Future library

early morning.

Office of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

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 his youth gave him many opportunities, he also lost many. In fact, he has more qualifications than most officials. Adding the title on the gold list and the rank of Jinshi, there are only six people every three years, let alone the first-class Jinshi at the age of 14. 4 years as a Hanlin scholar, 4 years as a minister, and 3 years as a censor. A total of 12 years of civil service experience has become more and more prominent each time. Compared with those fellow Jinshi who were in their 40s and only passed the imperial examination, he is now better than the officials who will enter the officialdom. We 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 attacks high-ranking officials without cowardice, and he uses his privileges unabashedly, all in order to attract attention to himself and always be in the sight of His Majesty the Emperor. This is Hou Wenwu's only way to succeed.

Now, Hou Wenwu has chosen Cheng Jinzhou as an excellent means to stabilize his status - a two-star warlock, who has a star formation but is not a rank star warlock; a legitimate son of a noble, who comes from a noble family but is not a wealthy and royal family; someone who has merit and fame but is neither a Jinshi nor a Jinshi. very young. If coupled with the fact that he had definitely offended the Nanling Zhao family, Hou Wenwu had been carefully choosing for several days.

He has always been a man of choice.

The most important thing is that he doesn't want a younger, more promising Star Warlock to steal his limelight.

…

The bearer got off the sedan gently, and the entourage tied his hands in front of him and said, "Sir Inspector, we have arrived at the government office."

Hou Wenwu said "hmm" and stepped out of the sedan wearing cocked official boots. He looked around and frowned: "Are many people coming today?"

There were indeed many sedan chairs parked on both sides of the brick wall. The closer you are to the stone lions, the more sedans 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 and wait somewhere further 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's rules are also very strict. The bearers and attendants bowed and carefully left, choosing 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.

"Morning Mr. Li..."

"Morning, Mr. Wang..."

"Brother Feng Lu, morning..."

Although he had only been in the Ministry of Revenue for a few months, Hou Wenwu could already accurately name most civil servants. This is something that many household veterans find difficult to achieve. The genius of photographic memory can not only be used for reading.

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

A few guys who usually smiled shyly walked into the fork in the road from a distance - before, even if they were in a hurry to shit their pants, they would pretend to be hungry and come over to laugh, and their faces would be as big as their butts. generally.

Even the few people he was greeting now were trembling and unable to speak neatly. Hou Wenwu shook his head, wondering whether spring plowing could really drive the people of the Hubu department crazy - he never considered himself a member of the Hubu department.

After passing through the large hall and patio, you come to the two rows of wing rooms. Each house has its door 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 little officials sitting inside, busy.

A sign such as "Tian Ji Cao" will be hung in front of the door of each wing room. The officials who actually work in the Ministry of Revenue are basically concentrated in the wing room and beyond.

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

Hou Wenwu rolled up his sleeves twice and walked into the small door with "Jingcao" written on it.

Like most government offices in this era, the Household Department also implemented overlapping management. For example, there would be dozens of corresponding horizontal household Cao responsible for dozens of roads across the country, while the Cao responsible for territory, acres, and Dingkou would still be responsible for vertical management. Management, in theory, they all have the same jurisdiction, but after years of agreed-upon battles and compromises, they have their own secret rules.

For example, affairs near Xia Jing were basically taken over by the "Jing Cao". While making other departments unable to intervene, they also had no choice but to expand into a bureaucratic group of nearly 500 people - of course, in the yamen of the Ministry of Household Affairs There are always only 5 people in the office.

There are dozens of people working in a room slightly further away, and even more are unemployed petty officials. Xia Jing's gentlemen call them white officials, but they are actually temporary workers and so-called secondments.

The first thing Hou Wenwu did when he came to the Ministry of Revenue was to recruit the "Jing Cao" who he considered the most important. By mastering it, he also had the channel to show his respect 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 20th-level petty official. Without passing the imperial examination, he will not be promoted in another 20 years. However, at his age, he does not have 20 years to squander it.

"Your Majesty." Lao Wang smiled as if he was surprised, raised his head humbly, and raised his hands to salute.

Hou Wenwu pulled him back and said with a smile: "No, no, no, what happened today?"

Lao Wang looked around, frowned and said, "Master Hou, I don't want to ask, but I also want to tell you that this morning is very strange."

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

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

"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 him either. So I asked the concierge Zhu Yougui, but I heard that several adults had already arrived."

Hou Wenwu knew that Lao Wang had been an official for many years, so his head suddenly turned around and he asked, "Has this happened before?"

Lao Wang said cautiously: "They are all big things."

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

Lao Wang swallowed his saliva and said: "The last time, it was the Hexi transfer envoy Liu Bin who requested to trial the 'inheritance equalization system' within his jurisdiction."

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

"I shouldn't know, but, usually, it will be at Mr. Li's place."

Hou Wenwu walked away.

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 the household, no one dared to despise him. Hou Wenwu would remain as silent as a cicada in front of him.

If the Minister of Household Affairs is also involved in political affairs, if there is another position in the cabinet, his power will not be weaker than that of the chief minister. In fact, Daxia has rarely appointed chief assistants in the past century. Therefore, Li Shaolin has a very important voice in the political hall. Even Hou Wenwu dare not say that he will have the opportunity to reach this position in the future.

Hou Wenwu slightly lifted his robe with one hand and obviously quickened his pace. When a gentleman takes a leisurely stroll in the courtyard, he has long forgotten about him. As an inspector of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he is supposed to be a senior civil official after the Minister and the Minister. If a meeting that includes almost all the principals is not attended by him, 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 with expressionless faces.

"I am the inspector of the Ministry of Household Affairs." Hou Wenwu waved his big sleeves, and his blue official robe stood out in the official office like a pig among chickens.

The two soldiers shook their heads together.

"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 quickly shouted: "Brother Qian, Brother Qian."

The junior official was working for Li Shangshu, and he had the attitude of a later generation secretary. When he heard the seventh-level official call him "Brother Qian," he accepted it calmly and said: "Master Hou, I am looking for you. Please follow 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 clerk walked in front seriously, as if he hadn't heard a word.

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

Li Shaolin stood by the door cordially, greeted him to come in, and then ordered: "Bring me a cup of good tea."

"You're welcome, Mr. Li." Hou Wenwu looked at the empty and messy room, feeling empty and messy in his heart.

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 words "Cheng Jinzhou" quickly popped into Hou Wenwu's mind, and then thinking of the string of small sedans in front of the household door today, he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Li Shangshu smiled understandingly. He didn't want to offend Hou Wenwu for other people's affairs, so he tried to speak in a gentle tone: "Master Hou will probably know soon that Warlock Jiang Huangxing sent someone to put the person back, and asked, No more interference in the Star Warlock's experiments."

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

"Yes, if you don't agree, Warlock Jiang Huangxing will remove all the Star Warlocks, even the Star Warlock apprentices working in the Ministry of Household Affairs..."

"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 on, it is best for Mr. Hou to work in the official office and leave the matters at hand to others first."

"Oh?" Hou Wenwu's voice had no discernible fluctuations, and he said as if he had expected it: "I dare to ask, sir, if I have done anything wrong."

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

However, a smile suddenly appeared on Hou Wenwu's face, and he said loudly: "I cannot agree with this. Since I did nothing wrong, I will stick to the original verdict."

"Hou Wenwu!" Li Shaolin was furious. Since entering the political hall, he has rarely encountered officials who blatantly violated orders.

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

He already figured it out. Since Warlock Jiang Huangxing came to the Ministry of Finance in person, as a fourth-level Star Warlock and a Royal Star Warlock, the pressure exerted by him is definitely not something that the Minister of the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of Political Affairs can resist, but on the other hand, it is also left to Give yourself a chance of survival.

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.

…