I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 61: Great Wisdom Appears Foolishly Wu Chengen

There are two things that are common in Gaosheng Teahouse near Dazhalan: many government brokers and many swindlers.

The Ming Dynasty implemented a strict road permit system. Most outsiders came to Beijing for three purposes: imperial examinations, business, and seeking official positions.

Every year, there were thousands of candidates who came to Beijing to participate in the Ministry of Personnel's selection. This gave rise to brokers in the officialdom.

The officials in the Ministry of Personnel wanted to make some money by using the big pole, and the officials in charge of the examinations and tributes wanted to use silver to bribe people.

But the two sides didn't know each other. What to do? This depends on the matchmaking of officialdom brokers.

It was OK for the candidates and tribute-seekers to meet a genuine broker. At least they could get a real official position after spending a lot of money. The worst thing was to meet a liar, in which case they would lose both the wife and the army.

Master and disciple Lin Shisan followed Wu Chengen and his party into Gaosheng Teahouse.

Wu Cheng'en went to one of the private rooms. Wu Jing and Gao Laoba stood at the door like two generals. The monkey Sun Wukong also stood at the door obediently, acting as a door god.

Master Lin Shisan and his apprentice had no choice but to go into the private room next door.

As luck would have it, the two rooms were separated by a partition wall. Lin Shisan put his ear against the wall and could hear the general conversation next door.

Wu Cheng'en, who was next door, was meeting a man who claimed to be a broker in the officialdom.

The "official broker" was named Liang Chun, in his forties, dressed in fancy clothes, with six large gold rings on his ten fingers. He looked like a big shot in Beijing.

Wu Cheng'en and Liang Chun greeted each other.

Liang Chun smiled and said, "I have read Mr. Wu's Journey to the West four times. It is really well written and has a wonderful conception!"

Wu Cheng'en cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for the compliment. I'm sorry that you have made fun of my poor work."

Liang Chun exchanged pleasantries with Wu Cheng'en for a while, and finally got down to business: "From your books, I know that you are a person who understands officialdom very well!"

"Seeking an official position is like seeking the scriptures. Even if you go to the Great Leiyin Temple in the West Heaven, you still have to bribe Ananda and Kasyapa. It doesn't matter whether Tang Seng is the brother of the Tang Emperor or not."

"It's just like many candidates and tribute students. After going through 81 difficulties to get to the Ministry of Personnel, they have to give some benefits to the masters of the Ministry of Personnel."

"It doesn't matter whether they are disciples of a high-ranking official or not, or whether they are world-famous talents or not."

Wu Cheng'en said, "That's right, that's right. I also understand this principle."

Liang Chun spitted and said, "Although I am not without an official position, I have been in the officialdom of the capital for twenty years. I have some connections."

As he was talking, the door of the private room was pushed open. Liang Chun's servant walked in: "Sir, Mr. Huang from the Ministry of Personnel's Examination Office is celebrating his birthday. You are invited to the banquet tomorrow. Here is the invitation."

After that, the servant placed a big red invitation on the tea table. Wu Cheng'en saw that the official seal of the head of the Ministry of Personnel was stamped on the cover of the invitation.

Liang Chun said, "I have something to do tomorrow. Just tell him that I am not feeling well and cannot attend the banquet. But the birthday gift must be five hundred taels."

The servant responded and left.

Liang Chun waved the invitation in front of Wu Cheng'en and said, "There are too many official social events in the capital. I am tired of them all."

Wu Cheng'en said, "I didn't expect Mr. Liang to have such wide social connections."

Seeing that the time was almost right, Liang Chun began to set a trap: "I can't go to the birthday party of the head of the Ministry of Examination because I have another banquet to attend. Tomorrow, the doctor of the Ministry of Literature, Mr. Wan Cai, will treat us to a New Year's banquet."

After that, Liang Chun took out another invitation from his sleeve and handed it to Wu Chengen to look at. The invitation was signed by Wan Fengcheng, the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel.

Wan Cai, a key member of the Party who was in charge of the major affairs, was from Fengcheng.

Wu Cheng'en said, "Mr. Liang is really very capable. I don't know about my business." Liang Chun immediately patted his chest and said, "Leave it all to me! According to the rules, a Juren can be promoted to a county magistrate at most. A tribute student can only be promoted to a chief clerk, a registrar, or a teacher."

"Dr. Wan and I are close friends, like brothers. If I ask for mercy on behalf of Mr. Wu, I can definitely make an exception and get you a position as a county magistrate."

"A few days ago, Doctor Wan and I were drinking together and got drunk. He said that the most lucrative positions in this election are the two positions of Yuhang County Magistrate in Hangzhou Prefecture and Huating County Magistrate in Songjiang Prefecture."

"If I were to serve as the deputy to the magistrate of these two places, even if I didn't do anything out of line, I could still get a good handle on the situation by collecting the illegal fees in my three-year term."

When he said this, Lin Shisan, who was eavesdropping next door, thought to himself: Oh no! This is a liar! Wan Cai never drinks alcohol, but when he drinks, he gets red bumps all over his body. When did he not use tea instead of wine at the Luo Mansion's insect appreciation banquet?
Oh, Wu Cheng'en, this pedantic writer, don't be fooled by this liar.

Although Lin Shisan accepted the task of teasing Wu Chengen, he still had a conscience and did not want to see the pedantic scholar in his eyes being cheated and bankrupted.

Lin Shisan looked down on Wu Cheng'en.

A person who is full of nonsense does not necessarily mean that he is pedantic. Being pedantic does not mean being stupid either.

From ancient times to the present, no one who can write a best-selling novel of hundreds of thousands of words is stupid.

Wu Cheng'en was a wise man who appeared foolish.

Wu Chengen next door said calmly: "Mr. Liang, what is the meaning of one bottom and one side?"

Liang Chun said, "You don't even know this? It's just that you spent a lot of money to buy an official position, and you can earn twice as much in three years!"

Wu Cheng'en asked again: "How much silver would it cost for the two county magistrate positions you mentioned?"

Liang Chun opened his mouth loudly: "Yuhang Quer is more expensive, 13,000 taels. Huating is 10,000 taels."

"I'm going to have a drink with Doctor Wan tomorrow. Whatever position you want to buy, give me the banknote today and I can get it done tomorrow."

Wu Cheng'en was not easily tricked: "How about this. Mr. Liang introduces me to Doctor Wan. I will personally hand over the banknotes."

"As long as I meet with Doctor Wan, I will give you two thousand taels of introduction money regardless of whether the matter is successful or not."

Liang Chun frowned: "Mr. Wu, you don't believe me? Don't think I'm just a pawnbroker, but I'm secretly a member of the Northern Pacification Bureau. Have you heard of the Northern Pacification Bureau?"

Wu Cheng'en replied: "Of course I have heard of it. It is extremely powerful."

Lin Shisan frowned: Is this swindler, like me, also a secret flag of the Northern Pacification Office?
Liang Chun next door slapped a waist badge on the table and said with a smile: "Mr. Wu, please look, this is my Beisi waist badge."

Wu Cheng'en picked up the badge and read, "Captain of the Northern Pacification Division of the Imperial Guard, Sun. Special permission granted by the Emperor to execute first and report later. Oh, it turns out to be Captain Liang. My apologies."

Lin Shisan overheard this and immediately concluded that Liang Chun was pretending to be a member of the Northern Division's Anqi. First, since he called himself an Anqi, he should be a general or a small flag. The centurion called himself Anyu.

Secondly, there is no such thing as "special permission from the emperor, execute first and report later" on the badges of the Jinyiwei. These eight words are just rumors spread by the people who are unaware of the inside story.

The person next door probably hasn't even seen a real Jinyiwei badge.

Lin Shisan was secretly delighted: Ahaha. I helped Eunuch Huang do an unethical job. I didn't expect to be able to do something good. I'm really lucky recently.

The Northern Pacification Division doesn't care about the common scammers on the street, they are not worthy.

But if the scammer pretends to be someone from the Northern Division, that’s a different matter. It’s not an ordinary scam and must be dealt with severely.

Lin Shisan had just been appointed as the Northern Division's secret flag officer for a few days. If he could catch a swindler pretending to be a captain of the Northern Division, it would be considered a great achievement.

If you want to save your life, you have to climb up. If you want to climb up, it is always a good idea to make more achievements.

(End of this chapter)