Shuntian Mansion is the most benign place at the feet of the emperor, so the first test questions of Shuntian Township Examination are set by the emperor like the general examination.

Moreover, Zhili does not allow examiners to take part in examinations. Baoding, Chengde, Hejian, Tianjin, Yongping, Zhengding, Shunde, Xuanhua, Daming, Guangping and Zunhua Prefecture, Yizhou, Jizhou, Zhaozhou, Shenzhen are under the jurisdiction of Zhili.

Students in the six Zhili prefectures of Dingzhou and Dingzhou who want to take the examination must take the Shuntian Rural Examination. Therefore, the Shuntian Rural Examination is called "Nan Wei" just like the Jiangnan Rural Examination, and it is also called "Northern Wei".

Shi Zanqing, the prefect of Tianjin, came from a very poor family when he was young. His parents died early. He relied on financial support from his uncle at first, and later from his father-in-law. Those who were able to win the imperial examination or even become Jinshi were not only keen on donating to support education like those famous upright officials through the ages, but also took special care of them.

Poor students.

When Han Xiufeng returned to Beijing from Tianjin, he actually asked four poor scholars to accompany him, hoping that the four poor scholars would at least have a place to stay when they arrived in the capital.

Nanyuan was too far from Gongyuan, so Han Xiufeng could only ask Xiao Shandong to send the four scholars to the Chongqing Guild Hall.

Unexpectedly, I had just gone to the Old Summer Palace to pay my respects. I waited for a while in Jixianyuan to confirm that the emperor was not available for summons in the past two days. Then I returned to the Chongqing Guild Hall and found to my surprise that the Number One Scholar's Room at the back was already full of people. Shopkeeper Wen and

Shopkeeper Chu could only say hello to the students who came first, and asked them to squeeze in so that they could share one room, thus freeing up two rooms.

Ji Yunfei once served as a fellow examiner in the Shuntian Provincial Examination. He knew very well that he would probably not be selected this time. Maybe there was nothing wrong with the Hanlin Academy, but he came to the hall every day to point out the candidates' articles. He seemed to like it very much.

A feeling of supporting the underachievers.

Seeing that Han Xiufeng didn't enter the flower hall until he finished reviewing a student's article, he couldn't help but smile and said: "Don't look at me like that. There are only two students who come to stay in the mansion to have some connection with me. Most of them are you."

Master Han invited me!"

"I recruited them. I'll just bring four from Tianjin, okay?"

"If you still don't believe me, just look at these and you will know."

Ji Yunfei took out a few letters from the public box of the incense case. Han Xiufeng took them and read them, and immediately had nothing to say.

The first letter was sent by Zhang Zhidong, a student from Dingyou in the countryside who came to Beijing to take the exam. The remaining letters were all sent by gentry students in Wanping, Gu'an and other counties whom he met when he was a fellow magistrate on the south bank of the Yongding River.

At first, they were just reminiscing about old times, but then the conversation changed and they said that their fellow villagers and even their ancestors came to Beijing to take the exam and were worried about having no place to live...

Seeing Han Xiufeng's embarrassed look, Ji Yunfei joked again: "Those Nanpi candidates who came with Zhang Zhidong's letters were given their rent and tea money. The candidates who came from Gu'an, Wanping and other places

, the rent and tea money that should be paid have all been paid. Zhixing, my brothers still have to settle the accounts clearly, what do these candidates who just came from Tianjin say?"

"Count it on me, okay?" Han Xiufeng put down the letter and said with a smile.

"Shi Zanqing is really generous to others."

"Brother Bowen doesn't know something. He is not stingy or generous to others, but he really has no money."

"Three years of purging the prefecture, and one hundred thousand snowflakes of silver. He has already become the prefect, and you actually said that he has no money!"

"If he had been a prefect somewhere else, he wouldn't have been so strapped. But Tianjin is not another place. Not only has it just experienced a war, but in the past few months, the imperial ministers have been going around one after another like a revolving door.

I don’t know how much money it will cost just to welcome the imperial envoy, let alone how much money it will cost to decorate Tianjin’s city defense.”

"so tough?"

Han Xiufeng nodded and said with a helpless smile: "I told you that you won't believe it. He donated all his official salary to raise money, and his wife, children, and children all followed him to eat gruel, and he could only drink two meals a day.

I really couldn't stand it anymore, so before I came back, I specifically asked Han Chen to cook some decent meals and deliver them to him every two days."

"The honest man won't eat what is asked of him. Do you think he will eat it?"

"I don't care about him. He is hungry because of himself. I made it very clear to Han Chen before I came back. As long as his wife, children, and children have food to eat, that's all."

"It seems like it's not easy to be an upright official."

"So I respect him very much, but it's just respect. You can't learn from him if you want to."

It is said that officials who are thousands of miles away are just for wealth, but when it comes to officials like Shi Zanqing, it is really embarrassing. Ji Yunfei doesn't want to talk about this topic anymore, puts down the teacup and says: "By the way, Fugui just came here and gave me a gift."

Order something, he said he is going back to Beijing with you."

"If I guess correctly, he should be going to see Bo Chuan now."

"Zhixing, you have been going to Tianjin for such a long time. In my opinion, you should pay a visit to Lord Xiangxia."

How could Han Xiufeng not understand the implication of Ji Yunfei's words, and said quickly: "You can rest assured that although I have not traveled much with Bochuan in the past six months, our friendship has not been alienated."

Ji Yunfei nodded slightly, and after thinking about it, he couldn't help but ask: "Zhixing, do you think he can be a chief examiner or deputy examiner this time?"

"It's difficult. Firstly, he is not qualified enough, and secondly, he has his own errands." Because of his background, Han Xiufeng was really not interested in these things. Thinking of the purpose of his trip, he put down his tea cup and talked about business: "Brother Bowen, we were at the gathering just now.

Xian Yuan, I didn’t meet Mr. Sushun, but I met Prince Zheng, chatted with Prince Zheng for a while, and asked about Yong Yu and Jiang Guolin."

"What did Prince Zheng say?" Ji Yunfei quickly sat up straight.

"Prince Zheng said that the emperor did not listen to partial beliefs. How did Yong Yu die? The emperor has asked Cao Shuzhong, the chief envoy of Guangxi, to find out. Cao Shuzhong once served on the East Sichuan Road and was temporarily appointed as the envoy to Sichuan.

I have some friendship with him, so he should be able to help me with this. But Huang Wanqian can no longer stay in the capital, he will only do bad things if he stays in the capital!"

"Zhixing, you mean Yongming..."

"As long as you and I know what's going on, now that it's over, we can only find ways to help him seek grace after his death."

"How did you know?"

Han Xiufeng looked behind him and said helplessly: "Jiang Feiyuan, who was ordered by Hunan Governor Luo Bingzhang to go to Guangxi to help suppress the rebel party, asked someone to send a letter to Han Bo, who was working under Hubei Governor Hu Linyi two months ago.

Han Bo managed to deliver the letter to Shanghai, and Liu Shanyang asked a wealthy man passing by Shanghai to deliver it to me."

"So Lao Chongguang's performance shouldn't be false?" Ji Yunfei asked with a grimace.

Han Xiufeng nodded helplessly, holding the tea cup and continued: "As for Jiang Guolin, this official position must not be possible. Fortunately, the court wants to save face, and the emperor will not delve into the matter of Guangzhou, and several princes and ministers will not mention it, even Bai Gui

None of them will be held accountable, so Jiang Guolin's wealth and life should be saved."

"Discard your official position and return to your hometown?"

"It's not easy to achieve this result."

"It took a lot of effort for one person to become the chief inspector, and for another to become the chief envoy, but one of them died... in an unexplained manner, and the other one was almost prosecuted. How come it has become so difficult to be an official!"

"Don't worry, Hanlin officials are so noble."

"What's the use of being noble? Let's not talk about this anymore. Are you going to eat here tonight? If you are not in a hurry to leave, I will ask shopkeeper Wen to invite Jiang Haoxuan and the others. We haven't gotten together for a long time, so we can just catch up on old times."

"Next time, there's still a lot of trouble over there in Nanyuan, I have to go back quickly."

"Okay, I'll give it to you."

…

On the fourth day after returning to Nanyuan, the emperor ordered Datou to pass the order and asked Han Xiufeng to bring Fugui to visit him early the next morning.

Fugui had never met the emperor before, and he was so nervous that he didn't sleep well all night. As a result, he followed Han Xiufeng to the Qinzheng Hall in the Old Summer Palace. After kowtowing and saying a few words, the emperor asked him to "kneel down".

When Fugui exited the hall, Xianfeng put down the note that Fugui had presented and said, "I have already said that I am not a mean and ungrateful person. I will honor the grace you have received from me."

"Your Majesty is kind and your Majesty is wise." Han Xiufeng said hurriedly.

"Say something useful!" Xianfeng glared at Han Xiufeng, who looked more and more like Peng Yunzhang, and continued: "Now the only thing left is how to reward this slave Fugui. Although Houyi Hall has been abolished, you are his superior after all.

I want to hear your thoughts on whether to let him return to Fujian or reward him with individual errands. After all, you know him best."

"Your Majesty, I asked him on his way back to the capital what his plans are for the future."

"How did he say?"

"He said that he was old, and he suffered a serious illness on the ship during the unloading of the foreign artillery. Otherwise, he would not have returned to Beijing from Tianjin with me until a few days ago."

"So he was recuperating in Tianjin a few days ago?"

"Your Majesty." Han Xiufeng paused and continued: "He told me that he wanted to continue serving the imperial court, but he was afraid that he would be too ambitious and unable to do anything, so he begged me several times to ask the Emperor to give his second son good luck.

Continue to serve the Emperor on his behalf."

"Jixiang, he actually chose this name." Xianfeng muttered, then thought about it and asked: "Where is his eldest son?"

"Your Majesty, his eldest son is called Ji Lu. He has been working as an errand at Houyi Hall and is now the head of Nanyuan." Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood, Han Xiufeng lost no time in saying, "I am no stranger to his second son Jixiang. Not only is he a

He is an honest man, and he is dedicated to serving the court. I boldly ask Jixiang to come to the palace to be on duty. After all, Datou only has brute strength, and he is more than enough to escort him. He really can't do anything else."

Thinking that every time he asked Datou to convey an order, he had to remind him several times, otherwise Datou might really forget it, Xianfeng said in deep thought: "Then reward his second son with an auspicious fifth-grade belt, and learn to walk on the guard of Jingyun Gate.

"

Those who are rewarded with the top belt of the fifth rank are the fourth-class guards, and those who learn to walk on the Jingyunmen Guards will let Jixiang work in the external performance office. Han Xiufeng was shocked and said quickly: "On behalf of the rich and noble father and son, I thank the emperor for your kindness!"

"As long as you do the job with sincerity, I won't hesitate to reward you." This was really not a big deal to Xianfeng, and then he changed the subject: "I read your report. The job was done well. I have ordered Seng Gelinqin to pass it on."

I will return to Beijing in a few days so that I can have a face-to-face meeting."

"It is my blessing to be able to share the emperor's worries."

"I know your loyalty. What I want to say is that there are many reports in Guangdong, Guangxi and Liangjiang these days. I have sent them to Prince Hui, Prince Yi, Prince Zheng, Sushun and others for copying. You have time to find Su.

Okay, look at those discounts."
Chapter completed!