He didn't talk nonsense, and said directly: "Since Jingtai, the Dong and Yao people in Guangxi have been in chaos. Although they have been educated in various ways, they are stubborn in the end."

"The chieftains are gradually disappearing in Yun and Gui, and Guangxi is no exception. Therefore, I will re-establish the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi to control the soldiers and horses of the two provinces."

"Does the Qing family have confidence?"

Guangxi, civil unrest, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

These three words rippling in his heart.

Yu Chenglong gritted his teeth: "The veteran will never disappoint His Majesty Long En."

"Okay!" The emperor said happily: "I will hand over the two provinces to you."

(End of this chapter)