The February imperial examination ended, and before the list was launched, the capital city was still strong.

As a lecturer in the East Palace and a lecturer in Japan, Chen Xi came to his house to submit visits and invitations, but in order to avoid suspicion, he almost never attended the literary meeting. However, Xie Pi invited him once, but he was unable to refuse his affection. After attending, he did not mention any matters related to the examination, so as not to cause trouble.

After Jiang Liwei visited, the court did not intend to mobilize Chen Xi's work. There was no news on the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel, and he still went to and from get off work on time.

The Ministry of Personnel’s assessment will be conducted in batches, but the assessment results will be announced at the same time.

Chen Xi knew from the beginning that he had no chance to be promoted, but in order to win the imperial edict for Xie Yuner and Zhou, Chen Xi still worked very hard. You should know that as long as he became a fifth-rank official, he could compete for "pleasantness" for his family. Once he got his wish, Xie Yuner and Zhou would be rank edicts and would be respected wherever he went.

On that day, Chen Xi had just returned to Zhan Shi Mansion from the Eastern Palace. Wang Zhi, the on-duty Right Secretariat, informed him to go to the Ministry of Personnel.

Chen Xi thought that the assessment results were out, and he went to the Ministry of Personnel's Office with trepidation. After the communication was introduced, the person who received him was Song Yuncheng, the doctor of the Ministry of Personnel. This time, Chen Xi was the only one who was invited here.

After Chen Xi reported his name and official position, Song Yuncheng took out a document and said, "Chen Yude, this is your evaluation score of the Ministry of Personnel this year. Please take a look first."

The Ming Dynasty's assessment of officials was divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower, namely competent, ordinary and incompetent. The purpose is to "refer to the virtuous and encourage punishment" as the basis for promotion, decline, and stay.

Qiu Jun, a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet in the early years of Hongzhi, clearly recorded in his "Grand of the Great Yanyi Bu": "If the official is full, he will be made into a book. If the official is in charge, he will first examine his strengths and write his best. At this point, he will examine his merits and write his best. He will write his best in the palace. There are three levels: one is called title, two is called ordinary, and three is not called title. After writing it, he will report the order and order his post to be restored. He will take the exam again in six years, which is the same as the one. After completing the exam in nine years, he will make a plan for the three exams to determine the promotion and decline of the exam."

Chen Xi took it over and saw that his scores were divided into several parts. One was the evaluation "Zhong" given by Zhan Shifu, and the evaluation of Hanlin Academy was also "Zhong", while Chen Xi's question paper and test questions were also "Zhong".

Logically, the three "middle" are just ordinary achievements and there is no fault during their tenure. In the end, the comprehensive evaluation of the Ministry of Personnel is the most important. If the Ministry of Personnel also gives the "middle", then it basically means that the assessment will be passed this time, and the official position should be slightly promoted.

Chen Xi was not very worried at first. Since the first three were all "middle", your Minister of Personnel Ma Wensheng would not make things difficult for us young juniors, right?

The last page is a comprehensive assessment by the Ministry of Personnel, but did not write, but directly drew a red bar, which made Chen Xi confused.

Chen Xi asked in surprise: "This is..."

"Please forgive me for Shen Yude. This is a standard for the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel. If it is a horizontal line, it means that your assessment is in a normal way... it will not rise or fall. In fact, this is also the most common result. Among so many officials who are evaluated every year, there are only a successful one in the end."

Chen Xi asked with some dissatisfaction: "What does Song Langzhong mean? I have done nothing in the past few years?"

"Chen Yude, you can't say that. You have been promoted from a Hanlin Academy editor in these three years..."

Chen Xi could think of it later with his nose, but it was simply that his official position was promoted too fast, but the problem was that since the rules were set, he should follow the preset rules. Either don’t let me participate in the assessment, or give me a “down” assessment during the assessment, so that I know that I am really not qualified to be promoted. Finally, you give me a few “ups” and then use high-sounding words to perfunctory. This is boring.

However, it was meaningless to have a doctor in the Ministry of Personnel to discuss these things. After Chen Xi received the examination, he went home in a bit disappointed.

Although Chen Xi had expected this result, he did not expect that Ma Wensheng would stumbling him. But in fact, it is easy to understand. According to the promotion system of the bureaucratic system, there are many people in the Hanlin Academy who have been in their early 190s and 20 years old, just like Wang Hua, who was also the top scholar of the Ming Dynasty, had a good relationship with a group of old ministers in the court. Many people admired him. So far, he is still a fifth-rank right son?

Ordinary officials, when they are seventy-year-old and eighty years old, they become ministers of the Ministry of Rites and retire. If they are lucky, they will be named as Hanlin scholars and will be awarded the title of Shangshu when they die. This is also considered a famous name in history.

But this is not what Chen Xi pursues at all.

Although Chen Xi's acquisition of power did not hope to dominate the world immediately, he should at least not be controlled by others. Don't frame Zhang Yanling without any power to fight back as before.

Before he could reach the door, the servants from Xie Qian's mansion were waiting outside the gate and sent Xie Qian's letter to him and asked him to go to Xie's mansion, needless to say, to comfort his wounded heart.

Giving sweet dates a stick has always been a habit of the court. Chen Xi is no longer surprised, but Chen Xi doesn't know what the sweet dates this time are.

"Let me go in first and say to my family..."

Chen Xi entered the mansion gate, took a shower and changed his clothes slowly, and had a simple supper before he walked out. At this moment, the servants of Xie's mansion had been waiting outside for more than half an hour.

"Let's go."

Chen Xi was so excited that he got on the sedan chair prepared for him by Xie Qian and headed to Xie's mansion.

When he arrived at Xie's mansion and entered the study, Chen Xi realized that it was not only Xie Qian who invited him, but also the person who secretly interfered in his assessment. It was Ma Wensheng, the Minister of Personnel.

With Chen Xi's current official position, it is rare to see officials at the level of the Minister of the Secretariat, and Ma Wensheng specially went to Xie Qian's mansion to see him, which is even more valuable.

"...Chen Xi, do you know the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel?" The question was not Ma Wensheng, but Xie Qian. Needless to say, it was Ma Wensheng who told Xie Qian about his assessment.

Naked conspiracy!

"yes."

Chen Xi saluted respectfully.

Xie Qian smiled and said, "Don't be discouraged. You have been promoted twice in three years. If you are promoted again, I'm afraid no one in the court will convince you. Even Your Majesty mentioned that you can slow down your promotion first..."

If you only do things but don’t get promoted, why don’t you be discouraged? Isn’t your feelings affront, right?

Even Emperor Hongzhi, who was sick, was concerned about my promotion? Are you lying to the point of being bedridden? Now the emperor is bedridden, so where can he have the time to deal with such trivial matters of sesame and mung beans?

What should the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate do?

"Students dare not ask for extravagance." Chen Xi expressed his attitude against his will.

"Oh, but you have done a good job in the past two years. The prince has always learned the 21th history of the crown prince. His Majesty has praised him. He has made many achievements in visiting relatives in the south, so that the people of Folangji surrender to our dynasty..."

Where can I see that Folang Jiren surrendered to the Ming Dynasty?

Is it good for them to come here to do business? By the way, what are the benefits of surrendering to you in the Ming Dynasty? With the beginning of the Age of Discovery, the Florians are now catching up on land all over the world. In just one or two decades, their overseas colonies will be larger than the land area of ​​the Ming Dynasty.

"...even sending cannons to the northwest was very good. Liu Shangshu of the Ministry of War praised you many times in front of me." Xie Qian continued to talk about Chen Xi's achievements.

Chen Xi said modestly: "Students dare not take credit. What is the order of the Master of the Pavilion? Just explain it."

"What are you saying? Do I often arrange people to do things?" Xie Qian's face was a little unhappy. Chen Xi said this in front of Ma Wensheng, which made his old face a little uncomfortable. "But I do have something for you to do. Have you heard of the popular bandits in Fujian and Guangdong in the southeast?"

Chen Xi thought to himself, why is it for this matter again? He immediately bowed and said, "Students have heard of it."

"Okay, you can draw a memorial. After reading it, if I feel satisfied, I will report it to Your Majesty for you." Xie Qian waved his hand and said.

Chen Xi was a little puzzled: "Ge Lao, it seems that the students are not concerned about the bandits in this place?"

"If you write, you follow your order and do it. I'm waiting to use it... Well, don't go back and prepare. There is paper and pen here. Let's write it on the spot."

Xie Qian pointed to the paper and pen on the desk next to him. The relationship was already ready, so he was waiting for Chen Xi to come.

Chen Xi had not considered the bandits and Japanese pirates on the southeast coast before, and he really didn't want to be Xie Qian's free laborer anymore, so he saluted: "Gei Master, the student may have to go back and think about it carefully."

"Don't think so much about it. You wrote whatever you think. Haven't you been very capable before? You have some urgency. I want to see if you are just famous or have the ability. Shangshu Ma wants to see it, right?" Xie Qian smiled at Ma Wensheng, who had been silent beside him.

"Um."

Ma Wensheng responded with his beard and nod.

Chen Xi was a little puzzled. The Ministry of Personnel’s assessment was not finished yet, so he prepared a second assessment for him... This time he asked him to write a memorial on the spot, discussing the issue of pirates and Japanese pirates ravaging the southeast coast.

This question is a cliché, what should I do?

Send troops to fight!

What should I do if I don’t have soldiers?

Mobilize the troops from local garrisons!

What should I do if I don’t have money and food?

If the local government receives donations, they either ask for money from the magistrate's office. Anyway, they cannot ask for money from the court.

What if the bandits and Japanese pirates avoid fighting?

Then it is even better, and you can report the victory to the court in a noble manner and wait for the credit.

Chen Xi just went to Quanzhou and fully understood the local bandit suppression. It was just a matter of deceiving superiors and concealing subordinates and dealing with the matter.

Even if the court allocated money and food, the local governments secretly colluded with bandits and Japanese pirates. Today, bandits came out to rob. When the officers and soldiers went, the bandits retreated first. After killing good deeds, the court's troops retreated, and the bandits continued to make trouble until the local government broke into the court.

In the past few years, the court would think that another wave of bandits had emerged. In fact, after all, it was still the same group of people, but they just changed their banners.

Anyway, Chen Xi felt that Xie Qian asked him to write the memorial, so he would not be polite and expressed his opinions.

If there are no soldiers, local recruitment.

I don't have money, bring my own food.

Without combat effectiveness, he brings his own weapons and horses and builds his own ships.

The bandits bully the weak and fear the strong, so they drove their boats to transport the bandits and Japanese pirates' nests. They saw a mountain flattened the other and a mountain occupied an island.

At this point, Chen Xi suddenly felt that the words were too much and unrealistic. But he had already written it and had no choice but to keep writing. At the end, Chen Xi boldly put forward the suggestion of "rectifying the administration of officials" on the issue of local governments' failure to cooperate.

The fundamental reason why the pirates along the southeast coast have been repeatedly banned for a long time is not only the fact that the court prohibits the sea, but the more important thing is that local governments are shirking the blame. For the sake of wealth, officials are always thinking that it is better to have less than more things, and they sit down and watch the bandits become bigger and become out of control.

ps: The fourth update is here!
Chapter completed!