Chapter 310 311. Spring Examination, Who Will Win?
The sixteenth day of the first lunar month.
It was Lei Zhouzhou’s 50th birthday, but the Changning Marquis’ Mansion did not make a big announcement. The family gathered together and had a lively reunion dinner.
But there is no shortage of smart people in Kyoto. Even if the Lei family doesn't want to be high-profile, many families have sent expensive birthday gifts early.
The more courtesy you show, the less blame you will get.
Giving a gift to someone of little influence doesn't mean the Changning Marquisate will remember it, but at least it makes them familiar. Those who have a good relationship with the Changning Marquisate naturally have to maintain good relations with them. If you don't give a gift without an invitation, that's considered tactless.
Unless it is a confident one like the Duke Su's Mansion, they will not bother to put in superficial efforts. If the Marquis Changning's Mansion does not say anything, they will pretend not to know, and then be surprised and shift the blame when someone asks.
certainly.
The Lei family didn't care about what was happening at the Duke Su's Mansion. They would return the gifts if they were given, and it would just save trouble if they didn't give any. Lin Zhong had expected this, but he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed and disappointed.
Since his marriage, the Duke Su's Mansion has become increasingly perfunctory towards the Marquis Changning's Mansion. Even when the situation was at its worst and he was under house arrest, Princess Henghuan treated Lei Li and Lei Zhouzhou as distinguished guests when they came to visit. Now they are simply enemies.
never mind.
He is now a member of the Changning Marquis' Mansion, so the Suguo Duke's Mansion can do whatever they want.
Lin Zhong adjusted his mindset and quickly focused his attention on the work of the transportation department.
These jobs are tedious and tiring for him, but also novel and interesting because he has to deal with all kinds of people and things.
Officials of all ranks, small clerks without official ranks, merchants doing business, laborers moving goods... Among them are unreasonable and unruly people, sarcastic and unreasonable people, mercenary and smooth people, kind and simple people, and two-faced people.
In Lin Zhong's usual life as a nobleman, these were things he had little contact with.
He had learned the art of civil and military strategy, learned the rules and etiquette, learned how to strategize and strategize, and learned about military and political affairs, but it was far from the lives of the lower and middle classes.
He doesn't know how to communicate with different people so that they can understand what he means, nor does he know how to complete his tasks efficiently with different people, or how to deal with conflicts and disputes.
Because not everyone will tolerate him now. He is just a son-in-law of the Changning Marquis's Mansion, an extra-staff member, and does not even have a proper official position.
So sometimes when doing things, Lin Zhong really felt like he was talking at cross purposes.
He only wanted the results and the losses, but the other party kept talking about how hard they worked, or that his order clearly stated that it was shipped to Baihui, but he was complained about it being sent to the wrong place, causing him to pay compensation late, and he insisted on taking the matter to the government.
Since Wanqi Xia came to power, he has exercised very strict control over the Beijing capital, resulting in few cases of favoritism, abuse of power, and laziness in official agencies in Kyoto, or in other words, very low-key cases.
If the children of aristocratic families in the capital committed crimes, it would be fine if they were not discovered. But if they were exposed, especially if they were impeached and reached the emperor's ears, then they would be finished.
In the mildest case, his father would be reprimanded by the emperor in front of all the officials at a court meeting, fined several months or years of salary, and forced to reflect on his mistakes in seclusion. In the worst case, he would be demoted and stripped of his power, and in the worst case, he would be dismissed from his post and investigated, and forced to retire and return home.
Therefore, even Lei Li was just absent from work, and he completed his work honestly.
——Although most of the work was done by Zhou Yi, Zhou Zhou and Lin Zhong, all the documents that needed to be reviewed, inspections that needed to be conducted and complaints received were handled.
Among the seven departments, the Transportation Department receives the most complaints and is most prone to disputes.
Generally speaking, people do not fight against officials because they are afraid of the power of officials and afraid of suffering injustice, but the capital of Beijing is at the feet of the emperor.
If the common people really felt that they were being treated unfairly, they would impulsively beat the drum and file a complaint with the Ministry of Transport, and the emperor would be the presiding judge.
Lei Li can't afford to lose face with this person.
Therefore, there is also a customer service department in the transportation department, which is dedicated to handling customer complaints. If the customer service department cannot handle the problem, it will ask the Minister of Transportation Department, Lei Li, to make a decision. However, Lei Li thought this matter was too troublesome and threw it to Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi is a fair and selfless person.
Even if someone in his own department made a mistake, he would not show any partiality. If they knew they were wrong and made a mistake, he would punish them severely. If they were really unreasonable, he would also deal with them according to the rules and with ruthless means.
Lei Zhouzhou is mainly responsible for financial and data work. There will be summary forms every day and every month. He will randomly check a part of them to ensure that there is no falsification of information or tax evasion.
Lin Zhong is in charge of coordination.
There are more than a dozen departments of various sizes in the Transportation Department, and each department has to coordinate and plan. When small officials encounter difficult issues or matters that need to be decided, they will report them to higher levels.
Lin Zhongyi was in charge of the important matters given to the Shangshu. He would reject unreasonable ones and keep reasonable ones. If the department was dissatisfied after the rejection, he would explain to them why it was not accepted.
Last year, for example, he twice rejected an application from the shipping department, sparking a dispute.
Those people in the shipping department didn't dare to look for Lei Li and Zhou Yi, but as regular employees, they were not afraid of Lin Zhong who was not on the payroll, so they went to look for trouble together.
Lin Zhong was not afraid of them either.
The Ministry of Transport just built a batch of extra ships two years ago, and this year they're planning to build another batch of cargo ships. Do they think public money isn't money? Is it that easy to ask the Ministry of Revenue for money? Everyone thinks the Finance Department is so powerful!
What's more, the Ministry of Revenue is managed by the Duke of Su's Mansion. This unreasonable request to the Ministry of Transport will not get a penny, and Lei Li may be easily impeached.
"If we don't build ships, then we can repair them, right? We're all shipping. Why should the people who come in later have new ships from two years ago, while we have old ships from five years ago? We've been sailing in the wind and rain for over a thousand days, and even the deck is torn!"
fart!
How could a big ship break down so easily!
Lin Zhong visited those ships and found them to be very sturdy. They were inspected every year and could be used for another ten years. How could it be like what they said about the deck being broken and the mast shaking?
Lin Zhong resolutely refused to agree, and the people in the shipping department also insisted on changing the ship or overhauling it. The two sides argued, and finally someone called Zhou Yi to stop the argument.
"Those ships are indeed fine."
Zhou Yi solved the problem at the time and later told Lin Zhong, "Lei Li and I went on an inspection last fall and asked the sailors on the ship. Everything was functioning normally. It's worn out after a few years, but it doesn't need a major overhaul."
"In the past two years, our orders have been relatively full. There is no need to build new ships. Their application should be rejected. However, even if there is no credit, there is still hard work."
"You could be more tactful and roundabout. Give them a good start and then offer a sweet treat. First, reject their application, then increase their bonuses this year."
"yes."
Lin Zhong paused and said, "Officials' salaries are determined by the imperial court. The finances of the Ministry of Transport are under the management of Minister Feng. I secretly increased their bonuses..."
"You will have to negotiate with Minister Feng at this time."
Zhou Yi earnestly taught him, "You are currently helping to manage the Shangshu's position. You are his assistant, but you do not have the Shangshu's authority. You cannot directly increase or decrease someone's bonus or salary. This is overstepping one's authority."
"But you can discuss with Minister Feng in advance how much silver will be increased and in what form, then reject their application and increase the bonus."
"They're not actually in the right here. They're just being angry and arguing with you. If you're more tactful, they'll probably accept it."
"I see."
Lin Zhong nodded in agreement, "Thank you, Father. I will be more flexible in the future."
He always abides by the rules, one is one, two is two, and he cannot go beyond or change them.
He felt that this request was unreasonable and that his superiors would never agree to it, so he rejected it. But in fact, if he could be flexible and take a step back, he would not bring the matter to his superiors and embarrass himself.
In principle, he cannot increase bonuses for those people, but he can find people with authority and mediate between them so as not to cause trouble for his superiors or discourage his subordinates.
This is the workplace.
——Of course, this is what people who want to move up do. If you don't want to be promoted and are at the bottom, you should do what you are paid. If you have any problems, you should throw them to your boss. If the boss doesn't ask, you won't say anything. If the boss does ask, you will be surprised and pretend to be stupid.
Lin Zhong has become very proficient in his work in the Transportation Department and feels like a fish in water.
When he resumed his post after the New Year, because of his uneasy mood, his arrogance increased a bit, which made the minor officials under him behave themselves, and his work went very smoothly.
After talking to Zhou Zhou, Lin Zhong felt happy and gentler towards others. The group of minor officials who were a little afraid of him became bolder. A few days before Lei Li's birthday on the 16th day of the first lunar month, some even asked him to help deliver gifts.
——Lei Li has hardly been to the Transport Department since the beginning of the year. These small officials have low positions and are not very influential, so they don’t dare to visit the Marquis of Changning’s mansion directly to give gifts.
While Lin Zhong and Lei Zhouzhou were inseparable and enjoying success in both love and official life, the brother and sister-in-law were still nervously reviewing their studies, especially Lei Shengjiang.
Miao Yurui is confident in his own abilities. Since he decided to take the imperial examination, he has worked twice as hard and studied with his father, uncle and teacher.
This old scholar was once the head of the Hanlin Academy. He had many students and taught many high-ranking officials. Lord Situ was once his disciple. Later, he became tired of the trivialities of officialdom and resigned from his post, living in a farm outside Kyoto.
When Lei Li heard of his fame, he visited him three times to invite him back to be his teacher.
It was also Miao Yurui's own effort.
When the old teacher heard that a young man had taken the imperial examination and won the first place in the autumn exam, he became interested in this young man. After meeting Miao Yurui, he tested him again and was quite satisfied, so he became his teacher.
In order to live up to his family's expectations and bring honor to the Marquis' Mansion, Miao Yurui worked very hard. With the guidance of famous teachers and the reward of hard work, his writing became better and better.
Shu Ge'er, Chen Qiqi and Gong Yangshi often came to the Changning Marquis's mansion to attend classes. They also passed the imperial examination and wanted to get a good ranking in the spring examination.
As long as one passes the spring examination, he will also pass the palace examination, but the ranking will be different, divided into first-class Jinshi, second-class Jinshi and third-class Jinshi.
Sometimes Lei Shengjiang, Lin Zhong and Lei Zhouzhou would also come to compete and discuss writing with Miao Yurui and others, learn from each other, and all made considerable progress.
The February Spring Examination is finally here.
Miao Yurui, Shuger and others entered the examination room.
The Spring Examination also consists of three sessions, each lasting three days. The examination conditions are slightly better than those of the Autumn Examination, but the nine consecutive days of mental work are very exhausting.
End of February.
The results of the Spring Examination are out.
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