Chapter 216. The tree falls back to its roots (six)
Front yard, study room.
The second master took a piece of paper from the eldest master's hand and looked at the local official positions listed on it from the fourth rank to the fourth rank. He was speechless for a while.
"You have been serving as a lecturer for nine years. With the current situation, let alone the new bachelor who has taken office, even if the new bachelor is promoted in two years, the three behind you are not vegetarians. Why bother to stay in Fangcun?
The land is so fiercely fought over that everyone is torn apart?" Mr. Shen said.
Among the four fifth-rank scholars and lecturers in the Hanlin Academy, the Second Master is the most senior, but because the Shen brothers have been neutral so far, they have the weakest backers.
Behind those three, there are more or less the shadows of cabinet ministers. The second master will continue to stay in the Hanlin Academy, and when the bachelors are replaced again, they may not be able to compete with those few.
"What do you mean, brother? Do you agree with me leaving Beijing?" The second master pondered for a moment, then raised his head and asked.
The qualifications of the second master, there is no objection to his promotion to two levels in the ninth year of Yiman, that is, from the fourth rank. But among the positions of Jingguan, from the fourth rank, there is only one vacancy for the Imperial College Jijiu.
The Imperial College's Jijiujiu is one of the "little nine ministers" and is an extremely noble official vacancy. Not long after the "Beijing Inspection" began, many people were eyeing this position.
The post of Imperial College Jijiu has been vacant since the 12th year of Hongzhi, when he was dismissed from office due to "incompetence" in taking up the post. Li Dongyang recommended Xie Duo, the former Nanjing Imperial College Jijiujiu, who became ill due to illness in the fourth year of Hongzhi's reign, to succeed him.
After drinking wine, many officials also recommended Xie Duo.
In August of the twelfth year of Hongzhi, the imperial court promoted Xie Duo to be the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, in charge of the Imperial College's wine offering, which was the first time that the official of the Ministry of Education was also responsible for the Imperial College's wine offering.
However, Xie Duo had no intention of leaving the mountain. He resigned many times and refused to leave for Beijing. It was not until April of the 13th year of Hongzhi, when Jinshang sent an imperial envoy to Xie Duo's hometown that Xie Duo started to leave for Beijing.
Because he was ill, he asked the local magistrate to submit his resignation to the court on the grounds of illness. After getting better, he returned to his hometown. Now that the emperor cherished talents, he was not allowed to resign, so he summoned him again.
Xie Duo had no choice but to leave his hometown again and arrived in Beijing in November.
After this year's "Beijing Inspection", Xie Duo once again made excuses to beg for his elders.
There were more than one or two people who were eyeing Xie Duo's position, but in the end, their hopes were in vain. Today, they are still not allowed to say goodbye.
The second master has qualifications in the Hanlin Academy, but does not have the political performance to be promoted. If he wants to continue to stay in Beijing, he can only look for positions in the fifth rank.
The Shen family also has a long history of eunuchs. The eldest master is now in the position of Jiuqing. It is not difficult to find a capital for the second master.
But being a Beijing official of the fifth rank is not as noble as being a bachelor of the fifth rank now.
The eldest man said: "If you want to be promoted, but Beijing is short of it, if you want to be transferred to other places, the Chief Secretary of the fourth rank can consult, the Salt Transportation Department can make suggestions, and the Deputy Envoy of the Fourth Rank Ancha Division can also give it a try..."
Having said this, he hesitated and said: "If you want to stay in the capital, it's not impossible. The right command of James's house is lacking in virtue..."
Although James Mansion is a popular yamen, You Yude is only from the fifth rank. The second master is now going through it. When the prince ascends the throne, he will be able to become a close minister of the prince. However, it is not easy to get ahead. There are many people on top.
.
Even if he is not the chief seal officer in the external affairs, the second master will not be bullied if the eldest master, the minister's brother, is in the capital to help.
If we follow the wishes of the eldest master, we naturally hope that the second master will choose to go outside.
The second master is also a person who is rushing to reach fifty. He will continue to work hard to get up from the fifth rank, and he will stop reaching the fifth rank if he has no choice. He will be released while he is out, and his rank will be upgraded. When he returns to the capital in the future, he can seek Xiaojiu.
The position of Qing.
However, since the second master became an official, he has been in the Hanlin Academy and has never left the capital. The eldest master, as the elder brother, is really worried about him going out.
After listening to his brother's words, the second master heard a sentence in his ears: "Being an official means being a human being. If you don't know how to be a human being, you won't be able to be an official well. However, it is a blessing for the world to have another scholar in the Hanlin Academy, so that you will not let the emperor down." civil"
More than twenty years of wasted time have proven that what the Third Master originally said was so accurate and sharp.
The second master felt his heart tightening. He was silent for a long time and said, "Brother, I want to leave Beijing..."
The third master was in poor health, and he took good care of him during the Dog Days, but there was no problem. Unexpectedly, after the dog days, when the autumn wind suddenly picked up, the third master was greedy for the coolness and blew the night wind, and he started to have a fever, which immediately caused serious illness. Within a few days I was bedridden.
The third wife was already eight months old and her belly was obviously pregnant. Because of the third master's illness, she almost had fetal gas, so Mrs. Xu ordered her to stay in bed to nurse the fetus.
The eldest master and the second master were all employed, and it was difficult to get away from them. The third wife was seriously inconvenienced, and Mrs. Xu had to be busy with things inside and outside, so the errand of waiting for the sick was finally left to Shen Rui and Shen Jue. two.
Shen Rui was naturally speechless. Although after the third wife became pregnant, the eldest husband and his wife never mentioned the idea of letting him have two wives, but as the eldest heir, it was filial piety to share the worries of the Xu family and to take care of his uncle's illness.
He has been in Beijing for half a year and has already seen that the eldest master and his wife have no idea how to raise a son for the third master. Perhaps the third master did not choose an heir because the eldest master and his wife were worried about leaving the third master to others to take care of him.
As for Shen Jue, it has become a habit to go out and go together with Shen Rui in the past six months. Even though he was a little clumsy when attending to patients, and his face was a little stiff when he saw the third master coughing up yellow-green phlegm, his overall performance was still remarkable. Can be ordered.
The third master gets sick once or twice every year. In the past, apart from visiting his brother and sister-in-law, the third wife took good care of him. Now it is a new experience for the third master to have a junior around to take care of his illness.
Shen Rui and Shen Jue had only been on duty for two days, but Shen Qin and Shen Bao also volunteered.
After living together for half a year, they also thought of the Third Master's kindness in teaching them. At first, the two of them were too embarrassed to take the initiative to ask for help, because the Xu family only arranged for Shen Rui and Shen Jue to serve as attendants. Instruct them both.
One of them is a student, and the other is a student. In fact, it is reasonable to take the initiative to ask for help. However, the third master has not yet decided on an heir, so they are afraid of resentment, so they are afraid of going forward.
However, after the two of them sat there for two days, they felt uneasy and couldn't sit still...
In this way, there were four people waiting in front of the third master, divided into two teams. Shen Rui and Shen Qin were in one team, and Shen Jue and Shen Bao were in one team.
Shen Rui's previous impression of Shen Qin was not good. Even though Shen Qin didn't have any bad intentions, she still had a bad mouth and often made "unintentional mistakes."
However, after six months of contact, Shen Rui also saw changes in Shen Qin.
Shen Qin is already trying his best to restrain his impulses and behaves more calmly. However, he is only fourteen years old after all, and his words and deeds can already show a somewhat childish eagerness for public good.
That afternoon, it was Shen Rui and Shen Qin's turn to wait.
After serving the third master with medicine and putting him to sleep, Shen Rui and Shen Qin retreated to the west room.
On the kang table there is a "Collected Annotations of Four Books" and a compilation of contemporary texts from the previous examination. The former is written by Shen Qin, and the latter is written by Shen Rui.
This is also Xu's request to them, asking them to review their lessons while serving patients.
Learning has always been like sailing against the current. If you don't make progress, you will retreat. If it weren't for their self-discipline, Xu would have hired another teacher to teach temporarily for the third master, and would not let them herd sheep. After all, studying is a big deal.
Shen Rui washed his hands, sat by the kang and began to read; Shen Qin, however, looked at Shen Rui hesitantly, looking at Shen Rui one after another, but hesitated to speak.
Shen Rui raised his head: "Brother Qin, is there something wrong?"
Shen Qin hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother Rui, is it time for Brother Bao and I to say goodbye?"
Shen Rui was surprised and put down the book in his hand: "Don't we have to wait for the elders of the clan to come to Beijing and go back after spring next year? Why did the second brother Qin talk about this? But the servants are negligent?"
It's hard to say whether Shen Yan or other talented people from other tribes will go to Beijing after their careers. However, Shen Liu, the eighth-level scholar, has already decided to go to Beijing to take the exam this year.
Shen Qin quickly shook her head: "My uncle is very good at running the family, how could something like that happen?"
Shen Rui raised his eyebrows and said, "Why do you want to leave?"
Shen Qin looked a little sad: "Third uncle has exhausted his energy. Didn't the doctor say it's better to rest?"
Shen Rui was silent for a moment. He and Mrs. Xu had talked about the third master's illness before.
The Xu family is also hesitant about whether to let the third master continue to teach their brothers from the four clans.
It was originally planned to let the third master teach them for a year. Later, the third master came up with the idea of starting a school. The Xu family and the eldest master couldn't bear to stop it, but they were also worried.
Now that the third master is ill, they, as brother and sister-in-law, can't feel at ease, so they also think of this. In addition to worrying that the third master's health cannot bear it, they are also worried that Shen Rui and others will delay their studies.
After all, at their age, where Master taught them to study all day long, it is not easy for them to compromise their future to accommodate the Third Master.
Seeing that Shen Rui was silent, Shen Qin added: "Second Uncle Zhou is going to be sent to serve as an official. If he is sent on an errand to the south, Brother Bao and I can go home directly without having to work hard..."
The news that Shen Zhou is going to be released is no longer a secret in Shen's house.
Because of this matter, the second wife even cried and made a fuss. In the end, the Qiao family was alarmed. Even Mrs. Qiao came to the house in person and parted with the eldest husband and his wife on bad terms.
Now the second master's name has been lined up in the official department, waiting for selection.
With the current status of the eldest master of the Shen family and the qualifications of the second master, Old Hanlin, he will not be sent to remote areas. The most likely places to go are the rich provinces of Shandong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Huguang.
Is Shen Qin thinking of leaving early just because of the third master?
Looking at the rough-edged "Collected Notes on Four Books", Shen Rui frowned and said, "Brother Qin wants to take part in the county examination next year?"
After hearing this, Shen Qin stiffened, then smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Rui is indeed a smart man..."
Next year, the National Examination will be in February, and the Palace Examination will be in March. If you fail in the capital and return to your hometown, it will be at the end of February. In that case, you will return to Songjiang in April or May, but the County Examination will be in February.
"Even the third brother Quan, who was the most persistent in taking exams before, is patient and temperamental. How come the second brother Qin suddenly becomes anxious after next year's college exam?" Shen Rui asked in confusion.
Shen Qin said truthfully: "Now what our third uncle is teaching us are simple things. Masters in clan studies can also teach us. Why bother to stay in the capital and tire our third uncle? Besides, Rui Ge and Jue Brother Bao will definitely end next year, and Brother Bao and I don’t want to fall too far behind..."
Shen Rui frowned slightly: "Is this what Brother Bao means?"
Shen Qin nodded: "I was just afraid that Third Uncle would think too much, and because Songjiang was far away and I didn't want to bother the elders, I didn't say anything... Now if Uncle Zhou sends an errand to the south, Brother Bao and I will drop by. Going back can save you trouble..."