Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2624 Still Vigorous in Old Age 5.0
"That's not necessarily true," Jin Miaomiao disagreed with Shen Cha's statement. She took a sip of tea and said slowly, "There are quite a few ambitious people in the Liao and Jin regions. Master Falian is very good at exploiting people's weaknesses, bewitching and tempting them to join his cause. If someone's will is not firm, they can easily be bewitched by him. Aren't the Xiao family, Wanyan Qingmu, and Wanyan Ping's aunt all good examples? So-called nobles are like this, so aren't ordinary commoners the same?"

"That's really different."

Shen Haolin and Shen Cha spoke at the same time. After they finished speaking, they looked at each other and smiled.

Seeing the two of them like this, Jin Miaomiao rolled her eyes helplessly and said, "You two, stop it and get serious."

"Where is it improper?" Shen Cha chuckled. "It is indeed different."

"Why? Look at how Ciji Hall can attract those poor students. It would be the same in Liao and Jin. Don't the scholars there want to climb the social ladder? Don't they want to bring glory to their families?"

“They can only dream about it; such a thing will never happen to them.” Shen Cha raised an eyebrow at Jin Miaomiao. “You should know that, whether it’s Liao or Jin, the system for appointing officials is still the recommendation system, not the imperial examination system like ours. In other words, the Northern and Southern Courts of Liao and the Six Ministries of Jin are still in the hands of Liao and Jin nobles right now.”

"Do ordinary people have absolutely no chance?"

“Yes, not at all.” Shen Cha sighed softly and said, “The way commoners study there is different from how we study. Here, we study to take the imperial examinations and to enter officialdom, but for them… well, it can’t really be called studying. They just learn to recognize characters and how to manage accounts. After all, they don’t have many opportunities to get ahead or become officials. At most, they can become staff members in the mansions of nobles, which is already very good. The most important thing is that the books that we can easily obtain are not available to them. Those books are all in the hands of nobles.”

“However, this isn’t absolute; there are exceptions.” Shen Haolin glanced at the eagles, leopards, and falcons that had approached, gestured with his chin towards them, and said, “They should know a little bit.”

"Know what?" The eagle-leopard and falcon, whose names had been called out, looked at Shen Haolin with blank expressions. "What are you talking about, young master?"

Shen Haolin gave a brief explanation, and Eagle Leopard and Eagle Falcon suddenly understood.

“That’s true. Commoners have almost no chance. In fact, not only commoners, but also the minor nobles who live by relying on the great nobles have little chance. Good official positions are reserved for the great nobles. There are only a few positions with real power in the North and South Courts, and they are basically reserved for their own people.” Eagle Falcon nodded. “The few and only opportunities do exist.”

"There are still some, right?"

“Yes, but not often. One possibility is that she will be chosen by a girl from a wealthy noble family and marry into their household, becoming their son-in-law. If she performs well, the head of the family will arrange a mediocre official position for her, but it's just a title with no real power.” He shrugged helplessly and said, “But there is a prerequisite: the girl from the noble family must be the kind who is favored in her family. If she is ostracized or neglected at home, at most she can only be guaranteed food and clothing, and nothing else.” He sighed, “There is little hope for her. But even so, for a commoner, it is already a meteoric rise.”

Jin Miaomiao recalled what she had seen at Linhuang Mansion and had to admit that Yingjun was right. "That's one kind, but what about the other kind?"

"That would be a life-saving grace, like the Empress Dowager's family. You could take the opportunity to seek an official position to repay that debt. But don't get your hopes up too high. Such a position is hardly better than that of a son-in-law; it offers no future and no chance of promotion. The Jin Kingdom even created such positions for this situation, with a small salary, just enough to make ends meet." Eagle Leopard took a sip of tea and chuckled. "However, this avenue disappeared later because someone deliberately set up a scheme to achieve this goal."

"Got it, it's a honey trap."

“That’s right.” Eagle Leopard nodded. “Besides that, there’s one last situation, which is even rarer.”

"what's the situation?"

"The merit of following the dragon." Eagle Leopard looked at Eagle Falcon, then at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, "Young Master Qi, who lives in the Marquis's mansion, his family is in the same situation."

"His family?" Jin Miaomiao was taken aback. "Hasn't the Qi family always been the head of the North Courtyard? By the time of Little Qi's generation, they should be the fourth or fifth generation, right?"

"Yes, but his family didn't have any connection with the North Courtyard at first."

"In the beginning, the Qi family were just ordinary people making a living in Linhuang Prefecture, if I remember correctly," Shen Cha thought for a moment, "they should have been in the soup noodle business, right?"

"Young master is right. It is said that the Qi family's soup dumplings are the best in Linhuang Prefecture. Even people in the royal palace buy their soup dumplings every few days. The first head of the Qi family, who is also Xiao Qi's great-great-great-grandfather, met the second prince, who had not yet become the King of Jin, while selling soup dumplings. The two hit it off and became sworn brothers. Later, the second prince was framed by the eldest prince and almost died on the border. The Qi family helped the second prince make a comeback, return to Linhuang Prefecture, kill the eldest prince, and successfully seize the throne, becoming the King of Liao. As the right-hand men of the new King of Jin, the Qi family became a rising star in Linhuang Prefecture and rose to become the head of the Northern Court. In the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred years have passed, and the Qi family has become a deeply rooted and powerful noble family, standing firm in the Northern Court."

“No wonder they say it’s extremely rare. The merit of following the emperor is something that ordinary people can’t achieve.” Jin Miaomiao sighed. “It seems that Ciji Hall’s methods are useless here. In addition, Liao and Jin have their own beliefs and don’t buy into the Qinglian Sect’s ways. If he wants to infiltrate Liao and Jin, he can only use money. No wonder the Xiao family is more like a business partner than someone who is making money for him than the Ning, Luan and Liu families.”

"That's right, that's the biggest difference."

"Understood." Jin Miaomiao nodded, took a sip of tea, and suddenly looked at Ying Bao and Ying Jun. "How do you two generals know so much? Could it be that," she smiled mischievously, "you were also sons-in-law?"

"No, not at all. I was ordered to infiltrate the Liao Kingdom before, so I know a little about it." Eagle Falcon waved his hand. "Of course, not a son-in-law, but something else, Lord Jin. Don't get the wrong idea."