Chapter 293: When something goes wrong, there must be a demon
I went to the selection department and asked about the merit examination. They said that until the third day of June, the imperial court would conduct collective examinations for officials, scholars, tributes and other officials from all over the country who were ordered to come to Beijing. Li Chengzhi knew that he could still do it.
Spend a few days.
After leaving the selection department, Li Chengzhi walked straight to the Meridian Gate along the Tongtuo Street, which was more than ten feet wide.
He did not want to enter the palace, but to go to Yijing on the side of Luhemen. Li Rui and others temporarily rented Jingle Temple in Yijing.
Calculating the distance, it is closer from Jingle Temple to the Imperial Palace than from Gao Zhao's family to the Imperial Palace.
Although Jingle Temple is not the largest temple in Luoyang, it is definitely the richest.
Emperor Yuan Ke and Queen Gao Ying would come to offer incense from time to time, or invite monks to give lectures in the palace. And nine out of ten officials would come to offer incense sticks and give handfuls of copper coins when passing by on their way to or from court. So.
The incense in the temple is not as prosperous as usual, and the number of pilgrims is not as large as usual.
The rent is not that expensive either. An ordinary dormitory room that can accommodate two people costs 300 yuan a night. That translates to two kilograms of copper, which can buy more than 400 kilograms of grain.
And the salary, money, grain, meat, rice, and rewards for various festivals of the ninth-ranking official in the capital are all added up, which is only about 700 yuan in a month. After calculation, it is just enough to stay in Jingle Temple for two nights?
But the business is not generally good. Most of them are officials from other places who come to Beijing for business and are eager to enter the palace. When Li Rui went to rent a house yesterday afternoon, the ordinary dormitories were already sold out. In desperation, Li Rui and others could only live in
The price of the more expensive one has doubled.
If you have to make a metaphor, just think about the opening of a star-rated hotel in Tiananmen Square in later generations...
Along the way, looking at the golden Buddhas that were taller than the archway of the government office, and seeing that three or four out of ten pedestrians on the street were monks and nuns, Li Chengzhi no longer knew how to complain.
What is the Wei Dynasty called?
Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to just call the Buddha Chao?
After finding Li Rui and others, Li Chengzhi first told Li Xie to ask him to go find Zaohui (Yaxing) and rent a house in the outer city as soon as possible.
Don’t even think about living in the inner city. The rent for a small courtyard with two rooms like Li Shiliang’s is as high as 30,000 gold (copper) a year. Let alone whether you can afford the rent, it’s very difficult for Li Chengzhi to live in the inner city with his current status.
Dazzling?
"It doesn't matter if it's a little more partial, but the house needs to be big and quiet!" Li Chengzhi explained again, "It doesn't matter if the price is higher!"
The house needs to be big and quiet?
Li Xie hesitated to speak, but finally nodded.
Lang Jun is so talented!
How can you let your servants live in the city and eat meat every meal?
Now I have to rent a big house again. With this situation, the one hundred taels of gold my wife gave me before leaving will not last long.
After Li Xie left, Li Chengzhi took a bag of wine from the luggage stored in the temple and sent Li Rui to buy a chicken.
Not long after, Li Rui bought a dead pheasant with brightly colored fur, which was a dried pheasant.
Asking again, I spent a full two hundred dollars and could probably buy a sheep.
Li Rui said that there are cheaper ones, but they are either too small, or the coat color is not good-looking, or they were caught in the summer and were not dried well, leaving a faint smell.
This thing is not for eating, it is just used to express etiquette between nobles. Just like Da Xi mentioned this thing when he first came to visit Li Chengzhi...
Then there were the two bags of spirits, and Li Chengzhi replaced the wine bags with a white porcelain jar.
It’s just such a jar, and it costs one hundred yuan. Of course, there are cheaper ones, such as clay pots. But it’s really embarrassing to bring something like this to Gaofu, it’s like a slap in the face on purpose.
Of course there are expensive ones, but now they are not called Tang Sancai, but colored porcelain. But the price of the same big one is ten times that of white porcelain...
What is left is a famous letter, which is what later dynasties called a greeting letter.
It is still made of wood, about three inches wide and one foot long. The whole thing has been polished and varnished on it, so the writing will not bleed.
And just such a wood chip costs 30 yuan, which is equivalent to a day's salary of an ordinary craftsman in Luoyang.
The paper ones are cheaper and more fancy than this one. They come in all colors, but they are only for common people.
Li Chengzhi kept scratching his head: In just a blink of an eye, several kilograms of copper were gone, and he could buy thousands of kilograms of grain.
It always feels like I was taxed by the ancients...
We have to find a way to make some money quickly, otherwise we won't be able to survive for half a year, and Li Rui and others will have to beg for food...
The distance between the left and right was not far, less than two miles. Li Chengzhi did not ride a horse or a carriage, so he took Li Rui and a guard and walked slowly towards Gao Zhao's mansion.
Following Shuangyang Street that runs across the east and west city gates, and just passing through Youwei Mansion and Taiwei Mansion on the west side of the road, Li Chengzhi was startled.
The ten-foot-wide street was blocked with only three feet in the middle. There were dense lines of packhorses and drivers on both sides of the avenue, and the end of the line was a hundred feet away from the inner gate of Yongkang Lane, where Gaofu was located.
Fortunately, there are still soldiers in the middle of the road to maintain order, otherwise the whole street would have been blocked.
Where is this from? Don’t you remember there is a market in the inner city?
Li Chengzhi looked suspicious and glanced at it subconsciously.
Most of the people driving horses and chariots were wearing coarse linen clothes. Those who were riding on their horses, fanning themselves in the wind, or leaning under the shade of trees to enjoy the coolness, were all wearing silk robes and silk shirts, and most of them were as big as him, or even taller than him.
Even younger young people.
If he hadn't been sure that he was not going the wrong way, Li Chengzhi would have thought he had come to Taixue...
He asked a young man who was fanning himself under a tree on the road: "May I ask Mr. Lang, why is this happening?"
The young man remained silent and looked at Li Chengzhi first.
Although his demeanor is not bad, he neither rides a horse nor rides in a carriage. He is only followed by two followers, one carrying a pheasant and the other carrying a jar of wine. Other than that, he has nothing else...<
/p>
"A person from Guanzhong? You just entered Beijing, and you don't even know why you are like this?"
The young man's sense of superiority suddenly came over, and he glanced at Li Chengzhi sideways: "If you are not going to deliver the assassination to the high government, but just visiting relatives and friends, you don't need to wait like me. You can do that."
Go in and show your name to the gatekeeper (the soldier guarding the gate inside), and you will be let in..."
Delivering a famous assassination to Gaofu?
Li Chengzhi glanced at the endless convoy and packhorses, and took a sharp breath.
Are these all here to give gifts to Gao Zhao?
Both the car and the horse are covered with linen or silk curtains. Although you can't see clearly what's inside, you can guess it with your toes.
After some estimation, the number of packhorses and carriages must be around seventy or eighty, if not hundreds. Not to mention the long queue, is it still broad daylight?
Good guy, even if you accept bribes openly, you wouldn't be so blatant, right?
Is the emperor blind and deaf, or has his trust in Gao Zhao reached an unlimited level, just like Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty treated He Shen?
Not to mention knowing the general direction of history, even if he didn't know, Li Chengzhi could still guess Gao Zhao's final outcome: it would never end well.
Even if he hadn't offended so many people before, the new emperor would definitely kill him like a fat pig after he ascended the throne, just like Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty treated He Shen...
After being surprised for a while, Li Chengzhi felt that something was wrong.
If so many people give gifts to Gao Zhao every day, how many will they receive in a year, and how many will be the total number of officials in Wei Dynasty?
An idea flashed in his mind, and Li Chengzhi suddenly realized: June is the season for the selection of talents in various places, and these people are all scholars, tribute scholars, and honest students (filial piety) who come to Beijing to be selected for admission or official appointment.<
/p>
These three categories are all talented and virtuous people recommended by the local state. The difference is that the first two value talent and integrity.
There is also a big difference between a scholar and a tribute scholar. A scholar must pass the ministry selection examination before being judged on talent and learning. Most of them will go to the Imperial Academy, Imperial College, etc. If they are common people, they will go to four primary schools (Yuan Ke was established in
The official schools at the four gates of Luoyang, east, west, south and north). Only a small number of people will be directly appointed officials.
Gongshi, on the other hand, have passed the county and state examinations and met the conditions for becoming an official. They only need to be confirmed by the selected ministry before they can be appointed as officials. However, after Yuan Ke came to power, it was stipulated that Gongshi recommended by various places must have more than five officials from the prefecture and state as guarantees. Those who are promoted will be promoted by one rank; those who are not promoted will be demoted by one rank.
What this means is: If you come through connections and fail to pass the selection process, all the officials who recommend and vouch for the tributes will be demoted one level...
People make mistakes and horses make mistakes. Who can guarantee that one hundred choices will be successful? What’s more, there are too many factors that can be interfered with by humans. Therefore, from then on, except for his own son, no official with a swollen head would make mistakes for others.
Guarantee.
In fact, to put it more deeply, this is just one of Yuan Ke's methods to weaken the influence of the aristocratic families: even if the children of the aristocratic families want to be officials, they must first go to Luoyang and take the exam.
Whether you can be appointed an official or you have to go to school first, or whether you should be appointed an official where you want to be, is basically decided by the emperor and the court. It is not like the time of Emperor Xiaowen, where prefectures and prefectures only need to recommend you to become an official.
Including those like Li Chengzhi whose meritorious service is enough to get an official title, but the imperial court will still call you to the Beijing High School for examination. At most, after the investigation is proven, the official title will be larger for you.
The same goes for the Southern Dynasties. Starting from Liu Yu, no matter how many generations changed, whether the emperor's surname was Liu or Xiao, they had tried every means to weaken the family.
In fact, from a long-term perspective, the poisonous nature of aristocratic families is really no worse than Buddhism, just like India...
Li Chengzhi sighed and said to Li Rui: "Go back!"
Li Rui's eyes bulged: "Return?"
"What else can we do?"
Li Chengzhi pointed to the team that was about to line up a mile away, "When it's your turn, I'm afraid it will be dark..."
Li Rui looked at the assassin with pity on his face.
This thing has a date written on it. If you can’t put it in that day, it will be useless.
Thirty dollars can buy a leg of lamb...
The three people were about to leave when a horse suddenly ran out of the inner gate and headed straight for the back of the team. As they walked, they shouted: "But Li Langjun from Jingzhou?"
Li Chengzhi was a little confused: Could it be that he wasn’t the one calling him?
As soon as he changed his mind, the horse ran close to him. Li Rui narrowed his eyes: "This person seems to be a forbidden soldier on the city gate yesterday, following the silver-armored captain?" p>
Li Chengzhi was startled: Gao Zhan’s retainer?
Didn't he send someone specially to wait for him to come to his door?
Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence, let alone stop myself.
Looking at the dried pheasant in Li Rui's hand, the retainer immediately understood and thought that Xiao Lang had guessed right. Is Li Chengzhi really here to visit?
"Li Langjun, my Erlangjun invites you!"
Li Chengzhi sighed secretly: You guessed it right, Gao Zhan is really waiting for him. Why does it look like he can pinch and count?
The servant didn't dare to take it, so he threw the horse's rein to the disciple aside and respectfully invited Li Chengzhi to go inside.
The scholars standing on the roadside were like wooden sculptures, with all the expressions on their faces frozen.
Jingzhou Li Langjun...have you never heard of this person?
How come you were invited in like a distinguished guest by a retainer of the Gao family, as if your surname was not Li, but Yuan?
Looking at the dry pheasant and the jar of wine, the eyes of these scholars will not move.
This person brought such a gift to visit Gao Sikong?
Not to mention these scholars, even Gao Zhan was a little confused, staring at the dead pheasant without blinking.
It’s not that it’s too rude, but at the level of the Gao family, there’s not much difference between lifting a mountain of gold and taking a piece of grass.
What surprised him was, what year was this antique?
Didn’t the eldest brother say that Li Chengzhi is so unscrupulous that he doesn’t even know what “property” is?
Li Chengzhi knew as soon as he saw Gao Zhan's expression that it was exactly the same as when he saw Da Xi visiting him with such a thing...
I have already said that I will definitely be laughed at, but my uncle always laughs when he is joking, but the etiquette cannot be abolished.
Look, are you being laughed at?
Li Chengzhi smiled awkwardly, cupped his hands and said, "It's just a small gift that made Gao Yulin laugh... I am Li Chengzhi from Jingzhou, and I came here to thank Gao Yulin for saving me..."
"You're welcome, just call me, Gao Zhan, Gao Zicheng..."
Gao Zhan came to his senses and bowed to Li Chengzhi: "Can I ask Li Langjun his name?"
"Ah...haha?"
When he mentioned his cousin, Li Chengzhi became even more embarrassed: "Brother Zicheng, just call me Chengzhi..."
It’s also Li Shixian’s fault. Who can I ask for advice? Why not ask Yang Shu?
The old man just went crazy on his own, fearing that the excitement would not be big enough, so he gave it the word "meaning" with a stroke of his pen.
Li Yi!
Others have single names with double names, but he has double names? It doesn't matter. Although there are very few people nowadays, in the Qin and Han Dynasties, people used single names, which can be regarded as following ancient etiquette.
But on the day of Najib's engagement (similar to an engagement), when it was time to combine the characters (the horoscopes of both men and women), Zhang Jingzhi and Guo Cunxin told him: Only one person had ever taken the word "meaning": Emperor Huan of Han Dynasty Liu Zhi! Good guy, why don't you call me "Uncle Wen (Liu Xiu's nickname)"?
Not to mention that Li Chengzhi was angry, he didn't even dare to ask.
Instead, Yang Shu asked him if the choice of words was what he wanted. What else could Li Chengzhi do besides pretending to be confused?
I just have a smile on my face and MMP in my heart...
Seeing his embarrassed look, Gao Zhan didn't care and held his hand warmly: "Please, please quickly!"
When he stepped onto the steps and saw the gates on both sides (large pillars engraved with family inheritance and ancestors' merits), Li Chengzhi woke up: not only was he walking through the front door, but the middle door was also wide open.
Although it is not as grand as the first time I went to Hu's house, the standard of courtesy is already very high. Generally, when officials with lower official positions than Gao Zhao come to visit, if their family status is not high enough, they can only use the side door.
Is the family background of the Li family in the ancestral home high?
Gao Zhao said hehehe...
For a moment, Li Chengzhi was a little worried: This is no longer just Gao Meng who seems to have some intentions, but also Gao Zhao?
When something goes wrong, there must be a monster!