Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 210: The Way of Being an Official! (The third update)
Things are settled.

Tian Jing was able to relax.

But he was more wary of Xia Zhibai.

As an old man who has been in officialdom for many years, he is well versed in the ways of officialdom.

When being an official, it is important to have great talent but pretend to be ignorant; to agree with the powerful and influential people; to get rid of the edges and corners and get along with everyone; even when meeting enemies, one should smile; to treat superiors as benefactors and the common people as ants.

The open sword is sheathed and the hidden arrow is drawn.

This is the way for low-level officials like them to make a living.

Because of this.

After being appointed as officials of the Salt Transport Bureau by His Majesty, these officials who had risen from the grassroots were all trembling with fear. However, the interests involved in the Salt Transport Bureau were too great. Neither Wei Heng, Qi Quan, nor himself could control it at all and could only look at the faces of others.

At the request of Zhou Dexing and other sons of the founding heroes, they were unwilling to provoke Xia Zhibai, but later they had to find ways to get the steam engine drawings, and then passed them on to other salt transport companies, and they themselves made very little profit from it.

At most, we established a friendship.

At that time, their thoughts were simple: Xia Zhibai was not valued by His Majesty, and he was just an official without a rank. Even if he was bullied, he was bullied. Would Xia Zhibai really dare to cause trouble for them? But as Xia Zhibai was appointed as a Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy, the situation changed.

Although they all have people in the court, they dare not make too much noise under the nose of His Majesty.

Originally, Tian Jing thought that Xia Zhibai was far away from the court and did not understand the right and wrong of the world.

But after this contact, he realized that the outside world's understanding of Xia Zhibai was totally wrong.

This man was not only well versed in politics, but also had a keen insight into their intentions. From the very beginning, he took the initiative and guided Xia Zhibai step by step into his plan.

In the end, Xia Zhibai's idea came true.

Although Tian Jing deliberately turned a blind eye to this, it also shows how profound Xia Zhibai's skills are.

Most people don’t have this ability.

Tian Jing poured himself a glass of wine and drank it by himself, saying, "Master Xia, I don't know what you are thinking or what you are planning. I can only advise you kindly to try to refrain from interfering in the affairs of the South. I agree to this matter, but I may not agree to the next one."

"I was appointed as an official through recommendation."

"You should also understand the meaning of 'recommendation' in Zhejiang."

"We are saving you, to a certain extent, by doing this."

"The waters in the South are very deep, so deep that many officials are just figureheads."

"I advise you to stop here."

Tian Jing drank the wine in the glass, then stood up and left Xinglinju.

Xia Zhibai closed his eyes slightly, somewhat surprised.

He had indeed heard of the recommendation from Zhejiang East. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, many wise and capable officials were selected through recommendation.

The most famous are the 'Four Sages of Eastern Zhejiang' - Liu Ji, Song Lian, Zhang Yi and Ye Chen.

However, with the joint efforts of Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Shanchang, the Zhejiang East Group was basically eliminated in the court. But this time Zhu Yuanzhang obviously aimed to suppress Huaixi, so he promoted many people from Zhejiang East.

These officials are like duckweed and have long lost their foundation in the court.

You can only let it go and be ordered around.

When Tian Jing said this to himself, the implication was that they had no control over many things and were forced to do them. But precisely because of this, he was also secretly warning Xia Zhibai that those people who could order them to do these things must be very powerful.

If he continues to pester her, he will only get himself into trouble.

This is the end of the Zhejiang East Group!

Xia Zhibai was silent.

This is both a reminder and a warning.

However, Tian Jing still did not see the situation in the court clearly. The Huaixi forces were mainly headed by Li Shanchang and a group of military generals. In the eyes of many people, as long as Li Shanchang was still there and as long as the Ming Dynasty still needed these generals, the Huaixi Group would not lose power.

The Huaixi Group has the merit of following the dragon.

No matter how cruel and ruthless Your Majesty is, he would not be so mean and ungrateful.

The south is now the base camp of the Huaixi Group. This is not something that a northerner like me can interfere with. This time they chose to take a step back mainly because they didn't want the fire to fall on themselves. But if they still don't know what's good for them and want to extend their hands to the south, who knows what kind of situation will arise.

Xia Zhibai shook his head.

He said to himself, "The more stubborn the South is, the more it needs to be rectified."

"Your Majesty seems to be targeting indiscriminately this time, but if you really study it, you will find that Huaixi was the only one in power in the court at that time. But now? It has returned to the stage that Your Majesty liked the most, which was the Five Lakes and Four Seas stage."

"such a pity."

"Many people are blinded and cannot see the truth inside."

"The ice is three feet thick and it didn't freeze overnight. It's a historical inertia that the South protects itself."

Xia Zhibai stood up and left.

His purpose has been achieved.

He didn't want to discuss the steam engine drawings with the officials of the Salt Transport Bureau. The officials of the Salt Transport Bureau were too short-sighted and only cared about their own safety. After he was promoted, they didn't want to make enemies easily, so they wanted to make some reconciliation with him.

But would his vision be limited to this?
He wanted to use officials from the Salt Transport Bureau to lobby officials in the south to speed up the formation of large enterprises, and at the same time recruit people from the south. If he relied on himself alone, he was afraid that no matter how long he talked, he would not be trusted. But with the help of Tian Jing and others, everything became much easier.

after all
There are many founding heroes behind Tian Jing and others.

The south was in full swing in the steam engine to replace manual salt production. There must be many interest groups behind it, and those founding heroes were certainly indispensable. As long as he could persuade these people, it would be much easier for him to go to the south in the future.

Standing outside Xinglinju, looking at the people coming and going, Xia Zhibai smiled.

“The hustle and bustle of the world is all about profit coming and going.”

“But focusing too much on immediate gains is not necessarily a good thing.”

"No matter how much you eat now, you will have to vomit it out in the future. The way the world is run is changing."

"And I did it all by myself!"

Xia Zhibai clenched his fist slightly.

He stopped, looked around, decided on the direction, and walked towards the palace.

He was going to the Hanlin Academy, and in the name of "Hanlin University Scholar", he would gather other Hanlin scholars and Imperial College students to compile several "educational textbooks."

In the past, there was no unified textbook for students to enter school.

And from now on.

This situation will completely disappear.

This is also what he wants to do, to further the "unification of writing".

Replacing the books compiled by private schools and some rural scholars on the market, the right to interpret and define textbooks was completely taken over by the court.

the other side.

Tian Jing did not stop.

After leaving Xinglinju, he went straight back to the Salt Transport Bureau.

At the same time, he told everyone else everything he had discussed with Xia Zhibai.

Hearing what Tian Jing and Xia Zhibai had agreed on, Wei Heng's face darkened. He glared at Tian Jing and said unhappily, "Tian Jing, what do you think? Did I ask you to discuss these things with Xia Zhibai? I asked you to tell Xia Zhibai that the matter of the steam engine blueprints is over."

"Why are you causing us so much trouble?"

Tian Jing looked calm and said in a deep voice, "We all underestimated Xia Zhibai. He is a very cunning man. He didn't take Li Sheng, the clown, seriously at all. He even wanted to use this opportunity to get involved in the salt market in the south. I asked around and found out something else."

"He also had blueprints for a more efficient steam engine."

"Xia Zhibai is very ambitious."

"If he really gets involved in the South, I'm afraid it will cause quite a stir in the South."

"So I bargained with him."

"Xia Zhibai gave up his involvement in the Southern Salt Market and told us the new blueprint. We can use the new blueprint to win over some officials and take advantage of the efficiency of the new blueprint to take over the remaining salt factories and firmly control the entire Southern Salt Market in the hands of our Salt Transport Bureau."

"So you want us to persuade the local governor to release them?" Qi Quan's face was gloomy.

Tian Jing snorted coldly and said disdainfully: "What else?"

"What else can we do if we don't release him?"

"Don't you know the situation in the south?"

"After your majesty's purge, how many Shilin families in the south still have surplus food?"

"If such a large number of cooks were released all at once, it would be strange if the place wasn't in chaos."

"If the stove owners become jobless and start to miss Zhang Shicheng, that would be a big problem. Since we can't afford to support these people, why keep them? Just pack them up and give them to Xia Zhibai, and let Xia Zhibai carry this burden."

"Why not?"

"Do we have to wait until something goes wrong and then let us take the blame?"

"What kind of logic is this? They get all the benefits, but we have to take the blame?"

"You guys should do this kind of thing."

"I won't do it anyway."

"If they want to take advantage of us, how can they just stand behind us and order us around? If something goes wrong, they will sell us out. If they are jealous of the huge profits in the salt market, they should take certain risks, at least..."

"We're hanging on a rope."

Tian Jing sneered, a fierce look flashing in his eyes.

Wei Heng and Qi Quan looked at each other, revealing a hint of hesitation and struggle.

They naturally understood Tian Jing's thoughts.

We can't always be used as a gun by others. We should drag these people down as well.

Otherwise, if something goes wrong, others will just run away and push the responsibility, so they will become scapegoats. They don't make much profit from it, but they bear the greatest risk. Why?
"Those people may not agree." Wei Heng's eyes were uncertain.

Tian Jing sneered and said, "Then let them deal with any troubles that may arise in the future, as well as Xia Zhibai."

"But we have to change the household registration of the stove households, otherwise we will be reported to the local governor. There is a big difference between a stove household riot and a local untouchable riot. These things have nothing to do with me, and I don't want to suffer because of them."

Wei Heng's expression changed slightly.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

Tian Jing is right. Others cannot take all the benefits and they have to bear all the risks.

(End of this chapter)