Chapter 037: Teaching and Clearing the Guest
The day after Jia Yucun showed up at the welcoming banquet, the next day Sun Shaozong met the big boss of Shuntian Prefecture - the prefect Han Anbang.
After Han Anbang summoned him over, he only said a few official words. Apart from encouraging him to be diligent in serving the public and enforce the law for the people, there was basically nothing meaningful to say.
But just these few words of nonsense sent out an obvious signal - Han Anbang did not want to fall out with his future deputy because of Sun Shaozong!
So in the next few days, everything became calm again, as if the series of difficulties at the beginning were just Sun Shaozong's illusion.
Of course, Sun Shaozong would not really think that this was an illusion, nor would he lose his vigilance. Instead, he became more cautious.
Han Anbang chose to stop at this time mainly because Jia Yucun suddenly intervened and caught him off guard. After he recovered, he might not still think about "peace is the most precious thing".
Therefore, during this period of time, Sun Shaozong must not allow anyone to find any fault with him or use him as an excuse, otherwise, if Han Anbang falls out with Jia Yucun in the future, he will definitely use him as a warning to others!
For seven or eight days in a row, Sun Shaozong was familiarizing himself with his duties while taking time to review the case files accumulated by his predecessor. If there were things he didn't understand, he would look up the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty or lead Zhao Wuwei and others to investigate the scene. He was so busy that he had no time to rest.
But he didn't trust any of the clerks and clerks in the Criminal Law Department, and he didn't dare let them touch the official documents, so he thought about hiring a secretary [they should be called a legal advisor these days] to help him.
After returning home and discussing it with his eldest brother, Sun Shaozu said, "We are all experts in our family, how can we recognize a legal advisor? The second master of the Jia family likes to keep guests, and it happens that there are three days off for the Lantern Festival. Why don't you go to Rongguo Mansion to take up the post and ask Jia Zheng if he has any reliable candidates to recommend."
Sun Shaozong was in a hurry to hire people and couldn't think of a more appropriate solution, so he had to do this for the time being.
So on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, Sun Shaozong brought Ruan Rong and visited Rongguo Mansion again.
But this time, when I arrived at the gate of Rongguo Mansion, I saw that the long and quiet street was actually filled with traffic, so busy that it blocked off most of the street.
"Get out of the way, get out of the way, don't block the distinguished guests in the mansion!"
Sun Shaozong was looking at the severely congested road with worry when he heard someone shouting shrilly in front of him. Several donkey carts hurriedly moved to the side of the road, and the figure of his personal servant Xing'er appeared.
Na Xing'er held a street-cleaning whip in his hand, and under the awe-inspiring gazes of the crowd, he swayed to the front of the carriage, then bowed and sang a fat nod, saying with a smile: "Second Master Sun, this mess really makes you laugh - come on, I'll take you in."
Along the way, he saw men and women of all ages walking on the street, all dressed in bright and beautiful clothes, but unable to hide their inherent poverty. Sun Shaozong couldn't help but feel curious, so he urged his horse to Xing'er to find out what was going on.
"Isn't this the emperor's great grace, allowing our eldest daughter to return home to visit her parents?" Then Xing'er said ostentatiously: "Since you are going to visit your parents, you must prepare a separate courtyard for the visit!"
He swung the street-cleaning whip twice from Rongguo Mansion to Ningguo Mansion, and said exaggeratedly: "A few days ago, the master and his wife sent a message saying that they are going to connect the gardens of Rongguo and Ningguo Mansions and put them in good order!"
As he spoke, he glanced at the poor people around him with disdain and said, "Of course, this boss's project is not without money. Look, anyone who has any connection with our family has come here to get the money."
Then he lowered his voice again and said proudly: "But those outside are all people without status. Those who really have connections have already grabbed the lucrative positions long ago!"
Judging from his smug face, he has probably already secured some lucrative job.
Sun Shaozong pondered secretly that if his adopted elder brother had not been able to inherit the title successfully, the Sun family might have been one of these "relatives", but he didn't know whether they were those without status or those with connections.
With Youxing'er leading the way, they arrived at the mansion gate without any obstruction.
As usual, Sun Shaozong first sent Ruan Rong to Lin Daiyu's west wing, and then let Xing'er lead the way to Rong Xi Hall to visit Jia Zheng. Although Jia Lian personally came to invite Sun Shaozong on the fifth day, it was Jia Zheng who gave Sun Shaozong the letter of employment, so it was natural for him to meet Jia Zheng before taking office.
Compared to the bustling scene outside, Rong Xi Tang was quiet and solemn.
Since he was hiring a tutor for his son, Jia Zheng was not as reserved as he was last time. He came out early and invited Sun Shaozong into the main hall.
After the host and the guest sat down and exchanged a few polite words, Jia Zheng could not help but sigh and said, "Your elder brother Zhu was a man who knew how to make progress. Unfortunately... Now I don't ask that evil spirit to learn anything . As long as he can strengthen his muscles and pass on my family business, that's enough."
"Uncle Shi is joking."
Sun Shaozong laughed and said casually: "I heard that brother Baoyu is very talented and was born with a magical jade. I think he will have a bright future. I am just afraid that I am not talented enough and have delayed him."
Hearing Sun Shaozong praising Baoyu, Jia Zheng's eyebrows and eyes became more complacent, but he waved his hands and said modestly: "What kind of talent is this? It's just a crooked idea in your head! My dear nephew, please do whatever you want. No matter whether it is character, talent, martial arts, riding and shooting, as long as you can help that rebellious boy to improve, I will definitely reward him handsomely!"
He kept calling him a "rebellious son, a calamity", but this time when Sun Shaozong came to teach, he taught far more than just Baoyu, but he did not mention his illegitimate son Jia Huan or his legitimate grandson Jia Lan at all. It was obvious that the one he cared about was still Jia Baoyu.
Sun Shaozong stood up and responded solemnly, then changed the subject and said, "To be honest with you, uncle, I'm having a hard time in Shuntian Prefecture these days, and I want to ask two advisors to help me out, but I can't find anyone suitable. I heard that you have a lot of talented people around you, so I wonder if you could bear the pain and recommend one or two to me?"
The so-called Qingke are mostly failed candidates who are unwilling to be minor officials, so they make a living by showing off their literary talent and eloquence in big families. They say they are noble, but in fact they know their own situation.
If he could become the legal advisor of a sixth-rank judge, it would be a good job - especially since Sun Shaozong became famous at a young age and might be of great use in the future.
Jia Zheng was naturally happy to do a favor, so he asked people to invite a few of the outstanding ones, such as Zhan Guang, Hu Silai, Cheng Rixing, Shan Pinren, Bu Guxiu, and Wang Zuomei, about seven or eight people in total.
Although Jia Zheng did not mention the matter of hiring a legal advisor, these people were all very sharp and could guess about 70% of the answer after just a few words of casual conversation. Suddenly, everyone was very enthusiastic and vied with each other, praising the boss profusely and arguing with each other until their faces turned red.
If it hadn't happened in front of Jia Zheng, they would probably have started attacking .
However, in Sun Shaozong's opinion, most of these people are just boastful people. They are good at talking, but they are probably useless when it comes to getting things done.
Among them, only Cheng Rixing was worth considering, especially because, in addition to being a hanger-on, he was also the shopkeeper . He had experience in managing mundane affairs and was also proficient in accounting.
The first impression alone was not enough for Sun Shaozong to make up his mind, so he invited Cheng Rixing to his house in the evening so that he could get to know him better.
