Chu Feng is an Imperial Guard, this time accompanying Emperor Guangxi on a covert journey south, to find a trustworthy candidate for an Assistant Minister for the Prince Zhao Xu, who is about to be appointed as Crown Prince.
Emperor Guangxi is in his forties, yet he only has one son under his knee, just eight years old.
Zhao Xu is inherently intelligent, showing remarkable talent at a young age, and Emperor Guangxi is willing to appoint him as the Crown Prince.
However, Zhao Xu was not born of the Empress; his biological mother, Princess Consort Qi, was only promoted to Imperial Concubine after giving birth to him.
The maternal family of Imperial Concubine Qi is weak and has no foundation in the court, whereas the Empress’s family has deep roots, and over the years, because the Empress was unwilling for Zhao Xu to be valued by Emperor Guangxi, she used many underhanded means, causing the in-laws to gain power and control the court.
The triennial imperial examination, every time at the end, those new Advanced Scholars are secretly divided into factions.
This time, under the pretext of a southern tour, Emperor Guangxi’s intention is to personally select several outstanding academicians as backup trusted ministers, otherwise, by the time they reach the court exam, these academicians would have been thrown into the dye vat and stained, unclean.
The Empress’s Su family has been prosperous for a hundred years, not something that can be dismantled overnight, to combat the Su family, it is necessary to cultivate a batch of entirely trustworthy new court elites.
Therefore, Emperor Guangxi decided to start from the source of the imperial examinations.
Now it’s February, the time for provincial county examinations, he has observed quite a few academicians along the way, but none particularly pleased him.
Those people are either a little clever but not in the right place, or overly honest and simple, easy to be outsmarted and used.
In Emperor Guangxi’s ideal candidate, first and foremost must be a "thorny character", not meaning someone arrogant and unreasonable, but this "thorn" means if he occupies the right, it doesn’t matter if the person in front of him is the King of Heaven or the Jade Emperor, he would not hesitate to retort.
To deal with the Su family’s old foxes in the court, you need someone full of thorns, who pricks whoever comes forward, whoever ends up punctured like a sieve is unlucky.
Besides thorns, one must have brains and depth, if someone could achieve the state of "scheming against you without you even realizing, laughing heartily and calling him brother", it would be ideal.
Just thinking about it, Emperor Guangxi secretly enjoyed the thought.
Unfortunately, after days of inspection, he hadn’t met anyone who fit his criteria.
Before arriving in Pingjiang County, Emperor Guangxi was still reflecting, did he set the bar too high? A scholar still wandering on the threshold of the imperial examination, if he had such courage, intellect, and depth, would he not have already ascended to the heavens?
He even decided that upon reaching Pingjiang County, he would lower the requirements. If he still couldn’t find anyone suitable after lowering the demands, he would have to return to the capital and think of other methods.
However, surprisingly, on the first day they arrived in Pingjiang County, the master and servant encountered Song Wei and his wife performing tricks and deception, their skill at manipulating white wolves with empty hands was impeccable, with a few smooth words they obtained backing from the County Magistrate and a salt merchant.
Amusingly, County Magistrate Lu and Mr. Zhang still tacitly believed Song Wei to be each other’s relative.
As for what benefit Song Wei hoped to gain from this, Emperor Guangxi has yet to comprehend, but he believes Song Wei couldn’t possibly run such a risky scheme without any purpose.
Because Emperor Guangxi specifically had Chu Feng investigate, finding that Song Wei is deeply proud at heart.
Originally, Emperor Guangxi thought Song Wei was trying to please County Magistrate Lu and Mr. Zhang to cheat on the county examination, but after meeting Song Wei in person, Emperor Guangxi quickly dismissed the idea.
Though traveling in plain clothes, the Emperor’s aura was still present, and along the journey, hardly anyone could stand before him without their complexion changing, maintaining composure and humility, yet daring to publicly contradict him speechlessly.
Song Wei is a smart man, from his and Chu Feng’s attire, he should be able to guess their extraordinary status.
Guessing they are of extraordinary status and still daring to prick them at will? Clearly, he is a truly formidable thorny character.
Emperor Guangxi couldn’t help but chuckle.
Song Wei even disdains flattering the superior, would he set aside his pride to flatter a local magistrate?
That seems highly unlikely.