Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 35 Everyone’s thoughts

Qian Guan's group included quite a few people, eight in total. Only Qian Guan followed Jia Chuan back to the house for dinner, while the others were naturally received by Cui Youzhi and Li Shun at the county government office.

When the two returned to the house, Dong Shuben and Shunzi had just gotten up. Considering the smell in the east wing at the moment, Jia Chuan took Qian Guan to the west wing. The servants served them tea and cakes, and the two chatted while waiting for the meal.

Dong Shuben and Shunzi hid in the east wing and did not dare to come out.

Since Jia Chuan and Qian Guan had nothing else to talk about, they started talking about their work and asked about the eunuchs' salaries, pensions, etc.

After hearing Qian Guan's reply, Jia Chuan felt cheated, as if he had been deceived by the movies and TV series in his previous life.

In the Ming Dynasty, not all those who entered the palace without any descendants could be called "eunuchs". There were many levels of them, and even if they were promoted three levels, they could not reach the position of eunuch.

When they first entered the palace, they could only serve as Dianbo, Changsui, or Fengyu. If they performed well, they would be promoted to Jiancheng. Above Jiancheng was Shaojian, and the Shaojian's immediate superior was the famous "eunuch".

Qian Guan is now the junior supervisor.

Jia Chuan was a little confused by what he heard, but Qian Guan didn't stop talking. In his opinion, it was not easy to find a topic that Jia Chuan liked. Who would be willing to listen to their stories? And the officials in the capital already knew them thoroughly, even more than he did.

As for the rather mysterious figure Jia Chuan, Qian Guan’s understanding is: He must be served well!
Being able to hold the position of Junior Eunuch at such a young age, Qian Guan's understanding and insight must be correct. He could sense from Hai Shou's expression and words that Jia Jingcheng was a favorite of the prince in the future. If he served him well, his master would naturally be happy, and only when his master was happy could he be happy.

Then, Qian Guan talked about the organizational framework of the eunuch agency, the specific responsibilities of each department, which departments are good places to work, etc., which made Jia Chuan feel like he was about to start working and the human resources department was introducing him to a job position.

When Jia Chuan heard the word "Dongchang", his eyes widened unconsciously. He had always thought that organizations such as Dongchang and Xichang were products of the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Only today did he know that Zhu Di had already established Dongchang in his later years, and Dapang had set up eunuchs to guard it!
These are all manifestations of the importance of eunuchs.

What would Zhu Zhanji do? This kind of thing must have someone who can carry it forward and make it flourish.

But Jia Chuan couldn't ask this question. It would be useless to ask it. Who could he ask about something that hadn't happened yet?
Knowing that the East Factory already existed, Jia Chuan began to worry about the country and the people, and the Jinyiwei suddenly became much more lovable.

Qian Guan's specialty was serving people, and he was very good at observing people's expressions. When he saw Jia Chuan's strange expression, he knew that the topic should be dropped.

So, Qian Guan thought for a moment and wanted to make a brief summary before changing the subject, and he said something that made Jia Chuan drop his jaw.

"Nowadays, many people castrate themselves without permission and then run to Beijing to enter the palace. However, this is also a matter of luck. Not everyone can stay. I am also lucky to be able to serve Master..."

Qian Guan didn't dare to say anything more. When he saw Jia Chuan, not only was his jaw dropping, but his eyes were also about to pop out of their sockets.

"You mean, not everyone is qualified to...castrate?"

Qian Guan hurriedly explained: "Entering the palace also requires selection."

Qian Guan looked at Jia Chuan puzzledly, wanting to ask, "Isn't this all known?" But he thought for a moment and didn't ask.

"Self-castration?" Jia Chuan repeated in a low voice, his hair standing on end. He then muttered, "This means there's no way out."

Qian Guan waved his hand and said, "It's just another career path."

Jia Chuan was even more confused, and Qian Guan hurriedly explained.

Jia Chuan translated it as: In his later years, Zhu Di had a sudden idea that officials engaged in education in various places, if their work performance was poor for a long time, could be transferred to work in the capital, and their job was to "cleanse themselves and enter the palace to train female officials."

This is not the way to practice the Sunflower Manual!

Seeing Jia Chuan still in disbelief, Qian Guan hurriedly explained. Jia Chuan understood: This line of work has a future. Are the Jinyiwei arrogant? Even when meeting someone from the East Factory, you must treat them with courtesy. The eunuch Sanbao has made six voyages to the West, bringing back countless rare treasures. Is the cabinet powerful? That also depends on the eunuchs' mood...

What calmed Jia Chuan down was not Qian Guan's presence, but the arrival of the meal prepared by the servants.

Jia Chuan is hungry.

Qian Guan instinctively wanted to stand up and serve, but Jia Chuan quickly pushed him down on the chair and said, "There are no rules here, only friends!"

……

While Jia Chuan was surprised, Li Shun's heart was churning.

The letter Qian Guan sent to him was written by Xu Gong, and the general meaning was: discuss everything with Jia Chuan and follow Jia Chuan's opinions.

Li Shun thought about what the news from the capital would be, but there were only two possibilities: one was that Jia Chuan was fine, and the other was that Jia Chuan was in trouble.

But he had never imagined that nothing would happen like this. Furthermore, the Jinyiwei were merely monitoring the bandit suppression efforts. What were they monitoring? They were monitoring who was doing their job poorly. The garrison had deployed troops, the provincial governor had allocated funds, the two county yamen had sent out runners, and the garrison commander was in charge, with a deputy commander also in charge. If they failed to capture all the bandits, or if they didn't take any of them alive, whose fault would it be?
The Jinyiwei have always acted based on the emperor's concerns. The emperor is liking him, but you go up to him and say something bad about him. What will be the result?

Now that he had lost the last bit of his way to control Jia Chuan, how could Li Shun not be upset?
Fortunately, after a while of struggling, I figured it out. If I can't win, I'll just give in. As long as it helps with promotion, it's not considered as being wronged.

Cui Youzhi's emotions are also unstable.

Just listening to the imperial edict, how could the Jingcheng and the deputy commander appear at the same time? Was this a promotion or a warning?
Cui Youzhi was a little unsure, and the task of suppressing the bandits was difficult to handle at the moment. If anything went wrong... Everything was caused by the Huangluling Inspection Office. This area happened to belong to Dongzhao County, and Xiaodongshan was right next to Huangluling. He could still distance himself from the previous events, but if a few bandits finally escaped from Huangluling during the suppression of the bandits, could he still escape unscathed?

Cui Youzhi felt it necessary to hold a small meeting to discuss the matter in detail.

Those who had attended the meeting at the garrison had already returned on horseback to ask for the commander's approval. After the commander knew the decree, he would probably be unable to sleep or eat.

I'm not afraid of tasks, I'm afraid of results. Perhaps the happiest person to receive an imperial decree is Jia Chuan.

……

After dinner, Jia Chuan was called back to the county government office to attend the nth meeting.

Qian Guan was naturally sent to the post station by the yamen runners to rest. Although he was not in a hurry to go back, he was not in a hurry to go back immediately. After resting for a night, they would leave with the farewell of officials at all levels.

Jia Chuan behaved quite calmly throughout the meeting, showing no change in his emotions. Even when Han Zhen, the commander of the Central Guard Station, arrived and greeted him, his expression did not change at all, which left everyone present with the comment that he was "extremely cunning."

No one knew how anxious Jia Chuan was that night. Everyone could see Zhu Zhanji's trust in him from the decree. He thought so at first, but as his excitement gradually subsided, he tasted a different flavor.

In his previous life, Jia Chuan developed the habit of being distracted during meetings. Except for important case analysis meetings, he could not persist in other meetings without falling asleep. So after the meeting started, Jia Chuan began to be distracted and began to savor the deeper meaning behind the will.

When Han Zhen arrived, Jia Chuan had just figured out the significance of the simultaneous appearance of Jing Cheng and Deputy Commander. It was as if Zhu Zhanji was standing before him, pointing at him and saying, "Which one do you want to be? You'd better think it through! If it's discovered that you've intentionally misled or concealed something, even a mere Jing Cheng wouldn't be able to hold onto anything."

How could he be in the mood to exchange pleasantries enthusiastically?

But he really didn't understand the matter of suppressing bandits. This was a bad habit he developed in his previous life. He was timid and would always learn something he was not good at before he was willing to say a few words. For a person like him with no foundation, no background, and no one to rely on, there were too few opportunities for trial and error, so he didn't dare to do it.

It's the same here. Everyone wants to hear his opinion. He can think of what he says and they will probably do it. Even though he is just a deputy, how dare he speak easily?
But Jia Chuan knew in his heart that the success or failure of suppressing the bandits was related to his future and even his life!

How did his life have to be at stake again? It seemed as if he had been trying to save his life ever since that night at the Earth God Temple, thinking that by sending away Zhu Zhanji, the god of plague, he would have grown wings and could take off. Unexpectedly, this was just the beginning of a nightmare.

It's just that the person holding the fatal knife has changed.

Han Zhen was puzzled by Jia Chuan's calmness and humility during the meeting. He asked Jia Chuan for his opinion several times, but Jia Chuan always replied, "I don't understand. I'll listen to you."

After several times, the participants came to the same conclusion: they only want credit and don't want to take responsibility.

This also made Han Zhen breathe a sigh of relief. On his way here, he learned that a person close to the prince suddenly appeared in Dongzhao County. He held a very low official position, but was given the title of deputy commander of the bandit suppression. He was most afraid of such a stupid commander. Seeing that Jia Chuan was so sensible, no matter what his purpose was, it was exactly what he wanted.

The meeting lasted until late at night. Jia Chuan listened in a daze and it seemed that the date had been set, but the decree mentioned a date, which was the deadline, and they had no choice but to set that date.

Jia Chuan again confusedly heard about the governor and the provincial judge, as if the bandit suppression was impossible without their full cooperation. The governor provided money, and the provincial judge was responsible for major cases...

Han Zhen meant that it was okay for the guards to contribute, but the rules could not be broken. Now that time was tight and the task was heavy, the three divisions had to fully cooperate.

Jia Chuan was confused, and so was Cui Youzhi. Their confusion differed, however. Jia Chuan didn't understand the titles of these officials, while Cui Youzhi, a mere county magistrate, didn't understand why Han Zhen was telling him all this. Instead of rushing off to deliver the documents to the Zhili Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office and the Criminal Investigation Commissioner's Office, why not?
At this time, Cui Youzhi forgot that the decree said to act in secret. This case originally involved the King of Han. Once all the government offices received the news, how could the King of Han not make preparations?

Zhu Zhanji wanted the Prince of Han to act as soon as possible, but not so quickly before he ascended the throne and stabilized the political situation... If they really broke off relations at this time, it would be hard to say who would win and who would lose, as he hadn't even sat on the throne yet.

It can be said that some of Jia Chuan's anxieties stem from his lack of understanding of this life and his lack of understanding of Zhu Zhanji.

If he had stayed with Zhu Zhanji for a longer time, he wouldn't have had such misguided thoughts.

Zhu Zhanji was brought up by Zhu Di since he was a child. In addition to fighting in battles, he also visited some places. He had some understanding of the abilities and unspoken rules of local managers. Officials may not know more about government affairs than clerks in various departments. To put it bluntly, it is the clerks who really work hard. This is why Zhu Yuanzhang would select officials from the clerks.

Jia Chuan was just a clerk. If he was loyal and capable, and Zhu Zhanji gave him a sweet treat, he would definitely risk his life to complete the task. This is fundamentally different from the officials who have been working in the officialdom for many years.

Most officials are cunning and corrupt.

What Zhu Zhanji wanted was real, effective, and quick results, but the process needed to be in line with his needs, and definitely not now.

So Jia Chuan got a stable job - the county government official.

At the same time, he also told others about Jia Chuan's new identity - the prince's man - through the deputy commander.

Zhu Zhanji trusted Jia Chuan. When he was in a very embarrassing and dangerous situation, whoever extended a hand to him would make this trust sprout in Zhu Zhanji's heart. It just depended on whether there would be a chance to continue watering it. If not, the newly sprouted buds would wither. Fortunately, Jia Chuan watered the water, and he reported the inference truthfully. It was water with fertilizer, which made Zhu Zhanji trust him even more.

Since ancient times, kings of all dynasties have had different definitions of loyalty.

Zhu Zhanji's logic was that if Jia Chuan was not simple-minded, the matter of traitor would never appear in the secret letter in front of him.

At least for now, Zhu Zhanji is confident that Jia Chuan's life is safe. However, once the news of the bandit suppression gets out, the King of Han will definitely know that a clerk played an important role in this operation, and this clerk was the one who survived the Huangluling Inspection Office that made him regretful. With the King of Han's temper, if he can't kill Zhu Zhanji, can't he kill a clerk?
Jia Chuan should indeed worry about his life, but he has not yet figured out who he should worry about, killing him.

……

The meeting finally came to the topic of preliminary preparations. Han Zhen made detailed work arrangements. All participants except Jia Chuan had their tasks assigned. After the meeting, each of them had to hold a small meeting, especially the white-bearded magistrate of Dongguan County, who had to rush back to the county seat overnight to continue the meeting and arrange tasks.

Cui Youzhi was also not feeling at ease. He would take his working group to the Huangluling Inspection Office tomorrow. Han Zhen arranged the command center in the inspection office in the dense forest. Such a big thing happened in this place, and having officers and soldiers come here would not arouse suspicion. This place was relatively close to Xiaodong Mountain, and there was a secret passage leading to Xiaodong Mountain, which was why every time they suppressed the bandits, they returned empty-handed.

Finding the secret passage is the key to this bandit suppression!

Jia Chuan only remembered that he had to return to the Inspection Office tomorrow morning and bring Dong Shuben and Shunzi with him. The three of them were the only remaining indigenous people. Although they didn't know where the secret passage was, they were the only three people who had a chance of finding it. As for the others, Jia Chuan's head was dizzy and he couldn't remember them.

(End of this chapter)