At the banquet of the imperial court, Lin Yanchao and Zhu Geng had a happy conversation.

Zhu Geng was from Shanyin, Shaoxing Prefecture. He came from Zhuwu, Shanyin, and was a famous clan in Yue.

When it comes to Shaoxing Prefecture, Lin Yanchao is no stranger to him. Several of his acquaintances are from Shaoxing Prefecture, such as Chen Nan, the former governor of Fuzhou, Tao Tao, and Shang Weizheng, the Fujian Inspector, were all from Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang.

Among them, Chen Taifu and Tao Tixue were both Lin Yanchao's masters, and Lin Yanchao had a good relationship with Tao and Shang.

Especially Tao, Tao Tixue promoted Lin Yanchao, who was the teacher during the examination in his college. Lin Yanchao was also his nephew, Tao Wangling, son of former Nanjing Minister of Rites Tao Chengxue.

The Tao family and the merchant family are also prominent families in Shaoxing, and Zhu Geng's family also has some contacts on weekdays.

It is common for several official families who have emerged from the imperial examination in Shaoxing to intermarry with each other. Zhu Geng's eldest daughter married Zhang Rulin, the Zhang family of the Zhang Yuanfang in Shaoxing.

This Zhang Rulin is the son of Zhang Yuanqiu, who is Zhang Yuanqiu, a Hanlin editor in the cabinet with Lin Yanchao.

In fact, Zhu Geng, Zhang Yuangui, and Luo Wanhua also entered Yanghe Academy when he was young. His classmate was under Yu Zi, a famous teacher in Yuezhong. Later, Luo Wanhua became the top scorer in the second year of Longqing, and Zhang Yuangui became the top scorer in the fifth year of Longqing. Zhu Geng was a little inferior and was also a Shuchang in the second year of Longqing, and they entered the Hanlin Academy together.

These three classmates have the names of the people in the world and have become famous stories that Shaoxing Prefecture scholars enjoyed relish. This relationship is like Lin Yanchao, Ye Xianggao, and Weng Zhengchun.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Zhu Geng and Zhang Yuan-King became in-laws. Lin Yanchao still remembers Zhang Rulin's grandson, the famous Zhang Dai. Zhang Yuan-King's family was located in the Zhang Yuanfang. His family also had marriages with the Tao and Shang families, so these families can be said to have prospered and lost.

From Zhu Geng's complicated relationship, we can see how powerful the Shaoxing faction in the officialdom is.

Zhu Geng is a man who values ​​rural friendship very much, and after hearing about Lin Yanchao's relationship with the Tao and Shang clans, he became even closer to him.

Zhu Geng said: "Zonghai, I didn't expect that Tao Wangling was a disciple. His talent and knowledge were famous in the countryside. I had a letter from my hometown in the previous period saying that the former Fujian patrol merchant was intending to give his beloved daughter to Tao Wangling. If this matter could be accomplished, it would be a perfect match made by heaven!"

But seeing Lin Yanchao smiled and said, "Brother Jin Ting doesn't know anything. He received a letter from his young disciple two days ago, saying that he was married to the daughter of the merchant."

Zhu Geng laughed and said, "If that's true, I want to congratulate you, Zonghai."

After hearing Zhu Geng's words, Mrs. Zhu Geng, who was attending the banquet, smiled and said, "In this way, the throne master and our master are not outsiders either!"

Lin Yanchao couldn't help but smile and said, "That's right. If you rank seniority, maybe I would call you Brother Zhu, you call me the Uncle?"

Zhu Geng hurriedly said, "If you don't dare to be it, you and I will be the same as our peers."

Lin Yanchao couldn't help but smile when he heard this. Both of them are working in Hanlinyuan, and Zhu Geng's identity is not much higher than himself.

Becoming a Hanlin person may not necessarily become a Japanese lecturer or a lecturer at the imperial lecturer. Even if you become a Japanese lecturer or a lecturer at the imperial lecturer, you may not necessarily become a cabinet grandson.

But as long as Zhu Geng survived for one day in the cabinet, he would turn into a dragon as soon as he encountered the storm. From then on, the two had a different status. This is also the scenery and sorrow of Hanlin. Before becoming a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, he could not be known. Most of them studied books in the Hanlin Academy for their whole life.

It is not as good as other officials from the second, third and third grade Jinshi, or as officials, or holding great power in the six ministries' yamen.

Zhu Geng also didn't regard Lin Yanchao as an outsider and smiled and said, "Zonghai, today you are trusted and valued by the emperor. I also have some points to choose you as a lecturer when you listen to the emperor's wishes. I wonder what you mean?"

Since the first day he entered the Hanlin Academy, Lin Yanchao has been thinking about how to become a Japanese lecturer, but he couldn't tell everyone about his ambitions and said, "I am still inexperienced and may not be able to do it. Moreover, there are so many seniors in the Hanlin Academy, and I dare not act rashly under the seniority."

Zhu Geng smiled and raised his glass and said, "Zong Hai was humble when he said this. Come on, drink a drink first."

Seeing Zhu Geng's expression, Lin Yanchao seemed to have something else to say, so he drank a drink and asked, "Does Brother Jin Ting teach me anything?"

Zhu Geng nodded and said, "I do say a few words, but I'm afraid I'll talk about it in a very deep way."

Lin Yanchao immediately said, "Brother Jin Ting, you and I are called brothers, why should I see you? Please ask me for advice."

Zhu Geng hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, I will borrow a step to speak."

So Lin Yanchao and Zhu Geng left the table and walked out of Fengtian Gate. The two of them walked out and chatted while walking.

When he walked to the Forbidden City, Zhu Geng first asked: "Zonghai, tell me the truth, what are your plans now? Do you have the intention of a lecturer in Jin Dynasty?"

Lin Yanchao thought about it and needed to establish a good relationship with Zhu Geng, so he had to tell the truth.

Lin Yanchao said: "The lecturer of the imperial lecturer is what the Hanlin wants. Of course I have this idea. But I have only been an official for a year and my qualifications are too shallow. I am afraid that several cabinet masters will not ask me to be a lecturer. I think I will wait until the cabinet period expires, and I will go to the scholars directly to the inner school. It will be enough to stay in three or five years later."

Zhu Geng couldn't help but shook his head and said, "Zonghai, you're wrong to think so. What you are worried about is probably the word qualification, right?"

"As Brother Jin Ting said, that's exactly what he said."

Zhu Geng and Lin Yanchao entered Gongfang first and waited for the Gongfang to leave Gongfang.

Lin Yanchao took a wooden ladle and poured water for Zhu Geng to purify the water. Zhu Geng said while wiping his hands: "How can a real man stick to the common sense and stop his hands and tail? Do you know that the year-end period is stopped?"

When Lin Yanchao heard Zhu Geng say this, he immediately understood what he meant in his words, so he put Mu Piao down and said, "It's the Sei Nian-style created by Cui Liang, the Minister of Personnel of the Northern Wei Dynasty."

Zhu Geng smiled and said, "The top scholar Lang is very knowledgeable and remembers, but he cannot defeat you. It is because he stopped the year. Cui Liang, a man from then on, practiced this method. From then on, who will restore the scholars of the world to cultivate the reputation? It is also said in history that since the wise and foolish people are in harmony, there is no difference between the Wei Dynasty. The loss of talent began with Liang."

After Zhu Geng finished speaking, he also fetched water to cleanse Lin Yanchao's hands.

Lin Yanchao thought about the meaning of Zhu Geng's words. He was talking about Cui Liang, the Minister of Personnel of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which was the beginning of today's officialdom discussion on seniority.

At that time, there were few officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and there were many people who should be elected. No matter who the officials of the Ministry of Personnel were resentful, they were all over the court. Therefore, Cui Liang, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, established the method of selecting officials in the year-end class, that is, regardless of the level of talents, and only based on the level of seniority.

This is what we call seniority ranking today.

After Cui Liang created this method, someone advised him that although the method of selecting officials in the past was not very good, the talents in the world could always be 70 to 80 points. But if you create this method and select talents, everyone will be longer than their lives. Who should work hard to practice the name Li Hao and become an official?

Cui Liang could not explain helplessly after hearing this. This was also a solution, just to appease the people. In the past, Zichan, the ruling Zheng State, cast a criminal record to save the world's evil. The Duke of Jin sarcastically said that with the criminal law, everyone would think about how to exploit loopholes in the law, and the world would be destroyed. I made this method just like Zichan's original intention, and I hope that gentlemen in the world can know my intention.

Zhu Geng took Cui Liangchuang's Dianqian as an example and said: "The ancients selected scholars, and the Yin and Zhou dynasties were selected by the local scholars, and the Han dynasties were established by the prefectures and counties, and the Wei and Jin dynasties were established by the Central Committee. How could there be a saying about seniority? Today, people are accustomed to it. Isn't it strange?"

Lin Yanchao agreed from the bottom of his heart that everyone thought it was natural to rank seniority in the officialdom, but they didn't know that this was not a good method, but the ancients created a temporary solution. Zhu Geng used this to refute and broke Lin Yanchao's original consciousness.

Lin Yanchao had heard Zhu Geng talk about several lectures on the sutras before. Zhu Geng was a master of the Yi, but at the sutras, Lin Yanchao felt drowsy and nothing was exciting. But today the two talked in private, and Zhu Geng's experience was thought-provoking. This was not a corrupt scholar talking about in the sutras, but a person with insight.

Wang Jiaping is similar in this regard. He is funny and talkative when talking privately and can also give him a bad joke, but when he was at the lecture, he was full of moral articles.

So Lin Yanchao asked: "Brother Jin Ting mentioned the method of stopping the year, but he said that he would choose a lecturer on the day, and it is not limited to the seniority?"

Zhu Geng smiled with his palm: "Ruzi can teach you, and talking to Zonghai is easy."

Lin Yanchao said: "Na Luo Shixuan was the top scholar in the second year of Longqing, and Zhang Xiu's first scholar in the fifth year of Longqing should have been a Japanese lecturer for a long time, but it is still not. Why did Jin Ting brother, Shujishi in the second year of Longqing, take the lead? What is the trick?"

Zhu Geng sighed: "Zonghai doesn't know anything. If Zhang Yuanhe could be a Japanese lecturer, he would have done it long ago. I'm afraid there will be no chance at the moment."

Lin Yanchao listened to Zhu Geng's implication, and it seemed that Luo Wanhua was not appreciated by the cabinet, so he could not become a lecturer every day.

Zhu Geng said: "Zonghai, you are now appreciated by the emperor, and it is a good opportunity to become a direct attendant. If you are a member of seniority, you will be very wrong. Let me ask you how many ranks the two-person school secretary and how many ranks the six-person school school? Why should the dynasty set up a lower-ranking official with a lower-ranking official position?"

It really woke up the dreamer. After hearing Zhu Geng’s words, Lin Yanchao knew that Zhu Geng was too powerful. With such insight, no wonder he was able to be the best among his two classmates and top students.

Lin Yanchao admired him in his heart as if the river was endless.

Why are the six subjects only in the seventh grade, and the two-room Zhongshu Sheren only in the seventh grade? Why did the Ming Dynasty's official system like to use small to control the big? Because of the low rank, we can bypass the rules of seniority in the officialdom and give those in power the opportunity to arrange close confidants!

As for the Lunzhi Cabinet, the daily lecturer, and the imperial lecturer, it is because of a position but a rank. Since that is the case, why talk about seniority?

It turns out that history books are all lie, and there is no big deal of meticulousness, making Lao Zhu look like a corpse-like elder.

Even when he first dealt with Zhu Geng, he felt that he was an honest person and had no outstanding features. But with a few words of advice, Lin Yanchao knew that Zhu Geng was far inferior to that of the rules of the officialdom.

The amazingness of this person is no less than Shen Shixing.

So Lin Yanchao stopped and bowed to Zhu Geng and said, "It's better to listen to your words than to read ten years of books." (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!