My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 105 Expanding the Circle of Friends (Daily Update)
After the imperial lecture ended, Shen Shixing went to find Su Ze.

"Brother Zilin, I'm leaving Beijing in a few days."

"Why did Brother Rumo leave Beijing?"

Shen Shixing's current position is Xima of the Sijing Bureau of the Zhanshi Mansion. He is a pure clean official whose main job is to teach the prince.

And he hasn't been involved in any trouble recently.

Shen Shixing sighed:

"The Minister put me in the team that surveyed Liaodong and gave me the title of Minister of Rites."

Su Ze was stunned for a moment and said:

"Congratulations, Brother Rumo, on your promotion!"

Shen Shixing quickly shook his hand and said:
"What's this right transfer? It's just a temporary assignment."

However, Su Ze understood what Zhang Juzheng meant.

Letting Shen Shixing follow the team to investigate the crimes of the King of Liao showed that Zhang Juzheng was determined to overthrow the King of Liao, so it was not enough to have only the deputy envoy Shi Duchen in the team, Zhang Juzheng also wanted to put Shen Shixing in.

If you help the elder to do things, there will definitely be a reward if the task is successful.

It looks like as long as Shen Shixing can complete the task, he can be promoted.

Taking the promotion path from the Ministry of Rites was also a common way for important officials of the Ming Dynasty to enter the cabinet.

Of course, Shen Shixing is still far from entering the cabinet, but at least he is on the way.

Shen Shixing said with a bitter face:
"It's not that I'm afraid of traveling all the way, but the investigation of Liao is a big deal, and I'm afraid I won't be able to complete the instructions of the master."

Su Ze immediately understood what Shen Shixing meant. Zhang Juzheng wanted to abolish the Liao vassal state just like the Dai vassal state.

However, Hong Chaoxuan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was not his man. Not only was he not his man, he had a grudge against Zhang Juzheng.

Moreover, Zhang Juzheng also sent people to test it out, and found that Hong Chaoxuan did not support the abolition of the Liao vassal state.

This is what Shen Shixing was worried about. Being caught between his teacher and the envoy, this mission would probably be difficult to complete to the satisfaction of all parties.

Su Ze thought for a moment and said to Shen Shixing:

"Brother Rumo, if you encounter any difficulties in Jingzhou, please write a letter and send it to the capital. I can help you to discuss the matter, or I can help you to raise awareness in the capital."

Shen Shixing thought about it and knew that Su Ze always had clever ideas, so he nodded in agreement.
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October 21st was finally the day off.

The people surrounding Su Ze's house had dispersed. Su Ze moved back home from the History Museum, and Xu Wei brought a box of visiting cards.

Xu Wei was able to help Hu Zongxian plan military affairs back then, so he was more than qualified to be Su Ze's aide.

He said:
"These are visiting cards sent by Dong Weng and his classmates."

"This stack contains visiting cards from officials seeking vacancies in the capital."

"These are letters from Dong Weng's friends."

Su Ze nodded with satisfaction. Maintaining interpersonal relationships is also an important part of the daily life of literati. In this era without mobile phones, it is an important means of maintaining friendship.

Where there are people, there are circles, and circles are also important resources.

To become a senior cabinet minister, one needs a reliable circle.

Take Zhang Juzheng, for example. He needed help in formulating national policies, executing them, and even spies and informants. To bring down the King of Liao, Zhang Juzheng even had to insert his own protégé, Shen Shixing, into the fold. Without the help of people at all levels, the cabinet's orders wouldn't even get out of the capital.

"I've sent a copy of the list of my classmates who sent visiting cards to Shen Yiguan's residence. I hope Brother Jianwu can help me review it."

Xu Wei nodded. Su Ze was not familiar with his classmates, but Shen Yiguan often attended the gatherings of new scholars. He would screen them and determine the candidates who could be brought into the circle.

"I have received invitations from officials who are short of officials. Please write a reply letter for me, Mr. Wenchang, saying that I, Su Ze, have little influence and cannot help them find an official position. Please ask them to go to the Ministry of Personnel instead."

Su Ze was also polite to these officials who were looking for connections. If someone asked for help, you could refuse to help, but if you were impolite, you would make enemies.

After explaining these two things, Su Ze opened the letter.

The first one was a letter from Shen Li, the director of the Imperial College.

Shen Li naturally wrote to thank Su Ze.

Su Ze asked those tribute students who came from poor backgrounds to serve as reporters for the Yuefu Xinbao, using the Yuefu Xinbao as their reward. At the beginning, these tribute students were not happy about it.

But soon the "Yuefu Xinbao" was in short supply in the capital, and they could resell their shares for a sum of money, which was enough for their expenses in the capital.

"Yuefu Xinbao" was also very popular in the Imperial College, mainly because the articles written by Kuixing, the "Kuixing" of the imperial examination, were the best imperial examination essays of that era. Not to mention the Imperial College, those families in the capital who were preparing for the imperial examination would pay high prices to buy the new issue of "Yuefu Xinbao".

Su Ze suddenly remembered that Shen Li was also a scholar in the 44th year of Jiajing, and he was transferred from the Hanlin Academy to the Imperial College as a director. He was also a master of Confucianism.

Su Ze was worrying about the eight-part essay layout for the next issue, but Shen Li actually fell into the trap!
Su Ze wrote a simple reply letter, and then asked Shen Li to write an eight-part essay in "Yuefu Xinbao".

After exploiting the surplus labor around him, Xu Wei handed over another letter.

Xu Wei stammered, "This is a letter from Qi Jiguang, the new general of Datong. He somehow found out that I was working as a secretary at Dong Weng's mansion, so he sent someone to write to me and asked me to pass it on to Dong Weng."

Qi Jiguang!
Su Ze quickly opened the letter, and it was indeed a handwritten letter from Qi Jiguang!

When Xu Wei was an aide to Hu Zongxian, he had a good relationship with Qi Jiguang.

After reading the letter, Su Ze was filled with mixed emotions.

Qi Jiguang was very humble. He knew that it was Su Ze who recommended him to the court, so he wrote a letter of thanks to Su Ze.

There is no way. The treatment of military generals in the Ming Dynasty was indeed low. Even a famous general like Qi Jiguang could not accomplish anything if there was no one in the court.

The most typical example is the Jiajing period. When Qi Jiguang first entered Zhejiang, he was severely punished several times by Emperor Jiajing because of his poor performance in battle. Once he was even dismissed from his post. In the end, it was Hu Zongxian who spoke up for him, and Jiajing allowed him to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence, and finally he was reinstated.

After Hu Zongxian's downfall, Qi Jiguang's old subordinates were naturally like frightened birds.

This time he was transferred from the General of Fujian to the General of Datong. Although it was only a horizontal transfer in terms of official position, it meant that the court wanted to re-employ him, which also meant that his past under Hu Zongxian would be forgiven.

So when Qi Jiguang learned that it was Su Ze who recommended him, he quickly wrote this humble letter of thanks.

Su Ze sighed again. This is how officialdom is. If you want to do something with peace of mind, it is even more difficult than being as corrupt as He Guang Tong Chen.

In order to realize his ambitions, Hu Zongxian had to rely on Yan Song, and was eventually liquidated because of Yan Song.

Su Ze picked up his pen and wrote a reply letter. Then he asked Qi Jiguang to write an article about his experiences in the fight against the Japanese pirates in the southeast, and prepare to publish it in "Yuefu Xinbao".

At least the imperial court must know about these anti-Japanese patriots.

After Su Ze finished processing the two letters, Xu Wei said:
"Tu Zemin, whom Dong Weng specifically instructed yesterday, came to ask for a meeting. Since Dong Weng was not around, he left a visiting card and left."

Su Ze quickly stood up and said:
"Take the visiting card and go visit Tu Futai now!"

(End of this chapter)