Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

Chapter 401 Love of Talent

As the Spring Festival was approaching, Wang Xinkuan had originally planned to return to Beijing, but before leaving, he received a message from his senior brother. Zhu Yuchun tactfully hinted to Wang Xinkuan that he had only been in Xuyang for a few months, and would be returning to Beijing to get married soon after the beginning of the year. Although Xuyang was not far from Beijing, he should pay more attention to the people of Xuyang.

Wang Xinkuan got a hint from his senior brother and decided to stay in Xuyang. Originally, when Wang Xinkuan took up his post in Xuyang, the Wang family planned to buy a house for him in Xuyang, but Wang Xinkuan did not agree. Therefore, he still lives in the small courtyard arranged for him by the Xuyang Mansion. Because he has been busy with his official duties, most of the time he only goes back to rest for a night after dark. In addition to the two followers he brought with him, the Xuyang Mansion only provided him with two errand boys to take charge of daily cleaning, and there was only one cook, not even a maid.

All the officials of Xuyang Prefecture, big and small, knew more or less that the new Tongzhi was a favorite of His Majesty. He was only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, but he had already taken the position of Tongzhi of the fifth rank.

Xuyang Prefecture is not far from the capital, and those who are in the officialdom have some connections of their own. Among the officials of all ranks in Xuyang Prefecture, there are inevitably well-informed people. When Wang Xinkuan just arrived in Xuyang to take office, they knew about Wang Xinkuan's master. In this personnel adjustment, all of them were promoted by His Majesty himself. The one who had just been promoted from the fifth-rank Dali Temple Zuo Sicheng to the third-rank Personnel Minister was Wang Xinkuan's eldest master's senior brother.

Although some people think that Wang Xinkuan has climbed to such a high position at such a young age, and are somewhat worried that the young man will become arrogant, and therefore some people are unwilling to associate with Wang Xinkuan, but of course there are only a few people with rigid thinking in the officialdom, and what the officialdom lacks the least is people with flexible brains.

Not long after Wang Xinkuan took office, there were quite a few people in the Xuyang officialdom who took the initiative to get close to Wang Xinkuan, either openly or secretly.

The prefect of Xuyang Prefecture received the news from the empress dowager very early on, so he showed considerable trust in Wang Xinkuan and was willing to let him go and do his work. This allowed many people in Xuyang Prefecture to have a more intuitive judgment of the situation of the government office. Therefore, Wang Xinkuan did not encounter too outrageous obstacles in his actions, and things went smoothly overall.

"Compared to Fifth Junior Brother, Fourth Junior Brother faces more and greater challenges in Xuyang. He will stay there during the New Year to handle some emergency matters, which can be regarded as a way for him to gain experience. Fourth Junior Brother's big day is in March, so he is expected to come back in March."

Although all those present were close friends, Zhu Yuchun did not intend to inform everyone in advance about Wang Xinkuan's possible promotion. This was a matter of principle in his position as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, so he only briefly mentioned to his teacher that Wang Xinkuan might not return to Beijing until March.

"Master, I have also heard that Xuyang Prefecture is the worst-hit area in this flood. Si'er has only been in office for a few months, so he should focus more on that. Besides, he has to return to Beijing to get married after the New Year. Your uncle Ye and I have also discussed that after we go down the mountain to celebrate the New Year, we will wait until Xinkuan gets married before going to Yujing Palace."

Upon hearing that the Master was going to Yujing Palace for recuperation, Zhu Yuchun, Zhao Mubai and Ji Yunting all showed joy. The Master's recuperation over the past six months had produced visibly good results. If the Master could continue recuperating in Yujing Palace, he might really live to be a hundred years old.

"That's great, sir. You can stay with Uncle Ye and Auntie until the Fourth Brother's wedding. I don't know how happy he will be when he finds out. Before he took up his post, he told me that if you are still in Yujing Palace when he gets married, he will personally go up the mountain to pick you up. He said that no matter what, he hopes that you can witness this crucial moment in his life. At that time, he will bring his younger brothers and sisters to personally serve you tea!"

When Mr. Cai and Ji Yunting heard what he said, they laughed so hard that their teeth were showing. When the fellow disciples saw their teacher laughing so hard that his few remaining teeth were showing, they all smiled from the bottom of their hearts.

Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng had smiles on their faces, but when their eyes met, they both saw a hint of sadness in the depths of each other's eyes. However, the joyful atmosphere in front of them made them quickly regain their composure, and they followed everyone else, picking up food from time to time while chatting leisurely.

Soon, Mr. Cai started asking about Wulang's academic performance. Upon learning that Mr. Xia, who was studying at a private school in the county, was very satisfied with Wulang's academic performance and was planning to let Wulang take the examination for a student, Mr. Cai nodded with satisfaction.

"In fact, I am very optimistic about Wulang's studies. I had planned to take you and your brothers into my school, but unfortunately, my body is weak and my energy is limited. Although Jingcheng has always been raised by your mistress and has been called Master, Madam, and Senior Brother since he was a child, Jingcheng officially became a disciple later than Geang, so he became the sixth junior brother."

It was the first time that Ye Changyan heard that Liang Jingcheng was the sixth senior brother. Originally, he had always thought that it was because Liang Jingcheng was young that he was the sixth senior brother. But now after hearing what the teacher said, and thinking about when the fourth and fifth senior brothers were arguing about who was the senior brother, in the end, wasn't it calculated according to the time of joining the sect?

When Wu Lang heard that Mr. Cai was optimistic about his academic performance and even wanted to accept him as his disciple, he felt very happy and his eyes seemed to be filled with a desire for knowledge.

When Ye Xiaozheng heard Mr. Cai's affirmation of Wulang, he felt warm in his heart for a while. However, after a year of living together in Yuzhou Prefecture and the past six months in Yujing Palace, Ye Xiaozheng already knew Mr. Cai's health very well. Although Mr. Cai's health looks much better than his peers now, he is an old man in his seventies after all. Sanlang became Mr. Cai's disciple, and Mr. Cai taught him carefully, which gave Sanlang the opportunity to study in the Imperial College today.

Ye Xiaozheng and his wife were grateful to Mr. Cai from the bottom of their hearts. Although they verbally called Mr. Cai "Big Brother", deep down, the couple respected him as their father.

"When I officially accepted Jingcheng as my disciple, I said he would be my last disciple. But when I was in Yuzhou, I valued the brothers Sanlang and Wulang very much. However, given my limited energy, I would rather accept the two brothers as my disciples than not have enough energy to teach them. This would delay the two children. Since I cannot stay in Yuzhou forever, and only students with the title of scholar can become students of official schools at all levels, I broke the practice of accepting last disciples and accepted Sanlang as my last disciple again, and focused on preparing him for admission to the Imperial College."