So, the foreign ambassador in Beijing gets a report from his consul and feels that this matter must be taken up. He fires off a strongly worded message to the Prime Minister's office, asking the bigwigs in charge of international relations to handle it.
China's ministers have all climbed up the ranks through experience. By the time they reach the top, they're worn out – grey hair, deaf ears, and no fight left in them. They have to wake up at five in the morning to attend court, and by the time they finish work, half the day has passed and their energy is depleted. Therefore, each of them just wants to dodge extra hassle and rest a bit more if they can avoid dealing with something. Getting another word out of them was like pulling teeth. Their motto was: "Don't screw it up, and it ain't my problem."
Everyone thinks so. So, after receiving the envoy's note, the clerk took a look and knew it was a tricky international dispute that couldn't be ignored, so he quickly submitted the documents. Unfortunately, Lord Zhang shook his head, Lord Wang said nothing, Lord Li offered no opinion, and Lord Zhao simply returned the document to the clerk. The clerk asked, "How should we respond?" The ministers said, "Find out what the Prince thinks." The next day, they met with the Prince to discuss the matter. The Prince asked, "What are your thoughts? Should we accept their proposal? How should we reply?" The ministers looked at each other, and no one said a word. After waiting for a while, the Prince asked again, "Does anyone have any suggestions? Speak up and let's discuss." Lord Zhang, Lord Wang, Lord Li, and Lord Zhao were forced to speak by the Prince. Lord Zhang spoke first, "It's best to leave this to Your Highness; you'll make the right decision." Lord Wang quickly added, "I'm not sure, Your Highness. You have far more experience than I do. Whatever you decide is fine with me." Lord Li said, "They're right." Lord Zhao, having the least experience, dared not say much, just followed everyone and said, "Yes." Seeing that they couldn't reach a decision after talking for a long time, the Prince looked at the clock. Lord Zhang said there was something urgent at the office, Lord Wang said he had to visit a guest, and Lords Li and Zhao also had social engagements, so they all said, "Let's table it until tomorrow." After seeing off the Prince, they all left. Two days passed, the embassy did not come to follow up, and the Prince and the four ministers did not mention the matter again. By the third day, because the envoy had not received a response, he sent another note inquiring about it. They still couldn't make a decision. After discussing with the Prince for a long time, they just kept agreeing, without offering any concrete solutions. This day passed without a response to the envoy. By the fifth day, the envoy was angry, saying, "I sent you a note, but you ignored it!" So he wrote a letter saying that he would personally visit the next day at three o'clock to discuss face to face. The Prince and the ministers had to agree, replying, "We look forward to your visit tomorrow afternoon."
No time to waste when dealing with foreigners. The meeting was scheduled for three, but by two-thirty, the prince and his ministers had already arrived, all in their formal robes and court beads, waiting in a Western-style reception room. Just as it struck three, the envoy arrived. Starting with the prince, they each shook hands and exchanged greetings with him, then settled into their seats and were served tea and refreshments. The prince greeted the envoy first: "Long time no see!" Before the envoy could respond, Zhang interjected: "It's been over a month since we last met." Wang said: "I think we met last month." Li added: "It's been a while; we've all missed you." Zhao said: "We should meet more often." The envoy, understanding Chinese, politely acknowledged their greetings. The prince then said: "Beautiful day, isn't it?" Zhang said: "Lovely weather we're having." Wang said: "So glad you could be here!" Li said: "Good thing it's not raining; Beijing streets are a mess when it is." Zhao remarked: "Glad the weather cooperated!"
The ambassador asked, "Two days ago, I sent two diplomatic notes. I believe the prince and all the ministers have received them. Why haven't I received a reply?" The prince said, "Is it about Hunan?" Zhang also said, "About Hunan?" The ambassador asked, "So, what's the plan?" The prince and ministers cleared their throats. The ambassador asked again, "What do you think?" The prince said, "We need to investigate." The ministers all chimed in, "We need to investigate thoroughly before replying to you." The ambassador asked, "How long will it take to investigate thoroughly?" The prince said, "After the official documents are sent to Hunan, and waiting for their reply to reach Beijing, it will take at least two months." The ministers echoed, "At least two months." The ambassador said, "Our country has already investigated thoroughly. The governor is too weak, and a group of gentry are oppressing the people, nearly sparking another Boxer Rebellion. Our two countries have friendly relations, so I'm reminding you. The prince and the ministers don't need to investigate further; just handle it directly." The prince cleared his throat again, and the ministers also cleared their throats. Some even spat. After waiting for a while, the ambassador asked again. The prince said, "We need to discuss." The ministers all chimed in, "We need to discuss." The ambassador smiled slightly upon hearing this. Luckily, this ambassador had a good temper and understood the rules of the Chinese officialdom, which was to delay things day by day. If they really couldn't delay any longer, they had no choice but to comply. Therefore, at that moment, after hearing the prince and ministers' words, the ambassador did not push them too hard. He just said, "Waiting for official documents to investigate is not feasible. We can use the telegraph now; why not send a telegram immediately to inquire? You can receive a reply within two or three days, right?" This reminder prompted them to all say in unison, "Let's send a telegram to inquire, and once we sort it out, we will reply to you." As the ambassador was leaving, he added, "I'll check back in three days."
After seeing off the envoy, the prince was in a dilemma: "Should we agree to this matter, or not? If we don't agree, we have to find a way to deal with him!" Zhang was the most experienced among the officials and quickly came out to defuse the situation: "Your Royal Highness, you may not know, but we've dealt with foreigners many times before and have never contradicted them. We can't argue with them; we've gotta play ball." Then, he said to the three officials Wang, Li, and Zhao: "We've been handling negotiations for so long, don't you understand this little bit of diplomacy?" When Zhang said this, the prince was speechless, fell silent for a while, and cautiously asked, "Have you investigated this matter thoroughly?" Zhang replied, "No need, we'll play it by ear! When the foreigners arrive, we’ll do as they say; do you need to worry, Your Royal Highness?" In fact, they only vaguely knew that the envoy kicked up a fuss because of a murder case in Hunan that required negotiation. The envoy was dissatisfied with the governor of Hunan, saying he was too weak and demanded a replacement. As for the specific details of the case, they had no idea. They all pretended to know what was going on, and no one wanted to bother with this matter anymore. Afterwards, they discussed for a while, mainly about transferring the current governor of Hunan to another place and finding someone who could manage the situation with the foreigners to replace him. Zhang suggested, "Whoever we transfer, the foreigners may not be satisfied. It's better to feel him out when he comes to ask for a response the day after tomorrow, and then send whoever he suggests. This way, we can avoid conflicts with them in the future." The prince nodded, and that was that.
The bigwigs at the Zongli Yamen listened to the envoy; though inwardly reluctant to give in, they daren't defy him. Three days later, the envoy returned, starting with the usual pleasantries. They'd all been on tenterhooks. When it came to the main issue, the prince was the first to speak: "We'll swap the Hunan governor. We haven't picked a replacement yet, but someone who gets along well with your people would be ideal – makes future talks a lot smoother." The envoy said, "Right, the current Shandong governor, Lai Yangren, is a good'un. Old Governor Huang was a pain, but since Governor Lai took over, we've laid down hundreds of miles of track, and he even let us use some land outside Weixian for a drill ground. And you all know, building railways benefits everyone – Chinese people get to ride them too! We'll give the land back. Can't figure why old Huang was so against it. Governor Lai's a smart cookie; everyone likes him. Your government should appoint more men like him – good for the country. So, Your Highness, petition the Emperor to move Governor Lai to Hunan, and find another just like him for Shandong. That'll keep things friendly, wouldn't you say?" The prince and the officials exchanged glances. Finally, the prince murmured to Zhang, "If they rate Lai so highly, let's move him."
Zhang quickly shook his head: "No! No! If Lai gets promoted to the governor of Hunan, we’ll have to rethink the position in Shandong. They definitely won’t be satisfied, and moving him there won’t solve the issue. It would be better to appoint Dou from Shaanxi. When he was a local official in Tianjin, he got along really well with foreigners. Whenever there are new imported fruits or fancy new things, besides giving some to us, each foreign embassy gets a share. Don’t you think that’s thoughtful? If we move him to Shandong, they’ll be happy." The prince said, "Alright, let’s agree to it." Zhang replied, "No need to rush to tell them. If they don’t object, they’ll know we’re on board. Your Highness, you might not know this, but there’s a trick to playing it cool in diplomatic negotiations. We wait for them to take action, keep quiet, and they’ll understand we agree." The prince nodded. After discussing for a while, the envoys were getting antsy and asked again, "What’s the decision?" They stuck to their "silent consent" strategy and said nothing. The envoys were starting to get impatient. In the end, the prince couldn’t help but say, "You’ll get the official paperwork later." Upon hearing this, the envoys understood and stopped asking further questions. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they took their leave. The next day, two imperial edicts indeed came down: the governors of Hunan and Shandong provinces were both replaced. The previous governor of Hunan wasn’t transferred to Shaanxi, which was considered a missed opportunity. Zhang had arranged this, saying Lai had offended some foreigners and needed time to cool things down before getting another posting.
Anyway, let's talk about the newly appointed top dog of Shandong, Dou Shihao. This guy used to be a small-time official, and he was a real smooth operator. Back when he was just starting out, he once went on a business trip with a junior official. The magistrate rode in a palanquin, but Dou didn't want to spend money, so he either rode in a palanquin or ran alongside the magistrate's sedan chair. Many people didn't recognize him and thought he was just the magistrate's big shot, not realizing he was actually the boss. His luck was really something that year when he was a deputy in the province and had nothing to do. The governor of the province had a father-in-law who was crazy about chess, so someone recommended Dou to him. He played ten games of chess with the father-in-law, and unbelievably, they drew every single game! Dou privately told someone, "I could've beaten him a hundred times over. But I didn't want to embarrass the old man, so I let him draw." The father-in-law, of course, noticed Dou's impressive chess skills, but he was a sore loser and wouldn't stop until he won a game. Luckily, Dou was clever and let him win a few moves on purpose. When the father-in-law finally won a game, he saved face and was thrilled, praising, "Even though I won against Mr. Dou today, his chess skills are top-notch. Only he can compete with me; others shouldn't even think about it!" Dou was over the moon to hear the father-in-law's praise. From then on, the father-in-law couldn't do without him, first having his son arrange some nominal tasks for him with a salary. Later, when the chance came, he recommended Dou for a promotion. Even the travel expenses for going to the capital to pay respects were sorted out by the father-in-law's son—let's not get into the details of that. When Dou returned from paying his respects in the capital, he leveraged his relationship with the father-in-law, did some good deeds, earned a nice stack of cash, and kept his superiors happy. So, he shot up the ranks, going from a small official in the prefecture to the chief of customs, then to the magistrate and the provincial governor, and finally, he became the governor of Shandong. He went from zero to hero in under a decade.
His ability to handle diplomatic affairs was honed when he was an assistant magistrate. After becoming a Customs Superintendent, such matters became even more frequent. What was his skill set? It was the secret of "tacit approval" that Zhang Dajun spoke of. When outsiders came to do business, if they followed the treaty, there was of course no problem. If they didn't, he would put on a show of arguing with them. When the foreigners got angry or resorted to strong-arm tactics, he would let them proceed without interference. Eventually, when they figured out his temperament, they would inform him about everything beforehand. Whether he agreed or not, they would just go ahead and do it themselves. Sometimes, when he faced trouble from above, he would consult the foreigners. They would say, "You've already given me your tacit approval. If you don't let me proceed, how can I? Now that it's done, you can't expect me to back down. If you want me to back out, you'll have to compensate me, and then I might stop. Why didn't you stop me sooner? I've already spent money, and if you suddenly try to halt me now, it will affect my business, ruin my reputation, and you'll have to pay me to settle this, or else it won't be over!" Dou Shihao listened and had nothing to say. Later, when the foreigners came asking for compensation, if they could negotiate, that was fine; if not, they would demand money, and he would actually pay up. After a few incidents like this, his superiors, seeing he was actually paying, started to turn a blind eye to future matters, as long as the foreigners didn't complain, they wouldn't blame him anymore.
Besides, after he became the governor for a few years, he was even more experienced. The foreigners who had suffered losses at his hands did not forget him. When they heard he was coming, they were all happy. Foreigners were constantly coming to see him. He saw every foreigner who came calling. He was busy dealing with those guys from overseas all day long, so how could he have time to manage local affairs? So someone reported: "The governor's got a million things on his plate, and he must take care of his health. If he keeps burning the candle at both ends, his energy won't keep up! We need to find someone to share his burden." Dou Shihao said: "Those guys wouldn't get it. Who can replace me? Unless we find someone who knows how to handle them, who can help me deal with these matters without me worrying and can make them satisfied, then I can rest assured. Do you have such a person?" Everyone couldn't recommend anyone, so they didn't say anything more. Later, this matter reached the ears of the foreigners, and they took the opportunity to recommend someone. They also mentioned that when a certain country was underdeveloped in the past, it borrowed talents from other countries, and then the country prospered. This was just the idea of finding a guide. When Dou Shihao heard this, he thought: "That's a great idea! Let's use foreigners to deal with other foreigners. Doing business with them will be easy to negotiate, and I won't have to worry. No more headaches with negotiations in the future. I can use this to relieve my burden, without foreigners coming to me all the time, and without fearing that they will say I'm not doing a good job. If it goes south, it's on him, not me." He made up his mind and immediately agreed, asking the foreigners to introduce a guide. The foreigner said: "This person studied politics and law and has obtained advanced diplomas." Dou Shihao said: "I manage ten prefectures, two direct-controlled prefectures, and 108 counties. I have to oversee all matters by myself. How can I be so busy? With this assistant, I can also take a break." Two days later, the introducer brought the contract, a wall of text in foreign languages. Dou Shihao couldn't understand it, so he sent it to the Bureau of Foreign Affairs for translation. The head of the Bureau added two more clauses, without changing much else. Monthly salary of 600 taels; sign a one-year contract first. Dou Shihao looked at it and had no problem, so he followed suit. He was already in China, so he came right away. After signing the contract, Dou invited him to stay at the governor's mansion to make things easier. The foreigner had no family, so he agreed and moved in. His surname was Ka, and the governor called him Mr. Ka. Everyone in the yamen called him Master Ka. In official circles, he was also called Lord Ka. Some who didn't know his surname respectfully called him "Mr. Foreigner."
So, Du Shihao starts his new job as magistrate, and bam! – murder case on day one. He felt that the draft prepared by the clerk was not acceptable and insisted on having Mr. Ka (a foreigner) give it the once-over. As a result, after explaining for a long time, they still hadn't explained the case properly. Everyone said, "Mr. Ka's a Westerner, he's all about Western law, not this Chinese stuff. Even if he *did* write it, it'd get shot down. Let's have our own people write it." Du Shihao had no choice; he pulled the document and let the local old gentleman handle it.
A few days later, another telegram arrived, asking him to train the army, establish the police, and open schools. Upon hearing this, he said, "These are all new policies. Gotta run this by the 'big cheese' – Mr. Ka." He quickly invited Mr. Ka to explain these matters in detail and help draft the regulations. Mr. Ka said, "Back home, this stuff is all specialized. For example, military training, the army has military schools, and the navy has naval schools; schools also have primary and advanced levels. I'm not an expert, so I can't just spout off." Du Shihao regretted a bit this time, frowning and saying, "You couldn't understand the murder case, and now you can't understand *this*? What *can* you understand?" Mr. Ka said, "Your laws are a mess, and even though you're trying to fix them, they're still a mess. I cannot handle things using your law. If you really want this done, I can recommend some people – plenty of 'em. What *do* I understand? If we ever need to deal with my country, you're all set. I've got this." Du Shihao had nothing to say, so he handed over those new policies to the local officials to handle and no longer sought Mr. Ka's help. Mr. Ka was also happy to be at ease, receiving his salary, eating and sleeping well, and living a comfortable life. And just like that, half a year went by.
One day, Mr. Ka's fellow countryman came to China with his wife and children and first arrived in Shandong. Because he didn't clarify the price with the porter, the porter took advantage of him, kept his luggage, and walked more than two miles, insisting on charging him five hundred copper coins per load. The foreigner was furious, knowing that Mr. Ka was at the Yamen, so he went to find him and explained the situation in detail, mentioning that there were three porters involved. Mr. Ka thought to himself, "I've been here for half a year and haven't done anything useful; I feel quite embarrassed. This time, I can finally get to do something useful." He went to find Governor Dou and angrily said, "The porters withholding my compatriot's luggage is no different from robbery! I know the laws of your country; these three porters should all be executed to set things right!" When Governor Dou heard this, he thought the porters were truly despicable, and if they had robbed a foreigner's luggage, they would definitely be severely punished. He immediately called the magistrate, informed him of the situation, and asked him to arrest the people. The magistrate soon returned and reported, "The people have been arrested and interrogated. In fact, the porters and the foreigner had agreed on five hundred copper coins per load. The foreigner refused to pay, so the porters withheld the luggage, saying, 'Five hundred copper coins per load was agreed upon, not a penny less!' The foreigner got angry and hit them with a stick. One porter's head was injured, and I have verified the facts. The three porters also got into a dispute, saying they didn't want the money anymore and returned the items, asking the foreigner to find someone else to carry them, as the deal was off. Later, the landlord came out to mediate, and each load was given three hundred copper coins, and the luggage was returned long ago. I believe the matter has been resolved, and the foreigner causing trouble for the general is really blowing things out of proportion!" The magistrate laid out the whole story. When Governor Dou heard this, he also agreed, saying, "The porters were wrong to demand a high price. But you hit them and didn't pay the agreed price, and now you claim the porters were robbing you and ask me to execute them, which is too much!" He called Mr. Ka, explained the situation to him, and asked him to go explain to the foreigner and to drop it.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Mr. Ka slammed his fist on the table, banged his fist on the bench, and started yelling at Doutai, saying, "If I don't follow your Chinese laws, you say I'm no good; and now that I do, you still say it's wrong. You're clearly just trying to undermine me! Since you don't listen to me, why keep me?!" At this time, the foreigner let rip at Doutai for breaking their agreement, accusing him of breaching the contract: "Since you invited me, you didn't give me any power. Other foreigners will think I'm a joke! This is clearly damaging my reputation; who will invite me in the future? You owe me a year's salary, and on top of that, compensation for the damage to my reputation. If you don't compensate me, I will go to Beijing with you to find the consul to settle this!" After speaking, he tried to pull Doutai away. Doutai asked him, "Where to?" He said, "To Beijing!" Doutai replied, "Even if I wanted to go to Beijing, I'm a government official; I can't just up and leave without orders from above. If you want to go, you go by yourself. You're quitting, not me sacking you, so forget about the salary." When the foreigner heard Doutai's refusal, he became even more aggressive. Luckily, the county magistrate was still there and jumped in to mediate, persuading the foreigner, "Let's talk this over calmly. This guy's the top dog in the province; if you cross him, you'll be on your own here. Think about it." After thinking about it, the foreigner realized it was true and stopped talking. The county magistrate then begged Doutai to calm down, saying, "The Governor's a big shot; this guy's nothing. If the Governor gets mad, you'll be sorry." Doutai had no choice but to instruct the matter to be handled by the Foreign Affairs Bureau. The magistrate agreed, spoke to the Bureau Chief, and they both went to see the foreigner. They talked him into accepting a year's salary and promised to leave him alone after that. Once the foreigner got his money, he shut up.
Dou Futai got ripped off by a foreigner and regretted it, losing some of his faith in foreigners. Turns out, there were two reasons: First, Dou Shihao himself regretted getting taken; second, his father-in-law Shen Zhongtang wrote him a letter from Beijing, saying: "Many people in Beijing are talking about you now, saying that you hired a foreigner as a teacher, dropped the ball, and let things slide. It's a bad look. You should ditch that foreigner ASAP to avoid the gossip mill. We're family, so I'm giving you a heads-up." So Dou Shihao cooked up an excuse to get rid of the foreigner, saving face and his career.
Let's continue talking about his father-in-law, Shen Zhongtang. At that time, he was the Minister of Rites, a powerful Grand Secretary, and head of the Grand Secretariat. Although he was not in the military department and did not have as much power, he had long controlled the civil service examinations, and his students were everywhere. He was originally quite conservative, but with the court pushing through all these reforms, although he did not dare to openly oppose them, he always spoke with some complaints. One day, several provincial governors and officials jointly memorialized, suggesting reducing the number of candidates in the imperial examinations and emphasizing school education. The old man was angry when he heard this, muttering, "Don't talk about others; just those few, who didn't come from the imperial examinations? Now that they have succeeded, they want to block others' chances. This is truly unfair!" Later, he found out that among the censors who memorialized, there was one surnamed Jin and one surnamed Wang, both of whom were examiners he had appointed in the past, which made him even more furious! However, the court had already approved the memorial, and he couldn't say anything on the surface, so he instructed the gatekeeper, "Tell Wang and Jin that I'm not seeing them. Send their cards back." The gatekeeper agreed. Later, Wang and Jin were indeed blocked outside the gate and had to try to get through to him, but Shen Zhongtang was adamant and refused to accept them. The two had no choice but to give up. Some time later, there were provincial governors who memorialized again, suggesting that the court should treat students back from studying abroad well. When the old man heard this, he was so angry that his beard was about to explode, saying, "These students, making trouble at schools every day, how can we trust them with anything, let alone power? They'll be troublemakers even as officials!" He was about to invite his proud students who shared his views to discuss countermeasures, but before he could send out invitations, he heard that the court was turning all the temples into schools. Upon hearing this, he went cold all over, saying, "This is getting worse and worse! If this continues, who knows what kind of mess they'll make? I'm too old for this fight. I'll just pray Buddha sorts them out." That night, he was so angry that he couldn't sleep, and the next day he took leave to rest at home.
He is the Grand Secretary and the Minister of Personnel, so naturally many students and subordinates come to see him. Everyone knows that the teacher's illness cannot be cured by medicine. A student bravely said, "Teacher, I'm all in. Even if I lose my official position and my life, I will follow in the footsteps of Wu Shiyu and submit a memorial tomorrow to argue with reason. If it is not approved, I will take my own life in front of everyone to vindicate you!" Shen Zhongtang saw that this person was Qi Ling, courtesy name Xiaowan. During the palace examination, he was the chief examiner and ranked Qi Xiaowan's paper in the top ten, so he was retained in the academy for the second round. Bannermen often rose quickly through the ranks, so he has now become a scholar. Shen Zhongtang recognized him and raised his thumb, saying, "Brother, if you can turn this situation around, may Buddha bless you with a promotion. You will definitely reach my position in the future." Xiaowan immediately bid farewell to his teacher, saying, "I will go home and write the memorial. Please wait for news tomorrow." Although Shen Zhongtang was happy, he still had a sad look on his face, saying, "Xiaowan, if you really want to present a memorial, although it is a great act that will be remembered for generations, what about your family? How can I, an old man with a low official position, take care of you?" He fell silent for a moment. When everyone was about to leave, he insisted on personally seeing them off to their carriages. Everyone resolutely refused, saying, "The teacher never sees us out. If you see us out, it means you are shutting us out." So they walked to the eaves, standing there refusing to leave. Shen Zhongtang said, "I am not seeing you off; I am seeing off Brother Xiaowan. If Xiaowan really wants to emulate Wu, this might be our last goodbye. How can I not see him off?" Seeing him say this, everyone had to let him escort Xiaowan to the door.
Putting aside the scholar's return to write his memorial, let's just talk about Mr. Shen sending off the guests. Instead of returning to his room, he went directly to the space where he usually recites scriptures. In front of the Guanyin statue, he solemnly burned incense and kowtowed three times. After the last kowtow, he knelt on the ground for a long time, muttering a prayer. When he got up, he tried to recite half the Diamond Sutra but couldn't finish, so he had to continue the next day. From then on, he stayed at home to recuperate, taking three days off and then extending it for another three days. He was on pins and needles waiting for the scholar's memorial to bring an imperial decree. Even if it was rejected, since Shen Xiaoan said he wanted to remonstrate, his loyalty the other day showed he wasn't kidding. But whether the memorial was approved or not, and whether Xiaoan was alive or dead, there should be some news, right? Why no news for days? It's a mystery. His six days' leave was up, still no word from Xiaoan. He wasn't really that sick, and all that time off was making people talk. He had to go back to work. Shen recovered from his illness, and the students all came to visit, but Xiaoan was nowhere to be seen. Shen asked if anyone had seen Xiaoan in the past few days, saying he had been waiting for him for four days and his memorial had not been submitted. Was he just kidding the other day? If he doesn't keep his word, he's not his student anymore. At this time, Liu Xinming, who studied with Xiaoan, stood up to explain: Xiaoan blew his top at home after returning from the teacher's place that day. He saw several doctors but only got better with Western medicine. He slept the next day, then started on the memorial, but got heatstroke and needed over ten shots to pull through. Everyone says he should stay home and rest; heatstroke is serious. He should be able to visit the teacher tomorrow.
Teacher Shen said, "So that's how it is, life is important. He's even willing to take a Western doctor's medicine; would he really die over this? So I stopped worrying about him dying." After speaking, he was still quite angry.
Two days later, Shen Xiao'an knew that the teacher was upset and felt embarrassed to see him, so he had to ask many people to intercede before daring to go. Teacher Shen gave him the cold shoulder, not as warm as before.
On the way back from Teacher Shen's house that day, Shen Xiao'an was thinking about writing a really impressive memorial. He was still contemplating how to write it to move people. When he got home and got off the carriage, the steward came up to congratulate him. Shen Xiao'an asked what was going on, and the steward said that the Guangdong governor's position was open, and everyone was saying it would be him. Lord Wang, a high-ranking official, had visited, but since Shen Xiao'an wasn't home, he had asked the steward to pass on a message. Today, Lord Wang mentioned him again, so it seemed like a sure thing. Shen Xiao'an had originally planned to follow Wu Kedou's example and submit a memorial directly, but after hearing the steward's words, his ambition kicked in, and he forgot about this matter.
That night, he was like an ant on a hot pot, pacing around the house, wanting to write a letter to ask Lord Wang about it, but his family said it was too late and Lord Wang was probably asleep. He thought about writing to other friends, but was afraid they wouldn't know, which would only make things worse. And so, he tossed and turned all night. The next morning, as he was about to go out to inquire about the news, the word came down from the emperor, and someone else was appointed. Shen Xiao'an was left fuming and only then did he remember what he had said to Teacher Shen two days before, taking this opportunity to vent. Just as he started writing the memorial, his wife called him over, saying their young son had a fever and was feeling dizzy.
Shen Xiaoan, one of three brothers, had only one son, who was eleven years old. He was a bright boy, though not a prodigy. He finished reading the three classics at the age of eleven and was now studying the "Zuo Zhuan." His essays were already quite advanced, nearing the level of formal lectures, and the teacher said he would be able to finish it next year. Therefore, they doted on him. When their son fell ill, Shen Xiaoan was extremely anxious, and his wife stayed by their son's side, crying non-stop. Seeing this scene, Shen Xiaoan's ambitions took a backseat to his son's illness. He quickly asked the doctor to treat his son's illness and comforted his wife. After two frantic days, their son recovered, and Mr. Shen's vacation was over. He'd completely forgotten about emulating Wu Ke's studiousness and could no longer concentrate. Feeling sorry for the teacher, he had to make up a lie and ask someone to explain, just to smooth things over. He knew the teacher would be cold towards him, but he had no other choice. Later, this matter spread, and people gossiped that Mr. Shen's anger had terrified his students. Luckily, Shen Xiaoan was clever enough to avoid the fallout.
One day, Mr. Shen was sitting at home when the governor of Zhili came to visit. The governor bragged about his students who had returned from their studies and were very knowledgeable. The court had approved for them to take the exam, and outstanding candidates would be awarded the title of Jinshi or Hanlin. They'd need Mr. Shen to mark the papers. More good students would serve the country and bring everyone honor. Mr. Shen quickly waved his hand and said, "I'm okay with everything else, but I object to this Baohe Palace exam. If they can all participate in the palace exam, where does that leave us old-timers? The Hanlin Academy's been squeaky clean for centuries, and now they want to flood it with these outsiders? It'll be a disaster!" After speaking, he was very unhappy. The governor of Zhili had originally come to establish a relationship, but when he saw the conversation wasn't going anywhere, he took his leave.
So, there was this governor of Zhili Province who was particularly favored by the emperor. Whatever he said, the emperor would listen and never reject. After he returned, he recommended a whole bunch of his students for the emperor to test and admit. The officials at the palace guards received the news first. One military minister knew that Shen Zhongtang had a stubborn temper, so he had a bit of fun at his expense: "The students recommended by the governor of Zhili have all been rejected by us. Knowing that you don't like these people, I thought I'd let you know to make you happy." Shen Zhongtang was really happy when he heard this and repeatedly said, "Exactly! Even if the emperor approves, if I have to grade the tests, I would rather resign. I absolutely won't do this job!" The military minister said, "Zhongtang, you got that right!" The two then dispersed.
Who would have known that the next day, an imperial decree was issued to test those students who had graduated from studying abroad in the Baohedian Hall. Shen Zhongtang took a look and thought that the palace guards had no power to stop this matter. He could only sigh helplessly and say nothing. Two days later, the exams were over, and the next day he was appointed as the guy who grades the tests. At this point, it was too late to ask for leave. If he refused, he could not bear the charge of going against the emperor's orders, so he had to go dejectedly. Fortunately, there were not many exam papers, and there was more than one chief examiner. He was glad to have a bit of downtime and let others be busy. He probably flipped through the papers, picked one with no issues to put first, and handed it in. As a result, the court promoted talents out of the ordinary, rewarding the best with the title of Hanlin, and others as chief officials or county magistrates. In short, both officials in Beijing and those working outside the court were included.
Let's not talk about those who became chief officials or county magistrates. Let's talk about those who were appointed as Hanlin. According to the rules, they had to go see their teachers and elders. They couldn't skip these formalities. Shen Zhongtang was the head of the Imperial Academy and was in charge of them, so they had to come to pay their respects. Although these Hanlin scholars had returned from abroad and did not understand Chinese customs, since they had taken on this official position, they had to follow the procedures. At this moment, they had no choice but to just roll with it. So they inquired about the rules, prepared their gifts and cash, took their name cards, and went to visit Shen Zhongtang's private residence.
Shen Zhongtang had anticipated this. Two days in advance, he gathered all his former students who'd passed the imperial exams and said to them, "Getting into the Hanlin Academy used to be a real slog! Three provincial exams, three metropolitan exams, then the re-exams, the palace exams, the whole shebang – you name it! You’ve all been through these hurdles; can these newcomers easily cross them? These guys haven't lifted a finger, just scribbled a couple of essays and think they're Hanlin material? In the future, anyone can become a Hanlin official! But the Emperor's given 'em a break, so we gotta play along, right? And if he wants me to mark their papers, what am I gonna do, say no? I've got a bad feeling about this whole thing. Today, I’ve invited everyone here to discuss a way to resist; we gotta make sure they don't even *think* about setting foot in this place. Alright, lads, what are your ideas?" Everyone said, "Yes!" Shen Zhongtang asked them how to resist. Someone said, "We should write a memo to fail 'em. And no assignments from this office for these guys." Another person said, "Being a Hanlin is just a title, no seniority perks." Shen Zhongtang just listened, said nothing.
At this time, there was a scholar named Zhen Shouqiu, who was seventy-three years old. He had a sharp mind and quickly interjected, saying, "The teacher's methods are all about making them unwelcome. We need to make them so afraid they won't dare come. Now there is a way. Since they have become Hanlin scholars (elite members of the Imperial Academy), they will definitely come to pay respects to the teacher and acknowledge their seniors. The teacher cannot ignore them. If they give gifts, we'll gladly take them. We old seniors do not ask for anything from them. When they come, we have agreed not to see them together. We do not acknowledge them. Even if we meet elsewhere, if they call us seniors or old seniors, we will politely say 'I dare not', and ignore them. This way, they will run into some resistance and be afraid to see us. In the future, they will treat this Hanlin as a deterrent, and naturally no one will come again. But in order to resist, we must be united." Everyone agreed, saying, "Wonderful!" Shen Zhongtang nodded and said, "Shouqiu brother is absolutely right! I am willing to recognize them as students, but the gifts of respect must be doubled as usual. In our Chinese customs, anything with the word 'foreign' must be charged extra. Let's take our eldest child who just returned from Shanghai as an example. He said that in Shanghai theaters, foreigners have to pay double to watch a play. Although these people are not foreigners, they have returned from abroad after all, so it is not excessive for me to ask for more." The students all agreed, "Yes!" So it was decided that day that when those people came to pay respects to the old seniors, they would not be received, as a strategy of resistance. Everyone unanimously agreed, and then dispersed. And what happened next? Find out in the next chapter!
