Chapter 633: Stop Pursuing Political Achievements

Kaifeng was a metropolis in the Central Plains with a population of hundreds of thousands in the Ming Dynasty. It was the core city of the Central Plains and had a very developed economy and culture.

Moreover, as the capital of Henan Province, Lin Tailai must have passed by here during his southern tour.

When the big government offices such as the Procuratorate, the Governor's Office, and the Governor's Office in Kaifeng received Lin Tailai's notice, they were all very confused.

Aren't you Lin Jiuyuan from Suzhou? You should have visited neighboring Shandong when you returned home to visit your relatives. Why did you pass by Henan?

Life is not so voluntary. Whether the officials are willing or not, Lin Tailai still has to pass by during his southern tour.

What is most troubling to the top leaders of this province is that when a big person passes through, there should be etiquette to go out of the city to welcome him, but what specific specifications should be used to welcome Lin Tailai?

Under normal circumstances, the essence of all etiquette and law issues is two words-as usual, as long as you follow the old rules, you will not make mistakes.

But there is no precedent for people like Lin Jiuyuan, and there is no way to refer to the previous example.

On the surface, Lin Tailai was only a fourth-rank official in Beijing, and he was not on a business trip ordered by the emperor, but just returned to his hometown to visit relatives.

But even a fool knows that Lin Tailai must not be treated according to the etiquette standards of ordinary fourth-rank officials passing through the border, otherwise Lin Tailai will definitely get angry.

It is not appropriate to treat Lin Tailai too high or too low. In the end, the provincial government jointly elected a person who is just right as a representative, that is, Li Weizhen, a third-rank official from the left.

It is not considered to be a bad treatment to go out of the city to welcome a fourth-rank official from the third-rank, and Lin Tailai can't find any reason.

At the same time, Li Weizhen is also a famous figure in the literary world. He was first the leader of the last five sons of the famous retro school, and later he was the deputy leader of the New Literary League, and he was nominated by the old leader Wang.

Therefore, Li Weizhen and Lin Tailai have some indirect origins, and if it doesn't work, you can start from the literary world.

When Li Weizhen, the first deputy leader of the New Literary League, Lin Tailai, was received outside the city, Li Weizhen, the Li Canzheng, felt a little complicated.

Because he was the successor of the old leader Wang in the literary world, and he was once the next generation leader of the literary world designated and cultivated by the old leader.

But now everyone already knows who the next generation leader of the literary world will be.

In a sense, Li Weizhen felt that his literary luck was taken away by the person in front of him.

"I have long heard of Jiuyuan's name, but I have been traveling in various provinces, and I didn't expect to meet him until now." Li Weizhen said after greeting him.

Lin Tailai also returned the greeting and said: "I have also heard of Li Jingshan for a long time, but it's a pity that I have never met him. In addition, Wang Tianguan of the Ministry of Personnel asked me to bring a letter!"

In history, after Wang Shizhen passed away, Li Weizhen was indeed the next generation leader of the literary world, but he failed to prevent the collapse and demise of the retro school.

According to custom, when unfamiliar officials meet, they have to introduce their respective subject names at the beginning of the conversation-what subject are you in, what subject am I in, your teacher is so-and-so, my teacher is so-and-so, and what kind of relationship do we have.

Of course, Lin Tailai generally does not need to introduce himself. Who doesn't know the achievements of Jiuyuan Zhenxian?

So the focus is still on talking about Li Weizhen's imperial examination title. Lin Tailai took the initiative to ask: "Your Excellency, which imperial examination was in the second year of Longqing?"

Li Weizhen replied: "That's right. I heard that Jiuyuan is friendly with Brother Zhao of Lanxi who was in the same imperial examination?

Back then, I was selected as a scholar and then promoted to editor and editor. I was in the Hanyuan with Brother Zhao, and we worked on the Veritable Records of Emperor Muzong together. We have very similar personalities."

The Brother Zhao of Lanxi mentioned here is the fourth cabinet elder Zhao Zhigao.

Lin Tailai then responded, "Your list is really a gathering of talents and talents, not inferior to the list of the 26th year of Jiajing!

The top scholar Luo Wanhua is now the Minister of Rites, the second place Huang Fengxiang is now the Right Vice Minister of Rites and the Hanlin Academy Attending Bachelor, and the third place Zhao Laoxian is even a Grand Secretary!

Others include Wang Jiaping, who is also a Grand Secretary, Yu Shenxing is the Minister of Revenue, and Chen Yubi is the Minister of Works!

Recently, Zhang Wei has been recommended to be reinstated as the head of the Hanlin Academy!

And there is Shen Yikuan, who has also been promoted to the third-rank poet Zhanshi Mansion Zhanshi, but he was in mourning the year before last!

So every time I see the gold list of your subject, I can't help but admire it! Among all the subjects in my Ming Dynasty, the quality is at least in the top three!"

Li Weizhen: "."

Stop bragging, stop bragging! The hotter you, Lin Tailai, brag, the colder you feel!

There are already two cabinet ministers, three ministers, one head of the Hanlin Academy, and one Zhanshi in the same subject, what am I?

Then Lin Tailai seemed very curious and suddenly asked: "Let's not talk about the top three, but you and Wang Jiaping, Yu Shenxing, Chen Yubei, Zhang Wei, and Shen Yikuan are all from the same class of Shujishi, why is it that you are only a political participant now?"

Lin Tailai also knew that in history, even if more than ten years later, Li Weizhen would still be a political participant.

At this moment, Li Weizhen felt that his heart was stabbed again and again, and his face twitched again and again. He answered with difficulty: "Maybe I am relatively young and need more training."

This year, Li Weizhen is 45 years old and in his prime. When he first passed the imperial examination, he was only 21 years old, absolutely a little brother.

Lin Tailai shook his head and said, "Although age is a factor, Yu Shenxing and Chen Yubi are only three or four years older than you, and they are both ministers now, so the key is to follow the right person.

Even if you can't get the emperor's favor directly, you still need to be taken care of by a powerful person.

And you have been following the old leader Wang for so many years, no wonder you were delayed.

But now everything is fine. With my support, the old leader Wang became the official of the Ministry of Personnel. As the junior of the old leader Wang, you can enjoy the benefits for a year or two."

After some warm greetings, Li Weizhen was finally silenced. It was not until he was close to the city gate that he found a topic again.

Lin Tailai rode on his horse and looked at the majestic city wall.

Li Weizhen introduced beside him: "The layout of Kaifeng City inherits the Song and Jin Dynasties. The Zhou Palace in the city was built on the basis of the Forbidden City of the Song and Jin Dynasties, and the regulations are slightly higher than those of other princes."

Lin Tailai said impatiently: "Even if the city wall is magnificent, it is not worth being blocked here for a quarter of an hour, right?"

At this moment, the direction of the city gate was completely blocked, causing Lin Tailai to stop here and unable to move forward.

Li Weizhen, who was responsible for welcoming Lin Tailai into the city, was a little embarrassed and hurriedly said: "I did ask the gate soldiers to keep it unobstructed before, but I don’t know what went wrong. I’ll go to the city gate in front to see."

Lin Tailai ordered Zhang Wen, the left protector, "You go with me to see."

Not long after, Zhang Wen rode back and reported: "It seems that several powerful teams have gathered over there. I don’t know why they blocked the city gate. Li Dashen went to persuade them."

Lin Tailai ordered again: "What are you persuading? Call Li Canzheng back!"

After a while, Zhang Wen came back with Li Weizhen.

Then I heard Li Weizhen explain: "Over there are the servants of King Yanling, King Yingchuan, and King Pujiang. They are fighting for the road, so they blocked the gate."

Lin Tailai said in surprise: "I heard that there are as many as fifty or sixty princes in Kaifeng City. You can actually recognize people from these three families?"

It can be said that Kaifeng City is the city with the highest density of princes in the Ming Dynasty. There is indeed only one prince, King Zhou.

But there are dozens of princes in the Zhou Dynasty. At the peak, there are as many as sixty-nine. Even if some of them have no descendants, there are still fifty or sixty princes now.

The titles of King Yanling, King Yingchuan, and King Pujiang mentioned by Li Weizhen just now sound very impressive, but in fact, they are just like that in the Ming Dynasty. There are dozens of princes like this in Kaifeng City.

In addition, there are hundreds of generals and thousands of lieutenants in the Zhou Dynasty.

Therefore, the Zhou royal family is the most fertile family among all the royal families in the Ming Dynasty. At present, the total number of people is about 6,000, and the salary is 2 million shi, which is all distributed by the Henan government.

Of course, the civil officials are not without a way to deal with it. They can just delay the royal family salary at will. Anyway, the payment of royal family salary is not included in the performance evaluation.

In many cases, if one-third of the quota can be paid every year, or the arrears in previous years can be slightly cleared, it can be considered that the civil officials are kind.

Therefore, the issue of royal family salary in the late Ming Dynasty is a very complicated issue. From the account book, the government's financial burden is very heavy, and the royal family salary accounts for a large proportion.

However, in actual operation, how much the government has paid is a very metaphysical question. Some royal families may not have received salaries for ten years.

For example, the famous Fu Wang was enfeoffed as a vassal, and Emperor Wanli granted 2 million acres of land as Fu Wang's salary. But after the wealthy Prince Fu was enfeoffed, he found that there were a lot of poor relatives around him who could not receive salaries and needed to pay for relief.

In short, the later the period, the lower the status of the royal family.

Hearing that Lin Tailai still had the heart to tease, Li Weizhen smiled bitterly and said: "The King of Yanling, the King of Yingchuan, and the King of Pujiang were all enthroned this year, so I still remember them.

These three princes are young people of the same generation, so it is inevitable that the servants outside are angry and unwilling to lose the face of this government."

Looking at the direction of the city gate, Lin Tailai said lightly: "I have struggled in the court for two years. If I am blocked when entering Kaifeng City, wouldn’t it be a waste of struggle?"

The left and right protectors Zhang Wen and Zhang Wu said together: "I understand!" Then they turned around and started to greet the two hundred servants.

Li Weizhen was still confused. What did he understand? What did Lin Jiuyuan mean by that sentence?

"Jiuyuan Jun, please be patient, I will go and persuade them to leave." Li Weizhen felt that he had to do something, and hurriedly said again.

But Lin Tailai held Li Weizhen down, "You don't have to go, wait for the result."

When Li Weizhen wanted to ask "what result are you waiting for", he saw that Lin Tailai's 200 servants suddenly formed several formations skillfully, and then rushed to the city gate like wolves and tigers!

For a while, the sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling rang out at the gate of the city, and people kept running out, but were beaten back by the guards wandering around the periphery.

The servants of the three princes were suddenly attacked together and were completely stunned.

The large number of people who were watching the excitement from a distance were also dumbfounded. I don't know what kind of fierce dragon is this, which surrounded the people of the three princes and beat them together.

A moment later, more than a hundred wounded were lying at the gate of the city, and they were lifted up and thrown to the side of the road, and the passage into the city was finally cleared.

Lin Tailai raised his chin to Li Weizhen, "The road is not blocked anymore, let's go!"

Li Weizhen was in a daze. He always felt that the rumor that Lin Tailai surrounded Pingshan Hall at the Yangzhou Literary Conference that year might be an exaggeration.

But judging from the current situation, the rumor may not be exaggerated.

The area of ​​the Song and Jin Palace in the middle of Kaifeng City is occupied by the Zhou Palace, and most of the government offices are in the Baoding Street area west of the bell tower.

The Provincial Administration and the Provincial Inspection Office are located at both ends, and in the middle are the government offices of each patrol road, that is, the place where Li Weizhen, the councilor, and the deputy councilor and the deputy inspector are located.

After sending Lin Tailai to the posthouse, it was already late, so they agreed to rest tonight and visit again tomorrow.

Then Li Weizhen returned to the government office of the Left Councilor and the Grain Supervision Road, and respectfully opened the letter from the old leader Wang.

Li Weizhen had a deep affection for the old leader Wang and always regarded him as a teacher.

It was the old leader Wang who helped him become famous in the literary world, it was the old leader Wang who listed him as one of the last five figures of the retro style, and it was the old leader Wang who had always trained him as his successor.

Although Wang Lao, the old leader, was a scoundrel in the officialdom and did not help much after the eighth year of Wanli, which made him hesitate to participate in politics, Li Weizhen had no complaints in his heart.

Under the candlelight, the letter read: "Although I am lucky to be an official, I don't know how to use you. I am afraid that I will ruin your future like ten years ago, so I have been hesitant.

Lin Jiuyuan has the wisdom to identify people and use them, and the people he promotes are all appropriate.

Now that he is passing through Henan, I will entrust Lin Jiuyuan to take care of you and plan your future.

If you are fascinated by the literary world, don't worry about him, and be a deputy leader in the future.

If you are still interested in a career in politics, listen more to Lin Jiuyuan's teachings, and you will not be disappointed."

After not sleeping well that night, Li Weizhen went to the post house to visit as scheduled the next day.

Lin Tailai asked, "Have you read Wang Tianguan's letter?"

Li Weizhen replied, "I have."

Lin Tailai said, "Wang Tianguan asked me to identify you, and it would be best if I could help you pave the way. I agreed, but I don't know what you think."

Li Weizhen replied, "I am willing to listen to Jiuyuan Jun's advice."

Lin Tailai thought for a while, and then said, "If you want to be a stable official in the officialdom, it is best to have a solid political achievement as a foundation to avoid being attacked by scoundrels. Have you ever thought about what political achievements you want to make?"

Li Weizhen thought about it for a while before saying, "I heard that the emperor is concerned about the gathering of mine thieves in Henan. You can calm down some mine thieves as a political achievement."

Lin Tailai: "."

Are you sensitive, Li Weizhen? Is the emperor really concerned about the mine thieves?

The mining business is a big pit! It's too late to dodge, and you, Li Weizhen, actually want to jump in?

No wonder in history, Li Weizhen participated in politics in the eighth year of Wanli, and still participated in politics in the thirty-fourth year of Wanli! How can there be a person who participated in politics for twenty-six years in the world?

It is true that birds of a feather flock together. He is worthy of being the successor personally selected by the old official Wang Laomengzhu, and his official level is equal.

Lin Tailai, who had no one to use, rubbed his face vigorously and silently said a few words, "As long as you are obedient, you can be used."

Then he said: "Don't make political achievements, it's too complicated and you can't control it.

Let's do some personnel struggles, which is relatively simple.

For example, if you get rid of the provincial governor Zou Xuezhu, can't you be promoted to provincial governor?

After being promoted to provincial governor, you can be transferred to governor at any time as long as there is a chance, so you can go to Jiangnan to be the governor of Yingtian.

It is also the center of the literary world. You can brush up your political achievements while being a governor, and brush up your reputation in the literary world. Isn't it a double blossoming in the literary world?"

In a few words, the plan was clear.

Li Weizhen was in a daze again. Could it be so easy to get by in the officialdom?