When they came out of the school, it was already late and Master Zhao was tired.

He declined Yu Jiachang's invitation to stay for dinner and prepared to go home.

Master Zhao, who has always been considerate of his subordinates, gave the men in Caijia Lane a holiday so that they could reunite with their families.

Gao Wu refused to leave until the guards had dispersed. He managed to say, "Young Master, there must be someone protecting you."

"Okay, then let your father go with us." Zhao Hao never persuaded others, so he nodded and smiled at Old Man Gao, "Uncle, how about going with my father to take up the post?"

"Of course I'm willing, but the Ordnance Bureau won't let me leave Nanjing." Old Man Gao said with a wry smile.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." As the supervisor of the Nanjing Arsenal, Zhao Hao should have no problem asking for two people.

After arranging the arrangements for the father and the other, he smiled at Qiaoqiao and said, "Then you can just stay at home for a few days."

Qiaoqiao was anxious at first, then happy, and finally gave him a blank look.

This was so cryptic that I almost thought he was going to dump me again...

Zhao Hao then asked Secretary Ma, who was standing with Qiaoqiao, "My home is here, what are you doing here?"

"The house I rented is also here." Secretary Ma blinked and said, "The lease expires next month."

"Don't be lazy, I still have a lot of books for you to copy!" Zhao Hao tilted his head and motioned for her to get in the car quickly.

That domineering and unreasonable look made Ma Xianglan's mouth curl up slightly, and she felt so relieved in her heart.

Qiaoqiao was planning to speak up for Sister Xianglan, but stopped herself when she saw this.

"Alas, I have to accept my fate with a husband like this..." Secretary Ma got into the carriage with a distressed look on his face.

Well, the Jiansheng and Xiucai are both honorific titles. Don't get the wrong idea.

It was indeed a rainy season, and it started to drizzle that night.

When I was eating the next morning, he still showed no sign of stopping.

Zhao Haozheng was eating and chatting with his uncle.

Then I saw my father walking out, neatly dressed and yawning.

"Why didn't you sleep well last night?" The uncle quickly scooped a bowl of porridge for his younger brother.

"I haven't drunk so much in a while." Zhao Shouzheng said with a hangover look, "I have a headache."

Zhao Hao rolled his eyes. He was carried onto the ship in Yangzhou just the day before yesterday...

"Then take a good rest today." Zhao Shouye advised.

"No way." Fan Datong shook his head and answered for Zhao Shouzheng: "Brother was demoted and sent away after all, so it's okay for him to come back quietly. You made such a big scene yesterday. If you don't report to the Ministry of Personnel today, I'm afraid people will talk about you."

"That's right." Zhao Shouye spat and said, "These officials in Nanjing have more problems the more they have nothing to do. They rely on making trouble for others to show their existence."

"It doesn't matter." Zhao Shouzheng finally recovered and took a mouthful of porridge and said, "I'm not even afraid of the caning in the court, so why should I be afraid of their torment?"

Zhao Hao rolled his eyes again after hearing this. They were just stamping their approval for you, right? If it were real, you would definitely not be able to get out of bed until now.

After breakfast, Zhao Shouzheng, accompanied by Fan Datong and that guy, got on a blue wool sedan chair carried by four people and headed towards the imperial city in the heavy rain.

Seeing that the rain was getting heavier, Zhao Hao asked Secretary Ma to cancel the trip and went back to his room to take a nap after dinner.

Anyway, my dad has to stay in Nanjing for a while before he finishes his duties, so there's no rush.

Whether it was the county magistrate or the prefect, local officials did not take office directly in their own jurisdictions.

He had to report to the provincial capital first, complete all the formalities at the provincial government and the provincial court, and then meet with the governor, provincial governor, provincial court and other bigwigs, and get the approval of his superiors before he could take up the post.

If he is a county magistrate, he has to go to the government office to pay a visit to the prefect and the associate magistrate, his immediate superiors.

How could he not even pay his respects at the pier, but go straight to his own territory to bully others? Do you think the shoes are too tight and want to try a smaller pair?

Of course, Nanzhili did not have the Sansi Yamen, but was directly governed by the six ministries in Nanjing. The Yingtian governor also happened to be in Nanjing, so the number of ports to be visited did not decrease, but increased.

Even if Mr. Zhao had the money, this trip would still take half a month, maybe even longer...

He took a sedan chair from Taipingli to Chongli Street, passed Hongwu Gate, and turned onto Qinglong Street, where the Nanjing Clan Court and the Nanjing Five Ministries were located.

That’s right, there is a Baihu Street to the west of Hongwu Gate, which is the location of the Nanjing Five Military Governor’s Office.

The Azure Dragon on the left and the White Tiger on the right guard the Nanjing Palace of the Ming Dynasty...

Emperor Taizu’s design is so overbearing.

The sedan chair went up Qinglong Street and soon landed in front of the entrance of the South Ministry of Personnel.

Fan Datong lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, and Fang Wen held an umbrella and helped Zhao Shouzheng get out of the sedan chair.

Looking at the deserted gate of the Southern Ministry of Personnel, Zhao Shouzheng couldn't help but smile and said, "There is an advantage of coming here today, there are not many people."

"No, there aren't many people here usually." Then the old soldier at the gate of the yamen sneered.

"Uh..." Mr. Zhao was speechless for a moment. He thought to himself that it was true, the other five ministries in Nanjing had more power, but the power of the Southern Ministry of Personnel, the head of the six ministries, was pitifully small.

Because the power to appoint and dismiss officials across the country was under the jurisdiction of Beijing, the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel was only responsible for external inspections of officials in Southern Zhili once every six years. It had nothing to do at ordinary times, so naturally no one came to visit.

So when Fan Datong presented a two-tael-silver door gift, the old soldier guarding the gate allowed them to enjoy super-standard treatment and enter the gatehouse to wait for tea.

If it was the Ministry of Personnel in Beijing, only a third-rank official could have this treatment. Even if a fourth-rank prefect came, I'm sorry, the gatehouse can't accommodate so many people, please line up at the door and wait.

The waiting time is also much shorter than in Beijing.

After a while, the old soldier came back holding an umbrella and said to Zhao Shouzheng with a smile: "Sir, please follow me."

"Thank you." Zhao Shouzheng nodded and followed the old soldier inside.

He walked along the long corridor and came to the slightly dilapidated entrance of the Right Assistant Minister's Office on the right side of the Second Hall. The old soldier turned around and grinned at him, "Please come in, sir. The Junior Master is waiting for you."

Zhao Shouzheng felt puzzled. Normally, he could just register at the Ministry of Literature, so why did he need to trouble the Right Vice Minister?

The officials in Nanjing are idle, but they are not busy meddling in other people's affairs.

Fortunately, Mr. Zhao didn't have the habit of digging into things, so he quietly followed him into the Minister's Office, passed through the second hall and came to the third hall.

As soon as I entered, I saw an official in his fifties wearing a third-rank official robe, concentrating on teasing a bird in a cage.

The Shangshu who plants flowers and the Shilang who walks birds, this is very consistent with the characteristics of Nanjing city.

Moreover, this minister has carried forward the bird-watching business to its peak.

Others would only play with one bird, or three or five at most, but he was facing more than a hundred bird cages by himself.

In the third hall, eight ropes were pulled up and it was filled with things hanging!

What about thrush, starling, parrot, oriole, lark...

When Mr. Zhao saw it, he thought, wow, is this the bird market?

That’s not right. The ones sold here are more complete than those sold in the bird market.

It's really a bird chirping and the smell of feces is overwhelming...

The old soldier who was leading the way was accustomed to this kind of scene. He knew that the Minister would forget himself and everything else when he was playing with his bird, so he did not say a word and quietly retreated.

ps. Chapter 2, please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~