Chapter 1001 Ambition (two updates in one)

It is freezing cold in Bianjing during the first month of the year.

When Peng Jingyi led Shen Kuo into Zhang Yue's study, the other party happened to meet Xu Xi face to face.

Shen Kuo and Xu Xi both worked together in the Zhang Yue shogunate back then. They had no friendship and only exchanged a few words.

But I saw Xu Xi worshiping outside Zhang Yue's study, motionless.

Shen Kuo knew a lot about Xu Xi.

A few days ago, he was also a high-ranking official. Meng Zhangyue, Li Xian, and Tong Guan recommended him to the officials for appreciation, and he was promoted to Zhongshu Hufang to study official affairs.

At the end of the year, Xu Xi returned to Beijing to meet with the emperor. The officials had been advising him for a long time, and finally they praised him deeply and said: "I have read many people, but I have never seen anyone like you."

Immediately after Xu Xi was in the palace, he was promoted by the official family to the school manager of the Secret Pavilion, You Zhengyan.

As soon as this appointment came out, Shen Kuo was envious.

What was Xu Xi's background? He was from a commoner background and had not passed the imperial examination.

Zhang Yue single-handedly selected the opponent, and he went from being a judge in the Tongyuan Army to a military officer in Huizhou. When Zhang Yue took him to Zhending Mansion for negotiations this time, he was the Prime Minister of Dali Temple and had been transferred to the position of Capital Official.

Seeing Xu Xi's promotion, Shen Kuo understood what it means for the emperor to be in a hurry in employing people, what it means to employ people in an unfavorable manner, and what it means to employ people like a pile of salary, with the latecomers taking precedence.

The officials want to use you.

It doesn't matter what qualifications or origins you have. Even a person who has not passed the imperial examination can be awarded a post and a specially promoted official position such as You Zhengyan.

There were three systems for the promotion of officials in the Song Dynasty: one was to be exiled to the imperial court, the second was to be removed from the Imperial Academy, and the third was to be appointed by the Emperor's special order.

Xu Xi was promoted by the Emperor because he was outside the Three Realms and was not among the Five Elements. His origin, qualifications and age could not restrain him.

And this popular man in front of the official family is now kneeling outside Zhang Yue's study in the first month of the year.

Shen Kuo didn't know what mistake Xu Xi had made, which made Zhang Yue unhappy. Shen Kuo felt that it was a bit like killing a chicken to scare the monkey.

Shen Kuo also knew that his official reputation was not very good now.

Some people call themselves domestic slaves with three surnames.

Wang Anshi, Han Jiang, Lu Huiqing and Shen Kuo have all voted for him, and now he has voted for Zhang Yue.

I heard that everyone in Bianjing was placing bets on when Shen Cunzhong would kick Zhang Yue and climb to another high post.

Shen Kuo suddenly thought of Wang Shao at this moment.

When the emperor ordered Guo Kui to join his hands, he tried several times to revive Wang Shao, but for some reason Wang Shao still can't get up until now, as if he was suppressed by someone.

After Shen Kuo glanced at Xu Xi, he didn't dare to look again, and followed Peng Jingyi into Zhang Yue's study.

Zhang Yue was looking for books on the bookshelf in the study room when he saw Shen Kuo coming and said with a smile: "Cunzhong is here, sit down!"

Zhang Yue asked him to sit down, but Shen Kuo did not dare to sit down. Instead, he respectfully expressed New Year's greetings to Zhang Yue.

Logically speaking, Shen Kuo is one generation older than Zhang Yue, and he is also the third envoy.

Before the power of the three divisions was weakened by Wang Anshi, the three divisions of Zhongshu, Privy Council and the three divisions stood together, and their power was not inferior to that of the prime minister and the privy envoy.

Now Shen Kuo is in Zhang Yue's power and dare not speak.

In fact, it is a foregone conclusion that Wang Anshi will retire after the spring, but who can replace him?

Wang Gui once made mistakes in the political alignment, but now he is in his position. Feng Jing was born in the old party, and he can't stand the new party like him who has climbed up.

Yuan Jiang, who is also a member of the New Party, extended an olive branch to him.

But Shen Kuo was not convinced by Yuan Jiang. In terms of talent, only Zhang Yue could be compared with Wang Anshi and Lu Huiqing in the world today. But Yuan Jiang was not worthy of carrying shoes for the three of them.

At least Shen Kuo feels that he is still very upright and not so casual.

Zhang Yue took out a book from the bookshelf and saw Shen Kuo still standing with a cautious expression on his face. He subconsciously glanced at Xu Xi who was kneeling opposite the window.

"Xu Dezhan! Are you familiar with him in Cunzhong?"

"I'm not familiar with it. I just said a few words in front of Xianggong." Shen Kuo quickly clarified.

"I forgot..." Zhang Yue pretended not to know, and then said, "Nowadays, when some people succeed, they easily forget their roots. The world is declining, and people's hearts are not as old as they used to be!"

Shen Kuo agreed: "What your husband said is very true, so the emperor should not be too lenient and should be tightened from time to time."

Although Shen Kuo said this, his heart was in a state of confusion.

Shen Kuo thought to himself that he didn't know why Xu Xi annoyed Zhang Yue.

Zhang Yue seemed to understand what Shen Kuo was thinking and said: "Cunzhong, back then, your Majesty sent someone to knock on the door of Zeng Zixuan's mansion at night and asked how the market changes were? If you were Zeng Zixuan, how would you answer?"

Shen Kuo was stunned.

After Zeng Bu was appointed as the third envoy, the officials sent someone in the middle of the night to ask him what the market change law was like.

After Zeng Bu asked Wang Anshi, he chose to tell the truth to the officials. This clearly meant that he chose to side with the officials between Wang Anshi and the emperor.

Could it be that Xu Xi also made the same mistake as Zeng Bu did... Shen Kuo sweated on his forehead and said: "If you answer truthfully, you will be unkind, and if you don't answer, you will be bullying the emperor. It is really difficult."

"But there is a way to live up to both expectations!"

Zhang Yue listened to Shen Kuo's words and knew that this answer was the worst.

The two are not negative, that is, both are negative.

You answered like this in front of me. Do I really expect you to be reliable if something happens in the future?

Zhang Yue said: "It is wrong to act like this in Cunzhong. It is our duty to be loyal to the emperor because of his salary. We must not think about taking advantage of both sides!"

Shen Kuo was stunned and suddenly realized that what he said was a huge loss to Zhang Yue.

Shen Kuo said with sweat all over his head: "Mr. Sir, Shen is a humble person. He only knows how to do things and doesn't know how to deal with this matter..."

Zhang Yue was speechless again after hearing this...

Shen Kuo's face was red and he was so anxious that he didn't know what to say.

Zhang Yue said to Peng Jingyi outside the study: "You can help Xu Dezhan to the side room to warm up by the fire."

After a while, Peng Jingyi reported back: "Xu Zhengyan's hands and feet are frozen."

Zhang Yue asked Shen Kuo: "What should we do?"

Shen Kuo then said, "You can wipe his hands and feet with snow."

Zhang Yue said: "There is still a way to save it!"

Peng Jingyi immediately ordered people to do it.

Zhang Yue seemed to be thinking about himself and said: "This Dezhan is really tolerant. His whole body was frozen and he didn't say a word."

Peng Jingyi said: "Yes, it's very cold in Bianjing today, and we southerners can't bear it."

Zhang Yue said: "To be honest, Dezhan is still a Jiangyou person, and I am still a Fujianese. If I had to kneel for a day inside or outside the first month, I would probably lose my life."

There was sweat on Shen Kuo's forehead. He was also from the south and was not cold-resistant.

Zhang Yue looked at Shen Kuo and said, "How is Cunzhong doing lately?"

Shen Kuo was full of intelligence and immediately said: "Xiaguan's health is not good either."

Zhang Yue said: "You need to take good care of it, and be more cautious on weekdays, so that you can live a long life."

"Yes, yes." Shen Kuo said solemnly.

"Do you have anything else to do here?"

Shen Kuo immediately said: "Yes, I didn't know that Xiang Zhishi was a classmate of Xianggong. I made such an oversight that I should apologize to Xianggong!"

It turned out to be Xiang Qi's business. Xiang Qi is also the life of most officials.

After becoming a scholar in the fourth year of Jiayou, he was still in the process of selecting candidates for eighteen years as an official.

Officials of the Song Dynasty went around selecting people and coined a word called "sea selection".

The sea of ​​selection is the sea of ​​selection. It is extremely difficult to "select" from the sea of ​​​​choices to become a Beijing official. Even Zhang Yue Jiayou's classmate for six years now has only more than 30 people who have become Beijing officials.

Xiang Qi spent a lot of effort, but now he is just selecting a second-level observation envoy.

Even so, Shen Kuo tried every means to ruin Xiang Qi's career.

Shen Kuo is a typical person with two faces: one is a bit servile, the other is bullying, especially when he has some power.

Having said that, Shen Kuo is not a bad person, but he is forced to adapt to the rules of the officialdom. He was bullied in the past and was trained severely, so he wanted to bully those who were not as good as him.

Now that Shen Kuo knew that Xiang Qi was Zhang Yue's classmate, he felt a little panicked.

Zhang Yue said to Shen Kuo: "Cunzhong, Xiang Qi and I are indeed classmates, but we have not interacted with each other for many years."

"But I heard that what he was criticizing was what Lu Jifu did when he was sent to the military prison. Later, he mistakenly thought that Lu Jifu had done something about Zhang Guan and Li Dai. You can decide how to deal with it yourself, and there is no need to report it to me!"

Shen Kuo had been worried about offending Zhang Yue by dealing with Xiang Qi, so he felt relieved immediately after hearing what he said.

No matter what, Zhang Yue was willing to say a word for Xiang Qi, and Shen Kuo would give Zhang Yue enough face.

Shen Kuo immediately said: "I understand now. Since it is a misunderstanding, I won't pursue it any further."

After saying this, Shen Kuo resigned.

Shen Kuo walked outside the wing and saw Xu Xi, whose nose was bruised and swollen from the cold. He couldn't help but tremble in his heart. Wang Anshi and Han Jiang were both gentlemen and elders. It was okay to offend him, but Zhang Yue could not do this.

…
To be continued...