It's Not Easy to Serve as a Court Official

Congratulations, Dongfang Dongfang!

Zhang Xuezhou has been spending most of his time writing lately, trying to finish his job search for an official position.

He would occasionally go to the convoy to take a shift.

When they met again, Sang Hongyang Sang Hongyang a strange smile on his face.

This is because young people find it difficult to hide their feelings; they want to say something but don't, which leads to their appearance.

"What's the cause of this joy?" Zhang Xuezhou asked, puzzled.

"I heard that the second batch of officials recruited were all transferred to the Court of State Ceremonial," Sang Hongyang reminded him happily.

"The Court of State Ceremonial, it seems to be open to outsiders?"

"That's right, it's for external affairs, so all these officials have been put in charge of external affairs!"

The new emperor dealt with these officials who had been promoted illegally very quickly, and his methods were difficult to oppose.

The official position was indeed granted, and it was indeed an official position in Chang'an City.

But this was a group of officials from the capital who were about to be sent as envoys to the Xiong State.

Whoever wants to replace someone else must find someone else to take their place, or they will have to take charge of the mission.

Among these new officials, whoever is unwilling to go on a mission to the Xiong State will have to bear the charge of bribery. This charge can be serious or minor, ranging from losing one's head to making meritorious contributions to ensure a successful mission and thus getting rid of the matter.

"This matter..."

"Anyone who dares to say that His Majesty is pushing these people to their deaths is Curse the imperial delegation to a doomed defeat," Sang Hongyang said. "Some of these people do have some connections, but connections are useless; no one can protect them!"

"I see!"

"So getting promoted in this batch of officials isn't necessarily a good thing, and not getting promoted isn't necessarily a bad thing!"

"Absolutely! Absolutely!"

"Now that the second batch of people has been dealt with, His Majesty does indeed want to recruit another group of capable officials, so Brother Dongfang's opportunity has come again, and this opportunity may even be better than the previous two!"

Sang Hongyang brought the third wave of recruitment information.

The things he revealed weren't entirely confidential, but within a few days, they would surely spread Chang'an City.

But his prior notification was clearly a good thing.

There's no monetary benefit in befriending Zhang Xuezhou, but as long as Zhang Xuezhou is in a good mood, discussing interesting arithmetic problems with him is undoubtedly a fun thing.

And this did indeed give him some opportunities to rise in the ranks of the palace attendants.

"I'll go and deliver it again in a few days when the Office of the Jingzhao Intendant issues another official document," Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

After experiencing things a few times, you'll get used to everything.

Zhang Xuezhou had little experience in being an official, but he was clearly adept at seeking one, and no longer felt anxious or eager.

Generally speaking, if it doesn't work the first time, try the second time; if it doesn't work the second time, try the third time. As long as the imperial court recruits officials in this way, he will eventually get into it.

"I wonder what you mean by 'this opportunity is even better'?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"I'm not entirely sure either, I just have a feeling," Sang Hongyang said. "As long as you don't use bribery to get an official position, you don't have to worry about being sent to the delegation just to make up the numbers!"

"That's true!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

He had just finished dealing with Zhang Qian and Wu Chao's affairs regarding the mission, and even if he were to be included in the mission, Zhang Xuezhou felt it wouldn't be a big problem.

Of course, it would be better not to include him in the delegation, since he came to Chang'an City to serve as an official in the capital, not to go out and do hard labor.

Sang Hongyang, who was in front of him, was well-informed in the palace, but he was ultimately out of touch with the younger generation and was not as perceptive as the older officials when it came to matters of the court.

"It's a pity that Master Dong isn't in Chang'an City. And the Doctor Gongsun he stayed behind to look after us is unreliable. As for Li Guang, who ran away after just one meeting, let's not even talk about him!"

Zhang Xuezhou thought about his connections in the imperial court and realized that they were all incredibly weak, with none of them having a stable source of information.

He wasn't afraid of not getting an official position; Zhang Xuezhou was afraid that the new emperor would create some messy and incompetent officials.

It's one thing to become an official in the Court of State Ceremonial, but if you're sent to a remote border region as a clerical official, it's hard to ever turn your life around.

"By the way, with the weather getting cooler now, there are probably very few Agricultural School selling millet. I wonder if Brother Dongfang has any other business to do next?"

After their conversation, Zhang Xuezhou posed an interesting arithmetic problem.

When this pleased Sang Hongyang, he reciprocated by mentioning that it was difficult to do millet business in Liesi during the winter.

Don't even mention how difficult it is for Zhang Xuezhou; even Sang Hongyang can no longer resell his products.

But for people like them, as long as they're quick-witted, business is everywhere.

Sang Hongyang felt that after another ten days or half a month in the millet business, he would have to switch to the cloth and other trades.

If Zhang Xuezhou could apply for a license to sell cloth and purchase silk, he could still establish a deeper and more comprehensive partnership with Zhang Xuezhou.

"We still need to busy ourselves with storing grain seeds!"

Zhang Xuezhou pointed to the signboard of Liesi.

Although they were involved in buying and selling grain, their business was actually dealing in seeds, and whether they could sell them for a good price next year was another matter entirely.

"The matter of grain seeds is excellent," Sang Hongyang replied after a few seconds of thought. "The national treasury and various regions regularly select grains, but from what I've observed, they are not as good as your seeds. If someone knowledgeable were to come, your grains should fetch a good price!"

Sang Hongyang was skilled at buying and selling at a profit margin, but not at agriculture.

However, Sang Hongyang felt that the grains in Liesili were plump and there was a significant difference in weight and volume when converted using the amount of millet. The ratio was even higher than the grains inspected during the new emperor's inspection, which made him feel that everyone else's seeds were superior.

"We're just a small business, we can't expect to get a good price," Zhang Xuezhou laughed. "But if more people use these good seeds to grow grain, there will be more people selling grain next year. Maybe we can get a few more bushels of grain by buying it and reselling it to you!"

"Next year, we'll sell a few more bushels of grain!"

Sang Hongyang pondered for a few seconds, then nodded.

"You mean growing grain is good, and the harvest is good, right?" Sang Hongyang asked.

"Good seeds lead to a high survival rate for seedlings, but whether they can grow into crops and reach a good harvest is a long process with many unforeseen circumstances, and a good harvest cannot be guaranteed," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Now that you mention it, I understand a little better," Sang Hongyang nodded, then chuckled awkwardly, "It's embarrassing to admit, but although I've seen a lot of millet, I have absolutely no idea how millet grows or what I should be aware of!"

"It's not shameful," Zhang Xuezhou laughed. "There are plenty of people who have eaten pork but never seen a pig run; it's perfectly normal not to understand agriculture!"

"Uh, I've never seen a pig that can run!"

Sang Hongyang shrugged, indicating that he was indeed a novice in agriculture.

Zhang Xuezhou learned a lot of court news from him, and Sang Hongyang also learned some things he had never encountered before.

He put aside his joint business of collecting hemp thread and silk, and inevitably prepared to ask Zhang Xuezhou for advice on farming.

In the palace, the new emperor has recently shown interest in farming. If he knows more about the subject and can contribute his knowledge, Sang Hongyang is likely to become even closer to the new emperor.

"To be honest, I don't know much about this stuff either!"

Zhang Xuezhou can grow a few potted plants that don't require much care, and he can also grow crops that don't require much care in modern agriculture, but he is also a novice when it comes to agriculture in this world.

Ungenetically modified seeds are more fragile than one might imagine; without selection, even the germination rate becomes problematic.

It is common for large numbers of seedlings to die from wind and rain after sprouting, and it is also necessary to prevent pests and diseases. There are far more things to pay attention to than in reality.

If planted according to modern agricultural experience, Zhang Xuezhou believes that as many as he planted, they would all die.

"But you can ask our third boss here!"

Seeing that Sang Hongyang was genuinely interested in this, he directly recommended Xu Yuan.

"It seems His Majesty is indeed very concerned about whether people will starve to death Chang'an City this winter!"

Sang Hongyang was extremely good at mental arithmetic. People like him could calculate everything clearly and therefore would not do anything meaningless.

For example, the buying and selling of millet, related arithmetic problems, and now also involve agricultural planting.

If Zhang Xuezhou wasn't mistaken, the emperor in the palace was probably also interested in these matters.

Instead of trying to steal Sang Hongyang's thunder, he recommended Xu Yuan, suggesting that Sang Hongyang learn more about agriculture from Xu Yuan.

"A major event has occurred in the imperial court!"

When Rong Tianding and Xu Yuan returned from collecting scattered grain, Zhang Xuezhou had not yet recommended Xu Yuan to Sang Hongyang, but the two were already chattering away.

"Marquis of Weiqi, Dou Ying, became Chancellor; Marquis of Wu'an Tian Fen, became Grand Commandant; Zhao Wan became Imperial Censor; and I heard that some of the Nine Ministers have also been replaced!"

In the imperial court, a new round of officials took over from top to bottom.

Zhang Xuezhou had only met Tian Fen, but he also knew about the other two.

According to the information obtained from Dong Zhongshu, Marquis of Weiqi Dou Ying Weiqi was a member of the lineage of the Grand Empress Dowager, Marquis Tian Fen of Marquis of Wu'an was a member of the Empress Dowager's lineage, and Zhao Wan was a member of the lineage of Shen Peigong, a Confucian School scholar.

The highest-ranking officials in the imperial court, the Three Dukes, were all replaced, and even the Nine Ministers were affected. This was indeed a major upheaval in the officialdom.

Even the most opportunistic fence-sitters found it difficult to keep up this time.

One scene unfolds in the imperial court, while another unfolds outside.

For Zhang Xuezhou and others, this wave of personnel reshuffles will likely result in another round of vacant official positions.