Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

In response to Jiaqing's request, Eunuch E was a high-ranking eunuch and as a servant, he had no choice but to comply.

There was no big uprising the next day. In fact, it was impossible to say that Jiaqing was an ordinary person and had no idea about the situation in the court at that time.

The murder case of the imperial envoy's attendant during the flood in Huai'an Prefecture was finally reported to him. He sent Ji Lun, the then Shandong Governor, who was also the lazy Ji Lun in the Infantry Commander's Office, to investigate the local area. In the end, it was proved that the county magistrate poisoned the imperial envoy's attendant and faked the suicide scene.

Although the truth of the case was finally revealed, the current situation in the officialdom did make Jiaqing feel uncomfortable for a while.

However, he was not an emperor as ruthless as Qianlong. If Qianlong were of the same age, he would probably have chopped off the heads of more than just those criminals and subjected them to lingchi, and would have dismissed a number of them from office.

As for the Hanlin Academy, when they saw Eunuch E coming in person, they knew that this job was indeed not easy to take.

In the Hanlin Academy of the Qing Dynasty, there were usually one Manchu and one Han president, and under them were the bachelor of reading, the bachelor of lectures, the bachelor of reading, the editor, the compiler, the bookkeeper, the reviewer, the waiting official, and the scholar-official.

These Shujishi were selected from the top two in the imperial examinations over the years and served in the Changshuguan of the Hanlin Academy. Many prominent officials in the Ming and Qing dynasties came from here.

Generally speaking, the quality of the second class is considered relatively high, not to mention the three people who passed the first class.

As a result, the candidates for the Jinshi and Shujishi of this subject seemed to be poisoned. Except for Lin Zexu himself, most of them only served in the Hanlin Academy and were unable to go to the local areas to preside over the provincial examinations. In the year when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom invaded Beijing, Wu Tingzhen, the third place winner of the same year, rushed to Yunnan to preside over the provincial examination, but died of a sudden illness on the way.

If one wants to find people who have a promising future in official career, one has to look among the ordinary Jinshi graduates and those with the same Jinshi degree.

But even so, there is still some value in selecting Shujishi.

However, given his rank, even if Eunuch E made the emperor's request, it would generally not be his turn.

After all, after entering the academy, a Shujishi had to be taught by senior Hanlin for three years and pass the examination before he could continue to be employed in the Hanlin.

Those who failed would leave the Hanlin Academy and be sent to various places to serve as county magistrates. Compared with their peers who had never entered the Hanlin Academy, their advantage was that they generally did not have to wait on the waiting list and could be directly granted an official position.

Even after becoming a Hanlin, your knowledge will be tested every three years and every five years. This sounds familiar.

Therefore, when serving as officials in the Qing Dynasty, the most troublesome people on a daily basis were probably the Hanlin scholars in the Hanlin Academy.

But it is not without benefits. Even if one fails the Hanlin Academy examination, he can still serve as an official in the local area.

This place was the fastest track for those who wanted to get ahead in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.

Some people even say that after ten years as a Hanlin, one can eventually become an assistant minister of one of the six ministries.

At the very least, you need to have enough knowledge.

But today the Emperor made this request?
After seeing the request, the adults looked at each other in confusion.

There were also upright Hanlin scholars who had practical experience. After all, many people in the imperial examinations could not always rely on their family's mines. Being a guest of a government official, in charge of some clerical affairs, or helping out in local areas were always ways to make a living and gain knowledge.

And they have to be young and familiar with practical matters.

The two Manchu and Han Han Hanlin scholars decided that those who were good at reading the Five Classics could certainly be considered doctors of the Five Classics. However, the Hanlin Academy was a noble institution, and they only received a lot of respect when they were invigilators. If they wanted to look at their backgrounds, they would have to find out what they were doing before they were selected into the Hanlin Academy, or even before they were named on the imperial examination rolls.

Then, the two gentlemen chose not one but two candidates. When they were handed over to Eunuch E, the eunuch complained in his heart.

Why is it that when we try to find a Hanlin to give lectures to the Emperor, we have to run into this kind of thing of flipping cards?

Although the people who entered the Hanlin Academy from the Manchus and Mongols were often relatives of the Han people, considering that the great scholars they later produced were even more outstanding than those from the Han people, no one talked about their relatives' identities in the later period.

After all, I recite this sutra better than you, but it's a bit rigid.

"Eunuch E, we must follow the emperor's wishes and prepare a few more candidates. Although these two are young, they are both talented and knowledgeable. Their hometowns and resumes are written here. Whoever wants to give lectures to the emperor will be favored by the emperor in the end."

"Your Excellency's words make sense. Let them both follow me into the palace, and the Emperor will make the final decision when the time comes."

It’s just that these two candidates have both appeared in Ma Da Hu Zi’s complete works.

One of them was Xu Naiji, a native of Qiantang, Zhejiang. He was a Jinshi in the 14th year of Jiaqing's reign, ranked fourth in the second class, and was selected as a Shujishi. He was now appointed as an editor in the Hanlin Academy and was a student of Guiqing, who was then the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

The other person only made a tiny contribution.

Although it was also written above that Lin Zexu was from Houguan, Fujian, and was a Jinshi in the 16th year of Jiaqing, and was also the fourth in the second class, and was selected as a Shujishi, he was just a newcomer in the Shuchangguan.

During this period, he was allowed to take a vacation to go home to visit his relatives. He was delayed on the road for some time and was treated well by Zhang Bailing, the Governor-General of Liangjiang (this governor was also Lin Zexu's earliest mentor). He did not return to the capital until the summer of the 18th year of Jiaqing.

But his advantage was actually the one added by the Manchu scholar. Before he became a Jinshi, he had served as an aide to Zhang Shicheng, the governor of Fujian.

In fact, this is very useful, because when Lin Zexu was helping in practical affairs in Xiamen, he had witnessed the rampant opium smuggling in the area, and he also participated in the operation to eliminate the pirate Cai Qian when the governor was acting as the governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang.

Judging from this experience, although his rank is lower than Xu Naizhi, he still has some advantages in practice.

Eunuch E also came to see the two men. When he saw Lin Zexu, he was impressed by his handsome and thin appearance.

If these are the famous calligraphy works of the two, Eunuch E would not be able to tell anything from the writing. After all, they are both masters in the field of replicating official script, and their handwriting is neat and upright just looking at it.

As for Xu Naiji, he looks pretty good, but a little worse.

The eunuch has seen a lot in the palace with the emperor. What kind of people has he not seen?
However, both of them were "poor Hanlin". Lin Zexu's family situation only improved after his father, who had always been poor, was promoted to a tribute student. However, his family situation was still slightly worse than Xu Naiji's.

After all, Xu Xuefan's father was a Jinshi and had served as an official in the capital.

There were seven brothers in their family, and finally three of them became Jinshi and four became Juren. Lin Zexu's elder brother, Lin Minghe, died early. Although his father was knowledgeable and even had a good set of educational methods, he failed in the imperial examinations for many years. At this time, the third brother had not yet passed the imperial examination and was struggling in the provincial examinations.

Jiaqing also read the reports from the two Manchu and Han scholars in the Hanlin Academy and thought that he only wanted one, but two came.

Of course, civil servants around the world have a common characteristic. They like to give their ministers/prime ministers/presidents/emperors a few options. These two Hanlin scholars are recommended candidates, not to provide any advice to the emperor, so they only recommended two people, and there are no outrageous options.

When Emperor Daoguang wanted to ban smoking, the two of them would have a heated argument.

Now they are good colleagues who get along well with each other and even give way to each other. As a scholar, this etiquette is enough. Jiaqing's day may be more boring than that of the previous Qing emperors.

Even Yongzheng had a lot of tricks up his sleeve. For example, when he was always busy reviewing memorials and had no time, he could still make a COSPLAY portrait of himself. He was also particular about the imperial porcelain used in the palace. He also had passionate confrontations with ministers in memorials. He even had time to write a book himself to dispel rumors.

Although he was a man, the matter became worse and worse. After Emperor Qianlong ascended the throne, he could not stand it anymore and banned it.

As for Jiaqing, although he was also a master of opera, he lived a frugal life on weekdays and could only indulge in opera during the Chinese New Year. On weekdays, he would find a little eunuch to sing a few lines as a pastime.

When he went to the Rehe Palace or hunted in the Mulan Paddock, he was often dissuaded by ministers, the roads were dangerous, and the environment deteriorated during the Jiaqing reign, so he never had a good time.

When Xu Naiji and Lin Zexu were summoned to the palace, he was still busy reviewing memorials. What the emperor did was worse than being in prison, except that he had better food, clothing and daily expenses, and a good reputation. When he went in and out, all the subjects bowed to him. This was what ordinary people wanted, but it was also specious.

Qianlong also started to become lazy in his later years. All other Qing emperors, as long as they were adult emperors with real power, had to sit cross-legged on the kang and review memorials.

When they were introduced in and paid their respects to the emperor, both of them bowed their heads. After all, there were still rules to follow in the court.

The two were outstanding candidates in different batches of Jinshi examinations, so they naturally understood this truth. Moreover, after the palace examination, the opportunities to see the emperor would be relatively rare.

"Very good, Eroli, give them both a seat. It must be very tiring to kneel here and answer your questions."

This is consistent with Jiaqing's consistent characteristic of being generous and magnanimous. As long as the knife was not aimed at him and he was not forced to do something cruel that could scare people half to death, he seldom got angry and killed people. Not to mention in the Qing Dynasty, a dynasty in which ethnic minorities entered the country, even compared with those Central Plains dynasties that liked to use corporal punishment on a daily basis, he was considered a generous monarch.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The two of them had to express their gratitude and wait until the young eunuch brought a chair before sitting down properly.

Jiaqing was still looking at the two of them. They looked good-looking and knowledgeable. They were obviously outstanding people who would have great careers in the officialdom in the future.

Then, they continued with the daily work report and asked each of them to introduce their background, family situation, and what they had done before.

In fact, Jiaqing had paid attention to Xu Naiji before. Guiqing had worked for Jiaqing in recording daily notes. Not long ago, he was transferred from the position of Chief Justice to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Guiqing was his teacher, so when asking questions, he would start with him.

Xu Naiji took up the first topic, saying that Jiaqing came because of the rioters' attack on the Forbidden City.

"Xu Naiji, you tell me. Now that the riots have spread to several provinces, how should we deal with it, except for sending troops from the court?"

In response to this question, Xu Naiji first gave a standard answer to win over the people and appease the common people.

Although this answer is definitely not wrong, the emperor would generally be very satisfied after hearing it, and Jiaqing could not raise any objections to this standard answer.

It is always much better than "Repairing the River Bank" and "It's Time to Be Virtuous", and it looks pretty good.

But I couldn't help it, two people came today.

Although Lin Zexu later said to people that "the people's hearts can be used", that was also a statement he made at the end after careful preparation.

Although both of them are typical clean people, the content of their speeches is obviously different. After all, he has been trained in practical work.

But Jiaqing didn't give him a chance to answer the first question. Lin Zexu would also know the standard answer, but if he said something later, it might hurt Jiaqing, but the Manchu and Mongolian ministers might be irritated. After all, it was Ji Lun, the commander of the infantry, who failed in his duty. As for the matter of Prince Yu's family, it was even more outrageous. If these two things were to be made public, probably only Jiaqing himself could deal with them.

The Manchu scholar from the Hanlin Academy probably wouldn't do that because he valued his talent. After all, he added a compliment at the end.

At this time, Jiaqing asked the young eunuch to carry up the musket that Mian Ning had used to kill the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebels the day before.

"Lin Zexu."

"The minister is here."

"You have been in Zhang Shicheng's staff, and you probably saw foreigners, right?"

"Your Majesty, I have indeed seen foreigners active in Xiamen while serving as a member of the staff of Governor Zhang."

"But what?"

After all, Lin Zexu was still young at that time. When Jiaqing asked this question, although he was very excited and wanted to say something, he hesitated for a moment.

"Your Majesty, I have seen and heard this while serving as a deputy governor in Xiamen."

Then Lin Zexu reported this to Jiaqing. He was a member of the staff of Fang Yongqing, who was then the co-magistrate of Xiamen and later the prefect of Quanzhou. He followed this man to crack down on smuggling and had seen illegal foreigners.

Not long after he passed the imperial examination, he had already started to ban opium.

Having had this experience in early years, it was inevitable that when faced with the opium problem in the future, my first reaction would be to ban smoking.

After listening to this, Jiaqing also nodded in approval.

Compared with Xu Naiji, the difference is obvious.

Of course, Lin Zexu also followed the emperor's wishes and said that the quick rifle used by Prince Zhi was indeed "extremely sophisticated."

To be a loyal minister, one must master the art of speaking.

As for the affairs of foreigners, Jiaqing asked again. For Lin Zexu at that time, these might still be beyond his scope, but he probably knew more than other Hanlin scholars.

After all, Xiamen has been a place of smuggling since ancient times, and Quanzhou was also an important trading port during the Song Dynasty.

If we want to ban it, there is no way.

Jiaqing was quite satisfied with these two young men from the Hanlin Academy. He even wanted to promote Lin Zexu, whose future was somewhat delayed because he went home to visit his relatives, directly to the position of editor in the Hanlin Academy.

But then I thought again, it was just a one-time response. According to the rules, I could be promoted to editor without taking an exam next year.

Even this level is something that some Han officials can only encounter by chance. (End of this chapter)