future library.

Chapter 145
early morning.

Household Office.

Hou Wenwu's green cloth sedan always arrived at the government office an hour late.Not being punctual is a privilege of the household inspector. In the officialdom of the entire Great Xia Dynasty, there were only a handful of officials with this privilege. Young political stars were very good at taking advantage of the privilege and making themselves noticed because of it.

As a smart person, Hou Wenwu knows his advantages and disadvantages - age.

While being young gave him many opportunities, he also lost many opportunities.In fact, he has more qualifications than most officials. With the title of the gold list plus the Jinshi and the rank, there are only six people every three years, let alone a 14-year-old first-class Jinshi. 4 years of Hanlin, 4 years of Shizhong, 3 years of imperial history, a total of 12 years of civil service experience has become more prominent each time. Compared with those fellow Jinshi who were in their 40s, he is now better than the officials who will retire They also need experience.

However, everyone will still say that 25-year-old Hou Wenwu is a newcomer to officialdom and a young man.

Hou Wenwu does not want to wait quietly for 20 years and then slowly rise as people suddenly realize.He made full use of his age and his attention.

He attacked high-ranking officials without cowardice, and he used his privileges undisguisedly, all in order to attract attention and always be in the sight of His Majesty the Emperor. This is the only way for Hou Wenwu to succeed.

Now, Hou Wenwu has chosen Cheng Jinzhou as an excellent means to stabilize his status-two-star warlock, who has a star array but is not a rank star warlock; very young.If coupled with the fact that he definitely offended the Nanling Zhao family, Hou Wenwu had been choosing carefully for several days.

He has always been a man of choice.

Most importantly, he didn't want a younger star warlock with more potential to steal his limelight.

……

The bearer gently got off the sedan chair, and the entourage put their hands in front of them, and said, "My lord inspector, we have arrived at the government office."

Hou Wenwu said "hmm", stepped out of the sedan chair with his official boots turned up, looked around, frowned and asked, "Are there many people here today?"

On both sides of the brick wall, there were indeed many sedan chairs parked.The closer the stone lions are, the more sedan chairs there are.

The attendant looked carefully and said: "It seems that they are all the sedan chairs of the adults in the ministry."

"You go to a place farther away." Hou Wenwu raised his chin. He made good use of his privileges, but rarely let his servants do inappropriate things.

Like most aristocratic families, the Hou family has strict rules.After saluting, the bearers and attendants left cautiously, as expected they chose a far away place to wait.

Hou Wenwu took advantage of no one's attention, rubbed his face vigorously, and then climbed up the stairs.

"Master Li..."

"Master Wang..."

"Brother Feng Lu..."

Although he had only been in the household department for a few months, Hou Wenwu was able to call out the names of most of the civil servants accurately.This point is difficult for many household veterans to achieve.The genius of photographic memory is not only used in reading.

However, the behavior of today's civil servants made Hou Wenwu a little strange.

A few guys who would usually smile shyly walked into the fork in the road. Before, even if they pulled their pants in a hurry, they would come over and laugh pretending to be hungry, and put their faces between their buttocks generally.

Even the few people he greeted now were trembling and unable to speak clearly.Hou Wenwu shook his head, wondering if Chun Geng could really drive the people in the household department crazy - he never considered himself a member of the household department.

Pass through the large hall and patio, and you will come to the two rows of wing rooms.The doors of each house are open, the big one is fifty or sixty square meters, the small one is twenty or thirty square meters, and there are three or five small officials busy inside.

A sign such as "Tian Ji Cao" will be hung in front of the door of each wing room.The officials who really work in the household department are basically concentrated in the wing room and behind it.

As for the remaining officials, they are mainly responsible for management: those who manage the work, those who manage the work, and those who manage the work.

Hou Wenwu flicked his sleeves twice, walked into the small door with "Jingcao" with his head held high.

Like most government offices in this era, the Ministry of Households also implements overlapping management. For example, dozens of provinces across the country will have dozens of corresponding horizontal households in charge, while those in charge of territory, fields, and Dingkou will still be in charge of vertical management. Management, in theory, they all have the same jurisdiction, but after years of conventional struggles and compromises, there are hidden rules of their own.

For example, the affairs near Xiajing were basically taken over by the "Jingcao". While making other departments unable to intervene, he also helplessly expanded into a bureaucratic group of nearly 500 people-of course, the yamen in the Ministry of Housing Where the department is located, there will always be only 5 people.

There are dozens of other people working in a room a little farther away, and many more are unemployed petty officials. Xia Jing's gentlemen call them white officials, but they are actually temporary workers and so-called seconded employees.

The first thing Hou Wenwu did when he came to the Ministry of Household Affairs was to incorporate the most important "Jingcao" in his opinion. After mastering it, he also mastered the channel to open his screen to His Majesty the Emperor.

"Old Wang, are you still busy with things?" Hou Wenwu smiled and patted the clerk working at the desk.

Although the chief of Jingcao has a lot of power, he is still a petty official at the 20th level. If he does not pass the imperial examination, he will not be promoted in another 20 years. However, at his age, he will not spend 20 years.

"My lord." Lao Wang smiled as if in surprise, raised his head humbly, and was about to salute with both hands.

Hou Wenwu stopped me and said with a smile: "No, no, no, what happened today?"

Old Wang looked around, frowned and said, "Master Hou doesn't ask, I also want to talk about it, this morning is very strange."

"What?" Hou Wenwu found a seat and sat down.

Without Lao Wang's signal, the officials in the room found reasons to leave one after another.

"In the morning, I went to Mr. Liu's room to deliver the documents, but I couldn't find him. Then I went to Mr. Wu's room to deliver the documents, but I couldn't find them. So I asked the concierge Zhu Yougui, but I heard that the adults had already arrived."

Hou Wenwu knew that Lao Wang was an old official for many years, so he turned his head and asked, "Has it happened before?"

Old Wang said cautiously: "It's all a big deal."

"What kind of big event." Hou Wenwu suddenly had an ominous premonition.

Lao Wang swallowed and said, "The last time, it was Hexi Transshipment Envoy Liu Bin, who asked for a trial of the 'inheritance equalization system' within the jurisdiction."

Hou Wenwu's pupils constricted: "Where are they?"

"I shouldn't know, but, usually, it will be with Master Li."

Hou Wenwu walked away immediately.

Mr. Li is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He also pays homage to political affairs, so he spends most of his time in the Political Affairs Hall and does not manage the daily affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He is more like a representative of the Ministry of Household Affairs who is responsible to the emperor.However, when he appeared in Hubu, no one dared to underestimate him.Hou Wenwu would remain as silent as a cicada in front of him.

If the Minister of the Household Department joins the Zhizheng Shi, if he has another post in the pavilion, his power is not weaker than that of the chief assistant.In fact, Da Xia has rarely appointed chief assistants in the past hundred years, so Li Shaolin has a very important voice in the political affairs hall. Even Hou Wenwu dare not say that he will have the opportunity to be in this position in the future.

Hou Wenwu lifted his robe slightly with one hand, and obviously quickened his pace.A gentleman strolling in the courtyard has long been forgotten by him.As an inspector of the household department, he should be a high-ranking civil servant after Shangshu and Shilang. If he does not participate in a meeting that includes almost all the principals, then there is reason to suspect that things are going in a very bad direction. develop.

Outside the Shangshu hall, two soldiers stopped Hou Wenwu expressionlessly.

"I'm the inspector of the Ministry of Household Affairs." Hou Wenwu flicked his big sleeves, and his blue official robe stood out in the official office like a pig in a flock of chickens.

The two soldiers shook their heads in unison.

"Step aside."

The two soldiers continued to shake their heads.

Hou Wenwu could almost see the heated or not heated discussions in the Shangshu Hall, but he could not let the two leading soldiers give way in any case.

The two of them didn't say a word, but Hou Wenwu, who was eloquent, had nothing to do.

The light gradually became abundant.

Wrapped in a thick official robe, Hou Wenwu felt like he was about to sweat when he saw a small official walking out from the front with his head bowed.

Hou Wenwu hurriedly called out: "Brother Qian, Brother Qian."

The little official was working for Li Shangshu, and he had the air of a secretary of later generations. He heard the seventh-level official call himself "Brother Qian", but he accepted it calmly: "Master Hou, I am looking for you. Please come with me."

Only then did the two soldiers get out of the way.

Hou Wenwu pursed his lips and continued to say kindly: "Brother Qian, inside..."

The little official walked ahead solemnly, as if he didn't hear a word.

When they arrived at Shangshu Hall, the officials inside had already left through the back door.

Li Shaolin stood kindly by the door, beckoned him to come in, and ordered: "Have a good cup of tea."

"Lord Li, you are welcome." Hou Wenwu looked at the empty and messy room, and his heart was also empty and messy.

The messy tables and chairs behind him showed that there had been a meeting here not long ago that many people attended - a meeting that he did not participate in.

"I heard that Mr. Hou went to the west of Beijing for inspection yesterday?"

The word "Cheng Jinzhou" quickly popped up in Hou Wenwu's mind, and when he thought of the string of sedan chairs in front of the household department today, he couldn't help but fell into deep thought.

Li Shangshu smiled understandingly, and he didn't want to offend Hou Wenwu for other people's affairs, so he tried his best to speak softly: "I think Lord Hou will soon know that Warlock Jiang Huangxing sent someone to put him back, and asked, No more interference with the Astromancer's experiments."

"Master Li, have you agreed?" Hou Wenwu's tone was unusually calm.

"That's right, if you don't agree, Jiang Huang will withdraw all the star warlocks, even the apprentice star warlocks who work in the household department..."

"Oh?" Hou Wenwu said softly, "It involves such a wide range of things, I'm afraid Warlock Jiang Huangxing has other requirements, right?"

"That's right." Li Shangshu paused for a moment, and continued: "From today onwards, it is best for Mr. Hou to work in the official office. Let other people do the work at hand first."

"Oh?" Hou Wenwu's voice couldn't hear any ups and downs, and he said as if he had expected it a long time ago: "Dare to ask my lord, is there anything wrong with this lower official."

Under this situation, Li Shangshu smiled like a peacemaker and said: "You haven't done anything wrong, just rest for a while."

A smile suddenly appeared on Hou Wenwu's face, and he said loudly: "I don't agree with you. Since I did nothing wrong, I will stick to the original judgment."

"Hou Wenwu!" Li Shaolin was furious. Since entering the Political Affairs Hall, he had rarely encountered officials who openly violated orders.

"This imperial court case has been decided by the lower officials." Hou Wenwu said firmly.

He has figured it out.Since the astrologer Jiang Huang personally came to the household department, as a fourth-level astronomy practitioner and royal imperial astronomy practitioner, the pressure he exerted was certainly not something that the household secretary Jia Shenzhizhengshi could resist, but on the other hand, it was also left to the people. Gave him a lifeline.

Warlock Jiang Huangxing would probably not bring this matter to the imperial court at the same time. At most, he would report it afterward.

On the one hand, he is a civil servant performing official duties, and on the other hand, he is a free astrologer. Hou Wenwu naturally hopes to be reborn from the ashes under the knee of the emperor who appreciates him.

……

(End of this chapter)