Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 427: Small Success and Big Success
It was only when you entered Beijing that you felt dazzled.

When Lu Xiangsheng's blue cotton shoes stepped onto the Yongdingmen cement official road, the accumulated snow was falling into the ceramic drainage pipes on both sides.

He recalled that his grandfather had gone to Beijing to report on his work and when he came back he said that many roads in Beijing were "stuck in mud, and horses drowned in manure." At that time, the outer city was still under construction, and the city walls and gates were still very expensive. How could there be extra money to pave the section from Zhengyang Gate to Yongding Gate with stone slabs?
Now the black and grey road surface is as smooth as an inkstone, and the snow is very thin. It can be seen that someone cleans this neat street regularly.

How much manpower, material resources and financial resources will this require?

After entering the city, there is a long street, with the Mountain and River Altar on the left and the Heaven and Earth Altar on the right. Although they are important places for sacrifice, the two sides of the long street between them are now very prosperous - after all, many travelers who have just entered the capital from Yongding Gate need to rest and inquire about the situation.

As a result, there were many pawnshops, inns, teahouses, and carriage and horse-drawn carriages.

Lu Xiangsheng had his own place to go, and although it was gradually getting dark, he was not in a hurry - he had known for a long time that there was no curfew in Beijing anymore.

Not far away, we arrived at a crossroads. On the left and right were the main roads leading to Shanchuan Temple and Tiandi Temple.

At this time, he first saw two government offices. One was the Beijing Metropolitan Government Affairs Committee and Shuntian Prefecture Executive Office located on the northeast side of Shanchuantan, and the other was the Beijing Public Security Bureau Yongdingmen Office located at the southwest corner of the intersection.

Then, more than 20 men wearing round badges with the word "Police" on them were seen lining up. In front of them was a middle-aged man wearing a fur hat and looking quite tough.

"The New Year is coming soon, don't be lazy, you have to patrol the streets and alleys!"

"Order!"

Lu Xiangsheng's servant timidly moved closer to him and whispered, "Master, the police from the capital are probably veterans from the border towns, right? They look much more murderous than those veterans from the Yixing garrison..."

Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said, "It's naturally different under the emperor's feet."

It now seems that the reason why there is no curfew in the capital is of course because there are police forces from the Security Court inside and the Beijing Barracks and the Imperial Guards camps outside.

Suddenly, the sound of bells rang out and the sound of horse hooves was heard.

"Please make way!"

"It's a government van!" Someone in front looked back and quickly gave way to the side of the road.

Lu Xiangsheng followed suit and stepped aside, and saw a blue-clothed servant driving a two-wheeled carriage passing by, ringing a copper bell next to his seat. The side windows of the carriage were covered with mulberry paper, with "Wu Zi Line Yongdingmen to Andingmen" printed on it.

"A government carriage?" The servant looked puzzled.

Lu Xiangsheng also looked confused.

He asked whenever he had doubts. The native Beijinger glanced at him. Although he saw that he was a scholar, he still spoke with a tone of arrogance and pride: "You haven't seen it before? This is a public carriage post road that only exists in the capital. It is used to transport official documents between the central government offices. The carriages are from the Tongzhengshisi under the Imperial Study, and the drivers are the public carriage companies that have been converted from the Xingrensi. The passengers are all officials from various government offices!"

Lu Xiangsheng was stunned after hearing this.

He watched the official carriage go away, thinking that this was a special "post road" between the various offices in the central government. Was it specially used to accommodate the Pedestrian Department, or was there some other consideration?

Is that necessary?

After walking for another quarter of an hour, they had passed the forest to the north of Shanchuan Temple and Tiandi Temple. There were many side buildings in front of them, and the lights were increasing.

Then I heard the familiar ringtone coming from both the front and the back.

"...Why are there so many government carriages?" He couldn't help but ask the Beijing native who was traveling with him.

"There are many. There are eight official van routes, one every fifteen minutes."

They watched the car coming from the front turn west.

"That's the Geng-character carriage for the government office, going to the government property house in the west."

"The official hospital is in the outer city?"

"Of course. Liulichang, Wanggongchang...many factories were originally located there."

Lu Xiangsheng looked to the west and nodded thoughtfully.

He still had to go into the inner city. Looking at these official carriages, he suddenly felt that there might be another purpose: there didn't seem to be so many official documents between the central offices that needed to be sent back and forth so frequently, right? Now that he had walked such a long way, he thought it would be quite convenient if he could take a ride.

This bus company could do this business in the future by opening more van routes that ordinary people can ride, connecting to various neighborhoods in Beijing.

After entering Zhengyang Gate, Daming Gate is right in front of you. Daming Gate is not accessible, and once you enter, you will reach the key point leading to Chengtian Gate.

On both sides of the Daming Gate, the former Five Military Commanders' Office and the Embroidered Uniform Guard Office became the Privy Council, and the offices of all ministries except the Ministry of Justice became the Executive Yuan.

Facing south and leaning against the north, with civil affairs on the left and military affairs on the right.

Lu Xiangsheng wanted to go west and then north to Anfufang.

This Anfufang is located to the west of the former Imperial College, which has now been renamed Beijing Imperial College, and outside the palace city wall.

When he walked all the way to West Chang'an Street, he saw that the former Ministry of Justice had become the current Censorate.

It was getting dark, and although he wanted to continue his sightseeing, he first needed to stay in a guild hall built with donations from some wealthy families and businessmen in Changzhou Prefecture.

When you get here, the atmosphere of the city is already very strong.

"Sir, do you want a coal ticket?" An old man wrapped in a sheepskin coat came over, holding an oil-paper bag that smelled of sulfur. "Ten cents off for every twenty cakes you get with the ticket."

Lu Xiangsheng took the palm-sized piece of cardboard and saw the seal of the Shuntian Prefecture Government printed on the front and the words "10-jin package of honeycomb coal, grade B" on the back.

"This coal ticket..." He was a little stunned.

"It's real!" The old man took it and held it close to him. "God is so gracious. Seeing how cold the weather is this year, he allowed Shuntian Prefecture to print these coal tickets. Each household will only be issued one ticket every ten days!"

"…These are distributed to every household, how come you have any extra?"

"Hey! Not every family has it. There are always people who don't need it and can exchange it naturally. If you don't want it?"

Of course Lu Xiangsheng didn't want it, he was from another place.

The old man who had wasted a moment immediately went to look for other customers.

Lu Xiangsheng also saw some of the tricks of the honeycomb coal business in the city...

"The latest edition of the "Inspection Institute Bulletin"! The Grand Court of Huaiyang Province has issued a verdict on the corruption case, and the full text of the verdict is published!" The shouts of the newsboy pierced through the city.

Lu Xiangsheng was ready to buy it, so the servant went over to stop the boy and bought one for fifty cents - it was quite expensive, and I don't know if it was the market price or if they took advantage of his foreign accent.

It was difficult to look carefully along the road, so Lu Xiangsheng went north and arrived at Anfufang, where he saw more and more scholars.

After all, it is just west of Beijing Taixueyuan.

Lu Xiangsheng still wanted to take the exam in classics, history and humanities. Otherwise, he would have to find a hostel in Chongjiaofang near Andingmen to stay in. After all, that was where the Minghua University, which now specializes in natural sciences, was located.

As for the Boyan Institute...it is not easy for ordinary people to enter the imperial city.

But you can get into Beijing Taixue College.

"Mr. Feng, I heard that the Imperial Academy holds a lecture every month. I wonder if it was held in the twelfth month? How about in the first month?"

After settling down in the guild hall, he asked about this matter first.

"Nephew Lu, you are concerned about the tickets, right?" The person in charge of the guild hall smiled and said, "Don't worry. Although the grand lecture in December has already been held on the 15th, the lecture in January is tentatively scheduled for the 20th. As for tickets, naturally everyone in the guild hall who is taking the exam can get one." "Thank you!" Lu Xiangsheng breathed a sigh of relief and bowed to express his gratitude.

In the Imperial Academy, retired academicians would now appear at every lecture, and occasionally even His Majesty would give the lecture himself, which was truly a rare opportunity.

Lu Xiangsheng also felt a little regretful, wishing he had walked faster on the road.

However, I have already settled down in the capital, and there will be many opportunities to consult the elders and talented people in the capital.

So I started by chatting and making friends with fellow candidates from my hometown in the guild hall. Some of them were from the same class and I already knew them. Some were candidates who had taken the imperial examinations in the past and I had heard of their names but had never met them before.

Lu Xiangsheng's preparation for the exam began, and the capital city had already started preparing for the New Year.

The Forbidden City was naturally decorated with lights and lanterns. Zhu Changluo was not dealing with other things, but in front of him was the draft examination paper submitted by the secret book of Jinxianyuan.

Those who were chosen to prepare the examination papers could only spend the new year living in the Jinxianyuan located in the Ten Princes' Palace.

The content of the current imperial examination is very different from that of the past. It contains basic content such as official document writing, laws and regulations, the theory of the study of things and the extension of knowledge, and mathematics, as well as some in-depth content for the individual subject examinations.

Zhu Changluo has been working hard for so many years, so naturally he needs more talents to emerge from the new generation of scholars.

The examination and selection process is very important.

The tone for today's imperial examinations was set the year he personally prepared the examination papers.

This kind of review is now basically just a formality. After Baijiayuan was separated from the Imperial College and further upgraded to Minghua University, the content of the study of things and nature has become almost the same as the classics, history and humanities.

I hope that there will be more and more natural science talents in the Ming Dynasty.

Halfway through, Wang Wei came over and whispered, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother sent someone to ask when the Queen Mother will arrive?"

"As for the Empress Dowager..." Zhu Changluo didn't even raise his head. "Let's celebrate the New Year's Eve. Let the Queen preside over it, and spend the New Year's Eve with the Empress Dowager and the concubines."

"Yes."

Wang Wei went out and walked towards Kunning Palace. When he reached the Queen, he told her Zhu Changluo's opinion.

Guo Lanzhi nodded and said, "I see. Is His Majesty still in charge?"

"Yes." Wang Wei replied respectfully with his head lowered.

Guo Lanzhi looked at her beautiful face and remained silent for a moment.

This girl has always been with the emperor, and now she has become more and more beautiful, both talented and beautiful.

Although the emperor has not touched her yet, everyone in the palace thinks it is a matter of time.

So many years have passed, and Guo Lanzhi is already over 30 years old.

Sending someone to inquire about this matter was just an excuse to remind the emperor that he had not been to Kunning Palace for some time.

"You serve His Majesty, and you must remind His Majesty not to overwork himself and to take care of the emperor's health."

"I will obey your order."

"...You go back."

Guo Lanzhi watched her leave with a complicated expression, and then asked: "Over at the East Palace, go over and remind the manager. The maids around the prince must be well managed, and nothing must happen to the prince! Your Majesty is very restrained. If the prince..."

"I understand." The female official beside her certainly understood and turned around to do her work.

The prince has grown up a lot now, and maybe he will have some problems because of sex.

The emperor is young and strong. If the prince has poor health when he is young, who will live longer?
Guo Lanzhi sat there quietly, suddenly smiled bitterly, and then ordered: "Serve the meal."

After the death of Queen Mother Li, the only person left in the palace was the empress during the reign of the previous emperor, now Queen Mother Wang.

She was carefree and in good health. She didn't care about anything and just enjoyed her old age. Guo Lanzhi now had more and more things to worry about, and they were becoming more and more complicated.

The emperor has become more diligent in his work in the past few months, so he is naturally not as close to Guo Lanzhi as he was in previous years.

Although she knew it was because of state affairs, she still felt a little disappointed. In addition, she felt that she was getting old and her looks were fading, so her worries gradually increased.

The emperor will go to Chengde next year, and the concubines have received more favors from him during this period.

In recent years, the vassal states of Northern Xinjiang, Southeast Asia, Korea, etc. have offered a batch of palace maids every year. They said that they were reporting the grace of heaven, but their real intention was naturally to please the emperor and give him more favors in border trade.

There were many flowers in the palace. Although the emperor did not pick them, he had seen many of them. In the past, these old people did not find them fresh as they did.

She ate her dinner in a bad mood, wondering how things had gradually become like this.

When I first entered the palace, I had no desires and just let things take their course.

While thinking about these things, I suddenly heard the emperor's voice: "Why are you eating just like that? You didn't even wait for me."

Guo Lanzhi was startled, put down her chopsticks and stood up: "I thought that Your Majesty was still busy with state affairs, I was afraid that he would not come..."

"It's a long-standing tradition to go to the Empress Dowager to greet her and sit down before the New Year. You sent someone to ask specifically, don't I understand?" Zhu Changluo smiled and pulled her to sit down, "It's been a while since I last came to your place, aren't you holding a major political meeting?"

“…your humble servant…”

"Okay." Zhu Changluo patted her back, "We are an old married couple."

Guo Lanzhi's cheeks felt slightly hot, but her heart felt warmer.

Over the years, he had always been on equal terms with me, and that hadn't changed. But now, looking at his smiling eyes, I realized that my thoughts were seen through, and I could only respond with an awkward smile.

"You can't blame me. I have to do more things now while I'm still young. Otherwise, it will be hard for you to be a prosecutor in the future." Zhu Changluo continued to tease, "Have you really reached the age of being as ferocious as a wolf or a tiger?"

"Your Majesty!" Guo Lanzhi blushed, "How can you say such unbearable things!"

"Everyone has reached the age of being as vigorous as wolves and tigers! If I were not in good health, how could I bear it?"

Hearing him say this, Guo Lanzhi felt shy and embarrassed, but her heart was getting hotter and hotter. At least tonight there would be...

She suddenly wondered if she had really reached the age he described as being as fierce as a wolf or a tiger...

It didn’t seem to be like this when I was young.

Zhu Changluo looked at her expression and sighed silently in his heart.

It is true. Those who entered the palace in the first year of Taichang have now reached the stage of appearance anxiety and midlife crisis, and they are all looking forward to it.

Some of them wanted to confirm that the emperor's favor was still there, and some probably really wanted to do so, so much so that when the test papers were being reviewed just now, several palaces sent people to deliver small handicrafts or offer New Year gifts.

He will inevitably face these problems: someone will always be left out.

Of course you can have it all when you are young, but after middle age you will always start to feel overwhelmed.

No matter what, although there have been some initial results, he still wants to see his career grow to perfection. How can he die in bed so early?

(End of this chapter)