About two hours later, Dinghai County Magistrate Zhao Ruohai hurried to the government office.
Because time was too tight, County Magistrate Zhao didn't even have time to cleanse his face or burn incense. He hurried all the way for fear of keeping the imperial envoy waiting for a long time.
This is the most important moment in his life, and naturally there is no room for any mistakes.
When County Magistrate Zhao arrived, an official from the yamen went to report to him.
Eunuch Wang was so bored in the garden that he was almost going moldy. He was leaning against the pavilion listening to music. He was overjoyed to hear the news.
"Hurry, help our family up."
Magistrate Ma hurried forward to support him, saying flatteringly, "I'm sorry for keeping the envoy waiting. I made such poor arrangements. I'm so sorry."
Eunuch Wang raised his orchid finger and smiled, "We are not that pampered. We just hope to announce the imperial edict as soon as possible and complete the task."
After a brief pause, Eunuch Wang exclaimed, "Where should we announce the decree?"
"I have already arranged the incense table in the second hall and am waiting for the imperial envoy to arrive."
"In that case, let's go to the second hall."
The two men, one in front and one behind, came to the second hall, flanked by a group of people. When Magistrate Ma saw that County Magistrate Zhao and Xu Yan had arrived, he bowed to Eunuch Wang and said, "Your Excellency, County Magistrate Zhao and Xu Tongsheng have both arrived."
Eunuch Wang took a quick look and saw a middle-aged man in a green official robe. He thought it must be Magistrate Zhao.
As for Xu Yan, he must be the thin young man not far away.
He nodded, then took a long wooden box from the attendant and gently opened the lid.
There were two volumes of imperial edicts in the box, and Eunuch Wang took out one of them first.
Upon seeing this, Magistrate Ma and County Magistrate Zhao knelt on the ground and kowtowed in the direction of Eunuch Wang. Xu Yan followed suit and prepared to receive the order.
Conveying imperial decrees was a unique skill of the eunuchs, probably because their voices were well suited to intonation.
Eunuch Wang naturally also mastered this skill. He cleared his throat and said in a very shrill voice:
The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, decrees: Favor the state and honor the nobles, and commend the contributions of the nobles; Ma Shanyuan, the prefect of Ningbo, is loyal to the emperor and serves the country. During his three years in office, he dredged waterways, allowing ships to sail smoothly and merchants and travelers to travel easily; he emphasized education and literature, built academies, and set up school fields. Scholars competed to make progress, and the people's morals became good...He is hereby promoted to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing.
Imperial decree
Seal dated September 2, the 26th year of the Jiajing reign
After reading it, Eunuch Wang took out another scroll of imperial edict from the wooden box, cleared his throat and continued to read:
The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven and the Successor of Heaven, proclaims: "The greatest grace the court can bestow upon scholars is recognition and honor." Zhao Ruohai, the magistrate of Dinghai County, is a man of prudence and steadfastness, helping the poor and needy and ensuring the prosperity of the people. He governs with integrity and upholds the law impartially... He is hereby promoted to the position of prefect of Ningbo.
Imperial decree
Seal dated September 2, the 26th year of the Jiajing reign
The two imperial edicts were only a few hundred words long, but Eunuch Wang poured great emotion into them, fully expressing the emperor's majesty.
After reading it, Eunuch Wang swallowed and savored it for a long time.
After he had savored the thought, he glanced at the kneeling Ma and Zhao and said in a deep voice, "Your Excellencies, please accept my order."
Magistrate Ma and County Magistrate Zhao were already extremely excited, but at this moment they tried their best to suppress their joy, shouting "Our Emperor is wise", and then stood up to receive the order.
Seeing Xu Yan still kneeling, Eunuch Wang said with a smile, "Young Master Xu, please stand up as well."
Xu Yan was stunned. Is this the end?
That’s it?
Magistrate Ma and County Magistrate Zhao were both promoted, but what about him?
In fact, Xu Yan felt something was wrong from the moment County Magistrate Wang began to announce the decree.
As a professor of Ming Dynasty history, he is very knowledgeable about the imperial edicts of the Ming Dynasty.
There are many types of imperial edicts, generally divided into three categories.
"Zhaoyue" is used to announce to the whole world. Whenever there is a major political event that needs to be announced to the people, it is prefaced with "The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, declares" to have the widest scope of announcement.
The "Zhi Yue" (zhiyue) was used to announce to officials. Any imperial edict expressing the emperor's overwhelming grace began with "By the grace of Heaven and the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees this." It was not issued to ordinary people and had a limited scope of announcement.
The scope of the imperial edict is the smallest and is generally used by the emperor when promoting officials to higher positions and titles.
Two consecutive imperial edicts were both titled "imperial decrees", which obviously meant to reward officials.
Xu Yan is now just a scholar without any official title, so it is naturally unlikely that he will receive any reward from Emperor Jiajing.
Of course he still held out a glimmer of hope, but now it seems that he was overthinking it.
At this moment, Magistrate Ma pulled out a thick stack of banknotes from somewhere and stuffed it into Eunuch Wang's hands, saying with a broad smile, "Your Excellency, I have worked hard. Please rest in Ningbo for a few more days, so that I can show my appreciation."
"Prefect Ma... oh no, it's Minister Ma who has such a heart. If that's the case, we would be remiss to refuse."
After saying this, he put the banknote into his sleeve.
County Magistrate Zhao naturally came prepared. Although he did not prepare as many banknotes as Magistrate Ma, he still had several.
"The Imperial Envoy has worked hard on the journey. This small token of my appreciation is my humble opinion."
Seeing that County Magistrate Zhao was so understanding, Eunuch Wang was overjoyed.
"Oh, good, good, good! They say Zhejiang has outstanding people and beautiful scenery, especially Ningbo. Now I believe it. Okay, I'll stay in Ningbo for a few more days to get some of this magical energy."
As he said this, he stuffed the banknote into his sleeve.
Eunuchs are physically disabled, so their psychology is somewhat distorted.
Their biggest hobby is making money.
Normally, Eunuch Wang could not compete with the eunuchs with more experience in the palace. Now that he had finally gotten a job to convey the emperor's orders, he naturally wanted to make a fortune.
The Magistrate Ma and the County Magistrate Zhao were indeed very sensible, which made him very pleased.
"There's something I'm not sure if I should say or not."
Seeing that Eunuch Wang was in a good mood, Magistrate Ma took the opportunity to talk to him.
"But it's okay."
"I wonder what reward Master Futang received."
Eunuch Wang first went to Hangzhou during his trip to Zhejiang, and only came to Ningbo after Zhu Wan received the order.
Both Ma and Zhao were promoted to higher positions, so how could Zhu Wan be left out?
"I thought it was nothing. In a few days, the official document from the Ministry of Personnel will be issued and published in the official gazette. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Your Majesty believes that Governor Zhu is loyal, filial, virtuous, and has made great contributions in resisting the Japanese invaders. He has specially promoted him to the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, and conferred the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince."
When these words came out, both Magistrate Ma and County Magistrate Zhao were shocked. The Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang was undoubtedly a high-ranking official, and the title of Prince's Guardian further demonstrated the emperor's appreciation for Zhu Wan.
Xu Yan also breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed his strategy of offering auspicious signs had really worked.
Zhu Wan originally served as the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief and served as the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang and the Governor of Zhejiang.
Now he has been promoted to Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang. Although it is only one word different from the Admiral of Fujian and Zhejiang, it is several levels higher.
The admiral is only in charge of military affairs, but the governor-general is responsible for both military and political affairs, and his jurisdiction spans the two provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang. He can be said to be extremely favored.
The only regret is that Emperor Jiajing did not reward Xu Yan with anything.
At this moment, Eunuch Wang seemed to remember Xu Yan, raised his orchid finger and said with a smile: "Young Master Xu, His Majesty has specially sent me to tell you a message: When an emperor seeks to govern, learning should be the first priority."
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