Faced with this obvious focus of struggle, if it were in the past, Mr. Li would definitely look forward and backward, hide when he could, and would be reluctant to take the initiative to cause trouble unless he was forcibly pushed out. After all, at that time, he always regarded himself as a rootless duckweed and did not want to
To withstand the wind and waves.
But now, he has no intention of retreating, but wants to face the difficulties. On the one hand, he has the confidence to have a foundation, and at worst, he has a golden book and iron certificate to protect his wealth; on the other hand, he has been practicing as a local official for a year
He has cultivated an enterprising temperament and mentality. As he joked to the eldest princess, who in the world has a more far-sighted vision than him?
Walking out of the gate of the Ministry of War, Mr. Li felt the pride of "Thousands of people, I will go". Whether he succeeds in seizing this official position is equivalent to his Spring Festival Competition. If he loses this opportunity, he will have no hope of breaking through the power that hangs above his head for the rest of his life.
There is an invisible ceiling. No matter how difficult or dangerous it is, people always have to do something they think is right.
After leaving the Ministry of War, Mr. Li headed south and entered the Ministry of Rites. Naturally, his target was Mr. Zhu Fanghe, the foreign minister of the Department of Ceremony.
When Zhu Bulang saw Li You, he was overjoyed and said, "When did you return to Beijing, my dear brother? I will be the host tonight and have a good drink."
Li You quickly waved his hand, "Not tonight, I still need to visit some elders."
Mr. Fanghe understood and said: "So that's it. It's a critical time for my dear brother to return to the capital to elect officials. Naturally, he has no intention of indulging in indulgence. That's not what the drunkard meant!"
"I heard that the Holy Mother issued an edict to the court to discuss the matter, so I came here to ask for advice on what kind of ceremony this is, so that I can be prepared."
Zhu Fanghe thought for a while and said: "Actually, it's just a different kind of court recommendation. It just allows you to present yourself to the court. Didn't you experience it last time?"
What Zhu Fanghe was talking about was the court promotion that Li You miraculously killed Wang Qinian and replaced him the year before last.
Li You smiled bitterly: "I was really confused that time. I didn't know why I got selected. I really don't know what the situation is in Tingtui. I would like to borrow the Minghui Dictionary from your office to read it, and I will study it carefully."
Zhu Fanghe got up and went elsewhere. Not long after, he came back with a book and handed it to Li You, saying: "This is a volume from the Ming Dynasty Huidian. It contains matters concerning court affairs. Go back and read it yourself. Don't damage it."
Li You thanked him, chatted for a few more words, made an appointment and left. He did not go home and continued to walk around the Sixth Department and the General Affairs Department, visiting a few people he could talk to.
It happened when I was doing the book splitting.
When the trip was over, it was already dusk, and Mr. Li Shi Shiran returned home. After dinner, he went to visit the house of Xu Cifu, the great scholar of Jianji Hall, and was able to be heard.
It was still in that study room, the place where he had been summoned to meet and conspire countless times late at night. Xu Cifu leaned on the bamboo chair slightly tired and nodded to Li You.
Li You thought, now Xu Cifu can be regarded as his teacher's teacher, and he is also a bachelor who is involved in secrets in the central government, which is of great exploratory value. He boldly asked: "From what the boss sees, how likely is it that this junior will succeed this time?"
"
"Are you referring to the Imperial Envoy of the Fifth Grade Inspection School and the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Cities Military and Horse Command?" Xu Cifu asked calmly.
It was the first time that Li You heard the official name of this official position, and he quickly remembered it in his mind. Since it came from the mouth of a bachelor, it was probably the final decision.
"I don't really advocate your participation. So what if it works, and what if it doesn't work? Even if you are selected, under the current political situation, it is likely to be the beginning of trouble. Of course, I don't object to you fighting, I just want to tell you
, don’t take this matter too seriously, because I think you have little chance of being selected.”
Li You said unconvinced: "Is there no hope at all?"
"If it's the Holy Lord's special letter or departmental recommendation, it can still work, but Tingtui... you have made too many enemies. Of the six great bachelors, four of them will definitely want to drop you. With this trend, others don't have to
To offend others is to just go with the general trend. How could you possibly be selected? It was such a fluke that you were elected as the winning candidate by splitting the votes the year before last. It is something that can happen but cannot be expected."
Seeing that Li You was silent, Xu Cifu then enlightened: "Before you entered the capital, you were not the one selected for this official position in the first three rounds of promotions. It's just that for some reason, the Holy Lord stayed in the selection. This time, he followed the gourd's example and called him
You are presenting yourself to the court, and you are probably just going through the motions, so how could you be selected? And cheer up, there are so many official positions in the capital, and your position is indispensable, you can rest assured. Besides, standing on the sidelines is not necessarily a bad thing."
The cabinet is now composed of three pillars, the first assistant Xu Gelao and Wuyingdian great scholar Peng Gelao are on the same side, the second assistant Xu Gelao and Wenyuange great scholar Yang Gelao are on the same side, and the Wenhuadian great scholar Yuan Gelao and Dongge University are on the same side.
Shijin Pavilion is always on one side.
Li You sighed at this. Others may have offended one party, but at least they still saved the face of the other two parties. He was the only one who was against both parties at the same time. In a scene like Tingtui, where the number of people depends on the number, others are not willing to offend four universities at the same time.
In the case of being a scholar, you will be at a great disadvantage. The words "beautiful and harmonious" really have their subtleties.
Li You didn't care if he couldn't hear good news from others, because he still had Xu Cifu as his strongest backer. But he was really disappointed when he didn't get good news from Xu Cifu.
There are three ways to confer official positions: special recommendation, ministry recommendation, and court recommendation. He originally thought that after Princess Guide lobbied the Queen Mother, he would be successful, and he would be waiting to take office.
Even if the Empress Dowager Qian does not want to be abbreviated because of her face, she can still use normal ministry recommendations to select herself through Zuo Langzhong and Zhao Tianguan of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, as long as the Empress Dowager pretends to be confused and does not veto.
But Li You didn't expect that the Queen Mother would actually issue an edict. Today, he went around to find out the news. Now he is becoming less and less optimistic and finds that his wish is very likely to come true.
Who else can we count on? As a backer, Princess Guide cannot help publicly. In situations like Tingtui, there are great limitations.
In the end, Mr. Li said with emotion that it is better to rely on oneself than relying on heaven and earth. What a person can count on in times of difficulty is ultimately himself.
However, there was one thing that Li You never understood. Since the Queen Mother had already issued an edict for the court's recommendation, why did she leave the results unpublished three times within a month?
He went home to sleep and said nothing all night. The next day, Li You sat in the hall in a daze, not knowing what to do. When he was about to go out and greet the neighbors, an eunuch suddenly came to the door to send a message that Princess Guide summoned him.
This was what Mr. Li expected. Before His Majesty Chitose left, he promised to help him serve as "the Imperial Envoy to the Right Military Command and the Admiral of the Five Cities Military and Horse Command Department." As a result, things seemed to be in a mess, and Princess Guichang
Personality must be stated clearly in person, and you will not shy away from it with a guilty conscience.
The sky was clear and the sun was bright, and he didn't intend to do anything inappropriate for children, so Li You was led into the front hall of Princess Guide Chang's residence in the Tenth Prince's Mansion without any scruples.
Just like the first time they met, Li You spoke to His Highness Chitose in a serious manner across the marble screen. When word spread, no one could find any reason. However, all the palace ladies in the inner prison were kicked out.
There was silence for a long time behind the screen, and then a sentence came out: "You should give up and stop participating."
Li You immediately said unhappily: "Is this why you called me here? It's enough to ask an internal supervisor to pass the message! I can tell you that I will stick to what I believe until the end."
In fact, Mr. Li's spirit of not admitting defeat is very valuable and is a major factor in success. Many people think that he is lucky, but in many things, if he doesn't even have the courage to fight to the end, how can he get it?
Luck and turnaround?
Of course the eldest princess knew how much her lover longed for this censor, who could be promoted to Qingliu, so she did not get angry at Li You's rudeness and patiently explained: "I wanted to do this at the beginning.
It was so simple, just treating it as an ordinary official selection. But I didn’t expect that my mother was very thoughtful and even deceived me.”
Li You said angrily and disdainfully, "What else can you think about? Have all the courtiers seen it? They are just using this matter as a means of fighting in the court."
Princess Guide continued to say very restrainedly: "I can tell you that the Queen Mother is really bent on revolutionizing the Yi Dynasty. The results of the three court appointments for inspecting the Youqiandu Imperial Envoy were all in vain. I have done my best.
effort."
Li You felt that something was wrong with his tone. Even if things were not going well, he could not vent his anger on the eldest princess. It would be a pity if she got angry and pushed this gorgeous screen to pieces. He softened a little.
He sighed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness. I appreciate it."
"On the surface, the Queen Mother is giving in to me, but I am sure that she still has some actions, and she is just waiting for the opportunity. In any case, her purpose must be to take this opportunity to encourage her relatives and at the same time undermine the reputation of the civil servants. Given this premise, the Queen Mother will never
She will let you, a well-known civil servant, serve as the imperial envoy to the right and right capital of the school, and she will even do it at any cost, but I can't do anything about it for the moment."
Li You asked doubtfully: "Besides me, I heard that two of the candidates are candidates for honorary relatives, and there are two candidates for civil servants. How does the Holy Mother guarantee that the people she likes will be selected during the nomination? Then
She cannot easily control many courtiers."
"I don't know. The Queen Mother definitely has a back-up plan, but she didn't even tell me. If an official position originally established to suppress the lawlessness of Xunqi ends up falling into the hands of Xunqi, it will have a profound impact on the current situation and people's hearts.
It has a very subtle effect.”
Li You finally asked: "Who do you want to be selected?"
Princess Guide answered honestly: "If you can't do it, then I naturally hope that the Xunqi side will win, otherwise the civil service will be very difficult to control. But don't worry, even if you can't be the imperial envoy of the right and right capital, I can do it.
I’ll give you a good official position.”
Another person promised him a position. It seemed that he really didn't have to worry about getting married. Li You smiled bitterly and said harsh words, "Don't say that men are not good. We won't know who will win until the end!"
The more he learned about it, the more he felt that the water was getting deeper and deeper, and the Queen Mother was really cruel.
