Before leaving the Hanlin Academy to go to the Ministry of Justice, Zhang Bo, an editor of the Hanlin Academy, stopped Zhu Ping'an, poured him a cup of tea and handed him a gift list.
Seeing Zhu Ping'an's puzzled expression, Zhang Bo smiled and explained, "Before Ziwei left, he asked me to help you with the social interaction. This list of gifts is the share of our Hanlin Academy during your vacation."
Personal relationships
Zhu Pingan was slightly startled, then he understood. Interpersonal communication is gift-giving. Whether in ancient times or now, there is no shortage of interpersonal communication in the officialdom. It is impolite to give without giving. This is the unspoken rule in the officialdom. In ancient officialdom, there were many kinds of "gifts", including gifts for celebration, festivals, and thank-you gifts. He had overlooked this point, but Zhang Siwei was worthy of being born in an aristocratic family. He considered everything and arranged these things in advance.
"I'm sorry to trouble you, Brother Zhang." Zhu Ping'an took the gift list and bowed to Zhang Bo to express his gratitude.
"It's just a piece of cake." Zhang Bo shook his head and smiled slightly.
After Zhu Pingan thanked him, he glanced at the gift list and couldn't help but curl his lips. There were so many items. Zhang Bo's gift list was very detailed: Yuan Wei's son, one tael; Zhang Song's inspection, two taels; Li's house move, one tael; Wang Gong's resignation, two taels; Li Shangshu's wife Chen, five taels, and two pieces of silk. Note at the end: Except for Li Shangshu, I accept all the rest.
Well, it's only been more than half a month and he has already given six taels of silver. If Li Mo hadn't accepted the gift, it would have been more than ten taels. No wonder so many officials think their salaries are too low and not enough. If such a person were to come and go, not to mention that the salaries of Ming officials were not high to begin with, even if they were higher, it would not be enough to pay for the favors.
Of course, if one holds a higher position, one can certainly benefit greatly from the unspoken rules of favoritism. Favoritism is often a disguised form of power-for-money transactions. Perhaps, the saying that there is a golden house in books is largely related to this.
When they first enter the officialdom and hold low positions, most of them have to give a lot of gifts and their income is not enough to cover their expenses. Once they hold high positions, how could they not use unspoken rules to make back their investment or even make a fortune
The next step after personal connections is often corruption. Some officials fell into corruption holding on to the fallacy that personal connections do not count as corruption. Once the officials were corrupt, the decline and corruption of the Ming Dynasty became inevitable.
It doesn't matter if you don't like it.
This unspoken rule is not something I can break right now, so I can only go with the flow for now.
After leaving the Hanlin Academy, Zhu Ping'an touched his purse which had become much emptier. He felt that he should find a way to make money. Although he still had a lot of savings now, he couldn't help himself in the long run.
Hanlin Academy is not far from the Ministry of Justice. Zhu Ping'an walked out of Hanlin Academy and arrived at the Ministry of Justice in a few minutes. The Ministry of Justice is different from Hanlin Academy, which is a powerful institution. It holds great power and is in charge of the criminal affairs of the country, judging cases and convicting people, and managing prisoners. The Ministry of Justice is much more imposing than Hanlin Academy. The tall stone lions and the vermilion lacquered gate make people feel awe.
There is a mahogany couplet hanging in a prominent position at the door, which reads: "A powerful official should not make decisions based on gratitude or resentment, and the emperor should not make decisions based on joy or anger."
Zhu Ping'an glanced at the couplet and curled his lips in disdain. The couplet was a good one and it was in line with the positioning of the Ministry of Justice, but it was too idealistic. Even in modern times, the judiciary cannot be truly independent of politics, let alone in the feudal Ming Dynasty.
Just a window dressing!
Zhu Ping'an muttered inwardly, then walked up the stairs and entered the gate of the Ministry of Justice.
"Sir, please stay. I wonder what business you have in the Ministry of Justice? I will let you know." As soon as Zhu Ping'an entered the gate of the Ministry of Justice, he was respectfully stopped by an official in inferior official uniform. He was the official in charge of registration at the entrance of the Ministry of Justice.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an stopped, turned around, and bowed slightly to the official at the door in return.
So young!
The official in charge of registration at the door was surprised to see Zhu Ping'an's appearance. He was already a sixth-rank official at such a young age, and his future must be limitless. So he treated Zhu Ping'an with even more respect, brought a chair for him, asked him to sit down and register, and poured him a cup of tea.
"I'm here to petition the Ministry of Justice." After Zhu Ping'an wrote his name on the visitor list, he asked, "Where should I go?"
Zhu Ping'an!
When the official in charge of registration at the door saw the name Zhu Ping'an registered, the respect on his face suddenly disappeared. He had heard the name Zhu Ping'an many times in recent days. The Ministry of Justice had issued three reminder letters in a row. This was a unique treatment in recent years. How could he not recognize him
What a pity!
Such a young and promising top scholar with unlimited future is about to become history.
The three impeachment memorials had caused quite a stir in the capital. There had been memorials impeaching Lord Yan before, but three consecutive memorials were rare, so the stir was much bigger than before. This official was only responsible for registering the Ministry of Justice's correspondence. His work was simple and he had a lot of free time. He would read the court reports when he had nothing to do. Of course, he would pay attention to the three memorials, which were such a big stir.
Lord Yan is second only to the emperor and above everyone else. To impeach Lord Yan is like asking for death.
The owners of the other two of the three memorials had their cases verified, and were thrown into jail, stripped of their official positions, and demoted to commoners, which ended their lives.
The owner of this memorial, Zhu Ping'an, was naturally no exception.
You are going to become a commoner soon. Even though I am not a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Justice, I am still an official. Why should I be respectful to you, who is going to become a commoner soon
"Turn left after entering the door, second door, no need to see you off."
The official in charge of registration said coldly, reached out to take the hot tea in front of Zhu Ping'an, sat aside and drank it by himself, without even looking at Zhu Ping'an.
hehe
Zhu Ping'an looked at the official's actions and smiled with the corners of his lips curled. The other party had been very respectful just now, but now his attitude had taken a complete turn after seeing his name. It would be strange if he still didn't understand what was going on.
Zhu Ping'an stood up and said thank you lightly, then he went into the Ministry of Justice as he said, turned left, and entered the second door holding the reminder letter from the Ministry of Justice.
When Zhu Ping'an entered the room, the topic about Zhu Ping'an in the Hanlin Academy became more and more heated. Generally speaking, everyone had a pessimistic view of Zhu Ping'an.
"Zhu Zihou is still too young and easily impulsive. He actually impeached a general who shed blood and sweat for our Ming Dynasty, and a general promoted by Lord Yan. Alas, what a pity." A Hanlin said with a hint of regret.
"That's right. Zihou was the top scholar and caught the emperor's eye. His future was limitless. But he made one wrong move and lost everything. What a pity." Another Hanlin nodded and sighed.
"Why did he impeach someone who was promoted by Lord Yan..."
"Yunnan and Guizhou Censor Zhao Jin and Military Department Doctor Zhou Mian were both imprisoned and demoted to civilian status. I'm afraid Zihou will also be demoted to civilian status."
"Zihou was the first impeachment memorial, I'm afraid..."
"That's all his own fault. He didn't know who he was after getting the first place in the imperial examination. I think he's crazy about being famous." Yuan Wei gloated to himself. In Yuan Wei's opinion, Zhu Ping'an was finished this time. When he learned about Zhu Ping'an's impeachment memorial, Yuan Wei was surprised at first, and then overjoyed. Originally, Yuan Wei was worried that Zhu Ping'an would threaten his position in the Hanlin Academy. Zhu Ping'an was the first place in the imperial examination, had good handwriting, could write Qingci, and was favored by the emperor. He was promoted to a higher rank within a few days of entering the Hanlin Academy... Now, he is asking for trouble. This is really great news.
Of course, not all Hanlin scholars were like this, at least Zhang Juzheng was not like that. Sitting in the corner, Zhang Juzheng looked at the Hanlin scholars who were discussing with disdain.