The classroom was quiet, and my father-in-law's slightly high-pitched voice sounded very clear.
The words "receive the imperial decree" were clearly heard by everyone in the hall, and for a moment, they were all dumbfounded.
Shen Qingchen will not only receive an award, but it will also be bestowed by the emperor himself! These junior officials, who have only been in the court for a little over a year, have had their activities limited to the Hanlin Academy and the Six Ministries since the palace examination. They rarely even see the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial, let alone witness such a scene.
Among their classmates, someone is about to stand out so quickly!
Shen Qingchen tidied herself up briefly and followed her father-in-law.
Xu Silin sat in the classroom, his gaze fixed on her receding figure, lost in thought. This morning he had heard from his father that the Ministry of Revenue, following Qingchen's method, had raised the funds for the dike repair—a full six thousand taels—in less than ten days.
The Emperor had promised to bestow a great reward, and today's visit proved it true; the person was directly presented to the Emperor to receive the title.
My father asked me to win him over, but I have no idea how. That man was already somewhat bothered by my background, and now that he's about to get a promotion, I'm afraid I'll be even more insignificant in his eyes.
Xu Silin shook his head, thinking to himself that perhaps it would be faster for him to approach the situation himself, and he might as well let the other man win him over...
Seeing that Xu Silin was lost in thought, Gu Shaoheng deliberately walked up to him and said loudly, "Oh dear, did I hear that right? Who wants to be granted an official title before the Emperor? Who? Who is it? Is it my Qingchen? From now on, let's see who dares to look down on him!"
Inside the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, the lights were brilliant.
Emperor Zhu Rui, wearing a black gauze winged crown, a round-necked, narrow-sleeved robe with persimmon-shaped cloud and dragon motifs, and a gold, jade, amber, and rhinoceros horn belt, sat upright on the dragon throne. In the candlelight, his expression was solemn, his eyes were piercing, and his back was very straight, showing no trace of his usual lazy or slouching demeanor.
After Shen Qingchen entered the palace with the eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial, she performed the kowtow to the emperor according to protocol. This time, Zhu Rui did not interrupt her or offer her a seat. Instead, he watched as his subject knelt down, bowed, and said, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."
In the spacious hall, his minister was still thin and slender, his hair was tied up neatly, a small section of his neck was thin and white, and his blue robe shone slightly.
On the left side of the main hall stood four eunuchs from the Imperial Seal Bureau, each holding a red silk tray in their hands. On one of their trays was a folded blue egret-patterned robe, topped with a black gauze hat, and next to it was a blue silk sash. On the tray of the other eunuch was a neatly arranged stack of silver ingots.
The remaining two trays each held items of the same design but different contents, with four items on each tray: four official seals with straight knobs and four waist tokens.
On the right side of the main hall stood several officials in blue robes, their heads bowed. They came from the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, the Hanlin Academy, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
At a glance, there were nearly twenty people in the main hall, from the emperor down to eunuchs and palace maids, making the scene undeniably solemn and grand.
The procedures and ceremonies for the promotion of officials were handled by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites, respectively, and officials from these two ministries were appointed accordingly. However, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, the Hanlin Academy, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices were not originally involved in the promotion ceremonies, yet officials from these departments, responsible for internal affairs, were still summoned. Upon entering the hall, the men exchanged bewildered glances, curious yet keeping their heads down, unable to fathom the Emperor's intentions.
Until Shen Qingchen, a junior official, was led into the main hall, knelt below the emperor's steps, and received his title before the emperor.
Zhu Rui looked at the pearl he had unearthed, raised his hand and said, "Proclaim the decree."
Subsequently, Huang Heng, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, personally presented the imperial edict and announced: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Shen Qingchen, a probationary scholar of the Hanlin Academy, is exceptionally talented, intelligent, and skilled in literature, and is adept at spreading benevolence. He is hereby appointed as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, and further granted the titles of Assistant Minister of the Left Spring Palace of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Director of the Water Conservancy Department of the Ministry of Works, and Assistant Minister of the Revenue Department... In addition, he is specially awarded one hundred taels of silver."
After the imperial edict was read, the hall fell silent.
Surprise, envy, admiration... Apart from Zhu Rui, everyone else was dumbfounded, their gazes, filled with a mixture of emotions, all falling on the newly promoted official, Lord Shen.
He bestowed official titles upon the emperor, granting four positions at once, the highest being the sixth rank. Truly the supreme ruler of the land, what a capricious emperor!
...
After reading the imperial edict, Zhu Rui dismissed everyone else, leaving only Shen Qingchen behind.
After everyone else left, his solemn expression vanished, replaced by a kind smile. He said to Qingchen, "The six thousand taels of silver have been raised. With the year-end approaching, you have brought me good news. Therefore, I have promoted you and rewarded you with silver."
"I've been thinking for days about where to put you. You're skilled in water conservancy projects, so you should be in the Ministry of Works. However, your ideas for raising funds are really good, which shows that you're also good at financial matters, so the Ministry of Revenue is also a good fit. I've thought about it, and since you're someone I personally discovered and trust, I'll first assign you to the Bureau of Auditing, where you can look at the accounts for me. However, the official positions in these two ministries are not as prestigious as those in the Hanlin Academy. As a junior official, you already have a great chance of staying in the Hanlin Academy. If I don't keep you in the Hanlin Academy, it would be a disservice to you."
"As for the Court of Imperial Sacrifices... it's my personal concern. The Crown Prince's mother passed away early, and he has no powerful relatives to rely on; he merely holds the title of Crown Prince in name only. But the prince born to me by Consort Zheng is different. Although he is only five years old and still young, his mother comes from a good family and has some connection with Xu Yan. How should I put it? I'm worried that people's hearts are unpredictable. Therefore, with your intelligence, if you can help the Crown Prince, then if something happens to me one day, I can leave in peace."
Zhu Rui spoke slowly, each word carefully chosen, as if he were considering his words carefully, or as if he had been preparing for a long time and wanted to explain things to her slowly so that she would understand his meaning.
There are no trivial matters in the country. Whether bestowing four official titles upon one person at once was too arbitrary or frivolous, he didn't care. He only knew that he had discovered a talent, and this person's reputation, from the Hanlin Academy to the Ministry of Works, from fellow students to teachers, was universally praised. This result was truly excellent; the person had not disappointed him, and it had silenced any objections from those who wished to challenge him.
“I know that four official positions are too many. You will be overwhelmed.” After saying this, Zhu Rui comforted him, “Don’t worry, I won’t exhaust you. The positions of Hanlin Academy Compiler and Left Spring Palace Assistant were originally concurrent positions, both responsible for compiling historical records and lecturing on the classics. You are a Chuanlu, so you should be good at this.”
"As for the Ministry of Works, you don't need to be in charge of water conservancy projects in a specific province like Han Yuanshu. I'm just leaving you a position there so they can come to you with any tricky problems, and you can just point them in the right direction. As for the Revenue Department's Audit Office, it's responsible for auditing the national treasury's revenue and expenditure accounts. You don't need to compare and audit the accounts book by book like the existing audit offices. I'll only ask you to take a look at the accounts they report if I have any questions about them. That's all. Of course, you're skilled in financial matters, and I imagine you'll sometimes want to look at the accounts. I'll send you there, and you can look at them anytime."
"Therefore, you should focus your main energy on the Crown Prince's Palace and the Hanlin Academy. As for the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, if you feel you have some free time and want to see or do anything, you may go and do it whenever you wish. Although your specific duties may differ from those of your colleagues, your official position is real, and your subordinates must treat you with respect. If your superiors assign you tasks that exceed what I just mentioned, you may refuse directly and come to me to tell me."
Qingchen listened quietly to the emperor's statement, her mind filled with many thoughts.
When she first heard that Zhu Rui had granted her four official positions, she was quite shocked, thinking that Zhu Rui was being too frivolous. Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish; even in the kitchen, there are specific divisions of labor and everyone has their own responsibilities. How could someone who was new to officialdom hold four positions at the same time?
But as she listened to Zhu Rui's long explanation, her thoughts gradually changed.
Zhu Rui's decision was clearly well-considered. As an emperor, his ability to recognize the type of personnel lacking in his departments is commendable. Furthermore, his careful consideration of how to allocate her time and energy, allowing her to focus her efforts and maximize her talents, demonstrates that he was a monarch capable of recognizing and utilizing talent.
Furthermore, selecting a qualified and uncontroversial successor, and ensuring his smooth ascension to the throne, is a crucial issue for both the country and the current emperor. Although Zhu Rui may appear careless and negligent in his duties, he actually has a clear understanding of the situation and has considered and prepared for this issue; he cannot be said to lack foresight.
Whether it was out of public interest or private motives, whether it was for his own sake or for hers, Zhu Rui's bestowal of this honor had a significant meaning behind it and was not merely a capricious act on the surface.
This is an unprecedented honor, but also a challenge to break through one's own limits.
After hearing these words, Qingchen took a breath and felt a weight on his shoulders, realizing that he needed to work even harder.
Later, Zhu Rui also had a heart-to-heart talk with Qing Chen.
This was a heartfelt conversation between a monarch and his subject, a conversation that spanned a wide range of topics, from the most distant to the most distant, covering everything imaginable. They talked for a full half hour, with Zhu Rui initiating the conversation throughout, yet he showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever.
Half an hour is enough for the emperor to drink a pot of wine, play a game of chess, or even visit a concubine, but he did none of these things. Instead, he spent the time talking with the gentle and clear-minded young man he had personally discovered.
The two chatted until Consort Zheng arrived, at which point Shen Qingchen left the Qianqing Palace. As she left, Zhu Rui specifically instructed her, "I admire you greatly. As long as you don't disappoint me, I won't disappoint you either."
Zhu Rui's words sounded like those of a tyrannical ruler, but he felt a sense of satisfaction saying them. As a monarch, he had taken the lead in showing his sincerity to his subjects, and he was even a little moved by it.
As Qingchen stepped down the white marble steps after leaving the Qing Palace, auspicious snow began to fall.
"Lord Shen, slow down, it's snowing, be careful not to slip," the imperial eunuch beside him reminded him.
"Okay. Thank you, sir."
Fine snowflakes drifted in the wind, slowly carpeting the path. This trip had transformed her from an unranked low-ranking official, Shen Shuchang, into a rank-holding Lady Shen, a person with real power.
She could feel the envious looks from those people earlier.
She held four official positions, the highest being the sixth rank and the lowest being the eighth rank. She possessed four official seals and four waist tokens, and could receive four different salaries. However, what was most enviable was not the rank or number of official positions, but the nature of these four posts.
Leaving aside the positions in the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, just the two positions in the Hanlin Academy and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices alone would be enough to make countless people flock to them. Simply put, she is now both a formal member of the Grand Secretary training program and an absolute core member of the Crown Prince's faction.
If she originally had top-tier political resources like Song Yue and Xu Silin, now she has reached the top-tier political platform.
A north wind blew by, causing the hem of the robe of the eunuch in front to flutter.
As instructed by the Emperor, he was to immediately send the decree promoting Shen Qingchen to the Ministry of Personnel. The newly promoted Lord Shen needed to be registered in the new official register, and the Ministry of Personnel needed to inform the entire court. Even before the Hanlin Academy's junior officials had finished their term, they had already received substantive positions, and each person had four. Although the people in the Ministry of Personnel had already witnessed the conferment and spread this exciting news firsthand.
At this moment, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices... and the lecture hall of the Hanlin Academy were all in an uproar.
As Qingchen walked along the Thousand Steps Corridor, he saw a familiar figure walking towards him in the wind and snow.
Lu Shenyun was dressed in a black robe, his hand on his embroidered spring knife. His eyebrows and eyes were still handsome, but his whole body still exuded a cold and indifferent aura.
He stopped in front of her and said calmly, "It's snowing. Would you like to take shelter under the eaves first, Lord Shen?"
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