Chapter 11 Section 11 Remember the teachings, be diligent and thrifty in housekeeping

In this year, Mu Tong, Minister of Zhengsi Honglu Temple, was awarded the deputy chief examiner of the Zhejiang Provincial Examination by Emperor Daoguang. Seeing the copy of the speech from the Ministry of Rites in the Hanlin Academy, Zeng Guofan felt the status of the master Mu Zhang'a in Emperor Daoguang's mind.Because although Mu Tong was also born in the top two rankings, he is a martial artist and is used to boxing. He is a person who knows nothing about the "Four Books and Five Classics".Such a person can be released to assist the chief examiner in organizing a province's provincial examination. If it wasn't Mu Zhang'a's role, who could it be?

As for Mu Xiang asking Zeng Guofan to help Mu Tong with a few words, Zeng Guofan agreed, but he didn't do it, and he didn't dare to do it.However, Mu Zhongtang, a first-rank university scholar, chief assistant of the Military Aircraft Department, and a daring figure in the eyes of Emperor Daoguang, paid more and more attention to his favorite student. Mu Zhang'a knew that Mu Tongyu was a master in learning, the whole capital knew it, and I believe that the most sage Emperor Daoguang should also have heard of it.Zeng Guofan happened to be a well-recognized master of writing in the capital, and when he was favored, unless he helped a few words, Mu Tong's wish would never come true.This muddled account made by mistake made Zeng Guofan's official career much smoother; those who wanted to make Zeng Guofan difficult, because of Mr. Mu's face, they all gave up.

Mu Tong, as a fourth-rank minister of the Honghe Temple, besides the annual salary of one hundred and fifty taels and one hundred and fifty rice, there is also a hereditary salary of nearly two hundred taels, plus As for the salary, the total annual income will not be less than seven hundred taels.With the income of the scholar-official class, why does he still value this imperial mission so much? It turned out that the officials of the Imperial Code Examination not only had to receive expensive Cheng Yi from the Ministry of Household Affairs (generally two thousand taels for the chief examiner, and one thousand taels for the deputy chief examiner), but also a gift money from the local government when the rural examination was over.The main examiner of the township examination is usually served by a Hanlin Gong (officials with a rank of four or above) or a civil servant with a rank of three or above. , usually two thousand taels of silver, which is equivalent to taking another share of Cheng Yi; as for the deputy chief examiner, it doesn’t matter what the grade is, but it must be someone with outstanding writing (except for the special case of Mu Tong), and the general filial piety is one thousand taels Silver is also equal to Cheng Yi.It's nothing more than one public and one private.Gift money is often handed over by the governor or Xuezheng of a province. It is called hard work fee, which actually means bribery.At that time, there were folk songs that said: "One chief examiner, the people will eat for ten years", "Beijing officials are not released, and they are so poor that they can sell kangs."The main point is this kind of gray income.

In fact, this unwritten rule appeared as early as the Kangxi period, but it has not yet formed a certain number.At that time, Beijing officials went to the provinces to preside over the township examinations. Some provinces gave 1,000, some gave 2,000, and some gave 500. It mainly depends on whether the province is fat or poor.At that time, the chief examiner of the township examination didn't say anything to Cheng Yi, but the Ministry of Household Affairs made some exchanges, and the year-end salary was slightly higher. In order to prevent corruption in the examination, Emperor Kangxi specially asked the Ministry of Accounts to set up Cheng Yi.The officials shouted long live three times, saying that the servants were grateful for the great grace of the emperor, but the money for filial piety at the local level was still taken, otherwise the rural examination, which happened every three years, would not be able to be completed well; it was just that it was no longer blatant.

Emperor Kangxi took this measure out of sympathy for the people. He thought he had done a great thing that was beneficial to the country and the people, but it did not achieve any effect. Big money. In this year's evaluation, Zeng Guofan ranked second in the first class, and he was ordered to serve as a lecturer at the Imperial Academy and also as an assistant student at the Imperial Academy. With the promotion of official ranks, Zeng Guofan's social status has also improved, and social part-time jobs have increased. The more famous ones include the president of the Hunan Association in Beijing, the deacon of the Hunan Disaster Relief Association, the deacon of the Hunan Guild Hall, and the staff of the Changsha Guild Hall. Many people want to cling to the big tree of Mu Zhang'a so that they can enjoy the shade, and Zeng Guofan, as his number one disciple, wants to benefit even if he doesn't want to.This was beyond his expectation.The green hills can't cover it, after all, it flows eastward, and the gold that is transported is turned into soil, and the soil that is transported is turned into gold.

Good things really hit Zeng Guofan one after another, and it couldn't be stopped.Emperor Daoguang personally selected generals, and ordered Zeng Guofan to be the main examiner of the provincial examination in Sichuan.Zhao Ji's official rank is higher than that of Zeng Guofan, and he is the fourth rank, which has never happened since the founding of the Qing Dynasty. A day later, the Ministry of Household Affairs sent Cheng Yi, two thousand taels of silver, to the Imperial Academy, and everyone in the Imperial Academy was shocked.General subordinates such as Hu Linyi and Chen Gongyuan clamored to eat Zeng Guofan's flower wine, but Zeng Guofan laughed it off.Back at the residence, looking at the two thousand taels of white silver, his heart has already returned to the Xiangxiang Heye Pond that he has always dreamed of.

In the fourteenth year of Daoguang (AD 1834), 24-year-old Zeng Guofan won the thirty-sixth Juren in the Hunan Township Examination.In the 17th year of Daoguang's examination in Beijing, he failed, so he had to return to his hometown disgruntled.When he was wandering around the Jinling Bookstore, he never expected that his dream "History of Ming Dynasty" was for sale here.When he asked the price of the book, he couldn't help feeling happy and worried.The happy thing is that the money in my pocket matches the price of the book; the sad thing is that after I bought "History of Ming Dynasty", I don't have the money to go home.

Holding the hard money in his hands, he hesitated for a long time in the book store, wandered for a long time, walked through the store twice in a row, and finally gritted his teeth and bought the book.While carefully putting the books into the load one by one, he quietly asked the clerk of the book shop: "Little brother, is there a pawn shop here?" The clerk pointed diagonally to the opposite side with his hand: "Isn't that?" Then he asked him in surprise: "Isn't it because you want to buy books as clothes? Grandpa, it doesn't matter if you don't read books, but what can you do if you don't wear clothes?"

Zeng Guofan smiled and said nothing, picked up "History of Ming Dynasty" and walked out of the store.He carried "History of Ming Dynasty" into the pawn shop, pawned his gown, and then went to the wharf and partnered with others to board a boat back to Hunan.As if by God's will, the boat price matched the money he got for the gown.What he thought was: "It's okay to go on a boat without wearing a long gown, but it's okay not to buy "History of Ming Dynasty" when you come across it!" The boat sailed for three days and three nights. He read "History of Ming Dynasty" for three days and slept soundly for three nights.

When Zeng Guofan walked into the house with a book in his hand, he was already in a panic, and the whole family thought he had been robbed. At this time, the Zeng family had already spent countless money to support Zeng Guofan's education, and the accumulated family property was almost gone, and they were only in debt to survive.The next year happens to be a leap year again.There is Enke in leap year, so we can try together. In order for Zeng Guofan not to miss the second opportunity to go to Beijing for the exam, Xingganggong sold the land three times and there was still a shortfall of more than a dozen taels. Zeng Linshu was also so anxious that he couldn't sleep for several nights.Zeng Linshu was close to knowing his destiny at that time. He knew that he was born to be a scholar.However, he wants to make up for this shortcoming from his son.The son is already a Juren, only one step away from Jinshi.However, silver...

On this day, Uncle Nan Wu came to visit Duke Xinggang. Seeing that the Zeng family was frowning, he knew that he was worried about Zicheng's entry into Beijing.Fifth Uncle Nan didn't say a word. After returning home, he insisted on pulling a half-grown dairy cow that had been cultivated by him to the fair and sold it at a low price, and sent the money for selling the cow to Zeng's family overnight.Although Zeng Linshu quickly repaid the ten taels of silver, this incident left a deep impression on Zeng Guofan: it was not easy for him to be a Jinshi! When he was about to enter Beijing, Zeng Guofan had already made up his mind: it's fine if this Jinshi fails the examination, if he wins, he must repay the love of his relatives and hometown people more than ten or twenty times.But after several years, not only did he fail to realize this ideal, on the contrary, he made his family refill him with a lot of money. Although Mr. Xinggang repeatedly pressured his family members not to gossip, and repeatedly encouraged his grandson in letters, saying that the poor and the poor can't make good officials, Zeng Guofan has always been in a bad mood, and his relatives also have the opinion of the boss. . In August of the second year of the pilot test, Zeng Guofan asked for leave to return to Hunan to thank his teacher and visit his relatives. A dispute at home made him unforgettable. At this time, the Zeng family, under the full management of Mr. Xinggang, was able to employ long-term workers again, and Zeng Guofan's younger brothers also invited their husbands. In Xiangxiang, they looked like a big family.This is all due to the fact that Mr. Xinggang managed his family in a proper manner, and he did not have any foreign money, as evidenced by the pickles made from more than a dozen jars of vegetable roots. The topic was brought up by Zeng Linshu: "The Hanlin is wider. The Hanlin corresponds to the stars in the sky. There are only a few Hanlins in Hunan! Has there been one in Xiangxiang in the past ten years? Click Hanlin But they are members of the royal family. I think as soon as Kuan comes back, he will go all out, expand the courtyard, and repair the house. Let’s give Kuan a study, so that he can have a place to entertain guests when he comes back to visit his relatives. The land that is expected to be bought, I think it’s fine. Kuanyi will have to be an official soon, and the Hanlin will be an official. I think the worst is a Daotai, a magistrate or something. Even if it is a prefect, I still worry about not having money. Is it? Even if we release the worst magistrate in the future, we can still get him tens of thousands of silver in three years!" At this time, Zeng Linshu was still sitting outside the hall for many years. He was already a man with a beard. There are endless "whatever you want" all day long.Zeng Linshu knew very well that the road to the imperial examination was difficult, so he valued fame more than others.The son won the honor for Lao Tzu, and he felt a sense of superiority, so he spoke first. "That's right, that's what my brother-in-law is talking about." Zeng Linshu's brother-in-law Jiang Chaoyi, an honest farmer, also said, "Zicheng has ordered Hanlin, and it is really a star in the sky. What's more, when Zicheng was born, the master (referring to it) Zeng Guofan’s great-grandfather, Jing Xigong, dreamed that a python entered his bosom, and the old locust trees in the courtyard died. Zicheng must still be a big star! Repair the facade and build a few courtyards, I think it will work.” "Then I will prepare the materials tomorrow, and I will do it early and quickly." Zeng Linshu's second brother, Zeng Jiyun, said quickly.At this time, the whole family believed that a Hanlin Gong was born, and good times would come soon. Seeing everyone talking nonsense in high spirits, the calm old man Zeng Xinggang finally coughed.This was a sign that Mr. Xinggang was going to speak, and everyone was familiar with it, and the hall immediately fell silent. The old man had silver hair all over his head, a snow-white beard fluttering freely, and a cold light always shot out from his two triangular eyes, and he was not angry and majestic.The image of Zeng Guofan is very similar to his grandfather. Zeng Xinggang stroked his beard with his hands, and his voice definitely didn't sound like an old man who was already seven years old: "What is the duty of a farmer? Although the ancestor Zeng Shen was a saint, he has fallen into decline within three generations and used agriculture as his livelihood. Yes. In Kanichi’s life, it has been seventy generations. My Zeng family has always been farming and mulberry. The duty of the farmers is to plant the fields and hemp. , Too much numbness. And what is the duty of an official who eats the imperial food? It is to serve the royal family and resolve grievances for the people. "No matter what dynasty or generation, you can't get past this reason. Kuan Yi is only a Hanlin now, and his future is still early, and he is far from being an official. Don't say that he can't be an official right now, just release the magistrate immediately. Magistrate, this big family can’t rely entirely on him to support. An official can’t last long. There are iron-clad yamen. Have you heard of iron-clad officials? Planting a good field and keeping a good house are the most fundamental. You guys know the emperor How much is the salary for the county magistrate? It’s only thirty or so taels of silver. Just now Linshu said that the smallest county magistrate can earn eight thousand yuan a year. Is there any way for such an official and ordinary people to survive? Generations of people have been oppressed by the government, so is it necessary to let Kuan Yi oppress others? Besides, if you don’t become an official, you first think of getting money and scraping the land. How can you be a good official? How many such corrupt officials have existed since ancient times? How about a good end? The reserved land will be paid tomorrow, and the house in the courtyard should not be repaired or expanded. As for the houses for receiving guests, there is no rush to use them now anyway. Let’s talk about it later. A farmer like us can’t afford to be ostentatious!” Zeng Xinggang's words sealed the mouths of the whole family. Zeng Guofan took these words of his grandfather as his motto in his life, and he always thought about them, even his whole life. He knew his grandfather's motto: To be an official, one must be a good official like Bao Wenzheng, who has left his name through the ages; Zeng Guofan knew clearly that for the past few years, in order to allow himself, the Hanlin Public Security, to study and be an official in the capital, the whole family has been tightening their belts to live.People in Xiangxiang up to the age of Zeng Xinggang, the general family, have to prepare small sedan chairs, but Mr. Xinggang insists on taking reclining chairs instead of sedan chairs, thinking that sedan chairs are expensive.The house that should have been repaired a long time ago was delayed until August of the year when he was promoted to the Imperial Academy for review. People who knew the roots of the Zeng family said that Mr. Xinggang managed the family well, but most people said that Zeng Hanlin's family could really pretend to be poor.Recently, I heard from my younger brothers that even Uncle Nan Wu, who is closest to me, doesn't come to Zeng's family anymore. "The threshold is high. My son is a high-ranking official in Beijing, and he secretly transports a lot of money to his family. He also pretends to be poor, because he is afraid that poor relatives will come to ask for money!" Uncle Nan Wu said whenever he met anyone, feeling very indignant. .But the great kindness of Uncle Nan, Zeng Guofan will never forget it for the rest of his life.