On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Li Tengkong found Li Ye. She was now free and could prepare green vitriol oil for Li Ye. Li Ye gave Li Tengkong a gold medal and asked an employee to take her to the Gunpowder and Firearms Department to find Hu Jiuling.
Although it is still the Chinese New Year period, all the offices of the Department of Ordnance officially start work from the fourth day of the first lunar month.
On the fourth day of the first lunar month, most restaurants and shops are open for business, and business is pretty good. Many people don’t want to cook, so they go to restaurants to dine. There are also many people who go shopping and buy some items. Of course, shops need to be opened.
Even private food stalls have been set up.
At noon that day, a group of ox carts slowly drove into the Chunming Gate of Chang'an City. The first batch of technical officials from Luoyang finally arrived in Chang'an.
More than thirty carriages entered Chongrenfang and stopped in front of the guest house. A group of guest house workers came out to carry their luggage.
Wang Zhan took his wife, children and mother into the lobby. The wide lobby was full of people, almost all with their wives and children, as well as the elderly.
An official was assigning rooms and kept shouting his name loudly. The official who was called received the bronze medal and followed the leading official.
"Wang Zhan!" the official shouted.
Wang Zhan quickly raised his hand, "Here!"
He squeezed forward, took the bronze medal, and walked out of a door with his family and several other family members of his colleagues.
A steward led them forward and introduced with a smile: "Our community is very large, divided into ten districts. The conditions are better than those in Longyou. Each district has twenty independent courtyards. You are district C."
Heding District is the reception area for fifth-rank officials. However, your situation is quite special. You were personally recruited by His Highness the King of Qi, so you are treated well in all aspects and treated as a fifth-rank official."
"How long are we going to stay here?" another official asked.
"It won't take long. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, formal arrangements will be made. In addition, the King of Qi may receive you tomorrow. Everyone should wear official uniforms."
"We all handed in our official uniforms when we resigned."
"Don't worry, someone will deliver new official uniforms and money for you to settle down in the afternoon. There will be more things in the afternoon, so don't go out. Your family can go out for a walk."
Everyone walked into Area C and found their yard according to the bronze medal number. The steward clapped his hands and said with a smile: "I forgot to tell you, we have a canteen here, just go in through the other door in the lobby. You can go to eat at any time.
Just use a bronze medal."
Wang Zhan walked into the courtyard. The courtyard was very quiet. There were three rooms in total. There was a small wooden house next to it, which should be a latrine. There was also a well in another corner.
There are all kinds of daily necessities in the house, and they are all new. They don't have to spend money to buy them. Except for the copper basin, everything else can be taken away.
His son Wang Kunlun touched his belly and said, "Dad, I'm hungry!"
Wang Zhan touched his son's head and said with a smile: "Put the things down, let's go eat first."
Everyone didn't have lunch and were all hungry. We put down our luggage and headed back to the dining hall. The dining hall was full of people and the seats were full. The meals were all prepared. Each person had a wooden tray with the standard four dishes and one soup.
There is also rice, which is very rich.
Sitting opposite was the family of Wei Jincheng, the director of the school's administrative department. They were from the same hometown as Wang Zhan, and the two families had a close relationship along the way.
Wei Jincheng is actually responsible for the official machinery production. He also started from the ninth level. Wei Jincheng's father once improved the large water-driven spinning machine. Wei Jincheng is excellent in all aspects and can be called a genius. He is also thirty years old and has two children.
There are two children, a son and a daughter. The two children are about the same age and can play together.
"Brother Wang, do you think we should all become professors?" Wei Jincheng asked.
Wang Zhan shook his head, "You can't get fifty guan for just being a professor for a month. I guess I also have research. Yang Shaohua told me at the time that he also held other positions."
Wei Jincheng nodded, "I told you that our technical officers have always been subordinated to the civil servants, but now we are about to turn around."
The imperial court was composed of civil servants, military attachés and technical officers. Civil servants were at the top because most of them were from imperial examinations or were children of aristocratic families, followed by military officers. In peacetime, most of the military attachés were children of meritorious nobles.
The lowest status is the technical officer, mainly because the technical officer's background is relatively low. Many of their parents are craftsmen. If their generation can complete the state education, they can take up official positions. If they do not study, they can only continue to be craftsmen.
If you are very skilled and become the backbone of the department, you will usually be promoted to the ninth rank officer in charge, but you can only reach the seventh rank and sign orders at the highest level, and it is impossible to go up any higher.
Simply put, a technical officer is a scholar who understands technology, equivalent to an engineer.
Wang Zhan sighed and said: "I guess His Royal Highness the King of Qi values military technology more!"
"That's not necessarily the case. Neither you nor I are members of the Arms Supervisory Committee. Aren't we selected the same way?"
At this time, Zhang Long, the chief official of the Guest House, came in and said with a smile, "When everyone entered the square just now, did you notice that the wall of our Chongren Square is gone!"
Everyone was murmuring, and everyone was surprised. Zhang Long smiled and said: "Actually, I am telling everyone that Chang'an has canceled the curfew. It doesn't matter if you come back late at night. Anyway, there is no square wall, and you can go home immediately. You can go home on the street at night."
There will be military patrols, so don't be afraid. This is not the Jinwu Guard. The patrolling soldiers will not care about you. If you encounter thieves or the like, you can ask them for help!
In short, Chang'an has changed a lot, and everyone should adapt slowly. If you need anything, just tell the management of each workshop, and we will try our best to help everyone solve it."
After everyone had lunch, they got up and went back to their residences. Wang Zhan's wife and Wei Jincheng's wife made an appointment to go shopping. They had moved to Luoyang from Chang'an before. In fact, they were very familiar with Chang'an. They wanted to go shopping in Dongshi.
Wang Zhan’s wife wanted to buy a new pair of shoes for her husband and son, and a cotton-padded jacket for her mother-in-law.
In the afternoon, officials from the Department of Personnel brought them official uniforms and one hundred taels of silver to support their family. One hundred taels of silver was equivalent to three hundred guan.
Wang Zhan got the official sixth-grade crimson official uniform. His official title is doctor. A doctor is a fifth-grade official in the court, but in the Qi Palace, he will be demoted one level to sixth-grade.
But Wang Zhan was still very excited. You must know that in the Luoyang court, technical officers like them could only reach the seventh rank at most, but he jumped from the ninth rank to the sixth rank. It was like a dream.
Of course, not everyone can be promoted to a sixth-grade official. There are many factors involved in the examination, technical ability, importance, etc.
Wang Zhan is recognized as the top technical backbone of the Shipbuilding Department, and his profession is the shipbuilding technology that King Li Ye of Qi values most. He has the right time, place, and people, so he can be promoted from a ninth-rank official to a sixth-rank official.
official.
The same goes for my friend Wei Jincheng. Although he is not the best craftsman, he understands the principles. Once Li Ye gives him key pointers, he can conduct research independently.