Chapter 150 Satisfied, Unsatisfied
After the palace examination, the new scholars were still in Bian Jing, waiting to be appointed as officials.
Generally speaking, the official appointment is half a month after the palace examination. After the appointment, the new Jinshi will have a vacation to let them return home in glory.
It has only been seven or eight days since the palace examination ended, so there is still some time before the official appointment.
Most of the newly-appointed Jinshi were busy with socializing and had constant entertainment every day.
Pan Lun was an exception. He was the top scholar, and many people wanted to invite him to a banquet, but he declined. He stayed in the inn he stayed in every day and never went out.
That day, Pan Lun was reading a book when his servant boy pushed open the door and walked in.
"My lord, a minor official from the Ministry of Personnel came to see you and asked you to go to the Ministry to accept your appointment." The servant boy said excitedly.
"Huh?" Pan Lun was stunned when he heard that. There were still several days before the appointment, so how could it be suddenly brought forward?
But he didn't have time to think about it. He straightened his clothes and asked his servant to invite the person in.
"Greetings, Mr. Number One Scholar." The clerk was very polite when he saw Pan Lun.
Officials are appointed by the court, they are appointed by the court, receive court salaries and serve the court. Clerks are different, they are appointed by officials, receive salaries from officials and serve the officials appointed by the court. As for power, they naturally have it. The power of officials comes from the court, while the power of clerks comes from officials at all levels.
The visitor was just an ordinary errand boy, but Pan Lun was the top scholar, so he was naturally respectful.
"You're welcome." Pan Lun returned the greeting and asked, "It's still some time before the appointment. Why is it brought forward this year?"
"I was just following orders and I don't know the inside story." replied the clerk.
Pan Lun did not ask any further questions upon hearing this, nor did he doubt the identity of the minor official.
This is the city of Bianjing, and no one dares to pretend to be a minor official in the government to cheat him of the title of the newly crowned top scholar.
Pan Lun followed the clerk out of the inn, where a carriage was parked at the door.
The two men got on the carriage and headed for the Ministry of Personnel.
When he arrived at the Ministry of Personnel, Pan Lun was taken to a public housing unit.
At this time, there were already seven or eight people in the public housing.
"Brother Pan."
When they saw Pan Lun coming in, these people quickly stood up and greeted him.
Pan Lun responded to each of them with a smile and then sat down.
"Zecheng!" Pan Lun greeted Sheng Changbai next to him.
He and Sheng Changbai met while queuing to enter the examination room. They chatted for a few minutes at that time and had a good impression of each other.
"Zimei." Sheng Changbai returned the greeting and introduced Qi Heng who was standing next to him.
After greeting each other, Pan Lun asked, "Zecheng, do you know why the appointment was brought forward this time?"
"I don't know either, but since we are here, we might as well make the best of it. It won't be a bad thing at all." Sheng Changbai said with a smile.
Pan Lun nodded slightly and did not ask any further questions. He started chatting with Sheng Changbai.
A few more people came one after another, and then no one came.
At this time everyone felt that something was wrong. Normally, the officials would be notified in advance.
This is the first time I have heard of such a temporary notice.
And so far there are only a dozen of them, and the rest have not arrived yet.
If they didn't know that this was the Ministry of Personnel, many people would probably suspect that they had been cheated.
Even so, some people started talking in low voices in groups of three or five.
At this moment, the door was opened again, and this time an official in red official uniform came in.
When the officials came in, they read out their appointments without any nonsense and asked someone to deliver the documents.
These people all discovered that they had one thing in common in their appointments: they all served in Kaifeng Prefecture.
Some are the Kaifeng government offices, while others are located in the counties under its jurisdiction.
Those who can pass the imperial examination are certainly not foolish. After a little thought, they guessed a few points.
They all knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, and with this hasty appointment, many people came to the conclusion that they must have been selected by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
When they thought of this, many people became excited and looked at Pan Lun with some sympathy.
Pan Lun was the top scholar in the imperial examination. According to convention, he could be directly appointed to the Hanlin Academy, and of the sixth rank.
Now he is only a county magistrate of the seventh rank.
Although it was still higher than most of their official positions, among the dozen people, only Pan Lun, Sheng Changbai and Qi Heng were granted the title of county magistrate.
Sheng Changbai was okay, at least he was fifth in the first class, but Qi Heng was only second in the class.
In other words, the starting point of Pan Lun, the top scorer, is the same as that of the second-place scorer.
Facing everyone's gaze, Pan Lun was very calm.
After the official of the Ministry of Personnel read out the appointment, he sent someone to deliver the official document and asked them to report to the Kaifeng government office the next day. Then he sent someone to take them to measure their size and receive their official uniforms.
After being appointed as an official, they have vacation time to return home, during which time they will be given official uniforms.
However, the Ministry of Personnel still had some new official uniforms, but they didn’t fit very well.
It seems that now they are asked to report to take up their posts tomorrow.
Among the dozen or so people, except for a few, the rest of them do not live in Bian Jing.
After passing the imperial examination, one naturally wants to return home in glory and enjoy the glory of the country.
But now no one mentions it.
…………
The Ministry of Personnel was located in the inner city, not far from the Duke of Qi's Mansion. After Qi Heng and Sheng Changbai parted ways, they took a carriage home.
When Princess Pingning heard the news, she hurried out to greet him.
"Heng'er, what official position have you been appointed to?" asked Princess Pingning.
Someone from the Ministry of Personnel suddenly came to inform Qi Heng to go to the Ministry of Personnel to be appointed as an official, and no other information was disclosed.
"Mother, I have been appointed as the magistrate of Weishi County." Qi Heng said with a smile.
Princess Pingning frowned when she heard this: "Why is he a county magistrate? Even if he doesn't enter the Imperial Academy, he can enter the Censorate or the Six Ministries."
She also understands some of the ways of officialdom. Generally speaking, those who are directly transferred to local areas have very limited prospects.
The best thing is to go to the Hanlin Academy, followed by going to places like the Jianyuan, the Censorate and the Six Ministries to gild yourself.
"No, I have to go to the palace and ask the emperor to change your official position." Princess Pingning said.
"Mother, I feel fine." Qi Heng quickly stopped his mother.
"What's so good about that? You haven't even gotten married yet, why do you want to be a county magistrate? And do you know how much this will affect your future?" Princess Pingning shouted.
"Mother!" Qi Heng said seriously, "Please let me make the decision for myself. Besides, Weishi County is not far from Bianjing, so it will be convenient for me to come back."
All of Qi Heng's affairs were arranged by Princess Pingning.
Even when he wanted to travel around Bian Jing, Princess Pingning did not agree.
Now that he finally had a legitimate reason to leave home, he naturally didn't want to give it up.
"You make the decision? What do you know? This concerns your future." Princess Pingning said with a grim expression.
She is a person who has a strong desire for control, but she herself is not aware of it.
When she heard that Qi Heng wanted to make the decision himself, she felt even more unhappy.
"This appointment was the idea of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Qi Heng said.
"what?"
Princess Pingning frowned slightly when she heard this and said, "Are you telling the truth?"
"How dare I lie to my mother? There are only a dozen people being appointed to official posts this time, and they are all serving in Kaifeng Prefecture. Even the new top scholar was appointed as a county magistrate just like me." Qi Heng said.
When Princess Pingning heard that even the top scholar was only appointed as a county magistrate, her expression softened.
"Since it is His Highness's arrangement, that is all we can do. When you get married, I will ask His Highness to transfer you back to Bian Jing." Princess Pingning said.
Qi Heng opened his mouth. He had no such intention at all, but in order not to upset his mother, he said nothing in the end.
…………
Compared to Princess Pingning, Madam Wang was overjoyed when she heard the news.
Although Mrs. Wang came from a high-class family, she was raised in her uncle's home since she was a child.
Her knowledge does not match her background, and her mind is focused on the inner house, so she does not understand many things.
Except for the top three candidates in the imperial examination, the rest of the candidates either entered the six ministries or went to local places to serve as county magistrates.
Sheng Changbai served as the county magistrate in Kaifeng Prefecture. Not only was it close to home, but it was also located under the feet of the emperor. Naturally, she was very satisfied.
However, when Sheng Hong came back from work in the evening and heard the news, he frowned.
What he expected was to let Sheng Changbai enter the Hanlin Academy. Now Sheng Changbai has been engaged to the eldest daughter of the Hai family.
The news has spread.
The Hai family has five Hanlin scholars in one family, so there is no need to specially greet them. When selecting officials, the Hanlin Academy will always choose Sheng Changbai.
After spending a few years in the Hanlin Academy, he would be sent out to serve as an official in one of the six ministries. This was the path to becoming a prime minister.
However, he knew that this was arranged by Zhao Xing, and the matter was a foregone conclusion, and there was nothing he could do.
(End of this chapter)