An Changgui got up early in the morning and put on his soap-colored official uniform with the help of his maid.
After straightening his official hat and looking at the soap-colored official uniform in the bronze mirror, An Changgui sighed.
In terms of power, An Changgui, a low-ranking official, was second only to Zhang Xian, the governor, and was one of the best figures in Guazhou.
But even so, unofficial officials could only wear soap-colored official uniforms and could not wear the vermilion official robes of Prefect Zhang.
This is also the regret of An Changgui, and the regret of all the An family patriarchs. They can dominate Guazhou, but they cannot go further.
An Changgui's housekeeper An Si came over and said, "Master, the young master has written again."
An Changgui's eyes lit up. His son An Shunqing was the hope of the An family's future. An Changgui had hired famous teachers since he was a child, hoping that his son would pass the imperial examination and would not have to wear soap-colored official robes like himself.
After opening the letter, An Shunqing just greeted An Changgui and his mother at home, and then wrote about his experience of making friends. He summarized it in two words at the end, "asking for money."
An Changgui sighed, handed the letter to the butler beside him and said, "Let Madam read it, and also order someone to go to Lingwu to send some money to the eldest young master."
An Si nodded repeatedly and said: "Master, I heard that the Lingwu court may hold another imperial examination to recruit the world's most talented people to defeat the rebels in Hebei. The young master is very promising this time from high school!"
An Changgui smiled, then sighed and said: "It's difficult, it's really difficult!"
An Si comforted him and said: "I heard that the young master has become acquainted with the prime minister of the house, and his deeds have been recognized by Master She Fangguan, the servant of the minister. If he can work harder and get the recommendation of the prime minister, the young master will
I can go to high school!"
An Changgui nodded and said: "With the help of the Prime Minister, there may be hope, but Shunqing has been in Xijing for so many years, and every time he falls short in the imperial examination, hehe."
An Changgui sighed heavily. The An family was the number one family in Guazhou, but in the entire Tang Dynasty, it was nothing.
An Si is an old servant in the family, and he also grew up with An Changgui. The relationship between the two is still very close.
An Changgui said: "I still remember that we also traveled in the capital back then, but it was just a wasted four years."
An Si lowered his head. At that time, An Changgui was also young and vigorous. After studying for a few years, he was going to Xijing to make a living, determined to be a Jinshi.
However, in Xijing, An Changgui, who spent a lot of money, was not able to integrate into the circle of scholars in Xijing. Instead, he was made fun of by students from aristocratic families, who mocked him as a bastard from Longyou Dao.
An Changgui swallowed his anger, but failed the imperial examination twice. Later, his father became seriously ill and he had to return to Guazhou and became the patriarch of the An family.
An Changgui thought of what he had experienced in Xijing and couldn't help but said: "If we don't open up the joints, how can we win the Jinshi with Shunqing's talent alone? But if his travel papers can be noticed by Fang Xianggong, then that's okay
Much stronger than I was back then.”
The so-called xingjuan means that during the imperial examination, students taking the examination would copy their articles on long scrolls and put them into the homes of ministers in the imperial court.
The imperial examinations of the Tang Dynasty were anonymous, and the officials who corrected the examination papers could directly see the names of the candidates.
The purpose of submitting written papers is to leave a good impression on the officials who may serve as examiners. If you can be appreciated by the examiners, you will not be far from high school.
However, An Changgui, who has been in the officialdom for a lifetime, knows that with his family status, it is not easy to get into high school.
Every year, one-third of the money An Changgui earned was used to make friends for his son. Before the fall of Xijing, An Shunqing spent a lot of money in Xijing.
Later, after I followed Jin Shang to Lingwu, I kept spending money to make friends and deliver business papers.
But An Changgui knew that his son's poetry writing ability was mediocre and his articles were mediocre. He could only be regarded as a mediocre scholar.
Nowadays, those who can pass the Imperial Examination in the Tang Dynasty are either world-famous talents or children of aristocratic families.
Relying on his son's talent, if he wanted to stand out among the students of the Tang Dynasty, he could only rely on "throwing money".
Seeing An Changgui's lonely expression, An Si comforted him and said, "Master, the young master is talented. Now the Lingwu court also needs talents. The young master will definitely be able to go to high school this time. You will have to prepare a blue official robe for him by then!"
Low-level officials in the Tang Dynasty had to wear blue official robes. Even the blue official robes were much more noble than the soap-colored official robes worn by An Changgui.
Only by wearing a green robe can one have the possibility of ranking as prime minister and wearing a red official robe.
A low-ranking official like An Changgui can only wear soap-colored official robes for the rest of his life.
"I hope so."
At this moment, the sound of breaking porcelain came from next door.
An Si's expression changed, and he bowed to An Changgui and said, "Master, I'll go take a look."
After a while, An Si came in with a young, skinny servant.
"Master, have mercy on me! Master, have mercy on me!"
The servant lay on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly to spare his life.
An Changgui asked with an ugly face: "When did it happen?"
An Si, the housekeeper, said: "Master, this bitch broke the master's three-color vase."
An Changgui's expression changed. This was the porcelain he brought back from his trip to Xijing when he was young. It was a treasure produced by an official kiln, and it was also a family heirloom that An Changgui planned to leave to his son.
Seeing the servant who accidentally broke the vase, An Changgui's fat face revealed an angry look.
"Bring me my whip!"
An Si immediately handed a leather whip to An Changgui.
"You bitch slave, how much are you worth! Do you know how much that vase costs!?"
"Master, have mercy on me! Master, have mercy on me!"
An Changgui whipped the servant more than ten times in a row, until his skin was so raw that he couldn't even cry out for mercy.
An Changgui then threw the bloody whip to An Changgui and said: "Wash him ten more times. If he dies, report it to the governor's office."
An Si's eyes showed a fierce light. With the appearance of this servant, ten more lashes would kill him.
But for breaking the master's precious vase, this boy deserves to die.
"Remember to report to the governor's office, so as not to give any clues to outsiders."
"Old slave understands!"
According to the "Tang Law", slaves in the household are the private property of the master, and slaves with innocent origins can also be resold and traded.
This little servant was born to a slave in An Mansion, which is the so-called family-born son. He has been a slave of An Mansion from the time he was born.
According to the Laws of the Tang Dynasty, domestic servants had no land to be granted, nor did they have any political rights.
Even the master of the house can execute the servant at will for crimes, and he only needs to report to the government afterwards and cancel the slave status.
An Changgui was a "strict family man", and any slave who made a mistake would be beaten to death by him. All the slaves in the An family, except An Si, the housekeeper, were extremely afraid of An Changgui.
"It's almost time to go to the Governor's Mansion." An Changgui straightened his soap-colored official robe and said to the housekeeper.