My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 103: Another Imperial Feast (Part 2)
Wenxuanlang Zhang Siwei!
Shen Sixiao thought about how much effort he had put in to make friends with a minor official in the Ministry of Literature, and Su Ze actually asked Zhang Siwei to write an article!
Now all officials in the capital know that "Yuefu Xinbao" is Su Ze's territory, and those who can publish articles in "Yuefu Xinbao" are people in Su Ze's circle of friends.

Zhang Siwei was a Wenxuanlang! He was a confidential official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel's selection process! It was difficult for ordinary people to even speak to him, yet Su Ze actually asked him to write an eight-part essay!

Shen Sixiao quickly realized that Su Ze did this on purpose!
Publishing Zhang Siwei's article in Yuefu Xinbao is not just for the sake of filling up the page space!
The observation period is about to end, and except for a few Shujishi, ordinary Jinshi have to wait for the selection of officials.

Although they are both Jinshi, their starting points are different, and the gap between them in the future will be huge.

Age is also an important consideration when it comes to promotions in officialdom.

It has always been a case of one step faster than the next. If you delay one step, your whole life will be delayed.

Among these new scholars, except for the Shujishi, the highest rank was to be able to enter the Censorate, which was a position as prestigious as the Hanlin Academy.

Censors have great power and can be in the spotlight, so they can easily stand out from their peers.

Another point is that the heads of the six ministries and nine government offices are three levels higher than the officials in the capital. If they stay in the capital, they will be well-informed and have many opportunities for promotion. If they make some achievements, the emperor and important officials in the cabinet will also notice it.

The worst situation is leaving Beijing, which is divided into different levels according to the wealth of the place.

The quality of officials can be seen in this selection. People like Shen Sixiao have already started planning, while some Jinshi who do not understand the rules of officialdom have lost their future opportunities when they first entered the officialdom.

If Su Ze could get in touch with Wenxuanlang Zhang Siwei, wouldn’t he have to break through Su Ze’s door?!

Shen Sixiao was both resentful and angry. He was angry that he did not score a few more points in the palace examination. If he could also become a Shujishi, he would definitely be able to overshadow Su Ze!
What he hated was that he had stood on Qingliu's side too early and had said a lot of bad things about Su Ze at the banquet of the same year. Now it was useless to ask Su Ze for help.
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Shen Sixiao was right. After Zhang Siwei's article was published in Yuefu Xinbao, Su Ze's house was surrounded again.

Of course, this time, they all wanted to establish a relationship with Su Ze and hoped to get in touch with Zhang Siwei, the Selectman.

It was not just that year. Some officials waiting for vacancies in the capital also blocked Su Ze's door after reading Zhang Siwei's article.

This time, Su Ze had to stay in the History Museum again, leaving Xu Wei to accept the visiting card and wait for the situation to become clear.

"Su Hanlin, today is the day of the Eastern Palace's Imperial Lecture. His Highness invites you to attend."

Facing the smiling face of eunuch Zhang Hong, Su Ze remembered that the emperor had restored his position as the crown prince's imperial lecturer.

"Wait a moment, Chief Supervisor."

Su Ze thought of the fact that he still had a main task to complete to improve the reputation of the prince, so he quickly changed into his official robe, took out a few coins from his sleeve, and handed them to Zhang Hong.

Zhang Hong was flattered and said:
"Su Hanlin is the prince's teacher, this is unacceptable!"

However, Su Ze stuffed the silver into Zhang Hong's hand and walked straight to the East Palace.

If it were any other eunuch, Su Ze might not be willing to make friends with him, but this Zhang Hong was a eunuch who had a good reputation in history.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Zhang Hong was Zhu Yijun's companion eunuch. After Wanli ascended the throne, he was always favored by Zhu Yijun and once became the seal of the Imperial Household Department.

Later, because Zhang Hong advised Zhu Yijun not to be extravagant, he was dismissed from his post and sent to Nanjing to guard the ancestral tomb, and disappeared from the history books.

The eunuch group in the Ming Dynasty was also a very complex group. Eunuchs like Zhang Hong had to study in the Imperial Household Department since childhood, so there were many upright eunuchs compared to the Tang and Song dynasties.

By using a little interpersonal communication to establish a good relationship, if Zhang Hong can pass on some information to him in the future, then this investment will not be a loss. However, Zhang Hong felt flattered by Su Ze's "connection".

The companion reader in the Eastern Palace is different from the chief eunuch in the Imperial Household Department.

Even those around the future crown prince, who was only six years old, could not have imagined that Emperor Longqing’s health would be so poor.

Zhang Hong followed Su Ze, and the two came out of the History Museum and soon arrived at the East Palace.

The person who presided over the imperial lecture this time was still Yin Shidan, the Junior Chancellor of the Chancellery.

Behind Yin Shidan were the lecturers of the Eastern Palace. Huang Ji, who was following Yin Shidan closely, saw Su Ze and quickly turned his head away, suppressing his jealous gaze.

Su Ze was promoted again.

The Zhanshi Mansion was a new government office with many vacant positions, so for this batch of Hanlin scholars, they were on the fast track to promotion.

For Huang Ji, the good news is that Su Ze's Zuo Chunfang Zuo Zanshan has become vacant. If he works harder, he may be able to be promoted to this position.

The bad news is that Su Ze has been promoted to Zuo Zhongyun, two levels higher than Huang Ji!
Huang Ji could only comfort himself that although Su Ze was favored by the emperor, his energy was too scattered. He had to edit books and run newspapers, and he was not enthusiastic about teaching. Unlike himself, he was preparing for lectures in the East Palace every day.

When the prince ascends the throne in the future, it will be his time!
Huang Ji was fantasizing in his heart, but he didn't notice that Crown Prince Zhu Yijun would doze off every time he gave a lecture. If Yin Shidan hadn't forced it, Zhu Yijun would not have wanted to summon Huang Ji to give a lecture at all.

Yin Shidan glanced at Su Ze, but did not deliberately make things difficult for him. After all the lecturers gathered, he led them into the Minglun Hall for lectures.

Crown Prince Zhu Yijun was still sitting on the dragon bed. Yin Shidan cleared his throat and said:

"Today's lecture is titled 'Comprehensive Changes.' Lecturers may begin."

"Adaptability" means "when you are in a difficult situation, you must adapt; when you adapt, you will be able to adapt; when you adapt, you will last." This is a classic debate topic in the Book of Changes, one of the Five Classics. Even today, this topic is not asked in the imperial examination papers of the Ming Dynasty, not even in the provincial examinations.

But the more basic the topic is, the harder it is to come up with something new.

In fact, these days, the lecturers in the Eastern Palace have gradually discovered that Crown Prince Zhu Yijun is talented, but his thinking is rather unconventional and he likes new and innovative things.

In order to prevent the Crown Prince from falling asleep during lectures, the lecturers were trying hard to come up with new ideas.

Including Shen Shixing, the lecturers who did not receive the topic in advance all lowered their heads and thought.

The prince's lectures must be recorded and sent to the emperor for his review. If you are not sure you can give a good lecture, it is better not to give it.

After Yin Shidan finished speaking, Huang Ji, who had already received the topic in advance, cleared his throat and prepared to start speaking.

As soon as he saw Huang Ji stand up, Zhu Yijun's chubby face wrinkled. He had had enough of Huang Ji's boring lessons during the daily lectures. Now he was about to start another lecture at the imperial lecture. Zhu Yijun's mind was working fast. He quickly said:
"Master Su, I remember that you studied the I Ching for the imperial examination, right? Let you start the lecture this time."

Everyone's eyes fell on Su Ze again.

(End of this chapter)