The Clever Ones

Anyone who had suffered failure once or twice was less likely to act rashly afterward.

After giving Zhufu Yan fifty banliang coins, Zhang Xuezhou finally understood how to seek an official post properly.

In the end, it was still the donation route Sang Hongyang had mentioned. Compared to the hundreds or thousands of gold pieces often involved, though, the minor officials had smaller appetites, and a bit of money was enough to scrape through.

"I remember you said you heard about slipping in thirty or fifty coins from someone else. Who was it?" Zhang Xuezhou asked quietly.

"Well... a lot of Confucian scholars were talking about it, so I squeezed in and listened!"

Zhufu Yan was delighted after taking the money and answered readily.

"Some slipped in eight or ten coins, others about twenty, and the most anyone slipped in was thirty or fifty. Those people found their names on the posted list and were whispering happily among themselves. They also said anyone who didn't slip in money couldn't even get through the screening, and the more money they slipped in, the better the post they got!"

"I see!"

"I heard there weren't any particular requirements about the amount for the first batch. Even if you hung a single banliang coin on a bamboo slip, you might get taken on. Afterward, everyone learned about the method, and a small amount was no longer enough."

"So that's how it is." Zhang Xuezhou nodded. "Do you know when the court will seek talent for the third time?"

"I don't think they said!"

Zhufu Yan clutched the banliang coins in his hand.

He stared at them blankly for several seconds, feeling far less joy over the coins he had asked for.

If the court didn't seek talent, then even if he knew how