The rear hall of the Teng County Yamen.
County Magistrate Li Yi looked at Gu Zhengchen as he approached and greeted him with a smile. "Magistrate Gu."
Gu Zhengchen returned the greeting. "Please don't tease me, Magistrate. I'm still only Candidate Gu."
Yan Bin brought over the tea.
After thanking him, Gu Zhengchen asked Li Yi, who was sipping his tea, "How much longer can I stay in Teng County?"
Li Yi set down his teacup and raised one finger. "One month. In a month, you must set out for Jinling. According to the Ministry of Personnel's official notice, you must reach the Capital before the first day of the ninth month, then report to the Ministry of Personnel to register and collect your official credentials."
"Who else is going?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Li Yi glanced at Yan Bin, who took out a sheet of paper and handed it to Gu Zhengchen. "The magistrate is strict about the recommendation system and recommends only men of talent. Besides you, there are two others. You know them both."
"Zhang Shiping and Liang Family Jiajun?"
Somewhat surprised, Gu Zhengchen looked at Li Yi.
Li Yi said solemnly, "You must have heard about Zhang Shiping. He is a filial son. One winter night in the Second Year of Hongwu, his father, Zhang Xian, lay sick in bed, clamoring for fish. But that day, they happened to have none at home, so Zhang Shiping ran to the river and lay on the ice to seek fish. His whole body suffered frostbite."
The corner of Gu Zhengchen's mouth twitched. "Didn't he know to bring a fork to break the ice, or knock on a fishmonger's door and buy one? Magistrate, are you sure this wasn't marketing through a sob story?"
"What is marketing through a sob story?"
Li Yi looked puzzled.
Gu Zhengchen shook his head. "You recommended him just because of that?"
Li Yi answered helplessly, "He is so filial, and he is also a licentiate. If I failed to recommend him and an investigating censor found out, I would be charged with failing to recommend a talented man and being unable to supply talent to the court."
Gu Zhengchen secretly gritted his teeth. Damn it, I've met Zhang Shiping. He didn't look like an idiot. That fellow was definitely putting on an act to earn a reputation for filial devotion.
Lying on ice to seek fish, my ass. Even if you tossed him stark naked onto the ice, he couldn't melt it.
Using something like that to fool people-and someone actually believed it. Were people genuinely that innocent, or did they have knots of elm wood growing in their heads...?
"What about Liang Family Jiajun, then?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at the other name.
Liang Family Jiajun was Liang Fengyang's younger brother and Liang Heng's third son. Gu Zhengchen had met him a few times and felt only that he was overly refined and not much of a conversationalist.
Li Yi smiled. "Liang Family Jiajun has a solid foundation in scholarship. He has been assigned to the Imperial Academy as an assistant instructor."
"What office did Zhang Shiping get?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Li Yi tapped the table and said quietly, "His luck was better than yours. The Ministry of Personnel appointed him Left Vice Minister of Ministry of Works."
"Oh, that's quite a high office."
Gu Zhengchen smiled calmly.
Seeing that Gu Zhengchen showed no discouragement at all, Li Yi asked, "Don't you feel it's unfair?"
Gu Zhengchen handed the paper back to the adviser and told Li Yi, "What's unfair about it? These days, staying in a local post isn't necessarily a bad thing."
In the early Hongwu years, there were severe shortages of officials, and the various institutions were not yet fully established. It was nothing unusual for a provincial examination graduate to be promoted straight to vice minister, just as it was commonplace for a county magistrate to be promoted directly to provincial administration commissioner, or a bureau secretary to minister.
It was the early founding period, after all-a makeshift troupe, with plenty of room for arbitrary decisions. This was not the late Hongwu era, when institutions were complete and talent had caught up.
Li Yi raised his eyebrows and looked at Gu Zhengchen in surprise. "You seem to know quite a bit about the court. Did the Liang Family tell you?"
Gu Zhengchen shook his head slightly.
Some things were beyond what the Liang Family's limited connections could uncover.
Li Yi gave Gu Zhengchen a long look but asked no further questions. He rose, picked up a Credential Token from the table, and walked over to him. "Keep this safe. It is your matching Credential Token. Without it, you cannot report to the Ministry of Personnel. Whatever you do, don't lose it."
Gu Zhengchen took it and examined it.
The so-called Credential Token was only as long as his little finger and made of iron. It was shaped neither like a tiger nor like a yellow croaker. It was simple, just a flat object resembling a waist badge.
The Credential Token bore a series of markings. Their left sides did not extend any farther, as though sliced through with a blade. In the middle were two characters in seal script:
Appointment.
Here, "appointment" did not mean removing or killing an official. It meant granting an official post.
This was a matching Credential Token used specifically for appointing officials.
The Ming bureaucracy employed a system of geographical avoidance. In other words, someone from Shandong could not serve as an official in Shandong and had to go to another province. Temporary assignments, special requirements, and appointments made by the court were exceptions, of course.
Since officials served away from home, and ancient times had neither networked records nor complete personnel files, without this system of matching Credential Tokens, a few impostors were bound to slip into official posts.
Gu Zhengchen put away the matching Credential Token and asked, "When I set out, must I travel with Liang Family Jiajun and Zhang Shiping, or...?"
Li Yi smiled. "If you wish to travel together, having someone to look after one another is a good thing. If you don't want company, you may travel alone. Just don't miss the deadline."
Gu Zhengchen nodded, bowed, and prepared to leave.
Li Yi rose to see him off. "I forgot to mention that before setting out, you must come to the County Yamen once more. Emperor Hongwu understood the difficulties officials faced in reaching their posts. He could not bear to see them borrow money to take office and then turn around and harm and abuse the people, so he established a travel allowance. Fifty taels for a prefect, thirty-five for a subprefect, and for a county magistrate,
"thirty taels."
Gu Zhengchen knew about the travel allowance. It had existed in Great Ming, but only like a night-blooming flower, here and gone.
Right now, that flower was blooming.
Thirty taels. By the time I reach the Capital and then Jurong, there probably won't be much left. Still, it's certainly better than borrowing...
One month left!
Gu Zhengchen left the County Yamen and headed to the Liang Family residence.
Liang Heng was watching an opera. When he saw Gu Zhengchen arrive, he had him sit beside him and spoke while watching the performance. "From the first time you appeared before me, I knew there was more to you than met the eye. And now, in so little time, you're about to become a county magistrate."
Gu Zhengchen said with a bitter smile, "Jurong County Magistrate-that's no easy place to be. Make a little too much noise, and I could draw people's attention and bring trouble down on myself. But if I make no noise at all, I could stay in Jurong for nine years and still never enter the central court. Do you have any advice for me, Elder Liang?"
Liang Heng glanced at Gu Zhengchen and said slowly, "It seems you still have some fire bottled up inside you. Remember, there's nothing wrong with making a bit of noise. But that noise must be pleasing to the ear. It mustn't grate on people and make them loathe it."
"What if someone insists it sounds unpleasant?"
Gu Zhengchen asked gravely.
Liang Heng picked up an apricot kernel left beside him after the fruit had been eaten and handed it to Gu Zhengchen. "The skin and flesh will be eaten sooner or later. The seeds that remain are all hard," he said meaningfully.
Gu Zhengchen lowered his head to look at the apricot kernel in his hand, only half understanding.
"Go to the Capital with Jiajun next month. He may be older than you, but he's never traveled far from home. With you looking after him, I'll be at ease."
Liang Heng continued watching the opera and raised his teacup.
Gu Zhengchen nodded with a smile. "As long as the Liang Family is willing to cover the travel expenses, I have no problem setting out with Jiajun..."
"Pfft! Aren't you being a little too greedy?"
Liang Heng spat out a mouthful of tea.
Gu Zhengchen shrugged helplessly. "Elder Liang, sharing a carriage saves money..."
The flesh on Liang Heng's cheeks twitched. "Why should all the money saved be yours, and all the money spent be the Liang Family's?"
"Because I've been to the Capital once. I know the road like an old hand knows his carriage..."
Liang Heng's eyes widened.
That's right, you know the road. Last time you went to the Capital to take the examinations, the court suspended the imperial examinations, and after returning, you jumped into a lake. Who knows whether the King of Hell sent back the wrong soul? Ever since you were fished out of that lake, your whole temperament has changed...
Before you continue