Chapter 501: Officialdom, Talent

By the time Wu Liangsi, Wei Guangwei and others returned from Quanzhou with He Fengsheng and his party, Feng Ziying's affairs were almost settled.

Having solved this matter, Feng Ziying felt at ease, enough to give an explanation to Emperor Yonglong and the army, and also to lay a good foundation for his involvement in many matters.

But there will definitely be many people who are dissatisfied, such as the wealthy businessmen who have already planned to carve up and annex these people, and the group of people from the Dragon Guard and the Ministry of Punishment who originally hoped to use these guys to sacrifice flags and invite favors, and maybe even Yonglong Emperor Ye originally wanted to count on this round of actions by Long Jinwei and the Punishment Department to fill up the increasingly depleted internal treasury.

However, it should be said that Emperor Yonglong was a relatively clear-headed emperor. He understood what was mentioned in his memorial, and he also knew that if these people could use it, it would be much more valuable and meaningful than simply getting three to five million taels of silver. .

 But I'm sorry, this kind of thing is originally the Eight Immortals crossing the sea to show their magical powers, and conflicts of interest are everywhere. It depends on your own path.

Cui Jingrong should have noticed something, but this person is also an old fox. He did not criticize Feng Ziying, but just reminded Feng Ziying to understand where his foundation lies.

Feng Ziying understood what Cui Jingrong meant. It was okay to cooperate with the emperor, and even to a certain extent, he could be understood and tolerated by falling into the emperor's arms. After all, striking a balance between the emperor and the cabinet itself was a profound knowledge for officials seeking promotion.

Often those at lower levels need to win the favor of the emperor or cabinet bosses to quickly rise to the top. But after reaching a certain level, they need to stand at a higher level and look at problems from a broader perspective and seek some kind of balance. .

Feng Ziying is only a sixth-rank official now. Before he became a fourth-rank official, he could maneuver between the emperor and the six cabinet ministers without too much scruple. Not to mention that Feng Ziying himself had certain halo bonuses. .

But after he passed the fourth rank, especially after entering the rank of a third rank official, if he wanted to go further, he could not just rely on winning the favor of a certain person. But no matter how evil Feng Ziying was, in Cui Jingrong's view, , that was also a matter of ten or twenty years.

In short, below the fourth rank, you can quickly climb the official career by winning the favor of a certain pavilion elder or even six ministers while maintaining a certain reputation. Of course, you can hug the emperor's thick legs, and the effect will be better.

After the fourth rank, you can't take too extreme measures, otherwise you will most likely offend one party when you try to please the other party. When you enter the third rank sequence, you really have to rely on your own strength to speak for itself, and that's not the case. At a certain moment or on a certain matter, if you get the approval of the chief minister or the emperor, you can jump to the top.

No one has told Feng Ziying these truths. Qi Yongtai's temperament naturally won't talk to him. Qiao Yingjia will only occasionally mention it, but he will never tell it. Cui Jingrong's relationship has become increasingly close during this two-month trip. They can still give some advice, but they are all based on the facts. However, for Feng Ziying, who has accumulated decades of experience in officialdom in her previous life, the officialdom of this great Zhou Dynasty is actually no different.

On the surface, it seems that it is nothing more than siding with others or following lineism. They seem to be completely different, but in fact, it is never that simple in reality.

The team camp is never monolithic, and there are also small camps within the big camp. Likewise, your positioning will become blurred and complicated due to your position at different levels. You may be in this camp at the same time when it comes to specific matters. At this time, you may have another different level of camp identity.

For example, Wei Guangwei opposed the allocation of craftsmen from Qingjiang Shipyard and Longjiang Shipyard to the private shipyard that may be established in Denglai in the future. He knew that this would be beneficial to the defense of the north, especially Liaodong. As a Northern scholar, he should naturally have no hesitation. It was only right to support it, but if he was in the camp of the Ministry of Industry, he couldn't agree.

 It’s just about profit.

Also regarding the use of Kaihai's debt funds, Qiao Yingjia, who is both a Beidi scholar, is more inclined to support Jiubian, while Qi Yongtai has a higher perspective. Perhaps as a Beizhi scholar, he is very aware of the importance of Liaodong. He further supported the need to promote the construction of coastal defense transportation between Denglai and Liaonan while supporting the nine-border strengthening of defense. This point also won the recognition of the martial arts nobles headed by Wang Ziteng.

But in a big way, they have to unite to fight against the southern scholars in the cabinet such as Ye Xianggao, Fang Congzhe, Li Tingji, etc., to prevent these people from using the borrowed funds for other purposes, such as filling financial deficits.

  ************

The boat was sailing slowly, and the north wind blew outside the cabin. Feng Ziying, Fan Jingwen, and He Fengsheng sat across from each other, drinking tea, chatting and laughing.

This business trip is basically over. We will arrive in Yangzhou soon, and we can take a boat directly back to the capital.

Since October, this trip has lasted more than two months. It is almost the end of the year. Everyone wants to go home before the end of the year, but judging from this situation, it will definitely be too late.

It is already the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month. From Yangzhou to the capital, we are going against the wind. We will not be able to go back for twenty or thirty days.

It has to be said that the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has made the south and north of the Yangtze River a smooth road. Whether it is passengers or goods, taking this waterway is much more convenient than taking the land route. If the Yangtze River waterway that runs from east to west is connected, the entire Zhou Dynasty will basically be You can rely on this waterway with a ">" symbol to achieve a general connection. Beidi, Jiangnan, and Huguang are all on this line.

At the other end of the middle cabin, Cui Jingrong and Sun Juxiang were playing chess. Sun Juxiang was already in trouble. He had a black piece between his fingers and was unable to make a move.

Cui Jingrong, however, took the time to pick up the tea cup and took a sip.

Wei Guangwei, who was watching, shook his head, "Brother Bofu, just admit defeat. Cui Gong's chess skills are also ranked among the best in the court. With your level, you can only play one or two games with me. Even Ming Zhong is choked. Why bother?" Are you going to find Cui Gong to beg for torture?"

Sun Ju ignored him, still frowning and thinking hard.

On the other side, Wu Liangsi was reading carefully with a book in his hand. He only glanced at it occasionally and said, "The stinky chess player wants to compete with Cui Gong. Isn't this humiliating himself?"

Sun Juxiang was furious and immediately said, "Ming Zhong, you were very bored yesterday, so what did you say when you begged me to play the next game? You said watching chess is not a true gentleman, Xianbo is a villain,..."

Wei Guangwei immediately looked at Wu Liangsi with unkind eyes, and Wu Liangsi disagreed: "Uncle Xian is a gentleman if he watches chess without saying a word, but he can't control his mouth. The day before yesterday, Ziying and Mengzhang were playing chess, and he was making noise there. No matter what, people respect him as a senior. If it were another person, the chessboard would have been placed on his head..."

After more than two months in this business, it can be said that a group of people have gone from strangers to familiarity, and from familiarity to closeness. Although they have different opinions on many things, the friendship is real.

"Ming Zhong, you are wantonly spreading rumors and slandering my reputation. Ziying is not Mengzhang's opponent. Please give me some advice. How can you say it is noisy?" Wei Guangwei's face turned red and he was very dissatisfied. "Mengzhang is not a match for me." I let Ziying's fifth son, but he still couldn't resist it. I also had good intentions and couldn't bear the reputation of this bad chess player falling on him..."

"Come on, your level is only better than Ziying. The day before yesterday, I played chess with Ke Yao. I lost three games in a row and lost my helmet and armor. I was sweating through my clothes. I almost had to change my clothes. If I opened Ziying's Not counting Ying, a beginner, but the title of Bad Chess Basket is either worn by you or carried by my uncle. I suggest that you two just start a game and ensure that the fight is inextricable..."

Wu Liangsi's vicious words made Sun Juxiang and Wei Guangwei so angry that they were furious, "Ziying is not a beginner. It is said that he has been playing chess for seven or eight years,..."

"Okay, Uncle Xian, stop quibbling. It's really not possible. As long as you beat Uncle Fu, will the title of bad chess player belong to him soon?" Wu Liangsi gave him a bad idea, "But you can't imitate Ziying either. , always regretting chess, that is not what a man does,..."

Feng Ziying could only sigh as she listened to the people next door criticizing each other and trying to cheer her up, "Mengzhang, this game of Go is too time-consuming, how about playing the backgammon I taught you?"

"Forget it, Ziying doesn't know you have so many ideas in your head, why don't you have any talent in playing chess? It's fine if you don't have talent, but can we have some backbone, regretting the game at every turn, and destroying it at every turn? How can we play chess after three or four moves?" Fan Jingwen also rolled his eyes and shook his head, refusing to play chess with Feng Ziying again.

"Ke Yao, why don't we..." Before the words came out, He Fengsheng was shaking his head like a rattle and picked up a book, "Forget it, Ziying, there is no need for the two of us. It is better to read a book than to play chess with you. Well, I think Mr. Xuan Hu's book "Taishi Water Law" is very innovative. It is said that he co-edited it with a Xiyi man. I also plan to visit Mr. Xuan Hu at the Ministry of Industry after I go back and ask for advice. "

Feng Ziying's eyes fell on the book in He Fengsheng's hand, "Taishi Water Law". Yes, it was compiled by Xu Guangqi, who was now a farming division doctor.

This is another celebrity from the past time and space, but he still shines brightly in this dynasty. However, it is not Xu Guangqi's highlight moment yet. He will have to wait for a few more years to slowly show his talents in all aspects before he will gradually be recognized by the world. I know, but I don’t know whether in this time and space, he can be like the previous time and space, or even go further?

 It would be a pity if such a general talent cannot be put to good use, especially since it would be quite useful for his own vision of promoting the popularization of science and technology education throughout Dazhou.

 Feng Ziying was silent for a while.

Seeing that Feng Ziying was habitually deep in thought again, Fan Jingwen and He Fengsheng were also used to it, and they exchanged glances without saying a word.

 (End of this chapter)