Chapter 2553 Recommendation
Bai Erlang's guess was correct. The emperor had indeed chosen a position for him long ago and had discussed this issue with Li Mao before the results of the Ministry of Personnel examination came out.
The location is excellent, Hanlin Academy of Hanlin.
This time, the position was obtained very smoothly. Not only did Li Maoyue not object, but even Wei Zhi and other ministers did not express any objection, which disappointed the emperor who was preparing for a big battle.
Li Maoyue did not object because he felt that Bai Cheng was a Jinshi after all and his abilities were not too bad. The emperor's move was obviously not to let Bai Cheng take power in the future, but to keep the son-in-law and princess in the capital.
In that case, just agree.
Wei Zhi and others did not object because Bai Erlang had written a book, and it was a best-seller.
Of course, "Biography of Xiang Mingxue" is not only read by his own children and grandchildren, but the adults also secretly collected a copy.
Given his good narrative skills, he could be assigned to the Hanlin Academy to edit books.
So the emperor had selfish motives at work, and the old gentlemen thought about it and felt that Bai Cheng was capable, so they agreed.
If he didn't have the ability, they wouldn't agree even if the emperor was furious.
They think this is a meritocracy.
However, both brothers of the Bai family are Jinshi. Since Bai Cheng wants to stay in Beijing, Bai Zhi can no longer stay in the capital.
This is the most basic avoidance policy.
Li Maoyue found out right after Bai Erlang submitted the application and told his subordinates, "Hold it for two days before giving it to him to avoid rumors."
The subordinates should follow.
Li Maoyue picked up the memorial he had just written and went into the palace. Today they were going to discuss the fourth batch of recruitments, and the positions were quite important.
Even though a county magistrate was only of the sixth or seventh rank, the emperor was very concerned about him, and so were the officials in the court.
After all, the Great Jin is made up of these counties, and the county magistrate is called the parent official, so he must be chosen carefully.
Basically, every year the emperor would personally meet and examine the county magistrates selected to serve in local areas, and only allow them to be sent out after confirming that there were no problems.
Especially this time, there are several important counties that need to appoint county magistrates.
Li Maoyue entered the palace with his hands in his pockets, and then met Zhou Man on the long steps of the Taiji Hall.
Li Maoyue's time for visiting the palace to make a summary was almost the same during this period. He could find out by asking the guards at the palace gate and the eunuchs working in the corridor.
They have excellent memories, and because their work is simple, they can remember even such insignificant little things.
Manbao naturally wouldn't ask the guards, she asked the eunuchs instead. Everyone was willing to give her a good tip for this little bit of information.
Therefore, she knew that during the past four or five days, Li Maoyue would enter the palace between 2:15 and 3:15 of the Si hour, and his time of leaving the palace was irregular. Sometimes he would leave around noon, and sometimes he would eat and take a nap in the palace, and would not leave until the afternoon.
This depends on the amount of affairs in the court. Sometimes when the emperor is too busy to see him, he will leave the palace very late.
So Manbao doesn't block the back, but only blocks the front.
She had deliberately rushed to arrive at the Taiji Hall before 2:15 PM. When she saw the long staircase from afar, she began to admire the scenery.
There's no scenery here though.
The Taiji Hall is very solemn. In front of it is a huge square with bluestone slabs on the ground. There are layers of steps on the left and right, and there are aisles and stone bridges built from various places. They are all made of white marble.
As for the scenery, it can only be regarded as the large stone vats placed on both sides of the stone steps, with some green pines, lotus flowers and other plants planted in them.
Now that the lotus flowers have not bloomed, there are only the evergreen pines.
Manbao was walking very slowly, so slowly that some ministers passing by could not help but look at her sideways.
Fortunately, there are not many people coming in and out here. Well, except for the grand court meetings, there are not many ministers who come to the Taiji Hall on normal days, and most of them are officials of the fourth rank or above.
From a distance, Manbao saw Li Maoyue coming up the stairs, so he simply stopped and waited for him.
Li Maoyue came up and looked at Zhou Man in surprise. "How come you have time to come here today, Mr. Zhou?"
Manbao tucked his hands into his sleeves and took out a memorial. He waved it and said, "The Imperial Guards have all been vaccinated against cowpox. I'm here to report this to His Majesty."
Li Maoyue suddenly realized and asked with a smile, "Is everything going well?"
Manbao nodded, "It's okay. Some people didn't react well to the vaccination, but fortunately, no one's life is in danger."
As more people were vaccinated, more exceptional cases were collected. Although the Imperial Medical Bureau was nervous, it did not dislike such cases. This showed that there was still room for improvement in the cowpox vaccine, or perhaps some special cowpox vaccine should be specially formulated to suit special cases...
However, this was not Zhou Man's main purpose today. The reason why she snatched the reporting job from Xiao Yuanzheng was to block Li Maoyue.
Therefore, Manbao also paid attention to Li Maoyue's work. "Is Minister Li still busy with the official selection recently?"
"Yeah," Li Maoyue also complained, "Every spring, our Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of Revenue are the busiest. Not only do we have to arrange for the newly promoted Jinshi and Mingjing scholars, but we also have to arrange for the transfer of officials who return to the capital to report on their work."
The two are even intertwined. When some officials are promoted, their positions are naturally vacated for new officials who enter the government this year.
"I heard that a county magistrate died of a sudden illness while in office this year?" Manbao couldn't help but ask curiously, "What was the illness?"
Li Maoyue didn't sense any deception. Zhou Man was the imperial physician, and everyone knew she liked unusual cases. It was said that she still visited Jishiditang from time to time to see cases. So he just assumed she was interested in illnesses and sighed, "It was the magistrate of Tongbai County. He caught a cold. It's said he got caught in a spring rain during a late spring cold spell. It started as a minor illness, but it got worse and worse, and he didn't make it."
And it happened very quickly, only twelve days passed, from the time his condition worsened to his death, but only four days. He didn't even have time to make arrangements, so the county government could only report to the higher authorities and ask the Ministry of Personnel to send officials quickly. After all, it was the critical time for spring plowing, and how could the county government function without a county magistrate?
The cold can be fatal.
Manbao also sighed, and then asked Li Maoyue, "Has Minister Li decided on a replacement?"
Li Maoyue shook his head and said with a smile: "Tongbai County is a middle-level county. It is up to His Majesty to decide."
But he was the Minister of Personnel, so it was impossible that he hadn't recommended him. Man Bao didn't point it out, but just asked with a smile: "What do you think of Bai Zhi, Minister Li?"
Li Maoyue couldn't help but pause and looked at Zhou Man, "Who?"
"Bai Zhi," Man Bao said directly, "I'd like to recommend Bai Zhi to you. Do you still remember his Ministry of Personnel examination paper?"
Before Li Maoyue could say anything, Manbao pulled out an article from his sleeve and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't remember. Take a look at his usual articles. This one encourages people to take up farming. Tongbai County is considered a major grain-producing county, but I heard from Bai Zhi that the gap between the rich and the poor in the county is too big. It seems that the rich are mostly concentrated in the west, while the east is very poor."
Li Maoyue didn't want to take the article at first, but after hearing what Zhou Man said, he reached out and took it.
Bai Zhi obviously did his homework to say this, so why not give him a chance.
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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