Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

A few days later, Lu Hui and Liu Yanzhi had some free time, so they invited each other to go to a teahouse in the city to drink tea. They said they were drinking tea but in fact they were just chatting about some of their personal matters.

Lu Hui took a sip of tea and lowered his voice, "I heard that the central government has already started drafting the official system!"

Liu Yanzhi nodded slightly and responded, "The official position reform implemented by the court this time has really helped us local officials a lot."

Lu Hui frowned and said with some concern, "In the future, there will be more than 20 officials in a government office. With so many people, don't you feel troubled and overwhelmed?"

Liu Yanzhi disagreed, explaining with a smile, "Those chief clerks, recorders, and head clerks from each department are all here to assist us. Being able to make those who have left their official positions official is a great incentive and reward for them."

Lu Hui still had a worried look on his face and sighed, "But if we do this, it might dilute the power we hold!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yanzhi's face straightened and he refuted righteously: "As officials, everything we do is for the welfare of the people. How can we care about the gains and losses of personal power?"

After hearing this, Lu Hui was silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement. He then changed the subject and asked, "By the way, the Censor has ordered us to recommend a Tongpan (Tongpan) for the position. Do you have any suitable candidate in mind?"

Liu Yanzhi answered without hesitation: "I still recommend Jingwei."

Lu Hui thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Although Zhang Jingwei is already a quasi-juren, he is still young and lacks experience. I think Teacher Guo is more suitable."

Liu Yanzhi frowned slightly and said, "This person, in terms of knowledge, is indeed not too bad. However, he is lustful by nature. You know, there are many people in Yunzhou who are greedy for profit. If this continues, I am afraid that some acts of favoritism and abuse of power will be inevitable in the future!"

Lu Hui immediately responded, "Then let's talk about the former advisor to the Zuoyuan County Magistrate. He was a Juren after all, and he had a clean record in the previous smuggling case!"

Liu Yanzhi waved his hand gently and sighed, "Alas, don't forget, that master is already over seventy years old and his health is not very optimistic. There is really no need to bother such an old man anymore."

Lu Hui nodded in agreement, then continued, "What about the chief clerk in Xingrong County? Although he's just a student, he works diligently and conscientiously, and has a very good reputation among the local people."

After a moment's thought, Liu Yanzhi replied, "In that case, then, Governor Lu, you might consider selecting a suitable candidate from among the existing clerks in Yunzhou Prefecture."

Lu Hui turned his gaze to Liu Yanzhi and asked, "So which one should I choose?"

Liu Yanzhi blurted out without hesitation: "In my opinion, I still insist on recommending Zhang Jingwei!"

Hearing this, Lu Hui's face suddenly darkened, and he said seriously, "Yanzhi, you can't keep mentioning Zhang Jingwei on your left and Zhang Jingwei on your right. Although he is indeed your student, you are obviously biased towards him. This is a big taboo in officialdom!"

Liu Yanzhi hurriedly explained, "Oh, Master Lu, you misunderstood me! It's not that I intentionally favor my own student, but after comprehensive consideration, I truly feel that no one is more qualified for this position than him!"

……

In the Marquis' Mansion, Zhang Jingwei was extremely happy because Ma Tianmao came to give him money.

Zhang Jingwei's face was full of smiles, which were even brighter than the flowers blooming in spring. He bent down, holding an exquisite teapot in both hands, and said flatteringly to Ma Tianmao in front of him: "Brother Tianmao! Look, this is the best flower tea that I got from Hunyuan County with great difficulty. It is definitely a rare treasure in the world! Come on, please taste it quickly!" Then he handed the teapot to Ma Tianmao.

Ma Tianmao nodded slightly, a faint smile appeared on his face, and he responded softly: "Brother Jingwei, you are so polite."

At this time, Zhang Jingwei moved a little closer, lowered his voice and asked carefully: "That...about the money..." Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Ma Tianmao.

Ma Tianmao said with a half-smile, "Brother Jingwei, don't worry. I've brought the money. But, Brother Jingwei has always been a refined man and hates the smell of money. So I specially took a bath with spices to avoid tainting Brother Jingwei's noble character."

Hearing this, Zhang Jingwei was stunned at first, then quickly waved his hands and laughed dryly, "Well, look at what you're saying, Boss Ma. I'm not that noble. It's just that money matters are a bit vulgar after all, so I want to use the fragrance of tea to cover it up a little."

Ma Tianmao sighed softly and said slowly, "Father went to Jiangnan to pay for transportation and left all the business in the north to me. Alas, I only want to enter the court as an official and bring honor to my family. I have no interest in these business matters. I really let my father down."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingwei hurriedly comforted him, "Alas, Brother Tian Miao, why are you so modest? Jiangnan is a beautiful place with many talented people. With Mr. Ma's shrewdness and ability, you will definitely make a lot of money this time. Then you can pursue your official career with peace of mind."

However, at this moment, Ma Tianmao suddenly frowned and asked in confusion, "Wait, Brother Jingwei just mentioned 'Papa Ma'. What does that mean?"

Zhang Jingwei's heart tightened, and he secretly said, "Oh no! How could I have said that word so hastily?" He quickly covered it up, saying, "Oh, it's nothing, it's just a casual remark. Hey, let's just hand over the money and get the goods!"

Qian Ming carefully handed over the box containing the test papers, and Ma Tianmao casually took out a silver note of one million strings of cash from his pocket.

"Hiss..." Zhang Jingwei kept suppressing his inner feelings and carefully put the banknotes into the lock box.

The purchasing power of one million strings of cash in China is equivalent to more than 20 billion girls in the real world.

With this amount of money, he would be one of the richest people in the world. Being able to come up with such a large sum of money in such a short time, one can imagine how powerful the Ma family is in China. And what it meant that the Zhang family was financially stronger than the Ma family? Zhang Jingwei only now vaguely discovered.

The original owner was a wealthy second-generation man in a dynasty. It was normal for him to commit suicide by taking poison after he could not bear the decline of his family.