My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 22 Path to Promotion
When the memorial and the emperor's reply reached the Hanlin Academy, the entire academy was in an uproar.

It even caused a greater stir in the Hanlin Academy than the news that the president of the academy, Yin Shidan, might join the cabinet.

Shen Yikuan secretly ran back to the Hanlin Academy early this morning and was caught by his colleagues. Those colleagues who had been indifferent to him in the past now showed flattering expressions to him.

There are even some who recommend themselves:
"Brother Jianwu, is the History Museum still short of help? I've been reading history books since I was young, so I can help compile the 'Imperial Mirror Illustrated Explanation'."

"Brother Jianwu, please invite Brother Zilin back for a get-together sometime. We should all thank Brother Zilin."

Shen Yikuan was proud and greeted everyone with his head held high, but he said a lot but did not agree to anything.

At this time, the attending scholar Zhu Dashou stepped into the Hanlin Academy. He saw Shen Yikuan surrounded by people, cleared his throat, and called him to his public housing.

In private, Shen Yi always calls her nicely:

"uncle."

Zhu Dashou looked at Shen Yikuan and said:
"I heard from the Ministry of Rites today that His Majesty is preparing to open the Zhanshi Mansion. Since you have contributed by co-signing the petition, you should be able to enter the Zhanshi Mansion."

Hearing this, Shen Yikuan was naturally overjoyed.

But after following Su Ze, Shen Yi Guan also gained some experience. He pretended to be calm and said:
"Nephew wants to congratulate uncle."

Zhu Dashou looked at Shen Yikuan with a half-smile and asked:
"Where does joy come from?"

"With your knowledge, uncle will definitely be admitted to the Imperial Household Department. I am congratulating you on your promotion."

As mentioned earlier, there are two ways to be promoted in the Hanlin Academy. One is to be promoted within the Hanlin Academy and wait for the opportunity to become an official in the Imperial Lecture Hall. The other is to leave the Hanlin Academy, start as a middle-level official in one of the six ministries, and then be promoted to a senior official in the six ministries and join the cabinet based on merit.

Both paths are difficult. The imperial lecturers have to give lectures to the emperor, which requires a high level of knowledge and also depends on whether they can win the emperor's favor.

Moreover, the Hanlin Academy's staffing was very tight, and Ming Dynasty officials had to be promoted according to their ranks. Sometimes when they needed to be promoted, their superiors were not yet able to move, so they could only queue up behind them.

Sometimes, this delay means that one is about to reach retirement age. If one's parents die and one has to spend a few more years in mourning, his official career will be over.

Officialdom, both ancient and modern, emphasizes quick progress. The path to promotion in the Hanlin Academy is steep, and it also requires extremely high personal qualities. Colleagues are all Shujishi, which can be called a hell for the king of rolls.

Therefore, some old Hanlin scholars who couldn't bear it any longer thought of another way.

Officials in the Hanlin Academy may not be able to handle practical work in the six ministries well. If they perform poorly in the assessment, they will be sent to other prefectures and their official career will be almost over.

In addition to these two paths, there is another path to promotion, which is the Zhanshi Mansion.

The Zhanshi Mansion was a tutoring institution for the crown prince, established by Emperor Hongwu to teach the crown prince Zhu Biao.

The Chancellery had one Chancellor, who was of the third rank, and two Junior Chancellors, who were of the fourth rank.

Under the Zhanshi Mansion, there were Zuochunfang, Youchunfang and Sijingju.

The Chancellor of the Chancellery came to the court to assist the Crown Prince in his studies, and took turns explaining the meaning of the classics with the officials of the Left Spring Office, the Right Spring Office, and the Imperial Academy of the Ministry of Classics.

Under the Zuochunfang and Youchunfang, there are a series of officials of the Eastern Palace, ranging from the fifth-rank Grand Secretary, the left and right Shuzi, to the eighth-rank left and right Sijian.

You should know that the number of imperial lecturers was very small. This was the case when there was an emperor like Longqing who liked to lecture. If there was an emperor like Jiajing who did not like to lecture but loved to practice Taoism, the number of imperial lecturers would only be in the single digits.

The number of vacancies in the middle-level positions in the six ministries was also very limited, and the many official positions in the Zhanshi Mansion gave hope to many old Hanlin scholars who had worked hard. You have to know that among the cabinet ministers in the court today, which one was not an "old friend of the Qiandi Palace" of Emperor Longqing?
The current emperor has only one son, the third prince, and his position as crown prince is secure. Being able to enter the Chancellery means that he can enter the cabinet in the future Xin Dynasty.

This is enormous wealth!
This is also the reason why Su Ze's reputation quickly improved in the Hanlin Academy. To use a mysterious way of speaking, Su Ze "opened up a new path and gave all living beings a way to heaven."

Zhu Dashou's position was a sixth-rank academician. Once the Zhanshi Mansion was established, he could immediately be promoted to the left and right eunuchs of the Zuochunfang and Zuochunfang, a fifth-rank position and a perfect promotion path.

The position of Zhanshifu has always been monopolized by the Hanlin Academy, and Hanlin officials can hold multiple positions concurrently, which means that Zhu Dashou can continue to lecture the emperor and lecture the prince.

If Su Ze's achievement in establishing the crown prince could only be said to be something that was expected in the future, then the establishment of the Chancellery was a blessing from heaven for Hanlin scholars like Zhu Dashou who were waiting for promotion.

How many people need to follow and make progress.

Zhu Dashou rarely smiled and said to Shen Yikuan:
"When I transferred you to the History Museum, it was actually because I saw that you had a rather erratic personality. I wanted to temper your temper a little. Once you've calmed down, I'll transfer you back."

"I didn't expect so many things to happen, but that's okay. Have you gained anything from following Su Zilin these days?"

Shen Yiguan said with a bitter face:
"Uncle, Su Zilin is so slow in his work that I can't learn from him."

Zhu Dashou stroked his beard and said:

"That's true. Su Zilin's talent is not something that everyone can achieve. But I heard that when Su Ze and Luo Wanhua were at the National History Museum, they were both focused on their studies, while you were the only one traveling between the Hanlin Academy and the various government departments. Why is that?"

Shen Yiguan's face turned pale, and Zhu Dashou said:

"I punish you by making you copy the Zizhi Tongjian."

"what?"

Shen Yikuan despaired when he thought of the number of words in "Zizhi Tongjian", but Zhu Dashou was his superior and elder, so he could only return to the National History Museum in disgrace.

When we returned to the National History Museum, which had been deserted a few days ago, it suddenly became very lively.

All the officials who had fled came back, and when they saw Shen Yikuan, they greeted him flatteringly.

The National History Museum has a new project, and it’s a key project to compile teaching materials for the Crown Prince. Who wouldn’t rush back for such a good thing?

However, compared with compiling the national history, this "Imperial Mirror Illustrations" is an enlightenment textbook for the princes, so the number of places in the editorial department is definitely limited.

Except for Su Ze and the other three people who first proposed the petition, whether others can join the project team depends on their own abilities.

So everyone looked at Shen Yikuan eagerly. As long as he could join the "Imperial Mirror Illustrations" project team, he would definitely be able to join the Zhanshi Mansion and get on the fast track to promotion.

Shen Yikuan looked at this group of guys who were fawning on the powerful and was too lazy to be polite with them. He walked into Su Ze's public housing with his chest puffed out.

As soon as he entered the public housing and saw Su Ze and Luo Wanhua, Shen Yiquan's momentum immediately deflated.

He told Su Ze and Luo Wanhua about what happened in the Hanlin Academy. Su Ze chuckled, and even the usually serious Luo Wanhua smiled.

Su Ze said: "The scholars are doing this for your own good."

"For my own good?"

(End of this chapter)