Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Faced with this "leisure" job that others probably couldn't dream of, Lu Ci's first reaction was to resolutely refuse: "Thank you for your highness, but it may not be appropriate to use this minister as a supervisor."

Zhao Zhen's evasion of Lu Ci was obviously expected, and he still smiled slightly, and asked patiently: "Why is this?"

Lu Ci then threw out the most official reason: "It does not conform to the old system, and there must be objections from the court."

Following the system of the Five Dynasties and the Later Zhou Dynasty in the Song Dynasty, only one supervisor was appointed in the examination of the supervisory army in the prefectures of Zhulu.

The Kaifeng government has its own general judge, and the post of supervisor should be left to him. How can he get Lu Ci's turn?

Zhao Zhen asked in a calm manner: "Lu Zuo Yude once won Sanyuan, also worked in the pavilion, and taught me scriptures for several months. He is half a teacher. The world should know that Lu Zuo Yude is a rare and handsome man in the world. Cai, can't you be the supervisor of a test?"

Speaking of this, Zhao Zhen paused, and said sonorously: "I want to see who is going to question."

Even if Lu Ci didn't say anything, when Zhao Zhen made this decision in his heart, he was already prepared to be opposed, and he was even prepared to deal with it.

This set of rhetoric is exactly what he is going to use to deal with doubters.

If someone really wants to object to Lu Ci's appointment as the examiner, do they think that a person who won the Sanyuan rank only in a few decades, came from a noble family, and once lectured for His Highness the Crown Prince? You don't even have the qualifications to try your hand in the solution test?

Naturally, Lu Ci could also imagine the expressions of opponents who would be choked by this rhetoric.

He simply changed the reason: "I have only been an official for about two years, and I have not yet completed my salary. I don't have enough qualifications and virtues. I am afraid that it will be difficult for me to take up this position."

Zhao Zhen laughed immediately after hearing this.

He looked at the young master with a smile, and his eyes seemed to reveal the pampering of "I knew you had to be so self-effacing".

At the moment when Lu Ci thought he was dazzled, he said calmly: "Although the time Lu Zuo told Deren was not long, he told a lot of stories. Among them, the most important one was the time when the officials were studying , Too much emphasis on seniority and little on actual performance, that’s why there are countless bureaucrats who just want to be blameless. If I can’t learn from it, and still value seniority instead of real talent, wouldn’t I have listened to the lessons for so long?”

Lu Ci: "..."

It never occurred to him that there would be such an honorable but always well-behaved and conscientious student of the little prince who would block his day with his own words.

But it's no wonder - he was caught off guard by Zhao Zhen's magical stroke, and Zhao Zhen, who had learned a lot from him in "planning and moving", did it before he opened his mouth. It's [-]% ready.

Facing Zhao Zhen's shining eyes full of expectations, Lu Ci reluctantly said the last reason: "The minister was forced to make a living, and two years ago he compiled three volumes of "Detailed Explanation of Strategies and Theories". , I'm afraid it violates the system of avoiding suspicion."

Zhao Zhen really didn't know anything about the existence of "A Detailed Explanation of Strategies".

Hearing this for the first time, he couldn't help being a little surprised, and then asked: "Is this really the case?"

Lu Ci thought that the little prince was finally going to give up on this whim, so he nodded, and was about to heave a sigh of relief when he heard the little prince happily say, "This is very good. If the book compiled by Lu Zuoyude is really useful, then I will pay tribute to you today." For example, regardless of poetry and prose, in terms of single policy theory, there will be more excellent works."

He comforted Lu Ci again and said, "Lu Zuo Yude doesn't need to worry too much. You are not the only one who checked the papers, and there are transcripts, and the name system..."

Lu Ci listened, and slowly became expressionless.

He seemed to understand.

My gentle and caring good student is obviously determined to eat the weight, so I have to send him to the almost isolated Gongyuan, and lock him up for a month!

In Zhao Zhen's view, he succeeded in persuading his little wife to take up this good job that is not only leisure, but also can speed up the accumulation of qualifications and achievements.

He was in a great mood, and immediately turned this appointment into an imperial edict, formally appointing Lu Ci as the supervisor of the Kaifeng Mansion Examination.

Although the "communication and quantity" before the edict was obviously an unconventional operation through the back door, Zhao Zhen still respected the regulations after a small violation.

Therefore, according to the system, on the day Lu Ci received the appointment edict, he had to stay in the examination hall with the examiner, inspection officer, sealer, and transcription officer all the time, and he was not even allowed to return home halfway.

The change of clothes and necessary items will be picked up by the officials of the Transit Department, and they will not be in Lu Ci's hands until they have carefully checked and confirmed that there is no request note in them.

The deal was done, and after Lu Ci lived in the Gongyuan, he calmed down as much as possible and accepted the arrangement.

Anyway, there is a reliable Zhu Shuo at home who looks at him, although Di Qingnian is young, he is also very sensible, the only thing that makes him a little worried is Liu Qi, who is the oldest and most romantic among them.

He locked it up for a month, so maybe Liu Qi would forget his status as a pavilion official and go to the Qinlou Chu Pavilion to let his instincts fly and spend his days drinking.

After much deliberation, Lu Ci simply took advantage of the Ping An calendar and simply left a message to Liu Qi through the officials...

But Liu Qi who heard the news that night, after a short period of astonishment, really laughed out loud as Lu Ci expected, and was so happy that he almost rolled on the ground.

"Well, you little glutton, you finally have today!"

Because he laughed too wildly, he was soon stared at by Zhu Shuo and Di Qing together, and had to support the table and wall all the way, and moved back to the room with difficulty.

After entering the room, he still didn't stop. While rubbing his aching abdomen from laughing, he wrote a few jokes with a trembling pen tip.

First there is a song "Feelings of Wen Yu Suo Yuan", then "Gong Yuan Qiu Shen Suo Taotie", and finally a more serious song "Zheng Bu Yue".

Unlike Liu Qi who was so complacent and obsessed, Zhu said that although Lu Ci was appointed as the proctor, although Zhu Shuo was shocked, he quickly accepted it, and he was full of admiration for Lu Ci.

Thinking back to this moment three years ago, they were still in Mizhou Academy, studying hard for the exam, and because it was the first time they finished, they didn't dare to expect extravagant rankings.

After only a short while, Brother Lu transformed into a member of the majestic examiners in the Tribute Academy.

Di Qing is probably the only one who really feels extremely depressed because he hasn't seen Lu Ci for a while.

In the locked courtyard, the grandfather may not be able to eat the dishes he likes, and he will not be able to do the things he likes. He may not even be able to catch up with the Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns in a month.

Di Qing sighed.

But he also knew that the Gongyuan was heavily guarded, and if he wanted to hunt wild animals and secretly send them to the grandfather like in the past, not only would it be difficult to achieve, but it would also easily cause trouble for the grandfather.

Just as the three of them were thinking about each other, the little official who was in charge of running the 'Safe Calendar' also arrived in front of Lu Ci's house, and politely brought back the words he had given to Liu Qi.

After Liu Qi heard that Xiao Taotie was imprisoned in the courtyard, the first thing she did was to deliver a letter to herself, and listening to the meaning, when she was the only one of the three, she couldn't help being a little touched, and the other party's own performance, Feel a little guilty.

But after hearing the content clearly, he no longer thinks so.

Lu Ci's message was extremely simple, just two words——

wait.

Liu Qi: "..."

waiting?

What are you waiting for?

Just as Liu Qi was tossing and turning over these two words, thinking about how to read and how to hide the mystery, Lu Ci had simply packed up the personal belongings he had sent, washed and went to sleep.

After a day of being bullied by his own students, he actually felt physically and mentally exhausted like never before. He just wanted to sleep well and save the rest for tomorrow.

Although Lu Ci hoped from the bottom of his heart that this was just a dream, when the birdsong outside the window woke him up, he still had to admit that he had indeed entered the locked courtyard.

He got up resignedly, changed his clothes and washed himself.

Fortunately, although the room is much smaller than his own house, and it is impossible to cool them with ice extravagantly, there are bamboo forests at the front and back to block the scorching sun, and the water for cleansing the face is drawn by the officials from the well, which is transparent. It is cool and refreshing, which can relieve the heat.

After taking care of his grooming, Lu Ci pushed open the door and went out. Before he could take a few steps, he saw the other three appointed examiners gathering in the corridor and chatting.

At a glance, Lu Ci reluctantly admitted that he didn't know any of these three people.

It's no wonder he—except for him, the examiner who was personally appointed by the little prince and directly airborne, the appointment of other officials related to the test was in line with the previous procedures, and they were all directly drawn from the state officials.

Except for Lu Ci, the other examiners, not to mention familiar with each other, most of them can be called by name, or have worked together.

Hearing Lu Ci's opening and closing of the door, the people who were chatting fell silent at the same time, and cast complicated eyes on him.

Among a group of officials who were over half a century old and had gray beards, Lu Ci, who had just reached the weak crown and could be called a vigorous and imposing figure, was particularly eye-catching.

The most embarrassing thing is that it is this junior who is out-and-out in terms of seniority and age. With his outstanding achievements, he was personally appointed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Supervisory Kingdom and became the supervisor with the highest authority.

Lu Ci calmly let them look at them, approached the front and back, and nodded with a slight smile: "There are a lot of public documents in this collection. After breakfast, please read it with me."

He has been in the officialdom for many years, his age is more than his two lifetimes combined, he knows each other, he has formed a faction, and he still has a set of officials in his heart...

From the very beginning, Lu Ci had no intention of making friends.

While they were quietly observing him, he began to issue orders in a 'mild manner' directly as his 'inspector'.

To put it bluntly, he spent at most a month in this locked courtyard with them.

The possibility of an intersection in the future is also very slim.

If he lowers his stance slightly and uses "humility" to win his goodwill, he may also get the impression of being "easy to bully" and invite perfunctory and ignorance.

Normally, Lu Cixu would be too lazy to care about it.

But when the little prince was trustingly handed over to him, he presided over it, and the main responsibility was on him, so he couldn't let the people under him despise him and do whatever he wanted.

After all, if there is any mistake, he, as the proctor, is doomed to bear the blame.

From this point of view, it is obvious that the difference in status should be used from the very beginning to directly overwhelm their temptations, and then clearly draw the boundary line and set the rules. At least in the past month or so, the old fritters can understand the rules, It is appropriate to work well together.

The author has something to say: Notes:

By the way, I really didn’t write the time of this tribute exam. The next tribute exam after Lu Ci will be released in the third year of Tianxi (that is, the test that started in the second year of Tianxi), and the top of the list is Wang Zheng. ("General History of China's Imperial Examination System-Song Dynasty Volume II", Shanghai People's Publishing House, p840 (35) Tianxi Three Years (1019) Wang Zhengbang)