Zhu Fuyan, Failed on His Second Attempt

"Sister An Ran is so decisive and efficient; she gets things done so quickly!"

Many people's plans remain on paper, and it takes a long time before they are actually implemented, or even longer, the plans may simply fall apart.

But Ren Anran does things quickly and decisively, without any hesitation.

When Ren Wuyang said he was going to die, Ren Anran immediately bought a coffin and returned to Western Capital City.

In order to find the Soul Jade for Ren Yisheng, Ren Anran completed the procedures on the same day and set off for the Tuer Clan.

After Zhang Xuezhou communicated with many people and learned that everyone could cooperate with Qinmeng's trip without any problems, the trip to Qinmeng was set off.

This was much faster than Zhang Xuezhou had estimated, one or two months, but Ren Anran did find it relatively easy to handle these matters by leveraging her special status.

A month after the previous hunting party returned, they also squeezed onto an Airbus bound for Qinmeng.

The Airbus would stop at a seaport airport in the Aomeijia Alliance, and then they would take passenger ships from that seaport to the various ports of the Qinmeng Ruins.

This is a relatively conventional route, and different passenger ships depart daily from the harbor to various parts of the Qinmeng Ruins, making it far more flexible than the cargo ships that carry strange beasts back and forth.

Zhang Xuezhou only had time to greet Zuo Teng, who had a stern face, before lying down.

"To waste one's life on the road is the most shameful thing!"

After grumbling for a moment, Zhang Xuezhou snapped out of his reverie in the guesthouse.

If he weren't in the middle of nowhere, Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't need anyone to take care of him.

The security in Chang'an City was indeed quite good, and Zhang Xuezhou didn't have any enemies, so lying down wouldn't cause him any trouble.

When he regained consciousness, he saw that food had been prepared in advance in the guest room, but Rong Tianding and the others were nowhere to be seen.

After opening the "Three Brothers' Good Grain and Materials Stall," Rong Tianding and Xu Yuan were extremely busy and had little time to sit in their room waiting for Zhang Xuezhou to wake up.

After some rest and a meal, Zhang Xuezhou finally left the guesthouse.

He greeted the somewhat surprised owner and strode out of the guesthouse.

The first thing Zhang Xuezhou did was not to go to the "Three Brothers' Good Grain and Materials Stall," but to go to the Office of the Jingzhao Intendant.

Twelve days later, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the list of the second batch of officials to be recruited by the imperial court should have been released by now.

These matters were announced Office of the Jingzhao Intendant, and then the names were searched for and reported.

"I wonder which unpleasant department they'll assign me to!"

The first batch of officials recruited will undoubtedly take up their posts and need to do various things. Zhang Xuezhou did not feel too regretful about missing the opportunity, after all, his current state has some problems, making it difficult for him to immediately shine in the court.

The second batch of officials recruited were candidates, which allowed for some selection.

If one disregards factors such as cultivation level and the ability to compose poems, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he was quite talented as well.

He can read, write, do arithmetic, weigh things, and identify medicinal herbs. He has also recently learned ancient childbirth methods and can cut the umbilical cords of various mammals.

These talents would make it easy for them to become minor officials, and they could even choose positions in many departments of the imperial court.

Zhang Xuezhou walked for a while until his body was fully relaxed, and then started jogging.

He pondered which government department he could infiltrate, and which department's personnel were most likely to meet the new emperor and thus obtain the honorary title of "Supervisor".

Nearly half an hour had passed, and he had already seen the list of new officials posted outside the Office of the Jingzhao Intendant.

It was past the initial posting time, and there weren't many people watching.

"That's impossible!"

Zhang Xuezhou stood before the list and looked at the names of the officials who had been selected, written on bamboo slips.

He searched for a long time but couldn't find the three characters ' Dongfang Shuo '.

"You also want to become an official?"

When the familiar voice came, Zhang Xuezhou turned around and saw Zhufu Yan, who was dressed in tattered clothes and had a fawning look on his face.

"You've also come to Chang'an City seeking an official position?"

Zhang Xuezhou was a little annoyed to see his name not on the list, but he was even more annoyed to see Zhufu Yan's name.

Zhufu Yan was quick to take money and get things done, but he was also quick to betray people.

If it weren't for the fact that he had to borrow Ning Cheng and others' help when he crawled out of the Tomb of the King of Liang, this guy would definitely have become the object of his grudge.

Although the matter had passed, Zhang Xuezhou had no intention of appreciating or befriending him.

Generally speaking, if something can be settled with money, he doesn't need to maintain personal relationships. Besides, people like Zhufu Yan are driven by profit from humble beginnings, and they will side with whichever side offers the best deal, so personal relationships can't hold them back.

"I've pleaded twice but haven't been successful," Zhufu Yan said dejectedly. "I've heard that the two batches of officials recruited by the court are either Confucian School scholars with nepotism, virtuous and upright individuals recommended by various prefectures and counties, or people willing to spend money to bribe their way in. None of us who seek justice can get promoted!"

"Nepotism, virtuous and upright officials, and bribery?" Zhang Xuezhou asked in surprise, "Even His Majesty's personal recruitment of virtuous officials involves so many intricacies?"

"You don't understand the current officialdom," Zhufu Yan said in a muffled voice. "I've been to many places, and it's the same everywhere. Even if a poor person like me has talent, there's no way I can become an official."

He muttered a complaint, then looked longingly at Zhang Xuezhou.

"Could you lend me some money?" the Zhufu Yan said. "I will definitely pay you back after I become an official and take the money!"

"You're already thinking about corruption before you've even become an official?" Zhang Xuezhou asked in surprise.

"Which official these days isn't corrupt?" Zhufu Yan said repeatedly. "Otherwise, why would they spend money to become officials? Are they just trying to contribute to us, the working class?"

"You're quite direct!"

Compared to some people who are secretive and evasive, Zhufu Yan undoubtedly dared to speak his mind.

Of course, this is also something Zhang Xuezhou plans to do.

"Anyone who becomes an official will inevitably have to hand over some dirt on others," Li Shaojun suggested, and Zhang Xuezhou thought it was worth a listen.

Li Shaojun is different from Zhufu Yan. If Zhufu Yan had spoken first, or even suggested that Zhang Xuezhou also be greedy, Zhang Xuezhou would definitely have thought that this guy was trying to kill him.

However, Li Shaojun still wanted to cultivate a good relationship with Zhang Xuezhou in order to obtain information from the Immortal Court. The other party's advice was indeed a practical and suitable approach to imperial politics and survival in officialdom.

This is an autocratic dynasty under an imperial system, completely different from the system of rules and regulations that the Scarlet Alliance State has established. If Zhang Xuezhou wants to become an official with the mindset of a peaceful nine-to-five civil servant, he probably has no chance of doing a good job.

Of course, the issue now isn't whether he can do a good job, but rather that he failed in his second attempt as well.

"You mean you have to pay bribes to get an official position?" Zhang Xuezhou asked. "How much would that cost?"

"I heard from others that you only need to slip thirty to fifty half-ounce coins into the bamboo slips you're applying for an official position," Zhufu Yan whispered. "After all, you can't slip too many half-ounce coins into a single bamboo slip; if they leak out, it'll be a huge loss!"

"Like this?"

Zhang Xuezhou thought about the people who had delivered bamboo slips to the Office of the Jingzhao Intendant. Among them were those who had smuggled in half a tael of coins. At the time, he had ridiculed this practice, believing that brevity was the key, as Zhang Qian had said. Now, it seemed that he was the one who should be ridiculed.

"High-ranking officials are easy to talk to, but lowly officials are the most difficult to deal with," said Zhufu Yan Fu Yan. "Those above don't care about our little bit of money, but those below will definitely prioritize the batch with money hidden in it when collecting bamboo slips, and they'll give it special recommendations!"

"So that's how it is!"

Reminded by Zhufu Yan, Zhang Xuezhou finally understood why his two applications for official positions had been rejected.

Many people were involved in handling Emperor Jing's grand funeral, so the people in charge must have been a different group. This new group probably didn't have the simple bamboo slips sent from above, so they just glanced at the single bamboo slips and ignored them.

Accordingly, the method of selecting job application bamboo slips changed to inserting money.