Chapter 183 182 Ministry of Rites

After receiving the notice from the Ministry of Rites, Wei Guangde packed up his clothes and headed to the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites early the next morning.

This time when he arrived at the gate of the Rites Yamen, the clerk at the door very attentively invited him into the second gate and rested in the public room.

"The adults still have important matters to attend to. Once they are taken care of, you will be sent in as soon as possible."

The little official said with a flattering smile that Wei Guangde brought someone to the door last time, but he was not polite to him, so he was watching the new Jinshi carefully.

After Wei Guangde entered the room and sat down, he took a sip of the tea brought by the clerk and felt a little puzzled.

There's no one else in the room, why am I alone?

When the clerk brought tea and was about to leave, he was stopped by Wei Guangde.

"Are there any other people of my same age coming to the Yamen today?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"I don't know about that. You are the first Jinshi to come to the Yamen this morning."

The clerk said with a smile.

"No one else is coming?"

Wei Guangde frowned, a little strange.

"Wei Chuanlu, how dare a junior official lie to you? So far today, you are the first Jinshi master I have ever met."

The clerk said seriously with a smile on his face.

When Wei Guangde wanted to come, he arranged for Jinshi to come to the Ministry of Ceremonies to collect the results of the Imperial Examination. Regardless of whether he was selected to enter the Hanlin Academy or not, there should be a few talents. Those who ranked high in the Imperial Examination, such as Chen Xi and Dai Ke, should have a few talents. It’s only right that I should be elected to the Hanlin Academy as a scholar. Why am I the only one?

Without asking for a clue, Wei Guangde had no choice but to sit down and continue drinking tea, waiting for the adults from the Ministry of Etiquette to come over and deal with his matter after finishing their official duties.

Wei Guangde was not worried that the clerk had miscommunicated yesterday and said he was coming in the morning instead of coming in the afternoon. He did not see that he entered the Rites Yamen without any obstruction.

First of all, the little official also said that all the Jinshi will come today and tomorrow. The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel have already arranged their places to watch the government, and they will all come to get a note so that they can take up their posts in the arranged yamen.

They come, the security.

Wei Guangde didn't bother to think too much and just sat there sipping tea in small sips.

Don't tell me, this tea is not bad, it should be Mingqian tea. The aroma is very fresh and rich. I think it was picked locally before Qingming. The good ones are naturally a tribute, and the rest will be sent to the mansions of the capital and various yamen. .

Not long after, Yan Ne, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites, came in, followed by a scribe.

"Wei Chuanlu has been waiting for a long time. He is really too busy with official duties. I have just come out from Lord Shangshu's place."

Wei Guangde dared to continue sitting there. When the right servant entered the room, Wei Guangde had already stood up and bowed.

"Master Yan is too polite, but students don't dare to do it."

Although Wei Guangde passed the imperial examination and got an official status, he was not awarded an official position after all. He calls himself an official or a subordinate official. So what kind of official are you?

There was no other way. The Jinshi was a little embarrassed at this time. When he met Mr. Guan, Wei Guangde still chose to call himself a student.

"Sit down."

Yan Ne said to Wei Guangde with a smile, waving his hand for him to sit down and talk.

Although Yan Na's surname is Yan, he has nothing to do with Yan Song's family. He is from Changshu County, Suzhou Prefecture, South Zhili Province. He was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing. Jiajing was overjoyed, and was awarded a bachelor's degree in the Hanlin Academy. His transfer to the right minister of the Ministry of Rites was the first step towards the cabinet. Naturally, Wei Guangde did not dare to entrust him to the throne.

"Master Yan, I don't know why the students are here today."

Wei Guangde did not become an official, so he first learned all about officialdom and pretended to be confused.

"Haha, it's been a while since the imperial examination ended. Today and tomorrow will be the arrangements for your new subjects to go."

Yan Shilang said with a smile, and then glanced at the scribe standing next to him. The scribe immediately held a note in both hands and handed it to Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde took it and looked at it. It was a document. Different from other Jinshi, the document did not indicate that he went to a certain Yamen to observe politics, but that he went to the Hanlin Academy to study as a scholar.

"Go to the Hanlin Academy according to the time on the note. Yin Taiyin Zhanshi is now in charge of the affairs of the Academy. You should know him. We are all fellow countrymen, haha."

Yan Shilang continued.

Wei Guangde collected the note and bowed to Minister Yan, "Thank you, Sir."

"Don't thank me. It's just the Ministry of Etiquette that's in charge of you Jinshi scholars. That's why I sent you here. The Hanlin Academy is responsible for the imperial examinations. We only assist. We can't get involved in selecting the library."

Yan Shilang just smiled.

"Master Yan, I wonder how many people of the same year will go to the Hanlin Academy with me this time?"

Interrupted by Minister Yan, although Wei Guangde did not say the next words, he still bowed to him respectfully before asking.

When I came here today, I saw and heard something strange. I didn’t see anyone of the same age.

"You don't know yet?"

Yan Shilang was slightly surprised, then nodded, "It's normal. I only learned about it yesterday. Jinshi Jinshi does not choose an institution originally. The imperial examination only arranges the place to go. Yesterday, after Yin Zhan's case was reported, His Majesty singled you out. A scholar of Hanlin Academy."

Speaking of this, Yan Shilang's eyes were full of envy and he sighed: "Wei Chuanlu's kindness is really enviable."

At this time, Wei Guangde was a little dumbfounded after hearing what Yan Shilang said.

When did he get involved with the emperor?

Jinshi in this subject actually has no plan to choose a library?

Have you become the only sage in Jinke?

Wei Guangde didn't know how to answer the question for a moment. How should he answer this?

When leaving the Rites Yamen, Wei Guangde had a note in his arms. This was his document for going to the Hanlin Academy.

After leaving the Ministry of Rites and getting on Li San's carriage, Wei Guangde was still thinking about this on the way back to Jiujiang Guild Hall. Why was the emperor so good to him?

It's hard to believe that when the Yan family sent the news, they also said that his ranking was chosen by the emperor. The Yan family knew that Wei Guangde would know this sooner or later, so they didn't hide anything.

Of course, the role played by Yan Ge Lao was not concealed. Wei Guangde naturally knew what the Yan family did.

It can be said that without Yan Ge Lao's promotion, his paper would definitely not be in front of the emperor, and naturally it would be impossible to promote his ranking.

At that time, Wei Guangde thought that his article was well done, but now it seems that it is not so.

Even if the article caught the emperor's eye, why did he choose to enter the Hanlin Academy?

Well, because he was singled out by the emperor, Yan Ne was envious. You know, he has already entered the passage to the cabinet.

Indeed, whether or not to enter the cabinet depends largely on the emperor's attitude, but Wei Guangde only met Emperor Jiajing twice, once for the palace examination and once for the imperial examination, and never said a word.

It is said that the people in the Hanlin Academy are prime ministers, but in fact, for a large number of Hanlin, only a few can finally reach that step.

There are actually not many ways for the Hanlin Academy to enter the cabinet. Generally, one must wait until the Hanlin Academy is a bachelor of reading or a bachelor of teaching. This is a critical node. The next step is to transfer to the Zhanshi Mansion or the Taichang Temple. There is another direction, that is, to enter the ministry, the Ministry of Rites or other ministries as the right vice minister.

Generally speaking, people who are favored by the emperor will be transferred to the position of right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, and then promoted to left vice minister after passing the examination, or transferred to the left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel and enter the cabinet.

This is a standard procedure, and most cabinet ministers favored by the emperor take this shortcut.

If you enter the Ministry of Personnel when you enter the ministry, then you still have the opportunity to transfer to the Ministry of Rites, but if you enter the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of War, generally speaking, you may not be able to enter the cabinet in this life.

After all, there are only a few positions in the cabinet. Every time the cabinet ministers are elected, the Minister of Rites is only one of the candidates. At the same time, he also competes with the Hanlin scholars of the Taichang Temple and the Zhanshi Mansion, as well as the assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel.

And most of these assistant ministers are from the Hanlin Academy after passing the examination.

Because these candidates often have the mark of Hanlin behind them, there is a saying that no Hanlin can enter the cabinet.

It can be said that the Ministry of Rites is the private land of the Hanlin Academy in the court, and those who have no experience in the Hanlin Academy cannot enter the Ministry of Rites.

Wei Guangde was a commoner before, so naturally he didn't know much about official promotion.

But in this life, especially after going to Beijing to take the imperial examination, Wei Guangde collected a lot of information about previous official promotions from Xia Kefan and other Jinshi, Jiujiang merchants in Beijing, and Zhang Ji for research. Especially after knowing that he was selected by Emperor Jiajing as a candidate for the imperial examination, his self-confidence was a little inflated, and he specifically studied the origins of the cabinet ministers.

It was completely different from what Wei Guangde thought in the past. Most of the cabinet ministers in this period of the Ming Dynasty were not selected from the five ministers except the Ministry of Rites, but from the Ministers of the Zhanshi Mansion, the Taichang Temple, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Personnel, and most of these people also had the title of Hanlin Bachelor.

As for the cabinet ministers seen in later generations with the titles of Minister of Rites, Minister of Personnel, or Minister of Revenue, they were actually given by the emperor after entering the cabinet to improve their grades.

After all, the cabinet ministers were university scholars, and the grade of university scholars was the fifth grade.

In other words, most of the cabinet university scholars in the Ming Dynasty entered the cabinet directly from the positions of left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, rather than entering the cabinet after becoming ministers.

On the contrary, Wei Guangde clearly felt that it seemed that if he became the minister of the other five ministries except the Minister of Rites, he would not be able to enter the cabinet.

The reason why the position of the Minister of Rites was mentioned separately was because the Ministry of Rites was a low-income government office and was relatively noble.

The only minister of the six ministries who entered the cabinet without being the Minister of Rites was Jiao Fang. He entered the cabinet as the Minister of Personnel, but Jiao Fang was allowed to enter the cabinet by Emperor Zhengde because he went through the eunuch Liu Jin's way.

Well, it's a bit special and can't be regarded as a common practice.

This discovery surprised Wei Guangde for a long time before he thought of a possible answer.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty invented and reused the cabinet department, which was not originally intended to manage the country, but to weaken the status and power of the six ministers, so that the cabinet and the six ministries would check and balance each other.

If the six ministers entered the cabinet, it would undoubtedly increase their status and power, especially they could interfere in the affairs of the six ministries without scruples.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde was actually a little unsure about how Emperor Jiajing was going to place him.

In the past, Wei Guangde appeared as a capable official, good at dealing with some problems, not writing poems, painting, or being a lyricist.

In this way, whether Wei Guangde entered the Hanlin Academy or not did not affect his future career. At most, he could enter the six ministries and become a minister. It would not be in vain for him to travel to the Ming Dynasty.

But just now, he heard that Emperor Jiajing had singled him out and thrown him into the Hanlin Academy, which was a bit contradictory.

Was he planning to let me enter the cabinet as a university scholar?

Wei Guangde was a little skeptical, but more of a little scared.

Other Jinshi were excited when they were admitted to the Hanlin Academy.

Before and after taking the imperial examination, Wei Guangde had the same attitude to the outside world. He really wanted to be admitted to the Hanlin Academy and ask the scholars in the academy for advice.

Well, now that he really got in, he was the only one.

The ranking of Chuanlu in the palace examination was eye-catching enough, and now the emperor has caused him to suffer such a disaster. Wei Guangde didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

A few days ago, Wei Guangde had received many invitations from ministers in the court, asking him to come over and have a chat and drink tea when he was free.

Now that there was the matter of selecting Shujishi, Wei Guangde could foresee that after the news spread, more invitations would fly to him.

As for why Wei Guangde didn't really want to join the Hanlin Academy and become a Shujishi, well, he was afraid of the homework he had to hand in every month.

Shujishi was not an official position in the strict sense. According to the Ming system, Shujishi studied in the Hanlin Academy and was taught by a bachelor. To put it bluntly, Shujishi studied in the Hanlin Academy and was taught by a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.

Shujishi was very noble, but had no power. He was just a reserve official, which was why Wei Guangde felt a little disadvantaged.

Others who didn't enter the Shujishi class in the same year have become officials, but he still has to continue to study hard and submit an assignment every month for grading.

Wei Guangde positioned himself as a capable official, not a poet who is good at writing and writing. The Hanlin Academy is obviously not the place for him.

As for Fei Hanlin not entering the cabinet, is it so easy to be a cabinet official?

How many Shujishi have there been in the Ming Dynasty, and how many people can rush up?

Just give yourself an official position, make some money, live a happy life, take a few concubines, and your life will be perfect.

With his vision that surpasses modern times by many years, as for the current problems encountered by the court, he can solve them if he can help, and if he can't help, there are tall people to support him.

How good it is, life is stress-free, just enjoy it.

However, it is obvious that such a beautiful plan is gone forever.

Emperor Jiajing transferred himself to the Hanlin Academy as a Shujishi. With a low salary, he was afraid that he could not make a living in the capital, let alone make money to support his family and take concubines.

Wei Guangde did not figure out what Emperor Jiajing was planning. The carriage had already returned to Jiujiang Guild Hall. When he got off the carriage, he was surrounded by Lao Kan and others who were waiting there and asked about his life.

Just as Wei Guangde thought before, they were all scholars who were eager to get the position of Hanlin Academy and Shujishi, but it was a pity that they did not have this opportunity.

Wei Guangde changed his previous sad face in the carriage. He did not need to rub his face to change. A confident and proud smile appeared on his face.

"Look, I said that Guangde was going to be a Shujishi this time. Unfortunately, I was not summoned this morning, and I don’t know which government office I will be sent to."

Lao Kan saw Wei Guangde’s expression when he got off the car, and immediately smiled and said to the other two.

"That’s right, Guangde, when did you go to the Hanlin Academy to take up your post?"

Xia Kefan asked enviously.

"Which of your classmates have been selected into the Hanlin Academy this year?"

Amidst the envious voices of Lao Kan and Xia Kefan, Wei Guangde was surrounded by them and entered the Jiujiang Guild Hall.