Although Zhu Houzhao was covered in wounds, he was still worried about his life. In order to prove to the ministers in the court that he was fine, he issued an edict to hold a court meeting, which was set three days later, that is, the 19th day of the first lunar month.

As for what the court talks about this time, no one knows, but everyone understands that even if the court meeting is held as scheduled, it is impossible to discuss major events, and it is likely to end in fruitlessness.

The court meeting held after Emperor Zhengde ascended the throne either ended with a quarrel among ministers or Zhu Houzhao left without a smile. In short, the court meeting was tense and the smell of gunpowder was extremely strong, which is also an important reason why Zhu Houzhao didn't like to hold a court meeting.

After receiving the notice, the court officials finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now they no longer have to consider who to pass the throne to.

Chen Xi learned that it was in the afternoon. He slept very late last night and did not get up until noon. Although the Yuan Dynasty had passed, because Emperor Zhengde was lazy in power, he had only half a month to open the yamen in the Sixth Ministry and the various temple officials.

Chen Xi thought to himself: "When the ministers are holding a court meeting during the rest period, are you going to prove that you are still alive or let the people of the world know how miserable you are? Even if something happens in your back home? What can such a court meeting discuss?"

Because Chen Xi was going to prepare for meeting with merchants in the Western Regions, he did not pay much attention to the court meeting three days later.

Just as he was about to clean up and go to the Ministry of War, Zhu Qi came into the room and reported that he had received a letter from his classmates from Chen Xi's early years of Tingzhou Prefecture.

Chen Xi took the letter of worship and saw that he was indeed a friend of his studies in Tingzhou Prefecture. He was also Su Tong who passed the provincial examination and the metropolitan examination with him. However, unlike him who won the top scorer in high school in one go, Su Tong failed to pass the exam several times and is still a juren.

Zhu Qi said: "Master, this young master Su has visited you before, and it was also during the exam, but you are not there. This time he came to visit again and kept waiting outside the mansion. It has been more than an hour, but will you not see me?"

Chen Xi originally had no choice but to see a bad friend like Su Tong, but now he was working on people and thought to himself: "Although Su Tong is too frivolous in the relationship between men and women and often has extraordinary behaviors, this person is not bad at heart and his friendship was pretty good at the beginning. If it suits his heart, it would be okay to promote it."

"Let him come to the study."

Chen Xi was not so urgent to go to the Ministry of War to handle the job, so he asked Su Tong to come and see him.

Zhu Qi hurried out to spread the news. When Su Tong lowered his head and followed Zhu Qi to the study, Chen Xi felt like he was a different life when he saw Su Tong. He hadn't seen each other for several years, and now his identities are very different.

"Students pay homage to Shangshu Chen."

When Su Tong saw Chen Xi, he didn't even dare to look up, bowed and bowed, and gave a great gift to Chen Xi, with an extremely respectful attitude.

Chen Xi walked over and helped each other: "Brother Su is here, we are both classmates and friends, how can we do it?"

Seeing Chen Xi's kind attitude, Su Tong finally breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his head slightly, looked at Chen Xi, and squeezed out a smile: "I'm just a scholar. I'm here to visit today. Lord Shen gave him an exception. He should do his best."

After the two met, Chen Xi asked Su Tong to sit down and chat.

After a few gossips, Su Tong was not as reserved as before. He smiled and said, "Last year, Brother Zheng also passed the imperial examination. This year, he went to Beijing to take the exam. When talking about the things he has experienced over the years, the most touching thing is Lord Shen... You made a good story in Sanyuan and the first place, and then made many achievements. Now you are a ministerial minister. The government and the country admire your authority. I, the scholars in the Fujian Province, are proud of it..."

Chen Xi nodded with a smile.

Su Tong and Zheng Qian are his friends on the road to school entrance exams. Both of them are a little nervous in his eyes. However, Zheng Qian's life is not as good as Su Tong, or Zheng Qian's relationship is not as strong as Su Tong. Su Tong won the Fujian provincial examination in the 11th year of Hongzhi, and Zheng Qian passed the imperial examination after nine years.

For a scholar, being able to pass the Juren exam at the age of 30 is already a very good achievement.

From this point of view, Zheng Qian is actually just performing normally. His life experiences are basically the same as those of Tang Bohu. In this era, those who can pass the imperial examination before the age of 20 are basically at the level of evil. As for those who pass the top scorer at the age of thirteen, there are only ones who pass the imperial examination at the age of thirteen.

Chen Xidao: "Didn't Brother Su live in the capital for a while? At that time, I was an official in another place and could not get along well with Brother Su. When I returned to the capital, you had already returned to Tingzhou Prefecture, and then I had fewer opportunities to meet."

Su Tong sighed: "Speaking of this, people are in the capital, but their family business is in Fujian. The two places are thousands of miles apart, so it is not so convenient to manage business... In the past few years, tea sales in Tingzhou Prefecture have been booming, and there is always someone at home to watch them. Besides, they offended people in the capital before, so they had no choice but to go back to their hometown to avoid it temporarily..."

After Su Tong's explanation, Chen Xi learned what happened.

A few years ago, Su Tong bought a concubine named Lian'er, but after a year or two, someone thought about Gao Chong, so he asked Gao Chong to redeem it and then resell it. As a result, Gao Chong hit a wall in Su Tong.

What Su Tong thought was that if you say you would give up the things you bought, why would you give up? Moreover, so long has passed, and he and Lian'er have already had a relationship, and even if Gao Chong offered three times the price, he had not redeemed it.

As a result, since then, some people have been stumbling. In addition to destroying Su Tong's business in the capital, they also set fire and attacked people in the Su Mansion. At that time, Zhengde ascended the throne and Liu Jin was at the throne. Chen Xi was not here. How dare Su Tong have the idea of ​​taking luck? He packed up his things and ran away without saying a word. It was not until he heard that Liu Jin fell and Chen Xi was in charge of the Ministry of War that he had the courage to go to the capital to take the exam.

Chen Xi thought to himself: "Su Tong's personality is similar to Zhu Houzhao. If the two of them met, they might have the same smell and their future destiny would change greatly."

After telling his story, Su Tong sighed: "It would be great if he went to the capital to take the exam. If he could pass the Jinshi, he would be ready to accept the imperial court's appointment. It would be better to get a job in any yamen... It would be better to work in the capital or the prefecture and county yamen in Tingzhou Prefecture..."

Su Tong's eyes were eager when he spoke, and the suggestion was very obvious.

Obviously, Su Tong wanted to obtain an official position through Chen Xi through abnormal channels. He would naturally get a shortage of officials earlier after passing the exam. If he failed the exam, Chen Xi could also hand him a note to the Ministry of Personnel’s Office, giving him a way out. If there was a shortage of officials in the local area and the Jinshi was unwilling to take office, it would be possible to even be a magistrate as a juren.

Chen Xi smiled and nodded: "Since I'm a long-time friend, I will naturally help you if I can do this."

Su Tong was extremely surprised and stood up again and saluted Chen Xi solemnly: "Mr. Shen, I didn't expect to see you today and get so kind to you. I am very grateful. If I have any instructions in the future, I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

Chen Xi also stood up and nodded with a smile: "Brother Su doesn't have to see you. Since he is a classmate and close friend, it is worth helping each other. If I lost my name and you were in high school, you should have made the same choice today, right?"

Su Tong nodded: "That's natural, it will definitely be like this. But... I don't have that ability."

Now Su Tong became more and more respectful to Chen Xi. When he sat down again, he had already started to talk about giving gifts and orders: "Last year's autumn tea market was good. Although spring tea was not clear, it should be good looking at the years of the years. Thanks to the local chamber of commerce... All this is the credit of the adults. Wherever they become officials, all industries will flourish, and the people will not worry about food and clothing. Your current reputation is as good as thousands of families in the south of the Yangtze River..."

Although Su Tong mostly said the truth, because he asked others for help, it sounded like he was deliberately flattering. Chen Xi did not take it to his heart and said, "As an official, he benefits the people. This is the basic ethics of an official, and he should not be praised as a Buddha in all families."

Su Tong: "I brought some local specialties from Fujian here. Brother Zheng also wanted to give Lord Shen some filial piety. I wonder... can he let him go through the mansion?"

Chen Xi thought for a while and shook his head and said, "Let's see you again in another time. It's a surprise to see Brother Su today. After all, I'm busy with chores and don't have much time every day. Besides, you are preparing for a big competition now, so there's still not much delay... By the way, the exam will start in half a month. Brother Su, how are you preparing?"

When Su Tong heard Chen Xi mention the exam, a hint of blush appeared on his face: "This... I am ashamed of saying that I haven't studied much in the next few years. I'm afraid it will be difficult to make progress..."

Chen Xi couldn't help but smile.

For a young man like Su Tong, who has a rich family business, the main goal of the exam is to pass the exam.

The life of a person who passed the Juren is considered a perfect one, and it is no different to expect to be a Jinshi. Of course, after passing the Juren, there is naturally a sense of prosperity. I hope to pass the Jinshi in one go, but after failing the three or four consecutive exams, I will be discouraged and will continue to operate my family business and will not be so attentive to study. After all, it is really hard for them to study hard when they are rich and noble.

Su Tong asked: "Mr. Shen, do you know who is the examiner of this examination? I'm... Actually... I want to... cough cough, I know earlier, and it's better to know how to prepare for this examination..."

Chen Xi thought to himself, do you know who is the chief examiner not to consider his literary style, but to bribe him, right?

Because Su Tong's past was really unbearable, Chen Xi knew that most of the time he passed the provincial examination was through bribery, and he was inevitably a little nervous. This person was quite decent. Chen Xi was involved in the imperial examination fraud case and did not hesitate to rescue him everywhere, but that was all. If he was an official, Chen Xi believed that Su Tong had a great chance of becoming a corrupt official.

In the minds of people like Su Tong, being an official is to make money because they spend a lot of money to become an official.

Chen Xidao: "Because I am in the Ministry of War, I rarely ask about the examination. Xie Zhongtang had previously summoned Hanyuan officials to discuss it, and I was also invited to attend. Unfortunately, the disagreement was too great during the discussion, and there was no result for the time being."

Of course, Chen Xi would not tell Su Tong, but the examiner had already decided on Liang Chu and Jin Gui.

Su Tong felt a little regretful: "It's okay, it's okay. The test will be held soon. No matter who is the examiner, he will do his best. However, if he fails the exam, he will rely more on Lord Shen. The gift will be sent later. Besides... I hope I can find an opportunity to drink and have fun with Lord Shen. After all, I have been classmates and close friends for many years. I haven't seen him for a long time and I have too many words to say. It's just right at the table."

Su Tong is a qualified friend of wine and meat.

As for Su Tong’s knowledge, it is not something Chen Xi cares about. Even if Su Tong’s knowledge among his peers is better, it is a different story to say whether he meets the Jinshi standard.

But Chen Xi's emphasis on Su Tong was not simply to let Su Tong become an official in knowledge.

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Since Brother Su is going to invite a drink, I will decide the time and location. As for who is participating in this banquet, you can't decide, Brother Su."

When Su Tong heard that Chen Xi was willing to attend the banquet, his eyes lit up and nodded repeatedly: "This is nature, this is nature, everything is followed by Lord Shen's arrangement."

Chen Xi nodded again: "If you want the location, you will choose to be in your residence in the capital. Apart from you and me, you can't invite others. What do you think?"

"Dining a banquet alone? Brother Zheng..."

Su Tong really said nothing to his friends. At this time, he was still thinking about Zheng Qian who had the same preference as him.

Among the people who took the exam together, only Zheng Qian had the most close relationship with him. Not only could the two wear pants together, but they even gave each other a gift. This kind of "love" is by no means comparable to ordinary people.

Chen Xidao: "As for Brother Zheng, don't bother him for the time being, it's not too late to see him after the test... I may introduce a new friend to you this time, and you must treat him well at that time."

When Su Tong heard that Chen Xi was going to take his friends, he couldn't help but wonder who was so handsome that he could actually let Chen Xi, the Minister of War, go to the banquet, but Chen Xi didn't explain it in detail, so he couldn't ask more questions.

Then, Chen Xi exchanged a few more greetings with Su Tong, and then went to the Ministry of War to take a seat to see you off. Su Tong was very concerned about the banquet and said when he went out: "Mr. Shen doesn't have to send him off. He is just an ordinary candidate for the exam and cannot afford to treat him so well. If Mr. Shen decides when he will arrive at the house, he can just send someone to inform him. He keeps his mouth shut and will not spread this matter."

Chen Xi was very satisfied with Su Tong's answer, and nodded with a smile, watching Su Tong leave.

When Su Tong's carriage left, Zhu Qi came over and said, "Master, when this young master Su got on the carriage, he said he wanted to give gifts. Have you accepted these gifts?"

Chen Xidao: "He gave gifts, which were too expensive to accept. After all, it was the year of the year of the year. Although I was not the chief examiner this time, I had to avoid it. How many gifts he gave? Go back and send him the corresponding gifts according to the address he said."

Zhu Qi asked in surprise: "Master, do you want to give gifts to Mr. Su?" It seemed very incredible to him that Chen Xi actually wanted to give a gift to an ordinary juren!

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Friends gifts to each other are not considered as bribery, so you can do whatever you need. Leave the gifts to Mr. Zhu, you can do it, I won't get involved."

Zhu Qi nodded: "Yes, master, the villain will definitely get things done... Master, are you going to the Ministry of War?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "I'm going to go to the leopard room to see you. If you ask someone to drive the carriage out, I'll go in and change my clothes and set off."

Zhu Qi quickly went to prepare, while Chen Xi went back to the house to change into the regular clothes of a first-rank official.

Even if the leopard room is not a solemn place like the imperial palace, it is always the place where the emperors live. Every time Chenxi goes there, he must first organize his appearance.

When Chen Xi came out again, the carriage was ready. Zhu Qi came forward and asked, "Master, if you come back late, tell me, and I will stay overnight."
Chapter completed!