My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 19 The Fourth Memorial

As the name suggests, pawning a house is an economic activity between renting and buying.

When a homeowner encounters financial difficulties but is unwilling to sell his house, he will use the method of pawning to "pawn" the house.

Unlike selling, if the homeowner's financial situation improves, they can redeem the house with the same amount of money.

The characteristic of pawning a house is that the ownership of the house does not get transferred. In theory, there is no bribery issue when Manager Huang pawns the house to Su Ze.

The property rights of the house belonged to the original owner, not Su Ze. And the money from the pawning of the house could be recovered at any time, so how could this be considered bribery?
Of course, Su Ze was unwilling to take advantage of Manager Huang in such a small matter.

After the establishment of the National History Museum, the emperor also gave it rewards. The price of this house was not high, but Su Ze still paid for it out of his own pocket.

Manager Huang did not force it. They were all from the same hometown and there was a long way to go. He just wanted Su Ze to understand his feelings.

The work of the guild hall itself is a tedious task. As long as he can leave a good impression on Su Ze, it can be considered that Manager Huang has done his job well.

Now that he had a new home, Su Ze invited Shen Shixing to come to his house for a meal and warming up during his next day off. Shen Shixing gladly agreed.

When Shen Shixing returned home, his wife Wu immediately came to greet him.

"Husband, has Editor Su's house been rented?"

Shen Shixing took off his coat, nodded and said:
"It's already been done. Steward Huang from the Guildhall has been running around with us all day today. Brother Zilin invited us to stay at his new house at the end of the month."

Wu and Shen Shixing had been married for many years and their relationship was quite good. She asked:
"What about my little sister?"

Shen Shixing shook his head and said:
"Today there are too many people outside, and many people are talking nonsense. Let's talk about it next time when we are at home."

Wu sighed and said:

"Su Bianxiu is indeed a good match, but I'm afraid he won't be interested in me."

Shen Shixing said:
"Whether it succeeds or not, we still have to wait and see. A few days ago, I heard people talking about how the Master also wanted to marry Zilin, but his only daughter was too young, so he sent people back to his hometown in Jiangling to see if there were any suitable young women in the clan."

When Wu heard that Zhang Juzheng also wanted to marry Su Ze, she quickly said:

"Then my husband must hold on tight, there is more than one Prime Minister in this dynasty."

Shen Shixing also said:

"That's the truth. Your sister's family background and appearance are both a good match, but..."

Mrs. Wu knew what her husband meant, and she said with a bitter face:
"All those books her parents made her read back then have damaged her brain. She's been busy with business all day. As an unmarried woman, what's the point of her expanding her family's fortune?"

Shen Shixing persuaded his wife and said:

"Wang Taizhou's knowledge is still somewhat beneficial. Even Lord Xu highly respects him. However, his disciples have fallen into evil ways, and Li Zhi's outrageous remarks have tarnished the reputation of the Daily Use School."

Wu's eyebrows finally relaxed a little, and she said:
"Su Bianxiu and my husband are very close friends, and we're from the same hometown. She has a bright future. If this doesn't work out, I'll write to my parents and ask them to let her become a nun!"

Hearing his wife's harsh words, Shen Shixing could only smile bitterly. It was difficult for a judge to judge family affairs, let alone matters concerning his wife's family.

But if he could really become Su Ze's brother-in-law, that would be nice. Besides, his wife's family is very wealthy in Suzhou, so the dowry would definitely be substantial.
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For the rest of the days, Su Ze kept slacking off in the History Museum. At the end of the month, he held a warm-up party at home and invited several good friends to have dinner at his home.

During the meal, Shen Shixing talked about his sister-in-law and wanted to act as a matchmaker. Su Ze was somewhat tempted, but did not agree immediately.

In his previous life, he was busy with studies and work, and when he lay down, he was already an older Chu Nan. And the previous incarnation was the same, always busy with studies, and his parents died and he had no engagement.

But it was a bit of a luxury to have free love in the Ming Dynasty. However, Su Ze instinctively resisted this kind of arranged marriage in the feudal era and just said that he would think about it again.

Shen Shixing didn't mention it again.

It was June, Su Ze came to the historian early, and Luo Wanhua arrived soon after.

In the huge history museum, there was no one else except the doorman and a few clerks.

Luo Wanhua was a bookworm. Since there were books to read in the History Museum, he naturally didn't want to go back to the Hanlin Academy.

After a while, Shen Yikuan finally arrived.

Shen Yikuan had slipped back to the Hanlin Academy some time ago, but was still kicked back to the History Museum by Zhu Dashou.

Shen Yikuan even suspected that the friendship between Zhu Dashou and his uncle was fake. Isn't this a clear trap for himself?
Shen Yikuan still found opportunities to sneak back to the Hanlin Academy from time to time. As soon as he heard that several of his classmates had been assigned tasks by the president of the academy, he became anxious as if ants were crawling on his body.

As soon as he entered the door today, Shen Yikuan sighed again.

"Brother Zilin, number one scholar, I really admire your ability to sit still."

Then Shen Yi Guan said mysteriously:

"Have you heard? Dean of the Academy, Yin Shidan, may be joining the cabinet."

Shen Yiquan was a well-informed person, and Su Ze knew that what he said was true. Historically, Yin Shidan entered the cabinet in the second year of Longqing.

Yin Shidan had sufficient qualifications. He often lectured on classics to Emperor Longqing and was deeply loved by the emperor. If Yin Shidan did not come to the palace to lecture for a while, Emperor Longqing would ask his attendants why Yin Shidan did not come.

Since the top leader is going to join the cabinet, the positions below will naturally be moved. This is a major event in the Hanlin Academy recently, and Shen Yiquan is naturally paying close attention to it.

As a place for cultivating talents in the Ming Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy had a promotion path that was different from other government offices.

Generally speaking, in addition to the direct appointment of officials in the top three grades, the Shujishi can be appointed as Hanlin editor after three years of selection, which is Su Ze’s current position.

Next are the fifth and sixth rank lecturers and readers. Although this position is not high, they are officials in charge of imperial lectures, that is, they have to frequently enter the palace to lecture the emperor. They can have frequent contact with the emperor, so there are more opportunities for promotion.

In addition, Hanlin may also be sent to serve in the provincial government, which is also a common situation.

For example, Shen Shixing, after he became the top scholar in the imperial examination, was appointed as an editor in the Hanlin Academy, and then promoted to a lecturer. After that, with the recommendation of Zhang Juzheng, he did not take up any external post, but went directly to the Ministry of Rites to become a Yuwenlang.

Next, Shen Shixing was waiting to be promoted to the Minister of Rites, which made him a typical "prime minister in reserve" and his entry into the cabinet was just around the corner.

Of course, there are many Yuanwailang, but there is only one position for Vice Minister of Rites. This step is also called the "natural chasm". If you can cross it, you will enter the cabinet and be appointed as a prime minister. If you can't cross it, you will be appointed as a prefecture official. The pinnacle of your life is to be a frontier official.

For the senior Hanlin editors, once Yin Shidan was promoted to the cabinet, the vacancies of lecturers and readers would definitely have to be filled, and there would be drastic personnel changes in the Hanlin Academy.

Although this had little to do with the scholar Shen Yikuan, it was also a critical period for building future connections. Shen Yikuan was naturally unwilling to stay in the History Museum to study.

Su Ze just said "oh" to indicate that he understood. He picked up the [Model Writing Brush], and the CD of [Portable Ming Dynasty Court] was ready. He wrote his fourth memorial.

(End of this chapter)