Three Kingdoms

What Cao Cao said was not an exaggeration, and to a certain extent, he was even slightly conservative.

The actual situation is that the involution is very violent across Shandong.

Who doesn’t want to get ahead?

With so many competitors, who is elected and who is not elected, and what is used to tell?

Reputation?

Even if fame is a real representation of talent, how does fame come about?

At the end of the day, it’s money.

This level of involution eventually leads to officials being greedy for money. The more capable and greedy people are, the more they can respect their superiors and the more likely they will be promoted...

When Cao Cao was governing Qiao County, there were still many places in Jizhou that were operating according to inertia. Cao Cao had just launched two or three examinations and selections in Jizhou, but soon the selections for such examinations stopped.

Because among these officials who passed the examination and took office, these children from poor families soon appeared to be "incompetent", "unsociable" and other problems. There were even people who were caught on the spot for corruption. , causing many great sages in the countryside to jump up and down again, saying, "To select talents, you must select the wise" and "To measure people, measure their virtues"!

It is true that we should pay attention to "virtue and virtue", but where do these "virtue and virtue" come from?

There are no trolls...well, professional people comment specifically, how many ordinary people can get these reputations?

As a result, not many people took the new road that Cao Cao finally opened through overcoming obstacles. Many people go round and round and go back to their old ways.

Cao Cao wants to change, which means he wants to go against everyone.

From the emperor down to the common people. Well, this common people refers to the children of the gentry, not ordinary Guizhou chiefs. After all, in the current era of the Han Dynasty, some Guizhou chiefs don't even have names, so naturally they can't be called "common people".

It does not mean that these officials operating under the old system have no opportunities for promotion.

It's just that these promotion opportunities, according to the old practice, all cost money...

For example, Li Pan's brother Li Cheng is preparing to be "promoted".

Li Pan took a relatively risky path, and as his brother Li Cheng, he naturally wanted to take a safe path. Li Cheng must make a cut with Li Pan, at least on the surface, and then use it as Li Pan's retreat.

Many noble families also do this, betting from multiple sources.

Therefore, while Li Pan was doing trouble in Yanzhou and Yuzhou, Li Chenggong quietly donated money to a minor official in Jizhou.

Well……

It cannot be said that it was donated, but that it was self-recommended.

Li Cheng served the Han Dynasty in order to be loyal to the prime minister, to devote himself to the people of Jizhou, and to contribute his meager strength to the prosperity of Qinghe County. He specially conducted effective "communication" with the Qinghe County Magistrate, and obtained With the approval of the Qinghe County Magistrate, he got a position.

Every autumn and winter, there are always some officials who cannot meet the above-mentioned targets, that is, they fail to pass the performance appraisal, and at the same time they do not get the favor of their superiors and do not receive special care.

Normally speaking, it is very difficult for officials in Shandong who do not know how to please their superiors and do not get the favor of their superiors. This difficulty is not only the difficulty in doing things, but also reflected in the difficulty of doing things and not doing them well after they are done. Can't get positive feedback on it.

The agricultural harvest reached the standard. The superior took a look and said, "Little official, what's the matter with you? The water conservancy is so poor?" 』

Of course, if the water conservancy repairs are up to standard, the superiors will look at other places. Anyway, some problems can always be found.

On the contrary, if you can please your superiors, then the situation will be reversed, "Ah, this little official, although there are some flaws in the agricultural mulberry trees, the water conservancy project has been done well!" Young people always need to be given some opportunities and some stage..." If you can't do anything well, there is still a "dedication to responsibility and a correct attitude" as a guarantee item.

So how can we communicate "effectively" with such a boss?

Of course it costs money...well, it takes effort to communicate.

The same goes for Li Cheng.

It was indeed heartbreaking to spend the gold and silver. The heartache made him unable to sleep all night. He touched the empty box and burst into tears, feeling extremely sad. But when the sun rose the next day, he felt that he was alive again and had a new life. .

After a night of pain, at dawn, he realized that life should not be too rigid. If the old ones don't go away and the new ones don't come, money is like a husband and wife. Only when the old ones go, will the new ones come! Of course, the old love is loved to death, but the new love can also be loved to death!

Since his brother can take risks, go out and make troubles, and strive for a future, then of course he must give up the money and find a stable retreat for his family. I don’t see that the Xun brothers are all in the east and the west, so what’s the problem if the two brothers Li Pan and Licheng have different attitudes and different styles of doing things?

But to spend money, uh, to communicate, you also need to pay attention to methods.

First of all, you have to look for the incense table and the pier, and don’t lift the table at will.

In the feudal dynasty, regardless of which dynasty or generation, those who overturn the table need great courage and great perseverance. If you are not careful, you will be suppressed by the old forces. Even if it is true (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻, It's hard to say that after a while, someone secretly lifted the table up again and continued in its original position┬—┬ノ('-'ノ).

For example, in the big braided dynasty, those in charge are afraid that the people below will flip the table, so on the one hand, they are preaching that the outside is very dangerous, there are many pirates, everyone should not go there, and you can't change jobs. Naked remarks are very dangerous, and anyone who changes jobs is a traitor. , on the other hand, he began to withhold food and wages, reduce delayed salary payments, lengthen working hours, embezzle public funds to build his own garden, and even thought that even if outsiders wanted to cut flesh on him, he would be cuter than the one who flipped the table underneath...

Similarly, in Qinghe County, there were some vacancies among officials who had been dismissed because of good farming but poor water conservancy standards, etc. Li Cheng successfully obtained one of the positions through prior "communication".

The position is not big, so there is no need to report it to the court.

Under the county magistrate is the county magistrate, and this position is usually held by local powerful men. It has always been said that a smooth county magistrate is an iron-clad county magistrate. But not all local powerful men served as county magistrates, some also served as county captains. Generally speaking, the county captain is relatively independent. In more chaotic places, the county captain has even greater authority than the county magistrate. Therefore, in some places, the county magistrate is alone, while the county magistrate and county captain are shouldered by local powerful men. Two loads are also common.

As a county magistrate, most of his confidants are the chief registrar, and no one other than his confidants can hold office.

Of course, in a large county like Qinghe County, there are also official positions such as Yanguan, Iron, Gong, Shui, Guan, etc., which are assigned directly by the Shaofu and are not within the scope of the county magistrate's assignment.

The county magistrates can generally designate independently, which are probably all kinds of servants, assistants, and misfits in the countryside.

The position Li Cheng obtained was that of a stingy husband.

In terms of the rank of later generations, he would probably be a small or medium-sized township chief.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the local prefect had the power to directly appoint local officials, and of course the local county magistrate also had the right to directly appoint county officials. It’s okay to say yes or no, as long as the communication is in place, everything will be fine.

Secondly, after worshiping the King of Hell, you still need to worship the little devil. Before Li Cheng took office, he still needed to go to the sexton's room to prepare the documents and register to receive the official robe and ribbon.

The sexton's room is in the north of Qinghe County. When Li Cheng arrived here, he found that many officials, big and small, were coming in and out. He couldn't help but sigh. It is a big county in Jizhou. Qinghe is really full of talents and bustling... …

Li Cheng is somewhat famous, so many people know him and greet him warmly when meeting him.

A young assistant came forward and led Li Cheng inside with a smile. Li Cheng followed in small steps and thrust a small envelope containing five silver coins into Shu Zuo's hand. This is a common practice. Don't think that just because others give you a smile, you don't have to give anything. You still have to give what you should give.

Shu Zuo seemed to weigh the red seal, and then a smile appeared on his face that was obviously more sincere.

"welcome……"

Shu Zuo led Li Cheng to the front room, then stretched out his hand to lift the door curtain and motioned for Li Cheng to go in.

There were not many people in the room. After Xiao Shuzuo came in with Li Cheng, he greeted Li Cheng, directed him to queue up, and then turned around and left.

Li Cheng slightly returned the gift and sent Xiao Shuzuo away, but he was thinking in his heart, in fact, this Shuzuo may not be too young to run errands and lead the way, but at the end of the day, he can take with him at least five, six, seven or eight people, each of whom I will give some more or less, this month...and then a year...

Um? Li Cheng suddenly realized that he was now considered an insider. He could no longer look at problems with a critical eye like a local sage, nor could he criticize them easily. It was good to know these things.

He is already considered a person within the system. Once he has an official position, he can no longer care about these trivial things. The country sage has become a thing of the past. Now he has to become a stable and trustworthy official within the system!

This change of role caused Li Cheng to have some mood swings, but he controlled his expression and made his behavior appear mature, steady and unhurried.

After about an hour or two, when Li Cheng was feeling a little sore in his back and legs from waiting, someone inside suddenly called Li Cheng's name loudly.

"Ahem, someone is here!" ” Li Cheng walked forward with vigorous and steady steps, and walked into the inner room, preparing to formally bid farewell to his status as a country sage, enter the political arena, and fight for the cause of the great man throughout his life.

The inner room was actually not big. A leading clerk smiled and asked Li Cheng to show his identity certificate and conferment documents. Then he found Li Cheng's name in a roster on the desk and clicked on it. He nodded, and then asked the other person to start filling in the blank official body shape.

According to the rules of the Han Dynasty, there must be three copies of the official identity certificate. One should be carried by the person to the place of appointment, one should be kept here for filing, and the other should be submitted to the higher-level organization for filing.

After finishing writing, the secretary looked at Li Cheng carefully for a moment, and then described Li Cheng's appearance and characteristics, and then marked the appearance characteristics in the corner of the official body certificate, including but not limited to big or small eyes, beard Whether it is a goatee or a three-strand beard, or even how many moles on the face, it must be written down.

No wonder the queue takes so long...

It is indeed very complicated!

Li Cheng thought this in his heart, but for some reason, the anxiety and impatience he felt before waiting disappeared at this moment. He didn't feel that the process was taking too long or not, but he just felt that there was something abnormal. The feeling of satisfaction is like being filled to the brim with something.

Let the rural sages go to hell!

Li Cheng, who had previously spent a lot of money on communication, seemed to feel that some value was reflected at this moment.

Finally, after all the official status was written, Shu Zuo asked Li Cheng to take a look and double-check whether there were any mistakes...

Li Cheng hurriedly stepped forward and took a closer look. The first thing he saw was not his own name, but the words "Beiqiu Zhifu". Then he saw his own name, his place of origin, and his appearance. of……

Um? Are there so many moles on my face? Li Cheng's face changed a little, but he quickly comforted himself, "No matter what, people say they have big moles on their chests. The moles on my chest can only be seen if I take off my clothes. My face looks like a mole!"

good!

very good!

very good!

Very good!

Li Cheng was overjoyed and quickly reached out to get his own one, but he heard Shu Zuo humming in a moderate way, then glanced at Li Cheng and gave Li Cheng a look like you're stupid... …

Li Cheng was suddenly enlightened and quickly took out another prepared red seal from his arms and placed it gently on the table. This red seal is obviously larger than the one that led the way before.

Shu Zuo fluttered his sleeves, and then seemed not to look at it at all. With just such a flick, the red seal on the desk disappeared in an instant. After Shu Zuo performed the Great Sleeve Qiankun Technique, he released his hand holding the official certificate and signaled Li Cheng to continue walking back.

Go back?

Li Cheng looked up and saw a small door at the corner. He immediately understood. No wonder he had only seen people walking in, not going out. It turned out that they all went out through this small door.

Li Cheng held his official certificate in his arms, then coughed, nodded towards Shu Zuo with some dignity, and said goodbye.

Shuzuo ignored Li Cheng, but turned around and shouted the next person's name...

Li Cheng pushed open the small door, only to find that he had reached the outer courtyard. When he was not sure where to go next, he saw someone waving to him not far to the left.

"The new nobleman? ’ the man asked.

What a discerning person!

Li Cheng raised his head, coughed slightly, and said in as calm a tone as possible, "Exactly." 』

"Come here, invite here, receive the seal and ribbon here..." The man became more and more enthusiastic and invited him repeatedly.

This should be outside the official residence, but I don't know whether it is the inner courtyard or the outer courtyard. Anyway, Li Cheng has never been here before, and I hope I have the opportunity to come again in the future.

Li Cheng followed the man and walked into another room. He was stunned when he entered the door. He saw that the room was full of clothes racks of all sizes, with many official robes and ribbons hanging on them. Yes, there are old ones.

"Come on, noble man, please show me your voucher and let the little ones prepare it for you!" ” the man said with a smile.

Li Cheng coughed and carefully took out the official certificate from his arms.

"Oh...there's a new mistress!" 』

The clerk in the inner warehouse shouted loudly, and then heard someone on the side echoing his voice. Immediately, he used long and short forks to take out the outer robe, cloak, belt, and sash from among the many robes. Tiara, etc...

Not long after, a table of cases was laid out.

Um?

Don’t you need to measure your body contour?

Oh, think about it and I understand. This type of clothing is definitely not individually customized like the prefecture and county magistrate. It is probably about the same. It must be just a few common sizes. These little officials took a look at Li Chengchen By looking at the shape, you can tell it’s almost the same size.

Li Cheng was about to reach out and try to see if the size of the official robes and crowns were suitable. Suddenly, a small official from Neicang stood in front of him. He smiled and said, "Congratulations to the noble sir for your promotion. Congratulations to the noble sir for your appointment. Congratulations to the noble sir." All the best, congratulations..."

Li Cheng was stunned. Do you still need money?

Chickens don't pee, they all have their own ways.

The beggar stretched out his hand to ask for money, the thief stretched out his hand to ask for money, and the current clerk stretched out his hand for the same purpose, to ask for money...

For a moment, Li Cheng wanted to get angry!

Do you know who I am?

I am Li Cheng! He is a well-known celebrity in Jizhou!

It’s okay to get your official certificate in the study room and get a red seal, but when you get here to get your official robe, you still have to pay!

Uncle can really bear it...

Auntie can tolerate it too.

The next moment, Li Cheng gritted his teeth and took out his money bag.

Because he knew that the previous communication fees were all for the county magistrate, but now the clerks and inner warehouse officials he was facing were all related to the county magistrate, or they might also be the county magistrate’s wife. relative……

These are old rules.

Give!

We have reached the present moment, and there is no need to tremble anymore.

This is the third important point in officialdom. Since you have to spend money, don't act like a picky person. It's like treating a guest to a meal, and then in order to save a little, pick some here and a little there. It may seem like you saved some money, but the feeling left to the guest may not be very good. In the end, it may be the guest's treat. , love has not been found yet.

This is not a matter of one person, nor is it just a matter of one inner warehouse. Everyone does it, so once someone refuses to give, he will immediately stand out from the crowd.

After giving the money, the clerk smiled and said thank you for the reward, which made Li Cheng feel a little more comfortable. Spending money is just for comfort. If you don't even have comfort and you still have a dead face, it would be boring.

"My lord, do you want a new official seal or an old one?" ” The little official in Neicang smiled like a dog’s tail flower.

Li Cheng sighed, "New ones cost extra, right?" 』

"Ah, you are an expert!" ” The eyes of the clerk in Neicang lit up, “It’s easy to say that you are all experts, so don’t waste your breath... For new ones, you can give me this number. I guarantee your satisfaction, and the seals and ribbons are also the same price... By the way, there are also official robes, official robes, etc. When it comes to boots or something, you can't just wear one set and never change them? The free one is the first set, this second set, the new one is this number, the old one is this number..."

Yes, there are rules when it comes to asking for money.

All these are rules.

Money rules.

And once such rules are broken...

Will these people, up and down, inside and out, including people like Li Cheng, be happy? Will you be resentful?

If you are unhappy, if you are resentful, who would you resent such a rule and such a person?

Happy New Year!

I wish you all good health in the new year! All diseases are gone!

…

I'm a sheep too.

To be honest, it feels very uncomfortable.

Everyone's sheep have different symptoms.

Just like in my family, some people have a fever, some have a cough, and some have body pain, but I don’t have a fever, I only have a very sore throat...

I had a lot of emotions when I was writing this chapter. I didn’t want to write it at first, but in the end I still felt that I wanted to write it.

The asymptomatic advocated by the Zhuans is that no one in my family is "asymptomatic" anyway. Maybe in the eyes of the Zhuans, as long as it is not serious enough to require tracheal intubation, it is considered "asymptomatic"?

Everyone who understands understands.

Just like in the chapter, cutting off people's money is like killing their parents!

How many people's money was cut off by Cao Cao's move?

It’s all just a small amount of money, and you can make money from both sides!