Chapter 107 Section 107 Examination Room Leakage Incident

When Zeng Guofan returned to the mansion, he saw that the door of the mansion was wide open, and Zhou Sheng was chasing a young servant away in a vicious voice; from a distance, he heard Zhou Sheng say in a loud voice: "My master is a dignified second-rank servant, and he is in the department. Repudiator! If you don't come to ask for a mere six hundred taels of silver, how can you be yellow?" As soon as Zeng Guofan heard this, he knew that the debt collector from the bank had come to ask for it, so he hurriedly got out of the sedan chair, and said to Zhou Sheng, "Don't be unreasonable", and said apologetically to the boy, "Please follow the department", So he let the little guy into the study.

Zeng Guofan saw that the boy's face was flushed, as if he was still angry, so he smiled and said, "Little brother, the concierge is rough, please bear with me. I hope that little brother will return to the village more often. Another two months. The national treasury has been empty recently, and the headquarter has not received a salary for several months. I am really sorry to let you run empty again and again." The little fellow murmured for a long while before saying: "The slave also knows that the lord is a poor official in the capital, and the master's letting the slave come to the house is not to force the debt, but to tell the lord that the time limit for the money owed to the village is up, and to remind the lord But the porter, accusing the slave of not listening to what he said, raised his fist to hit the slave on the head."

Zeng Guofan hurriedly said: "He is a rough man, don't be as knowledgeable as him, I will apologize to you." Seeing Zeng Guofan say such words, the young man knew that he was really poor, so he pouted away. That night, Zeng Guofan summoned Zhou Sheng and all his servants, and told them the story of Yan Zi and the coachman: Yan Zi was still courteous from official to prime minister.Once, the coachman was driving Yanzi to an errand in a carriage, and was passing by the door of the coachman's own house, when the coachman's wife saw him.She saw that the prime minister sitting in the car was humble and well behaved, without the airs of a prime minister at all; on the contrary, the husband driving the car was arrogant, as if he was a prime minister.The well-educated mother-in-law immediately blushed.As soon as the coachman came home in the evening, the wife said to him: "My husband, today I can't tell who is the prime minister and who is the coachman between the driver and the driver? Can you tell my slave?" The coachman replied, "Of course I am the coachman." Now, how can there be a prime minister driving a car?" The mother-in-law said: "My husband, since the driver is a coachman, how can you be more arrogant than the prime minister in a car?"

The coachman's face flushed suddenly.From then on, he was no longer arrogant.Because he knows that no matter whether he is driving for ordinary people or high-ranking officials, he is still a driver. After Zeng Guofan's story was finished, Zhou Sheng's face began to heat up.After the other servants dispersed, Zhou Sheng murmured: "My lord, Zhou Sheng was wrong." Then he knelt down. Zeng Guofan helped him up, sighed and said: "Oh, I know, you don't want outsiders to know the predicament in the mansion! Tomorrow you take my two pairs of writing on weekdays and go to the calligraphy and painting near Liulichang. shop, see if I can exchange a few taels of silver to get rid of the problem. We have to eat!"

Tang Xuan came in at this moment and said, "My lord, I have a proposal." Zeng Guofan said to Zhou Sheng: "Zhou Sheng, tell the cook to boil a pot of water. I'm not feeling well these two days. It seems like I'm about to fall into an old problem." Seeing Zhou Sheng walk out, Zeng Guofan said to Tang Xuan, "Sit down and talk." Tang Xuan stood up and said: "My lord, I think it's time to use the money in the bank." Zeng Guofan lowered his head and thought for a while, and said: "I have never dared to use the Cheng Yi that Mr. Bao gave me. I originally wanted to hand over the capital and interest to the emperor after opening a vacancy. But now that the court is like this, how can you make me bear it?" How about leaving? What's more, at this time, I begged to open a vacancy and return home. The emperor can't agree. Donate it to the disaster area, because I'm afraid it will arouse the suspicion of the court and the dissatisfaction of the ministers. I am a well-known poor servant, so donate it all the time Two thousand taels of silver, the emperor really asked where the money came from, how do you want me to deal with it? Cough! Bao Zhongtang has been dead for many years, you can’t pour dirty water on the dead, right?”

Tang Xuan whispered: "My lord, I should say something that I shouldn't have said. You have read too deeply the books of the saints! It is well known that the officials of Fengjiang gave Cheng Yi to the chief examiner of the classic examination. Beijing officials are not allowed to serve outside, how to fill their stomachs! The emperor knows these rules. Otherwise, why do people who get outside appointments say that he is holy and righteous! Such unwritten rules, except for the emperor, No one can change it!" After hearing this, Zeng Guofan pondered for a while, and then said to himself: "It's useless to read the sage's book, it's a waste to read the sage's book!" Suddenly, he smiled wryly as if he had made up his mind, and said: "It's only a waste of time to read the sage's book!" It can be done like this. Tang Xuan, you can go to the bank tomorrow to check and see how much the interest is?"

Tang Xuan's face showed joy: "My lord, I have checked it, and the interest is already 1,436 taels!" Zeng Guofan was startled, and said casually: "Unexpectedly, the interest is so much! How about it, you can only take out the interest tomorrow. In addition to repaying the debt, you have a few hundred taels left. Save money and try to eat for a year. Two thousand Don’t move the principal of the two thousand taels lightly, if you are poor, you will be greedy, and with these two thousand taels as a guarantee, the reputation of the hall will not be tarnished!” Tang Xuan laughed and said: "My lord is serious. Don't be angry when Tang Xuan said a joke, the court will not pay the salary after we eat up all the interest. What about the two thousand taels of principal? If the principal is moved, it will be eaten up again." Well, the imperial court hasn't issued a salary, so what should you do? Seeing the situation of the government's exploitation, the lotus leaf pond may not be able to come up with money!"

Zeng Guofan said: "Then the only way is to resign and return home! Otherwise, how can you let me keep the word "clean" when I am hungry! , This is not a lie, what is it! If you tell it, ghosts will not believe it!" Tang Xuan was convinced by what he said, and Nuo Nuo agreed, with tears in his eyes. As long as you fill your stomach, stick to the word "clean". How many people can do it? If this person becomes the emperor, how blessed the people will be! Tang Xuan was taken aback by his sudden thought, and hurriedly said to Zeng Guofan, "Your Excellency, please rest", and walked out as if fleeing.

Tang Xuan's abnormal behavior stunned Zeng Guofan for a long time. "Master, cleanse yourself." Ku San, a handyman in Zeng's mansion, came in carrying a bucket of hot water, and Zeng Guofan was awakened. Zeng Guofan collected himself and asked casually, "Where are Li Bao and Liu Heng?" Ku San put down the bucket and replied: "Return to the master, the slave listened to the master, didn't the master send Master Li and Master Liu to go out of Beijing yesterday for business?" Zeng Guofan smiled bitterly and said: "Look at my memory, Ku San, Li Bao and Liu Heng are not here, so you can work harder. Now the capital has discovered the refugees from Guangxi, and the capital will not be peaceful." San promised to go out.

Only then did Zeng Guofan take off his clothes and sit in the hot water basin, enjoying the happiest moment of the day. The hot salt water infiltrates the body little by little, and the bones are crispy and soft in a short time, which is extremely comfortable. Zeng Guofan closed his eyes involuntarily, and said to himself: "The matter of Li Bao and Liu Heng should have some clues, right?" What was Li Bao and Liu Heng going to do when they were sent out by Zeng Guofan?What difference can they two little seven or eight rank guards with knives do?It turned out that this was an accident caused by the Keshun Tianwu Township Examination, and it was quite legendary.

Shuntian Prefecture governs five prefectures and nineteen counties. It was the Kewu Township Examination, and 892 students from the county were admitted.After five days of school examinations, a total of 167 students were admitted.The Wuxiang test is divided into the outfield and the infield, and the outfield is divided into the first field and the second field.The first trial of riding and archery, the second trial of infantry and bow, knife, stone, skill and bravery.The inner court is also called the three courts, and the examiners are required to silently write a paragraph of text in "Wu Jing", about a hundred characters, and the requirements are not too strict, as long as the words are written correctly.The main difference between the Wenxiang Examination and the Wuxiang Examination is that the Wenxiang Examination is mainly managed by the Ministry of Rites, and other yamen cooperate with it; the Wuxiang Examination is mainly managed by the Ministry of War, and staff are drawn from various ministries to assist. The Shuntianwu Township Examination was the most solemn rural exam in the Qing Dynasty. The chief examiner was not a member of the third grade or above, and the previous promotion officers were the previous Shuntianfu Zhengyin.The examination halls are also extremely guarded, and the soldiers are going to release Sandaogang, and the common people dare not stop.Idle officials, who have gone up to university scholars, are so young that they have not entered the stream, have no special purpose, and it is absolutely difficult to enter. It was the Kewu Township Examination. After three rounds, all the chief examiners took the Jieyuan of Shike as Rongfa, Wanping County, Manchu, and waited for the chief examiner to mark the word "Zhong" under Rongfa's name. The full-time copying officer of the Ministry of Rites will clearly transcribe the admissions, and then submit them to the emperor together, and the emperor will hand-pick the word "accurate" before it can be announced on the list.But before the announcement, the list of winners must not be disclosed. However, when writing the list, Qu Ziliang, the censor who served as the supervisor of the field, received a letter addressed to the chief examiner Zeng Guofan, which stated, "Master Zeng, who is the chief examiner of the Kewu Township Examination, must not be opened for reading." ". Qu Ziliang knew that the rules in the examination room were strict, and if he was not careful, he would be killed, so he didn't dare to delay and reported it directly to Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan opened the letter in front of all the officials of the scientific examination room, and saw that there was only one line on it: Xie Yuanrong was actually a bully in Wanping.Signed: Candidates for life. Zeng Guofan put down the letter, squinted his eyes and looked at the officials who participated in the Wuxiang Examination one by one, and said word by word: "Who informed the outside of the venue? Now stand up, the Ministry will spare him, and the Ministry will investigate and find out. There is absolutely no reason to live!" Forty or so officials were happily whispering to each other about idle topics, when they suddenly heard Zeng Guofan's words, their whole bodies were shocked; everyone looked at each other, and then at Zeng Guofan, who was sitting in the high hall with a pale face, all lowered their heads, and no one spoke. . Zeng Guofan went on to say: "It's because the emperor has not approved the provincial examination, and the yellow list has not been opened. How do people outside know that Xie Yuan is an honorary hair? Don't write the name list given to the emperor by the transcription officer. The Ministry has decided that all adults present tonight You are not allowed to go back to your residence! The Department of Secrets must be investigated one by one. The country opens a course to recruit scholars, and the relationship is very important. Prepare the palanquin! The hall of this department must immediately enter the palace to ask the emperor for orders!" Before getting into the sedan chair, Zeng Guofan said to the chief soldier in charge of the guarding field of the Kexiang County Examination: "Leave this place to the guard of the military gate, and no one is allowed to escape. Come as soon as you go in the department hall." After speaking, he stepped into the sedan chair.