A wise man once said that there is no road in the world, but when there are more people walking on it, it becomes a road.
This sentence is perfectly reflected in the northern half of Wangjiayi Old Garden.
In the first few days of the first month of the 14th year of Wanli, which was the peak period for walking and playing during the Spring Festival, thousands of people forcibly carved a path in the northern part of Yilaoyuan.
At first, most people were just passing by on their way out of and into the city, but later, the majority came to join in the fun after hearing the news.
Wang Jiayi Old Garden is one of the most famous gardens in Suzhou today, and ordinary people have no chance to enjoy it.
A lot of people come here just to see the garden scenery of Yi Lao Garden.
The Wang family thought about calling in craftsmen to build the wall overnight and completely plug the gap as quickly as possible, but for a while they couldn't find any craftsmen to work.
First, because it is the Chinese New Year period, not many craftsmen are still willing to work.
The second is to build the wall of Yi Lao Garden. The craftsmen are afraid that their lives will be lost.
After all, through the two engineering teams, Lin Daguanren's reputation has been deeply rooted in the hearts of Suzhou craftsmen.
Therefore, in just a few days, the gap in the courtyard wall of Yi Lao Garden was not filled up, but instead widened, and the entire northwest corner of the courtyard wall was almost completely demolished.
The roads that have been trodden by people are getting wider and wider, and some public-spirited citizens have even paved the uneven places so that even horse-drawn carriages can pass.
This New Year for the Wang family was extremely bad. On the tenth day of the first lunar month, more than a dozen men gathered together for a discussion.
The Dongshan Wang family is a very big family, and there must be more than a dozen men.
However, Yilaoyuan was built for Wang Wenke and Wang Hao, and it belonged to Wang Hao's branch. Therefore, the only people negotiating here were Wang Hao's descendants.
Wang Youren is the eldest grandson of Wang Hao and has served as an official. He is the talkative person of this branch.
After summoning all his cousins and nephews, Wang Youren announced: "I plan to donate the northern half of Yilaoyuan near the new city gate to the government, and only keep the southern half."
This decision immediately shocked everyone.
In the past 100 years, when has the Wang family ever suffered a loss?
Wang Youren's favorite son, Wang Yusheng, hurriedly said: "Father, no! If you give in like this, you may be laughed at by the world!"
Others also tried to persuade them: "Don't be so frustrated. Just wait until the first month and call more craftsmen to repair it patiently."
Wang Youren said sadly: "Ten days ago, like you, I thought our Wang family was very powerful.
But now I understand that our Wang family is actually already weak, but the saddest thing is that we don’t even know we are in a weak position.
The current situation is not as good as human beings, and everything from methods to public sentiment is at a disadvantage. If we continue to fight for survival, we may not even be able to save the southern half!"
Wang Yusheng was still very unconvinced and said: "Even if we give up half of the garden, it would be a great shame and humiliation for the Wang family. How can we face Duke Wen Ke in the future?"
Wang Youren scolded: "Since you know it is a great shame and humiliation, you, the future generations, must remember this shame! Study hard and win fame as soon as possible!"
Wang Yusheng knelt down and said, "It's all my son's failure!"
The other cousins asked together: "Is this really the case?"
Wang Youren closed his eyes and sighed, "I heard that someone in the county government has started to search for old files from seventy or eighty years ago, hoping to nail the Wang family's illegal gardening back then!
If you don't admit defeat, do you have the ability to stop an in-depth investigation?
Since Duke Wen Ke, my Wang family has been addicted to wealth and no ambition to make progress. In the three generations, there has not been a single person named on the gold list!
So we deserved this lesson. This time it was someone else who woke us up, but fortunately we were not injured.
Don’t be dissatisfied, you guys, take a look at how our Xi family and Lu family in Dongting Mountain have been treated.
Without the influence of Duke Wen Ke, how much better do you think our Wang family can be than the Xi family and the Lu family?"
Thinking of the almost destroyed Xi family and the severely damaged Lu family, everyone in the hall woke up with horror.
Compared with their peers, such as the Xi family and the Lu family, the Wang family has an extra king because of a genetic mutation a hundred years ago.
When Wang Youren saw that the others had nothing to say anymore, he ordered again: "Our Wang family is too rich, which makes our children greedy for pleasure and fail in their studies.
From today on, all men under the age of twenty in the family are not allowed to go out unless they have something to do, and they study diligently every day without slacking off. I will personally supervise it!
The ancients knew that it takes three years to live and learn three years of hard work, but how can we, the Wang family, not do this?
If I can use shame to inspire my children and revive my family's reputation, it might be a blessing in disguise, and I would like to thank Na Lin Tailai!"
Wang Yusheng, who claimed to be the successor of the next generation, saw his father's firm attitude and endured the pain in his heart to express his support:
"The son also realized that what his father said is true. When you are in a weak position, you should not fight for shortcomings and gains.
There is always a time for governors to be replaced, there is always a time for prefectures and counties to be replaced, and even for chief ministers there are always times to be replaced!
There is no flower in the world that will last forever, and no force that will always stand at the top.
As long as I, the Wang family, can survive and wait for the opportunity, there will always be time to regain the situation."
Wang Yusheng did not agree with such cowardice, but in order to please his father and consolidate his status as heir, he had to support him against his will.
Wang Youren was quite pleased, "It will help you make some progress and learn to be tolerant, so you won't suffer this loss in vain."
Then he said to everyone: "I hereby agree with you that the descendant of our Lord Wen Ke, regardless of his direct concubine, whoever defeats Lin Tailai first in the future will be the head of the Wang family's branch!"
Wang Yu said: "???"
Grandpa, both generations of my father took over successfully. How come my own generation started to compete among the whole family?
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, various government offices began to gradually resume operations.
The Wang family immediately applied to the Wuxian County Government to donate the 45 acres of the northern half of Yi Lao Garden to the public.
After the news spread, the city of Suzhou was shocked again and again.
When Magistrate Zhu was expelled previously, the Wang family did not admit defeat, which shocked Suzhou locals.
In fact, under the mechanism of today's rural society, it is not that surprising that local powerful people expel foreign officials.
The fact that Magistrate Zhu was being repaired by Lin Daguan still did not deviate from the above category.
But the Wang family is different from prefecture and county officials. The Wang family is one of the four famous local families in Wu County. After Wang Hao, several people served as officials for two consecutive generations, and they are also local powerful.
Such an iconic and seemingly unshakable one of the four major families was actually forced by Lin Daguan to cut off his flesh and surrender.
This really surprised many people and gave them a new understanding of the explosive power of the Lin Group.
After receiving the news that the Wang family had confessed, Lin Daguan no longer had to avoid suspicion and finally entered the city again.
On the one hand, it is to wish those acquaintances a happy old age and increase their sense of presence, so as not to be singled out for not wishing them a happy new year.
On the other hand, it can be regarded as a kind of farewell. Lin Daguan will probably go north to the capital to take the exam in a month.
In fact, among the people I visited, there was also a person I was not very familiar with. He was Mr. Liu, the former seventh-rank official of the government office and the current sixth-rank official in charge of food management.
When it was first rumored that Zhang Siwei was reinstated, Liu Tuiguan unexpectedly sided with Lin Daguan when the camps were divided, becoming the only major official in the government who was not Yu Du.
Previously, the friendship between Mr. Lin and Mr. Liu was limited to the relationship between the defendant and the judge.
But at this time, even if you are not so familiar with it, you still have to act based on emotion and reason.
Sitting in the Tongjian Hall, Senior Official Lin looked around and said pointedly: "This Tongjian Hall is slightly more spacious than the Tuiguan Hall."
The newly promoted Liu Tongpan did not exchange greetings, but said with a bit of joking: "Just now, the government office received a notice from the academic officer, saying that the academic officer will visit Suzhou City in April."
In this era, the academic officials, who were called great masters by scholars, were not fixed in one place.
Instead, he toured prefectures and counties throughout the province, conducting examinations and inspecting local students and children wherever he went.
Generally, scholars who want to be admitted as scholars have to wait for the academic officer to come to the local area, and then take part in the college examination presided over by the academic officer.
So what Liu Tongpan said about this news is that Tixue Guanfanghuan plans to arrive in Suzhou City in April to preside over the examination to recruit scholars.
Lin Tailai was immediately furious: "Every year it was February, why is it April this year?"
Everyone on the street knows that Lin Daguan has a good heart, and everyone knows that Lin Daguan wants to go north to win fame.
The imperial court held an examination to select talents once every three years, which was called the Capital Competition. The fourteenth year of Wanli was the year of the Capital Competition.
The exam time is relatively fixed. There will be three exams in February. The results will be released at the end of February. If you are on the list, you will be considered a prospective Jinshi.
Then, the palace examination is usually held in mid-March to determine the final ranking of Jinshi, and the top two candidates will be selected.
It would usually be early April after the imperial court was busy with the roll call ceremony in the Golden Palace, the Qionglin Banquet and other ceremonial affairs for new scholars.
Of course, the above content has nothing to do with Lin Daguan for the time being. For Lin Daguan, important things are still to come.
The martial arts examination and the liberal arts examination were both held in the same year, but it was not until mid-April that the imperial court could free up its hands to conduct the martial arts examination and select martial arts scholars.
Therefore, if the Suzhou City Academy Examination is also scheduled for April and conflicts with the martial arts examination time, then Lin Daguan, who went north to the capital, will no longer be able to take the scholar examination this year.
Lin Tailai said angrily: "In my opinion, this is Fang Tixue deliberately targeting me!"
Liu Tongpan: "."
How big of a face do you Lin Tailai have? How can it be so boring to be an academic officer in a dignified manner that he changed the date of visiting Suzhou City to April just for you?
But considering Lin Daguan's "lethal power", this is not impossible.
I also heard Lin Tailai complaining: "If the college examination was still in February, it would still be in time, but this year it is not February!"
If Mr. Lin wants to go to the capital to take the exam, he must leave by the end of February at the latest. He can leave early, but he must not leave later.
Therefore, according to the practice in previous years, Lin Daguan could take the college examination in Suzhou first, and then go north to the capital without any delay.
But this year's college examination was scheduled in April. How could this not make Mr. Lin angry and suspicious?
After all, when he was in Nanjing, Lin Daguan once fought from Tixue Procuratorate to Changbanqiao, and he also severely offended Guofang Tixue.
Liu Tongpan had no choice but to pretend to sympathize with this. He could only say: "Anyway, you are still young, and you will be better in the next year or two."
Lin Tailai said dissatisfiedly: "The road to fame is to seize the day."
If we don't take advantage of the past few years and quickly complete the primitive accumulation when Shen Shoufu's words are still effective, where will there be a better opportunity to lay the foundation in the future?
It has only been a few years since the start of the Wanli Three Great Expeditions. What if we waste a few more years and fail to catch up with the Wanli Three Great Expeditions?
Liu Tongpan wanted to say, so what if you don't accept it? No matter how good you, Lin Daguan, are, how can you still fight against the system?
How to arrange the exam schedule? That is the power of the academic officer. How can you, Senior Official Lin, force the academic officer to take back his orders?
When people are helpless, how can everything go smoothly? When you should accept reality, accept reality!
Lin Tailai then said to Liu Tongpian: "Please don't worry about this. Please help me inquire with the surrounding prefectures and counties to find out the itinerary of the academic officer next month and find out where he is going."
Liu Tongpan asked in surprise: "What's the use of asking about this?"
Lin Tailai replied: "Although the academic officer will not come to Suzhou City in February, I can go there.
Anyway, the academic officer is patrolling the south of the Yangtze River and shouldn't go too far. As long as there is time, I can take the initiative to find him to take the exam!"
Liu Tong was stunned. He didn't know how Lin Tailai's brain circuit was so long that he could always have whimsical ideas.
If the examiner doesn't come to test you, why don't you block the examiner's door?
I couldn't help but question: "Scholarships all take the exam in one county. Is it okay for you to take the exam across counties like this?"
Lin Tailai explained: “I am not trying to compete with candidates from other counties for places, nor am I taking the exam under false nationality.
As a candidate from Wuxian County, I took the initiative to accept the examination in advance. When the admission results of Wuxian County are announced, I will be added to the list.
Besides, there is no precedent for this matter. For example, Xu Wenchang, the spiritual leader of our Renewal Society, when he was young, he went across counties to get the title of scholar in order to use the back door."
Liu Tongpian couldn't help but marvel. The success of this official Lin was definitely not a fluke.
Then Liu Tongpan asked curiously: "Even if you can see Fang Tixue, what will you do?"
Lin Tailai replied: "Of course I will use my talent worth thousands of dollars to impress Fang Tixue."
Liu Tong understood instantly that it was rumored in the world that Fang Tixue was extremely greedy for money. If he wanted to buy a scholar, he would pay five hundred taels without any counter-offer. Of course, not many people could afford this price.
Lin Daguan had offended Fang Tixue severely before. Wouldn't five hundred taels of silver doubled again be "a talent worth thousands of gold"?
Liu Tongpian said with emotion: "You are so willing."
Lin Daguan said verbally: "Talent comes so quickly, and it doesn't hurt to squander it."
When he walked out of the government office, Lin Tailai quickly said to Zhang Wen, the Zuo protector:
"You don't need to follow me today. Go and inform the leaders of the line to raise two thousand taels of silver for me!
Then prepare the boat and luggage, we will set off in a few days!"
Now he really hopes that Fang Tixue is a corrupt official who recognizes money but not people. Problems that can be solved with money are not problems.
Zhang Wu, the right protector, sighed: "I finally regained my original intention in sitting in the pavilion."
Lin Tailai was confused. What original intention could he return to?
Zhang Wu recalled: "I think back then, when I was sitting in the office and had not yet started my career, wasn't my biggest ambition just to use my money to create a path to fame?
After drinking too much, he made bold words, saying that he would spend hundreds of thousands of taels to buy a No. 1 scholar.
Later, I was keen on studying literature. I thought I would change my mind and use my talents to compete for fame.
Unexpectedly, I still have my original intention and still use my money to pioneer."
I feel like there is nothing left to write about in Suzhou, so Lin Daguan is off to explore a wider world!
