Chapter 48: Protected by Someone Above

After bidding farewell to Zhao Bian, Lu Beigu returned to Qingyang Palace.

It was now afternoon, with fragmented sunlight filtering through the lush, green branches of ancient cypress trees.

Stone lanterns along the path stood silent, while bronze bells hanging from the eaves were occasionally tapped by the wind, emitting an ethereal sound.

The entire Qingyang Palace appeared exceptionally tranquil.

"Why are there so few people?"

As he walked, Lu Beigu felt somewhat puzzled.

A few days ago, there had been far more people in Qingyang Palace than now; the sudden silence made him feel as though he had entered the White Tiger Hall like Lin Chong.

However, it did not seem as though anything had happened within the palace.

In the incense burner before the Hall of the Three Pure Ones, lingering smoke curled up, winding between the carved eaves before quietly dissipating.

Prayer cushions under the corridors were arranged neatly, and occasionally a Taoist with flowing wide sleeves walked past from the end of the winding corridor.

Full of doubts, Lu Beigu returned to the room where they, as guests, had been staying, only to find that the four constables who were usually restrained by Li Pan and kept here, too afraid to wander out freely, were also gone.

Fortunately, Li Pan was still in the room.

"Come in."

After knocking on the slightly ajar door, Lu Beigu entered Li Pan's room.

"Lord Li," Lu Beigu said as he closed the door.

"Have you finished learning from Commissioner Zhao?"

Li Pan sat cross-legged on a prayer cushion, leisurely flipping through a scroll of Taoist texts, asking without looking up.

"Yes."

"Sit down."

After Lu Beigu sat down, Li Pan finally raised his head.

"It seems this trip to Chengdu has been quite fruitful for everyone."

Not knowing what medicine Li Pan was selling from his gourd, Lu Beigu could only say, "These past few days, thanks to Commissioner Zhao's teaching, my poetry and prose have improved significantly."

"Hmm."

A barely concealed smile appeared on Li Pan's face as he said, "If nothing goes wrong, in a few days I will no longer serve as the Department Magistrate of Hejiang."

Lu Beigu was slightly stunned, then realized what was happening: Was Li Pan about to be promoted?

"Congratulations, Lord Li!"

"However," Lu Beigu asked, "I wonder where Lord Li will be promoted to?"

"Judge of Luzhou."

"I am not a Jinshi graduate, so my official career has been difficult," Li Pan said. "I wandered among the selection officials for many years before finally enduring my way to the position of Department Magistrate. I was transferred three times, and in all three terms and six evaluations, I received the highest rating, which gave me this opportunity to be promoted to Judge. As for Assistant Prefect, that remains within reach yet unattainable."

In the Song Dynasty's local administrative system, the chief official at the prefecture level was the Department Magistrate, while the subordinate officials were mainly the Assistant Prefect, Judge, and Propaganda Officer.

Among these, the Assistant Prefect and the Judge were theoretically both deputies to the Department Magistrate.

However, the Assistant Prefect possessed the function of supervising the Department Magistrate and officials in various counties within the prefecture, wielding immense power, whereas the Judge's power was smaller, lacking supervisory authority and possessing only administrative authority, responsible for assisting the Department Magistrate in handling Canzhi Zhengshi.

For a Department Magistrate wishing to rise, generally those with excellent evaluations would be promoted to the position of Judge, unless they were Jinshi graduates themselves, had outstanding achievements and deep seniority, and additionally had the support of the Canzhi Zhengshi in the Secretariat-Chancellery; only then was it possible to bypass the Judge and be directly promoted to Assistant Prefect.

However, the Judge did have one advantage: the process moved relatively quickly.

The appointment of an Assistant Prefect must be decided by the Secretariat-Chancellery through "Tangchu," plus the Emperor's personal approval, whereas the appointment of a Judge only needs to go as far as the Ministry of Personnel, which is responsible for selecting candidates for promotion to Judge, confirming their seniority and evaluation records.

Whether it is a Judge or an Assistant Prefect, both require the evaluation and consent of the Department Magistrate of their own prefecture, plus the evaluation and consent of the Transport Commissioner and the Commissioner for the Supervision of Penal and Judicial Affairs; this time, Li Pan came to Chengdu to smooth things over with these latter two.

Because both are located in the Sichuan Basin, Zizhou Circuit and Yizhou Circuit were originally artificially divided into two circuits, and in reality, the various relationships were already unclear; Li Pan originally had a little bit of connections, plus Zhang Fangping recommended him to the two big shots of Zizhou Circuit, so this promotion was therefore natural and logical.

"Lord Li governs with skill; becoming an Assistant Prefect is merely a matter of a few days."

Lu Beigu offered a compliment.

"Hahaha, you certainly know how to speak."

Li Pan was in high spirits and said directly, "As the saying goes, 'You give me a papaya, I repay you with a jade pendant'; this time, Prime Minister Zhang's appreciation was not without your strategies. I will speak plainly to you: my seniority and evaluation records are all satisfied; if the Ministry of Personnel's selection goes without error, while I serve as Judge of Luzhou, I will be able to look after you."

This was almost an inherent implication; after all, the recommender and the recommended are one entity. If it failed, naturally each would bear the risk individually, but since it has now succeeded, there is no reason to part ways and go separate paths.

The main reason Li Pan could be promoted was naturally that he himself had endured "three terms and six evaluations," his seniority and evaluation records were sufficient, and according to procedure, it was his turn to be promoted; but the secondary reason was also the patronage of a noble person. How did that come about? Naturally, it was because Li Pan recommended Lu Beigu, and then the strategy proposed by Lu Beigu could solve the economic difficulties actually facing the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, as the person with the discerning eye who made the recommendation, Li Pan himself was recommended by Zhang Fangping to the two big shots of Zizhou Circuit. Although this was his due, he could not but feel grateful for Lu Beigu's contribution.

Seeing that Lu Beigu wanted to say something, he waved his hand: "By 'looking after you,' I do not mean violating the fairness of the examinations."

The Song Dynasty imperial examinations highlighted fairness above all.

Although the Judge is the chief examiner of the prefectural examination, he does not set the questions nor know the specific topics to be tested; he is only responsible for presiding over the examination and supervising the grading.

As for the papers themselves, they are first "sealed" and then "transcribed," so that when all papers are being graded, the handwriting is exactly the same, making it impossible to make any marks.

Precisely because it was too fair, situations arose where the chief examiner Ouyang Xiu thought Su Shi's paper was written by his disciple Zeng Gong, so he moved the ranking back.

"What I mean is, the prefectural examination is held once every three years; in three years I may not still be in Luzhou, but for this prefectural examination, I can guarantee you: as long as you can pass as a Juren, absolutely no one will dare to block your quota for the provincial recommendation, ensuring you will definitely obtain the quota and go to the Ministry of Rites to participate in the provincial examination."

"But I must speak the ugly truth beforehand: if your scores are insufficient and you fail, then no one can help you. After all, the difficulty of the prefectural examination compared to the county examination is worlds apart; under such fierce competition, whether you can pass depends on yourself."

Previously, Li Pan had only given him a transfer of household registration guarantee letter, and had not explicitly stated that he would definitely write a guarantee letter for his provincial recommendation quota.

Moreover, at the level of Department Magistrate, even if one were willing to write a guarantee letter for the provincial recommendation quota, one could not decide the allocation of quotas; the quotas were decided by the prefecture.

But now, after the Chengdu trip, Li Pan could be promoted to Judge of Luzhou, naturally gaining the power to participate in deciding the allocation of quotas.

Li Pan returning a peach for a plum, he was now putting this matter directly on the table.

The quota for provincial recommendation is the most important threshold for students wishing to become Jinshi.

Just refer to Zhou Mingyuan's experience: his family was so wealthy and certainly knew many officials in the prefecture, yet three years ago, although he passed the prefectural examination, he could not obtain the quota.

For Lu Beigu, having this condition was naturally the best possible outcome, after all, no one wants to have passed the exam only to end up with nothing.

As for the prefectural examination, if it is merely a fair competition, he certainly has no fear!

"This student understands."

Lu Beigu said, "To receive such care from Your Excellency, I am already overwhelmed with gratitude; as a student, I dare not hope for anything more."

"Hmm, go back and prepare well for the exam. It is only a little over a month until the County Exam; if you cannot pass the County Exam, how can you speak of the Prefecture Exam?"

Li Pan was about to rise to see the guest off, likely having other matters on hand.

"By the way, this is for you."

He untied a jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Lu Beigu: "If you have any private matters in ordinary times, no matter where you are, you may come seek me. As long as it is not too difficult to handle, I can help resolve it."

Lu Beigu bowed and accepted it; the jade pendant was of fine quality and felt heavy in the palm of his hand.

"That's all. Go out and wander around this afternoon. The Buddha-Washing Festival is approaching, so I have let them all out as well."

Leaving Li Pan's room, Lu Beigu put the jade pendant away.

This thing should be used only if necessary; after all, Li Pan is not a tortoise in a wishing well, unable to grant wishes endlessly. Each use costs a favor; if used too many times, it would be quite normal for Li Pan to ignore him.

"However, it truly feels good to have someone above shielding you!"

(End of this chapter)